Half-Blooded Harmony: The Lightning Thief

It was an odd view – a massive field of well-trodden black grass and poplar trees swarming with what must have been millions upon millions of dead souls, all under a cavern ceiling so vaulted and high that – aside from the occasional massive stalactite – it looked like a gigantic storm was hanging over the field, a breeze like the breath of a swamp blowing across the area. This was the group's view as they entered the Fields of Asphodel, staggering through the fields as they tried to blend in, keeping an eye out for security ghouls. Percy tried looking around for familiar faces among the crowds of the dead, but their faces just… shimmered, all looking around with the same sort of angry and confused expression, and their voices were incomprehensible – sounding more like twittering bats than anything else. Then they just moved away when they realized no one understood them.

They weren’t scary – just sad.

The kids did their best to keep their heads down as they followed the line of newly arrived souls toward a black-tented pavilion. The banner above it read “Judgments for Elysium and Eterna Damnation. Welcome, Newly Deceased!”, and out the back of the tent snaked two much smaller lines.

The one on the left was flanked by security ghouls leading down a rocky path toward a massive smoldering wasteland of lava rivers and minefields and mile after mile of barbed wire separating the various torture areas – people chased by hellhounds, burned at the stake, forced to run naked through cactus fields, forced to listen to opera music, and off in the distance, Percy could just make out a hill where Sisyphus struggled to move his boulder to the top. And there were worse tortures than that – things that made the girls sick to their stomachs to the point where they didn’t dare describe them.

The line on the right was far better, leading down to what looked like a gated community that seemed like the only truly happy part of the Underworld – magnificent houses from every period in history, silver and gold flowers in bloom, and lawns rippling in the colors of the rainbow with laughter and the smell of barbecue coming from the gates. This was clearly Elysium and the girls could barely draw their attention away from it… until they saw what lay in the center of the valley – a glittering blue lake with three small islands like a vacation resort. Twilight recognized this place from her readings as the Isles of the Blest – the place for people who’d chosen rebirth three times over and achieved Elysium every time… and it seemed like Heaven for the girls.

“That’s what it’s all about,” Annabeth said, as if she were reading the group’s minds. “That’s the place for heroes.”

The group was pleased by that ideal, but then they saw how small Elysium was compared to Asphodel or even the Fields of Punishment. It must have been a metric for how few people did good in their lives in this world. “That’s depressing.” Rainbow mused aloud.

They did their best not to think about it as they moved through the judgment pavilion and deeper into the Fields of Asphodel. The light grew weaker, the color faded from the group’s clothes – which Rarity was especially bitter about and said as much – and the crowds of chattering souls began to thin.

After a few more miles of hiking, the feathers on Rainbow and Fluttershy’s wings stood on end as the group heard a familiar shriek in the distance. Looking toward its source, the group saw a massive palace of glittering black obsidian on the horizon… or whatever counted as the horizon in the Underworld. And above the parapets were the Furies, circling like vultures as if they were waiting for the kids.

“Have I mentioned how I hate it when you’re right, Pinkie?” Rainbow asked in worry.

“Yep.” Pinkie nodded, equally scared.

“I suppose it’s too late to turn back,” Grover said wistfully.

“Ya think?” Applejack asked sarcastically.

“We’ll be okay.” Percy’s attempt at feigning confidence didn’t exactly help matters.

“Maybe we should search some of the other places first,” Grover suggested nervously, quietly moving to the right. “Like Elysium, for instance…”

“G-Good idea.” Fluttershy nodded and staggered after him.

“Ah-ah-ah, no you don’t.” Rainbow countered and grabbed Fluttershy’s shoulder.

“Come on, goat boy.” Annabeth agreed as she grabbed Grover’s arm, making him yelp… as his sneakers suddenly sprouted wings and dragged him forward away from Annabeth, landing him flat on his back in the black grass. “Grover, stop messing around.”

