The House of Hades (Heroes of Olympus Book 4) (31 page)

A
NNABETH HAD NEVER BEEN SCARED OF THE DARK.

But normally the dark wasn’t forty feet tall. It didn’t have black wings, a whip made out of stars and a shadowy chariot pulled by vampire horses.

Nyx
was almost too much to take in. Looming over the chasm, she was a churning figure of ash and smoke, as big as the Athena Parthenos statue, but very much alive. Her dress was void black, mixed with the colours of a space nebula, as if galaxies were being born in her bodice. Her face was hard to see except for the pinpoints of her eyes, which shone like quasars. When her wings beat, waves of darkness rolled over the cliffs, making Annabeth feel heavy and sleepy, her eyesight dim.

The goddess’s chariot was made of the same material as Nico di Angelo’s sword – Stygian iron – pulled by two massive horses, all black except for their pointed silver fangs. The
beasts’ legs floated in the abyss, turning from solid to smoke as they moved.

The horses snarled and bared their fangs at Annabeth. The goddess lashed her whip – a thin streak of stars like diamond barbs – and the horses reared back.

‘No, Shade,’ the goddess said. ‘Down, Shadow. These little prizes are not for you.’

Percy eyed the horses as they nickered. He was still shrouded in Death Mist, so he looked like an out-of-focus corpse – which broke Annabeth’s heart every time she saw him. It also must not have been very good camouflage, since Nyx could obviously see them.

Annabeth couldn’t read the expression on Percy’s ghoulish face very well. Apparently he didn’t like whatever the horses were saying.

‘Uh, so you won’t let them eat us?’ he asked the goddess. ‘They really want to eat us.’

Nyx’s quasar eyes burned. ‘Of course not. I would not let my horses eat you, any more than I would let Akhlys kill you. Such fine prizes, I will kill myself!’

Annabeth didn’t feel particularly witty or courageous, but her instincts told her to take the initiative or this would be a very short conversation.

‘Oh, don’t kill yourself!’ she cried. ‘We’re not
that
scary.’

The goddess lowered her whip. ‘What? No, I didn’t mean –’

‘Well, I’d hope not!’ Annabeth looked at Percy and forced a laugh. ‘We wouldn’t want to scare her, would we?’

‘Ha, ha,’ Percy said weakly. ‘No, we wouldn’t.’

The vampire horses looked confused. They reared and snorted and knocked their dark heads together. Nyx pulled back on the reins.

‘Do you know who I am?’ she demanded.

‘Well, you’re Night, I suppose,’ said Annabeth. ‘I mean, I can tell because you’re
dark
and everything, though the brochure didn’t say much about you.’

Nyx’s eyes winked out for a moment. ‘What brochure?’

Annabeth patted her pockets. ‘We had one, didn’t we?’

Percy licked his lips. ‘Uh-huh.’ He was still watching the horses, his hand tight on his sword hilt, but he was smart enough to follow Annabeth’s lead. Now she just had to hope she wasn’t making things worse … though, honestly, she didn’t see how things
could
be worse.

‘Anyway,’ she said, ‘I guess the brochure didn’t say much because you weren’t spotlighted on the tour. We got to see the River Phlegethon, the Cocytus, the
arai
, the poison glade of Akhlys, even some random Titans and giants, but Nyx … hmm, no, you weren’t really featured.’

‘
Featured? Spotlighted?
’

‘Yeah,’ Percy said, warming up to the idea. ‘We came down here for the Tartarus tour – like, exotic destinations, you know? The Underworld is overdone. Mount Olympus is a tourist trap –’

‘Gods, totally!’ Annabeth agreed. ‘So we booked the Tartarus excursion, but no one even mentioned we’d run into Nyx. Huh. Oh, well. Guess they didn’t think you were important.’

‘Not important!’ Nyx cracked her whip. Her horses bucked and snapped their silvery fangs. Waves of darkness rolled out of the chasm, turning Annabeth’s insides to jelly, but she couldn’t show her fear.

She pushed down Percy’s sword arm, forcing him to lower his weapon. This was a goddess beyond anything they had ever faced. Nyx was older than any Olympian or Titan or giant, older even than Gaia. She couldn’t be defeated by two demigods – at least not two demigods using
force
.

Annabeth made herself look at the goddess’s massive dark face.

‘Well, how many other demigods have come to see you on the tour?’ she asked innocently.

Nyx’s hand went slack on the reins. ‘None. Not one. This is unacceptable!’

