"Honey, I'm home!" I say with a sing song voice.
"I've always wanted to do that." With glee apparent in my voice.
Annabeth gives a half-smile at my silliness. She is seated in one of our marble seats at the dining table, apparently reading something before I came. The whole house was designed by her and it was beautiful.
"Hey, Wise Girl. We've been together for quite some time and I'd like to say thanks for that. But have I ever told what happened after I fell into Tartarus?" I ask.
She shakes her head but doesn't say much else. Her head tilted and eyebrow raised in curiosity.
"Well I guess here goes…"
I leapt after her in that moment. Her tears a soul-crushingly vivid image as she fell into Tartarus. She's had too much pain, too much suffering. It's unfair, this life is unfair and I won't accept it! I feel a tug in my stomach as I search the city for water. I feel an underground water system and pull it out and towards Annabeth. The water incased her as I dived into the bubble.
"I love you"
Was the last thing I said as I stopped for a second. I pushed through the bubble and propeled it upward. At least she could be safe, at least they would all be safe. "To hell for the mighty hero, where he sent all his other foes" I thought with grim amusement at my fucked up situation as I passed out.
I woke up later to nothingness. The only way to describe the darkness would be nothing. No light, no darkness, just nothing. I felt like I could barely breathe, otherwise I would disturb the air around me and it would swallow me. "So this is Tartarus…" I thought. The air would be pleasant if not for the oppressive nature of it, other than that, it was cool. I checked for injuries and luckily found nothing serious other than a nasty bruise on my shoulder, probably from landing, and an assortment of flesh wounds that wouldn't even need some water to heal. Where to from here? I started walking forward only to bump into another person.
"Wha-?"
I managed to blurt out before a crushing hand wrapped around my throat and lifted me from the ground. The persons body and face suddenly illuminated in the nothingness. My face and body.
"Greetings Perseus. A lovely time to finally meet and such an exciting event to spring board from to get started. Do not worry, you are not in Tartarus yet."
"Who are you?"
I croaked as his hand cut off my air.
"Who am I?" He laughed.
"Well essentially I'm almost like you. A poor little demigod who made the wrong sacrifice at a worse time. Oh wait… No, that's you. I guess that means I'm you!" He said with maniacal glee.
"You can't be me. Now let go of me you psycho!" I roared as I swung a right hook at his face. It smashed into his face but nothing happened. He stood with a smile on his face. MY crooked smile.
"You can not do anything to me. I might be you, but I am the better you. Enjoy hell little Percy." More laughter surrounded as I dropped straight through the nothingness.
When I came to again, my first thought was simply: "Why are my lungs on fire?" Grimacing, I struggled to breathe. The air was hot, acrid and probably lacking oxygen. I fell flat and took deep breathes, trying to make myself used to the feeling. After a few breathes, I didn't feel like my lungs were going to explode. Now it was only the light feeling of someone pouring magma down your throat, but it wasn't going to get better by staying here. The Doors of Death were my first priority... If I knew where to find them.
"If only Annabeth was here little Percy"
A voice resonated in my head.
"Leave her out of this!" I scream aloud. She doesn't deserve this, she never did. I would come back for her. I would always come back to her.
"But would she come back for you?"
"Shut up! This is my head you hear me, mine..." My voice cracked as I realised I'm alone here. I'm alone and talking to myself. The monsters would be too amused to fight me if I continue like this. The Hero of Olympus? The hero of Olympus wouldn't give up, he would continue and he would succeed. And so I did. Or I would have if not for the a massive river blocking my way. What's a river to a son of Poseidon? Well the river didn't feel right. It felt, heavy, lethargic like it didn't want to move ever. As I was testing my control over it, I heard what sounded like a thousand spider legs scraping over broken glass. And that's exactly what it was. A shore of broken glass and Arachne with her endless brood moving over the glass.
"Well hello there Hero." Arachne sneered.
"I'm tired and on a mission, can we skip to the part where you disintegrate?" I retorted.
"Always the joker. We could but I doubt you would be able to get here. This in front of you is the River Cocytus. No reason you should cross though. It's not like your bitch is here to egg you on. That poor girl must be lost without you, her light. It's fucking pathetic." She spat a ball of spiders.
"Now tell me, are you going to kill me for her? Aw, how cute." She stated dryly
"Is that all you are Jackson? A beaten dog being manipulated by that bitch? She's just like her mother, I saw that in the Temple of Athena. But you never did, you were blinded." She chuckled as she saw me grow quiet and angrier with every word.
