Lessons of the Pit

by JaguarAJG

After 9 days of falling in silence and fear, Percy Jackson, Hero of Olympus, finally lands in the cursed caverns of Tartarus, the pit of monsters, only to find himself alone, weak and unprepared. Through pain and struggle he must continue his quest to seal the Doors of Death, enduring trials that will threaten fragile grasp on his sanity. Part one of the Tartarian Legacy series.

3. I Receive A Frosty Reception

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson. If I did, we would have a series on Arthurian Legend

Edited for a couple of autocorrected words

Chapter 3: I Receive A Frosty Reception

There was good news and bad news. The good news? I didn't die. The bad news? I missed the water.

I slammed down on the gravelly shore of the river hard, and I muffled a scream as I heard an audible crack as my leg exploded in pain, causing me to stumble over, collapsing against the rough surface below me.

It was testament to the pain that I didn't feel the shards digging into my flesh as I lay sprawled across the torturous terrain. In fact, I couldn't feel anything but the raging agony in my left leg, more specifically my ankle, radiating across my body. I risked a look.

I turned away immediately, dry heaving the food that I did not have in my stomach, for that was in the nature of Tartarus: it would keep you alive through hunger and thirst, to torture you further, without appeasing the constant gnawing in your stomach, the constant need for sustenance. But that was secondary to my current predicament.

My ankle was mangled horrible, bent unnaturally in two places and weeping blood, a shard of bone sticking out the front. I had no doubt that the Tartarian air would heal the wound in time, but I would be in a lot of trouble until it did.

Wincing, I pushed myself up, so that I was balancing on my uninjured leg, and slowly began to limp away, blinking away tears that formed in my eyes with each step of the journey, the haze of my pain blending the movements together.

After several steps, I collapsed, my breathing heavy and ragged as I slumped against an outcrop of volcanic stone, shards of volcanic glass digging into my open wound. I let out a muffled cry of pain as the constant pain was cranked up to eleven, my leg in more pain than I had ever felt, except perhaps when I bathed in the Styx all those years ago. Actually, I mused, it was probably more painful, as the pain of the Styx was so intense I didn't completely register it.

I was out of action. I could not continue with such a burden. I cursed the gods, the titans, the fates, anything I could think of. I was going to lose even more time. Maybe not as long as a broken bone would take on Earth, but it was still too long.

Alas, I never did have much luck. Case in point the bulbous sack that sat before me, containing a being that could only be a Titan. It had the facial features of the brother's for a start; Krios, Hyperion and Iapetus. I vaguely remembered them having a sibling, the South of the compass, which would certainly match the Titan's paleness, and the general coldness that seemed to radiate off of him.

Cursing my luck, I tried to pull myself away, but every movement caused a fresh wave of pain and nausea, a persistent agony tearing through my body. I collapsed against the volcanic shards, staring blankly at the Titan, my mind fogged with pain.

It was not long until the pustule burst.

Much like the harpy, the pustule exploded with a wave of energy and waste matter, yet the sheer size difference of the being sent my sprawling across the jagged plain, thankfully half-hidden behind a large outcrop..

The Titan sank to a knee, breathing heavily, even as the aura of power that seemed to surround him began to intensify.

"Back…" the titan whispered, still hunched over. "I am back, returned to this godsforesaken pit." He spat, before pausing. "And yet… there is something there. Something unique."

I held my breath, trying to stay as quiet as possible. It was an exercise in futility.

"A heartbeat, a frantic heartbeat," he mused, tilting his head. "A trespasser, a gift to a titan reborn."

The titan lunged forward, gripping me by my neck, gently squeezing as my throat began to freeze from the frigid air that radiated off of him.

He blinked, confusion evident in his face. It made him look the most human out of any titan I had ever seen. "Perseus Jackson?"

"Sup?" I choked out, regretting it as he squeezed a little tighter, the cold intensifying.

"But this doesn't make any sense!" the Titan roared. "Why are you here?" He paused. "I suppose it does not matter; however you came to be here, you shall be my greatest triumph!" He tossed me to the side, causing me to wince as my battered form scraped against the coarse ground. "Stand up and fight me!" he bellowed. "Fight me so I may prove my superiority!"

