Hey guys, I hope you enjoy this chapter! And my take on Nyx. Honestly I don't think Nyx is evil exactly. Also, dark humor for the win, Percy can't help herself.
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Undeath9087: Well she knows now! She just wants to see her Leo again.

In retrospect Percy should have grabbed Leo and Nico and taken off right away. They should have fled instantly- they shouldn't have lingered there, but Percy was exhausted from the use of her powers and drained emotionally as well as physically- torturing a goddess took it out of a girl, who'd have thought it.

So she clung to her siblings, pressing her face into the tops of their heads as she held them close for what felt like a lifetime but was probably only a few minutes until Nico spoke.

"We should get out of here." his voice was tight "I don't like it down here."

"You are not the only one." Leo lifted his head, squirming just slightly so that he was out of Percy's tight grip- which Percy did not protest even though she very much wanted to. "What was all that stuff she was saying? About cutting you up and feeding you to Night-"

"Gods you actually told her you'd bring the dip." Nico snorted, "What tip would even work for that? What did do you bring when you're the main meal?"

"Dunno." Percy gave a small shrug, "Something delicious I'm sure."

"Uh huh." Nico snorted and shook his head, "Still. Leo's right that stuff she was saying felt really weird- feeding you to Night."

"Where Night meets the Void." Percy murmured the words- casting her gaze towards the darkness. "Her father met her mother- uh- we need to go- we need to go now-"

The temperature dropped. The abyss before them seemed to exhale.

Percy was hauling Nico and Leo backwards quickly, trying to force down her panic- but they would never have time to get away- a presence emerged from the void—a form so vast and shadowy, that Percy felt like she understood the concept of dark for the first time.

"I imagine," said the darkness, in a feminine voice as soft as coffin lining, "that she meant Night, with a capital N. After all, I am the only one."

"Oh shit." Percy blinked slowly, and in her opinion that basically summed it up well enough.

Nyx was almost too much to take in. Looming over the chasm, she was a churning figure of ash and smoke, as big as the Athena Parthenos statue, but very much alive. Her dress was void black, mixed with the colors of a space nebula, as if galaxies were being born in her bodice. Her face was hard to see except for the pinpoints of her eyes, which shone like quasars. When her wings beat, waves of darkness rolled over the cliffs, making Percy feel heavy and sleepy, her eyesight dim.

The goddess's chariot was made of the same material as Nico's sword- made out of Stygian iron- and pulled by two massive horses, all black except for their pointed silver fangs. The beasts' legs floated in the abyss, turning from solid to smoke as they moved.

The horses snarled and bared their fangs at Percy. The goddess lashed her whip—a thin streak of stars like diamond barbs—and the horses reared back.

"No, Shade," the goddess said. "Down, Shadow. These little prizes are not for you."

And Percy swallowed hard- because she could hear the horses- and she didn't like what they were saying, she blinked rapidly. "Is that a promise 'cause no offence Lady Nyx but I don't really wanna be horse food."

"Horse food?" Leo looked startled at that, fingers curling into tight fists, a nervous look on his face, "they want to eat us-"

"Would not be the first time." Percy muttered the words, "Remember Geryon?" she pulled a face, "They wanted to eat me too. So uh- you won't let them eat us?"

Nyx's quasar eyes burned. "Of course not. I would not let my horses eat you, any more than I would let Akhlys kill you. Such fine prizes, I will kill myself!"

"Heh-" Percy couldn't help the snort that slipped past her lips- oh sure she knew what the goddess meant but really, how was she supposed to resist an opening like that? "I wouldn't do that Lady Nyx- it might feel like it'd help but take it from me, dying does not fix all of your problems-"

"I-" Nyx faltered- "What?" and Leo was snickering as Nico tilted his head back and groaned softly. Because they both knew what Percy was getting at.

"You said you'd kill yourself- I mean, I get the temptation, really I do life can actually be super shitty at times but it's not worth it-"

"Why you little-"

"What?!" Percy almost giggled as she threw up her hands, putting on her most innocent face, "You're the one who said it not me."

"You did give her the opening." Leo pointed out, "For Percy it's like, asking to be mocked-"

"Hey! Who says I'm mocking." Percy elbowed him in the side. "Suicidal ideation is a very serious thing. I should know, I've been dealing with it for ages."

"You-" Nyx blinked, "You- you claim to be suicidal and yet you have made it this far through Tartarus?"

"Is that a question." Percy quirked a brow before she gave a small shrug. "I mean, clearly I have or I wouldn't be here right now. And yeah, I have had suicidal thoughts- several times though- honestly I think my time down here has kind of helped."

Oh she'd undoubtedly have a lot of trauma to unpack from this, but- well, the fear of Alabaster was gone entirely. She was free in a way.

"It-" the goddess blinked slowly, "It has helped? How can being in Tartarus help? What sort of child are you?"

"Not a child." Percy pulled a face, "I hate being called a child." she crossed her arms over her chest, "Listen Lady Nyx, we get it, you're terrifying and powerful and I should probably be bowing at your feet right now but I'm just not okay. Because I am done with this shit. All I want right now is to get out of this stupid stinking pit." why not try brutal honesty. After all it wasn't as if they'd be able to fight their way out- not against someone like Nyx.

