"You guys ready to give my stepdad a visit?" She asked weakly. "It's only a block from here."

ೀ⋆｡🌷

The Underworld was not a new concept for Aurora. She was dragged there multiple times by the Furies, visited when she was two with her mother, and avoided it like the plague since she got to camp. But never had she ever entered the normal way. Or, like, the dead way.

"Hey, Charon." Aurora sighed, already exhausted from being in her mother's realm, as they approached the front desk. Percy's jaw dropped out of the corner of Aurora's eyesight, and she smiled to herself, a newfound confidence building inside her chest as she stared at the psychopomp.

"Aurora! If it isn't my favorite mistake of a godling. So lovely of you to come." Charon squinted through her, smoothing his silk Italian suit that matched his bleach blond hair. He thought the buzz worked for him, but honestly, only very few people could rock the look. Tom Blythe and no other.

"You're dead?" His mouth twitched into a smile, which looked almost painful and unreal in the gloominess of the dead land. "How very delightful. Hades would be—"

"Don't act so happy." She snorted, shaking her head. "Just let us through. You wanted a new suit, didn't you?"

"Yes, Aurora, but—" Charon started, his dark eyes sparkling at the bribe. 

"Then let us through, gods." Aurora grumbled, gesturing for Percy, whose mouth was still slack, to give him the coins they had stolen from Crusty. "And we can get that dead quartet of singers you like to play at your birthday. I'll tell my mom."

Charon sighed, obviously convinced. He never put up that much of a fight to begin with. Aurora always sent him birthday and Christmas cards, even though she despised his boss. It was something they bonded over, because he hated his boss as well. "The boat's almost full, anyway. I might as well add you three and be off. Just because I like you, Aurora."

He stood, scooped up their money, and said, "Come along." Aurora pumped her fist and grinned at her three friends, who stared at her with shock and followed her in a daze.

They pushed through the crowd of waiting spirits, who started grabbing at their clothes like the wind, their voices whispering things Aurora couldn't make out. She had forgotten the dejected melancholy that fell over her soul every time she was in the Underworld. It was because of her mom, the longing and belonging she felt. Hades certainly loathed that Aurora was tied to his sacred realm. And she loathed that she was going there.

He escorted them into the elevator, which was already crowded with souls of the dead, each one holding a green boarding pass. Charon grabbed two spirits who were trying to get on with them and pushed them back into the lobby.

"Right. Now, no one get any ideas while I'm gone," he announced to the waiting room. "And if anyone moves the dial off my easy-listening station again, I'll make sure you're here for another thousand years. Understand?"

He shut the doors. He put a key card into a slot in the elevator panel and they started to descend. They entered a boat and the shoreline of the Underworld came into view. Craggy rocks and black volcanic sand stretched inland about a hundred yards to the base of a high stone wall, which marched off in either direction as far as we could see. A sound came from somewhere nearby in the green gloom, echoing off the stones—the howl of a large animal.

"Old Three-Face is hungry," Charon said. His smile turned skeletal in the greenish light. "Bad luck for you, godlings."

The bottom of our boat slid onto the black sand. The dead began to disembark. A woman holding a little girl's hand. An old man and an old woman hobbling along arm in arm. Charon said, "I'd wish you luck, mate, but there isn't any down here. Mind you, don't forget to mention my pay raise."

He counted their golden coins into his pouch, then took up his pole.

He warbled something that sounded like Cool About It by boygenius—which Aurora had introduced him to—as he ferried the empty barge back across the river.

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Aurora would've thought she'd seen everything in the Underworld. That was, until she saw Annabeth soothe Cerberus and burst into tears as she had to leave her new dog friend after throwing him a red rubber ball to keep him from tearing their heads off.

But then, that wasn't even the craziest part, because Grover started flying. Yeah, his shoes were flying, but in the Underworld without any command? Aurora's life could never recover. They lifted off the ground and started dragging him away from them.

"Maia!" Grover yelled, but the magic word seemed to have no effect. "Maia, already! Nine-one-one! Help!"

Percy got over being stunned and made a grab for Grover's hand, but too late. He was picking up speed, skidding downhill like a bobsled. They ran after him.

Annabeth shouted, "Untie the shoes!"

It was a great idea, but even as Grover tried, he couldn't sit up. But the four kept running after him, trying to keep him in sight as he zipped between the legs of spirits standing in Asphodel who chattered at him in annoyance.

Aurora was sure Grover was going to barrel straight through the gates of Hades's palace—don't blame her if she kind of hoped he would knock the stupid statue of the god down—but his shoes veered sharply to the right and dragged him in the opposite direction.

The slope got steeper. Grover picked up speed. 

Their frantic run turned into a full on sprint, and Aurora couldn't help but remember the day Percy asked her to go on a quest with him. He was panting just as he was panting at that moment, and the same terrified and pleading look was displayed on his face, although for very drastically different reasons.

The cavern walls narrowed on either side, and Aurora realized they'd entered some kind of side tunnel. No black grass or trees now, just rock underfoot, and the dim light of the stalactites above. It was strangely familiar.

"Grover!" Percy yelled, his voice echoing. "Hold on to something!"

"What?" the said satyr screeched back.

He was grabbing at gravel, but there was nothing big enough to slow him down. The tunnel got darker and colder. The hairs on Aurora's arms bristled about—blood spilled on an ancient stone altar, the foul breath of a murderer. The tunnel widened into a huge dark cavern, and in the middle was a chasm the size of a city block.

Grover was sliding straight toward the edge of an endless abyss.

Tartarus.

Aurora had heard so many stories about the home for every monster and evil being alive. She always imagined what it was like... but she never realized the actuality of the situation. Almost instantly, she felt the corrupt wind of darkness yearn for her soul, a wicked pull for her body to join the millions of beasts like her in the endless fiery pit. Maybe she would end up down there, one day. But this was certainly not her day.

Aurora saw Percy pause, staring at Tartarus with wide and terrified eyes. She grabbed his hand, jostling him aggressively as he blinked blankly, his sea green gaze glazing over. "Come on, Jackson! Your best friend is going to tumble into Tartarus, so grow up and fucking get over it!"

Her words seemed to snap him out of his trance, along with Grover's panic. The satyr was yelling, clawing at the ground, but the winged shoes kept dragging him toward the pit, and it didn't look like they could possibly get to him in time.

What saved him were his hooves.

The flying sneakers had always been a loose fit on him, and finally Grover hit a big rock and the left shoe came flying 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 slow himself down by grabbing on to the big rock and using it like an anchor.

He was ten feet from the edge of the pit when they caught him and hauled him back up the slope. Percy's grip on Grover's arm was unmovable, and Aurora had never seen so much strength in a demigod before. His muscles, which were quite nonexistent, strained and Aurora grunted as she, Annabeth, and Percy dragged Grover up. The other winged shoe tugged itself off, circled around the four angrily and kicked our heads in protest before flying off into the chasm to join its twin.

They collapsed, exhausted, on the obsidian gravel. Aurora's limbs felt like lead, but what terrified her more was the whispering coming from the chasm.

She didn't even want to think it, but she knew what was in there. Or who was in there. 

And it was calling for her.

ೀ⋆｡🌷 the mother of perora speaks ...

word count: 4777

date published: march 22, 2024

thoughts: the next chapter is a good one but u guys might hate me