CHAPTER TWENTY - WE HAVE A HEART-TO-HEART

For the rest of my life, however short it might be, I never want to go to the Asphodel Fields again.

Oddly enough, it reminded me of Death Valley. Or maybe it wasn't odd at all, and Death Valley got its name from looking like an actual valley of death. Except, instead of being searing hot and covered in a thick layer of dirt, the Fields of Asphodel were dark and humid. The black grass had been trampled by eons of dead feet. A warm, moist wind blew around the fields, sometimes grabbing a spirit in its claws and making it drift away in a spiral. Instead of saguaro cacti, black poplar trees grew in clumps throughout the valley.

I tried not to pay too much attention to the stalactites jutting from the ceiling, but it was hard to ignore the ones that had fallen and impaled the ground below our feet.

We tried to blend into the crowd, keeping watch in case any security ghouls managed to track us.

As we walked through the fields, Annabeth fell into step with me. I looked over at her, an eyebrow raised in confusion, but didn't say anything.

After a minute or two, Annabeth cleared her throat and started to speak. "Listen, about what I said...back at the appliance store..." she said, awkwardly rubbing the back of her neck. "I didn't mean it like that. I know that not having a family here is difficult. But, you're not alone, you know that, right? You have a whole camp full of family waiting for you to get back from this quest."

I gave her a sad smile. "I don't even know half of their names, Annabeth. And as much as I love having a camp, a cabin to call home, they can't replace my family back in my world. They can't replace my sister." I kicked a rock at my feet, and watched it tumble across the valley, disrupting spirits.

Annabeth was quiet for a while, processing my words. Then she took a deep breath, and said, "Tell me about her."

I hesitated at first, but she nodded at me in encouragement. "Her name's Sierra. She's five years older than me. I didn't have a lot of friends when I was a kid, so she stepped up for me. It was hard though, because we were only at the same school for two years.

"When I started high school, my parents and I were moved to Arizona because of my mom's job. But Sierra was in college, in Sonoma, so we were separated. It was tough, but we were on the phone almost every day. You know she's the reason I got into college? Without her tutoring, I would've flunked out of math. That's actually the reason I'm here."

Annabeth cocked her head in confusion. "How so?" she asked.

I didn't want to tell her, to admit the reason that I was here, but she deserved to know. After all, I was going to be stuck here for a while, right? I tried to ignore Percy and Grover - who were not-so subtly listening in to our conversation from behind us - and only speak to Annabeth.

"Well, it was the last day of the semester, and I found out that I failed my trigonometry class," I sighed. Even though it'd been months since that happened, and I wasn't even in the same world, it was still embarrassing to admit. "I was distracted during the final, but I can't remember what I was distracted by. And when I got back to my apartment, I was so angry and upset with myself that there were really only two ways to calm myself down. One was calling Sierra, but she would have been so disappointed in me for failing, that I went with option two, which was reading this story." I nodded to my three friends. "Your story."

They were silent for a long time, and then Percy spoke up. "I'm sorry that she's not here with you, but you have a family here. We're your family now." He smiled at me, which I gladly returned.

I looked at Annabeth, and she nodded, smiling brightly. I felt a sense of relief wash over me. Annabeth had finally accepted me.

I let out a deep breath and then glanced up, stopping in my tracks when I remembered where we were and what we came to do. Percy wasn't paying attention and ran into me. I steadied him, and then the four of us looked up at the black tent, with a banner strung across the top that read:

JUDGEMENTS FOR ELYSIUM AND ETERNAL DAMNATION

Welcome, Newly Deceased!

From the back of the tent, two small lines filed out.

To the left, spirits flanked by security ghouls were marched down a rocky path to the Fields of Punishment, which glowed red in the distance. I could hear the screams from the tortured souls. Percy pointed out the tiny figure of Sisyphus, struggling to move his boulder to the top of a hill.

The line on the right lead to a much nicer place. There was a small valley surrounded by walls, beyond which were neighborhoods of beautiful houses from every time period. Silver and gold flowers bloomed on the lawns. The grass rippled in rainbow colors. The smell of barbeque and the sound of laughter drifted up from the various backyards.

Elysium.

In the middle of that valley was a glittering blue lake, with three small islands like a vacation resort in the Caribbean. The Isles of the Blest, for the people who had chosen to be reborn three times, and three times achieved Elysium.

I looked over at Percy, who had a wistful, dreamy smile on his face. But it wasn't like the expression he had in Medusa's lair. This time, his eyes were clear, and so was his mind. It was nice to see him like that. I hadn't seen him smile that way in a long time.

"That's what it's all about," Annabeth said. "That's the place for heroes."

We left the judgement pavilion, heading deeper into the Fields of Asphodel. If it was at all possible, it got even darker than before, which didn't make any sense, because there wasn't any sun down here. I pulled my jacket closer to my body, not enjoying the lack of sunlight. I watched as the color faded from my friends' clothes, Annabeth's hair turning gray in the gloom.

After walking for about an hour and a half, we began to hear a familiar screech in the distance. Looming on the horizon was a palace of glimmering obsidian. Above the parapets were three batlike creatures: the Furies. My hand found Percy's without my realizing it. He met my eyes, and squeezed my hand in reassurance. I got the feeling that he was thinking the same thing I was: that we were expected, and not in a good way.

"I suppose it's too late to turn back," Grover said wistfully.

Percy took a deep breath. "We'll be okay," he said. I didn't have the heart to tell him that his hand was shaking.

"Maybe we should search some of the other places first," Grover suggested. "Like, Elysium, for instance..."

"Come on, goat boy." Annabeth grabbed his arm.

