Chapter Two: Lord Of The Pit
Percy
With a booming step the figure of Tartarus closed the gap between him and Damesan, who feebly lifted his arms to block what he knew was coming.
It didn't matter.
With a heavy thud, Damesans upper body fell over, slamming into the ground, while his legs and waist remained standing for a second before they also fell over. Then slowly his whole body faded away into dust, leaving nothing of the giant behind. Tartarus had cut him in half with barely an effort it seemed, ending the life of the Giant in an instant.
With growing horror Percy watched as Tartarus turned towards them, but the inkling of a plan had begun to form in his sleep deprived and pain wracked brain. He stared at the remains of Damesans symbol of power, cloven in two on the ground. Then back to the chains before grimacing and rolling his shoulders back to loosen up.
"Okay listen, I've got a plan….. You wont like it but it's a plan" Percy called out as he began turning towards the doors again to inspect the chains and gauge if he would have enough space.
He took a deep breath, trying to find his center, to focus.
Closing his eyes he saw Annabeth running around New Rome, laughing as her hair bounced happily around her shoulders. The sunlight kissed her skin as her eyes sparkled that beautiful shade of stormy gray.
His eyes snapped open, glowing green as he felt the exhaustion wash from his bones.
Annabeth took a step back, a look of confusion crossing her face. "...P-Percy?"
"Never has a demigod dared to step foot in my realm, as such never have I had the chance to personally deal with one such as yourself." A malevolent voice rang out across the field.
Percy turned away from the doors and looked back towards the plain, and sure enough there he was. Striding towards him with the intent and purpose clear, he was going to squash Percy like a bug, Tartarus walked calmly, holding his claymore level with the ground.
"Okay listen, I'm going to need you to stay out of the way here wise girl" Percy tried to sound as confident as possible. "I can tell your leg is bothering you, and I won't be able to do what needs to be done here if I'm worried about you, so please let me handle this and when the chains are cut you need to run for the door." His eyes were pleading as he looked at Annabeth,
"... no Percy, you can't…. He's Tartarus, you can't fight him!" Annabeth practically screamed as her terror filled eyes locked with his. "Please there has to be some other way, we could run or… or, anything!"
The panic in her voice, the fear of being left alone. Percy could feel it all and it broke his heart. But he pushed those emotions down, he had too. Neither one of them would make it out if he broke down now, if he lost his nerve now it was over.
"Listen wise girl, I will ALWAYS come back to you, never doubt that" Percy said, taking her into an one armed hug quickly. "Now I need to go do what I do best, and piss off an immortal." Dropping her a cheeky grin he quickly kissed Annabeth and pushed her towards the doors as he spun about gripping riptide tightly in his good hand.
"Yes, take a moment to savor your existence, it will be over soon. You have caused my wife and I such terrible inconvenience, and from what i hear you have personally sent several of my children back to me to reform" Growled the lord of the pit
"Well I can't help it if i send them back down here, I figured they could use some good old father son bonding right?" Fighting down nerves and throwing up some false bravado Percy replied.
If shock could have registered on the face of a primordial who had a black hole for his most dominant facial feature, it probably would have. Because for a second Tartarus stopped moving, almost frozen and looking at Percy.
"HAHAHAHAHAH" Chuckled the god of the pit, a deep booming laugh that resonated around the battlefield. For a second his posture relaxed, then it became focused again.
"So the rumors are true, defiant till the last i see." muttered the primordial
"Yep, you know me, good ol'reliable" Percy replied, slowly starting to circle so that his back was positioned near the first of the chains.
"This is the final offer boy, join my Wife and our children, help us rid the world of those pesky gods who have abandoned you here with me. Swear loyalty to me and I shall let you live, we shall forgive your past offenses. Or ignore this last offer and I shall happily kill you here and now" declared Tartarus, shifting his grip on the claymore to both hands.
The aura of malice and hate radiating off of the lord of the pit was palpable, Percy was sweating and doing his best not to tremble where he stood. Swallowing once or twice as his mouth was completely dry he did his best to not squeak when he replied.
