The Son Of Hercules

by Echoxenvy

Follow Matt Beckett, the Son of Hercules, as he and his friends wage war on the Primordial God Ouranos and his wide variety of allies. Love, hardship, battle, loss, and glory are just five of the many things he will experience on his epic journey. Current Book: The Pit Of Fire. OC-Centered.

98. I Wreck The Underworld

Yes, we are back everybody. Strap in, this is a bit longer than previous chapters.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters (except the OC's) Percy Jackson & The Olympians, Heroes Of Olympus, or Trials Of Apollo. All of that belongs to Rick Riordan.

9. I Wreck The Underworld

Matt

With Viribus pointed to the sky, four giant rock walls rose up on all sides, protecting and hiding us from view.

It was a small space, no bigger than a hut, but I figured if someone wanted to get through and kill us, then they would have to at least break through the rock first. In a way, it was more of an alarm than protection.

Percy, Yuri, and Annabeth all sat on the ground next to me in a square. Yuri and I in a cross legged position, Percy with one leg propped up, the other flat on the ground, and Annabeth hugging her knees to her chest.

I finished it off by forming a small roof over us, which cut off all sound, and what dim light we had on the outside. I sheathed Viribus and ignited my aura, trying to shed some light so I could see them.

"Percy, Yuri, use your auras too. Red isn't exactly the right color down here."

They nodded, and glowing hands appeared, one crystal blue and the other pearl green. Far prettier colors than my blood red, but it was light, that was all that mattered.

I could see them well enough now. Yuri looked fine, her hair was a bit of a mess, but besides that, any wounds she had received had healed up. Percy was the same. Annabeth probably looked the worst of us, but not by much. A few small cuts, and maybe a bruise or two, but no major damage had been dealt. The mental part of her though…I can't speak for.

We hadn't spoken at all since Percy said, "We've got a lot to talk about." We came over to where Annabeth was, found her awake, I gave her a hug and we greeted each other, and then I did this. So basically, it's been like five minutes since the battle.

And still no Tartarus.

I haven't seen him since…well, you know, and I'm glad for it. The longer he stays away, the better. But I know he's watching, of course he is. It's literally his domain, we're standing on his body. He knows what we're doing, all the time. The only reason we haven't seen him is because he's planning something, or he just wants to give us false hope. Either way, I'm not letting my guard down for a second.

We sat in uncomfortable silence. Both Percy and Annabeth had given Yuri curious looks, obviously, they had no idea who she was, but were too tired to pry, so they just waited on me to say something, which…I sort of haven't. I was still trying to get over my adrenaline. I call it 'post-fight clarity.' Clever, huh?

So I decided to break the silence, "So, Annabeth…I just want to say again, I'm glad you're okay. Both of you. I heard what happened from Tartarus himself." I shrugged, "I honestly thought he was lying to get to me."

Annabeth's eyes were half-lidded with exhaustion. Blonde hair tumbled around her shoulders as she shook her head, "Oh it was very real, believe me. One minute Piper and I are talking, the next…well, you know."

Percy interjected, "Annabeth and I both had this…feeling. This weird feeling, like the hair literally stood up on the backs of our necks. And since I've been training a lot lately, I've been able to tap into my aura sensing more, and I didn't even initiate it. I just felt it." He let out a breath, like he still couldn't believe it. "It was so dark, so massive and…evil. Like a black hole, or something."

Annabeth continued when he paused, picking right up where he left off. "I don't even have the ability, and I felt it too. It was familiar, and I just knew it was him. I've had too many nightmares to not recognize him. We looked outside, and yeah, there he was, just standing there, watching us."

Yuri remained quiet throughout the entire explanation, her head going back and forth between them, listening intently.

"And you went outside?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

Percy nodded, "Yeah. I had a feeling it was him, but I wasn't positive. When we saw him down here, he didn't look like that. He was much bigger, and more of a…well, like I said before, black hole, that just destroyed everything in his path. We'd never seen him in a more…humanoid form, I guess you could call it. Freaked me out, man."

Annabeth looked like she was close to tears, "Percy tried to fight him, and I just stood there. I was so scared; I was completely paralyzed. Before we could…before…"

Percy put a hand on her shoulder and rubbed it comfortingly, "You don't have to say it. It's okay." He turned to me and said it anyway, but much quieter. "Before I even had the chance to get close to him, he just took us right into the ground, no hesitation."

I nodded; my lips tight in anger. At Tartarus. This was between me and him, I thought. How does he just invade other people's lives, happy lives, and ruin them. What? So he can get to me?

That's exactly the reason.

"I'm so sorry." I said, knowing it didn't help at all, but still tried anyway. "I promise you guys, we're getting out of here, together. I'm not going to let your wedding get ruined by some primordial creep."

"It's not your fault, Matt." Annabeth said, "From what we heard, and well…saw. The same thing happened to you. Tartarus just attacked you out of nowhere, didn't he?"

I was a bit surprised. "Yeah, he attacked me while I was visiting my mom. How did you know that?" I knew Annabeth was a genius, but that's borderline psychic.

"It was on the news."

"The news?" Well, I should've figured, there were other mortals around at the time. He didn't just hurt me, he hurt a lot of other people.

"Yeah, it was everywhere man." Percy said, "They even had video footage of you guys fighting. I mean, it was blurry, but still decent."

"The mist didn't even hide it? That's weird."

For the first time, Yuri spoke up. "Tartarus probably wanted to be seen." When all eyes fell on her, she looked at us with a raised eyebrow. Confused as to why she got so much attention. "What? Beings like him can easily overpower the mist. They can create their own mist, if they wish."

I turned back to Percy, "So…how far apart was you guys' attack and the news segment?"

Percy and Annabeth shrugged at each other, "A day or two, maybe. Not long."

"So he was quick," I whispered, looking down at my knees in frustration. "This was definitely planned out. For how long, I don't know."

"You think Ouranos has anything to do with this?" Percy said, leaning forward.

Annabeth snorted before I could, "I think the likelihood that he's not involved with this is legitimately zero percent. According to most myths, he and Tartarus are brothers. And even if you go by the alternative myths, they're at least related in some other way."

"It's the first one," I confirmed. "Tartarus said himself that Ouranos is his brother, and even mentioned my 'annoying persistence."

Annabeth took in my information, already putting the puzzle pieces together in her head, far faster than I could. See, that's the thing that I missed the most about her. She's the smartest of all of us. Where we're just dumb brutes with too much power than we know what to do with, she's intelligent, and she can figure out the smallest details. The only other person who might be smarter is Sigurd. But he's not exactly a part of our group, so I'm definitely happy Annabeth is here, but at the same time...not.

"It might've been this way from the start," She pondered. "Maybe they've been in it together this entire time. Or is Tartarus just another pawn in Ouranos's game?" Her gray eyes bore into mine. Despite her injuries, she was in interrogation mode. "Have you gathered that from your time speaking to him?"

I sighed, "No. To be honest it's hard for me to decide who would be in control if the two were together. They're so much alike it's crazy. I think that if Ouranos is using Tartarus, then he's going to have a lot on his hands. No, it's more likely that they're partners."

"Partners." Percy dragged, "How are we just now finding out about this?"

Annabeth was gaining a suspicious expression, "Maybe because this wasn't always the plan."

Everyone looked at her, utterly confused.

"I'll elaborate. Matt, you said Ouranos seemed…almost worried when you guys defeated Atlas, right? He even tried to run."

"Yeah, that's right."

"Why would he be worried if he could just rely on Tartarus? If he was in on the plan the whole time, then what kept him from protecting Ouranos himself two months ago?"

"Bluffing, maybe?" Percy said.

"Yeah…maybe he wanted to look scared, so he could mess with me."

Annabeth was thrown off. She placed her hand on her chin, "That's weird."

"Well, he's weird, so…"

Yuri was looking at Annabeth, impressed, but also with furrowed eyebrows. Like she was trying to place who she was.

"Are you a daughter of Athena?"

"Um…yeah, I am."

"I figured. Your intelligence is remarkable."

Annabeth smiled a little at the praise, and turned to me, trying to mouth the words seriously, who is she?

So I decided to finally introduce her. "Guys, I'll go ahead and address the elephant in the room, since you know…you've probably been wondering ever since we met back up with each other."

They both nodded with long strides, and Yuri realized that I was talking about her, and then she got offended.

"Did you just call me an elephant?"

She was glaring at me, and I wanted to groan. This was almost as bad as talking to Malachi.

"No, it's a phrase that we- you know what, never mind." I gestured to her, "Guys, this is a good friend of mine that I recently met. Down here actually."

