The Daughter of Hades~ By Bella Hearthstone

An Exchange

I stomped my foot on the tiled floor of the dining pavilion. 

My brain running at a mile a second, throbbing with pain of course, I pondered over the verities of the situation. So, this was why I felt out of it. There was trouble in the Underworld, and my soul, since it is bound to it, is in pain too.

I looked at Percy and Annabeth, my mind literally said, 'no, it's too dangerous and you can't.'

But my heart said, 'get in losers, we're going demigod rescuing.'

What even is that? Aphrodite likes to keep messing with my brain with knowledge about the Mean Girls- whatever the tartarus that is.

So, I stomped my foot on the floor again, however, this time a glow emanated from my torso, wrapping me in it. Upon vanishing, I was left in my royal attire and a portal behind me. My hands carried the scepter of darkness- yes, that wasn't an ancient Greek artefact, I just so happened to get one after my coronation.

The Roman Circlet of Laurels rested atop my midnight tresses. It felt light despite the weight on my shoulders. I spared Percy and Annabeth a glance- they looked right back at me. I didn't know what to think in that moment, because I went ahead with them, into Tartarus.

Nobody hurts my brother and gets away with it- especially since my brother is a doofus.

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Tartarus still looked the same- hell-like as ever.

In my mind I saw the root of disturbance that was Nyx's Pala- I mean, my Palace. (Yes, since I now ruled Tartarus, Nyx's Palace was technically now my palace.)

I teleported us there because Annabeth and Perseus did not look like they could be in a position to Vapour Travel. Nicholas and William did not look like they'd hold up much longer either. They were surrounded by a massive army- eerily similar to the one I faced when they rescued me.

I hadn't realized I had zoned out when Annabeth placed a hand on my shoulder. It brought me out of my trance-like state, and I shook my head. I mustered all my strength, put my brave face on and called out, 'STOP! IN THE NAME OF YOUR QUEEN, THE RULER OF TARTARUS.' My Scepter started glowing red. Not a good sign. 

Everything immediately came to a halt. Nicholas and William finally noticed us in the midst of the chaos, and I realized how disturbed and tattered they looked. Well, I couldn't blame them either. I probably looked the same last time.

"Esperanza! Over here!", Nicholas called out.
We teleported once again in a shadowy mist and landed next to them- a huge circle of monstrosity surrounding us. (P.S Teleporting is different from Shadow Travel, but it looks kinda similar.) Perseus and Annabeth staggered- I realized I hadn't warned them before teleporting. Oh well.

"W-what are you doing here? How did you find us?" William asked.
"Someone forgot my soul is still bound to Tartarus (and the fact that I rule it now) and hence, I felt the commotion down here. What were you thinking Nicholas?"

"I- That's not even my name! And I wasn't thinking-"

"Obviously-" she scoffs.

"I was following my heart. And it led me here. To you. To save you, Esperanza. I wanna help you. Just let me."

I rolled my eyes and scoffed again.

"If it were that easy, don't you think I would've done it myself? It's not that I don't want to escape this hell hole, it's just that I can't. Don't you know about the justice of the Underworld Nicholas?"

He looked a little miffed but I continued, "Do you think it would've been that easy to just barge into Tartarus and take a soul like you would take a piece of cake? The Underworld relies on justice Nicholas, surely you would've known that."

Realization started to dawn on him. I did not feel like I had been too harsh on him because frankly if I had not had that prophetic headache, I wouldn't have sensed his inevitable doom. Despite this, William looked confused.
"Hold on, hold on. What's all this about 'justice'? I thought we just had to set your soul free. Isn't that what the faint light over there is all about?" Now it was my turn to be confused. I looked beyond towards where he was pointing, and I saw it. My broken, blackened and dying soul.

My soul- which once, had been brighter than the day, was now withering and blackened, with deep cracks all over it. Somehow, even my hair was made out of light. The only place where the cracks and darkness hadn't reached was my head, more specifically, my brain. I didn't think much of that until quite later.
My hands were in shackles, so were my legs. Silver and unmovable, horrifyingly sharp and eternal. I did not like this scenario, after all, I was watching my eternal doom in third person. Annabeth seemed to understand what this meant. This was not a pleasant experience. I blinked and looked away.
I made the effort to look at the others. Perseus and Annabeth had now shut their eyes and were holding onto each other for dear life, not wanting to make eye contact with the soul. Nicholas and William were not doing too well either. This experience was taking a strain on them. I had to get them out of here.

"Will, what she means by justice is that" he swallows, his breath shaky, but still continues, "in order to save her soul, we would have had to give something in return- in its place. A just offer would have been a soul for a soul. I- I didn't realize that before coming here. I just thought-"
"Well, you thought wrong, Nicholas. Which is why we must leave immediately. This is no place to simply dawdle about."
William gulped, "So you mean... If we're to succeed, the Palace would've just claimed one of our souls in exchange for yours? Which means... only one of us would have returned."
I nodded, solemnly. "You do not understand Underworldian Justice like I do. It's alright, it's not your fault and this is not the place to feel sorry about it." They could've died.
With that, I struck my Scepter on the floor once again, this time creating a louder sound and creating sparks of purple and blue around it. A portal emerged.

I offered Nicholas my hand. He seemed unsure, but latched onto it nonetheless.
"I- We just wanted to help, y'know."

"I know." And I really did. 

Together, we stepped into the portal as the horrible image of Tartarus closed behind us.