30 years later, 30 years in Tartarus left

Percy POV

I groaned for the umpteenth time, "Are we there yet?"

Damasen grumbled under his breath, "My gods Percy you've been asking for thirty years what does it fucking look like?"

I looked around. We were all walking behind Damasen, except for Bianca who was on his shoulders. I walked next to my two girlfriends.

I am never going to get used to saying that.

I remember growing up with my mom; she would repeatedly give extensive lectures on manners and how to treat women. Rest assured she never encouraged that men are lower than women, or that women are weaker than men. However she did tell me that if I ever got in a relationship a woman, there are a few rules.

One: always protect the woman with your life. I do that, but it's a bit difficult when we got together in hell

Two: never have sex before marriage. Believe it or not, we still haven't. Whenever I brought it up, they told me that they want to wait at least a few months in real time, which meant it won't happen until after we escape. Still I'm not sure about the marriage thing.

Three: always remain loyal to the woman. This is what has me worried. My mother always assumed I would have a monogamous relationship. I shudder to think what she will say when she finds out.

We after 20 years we finally emerged from the swamplands and entered a blistering hot desert-like area. Luckily I had gained better control over my armor, so I could now form it like shorts so I could be cool. For some reason it only keeps me cool when I am asleep, which seems like a weird design flaw, but I didn't worry about it.

Zoë and Jackie walked on either side of me. Every once in a while one of them would take my arm and lean against my shoulder to rest. I didn't mind. I had loads of strength and endurance. You could even say it was monstrous.

I groaned again, just to piss the giant off, "How about now?"

The giant stopped and stood completely still. I braced myself, waiting for the inevitable attack. Over the last thirty years, we have had this game where I do my best to piss him off and he does his best to keep his cool. I figured since pissing people off was my biggest skill, I might as well hone it to perfection. And of course I always win. The only time Damasen supposedly won, I found out he had plugged his ears up so he couldn't hear my voice. So it didn't come. But whenever I did make him explode, he would turn and attack me with the ferocity he had facing the Drakon. But of course I would always kick his ass.

He thought I did it just for shits and giggles, but really my main goal was the fight. Damasen wasn't much of a fighter, but over the years, I've been secretly training him so he could better defend himself in a real fight.

Why didn't I just tell him that and have regular training? Well partly because I knew he would never agree to it, being a peaceful guy and all, and partly because I thought the way his red face turned purple when he was angry was fucking hilarious.

But as I waited for the giant to come at me, I was met with something even more surprising.

"We're here."

I leaned to the side so I could look past his hulking frame and saw where we were.

In front of us was a large outcropping of the desert area that ended in a drop off, that dropped off into nothing. It was like staring at the end of the world. There was nothing but void.

"Oh look! That's me! Hello me!" Chaos perked up

"What?" I asked

Damasen spoke up, "We have reached the edge of Tartarus, and all of that darkness is Chaos, which is where everything lies in."

I nodded. Honestly this didn't surprise me at all. But as I looked closer, I noticed a figure kneeling near the edge.

"Who is that?" I asked

"Hmm? Oh! That's Akhlys my daughter! She must be guarding today! Lets go say hi!"

I wasn't as enthusiastic, "Your daughter? Does that make her a primordial?"

"Not exactly. She isn't exactly my blood daughter. I magically implanted her into Nyx's womb so she could be born. She is just a regular goddess.

"Alright, goddess of what?"

Damasen snorted, "Don't worry, I think you'll be able to figure it out."

I wasn't sure what he meant by that, but I followed him to the edge, with both girls at my side.

As I got closer I started to hear crying. When we got to her, I saw that she was curled up into a ball sobbing uncontrollably.

Concerned I walked up and put my hand on her shoulder, "Are you okay?"

She whipped her head around to look at me, causing me to stumble backwards, not because I was startled, but because of her face.

It was shriveled and bloody, and an endless stream of tears poured down it. She was way too thin and filthy. It almost hurt to look at.

She eyed us uncertainly, "Who are you? What do you want?"

I opened my mouth to answer, but Chaos beat me to it. "Hello sweetie!"

At the sound of her father's voice, her utterly miserable face seemed to light up a bit. Now she only looked like her dog died and not her entire family. She quickly spun around to look into the void, "F-father? Is that you?"

"Yes it is. Although you won't find me out there, I'm not fully awake yet; I won't be for a few centuries. It is good to see you though."

Akhlys looked like she wanted to smile, but her mouth didn't know how. "What woke you? And who are these people? Are they your new servants?"

I had to bite my tongue to keep from laughing. But chaos continued, "In a way. They need entrance into the House of Night."

Her sunken eyes widened in shock, "Father you know I would do anything for you, but they can't enter! They are outsiders! Why would they need to anyways?"

In a more serious tone, Chaos answered with "The boy is my champion. He is Percy Jackson, the Conqueror. And he has business with Nyx.

"What? Since when?" I asked incredulously.

Without even acknowledging me Chaos continued, "Now can you please open the gate darling?"

Akhlys was staring at me with a look I couldn't quite read, what with all the blood and tears obscuring it, but she nodded and turned to the drop off and started chanting something,

As we looked on, the pitch black of the void seemed to shimmer and solidify into a slightly lighter black palace made of stygian iron. It looked like a supersized version of the palace of Hades.

A set of stygian iron steps formed at the cliff and led up to a set of gigantic double doors that seemed to be the only way into the palace.

We stared up at the intimidating place. I quickly put on a brave face and said, "Alright then, lets get going.

I turned to Akhlys and said, "Thank you."

She started crying again.

I turned back to look the stairs and started up. The others followed behind me.