"I am Yuri." She announced, "Greetings."

Percy then nodded quickly, as if he was finally understanding something. "No wonder she's so tall. She's Russian."

I looked at him in disbelief, "No dude, she's not…Russian. Where did you even get that from?"

"Isn't Yuri a Russian name?"

"That's not her full name, dude. Her real name is Eurybia. I just gave her that nickname because it was easier to say."

Annabeth's eyes widened, "Eurybia…the titan?" Her eyes met mine, "Matt, you befriended a titan?"

I nodded proudly, "Sure did. I know what you're thinking, and I'll go ahead and say it…she's awesome. No need to worry about anything. She's not like the others."

Annabeth shook her head and stared at the ground, her lip trembling. "I-It's not that…"

Percy's face was downcast too, and then it finally hit me why. Bob. They were thinking about Iapetus, and how they befriended him in exactly this same place. They'd told me about it a little, how he helped them, and basically…sacrificed himself so they could get back to the surface.

I wanted to punch myself in the face. How could I be so stupid? Of course they'd be sad when they found out I'd made friends with a titan. Of course it would remind them of that situation.

"Oh guys, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up bad memories."

Yuri's lips were parted, "Iapetus helped you two?"

I could tell she had read their minds, and the pair didn't even act surprised about it. They both nodded quietly.

"Wow…I would've never guessed," Yuri said. "Iapetus was a horror many years ago, one of the cruelest among us." A hint of a smile played on her lips, "It's good to know he did something honorable in the end."

Nothing else was said for quite some time. Yuri looked to me at one point, silently asking if she said something wrong, and I just shook my head, letting her know that they were just reliving some bad moments from their past.

Annabeth spoke again, a bit more mellow than before. "So, you're a titan of the sea, right? How did you guys meet?"

I answered, "She saved me from Antaeus when I first got here. Been travelling together ever since."

"He is leaving out the part where he saved me first," Yuri corrected. "He freed me from the prison Tartarus gave me. I owe him everything, so I made him a promise that I would get him back to the surface."

"It's…not going so well," I admitted. "We're not any step closer to leaving this place than when we started. It's literally infinite. I've felt the distance of ten Earths, and it still keeps going, never ending. There's no exit point."

Even Yuri was nodding with agreement, "And it does not help that Tartarus can do whatever he wants here. It's his personal playpen. Defeating him, especially in this place, is impossible. Our best hope, and I mean best hope, is to at least subdue him, or distract him long enough to escape somehow. But even then, it would be very difficult."

Percy and Annabeth exchanged a glance, knowing something that we didn't.

I caught it instantly, "What's up?"

They carefully turned to me, and Percy said, "We might actually have a way to beat him."

---

Harper

Hades, god of the dead, and one of the big three, stood before us, his aura surging higher and higher, black, smoke-like wisps rising up from his body, getting thicker and thicker.

I wasn't sure what to do. I'm in the middle of our little group, so I'm sort of positioned as the leader here, and sure enough, Hades is glaring right at me.

I'm not very intimidating right now. Every part of me is shaking, my heart's running a marathon, and I'm sure my eyes are going up to the top of my head. Wait, did I drop my sword? No, I didn't. Thank the gods, because that's the only thing giving me the confidence to not run right now.

"Lord Hades, if we could just-"

"Silence!" He snarled, "You disobeyed me, ignored my warning, and now…you shall pay the ultimate price. I don't give a damn if your buddy buddy with Percy Jackson, Matt Beckett, or even Zeus for that matter! I'm going to eviscerate you!"

His hands ascended slowly, darkness snaked across the ground and snatched at our ankles. It was the weirdest feeling, and I know I probably say that a lot, but this time I mean it. The shadows were tangible, although appearing otherwise, they felt like hordes of snakes creeping up our legs and stomachs, all the way up to our necks.

Then the effect took place, and I could no longer move my body on my own. Every movement made wasn't from my will.

Hades's arms kept rising, and as they did, we rose with them, our feet leaving the ground and eventually stopping in the air, about five feet above the carpet floor.

Then the green fire on the walls left their candleholders and shot at us, four different ghostly flames hit us in the chest with considerable power behind them.

However, when the flame targeted at me got inches away, a pink light met it and clashed with it, dispersing it in a giant burst of colorful sparks.

I knew what it was, and I was shocked. That was the sword! The sword that I didn't even swing or wave or even flinch. It just acted on it's own.

But the three other flames hit my friends square in their sternum and sent them tumbling back, outside the room and down the hallway, sending all the tables and carpets flying.

I landed as if nothing happened. Hades cocked his head.

"Hmm, nice little sword you've got there. But it won't be enough to save you." He snickered, "You don't even know how to hold it properly."

In other situations, I probably would've been embarrassed. I'm literally holding it like you would a bat or a stick or something. What's wrong with that? Am I supposed to crouch down and two hand it like a samurai or something?

I didn't even swing, my mouth just started flapping. "Just wait a minute! We don't have to fight if you'll just freaking listen to me!"

Newsflash; He didn't.

A long, black chain materialized in his hand. As soon as it touched his palm, he spun it around a few times and let it go. The tip soared straight at me, and I did the first thing my instincts told me to do. Make a shield with something.

So I lifted the sword, the dull, flat part facing the chain. Instead of it bouncing off, Hades redirected it's momentum and caused it to wrap around the sword several times, enough to secure it in place.

I felt my gut go into my back when he yanked me forward. From the time I left the ground to the time he caught me by the throat, it may have been half a second. His fingers gripped my neck tighter on regrip, and he gave no room for even a breath. It felt like my eyes were going to pop out of my head.

The sword didn't do anything on it's own this time, and finally I was given that kick in the head. Instinct isn't always going to save you. In other words, I need to gear up.

So I planted my knee in his gut, a burst of pink light shattered between us, Hades skidded into the wall next to his throne, the chain around my sword unwrapped itself.

Around this time, Sera, Talon, and Malachi decided to come back in the room, and stood beside me to surround Hades.

The god made a whistling noise, and I expected some kind of other attack to come from him, but I didn't expect a giant dog to come bursting through the roof.

Cerberus, the three headed guard dog of the underworld stabbed all of his heads through the roof, completely destroying it and throwing boulders of stone everywhere. It completely caught us off guard, and took our attention from Hades.

He stood up and let the black smoke from his body surround his pet. As it did, Cerberus grew in size, ten times, even twenty times, until his paws were as big as a tractor, his heads as big as houses, and his back touching the very roof of the entire Underworld. His aura before, had been nothing to be scared of, but now it was very formidable. Hades was making him stronger.

"Rid of them."

Spit flew from Cerberus's mouth as he snarled, every row of teeth were borne, several sharp white fangs threatened to tear us apart.

The heads came down in a flash and attacked my friends, only them, not me. Malachi deflected his head with a barrier of lightning, Sera with a barrier of ice, and Talon with a quick draw of a shotgun blast to the nose.

To Cerberus, it was like mosquito bites, and did little more than annoy him. He went back for a second attempt, speeding past any other defense they can put up and grabbing them with their mouths.

"No!"

I reached for them, but to my left, I'd forgotten about Hades. The god wasted no time on unique attacks or fire manipulation, he just straight up tackled me.

Cerberus took my friends off in his mouths, outside of the castle, while Hades and I rolled in the hallway, struggling against each other with jumbled limbs. He was a lot stronger, physically, than he looked. But it was weird, because somehow, I was able to keep up with him, or at least contend with him. Although he may not be a hulking Hercules figure, he could probably lift the weight of the Earth with one finger and not even bat an eye. And here I am, somehow neck and neck with him.

He seemed to realize this, and got angry. With a roar of effort, he grabbed onto my wrist and flung me towards the wall. I crashed into it, and then another one, and then a few more, until the temperature changed around me, and I hit a softer surface. The black sand.

It didn't necessarily hurt, but I felt the force behind it. He was trying a good bit, enough for me to be worried. But whatever this sword was doing, I hoped to everything that it would keep on. Because it was the only thing keeping me alive right now. Getting thrown through a wall at that speed should've killed me.

So when I found that it was still gripped tight in my hand, I was relieved.

"Get up, girl. I haven't even started yet."

I pushed up, blowing a rogue strand of hair out of my face. "If you'd just listen to me, you wouldn't have to start anything."

"Listen to what? That you want to take on Tartarus?"

I must've looked surprised, because he nodded. "That's right, I'm not dumb. I know what you're doing here. You want me to help you, because you're stupid enough to think that I'd ever, in a million years, travel with demigods to the deepest pit of the Underworld and challenge him, as if I'm some caveman."

