Chapter Sixteen: The Court Of Shadows
Comment Responses:
Icefire99: Thanks for the high praise! I really enjoy writing for you guys and I'm super glad to hear that the work is appreciated! Enjoy this chapter!
Ariacrimsis: Well I'm super glad to hear that this is one of your favorites, there's so much more to this one than i've covered so far, hopefully you'll like what's coming down the line! But for now enjoy the chapter!
Screwthefates1806: Gotta love good ol Thunder Thighs, casually fucking the world up by fucking the world… Enjoy the chapter lol!
Meryfcukery: Maybe the whole Percabeth thing should be a community vote, I'm not gonna say what's in my notes but if people want Percy with someone other than Annabeth maybe I should Poll it? I'm not against y'all having a little input…Thoughts?
Posaitan: really glad that you thought so highly of that chapter, I was really worried it was gonna read too much like a giant explanation haha. Thanks for the continued support and advice while I've been writing this! Enjoy the chapter!
Percy, Day Nineteen In Tartarus
Percy was amazed at the changes that the energy Umbra had released on his death had brought about in the aquamarine waters of the Tartarean. Already strange plant life was sprouting from the sea floor, massive spiked seaweed and other plants that he couldn't recognize let alone put a name to. All of it seemed quite dangerous, and he often found himself reminded that even in this strange beautiful sea, he was still in Tartarus.
Vivid orange and red flowering plants, strange coral-like growths and other sea flora were appearing all over the place; it still looked like a barren desert compared to the ancient coral reefs, and kelp forests of Atlantis. But compared to how it had looked merely days previous the difference was night and day. Not that he was complaining, it certainly made the traveling he was doing slightly less mind numbingly boring, only slightly.
Percy was following the Tartari as they sped onwards farther and farther from shore, the Goddesses had started to swim rather far ahead of him, occasionally turning to ensure he was still following them. Which wasn't hard to do, as far as Percy was concerned, he could actually sense them. It was like they gave off a sort of frequency, it wasn't exact but even if he couldn't see them he knew roughly what direction he had to go in.
This continued for hours, the terrain underwater flashing by, as at first the seafloor had been close enough for the dim red light from the surface to reach past the shallows, and the waters had been relatively calm. However, as the journey progressed the shoreline disappeared as did the mountains in the distance. A howling wind screamed about Percy's head, rain and constant flashes of lighting nearly blinding him if he ever surfaced, so instead he chose to remain underwater for the majority of the journey.
White flames raced through the water, almost like an after image following wherever the Tartarii went. Illuminating a tiny spot in the vast darkness of the immense ocean. Again giving rise to the immensity of not only Tartarus, but this sea itself. They were like a tiny candle in the dark as they raced past what appeared to be ruins, recent ones at that. As well as hundreds of craters and canyons that scarred the seafloor.
The water raged around him, riptides and whirlpools tugging at him momentarily as he sped past them, following the strange trail left by the Tartarii, who he had to admit. Were fucking fast. They made Rainbow the hippocampus seem slow by comparison, and Percy knew for a fact they were not flashing away from him. They simply stopped until he had caught up enough for them to see him before turning and taking off once more. It was nearly instantaneous, one moment they would be there and then they would just disappear in a swirl of bubbles.
Surprisingly they were avoiding contact with his mind, unlike the last few days where he had barely been able to think with all the other voices in his head. They hadn't said a word to him since they entered the waters and started leading him farther and farther into the Tartarean. The song of the Tartarii was muted if anything, while still there it had definitely faded into the background. Which gave Percy some free time with his own thoughts, which he had quickly learned was not a good thing right now.
All he could do was worry about Annabeth and his family, he had no way of contacting them as it was and he had no way of knowing if they were okay. He knew that in just over a day for them, Gaea's Titan led forces would strike at camp half-blood. Aiming to rob the Gods of their army the same way Gaea was robbed of the one Percy had destroyed, not that she had any way of knowing it was him.
He had by his estimate, nine days in his time until he would have to be ready to fight several Titans and possibly an army, and if he failed it would be his friends and fellow campers who paid the price. Which is why what he was doing now was so important.
Eko and Λήθη had explained the problem he was facing to him, His Ardwyrian blood combined with the Godly blood of his father was allowing him to draw too much Aetherium for his body to handle with any kind of extensive use, however, short bursts seemed fine. It was pretty clear that without Tartarus's curse he would have been long dead already. The analogy the sisters had offered of two cups of water being poured into one had made perfect sense to Percy; further cementing the fact that 'just because he could didn't mean he should', was the message of the last few weeks.
Immortals could do as they pleased but any mortal who got a taste of that freedom and power would be reduced to a charred corpse. Life was oh so fair Percy thought to himself bitterly, however, Eko and Λήθη had an answer to the problem.
Their solution was a sort of ritual in which he would be 'Marked' like the Ardwyrians of old. According to Eko, these marks would help his body handle the stress of channeling the kind of power Percy's Ardywrian heritage gave him access too. He was shaken from his thoughts as he felt the presence of the Goddesses flare up and he realized they had come to a halt a short distance ahead of him.
He came to a stop at the edge of a massive trench, Beyond the edge of which the seafloor seemed to drop away into infinity. He found both Eko and Λήθη waiting for him, Λήθη was sitting, her feet swinging above the pitch black abyss. Eko, on the other hand, floated several feet away from her waiting impatiently for Percy, her arms crossed as she stared at him from a distance.
"...what…." Percy asked in confusion.
"Did you intend to keep us waiting? We still have a ways to go, perhaps it's time you pushed yourself a little harder?" Eko said with a sly grin. "We had to keep checking back in to make sure that you hadn't gotten lost"
"Or passed out" Λήθη added without any humor in her voice.
"..." Percy responded with a glare as the goddesses mocked him.
Eko laughed at him, flashing her fangs as she gave him a wide grin, "We are almost there Percy, we simply need to cross the inner sea. At which point we will enter the heart of the Tartarean." Eko said as she gestured to the waters behind her.
"Okay and we stopped, why? For a geography lesson?" Percy asked as he tilted his head to the side slightly.
"Our pup has fangs sister" Λήθη said in a cheery voice as she floated up from where she had been sitting. Now simply hovering over the abyss she turned to look back at Percy. "However she wasn't wrong, we do need to move slightly faster if you want to make it back to Nyx's court on time to still aid your friends."
Percy fixed both of the smirking goddess with a glare before gritting his teeth and replying "Fine let's get moving then" he finished by crouching down and tensing the muscles in his legs. However, before he could launch off into the water Λήθη stopped him, having sped down to float right in his path in an instant. "There were reasons to stop and talk here regardless, Perseus… no need to be hasty"
Percy looked at the childlike Goddess and raised an eyebrow, "Okay what gives? First you tell me we need to go faster then you tell me to slow down and not be too hasty. You've got a bad habit for giving mixed messages" Percy grunted out in reply.
"Percy, there are places within the Tartarean that aren't safe even for one such as yourself, the Inner sea is one of them." Eko said in an irritated tone of voice.
"What?" Percy said as looked at them in wide eyed confusion.
With a slight giggle Λήθη looked back at Eko who gestured back to Percy as if it was Λήθη's job to fill Percy in on whatever danger waited for him in the Inner Sea. "Think about it for a minute Perseus, if Tartarus is where all monsters come when they reform…." Λήθη left the sentence hanging in the air for a moment.
"I don't get what you…. Oh.. oh fuck…" Percy came to the sudden realization, if monsters like the Giants and Titans could reform down here then all the big bad monsters of the deep would reform here too, and he knew roughly how big the Kraken was, the shallows near the shore wouldn't do for a monster of that size. But the depths that stretched on endlessly ahead of him, he couldn't even see let alone sense the bottom, so he had to guess the water was deep enough here.
"Aha, told you he would figure it out before you had to tell him" Eko said with a grin as she looked at Λήθη. "But there are worse things than the Kraken in these waters Percy" She finished almost cheerfully.