"SHUT UP!" My voice became multi-layered as power coursed through me.
"You will not speak about her like that!" I charged forward, unafraid of the river. I noticed a moment too late that Arachne never moved or stopped smiling.
"Come find me when you can escape the river. Hero."
I felt my mind curl into itself from the river. It was heavy, depressive, horrible. My mind began to fade and my last cohesive thought was: "At least I won't drown..."
I awoke again to that same nothingness from earlier. This time I saw the figure immediately.
"You truly are a Seaweed Brain."
From anyone else it would have sounded endearing. From him it sounded horrible. It sounded like an insult to my very core and it shook me.
"Oh, how fun it is to see you shatter." He sneered
"Unfortunately I can't let you shatter and the River of Lamentation doesn't take prisoners. So I'll have to keep you sane... Or something close to it." He laughed again, my laugh. My light-hearted, no worries laugh that has been twisted.
"Don't like what I've done with it? I think it suits me better." He states with malicious mirth.
"What do you want from me?" I ask, gaining confidence again. It is my head after all.
"No it is not, its our head you degenerate. You do not control this and you never have. Your friends are yours. Your feelings are yours. Battle is mine. You did not beat the Minotaur, I did. Did you think those superior battle senses that were kicking in were yours? You were fucking 12 for gods' sakes! I have always been there. When Gabe was beating you, he was beating me. When you killed monsters, I killed them. When you fought Luke and killed him, I did it! All you are is a pretty face at the moment. Sure you can take down monsters now, they're not even a challenge worthy of me anymore." He shouted, losing control of his emotions.
"Yes I am losing control" he said "but they are yours as well, Arachne insulted Annabeth and that is unforgivable. You are losing control Perseus. Annabeth is not here to support you. You just fell into the River of Lamenation, the embodiment of hopelessness and sorrow. If I let you go now, you will perish. You can not handle the river but I can. So I lifted you out, I brought you out of the river and away from the broken glass shore. You owe me and I shall collect my due." He stated dryly.
"You're not me, you're probably Kronos rising again or Erebus or one of the other primordials." I said in desperation.
"Search your feelings, you know it to be true" he said in a husky voice.
"Did you just quote Darth Vader?" I asked shocked.
"I've been preparing that for some time." He said, smiling.
"Well I guess you are me, only I would do something lame like that. And I didn't need you to help me, I have lots to hope for, Annabeth and I are going to live in New Rome and she's going to design buildings and we're going to be a family" I said, suddenly very impressed with myself.
"Oh, now Perseus. Do you honestly believe that? Is she here with you now? Who is to say she is not dead or dying? Or who is saying that you will make it out to see her?" He asked as if inquiring about the weather.
"I'll always make it for her, toge-"
"No Perseus!" He shouted "You would not have made it out of the river and that is simply a fact. Now you should be waking up in exactly 5 seconds. Remember I shall come around to collect my due. Goodbye for now."
"Wai-" cut short just as I was shocked awake by the acrid air hitting my lungs again.
I sat up on the other side of the river on hard, hot ground. My body was so cold it burnt. I jumped up and immediately started moving, I had to find Arachne, she would be a strong supporter for Gaea and I never liked spiders anyway. I saw a small web ball stuck to the ground. When I came closer, it popped open and spiders all raced out in a single direction and hopefully back to their mother. I set off following them and came upon several egg sacks, all the spiders were going in the same direction. The only issue being that I am breaking out in blisters and it's getting more and more difficult to breathe. I straggle the last few steps before I come upon Arachne calmly seated on her giant thorax. She turned towards me and said
"So you have arrived little hero? Does that bitch-spawn's fragile honour mean so much to you. I'm sure I'm not alone in throwing it around. Used and abused as they say."
"Leave her out of this! Fight me you insect, or are you a chicken?" I blurted out, already out of breathe and energy.
"I forgot how stupid you are. I'm an arachnid, it's in my name. You are now my least favourite hero and will now die." She said matter-of-factly. Her front leg jabbed towards me but Riptide was already in my hand and I blocked the blow. Sidestepping her leg, I charge to her exposed thorax. She swatted me away like a fly.
"And now officially the weakest. Where's your former conviction Jackson?"
I can't… I'm weak from the poison in the air and the blisters are stopping my movements.
