Prologue

December 21st, 2007

The tension in the room was as thick as the snow that was falling outside. For the first time in some hours the grand throne room of the Greek gods was silent. The three brothers no longer threw petty insults at one another, the bastard children of the king no longer bickered with their step-mother, even Apollo was not listening to his Ipod. Instead, the twelve gods of Olympus looked with mixed emotions at the teenager who knelt in front of them.

The teenager had long since given up on standing. Stubborn like his father he stood and stared at each of the gods with defiance in his stunningly green eyes. For hours he had stood like that, until the sentence had been served. They had watched as his eyes widened, fists clenched, and knees shook.

"I didn't do it!" The nineteen year old had pleaded.

"The majority is against you," Lord Zeus said calmly- feeling neither pity nor sadness. "You have been found guilty of three counts of murder-"

"-I didn't do it,"

"-and for your crimes you shall be discarded from the ranks of the gods and sent to Tartarus for eternity,"

That was when the teen's knees had collapsed beneath him. His hands had splayed open and rested against the marble. Head bowed he looked much smaller then he really was. Tears slid silently down his face as he tried to come to grips with what had just happened.

"I didn't do it," the teen repeated "I didn't kill them-"

"You are to be stripped of the Curse of Achilles, all weapons, and your camp beads," Zeus acted as if he was conversing with his wife- controlled, with anger boiling just under the surface. "You shall be marked a traitor for the rest of this life and whatever life that may follow."

It felt as if someone had dropped ice down the back of his shirt and down his triceps. He shuddered as he felt the small of his back flash hot and cold continuously until it finally stopped. That was just the beginning thought. A horrible burning sensation ripped across his whole back. He yelled out at the sudden pain and attempted to grip through the marble of the floor. Hot stickiness dripped down his back and stuck to his already ragged shirt.

Percy Jackson raised his head and stared at his father. Percy had always been told he had his fathers eyes, strong, defiant, and unreadable at times, but now it was the complete opposite. While Percy's swam with tears and had become bloodshot with pain Poseidon's remained closed and shut off lost in his own world, searching for a way around his sons terrible sentence.

"Please," Percy's voice cracked feebly.

Like lightning, the king of the gods was swift and harsh a stony look set upon his face. While his father let a single tear leak out of his eye before it evaporated as if it never existed his eyes now harsh. Head dropping yet again he bit his lip at the agony ripping through him. But then he was falling. Falling so fast he felt as if he would never hit the ground- and if he did that he would surely be nothing more than a grease spot.

The landing wasn't soft, but it wasn't horrible either. It was an empty clearing, not even trees would grace this place with their presence. The place even the gods didn't dare enter and here he was again on his own. The air was thick the air and dark like a eternal night time you could feel the death in the air as the monsters howled and roared waiting for there next opportunity to escape.

The son of Poseidon- could he still even call himself that? - knelt on the ground once more and dug his fingers into the mud he had landed in.

"I didn't do it," Percy whispered to the empty clearing. The monsters continued there fierce howling. He looked around once more taking in the almost desert like conditions. It didn't matter anymore if he did it or not, this place took the worst of the worst the thousands upon thousands of monsters that he had sent down here, the plethora of titans he had slayed during his wars and quests for the gods just waiting to tear him to shreds. It didn't matter anymore I he did it or not those were surface world concerns now he was in the true place of the damned. He was done being a tool of the gods, done being nice that hadn't gotten him anywhere and it sure wasn't going to get him anywhere down here.

This was Tartarus and he was going to get out...