Castiel
“That’s kind of awful.”
Carter spoke for most of the group, it seemed. Alexis had just recounted the prophecy for everybody. Percy, Annabeth, and Chiron all seemed relatively unphased, but the visitors from other groups were staring at Alexis.
“Are your prophecies always this depressing?” Sadie asked.
Magnus shrugged. He also seemed unperturbed. “Seems like a classic prophecy to me. At least it doesn’t say anything about someone being slain.”
“Cheers to that.” Percy drummed his fingers on the tabletop. “I don’t like the sound of ‘pit of the dead’. It sounds too much like-”
“Tartarus,” Annabeth cut in.
“Well shit,” Castiel muttered. They had assumed that part meant the underworld. “Are you sure-”
“No, we can’t send more people down there.” Percy interrupted them. “It’s a death sentence, they wouldn’t survive.”
“We did,” Annabeth reminded him quietly. “So did Nico.”
“The oracle has spoken. What she said must be fulfilled,” Chiron said solemnly.
“Wait,” Percy protested shakily. “Wait, no, we can’t do this. Can’t there be another interpretation? It could mean the underworld, or- or Valhalla, anything but-”
Annabeth wrapped her arms around Percy. He looked terrified, his face pale. Castiel felt uncomfortable watching.
“Percy,” Chiron said gently, “these are the three most powerful mortals in the world. And they will not leave unprepared. If the Oracle gives a quest, it must be fulfilled. Treya Saldera, Castiel Holland, and Alexis Ricci must travel to Tartarus.”
“Do we not get a say in this?” Treya asked suddenly. “Or are you just going to keep telling everyone around you when to risk their lives?”
“I’m willing to go.” Alexis looked up at the group. Castiel wondered if she truly thought this was the right plan, or if she just wanted to distract people from Percy’s breakdown. “If it will stop the gods disappearing, then it must be done.”
Castiel thought for a moment. They didn’t like the sound of the prophecy. They didn’t like what it implied might happen to whoever went on this quest. One stumbles and becomes misled. Why couldn’t somebody else take this quest? Castiel didn’t want this quest to break apart the bonds they had just reforged with their two friends.
“If you’re going, I’m going too.” Treya stood up, addressing Alexis. They both turned to look at Castiel.
“You two are going to get us all killed,” they warned. “But yeah, I’ll go too. It does say three, after all.”
Chiron nodded, stroking his beard thoughtfully. “Three is a good number for a quest, a strong number. I see no reason why any of you should fail to return.”
The words were likely meant to be reassuring, but to Castiel it sounded like a threat. You will not fail in your task.
That would be very intimidating if we knew what our task was.
“The lord of the skies, newly arisen, strikes from within his eternal prison. Who’s the lord of the skies?” Magnus asked. Castiel thought it was bold of him, considering he was an outsider here.
“It could be Zeus, though I don’t know what prison it could be referring to,” Annabeth mused.
“Odin is also a lord of the skies,” Magnus offered. “But as far as I know, he also doesn’t have a prison.”
“What about Nut?” Carter asked.
“What about nuts?” Castiel asked, frowning.
“He means the sky goddess,” Sadie explained.
“She’s the Egyptian sky goddess, and she is imprisoned.” Carter traced his finger along the table absently. “I don’t know why the prophecy would say ‘he’, though.”
“She’s imprisoned in the sky, dear brother. I don’t think it would make sense to travel downwards if the enemy is up above, would it?” Sadie countered.
“Perhaps…” Chiron paused. “Perhaps it is speaking of Ouranus, the Ruler of the Skies from before the time of the gods.”
Annabeth’s eyes widened. “That would explain why it’s ‘lord’ and not ‘god’. And Ouranus is imprisoned as well, but in Tartarus.”
“The powers awoken…is that Ouranus, too?” Annabeth wondered. “If he is responsible for the gods disappearing, then he could bring doom to all.”
