Chapter 9 Reading Trapped in the Past
"The past cannot be changed, forgotten, edited, or erased; it can only be ACCEPTED." -quotes hunter
Krios opened the book and began to read, it would tell the Titan's secrets, everything, but it couldn't be changed, Fate had allowed the past to read the future, nothing would be the same, but Percy was there brother now, they fight for what their king believes in, to the death if need be….
Leo was sure he was hallucinating. It just wasn't possible that a drakon – a monster, of all things – could have smashed through the wall of the cells and buries the Titan King. It wasn't possible that Bob had been riding it. It definitely wasn't possible that Annabeth was dead.
At the end of that sentence everyone was quiet, even Louis, who was reading.
"I can't believe I am dead…." Annabeth said and looked down, looking up Annabeth saw Kronos watching her, his eyes unreadable, but he shook his head and turned away.
"What was that?!" Annabeth thought.
Bob hummed to himself as he studied the pile of rocks that Kronos was currently buried under. "I give it no more than five minutes before he gets out," he turned to the demigods, "so I would hurry if I were you. The Maeonian Drakon won't wait."
There was silence for several more moments as the demigods stared at Bob, feeling their adrenaline rushes run out and sagging as their tiredness caught up to them. "Hold up a minute," Leo said as he held a hand up, "you disappeared, and left us on our own to fight Mr. Time over there," he waved in the general direction of Kronos, " just to find a friendly drakon?"
"That is kind of dumb," Leo said and
Bob rubbed the back of his neck, "Uh, yes."
"Brother, brother brother…." Oceanus grinned and was about to open his mouth to speak again when a bright flash of light interrupted him.
A lioness and a child stood there, the kid had bright green eyes and he exclaimed when he saw Hyperion, running over and jumping into the waiting Titan Lord's arms.
"Lee," Kronos spoke.
"Yes-"a warning look from the Titans and the child clamped his mouth shut.
"Where is your father?"
"Daddy is home with uncle Koios," lee said, and the lioness growled and the Titan king nodded.
Leo nodded, "Ok. My brain feels dead."
Thalia looked over at Percy, seeing how his eyes seemed dead and lifeless as he stared at the body of Annabeth. "Kelp Head," she called as she quickly walked over, "are you ok?"
"I think you should define ok for him, Thals," Jason said as he too came over.
"He killed her," Percy mumbled, still staring at Annabeth, "stabbed her."
Thalia frowned as she scanned him over, noting the dozens of cuts and scars littering his body. Her eyes landed on his right forearm and narrowed slightly as she made out a letter. Percy turned his arm away so she couldn't see.
"Percy, what's on your arm?" Thalia asked.
"Why do you want to look at his arm? I mean his whole body is littered with scars, why not the rest of his body?" Jason asked and looked at his sister.
"I am not sure, this is the future, remember?" Thalia spoke.
Percy flinched back and swallowed thickly, choosing to not answer, and instead stare blankly at her. The pile of rubble where Kronos was buried shifted slightly, causing rocks to start a small avalanche. "Leo!" Jason called, "Think you can break into the cell?"
"You should have brought one of my sons!" Hermes moaned and slapped his forehead.
"Breaking into things is my specialty," Leo said as he fished a few gadgets out of his tool belt and set to work on the lock.
Thalia immediately turned away from the cell and made her way to Annabeth. The remaining demigods were all crowding around her in a circle and Thalia managed to shove her way through them to kneel at her little sister in all but blood's side. "Annie," she murmured as she saw the mortal wound.
Annabeth's eyes were wide and unseeing as she stared up at the ceiling, but she was still breathing. Thalia grabbed her hand and Annabeth moved weakly, "Promise me…" she murmured, "Get Seaweed Brain out…please."
"A dying promise…"Athena said, "Can never be broken daughter."
Thalia nodded grimly, "I will, don't worry. Kronos will pay for what he's done."
"Good," Annabeth said, "Thals?"
"Yes?" Thalia asked as she rubbed at her eyes in an attempt to not cry in front of the other immortal demigods.
Annabeth struggled to speak. "I couldn't have asked for a better sister."
Thalia looked down, here she was listening to her half sister's death, and she wished more than anything that she could save her. Because this was torture, and to have the titan who killed her less than ten feet away, was worse.
Plus it made Thalia the more determined to hate Kronos, he had taken her brother: Luke, had taken Percy, and almost made him break, and now he was taking Annabeth from her.
Thalia took a shaky breath. "Neither could I."
Annabeth nodded slightly and relaxed back as her hand fell limp, the only sound was Kronos' shouts of rage as he tried to force the rocks off of him, but none of the demigods cared about him. Annabeth breathed out and the light left her eyes as her head turned to one side and she completely relaxed her face a simple picture of serenity.
Thalia took a shaky breath and stood up, shooting an icy cold glare at where Kronos was buried, she turned to Leo just as he shouted: "Done it!"
The cell door swung open and Leo darted inside, immediately running towards Percy. The son of Poseidon flinched back as Leo approached, his eyes filling with fear as the fire-user advanced.
