The House of Hades(Heroes of Olympus, Book 4)

LEO



LEO THOUGHT HE’D BEEN BUSY BEFORE. When Calypso set her mind to something, she was a machine.

Within a day, she’d gathered enough supplies for a weeklong voyage – food, flasks of water, herbal medicines from her garden. She wove a sail big enough for a small yacht and made enough rope for all the rigging.

She got so much done that by the second day she asked Leo if he needed any help with his own project.

He looked up from the circuit board that was slowly coming together. ‘If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were anxious to get rid of me.’

‘That’s a bonus,’ she admitted. She was dressed for work in a pair of jeans and a grubby white T-shirt. When he asked her about the wardrobe change, she claimed she had realized how practical these clothes were after making some for Leo.

In the blue jeans, she didn’t look much like a goddess. Her T-shirt was covered with grass and dirt stains, like she’d just run through a swirling Gaia. Her feet were bare. Her cinnamon-toast hair was tied back, which made her almond eyes look even larger and more startling. Her hands were calloused and blistered from working with rope.

Looking at her, Leo felt a tugging in his stomach that he couldn’t quite explain.

‘So?’ she prompted.

‘So … what?’

She nodded at the circuitry. ‘So can I help? How is it coming on?’

‘Oh, uh, I’m good here. I guess. If I can wire this thing up to the boat, I should be able to navigate back to the world.’

‘Now all you need is a boat.’

He tried to read her expression. He wasn’t sure if she was annoyed that he was still here or wistful that she wasn’t leaving too. Then he looked at all the supplies she’d stacked up – easily enough for two people for several days.

‘What Gaia said …’ He hesitated. ‘About you getting off this island. Would you want to try it?’

She scowled. ‘What do you mean?’

‘Well … I’m not saying it would be fun having you along, always complaining and glaring at me and stuff. But I suppose I could stand it, if you wanted to try.’

Her expression softened just a little.

‘How noble,’ she muttered. ‘But no, Leo. If I tried to come with you, your tiny chance of escape would be no chance at all. The gods have placed ancient magic on this island to keep me here. A hero can leave. I cannot. The most important thing is getting you free so you can stop Gaia. Not that I care what happens to you,’ she added quickly. ‘But the world’s fate is at stake.’

‘Why would you care about that?’ he asked. ‘I mean, after being away from the world for so long?’

She arched her eyebrows, as if surprised that he’d asked a sensible question. ‘I suppose I don’t like being told what to do – by Gaia or anyone else. As much as I hate the gods sometimes, over the past three millennia I’ve come to see that they’re better than the Titans. They’re definitely better than the giants. At least the gods kept in touch. Hermes has always been kind to me. And your father, Hephaestus, has often visited. He is a good person.’

Leo wasn’t sure what to make of her faraway tone. She almost sounded like she was pondering his worth, not his dad’s.

She reached out and closed his mouth. He hadn’t realized it was hanging open.

‘Now,’ Calypso said, ‘how can I help?’

‘Oh.’ He stared down at his project, but when he spoke he blurted out an idea that had been forming ever since Calypso had made his new clothes. ‘You know that flameproof cloth? You think you could make me a little bag of that fabric?’

He described the dimensions. Calypso waved her hand impatiently. ‘That will only take minutes. Will it help on your quest?’

‘Yeah. It might save a life. And, um, could you chip off a little piece of crystal from your cave? I don’t need much.’

She frowned. ‘That’s an odd request.’

‘Humour me.’

‘All right. Consider it done. I’ll make the fireproof pouch tonight at the loom, when I’ve cleaned up. But what can I do now, while my hands are dirty?’

She held up her calloused, grimy fingers. Leo couldn’t help thinking there was nothing hotter than a girl who didn’t mind getting her hands dirty. But of course that was just a general comment. Didn’t apply to Calypso. Obviously.

‘Well,’ he said, ‘you could twist some more bronze coils. But that’s kind of specialized –’

She pushed in next to him on the bench and began to work, her hands braiding the bronze wiring faster than he could have. ‘Just like weaving,’ she said. ‘This isn’t so hard.’

‘Huh,’ Leo said. ‘Well, if you ever get off this island and want a job, let me know. You’re not a total klutz.’

She smirked. ‘A job, eh? Making things in your forge?’

‘Nah, we could start our own shop,’ Leo said, surprising himself. Starting a machine shop had always been one of his dreams, but he’d never told anyone about it. ‘Leo and Calypso’s Garage: Auto Repair and Mechanical Monsters.’

‘Fresh fruits and vegetables,’ Calypso offered.

‘Lemonade and stew,’ Leo added. ‘We could even provide entertainment. You could sing and I could, like, randomly burst into flames.’

Calypso laughed – a clear, happy sound that made Leo’s heart go ka-bump.

‘See,’ he said, ‘I’m funny.’

She managed to kill her smile. ‘You are not funny. Now, get back to work, or no lemonade and stew.’

‘Yes, ma’am,’ he said. They worked in silence, side by side, for the rest of the afternoon.

Two nights later, the guidance console was finished.

Leo and Calypso sat on the beach, near the spot where Leo had destroyed the dining table, and they ate a picnic dinner together. The full moon turned the waves to silver. Their campfire sent orange sparks into the sky. Calypso wore a fresh white shirt and her jeans, which she’d apparently decided to live in.

Behind them in the dunes, the supplies were carefully packed and ready to go.

‘All we need now is a boat,’ Calypso said.

Leo nodded. He tried not to linger on the word we. Calypso had made it clear she wasn’t going.

‘I can start chopping wood into boards tomorrow,’ Leo said. ‘Few days, we’ll have enough for a small hull.’