“But I didn’t-” Grover couldn’t finish that sentence as he was suddenly dragged away by his shoes as if they were possessed. “Maia!” Nothing. “Maia, already! 911! Help!”

The others shook off their shock and Rainbow narrowed her eyes. “I got him!” she said and quickly raced after the satyr, grabbing him by his shoulders and flapping her wings hard to try and hold him back, but it was an uphill battle as the others raced to catch up – the shoes were a lot stronger than they looked.

“Untie the shoes!” Annabeth called.

“Working on it!” Rainbow yelled as she tried to reach for Grover’s feet but ended up losing her grip as Grover shot further onward, zipping between the legs of annoyed spirits.

For a minute, it almost looked like Grover was going to barrel straight through the gates of Hades’ palace, but the shoes veered hard to the right at the last minute and dragged him in the opposite direction. The slope grew steeper and the grass gave way to bare stone as the walls closed in, much to Rainbow’s annoyance. “I can’t get any speed up!” she called to the others as she continued to race after Grover, the others close behind.

“Grover! Hold onto something!” Percy yelled, his voice echoing in the tunnel.

“What?!” Grover called, grabbing at the ground but the gravel wasn’t anywhere near big enough to slow him down.

As they ran, the tunnel grew colder and darker as the hairs on all the kids’ arms bristled at the smell ahead of them – it smelled like… evil. It made Twilight and her friends think of things they hadn’t thought about in a long time – Lord Tirek, King Sombra, the Pony of Shadows that possessed Stygian, even the legendary evil that was Grogar. Then when they saw what was ahead, Percy froze in his tracks which startled Rarity and Fluttershy into doing the same… and they could easily see why.

Just ahead, the tunnel widened into a huge pitch-black chasm, and in the center was a chasm the size of a city block… toward which Grover was sliding at a breakneck speed.

“Come on, Percy!” Annabeth yelled as she tugged on his wrist.

“But that’s-”

“I know!” Annabeth yelled. “The place you described in your dream! But Grover’s going to fall if we don’t catch him!” That was what got Percy moving again, along with the other two girls.

Grover was screaming in fear as he scrabbled at the ground, the shoes dragging him further and further toward the edge. Rainbow leaped and just barely managed to grab his wrists before he went over, her wings flapping madly as she tried to pull them both back. Finally, Rainbow grinned at the sight of the shoes – they had been a loose fit in Grover’s hooves this entire quest and finally, Rainbow stumbled on a rock and Grover’s left shoe flew off into the darkness of the chasm. The dragging was much slower now with only one shoe, and it gave Applejack a chance to jump and grab Rainbow’s waist, the sudden stop shaking the right shoe from Grover’s other hoof. Grover was ten feet from the edge at this point and as the group dragged him back onto the slope, the shoe flew around and kicked them all in the heads until Rainbow Dash scared it off with an annoyed flap of her wings, at which point it flew into the chasm after its twin.

After that hair-raising experience, they all dropped into the obsidian gravel of the cavern floor in exhaustion with all their gear seeming heavier. Grover was scuffed up the worst of them all – bleeding from the hands and goat-style slit-eyes like every time he got terrified. “I don’t know how…” he panted. “I didn’t…”

“Wait… listen…” Percy said quietly. The others were confused; they didn’t hear anything.

“Percy, this place-”

“Shh!” Percy hissed, interrupting Annabeth as he listened. Now the girls could hear it on just the edge of their senses – the sound of raspy whispering echoing from the pit.

“Wh- what’s that noise?” Grover stammered.

“What is this place?” Fluttershy shuddered in fear.

“Tartarus.” Annabeth gasped breathlessly. “The entrance to Tartarus.”

Immediately, Percy uncapped his sword, the bronze blade glimmering in the darkness and making the evil voice seem to falter. But it only lasted for a moment before the chant resumed, quieter… and in a language that sounded ancient, far older than Greek. “Magic,” Percy said quietly.

“Not like any I’ve felt before,” Twilight noted.

“We have to get out of here.” Annabeth insisted.