"Well, you're challenging me, aren't you?" I wanted to cringe. Crap, not the right words to say. So I quickly put up a hand and fixed it, "Okay, I know that was smartassy, my bad. What I'm trying to say is why? Why wouldn't you challenge him? Look at this place! He's obviously having an effect on it."

Hades' face twitched angrily, "He's disrupting things, whatever. But it's nothing I can't handle. If he wants to fight me, then he can come up here and do so. I'm not lowering myself to such a level as to…travel with you and your friends."

I scoffed, "Disrupting things? When we were outside of Charon's post, a bunch of souls escaped! That doesn't seem like a simple 'disruption.' Tartarus is going to kill you if he comes up here!"

That almost got a rise out of him. His fists clenched, and I could tell he was about to attack me just for saying that. But I wasn't done yet.

"But if you help us, we might stand a chance. At least a better one. Come on, I know you don't care about Olympus, but your kingdom…I mean, I think you care about it. It's going to be destroyed if you don't do something."

He glared at me for a moment, seemingly thinking about it. With the way he is, it would be horrible if he came with us to Tartarus, if we're talking about personality, that is. His strength though, is very welcome. I mean, I don't get his whole deal anyway. Hasn't it been proved to him time and time again that if he just keeps brooding down here, nothing's going to change?

I thought he might at least ignore me, but instead, his eyes flashed another dark red. "I know how to rule my domain, and I know how to defend it."

I sighed, "Figured you'd say that."

To the right, I saw the enlarged Cerberus still clashing with Malachi, Sera, and Talon. Lightning, ice and gunshots were going off everywhere, flashes and debris of it being thrown above the castle left and right.

I remembered what happened with Charon, and how when I hit him…he acted really weird. That seems to be the effect of the sword. Maybe if you use it, the victim actually falls in love with the user.

Don't get me wrong, that kind of freaks me out. But in another way, it can be really, really dangerous. That's a fight stopper.

So, without thinking really, I turned to face Cerberus, and I slashed the sword in the air. Again, just like before, a glowing pink line formed in front of me, and at the speed of light, made it's way to Cerberus, hitting the dog right in all three heads.

He immediately stopped attacking Malachi, Sera, and Talon, and shook his heads, as if he'd been temporarily blinded. But when all six of his eyes fell on me, three tongues fell out, and three tails started to wag rapidly.

Cerberus came bounding over, pure joy in his thunderous step. I almost felt bad for doing that to him. He looked like a regular dog that just wanted to play fetch.

Hades, however, growled in annoyance. With a hand gesture, he sucked all of the extra energy in Cerberus and took back the enhancement, bringing the already giant dog back to normal size. Hades then shot a small burst of aura at his pet and knocked him out cold, making him go limp and fall face first on the ground, tongues still out.

"Useless." He turned to glare at me, "You'll have to do better than that with me. I don't fall for petty tricks."

I was expecting another charge, or for him to use those chains again. But instead, he surprised me. The chains dematerialized, and Hades began to grow in size. His eyes became a pure, blazing pair of red orbs, and his cloak melted into his body, making him nothing more than a shadowy shape of a human.

My head craned up as he grew in size, even bigger and taller than Cerberus he became, with green fire billowing out of his mouth, wisping across his body. With the sword in hand, I could tell that he was at his full power, and all of his aura was going into whatever attack he was about to spring at me.

It was a terrifying sight. He looked a lot like how I imagined Tartarus to look. A giant demon, covered in smoke and fire.

It was aimed at me. Me. What the hell's going on here? How am I suddenly the one being targeted by a giant smoke demon? This entire thing was surreal, and now I'm questioning what we were even doing here to start with.

But I slap myself in the face, not literally of course, and I get back into the right mindset. You know why you're here, stupid, you're here to convince Hades to help you. It's not going so well; you're fighting him right now. You're holding one of the most powerful weapons in the universe, and when holding it, you also become extremely powerful.

The switch was flicked, and I changed from whatever I was before, to a vessel of utter power. My entire demeanor changed in seconds. I stood up straight, gripped the blade with two hands, and glared up at the god. Fine, if he wants to act like that, I'll put him down.

Hades's monstrous gaze probably would've sent the best armies of Olympus running. Hell, even the way he looks alone is something straight out of a nightmare. But I found myself without fear, because I had the Blade on my side. For some reason, I knew I would be more than okay, and that I was actually the one in control. He needed to be worried about me, not the other way around.

The energy of Eros poured into me, I became unbreakable, my strength was seemingly infinite, the sword was no longer heavy. In fact, I felt like I could struggle against the strength of any god, it was that thrilling.

Hades balled his fist, and another ball of green fire burst forth in it, surrounding his smoky skin. Instantly, his fist was coming down like an asteroid, sturdy, with the force of a trillion atom bombs behind it.

My good eye watched on closely, and when his attack reached a certain point, my brain screamed at me, every neuron fired all at once, my indicator to fight back.

I swung my arms and hefted the sword up as fast as I could, the pink star that was it's aura brightening in a perfect explosion. It collided with his fist, and I felt the force behind his punch, like the heavens had caved in and decided to swarm me. It was almost too much, and right when I felt it, I knew I was being pushed back, my spin was being bended at the power. I was already on the verge of giving up.

But that confidence returned with a simple repositioning, tightening my grip on the sword, and I had the upper hand again. I hadn't even noticed that we'd been struggling for several seconds, and in fact Hades was straining against me. The auras of both our attacks were interlocked in a fierce battle for dominance, with my pink slowly overtaking his bright green, wrapping it's arms around it's torso and basically covering it with whatever it could.

My entire body was shaking, my teeth were probably very visibly borne, my eyes were nearly shut with effort as I fought against the might of one of the big three. All thoughts of the absurdity of the situation had to be pushed out. I had to focus, one moment without such a thing means my death. He meant to kill me with it, all his power.

The god roared loudly, the first noise he'd made in this giant, dark form of his, and he sounded like an absolute monster. His voice was very deep and earsplitting, with it's rumbling bass, it was in high contrast to his normal oily, bored way of speaking.

When he made the noise, he gave one hundred and ten percent, pushing with even more than all he had, and suddenly the green fire overcame my pink star, it's head peeking around the corner of the Eros avatar that I had formed. I couldn't allow that.

But what am I supposed to do? If my full power isn't enough, even with this thing, then how do I fight him?!

That's not all you've got. You know it's not. You're not digging deep enough! It's time to stop playing around.

But what am I supposed to draw from? Suffering? Am I still suffering? I can't draw from something I no longer experience.

But I don't know anything else! That's all I've ever used, is hatred, revenge, every negative emotion. Now that I don't have any, what am I supposed to use to give me that slight edge?

Then I remembered what Sera said.

Perhaps it is…fueled by love?

The sword is fueled by love. It's effect is to make anyone fall in love with you, Eros is the Primordial of love.

So what? I'm supposed to use…love? Something like that? I've never done that! That's…stupid!

Or is that what I've been doing this entire time? Maybe it wasn't hatred or revenge. When I was fighting Levi, did I beat him because I hated him, or because I loved him? Is that what led me to bring out the energy from the sword? Malachi said it didn't seem to have all that much power behind it. Was that just suppression on the blade's part, or…did I actually manage to reawaken it?

If love is the key, then…

Matt. That's why I'm here, that's why we're all here. It's not just about romantic love, it's about every kind that exists, the love that friends share, as cliché or stupid as that sounds. I know it does, but really, that's the whole point.

The glowing pink brightened again, growing bigger and bigger until it completely overtook Hades's green fire, engulfing it and eating it alive. The swing of my sword went through, and I forgot that I had even been pressing against his fist this entire time. There was an explosion between the two auras, heat and fire erupted everywhere, and it was blinding. I knelt to the ground and covered my eyes to avoid getting blinded, but I could still feel the heat and the pressure behind it. It was loud, and it covered all of the Underworld, both energies spread out like instant wildfire. I could feel them reaching out to disperse, like a runner that can't stop himself, there was too much momentum, so they had to go the long distance.

When I felt that it was far enough, I opened my eyes again, and found Hades back in his normal form, falling from the air, legs upright and head aimed towards the ground, smoke trailing from his legs.

I dove after him and caught up the instant my feet left the ground. I appeared above him and grabbed his chest, slamming him down on the rubble of his now destroyed castle. The blade was now leveled at his throat, I had him completely under my mercy.

Hades was covered in soot, dirt, and a few streaks of ichor. He groaned and coughed, but managed to squint up at the sword's tip, an inch away from his throat.

My face was like stone, no emotion. Only my mouth moved.

