A/N: holy shit this was long. THANKS SO MUCH for the reviews!
-Rome-
Frank was happy that Leo warned him before lighting his index finger on fire. Overall, following Leo down the tunnel wasn't very exciting. Just a long stone corridor with a low ceiling. They knew there was nothing living down here thanks to Hazel but occasionally Frank would glance behind them feeling like someone was following them. All he could ever see was darkness.
After a thousand feet or so they came across a door. Hazel pulled on the back of Leo's shirt to get him to stop. The door was much interesting than the tunnel and the lock to get into the tunnel. A mechanical sphere about the size of a bowling ball was embedded in the center. The sphere itself was constructed from five concentric rings, each inscribed with zodiac symbols and random numbers and letter.
"These letters are Greek," Leo said in surprise as he traced them with a finger, taking a closer look at the lock. "This whole lock is Greek."
"How do you know?" Hazel asked as she put her hand on the door, there was something behind it calling for her.
Leo glanced at them, "No offense but this workmanship is too complicated to be Roman." Frank snorted, and Leo went back to studying the sphere, "It's delicate and sophisticated and beautiful." Hazel and Frank looked at each other and rolled their eyes as Leo began fiddling with the lock. "No mames," Leo whispered in awe as he suddenly moved each ring with confidence, starting in the center before moving outwards. The sphere clicked, and the door swung open.
"How did you know the combination?" Frank asked as Leo stepped forward, making his whole hand light up so they could see farther into the room.
He smiled and bounced from foot to foot in excitement, "It was pi! I'm pretty sure this is Archimedes workshop! He's a hero to Cabin Nine. He lived in a Greek colony in southern Italy before Rome got all huge and power hungry and destroyed his city. He was supposed to be spared because he was too awesome to kill, but some idiot soldier went and killed him."
"Why do you know this?" Hazel and Frank watched Leo in bewilderment. Leo continued to gush about Archimedes and what a hero he was to Cabin nine and the amazing stuff he invented as he rushed around the room. He flittered from one work table to another like a hummingbird, making Hazel smile.
The whole room was the size of the forge back at camp and filled with worktables along the walls and baskets full of ancient metal working tools. Dozens of bronze and gold spheres sat around in various stages of disassembly. An enclosed loft was at the back of the room, with stairs leading up to it on either side. Cables ran between the tables and the loft. There were cubbyholes filled with leather cylinders, probably filled with ancient scrolls. Flanking the doorway were two armored manikins.
"Dude! Those would be so awesome if they worked," Leo studied them a bit while Frank edged away from them.
"They aren't going to come alive and attack us, are they?" He asked, eyeing them with distrust.
The son of Hephaestus just laughed, "No way, they don't have any power."
Hazel and Leo began bickering good heartedly about how smart Roman engineers were and how awesome Archimedes was as Leo made his way through the workshop. Whenever he found something that looked interesting he stuffed it into his toolbelt to look at later. He wished he could stuff this entire workshop into his belt, but beggars can't be choosers. When he reached the cubbyholes filled with scrolls, he didn't even look before stuffing all of them into his belt. He felt like Nicholas Cage in National Treasure. Or maybe the Riley character based on how beautiful he found these scrolls and his own fantastic sense of humor. He legit might cry because of their beauty though.
"Guys," he announced, happy his voice didn't crack with excitement, "This is huge. Biggest discovery in centuries huge. They're going to rename Cabin Nine after me. I bet there's information in here that could save the camp!" Leo ran up the stairs to see what else he could find, Hazel and Frank followed him, excited because he was but not really understanding why. Hazel ignored the reminder of the first gate Hecate showed her. She knew that saving the camp wasn't up to them. Leo found a table with a disassembled sphere in the loft and he could sense that this was the main sphere. "One sphere to rule them all," He laughed madly and began to reassemble it. He turned to grin at Frank, "Supposedly, Archimedes' last words were: Don't disturb my circles."
Frank groaned, "Stop disturbing them then!"
"Nico's sword!" Hazel ran past the guys to a black sword that was in the floor. "He was here!"
"He was never here," a man's deep voice rang out in the loft causing the three demigods to whip around. Standing in the doorway were the twins Leo had seen in the Pantheon.
Frank moved in front of both Hazel and Leo protectively, "How do you know that?"
"I saw you guys, up above," Leo pointed at them.
The woman just grinned happily at Leo before answering the son of Mars, "We know because this was a trap set up for you guys."
"Gaea sent the eidolons after you two," the man pointed at Frank and Hazel, "But we already took care of them. Your welcome." It was clear he was unamused with the whole situation.
Leo casually moved all the parts and the sphere into his toolbelt before asking, "What about me?" He totally wasn't feeling left out about not being captured to be sacrificed to Mother Earth. Okay, maybe he felt a little left out.
The man shrugged, "I don't think she cares about you?"
"Not. Cool." Leo complained as Hazel asked who they were.
"I am Soter, and this," he reached out to touch the woman's arm, making her snake disappear and a crown appeared on her head, "is my twin Soteria or," he let go and the snake came back, "her roman self, Salus. We're the daimons of safety, salvation, and preservation from harm. We were sent to help you guys."
Hazel absolutely did not trust them until she saw a familiar tattoo on their dark-skinned forearms, "Did Hecate send you?"
