Chapter Eight

They were at the very bottom of the Grand Canyon. They could see people up on the glass observation deck. Percy grabbed Thalia's hand and took her into the Colorado River.

"Percy, what are you doing?" She asked him as he stepped into the river.

"We have to get out of here." He paused. "Discreetly." He said after a moment. "Just come with me."

Thalia decided to trust him and followed him in. He held his hand out to her and she took it. They walked deeper into the river, all the way until the water was at her chin. Percy looked at her. "I need you to take a deep breath and go underwater."

"What?"

"Just trust me. Please."

Thalia hesitated, before taking a deep breath in and plunging her head underwater. She closed her eyes. Water surrounded her. She felt wrong. Every cell screamed for her to run out of the river, to yell screw it and just walk.

But then the water faded from around her.

"You can breathe now." Percy said.

Thalia opened her eyes to a smug looking Percy. She looked around to see that they were in a giant underwater bubble. She was standing on it, so it must've been pretty durable. She looked outside of the bubble to see that they were moving through the river, traveling fast.

Percy sat down and leaned back on the wall of the bubble. "Relax. It won't pop until we get to our destination."

"Which is?"

Percy shrugged. "I'll know when I feel it."

Thalia decided to sit down as well. She laid on the other side of the bubble, facing him. "So, you're gonna tell me what happened back there?"

Percy sighed. He was quiet for a moment. It almost looked like he was listening to something. Finally he started. "As you know, I was sentenced to Tartarus. I wasn't there very long before I passed out from exhaustion. When I woke up, Tartarus had captured me. He offered me a deal. He would give me freedom if I won this tournament of his. Little did I know that it was all a ruse. Anyway, I accepted it."

He went silent, like he was waiting for a response. When he got none, he continued.

"I had just finished fighting my first fight and I decided to go for a walk. I was resting by the River Phlegethon when I was attacked by a hellhound. During it, something passed to me." He paused. "A symbiote."

"A what?"

"It's uh, um-" Percy paused again. He tilted his head to the side, like it was listening. "It's a parasite."

Suddenly Percy winced. "Fine, geez, I'm sorry. You're not a parasite. Happy now?" He seemed to be talking to himself.

Thalia was thinking that she was starting to get it. "So it needs you to survive?"

Percy turned to her. "Yeah. It also needs a certain thing- phenethylamine- to live. Apparently it's only found in the brain... and chocolate."

Thalia seemed to pale. "Oh." She let out in a small voice.

Percy noticed this and immediately panicked. "It's not going to eat you. Right?" Percy looked expectant. "That's good." He said. He focused back on Thalia. "Yeah, he's not eating you."

"That makes me feel so much better. Thanks." Thalia said sarcastically.

"Besides, he should still be full from Tartarus."

"What?"

Percy's eyes widened. He rubbed his neck nervously. "Yeah, Venom kinda ate Tartarus."

"Venom?"

"It's what it said to call it."

"So it ate Tartarus?"

Percy started to turn green. "Yeah. Tore into him like he was a bucket of fried chicken. Or like you with a burger."

Thalia managed to chuckle. "Guess it was kind of violent."

"Very."

Suddenly the bubble stopped moving. Percy stood up and offered her his hand. She took it and stood up. The bubble popped and the water doused them. Well, it would have, if Percy hadn't kept them dry.

They emerged onto dry land. They were in a forest. Trees loomed into the sky. The sounds of nature, which were a bunch of animals trying to get laid by the way, sounded throughout the forest. The sound of rushing water raced behind them.

"So, what now?" Thalia asked.

"Now, we split up. You go back to Artemis, and I.. I do something." Percy said, sounding unsure.

"What? Kelp head, you don't really think I'll just leave you here, do you?"

"I can't be sure that Venom won't just go eat everything. I don't want you around to be a sitting target. Besides, you have the Hunters to get back to. You have a job to do for them."

"So what are you going to do Percy? What are you going to do? Sit around until he feels the need to eat? Live in the woods, waiting until you finally die? What are you going to do, hm?"