"I tried to play nice, but that didn't work. Now I guess I'm gonna have to be a bitch." I let the blade touch his neck, and he involuntarily flinched, looking down at the sword with unease, but he remained silent.

"It's been proved time and time again that you can make a difference. That there's more to life than just brooding down here in your palace. Remember the Battle of Manhattan? When you showed up to fight Kronos? You were respected. People acknowledged you. Don't be one of those lazy bastards that just sit around and wait for the danger to come to them. Take action, and bring the fight to the guy that's causing all of this chaos!"

He was quiet for several moments. His hateful gaze shifted from the sword to my own eyes, and he was breathing harshly. Not out of fatigue, but rage. He had a lot of godly adrenaline pumping through him right now, and I knew every instinct was telling him to jump up and attack me, but his brain was fighting against it, because that wouldn't be smart.

Around this time, in the middle of the silence, Malachi, Sera, and Talon walked over to us, through all of the destruction, and found me on top of Hades. I didn't stare for too long.

"Tartarus has Matt. But he's not just stopping there. He's been with Ouranos in his plan the entire time. They'll go after you and the other gods, the both of them. And I'm telling you, it's going to be very, very bad. They'll be unstoppable if they work together."

Still no reply.

"So if we can give a preemptive strike, we can stop this nightmare before it begins. I know you probably hate us, but consider the common enemy here." I tried to put a little cherry on top, "You're not dumb, you're just worried." I took the sword away from him and lifted my knee off his chest. When I stood up, I reached out a hand for him to grab. "We want Matt, and you want to protect your kingdom. It's a win win."

My hand was suspended for what felt like forever, and Hades just glared at it, giving it some thought. I knew he was stubborn, but I meant it when I said he wasn't dumb. He wasn't. He was just paranoid that he would lose everything, and I understood that.

The suspense was killing me, the others were waiting patiently for his answer, as was I.

With a single head shake, he finally replied, "I'm not going to be stupid and enter his territory. If you want to, that's your head. But I'll be right here, waiting for him when he comes."

I felt immediate frustration and anger, and part of me wanted to punch him in the jaw. But the other, more sensible part of me took over, and I just nodded my head, and let my hand fall.

"Fine, if that's your decision, then we'll respect it." I looked around at the absolute catastrophe that we'd created. Craters and scars everywhere in the stone walkways, the dirt, the castle, all of it nearly destroyed. "Sorry about all of that. Can you fix it?"

He scoffed, "I am the lord of this domain. That is easy."

Good enough answer for me. I faced my team, and they looked disappointed, but I just nodded at them to go on, it didn't matter. We'd do it on our own.

Hades's voice called me to turn my head. "Girl."

"What?"

"One thing to remember. In that place that you're about to enter, he is in control of everything. If he ever latches onto your mind…you'd better be prepared with an iron will."

I nodded, "Already have one."

He didn't nod or disagree, he just stayed silent.

"What's the fastest way?"

"Continue following the Styx until you reach a waterfall. The drop will lead into Tartarus."

We followed the trail that we started on and ended up back at the small boat Talon had formed, which to my utter surprise, hadn't been destroyed. The bridge had even been cracked, this far out, but the boat hadn't. Go figure.

All of us hopped in and Talon pressed off the sand with his boot to get us going again. When we all reached the underside of the soul bridge, we ducked our heads.

None of us even spoke, but I did notice, even with my head down, that everyone was giving me the same look. And I wasn't sure what it was. Maybe I didn't want to find out, and it was something for me to decipher in my head.

Am I supposed to feel good about that? That I drew from something completely different than what I'm used to? I'm not Aphrodite. I don't think about love all the time.

But…I do love Matt. I want to see him again, and get him home safely.

But that's just a feeling. How can love be the deciding factor against one of the big three in combat?

Like I've said before, I suck at it. Love. I have trouble even saying the damn word, it's so foreign to me, even after all these years.

I guess I've got a lot of thinking to do, and apparently a lot of learning.

---

Matt

"Uh…what do you mean you might have a way to beat him? How?"

Percy made a face, "Well, we're not sure. Annabeth can explain it better than I can."

Annabeth didn't really want to be put on the spot, because whatever they were about to say was confusing. She shifted a little and started to explain, "I can try, but it's more of a theory than any actual proof, you know."

"I'll take whatever I can. Go ahead." I urged.

She sighed, "So, when Tartarus captured us, he didn't just send us down here in the middle of nowhere. He took us to this…weird place."

Percy snorted, "That's putting it lightly. It was ultra-weird, Matt."

Annabeth continued, ignoring Percy's input. "It wasn't an accident, either. He literally stood in front of us and called it the 'nucleus.' Like he was almost proud of it."

"The nucleus?" Yuri said, "The center?"

I was shocked she knew what the word meant, but made no comment of it. Annabeth nodded at her, "Exactly, the center. At the time I was kind of out of it, so I didn't get that good of a look at the place, and I wasn't really paying attention to all that he said, but I know he said nucleus."

"What did it look like?"

Percy was wide-eyed and animated as he gave his account. "It was huge, dude. Like something from a horror movie."

Annabeth gave him a side eye, "You were far more conscious than I was, and that's the best you can come up with, Seaweed Brain?"

Percy waved his finger excitedly, "Brain! Yeah, there was a massive brain!"

Yuri and I weren't keeping up. "Huh?"

Annabeth pinched the bridge of her nose, "He's actually not wrong about that. It was like an infinite void of nothingness, and in the middle of it…a giant brain."

"A literal brain?"

"Let me go into detail. The place was infinite, at least, that's what Percy said based on his aura sensing, or whatever it is. I don't really know much about that stuff, but I could tell that it was huge. It was filled with fog, and this weird red color. The strangest part though, was this giant, human looking brain, just sitting there in the middle."

This was completely new information. I had no idea such a place existed, or even could exist down here.

"Just a human brain?"

"A really big one." Percy corrected, "high up in the air with these fleshy cords connecting to it."

Yuri gasped, "Fleshy cords?"

"Yeah." Percy shivered, "They were freaky, and…veiny."

"So what's your theory on that? Why did he even take you there?"

Annabeth shrugged, "Maybe to show off? I don't know. But my theory on what the place actually is, is rather simple. You ready?" She lifted her hands, as if to show off a surprise.

The silence signaled that we were ready.

"It's his weak spot," Annabeth smiled, "Isn't it clear? The nucleus is the brain of a cell. It's biggest, most important part. It's literally…his brain. And like a human, one hit to what organ can kill you?"

I was catching on, "The brain…"

"Exactly. Now think about it, if we were to somehow find this spot again, and damage it…" She looked around at us, "Maybe it could hurt him. Or even kill him, if that's possible."

The idea was great. Brilliant even. This was just the info that I needed, a weakness. Because so far, Tartarus has given absolutely no indication that he has one.

"I had no idea about this," Yuri was blank as a white board, and about as pale as one too right now. "All this time, a weakness…that I would've never guessed, nor any being to my imagination. If the others knew about it, they'd try to kill him. Why on Earth did he show you two this?"

"Like I said before, maybe just to show off. Or maybe because he was getting bored? I mean, this is Tartarus we're talking about. Not exactly a lot of people that can fight him, let alone kill him."

"It's true," Percy said, "When we were down here the first time, he took down Bob and Damasen like it was nothing. A titan and a giant, like they were flies. And I couldn't do a single thing even the way I am now. Every time I tried to move, when we were in that nucleus, or whatever, he would just hold me in place with his mind. Guy's unbeatable."

I wanted to agree with him, but if I did, then that would mean that I'm giving up. I can't do that. "Nobody's unbeatable. We thought the same thing about Atlas, didn't we? You thought the same thing about Oceanus, right? Look at what happened to those two."

Yuri looked apologetic about it, but she decided to pop my bubble while it was at its peak. "Matt, Atlas and Oceanus, even combined, are nothing in the eyes of Tartarus. There's no comparison to be made there. I'm afraid to say that we are dealing with a completely different level of danger here."

"Yeah, you're right. But still, we can't go in with the mindset that he's unbeatable. If we do, we're just setting ourselves up for failure."

"Why do we even have to fight him at all?" Percy asked, "I mean, we got out through the doors of death last time. What's to say there isn't another way to escape this place?"

"Even if that were true, Tartarus wouldn't let us. He knows about everything that happens here. I have no doubt that he's watching and listening to us right now. He brought me here, so he's not going to let me out of his sight for even one second."

We all simultaneously waited for a laugh that never came. Coast was still clear.

