Hellfire

12: Quest

TWELVE

"I killed you," Percy said loudly. "I sent you crying back to Tartarus a long time ago."

"Yes, I know," said the Voice – Kronos – dryly. "I think I might have been there."

Percy's mind was spinning. "This isn't real," he said at last. "They're doing this, the angels. They're just trying to make us think you're back. Because Nico and I know what you were like. They want to scare us."

"They're doing a good job," Piper whispered to him. She was gripping her knife so tight, her knuckles were turning white. "If this really is Kronos-"

"Do not speak of me as though I cannot hear you," the Voice (Percy refused to believe it was really Kronos) rumbled. "I am all-knowing, Piper McLean. I see all. I hear all."

Something about the way the Voice spoke... Percy didn't remember Kronos very much (he had tried very hard not to think about him), but for some reason, Percy could not remember Kronos speaking like this, as though he were capital G God. Then again, he had always spoke through Luke Castellan, the demigod he had possessed and eventually killed.

"Then you clearly didn't realize it when we threw your dead body back to Tartarus," Nico said hoarsely. He wouldn't look at Percy or Piper. "Let them go. Just let them all go."

"I will let one of them go," said the Voice pleasantly, obviously recovering from its fit of anger. "When two of you are dead, and one of you is preparing to hate your miserable existence for the rest of eternity."

Percy glared at the deep blue floor beneath him. All he could think of was Annabeth, tied up and hurt. She knew he wouldn't be able to choose, and he hated himself for that. He wanted to choose. He wanted to save her. He didn't think he could live without her. Percy had never been a demigod, knowingly anyway, without Annabeth by his side. He didn't want to. But he couldn't choose her, not over Jason, Hazel, Frank, Leo, and the girl that was tied up with them. She was totally innocent, for all Percy knew. Not that he and his friends were guilty of anything other than saving the world umpteen times.

He looked at Piper, and he knew that she would never be able to do it, either. Even though it was Jason. She couldn't. Then he looked at Nico.

Percy had known Nico for a very long time now. Years and years, ever since Nico was just a little kid obsessed with Greek mythology trading cards. He had grown up a lot since that night on the cliff with the manticore. He had watched everyone he loved around him die. His sister, Bianca, his mother, and gods knew who else. All the time he spent away from Camp Half-Blood didn't leave much room for anyone but Percy and his friends to trust him completely. Percy thought of Nico as a very close, very dear friend. However, that did not mean he wasn't wary of the son of Hades. Nico was the Lord of Death now, not just the Prince. Percy didn't know who the blonde girl on the screen was, tied up with Jason and Annabeth, but he had the feeling that Nico would go to the most extreme of lengths so as not to lose anyone he loved again.

"We won't choose," Percy said, still looking at Nico. "Ever."

Nico didn't look at him. Not once.

The Voice laughed. An ornate dagger shimmered into existence in Percy's hands. "Free yourself and your friends, Percy Jackson. But none of you will escape from here until you make a choice. Choose who you need the most. Choose who can stop your world from being destroyed. Only then will I let you go, when one of you remains standing and the other two are dead on the floor."