"Leo, you idiot!" Nico exclaimed with Hazel helping him walk, "You don't just run up to someone who's been tortured with a weapon in your hand!"
"Someone has been hanging out with Will to much!" Conner, Travis, and Drake, the sons of Hermes sang at the same time.
Leo looked down at Hyperion's sword which he still held in his hand and quickly threw the weapon across the cell. Percy winced at the sound of metal clattering against stone, his hands curling up beside him.
"You alright, Perce?" Nico asked worriedly as he approached; holding his hands out to either side as Hazel hovered by his side, ready to catch him if he fell. The other demigods crowded behind him, all of them trying – and some failing – to hide their weapons from Percy's sight.
Kronos' shout of rage echoed around them, and Bob scowled as he strode into the cell, towering over the demigods. "We don't have time on our side. Brother will be out in minutes or less," he hefted his spear and swung it straight at the chains holding Percy in place, easily smashing through them with a shower of sparks.
As soon as Percy felt the tension slacken he had tried to stand, only to fall as his legs collapsed beneath him. He settled for crawling and retreated to a corner where he watched the nine beings warily.
"Hazel, you do it," Clarisse hissed, her voice surprisingly soft.
"Why me?" Hazel asked nervously.
"Because you're the least threatening out of all of us," Jason reasoned.
Hazel blinked, "I guess."
Nico gently shoved her in the direction of Percy who had pulled his legs up to his chest. "Go. We need to do this quickly," he glanced in the direction of Kronos.
Hazel took a breath and slowly walked towards Percy, holding her hands out as she did so. "Percy, I'm not going to hurt you," she said soothingly, "we're here to help, you don't have to worry."
Percy pressed his head against his arms, looking down so his reply was muffled. "That's what K-Lord Kronos said."
"Please, what is the book about?" Leander asked and looked to his father, though Kronos had warned him not to say anything about him being his father.
Hyperion's strong arms picked him up, and the boy squealed with delight. "The book is about
Tad" Hyperion said, with briefly switching to old tongue for a few words.
Hazel clenched her jaw, "We're not like Kronos. We're nothing like the Titans. I swear on the River Styx we're here to help you, not hinder you."
Percy looked up at her, indecision clear in his green eyes. Bob scowled, "We don't have time for this," he strode over to Percy and picked him up, ignoring the son of Poseidon's flinch as he walked out of the cell and towards the drakon.
"Bob!" Hazel exclaimed, "You can't just do that!"
"Firstly, my name's Iapetus," Iapetus growled, "and secondly do you really want to be here when Kronos shifts the remaining rubble covering him?"
The demigods were silent and Iapetus nodded before jumping up onto the Maeonian Drakon. The rocks holding Kronos down shifted again and golden armor was clearly visible through some cracks between the pieces.
The daughter of Zeus picked up Annabeth's dagger, sword, and cap before carrying her body to the drakon, not wanting to leave her there for fear of what the Titans would do to her body. Frank winced slightly as he carefully took Annabeth from Thalia's arms so she could climb up, Iapetus already holding Percy in front of him and waiting for them to all scramble onto the drakon's back before ordering it to move. Percy was shaking slightly, his eyes wide and filled with fear at the close proximity of the Titan behind him whom he could sense was more alike to Kronos than he felt safe with.
Jason reached down towards Nico and helped him up as Piper hovered below him in case he slipped and fell. Nico had just settled into a seat and managed to get somewhat comfortable as Piper started climbing and a loud crack echoed around the cells.
Iapetus looked back to see his brother punch through a section of the rubble and rise up, a livid expression on his face. Iapetus gestured to Frank, "The sword. Give it to me," he ordered.
"Give up all our tricks within our swords will you father?" Atlas asked and turned away.
"Well it's not entirely Lord Iapetus's fault you know? Percy did throw him into the River Lethe." Luke spoke up for the first time in a while.
Frank quickly handed it over and Iapetus studied it for a second before pointing it at the ceiling. A blast of energy shot up out of Perses' great sword, destroying the stone above them as the drakon quickly moved forward to get away. Iapetus handed the weapon back to Frank who gingerly took it back, suddenly wary of the sword after seeing the small display of the power instilled within the blade.
Kronos bellowed in anger as the structure collapsed above him, the sound echoing around the area and alerting the monsters and remaining Titans. "PERSEUS JACKSON, I WILL BREAK YOU! YOU WILL NEVER BE SAFE FROM MY WRATH, I SWEAR IT ON THE FATES!" The loud boom followed after the drakon, dust rising up like smoke and enveloping the vicinity, flying pieces of rock slashing through the message that the gods were still watching through with wide eyes.
"I have a joke for that!" Leo said and stood up. "Dear Haters. I couldn't help but notice that "Awesome" ends with "Me", and "ugly" starts with "U"
"I NEVER get any of your jokes Leo" Jason said and scratched his head.
"Faster, Maeonian," Iapetus urged as a chorus of howls struck up from behind them, the demigods looked back to see hellhounds barreling out of the dust, all of them snarling as they bounded forward.
