Percy and Medusa didn't know how to react.
In front of them stood the very being who owned the pit they were trapped inside of. The third being to ever grace the universe after Chaos and Gaia. The one that struck fear into all, including the Olympians.
To say that Percy and Medusa weren't scared would have been more than a lie, it would have been more like a broken oath of the Styx.
Trembling, Medusa quickly lowered her head in a bow, with Percy closely following suit, getting down onto one knee.
While keeping her head level to the ground, Medusa spoke. "L-lord Tartarus, w-what an honor to meet you." Medusa had trouble getting the words out. It was the first time a being had intimidated her as much as this moment.
Tartarus just frowned at their actions. "Get up, get up." He said, waving his hand, motioning upwards. "You need not bow to me, I am much more easygoing than rumors make me out to be."
Percy and Medusa slowly came out of their bows, but were still very wary of the powerful primordial.
"Much better! You can cut the crap with formalities, I don't need to be pampered like those pompous Olympians." Tartarus stated simply.
Even in the confusing situation, Percy couldn't help but allow a small smirk to develop on his face as he heard Tartarus bad mouth his enemies.
"Yes, no need to worry Percy." Damasen intervened out of nowhere. "Father would only like to talk, he has nothing against you or your girlfriend." He said, casually pointing towards Medusa with his arms crossed.
At the mention of girlfriend, both Percy and Medusa blushed as they did on the way to Tartarus' Palace. Before either could deny the statement, Tartarus joined in as well.
"Girlfriend?" he asked interested. "A relationship with a gorgon, especially one as famous as Medusa, interesting." He said talking to himself. He then turned towards Medusa. "You are indeed a very powerful monster with much experience from being alive so long. You might have actually made my plan that much more exceptional! He exclaimed.
Percy and Medusa were still blushing slightly because of the situation, but confused looks overtook their faces as they had trouble following what Tartarus was talking about.
"Uh, excuse me Lord Tartarus, what is the plan you are talking about? Is that the reason we are here in the first place?" Percy asked a bit timidly.
Holding up one finger, Tartarus said, "First of all, no "Lord Tartarus". I hate formalities." To which Percy quickly nodded in fear as to say he understood. Then holding up a second finger he continued, "Second, to answer your questions, yes you are here because I have a plan that I would like for you to be a part of." He said with a smile.
After a short pause, Tartarus continued speaking. "You see, I'm really not the bad guy the Olympians make me out to be, at least that's what I like to think." Tartarus started. "I mean, sure there are times where I may lose my temper and release a horde of terrible monsters from my domain to attack the mythical world above, but that's only because someone has made me very, VERY, angry." He emphasized, releasing a wave of sinister energy unconsciously, making the two guests tremble a bit. "For example, my 'supposed' lover Gaia…" he said with distaste, "…and thank Chaos you made that vile woman have to reform again, tricked me and only had my children for her own selfish reasons. She took my lovely children and manipulated their minds to fight for her. Luckily my son Damasen here wasn't as dimwitted as his siblings and could see through Gaia's ploys." He said proudly of his son, patting him on his calf as that was as far he could reach in his current form.
"This is why, I have made a plan to make all my doltish children fade." He finished.
Percy and Medusa widened their eyes in shock. "You've had many children with Gaia that are some of the largest threats to Olympus, how will it be possible to get rid of all of them, forever?" Percy asked, genuinely confused, yet intrigued at the same time.
Tartarus just grinned his crooked smile. "That is why I have you two!" he exclaimed. "Luckily for us, Percy has already killed many of the Giants during the last war, and they are currently trying to reform in my domain. I can easily get rid of them. In fact…" he stood there and snapped his fingers, "it is done. The giants, except for Damasen here, are no more."
Percy, Medusa, and even Damasen just stood there with wide eyes and open mouths.
"What?" was all that Percy got out.
"They are no more." Tartarus repeated. "Nada. Dead. Gone from all existence and reside now in the void. The Giant children of Gaia and me no longer exist except for Damasen."
The three just continued to stare at Tartarus, not sure how to react. If it was that easy, why hadn't he done this earlier, when the first Giant War had ended and his children were reforming then. Anger suddenly built up within Percy when he had a struck of realization. With an enraged tone, he began questioning the God of the Pit. "IF YOU COULD HAVE DONE THAT, WHY DIDN'T YOU PREVENT THE SECOND GIANT WAR? YOU COULD HAVE SAVED SO MANY LIVES THAT DIED BECAUSE OF IT." He said with a viscous glare in his eyes. To a lesser extent, he also thought about how if the war hadn't happened, he may have not been sent to Tartarus in the first place.
Tartarus just sighed. Not in annoyance, but in understanding. "I would have if I could, but because Gaia was behind it all, I wasn't allowed to interfere." He said a bit sadly. "While us Primordials may not care so much about the ancient laws as the Gods do, we still follow a set of rules that we and our mother, Chaos, have created. In order not to cause any mass destruction to the Earth from a possible war between us, we vowed not to interfere with each other's actions, unless allowed by Chaos herself." He explained calmly. "Now that Gaia is out of the picture, I have the opportunity I need to fix my mistakes."
While he didn't want to believe Tartarus' words, a part of Percy knew the primordial was right. Everything that had happened in his life, the world and its history, was all designed by fate, and there was nothing he could do about it. He wasn't powerful enough, at least, not yet.
Percy sighed. "I'm sorry for blowing up on you Tartarus. I hope you will forgive my childish behavior." He said, bowing his head down low in shame.
Tartarus gave him an empathetic smile. "Raise your head Percy, I understand that you have suffered a hard fate. But this is why I am here to give you an opportunity to change it, to give you the power you need in order to achieve your goal."
