Nothing Like Making a Good First Impression on Your Father's Family
"Are you okay?" Percy asked while holding Harry up, who was completely exhausted, without even a single trace of magic left, making his body feel completely limp, barely conscious.
Tired both mentally and physically.
Though Percy wasn't doing much better either, since he had taken all the physical damage.
Luckily, his training made him pretty resistant.
But from the slight trembling in his legs, he was also about to collapse, only holding on because he was keeping Harry from falling.
"I'm fine. How about next time we switch places? You use the magic and I use the sword," Harry said with an amused smile.
Percy, hearing that, couldn't hold it in either and started laughing just imagining it.
Annabeth let out a tired sigh while the three of them took the chance to rest for a few moments, watching Grover run after the biting Chinese cabbages to shove them back into his bag of seeds and plants.
When Grover managed to stuff the last Chinese cabbage back inside, he wiped the sweat off his forehead while giving his friends a somewhat betrayed look. They practically looked like tourists relaxing on a beach.
Just with more corpses around them.
And everything felt even gloomier because of the lack of a sun above their heads.
Not to mention the massive pit leading into Tartarus.
Grover looked inside his bag of seeds and plants with a surprised expression while walking back toward the others.
"Ah, how dumb. There was still one plant I didn't use," he said while reaching in and pulling on a stem.
The moment the leaves appeared, Harry, who had recovered quite a bit thanks to the rest, recognized the plant and widened his eyes.
Harry even opened his mouth to warn him, but unfortunately for him, Grover was faster and pulled the plant out completely in one go.
Instantly, a tuber with a humanoid shape, almost resembling the most horrifying baby they had ever seen, barely emerged from the bag before immediately opening its mouth and...
"SCREEEEEECH!"
A shrill scream burst out, more like a demonic baby turned into a plant, forcing all of them to cover their ears desperately trying to block out the sound stabbing directly into their brains, as if the noise wanted to turn their neurons into soup.
Luckily, Grover reacted quickly and shoved the plant back into the bag immediately.
The scream didn't even last a full second, but surely nobody wanted to hear it again.
"What the hell did Professor Sprout give you?" Percy couldn't help saying while the ringing still echoed inside his brain.
But Grover, as the one who had held the plant directly, was half deaf right now massaging his head.
"It's a mandrake. And it's used to return petrified people back to normal. But it's also really dangerous because its scream is fatal to whoever hears it. Though this one still hasn't matured yet, so it only stuns. We're supposed to study them in second year Herbology," Harry explained, blinking repeatedly while trying to shake off his own dizziness too.
"Wow… that sounded completely like something Hermione would say," Percy couldn't help adding after his brother's explanation.
"Fatal? What kind of school do you guys even go to?" Annabeth couldn't help asking with a shocked expression.
Harry and Percy exchanged a look and thought about the year they had spent at Hogwarts.
The troll attack.
A magical stone that grants immortality hidden behind a three headed dog and magical puzzles.
A teacher possessed by an entity from the past.
But if you compared all of that to the adventure they had gone through just to get here…
"A completely normal magic school," both of them said at the exact same time.
Annabeth gave them a look, clearly not believing that at all.
Besides, according to her understanding, school and magic weren't even things that belonged together.
But unless she saw it with her own eyes, she would keep doubting it.
Harry and Percy, now feeling much more refreshed, stood back up ready to head toward Hades' castle and finish this damn adventure once and for all.
"By the way, who's Hermione? I think you've mentioned her several times," Annabeth asked with slight interest.
"Oh, she's a friend we made at Hogwarts and probably the smartest girl we know," Percy said casually while they walked through the gray sand desert.
"The smartest?" Annabeth asked with one eyebrow raised while staring directly at him.
Harry walked right beside Grover. Both of them seemed to know perfectly well what was coming.
"Yep," Percy answered calmly.
"Oh really?" Annabeth said again, this time in a somewhat different tone.
But Percy didn't seem to notice.
As they walked through the gray desert, Harry and Grover did their best to ignore the argument.
"Hey, did you know you can use mandrake leaves to become an Animagus?" Harry said while trying to start a conversation with Grover so he wouldn't have to listen to Percy and Annabeth arguing during the walk.
"Tell me more," Grover said while moving closer with curiosity.
…
Hades' castle wasn't hard to find.
After crossing the desert, they saw in the distance what looked like a massive fortress with enormous walls, while the three Furies flew overhead.
Harry and Percy clearly felt one of them staring directly at them the entire time, never taking its eyes off them until they passed through gigantic polished bronze gates standing wide open.
