Chapter 1: Recollection
Tartarus Prison Cell
Unknown POV.
A dark prison, my dark prison. Each cage filled with monsters, evil demigods and titans, all of whom have been through some of the worst tortures humanly possible and then some. Most of them looked as if their bodies were falling apart while the rest were just plain dead and were slowly rotting in their cell, much to the discomfort of their currently alive cellmates. The prison was eerily quiet, odd considering the endless number of cells, with an equally endless number of inmates, but a small sound echoed throughout the prison, a song, sung by yours truly:
Ring-a-round the rosie,
A pocket full of posies,
Ashes! Ashes!
We all fall down.
"Hey quiet in there, I'm tryin' to sleep," shouted my Cyclops guard, banging on the glass wall separating him from me.
"Sorry bout' that Bob, you know how he loves to sing," replied my cellmate.
"Well knock it off, besides, your voice ain't even that good," Bob said then chuckled and went back to his nap.
"Gods, you gotta stop singing that damn song Jackson cause I'm not gonna spend the next eternity listening to a song about the plague. The daily tortures will be the least of your problems," he scolded, tugging the handcuffs that held him.
"Sorry Ly (Just a side note, the way you say "Ly" is like saying, "Lie". Just a little note, didn't want anyone to think you say it like "Lee"), the song's stuck in my head and besides, helps me remember the past," I replied.
"Huh, am I talking to the same son of Poseidon that didn't like to remember his past? Now please be quiet, I'm trying to sleep," said Ly, smiling and lying on the floor, attempting to nod off.
"*Gasp* Is the big bad wolf finally following Bob's directions?!" I exclaimed sarcastically.
"Shut up or I'll huff and puff and blow you away Jackson," said Ly, drifting off to sleep. When I was sure both Bob and Ly was asleep I continued singing, recollecting the events that literally brought my life to hell.
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Mt. Olympus
Percy POV.
"We will now begin the trial of Perseus Jackson, for the murder of nearly every camp counselor in Camp Halfblood!" Zeus began, staring down at me from his throne along with all of Olympus and nearly every demigod, while I was covered head to toe with celestial bronze chains a shackles. I mean, seriously? Am I that much of a threat? Might be better if you don't answer that.
"I told you, I didn't do it!" I shouted, tugging at my chains viciously.
"Silence!" Zeus thundered.
"Percy please, let him speak," said Poseidon before I did something stupid.
"Ok," I said, breathing evenly to calm myself.
"Good. Now then, you are accused of killing nearly all of the cabin counselors and severely injuring the rest. And as king of Olympus I sentence you to-" said Zeus but was interrupted by Hera.
"Zeus! Don't you think you have to listen to Percy's side first?" she asked.
"What is there to hear Aunt? We all know that HE KILLED MY DAUGHTER!" Athena yelled, gripping her throne tightly.
"NO. I would never do that! It's like I said; everyone came knocking at my door in the middle of the night, I asked why they were there and they said I called them to cabin 3 then the next thing I know, I'm feeling dizzy and I black out! When I wake up I'm covered in blood and surrounded by bodies and I'm being shipped off to mount Olympus," I shouted but a thunderclap silenced me. If you don't understand my situation that well, let me explain. A few days ago, one of the campers found me lying in my cabin with nearly every cabin counselor around me either dead, injured or dying. They assumed I did it when they saw Riptide was uncapped and covered with blood. Annabeth…was one of the dead, since she was missing an arm and the closest to my own body. Most of camp, some Olympian gods and the minor gods didn't believe I did it. The rest wanted me dead and so the gods did what they had to do to stop a civil war; put me on trial.
"Athena, maybe we should call in your daughter. Hades has already made the arrangements," said Poseidon and Athena calmed down a smidgen.
"*Huff* All right. Call her in," muttered Athena and Hades nodded. The next thing I knew, the ghostly form of Annabeth floated through the doors of Olympus.