"You know, I'm starting to think that you and Gaea are actually scared of me, I mean this is the fourth or fifth time you have tried to convince me to join you? Come on, at least take rejection with a little class" He tried his best to give off a nonchalant air, but by hades it was the god of the pit forgive him if he was shitting his pants at the moment.
"You really don't know when to stop running your mouth, do you boy? I'll be sure to send what's left of you to your father and the rest of those fools on Olympus!" Cried Tartarus as he lifted his sword and surged forwards.
Tartarus had closed the twenty or so feet between them in a single bound and swung his sword with such speed that Percy almost got cut in half. However annoying immortals is something of a hobby for him, and if it were to be considered as such then Percy was an artist. He dove the one direction no one would expect. Right between his legs.
With the sound of wrenching metal and a resounding crash the claymore hit the ground, severing the chain which had been just behind where Percy was standing. The red lighting that had been cracking across the sky of Tartarus intensified as the doors began to pulse and glow with light, seeming to strain to be free.
"You are going to die slowly, and painfully for that son of Poseidon" Growled Tartarus turning to face Percy once more.
Percy knew the second chain would be much harder, Tartarus was the god of the pit, and was many times stronger and more durable than Percy could ever hope to be. Based solely on the damage done to the ground where the claymore had hit Percy was under no delusions that if he tried to actually block the claymore with Riptide he would end up being smashed into a boneless puddle of goo.
Opting once again for his best skill he simply narrowed his eyes to slits and beckoned the god to come closer with his hand. "Bring it on Tartar Sauce" he said with a small grin.
With a roar the primordial charged him swinging his sword, whipping it back and forth in a frenzy as he sought to slice or crush Percy with an overbearing onslaught. However it was quickly made clear that while Tartarus had the advantage in strength and size. He had never fought someone Percy's height before, his strikes were clumsy and he was slow to change directions. With a grin Percy realized he might actually have a slight advantage here, He was a veteran of fighting larger and stronger opponents.
However that's not to say it was easy by any means, it took every move he had just to keep out of reach of the sword. Every swing he avoided was by the skin of his teeth. Every trick he had learned from Luke, his years of battle and questing as a demigod, his time in the legion. He used it all. Fighting like a shadow he made sure to stay as close as possible to Tartarus, never letting him get to use the range on his weapon and making it harder to land a lethal blow.
Slowly he managed to maneuver himself within range of the second chain, however he knew Tartarus wasn't stupid.
Angry yes, but stupid no.
Getting him to cut another chain was going to require a much greater risk, as already Tartarus had pulled back on several swings that appeared to have been close to the remaining chain.
But then again, what the fun in a game of tag with a deadly greatsword wielding primordial if there isn't a little risk involved.
Tartarus stepped in swinging his sword in a complex series of hacking slashes and short thrusts trying to drive Percy back away from the doors and the chains.
However Percy saw his chance coming, he quickly dove underneath a particularly wild swing, dashing back towards the doors and the chains. Only to trip, and tumble across the ground ending up several feet away on his back.
In seconds Tartarus was above him, his sword held high.
"You traded blows with a primordial boy, that's more than your pathetic gods can say. But that doesn't mean it would ever end any way other than this. NOW DIE JACKSON!" Screamed Tartarus as he brought down his greatsword.
Percy reached out with his senses, he knew what it was he needed and he knew it was close at hand. He burst into a cold sweat as he grunted and every muscle in his body went tense for a second.
Which is about all the time he had as the sword was swinging down at him.
"Got you" Percy grunted in concentration as he jerked both his hands up from the ground.
Suddenly Tartarus screamed as a blast of flaming water erupted from the ground straight into his face' Percy could actually hear the Primordial's skin burning off as he flailed about. The sword continued on its downward trajectory albeit, slightly off course as Tartarus roared in agony.
However this gave Percy the exact opening he needed to, roll and run as he liked to call it, rolling to his left quickly he heard a metallic grinding sound followed by a snap as he closed his eyes.