The gates themselves had scenes of death engraved into them.
Some from modern times.
Like an atomic bomb exploding over a city.
A trench full of soldiers wearing gas masks.
And villages suffering through famine while people waited for something to eat, holding empty wooden bowls.
The strange part was that the images were modern, but they looked as if they had been carved hundreds or maybe even thousands of years ago.
The moment they crossed the gates, both Percy's and Harry's attention immediately focused on one of the strangest flower gardens they had ever seen in their lives.
Or at least in real life.
Because Harry felt like he had already seen that garden in his dreams.
Yeah.
Percy had the same feeling.
"This is Persephone's garden," Annabeth said while looking at the pomegranate trees, which glowed faintly as if tempting anyone to take a bite. "We should hurry. It's almost time," she added.
Meanwhile Percy and Harry both grabbed Grover by the arms, because he had been getting way too close to the largest pomegranate.
Because if the legends were true, taking even a single bite would leave you trapped in the Underworld forever.
After passing through the garden, they crossed the palace portico and climbed the staircase without stopping.
There also wasn't anyone trying to stop them.
And every door was open.
Everything made it clear they were expected.
The moment they entered Hades' home, they noticed two striking things.
The first was the floor, which was also made of polished bronze, reflecting the torchlight all around them.
And the second thing was the ceiling.
Or rather, the lack of one.
Though in the Underworld, a roof probably wasn't much of a priority.
Which most likely made rainy seasons a lot less problematic.
Inside, they could see guards protecting some of the doors, from which dark and ominous auras leaked out, making it very clear it was better not to wonder what was hidden behind them.
And above all, none of the guards, who consisted of skeletons and security demons, seemed to have anything to say to them.
They only watched them slightly with empty eye sockets or black eyes as they walked past.
Though the security demons especially seemed to look at them with obvious curiosity.
Like gazes that gave the feeling they knew exactly what had happened to their boss.
Eventually, after the long walk, they arrived before enormous dark doors guarded by two skeletal marines carrying grenade launchers, clearly meant to stop anyone trying to enter.
Or at least they should've been.
Because the moment they saw the four of them arrive, they simply stepped aside with a nod that resembled a greeting, and the doors swung open to let them pass.
Or rather, the feeling was more like someone on the other side of those doors couldn't wait any longer.
The four exchanged looks, unable to stop themselves from feeling nervous.
Because their encounters with gods so far had definitely not been what anyone would expect.
And the one who had left the strongest impression until now was Ares, the god of war.
And not a good one, obviously.
Even so, the four of them gathered their courage and crossed the doors, finally prepared to meet the god of death and ruler of the Underworld.
One of the Big Three.
And the moment they crossed through the doorway, they saw him sitting on a gigantic throne made from fused bones, easily towering seven or eight meters high.
And seated there, as if bored from waiting, Hades stared directly at them.
One arm rested against the armrest of the enormous throne of bones while he held his chin with one hand.
His body was over three meters tall, easily making him the tallest person they had ever seen.
Even Hagrid looked small in comparison.
His dark hair fell to his shoulders.
And his skin was so pale it looked like it had never seen sunlight.
Calling him attractive almost felt like an understatement. The type of gloomy man more than one girl would completely lose her mind over.
And there was an icy calmness around him that made their bones tremble.
Not one of them doubted for even a second that they were standing before a true god.
With an aura that felt more divine than Ares, Hephaestus, and Thanatos combined.
And that the person sitting there was a supreme king.
Or at least the supreme king of souls, including theirs the moment they died.
"I've been waiting for you. You took your time," Hades said in a lively yet alert tone, carrying himself like a panther about to leap onto its prey.
He observed Harry for a few seconds before slowly shifting his gaze toward Harry's forehead while frowning slightly.
But a pair of green eyes staring at him with great interest right beside Harry caught his attention.
Percy couldn't stop narrowing his eyes while looking at him, trying to remember why all of this felt so familiar.
Hades held his gaze directly.
Causing a heavy silence to settle over the room.
Percy was the first to break it.
"To be honest, I always thought your hair would be blue fire and that you'd look more creepy," he said, unable to help himself.
Harry slowly closed his eyes while smacking his own forehead.
At the same time Grover and Annabeth turned as pale as ghosts.
Grover was already seeing his future as the Underworld's newest permanent resident.
"And I thought that after being chased by Cerberus in your dreams so many times, you would've learned to think before speaking. But it seems that, just like you, I was mistaken," Hades said while his expression darkened.