A/N: I own nothing, all Rick's :)

Chapter 1

Percy's POV

I crouched next to Annabeth as we observed the frail and sobbing woman in front of us. She looked awful, and that was a lot considering. I had seen some pretty scarring things. We had been stumbling through Tartarus for gods knows how long and our bodies were starting to fail. Our skin had turned an ugly shade of red and blisters were forming over both of our bodies because of the constant heat of Tartarus. Both Annabeth and I were coated from head to toe in a mix of dirt, blood and monster dust, our clothes had long since been torn to shreds.

The water from the Phlegethon had been helping to keep us alive, helping us to breathe the toxic air and had healed most of our major injuries to the point where they were only minor and not life threatening. Being as helpful as it was at keeping us alive, the fire water did nothing to quench my thirst or hunger and we hadn't eaten a real meal since we fell into this forsaken place.

My stomach rumbled at the thought of food, and Annabeth shot me a look. She turned back to the woman in front of us, she had her back to us and was perched on a small rock. She was visibly shaking and her crying could be heard for some distance. We were crouching behind some small boulders, I could make out an assortment of black trees about 100 feet behind us through the haze of red mist, but other than that, I couldn't make out any specific landmarks.

"What do we do?" Annabeth whispered to me.

"I don't know? Go see what's wrong." I whispered back with a shrug

She glared at me for a few seconds.

"Wait? You're being serious?" she asked. Before letting out a sigh and taking a nervous glance at the woman.

"I'd happily avoid her, but we need directions. We will never find our way out, and since Bob left us, we have to try." I concluded, looking directly into her beautiful grey eyes.

I felt bad about Bob. I had just abandoned him to Hades. Truthfully, I didn't know what would happen, but I guess being a janitor isn't so bad. It is certainly better than the fields of punishment or killing him and returning him to Tartarus in his state. I still could have made time to visit him though. I wasn't a good friend to Bob.

She huffed out a sigh. Looking back over to the woman.

"Fine but be on guard, knowing our luck, this won't end well." she stated with affirmation in her voice. It was true, our luck just seemed to be getting worse and worse. 5 years fighting the titans, only for a couple of months in peace before getting thrust back into another war. Not to mention my memories being stolen for several months. Several months I could have spent with Annabeth, trying to live a normal life. Curse the Fates for making my life hell. I was just about done with them. I looked at Annabeth before pulling Riptide from my pocket and giving her a slight nod. I internally sighed, this woman is probably crying because she's sat in literal hell. I cracked a grin at that thought and continued to follow Annabeth forward till we were about 10 feet from the woman.

The woman suddenly straightened her back and the crying ceased, she turned to look at us and I had to hold back a grimace. Her face was worse than I could have imagined. She had sunken eyes that were puffy and ringed in purple from constant crying, her skin was grey and dry, it looked like it could peel off at any moment. She had a steady stream of tears rolling down her face that converged on her chin before dripping off. Her hair was thin and stringy and clumped up. She was wearing thin grey rags around her frail body that looked to offer no protection from the elements. She looked at the both of us and narrowed her eyes.

"Demi-gods!?" She half questioned and half stated as if she wasn't that sure herself.

"Who are you?" Annabeth spoke up with a little quiver in her voice.

"Akhlys, Goddess of Misery." she stated bluntly, looking almost insulted that she hadn't been recognised. Misery? Oh crap!I thought as I peeked at Annabeth who turned to me with a little worry in her eyes.

"Demi-gods in Tartarus, how interesting..." she mused looking at us with a devilish smile. "I presume you are here for my Death Mist" she questioned. Death mist? I was about to speak up, but Annabeth beat me to it.

"Death Mist?" she looked at Akhlys with a confused tone.

"My Death Mist… it allows the wearer to move unseen to those who do not know they are there." she said incredulously. "Are you telling me you've never heard of my Death Mist?" she asked standing from her perch, a frown adorning her face.

"No ma'am I'm afraid we haven't." Annabeth replied. Hides the wearer?I thought with shock.

"We were jus.." Annabeth started

"Wait!" I cut in. Annabeth gave me a look of annoyance which I ignored. "Are you saying this Death Mist will hide us from monsters?" I asked, with a little more confidence. My mind racing at the thought of crossing Tartarus without any monsters attacking us. It would make the experience more bareable and may give us a slight chance of survival. Annabeth's face morphed from one of annoyance to one of hope at the thought.

"Yes, I guess it could do that..." she announced. "We'll take two orders of that then please." I interjected almost immediately with a twinge of hope

"And why should I give it to you?" she sneered back at me. My heart faltered, duh, why would she just give it to us? I said something clever like "Uhhhhhhhhhhh?" as I turned to look at Annabeth.

Her brows were furrowed and she looked to be contemplating a thought, her face was devoid of all emotions. Suddenly her face lit up "If we escape Tartarus, and trap all these monsters behind, think of all the misery we will create." she hoped with raised eyebrows. It was a long shot. Akhlys raised her eyebrows and looked to be pondering. She looked at Annabeth, then back at me, then at Annabeth again.

