Rick Riordan The Last Olympian - 05 rocks . But , Percy , are you sure you want to do this ?" " Please , man ," I said . " It would mean a lot . For old times ' sake ?" He whimpered . " As I recall , in the old times we almost died a lot . But okay , here goes nothing ." He put his pipes to his lips and played a shrill , lively tune . The boulders trembled . A few more stanzas , and they cracked open , revealing a triangular crevice .
I peered inside . Steps led down into the darkness . The air smelled of mildew and death . It brought back bad memories of my trip through the Labyrinth last year , but this tunnel felt even more dangerous . It led straight to the land of Hades , and that was almost always a one-way trip . I turned to Grover . " Thanks . . . I think ." " Perrrrcy , is Kronos really going to invade ?" " I wish I could tell you better , but yeah . He will ."
I thought Grover might chew up his reed pipes in anxiety , but he straightened up and brushed off his T-shirt . I couldn ' t help thinking how different he looked from fat old Leneus . " I ' ve got to rally the nature spirits , then . Maybe we can help . I ' ll see if we can find this Morpheus .'" " Better tell Juniper you ' re okay , too ." His eyes widened . " Juniper ! Oh , she ' s going to kill me !"
He started to run off , then scrambled back and gave me another hug . " Be careful down there ! Come back alive !" Once he was gone , Nico and I roused Mrs . O ' Leary from her nap . When she smelled the tunnel , she got excited and led the way down the steps . It was a pretty tight fit . I hoped she wouldn ' t get stuck . I couldn ' t imagine how much Drano we ' d need to unstick a hellhound wedged halfway down a tunnel to the Underworld . " Ready ?" Nico asked me . " It ' ll be fine . Don ' t worry ." He sounded like he was trying to convince himself . I glanced up at the stars , wondering if I would ever see them again . Then we plunged into darkness .
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The stairs went on forever — narrow , steep , and slippery . It was completely dark except for the light of my sword . I tried to go slow , but Mrs . O ' Leary had other ideas . She bounded ahead , barking happily . The sound echoed through the tunnel like cannon shots , and I figured we would not be catching anybody by surprise once we reached the bottom . Nico lagged behind , which I thought was strange . " You okay ?" I asked him . " Fine ." What was that expression on his face . . . doubt ? " Just keep moving ," he said . I didn ' t have much choice . I followed Mrs . O ' Leary into the depths . After another hour , I started to hear the roar of a river .
We emerged at the base of a cliff , on a plain of black volcanic sand . To our right , the River Styx gushed from the rocks and roared off in a cascade of rapids . To our left , far away in the gloom , fires burned on the ramparts of Erebos , the great black walls of Hades ' s kingdom .
I shuddered . I ' d first been here when I was twelve , and only Annabeth and Grover ' s company had given me the courage to keep going . Nico wasn ' t going to be quite as helpful with the " courage " thing . He looked pale and worried himself .
Only Mrs . O ' Leary acted happy . She ran along the beach , picked up a random human leg bone , and romped back toward me . She dropped the bone at my feet and waited for me to throw it .
" Um , maybe later , girl ." I stared at the dark waters , trying to get up my nerve . " So , Nico . . . how do we do this ?" " We have to go inside the gates first ," he said . " But the river ' s right here ." " I have to get something ," he said . " It ' s the only way ." He marched off without waiting .
I frowned . Nico hadn ' t mentioned anything about going inside the gates . But now that we were here , I didn ' t know what else to do . Reluctantly , I followed him down the beach toward the big black gates .
Lines of the dead stood outside waiting to get in . It must ' ve been a heavy day for funerals ,