The Blood of Olympus

Chapter Eighty-Five: Percy

HELLOOO

I KNOW I SAID THIS WAS THE LAST CHAPTER BUT IT TURNS OUT THAT I CAN'T FIT EVERYTHING IN!

SO WE'VE GOT ANOTHER (SHORTER) CHAPTER PLUS A SMALL EPILOGUE TO GO! 

This chapter is dedicated to @HadesMusicStudios70 for the lovely comment! Thank you <3

Enjoy! 

Percy

Getting inside was way easier than Percy imagined.

Annabeth had once told him that no one could enter Hades' Palace unless Hades wanted them to come. If he didn't, the person will just keep walking for eternity without ever reaching it.

Though, why anyone would want to walk there for eternity was a mystery to Percy.

The Palace loomed above them. It was an exact replica of Mount Olympus, only in black and bronze than silver and white. Black obsidian gates opened at Percy's touch, revealing bronze steps leading into a strange garden littered with huge glittering gems.

"I don't understand." Jason said in low voice. "Why would Pluto-uh, Hades-let us in?"

Percy shrugged, but the question nagged at the back of his mind. "I don't know. Maybe he thought we were here to deliver his pizza."

The steps finally lead to huge bronze doors, which were wide open. It couldn't have looked more suspicious.

Percy dismissed that thought as quickly as it came. Two disassembled skeletons lay on the ground in front of the ground, their bones all over the place.

They drew their swords and slipped into the darkness of the entry hall, broken only by the braziers of Greek fire at both sides of the room.

Percy stepped over another mass of bones and shared a glance with Jason. What had happened here?

"It was your friends that did this, if you were wondering." A voice suddenly said.

The demigods whirled around.

"Persephone." Percy said, not lowering his sword.

Persephone smiled. She was gorgeous, but in a washed-out kind of way, like she had never seen the sun. Her skin was deathly pale and her hair was dark and curled down her shoulders. Her dress was decorated with spiralling shoots and beautiful flowers but it looked like the colour had been bleached out of it. "Percy Jackson." She greeted. "It has been too long."

"I disagree." Percy muttered.

"And you are Jason Grace, son of Zeus?" The goddess asked, her almost colourless eyes turning on Jason.

Jason nodded warily. "What did you mean, our friends did this?"

Persephone expression turned cold. "My stepson decided to storm through the palace with his demigod friends."

Percy was confused for a short moment before it dawned on him. "Nico?" He demanded. So the son of Hades hadn't given up on them after all, like Percy had begun to suspect.

"How many children of Hades do you know?" The goddess snapped before seemingly composing herself, closing her eyes before reopening them. "Yes, Nico." She gave them a strained smile. "My apologies, godlings, I have not long returned from the mortal world. My temper is a little short."

"What's Nico doing here?" Jason asked, his eyes flitting around the entry hall with the same uneasiness that Percy felt deep in his bones.

Persephone noticed their agitation. "Don't worry. He is perfectly safe...for the moment." She added. "Hades will no doubt punish him for what he has done to the guards."