"Annabeth…" I whispered but I'm sure she heard it when she glanced in my direction and gave me a sad look.
"Hello Annabeth," Athena greeted.
"Hi Mom," she replied, smiling at her mom.
"Annabeth I…" I began, but was immediately interrupted by Zeus.
"Annabeth Chase, please recall to the counsel the events that occurred on the day you died," he boomed and she slowly tried to remember what happened.
"I-I heard a voice outside my cabin…Percy's voice, saying to come to his cabin for a cabin meeting. I met up with the other cabin counselors outside Cabin 3. They all said they were called for a meeting. When we all bust through the door, Percy bolted up from his bed. When he asked us why we were here, we said he called us, but he looked at us confused and was about to say something when he just…I don't know, it was like his brain just turned off. His head slumped forward; I checked on him, asked him if he was fine. He…he just smiled and said everything was fine. But something was wrong, he seemed…off. He moved like he was drunk, he started laughing for no reason. I asked him again if he was okay. He told me he was 'never better', th-then he pulled Riptide from his pocket and…s-severed my left arm." Annabeth held her ghostly arm and the entire counsel looked at me, but I was just looking at her, my eyes wide and my entire body trembling. My chains clinked quietly.
"I-I was bleeding out, but I could still see everyone dying around me; Leo, Piper, Pollux, Katie, Miranda (Demeter Counselor #2), Will, Connor, Travis, Nico, Butch, Clovis, Lou Ellen, everybody started falling around me. It didn't end until Percy came up to me and said something: 'You look pretty without an arm. But you'd look even better without a heart.' With that he stabbed me in the heart and the last thing I saw was…was him smiling, then everything went black." The counsel was looking at me with disgust and I probably deserved it.
"A-Annabeth, did I…" I stuttered but was cut off by Athena
"Silence you insolent sea-spawn!" she shouted and I didn't say anything more to piss her off. When he knew I stopped talking, Zeus began my final judgment.
"I think there's nothing more to hear. Gods, time to decide what an appropriate punishment for young Perseus would be. Suggestions?" asked Zeus. No one answered until Hades spoke.
"Tartarus…send him to Tartarus," he said, the room darkened at the mention of the pit and my father protested loudly.
"Hades?! Why?" he said.
"It's better than the death sentence. At least he has been there before so he will be able to handle himself better than any other souls trapped in that purgatory place!" Hades explained. My father tried to protest, but he stopped midway when I spoke.
"Dad, it's ok. Besides, if I really did all that…I deserve to go to the pit," I said and Poseidon nodded with tears in his eyes.
"It's settled then. Percy Jackson is hereby sentenced to an eternity in the pit for the murder and assault of the former Cabin counselors. Objections?" No one raised his or her hands against Zeus' verdict. "Does anyone have anything to say to young Perseus?"
This time nearly all the gods raised their hands, Zeus included.
Hestia: "Perseus, I thank you for what you did for me and Olympus. I don't believe a boy like you could commit something like this. I wish you luck wherever you end up."
Hermes: "Percy, I thought you were a good demigod, the best actually, especially how you honored Luke after what he did. I'm sorry it had to end this way."
Dionysus: "Peter…I mean, Percy, I'll miss torturing you at camp and your little friends, mostly you though."
Hephaestus: "*Sigh* I may not be good at speaking my heart, believe me, most of the company I keep is metal and fire, but I know a good hero when I see one."
Apollo: "Percy, you are the most radical demigod I've ever seen, and normally I'd come up with a beautiful haiku for this, but for the first time I honestly can't think of anything to say."
Artemis: "I thought you were different Perseus, holding the sky for me, honoring my oldest hunter and respecting the rest of my sisters. But after this, forgiveness is not an option for you, boy."
Demeter: "You are still my favorite demigod. I hope you'll survive in the pit and don't forget to eat your cereal!"