"So we fight him then." Annabeth concluded, "It's our best shot, cause the Doors of Death are closed now. Unless Yuri has an idea of another direct way out of here?"

Yuri shook her head, "I'm sorry to say that I do not."

Our spirits were down at the thought of having to fight Tartarus as the only way out of here. He himself said that he doesn't fight, but I know that's a lie. If he has to, he definitely will.

Then Annabeth looked up and gave a small smile, "I know this probably isn't exactly great news, but…we might be getting backup soon."

All of us, even Percy didn't know what she was talking about.

"Backup? From who?"

"Before we left, Piper and I contacted Harper and Talon about what happened with you on the news, and they said they'd look into it."

When I heard the name Harper, I immediately felt my heart drop to the ground and leave my body completely. It was like a black cloud of dread had come over me, my demeanor drooped.

But Annabeth hadn't noticed, "I know it might be crazy, but maybe they're bringing Malachi and Sera with them. I know it's not a good idea for them to even be here, but…with the odds against us like this, the more of us there are, the better chance we have, don't you think?"

I could tell Yuri was looking at me in sympathy, Percy was starting to notice.

"Matt?" Annabeth said, "What's wrong?"

I couldn't even speak, I was lost in my own head, remembering what happened. I had managed to push it away for this amount of time, however long it was, to do what needed to be done. But now it's all coming back. The look on her face as I stabbed my arm into her gut, the feeling of her blood on my skin, her body going cold…

I felt my eyes sting, my lip quiver. I was trying my best to fight back tears.

Yuri reached out and rubbed my arm comfortingly with her hand. "Let us change the subject, if you don't mind." She said, rather scoldingly.

I sniffed and somehow managed to regain my voice. "No, it's fine. They need to know."

Annabeth was getting worried now, I could tell by the way her eyebrows were knotting up. "Need to know what? Matt, what happened?"

With shaky breaths, I tried to muster up the courage to even say it. I didn't want to say it, because that would further confirm it. This entire time, I'd been in a state of battle, nothing but fighting and staying alive on my mind. The talks with Yuri helped me too, to escape reality, and not think about the horrible thing that I'd done.

But now it's back. Two of her friends are facing me and I can't even tell them what happened.

"It was my fault."

Percy shook his head, trying to understand, "What is?"

This is it. Tell them what you did.

"I…I…"

That's not good enough. At least own up to it.

"I…killed her. She's dead."

As soon as I said it, I fell forward on my hands, still in my cross-legged position. My head was bent down, and all of a sudden, I felt completely out of breath, like the wind had been knocked out of me. I couldn't seem to get any air; it was getting hotter and thicker.

"Here Matt, drink this."

Yuri's hand was in front of my face, a perfect circle of water hovering above it, held together by her manipulation. I didn't even question if it was clean or not, I just reached out and bit it out of the air, gulping down what I could, even though most of it missed and trickled down my face.

Whatever came over me, had a hold of me bad. I fell on my back, my legs sprawled up in the air, and I breathed rapidly, just staring up at the stalagmite ceiling. I felt like every wall was closing in on me, like every eyeball down here had suddenly found out about me. And they were laughing at me, thousands of voices were hooting and chortling at my pathetic state, at what I did.

No wait, that wasn't in my head. I actually heard the laughter now, it was getting louder and louder in my ears, it was almost deafening, to the point where I had to clamp them shut with my hands. But even still, somehow the noise penetrated my skin and became even louder than before.

"S-Stop! Stop laughing at me! I'm sorry!"

At my words, it did. It stopped immediately. Complete silence.

But there was a feeling, a feeling of absolute hatred. All of it aimed at me. It felt horrible, it felt like I was brought back to my old days at school, when I'd just found out the truth of my identity. I felt like everyone hated me for just existing.

I lifted my head up and peered out over my armor to see the faces of Annabeth and Percy…they looked furious.

Tears streamed down their cheeks; their eyes were bloodshot. My eyes widened at the sight. Their fists were white from the clenching, veins popping out on their bodies, they looked like…they wanted to rip me apart.

I actually felt afraid, in that moment. I…knew they'd be mad, hate me even, but they looked like they wanted to kill me. I even glanced over at Yuri for help, but she wasn't even facing me. She had her back turned, like she was disappointed.

"Guys?"

"You killed her." Percy said, "You actually killed your own girlfriend? Why? What happened?"

Before I could answer, Annabeth was right there, her tone filled with hatred.

"Let me guess, you couldn't control your anger. Again!"

"I-"

"Just like when you fought Hephaestus! Just like when you almost killed your best friend!"

Joshua? They were talking about that?

I hadn't even known my mouth was wide open, my eyes were wet. "I-I'm sorry…I didn't mean to, I swear…"

Percy was crying, his fist was shaking uncontrollably as he pulled out Riptide. "You're my friend, Matt! How could you do something like that?! I thought you loved Harper!"

"I do!" I shot up, defensively, but sunk back down just as quick. "I…I did. I did so much, I didn't mean to, I promise I didn't mean to. If I could go back and-"

"Well you can't go back!" Annabeth shrieked, "You already did it!"

What was left of my heart was breaking. Both of them hated me now. "I know that."

Annabeth was shaking her head, disgusted with me. "You're just like Luke. You're a traitor, Matt! I trusted you!"

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I…I know I made a mistake, I should've tried harder, tried to break free from Tartarus harder, but I didn't want to do it!

"Y-Yuri?" I begged, like a pleading child, only to find nothing next to me. As if my titan friend had disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"Yuri? Yuri!"

"Look at me, you sick freak!" Percy screamed, jumping up with Riptide leveled at me. "I can't believe I'm saying this Matt, but…if you're able to kill Harper, then you're able to kill all of us. I have no choice."

"N-No choice?"

"I'm gonna make it quick."

Was he…actually?

"Percy, please. Let's just talk this out." I looked to Annabeth, "Annabeth, come on! I know you guys hate me right now, but you have to at least let me explain!"

But Annabeth had no room for reason right now. She was a completely different person from the daughter of wisdom that I knew. She looked like a psychopath right now, hungry for my blood. Something was very wrong here. They would never act this way, despite what I just told them.

With a voice colder than ice, she ordered, "Do it, Percy."

"Annabeth!"

Percy smiled with delight, and faster than even I could keep up with- No, actually far, far faster than I could even keep up with, he lunged at me and stabbed me through the gut.

I didn't even feel the pain at first, I only thought in my head that Percy isn't that fast. He wasn't even using his aura, he just came at me. I should've been able to see that, and dodge it, definitely.

But now I had no options. Percy, my friend, just impaled me with Riptide.

The bronze blade was all the way through, sticking out of my back like a rod. It entered in between the bottoms of my rib cages, piercing the muscle cleanly. I felt two stinging pains at the entrance point and the exit point, and then the fullness of the blade inside me. It was really weird, and more uncomfortable than painful. Like swallowing water in a pool on accident, you feel this strange fullness inside of you, but in the opposite place that it belongs.

All of my energy dipped very quickly, blood ran from my lips and down my chin. I looked up at Percy to plead with him for mercy, but it wasn't Percy anymore.

It couldn't be. The face of my friend was smiling down at me with sheer, devilish joy. His eyes were now filled with blood. Not the color red, but literal blood coming out of his sockets and coming down his cheeks in tiny droplets.

"How does it feel?" He said, still in Percy's voice, "How does it feel to have it done to you?"

I looked down and remembered. It was the same spot that Tartarus made me stab Harper in.

"T-Tartarus." I growled.

'Percy' smirked, and his entire form started to emit smoke, until it covered every inch of his body. As soon as it masked him, it disappeared in one swoop, and he was a completely different person. Exactly who I thought he was.

Tartarus stood above me, as voided and blank as before, with nothing but those shark eyes, small dots of ink glaring at me. Instead of it being Riptide through me, it was his entire arm now.

"Surprised you didn't notice me sooner. You're smart enough to not fall for illusion tricks, little lion."

I snarled silently at him, and grabbed at his voided elbow, finding that it was indeed tangible, and I could grab onto it, like any other human. I squeezed as hard as I could, trying anything to inflict some kind of pain. But in my state, he probably didn't even feel it.

"I…hate…you…"

He purred with delight, and lifted his chin in the air, closing his eyes to relish in my words. "How sweet. Say it again."

I didn't say anything.

He snapped down at me and widened his eyes. The pupils were now wide, with small dark cracks spread out in the rest of the white. He had no mouth, but if he did, it would be wide open right now with the volume of his voice.

"SAY IT AGAIN!"

I returned the volume, spit coming out of my mouth as I shouted with all I could muster.