I struggled to my feet, limply holding onto my blade as I stared at my attacker. I spat a globule of half frozen blood out to my side. "If…" I choked, pausing as my throat struggled to make out the words. "If I am to die today, which I probably won't - bigger than you have tried - may I at least know the name of my slayer?"

His face contorted into a snarl. "How can you not know me?" he bellowed. "I am Koios, the Southern Titan of the great Titan Lords!"

I frowned. "If you are one of the big wigs, why weren't you in the war?"

"Bah," he spat. "Kronos insisted someone had to guard Valhalla - to prevent the Norse from interfering. Stupid job. Should have gone to Krios. Constellations!" he scoffed. "I am the Lord of Ice and Mind!"

"Never would have guessed," I deadpanned.

"You mock me?" he bellowed, growing steadily more furious. "Let us see you laugh when I rip you to shreds!"

He was quick, his spear slamming down in front of me before I even registered it, only my demigod reflexes saving me from being impaled. "Hey, no need to be frosty!"

"I will slay you like the animal you are!" he yelled, taking another wild swipe at me, a swipe I only managed to dodge by stumbling backwards. I was playing for time, hoping for some desperate plan to pop into my head. It was dubious whether I could take the Titan at the best of times, but wounded, exhausted and in Tartarus? No way.

"Hey!" I yelled. "I resent that remark! I am a perfectly sentient hooman bean!"

The titan didn't seem to appreciate the reference, answering only with a guttural cry, swinging his spear like a baseball bat.

The shaft hit me full on the chest, slamming into me like a freight car, the sheer force vaporising the surface of my skin, the frozen aura searing it shut while my ribcage shattered and imploded, shards digging into my lucks.

I let out a strangled cry as I flew through the air. This was it. I had met my match. The Fates had one, and I wouldn't even make Elysium.

My eyes flickering shut, my soul straining away, I hit the river with a dull thud, sinking below as everything went dark.

-o

The first thing that I realised was that I wasn't dead. The second was that I probably was dead after all.

It was odd. I was nowhere, yet I was somewhere. There was nothing around me, and yet there was something. I was not there, and yet I was.

I looked around, but the sight remained the same; an inky darkness as far as the eye could see, speckled with some sort of staticky substance. I reached out, pitching forwards as pain erupted in my gut. I looked down. And then proceeded to throw up.

My chest was torn open, blood freely floating away from the deflated sacks that I assumed were my lungs, with several shards of bone joining them. My heart slowly throbbed, far slower than I knew it ought to, struggling to escape. And all around it, the flesh was black, burnt by the icy touch of the Titan.

"I WOULDN'T DO THAT, MY YOUNG DEMIGOD."

The voice echoed around me, deafening yet whisper like, a harmony of voices yet a singularity, male yet female, ahead yet behind.

"YOU ARE NOT YET DEAD, YET NOT ALIVE, EITHER. THERE IS BOUND TO BE SOME PAIN."

I looked around, trying to see the source. Yet all I could see was nothing. And yet something.

"DO NOT TRY TO COMPREHEND THIS PLACE. IT IS BEYOND WHAT YOUR INSIGNIFICANT MIND CAN PROCESS. THIS IS ALL THAT HAS BEEN, ALL THAT IS AND ALL THAT SHALL BE, ALONG WITH THAT WHICH NEVER CAN. SUFFICE TO SAY, THIS IS ME."

I tried to speak, tried to argue back in indignation, but found no voice.

"PERSEUS JACKSON YOU ARE NOT GOING TO SPEAK, FOR YOU HAVE NO VOICE BOX, SO FOR GOODNESS SAKE STOP TRYING."

I froze, giving a slightly embarrassed grin. At least I think I did. I wasn't sure how much of my face remained.

"I AM ETERNITY. I AM INFINITY. I AM THE VOID. I AM DEATH. I AM LIGHT. I AM ORDER. I AM CHAOS!"

My heart skipped a beat. Chaos. The almighty creator of the universe. The being not even the primordials had seen. The being that could crush me like a bug without even realising.