"That doesn't exactly count as not telling him, I may as well have explained it with pictures." Λήθη replied grumpily as Eko continued to grin in her direction.
"Okay so we have to cross that." Percy said as he gestured towards the expanse of dark water, "What are the chances that anything has reformed already?" Percy asked, trying to keep a casual tone in his voice.
"As of now, it's likely that nothing has emerged, but I wouldn't doubt that certain beasts not seen since the Heroic Age of Greece will have begun the process." Eko replied. "It could take days, months or years, the reforming process is never concrete and depending on how long they have waited for a chance to reform it could happen very quickly.
"I noticed all the plant life earlier, completely different from before Umbra was uhh, killed… did that have something to do with it?" Percy asked with interest.
"Yes and no, Umbra's energy fed into the Tartarean when you stripped him of his domain, that energy is beginning to heal the wounds inflicted by millennia of enforced servitude, not to mention how the Tartarean was constrained and locked away underground." Λήθη added, throwing a quick glance in Eko's direction. "However, the Tartarean is where the monsters of the deep are born, and regardless of the state it's in now, this is where they will come to reform."
"What did it used to look like?" Percy asked, immediately regretting the question as he saw the anguish flash across Eko's face before she turned away from him and looked out towards the endless expanse of water. "Show him the way sister, I need a moment" Eko said with no small amount of anger in her voice as she seemed to vanish, launching herself out into the vast expanse of open water and disappearing into the distance just as quickly.
He could feel a surge of anger, so consuming he actually gasped out loud before he felt the connection between himself and Eko sever completely, her presence blinking out like a light as he could no longer tell where she was.
"... not like this… " Λήθη said quietly from beside Percy, having floated over to him silently as she watched her sister, a look of pained sadness crossing her childlike features for a moment. "The damage done to the Tartarean while we were imprisoned appears to have been worse than we expected, this sea used to be so full of life. Even while we were chained it was something I remembered so clearly, To see it so utterly ruined, dead and barren…. It's not pleasant, Perseus" Λήθη finished with a sigh.
"Why are you handling this so much better than her?" Percy asked, "Not to sound blunt or rude you know.. But you just seem sad she's angrier than I've seen her short of when she was flaying Styx alive…"
Λήθη looked at him for a moment, then smiled softly. "The river Lethe, the river of forgetfulness." Her eyes flashed dangerously as she said the name. "To bathe in its waters is to lose your memory, but you of all people know that memory is a fickle thing, very hard to get rid of entirely."
"However, the river Lethe doesn't erase your memories. It takes them." Λήθη finished with seriousness, turning her unsettling gaze on him. "As the goddess of the River, I had the pleasure of being host to the memories of the dead, entire generations that live on only in my memory, All their hopes, dreams, sorrows and fears." Λήθη smiled softly "After a while it all started to blend together, so many different memories, and emotions all jumbled into one big mess. It can be difficult to keep a clear head with so many other people's thoughts in here." She said with a quiet giggle as she tapped the side of her head. "So I drowned it out, it was better than the alternative trust me.."
"... how long were you in charge of the River…." Percy asked, trying to keep his mouth shut as he struggled with the immensity of that statement. He felt like he was going insane just listening to voices, but Λήθη was actually host to memories and not just a few by the sounds of it. He was genuinely worried that he may have overstepped his bounds, knowing that this could be a tender subject for her. However, Λήθη surprised him with a quick reply.
"Long enough that I don't really remember a time when It wasn't mine… That is until my Sister stole it from me." As she finished talking, the temperature in the water around them plummeted so quickly that Percy actually saw ice forming on the ground around Λήθη. He moved forwards as if to reach out and lay a hand on her shoulder but she smiled showing her fangs before speaking again.
"It's not something to worry about Perseus, Lethe was always a coward, and once i get ahold of her I will make her beg for the sweet release of Oblivion before i end her pathetic life" Λήθη said with a snarl, her fangs clearly protruding over her lower lip. "I didn't sacrifice as much as I did to let my pathetic excuse for a Sister rule in my stead."
"Sacrifice?" Percy asked in confusion
"Yes, and one I understand you to be surprisingly familiar with, Memory is a fickle thing, it constitutes who we are, the one quality that Immortals and Mortals share." Λήθη glanced out into the water of the Tartarean. "However, it is also our undoing. Immortals live long enough to forget their own origins, and Mortals even with their short lifespans forget so much before they pass."
"In this we are unique Perseus, your greatest fear is to forget your friends and family, the people who make you who you are. While my greatest fear is to lose myself amidst the endless stream of other people's memories. Neither one of us can die and so we march onwards to our inevitable fate" She laughed quietly, "You would think that I would be fine with letting my sister have it, The Lethe i mean…" She frowned almost in irritation "but it's my River, the burden is mine and I made a promise the same as my sisters did" She seemed to lose the anger and it was instead replaced by a fiery determination.
"Our fates are not entirely dissimilar Perseus, to think that one day I might forget what this place looked like, what it felt like to roam the sea freely before. I've forgotten many things in my lifetime, Perseus, even my own name if you can believe that." She paused for a moment before shrugging and returning to fiddling with her braided hair as she talked. "But not once yet in my entire existence have I met another living being who shared a fate so eerily similar to my own, so when I say you have my sympathies for your situation I truly do mean it Perseus."
"You forgot your own name?" Percy said in shock, the bubbling pit of fear in his stomach becoming far more prominent, The thought of forgetting his own name alone terrified him.
"Did you really think my father named me Forgetful?" Λήθη said with a shocked look on her face, "it's a nickname my sisters gave me, so that i couldn't 'forget' my name ever again." Λήθn said quietly.
"I just assumed since Eko was literally called vengeance… that you…" Percy stammered his way into silence as he looked at the pouting Tartarii. "What about Eko and your sisters, cant they tell you?"
"Why would I cling to that title? I've forgotten it myself, So I decided that if I couldn't remember what I was called, 'Λήθη' was a more fitting name anyway. After all, for the goddess of Memories to forget her own name…" She shrugged and looked at Percy. "Even I think it's a bit of a cruel joke" she finished and turned away to look out over the water, leaving both of them floating in the ocean at the edge of an abyss in deafening silence.
Percy looked at her first in shock but then with pity, this Goddess was suffering a fate he himself personally dreaded simply because she was born with a domain. Yet another example of the comically unbalanced scale the universe decided to use. Some people walked the world with a silver spoon in their mouths, and others had to fight for every breath.
Not anymore, not while he was here, Percy was sick of this fated bullshit.
"It's Thaye" Percy stated clearly after a moment.
"... what?.." Λήθη said in confusion, snapped from her thoughts as she turned away from the Tartarean
"Your name… It's Thaye." Percy repeated with finality.
Λήθη looked at him in confusion, not seeming to understand what Percy was getting at which was fine. He could explain it if he had to.
"I'm not going to sit here and call you forgetful over something you can't control. The Greek pronunciation sounds like Thaye. So from here on out that's what I'm going to call you." Percy said clearly. "Your name is Thaye, Goddess of Memory and one of the Tartarii, and I won't let you forget it this time."
Thay's eyes were as wide as dinner plates as she looked at him, her mouth slightly open as a fine gold color rose in her cheeks and for the first time he saw a real smile from the Goddess. Not one of her sarcastic grins, or a fangs bared snarl. A real smile, one that reached her eyes as she practically vibrated with joy.
In an instant he was enveloped in a mass of white hair and robes as she flung herself at him, latching onto his chest as she wrapped her arms around his body, barely reaching his back due to the slight size difference.
"... I don't exactly know what to say…. Besides thank you…" she said, her voice thick with emotion as she refused to meet his gaze, likewise Percy stood frozen in embarrassment and unsure what he should say or do for the Goddess. He hadn't expected much of a reaction from her at all, let alone this. "How about you call me Percy instead of Perseus then? It makes me feel old." Percy replied with a grin.