I was stopped however when I heard a gasp behind me. I turned to see Zoë at the bottom of the stairs unable to get up.

"What's wrong?" I asked as I made my way back down.

She grimaced as she tried to walk forward, "It's like there is an invisible force field stopping me. I can't get through."

As I was trying to figure out what was wrong, I heard Akhlys sob: "It's no use, only creatures of darkness and the pit can enter."

I realized that she was right. Bianca was a child of Hades, Jackie was a hellhound, I was the hellhound king, and Damasen was a child of Tartarus. Zoë was just a demi-titan of Atlas and Pleione.

This was a problem; there was no way I was going to let her stay out here by herself, even though I knew she could take care of herself. That's when I remembered something.

"Jeffrey!" I exclaimed.

"Jeffrey?" Damasen, Bianca and Zoë asked,"

Jackie's eyes lit up, "That's right! Jeffrey!"

Zoe shook her head in confusion, "Who the hell is Jeffrey?"

I grinned, "He was this douchebag hellhound back at the Lair. He challenged me for the throne every day for an entire year before I finally gave in and killed him."

Zoë nodded, "But what does Jeffrey have to do with me?"

I looked at her, "How would you feel about becoming part hellhound?"

She blinked, then her eyes widened in realization, "I guess we don't have a choice."

Jackie squealed with delight, "This is going to be great! Now we're all going to be hellhounds and we can go on walks together, play with each other, chase each other's tails—"

"Okay Jackie I think we get it. " I said with a chuckle.

She blushed slightly but looked just as excited.

I closed my eyes and concentrated. I focused on a mental image of Jeffrey and I imagined him and his powers leaving me and going into Zoë.

I opened my eyes and raised my hand. Black energy then flowed out of my hand and flew into Zoë. Once it was finished, Zoë's hair seemed to grow longer, her muscles became more toned, and her canines sharpened.

Once the transformation was complete, Zoë looked up with a smile, "This feels great! Why have you been holding out on me all this time?"

I rolled my eyes, "Can you cross now?"

She stepped forward and found that she could. I nodded and began to start up the stairs again.

When we made it to the top, the gigantic double doors swung open automatically, just like in a horror movie. It didn't exactly reassure me.

We walked inside to find a gigantic mansion-like set up. There was a double staircase that spiraled down from the upper floors and there was furniture lined on either side of the room in perfect symmetry. And everything was either dark black, or shining like the stars. If not for our night vision, we would be very blind.

I turned to Damasen, "So now what? You said this was a shortcut right?"

The giant nodded, "We just need to walk through and it will lead directly where we need to go. There is no need to linger."

I nodded and we started forward, only to be stopped by a voice that sent a shiver up our spines

"That is not quite right." Said a voice that reminded me of velvet for some reason.

Directly in front of us, shadows formed and solidified into three figures, one of which I recognized.

"Thanatos." I stated.

The dark-skinned angel smiled, "Indeed. It's nice to meet you officially Perseus."

He was just as remembered from the iceberg. Although I was busy fighting ghosts so I didn't get to talk with him. His beautiful wings were still breathtaking, almost as much as his face, which seemed to be carved from stone. He wore only pants and held his scythe, revealing his toned figure that rivaled my own.

"Yeah," I answered, "sorry I didn't say hi in Alaska, I was busy fighting ghosts."

He smirked, "I was actually referring to your hundreds of near-death experiences. It's not just a phrase you know, I am there every time," he looked past me at Zoë and Jackie, "Your boyfriend is quite the flirter."

Without having to look, I could feel the glares burning into my skin. At least I could be sure that death was not one of my lovers, no anti-jealousy magic here. I rolled my eyes and said, "Oh come on, dressed like that you were basically asking for it."

At that one of the figures behind Thanatos chuckled. I realized I had almost forgotten they were there, which was weird. The one that had laughed was tall and lanky; with a face only a mother could love. It was horrifically scarred and deformed, as if it had undergone every form of torture there is. He wore raggedy clothes covered in dried blood, and he had wings sprouting from his back like Thanatos, only they were just bones.

The third figure stood in the back and wore a heavy cloak that covered his face and body. He looked to be about 8 feet tall. I don't know what it was, but something about him made me uneasy.

Not looking away from the tall figure, I asked, "So Death, who are your friends?"

With a bit of a bashful tone after my teasing, he answered, "Sorry where are my manners? These are my brothers. Ker and Moros. Together, we are Death."

I squinted my eyes, "I thought you were death."

He nodded, "Yeah it's a common misconception. Technically I am just the god of peaceful death, but since I am the most handsome we put my face on the company logo."

I nodded, "And what are they the gods of?" I said, gesturing to his brothers.

The tall and lanky one spoke in a voice that reminded me of someone choking on his or her own blood said, "I am Ker, the god of violent death." He then nodded towards the tall one, who I assumed was Moros, "This is Moros—" told you, "—he is the embodiment of doom. He doesn't talk much."

I waved my hand, "Hi."

I turned back to Thanatos, "So what do you guys want?"

Thanatos smiled, "It's simple really: we wish to give you our blessings."

CHAPTER 25!

SHOUTOUT TO jonkatarina suggesting I do something with Moros, which led to what's happening now, that guy has given me great suggestions and has even supplied me with a list of all primordial gods when I asked. I really appreciate them I hope you do too. Thank you dude!

Sorry if this chapter is a bit short, but If I kept going it would be way too long and want my chapter lengths to be consistent throughout the whole story. So stay tuned for next Saturday when some juicy shit is about to go down.

Thanks again for all the support! I love you all!