A/N: This was definitely one of the harder chapters to write so far, but I think it sets up the next part of the story I want to get to well. Thank you all for commenting on the questions I asked last time. The only problem is that everyone wants something different. I'm starting to form an idea of what I want but nothing's set in stone. Comment the people you want Percy to interact with, because I want him to go on some adventures, but I want it to be entertaining for me and the readers.

Disclaimer: Rick's Characters, My Plot

A New Mission

(Midnight)

(Percy)

I tried to sleep, but right as I hit the bed to get some I immediately regretted it. I had a terrible nightmare.

I'm used to having nightmares in my sleep. I am a demigod after all, but this was different. It wasn't a message from anyone or a vision of one of my many enemies, instead it was a vision of me. It was me, but it wasn't. I was the monster I promised I would never become. The dream showed me manipulating the poison and killing Akhlys instead of sparing her. Then it showed me doing to Zeus what I did to Kronos as revenge for the pain he's caused me. Finally, it showed me murdering Annabeth by stabbing her in the chest. Worst of all, it showed all my closest friends watching the scene in horror.

I couldn't believe what I was watching. I wanted to look away, but I couldn't. Is this what I'm going to become? Did letting that power and anger out to kill Kronos unlock a side of me I've never seen before? Would I be able to control myself in the future when I get angry?

Before I could react, the dream Percy turned around and stared at me. He may have had the same body as me, but the eyes were a stark contrast to what I would have expected. They were empty sockets that blazed a black fire. This evil, dream Percy smirked as he withdrew the blade from Annabeth's heart and charged at me.

I was frozen in place as he attacked. As he was about to plunge the sword through my heart I woke up with a start. I sat up and noticed my body shaking. A cold sweat covered my body, and I knew I wouldn't be able to go back to sleep again for the night.

I decided that even though it was late and it wasn't even that close to the time I was required to leave, I would get a head start so I could get to the palace as soon as possible. From experience, I've learned that the quicker you can get out of Tartarus the better.

So that's what I did. I stood up, got dressed and slipped out of the room on my way to the exit.

I was just about to walk out of the Mansion to begin the journey when I heard heated conversation coming from the throne room. I stopped in my tracks and I worked my way back over to listen in on it. Once I got to the door, I noticed it was open so I slipped inside. Once I got inside I hid behind one of the pillars holding up the ceiling to listen in.

What I saw shocked me. It was the Giants holding court with Nyx. They were obviously not happy, and it was also obvious I was the reason for their displeasure. I must have dropped in at the perfect time because Porphyrion had just started yelling at Nyx about her deal she'd with me.

"How could you let him out of here alive? We were right on the trail. Let us up there right now and kill him. We can talk to Styx. It wouldn't be a violation of your oath if we were the ones who did it."

"No, I refuse. I want him dead as much if not more than you, but what kind of host would invite in a guest just to kill them? My reputation would be ruined. No one would ever want to come visit anymore. My reputation doesn't matter though, because I have another reason for denying you. I have a plan."

"What plan could possibly be better than killing him right now with no one to stop us?"

"You numbskull. Killing him later along with his allies would be a better plan. We can wipe most of them out in one move."

"Interesting. That does sound like a better plan. Tell me more. Who could possibly be his ally down here? We already ran into Damesan and showed him how we treat people who help the little mortal. No one else would have the courage to help him."

Oh no. That doesn't sound good. They did something to Damesan, most likely killed him, and I couldn't do anything about it.

The nonchalant way they just tossed out their murder, or torture, or something worse, of Damasen made me angry. Incredibly angry. I was about to run out there and fight them, but I decided against it. That is about the dumbest thing I could do in this situation so I sat tight.

"You really don't know? How could he survive down here without help? He needed a strong ally and he had one. That strong ally was your father, Tartarus."

"Father? He would never work with someone like Perseus. He killed some of us and his friends killed our mother. That just doesn't make any sense."

He was right of course. It made no sense at all why Tartarus helped me in the first place, but hopefully I would make it to him so I could find out.

