Yall I got infinity war on dvd and when I watched it in the cinema, I legit went into shock at the end, like I actually went pale and didn't speak for like a half hour I was so dramatic, anywho I just rewatched it and damn it was good. A little less good the second time around, but that's probably just me getting snotty cuz Steve wasn't in it more. He's my fave. He's just so *clenches fist* damn hot. Who's yalls favourite avenger?

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Chapter 44

Percy XXVIII

"Stop- stop, please-!"

Percy gasped, ineffectually batted at the titan's rough hand wrapped around his chains as he dragged him across the floor, as he had been for the last few hours. He'd lost his pride weeks ago, it felt like. Percy's knees were raw and bloody; apparently he wasn't travelling at a good enough speed.

Koios gave him a filthy look, and dropped him to the glassy floor, where a breath was knocked out of Percy.

"Your begging means nothing.'' he snapped.

They really weren't in a good mood with him.

Maybe it was that he threw off their plans completely. Or that he had turned the 'Owner' on them, forcing them on the run in their own home. Possibly could have been the number of anxiety attacks he'd had recently, leaving his heart slamming against his chest, unable to move let alone run, much to their disgust. But it was probably the constant attempts to kill them in their sleep, their moods just getting sourer and sourer as they had fled across Tartarus.

Percy longed for a McDonald's meal more than he longed to see the sun. The scraps they had given him were fatty raw hunks of meat, dripping a dark green blood, spidery black veins across it. Percy had gagged, but wolfed it down eventually. Rubbery and peppery, not as bad as it could have been.

"At least we're here." Krios grunted, leaning over to pick Percy up by the scruff.

Percy groaned, too tired to even fight as Krios dragged him over to the river bank.

"Hold on." Krios smiled nastily, and threw him in, keeping a thick finger hooked on his chains.

Percy half-landed in the river Phlegthon with a splash, and began to writhe under it's fiery surface as his lower half sank to the bottom. It burned, searing his deepest wounds, instant cauterisation. Even though his head was not under, Percy reminded himself he could breathe, forcing himself to take a deep breath.

He was yanked out several seconds later, left on the bank to gasp and twitch. The titans sat a little further away, smirking.

Percy hated them as much as he hated Gabe, if not more.

He had promised to himself, during those long nights in the cave and during these long nights on the run, killing any monsters they came across as to not reveal their location, that if he was gonna do anything down here, killing them would be his number one priority. They had tortured him, used him and nearly blinded him. His eye ached constantly at this point.

Percy had met a lot of gods and monsters he didn't like in his lifetime. Kronos, Phobos, hell, Zeus sometimes. He just didn't like bullies. Percy felt like he had spent most of his life standing up to punks at school, or, Hades, even in his own home, who had tried to frighten him and make him feel weird, or out of place as if he didn't belong there. The way Krios and Koios acted...he wanted desperately to knock them down a peg, or twenty.

He wanted to knock 'em down, hard. So they wouldn't get back up.

"So," he huffed, finally getting his breath back, "What now? More running? A little jogging? Bit of powerwalking?"

"If mother did not want you alive... the things I would do..." Koios told him quietly, hands flexing into fists.

Percy know he should hold his tongue.

"A shame," he said acidly instead, "I'm sure you would have had fun too."

Koios made to stand, but his brother yanked him back down. Percy curled his lip, strong enough to sit up now. The gashes on his legs were no more than red marks. He missed the Achilles blessing. He glanced around.

"How come there's no monsters in this bit?" he asked.

"They saw us. Or they saw you. Both. Word must have spread about the killings." Krios answered him.

"Huh." Percy wasn't sure what to make of that.

He slapped his arm suddenly, the hairs raising. Percy winced. He swore there was something on his arm a second ago. He kept feeling things on him, seeing blobs out the corner of his eyes, whispers in his ears. They'd be following him, or sneaking up behind him, or even crawling on his skin. It made him feel sick, especially when he would do a double take, and realise there was nothing. He refused to think about the Voice, and any implications it may have. Percy closed his eyes and exhaled, trying to just bring himself back together.

"Move." grunted Krios, who appeared suddenly behind him, hauling him up.

Percy staggered to his feet, pulling away sharply from the cruel titan.

"Get off of me." he spat.

The titan's hands curled into fists again, but he did nothing as they walked on. Percy's head tilted to the left, trudging with care. He listened closely. There was a familiar whooshing in the distance.

Sure enough, as the trio rounded the corner of a stalactite as big as a house, a churning darkness came into view in a gorge of volcanic rock. It was wicked fast. The water was black as ink, and even the foam churned black. The far bank was about 20 metres across, far darker and wider than when Percy had seen it in the underworld.

"It's the Lethe." Percy said. "Finally. Give me my sword."

Koios regarded him with a dry smirk.

"Funny." Koios drew out Percy's mangled bronze sword. "After what you did to Anteus, you're never getting armed again."

Percy scowled. They'd even taken Riptide from him, the sword gripped tightly in Krios' hand. So long as he walked close to him, it wouldn't return to his pocket. Percy glared even harder as Koios continued, sickeningly smug.

