No One's POV
Armor plating attached itself to Tartarus' form as he took gliding steps towards the group that were rushing towards him, swing his sword to block bullets and using shadows to envelope Tony's repulser blasts. Fire and shadows moved with the Titan, effectively shadowing him and causing most of the team to back away to avoid getting burned.
Percy dodged underneath Tartarus' arm, sliding away from him and jumping up and running towards Loki. He dropped down next to him just as the room was swamped in darkness, the only light in the room coming from Tartarus' heart; which, admittedly, wasn't a lot of light in the first place.
"Victoria." Percy called, unsheathing his sword to provide a bit more light. He set it next to up the Trickster God and set out on healing the man. Percy felt a mild wave relief going through him when he felt the familiar tug and he heard the small sound of trickling water.
"On it." She replied, before tossing up a glowing white ball of magic. It hit the ceiling and spread, providing just a dim enough light to see everyone. Unfortunately, with her magical core depleting fast, she couldn't make it any brighter than it was. The room still had far too many shadows in it to be normal.
"Very smart, but it looks to be lacking something..." Tartarus' voice seemed to be coming from multiple directions, causing the group to circle up, their backs to each other. His laughter echoed hauntingly and he continued, "It lacks... Power!" And he struck.
Shadow tendrils latched onto Natasha's and Clint's ankles, dragging them up to hang in the air, Tony used his repulsors to blast through the ones coming at him, but they were surrounded by shadows, easily rendering them useless. Percy looked up and cursed as he saw his teammates getting taken down.
Grover snarled uncharacteristically and with a great big inhale of his lungs, let loose the power of Pan. It work instantly, tearing the shadows down viciously .
"Jackson, you and your team so did not leave me out of a fight, did you?" A familiar voice called out over the fight, causing Percy to look up and see Thalia, Nico, and Clarisse standing in the chamber; battle stances ready for when Tartarus recovered.
"Trust me," He called back, focusing back onto Loki. "It wasn't my intention. We have to destroy the heart!"
"We got your back, princess!" Clarisse yelled, tearing through the shadows in a way that reminded Percy of Ares and the way he fought.
Thalia looked particularly dangerous, lightning crackling around her form as she twirled and stabbed and obliterated the extensions of Tartarus' body. Nico was using his own powers and summoning skeletal warriors to help fight as well as banishing shadows from the room. He shadow travelled over to Natasha and Clint and cut them down; his Stygian sword going through the darkness with ease.
"Thanks." They said together, nodding to him as they rejoined the fight. Thor was now teamed up with Thalia, back to back, taking down the darkness as they slowly inched closer to the ruby.
Tony cried out in pain; Victoria whipped her head towards him, just in time to see a shadow tendril pierce all the way through his plating , inches from his heart. It dropped him unceremoniously onto the group. "Tony!" She yelled.
Steve curse as another tendril wrapped around his wrist for the eighth time. He looked towards Victoria as she called out Tony's name. He saw his friend laying on the ground in a heap. He curled his lips, baring his teeth and tossed his shield through the shadows, cutting it from his person and racing over to them.
"Tah- ah, mmmm." Tony let out, trying to push down the pain as he disassembled his suit and pressed a shaking hand to his wound. Steve was over to him before Victoria and helped him by covering Tony's hands with his own, pressing down harder.
"You'll be fine, Tony." Steve said, reassuringly as Victoria skidded to a stop in front of them.
"Can you heal him?" Steve asked, looking up at her. She gently shook her head.
"Not without borrowing some strength from someone. I'm almost out of magic as it is." She replied, pressing her hands against her knees as she panted lightly.
Steve looked down at Tony, contemplating. He nodded, determined and looked up at her. "Use mine. My shield is pretty useless against these things anyway and I'm basically a battery of energy and strength."
Victoria quirked a quick smile and nodded. She laid a hand on Steve's forehead and pulled at his energy, watching internally as it slowly left his body and entered her own. It was heady and bizarre, but it helped replenish her magical core. She took her hand off and held her hands out away from her body in a supine position. Her body began to glow a bright white, making the area around her go hazy. Like last time, her hair lightened until it was stark white, her skin became a creamy pale color, and a three foot long horn grew out of the top center of her forehead. She looked slightly alien.
The shadows around them writhed and cried and curled away from the purity coming off of Victoria in waves. She glared at them and they shrunk back further. Turning to Tony, she knelt down over him and placed her hand over his wound, her other hand rested against her horn as she channeled magic from her horn into her hand and from there into Tony, trying to heal him. It wasn't working.
"Shit!" She hissed, pressing her hands firmly against the wound to staunch the blood flow. "It's not working, Steve. Why is it not working?" she was almost in hysterics as she stared down at her friend.
Steve looked grim. "Is there anything else you can do or shift into to help him?" He asked, looking at Victoria. She thought for a moment, going through each form, before closing her eyes in resignation. She nodded.
