The Wrong Side of Heaven and the Righteous Side of Hell

It had been a week since the angels had reported to heaven to debrief Athena about the events of the past three months. They were only supposed to be gone a day at most. Needless to say, all of us were worried.

Since Kronos had been destroyed, the whole area had been oddly peaceful. The only thing we could do was sit around waiting on our friends.

On the morning of the tenth day, Piper came running into the mess hall. “Guys! I know where they are!” The whole room was silent, waiting for her to tell us. Finally, Leo broke the silence, “Well? Spit it out beauty queen!”

She sat down at the table, “Athena has forced them to remain in Heaven, with no contact with devils. She is planning to destroy all of the devils in one giant battle.”

I was dumbfounded, “How do you know all of this Piper?” I asked her.

“Annabeth told me,” she said. “In a dream last night. She couldn’t contact any of the rest of you, so she told me. She wanted me to relay all of this information to you all.”

I sat there, trying to process all of the information. Piper just told us. Annabeth was forbidden to talk to me. Athena was planning on killing us, and I didn’t know what to do.

Jason went to her side, “Do you know when Pipes?”

She shook her head, “Not really. Annabeth didn’t know, but she said it would be soon. No more than a week. What are we going to do?”

We all looked around at each other, hoping someone would come up with an answer. Finally, Rachel spoke up. “We only have three days. That is when Athena plans to attack. I’m not sure what they plan on doing, but in order to win, Percy, you need to go on a journey.”

“Um… come again?” I said. “I must have something in my ear, because it sounded like you said I need to take a journey, when we only have a few days before angels are going to attack and destroy all of us.”

She closed her eyes and lowered her head, “I can’t explain how I know this, but I just know that you need to take a quest, to Hell. You need to meet with Lucifer. He has a message and a gift for you.”

Everyone was silent with surprise. I could barely get the idea through my head, Lucifer wanted to speak… to me. What did the lord of Hell, want with me?

Finally, I found my voice, “But, how do I even get to Hell? It’s not like there is a special door in the basement of some department store.”

Jason chuckled and shook his head, “Magic teleportation, duh.”

I looked at him with annoyance, “I’m lousy with teleportation magic, and you know that.”

He shook his head, “Nah, this isn’t like normal teleportation, it doesn’t take skill. It’s sort of a… calling for all of us devils. All you have to do is summon a teleportation magic circle and search within yourself. You have to think about Hell and you will start to feel a pull deep in your gut. Then when you make the jump, you will be in Hell.”

I nodded, “Doesn’t sound too tough. But how do you know that? Do you frequently visit Hell?”

He shrugged, “A time or two, a lot of times, it’s been for ingredients for Hazel’s spells, but it shouldn’t be too hard.”

“Alright then,” I said with a sigh. “Then it sounds like I will be heading to Hell first thing tomorrow morning. I’m going to head to my room for now. I need to prepare and mentally comprehend all of this.” I actually needed to calm down my anger. All of this was so unfair that I could feel the darkness starting to build inside of me.

Everyone nodded, and with that I turned around and started to walk toward my room. Before I got there, Piper ran up to me and grabbed my shoulder, “Percy, hang on. I got one more thing for you.”

I turned around to face her, trying to make sure that the darkness didn’t get too powerful. It wasn’t easy, but I made sure that I didn’t let my inner struggle show, “Yeah, what’s up Piper?”

“Annabeth wanted me to give you a personal message.” Her face tinged with red.

“A message, just for me?”

She nodded, “Annabeth told me to tell you that, no matter the situation, she loves you. Athena has said that her loving you is a sin. An angel cannot love, they especially can’t love a devil. But Annabeth doesn’t care about that. She would be here with us today, but Athena cast an order that makes it physically impossible for her to disobey. Finally, she wanted me to tell you not to do anything stupid, she will find a way to get back to us.”

I didn’t know what to say. My head was spinning, it was still hard to believe that Annabeth loved me. Even though it was a sin, she chose me. I wiped my eye, trying to hide the single tear that came to my eye. “Thanks for that Piper, I’m going to my room now.”

Before she responded I turned around and started walking back to my room. I didn’t want to be rude, but my mind was bursting at the seams and the darkness seemed close to coming out. When I got my room, I flopped face first onto my bed. A million questions running through my mind. Why did Lucifer want to see me? What did he want to give me? How could Athena keep Annabeth and the other angels from us? How could love be a sin?

After a while, the questions made me so mad at how unfair the situation was. I got back up and started punching the seat of the chair in my room. I hit it so hard that after two hits, I broke the chair, then moved on to hitting the wall, making a huge hole in the wall. I couldn’t remember what happened after that.

When I came to, my room was destroyed and my knuckles were bloodied. I had broken my headboard, I had put holes in all my walls, and my bed was leaning against the wall opposite where it was before. I looked at the clock, it was 7:00 in the morning, time to head to Hell. I wasn’t sure how much sleep I had actually gotten, but now wasn’t the time to worry about that.

