Percy POV

Percy woke with a start. Mentally, he was still stuck in his dream. It was the same every night, but that didn't make it any less terrifying. He reached out to grab something, anything that could reassure him that this was real, that he wasn't stuck in another dream. He was drenched in sweat and breathing hard.

"Percy?" Jason called. "You ok?"

Chiron had insisted that Jason sleep in the Poseidon cabin to "keep an eye" on Percy. Percy had rolled his eyes at that, but he was still glad to have the company nevertheless.

"I'm fine" Percy called weakly. The words came out dry and raspy. His throat felt raw.

"Dude, I heard you screaming" Jason said, getting up from his bunk. He walked over and turned the light switch on. "What's up man?"

Jason went over to Percy's bunk and sat on the side, waiting for an answer. Percy sat up and stared out the window. It was still the middle of the night.

"Sorry for waking you up"

Jason gave Percy a look. "I know you're not ok Percy. What happened in your dream? Do you want to talk about it?"

Percy shook his head. "I don't really want to relive it."

Jason nodded. "That's fine. Let's talk about happy things then. Tell me about your mom."

Percy relaxed a bit at the mention of his mom. "I don't really know where to begin. My mom does everything for me. She's put up with all of my quests, made so many sacrifices for me. I've put her through so much. The last time I disappeared was only for two weeks, and my mom was scared out of her mind. But this time it was 8 months. 8 months Jason. She's never gonna forgive me."

"That wasn't your fault Percy. It was Hera's. Your mom will understand. And besides, she'll just be happy to see you."

"I guess you're right." Percy said. "I just don't know how I'm going to explain to her about Tartarus and everything else."

"Don't worry about it man. We're all gonna be there for you."

Percy nodded. "I've been thinking about everything that happened down there in..."

"We don't have to talk about this" Jason said.

"It's fine, I want to talk about it." He took a deep breath.

"Jason, that place I... I can't explain it. It changes you. There's so much evil down there. You can literally feel it in the air. The darkness consumes you, brings out your worst nightmares. It sucks all of the light out of you until you actually start becoming a part of it. No one should have to visit that place. I can't even imagine how Nico did it alone."

When Jason didn't say anything, Percy continued.

"I just don't feel like myself anymore. I feel like I'm being controlled by that place. I don't know what to do."

"Honestly, I don't know either. But I'm going to do everything I can to help you get passed this."

Percy shook his head. "I don't think you get it Jason. I think I'm gonna try to get some more sleep. Sorry again for waking you."

Percy laid back down, making it clear that he was done talking. Jason sighed and returned to his bed.

Percy closed his eyes and tried to think of a way to get the images out of his head. The visions tortured him day and night. He couldn't get rid of them, no matter what he tried. He was living in a nightmare, one that he didn't know how to wake up from. He felt himself panicking again. The attacks always came suddenly and out of nowhere.

He started breathing hard. He felt like the walls were closing in on him. He couldn't be in this room anymore. He had to get out. He was going insane, and oh gods, he had to get out now.

He shot up from his bunk and ran for the door, barely registering Jason's voice calling out to him. He didn't have a destination in mind; just let his feet take him away, away from the nightmares, away from the visions, away from his reality.

The grass turned to sand, then the sand turned to water, and then Percy's whole body was underwater. He willed the waves to carry him away. The salt water calmed him, reinvigorated him. His heart rate and breathing slowly returned to normal. The visions were gone.

Percy held on to the small shred of hope he had left, the hope that Tartarus would not consume him. That deep down he was still Percy. And in that moment, he made a silent promise, a promise driven by anger. He had gone through so much in his life. Tartarus would not defeat him. He thought about Bob and Damasen. He owed it to them. To Annabeth. To his mother. His friends. His family. But most of all, he owed it to himself.

A/N: Hey guys! I was originally gonna give up on this story but I feel like it has some potential, so I might just write a few more chapters and see how it goes. Review and tell me what you think.