“Maybe…” Chiron looked like he had other ideas, but he didn’t voice them, because of course he didn’t. He dealt in secrets and half-truths. Why would he ever tell them what he was thinking?
“As one by one, the gods shall fall. ‘Shall’? Why send a quest if it won’t stop the gods from falling?” Sam asked.
Nobody had a good answer for that.
**
The next morning, Nico Di Angelo arrived at camp. He was wearing almost the same outfit as the last time they’d met: dark jeans and a black t-shirt, this time with a cartoon ghost on it. He was apparently fond of the ironic death-themed shirts.
“So, you’re going to Tartarus.” He walked down the hill. Castiel, Treya, and Alexis stood at the bottom, along with Chiron. The centaur had insisted they come and meet Nico at the border, though gods knew why. Percy, Annabeth, and the visitors were waiting back at the dining pavilion.
“That seems to be the plan, yes,” Castiel grumbled. Nico gave them all appraising looks, his eyes settling on Treya with a frown.
“And who are you?” He asked.
“Treya Saldera.” Treya extended her hand. Castiel snorted softly. Treya had picked up the unspoken etiquette of men quickly during the war, and clearly, it was still a habit for her. Castiel was comforted by a memory of tiny Treya offering her hand to a large, burly soldier who had been charged with supervising them.
Nico shook Treya’s hand firmly, though both of them flinched slightly at the contact. Treya smirked and turned to walk toward the pavilion. As they walked, Nico’s eyes were fixed to the back of Treya’s head.
“You’ve been to Tartarus, right?” Cas asked Nico, interrupting his staring contest with Treya’s hair.
Nico looked over and nodded grimly. “I don’t approve of sending more people down there. It’s worse than anything you can imagine.”
That is super helpful. Though they supposed Nico was right. They couldn’t imagine anything worse than the horrors of war they’d already lived through.
“Sounds awesome,” Treya remarked sarcastically. “Unfortunately, we don’t have a choice. Chiron’s made up his mind, so it’s decided.”
Nico looked at the centaur, his gaze dark. Actually dark – Castiel could see the shadows pooling in his eyes. “Well. It would be unwise to ignore a prophecy.”
They reached the pavilion. Percy and Nico nodded to each other in acknowledgment. Nico looked around at the others and frowned.
“I thought you were supposed to travel to New Rome. Where’s Hazel?”
“She left,” Castiel said, trying not to sound too pissed about it. “She said it wasn’t their problem, so she went back to her camp.”
Nico considered this information. “That’s unexpected. I would have thought she was the most likely to help.”
“You and me both,” Alexis muttered. Clearly, she wasn’t over Hazel’s abrupt departure either.
Percy cleared his throat as if the discussion of his friend was making him uncomfortable. While he made introductions, Castiel stared at Alex. She and Magnus had been assigned to stay with Castiel in the Hera Cabin, which meant that Castiel hadn’t slept there. Instead, they’d stayed in Hestia’s cabin with Treya, Alexis, and the rest of the refugees from Ogygia. While Cas probably would have moved there anyway, it bothered them to know that Alex and Magnus had probably seen it as Cas running away.
When looking at Alex became too irritating, Castiel turned and looked out at the camp. Campers all across the valley were watching the pavilion. Castiel had noticed that yesterday, too. To be fair, everybody had seen Treya and Alexis’ fight the day before, so it was no surprise they were curious. But Castiel did feel a bit like they were in a display case.
“I can take them through the underworld to the entrance.” Nico grasped the hilt of a sword at his belt, which Cas hadn’t noticed earlier. “After that, I can’t help. I won’t go back down. I can, however, give you some direction.”
He glanced at Annabeth before continuing. “I believe there’s one safe place in Tartarus right now: the home of Damasen the giant. I have an idea of where Ouranus’ prison might be, but if you can make it to this hut alive, you may find shelter and help on your quest.”
“‘Might’?” Alexis crossed her arms. “There’s a lot of uncertainty for this quest to the deepest pit of hell.”