Salus tilted her head to the side, "What makes you ask that daughter of Pluto?"
"Your tattoos, Hecate has one too," She explained and Frank and Leo both looked more closely at the black tattoos. Their skin was dark enough that the black ink wasn't super noticeable, and Leo had to admit it was pretty cool looking tattoo with the drakon roaring and all. It didn't make any sense though. Why would the goddess of magic have anything do with a trident and a drakon? Wasn't the trident Poseidon's thing?
Frank was more bothered by the fact that these daimons wanted to help them. It didn't make sense; the gods weren't supposed to be in contact with them, but Hecate was meeting with Hazel and these two were directly interfering in order to protect them. Historically speaking, neither daimons nor gods every actively tried to protect a demigod. They usually just give half-assed advice and tell demigods not to die. Or kill the demigods themselves.
The twins glanced at each other, sharing a look. "Not quite," Soter admitted, "More like Hecate was sent to help you from the same person we were."
"Well who's that?" Frank growled, stepping forward while raising his gladius.
"Not important right now," Salus shrugged, "What is important is that you guys know that the sword is a trap and you leave right now." The twins disappeared in a flash of warm light without a word more.
The three stood there for a second, Hazel clutching the Stygian iron sword before Leo spoke with lots of feeling: "Qué coño."
"What?" Frank turned in confusion.
"What. The. Fuck," Leo translated as he began stuffing anything else in the loft that looked even slightly interesting into his tool bag. "Alright. Let's get out of here."
They quickly headed down the stairs, "Can we even trust them? What if they're working for Gaea?" Frank asked, and Leo shrugged. He figured since they were, supposedly, the spirits of safety there was a good chances are they could be trusted.
They almost reached the door. It was only a few more steps. Instead, the door slammed shut, echoing around the room. The walls rumbled and the items on worktables shifted as the ground shuddered under them.
"Congratulations on reaching Rome," Gaea's sleeping voice filled the locked room. "Too bad not all of you will survive."
"I think we're doing good so far," Hazel held up her brother's sword, "Where's Nico?"
Gaea chuckled, causing the demigods to huddle closer together. There was nothing to fight and nowhere to run. "You've somehow managed to evade my eidolons but your friends aren't doing as well. The daughter of Athena faces her death alone, terrified and crippled. Jason, Piper and my dear Percy are drowning at this very minute. I had hoped they would survive, but alas, Hazel and Frank will have to do."
"You're lying, Percy would never let Jason and Piper drown!" Leo shouted and his whole arm burst into flame, making Frank jump away from him. Leo mouthed a quick sorry before focusing on the walls, wishing there was something he could attack.
"Perseus Jackson is not to be trusted, he does not care about you, only Annabeth," Gaea stated calmly.
Hazel remembered the gateway, the one showing Percy destroying the world when Annabeth died. "Percy cares about all of us, he'll save them," she called out even if she wasn't completely sure about it.
"He can try, and he will fail," Mother Earth casually dismissed them, "My minions will come and collect you soon, at that time Leo will die and you two will be brought to the ancient place. Your blood will awaken me at last." The room stopped shaking and they were once again alone in the room.
Leo's arm was their only source of light, making Hazel's golden eyes look ablaze as well. Frank was pushing against the door in various forms, but it wouldn't budge. "We need a way out of here," Leo kept repeating under his breath as he moved from table to table in search of an idea to open the door.
This was it, Hazel realized, this was her choice. Her crossroads. The daughter of Pluto took a deep breath and mentally asked Soter and Salas for just a little more help. "I have an idea."
Percy led the way down the drainage pipe and into the tunnel below. His hands wouldn't stop shaking and his mind kept doubting the world around him. In all honesty, Percy was only about 50% sure this was reality. It didn't matter though, not really. Even if he was only 1% sure this was reality he had to act as if he was 100% sure. There was too much riding on his plan. Too many lives and futures. He couldn't fail just because his mind was possibly broken beyond repair. Right now, he had to focus and save Nico. He couldn't have another flashback. The last one almost cost him Jason and Percy still needed the son of Jupiter.
They reached a turn in the tunnel and Percy signaled for them to halt. He couldn't see much when he peeked around the corner. It was a large room, but it was too dark to see exactly how big. A couple hundred yards from their position was a large bronze jar with a tall brazier behind it. The flame in the brazier was low and only lit up the jar and the immediate dirt floor around it.
Percy leaned back and gestured for the other two to take a look. "That's the jar Nico's being held in," Piper whispered, she tried to peer through the darkness to see the giants and their praetor chairs, but she couldn't see anything. "In my visions this was a huge room filled with props and they were waiting for us."
"They probably still are," Percy's eyes scanned the darkness. He could see a bit more in the dark than normal people thanks to Tartarus, but even with that he couldn't spot any giants.
Jason took a deep breath, "They're there. Percy and I will take a giant each. Piper, you get to Nico and keep him safe." Percy and Piper nodded in agreement before the trio stepped around the corner to walk towards the jar.
Hundreds of braziers flared to life, they lined the outside of the hypogeum. The room was huge, with four rows of stone columns holding up the tall ceiling. The area in the middle was widest and was where Nico's jar stood closest to the back wall. Hundreds of crates and cages of animals and monsters were piled high against the back wall. Two giants of around twelve feet in height stepped out from behind columns to stand halfway between the jar and the demigods.
