The Underworld was miserable; depressing, really. It was purely endless fields of yellow grass and black trees, shades from the souls of the dead drifting around aimlessly. High above, the cavern ceiling glistened in the darkness, adding to the eerie vibe of the Land of the Dead.

Percy led the way, the shades seemingly repulsed by him, parting for the trio as if they were Moses parting the Red Sea. It was probably due to the fact they could sense his sword stashed away in his bag, and the evil it radiated. Bianca was in the middle, carrying the yellow carnation, and Thalia was in the back, grumbling about the quest.

"Are you feeling alright since the possession?" Percy asked Bianca, turning his head slightly so he could see her out of the corner of his eye.

Bianca perked up at this, removing her gaze from the magical flower. "A bit strange, I guess." She answered.

"That's normal. You've had something evil inside of your head, twisting it to the demon's will. When this is over, try to relax for a while." Percy suggested, and Bianca smiled.

"I will try that, thank you." She nodded.

"I thought you were following Nico?" Thalia called out from behind. Percy stopped in his tracks and turned to look at the Daughter of Zeus.

"I was. It's why I'm here and think he is the thief. Only a Son of Hades can get through the Underworld with little to no resistance." Percy explained, to which Thalia nodded.

"Surely he wouldn't do that though… Would he?" Bianca asked.

Percy looked away. "If the Demons got to him, I honestly don't know. They're unpredictable at the moment; it's hard to tell what they are planning. He could be possessed, or have been infected with a demon illness to warp his mind – there are so many explanations for it. Sorry." He turned around, looking annoyed with himself that he could not answer. "Let's carry on."

And with that, the trio set off again, and as they crossed over a hill, the carnation leading them into the Fields of Punishment. None of the three were happy about this. They hopped over a few lava streams and tried their best to ignore some graphic torture scenes, such as a man getting stretched so far he begins to tear in two; or another getting eaten alive constantly by fire ants.

The flower led them up a hill on their left, and they all stopped when they heard the sound of someone dragging something heavy up the other side of the hill, and then followed by a few rather loud crashes. And then a man yelling curses.

Percy sighed and shook his head as he got to the top of the hill. "You've got to be kidding me."

"Is that him?" Thalia asked, and Percy nodded.

"Yep. Of course the thief came here."

On the other side of the hill, a troll-like man was hopping around, kicking a massive boulder. He had orange skin, a scrawny body, and a large loin cloth giving him some decency at least. His hair looked like a matted mess. He tried to walk away from the boulder in a tantrum, but when he got a few feet away, he seemed to struggle to get further before getting yanked backwards, like there was an invisible bungee cord stuck to him, anchoring him to the boulder.

It made Bianca chuckle little, probably reminding her of a comedy sketch from when she was younger. The 1940s were fairly simple times in comparison to what was going on in current times – other than World War 2 in the 1940s, of course.

Thalia pushed ahead of Percy and marched down the hill. "Sisyphus!" She called.

The troll looked up at the approaching Daughter of Zeus, and darted behind his rock. "Oh no, you're not tricking me again!"

Percy sniggered as he too walked down the hill behind Thalia. "I'll be worse, especially if you don't talk."

Sisyphus peered around and saw Percy, and caught a glint of his sword sticking out from his backpack. "Oh Gods no!" He tried to run away, before getting bounced back to the boulder. "Damn it!"

Percy put a foot on the soul's chest, and leant down. Bianca just joined Thalia, both staying back as they saw Percy's hands twitching towards his backpack.

"You know what this sword is, right?" Percy asked darkly, slinging his backpack off to give Sisyphus a good look at the hilt of the sword.

Sisyphus just spat into Percy's face. "I'm not talking."

Percy sighed, and drew the sword from his bag by the hilt. He tossed the bag behind him and raised his arm, before driving it down into the dirt next to Sisyphus' head. The soul whimpered in fear.

