If you stare into the abyss, it stares back
The group ran across the black grass, completely trampled down by thousands of years of ghosts walking over it, while behind them came the rapid footsteps of infernal demons, flanked by hellhounds… and the deafening sound of Cerberus getting closer and closer.
"Quick, over there!" Harry shouted as he spotted what looked like a completely dark forest. Literally. Every tree there looked pitch black. Not burned, but as if the bark itself had been made of obsidian. According to Grover, they were black ash trees. Though normally only their branches were black, these had gray leaves as well… and they were far larger than any normal ones, enough to make lumber companies in the mortal world lose their minds trying to get one of these trees to make the finest furniture imaginable.
Mixed among them were other trees too, like poplars and black thorn elder trees… almost like whoever planted them had simply scattered seeds everywhere to create an enormous forest.
Using the trees as cover, they rushed into the mixed forest without hesitation and kept moving, trying to lose their pursuers.
Harry, without thinking twice, pulled out his wand and created several illusionary copies of them, which split apart and ran in different directions… while the real ones jumped behind a rotten trunk to hide, even covering themselves with dead leaves and dirt to conceal their scent and bodies.
And it worked perfectly.
They could hear the furious pursuers splitting up in different directions, chasing Harry's illusions.
Even so, a group of at least five demons approached their hiding place and looked around carefully. Now they could finally see their pursuers up close.
It was a strange mix.
There was a World War II soldier, a medieval swordsman, a wizard, a modern-day soldier still wearing night vision goggles… and finally, a martial artist.
Which meant maybe anyone who knew how to fight or had combat experience could end up getting a job as a guard in the Underworld.
Interesting to know.
The four of them stayed completely still for several minutes, covering their mouths so not even their breathing could escape, watching the group approach… while one of the soldiers seemed especially skilled at tracking, lightly touching the ground as he followed their footprints.
Annabeth immediately gestured to Harry and Percy, both of whom slowly pulled their hands out from beneath the leaves, Harry aiming his wand toward the wizard… while Percy slowly drew his sword, preparing to strike one of the rifle-carrying soldiers.
Luckily, Cerberus suddenly started barking loudly somewhere in the distance, making the demons lift their heads before running toward the sound, as if Cerberus had found something.
The moment they left, everyone let out a quiet breath.
"Ufff…," Percy sighed as he crawled out from under the leaves, some still stuck in his hair. "We should move before your illusions break apart and they come back after us," Percy said, turning around—
Only to come face-first with someone standing right in front of him, staring at him, making Percy nearly jump out of his skin.
"Can you people stop doing that already, damn it?" Percy snapped, holding his chest for a moment.
It was a woman wearing a robe that covered part of her face. She looked at Percy for a second and opened her mouth… but all that came out was something between bat screeches and the sound of a radio with no signal.
"What?" Annabeth asked, unable to understand her.
The woman tried speaking again, but the same sounds came out. And realizing none of them understood her, she seemed annoyed… before turning around and walking quickly through the forest.
At the same time, several ghosts emerged from different parts of the woods and started moving through it in the same direction.
"Maybe…," Annabeth said, quickening her pace slightly as she moved ahead of some of the ghosts. Then she saw it on the other side of the forest.
An enormous field of black grass stretched into the distance… where hundreds, maybe millions, of ghosts marched endlessly through the darkness as they exited the woods. Above them stretched the ceiling of the Underworld, covered in glowing stalactites hanging downward like massive fangs. "The Fields of Asphodel," she said, recognizing where they were.
Harry, Percy, and Grover quickly caught up behind her, all three widening their eyes at the number of dead marching in that endless funeral procession. The destination was unclear.
But according to Greek mythology, it was this… or accept punishment and be sent to the Fields of Punishment, which were obviously far worse.
Unless you had lived a good enough life to earn Elysium.
Harry shook his head, forcing himself to stop staring at the sight.
"Let's keep moving," he said, urging the others not to stop.
"Hey… don't you think those things could fall on us?" Grover asked, staring nervously at the stalactites, which were enormous and looked dangerously sharp.
"No, no… of course not," Percy said, trying to calm him down, before noticing a couple of broken ones lying not too far away, immediately sharing Grover's concern… though he made sure Grover didn't notice them. "We should probably move faster," he added quickly.
Grover had barely taken one step out of the forest behind his friends when his eyes widened in confusion as the wings on his shoes suddenly unfolded… and with one little hop, he slammed hard into the ground, drawing everyone's attention.
"What are you doing?" Annabeth scolded him, sounding annoyed. "We're in a hurry, stop fooling around," she added, assuming it was just the goat-boy panicking again.
"But I'm not—," Grover tried to say, but suddenly his shoes started flapping wildly, lifting him several inches into the air while he struggled to keep his balance. He failed almost instantly and fell backward… though his feet stayed up, dragging him along while he clawed desperately at the ground. "Malla, malla!" Grover shouted, trying to stop them, but nothing happened.
Harry reacted immediately and pulled out his wand.
"Accio!" he shouted, catching Grover midair as Harry's spell held him suspended… while the shoes kept trying to drag him in another direction.
