I hope you guys enjoy- I won't be responding to reviews 'cause I'm in a rush today but here, have a chapter! And enjoy!

The goddess lunged for Percy- it seemed that the daughter of Poseidon in particular had been grating on her nerves. And unfortunately it seemed that while she was in some ways just smoke, to the goddess she was corporeal enough to touch.

That fact was not good for Percy since as she staggered back- she didn't bother to draw her sword, if Nico's blade was useless Percy's would be to- the goddesses claws raked across her chest and left gashes of white hot pain in their wake.
Percy tried to back away, but she wasn't used to being made of smoke, her legs moved slowly and her arms felt like tissue paper.

"Awe come on!" she would have thrown her arms up in frustration if she could, and Akylys snarled, crouching to spring- and she'd have probably bitten Percy's face off if it wasn't for Nico- and Percy wondered how he was so good at moving whilst smoking- he was definitely better than Percy.

"Leave my sister alone!" the son of Hades was in front of the goddess, who looked startled- and he managed to dodge away when she tried to slice him open- and Leo, who was moving slower than Nico, was behind her, flames flaring up around his hands again, still not as bright as he could usually summon but better than they had been the first time he tried, and he tossed fireballs at Akhlys- and Percy wondered if they'd do much damage- she was dodging them so maybe they'd at least do something.

Which was better than Percy and Nico could really do. They didn't have weapons they could use, and when they tried to attack her- and Percy had seen from Nico, they just seemed to float through her-right up until she grabbed at them.

Then the goddess managed to catch Leo's shoulder and he was sent sprawling away, crying out in pain- and Nico tried to rush after him only to have the goddess catch his shoulder, yanking him backwards and sending him skidding the other way.

And Percy felt panic flooding through her, and maybe it was her anger that let her move more easily. But she wasn't going to let this bitch hurt her baby brothers. Which meant she needed to draw her focus back to her.

But how? What would piss off the goddess enough that she'd forget Nico and Leo? How to piss off the goddess of misery.

"Gee Akhlys! I haven't had this much fun in years-" the goddesses gaze snapped to Percy- it was almost comical how fast it was.

"Fun?"

"Yeah! It's delightful, I'm super happy, thanks for all this. I think you're curing my depression-"

"Why you-" the goddess lunged at her, and Percy ducked as she swiped, twisting and almost dancing away, her focus glued to the goddess as Nico and Leo moved towards each other and Percy led the goddess away from her siblings, ducking and dodging faster than she'd ever had to before.

And all the while Percy called out, mocking her almost.

"You've really cheered me up." "You're so pleasant to be around." "You have a delightful personality." and each compliment enraged the goddess more.

She stumbled after Percy.

"I will kill you slowly!" she growled, her eyes and nose watering, blood dripping from her cheeks. "I will cut you into pieces as a sacrifice to Night!"

"Really?" Percy asked cheerfully, winking at the goddess, "Sounds like a party, I'll bring the dip. Tell me is she as warm and cuddly as you are Akhlys?"

Akhlys made a growling, choking noise, like a cat having a seizure.

"A slow death!" she screamed. "A death from a thousand poisons!"

All around her, poisonous plants grew and burst like overfilled balloons. Green-and-white sap trickled out, collecting into pools, and began flowing across the ground toward Percy. The sweet-smelling fumes made her head feel wobbly.

"PERCY!" that was Nico's voice, filled with terror.

And then: "Hey, hey mamacita-" and that was Leo, clearly trying to draw the goddesses attention the same way Percy had- by pissing her off. But the goddess of misery was now fixated on Percy. She tried to retreat again. Unfortunately the poison ichor was flowing all around her now, making the ground steam and the air burn. Percy found herself stuck on an island of dust not much bigger than a shield. She was trapped- nowhere to go.

She swallowed hard, her heart pounding in her chest as she looked towards her brothers, Leo and Nico were staring towards her looking terrified, that struck something deep inside of her. She couldn't stand her baby brothers being scared.

"You will feed the eternal darkness," Akhlys said. "You will die in the arms of Night!"

And the white-green poison kept pooling, little streams trickling from the plants as the venomous lake around her got wider and wider.

And Nico and Leo were crying. They were terrified of losing her.

Percy couldn't fail them she couldn't abandon them.

Misery really was a bitch wasn't it? And she found her mind drifting to Alabaster- to his blood coating her hands- pulled through the skin.

How much water was in blood- she'd always been able to control the water in the body. Why couldn't she control the water in the poison- it was liquid after all there had to be some water in there.

It was strange, the calm that came over her, and she tilted her head slowly, straightening up. "You might be the goddess of misery Akhlys. But no ones as good at it as mortals." she focused- she felt that familiar tugging sensation in her belly, except much more intense than before- painfully so, but she focused on the poison that had been surging towards her on all sides.

She wasn't sure what exactly happened- but she felt the shift, felt the poison tide stop all around her, and she smirked slowly- it wasn't a nice smirk, and she focused her gaze on the goddess- who's expression shifted to confusion- and then the fumes blew away from Percy, back towards the goddess. The lake of poison rolled towards her in tiny waves and rivulets.
Akhlys shrieked. "What is this?"