No one argued with that as Applejack and Rainbow pulled Grover back to his hooves, the whole group starting back up the tunnel. Percy seemed to be struggling as if he was weighted down by something, but Rarity and Fluttershy quickly stepped next to him to help. The voice behind them grew louder and angrier, prompting them all to break into a run as a cold blast of wind pulled at their backs as if the pit itself was inhaling. For half a second, Percy lost his footing and slipped into the gravel before Rarity grabbed his hand and pulled him back to her side – none of them had any doubt that if they’d been any closer to the pit, they all would’ve been sucked in.

They struggled onward against the wind before they finally returned to the Fields of Asphodel, the wind dying in a wail of outrage from the tunnel as if whatever was in the pit was displeased that they’d escaped.

The group all collapsed against a large poplar tree in exhausted terror. “What was that?” Grover panted. “One of Hades’s pets?”

“Naw. I get the feelin’ it’s a lot worse than that.” Applejack pointed out.

Twilight, Percy, and Annabeth all looked at each other – it was clear Annabeth was nursing an idea; probably the same one she’d gotten in the cab, but was too scared to share it… which was more than enough to scare the others. Percy capped his sword and slipped it back into his pocket. “Let’s keep going.” he insisted.

“Right.” Rainbow nodded as she helped Grover up. “Can you walk?”

Grover swallowed nervously. “Yeah, sure. I never liked those shoes anyway.” The girls could tell he was trying to sound brave about it, but he was trembling just as much as the rest of the team.

“I think it’s quite clear that whatever is within that pit is no one’s ‘pet’.” Rarity whispered to her friends as they fell slightly behind Percy and the others. “Least of all anything belonging to Hades; it’s far too old for that.”

“No kidding. Not even Echidna made me feel like that.” Twilight pointed out.

“I think we’re missing a big point here,” Rainbow remarked. “Those were the shoes Luke gave us. And they went down there pretty intentionally.”

“You’re not suggesting Luke wanted that to happen?” Rarity asked, almost offended that Rainbow would make such an accusation of their friend.

“No way; not Luke,” Rainbow assured. “But someone at Camp started this whole thing when they stole the Bolt and framed Percy. So I dunno; maybe whoever it is got their hands on the shoes and put a spell on them.”

“I’m not convinced. The way Luke asked if Percy was wearing the shoes?” Pinkie reminded. “I still don’t trust that smile.”

The girls were nervous about that – as much as they wanted to doubt it, the evidence did seem to be stacked against Luke, but Spike stepped in as the voice of reason. “I think you’re forgetting something. Luke’s Hermes’s kid, remember? God of Pranks?”

“Yeah, but… sending Percy flying into Tartarus?” Rainbow asked seriously. “I mean, even I know that’s a stupid idea for a prank. You really think I’d pull something like that?” Applejack just raised an eyebrow at her as if wordlessly reminding her of her attempted ‘rainbow mouth’ prank, which Rainbow narrowed her eyes at in response. “Hey, that’s apples and oranges. Besides, you guys all turned that around on me, remember?”

“I’m just glad you do.” Twilight pointed out, ignoring the annoyed look Rainbow shot her as she thought. “But I guess you’re onto something; whoever set up that prank could’ve meant for the shoes to stop before they got too far into Tartarus. But still, even for a prank, that feels kind of excessive.”

“Perhaps we should save all this theorizing for later.” Rarity remarked as they kept walking. “I for one am simply glad we’re leaving that ghastly abyss behind us.”

Twilight glanced over her shoulder and looked back at the tunnel down to Tartarus, the dark voice still echoing in her mind. “I wish I could say the same.” she thought nervously.

The sight of the Furies circling the parapets was more than enough to scare the group as they approached the gates of Hades’s palace, the glittering black outer walls and the two-story bronze gates only adding to the fear, despite how they stood open. And the engravings on the gates weren’t very pleasant – images of war, famine, and death in the worst way, all etched into the bronze thousands of years ago as if they were prophecies that had all come true. The girls did their best not to think about that as they continued through the gates.