The giants were much better looking than the other giants Piper and Jason had seen so far. Piper could almost describe them as handsome, there faces reminding her of how Julius Caesar's busts looked. They wore matching leather armor like the ones she had seen while at Camp Jupiter, ten-foot long hunting spears were strapped to each of their backs. They both also wore black pants that turned into curling shoes. The only difference between the twin's looks was their hair. Both wore it long, with gold and silver coins braided in, but one had dark purple hair and the other had olive-green hair.
"Perfect timing Son of Jupiter," The purple haired one's voice was deep and carried the distance to them easily. "We need you to provide the right atmosphere."
The other twin nodded, "Every play should begin with a dark and stormy night."
Jason checked his watch in confusion, "It's three thirty in the afternoon?"
"That doesn't matter!" the second twin yelled, "The mood needs to be set, you must feel it in your bones that you're walking to your deaths!"
Purple hair nodded in agreement, "That's how Act I begins. You are supposed to know that you are going to die here. We have your other friends locked up, so we can sacrifice them to mother and kill you three now. It will be the best play we've ever preformed!"
"Are you at least going to introduce yourselves before you kill us?" Percy asked, focusing the giants' attention on him as Piper carefully hedged towards the columns to try and get closer to Nico's prison.
Both Giants puffed up, "I am Otis," The green haired one pounded his chest proudly.
"I am Ephialtes, we are the bane of Dionysus," The other one said just as proudly.
Percy tilted his head in thought, "Does that make you guys anti-partiers or are you guys forever stuck as the designated drivers?"
Ephialtes laughed, "Dionysus is more than the god of parties and wine. He is the god of pleasure, and ecstasy, and madness." The giant's eyes seemed to see straight into Percy's soul, "You know all about delusions don't you Son of Poseidon? Do you want to be free of them? To see the truth?"
"I don't need any help," Percy's eyes narrowed, he gripped Riptide tighter as he repeated over and over in his mind that he was fine.
This was real. This was real. This was real.
"You must be mad already if you believe that," Ephialtes grinned victorious. With the giants' focusing on the guys, Piper slipped quietly from one column to another, silently coming closer to being even with the twins. "I smell your doubt son of Poseidon. You don't even know if this is real."
Percy gritted his teeth, "I know this is real."
This is real. This is real. This is real.
"You're lying," Ephialtes sang happily, "Did you know my name means 'nightmare'? My brother's means 'doom' and we are known as the Aloadai. We will show you how to celebrate the truth and despair that Dionysus hides from you using wine and pointless festivities. For Act II I will cure you of your madness and free you of your delusions." The giant pulled a small remote from his pocket and pushed a button. The ground under Percy rumbled before slabs of stone shot from the ground. They continued to rise till they were fifteen feet high, trapping the demigod within a maze and cutting him off from his friends.
"Percy!" Jason shouted, he couldn't see Percy or Ephialtes any more thanks to the high walls.
"I'm fine!" Percy yelled back. Tan stone walls stood at his back and on either side of him, leaving the stretching corridor in front of him as the only place to go. He walked down it until he reached a T. He looked down one corridor and he saw his cell. The one he was kept in under Kronos' villa. It wasn't empty. There was a man hanging from the ceiling, his skin marred with blotches of black and blue bruises, cuts sluggishly leaking blood, and a slight wheezing could be heard as the man mostly failed to breathe through a broken nose. Percy was looking at himself. He took a couple steps forward without thinking.
"WRONG!" Ephialtes's voice boomed, startling Percy "You aren't there." A hellhound leaped through the image of himself and tackled Percy. Its giant jaws locked onto his shoulder before Percy could react. Teeth tore into his skin, ripping his shirt and muscles at the same time. He cried out in pain, the arm holding riptide couldn't move with the hellhound's teeth in its shoulder. Instead his other hand reached awkwardly behind him to grab the celestial bronze dagger tucked in the back of his jeans. He felt claws scrape down his legs as he freed the knife from its sheath, swinging it up and into the side of the hellhounds head. Golden dust erupted everywhere.
When Percy stood up again he was back in the maze, no sign of his cell in sight. His right arm was hanging limply, and his thigh had four long scratches that were, luckily, relatively shallow. He allowed himself to drop riptide so that it would make its way back to his pocket without him trying to find a way to cap it with one hand. Instead he gripped the dagger in his left hand and walked forward. After ten feet he was forced to turn right where he found another T. Percy tightened his hold on the dagger and looked right.
The gate was in front of him, he could see the arena through the iron bars, could even hear the roar of the crowd. The crabby guard stood next to him, holding out a hatchet. Percy took a deep breath and looked left. Just a plain tan corridor. "This is real," he whispered, believing it for maybe the first time, before heading that way and no monster attacked him.
"TRUTH!" Ephialtes cried. His voice sounded like it came from every direction and Percy really wanted to kill him. Instead, he stepped carefully as he followed the maze around another turn and came to his third T.
On the left he could a wedding. Percy didn't even look at the crowd, his attention was focused on Annabeth. Her storm grey eyes were bright with happiness, a giant smile lit up her face. A gorgeous lace and silk white wedding dress fell from her shoulders, hugging her curves and trailing behind her. She was radiant, beautiful, gorgeous. Annabeth was putting Aphrodite to shame on her wedding day. Annabeth was also looking, with all this happiness, at a man Percy couldn't recognize. He stood in classic black suit, his smile as happy as Annabeth's. Percy watched as they slid rings onto each other's fingers. He looked away before they kissed.