Milliseconds after he rolled to the left the ground beside him exploded and he was launched several feet away, his face and arms scratched by all the debris from the explosion. Rolling to his feet and sprinting away from the primordial to give him room to think. He looked back with satisfaction at the twin sets of chains, now cut and lying limp on the ground.
He caught glimpses of the lightning storm which had intensified, the doors themselves had begun to rattle and shake. With steam billowing up from where the doors touched the ground of Tartarus. The air was filled with a horrible screeching sound, like rending metal and the doors began to arc magical energy out in a ten to twenty foot radius around the doors.
Hindsight would tell him that looking back was a bad idea, because he had expected a thirty second or so reprieve from the primordial while he dealt with his face full of pain water. A chance to inspect the doors and maybe make a run for it.
Yea no.
Instead it just looked like he pissed him off even more.
Tartarus roared in anger and a blast of energy rolled out like a wave from the primordial knocked him clean off his feet like he had just been hit in the back with a baseball bat. Tartarus promptly began to run towards him, leaping into the air to try and crush him on landing as he roared in rage.
He was scrambling now, half crawling half rolling as he tried to avoid the booted feet slamming into the ground in an attempt to crush him. The impact of Tartarus landing rattled his teeth and made his jaw ache. Keeping his wits about him he threw himself forwards to avoid a clawed swipe from Tartarus.
With a quick reverse of direction he managed to get behind the primordial as he lifted his foot to step where Percy had been. Leading the way with a quick flurry of riptide he opened nearly a dozen small cuts on the back of the Primordial's legs and ankles before Tartarus had even managed to turn around.
However his sword strikes seemed to do little to the lord of the pit as any cuts or wounds seemed to be ignored. Spinning to his left he avoided the claymore cutting him in half and he quickly slashed across Tartarus's hand. Slicing off several fingers as Riptide ran along the bottom of the claymore's grip, however the victory was short lived as Percy was suddenly hit in the chest with a boot.
Blasting the air from his lungs he actually felt his ribs crack from the impact as he was launched into the air before crashing into the doors and slamming to the ground in a groaning heap. The metal burned his skin on contact and he was hurled into the ground a smoking wreck as the magical discharge washed over him.
"Percy….." the ringing in his head was awful, everything hurt, it hurt to breathe and he could feel the blood leaking from his mouth to puddle on the rubbery purple ground in front of him. HIs body felt like it was on fire and every nerve he had was screaming in pain.
"Percy get up….. You've got to… "
Everything sounded so far away, like it was playing through an old radio, crackly and unclear. He could just lay here, if he closed his eyes it would be over and then he could just rest. He wasn't sure if he could even muster the strength to move his working arm, let alone his legs.
"PERCY PLEASE!"
Percy's eyes shot open as Annabeth's scream cut through his confusion, he looked up to see Annabeth running forwards, lifting her sword to strike out at a hulking black figure.
"GET AWAY FROM HIM!" she shouted out as she swung with all her might trying to fend the primordial off. For a second it seemed as if Annabeth's charge had been successful as she launched a flurry of attacks with her sword.
Nimbly stepping around the primordial she was trying to get him to turn away from Percy. She was not a master swordsman like Percy or Luke, but years of living as a demigod had made her a fierce opponent. Her blows were guarded and measured and offered no opening, she was focusing mainly on staying out of range of his lethal claymore.
Percy dragged his consciousness back from the brink of sleep as he moved his working arm under himself and tried to force himself to his knees. However, in that time, all it took was for Annabeth to put too much weight on her injured leg, with a cry of pain she stumbled, losing her footing and almost falling to the ground as a look of panic crossed her face.
"A Pity" rumbled the god of the pit
Almost in slow motion, he watched as a massive claymore was lifted high, prepared to be swung down with terrible force. It felt like an eternity as he watched it swing up.
"Oh gods no" he whispered almost to himself.
'Please anything but this, someone, ANYONE help', He thought in a panic.
He tried to make his body respond, he tried to make his legs move. But his body was failing him, just like he was going to fail her, she was going to die and he was going to lay here and watch as the love of his life was butchered.
