Read Online Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Demigod Files by Rick Riordan - Free Book Online

shook her head. “You mean it would make Hades their equal? Believe me, daughter of Zeus, the Lord of the Dead has no designs against his brothers. He knew they would never understand, which is why he forged the blade in secret.”
    The image over the table shimmered. A zombie weapon smith raised the blade, still glowing hot. Something strange was set in the base—not a gem. More like . . .
    “Is that a key?” I asked.
    Nico made a gagging sound. “The keys of Hades?”
    “Wait,” Thalia said. “What are the keys of Hades?”
    Nico looked even paler than his stepmother. “Hades has a set of golden keys that can lock or unlock death. At least . . . that’s the legend.”
    “It is true,” Persephone said.
    “How do you lock and unlock death?” I asked.
    “The keys have the power to imprison a soul in the Underworld,” Persephone said. “Or to release it.”
    Nico swallowed. “If one of those keys has been set in the sword—”
    “The wielder can raise the dead,” Persephone said, “or slay any living thing and send its soul to the Underworld with a mere touch of the blade.”
    We were all silent. The shadowy fountain gurgled in the corner. Handmaidens floated around us, offering trays of fruit and candy that would keep us in the Underworld forever.
    “That’s a wicked sword,” I said at last.
    “It would make Hades unstoppable,” Thalia agreed.
    “So you see,” Persephone said, “why you must help get it back.”
    I stared at her. “Did you say get it back ?”
    Persephone’s eyes were beautiful and deadly serious, like poisonous blooms. “The blade was stolen when it was almost finished. I do not know how, but I suspect a demigod, some servant of Kronos. If the blade falls into the Titan lord’s hands—”
    Thalia shot to her feet. “You allowed the blade to be stolen! How stupid was that? Kronos probably has it by now!”
    Thalia’s arrows sprouted into long-stemmed roses. Her bow melted into a honeysuckle vine dotted with white and gold flowers.
    “Take care, huntress,” Persephone warned. “Your father may be Zeus, and you may be the lieutenant of Artemis, but you do not speak to me with disrespect in my own palace.”
    Thalia ground her teeth. “Give . . . me . . . back . . . my . . . bow.”
    Persephone waved her hand. The bow and arrows changed back to normal. “Now, sit and listen. The sword could not have left the Underworld yet. Lord Hades used his remaining keys to shut down the realm. Nothing gets in or out until he finds the sword, and he is using all his power to locate the thief.”
    Thalia sat down reluctantly. “Then what do you need us for?”
    “The search for the blade cannot be common knowledge,” said the goddess. “We have locked the realm, but we have not announced why, nor can Hades’s servants be used for the search. They cannot know the blade exists until it is finished. Certainly they can’t know it is missing.”
    “If they thought Hades was in trouble, they might desert him,” Nico guessed. “And join the Titans.”
    Persephone didn’t answer, but if a goddess can look nervous, she did. “The thief must be a demigod. No immortal can steal another immortal’s weapon directly. Even Kronos must abide by that Ancient Law. He has a champion down here somewhere. And to catch a demigod . . . we shall use three.”
    “Why us?” I said.
    “You are the children of the three major gods,” Persephone said. “Who could withstand your combined power? Besides, when you restore the sword to Hades, you will send a message to Olympus. Zeus and Poseidon will not protest Hades’s new weapon if it is given to him by their own children. It will show that you trust Hades.”
    “But I don’t trust him,” Thalia said.
    “Ditto,” I said. “Why should we do anything for Hades, much less give him a superweapon? Right, Nico?”
    Nico stared at the table. His fingers tapped on his black Stygian blade.
    “Right, Nico?” I prompted.
    It took him a second to focus