Inside the wall was the most bizarre garden the girls had ever seen – multicolored mushrooms, poisonous shrubs, and strange luminous plants that grew without sunlight. But what really grabbed Rarity and Spike’s attention (for reasonably different reasons) were the jewels in place of flowers – piles of rubies the size of fists, clumps of raw diamond, and more. Annabeth could clearly see the greed on Rarity’s face as she looked at the piles of gems. “Do you really want to steal from Hades?” That blunt question was enough for Rarity to immediately step back from the gems, adjusting her overshirt nervously.

“Don’t be absurd, darling.” Rarity lied obviously. “I was merely… admiring the king’s collection.”

It was clear as glass that she was lying, and Annabeth said as much as they kept walking. “Uh-huh.”

What stuck out more was the collection of Medusa’s statues scattered here and there – petrified children, satyrs, and centaurs, all with grotesque smiles on their faces that made Pinkie Pie recoil in disgust.

In the center of the garden stood an orchard of pomegranate trees, their orange blossoms almost glowing neon bright in the gloom. “The garden of Persephone,” Annabeth said as she walked swiftly onward. “Keep moving.” Her haste was understandable – the tart smell of the pomegranates was hard to resist, but the group remembered the story of Persephone and how if they ate any food from the Underworld, they’d be condemned to stay, so they pressed on… right after Percy literally dragged Grover away from the trees before he picked a big juicy one.

They walked up the stairs between black columns and through the door into the House of Hades. The entry hall’s polished bronze floor seemed to boil in the reflected torchlight and the only ceiling was the cavern roof miles above. Every side doorway was guarded by skeletons in military gear from different points in history. None of them bothered the group, but their empty eye sockets followed them as they walked toward the door at the far end of the hall, terrifying Fluttershy as she shuddered between Rainbow Dash and Applejack.

Two more skeletons in more modern military uniforms guarded the door with RPGs across their chests as they grinned… surprising for beings without lips. “You know,” Grover mumbled. “I bet Hades doesn’t have trouble with door-to-door shoppers.” Pinkie giggled a bit at that, but no one else did.

“Really don’t think now’s the time,” Twilight whispered before she noticed Percy shifting his arms uncomfortably as if his backpack was too heavy for him all of a sudden.

“Well, guys,” he said nervously. “I guess we should… knock?”

“Be my guest,” Rainbow remarked.

That was when a hot wind blew down the hall, the doors swinging open as the guards stepped aside. “I guess that means Entrez-vous,” Annabeth remarked.

The group was nervous as they entered the throne room – it was just like how Percy had described it in his dream, except this time Hades’s throne was occupied. Out of all three gods they’d met so far, he was really the only one that struck the girls as god-like.

Hades was at least ten feet tall and dressed in black silk robes with a crown of braided gold upon his brow. His skin was paler than Rarity, his shoulder-length hair was jet black, and while he was nowhere near as bulked up as Ares, he still radiated power as he lounged on a throne of fused human bones, looking lithe, graceful, and as dangerous as a panther.

For a second, all the girls immediately felt like kowtowing to Hades as their master before they snapped themselves out of it, realizing that it was simply his aura – far more powerful than that of Tirek, King Sombra, or any of the other tyrants they’d faced all put together.

“You are brave to come here, Son of Poseidon,” Hades said in an oily voice. “After what you have done to me, very brave indeed. And with a small army at your back, no less. Or perhaps you are simply very foolish.”

Everyone felt numb and Fluttershy almost laid down drowsily before Rainbow grabbed her shoulder, shaking her awake. “Hey, don’t even think about it, Fluttershy,” she whispered. “You fall asleep here, you might not wake up.” It was clear she was fighting the same feeling as Fluttershy was experiencing, along with all the others.

Percy shook it off as best he could as he stepped forward. “Lord and Uncle, I come with two requests,” he said firmly.

