When Annabeth and Jason returned to Camp Half-Blood, they relayed all that had been said at their conversation with Reyna.
It was hard to tell which direction she was leaning towards, although if Annabeth knew Reyna, she would want to help.
The only problem would be Octavian. He was dead set on war, and he would do everything in his power to sway Reyna's opinion.
The time they had to rest was very much appreciated, for the crew, and for the Argo II.
Leo and his siblings worked tirelessly fixing the ship and giving it new upgrades that would help on their journey back. While the others had almost constant meetings with the cabin leaders.
They managed to convince the Greeks not to fight, but Clarisse was adamant that they would protect themselves if the Romans attacked.
Finally, everybody gathered on Half-Blood Hill to hear what Reyna had decided to do.
"Demigods! I have given this much deliberation, and I have decided that the Romans will not attack the Greeks! Yet. I have never heard of this so called war with Gaea, but I find that those of you who have talked to me did not lie. So, I have decided to give you eight days. Eight days to bring something to me that will prove this war with Gaea. Then, and only then the Roman legion will help you".
There was a brief moment of silence when everybody was attempting to understand what she had said. But then they exploded.
"You are letting them off!".
Octavian, a scrawny Roman kid with a teddy bear hanging from his belt loop was the loudest of them all, yelling at Reyna until spittle flew from his mouth and his face turned red.
"Yet?! Yet! We'll show you yet!".
Somebody had to hold back Clarisse from charging into their camp as her own one-person army.
Various other voices from both Roman and Greek camps yelled out things at Reyna. But Annabeth was silent.
She made eye contact with the roman praetor and found herself understanding her decision.
She turned to the others aboard the Argo II that was hovering above the two camps.
"I understand why she has done this. It will set us back quite a while, and our window of time is rapidly closing, but if we hurry, I think we can get there and back in enough time to defeat Gaea".
The others nodded, but Piper was still confused.
"Okay. So what are we going to go bring back as proof of the war?".
"Percy". Everybody quieted at his name. "He will be able to convince the two sides to work together. He will be our proof".
Below them, the two camps were still arguing loudly with one another. Yelling curses in both ancient Greek and Latin.
The demigods had to be let in on the plan, but at this rate, nothing productive was going to happen anytime soon.
"QUIET!".
Nico was not a loud kid. In fact he hardly spoke at all. So when he yelled out, everybody immediately stopped talking to look up at him.
He flushed when he became the sudden center of attention, but luckily Annabeth took it over for him.
"Thank you Nico. Okay, we accept these terms, although we must say that this will set us back quite a while. Gaea will rise on the first of August whether we are ready for her or not. Percy told us that you would be more cooperative, but I guess this is the most that we can get, so thank you. We will return with your proof".
She turned around so that they could leave, but somebody called out from below.
"Where is Percy?".
It was a question that it seemed everybody wanted to know, as nobody spoke, waiting for an answer.
Annabeth stepped back to the edge of the ship to once again address the crowd of demigods.
She could feel tears stinging in her eyes, but she willed her voice to stay strong.
"Percy— Percy is in Tartarus".
The affect her words had was almost immediate, ranging from shock to outrage.
So she was forced to explain once again how Percy had sacrificed himself for her.
Once she had finished explaining, unsettled murmuring went through the crowd. But finally, someone spoke.
"Well why are you up there? We need to give him a proper service. Burn his burial shroud!".
Everybody agreed with solemn faces, and Annabeth could have sworn that she even saw Chiron shed a few tears.
She turned to Nico for help once again.
"Percy is not dead!"
"Oh yeah? And how do you know that death boy!", someone from the roman camp shouted.
He turned to them, pinning them to the spot with his dark eyed-glare.
"Because I am just that. The son of Hades. I can sense every one of the souls on this field right now. Would you like to test out the accuracy of my powers?".
The poor Roman kid was pinned to the spot, and others around him backed away.
But Hazel put her hand on Nico's shoulder and whispered a few things into his ear.
Reluctantly, he relaxed, and marched back to his cabin.
Hazel fixed the same kid with a glare before following him, the sound of the door closing resounding over the field with a bang.