Just the thought of it brought forth a rage Percy had not known he had and with it came a surge of power. With a roar he launched himself forwards, the ground literally shattering behind him. Riptide all but forgotten, all plans forgotten except one. One thought, one person captivated his mind. Her golden curls bounced about her shoulders as she laughed, the way her eyes sparkled when she was deep in thought. The way she smelled like lemons, and how she was the most beautiful girl he had met or ever would meet.
With that he crashed into Tartarus, his fist connecting with the chest of the lord of the pit, the impact sounded like a car crash as Percy felt the muscles in his shoulder tearing under the strain. Tartarus roared and flung out one of his hands, talons flashing as he tried to crush Percy in his grip.
It was his demigod reflexes that saved him that time as he twisted his chest and spun to the side. Landing down by Tartarus feet he rolled across the ground before coming to his feet and throwing a punch at the inside of Tartarus's knee as hard as he could. A crack like a tree shattering had accompanied the punch and Tartarus howled in pain as he stumbled backwards several feet
Percy didn't let up, if anything he pushed his failing body harder as he stumbled coughing up blood. His breath came in gasps as he struggled to bring air into his burning lungs. Several more punches landed in quick succession on the primordial as they battled back across the cratered field.
His vision was starting to fade to black, he had never used his fathers earth-shaker powers like this before, and they drained him even more than his hydro-kinesis. The Lord of the pit didn't seem to be doing much better than he felt, his arms were covered in cuts and gashes, one hand still missing several fingers. His armor, specifically the chestpiece of his armor had been caved in, large cracks ran through it and ichor leaked from his mouth and various areas of his chest where the armor had been pulverized. Courtesy of the last punch his back leg was bent at a funny angle.
The briefest glimmer of hope flared in Percy's chest, as he realized they could run for the doors.
"Annabeth, get back to the doors! We can go, the chains are gone!" Percy shouted out trying to spot Annabeth amidst all the dust and debris in the air.
Nothing.
A gnawing pit of worry began to grow in his stomach as he looked around frantically, until he spotted a mess of blonde hair on the ground about twenty feet away. Between him and the doors.
"Annabeth!?"
He took a few steps forwards, he could see her moving slightly but something about this whole situation felt wrong.
With a burst of speed he cleared the distance between them and froze, like a statue above her.
Percy stood trembling in front of Annabeth, who was white as a ghost, motionless on the ground, his eyes wide as he looked at her.
Her sword lay several feet away, blood leaked from her nose and mouth.
"...A-Annabeth.." he called out.
Still no response.
Slowly his eyes traveled down to the growing red stain on her abdomen. 3 gashes ran deep across her stomach from one side to the other, so deep he could see the bones of her bottom ribs and they were oozing blood at an alarming rate.
Eyes widening in horror he turned to see the lord of the pit struggling to stand, one hand missing some fingers holding his sword.
The other hand, sheathed in a black metal gauntlet with taloned fingers dripped blood.
"Oh Gods NO! ANNABETH!" Percy screamed as he dropped to his knees grabbing her.
"No no no no no no no….. Come on, wise girl stay with me!" he shouted, hands furiously tearing what remained of his shirt off to press against her stomach.
She groaned weakly and opened her eyes for a second before gasping in alarm and starting to flail about as her back arched in pain.
Her terrified eyes caught Percy's.
".A-A-Annabeth I-I'm …. Oh gods no… I've got you… don't worry" he sobbed as he looked at her, cradling her head to his chest.
She was shivering, her whole body shaking as she grew paler by the second. She tried to say something but gasped before coughing up blood and biting her lip in pain.
His brain was firing at a million miles a minute, he screwed his eyes shut to concentrate on anything to save her, something….. THERE HAD TO BE SOMETHING he thought.
He began to hyperventilate.. He couldn't lose her, not now. Not after all this, they were so close!
Then he felt her hand on his cheek, he opened his eyes to look at her, the faintest trace of a smile graced her perfect lips. She opened her mouth and started to say something, her voice was so quiet Percy had to lean close and he missed the first part of what she said.
But he heard what mattered.