Hades simply raised an eyebrow and leaned forward, his robes shifting with what looked like shadowy faces as if his entire garment were stitched together with anguished souls from the Fields of Punishment, the concept of which very nearly made Rarity want to puke. “Only two requests?” he asked bitterly. “Arrogant child. As if you have not already taken enough. Speak, then. It amuses me not to strike you dead yet.”

Percy gulped in fear as if this was going exactly as predicted. Everyone’s eyes drifted to the smaller empty throne next to Hades’s – shaped like a black flower gilded in gold, clearly intended for his wife. “What I’d give for Persephone to be here right now,” Spike whispered in fear.

“You and me both.” Twilight nodded quietly. But they knew that was impossible – it was the middle of summer so Persephone wouldn’t be here for at least a few months until fall.

Annabeth cleared her throat quietly and poked Percy in the back, prompting him to get on with it. “Lord Hades,” he said. “Look, sir, there can’t be a war among the gods. It would be… bad.”

“Really bad,” Grover added helpfully.

“Understatement of the century,” Rainbow remarked.

Percy took a half-step forward as he continued. “Return Zeus’s Master Bolt to me. Please, sir. Let me carry it to Olympus.”

Hades’s eyes grew frighteningly bright. “You dare keep up this pretense, after what you have done?”

Percy glanced back at the others, but they were just as confused as he was. “Um… Uncle…” he said cautiously. “You keep saying ‘after what you’ve done’. What exactly have I done?”

The entire throne room shook with a massive tremor, alarming the group as rocks fell from the cavern ceiling and skeleton warriors from every era and nation in Western civilization marched into the throne room, lining the perimeter and blocking the doors. “Do you think I want war, godling?” Hades bellowed angrily.

“You certainly look prepared for it,” Rainbow remarked as she gestured to one of the skeletons… who then promptly pointed a spear at her as if that was the wrong answer. “Shutting up.”

“You are the Lord of the Dead,” Percy said carefully. “A war would expand your kingdom, right?”

“A typical thing for my brothers to say!” Hades said angrily. “Do you think I want more subjects? Did you not see the sprawl of the Asphodel Fields?”

“Well…”

“Have you any idea how much my kingdom has swollen in this past century alone, how many subdivisions I’ve had to open?” Percy opened his mouth to respond, but Hades just kept ranting – he was on a roll. “More security ghouls, traffic problems at the judgment pavilion. Double overtime for the staff. I used to be a rich god, Percy Jackson. I control all the precious metals under the earth. But my expenses!”

“Charon wants a pay raise,” Percy blurted.

“Wow. You really need to learn when to stop talking.” Pinkie didn’t really need to say that; the look Percy was getting from Hades said that just as clearly.

“Don’t get me started on Charon!” the god yelled. “He’s been impossible ever since he discovered Italian suits! Problems everywhere and I’ve got to handle all of them personally. The commute time alone from the palace to the gates is enough to drive me insane! And the dead just keep arriving. No, godling. I need no help getting subjects. I did not ask for this war.”

“But you took Zeus’s Master Bolt.” Percy pointed out.

“Lies!” Hades bellowed loud enough to shake the cavern as he stood from his throne, towering high over the group. “Your father may fool Zeus, boy, but I am not so stupid. I see his plan.”

“His plan?”

“You were the thief on the winter solstice,” Hades said. “Your father thought to keep your little secret. He directed you into the throne room on Olympus. You took the Master Bolt and my Helm. Had I not sent my Fury to discover you at Yancy Academy, Poseidon might have succeeded in hiding his scheme to start a war. But now you have been forced into the open. You will be exposed as Poseidon’s thief, and I will have my helm back.”

“But-” Annabeth froze mid-sentence, her mind going a million miles an hour.

“Wait-wait-wait, back up.” Rainbow insisted as she flew up toward Hades’s face. “Did you just say your helmet was stolen too? And you think Percy did it?”