Thalia was firing arrows off the drakon's back beside Frank, using the fire or exploding arrows to wipe out as many monsters as possible whilst concentrating on not falling or letting any arrows hit her. She glanced back briefly to check on Percy and frowned slightly when she saw his shaking form. "Iapetus, is Percy alright?" She asked worriedly.
"He is insane… slightly" Dionysus said, and hastily added "slightly", as he saw his uncle's cold gaze on him.
Iapetus shook his head without even checking Percy. "His mind's trapped in his past for now. He'll be fine… maybe. Now the biggest concern is getting you all out of this Pit before any of my other brethren find us and kill us."
Jason shook his head, "What do you mean 'you'? You're going to be coming too Iapetus, you've helped us too much to not come with us."
Iapetus smiled weakly as he looked back. "I was a coward," he said, "I ran when I shouldn't have and the consequence is that the daughter of Athena is dead. No," he sighed, "my place is – and always will be – in the Pit."
"Well, isn't that dreadful!" Saul said and turned away to look at his mother: Demeter.
"This must be in a dream or memory because it is italics" Krios said and continued to read at his kings nod.
"Percy scrambled away even as he felt more than saw the black lightning light up the plain that signified the twelve minutes it took for the elevator to reach the surface – with Annabeth in it. Small Bob followed him after looking around for Big Bob and seeing no sign of him. Damasen and the Maeonian drakon had disappeared, probably killed by Tartarus, and Percy was starting to panic. He was in the monsters' home with only Riptide and a cat to protect him, both of which wouldn't do very much damage against the Primordial.
Percy hacked away at the monsters around him in his desperation as he forged a path through them to get to a place where he could run, the monsters snarling and growling at him before they were vaporized by his glowing celestial bronze blade. He stumbled as a spear grazed his calf, but kept running as Small Bob tore out the throat of the dracaenae that had attacked him. The Pit rumbled beneath his feet and the loose rocks scattered around shifted as Percy fended off a hellhound that leapt at him, snarling as it tried to get its jaw around his torso, but Percy stabbed Riptide up through the roof of its mouth, ignoring the golden dust that floated down around him.
Percy exhaled to calm himself as he launched forward at the next group of monsters, Riptide flashing in an arc over his head to come down and hack the head off an empousa. The demigod felt adrenaline run through him as he hacked and slashed, severing limbs and cutting weapons in half in his attempt at escaping. He saw the mass of monsters starting to thin and renewed his efforts, diving under the feet of a Cyclopes and tearing through muscle before rising to his feet and lunging at a dracaenae.
Percy threw his arms out in front of him, bending the rivers beneath him to submit to his will and cover the monsters head to toe in river water. They wailed, thrashing about in agony as they either felt fire spreading over their bodies or themselves dissolving at the mere touch of the water.
He shoved the monsters in his way to the side and set off in a sprint, the doors disappearing into the distance and he could only hope that his friends had retrieved Annabeth and cut the chains of the doors before any more monsters entered the surface world.
"It sounds like a dream…or a memory" Apollo said and shook his head to get rid of the images that the words produced.
When Apollo heard the words spoked he saw: flames, wrecked buildings, the Titans, death destruction, and the brightness of love; Then a flash of green and gold eyes.
Percy ran until he couldn't keep up the pace anymore and collapsed onto the ground, groaning as his various injuries flared up in pain now that his energy rush had run out. Small Bob curled up at his side, the calico fur keeping him warm as the howls of hellhounds echoed around them. It was then that the gravity of the situation hit him – he was in Tartarus alone except for a cat that was actually a monster, so tired that he wouldn't be able to take a few steps without falling, and had no way of telling where he was or how he could get out. A slight burning started behind his eyes and he stubbornly refused to allow the tears to fall as he thought about what he had just thrown down the drain – he could have had a life with Annabeth, the two of them could have grown old and had kids. He took a shaky breath and – "Percy!" His eyes widened, the voice was recognizable, but he didn't know where from, everything was muddled, his brain felt like seaweed – seaweed brain, he thought affectionately, Annabeth calls him that whenever he does something stupid, and it came crashing down on him. Annabeth, he thought weakly, no, no, no. She'd come for me, like I'd told Kronos she would, he killed her. He killed her, K-Lord Kronos stabbed her, and I did nothing but watch as – "Percy!"
Kronos looked down at the book and shook his no matter how much he loved Percy, he would not show emotion. This wasn't his Perseus right now, this was a demigod.
The damned book would tell things about him and Percy, the Titans secrets…. But it wouldn't matter, everything that was being read, had already happened. Nothing could stop the presence of time, it was forever.
"Soon, love I will be back in your arms and I won't ever leave…no matter what happens, I protect you with my life; Like you would do to me." Kronos whispered.
"We accept the love we think we deserve" -Stephen Chbosky
A/N: Jaylene Olebar, over and out until my next update!
Which for this story, won't be for a while.
Check out my other stories: Caves are Graves- Star Wars
Quisquilian One Shot- Percy Jackson
And my other stories!
