The Demigod Files(20)

The image over the table shimmered. A zombie weapon-smith raised the blade, still glowing hot. Something strange was set in the base – not a gem. More like…

‘Is that a key?’ I asked.

Nico made a gagging sound. ‘The keys of Hades?’

‘Wait,’ Thalia said. ‘What are the keys of Hades?’

Nico’s face looked even paler than his stepmother’s. ‘Hades has a set of golden keys that can lock or unlock death. At least… that’s the legend.’

‘It is true,’ Persephone said.

‘How do you lock and unlock death?’ I asked.

‘The keys have the power to imprison a soul in the Underworld,’ Persephone said. ‘Or to release it.’

Nico swallowed. ‘If one of those keys has been set in the sword –’

‘The wielder can raise the dead,’ Persephone said, ‘or slay any living thing and send its soul to the Underworld with a mere touch of the blade.’

We were all silent. The shadowy fountain gurgled in the corner. Handmaidens floated around us, offering trays of fruit and candy that would keep us in the Underworld forever.

‘That’s a wicked sword,’ I said at last.

‘It would make Hades unstoppable,’ Thalia agreed.

‘So you see,’ Persephone said, ‘why you must help get it back.’

I stared at her. ‘Did you say get it back?’

Persephone’s eyes were beautiful and deadly serious, like poisonous blooms. ‘The blade was stolen when it was almost finished. I do not know how, but I suspect a demigod, some servant of Kronos. If the blade falls into the Titan lord’s hands –’

Thalia shot to her feet. ‘You allowed the blade to be stolen! How stupid was that? Kronos probably has it by now!’

Thalia’s arrows sprouted into long-stemmed roses. Her bow melted into a honeysuckle vine dotted with white and gold flowers.

‘Take care, huntress,’ Persephone warned. ‘Your father may be Zeus, and you may be the lieutenant of Artemis, but you do not speak to me with disrespect in my own palace.’

Thalia ground her teeth. ‘Give… me… back… my… bow.’

Persephone waved her hand. The bow and arrows changed back to normal. ‘Now, sit and listen. The sword could not have left the Underworld yet. Lord Hades used his remaining keys to shut down the realm. Nothing gets in or out until he finds the sword, and he is using all his power to locate the thief.’

Thalia sat down reluctantly. ‘Then what do you need us for?’

‘The search for the blade cannot be common knowledge,’ said the goddess. ‘We have locked the realm, but we have not announced why, nor can Hades’s servants be used for the search. They must not know the blade exists until it is finished. Certainly they can’t know it is missing.’

‘If they thought Hades was in trouble, they might desert him,’ Nico guessed. ‘And join the Titans.’

Persephone didn’t answer, but if a goddess can look nervous, she did. ‘The thief must be a demigod. No immortal can steal another immortal’s weapon directly. Even Kronos must abide by that Ancient Law. He has a champion down here somewhere. And to catch a demigod… we shall use three.’

‘Why us?’ I said.

‘You are the children of the three major gods,’ Persephone said. ‘Who could withstand your combined power? Besides, when you restore the sword to Hades, you will send a message to Olympus. Zeus and Poseidon will not protest against Hades’s new weapon if it is given to him by their own children. It will show that you trust Hades.’

‘But I don’t trust him,’ Thalia said.

‘Ditto,’ I said. ‘Why should we do anything for Hades, much less give him a super-weapon? Right, Nico?’

Nico stared at the table. His fingers tapped on his black Stygian blade.

‘Right, Nico?’ I prompted.

It took him a second to focus on me. ‘I have to do this, Percy. He’s my father.’

‘Oh, no way,’ Thalia protested. ‘You can’t believe this is a good idea!’

‘Would you rather have the sword in Kronos’s hands?’

He had a point there.

‘Time is wasting,’ Persephone said. ‘The thief may have accomplices in the Underworld, and he will be looking for a way out.’

I frowned. ‘I thought you said the realm was locked.’

‘No prison is airtight, not even the Underworld. Souls are always finding new ways out faster than Hades can close them. You must retrieve the sword before it leaves our realm, or all is lost.’

‘Even if we wanted to,’ Thalia said, ‘how would we find this thief?’

A potted plant appeared on the table: a sickly yellow carnation with a few green leaves. The flower listed sideways, as if it were trying to find the sun.

‘This will guide you,’ the goddess said.

‘A magic carnation?’ I asked.

‘The flower always faces the thief. As your prey gets closer to escaping, the petals will fall off.’

Right on cue, a yellow petal turned grey and fluttered to the ground.

‘If all the petals fall off,’ Persephone said, ‘the flower dies. This means the thief has reached an exit and you have failed.’