Thaye laughed at him, nodding her head against his chest for a moment, then suddenly, she seemed to lose all emotion in an instant as the water temperature returned to normal. "my sister will have gotten far ahead of us by now, we need to go or risk her anger being directed at us for taking to long"
"Show me how fast you can really move my champion" She said in her same deadpan voice, however Percy noticed the slight twinkle in her eye.
"Sure thing Thaye, lets see if you can keep up" He replied, flashing a quick grin her way under his helmet before he exploded into movement. The ground around him cracking and a miniature air bubble forming as he rocketed away from the edge of the cliff, Thaye moving just ahead of him at equally incredible speeds.
Thaye seemed to almost blend with the water, her body taking on a distinctly see through appearance as she sped through the water, almost moving through it more than she was swimming through it.
Thaye continued to guide Percy deep into the Heart of the Tartarean, which never ceased to amaze him the deeper he traveled. He was beginning to understand that the portions of the sea he had personally seen were tiny in comparison to the full expanse of the Tartarean. It stretched for what felt like thousands of miles in every direction. He had rocketed off underwater, enjoying the speed as he easily passed 300 miles per hour, and they had moved non-stop for nearly half a day now at Percy's best guess.
The travel across the Inner Sea was uneventful, there were several times during the crossing that he felt particularly uncomfortable, like something was watching him. He had extended his senses as far as they could go and he had found nothing, however Thaye had not seemed particularly interested in hanging around to find out if this was accurate.
"There are beasts I would rather not encounter in this condition, several of whom fought multiple Gods at once without being put down" Thaye had said to him mentally as they rocketed across the open expanse of water. Now casting looks of uncertainty into the black depths below him, as if some horror of the deep would emerge at any second.
Finally after hours of moving at speeds that dwarfed anything he had ever attained on the surface Percy felt more than he saw the seafloor rising back to meet them. At first Percy had been confused as to why the seafloor rose like this, at a very steady angle for what could have been dozens if not hundreds of miles before it finally began to grow steeper and steeper, however it had only taken him breaking the surface for a moment to realize what it was he was headed towards.
It was quite possibly the largest mountain he had ever personally seen. It rose like a wall of sheer black granite from the Aquamarine waters of the Tartarean. If that hadn't been enough to take Percy's breath away, the storm which he had popped up in the middle of surely did.
It was unreal, lighting was striking so quickly and there was so much water in the air that even while willing his head and the immediate area around it dry Percy still couldn't see very well, he could only imagine what it would be like for someone without control over the water. Then as a large flaming wave crashed onto his head and forced him back underwater for a moment, he was reminded of the fact that this was a suicide mission for pretty much anyone but him or the Tartarii and the creatures native to this domain.
The mountain was impressive to say the least as he moved closer towards it and the small beaches he could see scattered around its base. The whole thing was surrounded by a massive storm; rain, hail and lightning battered the mountain with the ferocity of a wild beast. The whole place practically pulsed with energy, and each resounding boom of yet another wave slamming into the mountain threw massive sprays of flaming water into the air.
Dozens of Riptides, whirlpools and water spouts dotted the surface of the ocean, not to mention the countless sharp rocks that seemed to point out away from shore, waiting for someone or something to be driven onto them and impaled by the fierce currents.
He dove back underwater, looking around for a moment before he felt a hand touch his shoulder.
"Welcome to the heart of the Tartarean Percy, and welcome to the Black Citadel." Thaye said with a hint of pride as she moved towards the shore.
Percy was incredibly interested and confused at the same time as he followed Thaye as quickly as he could, practically exploding from the water, landing on the rocky shale beach surrounding the base of the mountain with a resounding boom. Which echoed off the mountain and back out over the water.
Percy willed himself dry as he looked around him.
The beach consisted of black shale like rocks, and loose gravel, nothing too special really. There were a few larger boulders scattered around the area, his gaze followed the mountain up as he looked into the sky. It was so tall it seemed like it was going to fall down and collapse on top of him. However from its peak somewhere above the black clouds, five rivers ran, leaping and tumbling down the sides of the cliffs. Only to eventually plummet many hundreds of feet into the ocean below. He could feel a connection to two of them instantly and knew that they were the five Rivers of the Underworld, but how they were falling from the sky here he had no idea.
The mountain was made of some sort of pitch black rock, which seemed to glisten like an oil slick in the dull red light that permeated Tartarus. The whole thing was massive, it seemed to loom over him in the distance, taking up his entire vision as it seemed to stretch upwards forever.
Roughly halfway up the mountain, perched in between two massive multi-colored waterfalls, was the dilapidated ruin of a Castle. Perched on the side of the cliff, its towers and walls seemingly carved from the rock of the mountain itself.
It was by no means a rival to Olympus, but even from this distance Percy could tell it was huge, possibly larger than New Rome in its entirety, based solely on how large it appeared to be from this distance.
"Enjoying the view are you? Took the two of you long enough, I've been waiting for hours…" came the voice of Eko from off to his side as he turned and looked at the Goddess.
Almost all at once he felt the connection she had severed, re-establish itself as she looked at him sheepishly. "I needed some time, I was… Angry'' She said quickly, "I was unsure how dangerous the crossing would be and didn't want to risk distracting you with my own emotions."
"Sorry, Thaye and I had a little bonding moment, that and you took off like a bat out of hell and left us standing there." Percy replied with just a hint of sarcasm in his voice.
"Thaye?" Eko said in confusion as she looked at him and he felt the touch of her mind on his if only briefly. Ekos' look of confusion turned to one of shock and then happiness as she looked at Percy and smiled, then she turned to look at Thaye who was very clearly avoiding this conversation.
"So sister, perhaps our little champion IS growing on you?" Eko said with a grin.
A gold blush rushed across Thaye's face as she glared upwards at Eko, "really sister? Or should I call you Eko like Percy does?" Thaye said with an equally vicious grin. "Bet all our old champions would love to hear that the mighty and fearsome 'Eko' is free once again" Thaye finished with a giggle.
Eko just fixed her with a flat stare, and Percy could almost see the gears turning in her brain before she waved her hand and sighed. Turning away from Percy and marching towards the cliff. "Whatever you say little sister… Let's get started, we have a few days of work ahead of us once we get inside, I'd rather get started sooner than later." Eko called out to her sister.
Thaye nodded in reply and walked over to stand beside Eko as they both joined hands and chanted something in Old Ardwyrian, the language his people had supposedly created in order to aid their channeling of Aetherium.
Suddenly he felt a pull drawing Aetherium, lots of it as the Two goddesses auras flared into existence. The pressure easily equaled that of Hades if not more as they shouted something in unison.
"INDARUM EXUS" The sisters called out as Percy witnessed if only for a moment that strange visual effect as reality warped around the two.
For a few moments nothing happened, and then a horrible grinding cracking sound echoed out as the cliff face began to collapse, large boulders raining from the sky to slam into the beach or the water behind him as the mountain face in front of him split open with agonizing slowness.
Then he realized the mountain wasn't so much breaking open as it was crumbling away, revealing what lay behind it. At first it was hard to make out the statues, but as more of the rockface crumbled away the warriors became quite clear, twelve of them carved into the sides of the cliff, they had to be fifteen feet tall each, at least.
However when the rest of the cliff finally collapsed, and the cloud of dust and debris cleared, a sudden sense of Deja vu so strong he nearly collapsed assaulted Percy.
In front of him carved into the side of the mountain was a massive door, which wasn't the problem.
The problem was that he recognized the door, which had to be at least thirty feet tall.
It was the door from his dream, complete with the carving surrounding it engraved into the cliffside. Every last detail from the swirling runes to the depictions of Eko and her sisters was exactly as it had been in his dream. What he did not see were the massive Iron rods and chains, which had been driven into the cliffside in his vision.
However the sudden dawning realization that this was the entrance drew his gaze upwards to the castle perched on the side of the cliff. "... how big is this place?..." Percy all but gasped as he said it.