"Hmmmmmmmm…" She mused before beckoning us closer. "I will grant you the Death Mist." she stated pointedly.

Annabeth paled a bit. I had the same thought, this was way too easy. What's the catch? Maybe there isn't one and we would finally get a break for once. We both slowly approached until we were within arm's reach of the Goddess. She eyed us both before beginning to chant in ancient Greek.

After about 30 seconds she waved her hands in front of our faces. I instantly felt nauseous, like my entire body had been emptied. I looked down and gasped. My body was gone! Well it wasn't gone, gone. But it was close to transparent, I could only just see the outline of my body with a blur of grey between. I could almost clearly see the floor beneath me. I turned to look at Annabeth and jumped back. She looked dead. I mean literally dead. Where her eyes were supposed to be were just empty sockets. Her beautiful California tan had disappeared and her skin was grey and flaking off. Her gorgeous blonde princess curls had turn grey and stringy. She was as transparent as I was and I could only just make out the details on her face. She looked at me and shrieked. That made me wonder what I looked like. She was probably seeing an awful version of myself.

"P…Per…Percy…" she stammered "Your face."

"I know." I said turning back to Akhlys with a grim expression. "Thank you. We need to get to the Doors of Death. Do you know where they are?" She was intently watching us with a wide grin on her face before she began cackling to herself.

"Foolish Demi-gods" she screamed as claws grew from her fingernails "Did you really think I would let you leave here alive?" I stared at her, boiling with rage. "You tricked us!" I shouted back uncapping Riptide from its pen form. As I did it fell through my grasp like I was made of... mist. I stared at the now 3-foot-long bronze sword laying on the floor in shock. I'm made of mist, of course I can't touch anything. I cursed looking back up at Akhlys. She was gleaming triumphantly at us as she moved towards us. Wouldn't she just pass straight through us if she attacked, I thought.

"Oh, how wrong you are young one." she howled as if she had read my mind. before reaching out and grabbing my wrist. Annabeth was still staring in shock at her see through hands. "Percy, my hands.." She stuttered out. A look of horror upon her face.

"Now I shall show you true misery." Akhlys screamed with glee. As she did, the forest behind us began to roar with sound. I tried to wrench myself free of the crazed Goddess who was now laughing maniacally. Seriously? Five minutes ago, she was crying her eyes out and looked like she needed a hug.

"Are you bi-polar?" is all I could blurt out. Curse my ADHD. She stopped her hysterics, looking at me with absolute loathing before raking her claws down my arm. I screamed out in pain and ripped myself free, falling to the floor. I could feel blood leaking down my arm. The sound of me screaming out in pain seemed to snap Annabeth out of her daze as she shouted out my name. She tried to run towards me, but It appeared as if she was running through jelly.

"Ha! Having trouble with your new form?" Akhlys shrieked triumphantly. As she did the forests behind us exploded, around 30 flying creatures were barrelling towards us. 'New form'I thought. I looked down at my ghostly hands and suddenly had a revelation. I placed my hand around the grip of riptide, focusing on my fingers. I felt a familiar tugging sensation in my gut, curling my fingers around and gripping the sword. I smirked to myself, expanding the feeling to cover my entire body. I used the water within my body to propel my movements, and shot up faster than I could think. Akhlys stepped back in surprise with wide eyes.

"H..How?" Akhlys stammered. I smirked at her brandishing Riptide. Akhlys backed up a few feet. My arm burned with pain as I took a test swing with my sword. I ignored the pain, grinning. It moved faster than I had ever moved it before.

I heard a screech behind me, I turned to see a bat-like creature with leathery wings and a demonic hag face a few feet away from me. At first, I thought it was a Fury, they looked the exact same as these things. But there were only 3 furies? I instinctively raised riptide. It sliced clean through her body, severing her wing off. She exploded into golden dust. As she died, I felt as if a sword had just been rammed through my gut. I hunched over in pain with wide eyes.

"We are the Arai!" they all screeched in raspy unison.

"The Curses!" Annabeth screamed out.

"Yes mortal! Now Perseus Jackson, we have many curses to share with you!" They screeched as they charged forward. Every time one came close to either Annabeth or I, I would cut it down, and every time I did I felt another searing pain somewhere on my body. I slashed another arai out of the sky, and as it exploded into dust I felt as if my throat had just been slit. I dropped to one knee as I coughed a familiar sticky red liquid out onto the floor. "Don't kill them." Annabeth screamed as she stood above me defiantly, but to no avail. She could only just move and hold her dagger, barely defending the both of us. One of the aria got within her guard and raked her down her shoulder opening a nasty gash. She screamed out in pain and instinctively severed the creatures head from its shoulders. As she did, she dropped her dagger and stumbled forward into the swirling mess of hag ladies. Surprisingly they let her through.