“Damasen…” Nico hesitated. Annabeth covered her mouth, and Percy fully turned his head away from the table. This was clearly a sore spot.
“Unfortunately, Damasen and his…companion were left in less-than-ideal circumstances. I cannot say whether or not either of them has survived. Given this, I cannot tell you for sure what you will find at their home. But I can tell you that it is your best chance of finding safety in Tartarus. In fact, it’s your only chance.”
Castiel was not liking the sound of this. The more they thought about their quest, the more they realised they had no idea what they were doing.
“So we have to just jump into Tartarus and hope that we can find Ouranus before we all die since the only safe place in the entire pit is a house whose owners are likely dead. And then we probably have to fight Ouranus too, and all of this just the three of us?” They laughed angrily and waved at Chiron. “You’re sending us on a fucking suicide mission. What is it with you and getting people killed?”
“Cas!” Alexis yelled. “Calm down! Look, if you don’t like the unknowns, that’s fine. Nobody’s making you go.”
Castiel stared open-mouthed at Alexis. “That’s not what I meant at all! Are you seriously saying you don’t have any issue not knowing more about what we’re supposed to be doing?”
“I’m saying it doesn’t matter. Don’t you want to stop whatever’s making the gods disappear?”
Castiel crossed their arms, angry that Alexis was right. It didn’t matter. And clearly, nobody else was going to step up to the task.
“Fine. Whatever,” they hissed.
After a tense moment of silence, Nico continued. “Near the edge of Tartarus, there is a place where monsters do not go. I’m not sure where the underworld entrance will put you, but if you find the river Phlegethon and follow it downstream, it will bring you to this place.”
“And once we’re there?” Treya asked. “What should we do then?”
“They can’t fight him alone,” Annabeth said grimly. “I don’t care how powerful they are, it took all of the Titans and Gaea herself to defeat him the first time. You’re going to need backup.”
“How would we do that?” Alexis questioned.
“A portal?” Carter suggested. Everybody turned to look at him.”
“What kind of portal?” Annabeth asked him.
Carter looked uncomfortable with all the attention. “Uh, an Egyptian portal. As long as there’s an Egyptian artifact to center the portal on, they can transport people anywhere.”
“I don’t know, Carter.” Sam shook her head. “There would be no nearby Egyptian presence for the other side of the portal to attach to. At least, I assume the Greek hell doesn’t contain sphinx statues.”
“We’ll bring something with us,” Treya said. “Something small. Once we’ve found Ouranus, we’ll send an iris message. Then you can make the portal and we’ll fight him together.”
“How will we fight him?” Magnus asked. “Can he be killed? Or are we trying to fix his prison or something?”
Annabeth hesitated. “I don’t know,” she said finally. “I think we’ll have to improvise once we get there.”
The group muttered an uneasy agreement. Castiel’s anger was long gone. They still wished someone else would have taken this quest, but at least they had some plan. And a nice bonus was knowing that they would be far, far away from Alex and Magnus. And Chiron, too.
“Like I said, if you need shelter, seek out Damasen’s hut. It lies in the center of a marsh, with a forest on one side. Just tell him you’re friends of Percy and Annabeth.”
Nico glanced at Percy before continuing. “There’s one last thing. My father has forbidden demigods from entering Tartarus. You will have to convince him to let you enter.”
“Can we just sneak through?” Alexis asked. Castiel had been thinking the same thing.
Nico laughed. “If you want to try, go for it. But Hades will sense you the moment you set foot in the underworld. If you try to fool him, he will send his minions after you. My suggestion is to go straight to him, prove you respect him. With a prophecy to support you, I believe you will convince him.”
“And if we can’t?” Treya asked, raising a brow.
“Then you’ll have to fight your way through.” Nico stared at Treya. “I hope for your sake that your power is as great as I’ve been told.”
Castiel smiled to themself.
Oh, it is.