"This was once the home of our Greatest Champions, If you can believe that." Eko said sadly. "It has been abandoned for a very long time" she finished speaking as she walked past him to lay her hand on the door. "However in its prime it housed all riders and our champions, as well as acting as a sort of home if you will, for all of those who chose to side with us."
"So how many people are we talking about?" Percy said, wanting some sort of concrete answer.
"It could house several hundred quite comfortably, if that's an answer more to your liking Percy" Thaye said, he would have said it's like she could read his mind, but the joke was kind of lame since she actually could, he thought miserably.
"When was this thing even built? How in Hades is it still here?" Percy whispered in awe as he looked around him. Watching as further parts of the mountains crumbled away
"It was built for us, well more specifically for our Champion and the riders." Thaye said happily as she walked forwards towards the massive doors. Percy went to shout a warning to her as a large boulder came tumbling down towards her and was summarily blasted with ice. Freezing solid in mid air as Thaye casually waved a hand at it, solidifying every moisture particle in the air into Ice in an instant.
"However this mountain has been here since the Primordial's came into existence, It is one of the many pillars that support the realms, many of them exist and they all connect to the great tree itself. To destroy this mountain would be to destroy that which tethers this realm to the others" Thaye answered, almost casually as she closed her hand into a fist and the boulder above them shattered like glass into several thousand tiny pieces which rained down around them.
"Wait … what?-" Percy was cut off as Eko placed her free hand over his mouth, "I'm sure you will have plenty of questions for us, but in the sake of urgency, perhaps you could open the door so we can get inside and away from any possibly prying ears before we start talking about any sensitive matters?" Eko finished as she removed her hand from over his mouth.
"Alright, fine… What do I need to do?" Percy asked, only mildly annoyed she had basically just 'shushed' him. However, he wanted to get some answers as quickly as possible and he knew that at the very least Eko and Thaye would tell him what they could do once he had done as they asked.
"This entire place was built for our champion and his riders, it merely needs to hear the call of its master once more." Eko said from beside him.
"Simply walk forwards and place your hand on the door, I'm sure you know the words you need to say. After All, you said them once before." Eko finished with a grin as she gave him a gentle shove towards the massive doors looming ahead of him.
Percy walked forwards quickly, keeping any eye out above him for any additional falling rocks or boulders. It felt like minutes as he walked towards the doors, however in reality it was probably thirty seconds before he stood in front of them.
It was like a memory playing back in his head as he felt like he was watching an afterimage of someone. He raised his hand slowly and stepped forwards, feeling like he had done this a thousand times before as he laid his hand on the cold stone of the door.
Closing his eyes for a moment he searched his memory briefly, then he gathered his will as the air around him crackled with energy and he spoke clearly, his voice coming out harsh and grating as he spoke in the old tongue. "Tethar, Ardwyr Iderium".
The reaction was instantaneous as he felt a sudden surge of energy and lines of white fire raced out from his palm, tracing the runes carved into the doors as they worked their way outwards. Rapidly speeding away as lines of fire raced out across the surface of the mountain and the entire place rumbled and groaned as if it were an ancient beast, waking from a long slumber.
Then as if the entire mountain had taken a breath in, the doors swung open inwards, the sudden surge of air sucked into the mountain actually made Percy stumble forwards a few steps as he now stood inches in front of a yawning portal into the pitch black mountain.
However he still felt as if he had been here before, stumbling forwards almost in a daze as he stepped inside the doorway. Missing the looks of incredulity that passed between Eko and Thaye behind his back.
Percy remembered this, it was the grand entrance hall, a place where he had celebrated the return from a thousand hunts with his brethren. He held up his hand almost nervously as dozens of braziers along the walls responded to his will. Roaring to life in an instant as he heard the soft foot falls of Eko and Thaye walking in behind him.
Percy was too captivated by what he was looking at to even notice the Tartarii.
All around him the walls, the ceilings and even the arches and columns were covered in carvings, depicting some incredible battle. The way in which the braziers were set up, and the nature of the black walls made the white ceiling stand out in stark contrast.
It was old and cracked, but the ceiling was covered in a massive mural piece of artwork. It depicted thirteen warriors standing and fighting against the innumerable horde of enemies that seemed to climb the walls and run across the ceiling towards them in the flickering light of the fires.
His gaze traced the monster's paths and he noticed on each side of the hall were two massive carvings. Which depicted enormous monsters, towering over everything else on the battlefield.
One appeared to be a large bear, the size of small mountains with huge spikes of bone protruding from his fur across his back and upper limbs. Beside him was a large dragon, its wings were spread and it roared into the sky, unleashing some sort of blast of energy from its mouth.
Flanking them on the opposite side of the hall were two more carvings, One depicting some massive aquatic beast, whose multitude of limbs and heads made Percy feel slightly sick just looking at it. The final carving was of a massive multi limbed giant, however as best as Percy could tell not only was it made of rock or some other similar material it appeared to be spewing some kind of fire from its mouth
Percy slowly spun about in the room as he looked over all the carvings, lost in the strange sensation of Deja Vu as these memories which were not his own, yet at the same time very much were. Played over in his mind, voices raised in joy, shouting in dozens of languages he didn't understand, but recognized innately, rang out clear as day in his head.
He was startled from his thought when he felt a hand come to rest on his shoulder, and he turned to see a curious looking Eko standing before him.
"You continue to surprise me Percy" Eko said with a grin. "You opened the gateway with ease…. But is something wrong?"
"... sorry, it's… it's like I've been here before…. This all seems so familiar." Percy replied haltingly.
This time, Percy noticed the look that passed between the two sisters, one of worry and uncertainty.
"Perhaps some effects from my blessing are beginning to show themselves…?" Thaye said sheepishly as if she wasn't really certain herself. "Are you sure Percy, you aren't just tired? This place has been abandoned for Millenia, ever since our imprisonment. He would not have dared to return and as far as we know he killed the others, so you will be the first mortal to set foot within these halls in many lifetimes" she finished as she looked at Percy curiously.
"...maybe…" Percy said as he shook his head to clear his thoughts, trying to focus. However in that moment of conversation the feeling had faded. He no longer saw or felt a second set of actions mirroring his own as he blinked a few times to be sure.
"Well whatever it was it's gone now…. So I guess it's time you answered some questions of mine? Before we get down to whatever this Ritual is I assume…" Percy said with some uncertainty as he looked at the pair.
That of course is when the doors to the mountain slammed shut with a resounding boom, almost as if the castle itself were cementing the seriousness of the situation.
"Thaye…. Go get everything ready, you were always better at this than I was. I will be along shortly with Percy, we owe him an explanation and I have little doubt we will be too tired to do so much as speak for several days once this is done." Eko said with a sigh.
Thaye nodded once and walked off deeper into the grand entrance hall, before opening a set of doors at the end leading further inside the complex.
For a moment there was silence as Percy looked at Eko before he started talking "Alright, first what the hell was Thaye talking about with the whole 'this mountain is connected to the great tree?' Secondly, what the hell are these powers you've blessed me with because I don't fully understand them and I'm going to have to fight using them soon enough, I need to know." Percy said with frustration clear in his voice.
Eko gave him a knowing smile before she nodded her head "Each of us possess several domains, minor or major so it is understandable that you are confused." she said with a grin. "However, I would have thought my little sister's display earlier made her blessing quite clear. It should be equally clear that our blessings will obviously increase your control over water, however each of our domains are slightly different."
"Thaye possesses a Major Domain of the Depths, the deepest and coldest waters of the Okeanos. The waters she commands are so cold they sap everything from those who are unfortunate enough to take a dip, the desire to live, breathe, even the very essence of who that person is. As such she is immune to any kind of cold, from the freezing depths of the sea to the howling winds of the frozen poles. She has complete control over water in its frozen and liquid states, in fact her control over the water is the strongest of any of the Tartarii and she manipulates it between its various forms with ease. All talents her blessing will no doubt pass along to you" Eko finished with a grudging note of respect in her voice.
