The Last Olympian

down! It’s okay, girl.”
    She whimpered and turned in circles, looking up at me.
    “All right, traitor,” I growled at Nico. “You’ve got your prize. Take me to the stupid palace.”
    Alecto dropped me like a sack of turnips in the middle of the palace garden.
    It was beautiful in a creepy way. Skeletal white trees grew from marble basins. Flower beds overflowed with golden plants and gemstones. A pair of thrones, one bone and one silver, sat on the balcony with a view of the Fields of Asphodel. It would’ve been a nice place to spend a Saturday morning except for the sulfurous smell and the cries of tortured souls in the distance.
    Skeletal warriors guarded the only exit. They wore tattered U.S. Army desert combat fatigues and carried M16s.
    The third Fury deposited Nico next to me. Then all three of them settled on the top of the skeletal throne. I resisted the urge to strangle Nico. They’d only stop me. I’d have to wait for my revenge.
    I stared at the empty thrones, waiting for something to happen. Then the air shimmered. Three figures appeared— Hades and Persephone on their thrones, and an older woman standing between them. They seemed to be in the middle of an argument.
    “—told you he was a bum!” the older woman said.
    “Mother!” Persephone replied.
    “We have visitors!” Hades barked. “Please!”
    Hades, one of my least favorite gods, smoothed his black robes, which were filled with the terrified faces of the damned. He had pale skin and the intense eyes of a madman.
    “Percy Jackson,” he said with satisfaction. “At last.”
    Queen Persephone studied me curiously. I’d seen her once before in the winter, but now in the summer she looked like a totally different goddess. She had lustrous black hair and warm brown eyes. Her dress shimmered with colors. Flower patterns in the fabric changed and bloomed—roses, tulips, honeysuckle.
    The woman standing between them was obviously Persephone’s mother. She had the same hair and eyes, but looked older and sterner. Her dress was golden, the color of a wheat field. Her hair was woven with dried grasses so it reminded me of a wicker basket. I figured if somebody lit a match next to her, she’d be in serious trouble.
    “Hmmph,” the older woman said. “Demigods. Just what we need.”
    Next to me, Nico knelt. I wished I had my sword so I could cut his stupid head off. Unfortunately, Riptide was still out in the fields somewhere.
    “Father,” Nico said. “I have done as you asked.”
    “Took you long enough,” Hades grumbled. “Your sister would’ve done a better job.”
    Nico lowered his head. If I hadn’t been so mad at the little creep, I might’ve felt sorry for him.
    I glared up at the god of the dead. “What do you want, Hades?”
    “To talk, of course.” The god twisted his mouth in a cruel smile. “Didn’t Nico tell you?”
    “So this whole quest was a lie. Nico brought me down here to get me killed.”
    “Oh, no,” Hades said. “I’m afraid Nico was quite sincere about wanting to help you. The boy is as honest as he is dense. I simply convinced him to take a small detour and bring you here first.”
    “Father,” Nico said, “you promised that Percy would not be harmed. You said if I brought him, you would tell me about my past—about my mother.”
    Queen Persephone sighed dramatically. “Can we please not talk about that woman in my presence?”
    “I’m sorry, my dove,” Hades said. “I had to promise the boy something.”
    The older lady harrumphed. “I warned you, daughter. This scoundrel Hades is no good. You could’ve married the god of doctors or the god of lawyers, but noooo . You had to eat the pomegranate.”
    “Mother—”
    “And get stuck in the Underworld!”
    “Mother, please—”
    “And here it is August, and do you come home like you’re supposed to? Do you ever think about your poor lonely mother?”
    “DEMETER!” Hades shouted. “That is enough. You are a guest in my house.”
    “Oh, a house is it?” she said. “You call this dump a house? Make my daughter live in this dark, damp—”
    “I told you,” Hades said, grinding his teeth, “there’s a war in the world above. You and Persephone are better off here with me.”
    “Excuse me,” I broke in. “But if you’re going to kill me, could you just get on with it?”
    All three gods looked at me.
    “Well, this one has an attitude,” Demeter observed.
    “Indeed,” Hades agreed. “I’d love to kill