"..I love you seaweed brain…. I'm sorry.." she gasped as she choked on blood, tears rolling down her cheeks as she trembled with pain, emotional and physical.
Frozen in horror, Percy could only watch as the light faded from her eyes, and her hand fell limply to the ground at her side.
For one moment he felt absolutely nothing, as a dark booming laugh filled the battlefield.
"There is no hope Jackson… your fate will be the same as the girls. Funny though, that if she had not intervened she would likely still be alive." Chuckled the primordial.
"After all you do indeed live up to your reputation of hard to kill, you were a worthy challenge for a mortal, and she would have lived to see your fight had she stayed cowering by the doors. She however, chose to fight and unlike you, i found her lacking"
Percy didn't even register what was being said to him.
All he could look at was Annabeth, his Annabeth.
He had failed her miserably, she was dead and it was because he wasn't strong enough, because he hadn't been fast enough.
"Come now boy…. Where is that flippant attitude from a few minutes ago, at least have the strength to die on your feet, or has the 'Hero of Olympus' finally broken" roared the primordial with a laugh.
Wordlessly Percy looked down at the love of his life, leaning in to kiss her lips softly on last time he clenched his teeth and stood. The pain in his body was forgotten, there was a more important task at hand.
The primordial leg seemed to have finally healed, or at least he could walk again as the booming steps of Tartarus closed in from somewhere behind Percy.
"Im… im so sorry wise girl, you deserved so much better than this.. .. I love you" he choked out.
"Ahh, young love.. How beautifully poetic. At least your lover won't have to wait long for you Jackson… Now die demigod!" Tartarus took several more steps forwards, hefting his sword for the killing blow on Percy, whose back was still to the primordial, his gaze locked on Annabeth.
That's when the ground around Percy erupted.
The gentle green aura that had been present earlier was gone, instead Percy appeared to be wreathed in a blinding green light, his eyes glowing as the ground for a hundred feet in every direction tore itself apart as large chunks flew into the air.
Tartarus lost his footing as the ground rolled under his feet, a single step would have fixed the problem. Just enough for him to readjust and swing again.
Except he didn't get a chance.
Percy had turned around to lock gazes with the primordial. "You're dead…" he said flatly.
"H-How dare you Boy, YOU THINK YOU ARE A MATCH FO- GAHHHHH" the rest of Tartarus's little speech was cut off as the tremors intensified and geysers of river water began to explode out of the ground all around them. Several of them smashed straight into the primordial, blasting him off his feet.
Blasts of river water were slamming into Tartarus who screamed in anger and frustration as he was forced to step back, only for the water hound him as he retreated.
Percy walked forwards, surrounded by a maelstrom of death and destruction as flaming water mixed with the other rivers swirled about him in a miniature hurricane. The ground itself flexed and cracked every time he took a step forwards as his powers flared exponentially, a sea green aura lighting the darkness of the pit for the first time in history.
The water felt strange, he could control it but it felt like something was fighting back against him, yet every time he had used the water it had gotten easier, like whatever was fighting against him was growing weaker.
Percy cocked his head to the side watching Tartarus intently, not letting up in the slightest with the furious assault of water blasts Percy was sending at him to keep him off balance. Then as suddenly as before the strange singing voices filled his head, their song drowned out everything and filled Percy with a strange sensation, like the water was cheering him on. Which at this point didn't surprise him, he just assumed he was going crazy which also didn't matter to him so long as he ripped tartarus apart with his bare hands.
A roar from Tartarus snapped him back into focus as the primordial was stumbling about, trying to fend off the waves of water which were causing him debilitating pain. He swung his sword and another blast of energy exploded out from Tartarus as the hurricane faltered for a second.
That was all the time Tartarus needed.
With a quick burst of speed he closed the distance to Percy, his skin covered in blisters and open wounds, ichor streaming down his body.
Down came the greatsword, swung at chest height, aiming to cleanly cut Percy in half.
Or it would have if he had still been standing there as another blast of water ripped free of the earth and crashed into Tartarus's head, giving Percy the chance to jump to his left to avoid the sword.