"I highly recommend you tell me what you saw when someone cross through here. And please," Percy dug the sword in a little deeper, his eyes glinting with malice, "spare no details. I'd hate to use this sword again."

Sisyphus nodded, visibly shaking. His orange skin had definitely gone a few shades lighter.

"It was angry kid, held a stygian iron sword to my throat and threatened to kill me if I didn't tell him how to get out of the Underworld undetected." Sisyphus blurted out, and Percy stood up, removing his foot from the soul's chest. Sisyphus massaged his chest, it possibly sore from Percy putting so much pressure on his chest.

"What did you tell him? And was he carrying anything?" Percy demanded.

"He carried something in a black cloth." Sisyphus nodded. "Don't kill me. I've had enough of your kind."

"Then answer me, and I won't bother you anymore. We will be on our way, and maybe if you help, I can see if I can do anything about this punishment of yours." Percy warned, giving Sisyphus the space to allow him to get up onto his feet.

Sisyphus stood up, weary of Percy. "I told him to talk to Melinoe. She would know of a way out if one exists."

The colour drained from Bianca's face. "Are you crazy? Sending him to her?!" She exclaimed, storming over to him. She drew her dagger and held it under his throat. It seemed to steam in the Underworld.

"And who holds a weapon like that in the Underworld?" Sisyphus asked, scared.

"The Daughter of Hades; and you have just told my brother to go and see that insane goddess."

For once, Percy was partly confused. Hell had never mentioned that name before. But Bianca seemed all-too familiar with the goddess.

The remaining colour drained from Sisyphus' face. He had just majorly angered someone who could influence Hades to make his punishment so much worse.

Percy bagged up his sword before putting a hand on Bianca's shoulder. "Breathe," He calmly instructed her, turning her so she wasn't facing the ghost anymore. "If it is Nico, we will save him. Okay?"

She nodded, and picked up the carnation. A few more petals had dropped from it, making it look almost half-dead.

Percy turned to Sisyphus. "Thank you." He nodded, and the three began to leave in the direction of the carnation. Percy turned back to the shade as he was leaving, and gave him an evil look. "But if anything happens to the kid, I will come for you."

Sisyphus groaned and head butted the boulder, cursing loudly about having to push the boulder again, and the trio left him.

Thalia walked next to Percy.

"You have issues, Percy." She remarked.

"Getting raised by a bunch of demons, surrounded by death and fire does that to you, Thalia." Percy joked, and smiled a little.

That surprised Thalia a little. He rarely joked. Actually, Percy never joked. "You've got a way to go before you're properly funny." Thalia shook her head at Percy's poor attempt at humour.

Percy shrugged. "Maybe I'll pursue a career in comedy after all this blows over: comedian by day, demon killer by night!" His grin grew larger, and Thalia cracked a little laugh at that.

"Your jokes are so rubbish!"

"Well sorry, not sorry! I'm making an effort to cheer you two grumpy women up!" Percy sniggered, and Bianca scoffed. Thalia just lightly punched Percy's arm.

"Seriously though; you need to stop being so scary with that sword." Thalia suggested.

Percy shifted uncomfortably, adjusting the bag on his back. "I don't like using it. But it's a necessity when dealing with something like this." Percy answered, his eyes suddenly finding the charred ground interesting.

His bright, sea green eyes seemed to dim a bit as he pondered over what had just transpired. He had used the Sword of Enoch, again. He didn't even think. And when he held it, he felt darker. Like something evil was trying to take control of the steering wheel inside his head.

He did not like that one but. He could not see it ending well. But that was a question for that weird light from the Christmas before.

They seemed to walk forever until they were approaching a rise of jagged rocks, when Thalia's ears perked up. "Weapons!" She dropped to a crouch, and notched an arrow on her bow.

Bianca dropped the plant and drew her daggers, and Percy tightened up his backpack, before reaching into his pocket and drawing out the bronze ball-point pen, and uncapped it. It extended until it transformed into Riptide. The trio stood back to back.