On the right was another wedding. Annabeth looking just a gorgeous and happy as the first wedding but this time it was Percy who stood across from her. He was grinning mischievously, leaning in to whisper a joke that caused her to throw her head back in laughter. Percy watched as they traded rings, and he took a step forward.
"WRONG!" Ephialtes' declaration was enough warning for Percy to dodge as a stinger slammed into the ground where he was. The giant scorpion pulled back its tail, holding it above its head again, clicking its pinchers at Percy.
"How was that wrong?" He yelled at the giant while running straight at the scorpion, side stepping as it lunged it's tail forward. The stinger cracked the floor and Percy slid under the monster, dragging the dagger down the length of its stomach. It exploded into dust and Percy coughed some of it out of his lungs before standing up.
"Look at the facts demigod," Ephialtes' voice was full of laughter. "The daughter of Athena is smart, why would she tie herself to a murderer? To think otherwise is to hope," He spat the word out like it was rotten, "and hope is a delusion. Hope is madness. You need to face the truth to escape your own insanity."
The demigod was furious but didn't say anything else as he headed down the corridor to the next T. He looked right. Hazel was standing there, her clothes covered in fresh blood, tears streaming down her face, a wild look in her golden eyes. "You killed them!" She screamed at him, "You just let them die! You let Frank and Leo die!"
Percy shook his head, "No." It was hardly more than a whisper but it didn't matter.
Hazel grabbed her hair with blood soaked hands, a strangled scream pouring from her mouth. "You left them to die! To save Annabeth you let them die!" Her eyes turned so cold and hard that Percy flinched just looking at them, "Was it worth it?" She hissed, "Is your plan worth us all dying?" A thin line of blood stretched across her throat before blood ran down from it, mixing with the blood already on her shirt. Her dark skin paled and blood dripped from the corner of her mouth, "How many will you let die to get what you want? How many will you kill to get your revenge?" She took a step forward, her face and voice filled with a sudden understanding: "Are we just pawns to you?"
Percy never hated himself more than when he walked through the image of Hazel without being attacked by a monster. He hadn't even spared a glance at the other choice. His heart felt like a dead weight in his chest as Ephialtes shouted his praise at choosing correctly.
Outside of the maze Otis was pouting, "I want to play too…" he looked around and pointed at Jason, "You! You're unusually happy for a demigod, I can fix that!"
Jason held up his hands, "I'm good. Really." But Otis was already shaking his head.
"No, no you're too happy. I'll help you throw the best pity party ever!" Otis started towards the demigod who held up his sword, unsure what exactly was going on. The giant never reached for his spear. Instead, Otis dug around in the pockets of his pants to pull out a pine cone. "Everyone likes party poppers," He informed Jason before throwing it at the demigod.
Jason dodged but the pine cone still landed near his feet, exploding on impact, sending purple and green confetti all over the demigod. Jason blinked a couple of times in surprise before frowning. When did he get so tired? It made sense, he'd done a lot today. Protected the ship, had a picnic with Piper, drowned. That minute that he spent dead with water in his lungs was probably the best rest he's had in months. Years. Maybe since he was 2 and given to Camp Jupiter. "I've never even had a birthday party before," He randomly confided to Otis. This wasn't important. Why was he even bringing this up? He just wanted to go to bed.
Otis nodded in sympathy, "Birthday parties are the best. It must be horrible knowing that your family never cared about throwing you one."
Jason swallowed hard, he never even had a family to care about his birthday. Why hadn't Thalia looked for him? Did she not care? Did she think he was a failure like everyone else? His camp had every right to hate him and attack him. Romans aren't supposed to like the Greeks but Jason was stupid enough to fall in love with not only a Greek, but also the entire Greek camp. He was a failure who couldn't stand his ground. That's why Annabeth was leading the quest and not him for once. She took one look at him and knew that he had no idea what he was doing.
"I don't know what I'm doing," He muttered under his breath in a confession. He was a failure. He just wanted to go to bed back in Cabin One and hide under his covers. Take a nap. Gods he was so tired. His body felt eighty years old instead of twenty. After so many years of monster fighting and time in the cohort Jason's joints ached and creaked. His muscles were weary. His fingers hurt to grip a sword. He just wanted to go to bed.
Storm clouds started to brew above the son of Jupiter, his powers tapping into his despair. He couldn't do anything to help anyone. Why was he even here? Everyone was going to die because he's such a failure. They were all going to die, and it was his fault. His stomach started protesting the cake he ate earlier. He didn't deserve cake. There was a reason he never had a birthday party before. Jason gagged, holding back throw up. He just wanted to go to bed.
Otis was smiling as he watched the demigod be consumed by despair. Depression was much more powerful than fleeting pleasure and ecstasy, especially against demigods. Their lives were nearly always tragedies to begin with, all he had to do was make them focus on all the bad and they do all his work for him. They stopped being heroes and turned into realists. No hopes. No dreams. No love. Who would want to live like that?