"YES, I AM CHAOS. YET I AM NOT THE CREATOR, FOR I AM THE UNIVERSE, AND THE UNIVERSE IS ME." There was a pause. "AND I WOULD REALISE, FOR I SEE ALL, FEEL ALL." There was another pause, before it spoke again, sounding slightly amused. "HANG ON, WAS THAT YOU CALLING ME FAT?"

I shook my head desperately, not daring to risk misunderstanding the entity's intentions.

"HOLD YOUR HORSES, I'M ONLY KIDDING. SHEESH, SO UPTIGHT."

I tilted my head, hoping my meaning was clear. I was, after all, very confused. One didn't just show up to meet the creator anytime, not even when they died.

"WHY ARE YOU HERE?" it asked. I nodded. "IT IS NOT YOUR TIME YET. GAIA, MY CREATION, IS VILE AND MAD, SEEKING TO DESTROY ALL THAT IS ME. THAT IS UNACCEPTABLE. ONLY YOU CAN STOP HER, AND SO I MUST PREVENT YOUR PASSING."

I blinked. I was not expecting that. Though… it could be said I wasn't sure what I was expecting.

"YOU ARE IN A UNIQUE POSITION IN WHICH I MAY CIRCUMVENT THE ANCIENT LAWS. YOU ARE IN TARTARUS, SO YOU WOULD BE CLAIMED BY ME UPON DEATH. I DO NOT WISH TO CLAIM YOU, AND SO SHALL RELEASE YOU, SO THAT YOU CAN HEAL AND FIGHT THE TITAN OF THE SOUTH."

I gulped.

"YOU ARE PERFECTLY ABLE TO SLAY KOIOS, AS YOU ARE ABLE TO SLAY GAIA. BUT FIRST, YOU MUST FACE MANY TRIALS. AND BEFORE THOSE TRIALS, YOU MUST FIRST MAKE A STOP BETWEEN HERE AND LIFE. GOODBYE, PERSEUS JACKSON. YOUR PAIN HAS JUST BEGUN."

-o

I awoke again, gasping for breath. I looked down, thankful to see that my wounds had been healed. In fact… I pinched my bicep. Sweet, upgrades.

I looked around. I was definitely somewhere now. It was an office, though coated in a large amount of dust and surrounded by thick fog. "Hello?" I called out. "Is there a Mister or Missus creepy anywhere?"

"Perseus!" a jovial voice called out. I whipped around, finding myself face to face with a rather elderly woman.

Elderly was an understatement. This woman was ancient. Her skin was thick with wrinkles, with her eyes sunken into her face. She wore bulbous glasses, and had wispy grey hair radiating from her head like a halo. She wore a bright, flowery dress like those that hippies liked to wear, and her wrinkled feet were enveloped in bulky sandals with thick soles.

"It's great to finally meet you! I'm your biggest fan!" she exclaimed, jumping up and down on the spot, with an energy typically not found in the elderly.

"Uh, hi?" I said hesitantly.

"Hiya!" she waved energetically, bouncing on the spot.

"So…" I drawled. "I'm, uh, assuming that you are some sort of immortal. Probably a primordial, if Chaos sent me to you."

"You met Chaos?" she asked, seeming momentarily shocked, before she nodded. "Very clever. I am primordial." She turned, hobbling over to the small chair behind the desk. "First off, I am so sorry about my daughters. Despite me giving you opportunities, they seem to just want to cause you suffering, mainly because you avoided the death they assigned you."

"Your daughters?" I frowned. "Then that means…" my eyes widened. "Your Ananke!"

She cackled. "Clever boy. There's a reason you're my favourite."

I gulped. It wouldn't do to anger the primordial of fate. "So, uh, why am I here?"

She shrugged. "How'd I know? You just showed up. Though…" she squinted. "If Chaos sent you, she probably wants me to give a reading."

"A reading?" I asked.

"A reading," she replied solemnly. "Is basically a prophecy, but better. The Ancient Laws prevent me from directly telling you your fate, word to word from the Book-"

"Book?"

"Book of souls," she said casually. "The tapestry was getting too big."

I blinked. "Right. Book."

"Anyway, I can't do that, but I can give an interpretation - a little prophecy all about you, with hints of your upcoming trials."

"Yeah, Chaos mentioned trials," I said as she rummaged through the desk.