Athena: "I will never forgive you for what you did Jackson. I hope you remember that."
Ares: "Kid, you gave me the most fun I had in millennia. Hope you still have that little spark in the pit. At least with you gone I'll be top dog again."
Aphrodite: "I'm sorry Percy! This is not how I expected your love story to end."
Hera: "Perseus, you are the only demigod I've come to like and I never got to say sorry after the things I did to you."
Finally the big three finished the speech.
Hades: "Perseus, I hope someday you will forgive me for this, I've already caused you some pain when you were a child, so if it means anything your girlfriend is trying for rebirth."
Poseidon: "I'm sorry for not being able to save you Percy. Sorry for not being there for you when you needed me."
Zeus: "You were once a great hero Perseus, but now you have fallen somewhere else, somewhere I cannot say. Goodbye."
As soon as Zeus finished, Hades waved his hand and ghostly arms wrapped around me, making my form shimmer. As I was being dragged into the floor, Annabeth mouthed two words to me:
"I'm sorry," she mouthed, teary eyed and for some insane reason I smiled and mouthed back something else:
"Was never your fault." Then I finally sunk under Olympus and everything went black.
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Tartarus Prison Cell
Percy POV.
As I continued singing and remembering a dark chill came over me and the strong smell of blood penetrated the air. As soon as this happened, both Bob and Ly immediately woke up from their nap. Bob stood in attention as the sound of leather shoes on cold stone came towards my cell.
"Oh joy, it's the Warden," said Ly as a man wearing a red overcoat, red hat, red tinted shades and formal attire tapped on the glass.
"Well, if it isn't the all powerful Warden Ktí̱toras Aímatos (pronounced titoras aimatos). What do you want?" I demanded and the Warden chuckled.
"Good evening to you too Perseus, Lýkos (pronounced leekos)," answered the Warden, tipping his hat a little and Ly looked at him with hate. See, the Warden and Ly have been going at each other as long as I can remember. Ly disrespects the Warden, and the Warden extends Ly's stay by a hundred years. Maybe it was the fact that the Warden was a Vampire and Ly was a Werewolf? So, even on the first day in this hellhole I could see they hated each other's guts.
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Flashback, Tartarus
Percy POV.
I woke up and found myself in a dark, cave-like place being dragged by two very large monsters into what looked like a giant prison complex. There, a man with black hair, pale skin and wearing a blood red hat, a red overcoat, a red bowtie, black vest, black pants, black shoes, white gloves, and red tinted shades, was standing in front of me, hands in his pockets and two Laistrygonian giants in prison guard uniforms standing on each of his sides like big, ugly bouncers. Or bodyguards. There was a dark presence around the guy in red and the metallic scent of blood stung my nose.
"Well well well, my 'special' new inmate has arrived. Welcome to one of Tartarus' many prisons my little inmate. I'm the warden of this fine establishment and it is my job to make your life a living hell if it isn't already one," said the Warden.
"On your feet you worm," spat one of the Cyclopes's carrying me as he put me on my feet, but as soon as he did my legs gave and I collapsed immediately. The other Cyclops nearly yanked my arm off when he tried to pull me up again and this time I stayed up. But as they had jerked me vertical, a disposable ballpoint pen fell out of my pocket.
"Riptide! The gods probably forgot about it and it must've followed me down here. No Warden, please don't see it," I thought, but the warden had keen eyes and picked the pen up.
"Jerry, Gordy, don't be so rough with our new inmate. I'd hate to see him die already. Now tell me your name. The only thing I was told was that you are very strong and very important," the Warden said lightly, examining the pen. I was reluctant to say anything, but something told me that if I kept quiet my arm would actually be ripped off.
"My name is…Percy Jackson." As soon as I said "Jackson", both the Cyclopes holding me immediately let go of me and backed off, even the Warden's guards looked nervous. But the Warden himself looked unfazed. He just laughed.
