Death's Daughter

Chapter 7

We walked to the mess hall and sat at one of the picnic tables. I was staring at the floor when I saw a long crack in the otherwise flawless marble.

"What happened to the floor?" I know it was a stupid question, but something was different about it.

"Your brother happened. When he was ten, I think, a bunch of skeletons attacked him and Percy. So, he made a huge hole in the ground that swallowed them up. Then, he ran off. That was during the war with Kronos." He paused. "But I don't think we're here to talk about your brother, are we?"

"No. You know about my quest right?" He tipped his head back, which I took as a yes. "I want you to come with me. Well, not exactly "want", more like the prophecy said you had to come with me."

Leo sighed. "What exactly did the prophecy say?"

"Um," I mumbled, chewing on my bottom lip. I really didn't want him knowing about the whole "foe" thing. "I just know it's you and Nico who have to come."

His eyes narrowed. "Come where exactly?"

I stared at the crack in the marble. "To the Underworld to question my father." At that, Leo had a coughing spasm. "You okay?"

"Um, I don't think I should really be the one to go with you. I mean, I can't fight with actual weapons. I've only been on a couple quests, I won't be much help. Plus, I've never been to the Underworld. Maybe you should take Percy or Annabeth."

"It has to be you."

"Why?"

"'You must descend to the land below,
At your side, a friend and foe,
Help you shall recieve when they are near,
As you conquer your greatest fear,
The answers you seek will be yours to hold,
With companions hot and cold.'"

Leo scowled. "I get it. I'm your foe. But what's your greatest fear?"

"That's not the point. The point is that you have to come."

Leo closed his eyes and sighed. "Fine. I guess I have no choice. When are we leaving?"

"Er. I hadn't actually thought about that. I guess as soon as possible. But first, I'm going to need some weapons."

•••

The sun was beginning to rise and it cast golden beams of light soaring over the rolling green hills of Camp Half Blood. It was a beautiful morning to sit in a dusty shed and scour through weaponry. Leo brought along Annabeth, because, appearently, she was great at matching the right blade with the right person.

As it turns out, I'm lousy with a sword, dreadful with a machete, and quite terrible with almost everything put into my hands. Almost everything. I wasn't bad with a dagger. But none of them worked well with me, and I knew why.

"Stygian Iron," I whispered.

"What's that?" Annabeth asked.

"I need Stygian Iron for my dagger. I'm a child of Hades; it just makes sense."

Annabeth nodded as if she understood what I meant. "I'm sure we can get some, and Leo can make it. He's the best we've got when it comes to making weapons."

"Ironic that I couldn't use one to save my life, huh?" Leo said with a grin.

"Um, can I have a bow too?" I asked sheepishly.

Leo nodded. "She needs one; she's awesome when it comes to archery. I'm surprised she's not one of Apollo's."

I was astonished that he said that after I insulted him on his own archery skills. We were supposed to be enemies. It was going to be tough to hate this boy.

•••

By lunch, I was equipped with a delicate looking wooden bow carved with intricate designs, a sheath of Celestial Bronze tipped arrows, and a Stygian Iron dagger in a leather belt on my hip. I ate lunch quickly (Chicken ranch pizza and a goblet of Mountain Dew.) and dashed to my cabin to pack some necessities. I threw a spare outfit, nectar and ambrosia (whatever that was), a first aid kit, and some extra food in a small backpack. I met Nico and Leo out by the forest. Nico was dressed in his 'normal Nico' outfit. All he carried was his sword at his side. Leo was wearing the same outfit he wore that morning and had a- was that a ball under his arm?

"What's up with the ball?" I asked.

Leo looked teasingly offended. "It's a sphere, I'll have you know. And it's Archimedes's sphere."

"Oh, excuse me," I said, holding up my hands in a mocking gesture. "What's up with the sphere, sorry, Archimedes's sphere?"

Leo patted the golden ball. Up close, I could see it had patterns all over it. "This is my weapon."

When he offered no more information, I sighed. "Alright, ready to shadow travel?"

We all stood in a circle and held hands. Leo kept asking dumb questions like, "Will shadow traveling hurt?" and "Why do we have to use your Underworld powers to travel?" We just ignored him.

"Okay, Frankie. We can't shadow travel directly into the Underworld. But we can go through a different way. Ever heard of Orpheus?"

"Of course." He was that guy who sang his way into the Underworld to find his dead wife who was killed by a snake. After he got into the Underworld, he tried to talk Hades into letting him bring his wife back. Apparently, my dad wasn't to happy about it, so Orpheus started playing his harp, no lyre. Finally, Hades told him he could find her on one exception: he couldn't look at her until they were out of the Underworld. But surprise, surprise, he didn't listen, and his wife stayed dead. A great story.

"Well," Nico continued, "that's where we're going. To his entrance to the Underworld, I mean."

"Isn't that where you went to give Percy to Hades?" Leo asked.

"That was the past!" Nico spat. "Plus, I was a kid then. And unless you want to die and go all the way to L.A., this is the way we have to go."

"Wait, how can I help you if I don't know where these doors are?"

"I'll lead, you'll... shove me along. Like you did on your way to Camp."

I nodded and closed my eyes. Nico must have started using his 'Underworld powers' as Leo called it, because I could feel my spine prickling. I pictured myself pushing Nico to his destination with Leo in tow. Suddenly, the shadow of the forest engulfed us and we were plunged into darkness. I felt Leo squeeze my hand tighter.

That power I experienced my first day came back to me, yet it was even stronger. I let the cold blackness consume me, and I felt a smile stretch across my face. I felt like giggling. Finally, we landed. This time, that magical feeling lingered a moment before being flushed out of my system. I waited until the power was completly gone before opening my eyes. The boys were staring at me. Huh. I guess I was giggling after all, and kind of hysterically too. Oops.