"Yup, you've got shit coming up," she said, whipping a large book, emblazoned with the Greek letter psi, slamming it down onto the table. "But at least you can be prepared, eh?"

I nodded. "That'd be nice."

She flicked through the book, before finally stopping at a page. "Here we are. Now, here is your reading."

She looked up, her eyes suddenly pure green as her voice became a sorrowful harmonic of crying souls, the tone tearing into me like knives.

"Styx and Snow may break thy bones,

But words shall never hurt thee.

War shall come to town,

Destruction following after.

Monsters and murderers plenty,

And with them an old enemy,

Before the stars shall come.

The great hero's demons,

Shall herald world's end.

Fire and Fate shall strike thee down,

Before Winter knocks again.

Giants and Titans,

And thy love's great fear,

Stand before Night's Mist.

And at the end of all thy strife,

Shall thee fight fire, with fire."

I blinked. I blinked again. "It didn't rhyme."

"And that, dear Perseus, is because I am not Apollo," she smiled, before freezing. "Farewell, Perseus, I bid thee farewell." And then my vision faded once more.

-o

As my eyes opened for the final time, I was faced with a furious, female face glaring directly at me.

My first thought was Zoe. To be fair, the naiad (for it could only be a naiad in the underworld's river) looked very similar, with the same facial features, albeit slightly older (looking around eighteen rather than thirteen, only a couple of years younger than I now was) and with pitch black hair.

"Finally!" she fumed. "You decide to wake up. Do you mind telling me what in Tartarus you are doing in my river - again?"

I instinctively leaned back, barely dodging the furious swipe she sent at me. "Uh, Krios knocked me in. Wait… again?"

She placed her hands on her hips. "Am I really that forgettable?" she leant forward, taking a deep sniff of my chest. I backed up slightly, my back pressing into the wall of the river. She glared at me, pointing a finger at me accusingly. "You've got rid of my blessing!"

"Blessing?" I asked, scratching my head, before a line from the reading came back to me. "Hang on… Styx?"

The not-so-young naiad puffed her chest up childishly. "So you do remember me!" Her face returned to a glare. "Why aren't you dying?"

I blinked. "What?"

She began to pace back and forth in the inky water. "You were unconscious, and have no Annabeth - no link to the mortal world strong enough. How did you survive?"

"Um…" I thought for a moment. "Chaos let me live?"

She scoffed, before thinking. "Yeah, that sounds about right," she agreed reluctantly. She paused, giving me a once over with her eyes, licking her lips. "Not that I'm complaining, you sexy beast."

"So…" I said hesitantly, starting to feel slightly uncomfortable. "Can I have the Curse of Achilles back? It would certainly help."

It was the wrong thing to say. "Curse?" she exploded. "Curse? Achilles' curse was his stubbornness. This is a blessing. My blessing. It. Is. Not. A. CURSE!"

The sheer force of the blow sent me tumbling backwards, though my control over the water allowed me to right myself quickly. Now, to save myself from the naiad scorned.

"Right blessing of the Styx, sorry," I said, my mouth failing horrendously at its task. "So… can I have it?"

"No!" she snarled, before a wicked gleam entered her eyes. "But we can make a deal."

I gulped. "A deal?"

"A deal," she replied, sauntering up to me, pressing her lithe form against my exposed chest, with what little remained of my jacket barely covering my skin. "You won't be invincible, but you'll be stronger, more resilient."

I frowned. "I thought deals had two sides."

She nodded, running her hand down my collarbone. "You will have less control of yourself in battle, and, when you die…" she leant in, whispering in my ear. "You get to join me forever. As my lover."

I pushed her away from me, shocked. "What?"

"Well," she huffed. "I have to give you an escape clause, so the deal will only last until Gaia is defeated. After that, my blessing vanishes, and so does your destiny to join me. If you die first, however…" She licked her lips, closing the gap once more.

I held up my hands. "Time out. Why would you even want me as a lover?"

"It's been so long since I had a partner," she sighed, rubbing herself against my body. "Pallas left me after his first banishment, and Pietres has long since faded. And Zeus was a one night stand." She made a face. "And his skill is barely worth mentioning."