Annabeth tiredly ran her hand down her face before continuing.
"Does this new information change your decision?".
She was looking directly at Reyna, but Octavian spoke up.
"Don't believe them. They are lying Graecus scum! They are trying to trick us!".
Reyna sighed, and for the first time Annabeth saw a small amount of emotion flicker through her face as Octavian spoke: annoyance.
"The deadline still stands. Bring us back proof of this war within eight days and we will help you. If you have not returned by then, we will invade your camp".
With that said, she turned around and walked away with a flourish.
Annabeth walked across the deck so that she was now only addressing the Greek campers.
"We will be back before that deadline. Do not attack! We will be back, and we will bring Percy back with us!".
The greeks cheered and dispersed, but Annabeth couldn't help the chill that ran through her.
How were they going to do all of this alone?
—
Hazel was just barely able to calm Nico down after that Roman insulted him.
She knew that Nico still cared deeply for Percy and was as upset as the rest of them, but he would never admit it.
As he walked below deck he slammed the door to his cabin behind him, and she knew that he wouldn't want to talk right now.
That's fine. It's not like I needed to talk to someone or anything.
She went into her own cabin, and not long after, she heard a loud cheer and her other friends came back down the stairs, all going into their own cabins. Well, except for Annabeth. Annabeth had been sleeping in Percy's cabin since he had fallen down the pit.
Mention of Percy just made everybody feel sad for his loss all over again, and she supposed that had an even greater effect on Annabeth.
Annabeth and Percy loved each other so much that she wondered how the Fates could be so cruel to them.
They had saved Olympus countless times, and then they were dragged apart and reunited only for Percy to fall into Tartarus. It wasn't fair.
At the same time, she knew that Annabeth was by nobody's standards weak. She was stronger than Hazel thought possible, and would probably stop at nothing to get Percy back.
—
Gaea invaded his dreams again. Showing him images of such horrible things that when he awoke his face was streaked with tears.
Opening his eyes, he came face to face with something very unexpected.
A man was standing above him, so close to his face that he could smell his breath.
It smiled creepily.
"Mother wants to see you".
In a flash he had his sword out and pointed at the thing, for the first time noticing something about it.
It was not a normal man. Around it was a sort of aura that radiated power, much like the gods. But unlike the gods whose aura put them in a golden light, this thing's aura was black, sucking the light out of the surrounding area and making it seem darker than it already was. Much like the mansion in the distance.
Despite the sword in its face, it only smiled again and walked away, receding down a set of stairs that seemingly appeared and then disappeared as he moved.
"Why should I follow you?".
It was odd, the creature did not attack, did not do anything but tell him to follow it. What made it think that he would?
"I don't know. All I know is that you will. It's your destiny". At the word destiny, the creature turned around and smiled, an ominous smile that sent a shiver down his spine.
Percy watched as the strange man began to move across the open plain, any monster nearby it ran away, as if afraid.
He considered this, he needed to cross this plain without dying. The last time he had tried something like that he had nearly died and this plain was at least double the size. Monsters seemed to be afraid of the being, so Percy could use that to make it across, and then run away once he was across.
It seemed like a good plan, and every second the creature walked farther and farther away, so before he could move much farther, Percy gathered up what little things he had with him and ran to catch up with it.
It didn't acknowledge his presence, just nodded its head and continued walking.
Percy realised that his suspicions were right when the creature began guiding it towards the black mansion that he had seen earlier.
"Who are you?", Percy asked. A feeling of apprehension was starting to take over him, and he felt his feet dragging, as if they didn't want to continue forward and encounter whatever lived in that mansion.
It didn't answer him, so Percy wracked his brain for anything that Annabeth might have told him about a dark creature living in a strange mansion in the middle of Tartarus.
He came up with nothing. And soon, they had arrived.
The creature stopped at the front of the building, and shouted out, "My lady! I have brought you the boy!"
There was no answer, but a black smoke began to come out of the crevices of the doors.
Percy turned to the man next to him.
"Who are you?"
The creature laughed. "You already know".
With that it touched a finger to Percy's forehead, and his mind was immediately filled with images, causing him to fall to his knees as he was overwhelmed.