"I'd even like to take those chains off, after seeing what you did with them, but we're not stupid." Koios said, a protective hand coming down to rest on his belt, where the key was strapped, and Percy snorted derisively.

"Those chains block out the Godkiller. I'd rather not meet the same fate as that cyclops you tortured to death." Koios said, eyes burning into him.

Percy dropped his scowl, unable to keep staring him down. He couldn't even deny it. Tartarus... It had just done something to him. Down here... He didn't have to protect anyone but himself, didn't have to worry about hurting people accidentally as he fought. He could do what he wanted to without Gods getting up in his business. Percy hated Tartarus- oh he hated it more than anything, craving fresh air until he could physically feel the ache in his chest- and yet...

He hated what he did, what he had done to survive, but he also, though he would never admit it, in the deepest and darkest parts of his soul...he liked it.

He liked how it made him someone to be feared. Avoided. He liked the safety it gave him. Before, the defeat of Kronos had made monsters aware of how far he would go to protect his friends, and his family. Now, down in Tartarus, what he had done had made monsters aware of how far he would go to survive, to get back to said friends and family. Monsters knew now that he wasn't the same kid who would simply kill one of them, ready to be regenerated. No, now they knew him as a Godkiller- and they knew he would make it hurt. Who down here would judge him, interfere, or tell him to stop, other than himself?

Percy didn't like to think about it, but there was a certain freedom for him down here.

And wasn't that the most ironic thing.

He looked up to see Krios ambling down to the Lethe, holding both bronze swords in his hands. Percy narrowed his eyes. His swords.

As far as he was aware, Koios had his other sword, the drakon bone one.

Krios knelt on the high up edge of the river, leaning down to dip the sword in. It was a tall cliff edge, and Krios had to shuffle further, his arm and upper chest practically dangling off the edge as the leaned, the tip of the sword barely grazing the water.

Percy formed a vague plan in his head as he began to run.

Koios yelled, reaching out for Percy, who ducked and slid down the bank, sending a fresh cloud of blood red stones rolling down alongside him, landing in a roll, staggering to a sprint, Koios right on his heels.

Krios had no way to see it coming, still straining to reach the Lethe.

Percy's body jolted with every step, but his adrenaline swiftly covered it, giving him enough strength to grit his teeth, clench his muscles, and throw himself into a double-footed kick.

He hit Krios in the back with an impact that knocked the breath out of him, and sent Krios head over heels. Percy scrambled to turn over as a blur shot past him, Koios catching his brother by his forearm before he truly fell into the Lethe, chest flat against the edge, Krios' other arm scrabbling on the cliff for traction. Both Percy's swords fell to the edge of the bank as he stood, holding his ribs and wincing, a bubbling cut stretching across his right bicep.

"Hold on, brother!" Koios roared, going purple in the face as Krios flailed below, an inch above the water.

"Brother, pull me up!" Krios bellowed back over the deafening roar of the river.

Koios heaved, both hands wrapped around his brother's wrist, gaining maybe an inch before his chest slammed back onto the floor, armpits hooked over the edge and shaking at the weight.

"I cannot! You must climb!"

Percy watched from the side as Krios' feet scrabbled on the cliff face to find footholds, but Tyche had not blessed them today; the cliff side was slanting, and smooth, opaque black stones that shone with a malice of claiming another unfortunate victim.

Percy stepped forwards slowly.

Koios' head whipped round, his teeth gritted as he strained to keep his flailing brother out the river.

"You stay where you are, Jackson! This is your fault!" he shouted viciously. "So help me, when I get my hands on you-"

Percy blocked him out; he could see it for what it truly was, as Koios' mad eyes flicked between Percy and the key that swayed on his belt.

Percy had to move quick.

Fast as a flash, Percy darted forwards, his hands reaching out to snatch the key from Koios' belt, pulling until the string attached to it snapped. Koios roared incoherently, thrashing his body around in an effort to kick Percy.

A foot hit Percy in the chest, and he flew back, coughing at the full force hit of an angry titan, his chest feeling shattered. He felt sick instantly, but pushed it away, getting to his knees gingerly.

The key was clenched victoriously in his bloody hand.

Percy slid it into the lock on his left hand.

He made eye contact with the grappling titans, stuck on the knife-edge of the cliff, both sets of eyes now wide and fearful, following his every move.

The titans shouted at him, curses and threats, straining at each other. Percy let himself smile at them, not exactly cruel but not exactly nice.

He twisted the key, and the cuff sprang off him.

A coolness shot up his arm, leaving pins and needles in its wake. Percy gasped, falling back onto his haunches, breathing deeply. It was like being plunged into a cold pool; at first, the shock takes the breath away, the body shaking, goosebumps rising. It was like a very concentrated hiss of icy air shooting through his arm, and Percy held it close as the feeling spread through his chest, down his legs, up his neck and into his head, where he closed his eyes, and let the power run through him. And, like a pool, it began to warm up, he began to get used to it. Soon it became a balm of sorts, refreshing. It finally washed up at the fingertips of his other hand, rolling smoothly under and over his skin. Once the power of one cuff was negated, it was clear that the other was nothing more now than a thick and bloody bracelet with a chain trailing behind it.

