Sacrifice | Chapter One

'Go. I'll hold them.'

He looked at her with those brilliant seagreen eyes, eyes that, she thought to herself, she would never see again as long as she lived.

If he stayed...

Well, there was and is no escaping from the Pit, it's very function and nature was simply to cause evermore pain, to pervert a healthy mind, to drive all that ventured into it to either insanity or the darkness.

He was a hero, the very epitome of the noble loyal martyr, but even he could not defy the Fates.

She did not want to leave her beloved, her soulmate, her truest love. He was so, so, much more than a 'boyfriend' to her, they had gone through countless perils, hardships, dangers... All together.

And now she was to abandon him forever. She had no illusions those in Tartarus would simply kill him, only to find his soul had achieved Elysium. No, they would torture him and carve him theirs and stretch out the end of his life as long as possible, or make him immortal somehow, only to wound him again and again.

'No!' She- she could not let that happen, would not, they had to be together...

And yet if one of them did not go, she would only be wasting more precious time, for the armies of gigantes and cyclopes and other, more hideous things, had noticed their ruse, their death mist had slipped, and was becoming more incipient, more transparent as time wore on. They would all be dead soon if the decision was not made, and could not spend time deliberating.

She turned to him. 'Percy, I'll hold it. You're worth so much more - to everyone... Go, save the day, Seaweed Brain.'

And he felt what she had when it had been he who would have made the sacrifice.

Neither was willing to leave the other, they were both willing to make the sacrifice so the other would live.

He kissed her and suddenly everything didn't matter for a moment; the pit, the monsters, the sacrifice that had to made - she was the first and only person to ever feel truly happy in Tartarus, even if it was only a second of elation before the reality set in.

And in that moment...

He looked into her scared yet hopeful grey eyes, and at her bronzed blonde hair, and knew he would never have it in him to let her stay down in this filthy pit.

Sighing slightly, he quickly picked her up, still dreamily retaining the memory of that kiss, and threw her into the dark elevator with the silver-haired Titan.

'I love you, and always will, and I could never let you stay... I promise -he faltered for a second- I SWEAR ON THE RIVER STYX- I'll-I'll make it out, okay, I'll get out of here someday and we can defeat Gaea and finally have that life I always dreamed of. Tell my father I'll try, and I'll survive and I will get out. I- I -he took a small breath- I love you Annabeth...'

With that short farewell, he pressed the dark button with his sweaty hand, ignoring her fading cries, and was reminiscing for a short moment before instincts kicked in, and he had to charge back into battle with the tall Giant, who he told to hold the button for him, for those twelve minutes, while he defended them.

He slaughtered them, his jade eyes swirling with sadness, rage, and nothing to lose...

He was a whirl of darkness and destruction and blood and dust and he tore across the battlefield, river-veins exploding around him, the monsters fleeing this butcher who dealt only death, but many simply staring, there, in awe at the magnificence and splendor of the avenging sufferer who was done suffering and would wreak havoc, as much as he could, until death took him to Elysium.

And so he went, for a while- days? years? minutes? - time was meaningless in the Pit, and you did not age there.

Damasen just watched him with wonderment, evermore pressing the button, watching the loyal hero who had turned intimidating, who looked so much like his father on the battlefield.

But eventually, it would be too much and he was simply a mortal youth, strong and powerful, but not endlessly so.

He demolished thousands with his glowing blade, but he was wearying and would tire eventually, as he was, against all the monsters that had ever lived and died, all those in Tartarus. He even razed Titans and Giants, indiscriminate in who he eradicated, feared by all who saw him.

And finally, twelve minutes had passed in the outer world, and Damasen joined the fight. He was a peaceful being, yes, but he had the knowledge to fight Ares, though he did not do so, and had talent at most weapons - though he would have admitted freely the boy was his master at the sword, the best in all of history, most probably.

The two powerful warriors clattered through the ranks and then -at their breaking point- the army fled, seemingly vanishing- after all, Tartarus was their ally and home ground- and soon there was nothing left but bodies and golden dust, and remnants, spoils so numerous it would have been foolhardy to try and take them all.

Adventure-packed, thrilling, eh? Well, it's just the first chapter :-) I'll try and update soon (i.e. in less than a week), so stay tuned! I'm not going to be one of those hypocritical authors who's like; I WILL NOT UPDATE UNLESS AT LEAST SEVEN PEOPLE FOLLOW MY BOOK N ; nahh I write 'cause I want to ^-^ Although, yeah, I'd really appreciate if some of y'all would follow/fav this book... Please don't murder me for spelling mistakes or anything, I'm pretty new to this, and pretty young too (not disclosing my age, sorry hun!) and this is the second thing I've written and shared here, so please don't be mean or anything about this...

Thanks :-)

YAA (Your Amazing Author) a.k.a. DoYouEverWonderWhy