And so the Osore did. The vial disappeared from Nico's grasp and appeared on the table with a letter.
Nico watched the scene unfold his eyes.
"Guys," Annabeth tried to get everyone's attention.
"GUYS!"
"Yeah Annabeth?" Piper asked.
"Look." She pointed to the vial. "A vial with a note."
Percy took the note and started to read.
The Vial of Tartarus
In Tartarus, you must go to the heart. When you arrive at the heart, you must look for a glowing orb. Go to the glowing orb. When you reach the orb, you will realize that the orb is actually a compartment. look for a tiny hatch which will let you unlock the orb. Inside the orb, is the vial of Tartarus. This vial, cures the memories of Tartarus. It can only be used once. Despite that it can be used once, multiple people can take it, if they split it up. After you drink the vial, everything you encountered, everything you experienced in Tartarus shall be wiped away from your memory. It'll be like it never happened. Except you know you went there and survived, but you won't feel the pain anymore. Good luck
"Do you think it will work?" Percy whispered to Annabeth.
"It won't hurt to try." Her voice shook.
She poured half of the vial's content into her goblet and the other half in Percy's goblet. Together, they drank.
And, they held a hand to their forehead as they winced in pain. But if you looked closely to their eyes, that once broken look in their eyes, it was gone. That pained haunted look on their faces was gone.
They were healed.
"It worked." Nico breathed. "It worked."
Yes it did.
With that, the Iris Message was cut off, leaving Nico all alone in the dark with the Osore.
"What am I supposed to do now?" He muttered.
You didn't think you would be doing nothing now, did you? Because here is full of darkness, and with darkness comes fear. And son of Hades, I know every single one of your fears. I can use it against you and your own will.
Let the torture begin.
3 weeks in regular time, 1814400 days in Tartarus has passed
There was a boy shackled up in chains. He was handcuffed to the wall of the crater. He was skinnier than ever imagined and paler than the moon, but a sickly pale. His shaggy black hair covered his eyes. His shirt was off to reveal the scars littered all over his body.
He coughed, and when he coughed, it was blood that he coughed. That's what Tartarus did to you. It ruined you in every way possible. Just when you thought they couldn't come up with new ways to torture you, but they did. They put a spin on everything.
He was living a nightmare. A nightmare that was a reality. And he was awake. If he screamed, well, it would get even worse.
But to him, it was a small price to pay, just so they could become better even if he was trying his best to not die at the very moment.
3 months in regular time, 7776000 days in Tartarus has passed
He was barely alive. How to tell he was alive? Look closely, and you will see his chest moving slightly up and down.
He was covered in a pool of blood, but that blood isn't new. Besides his torturers knew what to do. They gave him time to rest and gain strength, so they could torture him again.
It was the same routine everyday. Wake up to a slap, get tortured, drink fire from the river Phlegethon, torture, sleep, surprise wake up, torture.
He should be used to it after for so long, but he wasn't.
10 months in regular time, 25920000 days in Tartarus has passed
He was supposed to die. But what his torturers didn't tell him was that they made him immortal, so he could get tortured forever.
He thought he would get peace when dead, but he was wrong.
He gave up hope a long time ago. He gave up on resisting a long time ago. But no matter what, he could never stop flinching, even though he knew what was going to happen.
They hated it when he flinched. They called him pathetic and weak. Then, they beated him up even more.
5 years in regular time, 157680000 days in Tartarus has passed
He was sitting with his head down when a bright flash occurred. He looked up to see someone who shouldn't be there.
"No." "No, no no!"
"PLEASE! DON'T DO ANYTHING TO HIM! HE DOESN'T DESERVE IT! I DO!" He pleaded for his cousin. "Please, not Percy!"
Very well son of Hades. Just wait a minute.
And then, another flash occurred. But it wasn't a person. It was Chaos. Chaos took Percy and flashed out.
Relieved, he let out a sigh, content that his cousin was safe.
That's all that mattered to him.
13 years in regular time, 409968000 days in tartarus has passed
He was sleeping when a bright flashed appeared.
It was a being, the most powerful being in the universe, Helix. Everyone had forgotten him, even his own children. But he had a family of adopted children from all over the galaxy. And they were enough.
His job was to take care of those who needed love in their life, to give children the love they deserved.
And here he was, determined to give Nico the love he deserved and the family he deserved. No one could stop him.