"Percy!?" She called out turning around with pure white eyes.

"PERCY!?" She screamed out, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Annabeth, I'm coming" I shouted back to her as she stumbled further away from me. The Arai weren't attacking her but letting her stumble further and further away. I coughed up another lump of blood "PERCY! WHERE ARE YOU!?" She cried out. I leapt up, slashing through another and rushing forward.

Iapetus POV (Bob)

I watched on as Percy and Annabeth began talking to Akhlys. I agreed that it was there only chance of escaping, if being slim to none. I was considering continuing to help the two, but finding out about my past from Percy, how he pushed me into the Lethe and wiped my memory kept me. He was supposed to be my friend. That's what he said when I woke up. But now I know we were originally enemies. I am Iapetus, Titan of the West.

I looked back at Percy to see them become surrounded in mist. I smiled. At least they were going to make it out of Tartarus, the deserved as much, nobody should be down here.

I looked down at my hands and my mind began to wander. My memories were slowly coming back to me, fractured and broken apart but still very real. I remember why they called me 'The Piercer', I wasn't a good person, beyond any doubt. I was not as horrible as someone like Kronos who tortured for his own amusement, but I had still committed many atrocities. I began thinking about the world above, the stars, the sun and moon. I smiled at the thought of it, wishing I could be up there. I thought about the peaceful Titans, Rhea, Calypso, Leto and the others. They deserved better than the punishments they received. I wished to see my granddaughter again, she was always so peaceful, like Hestia, just because she was Atlas's daughter she was cursed, forced onto that island. She didn't even fight back!

I was torn from my thoughts as I heard a girl scream out. I turned to see Annabeth walking, arms raised through the Arai! I was in shock the two could fight in this form, I didn't even expect them to be able to walk properly. Percy was hacking and slashing his way towards her, trying his best to block and knock out the Arai. Every now and again, he couldn't help but kill one and would receive a deadly blow. I could see cuts appearing across his chest, slashes appearing on his sides, but he continued forward trying to get to her as she slowly stumbled further away from him.

I was curious as to why the Arai were not attacking her. I looked ahead of her to see something that made my blood run cold. Around twenty feet in front of Annabeth was an enormous Cliffside surrounded by an inky blackness. It stretched both ways as far as the eye could see, which isn't very far in Tartarus. I knew that Perseus had wronged me, but nobody deserved that fate, especially not them. They fought for what was right, family and friends. I thought of Calypso. I am not Iapetus, I am Bob. With that thought I charged forward to aid Perseus.

Percy POV

I slashed through another hag and the entire right side of my chest erupt in pain, I placed my left hand to the now massive cut on my side to try and lessen the pain as I parried another sending her flying into the dirt behind me. I turned and blocked another, smacking the hilt of my sword into her nose, she wailed and crumpled to the floor. I stepped over her to fight off another Arai when my back suddenly exploded in pain, I turned to see Akhlys with blood-soaked claws grinning down as I fell to my knees.

"Annabeth.." I croaked. This is it, I thought. Tears filled my eyes and blood dripped down into my vision from a wound on my forehead. I prayed to every god possible to help. I looked up to see Annabeth stumbling towards a large cliff edge, my eyes widened I didn't know how far down it was. I didn't care if it killed me, Annabeth would get out of Tartarus. I swung in a wide arc as monsters backed up to escape the deadly metal and surged forward to help her.

She was 10 feet away from the edge, furiously reaching out for something to hold on to calling out to me to help her. I dismembered the last Arai between us uncaring of the pain it would inflict on me before breaking into a mad sprint. I felt as if I had had a spear rammed through my leg, my wounds burned and I was limping but moving as fast as I could. I was five meters away and getting closer. Three meters away. Suddenly Annabeth slipped off the edge. I dived out ignoring all pain in my body and reached for her hand. Annabeth's hand slipped through mine as if it was made of mist before she fell, screaming, into the abyss below.

3rd person POV

"ANNABETH!" Percy screamed as hard as he could.

Nothing.

The remaining Arai cackled with glee as they screamed "She has fallen into the void, to the father below." Percy visibly tensed as they said that. Even he knew what it meant. The world around them began to shake and the Arai quickly stopped their howls of delight. They turned in horror as they saw Percy, still kneeling staring into the void begin to glow with rage. An ethereal sea green light began to emanate from his body. It began to get brighter and more violent as Percy began to shake. Suddenly Akhlys and the Arai began to scream and wail in fear, falling to the floor, their bodies writhing in pain. Percy stood, turning from his spot at the edge of the cliff shaking with rage. His eyes shone with destructive power, his face utter desolation as a flash of terror washed over the monsters. The light began to glow brighter and brighter as they screamed in pure agony. When it became too bright for anyone to see the world exploded outwards from Percy's body and the Arai and Akhlys were literally ripped into pieces. The world stopped shaking and the light instantly shut off as Percy's knees buckled and he collapsed threatening to fall into the void below.