The son of Jupiter had lost all sense of his surroundings and his mind was spiraling with the horrible truths that mortals tended to push down and ignore or lie to themselves about. "I can help you," he told the demigod and laughed when Jason immediately told him that nobody could help him. That he was alone. That he deserved this. Otis pushed a button on a remote in his pocket and the floor between them opened. Jason stepped forward till he stood on the edge of a ten-foot-wide pit, far below he could see huge, sharp spikes lining the bottom. "You can end it now. No more pressure, or helplessness. No more lies. No more being a failure. It will be like taking a nap. All you have to do is jump."
Jump. The word echoed in Jason's mind. All he had to do to be free is jump. He won't have to let anyone down anymore, or watch people die. Somebody else can take his place. He could stop pretending to be a hero. Jump.
The clouds above him began to cry and Jason toed the edge of the pit. All he had to do was jump. He can finally rest. Let someone else be in charge. He was just so tired.
BAM!
A huge spiral of ham smacked him in the chest, knocking him off balance, making him fall onto his butt, a foot away from the pit.
"YOU AIRHEAD!" Piper screeched with the cornucopia still pointed at him in her hands. She was furious as she turned to the giant and shot a bottle of hot sauce through the cornucopia and straight at Otis' face. The giant screamed when it shattered and clawed at his eyes, backing up and falling into the pit. They heard the distinct crunch and squish of his body impaling upon the spikes down below.
Piper rounded on Jason, "Jason Pleiades Grace," She growled as she rounded the pit, finger shaking in anger while pointing at him.
"That's not my middle name," He was officially confused, scared, and slightly turned on by the look in Piper's eyes but that wasn't important right now. Focus. Angry piper. Oh gods was he about to kill himself? The rain started to pour within the hypogeum and thunder cracked loudly, as if to further wake him up from whatever Otis had done to him.
She marched straight up to him, aggressively poking him in the chest, "I know it was the stupid fucking pine cone, but don't you ever, ever think those things about yourself ever again. You are important, and loved, and respected, and trusted, and needed, and the farthest thing from a failure that I can think of. You are a hero Jason Grace. Do you hear me?" He nodded quickly, his eyes watching water droplets trail down Piper's face and wondering how he could ever think he was alone. "We are talking about all this later. But right now, Percy and Nico need our help. Got it?"
Jason smiled and felt lighter and more awake than he had moments ago, the dark thoughts moving to the side for now. "Got it. No more pity parties."
Piper looked over the edge of the pit. Otis was still alive, golden ichor was all over the place and spikes went through his body in various places, he was wailing and trying to pull himself up off the spikes but wasn't having much luck. "I think he'll sta-" she didn't finish as the ground began to shudder and shake. Cracks split from bottom to top on the walls locking Percy away. All the rain in the room stopped falling and began to collect in a long rope of water, circling like a vulture over something beyond the walls. Jason and Piper shared a look and ran towards Nico's jar. Percy had Ephialtes under control.
Percy's anger had officially boiled over and he felt his control slipping. The rain had started when he passed through Hazel and into another corridor. It wasn't enough water, but it helped to begin healing the wound on his shoulder. At the very least his shoulder was burning less now. Ephialtes praised him for choosing correctly but the words didn't penetrate Percy's anger. He knew exactly what kind of person he was. He didn't need some stupid anti-Dionysus giant to tell him that. Percy just had problems knowing if he was in Tartarus or not. But thankfully, Ephialtes has made it quite clear that this was all real. The giant should've stopped while he was ahead, but no. He had to push just a little too far. Percy was going to kill him for that last image of Corpse-Hazel calling him out. He didn't need more nightmare fuel, thank you very much.
The rain began to pour down and Percy smirked. He stopped walking, sheathing his dagger once more and hooked his thumbs into the pockets of his jeans. The son of Poseidon tilted his head towards the ceiling and felt cold rain wash away his control one drop at a time.
"I'm going to kill you now," He stated simply.
Percy didn't wait to hear what Ephialtes had to say. He didn't care. Instead, he focused on the earth under his feet and drained some of his anger into the surface. It began to tremble. He fed it more until the walls around him were cracking. Far above his head he gathered the rain into a snake, growing and slithering through the air until it began circling above him. The tremors grew stronger and the walls of the maze came crashing down in an explosion of dust.
Through the dust Percy could see a giant figure grasping a spear to his left. The demigod smirked and stalked towards Ephialtes. With each step the dust settled more, and the clearer Percy could see the giant.
The giant looked nervous. Percy frowned. The giant needed to be scared, not nervous.
Percy walked easily over the rubble that used to be the maze and cast out his power, looking for the water that used to belong to the nymphaeum. There. It was flowing underneath him. The son of Poseidon jumped down from a tall pile of rubble. The moment his feet hit the ground the water shot through the floor in lots of small geysers all around him. The water formed into long ropes, slithering through the air to join the one made of rain.
Ah. There it was. Percy could see fear in Ephialtes' eyes now. Not enough though.
The strands of water began swirling around Percy, moving with him as he continued to stalk the giant. "Did you know my name means 'to destroy'? I am the son of the Earthshaker and Stormbringer. I am the banished Savior of Olympus. I will teach you to fear me." His voice echoed in the hypogeum, Jason and Piper felt a shiver go down their spine as they watched in shock.
"It wasn't me," The giant took a step away from the demigod. Or at least he was told this was a demigod. He wasn't so sure anymore. "Your mind created all the images. I didn't do anything."