"HAHAHAHA! If it isn't the famous Perseus Jackson! Oh how I'm going to enjoy making the rest of your meaningless eternity horrible. So this little pen must be…" he said, uncapping Riptide and my three feet long celestial bronze sword appearing.
"Aha! So it is, the famous Anaklusmos! I think I'll keep this." The warden pocketed Riptide and gave a large grin, showing me his fangs. Yes, fangs, two large incisors on his top row of teeth like a…no, it couldn't be...
"Are you a Vampire?" I asked and the Warden laughed maniacally again.
"BAHAHA! You are as blunt as the rumors say then. Yes, my name is Ktí̱toras Aímatos, last of the true Vampire race after the Gods nearly exterminated my kind." As soon as the Gods were mentioned the Laistrygonian giants beside the Warden backed off slightly, but the Warden took a deep breath and calmed himself down.
"W-Warden, c-could we please bring the p-prisoner to his cell," asked one of the Cyclopes', Gordy I think. Just as he finished talking, the Warden pulled out a silver pistol from his coat and put a hole in Gordy's head. Normally monsters would turn to dust when killed, but blood just spilled out of Gordy's head.
"I'll bring him in when I want to! Somebody bring in a mop. Gordy seems to have sprung a leak and he doesn't smell like he'd be a good meal," shouted the Warden and one of the Warden's Laistrygonian giants went over and dragged Gordy's corpse into the darkness. "Shall I show you to your new room…ahh. I almost forgot."
The warden removed his glove and put his hand on my left eye and the last thing I saw was some sort of symbol burn into my face.
"GAAAAAAAAA!" I screamed as my eye started smoking until the Warden let go of my face.
"It'll sting for a while, but you'll regain your vision. Now come," he ordered, putting on his glove and motioning for the gates of the prison complex to open. I tried to stand (some sight returned). When I couldn't the other Laistrygonian guard and Jerry the Cyclops forced me on my feet and dragged me around. It was horrible. There appeared to be an absolutely limitless number of prison cells, each with two inmates either beaten beyond recognition, almost dead or actually dead. The Cyclops kept dragging me until we reached a lone glass cell where one guy was handcuffed to the floor. The guy had a prison jumpsuit nearly falling apart. Long, spiky, black hair, and dark brown eyes were the most striking features.
"Warden Kit, how can I be of service today?" asked the guy chained to the floor.
"Hello Lýkos, I have a new friend for you, play nice," said the Warden and he motioned to the Laistrygonian guard and he took out a…bubble blower? The Laistrygonian dipped the blower in the bottle and blew up a bubble. But instead of those little ones that usually pop immediately, it started growing and growing until it surrounded me. The Warden grabbed the bubble and pushed me to the glass and I passed straight through. As soon as I passed through the glass the bubble popped and I collapsed to the floor.
"What Warden, you scared to come in here yourself?" challenged Lýkos and the Warden just chuckled.
"*Chuckle* As much as I would love to beat the life out of you again puppy dog, but I have more important things to do."
"So you are scared ass-hat," Lykos snarked.
"Ha! In your dreams dog biscuit."
"Bloodsucker."
"Fur ball," the Warden snarled.
"Bat-brain."
"That the best you could come up with, house pet?" After that last insult, a Cyclops along with two Empousai came up to the Warden.
"W-Warden sir…" Before the Cyclops finished the Warden cut him off.
"Jameson, if what you are about to say include the words: 'prisoner' and 'escape' don't even bother." As soon as the Warden said that, the Cyclops and the Empousai shut their mouths and didn't say a word as the Warden face palmed. "*Sigh* Who is it now?"
"Uhh, I think it was that English serial killer. What was his name…?" said one of the Empousa and the Warden wearily brought a hand to his face again.
"You three idiots. You let Jack the Ripper escape again?" asked the Warden calmly. Kind of. There was some definite anger suppression there.
"S-sorry master," said the Cyclops.