And Nyx was staring at them stunned- clearly she'd never expected that.

"You're not afraid of me-"

"Oh don't get me wrong." Percy held up her hands placatingly- the goddess seemed genuinely offended that Percy wasn't cowering in fear. "You're scary as anything, right guys?"

"Yeah." Leo nodded frantically, "You're pretty freaking terrifying. I'm not gonna lie."

"I usually like the dark and I'm scared right now." Nico offered- clearly both of them had sensed that Percy was going somewhere with this- which, honestly, she was, kind of. She was half making it up as she went along but hey, they were still alive.

"Do not patronize me-"

"We're not!" Percy shook her head, "But see the thing is- my life is pretty much just all fear at this stage and- you're so far out of our league that I sorta feel like what's even the point. If you want us dead we're dead. Which- don't get me wrong it sucks but what can you do? I'm all about accepting death, done it once. All I'd ask is that you spare my brothers."

"You- you'd dare ask a favor from the Night itself?"

"I mean- it is not the most daring thing I've ever done." Percy shrugged, "Listen, I don't give that much of a shit about myself- I don't actively want to die any more but- if I do it wouldn't be so bad-"

"Speak for yourself." Leo was almost pouting, "We don't want you to die Percy."

"Eh, I know you don't- but if I die I die, it's just how shit is."

"You're ruining it!" Nyx looked annoyed, "It takes the pleasure out of it- killing someone who- who isn't afraid! Even the King of Olympus fears me-"

"Yeah but he's a dick." Percy pointed out reasonably, "I married his daddy-"

"For fuck sake!" Nico let out a high pitched little choking noise as Nyx gaped.

"You- why-"

"Listen. Listen objectively you're freaking terrifying but it's reached the stage where I don't care anymore. Like I said."

"You married that upstart Kronos?"

"Yes." Percy waved a hand dismissively, "Technically I'm still married to him I guess since he can't actually die but I mean, it was very much not something I was into- but getting to tell Hera she was grounded was very much a perk-"

"That would make you the Queen of the Titans- but you're just a mere demigod-"

"I'm not just anything." Percy huffed, "Listen we're not getting anywhere here Nyx. And we're on a time crunch, we have to get to the Doors of Death-"

"Aha!" Nyx cried in triumph, "You wish to see the Doors of Death?" Nyx asked. "They lie at the very heart of Tartarus. Mortals such as you could never reach them, except through the halls of my palace—the Mansion of Night!"

She gestured behind her. Floating in the abyss, maybe three hundred feet below, was a doorway of black marble, leading into some sort of large room.

And okay, okay that wasn't good- but they could work with it- if Percy could just come up with some plan.

"Let my brothers through then." Percy suggested, "Then you can take your time killing me-"

"Percy!" Leo groaned, "stop being so calm about dying!"

"What?!" Percy couldn't help the giggle that slipped past her lips at the horrified- Leo, and just completely done- Nico, looks that her brothers were giving her. "I've been there, done that, heck if we'd come here before I murdered Alabaster I'd have probably contemplated jumping into the abyss."

"You truly are a damaged soul." Nyx was staring at Percy as if she wasn't sure what to make of the girl. "I find myself... curious. What has made you the way you are?"

"Oh now that is a long story-"

"If you tell me I shall allow your brothers passage through the halls of my palace."

"What?" Percy's eyes widened, "You-"

"Yes or no. This is a one time offer- and I warn you-" her gaze focused on Nico and Leo, "You will not be able to look- if you do your minds will not handle what you see. You must traverse the halls of my mansion blind-"

"Wait-" Leo shook his head, "No but- Percy-"

"We're not going anywhere without Percy!" Nico's voice was panicked, but Percy's back was straightening and she nodded, a determined look on her face.

"I agree-"

"NO!" Leo and Nico yelled the word in unison- but Nyx waved a hand and her shadows swallowed them.

"They will still need to traverse the halls of my palace of course, and they will need to do so blind, but the son of Hades undoubtedly has some skill with shadows and the dark- their true obstacle will be the Acheron."

"Acheron?" Percy blinked, tilting her head, and Nyx looked amused for a brief moment.

"The River of Pain. The ultimate punishment for the souls of the damned."

"Huh." Percy swallowed hard. "Will they be able to make it over the river?"

"It will try to draw them in- if they step into it then they will die." Nyx didn't soften her words- Percy could appreciate that, "But if they can resist they may be able to leap over the River, if they are strong enough. Though I doubt they will do so without you."

"And will you let me join them?"

"We shall see." Nyx's eyes bored into Percy- and gods but those eyes really were piercing weren't they? "You will tell me your story. And then I shall make my choice."

"Right." Percy swallowed hard, running her fingers through her hair, "My story."

And what choice did she have? Her brothers wouldn't move on without her, she needed to try and join them, and if telling Nyx about her might help then she owed it to them to try.

So, her heart pounding in her chest, Percy told Night herself her story.