"WRONG!" Percy roared and Ephialtes stumbled back, almost tripping over his own feet. He had to get a grip. This was just a demigod. The two of them now stood only twenty feet from each other. While Ephialtes had six feet on Percy, he still felt like the demigod was looking down on him.
Ephialtes gripped his spear and got into a fighting stance. This was just a demigod. "You can't kill me! You're just a demigod. You need a god!"
Percy's laugh curdled the blood of everyone listening. "Tell me Ephialtes," his voice was heartless, his eyes cold and dead, "Have you ever been killed, over and over again, so quickly you can barely get a single breath in before you're dead again?" The giant didn't say anything. "I'll take that as a no. It's okay though, for Act III I'm going to show you how it feels." The ropes of water straightened and hardened into multiple copies of Ephialtes's spear. Dozens of them hovered in the air around the son of Poseidon.
"Please," Ephialtes whispered just as spears were shot at him in rapid succession. While he blocked the first one, the second went through his thigh. His leg buckled, the third spear went through his shoulder, disconnecting his right arm from his body. As the arm thudded when it hit the ground a fourth spear embedded itself in his throat. Blood gurgled out his mouth and he watched as a fifth spear shot through his heart. Ephialtes burst into dust.
"How boring," Percy mused as he walked towards the pile of dust that was already swirling and attempting to reform. Half a dozen spears of hardened water drifted around him. He was still so angry, he wanted to take it out on something. Anything. He didn't want to control his power yet. Not when it felt so good to be set free again. A leg began to form, and Percy shot a spear into it, making it collapse into dust again.
The demigod turned when he heard someone calling his name. Jason and Piper were standing by the knocked over jar. They looked scared. Nico hung between them, not quite conscious yet and wow did he get hit with the puberty stick. Percy walked towards them, leaving his spears floating over Ephialtes' dust and stabbing any limps that began reforming.
"You said Mr. D like Diet Coke right?" Piper asked when he got a bit closer. When Percy nodded she let Jason hold up Nico on his own and pulled around the Cornucopia. A second later the hypogeum's floor was being flooded with Diet Coke.
Percy took a closer look at the son of Hades now that he was close enough to see him clearly. Nico looked good, slightly dead and a bit too skinny and pale, but under healthier circumstances he would look good. His black hair was pulled back in a messy half-bun, he wore jeans and a black tank top. Although his arms were covered in dirt and dried blood, it was easy to see the muscle under them, and the scars from years of surviving as a demigod. He also had sleeves of tattoos covering both arms. One arm had a large tattoo of his father and the furies, the other had a detailed skull wearing a crown on his bicep. Both arms were otherwise covered in various poisonous flowers of different sizes and colors. He still wore his silver skull ring.
It was taking a long time for the diet coke to cover the floor of the hypogeum since it was so large, but Piper was hoping this would make Dionysus appear to finish off the giants. She tried not to flinch when Percy passed her to help hold up Nico, but she only barely hid it. Percy was officially the most terrifying being she had ever seen. She didn't know how powerful he was but a part of her cried that he was too powerful. That the reason why he was banished to Tartarus was as much the demigods he murdered as it was the gods fear of what he could be capable of.
Nobody said a word as they watched the diet coke spread. Jason was pushing his darker thoughts to the back of his mind and Percy was trying to rein in his powers a bit. It was only a couple more minutes before purple smoke slowly appeared and grew in front of them. Bacchus, appeared wearing a purple toga and holding a staff tipped with a pine cone, a tiger and a cheetah flanked him.
"I prefer Diet Pepsi for next time, Pippen," He flippantly informed the daughter of Aphrodite as he surveyed the hypogeum. It was a mess. "Those stupid twins never understood how to write a good play. They focused too much on how the play would begin and could never get it to end properly."
"I think this is a good ending," Percy spoke up, he still didn't sound normal to Jason or Piper. He sounded detached and cold. It wasn't helping their nerves at all.
Bacchus turn to give a long look at the son of Poseidon. "You are a wild thing aren't you, Perseus Jackson? Savage and feral, bloodthirsty and brutal. Tartarus has made you mad."
Percy bared his teeth in a wolf's imitation of a smile, "I can show you exactly how bloodthirsty I am."
"I have no doubt you will before this war is over." Bacchus waved his hand and in a puff of smoke Otis and Ephialtes laid, half reformed in front of him. He hit each in the forehead with his pine-cone staff and they disintegrated.
"That's it?" Piper's voice was an octave too high with her disbelief. There's no way it could be that easy.
Bacchus ignored her and focused on the son of Poseidon, "I told you once that the gods need heroes, we still do, but we'd be nothing without monsters." The demigod didn't react to his words at all other than to tilt his head to the side slightly. Perhaps this demigod wasn't so bad after all, Bacchus mused. At any rate, Bacchus understood him better now than he ever had before. Percy was a little too much like Dionysus, back when he was still a demigod, not to understand him. "I'd hurry to the Emmanuel Building if I were you."
"Why are you helping us now?" Jason spoke up when Percy just stared at the god, as if he was weighing the gods soul and finding it lacking something fundamental. All Jason knew was this was a very different side to Bacchus than the one they met with in Kansas. This was the darker side of him, the wild god that laughed while destroying men before the Greeks made him the god of theater as well as wine and madness. Jason hoped he never met this Bacchus again.