"Exactly that, Thals. Exactly that." Percy said, before venom took over and jumped onto a tree branch. He jumped from tree to tree, and in an instant, he was gone.

Thalia was alone. Silver light erupted from behind her. She turned around to see Artemis standing there. She looked relieved.

"Thalia. Where have you been?"

"It's a long story. And I don't feel like getting into it."

"Well then, let's get you back home."

"Yeah... Home." Thalia muttered. She had to keep herself from looking back in the direction Venom had left.

Artemis placed a hand on Thalia's shoulder. She closed her eyes as the Goddess flashed them back to camp. She opened her eyes to see that it was set up like usual.

Silver tents surrounded a fire pit. The largest being Artemis', with Thalia's in second next to hers. On the other side of her mistress's tent was the tent that held their rations. The rest of the hunter's tents surrounded the fire pit, as mentioned previously.

Hunters strewed about, doing miscellaneous things. Some sharped arrows, others played with wolves. Some were gone, presumably hunting for dinner. The sun was almost setting so some had to be doing that.

Artemis placed a hand on Thalia's back. "Let's talk in my tent."

Thalia followed her to her tent. She opened the flap and let the demigoddess in first, Artemis went through next, closing the flap behind her.

Artemis's tent was always warm and cozy. Silk pillows and rugs covered the floor. In a corner a brazier burned. A bed was pushed up against the wall, covered in blankets and pillows. Artemis sat down on the pallet made of rugs and motioned for Thalia to do the same. She did so.

"So, where have you been?" Artemis asked.

"It's a little complicated."

"Take some time and think about it."

Thalia was silent as she thought about how she would explain it. Finally, she decided on the words. She swallowed. "Well, I was in... uh, Tartarus."

"what?" Artemis asked. Yes, she spoke in lowercase, that is not an error.

"I was in, well, Tartarus."

"Gods, Thalia, are you alright? That must've been horrible."

"I mean, it wasn't all bad. I was with Percy most of the time."

"How is he doing?" Artemis asked. She seemed a little excited.

"Well, he's uh, he's kinda escaped."

"What?"

"He escaped. And I did with him."

"Okay, I want the full story. From the top."

Thalia sighed. "I was taken to Tartarus, and when I woke up, I was thrust into an arena. Percy was my opponent. He wouldn't fight me, and he ended up fighting Tartarus. He won, and well, we escaped together. We ended up in the Grand Canyon, so we floated through the Colorado River in a bubble. And then we emerged from the river, and he left. Then you came."

"Where did he go?"

"I think to live in the woods."

"Wow. He fought a Primordial and won. I wonder how he did it."

Thalia chuckled nervously. "He seems to have a bit of a condition."

Artemis leaned forward. "What kind of condition?"

"He's well, he's bonded to a symbiote, I think that's what he called it. And it is powerful. Apparently it ate Tartarus alive."

Artemis's eyes widened. "If Zeus learns of this, he'll either weaponize him-"

"Or destroy him." Thalia finished.

"We have to find him." Artemis said. "Did he say anything about where he was going to go?"

Thalia shook her head.

"Well then. I guess the hunt is on."

"It's not going to be easy. Venom moves fast, and Percy is likely to avoid any public places."

"Why?"

"Because Venom needs a certain thing to live. A chemical - I can't pronounce it, before you ask- and it's only found in the brain and chocolate, apparently."

"Well, I guess we'll have to do some really deep observations then, won't we?"

Artemis stood up. "Get some rest Thalia. I'll announce our next hunt to the Hunters and we'll leave in the morning."

Thalia walked to her tent and laid on her bed. On her nightstand next to her bed, sat a photograph of just her and Percy. She stared at it.

Outside she could hear Artemis.

"HUNTERS! WE HAVE A NEW GOAL. PERCY JACKSON HAS RETURNED FROM TARTARUS AND IS NOW IN HIDING! WE MUST FIND HIM BEFORE ZEUS DOES, OR IT WILL BE HIS END! WE WILL BEGIN IN THE MORNING, SO REST UP!"

Thalia closed her eyes as hard as she could. But thoughts of what her father would do to Percy invaded her mind.

She got no sleep that night.