"My blessing is far less subtle; however, Vengeance is such a broad term and much harder to apply. But that doesn't make it any less powerful. Storms, tornadoes and other physical manifestations of the Sea's wrath are my domain. A pure and destructive display of the Sea's Vengeance." Eko grinned at him in an impish sort of way, "Sort of fitting right? It's one of the reasons why I was given the River of Vengeance."
"Okay so your blessings increase my power over the domains you have from the River Okeanos, but the rivers of the underworld and the Tartarean you didn't mention. Or the whole Mountain to tree roots reference?" Percy replied quickly.
Eko nodded and started walking deeper into the castle, gesturing for Percy to follow. "There was a time when we possessed an uncontested claim on the Tartarean. My sisters and I each holding a major domain within it.`` She stepped forwards and pushed the doors open to reveal a massive room with a large staircase at the far end, obviously leading to a higher level.
The room was filled with pillars, covered with more carvings, however this time they were of warriors, hundreds of them. Four to a pillar, and there were hundreds of pillars in this room.
The floor was old and cracked, several large channels ran through it that might have at one time carried liquid because they were long dry. Eko continued to walk down the hall, straight past a large intersection with two more doors and towards the massive staircase in the distance at the other end of the hall.
"However, when we were betrayed by our Champion, he turned a spell on us, one meant to bind the Gods, to prevent greater bloodshed in their self proclaimed 'Dawn War'." Eko almost growled out. "When my father and the other Titans fell, various Pantheons of Gods around the world began to make their presence known. These Pantheons, many now long faded as well as some that still exist, engaged in a war which threatened all life on this planet and possibly the realms themselves. So we were forced to act, that is why we attempted to force the Gods into an armistice of sorts, to prevent what was coming if all out Godly war consumed this world."
Eko paused for a moment, Percy could feel the rage radiating off of her as she struggled to remain calm, if only for a moment.
"When we were sealed away our domain was affected, our last Champion was Ardwyrian as well, an Incredibly powerful one, and somehow in the process of binding us to the Tartarean he took ownership of the domain only temporarily, but it was long enough. We maintained our domains, but as lesser Goddesses of the Tartarean,. Instead the Tartarean was passed to Tartarus who became the primary holder of the domain." Eko said through gritted teeth
"As the primary holder of the Domain he funneled energy from the Tartarean into himself; he used it to fuel his wars and conquests within Tartarus, doing damage with his reckless abuse of the domain over Millennia, but he could never actually drain it. As I've told you before, the Tartarean is a unique domain. This is because it acts as a power source. One of several scattered across the realms, so the one who holds it as a domain is capable of drawing on the raw power that the Tartarean possesses." Eko finished as she waited for Percy to respond.
"Okay so the Tartarean acts as a Giant reserve of magical energy…. It's made up of you and your sister's domains combined into one, which makes sense why you would share it, and as crazy as it sounds that someone could steal your domain from you I can understand that logic as well." Percy said as he and Eko walked through the center of the vast hall. "But what does this have to do with me? Why do I have a claim on it?"
"Well everything, and perhaps nothing." Eko said as she continued to walk towards the stairs, more braizers lighting themselves as they grew closer. "The Tartrean as a primary domain belonged to Tartarus, yet somehow you came into possession of a claim. When the only holders of the Tartarean before Tartarus were the five of us." Eko said slowly.
"So how did I get a claim on it?" Percy asked again incredulously.
"That is the question, isn't it?" Eko replied with a grin. "It makes you oh so interesting, that and how powerful you are." Eko said, her eyes shining as she looked at him. "Neither Theya Nor I have any idea how you have a claim on the Tartarean."
"That doesn't bother you at all?" Percy asked in shock.
"Not really no" Eko replied quickly
"Not since the days of old, when the first kings of the Ardwyr roamed the land have we seen raw strength you have. When you called to the citadel, you told it: "Open, I Am Ardwyr" and the entire mountain reacted to your presence." Eko said with a grin. " Theya told me when you summoned fire in your fight against Hades, you called on Dragonfire of all things, simply by saying the word Burn…." Eko finished with a little clap of her hands as she spun around to face him.
"You already command the Aetherium with more raw power than many Gods themselves can muster. All you need to do now is refine that skill, something that has to be learned, regardless of the inherent skill you seem to possess." She finished as she turned around and continued to walk, pointing up the staircase as she walked right between the two massive sets of steps. "The Black Books are a set of thirteen books written by your people and they contain all the words they devised in Ardwyrian to aid with the control of Aetherium. There should be copies in the Library upstairs, if they haven't crumbled to dust that is." Eko finished sheepishly
"Wait you mentioned something like that before, but you called it the Book of Ard" Percy said as he had to almost jog to keep up with Eko as she walked down a short hallway between the two staircases towards another massive door.
"The book of Ard was written after the first thirteen, and it contained several verses that were considered taboo or too powerful for use by any ordinary person, it was restricted strictly to the Ardwyrian noble family." Eko said as she regarded Percy closely before she pushed the door open and walked into another equally large room.
This one was circular and held five raised platforms around the edge of the room, each one held one large throne and two smaller ones. Then at the head of the room another singular platform sat, and on it were three more thrones, all smaller, two in the front and one slightly raised behind them all.
The room was plain by the standards of the great hall he had just walked through, no carvings or statues adorned its walls. Instead just the raised platforms and the walkway behind them were the only real discernible features which made any of the walls stand out at all.
The center of the room was dominated by a massive runed circle, in the middle of which stood Thaye, glowing with power as she manipulated water in the air into some strange pattern in the air. The runes were not recent and appeared to have been carved long ago, yet they were undamaged. Glancing around the floor quickly confirmed his suspicion, this room was not only dust free but the floor in here was completely undamaged.
Unlike the rest of the floor in the larger hall they had entered from which had been cracked and pitted.
"Okay and the mountain being part of a tree?" Percy asked quickly as they began to descend the steps down towards the middle of the room where Thaye stood.
"Well, my sister was referencing the roots of Yggdrasil," Eko said casually.
The name sounded so familiar, but then it seemed to click. "Yggdrasil… the world tree? Isn't that Norse?" Percy asked in shock, he could have sworn Annabeth had shown him books at some point back in camp that had mentioned the name, but that felt like a lifetime ago.
"Yes it is," Eko said with a raised eyebrow.
"But how? This is Tartarus?" Percy asked in confusion.
"The various Pantheons each have their own role to play in the preservation of the realms, some more than others believe it or not. There are some things even we do not know Percy, but as for the truth, There is much more to the history of this world than your Greek Gods know about or perhaps it's more that they don't care." Eko said sadly. "They say Ignorance is bliss but ignorance can be dangerous as well." she finished darkly.
"So this mountain connects Tartarus to the world tree. Which does what?" Percy asked, struggling to remember where he had heard about this before.
Eko smiled softly at the look of concentration on his face as she explained "Yggdrasil binds the magical and non magical realms together. Without it most of reality would tear itself asunder and be cast into the void."
Percy stared at her in open mouthed shock, "How is that even possible? How do the Gods not know!?" Percy almost shouted, not once had any of the Gods even hinted at the existence of other Pantheons, let alone entire realms of existence, or mentioned that some mythological Norse tree was integral to their very existence.
"This world was old when my father was born Percy, The Titans, the Gods and Humans as a whole are but a small blip in the timeline of the realms. It is the Gods arrogance that blinds them to this, and were it not for the Titans growing lax having weakened themselves with a series of civil wars we would likely not be where we are today" Eko finished as she finally reached the edge of the runed circle where Thaye still stood, her eyes closed tight in concentration.
"So this root of the world tree binds this realm to all the others? How many are there?" Percy asked as he looked at the black granite walls around him.