She slid up beside me, her body's contours undulating along my side. "But you? You are a creature of the water, and a very nice creature too. I bet you could show me a good time… a very good time." She reached down, massaging my groin as if to emphasise the point.

I shook my head, removing her hands forcefully. "No, I can't do this. I will just go without." I looked up at the surface.

As if reading my mind, Styx sighed sadly, wrapping her arms around my neck, holding me in an intimate position. "He's not the worst out there. Not by far."

I hung my head. "I won't be able to survive this, will I."

She shook her head, stepping away from me. "Not without my gift."

I thought for a moment. Koios was too fast, too strong. I would be obliterated. And if he wasn't the worst out there…

I turned to her, sighing in resignation. "Do it."

-o

I lunged out of the water, blade in hand. I was happy to know that only ten minutes had passed during my cross-dimensional journey - it must have been timeless in the void and Ananke's office. I flexed my muscles, adjusting to my new strength.

I had just gone through two upgrades - one from Chaos, with slightly stronger, denser muscles, and another from Styx, where those muscles were simply more effective and would tire slower. I grinned. Even the pain was dulled.

Well, Styx was down. Now for the snow.

"Koios!" I bellowed, unsheathing my blade and channelling my inner Thor. "I would have words with thee."

The titan of the South turned towards me, face rapidly paling. "Impossible."

"For a Lord of intelligence, you sure are stupid," I taunted, flourishing my blade. "Word of advice - don't throw the son of the sea into a pool of water."

"No," he said, shaking his head as he unsheathed his spear. "It cannot be. The blow alone should have killed you. No river could have saved you." He pointed his spear at me. "No matter, I shall just have to crush you again."

"Well," I said, raising my sword. "I have but one last thing to say."

He glared at me. "What?"

"I say thee NAY!"

I lunged at him, sword slamming into his spear with an almighty crash, thus announcing the beginning of the fight.

I ducked under a furious swipe, lunging forward with my blade, only to be parried by the but of the spear, which in turn was swung at me, causing me to jump to the side.

Unfortunately, such a movement cost me, as it gave him time to recover from his wild swings, sending a piercing thrust directly at me, the frosty spear sinking into my muted shoulder.

I gave a muted cry as I rolled out of the way, desperately dodging a second thrust. I touched the wound gingerly. Wet, but not deep. I growled. Koios was going to pay.

I leapt to my feet, sidestepping the third thrust, swinging down with my blade, the sword digging into the titan's meaty wrist.

He let out a brutal howl, kicking me backwards as he dropped his spear, his remaining hand clutching his bleeding stump, his other hand falling limply to the ground, slowly fading into dust. I grinned ferally. This might just be possible after all.

He snarled. "You'll pay for that, Jackson!" He reached out for his spear, but I got there first, kicking it away into a rocky outcrop nearby. He gave a low growl, placing a hand over his stump. His fist grew a silvery blue before he removed it, revealing a foot long spike of ice protruding from where his hand should be. I made the mistake of staring.

He lunged forward, embedding the icy appendix in my gut. I gasped, though I felt no blood come out, for the ice had cauterised the wound. My fist clenched around my blade.

"And you," I whispered, my voice shaking with simmering anger despite my pain. "Shall pay for that."

I swung upwards, blade cleaving into his chest plate, embedding itself deep in his chest. I kicked backwards, sending him tumbling backwards, gasping as the ice spike left my gut, leaving behind a hole, sealed with frozen blood. I glared at him, pulling my dagger out of my jacket pocket, swearing as it tore apart the last remaining remnant of my upper clothing, my trousers thankfully remaining intact.

Ignoring it for a moment, I swung down, a jackhammer grip slamming the celestial bronze blade into his chest beside Animacarcerous, before yanking it out and slamming it back in.

I did it many times, lost in the blind fog of rage, the blade tearing at his chest, his ribcage shattering under my mighty blows. After several hours of persistent torture, even the mighty Titan constitution, augmented as it was by the pit, had to give in, and the titan's breath faded into a weak rattle, before the light faded from his eyes. And yet I continued stabbing. And stabbing. I kept stabbing even after there was naught but dust to stab, continuing to ravage the ground even after said dust was fully absorbed by Animacarcerous.

