In which I've always wondered why Percabeth never bothered looking in the car 'cause a lot of people keep emergency supplies in their cars- my family do, and also, next chapter has one of my favorite scenes.
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Guest: Lol, most of this fic will consist of Tartarus content so that should make you happy at least. And you are not wrong, it's not great to say the least. But I am triple vaxed so I'm hoping it'll stay as it is and not get serious. And just a note for literally everyone, if you can get the vaccine, freaking get it! I feel like crap even with it so I don't even wanna consider how I'd have felt without it.
Undeath9087: You'll have to wait and see my dear, but I've already got that scene very clearly planned out in my head and it will be much fun to write for me.
The fall had been horrible- Percy would never forget it- the feeling of the air rushing past, wind whistling in her ears as she clung to her brothers hands.
And there was no doubt that she would have died without them, and they would have died without her.
Percy could pinpoint the moment that it changed- when the darkness took on a gray-red tinge. The whistling in her ears turned into more of a roar. The air became intolerably hot, permeated with a smell like rotten eggs.
Suddenly, the chute they'd been falling through opened into a vast cavern. Maybe half a mile below them Percy had been able to see the bottom. The entire island of Manhattan could have fit inside this cavern—and she couldn't even see its full extent. Red clouds hung in the air like vaporized blood. The landscape—at least what she could see of it—was rocky black plains, punctuated by jagged mountains and fiery chasms. To Percy's left, the ground dropped off in a series of cliffs, like colossal steps leading deeper into the stench of sulfur made it hard to concentrate, but she focused on the ground directly below them and saw a ribbon of glittering black liquid—a river.
Percy felt her heart racing- it was a slim chance, but it was the best they had- Percy managed to pull in Nico and Leo closer- and they seemed to get the message because they shifted, managing to pull closer, that the three of them were clinging tightly too each other- and Percy focused.
She let out a scream, defiant and angry when they were close- and the water erupted into a massive geyser, swallowing them whole- and Percy had never felt anything like it as she hit it.
If they toxic water at the Nymphaeum had been bad then she wasn't sure that there was a word for this.
It was colder than anything she'd ever felt before- water usually gave her strength but this water didn't. It took every single shred of her focus to control it, to force the currents not to drag her under, she could hear voices, whispering in her ear, wailing sounds that weighed her down and made her feel numb, whispering that it was pointless to struggle, that she'd die no matter what. That she'd never leave, that she deserved this.
And those voices would have been overwhelming for anyone she was sure- but- well, given her general mental state- within seconds she was losing the will to live, losing the will to fight.
If it hadn't been for Nico and Leo she would have sunk- but both of them hooked their arms under her armpits and dragged her towards the shore.
She could hear them yelling at her to fight it but she didn't want to.
Death would be easier, she'd thought there ever since coming back hadn't she.
She distantly heard Nico's voice."
"Gotta- gotta get her out." it was strained, panting and exhausted, "It's the Cocytus we're in the Cocytus—the River of Lamentation. Percy's depressed already-"
"Not gonna let her die-"
"Let me die." Percy almost groaned the words, "Please- want to die. Easier please-"
"Get her out!" and together Nico and Leo managed to drag Percy towards the shore- an impressive feat with the current working against them, since Percy had long ago let go of her control on the river- she wanted it to take her- drowning would be so much better than fighting- she was so very very tired of fighting day in day out.
The voices stopped as soon as they were out of the water, and Percy felt Nico and Leo drop her onto the shore, she closed her eyes tightly- she didn't want to open them, didn't want to face reality- she'd spent so long running, spent so long hiding from her dreams, running from it.
And now she was here- and she was with two of the people who she loved most-her baby siblings. Which meant-now that she was able to think clearly, that she couldn't just give up, if she was by herself- that might have been different- though, there was the fact that her friends needed her to get to the Doors of Death... but with Nico and Leo stuck in the pit with her... Percy gritted her teeth and forced herself to open her eyes, breathing in heavily as she forced herself to sit up- and gods but the even the air stung her lungs and prickled her skin.
When she pushed herself up she winced at a sharp pain in her hands, looking down and- well fuck they weren't on sand they were on fucking glass, they were led on broken glass, and her skin was covered with an angry rash.
Well, she definitely should have pulled on some jeans and a long sleeved tee before coming out here shouldn't she?
Because she was going to get torn to shreds very quickly down here.
"Ugh." she forced herself to inhale- and next to her Nico let out a cough and Leo groaned.
"Percy-" that was Leo's voice, "Are you-"
"Do not ask if I'm okay." Percy muttered the words, "We're in the fucking pit, none of us are okay. Gods you two you shouldn't have-"
"We weren't losing you again." Percy heard movement and she she turned her head Nico and Leo were huddled together in front of her, both glaring at the mere hint of a suggestion that she should have fallen alone.
"Nico's right." Leo's voice was shaky, "We only just got our big sister back we weren't- no way. Besides. Nemesis- she warned me. She- she offered me help and I took it but she told me there would be a price. Told me to make sure that the others would be able to fly on without me. Annabeth knows how to handle the Argo II."
