House of hades Synopsis[edit]

At the conclusion of The Mark of Athena, Annabeth and Percy tumble into a pit leading straight to the Underworld. The other five demigods have to put aside their grief and follow Percy's instructions to find the mortal side of the Doors of Death. If they can fight their way through Gaea's forces and Percy and Annabeth can survive the !ouse of !ades then the "even will be able to seal the Doors from both sides and prevent the giants from raising Gaea. #ut $eo wonders if the Doors are sealed how will Percy and Annabeth be able to escape%&'(

Plot[edit]
The House Of Hades opens on the morning of )uly * two days after the end of The Mark of Athena somewhere in northwestern Italy. TheArgo II is unsuccessfully trying to fly east over the Apennine +ountains running down the center of the Italian peninsula past hostile mountain gods ,nown as numinae montanum to the -omans and ourae to the Gree,s who hurl boulders at the ship which cannot fly high enough to avoid them or overwhelm them with firepower. !a.el sees Arion racing through the countryside and she as,s $eo to descend so she can spea, to him. Arion ta,es her to a nearby crossroads enveloped by storms where the goddess !ecate is waiting for her. !ecate tells !a.el that she has four options/ go west bac, to the United "tates with the Athena Parthenos to stop the impending -oman attac, on 0amp !alf1#lood and leave Percy and Annabeth to their fate2 go east to ma,e another attempt at crossing the Apennines which will get the ship pounded to pieces and although the "even may survive the crash they will be ,noc,ed out of the war with the Giants2 go south to 3pirus around the southern end of Italy which will not save Percy and Annabeth either2 or go north to #ologna and then to 4enice via a secret pass through the Apennines once used by !annibal in his attac, on -ome during the "econd Punic 5ar which will re6uire !a.el to use the +ist to protect the ship and her friends. !a.el pic,s the northern route and then vows to !ecate that they will accomplish it all11closing the Doors of Death stopping the war saving Percy and Annabeth defeating Gaea and the Giants. +eanwhile Percy and Annabeth having been dragged into Tartarus by Arachne land in a river of Tartarus after a long fall and immediately begin their 7ourney toward the Doors of Death following the -iver Phlegethon. They are forced to drin, fire water from the Phlegethon in order to survive and heal their in7uries there being no ambrosia or nectar in Tartarus. Attac,ed by empusai including 8elli who Percy and Annabeth fought in The Battle of the Labyrinth they are une9pectedly rescued by the Titan Iapetus who Percy once fought wiping his mind in the -iver $ethe turning him sweet and helpful and convincing him that his name was actually #ob. Iapetus:#ob then 7oins them on their tre, bac, to the

world. Along the way they battle more monstrous creatures of Tartarus and encounter a helpful Giant Damasen who was created to oppose Ares but turned out to be peaceful and was conse6uently banished to Tartarus. As the Argo II approaches #ologna it is boarded by two mischievous mon,ey1li,e dwarves A,mon and Passalos the 0ercopes who steal $eo's Archimedes sphere Piper's ,nife and other various ob7ects. Then they flee. $eo and )ason pursue them into the city corner them in their lair in #ologna's landmar, Two Towers and force them to return the stolen items along with anastrolabe and an old boo, which turns out to belong to the agricultural god Triptolemus who lives in 4enice. $eo allows the dwarves to ,eep the rest of their loot and has them go to ;ew <or, to harass the -oman army =ctavian has raised to attac, 0amp !alf1#lood. The crew of the Argo II then proceed to 4enice to return the stolen boo, to Triptolemus and as, for his aid. >ran, !a.el and ;ico who was born in 4enice and still spea,s Italian go into the city and find it overrun with anteater1li,e herbivorous monsters of African origin called ,atoblepones which were inadvertently brought into 4enice many centuries ago from 3gypt with the remains of theApostle +ar, which the 4enetians intended to revere as holy relics in the 0athedral of "an +arco2 the infestation is punishment from the gods for disturbing "t. +ar,'s remains. The ,atablepones e9hale poison which overcomes !a.el. They find Triptolemus who is initially unwilling to help because he aided Demeter when she searched for Persephone who was abducted and forced into marriage by ;ico and !a.el's father. !e says he cannot help children of !ades because for his help Demeter made him a god. 5hen ;ico protests he is turned into a plant. >ran, however persuades him/ seeing that the chariot Triptolemus once used to travel throughout the world is disabled due to having only one of the two sna,es necessary to fly >ran, cleanses 4enice of its ,atoblepones leaving only one which his father +ars turns into a python which >ran, then gives to Triptolemus to replace the missing sna,e on his chariot. Triptolemus then turns ;ico bac, to human heals !a.el and tells them how to survive an ordeal they must face to enter the !ouse of !ades/ they will be immuni.ed from poison they must drin, before going in by eating barley. Proceeding south down the Adriatic toward Greece the crew of the Argo II is waylaid on the coast of 0roatia by a bandit called "ciron who is assisted by a giant predatory sea turtle and ,ills his victims by ma,ing them wash his feet and then ,ic,ing them off a cliff into the ocean for the turtle to devour. !a.el uses the +ist to tric, "ciron to ,ic, !a.el away from the cliff instead of off it and then "ciron is thrown off the cliff himself and gobbled up by his own turtle. Pluto then appears to her and tells her that the Doors of Death are at the lowest level of the ;ecromanteion the temple of !ades near the village of +esopotamo in the northwestern Gree, region of 3pirus where they are going and will be guarded by Pasiphae a 0retan sorceress who was the wife of +inosand mother of the +inotaur.

