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!"
LIV.
ANNABETH.
NYX 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 G.o.d 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 G.o.ddess of strife. More kept appearing: dozens of demons and minor G.o.ds, each one the sp.a.w.n 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 sc.r.a.pbook, 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 sc.r.a.pbook! 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 G.o.ddess 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 G.o.ddess 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. .h.i.tting 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 demiG.o.ds 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.
LV.
ANNABETH.
AFTER THEIR FALL INTO TARTARUS, 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.
(a.s.suming her birthday, July 12, had pa.s.sed while she was in Tartarus, but, honestly, she had no idea.) BA-BOOM.
Died of ma.s.sive 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, a.s.suming 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 s.p.a.ces, 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.
LVI.
ANNABETH.
"ANNABETH!" PERCY PULLED HER BACK just as her foot hit the edge of a drop. She almost pitched forward into who-knew-what, but Percy grabbed her and wrapped her in his arms.
"It"s okay," he promised.
She pressed her face into his shirt and kept her eyes closed tight. She was trembling, but not just from fear. Percy"s embrace was so warm and comforting she wanted to stay there forever, safe and protected ... but that wasn"t reality. She couldn"t afford to relax. She couldn"t lean on Percy any more than she had to. He needed her, too.