“Do not play innocent with me, Equestrian!” Hades bellowed, the force of his booming voice almost throwing Rainbow back. “You, your friends, the satyr; you have been helping this hero – coming here to threaten me in Poseidon’s name, no doubt – to bring me an ultimatum. Does Poseidon think I can be blackmailed into supporting him?”

“No!” Percy objected. “Poseidon didn’t- I didn’t-”

“I have said nothing of the Helm’s disappearance,” Hades snarled. “because I had no illusion that anyone on Olympus would offer me the slightest justice, the slightest help. I can ill afford for word to get out that my most powerful weapon of fear is missing. So I searched for you myself, and when it was clear you were coming to me to deliver your threat, I did not try to stop you.”

“Wait, you didn’t? Then what was with-?” Twilight’s question was swiftly interrupted.

“Return my Helm now, or I will stop Death.” Hades threatened, confusing the girls for a second… before he elaborated. “That is my counterproposal. I will open the Earth and have the dead pour back into the world. I will make your lands a nightmare. And you, Percy Jackson – your skeleton will lead my army out of Hades.” The skeletal guards all took one step forward, making their weapons ready to make a point.

Percy scowled up at his uncle – the girls knew that one thing he despised more than anything was being accused of something he didn’t do – he had a lot of experience with that. “You’re just as bad as Zeus,” he said firmly. “You think I stole from you? That’s why you sent the Furies after me?”

“Of course,” Hades remarked.

“And the other monsters?” Twilight asked.

Hades curled his lips and raised his hands innocently. “I had nothing to do with them,” he assured, looking back at Percy. “I wanted no quick death for you – I wanted you brought before me alive so you might face every torture in the Fields of Punishment. Why do you think I let you enter my kingdom so easily?”

“That’s your definition of ‘easily’?” Rarity asked as she pointed back the way they’d come.

“Return my property!” Hades bellowed.

“Now you hold on just one apple-pickin’ minute!” Applejack insisted as she stepped forward and glared up at Hades, not even flinching at the weapons pointed at her. “I don’t know where you get off sayin’ Percy stole from ya, and to be quite honest with ya, I don’t care a fig! But we’ve been ridin’ with this feller ever since that little stunt at the museum and I for one can tell ya, my hand to Princess Celestia herself, that he didn’t have nothin’ to do with stealin’ from your or yer brother!” As soon as she’d finished this little tirade, Applejack was suddenly enveloped by an orange aura. Her ears shifted up to the top of her head in the form of orange pony ears – her hat reshaping to allow them to fit – as her hair extended into a longer ponytail and a gold necklace formed at her neck, an orange apple-shaped gem appearing at her collarbone. “And in case it ain’t clear, I ain’t lied since I got this Element the first time and I ain’t stoppin’ now. Percy ain’t got yer Helmet; we just came for the Master Bolt.”

“Which he already possesses!” Hades shouted, his voice shaking the cavern again. “You came here with it, little fool, thinking he could threaten me!”

“But I didn’t!” Percy insisted.

“Open your pack then!”

“All right, we will!” Rainbow yelled and swooped down to Percy – who was standing there as if dumbstruck – and grabbed the backpack off his shoulder… “Whoa!” …before being immediately dragged to the ground by the surprising weight of it. Shaking off the sudden pain as she stood up, she looked at the bag on the ground. “Jeez Percy, how have you been carrying this thing around this whole time? What’s even in here; a bowling ball?” She didn’t even wait for a response before she unzipped the bag and looked into it… her eyes suddenly going as wide as saucers as she saw what was inside. She glanced up at Hades, then over at her friends, then back into the backpack. “Well,” she said simply before quickly rezipping the backpack and stepping away from it. “This just got awkward.”

It took her friends less than a second to figure out what she meant by that, and they all went pale with confusion and fear. Percy staggered numbly over to the backpack and unzipped it. Inside was a two-foot-long cylinder of solid bronze, spiked on both ends and humming with energy. “Mm. Looks better than a curvy spike or an actual lightning bolt.” Pinkie shrugged quietly.