Percy was also sensing something now. Something evil was lurking.

A dozen or so creatures materialised around the trio in a ring. They seemed to be part human, and part bat; their faces looking squashed and furry like a bats'. They had matted grey fur and pieces of armour covered their bodies. Their arms were shrivelled and worn, but that made their claws look more menacing. They all had a pair of leathery wings. Their eyes burned with evil.

"Keres, great." Percy remarked. He saw them too many times in Hell. They loved violent deaths, and could usually be found on battlefields.

"Get back!" Bianca shouted, trying to use her father's authority to warn them away. The Keres just hissed in response, foaming at the mouth.

"Hades will be defeated, and we can do as we please thanks to our new master!" One of them snarled.

"Wait, new master?" Thalia asked, confused. The Keres were supposed to be loyal to Hades.

The lead Keres lunged, and Thalia put an arrow in it, causing it to explode into golden dust.

The rest too lunged, and Thalia traded her bow for her hunting knives.

The three worked in unison, ducking under each other's blows and defending each other.

"Iapetus will destroy you all!" One of them shouted.

"Wait, what?" Percy asked before Bianca cut it down as it tried to attack.

Bianca had broken rank, and was had a Keres jumping up behind her.

"BIANCA!" Percy shouted, and threw Riptide at the Keres, turning it into dust just before it could hurt her.

"Die!" Pain tore through Percy's shoulder as one of the Keres' claws ripped through it.

"PERCY!" Thalia shouted as Percy shouted in pain, collapsing in agony as Thalia dispatched of the Keres quickly.

The battle died down after that, the Keres seeming to flee as if their work was done.

"Hold still, Percy." Thalia tried to calm Percy as he snarled and groaned in pain, withering on the floor.

He had never felt pain like that before. It hurt worse than a lot of the tortures he had received from Alistair as a child. It felt as if his whole left side was on fire. He could tell by Bianca's face that the wound was bad.

Thalia pulled out a bottle of drink. "I'm going to put nectar on it. It's going to hurt." She opened the bottle and trickled some across Percy's shoulder. Percy cursed as loud as he could in pain, and even more when Thalia ripped off some of his t-shirt to dress the wound.

Percy was propped up against a rock for a few moments to catch his breath.

"We need to move. They'll be back." He said, trying to move, but relaxed when he felt sick.

"You're going to need some serious help, Percy. The Keres are also spirits of disease. We can't have you dying just yet." Thalia crouched down and grimaced when she saw a few scars on Percy's body from his ripped shirt.

"I'll survive." Percy grunted as he propped himself up into a sitting position, and looked at the carnation, where he saw even more flowers had dropped from it. His mind was foggy. "We have no time to lose. One of the monsters mentioned Iapetus if I remember right?"

Thalia nodded, looking worried. "The Piercer. Let's hope he don't catch us. But he should be in Tartarus."

"If the keys can unlock death – they might be able to access Tartarus?" Bianca suggested, looking worried. She felt guilty. Percy's would was partly her fault.

"Then we can't let the thief escape, whoever it is." Percy said.

"My father seems to be losing control of his realm." Bianca mused. "The more violent spirits were reined in by him to help maintain balance. From what I know, the Keres and Melinoe were some of the ones restricted by him."

"If the war is lost, and Hell or the Titans get control over this place, it will be a lot worse." Percy grimaced. "But who is Melinoe?"

Bianca bit her lip. "She is a servant of my father. As the Goddess of Ghosts, she oversees the restless that walk the earth still, haunting mortals of a night."

"And she probably has a secret passage out of here," Percy groaned, hitting his head against the rock he was slouched against.

"Most likely. From what I remember father saying, nobody goes near her cave where she's unstable. If the thief is stupid enough to go there…"

"It could go to doomsday. Yep." Percy sighed and stood up shakily, stumbling a few times.

"You're in no condition, Percy." Thalia warned him.

