Fear. It dominated his mind, suffocating his thoughts and drowning out everything else.
Trudging along the barren reddish landscape, he could think of nothing but the most gruesome of ways to die. For that was what he expected to happen when he reached his goal, ending his mission- hand over the object he had risked everything to procure to his Master.
But what haunted him wasn't the confrontation; it was what would result from it. His Master had asked for two things, but he was only able to extract one of them. Even though not going after the second one was why he was still alive, there was no doubt that his Master wouldn't see it that way. No, he would be a failure.
Tartarus didn't tolerate failures.
The monster slowly made his way to the enormous iron doors tinged with red, gathering his thoughts and trying his best to calm his mind. Raising his frail arms he pushed against the entrance, throwing all of his weight against it. His body was not built for this. He relied on speed and stealth to do his job, not strength and power.
Groaning with exertion, he was finally able to get the doors to swing inwards. Stopping once he had enough room to slip through, he immediately resumed his journey. The monster walked swiftly along the hallway, not even giving a passing glance to the endless darkness that occupied its sides.
As soon as he reached the end, he knelt in front of the throne and bowed low.
"Lord Tartarus," He said, trying his best to ignore how insignificant he felt next to the primordial. "I have brought what you asked for, milord. But there were some slight complications... I... I was only able..."
"Where is it?"
Startled, the monster rushed to grab it from the satchel resting on his waist.
"Of... of course, my lord." he stuttered as he grabbed the string out of the bag and presented it, trying not to visibly shudder as Tartarus reached down and plucked the sea-green string from his hand.
"And the other one?"
The creature winced. Taking in a shuddering breath, he let the truth out.
"I was not able to procure it, my lord." He said, "I barely got away with this one. I failed you. I am sorry, Lord Tartarus."
He waited for the inevitable, breathing heavily. But all he got was a grunt that sounded like two mountains scraping together.
Surprised, he turned his head up to see the deity's glowing red eyes studying the string in his hands.
"Leave."
He blinked. Leave? He knew his Master was many things but forgiveness was not one of his traits.
Especially when his servant's incompetence was in question, but at that moment all he could feel was elation. Explanations crossed his mind, trying to convince himself that he mattered to Tartarus. Why else would he be letting him go scot-free?
Shoving his thoughts aside, he instead focused on making good on the opportunity presented before him. Stumbling slightly, he stood; shakily muttered his gratitude, and with a final bow made his way back to the doors from whence he came through.
The primordial, who had more or less ignored the creature till now, lifted his eyes from the string in his hands to watch the monster make his escape. A sinister chuckle escaped his swirling vortex of a face as he watched the creature step out through the opening, immediately followed by a blood-curdling scream.
With a slight flick of the god's wrist, the doors shut themselves, leaving the monster outside. He was of little importance to Tartarus. All he was worth for now was to act as a conduit for him. Something that would end in his death; that is if he survived the ordeal he was being put through currently.
Nevertheless, he had done his job or at least... half of it. That would do for now.
It complicated things for him, but it wouldn't be much of a consequence. His plans were ready to be set into motion. He had enough to topple the gods and more. They wouldn't see him coming. No. They would fall, beginning with that insolent demigod who dared to defy him.
It was time for Percy Jackson to be erased from existence.
Percy stretched his arms, flexing his back to relieve the knots while simultaneously enjoying the cool breeze blowing against him. Nothing like a walk through Central Park to help him relax. Not that he had a stressful day, but taking care of a 2-year-old did require quite an amount of energy.
Spending some time with his family was enjoyable, and he wished the break wouldn't be coming to an end as soon as it was. In a few days, Annabeth would make her way over from Camp after spending quality time with her siblings. Nearly a week from then, they would be going back to college in New Rome again.
Percy sighed, wondering how his mother managed to keep up with Estelle. She was energetic, but he was more than happy to comply with her, plus she always left him with a smile on his face.
Things were going great for him that day till then, so it shouldn't have been much of a surprise when they started to go wrong.
It started with a sinking feeling in his stomach, his subconscious telling him to get as far away from the place as possible. And that is when he noticed them. On the bench, a few yards in front of him were the Fates. They had just appeared, he was sure, just as he was sure that the walkway was sprinkled with people and not abandoned as it was now.
Fortunately for him, the dilemma, of whether to approach them or not, was solved before he could give it thought by a scream emanating from his right. Letting his body go on autopilot, Percy ran towards it, his hand going into his pocket to clutch Riptide in its pen form tightly. Ready to whip it out at a moment's notice.