Percy's head perked up right away at the mention of achieving his goal. "What do you mean? Are you saying you can give me the power to destroy the Olympians?" He asked seriously.
Tartarus just smiled. "Not just you, your girlfriend too." He said while pointing back and forth between Percy and Medusa. "I need both of you in order to enact my plan."
Color rose to the cheeks of Percy and Medusa again. "Umm, Tartarus, she isn't my…" Percy began to say but was soon cut off by Tartarus.
"Anyways, let me continue my plan." He said clapping his hands together. "With the Giants out of the way, that leaves two children of mine that need to be dealt with. Echidna and Typhon, the Mother and Father of all monsters." He said simply.
Once again, Percy and Medusa's faces expressed shock, it seemed like they were getting surprised quite often down in Tartarus. "How do you expect us to defeat those two monsters?" Medusa asked exasperated. "You said it yourself, they are the "Mother and Father of all monsters", they are extremely deadly and powerful. It takes all Twelve Olympians just to trap Typhon, even they cannot kill him." She argued.
Tartarus just shrugged. "Think of it as a trial run before confronting the Olympians." he rebutted. "If you can beat Echidna and Typhon, then you should easily be able to dethrone those overbearing Gods." he stated easily. "Plus, you'll be receiving a bit of help from me of course." He said with a huge grin on his face.
Percy's eyebrow slowly raised at Tartarus' statement. "How so?" he asked curiously.
"I told you, I would be giving both of you the powers you need, and by power, I mean a ton of it." A somewhat psychotic grin on his face. "How would you two like to become my champions, as well as Gods yourselves?" he asked.
Percy nearly fell flat on his face from just hearing that. 'A GOD!' he thought to himself. 'I would become a God? What powers would I receive? How strong would I be? Would I be able to face the Olympians?' his ADHD mind going into overdrive while he tried, and failed, to get a hold of his thoughts. He looked over at Medusa to see her reaction, only to see she was as frozen as one of her stone statues, with emerald eyes wide, and her mouth agape. Her lip began to tremble as she was struggling to say something.
"A-a god?" she said is disbelief. "You would give us such power? Why would you do this for us?" she asked in such a faraway tone, as if her mind was trying to still comprehend Tartarus' words.
Tartarus' grin remained on his face but his eyes softened. "I know of the hard ships both of you have endured. I know of the goals you have in mind. While this plan is a deal where you help me and I'll help you, you both deserve better lives, and I want to give them to you." He said sincerely.
Medusa could only nod, still in her state of stupor. Percy on the other hand, while still flabbergasted, had finally calmed down a bit. "You know, you're a way cooler guy than what everyone says you are." Percy said with a grin.
Tartarus' grin had somehow stretched wider, and he released a deep, hearty laugh. "That's what I've been trying to tell people this whole time! Glad to finally see some recognition!"
After a brief moment of silence, Tartarus continued to speak.
"So, I'm going to assume that it's a 'yes' to my offer." Tartarus said.
Percy and Medusa looked at each other briefly, eyes silently agreeing, before they turned back to face Tartarus and nodded their heads.
"Great!" Tartarus said. "I shall begin the process immediately. Are you ready?"
Again, Percy and Medusa nodded.
"Ok, here we go!" Tartarus yelled out excitedly. "Well I haven't done this in a while, so I'm not actually sure how this'll go." He muttered quietly under his breath, but not quite enough for Percy and Medusa not to hear him.
"Wait, wha-" the two said at the same time, but were cut off when Tartarus shot his palms forward, towards them, and they were blasted with a wave of glowing, red energy.
It wasn't like any sensation they had ever felt before. They felt so light as the energy seeped into their skin. Soon, both were lifted off the ground and completely hidden from sight as each was at the center of a swirling ball of red energy, their bodies transforming from immortal to God.
"It's nice that you were both immortal before this, makes the process a whole lot easier and quicker." Tartarus casually said outside the balls, still launching out energy from his palms.
Soon after, Tartarus ceased the ritual, and the energy dissipated from Percy and Medusa as they landed on the ground.
Percy had never felt better. He had never felt as strong, as healthy, as powerful as he did at that moment. This was the feeling of a God, the feeling of the power that would lead him to achieve his goal. A huge grin appeared on his face as he clenched his fists in excitement in front of him.
"THIS IS GREAT!" he exclaimed. He was so overjoyed that his brain didn't process in time before he flung himself at Medusa, wrapping her up in a big bear hug, his eyes close. When he realized what he had done, he froze in fear, arms still wrapped around Medusa. 'Oh crap' he thought to himself. 'Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap. I'm so dead. I just became a God but I'm so dead now.' He dreaded. He kept his eyes tightly shut, as he waited for a fist to the face. But after a few seconds passed, and nothing had happened, he slowly began opening his eyes, squinting, still waiting for an impact. When his eyes were fully open, he was met with a head full of short, curled, bronze and gold…HAIR?
He quickly stepped back, unwrapping his arms and stared at the woman before him, dressed in elegant Greek robes. She stood as still as possible, reaching a height of about 5'8. She had beautiful, smooth porcelain skin with a bronze tint of a light tan. She stood there, unmoving, her stunning emerald green eyes wide as she stared down at the ground, where she saw appendages she hadn't seen in millennia. Two arms extended from her shoulders as both her hands rested in front of her, palms facing upwards.
There stood Medusa, the hideous gorgon who turned whoever she gazed upon into stone. Except now she was a Goddess, transformed back into the stunning beauty she was before her curse. And at that moment, Percy could now understand why his father had been so captivated by her in the first place.