"Well, unfortunately for you he did. So I will let him go to Tartarus at his palace, then you will follow and find out once and for all why he abandoned us."

"Yes. I agree with this plan of yours. We will stalk Perseus once he leaves in the morning and once he reaches the palace we will have a nice little talk with our rogue father."

I had heard enough of there plans, so I quietly slipped back out and ran to the exit. It was obvious there was something bigger going on and I didn't want to give the Giants a chance to follow me. If I got a head start then there's a good chance I wouldn't have to deal with them on the road. They would expect me to be sleeping, but instead I would be hustling as far away as I could possibly get from them.

So the journey began. It was going to be long and hard. What else is new? I decided to start by walking along the River Phlegethon. Painfully drinking it and making my way towards the heart where I can then keep going to the palace.

It wasn't surprising given the fact that Nyx made it quite clear I was not to be attacked, but I didn't encounter a single monster on the way. It was actually quite peaceful down here without the fear of being attacked. I was still nervous about the conversation in the throne room, but they did make it quite obvious that even if they did catch up to me, they wouldn't attack until I made it to Tartarus anyway. I kept a fast pace, but I was actually able to relax.

Eventually, I made it to the heart where the Doors of Death had been chained and I found it abandoned too. A spot that had been packed to the brim with monsters vying to get out just a month ago was now completely empty. It was incredibly odd. Where had they all gone?

Everything being so empty was honestly a surprise. Even without the Doors this seemed like a spot that was always crawling with monsters. What reason could they possibly have for abandoning it?

I wanted to find out because it left a queasy feeling in my stomach, but I kept moving. The Giants won't be that close so quickly, but better safe than sorry.

The heart had been the furthest I'd gone in Tartarus before, so the rest of the journey was unfamiliar territory. The fact that I had no idea what's ahead scared me, but not as much as it should have. I'd already been given safe passage by Nyx and I've already overcome many of the most powerful beings down here anyway.

The journey was short compared to the distance I traveled originally, but much more treacherous. It evolved from a barren wasteland into a thick, hazy jungle. It looked like a jungle, but had none of the normal features I'd ever seen in a jungle before. It was completely dead and colorless. It also had no path of any sorts to walk through. I was forced to slash and hack my way through it all while the prickers on the branches and vines stabbed and picked at anywhere my skin was exposed. It was absolutely miserable.

I had no idea where I was, how far I had to go, or whether I was even going in the right direction so I did the one thing I knew I could do. I kept going. It took a little over an hour and a body full of scratches, but eventually I emerged out into an open clearing. I couldn't believe my eyes. A month in Tartarus time and who knows how long in regular time of constant physical torment and impossible challenges had left me almost hopeless, but here I am. Standing within view of my destination. Tartarus' Palace.

The palace was stunning. It was like Hades' palace on steroids. It was just as dark and foreboding, but it was twice as big and just as fancy as the Versailles Palace. Yeah, I know what the Versailles Palace is. I may not have been good at school, but I did learn a little when Annabeth taught me about famous architecture.

I remember she showed me the palace one day when she was working on Olympus because Aphrodite wanted a temple with connection to France.

Ah… The good times. It was so easy back then.

I wished with all my heart to go back if only for a minute, but that might not happen ever again. I'm about to get a new mission, and it could be anything.

It took me a minute to snap out of my thoughts, but eventually I did and I made my way up to the entrance.

I reached the huge double doors and I gave it a solid knock. Nothing happened for a couple of seconds, but then the hinges creaked and they slowly started to creep open. Once the doors were wide enough to let me in, I walked through and made my way to the throne room. I wasn't sure who was copying who, but the throne room looked just like Hades' when I visited him in the Underworld. The only difference was instead of being completely black it was more of a hazeley purple. When I entered the room the throne was empty, but there were several beings around the room which I assumed were some minor children of Tartarus all in minor side conversations, as soon as they saw me though it all stopped. I immediately became the center of attention and the room became deathly quiet. All eyes were drilled onto me until I heard the booming voice of Tartarus.

"So you made it. It's about time."