"I have to be. Come on, we have to keep moving." Percy resisted the urge to lie down and go to sleep.

He had to press on. He couldn't let Hell get their hands on that weapon.

The Demon Rites

As they walked, Percy tried anything to keep his mind off his shoulder. He could feel the disease slowly spreading, feeling like he was on fire constantly. And he was now going to be a hindrance in the next battle.

"Oh no." Bianca groaned, and Percy and Thalia too cursed.

Ahead of them, a dark river churned through the volcanic rock. The waters were almost black like ink, and even the foams were black. The river was at least 30 feet wide, so no chance of jumping it.

"The River Lethe." Bianca grumbled. The carnation was pointing to the other side, but the trio had no way to cross. On the other side, there was a path that led to a cave in a mountain, marking the walls to the Underworld.

They were at the edge of the Underworld.

Thalia started to walk near, but Percy stopped her. "One drop of that water and your mind is wiped clean." He warned.

Thalia nodded, "Luke told me about this place once. Souls come here for rebirth." She pondered for a few seconds, "No chance of me shooting an arrow or making a tightrope I guess."

"I think that only works in action movies." Percy remarked, before turning to Bianca. "The dead can't cross the river either, can they?"

Bianca shook her head.

Percy winced. "Bloody Hell," He began to wobble a little.

"Hey, sit down. You look awful." Thalia said, turning to Percy.

Percy shook his head, and slunk his sword off from his good shoulder. "You need me."

"Percy, you can barely stand as it is. And comic relief isn't your specialty either." Thalia argued.

Percy let out a pained laugh. "It's water, of sorts. I might be able to control it long enough for you guys to get across."

Bianca shook her head. "That might kill you."

"Not the end of the world, right?" He chuckled, staggering to the edge of the river.

"Stand back, in case this goes wrong." Percy ordered. He still had no clue how to control his powers. It was time to learn.

Percy stuck out both arms towards the churning black waters, and concentrated – hard. The water churned more violently as it sensed Percy's powers. A tugging feeling could be felt across Percy's whole body as he raised his arms into the air, his shoulder burning like lava as his powers worked. But Percy pushed through it, and almost screamed in pain when the water finally reacted to his will. He felt like he was lifting something extremely heavy over his head. He looked at his work, and saw he had lifted the river up into an archway wide enough for Bianca and Thalia.

"GO!" Percy shouted, and the two ran for it, running through the archway and under the river. The river fought Percy, but he didn't give in. He couldn't let a single drop touch them.

They made it to the other side, but their eyes went wide when they saw something coming up behind Percy.

"LOOK OUT!" Thalia screamed, and before Percy could register, he was swatted aside like a bug, the archway crashing down into the riverbed.

Percy blacked out a few times, but refocused and saw that he was being carried by a large, shadowy figure.

"Weak." It snarled. Percy recognised it.

"You…" Percy croaked out, and the demon chuckled.

"You're causing noise kid, and you've just helped me solve the problem." The demon snarled, and Percy's eyes went wide with fear. He knew what was happening.

"No… don't! Please!" Percy cried out, knowing what was coming.

Bianca and Thalia could see it all, and they were powerless to do anything but watch in horror as the event transpire.

"I had hopes for you. Disappointing, that's all you ever will be." And with that, he was thrown.

Black spots danced across Percy's eyes as he hurtled into the air, and then down towards the murky black waters. All he could think about was remaining dry. He crashed into the water, and begun passing in and out of consciousness. With all his might, Percy managed to drag himself to shore where Bianca and Thalia were, and he slumped, the entire world going black.

It almost felt like Percy Jackson was going to be no more.

The Demon Rites

Percy groaned as he opened his eyes.

His whole body was on fire. Thalia was leaning over him, dripping a little amount of sweet, savoury syrup into his mouth.

"Are you okay?" Bianca asked, kneeling down on the opposite side of Percy.