I went to the kitchen to get some food before I left, and the only one in there was Hazel. She looked a little depressed, but when she saw me come in, she put on her normal controlled face. “I take it you didn’t sleep well last night?” she asked me.

“How could you tell?” I asked, my voice dripping with sarcasm.

She shrugged her shoulders, “Just a hunch.” She sat down next to me as I made some toast. “I know what’s bothering you Percy,” she said. When I didn’t make any effort to engage her with conversation, she continued. “I know how you feel about Annabeth, a lot of us have feelings for the angels that are missing. But you have to control the darkness that is inside of you. I can feel the conflict inside you, so I have an idea what you are going through but-”

“Stop it Hazel, you have no idea what I am going through. Everything about this darkness is telling me to kill everyone I see, destroy every item that I come into contact with. This is something so powerful inside of me that I’m about to explode just trying to keep it in.” I was squeezing my fists so hard that I could feel my finger nails digging into the skin.

She put a hand on my shoulder, “Percy, I know that I cannot understand what you are going through, but I can understand your internal struggle. I can sympathize, so don’t push your friends away. I spoke with Rachel last night, she is certain that Lucifer is going to give you something to help you with your struggle with your darkness.”

I nodded, “Thanks Hazel, but I better get going. Time is of the essence right now.”

“I’ll go with you to the teleportation room”

≈

When I got to Hell, I was surprised by my surroundings. It wasn’t all fire and brimstone like I thought. Sure there was fire, but not anywhere near what I had imagined. What I did see, was a giant castle in the middle of a lake of lava. From inside I could hear multiple screams, moans and cries for mercy.

I walked to the entrance and got ready to knock but before I did, the door opened on its own. Cautiously, I walked inside, but no one was there behind the door. “Must be magic,” I whispered. I made my way down the hall, jumping occasionally when I heard another scream from behind a door. I wasn’t sure where I was supposed to be going, but I figured I would eventually find my destination.

Sure enough, at the end of the hall, when I was trying to decide whether to turn left or right, a strange man came up to me. He was wearing some strange robes, and he was wearing a pentagram necklace around his neck. “Lord Lucifer was expecting you, please follow me,” he turned around and started walking down the hall to the left.

When we got to the end of the Hall, the man opened the door and motioned for me to enter. “Lord Lucifer is waiting for you in here,” then he started walking back down the hallway.

I looked into the room, but I couldn’t see much into the room. I was hesitant to go inside, but then I thought about Annabeth, and my nerves steadied. I walked straight into the room and looked around. In the middle of the room, sat a long dining table loaded with food and goblets. At one end, sat a man who was handsome, man with black hair, tan skin and a tailored suit. He finished sipping from his goblet and looked toward me. “Ah, Percy, so glad you could join me. Please take a seat,” he motioned for the seat at the opposite end of the table, about ten feet away from him.

I went to my seat and sat down. One of the goblets slid towards me and automatically filled up with a red liquid. I picked it up and sniffed it, wine. I took a small sip and it burned on the way down. Not liking the taste, I set it down. “So, why did you call me here?” then thinking about who I was talking to, I decided to show some respect, “My lord.”

He smiled a bit, “Straight to business, I like that,” he set his drink down. “I called you here to give you some information, and a gift.”

“Information?” I asked puzzled.

“Yes,” he smiled. “I have been informed that you now wield the power of Hellfire, is that correct?”

“Yes sir, I have been for a little while now. It’s what I used to defeat Kronos.”

“It is impressive that the darkness has not consumed your heart yet. I don’t even dare use the power of the dark Hellfire.”

I shrugged, “Guess I am just lucky.”

Lucifer shook his head, “That is not it. You are able to hold out because of your father. He gave you a gift, without anyone really knowing the truth.”

“What do you mean my father gave me a gift?”

He took a sip from his wine, “Your father was not human. He was, in fact, an angel.”

The fork that I was fiddling with in my hand dropped to the floor. “An, angel? How is that possible? I thought angels couldn’t have relationships?”

Lucifer shrugged, “I’m not exactly sure how he got away with it, but not all angels are perfect. He watched your mother and found that she was a perfect human. I don’t think she knew what he was, but they were together for a short while and fell in love. They married and then shortly after, your mother was expecting you. That is when God came and took your father. I’m not sure if he was taking your father from your mother forever, but God had a mission for your father. He didn’t make it back from the mission.”

I didn’t know what to say, I was completely stunned. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I could feel, in my core that some of what he was saying was true. I had always felt that I wasn’t completely a devil, there was always something different about me. I could just never figure out what it was. It could have been, that the part of me that was an angel was keeping me from being like the other devils.

“I’m sure there are a million questions going through your mind at the moment, but listen closely. I’m sure most of your questions will be answered. The reason your heart has not been consumed by the darkness, is mostly due to the angel that is inside of you. That is why you have a pure heart. Most angels won’t acknowledge that it is possible for someone to be part angel, simply because it is such a mortal sin for an angel to have any sort of relations with humans or anyone else. But do not think that you are weak, being part angel and part devil gives you a power on a completely different level than most.”