The last image stayed with him for the longest, burned into his mind just as it had that fateful day back when he was 12.
The three fates, sitting at a fruit stand on the side of a major road, snipping the line of blue yarn which was his life's cord.
Just as these images bombarded his brain, so did the answer.
"You— You're Moros, primordial god of destiny".
The creature smiled. "Very good. I was beginning to think that your fall to Tartarus had a more dramatic effect on you than we initially thought".
"You've been watching me? What do you want?". He grew braver. He was fed up with the cryptic ways that gods and other powerful beings answered his questions, and he was not in the mood to try and decipher something now.
The creature's eyes widened ever so slightly at his impudence.
He was about to say more when the doors to the mansion suddenly opened.
Some instinct of his told him to close his eyes, and he followed it, having learnt long ago to trust them.
He heard the doors close again and he opened his eyes, coming face to face with a tall woman who's body seemed to be made of pure darkness.
Her eyes were made of small galaxies, and the raw amount of power that she exuded practically force him to kneel.
Her name immediately came to his mind, and he used it to address her in a way that he figured she would find pleasing.
"My lady, Nyx".
The creature beside him did not kneel, but instead stepped forward to address her.
She did not seem to like this, as she scowled when she looked down at him.
"My lady. I have brought you the boy that you requested".
He did kneel then, leaving Percy at the mercy of the full extent of her gaze.
"Demigod. Why have you come here?".
Her voice seemed to come from everywhere at the same time, much like Gaea's did. And somehow, Percy knew that Nyx was just as powerful.
"My lady,", she seemed to like it when he called her that, "I have come to close the doors of death, I—".
She cut him off. "That is impossible! If the doors were open I would have known! My children would have known!".
She glared down at him as if he were lying, and there was no doubt in his mind that she had the power to condemn him to eternal punishment with just the flick of her wrist.
"Respectfully, my lady. I am not lying. I am part of a prophecy to defeat Gaea, stop her from waking".
"Gaea! Why that little—". She seemed to compose herself before she could continue. "If you are part of a prophecy why are you here?".
Percy was about to answer but Moros answered for him.
"To defy me! The girl was supposed to fall down the pit. Not him. It was her destiny. Her fate! He interrupted it. He should be punished", Moros sounded strangely like a little kid when they didn't get what they wanted. And the thought was so absurd, that Percy bursted out laughing.
Both Moros and Nyx looked at him as if he had gone crazy (which he might have).
Laughing felt so good. He hadn't laughed in what felt like an eternity, and the idea of Moros, one of the all-powerful primordial gods, as a little kid whining to his mother was just so funny that he couldn't help himself.
"Quiet!", Moros yelled at him. But it only made him laugh harder.
Nyx looked at him curiously, thoughts of obliterating him gone from her mind.
"What do you laugh at little half-blood?".
"Nothing nothing, my lady. Just the weakness of your son, Moros".
That seemed the wrong thing to say, as Moros was in front of him in seconds.
"I'll show you weakness! Do you want to see the fate that I have laid out for your precious girlfriend, Perseus?".
Before he could respond, Moros once again touched Percy's forehead, and his laughing was cut short.
He saw Annabeth and his friends, on the Argo II sailing towards him by themselves.
He barely had time to wonder why they were still on their own before the Argo II was attacked. The image changed, all of his friends were in some sort of cage in what looked to be an old long-destroyed temple. All his friends except Annabeth.
Where was she?
He got his answer when his vision continued and he looked over to see her sitting in chains next to a group of cyclops who were stroking her like some sort of pet. His vision changed once again, and he watched to his horror, as Annabeth's throat was cut and spilled onto a sacrificial table.
He screamed. Anger and sadness and pain rolling off of him in waves and waves of power. Faster than he could blink, Moros was on the ground under Percy with golden ichor flowing from wounds that he had inflicted with Riptide which was now pointed at his throat.
"Fool! I am immortal! You cannot kill me!".
But Percy didn't hear anything. Rage still coursing through his blood and making his vision tunnel and shrouding everything in red.
He focused in on the golden ichor flowing from the primordial's wounds.