"Correct Percy, and none Lady Chaos herself knows how many realms Yggdrasil is connected to" Came the voice of Thaye, who walked over towards Percy, a strange swirling black water dancing in the air within the runic circle on the floor behind her.
"So I take it, that's what you needed to get ready?" Percy asked nervously as he eyed the water.
Thaye nodded before turning to Eko, "I'm ready whenever you are sister" Thaye said quietly as she crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her foot impatiently.
"Alright, what exactly does this involve?" Percy said with a little hesitation as he looked at the strange black water floating in the air, eerily reminiscent of the water in the waters in the Nymphaeum underneath Rome.
"Eko and I are going to inscribe you with the marks of an Ardwyr. Normally the process would take months as each mark is rather painful. However you don't have months and you need as many complete inscriptions as we can give you before you need to leave for the Shadow Court." Thaye said quickly. "The water is to help us keep you alive, and to inscribe the marks. We don't have the time to do them by hand."
"Is there any reason it's black? and steaming….." Percy asked in confusion
"I'm sorry it's not Pink and ice cold… would you rather we use knives that won't stitch the cuts back up when we're done? So you can spend weeks healing in bed like your ancestors?" Eko asked in a sarcastic voice.
"No it's just it looks uhh, unappealing.. I guess." Percy said as he rubbed the back of his neck. "You keep saying inscriptions, what exactly are you going to do to me?" he asked nervously.
"The marks are individual runes, while powerful they can only do so much. Instead your ancestors developed a method of combining dozens of runes in various patterns to create inscriptions. Groups of runes that work together and increase the effectiveness of the others." Eko quickly added, seeing Percy's confused look. "The inscriptions will act like a protective barrier of sorts when you channel Aetherium, however the marks themselves are imbued with Aetherium during the inscription process, that latent energy would be enough to kill most Mortals." she finished.
"I'm guessing there's a downside to inscribing them so quickly, bonus points if I'm not going to like it" Percy said miserably.
"It's going to hurt, probably pretty bad." Eko said with a frown as she looked at him.
"Guess that's par for the course by this point, and you said this is going to take several days?" Percy asked with a sigh.
"Well assuming you'd rather not die then yes we may need to take some breaks to allow your body to heal. The process of inscribing these marks is painful, but when we are finished there won't be many immortals let alone Gods who will contest your control of the Aetherium, and with some training you would be unstoppable…" Thaye said with a small smile at the end.
"Alright, but we aren't done with this conversation. If the Ardwyrians are my people, then I want to know everything that happened to them, from their rise to their fall." Percy said flatly as he looked at Eko. "And I want to know about whatever history you have with them that you haven't told me yet, you two know far too much about their history and rituals to have been passive bystanders..."
Both sisters looked at Percy and smiled before nodding their heads "When you return, we will have rested enough to continue this, and I promise you Percy we will answer any questions you have."
"Alright, well, let's get this over and done with I guess" Percy said with some hesitation as he walked into the middle of the runic circle.
Within seconds of entering the circle he felt like he was holding a live wire in one hand, that's how charged and empowered the air within the runic circle was. Eko stepped up beside him and waved her hand, a rattling clanking sound filling the room for a moment as a pair of iron manacles attached to the ground with chains appeared in the circle.
"Percy… you need to stay somewhat still during this process and unfortunately this is going to hurt badly. Even Ardwyrians who received their marks at a normal speed required restraints… i'm sorry to have to do this but-" Eko was cut off when Percy walked over and held out his wrists, looking Eko straight in the eyes.
She looked back at him, nodding once at the determination he was showing before she reached out and locked both manacles over his wrists. Waving her hand as she did so, the straps holding his armor on simply fell apart as she stripped the ruined chest piece off of his torso, discarding it on the floor.
"Remember Percy when we are done, you must return to Nyx with all haste, we won't be able to accompany you but rest assured we will gather our strength as best we can so that when you are fighting the Titans we can at least support you with energy from the Tartarean." Thaye said quickly as her aura began to flare up and the black water in the air whipped about in a frenzy.
Percy nodded, then Thaye raised her hand in unison with Eko, the two of them speaking in Ardwyrian as the water raced forwards and began to literally burrow into his skin. searing his flesh as it did so, until it had moved across almost his entire body, leaving him feeling like he was being immersed in molten metal.
"Okay, that sucked…. How many more of those do we have to do?" Percy said through gritted teeth as he looked at Eko and Thaye who looked at him sadly.
"That was just the start…" Eko said quietly, "We can begin carving the inscriptions whenever you are ready…"
"Oh.. great so how many do you need to uhh, 'carve'?" Percy asked, swallowing as he did so.
"Only a few hundred or so…. For what it's worth, I'm sorry Percy." Thaye said as a fresh wave of pain assaulted him, accompanied by the chanting, however this time it was just Thaye, as she whispered a series of words again and again.
The tendrils of water raced up and down his forearm as the pain radiating from the area became nearly unbearable. A scream tore itself free of his throat as this went on for nearly five minutes, by the end of which a steady stream of blood ran down his arm and dripped from his clenched fist onto the ground.
However, now his arm was covered in a glistening series of black glyphs which circled his arm from his wrist to his elbow. Written in Greek, they radiated power but nothing he was familiar with. However the names themselves, well that was a different story; Annabeth, Clarisse, Piper, Jason, Chiron, Frank, Hazel…. The list went on and on as it wound around his arm.
"You gave me something I had thought I lost Percy, If you can promise me that I won't forget who I am. Then the least I can do is try to help make sure you don't lose them. Those marks wont fade, and at least now, no matter what happens you will always know who is important to you." Thaye finished quietly as her face flushed gold.
Before he even had a chance to reply, the sisters began chanting in unison once more, and that's when the real pain started. His muscles locked up as his entire body was tensed like a loaded spring, straining against the chains as the Tartarii used whatever that water was to literally carve the glyphs into Percy's skin.
The pain was getting pretty bad and it had only been going on for a few minutes, but it felt like someone was pouring molten metal into his veins. He could feel the heat wafting off of the liquid as it touched his skin.
A fresh wave of agony washed over him as he felt the waters recede for a moment, revealing a shiny black inscription on the skin over his ribs; it consisted of two lines almost like a double triangle stacked on top of itself, but open at the top. Surrounding it were several smaller glyphs reminiscent of the runes he had seen around the gateway to get inside. Blood ran in small rivulets down his leg as the water burned and sealed the Glyphs.
The smell of Iron and burnt skin flooding his nostrils as he tried to focus on anything other than this uniquely agonizing form of torture. The only constants were the feeling of the cold Iron Manacles on his wrists and the agony of the inscription process.
And so it went on for hours, or days as Percy lost all track of time, at times he screamed in pain and at other times it didn't even hurt. Sometimes they would continue to carve glyphs in him for hours at a time, and others they would inscribe a single mark before stopping. Percy wasn't sure when he lost track of when and where he was. Simply knowing that when the pain finally stopped for good, his friends would need him.
Even through it all he maintained that single thought, burning in the back of his mind as his blood pooled on the stone floor at his feet.
His friends needed him.
Several Days In Tartarus Later
Percy Day 26 In Tartarus
Percy had made an incredible time crossing the Inner Sea. Pushing his body beyond its mortal limits thanks to the Inscriptions the Tartarii had given him, which had allowed him to use far more power than any mortal had the right to. He had crossed the inner sea in mere hours instead of nearly a full day, leaving a trail of white fire in the water behind him, not dissimilar to the Tartarii themselves. The only small hiccup had been an hour or two outside of the Heart of the Tartarean, when he had been above the bottomless depths of the inner sea.
He had felt an overwhelming presence far below him, something stirring as a distant roar sounded out even underwater. If Percy had been going quick before that, he easily doubled his speed, remembering the warning that Thaye had given him in regards to the monsters of the Tartarean depths.
As he rocketed away he thought for a moment he had seen some vast shape moving in the darkness beneath him. But he had focused his entire being, all his will power on moving faster. Soon enough the feeling of the presence below him faded.