)ason has a dream in which he learns that Annabeth has managed to send a message intended for -eyna to -achel Dare at 0amp !alf1#lood from Tartarus2 -achel accompanied by Grover Underwood delivers the message to -eyna who is with =ctavian and the other centurions of ;ew -ome atop a +anhattan s,yscraper. In order to stop the war between 0amp )upiter and 0amp !alf1#lood -eyna must personally deliver the Athena Parthenos to 0amp !alf1#lood. -eyna mounted on her pegasus "cipio heads for 3urope dismissing the protests of =ctavian. Upon awa,ening )ason directs $eo to change course for "plit 0roatia the site of the palace and tomb of the -oman 3mperor Diocletian a personal hero of )ason and -eyna who >ran, says was the last of the -oman 3mperors to worship the =lympians before 0onstantine I made 0hristianity the empire's official religion. Despite Diocletian's infamous persecution of 0hristians )ason and -eyna admire him as an able emperor who rose from humble origins through the ran,s of the military to the throne and retired peacefully to his hometown of "plit instead of dying in battle or being murdered. Diocletian's scepter is said to be able to control the spirits of dead -oman soldiers who worshipped the gods of =lympus and )ason and ;ico intend to loo, for it in Diocletian's palace. At Diocletian's tomb )ason and ;ico are confronted by >avonius the -oman god of the west wind and by 0upid the -oman god of love who are the guardians of Diocletian's scepter2 0upid e9torts a confession from ;ico as the price of giving him and )ason the scepter/ ;ico had fled 0amp !alf1#lood after #ianca's death not 7ust because he felt re7ected by the other campers as the son of !ades and not 7ust because Percy had let him down by failing to ,eep #ianca safe11he has romantic feelings for Percy which he could not deal with. )ason has seen in a psychic dream that -eyna is on her way and assuming correctly that she will ta,e advantage of being in the region by visiting Diocletian's tomb leaves a note for her near the tomb directing her on where to go from there. As the Argo II continues on toward Greece the weather becomes unseasonably and mysteriously cool and cloudy and then 8hione the goddess of snow who )ason Piper and $eo confronted in The Lost Hero attac,s the ship and sends $eo to =gygia the island home of 0alypso in +alta. 0alypso who has become bitter over being trapped on the island with no means of escape and no permanent romantic relationship resists $eo's presence but slowly warms up to him. The two of them ,iss and when he finally leaves the island he is determined to free her from her e9ile and vows on the -iver "ty9 to return to her. In Tartarus Percy and Annabeth meet A,hlys the goddess of misery. "he enshrouds them in death mist and betrays them. A fight ensues. )ason has had daily audiences with Auster the -oman god of the south wind in connection with the "even being able to proceed on their way to 3pirus. Auster is naturally capricious and indolent but yet seems increasingly disinclined to cooperate with )ason. +eanwhile )ason has been thin,ing that he misses 0amp !alf1#lood and that he never really fit in at the more formal traditional even hidebound