"I can not watch this anymore. You are pathetic. I'm collecting my due, a life for a life. Time for you to go to the background for a bit." The ambient voice resonated again.
Before I could protest, my body became rigid. I felt like I was blacking out but I was conscious of everything. My heart slowed down to barely a beat, my breathing was so shallow that I could have been presumed dead. Control of my body and thoughts slowly slipped away
... He became I and I became He… and I slipped into my rightful body, poor Perseus slipped into the mind and becoming nothing more than I was in the beginning. He thinks he's me because I am him and he is I.
"Scared stiff Jackson?" Arachne laughed at her false victory, standing over me.
Still on my back, I retort "Just taking a short rest, immortal killing is exhausting work."
"You are defeated Jackson, die quickly" she said, laughing.
As the last syllable left her misshapen mouth, I flipped over and sweep kicked the right set of legs out from underneath her and rolled out on the left side.
"You're fast hero, but you're outmatched in Tartarus." She said, staring me down as she planned her next move. Her thorax was twitching, anticipation for her next attack evident, all she needed was a push to become aggravated.
"It's unfortunate that you did not match Athena in Tartarus." I retort snidely.
"I am the greatest weaver in history! Do not compare me to that second-rate hag!" She screamed, charging at me. Blinded by her rage, she didn't seem to notice the River Phlegethon. I jumped to just above her mannibles and kicked down, landing on her head, tipping her whole body into a tumble down the banks of the River. We went into the burning flames of the Phlegethon and it was quite pleasant. If you got over the skin searing heat that constantly healed itself, it was a nice feeling. Fortunately I do not feel pain, an interesting phenomenon I developed when I got beaten everyday. A simple effort of reducing the signals sent by the nerves to the brain until it becomes unnoticeable. Arachne was not so fortunate and surfaced, screaming hysterically.
"I'll kill you Jackson. I'll kill you and make you feel the pain of a thousand spiders for hurting the great Spider Mother!" An uncommon threat to be sure but nothing I could not handle. I took a mouthful of fire as I went in and already prepared myself. I grabbed Arachne behind the mandible and kicked downward ontop of her front 2 right legs, essentially shattering the exoskeleton surrounding the legs. She went down face first into the fire. I held her down and sliced off the other 2 front legs. She was helpless and I lifted her head again.
"Where are the Doors of Death, spider?!" I shouted right next to her face.
"I won't help you Half-Blood and we both know you're too heroic to torture it out of me. I have held back worst." She said with apparent painful memories. I simply shoved her head under again until she swallowed fire and revived again.
"Are you sure you want to die and get revived constantly? Riptide is next and he cleaves well." I shoved her head under for good measure until she revived again.
"Fine hero, just let me go." The arrogant tone clear and confidant. I shoved her head under and embedded Riptide into the right side of her head.
"Do you think you are in a position to bargain?" I say with mirth. "Speak spider." She simply raised a leg and pointed to the western direction.
"I really hope you are not lying spider. Otherwise what I am about to do would be pretty pointless other than being enjoyable." Her screams echoed over Tartarus for the next hour. Luckily time flows differently in Tartarus so I lost nothing. Now to reveal my trump card.
"I am about to reveal something no one knows about but that will not be a problem either." I sayed smiling maliciously. "When Kronos came for a visit in my mind, before he took over Luke, his knowledge poured into me. All of it was nonsense to me, things no mortal would ever be able to do. What I did understand though was a single magic ability he was saving to augment fragile demi-god bodies he possessed. It is the ability to steal the power of an immortal and force them to fade from existence. Unfortunately immortality is not passed over but who needs that when you have the power of a god. You are not exactly a god but you will help a fraction. Goodbye Arachne." I placed my hand over an eye, pushed a finger through and pulled apart her skull. I drew a small seal, comprised of Sigma, Omega and Delta, with her blood. They were conjoined so seamlessly that it was unreadable to the untrained eye but it glowed with power and Arachne collapsed into the river. Her body would never disappear. She has no way to reform, she will not go to Hades either because her very soul has been crushed and refined into pure energy. None of her powers were passed over unfortunately but simply augmenting my powers to the level of an army of monsters is enough. For now I will have to gain an understanding of my new level of power. I walked up onto the bank and sat down to meditate. Soon the real battle starts, the battle of the Doors of Death and I shall relish in the chaos and power.