"I…HATE…YOU!"

Our voice echoes drowned out, but we kept glaring at each other, seething with absolute fury for one another.

Finally, Tartarus rumbled a low laugh. "Matthias, that is the nicest thing anyone has said to me. I'm flattered."

"You-" I started, but blood came out instead of words, and Tartarus looked pleased with this, because his eyes softened back to their original pen dotted size.

"Is it uncomfortable? Does it hurt?" He looked down at my gut, "How do you think the girl felt?"

"You…made me do that."

"Me?" He laughed, "Where did you get that from? I just stood there and watched as you…acted out."

Words would no longer come out, and Tartarus knew this. There was no fun in torturing someone that couldn't scream.

He sighed, "So fragile."

He pulled back and his arm came out, with my blood all over it. Right as the coldness of his fingers left, the entire scene changed. My body was pulled forward by an invisible force, and I felt the same sensation that I always feel when teleported by either Malachi or another god. There wasn't a kaleidoscope or bridge universe, but there was a huge change in scenery.

I seemed to leave Tartarus completely, and ended up in another alien dimension filled with absolute nothingness. It was an empty, dark space, clouded with fog and a red tint.

It was creepy, sure, but none of this was too strange. I'd experienced weird visions before, been in weird places. So an infinite void seemed right up Tartarus's alley. That wasn't the weird part.

The weird part was the giant brain, suspended three hundred feet above me.

I knew right then and there that this was the Nucleus. The most vital part of Tartarus. His source, his only weak spot.

But Percy and Annabeth talking about the brain could never do it justice. The real thing didn't look like something that could be easily destroyed. It was massive, ten thousand times larger than a normal human brain. If I were a guessing man, I would guess it was about thirty feet tall, maybe as wide too, with a bunch of like Percy said, 'fleshy cords' attached, like a spider's web. Nothing was ordinary about this; it was very weird.

"Wh-What?"

"Welcome to the deepest, most important part of my home. The Nucleus." Tartarus walked past me with his lanky arms folded behind his back. "I call it that because it is the center. Where everything revolves around."

He looked on me in my near dead state and clicked something akin to a tongue.

"I can't have you dying. Not yet. There is still so much suffering for you to endure before that happens."

With a simple wave of his hand, everything closed up. The blood on the ground and my armor picked itself up and jumped back into my body. Even my armor was repaired, good as new. I was back to normal in seconds.

In doing such, I felt a huge boost of adrenaline, and I did something probably stupid. I got up and charged the Primordial.

Roaring loudly, I let my fist fly through the distance between he and I, not caring about any surroundings anymore, I let it all go, with red aura encasing it.

But Tartarus wasn't phased by it one bit. My fist hit the back of his head and he didn't budge. He didn't even make a noise. It was as if a gust of wind decided to sway against his voided, static skin.

"Really? We're doing that now? I wasn't even finished talking." His eyes sunk through his head and came out on the other side to face me, which sent chills down my spine. "If you're going to strike me, at least do it right. Have you forgotten your training?"

Black vines snuck up from the ground and took ahold of me, just like before when he made me kill Harper. They grabbed on and began to move me around like a puppet.

"First, get in a fighting stance." Tartarus instructed, "Knees bent, back straight, arms tense, body firm."

My body obeyed, and everything went stiff and straight, all the while my mouth was gritted, and I tried desperately to break from his grip, but it was no use. Every time I tried to fire up the red aura, it was negated.

"Eyes focused, now. Don't look anywhere else but your opponent."

My eyes were forced to look straight forward.

"Now put all of your power into one inch. The surface of your knuckles. Start with your dominant foot, shift it, and drive forward." For a god that doesn't fight, he sure does know a lot about the basics.

"Now!"

My body once again, bended to his will. I turned on my heel and drove my fist forward. When it did, a shadow of myself appeared in front of me, just in the ghost of a second, and it's fist connected with my nose. I literally hit myself in the face.

The impact was very real. I recoiled back and fell on my rear, clutching my nose with my hand. It was throbbing.

Tartarus acted shocked, "Why did you hit yourself? I thought you were trying to punch me."

It's no use. This guy has complete control. Anything he wants to happen, happens. I was stupid to think I could actually hurt him. Even in this place, the Nucleus, or whatever it's called. If he wants me to hit myself in the face, he can make it happen. I'm completely helpless.

"Now it's starting to sink in." He said, satisfied. "Just how much trouble you're truly in, and just how helpless you really are."

He kneeled down in front of me and slapped my hand away from my face to look me in the eyes. "Before the physical pain begins, I want to dive deep into that mind of yours. Let's see what you're really about, Matthias. I'm going to show you things that you didn't even know about yourself, dig up the horrors that you've tried to forget."

He breathed a laugh, and his eyes closed with contentment.

"After all, they say you see the events of your life before you die."

---

Harper

The girl swung her knives around to finish the session. She had been training outside for hours, rigorously. The weapons hadn't left her hand since she started. She ran with them, she did pushups and sit-ups with them, and of course, she slashed at the air with them. They might as well have been glued to her.

It showed. Her braid had broken long ago, and now her hair was all over the place, annoyingly in her eyes especially. She already couldn't see because of the blazing sun, so this only made it worse for her.

But still, she pushed on. She was supposed to do this, if she wanted to be a great fighter like her brother.

She took a glance at him to her right. They were standing in a field, not too far from their house. They weren't really allowed over here, because it was another person's farmland. But it made great space for training. The ground was flat, no trees to get in the way. The only annoying thing about it was the crops at your ankles. But the siblings could get by with that.

Levi stood among the golden wheat, dancing at his knees with the wind. His eyes were closed, and he was holding his sword beside him in his fighting stance. He'd been doing it for the last thirty minutes straight, never moving a muscle, never striking. Just…standing there.

She had no idea why he did that, and never asked. She didn't want to sound stupid, but come on. What kind of benefit is he going to get out of that?

She ignored it and turned back to focus on what she was doing. If her time was right, training was about over. It was time to finish it with a throw.

The tip of her tongue was poking out of her mouth, and she bit lightly down on it, a habit of concentration. One droplet of sweat fell off her nose as she stared ahead at her target.

As fast as she could, she made a snappy movement and threw the knife down towards the ground. With the spin and curve she gave it, the knife should trail upwards and come back to her hand.

It cut through the wheat with ease, chopping down wheat as far as the eye could see until it reached the end of the field. As it moved, it did just as she predicted; It moved up and circled back around like a boomerang.

She made sure to catch it just right, so she didn't get stabbed in the hand. She had to catch it by the handle, which was easy. The hardest part was trying to stay focused and not question whether Levi was watching or not.

When she saw that hint of black in her vision, she reached out and snatched the knife out of the air. Her hand never hit metal, it grabbed onto the leather hilt.

She was proud of herself, and smiled down at the blade, then over at Levi.

"Did you see that, Levi? Wasn't that awesome?!"

But he wasn't even paying her any mind. He was still in his stance, eyes closed, as peaceful as a still tree.

The girl was disappointed. Only partly. Okay, maybe fully. She had already thrown it like that a few times and caught it on her own, but she wanted to perfect it to make sure that when her brother saw it, there were no flaws. In other words, she wanted to impress him.

But he hadn't even seen it.

Her hands fell at her side and her shoulders sagged sadly. She was more mature than she used to be, now at the riping age of ten, she thought herself to be quite something. He'd given her the knives two years prior, when she was eight, in her mind a 'little girl.' But that wasn't her anymore. She'd gotten stronger, taller, faster, and far more skilled with her weapons. Dare she say…she was catching up to Levi in prowess.

But he was still her teacher. So whenever she picked up something new, or excelled at a certain attack, she wanted to show it to him.

But she also didn't want to look like that 'little girl' that pouted whenever she wasn't noticed. She was better than that.

She played it off coolly, "Oh right, forgot you were busy. Whatever."

But her trailing glances said otherwise.

"Come on Lee, I know you saw that." She mumbled under her breath.

And sure enough, Levi had been playing the entire time. A smirk fell on his lips, and he opened one single eye to look at her.

"Not bad, Harper."

She burst out into giggles and ran up to shove him as hard as she could, "I knew you saw it! Why'd you do that, idiot?!"

She shoved him so hard that he fell off balance and landed on his side, but he was in good spirits, laughing along with her.

"I dunno, just wanted to mess with you."

"It was pretty good, huh?"

Levi stood up and shrugged, "Eh, I've seen better."

At that, she threatened to punch him, and he put his hand up in surrender.

"Alright, it was good, I admit. But you know I've gotta be that stick in the mud teacher, Harper."