The feeling in his gut intensified, reaching a crescendo as he walked out into a clearing. Though what he saw was not what he expected. There was a monster on the ground; at least Percy assumed it was one. It looked humanoid, but its skin was a deep purple. Cuts and bruises littered its body from which a blackish goo-like substance oozed out. Its clothes were in tatters, and it was screaming its head off.
Percy took a step forward, taking Riptide out to end the monster, only for it to go silent. With a speed that he didn't expect, the creature rolled over, dug its claws into the ground, and pushed itself to its feet.
"Perseus Jackson.", it said, with a voice that didn't match the scrunched-up face it was emanating from. A voice he thought he would never have to hear again.
Tartarus.
He could feel the fear clawing at his chest, the memory of how utterly powerless he felt in the face of the primordial of the pit surfacing in his mind. His grip on his sword tightened, knuckles turning white. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he continued the conversation.
"How are you here?"
"Fret not, demigod. I'm not here, at least not wholly. That would draw too much attention. Something I'd rather not have till the plans are set into motion."
"What plans? What do you want?" Percy raised an eyebrow.
"I am sure you know exactly what I want."
"You're not the first one to try. What makes you think you'll do any better?" Percy asked. His voice was calm and steady, not giving away the fuming mess he was inside.
Why did everything have to happen in his lifetime?
Analyzing the situation, he decided to try and learn as much as possible from the god. That way, maybe he could try and end this before it started.
"Nice try, but there is nothing that is going to help you, half-breed. Your journey ends here."
Just like that, the monster let out a pained wail and exploded into golden dust.
Breathing heavily, Percy tried to calm his racing heart. He had to get back to camp and alert the others. Additionally, he would have to get in touch with the gods. They were going to need as much preparation as possible and even then he suspected it wouldn't be enough.
Turning around, he took a step back to the way he came from, only to collapse to his knees as his legs gave out from underneath him. Looking down, he understood why. His legs were disintegrating into dust, crawling slowly up his body. Riptide dropped from his hands, clattering to the ground. The panic had barely begun to set in his mind before his whole body fell apart.
Percy Jackson as the world knew him, was gone.
His senses returned to him one by one, he could hear a whistling nearby, the air rushing into his lungs. Bright light forcing his eyelids shut and finally the wind bustling past him. And that was when he realized that he was falling. As soon as that realization came, so did the ground. His back hit a soft level field, knocking the breath right out of him. Sitting up, he opened his eyes, blinking rapidly to try and clear his vision so that he could finally make sense of where he was.
Once he could see again was when he realized that there was no way he could make sense of where he was on his own.
Right in front of him was a bluish-grey-skinned humanoid stood in front of him, wearing an intricate set of armor-like clothes complete with a hood to cover his head. His face had thick black lines crossing over from his eyes, curving down to meet at his chin. In his hands was a large staff-like hammer glowing with an eerie purple light.
Blinking at the sight, Percy shifted his attention to his surroundings taking in the other beings near him. A red-headed, green-skinned woman stood glaring at him. Next to her was the only human, at least Percy assumed he was, among the bunch. Followed by another colorful man-like being covered in reddish tattoos and a raccoon fidgeting with a futuristic gun?
"What the...". He had barely started the sentence when he noticed the humanoid-alien-creature fire a blast of purple energy from his hammer at him. Letting his instincts take over, Percy leaned forward, rolling up to his knees while simultaneously twisting the dial of the watch on his left hand. An intricate celestial bronze shield erupted into existence on his hand, blocking the purple beam.
"Impossible", stated the blue alien.
Not one to waste an opportunity, Percy was quick to get on his feet and utilize his opponent's surprise. In a few strides, he closed the distance between them and rearing his hand back slammed the sharp edge of the shield right into his enemy's armored chest. The blow connected, but it didn't faze the alien one bit.
He twirled his hammer around and hit Percy's side with the staff end. Caught off-guard, there was nothing much that Percy could do except tank the blow, which he was pretty sure cracked at least one rib.
"Fool! You think you can take me on? I am Ronan, the Accusor! Xandar will crumble before me."
Percy stood slowly. Wiping the blood off of the corner of his mouth as he clutched his wounded side, drawing moisture out of the air to coat his side to lessen the pain. He assumed that Xandar was the place he was at, and the maniac in front of him either wanted to conquer or raze this place to the ground. Judging by his actions so far, Percy assumed it was the latter, and it included him.
"Do you always keep that constipated look on your face? Or is today a special occasion?"
Ronan bristled. Raising his hammer above his head, he brought it down towards the ground. Quickly, Percy switched his shield to his right hand and threw it onto the ground where the hammer would land. Even though he was a safe distance away, he still felt the shockwave that resulted from the hammer meeting his shield. Ronan was thrown back, but he was quick to find his footing again.