"Leo-"
"And I'm the son of Hades." Nico pointed out as Percy stared at them both- they looked about as bad as she felt, both covered with angry rashes, skin covered with cuts from the glass beneath them, "If anyone can help you guys down here it's going to be me."
"Neeks this-"
"I know Percy. It's not my element. But it's more mine than either of yours."
"Right." Percy bit her lip. "We- okay. Okay we're in Tartarus and I- I don't know how long we're gonna last down here because- because everything it hurting right now and- and even breathing is painful." she shifted, wincing at the pain in her body as her hand moved and she patted at her shorts pocket, "I have Riptide and I think." she shifted her hand to her other leg, felt the shape of the dagger which was strapped beneath her shorts, hidden, "I have two weapons and some ambrosia Rachel gave me earlier but-"
"We don't want to waste it." Leo finished for her. "What do we do- Nico what did Bianca say before we jumped?"
"She told me we had to drink from the Phlegethon." his voice was unsteady, "And since she's the only other person to have made it out I feel like we're gonna need to trust her word."
"Isn't that one of the rivers?" Percy asked unsteadily.
"Yeah." Nico nodded, "The river of fire. It keeps the wicked in one piece so that they can endure the torments of the Fields of Punishment. Which sounds bad but-"
"It means it heals them." Leo grimaced, "So we have to drink from a river of fire- hey at least I'm fireproof right?"
"Let's get up then." and it wasn't easy- the three of them had to help each other up- and they all clung to one another as they started to walk, and Percy let out a shaky laugh, pointing towards a blue Italian car that must have fallen down from the car park when they'd broken through- it had crashed head first into the sand. "Think- think there's anything in there?"
"Maybe water." Leo muttered.
"We check it out then we find the Phlegethon." Nico spoke firmly, and his voice was hoarse and scratchy- the more they breathed the more painful it was Percy realised- the air itself was killing them. That- that was bad. Gods she really hoped Bianca's advice had been good.
It didn't take them long to reach the wreckage. One of the car's tires had come off and was floating in a backwater eddy of the Cocytus. The Fiat's windows had shattered, sending brighter glass like frosting across the dark beach. Under the crushed hood lay the tattered, glistening remains of a giant silk cocoon. That made Percy's brows furrow.
"Do- do you think-"
"Arachne." Nico muttered the name, "Stating the obvious but it's empty." and it was. Slash marks in the sand made a trail downriver…as if something heavy, with multiple legs, had scuttled into the darkness.
Percy felt a rush of dark ugly anger at that. "She wanted to kill Annabeth. She almost dragged her down here."
"Yeah, and she dragged you down instead." Leo scowled, "If we see her-"
"Let me deal with her." Percy muttered, "Just see what I do to her."
"Wish we had popcorn."
"Maybe there's some inside of the car." Leo suggested, clearly trying to sound optimistic."
"Let's try and get in there then."
Together they managed to get the drivers door open, and Percy clambered inside, managing to open the glove box- and she almost sobbed with relief and joy when she saw that there was an unopened box of protein bars- probably kept in there for emergencies and a big bag of trail mix.
She tossed them out quickly before clambering into the back, where she managed to find a blanket- it was a nice size, they'd be able to wrap it around at least two of them, so she tossed that out too.
Then she leaned back, "We should look in the trunk too just in case." she grabbed Leo's offered hand, to help her get out of the car, and together they headed around to the boot- and Percy let out an overjoyed shriek, "WATER! And a bag to carry the stuff, with a basic first aid kit in it! Holy Hades we have water and a bag-"
"Yes!" Leo punched the air, "Victory for the demisquad."
"You," Nico blinked at Leo, "Are a dumbass."
"Hey I'm just trying to look on the positive side."
Together they managed to load up everything into the backpack, and Percy slung it over her shoulders before they started walking again, Nico and Leo flanking her on either side.
They had agreed that they had to ration the few supplies they had, they were in Tartarus after all, and they didn't know how long they'd be stuck in there.
So they didn't eat or drink yet, they focused on moving.
And Percy was willing to admit that while she was upset that they were stuck here with her at all, a part of her was painfully glad that she wasn't on her own. She knew that without them she'd have died pretty much as soon as they'd arrived, at least this way she had a chance of getting to the other side of Tartarus- it wasn't going to be easy but- the others needed them to get to the other side of the Doors of Death. So they'd do it, and Percy would do everything in her power to make sure her baby brothers made it out of here alive.
No matter what it took.
And so, they kept moving, desperately searching for the Phlegethon, and after what felt like a lifetime but was probably only hours they reached the edge of a cliff, which dropped more the eighty feet.
At the bottom stretched a nightmarish version of the Grand Canyon: a river of fire cutting a path through a jagged obsidian crevasse, the glowing red current casting horrible shadows across the cliff faces.
Well, at least they'd found it.
The question now was, how did they get down to it?