Time moved in slow motion as he watched it flow, moving so similarly to water.
He wanted to make this, this thing pay. Nothing hurt Annabeth, not while he was alive. And he was, he really was.
Percy's senses became hyper aware. He could feel the blood pumping through his veins, or more accurately, the water that made up the blood that pumped through his veins.
He reached out with his mind, taking hold of the water in the primordial's ichor, and willing it to come to him.
The wounds bled faster instead of healing and closing up like they normally would have. And Moros' voice was cut off as he looked down and watched with a mixture of horror and pain on his face.
Nyx just watched with an intense look of curiosity as one of her sons was drained of his ichor.
Percy saw the light begin to fade from Moros' eyes, his ichor forming a puddle around his body.
Just before the light faded completely he was stopped.
He immediately knew who was behind it and turned his gaze up to Nyx, daring her to do something.
"Stop. I have seen enough. I will allow you to live but I cannot allow you to kill Destiny".
Percy stepped to the side, not by his own accord but as if he was being controlled by another (which he was).
With a wave of her hand, Moros stood, good as new.
He glared at him from across the courtyard that they were standing in, but Percy was still reeling in his new found power.
Now that he had discovered it, he could feel the beat of every nearby creature's blood. It was terrifying and exhilarating at the same time.
But slowly, the sensation faded, his vision came back to normal and he realised just where he was and what he had done.
He fell to his knees in front of Lady Nyx, now released from the hold that she had on him earlier.
"Forgive me, my lady. I don't know what took over me".
He could feel her eyes on him before she said, "Rise half-blood. My son was foolish, you have proven yourself well. You will make a good addition to our ranks".
He rose as she asked him to, but looked at her in confusion.
"I'm sorry, my lady. Your ranks?".
"Yes. You have proven yourself as strong as any of my offspring. You may join them in serving me".
Moros spluttered behind him.
"A demigod? Join us? It is not possible!".
For once, Percy agreed with him. "It is true, my lady. Tartarus is already killing me. Even the air is poisonous to mortals like myself. I cannot join your ranks. I am sorry".
He hoped it was enough for her to let him go. But he could once again feel her eyes on him, the galaxies studying him like he was an interesting piece of art.
"Very well, then. If you must go, let me depart on you something that I have never given before".
With that, she walked over and place her hand on his shoulder. At first, nothing happened, but then he felt an intense burning on the nape of his neck, that cause him to yell out in pain and try to move away. But she held on fast, and soon, the pain turned into a great sense of power.
Taking her hand away, she stepped back until he could once again look her in the eyes.
"Wha-What did you do to me?", he asked, looking at his hands as if he had never seen them before.
"A gift. I have bestowed upon you my blessing. All my offspring shall listen to anything you command, and it will give you great power".
Percy didn't know what to say, so he bowed and kneeled in front of her.
"Thank you my lady. This means a great deal to me".
And it did. For the first time since falling into Tartarus Percy no longer felt like he was stuck in a hopeless situation.
Maybe he could actually survive
"You are very welcome. Now come, through here. Walking through my house is the only way that a mortal can get to the heart of Tartarus. That is where you are going, yes?".
"Yes, my lady. Thank you".
"Be warned, what is contained inside of my house is not for mortal eyes. Do not, under any circumstances open your eyes to look until you cross my property line".
"Yes my lady".
With that, she opened the door and he snapped his eyes shut.
The walk through Nyx's mansion felt like it took years. With every step forward his senses screamed at him to open his eyes and turn around. But he heeded Nyx's warning and did not. Even when something came so close to his face that he could feel its breath.
Finally, he felt water. That familiar tug in the pit of his stomach was such a relief, but he knew he couldn't open his eyes yet.
The river must be the property line
Voices filled his head. Begging to be released, saying they didn't deserve it. Then they moved on to trying to make him jump, saying that he was a murderer, showing him all of the monsters he had ever killed.
He almost listened to them, he almost jumped.
Only his memory of Annabeth, golden hair reflecting the light of the sunshine kept him from doing it.
Using every last scrap of self-will he had left, he drew energy from the river and jumped.