She groaned, "Yeah, I know. Fine, what is it now?"

"Everything was flawless, don't get me wrong. But you kept looking for my approval."

She looked at the ground, embarrassed that he caught it. "W-Well, I just want to make sure that I'm doing it right."

"I've already told you what to do, and how to do it right. You remember the moves. Did you think it was right?"

She nodded immediately, "I don't think it was right. I know it was."

He smirked, "Exactly. So why did you need me to notice?"

"I…don't know."

He chuckled and stabbed his sword in the ground to rest his elbow on the bottom of the handle.

"Listen Harper, it doesn't matter what people think of you, as long as you like what you see in the mirror. If you know you're moves are right, or your life, for instance, is right…then it doesn't matter what people think."

"So I should…focus on myself?"

"I'm saying don't always strive for everyone's approval. Because you won't get it. There's always going to be someone out there who doesn't like you. It's just the way of life. If you're happy with yourself, then that's all that matters."

She didn't really understand it, or many things that Levi said for that matter. He was only a few years older than her, and still a kid, technically. Yet he seemed to wise, so ahead of his years, that it made her scratch her head sometimes.

"Don't get it?" He asked.

"No…I think I do. It's just…there's so much to it. So much to growing up." She scowled, "I hate it."

Levi laughed. A long, bellow that brought a pout to Harper's face. He saw it and ruffled her already messed up hair, easily reaching her height without even having to raise his harm that high.

"Hey!"

"No, I completely understand. It's not fun, I know. Growing up sucks."

"I wish there was a book."

"Like a guidebook?"

"Yeah."

Levi shook his head, grinning, and he stared at his sister, wondering what she would be like in the future. He often wondered if he was leading her down the wrong path. When he lie awake at night sometimes, he often questioned whether he was teaching her to defend herself, or leading her down a road of violence. She has potential, a lot of it, and she may use that for the wrong reasons.

But then moments like these come, where she shows off her true colors. She's ambitious, and every intention is good, as far as he could tell. He had nothing to worry about.

"Well, I'm still growing too." He said, "So I guess we can do it together, and we can help each other along the way."

She nodded firmly; her eyes filled with the delight of a challenge. "Heh, as fast as I'm catching up, I'll grow up before you do!"

Of course their had to be a little rivalry thrown in the mix. Levi took it in stride, "You just might."

Harper let a quiet moment pass before she spoke again. She stared down long at the knives in her hands, and thought about what she might do with them, later on of course.

"Hey Lee."

"Yeah?"

"Do you ever…want these back?"

He looked down at her, confused. "The knives? No, why?"

She shrugged, and started rubbing her thumb over the leather. "I mean, you gave them to me in the first place. If you ever…want them back, I'll give them to you. You know, once I don't need them anymore."

Now it was Levi's turn to scratch his head. "Why wouldn't you need them anymore? You're a demigod, you'll need them to fight for your whole life."

It was a bit harsh, but Levi knew it was the truth. When she was even younger, she might've started crying. But now she just stared up at him and challenged his viewpoint.

"But…we can't fight forever, can we? There has to be peace."

Levi had never heard this kind of talk from her. He didn't really mind it, but usually when it came to the world of monsters, it was he say, she do. He instructed, she listened.

But now she was questioning his words. And he found himself nodding.

"Maybe there will be. Unlikely, but…I don't know. Maybe you're right, kiddo."

"Eventually the monsters will just give up, or I'll get rid of them all." She declared.

Levi smiled, "Sure. Let's get back to the house, training's done for the day."

Harper followed suite, walking beside him as they carried their weapons back to their farmhouse.

About halfway there, Levi decided to humor her. "You know what, Harper?"

"What?"

"If you ever reach a point where you don't need those knives anymore, for whatever reason. I'll take them back."

Her eyes sparkled, and she smiled to herself. To her, that meant that he believed it too. He believed that one day there would be peace. And that she could reach such a point.

"Okay!"

My eyes opened up slowly, and I was brought back to the current world.

It was quite a switch. One minute, the peace of a quiet farm field in my home, beside my brother, and then next…here.

We were still on the boat, floating down the Styx. I somehow ended up flat on my back at the stern, with the Blade of Eros on my chest, clutching it tightly. Where are my knives? I just saw them in my memory.

I quickly reached down and felt at my waist, and sighed with relief as soon as I felt the familiar shape in the sheathes. They're still there.

Why that memory? Why now? Why did it feel so real? That was the most immersive memory I've ever relived, and I haven't even thought about that in years.

I'm not at a point where I can let them go, or give them back, or do what I promised to do, because there's still no peace, no end. Believe me, I wish we were to that point, but it's not over yet. I'm still trying to figure my own self out. I don't think I'll ever get over Levi…dying, but that's normal, right? He was close to me, and with such high hopes for what we could've done together after that battle, it's normal to be hung up on what could've been. And be sad for reality.

Right?

But still, I know that at some point it can't keep clouding my mind, because I've got bigger things to focus on now. This sword, even though it may be temporary, could be my equalizer against Tartarus. No, not just my equalizer, but everyone's equalizer. If my head's not in the game, then we're screwed.

But it's hard to forget. I sort of wish I could put everything on hold until this is over. Let go of the past, let go of Levi, but it's…not working. I still see too many memories, all of them trying to tell me something that I just…don't understand.

Am I too young to be thinking about this kind of stuff? Or am I…too old? I know I'm probably boring everyone with this, and I know that this isn't exactly the best time to have an existential crisis, but…damn, I think I just got a headache.

Talon's eyebrow appeared over his sunglasses, "You good?"

I must've been wincing. "Yeah, just a headache. Was I out long?"

"Nah, maybe thirty minutes. This river's about as long as it looks."

It's a small boat, so we'd all been cramped up together ever since we started 'sailing' I guess you could call it. I'll admit, I did the selfish thing and took up most of the stern to lay down and rest, with Talon having little to no leg room in front of me. I wanted to apologize, but he didn't really seem to care. He looked as aloof as I've ever seen him.

No, not aloof. On closer inspection, he looks like he's in another world. I can't see his eyes, but I can tell by the way his head's positioned, and how he's been leaning on his knees, that he's thinking about something.

So I threw my legs over the wooden board and sat up, putting the Blade beside me, but never letting go of it.

"You're thinking about something."

A huff came from his nostrils, but he didn't smile. "What gave it away? Didn't know I was brooding."

"Is it about your dad?"

He shook his head, "Not this time. It was different."

"How?"

He started to say it, but stopped himself and turned away. "Probably doesn't mean a thing. It'll only confuse you."

I stared at him, unimpressed. "Really? After yesterday, you're gonna keep stuff from me?"

His face twitched, and I thought he was going to yell at me, get mad, or do something erratic, and I was ready for it. I was prepared for the "how's it any of your business?" question.

But it never came. Talon only sighed, "I had a vision. Really short one, of that Norse guy, Sigurd."

I wasn't expecting that, and it was evident in my scrunched face. "Sigurd? Why?"

"Hell if I know. But that ain't all. He wasn't alone. He was with some…girl."

"Girl? Was it Anya?"

"Nah, this girl wasn't blonde. I didn't get that good of a look at her." He started making uncomfortable movements. Not looking in one place, twiddling with his fingers, etc. It was clear that the vision troubled him. "I mean, like I said, vision was really short. Maybe a few seconds long."

"Where were they? He and this girl?"

"On a boat…maybe?" He shook his head, "I don't know. I don't know if it's even a girl! May've been a small dude."

That was weird, Sigurd and some random girl. The last time we saw that guy was in his Camp, Camp Asgard, a home for Norse Vikings. Sigurd himself is a son of Odin. He and Matt became pretty good friends when we went up there.

Matt told me that he had talked about going on some quest to gather the other pantheons and bring them together. Something called the "Great Convergence." Sounds like a waste of time to me, but Sigurd seemed like a really smart guy, so if he thinks it'll work, then by all means.

So maybe that girl was from another pantheon? But why did Talon of all people see it? That doesn't pertain to us. Does it?

"Malachi ain't doing so well," Talon announced quietly, leaning over so I could hear him.

I had been so deep in my own thoughts, I didn't notice Malachi and Sera at the front of the boat. Malachi had both his arms over the side, his head dangling weakly, and his hair hiding the side of his face, while Sera was propped next to him on her knees, sitting on her calves, rubbing his back carefully.

I squinted to see better, and noticed that Malachi had taken his shirt off completely, and was sweating…a lot. Like a lot, lot. His skin was paler than before, glistening, and even dripping with new perspiration.