"Poison," Percy said. "That's your speciality, right?" she asked the question almost innocently as the As the flood of venom rolled toward the goddess, the fumes began to make her cough. Her eyes watered even more. Percy drew them out- making them stream down her cheeks, almost a steady flow- like she had to Alabaster- before she blocked them- imagined the tears filling the goddesses nose and her throat, unable to escape as Akhlys gagged.

"I-" Akhlys was terrified as the tide of venom reached her feet, sizzling like droplets on a hot iron. She wailed and stumbled back.

"I can't claim to have much experience with poison." Percy said casually, as if it was a normal conversation, a light smile on her lips, "I just tend to draw the water into an enemies lungs- make them drown from the inside- I've been told it's a terrifying thing. Maybe it makes me bad. That I don't feel bad about it anymore." she remarked.

"T-this- t-tort-"

"Torture?" Percy laughed at the goddess as the poison swirled around her legs, burning the skin where they touched- and the fumes pushed into her mouth, choking the goddess. "Eh, maybe it is. You're not the first I've tortured. Tartarus has a way of bringing out something in me I guess." she tilted her head back, closing her eyes and inhaling- she enjoyed the terror on Akhlys' face- in those choked frantic noises the goddess was making.

"You made a mistake. You scared my brothers. You hurt my brothers." Percy said the words simply, "I would tear the world apart for my family- for my loved ones. You think I should fear you but-" she shook her head, "But the truth is-" her eyes snapped open again and focused on the goddess. "You should fear me."

And then Percy noticed that there were shadows- writhing through the lake of poison, and even as Akhlys tried to stagger backwards they were hardening around her feet, pinning them in place.

"She's not going anywhere." and that was Nico's voice. It was grim- slightly unsettled but determined-and Percy turned her head- her brother was still corpse like, but his gaze was confident, determined. "Percy-"

"She deserve to suffer." Percy's voice was calm, "I don't want to stop- she deserves to suffer-" because the goddess was sinking to her knees, clawing at her throat, her tears were ichor now. It was a beautiful sight.

"We don't have time to waste. We get it Percy- it's okay we're not judging you-" his voice was soft, almost soothing. "But you need to stop and we need to get out of here. We have to get home."

"I- she'll come after us-"

"No, no she won't." that came from Nico. "Percy she's terrified of you." his voice was coaxing almost- the tone you'd use to soothe a frightened animal. "It's okay. She can't hurt any of us."

"She scared you."

"She did." Nico didn't bother trying to lie "Because we were scared for you."

"C'mon." Leo was moving towards her, holding out his hand, "Percy. Please. Don't lose yourself in it. We might never get you back."

"What if I don't want to come back?" Percy didn't falter- and Nico winced at that. "What if I like it?"

"You hurt Alabaster." that was Leo, "Didn't you? You hurt him like you're hurting Akhlys."

"He hurt me first." Percy's voice was almost petulant. "He hurt me first. He hurt me over and over and over and I- It felt good. It felt good to finally be the one with the power. I'm not sorry-"

"No one wants you to be sorry." Leo was taking Percy's hand. "But this part of you- you can't let it take over. It's not bad- and it's definitely got it's uses, but you aren't sadistic Percy. You're good, you're so good and I know you're tired of being good but Nico and I need our big sister-" and that made Percy falter. "So come back to us. Stop hurting her- she won't hurt us any more. We want to get home Percy. Nico and I- you said you'd get us back home."

"That-" Percy swallowed hard, "That's cheating." she muttered the words.

"No, that's the great Flameo being a genius." Leo corrected with a slightly teasing note to his voice. "C'mon."

"Leo's right Percy." that came from Nico. "Let her go. Let her go and we can leave. I want to get home- I need to see Will, and Bianca and Hazel. I want to see mom and Luke and Estelle again. Do you think- would you want Estelle to see this?"
And Percy instantly dropped control of the poison, willing it to recede, creating a small path of retreat along the edge of the cliff.

She forced herself to focus on the goddess- and the shadows around her feet vanished.

"Leave." Percy's voice was hoarse, but she coughed slightly and spoke again, louder this time. "LEAVE!" For a moment Akhlys didn't move- and then Leo stepped forward, hand flaring into flames- brighter than Percy had ever seen him use before- his expression grim in the dark.

"I wonder how flammable your poisons are bitch."

And for an emaciated ghoul, Akhlys could run pretty fast when she wanted to. She scrambled along the path, fell on her face, and got up again, wailing as she sped into the dark.

As soon as she was gone, the pools of poison evaporated. The plants withered to dust and blew away.

Then Nico was stumbling towards Percy and Leo- and Leo was hugging Percy tightly- and Percy wrapped her arms around her little brothers, her heart pounding in her chest as she closed her eyes.

"I-I've got you." her voice cracked very slightly. "I've got you both. It's okay." and she felt tears burning her eyes as she curled her fingers into Leo's curls and Nico's soft dark hair. "I'm getting you both out of here if I have to fight every single bastard in this pit."