"Fine, come with me… except for you Jameson, you're fired," snapped the Warden, pulling out his pistol and shooting Jameson in the head. Jameson crumpled.
"Well Lýkos, looks like our next battle will have to wait," said the Warden, holstering his gun and walking away, his posse of monsters trailing close behind.
"Damn I hate that long haired bastard," said Lýkos.
"Your one to talk," I replied and Lýkos looked at me.
"So, you're my new friend. I would help you up but I'm pretty tied up here," he said, yanking his handcuffs. It took a while, but I was able to get myself seated on the floor.
Lykos looked at me. "Damn, you must've done something bad to get stuck with me."
"Really now, what did you do?" I asked.
"Absolutely nothing. I am here because of bad parenting and the luck to be a very powerful werewolf," he said.
"Werewolf?"
"Yeah. My name is Lýkos Daímonas, son of Lycaon, Prince of the Werewolves and the all powerful babysitter of the Elements," said Lýkos. He was straight faced so I figured he probably wasn't lying. Maybe.
"Wait, what the heck is a 'babysitter of the Elements'?" I asked.
"I was hoping you'd ask that. Actually it's "Keeper of the Elements", but I babysit them more than I keep them. See, the gods aren't what they used to be, not as powerful as they were when they were younger so they can't keep an eye on everything. Especially earth's most destructive forces, the elements themselves, fire, water, earth and air. These are the most uncontrollable and destructive out of all. Not to mention each element has a…personality, like a soul. Fire always is angry and if anything pisses it off, bad things happen; water normally keeps to itself, but can lash out with enough power to destroy cities, earth is always asleep, but when it wakes, it can level countries and air is always active and free, but that freedom makes it loose control a lot. The gods may be powerful, but even they can't control everything. Unfortunately they'd like everyone to think so. And that's where I come in; I help keep balance amongst the elements so they don't tear each other apart every second of the day. It's a thankless job, but that's how it is," Lykos explained.
"Well you haven't been doing a good job then. Heard of the disaster in Japan?" I asked.
"Huh, I would be doing better if my bastard of a father didn't throw me in here. Last time I saw the outside world they invented cell phones," Lýkos mused sourly.
"Daddy issues I see," I mumbled.
"No shit. Now its your turn," he said.
"Turn for what?" I asked.
"I told you my story, now it's your turn, and to have that sign carved on your eye, you must be really important, or you must've pissed off someone high up. So, who are you?" he asked and I gave it a moment's thought. I 'spose, if I'm gonna be with this guy for the rest of eternity, I'd better tell him.
"My name is Percy, Percy Jackson." As soon as I said it Lýkos' jaw nearly hit the floor.
"Holy mother of monsters, you're Percy Jackson! Nearly every person, monster and/or other prisoner here wants to rip your heart out, and to be honest, I actually thought you'd be taller. What would a big shot like you be doing here?" I told him everything, from the death of the counselors, to my "warm welcome" into Tartarus.
"Wow. Athena sounded really pissed," exclaimed Lýkos.
"Believe me, it looked a lot worse, she was all like…" then I made the worst looking face possible, squeezing a laugh out of Lýkos and for the first time in a while, I laughed too.
"Hahaha, we're gonna have a fun eternity together," said Lýkos, trying to hold his hand out. I took it and shook firmly.
"Hey, if we're gonna be together, calling you Lýkos is kind of complicated. Hmm…how about Ly?" I asked.
"Meh, whatever floats your boat. Now I'm gonna take a nap. Only thing I can do in this gods-forsaken place," he grumbled, lying down, but as soon as he fell asleep a Cyclops banged in the glass.
"Torture time, get a move on," cheered the Cyclops and Ly woke up with a jolt.
"Uh oh. Good luck kid! The first is always the worst," said Ly as the Cyclops came in the cell and forcibly dragged Ly and me out of the cell and further into the prison.
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Tartarus Prison Cell
Percy POV.