Not long after that he had found himself in the shallows of the Tartarean, and it had not taken him long to retrace his steps, until now he stood in the shallows, no more than a dozen feet from the blasted and scarred shore where he had fought Hades. Percy walked out of the waters of the Tartarean as if he was taking a casual mid day stroll, however he felt anything but casual and laid back right now.
Percy felt energized, his curse mark wasn't bothering him for the first time in days, and his head felt clear of all the voices. The swirling series of marks that now covered his back and ribs were worth every minute of pain Percy thought with a grim smile, if this was all he had needed to actually fight, he would do it all over again without hesitation.
Now Percy already had a plan forming in his head as he looked at the hundreds of Hellhounds clustered around the beach. He had called out to them mentally an hour or so earlier as he approached the beach, not surprisingly none of the Hellhounds made so much as a hostile glance in his direction. Most of them looked at him curiously from the corners of their eyes.
He needed to get back to the Court of Shadows as fast as possible, and Hellhounds can Enter the Shadow realm. Percy needed to prove to Nyx that he had done as she asked, That he was worthy to command her forces and that he could and would uphold his end of the bargain they had made.
As he was mid thought, one massive Hellhound bounded towards him, as he turned and drew his sword instantly. Her huge tank-like body complete with spiked collar and name tag clearly visible as she rushed towards him happily.
"Hey you.." Percy said with a grin underneath his helmet as he looked at Mrs. O'Leary in all her glory, sheathing his sword as she bounded towards him like a hyperactive puppy. "Guess you heard me call out huh?" He asked as the large dog left him covered in slobber after a few licks.
"Well let's make this quick then, I've got places to be" he said quietly to his dog as he turned and faced the large collection of Hellhounds.
"Umbra is dead, I will be returning to Lady Nyx's court…. Hopefully it's clear that when I call you again, you will respond just like you did now. If not, I'll be happy to come find you again and make an example out of whoever decides to disobey me and thereby Nyx herself." Percy said with a growl as he looked out at the hellhounds with his best wolf stare.
Not a single one of the Hellhounds would meet his eye, and none of them so much as made a whimper for nearly thirty seconds until Percy finally relented. Instead turning to look back at Mrs. O'Leary. "Take me to the Shadow Court girl…" Percy said softly.
Mrs. O'Leary whimpered and turned to look at him her head cocked to the side in confusion, "Don't worry girl, I promise it'll be a warm welcome" Percy said with a smile as he reached out and laid a hand on her side, before quickly vaulting onto her back.
Mrs. O'Leary waited for a moment as Percy landed on her back before she took off, rushing towards the towering mountains and into the shadows between some rocks. For a moment his body tensed up, expecting the impact and instead he ran face first into the shadows. Wincing as he waited for the soul shattering cold that came with traversing this realm.
Instead he felt, maybe a slight tingle in his fingertips, even as he could see his breath frosting in the air. "So this is what Eko meant… huh neat." Percy said to himself with a grin as Mrs. O'Leary continued to navigate though shadows racing deeper and deeper into the Shadow Realm.
Some Time later
Percy was filled with a nervous sort of excitement as he waited on the other side of the massive obsidian doors of Nyx's throne room. He had arrived minutes ago at the gates of the palace astride Mrs. O'Leary, only to be whisked to the inside to the Shadow Court nearly immediately by several Dark Elves.
The group consisted of a dozen or so in addition to a watch captain, they regarded him with a healthy dose of fear, and several of them whispered "ακονίτο" as he walked past them. They had declared that they would wait with him at the doors until he was received. Then they had immediately assumed positions flanking the doors up and for the hallway on both sides, all of them save for the captain stared at the ground and refused to even look in his direction as the captain regarded him with open curiosity and perhaps a little fear.
"Many of the court said you were dead when you did not return immediately. Some had feared the worst, but rumor has it Lady Nyx assured the court she was certain of your success." The captain said in almost a whisper.
"Well here I am…" Percy said in a flat voice, trying to keep the impatience out of his tone.
"And Umbra…..?" The elf said quietly as he looked at Percy.
"Very, very dead…." Percy replied, his eyes flashing under his helmet.
"Oh…. well then allow me to be the first to congratulate you my lord.." The captain said as he bowed low.
"And you are?" Percy asked in curiosity, "Also lose the Lord thing, not a king or a lord…" Percy ended his little speech with a glare as he looked at the elf.
"Kalvar, and I shall do my best to accommodate your desires, sir. However Nyx proclaimed you were a Prince of the Tartarean before the entire court. Such a declaration ran rampant across the Shadow Realm within days.." The elf replied with a straight face.
"You are a Lord, in a sense you command a title of equal power to those of the Lords and Ladies of Tartarus. Even if you are only a Prince, you remain the sole being in Tartarus beyond the Tartarii themselves who can control the Primal Sea." The dark elf said with no trace of emotion on his face as he inclined his head in Percy's Direction. "So forgive me this my Lord, but it would not end well for me to be seen addressing you as anything less than that which you are. Especially in the presence of Lady Nyx's courtiers…."
Percy felt the corner of his mouth twitch slightly as he was torn between laughing at or throttling the smartass. "Kalvar…. I'll keep that in mind" Percy said cheerfully as the doors to the Throne room finally opened. Kalvar simply bowed again in response as Percy sighed and walked into the court.
Percy turned to look behind him at the elf, "Wait here for me, I think you and I need to have a conversation Kalvar." Percy called out behind him as he marched into the throne room. The large doors swung shut before he could hear Kalvar's reply. But he was sure the elf had heard him.
His head held high as his armor still bore the marks of his battle not only with Umbra, but Hades as well. Several massive tears from Umbra's claws in the plate covering his abdomen as well as several slashes and puncture wounds throughout from his battle with Hades.
His helmet and greaves were scuffed and dented, all in all he assumed it looked like he had been through a war. Percy supposed in a way he had, but after the treatment Eko and Thaye had given him he felt fucking amazing.
He felt like he could rip Ares limb from limb with his bare hands, and then run up and down Mount Olympus with Hephaestus strapped to his back.
He was practically vibrating with restless energy as he walked down the steps to the main floor of the room. Almost at once all side conversation stopped as he felt hundreds of pairs of eyes turn in his direction.
The Iron shod soles of his sandals clacked against the marble floor of Nyx's throne room as he walked down the central aisle towards her throne. All about him, voices whispered, an endless low drone as he kept his eyes locked on the only one in the room who mattered at this moment.
His mistress, Lady Nyx herself.
He walked forwards coming to a stop several feet from the raised Dias upon which her throne sat. It was here that he dropped to one knee, carefully holding the package he had wrapped in black cloth tightly in one hand as he waited for Nyx to say something.
"Rise my Herald, tell me what brings you back?" Nyx said with a grin on her face.
Percy responded by rising from his knees and unraveling the package he held in his hands, before he threw its contents; one of Umbra's canines to the ground at Nyx's feet. The four foot long tooth hit the ground with a dull thud that echoed around the hall.
"I see, I take it Umbra was unwilling to return here and speak with me" Nyx shook her head and sighed "I'm so disappointed in him, but in you my Herald, in you I am nothing but impressed." Nyx said in a low and sultry voice.
"Anything you wish for, my lady." Percy said with a low bow and closed his eyes, calling out mentally as he had on the beach. "COME TO ME" he called out mentally to the pack.
He didn't have to wait long as before he could open his eyes he heard the gasps from various courtiers around the room. Followed almost immediately by the sound of growls and barks as hundreds of hellhounds exited the shadows around the throne room, their eyes averted from Percy and Nyx as they snarled and growled at pretty much everything else.
"LOOK AT THE GIFT NYX'S HERALD BRINGS! THE PACK IS WITH US ONCE MORE!" A voice cried out from the upper levels. For a second there was silence and then the couriers and dark gods exploded into cheers and raucous applause.