This back and forth continued for several minutes with neither Percy or Tartarus gaining any ground on the other, but Percy could feel himself weakening. His breaths came in short gasps as his body was soaked in a cold sweat.
The sudden surge of energy from earlier had waned and his exhaustion, his wounds all of it came crashing down on him at once. He didn't hurt anymore, he mostly couldn't feel anything and it was only his anger and determination to avenge the love of his life that kept him standing.
He was doing pretty well, all things considered until a backhand launched him away from the primordial, he landed on his leg funny during the fall and there was a second of pressure before it felt like someone had ripped his leg off, accompanied by a harsh popping sound.
The pain surged back and Percy saw black for a few seconds before his vision returned.
His maelstrom was still going strong but it didn't seem to matter as the primordial grabbed him by the throat and hoisted him clean off the ground.
For the first time in a few minutes Percy got a good look at Tartarus, and needless to say the lord of the pit didn't look pretty.
His armor was a wreck, and anywhere it wasn't dented in or crushed it appeared to have been burned or melted away. His skin was peeling away, in some places to the bone, but the strength of his grip was unimaginable.
Percy couldn't breathe, he couldn't move. It was like that muskeg in Alaska all over again as he struggled to get air into his lungs.
"YOU THOUGHT YOU COULD USE MY OWN BODY, MY OWN BLOOD AGAINST ME BOY!?" roared the lord of the pit.
He was breathing hard, and clearly in pain as the primordial struggled to stay on his feet, his one leg still clearly shattered and barely supporting his weight.
That did little to affect how tightly he was gripping Percy's neck.
Through the daze Percy was in, he continued to struggle for a few seconds and his confused brain failed to process what was said right away, but then a faint memory popped into his head.
A moment of understanding through all the pain clouding his brain.
Tartarus was his body…
The rivers were his blood…
He remembered walking across the fields of Tartarus with Annabeth when they had first realized the horrible truth of the pit.
His vision was fading out, his limbs going numb, but it was worth a shot. He was probably dead anyway he thought.
His senses stretched out looking for the river water like he had before, but this time he didn't try to draw it from the ground.
He tried to drag it right out of Tartarus himself, instantly he felt that familiar tug in his gut, and he pulled.
A few things happened in all of a split second.
Firstly Percy felt like his stomach was being torn out of his body, the tugging that accompanied the use of his powers had nothing on what he was feeling right now as his mouth opened wordlessly in a feral scream.
However if the pain Percy was going through was beyond belief, tartarus likely wished he had died then and there. The whole area began to shake as Tartarus screamed in some unknown language.
His scream was so loud that Percy felt his eardrums burst as everything went quiet and he was sent flying through the air, thrown away by Tartarus in his mad rush to deal with the pain assaulting him.
He made contact with the ground shoulder first, an explosion of wetness and a searing pain told him that he had torn his back open on the ground and waves of pain threatened to break his concentration.
No.
He refused to lose focus, not now, not ever again. She was dead because of what he lacked, because of what he had failed to do from the start.
His eyes glowed a bright neon green as he ironed his resolve and pushed harder to drag the water out, envisioning it seeping out of Tartarus' body from his many wounds.
He killed her.
Those words echoed like a mantra in his head as Percy groaned under the strain, it felt like he was grabbing at shards of glass with his bare hands while being impaled by a javelin to the stomach and the primordial was fighting back there was no doubt about it.
But slowly like a tug of war match, Percy could feel his opponent losing his grip.
With a roar and a burst of energy Percy surged back to his feet, heavily favoring his dislocated leg as he pulled with everything he had, every hope and dream of a life spent with Annabeth, every ounce of regret and guilt.
Meanwhile, Tartarus was caught in the midst of a maelstrom of water and ichor that seemed to be flowing out of the ground and out of him. His screams never once faltered or grew quiet as slowly the ichor on the ground around him grew from a puddle to a small lake and the waves of water slamming into him every time he tried to take a step or so much as move.
Percy could feel the water hitting him, the slight burn or sting but it didn't seem to bother him, and even if he couldn't hear Tartarus scream properly due to the state of his ears he knew he was causing the immortal unbelievable pain.