Grover yelped. His shoes sprouted their magical wings and his legs shot forward, pulling him away from us. He landed on his back with a thud.

"Grover," I chided. "This isn't the time for games."

"But I didn't—"

He yelped again. His shoes levitated off of the ground and started dragging him downhill.

"Maia!" he yelled, but nothing happened. "Maia, already! Nine-one-one! Help!"

Percy lunged forward and tried to grab Grover, but he was just out of reach. He was picking up speed, bouncing up and down on the gravel.

We ran after him.

Annabeth shouted, "Untie the shoes!"

Grover tried to sit up and reach the laces, but it was hard when your shoes are pulling you along, feet first.

It looked like Grover was heading to the gates of Hades's palace, but at the last minute, his shoes veered sharply to the right and started dragging him in the opposite direction.

The slope got steeper, and the air got colder and darker.

"Grover!" Percy yelled. "Hold on to something!"

"What?" Grover shouted back. He started to grab at the gravel, but there was nothing big enough to slow him down.

I started shivering from the cold, and from something else too. There was a breath of evil about this place. It made me think of things I shouldn't even know about—awful, gruesome things.

When we saw what was ahead of us, Percy and I stopped in our tracks.

We were headed straight towards a chasm the size of a city block, and Grover was sliding right down to the edge.

"Come on, you two!" Annabeth yelled, tugging Percy's wrist.

"But that's—"

"I know! It's the place you described in your dreams! But Grover's going to fall if we don't catch him."

That jarred Percy enough to get moving again, pulling me along with him. The last thing I wanted to do was go near that pit, but my friend was in danger.

Grover was almost lost, if it wasn't for his hooves.

The flying shoes were always a little loose on him, and finally he hit a large rock and the left shoe flew off. It sped into the darkness, down into the chasm. The right shoe kept tugging him along, but not as fast. Grover was able to latch onto the rock and use it like an anchor.

He was less than ten feet from the edge of the pit when we caught up to him and hauled him back up the slope. The right shoe came off in the process, circled around our heads and kicked us in protest, and then flew down into the pit to join its twin.

We collapsed on the obsidian gravel. My legs were shaking from exhaustion. Percy pulled his backpack off of his shoulders and rubbed his neck.

Grover had it worse than the rest of us. His hands were bleeding from trying to slow his fall. I reached into the front pocket of my pack and brought out a small role of gauze (thank you, Apollo) and started treating his hands.

"I don't know how..." he panted. "I didn't..."

"Wait," Percy cut him off. "Listen."

I finished wrapping up Grover's hands and strained my ears. I didn't hear anything at first except my own heartbeat, but then I caught it—a deep whisper in the darkness.

Annabeth said, "Percy, this place—"

"Shh," I cut her off, and stood up with Percy.

The sound was getting louder, resonating in our bones. It was coming from the pit.

Grover sat up. "Wh—what's that noise?"

I looked at Annabeth, eyes wide with fear. She heard it now, too. I could tell she was thinking the same thing I was. "Tartarus. The entrance to Tartarus."

Percy uncapped Anaklusmos, and I activated my bow. When our weapons expanded, the evil voice seemed to falter, just for a moment, before resuming its chant.

"I know that voice," I murmured. "That's the voice in the dreams."

Percy nodded in agreement.

I listened harder to what the voice was saying. I could almost make out the words now, ancient words, and more dangerous.

"Magic," Percy gasped.

"We have to get out of here," Annabeth said.

She and Percy dragged Grover to his hooves and started back up the tunnel, me taking up the rear. It was slow, too slow. The voice got louder and angrier behind us, and we broke into a run.

A cold blast of wind pulled at our backs, like the entire pit was inhaling. I took a wrong step and my shoe slipped from the gravel. I fell, face first, the wind knocked out of me.

The wind got stronger, and I felt myself being pulled back down the slope.

"Percy!" I shouted, my voice cracking in panic.

My best friend turned, and when he saw me, his eyes went wide. "Avalon!"

He reached out a hand, but I was too far away to grab it. In a desperate attempt, I swung my bow forward. His hand wrapped around the top of my bow, and he pulled with all of his strength.

After that, I can't really explain what happened. It was like the wind faltered. The suction lessened, just enough for Percy to pull me to my feet and out of the tunnel, which Annabeth and Grover were just reaching the edge of. When we burst into the Fields of Asphodel, the wind died completely. A wail of outrage echoed from deep in the tunnel, but something wasn't right. There was a shred of falsity to it.

However, at that moment, I didn't really care. We collapsed in a poplar grove, away from prying eyes, and, more importantly, the tunnel.

"What was that?" Grover panted. "One of Hades's pets?"

Percy and Annabeth shared a look, and then they both looked at me. I could see in their eyes that they were thinking the same thing - that I knew what was in there. I focused on Annabeth, who's eyes held a silent question: Is it what I think it is?

I nodded, barely, thankful that the Fates let me have this one. She sucked in a breath, her eyes swimming with terror. Percy looked back and forth between us, afraid to ask.

After a minute or two, he decided against asking. His eyes scanned my body for any visible injuries. "Are you okay? What happened?"

I took a shaky breath. "I tripped. My foot slipped on the gravel." I deactivated my bow, and gave Percy a quick hug. "That's the third time you've saved my life in as many months. Thank you, Perce."

"You would do the same for me." He capped his sword, and put the pen back into his pocket. "Let's keep going." He turned to Grover, and helped him stand up. "Can you walk?"

Grover swallowed. "Yeah, sure. I never liked those shoes, anyway."

He tried to sound brave for our sakes, but he was trembling, as badly as the rest of us. I put a hand on his shoulder, and we all looked towards the black palace on the horizon, less than eager to meet it's occupant.