The touch of death
The four youths moved quickly, passing the massive lines of the dead, which seemed to form three enormous queues, and only one of them was moving at any real pace.
These lines stood right in front of what looked like metal detectors. As each person crossed, the machines flashed green for a moment, and the guards, dressed in black suits, gave them a signal to move forward. Then the next one stepped up.
Of course, they didn't have the same time to wait as the dead, so with Percy leading, pushing through the semi-transparent but still very tangible bodies…
"Coming through… excuse me," Percy said as he forced his way forward.
"I think this is really wrong," Grover said, unable to stop himself. "Some of these people might have been waiting for hundreds of years," he added.
"Yeah, well… only losers wait," Percy said, still moving ahead without much care. Harry couldn't help feeling a bit embarrassed for his brother, the supposed knight-in-training, who wasn't acting very knightly right now, apologizing to every ghost they shoved past.
Annabeth just followed them, keeping her mouth shut.
"You should see it when a celebrity shows up in Diagon Alley. Women go kind of crazy there, right, Harry?" Percy said with a grin, trying to ease things.
Harry thought about it for a moment and couldn't help nodding, remembering the last famous writer… who also happened to be pretty handsome for witches. When he said he'd sign autographs for the first ten people, a wave of crazed women nearly crushed everything in their path.
"Percy…," Harry said, suddenly stopping. Grover and Annabeth's eyes went wide as well. "Percy…," Grover muttered quickly, just like Harry, trying to warn him.
"Relax. Technically Hades called us, so we have priority," Percy said, turning to answer them… but when he looked forward again, he walked straight into someone, hitting them head-on and almost falling backward.
"Oh… sorry," Percy said quickly, touching his nose for a moment, feeling like he had just walked into an unbreakable wall.
Suddenly, everything felt like it had frozen… or rather, everyone around them went still, their faces filled with panic. If their skin could turn any paler, it would have… though that was hard to tell.
Harry, Grover, and Annabeth were pale too… just like the dead around them, completely frozen and showing even more fear than when they had seen Cerberus. Though it didn't seem like any of them understood why.
But Percy didn't notice that… and slowly lifted his gaze to meet the man's face.
He was pale… and unbelievably beautiful. But his eyes, as black as darkness itself, stared at him, carrying an aura that felt like it froze his bones.
The moment Percy saw him, it felt like his soul had just left his body… literally. Like a single word from this man could decide his death right now.
Behind him, two beautiful black wings extended… the feathers looking like they were made of pure darkness. Not evil… just darkness. And his presence carried a cold breath that seemed to freeze the inside of your chest.
Without needing to hear his name, Percy knew who stood before him.
And he froze completely… or rather, his entire body refused to move. Like a mouse caught in a snake's gaze.
Harry, Grover, and Annabeth were the same, completely stiff in place… while the dead around them, after seeing this man, showed fear and complicated emotions… but then, as if remembering they were already dead, they relaxed and returned to their lines, ignoring everything around them.
Percy couldn't say a single word as the man suddenly looked away from him, as if he had no interest at all, and walked past… yet Percy still couldn't move.
Instead, now Harry felt a chill run through his very soul as the man's black eyes turned to him.
He stepped closer, staring without blinking.
For a moment, the urge to run grew stronger… and at the same time, he felt like he couldn't. After all, running from death is impossible.
"Mmm… yes…," the man said, looking at Harry for a moment. "You are similar… very… similar," he added, his voice making every word feel like it shook the soul of anyone who heard it.
Harry didn't know where he found the strength to move his mouth and speak.
"Similar… to who, sir?"
The man gave a faint, calm smile… as he took hold of his own robe and pulled it slightly.
Harry noticed how that robe seemed to be made of a familiar fabric… gray… almost ethereal. And in one corner, he could see what looked like a small patch… nothing flashy, but it was there.
"An old friend," the man said, lifting his hand… and lightly touching Harry's head without any warning.
But instead of the panic he had been feeling from this man's presence before, like he might lose his soul or become one of those waiting in line… the hand that passed over his head felt… warm.
The man's gaze, though dry after that brief smile, seemed calm as he rubbed Harry's head. Then his hand shifted slightly toward Harry's forehead. The man's eyebrow lifted… a faint, almost teasing expression crossing his face.
Suddenly, he pulled his hand away… and turned around calmly.
And just like that, as if everything had been nothing more than an illusion… he disappeared completely.
As if he had never been there.
"Ahhh…," Grover let out a breath, like he had been holding it the entire time. "Damn… for a second I thought we actually died back there with Cerberus and he came for us," he said.
"That was…," Percy said, finding his voice again.
"Thanatos," Annabeth finished for him, finally letting out the breath she had been holding. They had been scared almost to death just now.
Only Harry stayed frozen for a moment longer before shaking his head and snapping out of it. He looked in the direction Thanatos had turned before disappearing… but of course, there was nothing there.
Without thinking, he slipped his hand into his magical bag, where his invisibility cloak rested.
"An old friend…?" Harry said, confused. "He means…"
But before he could think it through—
Percy recovered quickly.
"We should move. Fast," he said. Percy had no intention of running into another god.
Every time they did, it only meant trouble. Even if the gods of the Underworld were, to be fair, the most unsettling. Not evil… but still terrifying.
For now, it was better to stay away, just in case another Ares showed up.
No one argued with that… and now even they started pushing through the line of ghosts without caring about manners.
When they reached the door—one of three, and the only one moving quickly, with a sign above it that read "Fast Death," which, according to Annabeth, was for those heading straight to the Fields of Asphodel to skip judgment—
Harry was still a bit distracted, but he kept walking.
Now standing right in front of the metal detector, cutting ahead of everyone—
"Alright… once we pass these doors, we'll finally be inside the Underworld, which means we're in the final stretch of our mission," Percy said with a grin, waiting for the guards, who were checking the ghosts in front of them, to signal them forward.
"Don't be stupid. We still have to reach Hades's palace… and I don't think that's going to be easy," Annabeth cut in.
"Relax. My sixth sense says from here on out, everything's going to go smoothly," Percy said with a smile, just as the guard raised his hand for the four of them to move forward.
Percy, still wearing that slightly arrogant smile, stepped into the metal detector.
Instantly—
An alarm blared loudly, red lights flashing inside the booth, signaling an error.
At the same time, the guard immediately brought a hand to his chest and spoke into a radio, while dozens of guards rushed in from all directions, armed with all kinds of weapons… and somewhere in the distance, massive barking echoed, getting closer, coming from the direction they had just come from.
Obviously… Cerberus.
"Run!" Percy shouted without hesitation, already sprinting into the Underworld before the guards could surround them.
As each of them passed, the alarm grew louder and louder, like a full alert… like the entire Underworld had just been mobilized.
"I think your sixth sense needs an update," Harry said to his brother, dryly.
"Shut up," Percy snapped, annoyed, as the four of them ran again, this time chased by an army of Underworld security guards… some of them with hellhounds… Cerberi, of course… and probably more defenses waiting deeper inside for any living intruders.