Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or HoO *sob* but I do own the plot, story, and most characters(except for the ones appearing in PJO&HoO)
Chapter Two: Nightmare
Andromeda's head was still spinning from the campfire. She didn't try to hide her confusion. The other campers were just as confused as she was-except for a different reason. Andromeda knew who her mother was-Khione. She just didn't understand why her mother had claimed her. After all, hadn't she turned on her and called her a disappointment? Chiron didn't seem to know where to put Andromeda, so she slept in the Boreas Cabin that night. She lost consciousness as soon as her eyes closed.
Of course, demigod dreams were anything but restful.
Andromeda dreamed she was on a dark plain. The ground was squishy and warm underneath her feet. The constant loud BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, echoed across the landscape, chilling her to the bone. The dim light came from rivers and lakes of fiery rivers and the flaming breath of monsters. Horrible creatures scuttled along the treacherous ground-which wasn't ground at all. It was skin.
Andromeda didn't have a second thought about where she was-Tartarus.
A shadowy figure rose up in front of her. His skin was pure purple, rippling with the muscles that made the land. He wore dark iron boots with spikes on the sides. He wore an armoured skirt made of charred black bones, all of enormous size and bent to form links like chainmail. The skirt was held by a monstrous belt made of the gruesome arms of various monsters. His chestplate was black iron, and faces kept emerging and pressing against it, as if the chestplate was a window they were trying to get through.
His head, though, made his body seem insignificant and silly. He wore an iron helmet made of magma and iron spikes. And his face-his face was pure darkness. It was merely composed of a dark whirlpool, spiraling into the head of the god-Tartarus.
"Hello, my treacherous ally," the god purred.
Shakily, Andromeda found her voice. "What do you want?" She demanded. "Why have you brought me here?" Tartarus's laugh was like the sound of thunder multiplied a thousandfold by a ghost.
"Why? I missed you, Andromeda. We could have had so much, living in a world where there are no puny mortals, no haughty Olympian gods, only the primordials, our allies, and of course the suffering gods that would've been stuck in my realm. I would've enjoyed watching them suffer. But no, Andromeda. You chose a different path. You chose the path of the gods. Normally I would dissolve you, sentence you to eternal torment in my chestplate. But you are young and impressionable, so I shall spare you. You also are a powerful ally, and besides, your mother would ask that I at least let you live."
"I don't have a mother," Andromeda spat. "Khione is not my mother, because no person who could give birth is so cold, so heartless. I hate Khione. I despise her for betraying her own, for helping Gaea. I am glad that I did not turn against the Olympians. They are not perfect, but they are better than the alternative of the Titans, Gigantes, Gaea, And you."
Tartarus' face changed, becoming a face. He had glowing yellow-orange eyes, like the fiery waters of the River Phlegethon. His hair was dark purple, like the night sky. His lips were black, curled back, showing gleaming white fangs. He sneered.
"We'll see about that, girl," he snarled. "Now wake."