Unfortunately, Harry still didn't fully control the spell yet… so it only held for a moment longer before the enchantment broke apart.
Just as Percy jumped, trying to grab Grover's hand… but only brushed his fingers as Grover was launched forward like an arrow released from a bow, moving at terrifying speed.
"Aaaaah!" Grover screamed as he shot like a torpedo through the middle of the ghosts, who raised their hands in complaint for a moment at Grover's reckless driving.
Percy, Harry, and Annabeth exchanged a glance before taking off running again through the Underworld, this time chasing after Grover.
Using every bit of speed they had, they tried not to lose sight of him, while noticing the slope becoming steeper and steeper. There were no trees or plants anymore, and the ground looked even deader than before, nothing but rocks, gray sand, and the faint glow of the stalactites overhead.
But that wasn't the most striking thing…
It was the enormous hole in the ground.
A truly gigantic pit opened in the middle of the land like some monster ready to swallow everything that came near it. Completely dark. And the sound of millions of wails seemed to rise from its depths, sending chills through anyone who looked inside, like it was some giant monstrous eye that might look back at them at any moment.
"Harry, launch me!" Percy shouted instantly, seeing Grover, or rather Grover's shoes, dragging him straight toward that hole. And Percy could tell without a doubt that if something fell in there, it probably was never coming back out.
Percy accelerated for a moment, overtaking Harry and Annabeth… and leapt with all his strength without even waiting for Harry's answer.
Not that he needed one.
Harry, perfectly synchronized with Percy, aimed toward his brother, who had already jumped higher than most Olympic athletes, pointing directly at Percy's feet, which Percy quickly tucked up.
"Depulso!" Harry shouted at Percy's feet, and the instant Percy felt the impact, he kicked off again, using Harry's spell like a springboard as his body shot forward toward Grover.
Percy slammed into Grover, destabilizing their flight for a moment… while both of them spun through the air dangerously close to the massive black pit.
Harry, serious now, kept running in the same direction while gripping his wand tightly, his eyes darting around just in case. Annabeth followed close behind, slightly pale after seeing the danger Percy and Grover were in, like she had recognized exactly what that place was.
Meanwhile, Percy steadied himself in the air after being carried by Grover's flying shoes, holding him tightly… while Grover clung to him in total panic.
"Hey, Grover… remember when back at Hogwarts I thought I cut your feet off?" Percy suddenly asked the panicking satyr, who was holding onto him for dear life.
Grover never got the chance to answer.
His eyes widened even more in terror when he saw Percy pull out one of his swords.
"W-wait!" Grover screamed, trying to stop him… but Percy had already slashed downward.
Thankfully for Grover, Percy's sword cut through one of the shoe's wings… then with another quick motion sliced the second one clean off.
Instantly, the force dragging Grover vanished…
But now they were plummeting straight toward the edge of the black pit. The fall probably wouldn't turn them into paste… but it would definitely break a few bones.
Or all of them. Percy preferred not to find out.
"Arresto Momentum!" Harry shouted as the spell struck Percy and Grover, who watched the ground rushing toward them at terrifying speed.
But suddenly that speed slowed… and slowed…
Until they were hovering only inches above the ground, face-first toward the sand…
Before the spell finally dropped them flat onto it.
Percy and Grover immediately pushed themselves up, spitting out mouthfuls of sand that tasted dry and ancient.
Meanwhile, Annabeth and Harry reached them, both letting out relieved breaths seeing they were alright… and especially relieved they hadn't fallen into the pit, which was now only a few meters away.
Grover, without saying another word, instantly crouched down and yanked the shoes off like they were cursed, throwing them as far away from himself as he could. And honestly, it was probably the right move, because it looked like new wings were already starting to grow back on them… or at least Grover thought so as they disappeared into the black abyss.
"Remember when I said I'd teach you how to fly a broom?" Percy asked Grover, staring at the massive pit in front of them. "Forget it," he added while looking down into the crater-sized abyss with its endless darkness below.
Percy slowly stood up and stared at the crater too… his eyes widening as he recognized the place.
At the same time, words seemed to rise from it… ancient words, older even than Greek itself… words all four of them could somehow hear.
"L-let's get out of here," Annabeth said, strange nervousness spreading through her entire body.
"This is…," Harry said too, stunned, realizing this place could only be—
"Tartarus," a sudden voice said, making all four of them spin around immediately.
There stood a man calmly waiting with his arms crossed, dressed in a security guard uniform… though his seemed more elaborate, even carrying a badge on his chest that read: Head of Security.
Blond hair that almost seemed to glow on its own, beautiful golden eyes, a sculpted body that somehow made a security uniform look absurdly good on him… like he could make any clothes look perfect. And the aura coming off him felt suffocating, enough to make anyone want to drop to their knees.
But Annabeth, Percy, and Harry's shock only deepened when they saw the man's face.
"Cousin Dred?" Percy said, completely confused at the sight of him.
The man gave them a smile that for a moment seemed to shine like the sun itself… but his golden eyes were so cold they could freeze your soul.
"You're very mistaken, little one," the man said softly… though his words sounded like a rattlesnake about to inject venom before swallowing you whole.