He had barely noticed that the river waters had flooded the battlefield several inches deep, his legs stinging wherever they touched the water but otherwise he himself was fine. The singing in his head rose to a crescendo as he willed large waves of water to slam into Tartarus, who howled in agony and dropped to one knee.
A small smile cracked across his face as he felt relief that he was avenging Annabeth, he felt good. The power at his fingertips as he mercilessly crushed his opponent, he could feel the strain as Tartarus fought against his control of the river water, it was like a dam ready to burst and all it needed was a tiny crack.
Then as if something had broken, all the resistance fighting against his control of the water vanished and geysers of water exploded all across the field. Causing absolute mayhem among the remaining monsters as they were burned to death by the rising tide of flaming water.
Tartarus stopped screaming, Percy figured it out mostly because everything stopped shaking.
He focused his tired gaze on the primordial who was on both knees, his hands at his sides. The water around him mixed with of ichor a giving it a swirling rainbow of colors as the titan swayed where he knelt.
"H-h-how… you can't… t-that's not how…" the primordial groaned weakly as he struggled to move his limbs. The ground around them trembled and shook violently as the mountains and cliffs around them began to crack under the strain.
Slowly the cliffs in the distance began to crash to the ground as more and more geysers of river water erupted from them and the ground. Finally, like a dam bursting the water was exploding out of the ground, spraying high into the air as it gradually began to pool in shallow lakes across the field.
Tartarus groaned in pain as the edges of his hands and feet had started to wither and crack. Slowly crumbling away into a black powder, and as if blown by some phantom wind, tartarus started to dissolve, his arms and legs flaking away as skin and armor cracked off, like rust from the underside of Gabe's old car.
Coughing ichor, the primordial wheezed out "You think you've won demigod!?" his hand weakly lifted off the ground for a second before he growled out in a strange language which sounded harsh and foreign.
"Kxtho Nrathia Torhei" screamed the primordial as a wave of shadows poured out of his hand into the air and he collapsed onto his face, a slow laugh rumbled from his shattered body.
"I will find you when I reform demigod, and you will beg for mercy…" Tartarus spat with hatred. But with those final words he began to crumble away fully.
Percy dropped to his knees, as the exhaustion overtook him, for a second he honestly didn't notice the pain in his chest, or the black smoke swirling about him until his eyes snapped open in agony.
The green aura around him flared up as it felt like something was clawing its way inside his chest. As the body of Tartarus finally crumbled to dust the black shadows solidified around Percy and slammed into his torso. The sound of searing skin and the smell of burnt flesh filled his senses, as his nerves screamed in pain.
As if waiting for some hidden signal the ground around Percy cracked and shattered, as the lord of the pit finally dissolved and blew away. The geysers of river water Percy had set off, continuing to spew hundreds of gallons across the shattered ground. Where it collected in shallow lakes, swirling with a multitude of colors as the flames of the plethelgon cast an eerie glow across the whole area.
Percy barely recognized this as his brain finally seemed to short out, he couldn't handle the singing sound which had risen to an unbearable volume. The pain his body was in and the loss of Annabeth. His brain felt like it was exploding in his skull, he swayed dangerously for a few seconds before the ground rushed to meet him.
The last thing he remembered was the way the water seemed to both burn and soothe him, and a strangely deep and melodic voice that spoke but a single time as it loomed somewhere in the darkness above him.
"Now this, this is what I call an interesting opportunity…"
Then the darkness took him…
Author's Note: Yes i know, i killed 'Annabeth' sue me, my editor gave me shit for it within minutes of reading it as well. All i can say is keep reading Percabeth fans, i promise there's more for you in this story.
The Earthshaker powers as I envision them involve discharging energy into the ground. It's not really terrakinesis, as neither poseidon or percy can actually control the ground and can only cause destruction in the form of earthquakes so I figure there's no reason why they can't discharge energy into other objects in much the same way.
As always, more than happy to hear your thoughts comments/concerns and i'll try to respond when i can. Until next time.