If anyone actually heard her say that, they didn’t think anything of it – they were all still dumbstruck by the sight of the Master Bolt in Percy’s backpack. “Percy… how-” Annabeth asked breathlessly.

“I… I don’t know.” Percy shook his head in disbelief. “I don’t understand.”

“You heroes are all the same.” Hades remarked. “Your pride makes you foolish, thinking you could bring such a weapon before me. I did not ask for Zeus’s Master Bolt, but since it is here, you will yield it to me. I am sure it will make an excellent bargaining tool. And now… my Helm. Where is it?”

“W- We don’t have it, I swear,” Applejack promised, but it was getting hard for her to believe her own words at this point – the others were speechless with all the same questions running through their minds; how did the Master Bolt get into Percy’s backpack? Who was setting up this war between the Big Three? Who was framing Percy?

Then Twilight realized something. “Wait a minute…” she said quietly. “Percy… this isn’t your backpack…”

Percy’s eyes went wide as he realized she was right. Immediately he stood up. “Lord Hades, wait,” he said quickly. “This is all a mistake.”

“A mistake?” Hades roared as the skeletons aimed their weapons. Then the Furies swooped down and perched on Hades’s throne. The one with Mrs. Dodds’s face grinned eagerly as she flicked her whip. “There is no mistake. I know why you have come – I know the real reason you brought the Bolt. You came to bargain for her.” He opened his hand and dropped a ball of golden fire, exploding on the dias in front of the group. And there, clear as day, just as she had been at the moment the Minotaur started to squeeze her to death, was his mother.

“Mrs. Jackson?” Twilight reacted in surprise as Percy reached out to his mom, but the light was as hot as a bonfire.

“Yes,” Hades grinned with satisfaction. “I took her. I knew, Percy Jackson, that you would come to bargain with me eventually. Return my Helm, and perhaps I will let her go. She is not dead, you know. Not yet. But if you displease me, that will change.”

The girls could clearly see Percy considering it for half a second, but Rarity’s eyes immediately shot to Percy’s pocket – the pearls from his father; probably their best ticket out of this, as soon as they could get Percy’s mother free… “Ah, the pearls.” Everyone’s blood ran cold when Hades said that. “Yes, my brother and his little tricks. Bring them forth, Percy Jackson.”

Percy’s hand moved against his will and dug the handful of pearls out of his pocket. “Only nine,” Twilight said in concern. Enough for the kids themselves as well as Spike if she fit him into her backpack, but when counting Percy’s mom… “We’re one short.”

“What a shame.” Hades grinned wickedly. “You do realize each only protects a single person.” He looked down at Percy with a cruel smile. “Try to take your mother, then, little godling. And which of your friends will you leave behind to spend eternity with me? Go on. Choose. Or give me the backpack and accept my terms.”

Percy looked around at his friends in worry as Spike scampered into Twilight’s backpack, everyone’s faces profoundly grim. “We were tricked,” Percy said. “Set up.”

“That much is rather obvious.” Rarity remarked.

“Yes, but why?” Annabeth asked. “And the voice in the pit-”

“I don’t know yet,” Percy said. “But I intend to ask.”

“Decide, boy!” Hades bellowed.

“Percy,” Grover said quickly, setting his hand on his friend’s shoulder. “You can’t give him the Bolt.”

“I know that.” Percy nodded.

“Leave me here. Use the ninth pearl on your mom.”

“Wha- No!” Fluttershy insisted.

“I’m a satyr,” Grover argued. “We don’t have souls like humans do. He can torture me until I die, but he won’t get me forever. I’ll just be reincarnated as a flower or something. It’s the best way.”

“No,” Annabeth argued as she drew her knife. “You two go on. Grover, you have to protect Percy. You have to get your searcher’s license and start your quest for Pan. Get his mom out of here. I’ll cover you. I plan to go down fighting.”

“No way. I’m staying behind.”

“Think again, goat boy.”

“Stop it, both of you.” Percy insisted.

