I fought along with the rest of the seven, the gods, and Thalia and Nico.
My back was against Nico's and Thalia's as we fought together, bringing forth the elements to destroy the enemy.
But, we were losing. Our numbers, diminishing. Our fighting, getting sloppier. But we didn't want to give up.
Thousands of monster fell at our hands. But a thousand more came rushing in, to replace them.
Nico gritted his teeth in frustration and concentration as he impaled a hellhound and kicked it, sending it flying across the battlefield.
"We need to close those doors." he grunted and Thalia and I furrowed our eyebrows.
"How?" we asked, simultaneously, not sure if we would like the answer.
Nico raised his eyebrow, questioningly.
"How else?" he asked, "We push it closed."
My eyes widened in realization. "From both sides..." I muttered and for a second, the three of us froze.
"Someone has to stay in Tartarus." Thalia said, voicing our thoughts.
I looked across the battlefield to find Annabeth, not too far away from where I'm standing.
"Annabeth! We need to close The Doors! We might need some help!" I shout and run over to her.
My heart skips a beat as I stare down at her, embracing her to my chest.
"C'mon." I whisper and pull her along before more monsters decide to attack us.
I run as fast as I could to Nico and Thalia, who are both out of breath.
My chest tightens as I look around the battle field to find the seven, alive and well. But, one of us has to go into Tartarus and close it.
"Guys!" Annabeth calls and gestures them over. "Okay, so the monsters will take about a few minutes before they come back even stronger than before. We need to close the doors, now." she said, her gaze penetrating each and every one of them.
I smile sadly at them, "Some of us, probably will get stuck in Tartarus. I just want to say... G-Goodbye." I say, all of our eyes welling up with tears. I wipe them off and turn to Annabeth.
"Under our pillows, Annabeth. Our final goodbyes." and with that, I hug all of them and give Annabeth a sweet short kiss.
"I'm sorry, Wise Girl." I mutter and look around.
The monsters were coming back. I could feel it. The rest of the Camp Jupiter and Camp Half-Blood, stood steadily with their stances ready and faces, fierce.
The gods rose swiftly and drew their weapons, standing tall.
I smiled at my dad, as did all the campers did to their respective parents.
"Thank you, for everything." I mouthed, then took off with the rest of the seven to the doors.
As we reached there, I began to panic.
I looked around. "Where is Nico?" I whisper,my voice full of panic and worry, but everyone hears it. And everyone knows the answer to that.
Thalia and I start to try to pull the gigantic golden door with tears running down our faces. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm pathetic. I can't do anything! I'm sor-" I was cut off by Nico's voice from the inside.
"I can't push it all on my own... I'm sorry but I need someone to help me..." It says and everyone freezes.
I feel a cold feeling wash over me. I know what I have to do. I look over at all of my friends who are staring at me with wide eyes.
"I'm sorry." I say and run into the small space, back into Tartarus while my heart breaks into pieces.
I have to do it. Loyalty. I need to protect them. My friends. They need to be safe. No more deaths... Just me and Nico. But why can't it just be me? Just me, to suffer and die.
That would be blissful.
My thoughts are muddled when I see Nico. I start to push beside him, my heart heavy. I still see Annabeth. I push harder, she needs to be safe.
She's crying, but she's not pushing. She's just watching me get sealed into hell.
The gods and campers are fighting again, I hear it. But there are less monsters.
The doors are only an inch from being closed. All I see are her beautiful gray eyes crying the hardest I've ever seen them cry.
I say my last words to her. "I love you."
And with that, the Doors slam shut.
My heart hammers in my chest and I look over at Nico.
We are both stuck in Tartarus. We will most likely get killed. There is no escape. There is no hope to save us.
We are consoled by the fact that we saved them.
We are both still facing each other, our hands flat against the doors.
I release my hands from the golden entrance to hell.
"Ready, Nico?" I ask, feeling monsters behind us, staring at us. Waiting for the kill.
He nods, "Ready."
And together we face the monsters that will probably end our short, miserable, demigod lives.
But we're not going down without a fight.
I ready my sword, and so does Nico.
I grin at the army. "Well, you ain't getting the sons of Hades and Poseidon so easily, motherfuckers."
And with that, we charge.
Our last battle. A two-man army.
-/-
We both collapse near the doors and grin after hours of monster-slaying. We killed them all. All the monsters. They'll come back for sure. But we'll probably be dead by then.
There were thousands of them.
Hydras. Giants. Hell hounds. Dracaena. Drakons. Tartarus, anything you could think of.
But, we both have fatal injuries. A burn here, a slash there, internal bleeding, right... Aha! Right there.
It's our last moments and we spend them smiling. We can hear the cheers of joy from the other side. But, we can also hear them mourn.
I turn to Nico, who looked like he was drowned in his own blood.
"We did it, Percy." he said, his voice cracking a little from hours of fighting.
I nod and let a grin grace my features, and see that Nico has too.
"We really did it. But, you know I never really wanted it to end like this. You and I. Saving the world one last time. I bet you made your dad proud, Neeks." I say.
He nods shakily, "I hope so. Sometimes, that's all I really want. A family to be proud of. And a family to be proud of me." he turns to me and grins, "And you gave that to me, big brother. Thank you. For everything."
I grin. "Your welcome, little bro. And thank you, myself."
We both cough up blood and go off into fits of pain.
"Percy.." he whispers softly and turns to me, so we're both facing each other inches apart.
"Can you sing? It reminds me of my mother." he said adding:"And of camp."
I nod and ruffle his obsidian dark locks, "Sure... Last moments. Last favor for my favorite cousin."
I start to sing one of my favorite songs that seem to fit the situation.
"All my days are spent, all my cards are dealt-" Nico joins in with me, our fairly-good voices ringing throughout the vast cavern.
"Oh, my desolation grows. Every inch revealed as my heart is pierced, oh my soul is now exposed.
In the ocean's deep, in the canyon's steep, walls of granite, here I stand.
All my desperate calls,
Echo off the walls,
Back and forth, then back again.
To believe, I walk alone
Is a lie that I've been told
So, let your heart hold fast, for this all shall pass. Oh oh oh oh ohhh, oh oh oh oh oh ohhh. For this a-ll shall pass..." I sing, my eyes getting blurry and a sense of darkness, mixed with light comes over me and I reach out to hold Nico's pale shaking hands.
"Goodbye." We whisper to each other and to the world, and we let the darkness envelop us.
The song remained undone.
Our promises, the prophecy.
"An oath to keep with a final breath, and foes bear arms to the Doors of Death."
Nico: "I-I promise."
Percy: "I'll keep you safe, I promise."
Two promises fulfilled at the cost of two lives. The lives of two heroes. Some promises are meant to be kept.
