When you’ve lived your whole (after)life in the Underworld, running away feels like a terrible idea. It’s not like sneaking out of your room to catch a party. No, down here, every corner has eyes—literal eyes. Some of them belong to ghosts, some to monsters, and some to the walls themselves.
But after seeing him—Percy—something inside me shifted. I couldn’t just stay in the Underworld and ignore the questions clawing at my chest.
What if he was right? What if I had a family?
What if I’d been living a lie?
It didn’t take long to plan. I had spent years watching my father and his attendants; I knew the comings and goings of every shadow in this place. When Cerberus was being fed and when Charon was out ferrying souls. It was all about timing.
The tricky part was finding a way to leave without my father noticing. Hades wasn’t exactly the “I’ll turn a blind eye” type. But luck was on my side—or maybe it was something else entirely.
When the perfect moment came, I didn’t think twice. I grabbed my stuffed bunny—a habit I refused to give up, even if it seemed ridiculous at my age—and slipped into the shadows, heading toward the River Styx.
The river wasn’t a place you just crossed for fun. The air was thick with the stench of decay, and the water churned with the cries of souls who had ended up in the worst parts of the Underworld.
But I had a plan.
Charon was just returning from a trip when I appeared, and he frowned as I stepped onto the dock. “You again? What do you want this time?”
I forced a confident smile. “A ride.”
His eyes narrowed. “You’re not supposed to leave. Boss’s orders.”
I held up a drachma. “How about we pretend you didn’t see me?”
He grunted, his skeletal fingers twitching, but he snatched the coin. “If this gets me in trouble, you’re on your own.”
“Deal.”
The world above felt... wrong.
The sun was too bright, the air too fresh. Everything felt alive in a way I wasn’t used to. For years, I’d told myself I didn’t miss the mortal world, that the Underworld was home. But standing here now, I couldn’t deny the ache in my chest.
This place was where I belonged.
But where to go?
I didn’t have a plan beyond escaping. For hours, I wandered, dodging monsters and sticking to the shadows like I had been taught. My memories of life before death were fuzzy at best, so I didn’t have much to guide me.
That was, until I stumbled across a satyr.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa!”
The satyr practically fell over himself as I emerged from the trees. He looked about Percy’s age, with curly brown hair and hooves that clicked nervously against the ground.
“Relax,” I said, raising my hands. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
“Not funny,” he huffed, his nose twitching as he sniffed the air. His eyes widened. “Wait... you’re a demigod!”
I blinked. “What?”
“You’re giving off major demigod vibes.” He squinted at me. “But there’s something weird about you. You smell like...” He wrinkled his nose. “Death.”
“Gee, thanks.”
He tilted his head. “You’re not, like, evil, are you?”
“Not unless you give me a reason to be.”
He seemed to accept that and straightened up. “You need to come with me. There’s a camp for people like you.”
A camp?
Before I could ask any questions, he took off, motioning for me to follow. I hesitated for half a second, then chased after him.
Camp Half-Blood was... overwhelming.
The place was buzzing with life. Kids everywhere—sparring, practicing archery, and just hanging out. It was loud, chaotic, and nothing like the quiet halls of the Underworld.
The satyr, who introduced himself as Henry, led me to a big farmhouse where a centaur was waiting.
“Nixie, huh?” the centaur said, his voice deep but kind. “I’m Chiron. Welcome to Camp Half-Blood.”
“Thanks,” I said, feeling a little awkward.
He studied me for a moment, his eyes narrowing slightly. “You’re... unique,” he said carefully. “A child of Hades, I presume?”
My heart skipped a beat. “How did you—”
“The aura. It’s unmistakable.”
Great. I’d barely been here five minutes, and I was already the kid everyone was going to avoid.
But before I could dwell on it, Chiron’s expression softened. “You’ll have your own cabin. And don’t worry—you’ll find your place here.”
I wasn’t so sure.
That night, as I lay in the pitch-black cabin, clutching my stuffed bunny to my chest, I couldn’t shake the feeling that my life was about to change forever.
I didn’t know what Percy’s deal was or why I felt this strange pull toward him. But one thing was clear: I wasn’t going back to the Underworld anytime soon.
For the first time in a long time, I was free.
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