Annabeth shrugged. ‘Maybe it’s because you haven’t really
done
anything to get in the news. I mean, I can understand Tartarus being important! This whole place is named after him. Or if we could meet Day –’

‘Oh, yeah,’ Percy chimed in. ‘Day? She would be impressive. I’d totally want to meet her. Maybe get her autograph.’

‘Day!’ Nyx gripped the rail of her black chariot. The whole vehicle shuddered. ‘You mean
Hemera
? She is my daughter! Night is much more powerful than Day!’

‘Eh,’ said Annabeth. ‘I liked the
arai
, or even Akhlys better.’

‘They are my children as well!’

Percy stifled a yawn. ‘Got a lot of children, huh?’

‘I am the mother of all terrors!’ Nyx cried. ‘The Fates themselves! Hecate! Old Age! Pain! Sleep! Death! And all of the curses! Behold how newsworthy I am!’

N
YX LASHED HER WHIP AGAIN.
The darkness congealed around her. On either side, an army of shadows appeared – more dark-winged
arai
, which Annabeth was not thrilled to see; a withered man who must have been
Geras
, the god of old age; and a younger woman in a black toga, her eyes gleaming and her smile like a serial killer’s – no doubt
Eris
, the goddess of strife. More kept appearing: dozens of demons and minor gods, each one the spawn of Night.

Annabeth wanted to run. She was facing a brood of horrors that could snap anyone’s sanity. But if she ran she would die.

Next to her, Percy’s breathing turned shallow. Even through his misty ghoul disguise, Annabeth could tell he was on the verge of panic. She had to stand her ground for both of them.

I am a daughter of Athena, she thought. I control my own mind.

She imagined a mental frame around what see was seeing. She told herself it was just a movie – a scary movie, sure, but
it could not hurt her. She was in control.

‘Yeah, not bad,’ she admitted. ‘I guess we could get one picture for the scrapbook, but I don’t know. You guys are so … 
dark
. Even if I used a flash, I’m not sure it would come out.’

‘Y-yeah,’ Percy managed. ‘You guys aren’t photogenic.’

‘You – miserable – tourists!’ Nyx hissed. ‘How dare you not tremble before me! How dare you not whimper and beg for my autograph and a picture for your scrapbook! You want
newsworthy
? My son Hypnos once put Zeus to sleep! When Zeus pursued him across the earth, bent on vengeance, Hypnos hid in
my
palace for safety, and Zeus did not follow. Even the king of Olympus fears me!’

‘Uh-huh.’ Annabeth turned to Percy. ‘Well, it’s getting late. We should probably get lunch at one of those restaurants the tour guide recommended. Then we can find the Doors of Death.’

‘Aha!’ Nyx cried in triumph. Her brood of shadows stirred and echoed: ‘Aha! Aha!’

‘You wish to see the Doors of Death?’ Nyx asked. ‘They lie at the very heart of Tartarus. Mortals such as you could never reach them, except through the halls of my palace – the
Mansion of Night
!’

She gestured behind her. Floating in the abyss, maybe three hundred feet below, was a doorway of black marble, leading into some sort of large room.

Annabeth’s heart pounded so strongly she felt it in her toes. That was the way forward – but it was so far down, an
impossible jump. If they missed, they would fall into Chaos and be scattered into nothingness – a final death with no do-over. Even if they could make the jump, the goddess of Night and her most fearsome children stood in their way.

With a jolt, Annabeth realized what needed to happen. Like everything she’d ever done, it was a long shot. In a way, that calmed her down. A crazy idea in the face of death?

Okay
, her body seemed to say, relaxing.
This is familiar territory.

She managed a bored sigh. ‘I suppose we could do one picture, but a group shot won’t work. Nyx, how about one of you with your favourite child? Which one is that?’

The brood rustled. Dozens of horrible glowing eyes turned towards Nyx.

The goddess shifted uncomfortably, as if her chariot were heating up under her feet. Her shadow horses huffed and pawed at the void.

‘My favourite child?’ she asked. ‘
All
my children are terrifying!’

Percy snorted. ‘Seriously? I’ve met the Fates. I’ve met Thanatos. They weren’t so scary. You’ve got to have somebody in this crowd who’s worse than that.’

‘The darkest,’ Annabeth said. ‘The most like you.’

‘I am the darkest,’ hissed Eris. ‘Wars and strife! I have caused all manner of death!’

‘I am darker still!’ snarled Geras. ‘I dim the eyes and addle the brain. Every mortal fears old age!’

‘Yeah, yeah,’ Annabeth said, trying to ignore her chattering
teeth. ‘I’m not seeing enough dark. I mean, you’re the children of Night! Show me dark!’