Delirious, Percy struggled to properly acknowledge either of the two girls. He was trying to remember everything, before Percy's eyes went wide. He shot up, and saw the River Lethe bellowing past a few metres away from the trio.

"What happened?" Percy asked, still somewhat dazed, ignoring the pain in his shoulder.

"You were thrown into the Lethe and dragged yourself out, seeming half dead. You're lucky to even remember your name." Thalia answered.

Percy shook his head, trying to get past the confusion. A small part of him on his leg felt wet… He really hoped it was only sweat and not the Lethe.

Ignoring the pain in his shoulder, Percy stood up.

"Easy, Percy," Bianca warned as Percy swayed a little.

"I'm fine. Where are we going next?" Percy asked.

Thalia pointed to a tall, looking mountain at the edge of the Underworld, with a cave running into the side of it. "The magic flower leads us there."

Percy glanced at the flower and saw how little time they had left. Not a lot, it seemed.

Then Percy noticed something… Where was his bag?

"Where is my sword?" Percy asked the girls, and he then saw the sword on the water's edge, and sighed in relief.

"We weren't going to touch the evil thing Percy, don't really want that thing getting to me." Thalia commented, and Percy nodded.

"Thanks." Percy grunted as he stumbled over, and clumsily picked up the sword with his good arm, dragging it through the ground as he walked along back to the girls. He had no energy at all.

"You need to rest, Percy." Thalia commented.

Percy shook his head. "As screwed as I am, we need to complete this bloody quest. This," Percy gestured to his injured shoulder, "Won't kill me."

Thalia sighed and held her hands up. "If you say so, I won't argue."

And with that, the trio set off towards the evil-looking cave, skulls lining their pathway.

As they drew closer, smoke billowed from the cave, as if it sensed their presence drawing closer to the cave. A woman began to form out of the smoke. She had blonde hair, wore a pink bathrobe and had a glass of wine in her hand.

Percy was confused. This was not Melinoe… was it?

Percy turned to Thalia and saw her frozen with fear.

"Mother…?" She asked. Percy was confused, and looked back at the ghostly figure in the smoke. She had changed to a woman in an old fashioned black dress with a matching hat. She wore pearls and white gloves and her hair was tied back.

Percy turned to Bianca and saw her too in a trance.

"Oh, Hell no." Percy groaned.

The goddess turned to him, and her eyes seemed to stare deep inside of him.

"You have so many ghosts to choose from. But what one do I choose?" The goddess's true form flickered, and Percy froze like his companions.

The goddess' true form was haunting. One half was a pale, chalky white, as if she had been drained of blood; while the other half was black and hardened, like it was mummified. She wore a golden dress and shawl, contrasting with her empty, black voids for eyes.

Percy growled in annoyance, trying to resist. But he was so tired.

"You've killed so many… and for what, exactly?" The goddess chuckled.

"Get out of my head." Percy gritted his teeth, and tightened his grip on the Sword of Enoch. He slowly began to raise his arm, shaking as he did so.

"What are you doing?" The goddess snarled, irritated.

Percy didn't speak, just raised his arm higher until he had the sword aimed level at the goddess, and his steely gaze bore into the goddess.

"Release us, or I use this." Percy warned, and Melinoe growled in frustration, backing up.

The fog dissipated around the trio, and the two girls looked around confused.

"You…" Thalia set her gaze on the goddess, and drew an arrow back on her bow, aiming at the goddess.

"Kronos has won demigods." Melinoe remarked, and Percy stepped closer.

"Where are the thief and the sword?" Percy demanded.

"Close," The goddess commented, and as she said that, another petal dropped off of the carnation. Only one was left.

"Kronos will betray you and cast you into the pit when he is done with you." Thalia warned, and Melinoe laughed.

"You are a bitter girl, no wonder Luke chose Kronos over you." Melinoe snarled.

That did it. Thalia let loose the arrow, but as it touched Melinoe she vanished into fog, leaving the trio with her echoing laughter.