"I owed a favor to Peter Johnson, now I don't," Bacchus simply said before him and his giant cats vanished in a puff of smoke. Half a second later an explosion rocked the hypogeum.
Slabs of the ceiling crashed down around them as a gaping hole was made in the ceiling. The trio were blinded at first from the sunlight streaming in but it only took a second to see the Argo II hovering above them, a ladder being thrown over the side.
Nico groaned, slowly coming into consciousness as they got him onto Percy's back so the demigod could carry him up the ladder. "You," Percy huffed, "Are," He kept climbing the ladder as the son of Hades groaned again, "Heavy." He swung up on deck and dropped Nico before lying down next to him on the floor. Piper and Jason were close behind them. The four laid there staring at the bright blue sky, catching their breath and feeling exhausted down to their bones.
"Nico!" Hazel yelled as she ran towards her brother, collapsing onto the deck and pulling his head into her lap. She ran her fingers through his hair and tried to clean some of the dirt and dried blood from his face.
His eyes fluttered open and he blinked at the brightness of the sun before seeing his half sister above him, her golden hair like a halo. "Hazel?" He coughed, his voice rough with disuse. Frank's face appeared next to Hazel's and he handed the son of Hades a square of ambrosia with a smile. Nico took it and began to nibble on it. He could hear people talking out of his sight. Something about Gaea and being locked up, and a weasel. "Giants?"
"Dead," A familiar voice spoke from the floor next to him. Nico rolled his head to the side, too exhausted to pick it up, and froze. A man laid next to him. He was handsome as a god even with a scar going through his right eye and marring his face. His sea green eyes met Nico's and the man smiled. "Long time no see."
Tears fell from Nico's eyes, "Percy? How?" His hand reached and grasped the other demigod's forearm. Percy grinned his stupid crooked smile that made Nico swallow back a crazed giggle.
"The one and only. I just thought I'd pop by and save your ass for old time's sake," Percy groaned as he sat up and Nico could see the right side of his shirt drenched in blood from a nasty looking bite wound on his shoulder. Percy took some Ambrosia Frank was handing him and swallowed it in a few bites with a grimace. His left hand was poking at some scratches on his thigh, as if willing the skin to knit itself back together before their eyes. Percy's eyes moved past Nico and focused on someone else, "We need to go to the Emmanuel Building, I think Annabeth's there."
"Sure thing boss!" A voice called back cheerfully.
With Hazel's help, Nico was able to sit up. Both him and Percy moved so they were leaning against the side of the boat, watching as the other demigods moved around them, except for Hazel who sat in from of Nico, "I'm so happy you're alive, where have you been? What happened?" she told her brother.
Nico frowned, "I went looking for the Doors of Death, and I thought I would be okay since they were in the underworld but… I ended up stuck in Tartarus," He felt Percy stiffen next to him, "I don't know how long I was there for? At least a month?"
Hazel shook her head and spoke slowly, "Nico, you've been missing for thirteen days."
Nico froze in front of her, "No, I know it was longer than that," He insisted even as his voice wavered in doubt.
Percy patted his leg, "It was two weeks here and around a month down there probably. Time moves faster in Tartarus."
"So you were down there for…" Piper asked from where she had been listening. Her face was filled with horror. Four years was bad enough, how long was it for him though?
The demigod shrugged, "Closer to eight or ten years? I'm not sure. Some of the years blend together." Percy spoke casually, and it would've fooled them if he could look any of them in the eye instead of staring at his leg.
Nico pushed past the revelation that he was gone for less than two weeks, "I found the doors of death." He swallowed hard, "One side is in Tartarus and the other side is in Greece I think. I'm not sure where in Greece. Tartarus had been a trap and I got locked in the bronze jar while down there, so I couldn't see the other side... But we need to close both sides, not just the mortal side."
Silence filled the Argo II for half a minute before everyone started to speak at once. Everyone other than Percy and Nico at least. The son of Poseidon just nodded as if he already knew that information, but it was nice to have it confirmed. He squeezed Nico's thigh in reassurance, "We'll figure it out. And if we can't Annabeth will."
Annabeth had reached her limit. She'd been assaulted by chauvinistic ghosts, broken her ankle, chased by an army of spiders, faced the spider-lady of terror, proceeded to trick Arachne into weaving a Chinese finger trap, and then got the spider-lady of terror stuck in the newly woven giant finger trap. Annabeth felt like she could easily call this a day. No more. She was done.
Arachne was screaming and flailing, still stuck in the Chinese spider trap, shooting silk all over the place. The floor under her was beginning to crack more, causing the chamber to shake. "Stop that! You'll kill us both!" Annabeth yelled at her from where she was leaning on the Athena Parthenos, trying to absorb some of its power in hopes it will help her ankles.
The monsters continued to scream, calling her children to help her. Annabeth wanted to kill her but was afraid if she cut the spider trap at all it would unravel and leave Arachne to kill her. It might be worth it, the daughter of Athena thought as spiders swarmed down the walls towards her. The light shining from the statue of Athena, luckily kept them at bay.