That day I learned the Warden's punishment methods get a bit…creative. Somehow he-he was able to take my water powers. Yes, Percy Jackson lost one of his defining traits, and I'm no longer a son of Poseidon. The only thing I have left is my ADHD, dyslexia and my years of battle experience. They wheeled in a tank of water and strapped weights to my ankles and threw me in. I discovered I lost my water powers when I couldn't breathe and use the water to save me. It was terrifying, for the first time in my entire life I knew what it was like to drown. This went on for gods know how long, but I never stopped drowning but neither did I die. I almost wished I had. Finally they pulled me out of the tank, but it only got worse and worse.
They-they cut open my arms and legs and strapped jumper cables to each of them. The bastards splashed me back in the water, but for some reason it healed me, I guess my healing ability wasn't my power but the power of the water itself, but that only made it worse. The jumper cables were inside my skin and they turned on the voltage. 200,000 volts of pure electricity coursed through me, burning my muscle tissue while also destroying me on the outside by electrifying the water, searing my skin. The water kept healing me so it kept going on until the water turned red and bits of me were floating around. Finally my vision blurred and blacked out, but I woke up again in the same damned cell. Turns out the symbol in my eye is some sort of return symbol, cause normally if you die in Tartarus you get blasted off to another area in the pit, but with this return symbol, I'm sent back to wherever the person who put it on me set it. In this case it's this cell, so every time I die I return here. Meanwhile the Warden and Ly were still having their stare off.
"Anyways, I didn't come here to have another stupid stare off with you Lýkos, I came to tell you it's the 40th anniversary of your first escape attempt!" said the Warden, laughing his crazy laugh. Our first escape attempt was the most failed one out of all. Ly and I were able to ambush Bob before one of our tortures and we took off into the prison, freeing the other prisoners to start a riot. Of course, I covered my face so the riot wouldn't attack me. The entire prison was in total chaos (have you ever watched Hangover 3, the first part in the Prison with all the inmates rioting and Chow dug a hole in the wall? Something like that except a hundred times worse) and we used that to try and escape. But instead of running to what we thought was the exit, we busted through the guard barracks. Nearly every monster guard in the entire prison beat or killed the inmates until the Warden showed up and put everyone back in their place. We got an extra torture for the next two years and no food for one and a half years. This went on for about 40 escape attempts; we try, we fail, get punished.
Wow, you failed horribly, said a voice and I looked around, frowning.
"Who said that?" I asked.
Shh, keep quiet! Wait for the Warden to go away, said the Voice.
"Jackson, you ok?" asked Ly.
"Maybe Perseus finally lost it. At any rate, I have some more important things to do than spend more time with you two," said the Warden.
"Yeah, like knocking up some inmates," Ly cheeked, but the Warden ignored him and walked away. As soon as the Warden's eerie presence vanished Ly relaxed.
"Whew, now that that's over I'm taking a nap. You do whatever you wanna do Jackson," said Ly, once again falling asleep.
"Okay mysterious voice in my head, who are you and what do you want?" I whispered.
I only want to make your 41st actually succeed, and my name will remain a secret until you have escaped, said the Voice and I quickly grew suspicious.
"I suppose you want something in return?" I asked.
Yes, once you escape I will need you to do something for me, but that will come later. Right now you have twenty seconds before the glass shatters so think fast, said the Voice. I didn't really have much time to really think of an answer, but considering Ly and me could really escape this place I'm not gonna pass this up.
"Alright, but my friend has to come with me," I said.
Ok, you'll need him anyway. In ten seconds the glass will shatter and you need to knock out Bob and take the keys to free your friend. Ready, set, GO! shouted the Voice and as soon as he did the glass separating the outside and me started cracking before it shattered completely. In a split second I rushed Bob and hit him on the head, knocking him out and taking the keys to Ly's cuffs.
"Gods, what have I gotten myself into."
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