Percy turned to the two girls. "We have no time to lose guys." He commented, and the three stepped closer to the cave, when the last petal dropped off the flower.

"You are out of time." A deep, powerful voice boomed from inside the cave, followed by an evil chuckle.

The three heroes went on the defence as two people stepped out of the cave.

A ten foot tall man in a prison jump suit stood there, with a scruffy grey, unkempt beard, and looked extremely thin and worn. His eyes shone like pure silver. He held out his hand and a giant spear materialised in his hand.

The other figure made Bianca choke. Nico stood there, with the Sword of Hades.

"Iapetus," Percy gritted his teeth. Of course the Titan was there to help.

"And now, I'm going to kill you all." Iapetus grinned, and charged Thalia, who moved out of the way, so the Titan whacked the weakened Percy aside like a fly.

It really was throw Percy around like a rag doll day.

Nico was stood there, scared for his life.

"Fight, boy!" Iapetus roared.

Percy shakily stood up, and picked up the Sword of Enoch from the floor.

"HEY!" Percy roared, drawing everyone's attention to him.

Iapetus grinned, twirling his spear.

Shadows started rolling off of Percy, as his eyes darkened until they were nearly black. The River Lethe behind him started churning angrily, as if Percy's emotions were having an effect on the Underworld River.

Iapetus charged Percy, who dived to the side, before landing a strike of his own with his sword, narrowly missing the Titan's leg.

"Hell still has a hold it seems." Iapetus mused, and Percy laughed as he stepped back.

"Just some of the demon side of things, yeah." Percy remarked, and the others could only watch in astonishment with how quick Percy was moving, as if he was possessed.

Nico tried to creep away, but Bianca stopped him.

"Why?" She asked him as he backed away slowly from his sister.

"We can live free! In peace! Without fear of Zeus killing us like Mama!" Nico cried out, holding up the Sword of Hades, the weapon being miles too big for him.

"A monster like Kronos cannot rule, Nico." Bianca commented, sheathing her knives. She couldn't fight her little brother.

Thalia tried coming along from the side, to sneak onto Nico.

Nico saw this.

"NO!" Nico cried out, and a shockwave shook the ground sending both Thalia and Bianca flying into the sides of the cave.

"I'm sorry." Nico cried out as he dropped the sword, running out of the cave and through the dark passage.

He was gone, and Bianca feared she couldn't save her brother.

Outside the cave, Percy and Iapetus were fighting furiously, drawing closer and closer to the River Lethe.

The dark energy started wearing off of Percy, and he was disarmed, the Sword of Enoch clattering away. Percy drew Riptide and carried on fighting, growing more and more sluggish each time. This was until he got lucky and ran his sword through the Titan's abdomen; and sliced it wide open.

Iapetus dropped his spear in shock and stumped back, shocked.

Using this chance, Percy kicked the Titan as hard as he could with both feet, landing on the ground with a big thud as Iapetus splashed into the River Lethe.

Percy sighed in exhaustion as he lay there on the river bank, before drifting back out of consciousness.

He really needed a good night sleep after all of this.

The Demon Rites

And that is all for this chapter guys!

The Sword of Hades arc will wrap up next chapter. I honestly wanted to include this to help build the rift between Nico and the others, with him feeling like he cannot go back to Bianca after what he has done.

I wrote this literally not long after the last chapter, as I am currently wrapping up University for the year, and thought you guys deserved another chapter.

I am going to drop the story back down to a T rating too in a few days, as there is only that one gore scene in the whole story and I'm honestly not planning on making another one any time soon.

In all honesty I have only written this to distract myself. Since last May I have done nothing but constant mistakes, and I'm currently dead set on righting those mistakes (not that 2020 is a good year for that, with the current pandemic going on!).

I wish you all the best; and please leave a review to let me know what you think of the story!

As always, see you soon,

The Prince of Souls