The voice started out of nowhere, but halfway through the sarcastic welcome he appeared on the throne. He looked really similar to what he looked like the last time I saw him at the Doors of Death. He was massive and absolutely shredded. He had swirling, glistening purple skin accentuated by his talon like fingers. Everything about him was normal except the always disturbing whirlpool of darkness where his face should have been. Barely seeing it for a split second the first time was nightmare fuel, but now I have a view of it that I will never be able to unsee.

"I was hoping you would make it this far. I wasn't sure you were worthy, but now I know you are. I have a room prepared for your stay. Go rest and we will meet up to discuss why I have tasked you with coming here. There is no point discussing it now after such a hard journey."

"Yes. Thanks Tartarus. I definitely need any rest I can get, but before I forget I want to tell you the Giants were chasing after me on the way up here."

"It's Lord Tartarus to you Perseus. Do not forget we are not friends. I will not have a mortal address me with such disrespect. As for the Giants, I am their father. They have no quarrel with me and as a matter of fact they serve my will. You have no need to worry because they will obey me."

"I hope you're right. As for my respect, do you really deserve it after what you did to Bob?"

"Yes. I do deserve your respect. You would be dead without me."

"Still doesn't make me happy with you."

"And it shouldn't, but know that I can still kill you."

"But you can't because you need me, so I'm going to take my chances. I hope to talk to you about this mission soon, because I want to be free again."

Before Tartarus could say anything else I turned and walked out. Tartarus beckoned one of his children to lead me to my room and I was lights out right as I hit the bed.

I was hoping to avoid dreams tonight because it would make everything a lot easier, but did I really expect to be that lucky? At least it wasn't a nightmare I guess. Instead I was back on Olympus. Not in the throne room though. This time I was in a temple. It was made of solid gold and it felt like it was burning my eyes out. The Temple of Apollo. I was always pretty cool with Apollo, but that didn't really explain why my dreams would put me here in his temple. Then I saw him. He was sitting there with an intense look on his face. It looked like he was in deep thought muttering to himself about something. In his hands was a golden piece of wood. He was fiddling with it as I tried to get close enough to hear what he was saying.

"Have to stop them. Need to be ready… "

His voice dragged off as he looked up. Then his face lit up and he yelled.

"It's time!"

He stood up and flashed out of the temple leaving me staring at his empty chair. Being that the dream was over I woke up.

What could this dream mean? What could he possibly have to stop? Hopefully it doesn't have something to do with the pending war between my dad and Zeus. It sounds to me like something is going down soon. Hopefully I'm not too late for it while I'm down here. Maybe if I get out in time I can go back and stop whatever madness the world has gone to in my time away.

*knock**knock*

"Yeah, come in."

One of Tartarus' children opened the door.

"Father will see you now."

I jumped up out of bed and followed him. A minute later after mazing our way through the palace I was left in a small little conference room like the ones I had disciplinary meetings in at school, waiting for him to arrive. Being ADHD as a demigod I started pacing the room. A minute later he flashed in and sat down at the head of the table.

"Sit down Perseus, despite your rudeness, we have much to discuss."

I decided not saying anything would be the best approach, so I followed his direction and sat down in the chair diagonal from him. Close enough to have a quiet conversation, but just out of his reach in case things got out of control. I had a feeling that being out of his reach wouldn't matter all that much if he decided to attack so I wasn't all that worried with where I sat though. Once I'd made myself comfortable I looked up and I gave Tartarus a little nod to indicate I was ready for him to continue.

"Perseus. We have our differences, and those will never be overcome, but I respect you. Do you know why I respect you? It's because we're more similar than you might think."

I couldn't believe he was trying to relate with me. The monster that killed Bob and fathered the Giants wants me to try and understand him.

"How could you say that? We are Nothing alike!"

"Oh, but we are Perseus, we are."

"Then tell me. What makes me anything like you?"

"We both have allies that want us dead."

My jaw went slack in shock over that bombshell he just dropped on my head. An ally of his wants him dead? More importantly, and ally wants me dead? What could he possibly mean.

"An ally wants me dead? What do you mean?"

