[1] 𝐼𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑢𝑠 - 𝑃𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑦 𝐽𝑎𝑐𝑘𝑠𝑜𝑛

3.04

-

THE STAIRS WENT ON FOREVER—narrow, steep, and slippery.

It was completely dark except for the light of Aurelia' spear and Percy's sword. She tried to go slow, but Mrs. O'Leary had other ideas. She bounded ahead, barking happily. The sound echoed through the tunnel like cannon shots, and Aurelia figured they would not be catching anybody by surprise once they reached the bottom.

Nico lagged behind, which Aurelia thought was strange.

"You okay?" She asked him.

"Fine." What was that expression on his face...doubt? "Just keep moving," he said.

Aurelia didn't have much choice. She followed Percy and Mrs. O'Leary into the depths. After another hour, she started to hear the roar of a river.

They emerged at the base of a cliff, on a plain of black volcanic sand. To their right, the River Styx gushed from the rocks and roared off in a cascade of rapids. To their left, far away in the gloom, fires burned on the ramparts of Erebos, the great black walls of Hades's kingdom.

Aurelia shuddered. Gods won't tell you this, but after a few thousand years without dying...almost everyone will fear death then.

Only Mrs. O'Leary acted happy. She ran along the beach, picked up a random human leg bone, and romped back toward Percy. She dropped the bone at his feet and waited for him to throw it.

"Um, maybe later, girl." Percy stared at the dark waters of the Styx. "So...how do we do this?"

"We have to go inside the gates first," he said.

"But the river's right here."

"I have to get something," he said. "It's the only way."

He marched off without waiting.

Percy raised his eyebrows at Aurelia, probably asking if she knew anything about it - to which she shook her head. Reluctantly, they followed him down the beach toward the big black gates.

Lines of the dead stood outside waiting to get in. It must've been a heavy day for funerals, because even the EZ-DEATH line was backed up.

"Woof!" Mrs. O'Leary said. Before anyone could stop her she bounded toward the security checkpoint. Cerberus, the guard dog of Hades, appeared out of the gloom—a three-headed rottweiler so big he made Mrs. O'Leary look like a toy poodle.

Cerberus was half transparent, so he's really hard to see until he's close enough to kill you, but he acted like he didn't care about them. He was too busy saying hello to Mrs. O'Leary.

"Mrs. O'Leary, no!" Percy shouted at her. "Don't sniff . . . Oh, man."

Nico smiled. Then he looked at them and his expression turned all serious again, like he'd remembered something unpleasant. "Come on. They won't give us any trouble in the line. You're with me."