And still I sat there, pounding the ground, long after Doroklefton had slipped from my ichor stained grip and the Soulsword had returned to its sheath. I remained sitting there even after Tartarus had healed my wound, so lost in blood lust and anger to care about the passing of time, the steadily expanding age gap between me and my peers. I must have been around twenty and a half by now. I froze. Even after I had the pain would no longer distract me so, I still found ways to lose time.

I let out a howl. A howl of grief. Of loss. A loss of time. A loss of friends. A loss of identity. For this was what the 'gift' was doing to me. It was making me reckless. Angry. Foolish. It would make me forget who I was in the heat of battle, all to sate a deity's lust.

I yelled at the ceiling, waving my fists. I raged at the ground, stomping as hard as I could. I spat at the river, swearing profusely.

I collapsed to my knees once again. It wasn't fair. All that I have done, all that I could yet do, to be ruined by the whims of a goddess, the spite of the Fates. Couldn't I have nice things? Couldn't I have Annabeth?

It wasn't fair. Time was ticking away, my life slowly running out while the real world was practically held in stasis. What was the point in trying to escape? Thanks to Styx's 'gift', I may just survive, but after? What use would a sixty, seventy, eighty year old demigod be? Hades, what if I hit one hundred? What use would I have?

Was I doomed to roam these accursed caverns for the rest of my days, only escaping to be tortured with a world he no longer belonged in?

No. He had to keep going. He had made his vow, first to Olympus, then to Annabeth. He would escape Tartarus, and he would slay Gaia. For, if Chaos was to be believed - and he had no reason not to - he was the world's only hope.

And a hundred year old could not possibly be the world's only hope. Meaning he would escape.

I stood up, blindly walking to the edge of the cave. As I walked, my foot caught on something. I looked down blankly. It was Koios' spear. Could come in handy.

I looked at my tattered jacket. Well, I might as well find some use for it.

Tearing it into strips, I formed a sort of harness for the spear, strapping it to my back, before doing the same for Gift of Thieves, strapping it to the inside of my calf.

I looked out into the pit. I was ready. I would make it to the end. I would escape.

Now I just had to hope I wouldn't lose myself on the way.

---

A/N: Hello readers, I am back.

Now, I know what you are going to say: OP PERCY! Just... no.

At the moment, it may seem like he is getting lots of upgrades, but each one comes with downsides. Animacarcerous is probably the most overpowered, being an unstoppable, unbreakable sword that can house the souls of the slain. There is one problem, however: Percy cannot control the souls. If Percy decides to release them in a fight, its a gamble - the monsters may just as likely turn on him as they would their intended target.

Number two is Styx's blessing. The upside is pretty good - stronger, faster, more able to survive. The downside's are pretty obvious - berserker rage and the possibility of becoming a sadistic rivers sex slave. Fun.

The final one for now is Koios' spear. Pretty powerful ice spear, but three downsides: one, its not indestructible, two, Percy can't fight with a spear (yet), and three, he cannot wield its powers beyond its frozen cauterisation effect. Which could actually be another downside, as it helps his enemy continue fighting. Case in point, Koios vs Percy.

Now, I had a review from SentinelSlice, pointing out some flaws in my explanation on the Tartarus Time effect. I understand it wasn't explained the best in story, so I will explain below:

For the faster time in the pit, it is just as you say: time is faster in the pit, and if someone in the pit was able to look out, time would be moving slowly. Now, for the part on it seeming like it is just used to age Percy up: trauma and pain. It is a real phenomena that someone under extreme trauma and pain might not have a good grasp on time, seemingly experiencing hours as mere minutes. This is what is happening with Percy - his mind cannot cope with everything that is going on, so compresses it into small chunks, ommitting unnecessary details, thus the effect of him seeming to age faster - he isn't, he just isn't compos mentis enough to realise the passage of time. Plus, his extended periods either unconscious or in a trauma coma have also aged him - most last at least a couple of months.

Hope that clears that up.

Please leave a review, favourite and follow.

Also, a new fic will be coming out on this account, entitled Avengers: Legacy: a Marvel/DC crossover with elements of various other fandoms (including PJO), set in a world where the Age of Heroes has ended, and most of the Avengers are either dead or believed to be. Please check it out when it releases.

This is JaguarAJG, signing off.