Nyx rose from her throne a grin plastered across her face as she raised her hand and all at once the room grew silent.
"Perfect my herald, you have done exactly as I asked… at no small risk and without breaking the oath you made to me, even with the extenuating circumstances involved in your duel with Hades." Nyx said with a wide grin on her face.
"Saw that, did you?" Percy asked nonchalantly.
"Not personally, but several of my children relayed the tale to me" Nyx said as she gestured to the side and Percy followed her gesture with his gaze.
Spotting two very familiar looking gods, One of which was Thanatos and the other, Hecate.
"I believe a reward is in order." Nyx continued as the cheers from the courtiers and other dark gods roared back into existence at Nyx's declaration. The Primordial goddess wore a wide grin on her face.
"UMBRA IS DEAD! My son, Faded from our realm by my own Herald who you see standing here before you." Nyx started to say, her voice easily cutting through the cheering crowd.
"The same Herald who will lead our armies on a conquest across the entire breadth of Tartarus. Are there any here who will still doubt his prowess or right to lead the Armies of Night?" Nyx called out.
"The slayer of Tartarus, Prince of the Tartarean, Herald of Nyx and now, Lord of Wolves." Nyx said as she gestured to Percy.
"From this day forward, my herald shall be known as Umbra. A name he is far more deserving of than my cowardly and traitorous son. Likewise Umbra shall receive the domain my late son so unwillingly vacated." Nyx said with a grin as the crowd of courtiers grew silent.
"With the Great Pack at our disposal and the Army of Night, we will be unstoppable. No force commanded by the Lords and Ladies of Tartarus comes anywhere near to the power my Herald will command." Nyx finished.
"ARE THERE ANY WHO WOULD DOUBT MY CLAIM? ANY WHO WOULD DISAGREE WITH UMBRA LEADING YOU NOW?" Nyx roared out suddenly into the crowd, her eyes practically exploding into pinpoints of light as her aura flared up and the shadows in the courtroom raged like a trapped animal. Tendrils of shadow snaking across the walls and smothering out the strange fires which burned in the braziers around the room.
Dead silence met this comment, not a single being dared to voice an opinion counter to Nyx's own.
"That's what I thought." Nyx finished calmly as she turned to Percy, seemingly rather happy with the stunned silence her court was absorbed in.
"Herald, do you accept these gifts? Both the name of Umbra, his domain and his position as the Alpha of the Great Pack?" Nyx said as she looked at him expectantly.
Percy slowly knelt on the ground at Nyx's feet, his head bowed as he waited. "Of course Milady, I am your Herald, if this is what you desire than of course I will accept these gifts." Percy said as he looked back at Nyx curiously.
"Very well then" Nyx replied back with another grin.
The primordial walked forwards, laying her hand on Percy's brow as he felt her gathering energy within herself.
"I hereby proclaim that my Herald, Henceforth known as Umbra, is the sole claimant to the Title Lord of Wolves after my late son" Nyx declared clearly, her voice ringing out across the throne room.
"Are there any who would dispute his claim?" Nyx asked dangerously, almost as if daring someone to speak out, which none of her courtiers were foolish enough to do.
"So be it, Then by the powers I possess as Primordial of Night, and in accordance with the laws of ascension, I hereby pass to you the Command of The Great Pack, as I once before passed it to my son." Nyx said as her voice rang out with power.
Shouts of confusion erupted from the courtiers as they looked down on Nyx and Percy from every possible ledge and balcony.
The surge of energy that roared out of Nyx's palm was incredible and in an instant Percy was flat on his back, writhing in pain as he was assaulted by waves of Energy. He could feel the marks that now covered most of his back, sides and arms burning white hot as they countered the intense amount of power that was flooding his system.
The curse mark on his chest was slowly starting to hurt more and more. As Percy gritted his teeth and forced himself up from his back, returning to his kneeling position once more as a fresh wave of pain assaulted his senses. He could feel the burning pain at the back of his head, as his curse mark activated, a flurry of images rushing by in his mind's eye.
He saw himself slashing one of the furies in half inside a museum, a strange scene where he could see nothing but blue sky all around him for miles in every direction as his body screamed in pain. Dozens of memories flashed before his eyes as his curse struggled to keep his body in one piece even with the aid of Inscriptions carved by the Tartarii.
The whole experience lasted maybe twenty or thirty seconds, and when it ended Percy collapsed onto his hands and knees, steam wafting off his exposed skin as he drew in huge gasps of air.
Suddenly he could smell everything, and he meant everything. The sweat on his own skin, the dry dusty air, the strange brimstone like quality that the fires exuded, and above all he could smell this sickeningly sweet, almost fruit like aroma that hung in the air throughout the court.
The shadows seemed to vanish in an instant, the entire room appearing far more gray than it had previously, but also without any of the shadowy black patches that had previously been invisible to him.
He could hear his own heartbeat, fuck he could hear Nyx's heartbeat as well as that of several dozen others in the room. The crackling of the braziers which had been somewhat muted before, may as well have been a roaring monster as he almost winced at the noise assaulting his ears.
Every one of his senses seemed to be dialed up to a thousand, and if the roaring voices of the Tartarii and their domains hadn't been enough, he heard thousands of Hellhounds everywhere, not just those in the courtroom. Howling, the sound was so loud it made the Tartarii's song seem quiet in comparison, it actually drove him to clutch at his head momentarily.
"Calm yourself, the domain will take a moment to settle, try to relax" He heard the voice of Nyx ring out clearly in his mind as he groaned in pain.
He heard voices crying out in confusion in the background as the clamor of voices grew overwhelming. Percy was trying to do as Nyx was telling him, but he couldn't focus with all these voices. If everyone could just shut up for a second, Percy groaned again as another wave of pain washed over him.
"S-shut up…" he said almost in a whisper as he tried to force himself to his feet.
The roar of noise continued unabated, as if no one had heard, or as if they simply didnt care.
Well fuck that Percy was going to make them care.
"I SAID SHUT UP" Percy roared out as his aura flared to life, the flagstones under his feet shattering as a pulse of energy roared out from him.
Dead silence followed that command, no one, not the Dark Gods, not the hellhounds and not the courtiers even moved a muscle as Percy struggled to his feet. The pain subsiding as his entire body glowed, arcs of arcane power literally leaping off his skin.
"As expected… Claiming a domain was nothing you couldn't handle my Herald…" Nyx said with a wide grin as Percy stumbled forwards, dropping into a kneeling position at Nyx's half in reverence, half in exhaustion.
"Behold, Umbra, Prince of the Tartarean, Slayer of Tartarus, Lord of Wolves and Herald of Nyx." Cried a voice from the balcony above as slowly the chant was taken up by the entire court. Dozens of Gods whose domains were the stuff of nightmares howled and screeched as they cheered for their newest champion.
Percy stood shakily and turned around, his eyes flashing bright green, and noticed in shock that every single Hellhound in the throne room was looking at him. And gone were the glaring red eyes he had for so long associated with the beasts.
Instead their eyes glowed a fierce sea green to match his own, a hundred glowing eyes, filled with hunger to match his own. One he was going to satisfy by killing as many of the Titans as he could lay his hands on.
'
Authors Notes:
Terminology:
Ακονίτο: Wolfsbane
Ignari: Burn
Tethar, Ardwyr Iderium: Open, I Am Ardwyr
Wow, this was a huge damn chapter, and to think. I thought I'd get this one out in a day hahah *cries a little*. 140k words wow, didn't expect to get this far this fast, (and we aren't even close to halfway done… what have i done to myself)
Hopefully you all enjoyed this midweek update, I want to get onto some of the later Arcs i have planned out but that means I have to get through all of this first haha!
I was serious about letting you guys decide the fate of Percabeth in this story, but I'm going to make you wait to poll it until after Chapter 21, Because that will be a big one.
Thanks to anyone who chooses to review/like/follow it means alot! and I hope you all enjoyed reading this chapter! As always until next time!