Saving a Hero

CHAPTER 22

This time when I stepped out of the shadows I immediately fell. The smell of wherever we were was atrocious. It burned my nose. The air was damp and it was dark. I tugged on Nico's sleeve. He grunted.

"Sleep... I'm so exhausted... From... Shadow traveling..."

Nico hummed and went to sleep on the ground. I took in my surroundings. We were in a cave, I could see the entrance up ahead. I walked out of the cave and was met with exactly what I figured, the underworld. Nico must have been thinking of his dad or his room or something. I was about to walk back into the cave when I saw one of the ghosts floating some ways away from me. I squinted my eyes to get a better look. No, it couldn't be. I ran about 10 yards to get to the ghost. It was a woman, she floated around aimlessly. She went in circles, her face was fixed to be blank for all enternaty. I recognized her instantly, my mom. I panicked, maybe I got the liquid that took something away, and it took away my mother. I tried to reach out to her but my hands went right through her pale body, like I was grabbing air. I started to panic. My mom was dead because of me. She whirled around in a circle not even noticing her son standing in front of her. I couldn't take this, Annabeth dead, my mom dead. I sunk down to the hard ground. The jagged rocks dug in my jeans and the back of my thighs. I crossed my legs and buried my face in my hands. My tears gushed out of my eyes. I cried. I cried for killing my mom, for killing Annabeth and Will. And for letting Nico down. Here I am sitting in the underworld crying on the ground, some hero I am. Nico has practically carried me this whole way, I should be the one leading this quest. I'm the oldest and most experienced. My tears dried up and I looked around. My mom was still swirling aimlessly in a circle as she was before. I was about to get back up and check on Nico in the cave when she turned to me with wide eyes. She could see me? I stood up and walked to her. She started to glow, I mean, she was already glowing, but she was getting brighter and brighter. The plain around us was illuminated by her until she popped. Popped? Yeah, that's right, she vanished with a little popping sound, like the one you make with your mouth.

Before I could blink she was replaced with giant creatures. They were about 7 feet tall and a mixture of brown and black. Onyx like Nico's eyes, if you will. There was three of them surrounding me. I stared at them and grabbed Riptide out of my pocket. These creatures looked familiar. I thought back to the times I had the pleasure of being in Tartarus. I remember these guys, when Annabeth and I fell into here- my stomach sunk. Was it because I was remembering Annabeth or because I knew exactly what these things were? Arai. Daughters of Nyx, if you killed them, all the curses that the dead have given to you, actually come true. I know firsthand that you do not want to kill those things. The creatures sunk down to about 4 feet. They were an onyx color, blending into the dark, they had wings, long talons, and a hideous mixture between a woman's and a birds face. The middle arai stepped closer to me as I backed up from her.

"Your mother is all well, Perseus Jackson. We come baring a gift."

My mom isn't dead? I sighed a breath of relief. Sweat beaded down my face. So far gifts during this quest haven't been all that helpful, so don't judge me if I'm a little nervous about their "gift".

"What is it?"

I asked confidently. I popped the cap off of Riptide and kept it at my side. The bronze gave off a light that made the arai back away from me and hiss. The middle arai stood her ground.

"A gift from a goddess."

The arai took out a golden mist and blew it right into my face. I staggered back and closed my eyes. The mist felt like a liquid spreading across my face, it was warm and pooling around my eyes. I could hear Riptide hitting the ground and the arai flying away, cackling. I hit a wall and fell down. The warm sensation around my eyes felt like it was starting to disappear. I rubbed my eyes for good measure and opened them. Now I know I opened my eyes because I could feel cold air hitting my pupils. But I couldn't see a thing. Everything was pitch black which was normal for the underworld but this was different. I couldn't see a single thing.

Hey guys I'm sorry I havent updated in a while, honestly I forgot I had a story up 😅 This story is almost at the end, I have up to chapter 26 so only three chapters to go!