The horde of
arai
wailed, flapping their leathery wings and stirring up clouds of blackness. Geras spread his withered hands and dimmed the entire abyss. Eris breathed a shadowy spray of buckshot across the void.

‘I am the darkest!’ hissed one of the demons.

‘No, I!’

‘No! Behold my darkness!’

If a thousand giant octopuses had squirted ink at the same time, at the bottom of the deepest, most sunless ocean trench, it could not have been blacker. Annabeth might as well have been blind. She gripped Percy’s hand and steeled her nerves.

‘Wait!’ Nyx called, suddenly panicked. ‘I can’t see anything.’

‘Yes!’ shouted one of her children proudly. ‘I did that!’

‘No, I did!’

‘Fool, it was me!’

Dozens of voices argued in the darkness.

The horses whinnied in alarm.

‘Stop it!’ Nyx yelled. ‘Whose foot is that?’

‘Eris is hitting me!’ cried someone. ‘Mother, tell her to stop hitting me!’

‘I did
not!
’ yelled Eris. ‘Ouch!’

The sounds of scuffling got louder. If possible, the darkness became even deeper. Annabeth’s eyes dilated so much, they felt like they were being pulled out of their sockets.

She squeezed Percy’s hand. ‘Ready?’

‘For what?’ After a pause, he grunted unhappily. ‘Poseidon’s underpants, you can’t be serious.’

‘Somebody give me light!’ Nyx screamed. ‘Gah! I can’t believe I just said that!’

‘It’s a trick!’ Eris yelled. ‘The demigods are escaping!’

‘I’ve got them,’ screamed an
arai
.

‘No, that’s my neck!’ Geras gagged.

‘Jump!’ Annabeth told Percy.

They leaped into the darkness, aiming for the doorway far, far below.

A
FTER THEIR FALL INTO
T
ARTARUS,
jumping three hundred feet to the Mansion of Night should have felt quick.

Instead, Annabeth’s heart seemed to slow down. Between the beats she had ample time to write her own obituary.

Annabeth Chase, died age 17.

BA-BOOM.

(Assuming her birthday, July 12, had passed while she was in Tartarus, but, honestly, she had no idea.)

BA-BOOM.

Died of massive injuries while leaping like an idiot into the abyss of Chaos and splattering on the entry hall floor of Nyx’s mansion.

BA-BOOM.

Survived by her father, stepmother and two stepbrothers who barely knew her.

BA-BOOM.

In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Camp Half-Blood, assuming Gaia hasn’t already destroyed it.

Her feet hit solid floor. Pain shot up her legs, but she stumbled forward and broke into a run, hauling Percy after her.

Above them in the dark, Nyx and her children scuffled and yelled, ‘I’ve got them! My foot! Stop it!’

Annabeth kept running. She couldn’t see anyway, so she closed her eyes. She used her other senses – listening for the echo of open spaces, feeling for cross-breezes against her face, sniffing for any scent of danger – smoke or poison or the stench of demons.

It wasn’t the first time she’d plunged through darkness. She imagined she was back in the tunnels under Rome, searching out the Athena Parthenos. In retrospect, her journey to Arachne’s cavern seemed like a trip to Disneyland.

The squabbling sounds of Nyx’s children got further away. That was good. Percy was still running at her side, holding her hand. Also good.

In the distance ahead of them, Annabeth began to hear a throbbing sound, like her own heartbeat echoing back, amplified so powerfully the floor vibrated underfoot. The sound filled her with dread, so she figured it must be the right way to go. She ran towards it.

As the beat got louder, she smelled smoke and heard the flickering of torches on either side. She guessed there would be light, but a crawling sensation across her neck warned her it would be a mistake to open her eyes.

‘Don’t look,’ she told Percy.

‘Wasn’t planning on it,’ he said. ‘You can feel that, right? We’re still in the Mansion of Night. I do
not
want to see it.’

Smart boy, Annabeth thought. She used to tease Percy for being dumb, but in truth his instincts were usually right on target.

Whatever horrors lay in the Mansion of Night, they weren’t meant for mortal eyes. Seeing them would be worse than staring at the face of Medusa. Better to run in darkness.

The throbbing got louder still, sending vibrations straight up Annabeth’s spine. It felt like someone was knocking on the bottom of the world, demanding to be let in. She sensed the walls opening up on either side of them. The air smelled fresher – or at least not quite as sulphurous. There was another sound, too, closer than the deep pulsing … the sound of flowing water.

Annabeth’s heart raced. She knew the exit was close. If they could make it out of the Mansion of Night, maybe they could leave the dark brood of demons behind.

She began to run faster, which would have led to her death if Percy hadn’t stopped her.