Percy breathed out deeply, letting his eyes slide open.

Tartarus was pitch black.

Percy blinked a couple more times, exceptionally confused. He raised a hand, waved it in front of his face. Nothing. He couldn't see a thing, like there was a blindfold over his vision.

Percy tensed, not daring to move. He could still feel the river (and that feeling alone was a blessing to have back), feel the ichor of the titans too, somewhere close, as if they hadn't moved. As Percy shifted, he felt Riptide finally return to his back pocket, and drew it out, still staring unblinkingly into the void surrounding him.

"Interesting."

It was a hollow voice, that seemed to surround him yet be right in front of him at the same time.

Somehow, the air around him darkened further, before it solidified, sucking the darkness into one focused place, until the hazy redness of Tartarus reappeared, and Percy could see the titans and the river and the mountains again.

Percy didn't dare breathe.

The being that appeared was so massive, radiating such pure malevolence, that if Percy was standing, he knew his knees would have given out.

He forced his eyes to trace the primordial God's form, starting with his black iron boots, each one as large as a coffin. His legs were covered in dark greaves; his flesh all thick purple muscle, like the ground. His armored skirt was made from thousands of blackened, twisted bones, woven together like chain links and clasped in place by a belt of interlocking monstrous arms.

On the surface of the warrior's breastplate, murky faces appeared and submerged— sunken outlines of giants, Cyclopes, gorgons, and drakons—all pressing against the armor as if it were paper thin, and they were trying to get out, deep dips revealing eyes and mouths all twisting as if they were screaming.

The warrior's arms were bare—muscular, purple, and glistening—his hands as large as crane scoops.

Worst of all was his head: a helmet of twisted rock and metal with no particular shape—just jagged spikes and pulsing patches of magma. His entire face was a whirlpool—an inward spiral of darkness.

Percy swallowed, feeling as if he had lost his voice entirely, as if it had dropped out of his body.

"Tartarus." he said quietly, not taking his eyes off him.

The primordial God inclined his swirling head, and Percy knew instantly this was the Owner.

"The 'Godkiller' my sister has informed me of." he replied, his voice making Percy's stomach churn.

He lowered his arm limply, unable to stop Riptide hitting the glassy floor with a clatter.

The titans had stopped struggling; they were still straining, but both had frozen on the spots.

"This form is, of course, only a small manifestation of my power," Tartarus said. "But it will suffice for you. I do not interfere for just any reason. It is beneath me to deal with gnats such as demigods. Even the Olympians never warranted such attention. But you... My sister has taken a liking to you-"

Percy let himself feel a flicker of hope, but it quickly twisted away.

"I hate my sister." Tartarus said coldly.

The god of the pit flexed his fingers, examining his own polished black talons. He had no expression, but he straightened his shoulders as if he were pleased.

Then he backhanded Percy across towards the Lethe.

Percy flew through the air, flipping like a gymnast, landing in a heap on the floor with a groan. But he had his power back now, and so he got up quickly, a tinge of anger diffusing into his fear.

"Why do you not disintegrate?" Tartarus mused. "You are nothing."

A hand curled around his ankle, and Percy's head shot down, wrenching his foot out of Krios' dead man grip. The titan was still flailing on the edge. They made eye contact, and Percy's anger hit him all at once with the force of a small truck.

"-ease," came a whisper from Krios as his feet madly kicked out beneath him. "Please."

Percy looked him dead in the eye.

He reached into his pocket, and withdrew Riptide. Both Koios and Krios recoiled, struggling harder than ever.

"Please! Please!"

Percy shut out Koios, he shut out his surroundings, he even shut out Tartarus, who was watching with a vague interest. All Percy saw were the whites of Krios' eyes as he pleaded.

His hand shot out again, almost as if to drag Percy down with him. Percy stamped on it, lining his sword up with his other arm, where Koios strained desperately, Percy's arms shaking with anger at the titans, at himself, at the whole damned situation.

If Tartarus was to kill him, right here, and right now, he was damn sure he was gonna take as many of these murderous and vicious titans as he could.

"Your begging means nothing.'' Percy hissed coldly, throwing his words back at him.

Krios' eyes widened, and he opened his mouth to scream.

Percy swung down, his powers already flowing out of his fingertips to push around the ichor in Krios' veins, almost carelessly, making it easier to-

Percy sliced into Krios' wrist, and severed completely through it, hot ichor spraying up and over his face and body.

Krios bellowed for a mere second before he landed with a splash in the Lethe. He resurfaced a second later, floating as the river took him downstream, a vague and blank look in his once furious and fearful eyes.

He was gone, a fate worse than death.

Percy spat a mouthful of the burning ichor to the floor.

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Wasn't this a fun chapter, I'll try to update real soon yall. We boutta have some big ass reunion probably idk, I've told yall before, I have legitimately no plan for this fic, it's the epitome of making it up as you go along. It's better that way tbh, I have more freedom to change the story whenever I want.

REVIEW PLEASE!

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