"Been throwing up." Talon said, tightening his lips, "Says he's burning everywhere. It was much worse before you woke up."

"Oh gods…" I whispered, and tightened my grip around the sword. I almost jumped when I felt his aura. It was…really weak, like almost dead weak. He was minutes away from falling over the side and not coming back, I was sure of it.

"Talon, he's going to die soon." I looked at him urgently, expecting him to jump up at that, but he just remained still. "Did you hear me? He has practically no aura left!"

I didn't notice it at first, because I had been looking at his glasses, but when my eyes fell down to his lips, I noticed that they were quivering.

"Talon?"

He growled in the direction of his best friend, but his words were aimed harshly at me. "You don't think that if I could do something, I would? You don't think it hurts seeing him like this?"

My mouth parted, but I had no idea what to say.

Sera noticed us staring and talking now, and turned to me. Her cheeks were wet.

"H-Harper, you are awake."

I immediately got up and went over to her, finally letting go of the Blade this time. "Sera, it's gonna be okay, I promise."

She took herself away from Malachi, who I guessed to be unconscious, and fell into my chest, grabbing onto my back like it was life support.

"Oh Harper, what are we going to do?" She sobbed, "Kai is…he is…d-dying!"

I stared at him, in a trance. My heart was racing, my body was going cold with panic. I had no idea what to do…

I pulled her away from me, "Sera, it's gonna be okay. We'll try anything we can. Um…" I looked around the boat like an idiot. What did I expect there to be, a first aid kit? C'mon, think!

Then my eyes landed on the Blade.

"The sword! Maybe it'll work!"

Sera's eyes lit up with hope, "Oh yes, try it!"

Talon was the complete opposite, he just remained seated, while I dove back and snatched up the sword. Carefully, Sera tugged on Malachi's back and laid him down, face up, on the boat's bottom.

While I held the sword above him and began to lower it reverently, Sera wiped Malachi's hair from his face.

"Please stay with us, Kai, please stay with us. Listen to the sound of my voice." Said voice started to break and crack with the beginnings of sobs. "I love you. You are my only love, Kai. I cannot lose you…"

I tried to stay focused, despite her pleas. It was truly starting to hit me, the possibility of Malachi dying down here. We would lose a great friend, and someone who's had such a hard life. His chances of ever having something normal would be extinguished. And I couldn't allow that to happen.

Alright Eros, you haven't failed me yet. Heal Malachi.

It might've been a useless thought, but it gave me the final boost of courage to place the Blade down on his chest. For a moment, nothing happened. It was the moment where my heart stopped beating, where we all stopped breathing through our noses, and held it.

Then, Malachi's eyes shot open, and he gasped for air.

I shouldn't have been smiling, and Sera probably shouldn't have been laughing, because Malachi immediately started coughing and turned over on his stomach, but we were relieved. Even Talon's shoulders straightened in shock.

"Kai! Kai, are you okay?!"

He didn't respond, probably because he couldn't. He was coughing and desperately reaching for air, grabbing at the bow of the boat.

"I-I need water…"

"Water?" I asked, already hearing him. "Sera, make some ice!"

"B-But he said-"

"S-Same thing!" I babbled.

She made a gesture with her hand, and a small orb of ice formed in her palm. She quickly cupped Malachi's face and fed it to him.

The Demi-Primordial bit at it like a starving dog. He chomped on it and wolfed it down, collecting the tiny shards in his hands to push those into his mouth as well.

Our smiles had definitely faded now, and it was turning back into expressions of concern. Malachi's eyes were shut tight, and he started screaming in pain.

"Agh! It…burns! It…" His entire body was clenched, "…BURNS!"

A loud banging sound caught my right ear, and I turned around to see Talon beating his fist against the wood.

"I can't deal with this shit. We gotta put him out."

Sera reared her head back, and her voice became uncharacteristically high. "Put him out?!"

Talon turned; his face red with anger. "We gotta knock his ass out! I can't stand hearing him like that, dammit!"

"It won't fix things, Talon!"

"Won't know until we try!" He started towards Malachi with his fist balled.

I managed to grab him and keep him from doing anything crazy. "Stop, dumbass! We're not hitting him!"

"Well we gotta do something!"

Malachi groaned, and all eyes fell on him, it was his turn to speak.

"W-Water…"

Sera turned to me frantically, "S-Should I make more ice?"

"Maybe I should use the sword again." I tried to push it on him again, but this time he slapped it away.

"No!" he shouted, "This…weakness! It must…stop!"

He smashed his hand on the side of the boat and pulled his upper body up enough to peer over at the Styx beside us. He stared at it…like he was interested.

"Kai, lay back down, please."

Malachi's eyes were half-lidded, but he was practically foaming at the mouth, entranced by the Styx. "Weakness…"

By this time, we all noticed what he was doing, and I was the first to speak. "Malachi, don't even think about it."

Apparently, Talon wasn't catching on. "Think about what? What's he thinking about?!"

I'd heard about the Achilles Curse. It gives you incredible power, nigh-invincibility, but at a deadly cost. You know the story of Achilles, I'm sure. And you know how it ends too. Not well.

One weak spot, and one hit to that weak spot…it's a wrap. Forever.

Before Malachi could do anything stupid, or we could even pull him back, a spirit appeared from the water and floated in the air alongside us. It was so abrupt that everyone but Malachi sort of flinched back.

The spirit in question looked like a Greek warrior…on steroids. He had to be a demigod. He was buff in every part of his body, wore sleeveless armor, and had what seemed to be clean cut black hair.

"U-Um what's going on?" Sera asked timidly, "W-Who is he?"

Talon inched forward, his mouth open in awe. "It's Achilles…" His panic was temporarily replaced by the hint of a smile. "The best damn soldier in Greek history. Look." He gestured down to his ankle, and sure enough, at Achilles's heel, an arrow was sticking out of it.

This guy was Achilles? I mean…you know what, yeah, it fits. He looks the description, but I didn't really expect him to have black hair instead of blonde.

Achilles didn't look proud or happy, he just nodded like he's been recognized a thousand times. "Yes." His gaze was purely focused on Malachi, "I warned the other two before you, and now I shall give a third warning. Do not…and I mean this sincerely, do not do this."

Talon was now starting to understand what was going on, "Wait, is he warning him about the curse?!" He looked like he wanted to hit Malachi on the shoulder, "What are you thinking, man?!"

Achilles ignored him and continued, "This mark will make you powerful. Far more powerful than you could ever achieve normally. Your skill that you already possess will be amplified thousands of times. But…so will your weaknesses, and your self-hatred."

"Self-hatred?" Malachi questioned, his voice sobering, "W-What do you know about self-hatred?"

Achilles veered off of his rehearsed warning, and sighed.

"I've been dead for a long time. Believe me, I know what self-hatred is. I killed many, many people, for what? For glory? For my country? Blood is blood, and war is always the same. The only thing that changes is the people involved." Achilles' stare was quite intimidating. Even though he was dead, I could tell that when he was alive, in a different era, he would've been quite the formidable opponent to stand across from.

"You and I hate ourselves." Achilles confirmed, "But remember, the things that I did were my decisions. You were manipulated into your wrongdoings."

"Then let me make a decision here." Malachi seethed, "For once in my life, I make the decision!"

Achilles said no more, and just stared curiously at Malachi.

Malachi snapped, and swiped his hand out of the boat at Achilles. When his hand went through, Achilles's misty form went with it, and disappeared.

"Begone!" Malachi screamed, and calmed down enough to breathe rapidly, "Begone…hero…I don't need you to warn me about anything. This is my choice."

Hearing his words, and how determined he sounded, we all sort of sat back and just watched, hesitant to stop him now. He wasn't in a daze. What Achilles said was true, Malachi hated himself, and he hated being weak.

So when he stepped up to the side of the boat, we didn't stop him.

There was a small moment where he just stood and stared down at the black water, closing his eyes and breathing in deeply through his nose. It wasn't more of a preparation, to me, it seemed like he was shedding skin.

And then it happened fast. He didn't look back once at us before he jumped into the Styx.

---

I wonder what's going to happen to Malachi?

Just kidding, it's pretty obvious. But with his Curse, it may be a bit different than the others. A little extra something may be added in, let's just say that.

But yes, things are amping up, new powers and abilities are being unlocked, and now Matt is face to face with Tartarus, in the "Nucleus" of all places. Expect plenty of mind games to ensue.

Hope you guys enjoy these directions I'm taking and what I'm setting up. I assure you; the next few chapters are everything this book has been building towards. If you thought Tartarus was chilling and formidable before, then you're in for a mind-bending next chapter.

Until Next Time.