‘You’ve made a ship before,’ Calypso remembered. ‘Your Argo II.’

Leo nodded. He thought about all those months he’d spent creating the Argo II. Somehow, making a boat to sail from Ogygia seemed like a more daunting task.

‘So how long until you sail?’ Calypso’s tone was light, but she didn’t meet his eyes.

‘Uh, not sure. Another week?’ For some reason, saying that made Leo feel less agitated. When he had got here, he couldn’t wait to leave. Now, he was glad he had a few more days. Weird.

Calypso ran her fingers across the completed circuit board. ‘This took so long to make.’

‘You can’t rush perfection.’

A smile tugged at the edge of her mouth. ‘Yes, but will it work?’

‘Getting out, no problem,’ Leo said. ‘But to get back I’ll need Festus and –’

‘What?’

Leo blinked. ‘Festus. My bronze dragon. Once I figure out how to rebuild him, I’ll –’

‘You told me about Festus,’ Calypso said. ‘But what do you mean get back?’

Leo grinned nervously. ‘Well … to get back here, duh. I’m sure I said that.’

‘You most definitely did not.’

‘I’m not gonna leave you here! After you helped me and everything? Of course I’m coming back. Once I rebuild Festus, he’ll be able to handle an improved guidance system. There’s this astrolabe that I, uh …’ He stopped, deciding it was best not to mention that it had been built by one of Calypso’s old flames. ‘… that I found in Bologna. Anyway, I think with that crystal you gave me –’

‘You can’t come back,’ Calypso insisted.

Leo’s heart went clunk. ‘Because I’m not welcome?’

‘Because you can’t. It’s impossible. No man finds Ogygia twice. That is the rule.’

Leo rolled his eyes. ‘Yeah, well, you might’ve noticed I’m not good at following rules. I’m coming back here with my dragon, and we’ll spring you. Take you wherever you want to go. It’s only fair.’

‘Fair …’ Calypso’s voice was barely audible.

In the firelight, her eyes looked so sad, Leo couldn’t stand it. Did she think he was lying to her just to make her feel better? He considered it a given that he would come back and free her from this island. How could he not?

‘You didn’t really think I could start Leo and Calypso’s Auto Repair without Calypso, did you?’ he asked. ‘I can’t make lemonade and stew, and I sure can’t sing.’

She stared at the sand.

‘Well, anyway,’ Leo said, ‘tomorrow I’ll start on the lumber. And in a few days …’

He looked out over the water. Something was bobbing on the waves. Leo watched in disbelief as a large wooden raft floated in on the tide and slid to a stop on the beach.

Leo was too dazed to move, but Calypso sprang to her feet.

‘Hurry!’ She sprinted across the beach, grabbed some supply bags and ran them to the raft. ‘I don’t know how long it will stay!’

‘But …’ Leo stood. His legs felt like they’d turned to rock. He had just convinced himself he had another week on Ogygia. Now he didn’t have time to finish dinner. ‘That’s the magic raft?’

‘Duh!’ Calypso yelled. ‘It might work like it’s supposed to and take you where you want to go. But we can’t be sure. The island’s magic is obviously unstable. You must rig up your guidance device to navigate.’

She snatched up the console and ran towards the raft, which got Leo moving. He helped her fasten it to the raft and run wires to the small rudder in the back. The raft was already fitted with a mast, so Leo and Calypso hauled their sail aboard and started on the rigging.

They worked side by side in perfect harmony. Even among the Hephaestus campers, Leo had never worked with anyone as intuitive as this immortal gardener girl. In no time, they had the sail in place and all the supplies aboard. Leo hit the buttons on the Archimedes sphere, muttered a prayer to his dad, Hephaestus, and the Celestial bronze console hummed to life.

The rigging tightened. The sail turned. The raft began scraping against the sand, straining to reach the waves.

‘Go,’ Calypso said.

Leo turned. She was so close he couldn’t stand it. She smelled like cinnamon and wood smoke, and he thought he’d never smell anything that good again.

‘The raft finally got here,’ he said.

Calypso snorted. Her eyes might have been red, but it was hard to tell in the moonlight. ‘You just noticed?’

‘But if it only shows up for guys you like –’

‘Don’t push your luck, Leo Valdez,’ she said. ‘I still hate you.’

‘Okay.’

‘And you are not coming back here,’ she insisted. ‘So don’t give me any empty promises.’

‘How about a full promise?’ he said. ‘Because I’m definitely –’

She grabbed his face and pulled him into a kiss, which effectively shut him up.

For all his joking and flirting, Leo had never kissed a girl before. Well, sisterly pecks on the cheek from Piper, but that didn’t count. This was a real, full-contact kiss. If Leo had had gears and wires in his brain, they would’ve short-circuited.

Calypso pushed him away. ‘That didn’t happen.’

‘Okay.’ His voice sounded an octave higher than usual.

‘Get out of here.’

‘Okay.’

She turned, wiping her eyes furiously, and stormed up the beach, the breeze tousling her hair.

Leo wanted to call to her, but the sail caught the full force of the wind and the raft cleared the beach. He struggled to align the guidance console. By the time Leo looked back, the island of Ogygia was a dark line in the distance, their campfire pulsing like a tiny orange heart.

His lips still tingled from the kiss.

That didn’t happen, he told himself. I can’t be in love with an immortal girl. She definitely can’t be in love with me. Not possible.

As his raft skimmed over the water, taking him back to the mortal world, he understood a line from the Prophecy better – an oath to keep with a final breath.

He understood how dangerous oaths could be. But Leo didn’t care.

‘I’m coming back for you, Calypso,’ he said to the night wind. ‘I swear it on the River Styx.’
LIII





ANNABETH



ANNABETH 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!’
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 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.
LV