"I mean someone you thought you could trust and believe has been plotting your murder and death for years."

"And who might that be?"

"It's Zeus. The king of the gods. Your ally in the wars. He's wanted you dead since the beginning, and his plan to do so has finally come together."

What he was saying kind of made sense, but I was still skeptical. He could easily be tricking me into fighting against Olympus for his benefit. I needed to know more.

"Then why didn't he just kill me in the throne room? There were so many ways to kill me earlier. You must be lying, because your story just doesn't make sense."

"Oh, but it does Perseus, his plan is so genius I wish I'd have thought of it myself. He manipulated everything he could in his power to keep control over Olympus. It all started when it finally started to dawn on him how powerful you had truly become. With you by his side, Poseidon or any other god for that matter, could have easily overthrown him. Zeus knew he needed you gone, but he couldn't do it directly. If the other gods knew about the murder they would turn on him, and he would lose his throne that way too. Once you escaped Tartarus, he hatched a plan that began to take shape over the next couple of months after. He knew you had many enemies down here and if you ever came to the pit again you would never survive, so that became his goal. He gave you hope that you could end all of the war by killing all of the evil down here in the pit, but secretly he knew it could never be done. He hoped that in the end you would kill as many of his enemies as you could while losing your own life in the process. It was the perfect two birds with one stone plan. The plan was perfect, almost too perfect, but before he could put it into action he had to make certain you would die here. He told the other gods it was for the good of Olympus to prevent a war, then he banned them from bestowing their blessings on you. Did you ever wonder why Hades gave you armour instead of his blessing? He would have been violating Zeus's royal decree. Even with all those contingencies, it still wasn't enough for him. That's when he contacted me. He wanted me to help you kill his enemies, then in return he would let me kill you as his sacrifice."

"Wait… You brought me here to kill me?"

"Originally, yes, but now I have a different plan that involves keeping you alive and letting you live. You could be of use to me and to be honest I feel kind of bad for you. You've had a terrible life, even for a hero, and it's about to get so much worse."

"What do you mean?"

"I need your help."

"Okay Tartarus, what can I do for you? You're letting me live, it's the least I can do."

"I need you to kill Nyx."

"Kill Nyx! Are you crazy. I would die before I could even lift a finger to her."

"With that we can both agree, but you are our only hope. Nyx used to be my ally, but she has become more powerful than me and she plans to drain me of my power, kill me, then take over Tartarus."

"Why would she do that? At least Zeus trying to kill me makes a little sense. Why would she want to kill you like you say and take over?"

"Because she's not content with living down here in her little Mansion of Night. Right now I'm the only thing stopping her from taking over the world and I'm losing my strength fast. I will not be able to hold out forever, so I need you to help me fight her off."

"How am I supposed to help though? She is way too powerful."

"You help by training and preparing. You are not ready to fight her, but you will need to be. That is why I'm sending you back up to the normal world. You will leave Tartarus and return to the surface, where you will be getting ready and improve your skills. Then when the time is right, you will return and join what little army and strength I have left and you will lead the charge that saves the world from Nyx."

"Why are you helping us in the first place? Why are you not siding with her?"

"Nyx and I were allies like I said, but she became greedy with power. I was content with my spot as Ruler of the Pit, but Nyx wants everything. She's even willing to kill her own brothers if it gives her more power. I could not stand by and let the Earth be destroyed because I would be the next target. This may have made me her target earlier, but I have a better chance of survival this way than any other way."

"Okay Tartarus. This is a lot to take in in such a short time, but I believe you. It all makes sense in a twisted, evil sort of way. I accept your mission. I will return to the surface and train for the ultimate battle that is sure to come. I will never be friends with someone as evil as you, but Nyx cannot win, so in my opinion the enemy of my enemy is my friend."

"Thank you Perseus, we have no other option but to win this new war. One last thing before we prepare you to leave. Beware of both friends and enemies on the surface. Zeus will still want you dead if he finds out you survived, and he will use your failed quest as an excuse to kill you. Now go off and meet me in the throne room in 10 minutes. It's time for you to go home."