Running forward, Percy coated his hand in the water he drew from the air. Taking advantage of his forward momentum, he punched the blue being in the face, forcing him to stagger backward.
Growling his displeasure, Ronan pointed his hammer at Percy to fire another blast, only for the hammer to explode.
Time slowed down as Ronan, surprise evident on his face, made a lunge to grab the glowing purple stone that broke free from his weapon. Realizing his opponent's intention, Percy, closer to the stone, reached out and plucked it out of the air.
As soon as his hand made contact, unimaginable power coursed through his veins. Nothing was a match to how he felt now. He could feel the stone pulsing in his hand, tempting him, lending him pure, raw energy.
Opening his palm, a wave of purple energy released from the stone towards the Accusor, consuming him. But the nagging in the back of his mind never left. He could feel the stone nudging in his mind, urging him to destroy everything. Obliterate. Kill.
Just as fast as it came, it was gone. Percy vaguely felt the touch of a cool, metallic substance against his hand. Too tired, he collapsed to his knees.
"Are you alright?" Glancing up, Percy took in the speaker, the human he had noticed before. Nodding his head, Percy tried to catch his breath. He had landed in a strange new world, and the first thing he got to do was stop an evil fanatic from committing genocide. Just great.
"You all wouldn't happen to have some water, would you?"
After being turned into dust, Percy had expected to find himself in front of DOA recording studios. Heck, he would've taken a trek from New York to LA on foot instead of being stuck here. It would have been better than being stuck in an endless void of nothingness with none other than the Fates to accompany him.
"What do you mean I can't go to the Underworld? I'm dead, aren't I?", If he thought saying it out loud would mean he could accept it, he was wrong.
"You are not dead, Perseus. You're fading.", said Lachesis.
"Your existence is being wiped from reality. There'll be no after-life for you, no rebirth.", continued Atropos.
"And that is why we are here to offer you a chance.", Clotho concluded.
"What do you mean fading? Wiped from reality? How did Tartarus even manage to do that? He was barely there, not to mention he didn't even touch me."
"That would be our fault. The monster that you came across, was created by Tartarus to trick us, and it succeeded in stealing something from us."
Percy's curiosity piqued. The Fates running around in circles instead of explaining what was happening to him was starting to irritate him.
"And what exactly did he steal?"
"Your string."
"You let some random monster steal an all-powerful string of Fate? What the hell were you thinking?" Percy was beyond pissed. They make a stupid mistake, and his life was on the line? How was that fair?
"As we said, that is why we are here."
"We suspected Tartarus would destroy the string, which would result in you fading. As such, we devised a plan to counteract this."
"Oh, and what is this wise plan of yours?" Percy raised an eyebrow. He was beyond caring. What was the worst they could do to him? Kill him? Oh, wait. He was already dead.
"We will push you out of this reality into another one."
Percy blinked, "You'll do what now?"
"Essentially, we will transfer you from this universe to another one."
"And since your string is tied to your life force, once that life force vanishes from this plane, the string will destroy itself."
"All we have to do is time it right, and Tartarus won't know the difference."
Percy hummed in thought. That did make some sense.
"You are the Fates, right? Can't you just wave your hands and will me back into existence or something? I mean, you all do control our destiny, right?"
"We cannot do that. Your consciousness will be erased, your soul destroyed. There is no coming back from that."
"As for controlling destiny, we do not do that either. Every being makes their own choices in
response to the problems they encounter. We simply influence and guide these choices to enact the best outcome possible."
"Was worth a shot.", muttered Percy. "And what should I do once I'm in this new universe? I can return here, right?"
"That will be up to you. You will have to find a way back on your own. We will not be able to help once you cross over."
"Great." Percy let out a sigh. "And you expect me to believe you're doing this as repentance for losing my string. You're just doing this out of spite for the primordial that managed to pull one over you."
The Fates smiled, and Percy immediately regretted saying it. It was one of the creepiest things he had ever seen.
"Perceptive as always, Perseus. We take it that you have decided to accept our help then?"
The question was redundant. Percy wasn't keen on having his existence wiped. If he had a chance to find a way back to help out his friends and family, he would take that chance. He just hoped that it wouldn't be too much of a hassle.
"It's not like I have much of a choice," grumbled Percy. "Yeah, let's get this over with."
This submission was a part of an Emerald Library writing competition starting on June 30, 2021. To participate or vote in the competition, you're welcome to join the discord link we have on the profile.