“He’s right. This is for him to decide; not any of us.” Twilight agreed. But it was clear it was a difficult decision, especially after everything the group had been through since they left Half-Blood Hill.

Finally, Percy sighed as he stood up. “I know what to do,” he said, holding out his hand. “Take these.” He handed each of his friends one pearl, which they looked at incredulously.

“But Percy…” Annabeth said.

Percy didn’t listen; he just turned to face his mother, frozen in gold. It was clear to the girls that he desperately wanted to sacrifice himself to allow his mother to return to the mortal realm, but they knew she wouldn’t approve of that. It reminded them of the prophecy from the Oracle. “You will fail to save what matters most in the end,” Twilight muttered quietly in remembrance.

“I’m sorry,” Percy said to his mother. “I’ll be back. I’ll find a way.”

Hades’ smug look faded immediately. “Godling…?” he asked in confusion.

“I’ll find your Helm, Uncle,” Percy promised. “I’ll return it. Remember about Charon’s pay raise.”

“Do not defy me-”

“And it wouldn’t hurt to play with Cerberus once in a while. He likes red rubber balls.”

“Percy Jackson, you will not-!”

“Now, guys!” On Percy’s order, everyone stomped the pearls at their feet… and for a very frightening moment, nothing happened.

“Wuh-oh,” Applejack said quickly.

“Destroy them!” Hades bellowed angrily. The skeleton army charged forward and the Furies leaped from their perch, their whips burst into flame.

Just before the attacks connected, the pearl fragments at the group’s feet exploded in a burst of green light and a gust of fresh sea wind, encasing everyone in milky white spheres that started to float off the ground. Spears and bullets bounced harmlessly off the bubbles as they floated upward, Hades roaring with such mighty rage that the entire fortress shook, undoubtedly causing an incredible earthquake at the surface.

“Look up!” Unfortunately, the thought of the surface drew the group’s gaze upward… to the massive array of spiky stalactites in the cavern roof which the group was racing toward.

“Uh, now is a really bad time to become kebabs!” Rainbow remarked.

“How do you control these things?!” Annabeth shouted.

“I don’t think you do!” Percy shouted back.

“Looks like we’re going to be permanent residents after all.” Rarity said in fear, prompting a massive wave of screams as the bubbles slammed into the ceiling and… Darkness.

For half a second, Twilight almost thought she was dead, but she still felt the racing sensation – they were still going upward, straight through the stone as easily as an air bubble in water. Then she remembered what the nereid had said when she gave them the pearls; “What belongs to the sea will always return to the sea.”

And such was the case here as the bubbles shot through the sea floor and upward to the surface of the ocean, each milky pearl safety bubble bursting with a mighty ker-blam! in the middle of the Santa Monica Bay, knocking a surfer off his board with an indignant “Dude!”

Rarity just rolled her eyes. “Sir, I am in no mood for this right now,” she remarked simply as the group swam toward a life buoy with Percy hauling Grover and Annabeth along with him.

Fluttershy squeaked in fear a bit as she saw a massive eleven-foot great white shark circling the group. “Beat it,” Percy said sternly – clearly in no mood for this – sending the shark swimming off as the surfer screamed something about bad mushrooms and paddled for his life away from the group.

As the group clung to the buoy, they all looked around. “Whew. What time is it?” Rainbow asked in exhaustion.

“Early morning, June 21st,” Percy said, not even surprised by how he somehow knew that.

“The day of the Summer Solstice,” Twilight nodded.

“Heck of a way to celebrate,” Applejack remarked as she pointed to the coast in the distance. The city was burning, plumes of smoke rising from all along the coastline.

“Man, we really ticked Hades off, didn’t we?” Pinkie grinned.

“We do tend to have that effect on gods.” Rarity nodded. “He’s probably sending an undead army after us right this moment.”

“We’ll worry about that later.” Twilight countered. “We have to get to shore and get to Olympus.”

“Right.” Percy agreed. But he clearly had another item on his agenda as well.