0amp )upiter and that he may have been changed irrevocably by his time at 0amp !alf1#lood. 5hen Auster finally agrees to meet with him he indicates that )ason is not committed to one course Gree, or -oman personally2 )ason's heart now lies with 0amp !alf1#lood and Auster forces him to commit to it. =nce )ason has done so Auster changes to his Gree, counterpart ;otus and decides to send The "even on their way. They then proceed to 4alletta +alta where they find the Argo II fully repaired and moored out in the harbor so that they will be sure to notice it and $eo at a cafe pensive because of his encounter with 0alypso2 and they continue on to 3pirus. Arriving at the ;ecromanteion )ason !a.el >ran, $eo and Piper descend into the ruins and eat barley ca,es to protect themselves against the to9ic potion they must drin, in order to enter the temple as per Triptolemus' instructions. 3arth6ua,es stri,e the caverns as they wal, through them and monsters assail them. ;ico uses the "cepter of Diocletian to summon ghostly -oman soldiers but they will not obey )ason as they sense that he is no longer -oman and some but not all obey >ran, who may not command the entire force as he is only a centurion. )ason resigns his praetorship and gives it to >ran, who then ta,es command of the undead soldiers and defeats the monsters. 5hen Percy and Annabeth arrive at the Doors of Death which is a magic elevator from Tartarus to the world similar to the elevator in the 3mpire "tate #uilding in ;ew <or, providing access to =lympus they find Gaea's Giants and other monsters boarding the elevator. #ob tells Percy and Annabeth how they can escape/ when the doors open they have twelve minutes to enter the elevator ma,ing sure no one else enters with them before the doors close. The elevator ride up to the world ta,es twelve minutes and then the doors must open again 6uic,ly or whoever or whatever is inside will vanish and be destroyed. Percy and Annabeth have twelve minutes to leave the elevator before the doors close again and they are guarded at the upper end by Pasiphaeand 0lytius the Giant created to oppose !ecate. The Doors of Death normally move around unpredictably but the elevator doors are held open with magical chains on the upper end fi9ing them so that the elevator travels only between Tartarus and a cavern at the ;ecromanteion's lowest level. In order to close the Doors of Death and free them so that they resume their normal wandering behavior these chains must be cut. #ob volunteers to drive the Titans !yperion and 0oeus who are guarding the elevator away from the doors and hold the elevator open so that Percy and Annabeth may escape Tartarus. Percy protests since he ,nows that this will mean #ob's death but #ob insists. They are then confronted by Tartarus the god of the pit who tries to stop them and is confronted by Damasen2 together #ob and Damasen come to their aid and hold off Tartarus while Annabeth and Percy escape the underworld. +eanwhile in the ;ecromanteion the rest of the heroes confront Pasiphae and 0lytius. Pasiphae informs them that she is regenerating the $abyrinth which was destroyed when Daedalus died in The Battle of the Labyrinth and intends to use it for her own purposes to aid Gaea. As the elevator arrives with Annabeth

and Percy inside 0lytius and Pasiphae attempt to ,ill them by preventing the elevator doors from opening but $eo opens the door with a well1thrown screwdriver aimed at the button. !a.el uses the +ist to get Percy and Annabeth out of the elevator and then to drop Pasiphae bac, into Tartarus through a pit which suddenly opens underneath her feet then cuts the chains on the elevator doors with her sword thereby closing the Doors of Death which vanish. The heroes then set upon 0lytius and !ecate who has appeared to watch the battle cremates him alive with her torches to finish him off as #acchus had 3phialtes and =tus in the 0olosseum of -ome in The Mark of Athena. #efore disappearing she warns them to leave 6uic,ly as the ruins have become unstable2 ;ico cannot shadow1transport all eight of them but they manage to do it with the aid of !a.el who has never previously shadow1traveled before. They reappear on a hillside outside the temple with the Argo II hovering overhead as they left it. !edge lands the ship and they see -eyna is with them. "he is without "cipio who she was forced to euthani.e after he collapsed immediately upon landing on the dec,2 he had been mortally wounded in an attac, by a gryphon the night before. The ten of them share a meal on the hillside and it is decided that ;ico will transport -eyna and the statue bac, to 0amp !alf1#lood through shadow travel. -eyna wishes to have * people along so >ran, volunteers 0oach !edge who wishes to be with his wife the wind spirit +ellie who is pregnant with their child and was caught at 0amp !alf1#lood by the war while on vacation from her 7ob as Piper's father's personal assistant. The rest of the heroes continue on toward Athens on the Argo II and Percy remembering that #ob missed seeing the stars and had as,ed Percy to say hello for him to them loo,s up at the night s,y and says to the stars ?#ob says hello.?