“Seriously? How is that possible? I have never felt special or extra powerful before.”

“That’s because in order for your power to be truly unleashed, it has to be awoken. The angel spirit is so powerful that unless it is inside of an angel, it will destroy the body it inhabits. So it lays dormant until the body it inhabits is strong enough to handle it. That is where the second part of your visit comes into play.”

“Oh yeah,” I said. “I’d almost forgotten about the gift.”

He smiled, “This is a lot of information it’s to be expected. But the gift that I am going to bestow upon you is one of power. I am here to awaken your angel spirit and bestow great power on you.”

“Wait, what?” I didn’t know what to think about that. Was this going to be the thing I needed to save Annabeth? “Great power? But why me?”

He took another sip from his wine, “Because I believe that you can bring balance between angels and devils. A devil that is part angel has a certain power, and can be an envoy to both groups. You would have a stake in whatever happens with either group. As much as I enjoy causing trouble, it would not do well to have the angels destroy all my devils. And if all the angels are gone, who would reign in the devils who get out of control?”

“I guess that makes sense. So how does this work? You snap your fingers and the power is unleashed?” I asked him.

He shook his head, “Not quite, the transformation is going to be painful, but the payoff will increase your strength ten-fold. Are you ready for the ritual?”

I nodded, “Yes sir, I am.”

He stood up, “Alright then, follow me to the other room.” He started walking to the room behind him and I followed. I expected the other room to have an altar, candles and other stuff. The reality, however, was the room was bare, with only a cot in the center and a chair next to it. “I want you to lay down on the cot, I am going to use magic to release the spell, unlocking the magic hidden within.”

I walked to the cot and laid down. When Lucifer sat down next to me, I closed my eyes and tried to calm myself down. It wasn’t going very well, but then I thought about Annabeth. I was doing this for her, which helped a little bit. I took a deep breath, and steeled my nerves.

I felt the magic that Lucifer was using going into my body. It was a warm feeling flooding my body, but suddenly I felt something click inside of my chest and the warm energy left my body. “There, the spell is unlocked, soon the angel soul will be unleashed.”

I could feel some energy expanding from my chest, it was uncomfortable, but not painful. I thought that it would be nothing, but before the thought even finished crossing my mind, an intense pain shot through my mind. It felt like someone was shoving an ice pick through my brain, but from the inside. My chest felt like it was expanding to fifteen times its normal size.

I wanted to scream out in pain, my mouth opened, but no sound escaped. My back arched to such an extreme, that I was sure that my spine would snap. I wanted to stop the ritual, I would find a way to stop the angels without this special ability, but it was too late now. I wanted to call out to Annabeth, tell her I was sorry for not being strong enough to save her, but I couldn’t do anything. I don’t remember much after that except pain.

≈
When next I woke, I felt like a totally different person. I could feel the darkness still in my heart, but now it felt more like a mild annoyance, rather than a tidal wave looming over me. I stood up and stretched my arms, and it just felt different. I couldn’t place my finger on exactly what was different, but I definitely wasn’t the same. I looked around and looked for Lucifer, but no one was in the room.

I walked to the door and looked around the room, still no one was there. I started walking down the hall, trying to find someone to figure out how long I was out. Finally after looking through countless rooms, I found Lucifer, he was painting a canvas. He looked over to me and sat his paints and brush down. “Glad you could join us, how do you feel?”

“Um, I’m not sure how to describe it sir. The darkness from the Hellfire seems like it isn’t as overbearing as it was before. I feel lighter and a little more at peace.”

Lucifer nodded, “That is to be expected, but we can talk more about that later. You need to meet up with your friends to try and stop the attack from the angels.”

“Wait, there is still another day don’t we?”

He nodded, “No, you were in that trance for two days, the angels will be starting their attack in a couple of hours if you don’t stop them. Teleport back to your friends home and they will fill you in on all of the information they have learned since you’ve been gone.”

I nodded and bowed, “Thank you Lord Lucifer, you have given me a gift that I can never repay you for it. I will do all that I can to stop the fighting, you can count on me.”

He smiled and waved me off, “Think nothing of it Percy, I know that you will make me and your father proud. Now go, you have some friends to meet.”

I reached deep within myself and summoned the magic from within and started thinking about Hazel’s home. It was actually easy for me now to find the place I wanted to go. I released the magic, sending me through time and space. When I opened my eyes, I was standing in the dining room in Hazel’s home. Everyone was looking at me with shocked expressions.

“You guys seem surprised to see me,” I said.

They looked at each other, then Jason stepped forward, “Well, yeah. We didn’t think you would be able to get here in time. We found out where the angel stronghold was. We were about to leave when you just showed up. Also, we could feel your magic energy before you even got here. How did you increase your energy that much?”

“Long story short, Lucifer helped me out. You said you know where we need to go to stop the angels?”

Hazel nodded, “I’d love to know about your journey, but we don’t have the time. We need to leave quickly to stop the angels. Are you ready Percy?”

Notes