Somehow Arachne twisted her prison to face Annabeth and shot a strand of silk at her chest. Annabeth fell, her leg flaring with pain as she slashed at the silk, trying to cut it as Arachne pulled her closer to the swarm of spiders. Annabeth didn't think she could feel more terror as she reached for her dagger. Seriously, she was done with this whole quest. The ceiling exploded in a blast of fiery light just as she managed to free herself from Arachne's silk.
It began to rain cars.
Annabeth felt like she deserved the right to call a time out and lecture the Fates on how completely unnecessary this shit was.
Cars rolled into the cavern from the hole made by the explosion only to fall and punch through the floor of the cavern. Asphalt and cars would've fell on the Athena Parthenos as well but a shield of light erupted above her and protected her from damage. It did not protect Annabeth though, forcing the demigoddess to jump and roll out of they way of falling automobiles. It was agony on her ankle, and she was close to passing out from the pain. One car landed on Arachne, sending both itself and the monster into Tartarus.
Annabeth was covered in cobwebs and strands of silk from avoiding the cars. At least the hoard of spiders was gone. She wanted to cry from relief when she spotted the Argo II from the hole in the ceiling. Percy was here, he came for her.
"Annabeth!" Percy shouted from the ship.
"Here!" She sobbed, falling to the floor to relieve weight put on her ankle. It was over. She was safe.
Percy was leaning over the railing, smiling brighter and prouder than she'd ever seen before as the ship descended towards her and the statue. Annabeth hurried to pack up Daedalus' laptop and her knife. She was alive. She was safe. She was going to make it out of this horrible cavern.
Annabeth stood up to edge closer to the hole that Arachne fell into. She wanted to be happy the monster was sent to Tartarus but she was too exhausted and a bit too understanding of the cursed weaver to feel pride right now. A ladder was lowered form the ship and Percy was at her side before she realized any time had passed. He laced their fingers together and turned her gently away from the pit and into his arms.
"You're bleeding," She tried to pull back and he held her in a tighter.
"It's okay," He whispered, "We're together."
The daughter of Athena broke down into ugly hiccupping sobs as she clutched him tighter. She didn't notice or care as their friends began strapping the statue up to relieve weight on the cracked and broken floor. She was just so tired and drained and done. She wanted to hide in Percy's cabin as he held her and rubbed her back and was just there with her.
Jason and Hazel approached them slowly and when Annabeth looked up and saw them she let out another sob and went to pull them into a hug. Percy watched her cling to her friends with a small smile. Annabeth had defied the odds and completed the quest no other child of Athena could before her. He was so proud of her.
She pulled back from them and went back to Percy's side as Leo began to hoist the Statue up even as Frank was still securing rope around the cracked base of the statue. "Leo says he'll be able to fit most of her into the stables, so Piper went to move Gali," Jason informed Annabeth when she finally pulled back from hugging them. "What happened down here?"
Percy glanced behind him at the pit opening to Tartarus, he knew it went straight there because he could feel it's pull. Like a hook was embedded in his chest and Tartarus was trying to reel him back in. He was still bound to that jail even if he had escaped. Right now, Tartarus could feel how close he was and wanted him back. He grabbed Annabeth's hand and tugged her gently away from it and towards the ship, "We'll do story time on the ship, let's get out of here."
The floor shuddered and a giant crack spread down the middle. "We need to go! Now!" Annabeth yelled. Jason grabbed Hazel and flew off towards the ship, saying he'll be back in a second. Percy half carried Annabeth as they ran towards the ship.
Annabeth had just grabbed the ladder when sharp pain shot up from her ankle, the whole leg was suddenly yanked behind her. Her knees and hands slammed into the floor at the same time as her body was being dragged back towards the pit Arachne had fell in. Annabeth screamed for help, she was moving too quickly for her to grab her knife and cut herself free. Percy shouted and ran after her. Grabbing her hand just as she fell into open air. He fell after her, his hand catching the rock jutting out form the side of the pit, screaming as pain tore through his injured shoulder. Blood began to flow freely from it again, streaming down his arm and continuing on to Annabeth's arm. His grip tightened despite the pain in hopes that the blood won't make his hand too slippery to hold.
The silk still attached to her ankle continued to pull. Percy's fingers were beginning to slip. Annabeth was sobbing again and Percy could barely see through his own pain. He could hear Jason screaming for them from the ship, telling them to hang on, that he was coming.
Percy met Annabeth's eyes as the pit shook below them. It felt like it was breathing when cold air was began being sucked in.
"Let me go," Annabeth croaked, "Percy, let me go. You have to let me go," She remembered him admitting to her that he can't go back. She remembered him screaming awake from nightmares. Throwing up after flashbacks. How guarded and hurt and terrified he was. He couldn't go back. That much she was sure of.
Percy's face was white with the effort to hold on to her but he still laughed. It was humorless and broken and hopeless, but he laughed. The son of Poseidon, escapee of Tartarus, looked down at the woman he loved more than life itself and promised: "As long as you don't leave me I won't leave you." Percy looked back up at Jason and shouted, "We'll see you on the other side! We'll see you there. Understand?"
Jason's eyes widened, as he sped towards them, still just a little too far, a little too late, "But-"
"Lead them there!" Percy insisted as his fingers slipped, Annabeth was still begging him to let go. "You can do it, you're the hero!" He told Jason as his last two fingers slipped off the rock.
Annabeth and Percy fell together, hand in hand, into Tartarus.