She gazed at Steve. "If I do this, I will no longer be able to fight. I will essentially be useless for a good while, Steve. Percy will have to fight in my stead." She replied, sucking in a quick breath as she felt Tony's wound pulse and a fresh wave of blood seeped between her fingers. Steve nodded, getting up from his spot.
"Do it." With that, he threw himself back into the fray, making his way over to Percy with frightening speed.
Victoria let out a breath and closed her eyes. She brought both hands up to her horn and gripped it tightly; one hand at the base and the other towards the top. With a sharp crack and a cry of pain, she broke the horn from her head. Her vision swam and her breath came out in harsh gasps as she looked down at Tony, who was getting paler and paler. Grimacing, Victoria took her horn and pressed it into Tony's wound, watching as it glowed and was absorbed into his body. Her vision started to go black, her heart thudded against her ribs as if it was trying to break free.
Tony gasped and shot up.
Victoria fell besides him, her brain shutting down under the strain of her empty magical core. Tony's hand shook as he brushed her hair from her face and briefly touched the place where her horn had been broken off. His hand clenched and he turned back to the fight, glaring at Tartarus as the Primordial finally stopped hiding in the shadows and was facing the Avengers head on.
"Jarvis, what are my power levels at?" Tony asked, sliding his face plate back onto his face.
The A.I seemed to hesitate. "Sir, you are at full capacity. What ever did, healed you and let off enough energy to activate your solar panels and charge your suit at the same time." Jarvis explained. Tony grinned and stood up.
"Fantastic."
Percy felt relieve when it seemed Loki's vitals were bak to normal. He stood up and gripped Riptide as Steve popped up next to him, slamming his shield into a shadow tendril.
"Victoria's down, Natasha as well." Steve said in lieu of greeting. "We need you right now. Tartarus is too strong." Blue eyes met green and Percy felt himself nodding. Steve gave him a fleeting smile and both of them turned back to the fight.
"Well, well, came back to face me, my delicious little demigod?" Tartarus taunted as Percy brought his sword down upon the Primordial.
"I'm not your delicious little anything, you perverted old asshole!" Percy shot back, blocking a blow to his side with his arms and danced a few feet back from Tartarus' blade.
"You will be soon." Tartarus laughed, sweeping his arms out widely, he gestured to his comrades. "Take a look around you, demigod, your allies are fighting a losing battle and you yourself are waning wit exhaustion. How much faith do you have in your beloved gods to help you with this fight?" Percy let out what sounded like a growl and when Tartarus turned his back on him, he ran his blade through the devilish body of the Primordial.
"Did you really think that would work?" Tartarus leered at Percy. The ebony haired man just chuckled in thePrimordial's ear.
"You should really keep your heart better protected." Percy replied, causing Tartarus to look at his actual heart only to see Loki piercing it with a long, golden spear. It crackled with his magic and the magic of another's- Hera's- and with the combined powers, the ruby heart shattered and an ear shattering scream was released from it.
The body around Percy's sword dissolved into ash with a yell and the room around them shook as chunks of stone began to fall from the ceiling and the floor cracked, opening up to reveal hot magma flowing beneath.
"Now would be a good time to leave!" Loki and Grover yelled simultaneously over the sound of cracking rocks. The group gathered its fallen and ran out of the mountain as quickly as they could, dodging rocks and debris as it rained down upon them.
They burst through the opening to the world above just as the ceiling to the tunnel slammed down as was sealed forever. Coughing and sputtering, Percy lifted his head from whoever's chest he happened to land on, to see a mixed crowed of demigods cheering and hugging and laughing in victory. It was over. Tartarus was gone. Percy was free from him and suddenly his chest felt lighter, his consciousness was less burdened with guilt.
"Uh, Perseus? Can I have my body back?" Loki asked, flushing lightly at the younger man above him. Percy blushed and scrambled off of the god.
"Ah, uh, sorry." He stuttered out, scratching the back of his neck. Then he broke out in chuckles, which escalated into full blown, belly acing laughter.
Loki looked at his curiously, but Percy just threw his arms around him. "We actually did it!" He yelled out in joy.
It was going to be alright.
The main threat was gone.
Percy was free.
His burden was lightened.
He was going to heal.
He was going to be alright.
It was over.
The smile on his face was filled with freedom.
Hey, ho! Tartarus is finally gone. Defeated and never coming back. Does that mean that the monsters and Titans there are gone? Or are they back on the mortal plane?
One more chapter to go guys, it's going to be shorted than my last couple of chapters, but then we transition into book 2 of the series.
Thank you to all that have continued to support me through these years and will continue to do so through the next couple of years. I'm sorry for those of you I have disappointed with how this story turned out, but when I first started this I only had a general idea of what I wanted, it wasn't planned out or anything, I just kinda let the plot form itself. So, yeah, sorry to those who thought this was going to be any different. For those of you who don't like O.C's in stories and the likes.
Anyway, thanks again and hope you guys like it.