10/29/20

New chapter, heck yeah! I've been going through a tough spot in my life right now because my dumb golden retriever decided to up and die on me, which is shitty but it happens, ya know? In other words, please review and I hope you enjoy the next chapter!

Wordcount: 2387

Lost and Found

===========?===========

Percy POV:

Percy sunk to his knees, slamming his fist into the closed elevator doors, "I will kill Gaia. I will rip her apart with my bare hands." He promised, eyes red. Zoe put a comforting hand on his shoulder, but emotions still ran rampant through his head.

During the short time he had stayed with the giant, he learned that he had wished nothing more to see the sun again, if only for a second. He longed to see the stars one last time, but he would never see the blue sky again.

Damasen was dead, and Percy felt empty.

A small voice, deep inside his head protested. He should be glad that Damasen was dead, he was a giant! One of the guys they were fighting! The prophecy stated that foes would bear arms to the doors of death, and Damasen was specifically made to oppose the gods.

He shook his head, attempting to force the voice down. Damasen had been destined to fight the gods, but he chose to stay peaceful. Damasen had renounced his destiny, bringing down a terrible fate. Sure, he would reform eventually, but peaceful beings always took a long time.

When he reached the surface, he promised, he would tell the sun and stars hello. For Damasen.

The elevator rattled, and the sensation of movement keeping him on his knees. Elevator music began playing, and he instantly recognized the song. It was the same song that was playing when he had ascended the elevator to Olympus to stop Kronos.

The rattling settled down, and the moving sensation went away, releasing its grip on him. He twisted, sitting down with his back against the wall. He let the armor flow off his body, watching in mute curiosity as it melted into the shadows.

As Zoe sat down next to him, the elevator rocked, and his still broken arm was unceremoniously slammed into the wall, followed by the rest of his body, sending blinding pain shooting up his arm. He folded his arm back to his chest with a hiss of pain as the break throbbed, sending waves of pain up and down his arm. He blinked, trying to clear his vision as black dots danced around his eyes.

Zoe quietly swore beside him, "I nearly forgot about your arm! Let me see it and I'll try and set it." He was about to protest that she didn't need to and that he was fine, but she glared at him and his resistance crumbled.

He turned to face her and held out his left arm. His forearm was snapped directly in the middle at a thirty-degree angle, and he could see the beginnings of a nasty bruise starting to form.

She held his arm, looking it over with a critical eye. Her hands were cold, probably a side effect of her still being mostly spirit. If he focused, he could see the other side of the elevator through her torso. She was far less transparent than she had been before they had stepped into the elevator, but she was still a ways away from being fully alive again.

"It's broken alright, I can set it if you're ready."

Percy took a deep breath before nodding. Zoe continued, "Ok, on three? One, two-" She skipped three, placing his forearm back into place with a quick snap! Percy screamed, clamping his hand over his mouth in an attempt to muffle them.

The pain slowly died down, until it was just a dull throb instead of white-hot pain. Zoe looked it over one last time before letting go, letting him test out his fingers, making sure they still work.

"That should be good until we can either splint it or get some ambrosia and nectar. I have to ask though, where-" she shifted, as if uncomfortable with the topic, "Where are those scars on your arms from?"

Percys pulse jumped. In the heat of the moment, he had completely forgotten about the neat little lines that ran up his arms. Oh Styx this was bad. His mind raced, trying to come up with an excuse, any excuse, but he came up blank. The silence between them was deafening.

Zoe sighed but grabbed his hand. He idly noted that her hands were warmer than before. "I'm not asking you to tell me anything right now, but promise me you will talk to someone eventually, please?"

Percy managed to jerk his head up and down, "Uh, yeah. I- I promise." Zoe looked up, the ghost (hah) of a smile gracing her face.

There was a pause, and Percy swiftly changed the subject, "You're alright too, right? I don't see any good, but anything I should know about?"

Zoe huffed, "Yes, I'm fine. Not all of us are idiotic enough to take on Kampē alone." Percy rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment, but he still gave Zoe a once-over, just to be safe.

They sat in silence for another minute or so, a song about pinã Coladas and getting stuck in rain played over the loudspeakers, before Percy remembered something important, "My friends on the Argo should be there when we get to the top, but be prepared for a fight, just in case." It was wishful thinking, but he hoped everything went to plan on the surface. He hoped they didn't expect him to kill whatever was guarding the doors on the mortal side. He could barely lift his arms, and if he tried to stand he would probably fall on his ass.

Gods, he couldn't wait to see Annabeth. He had been there long enough that the image of her in his head was fading like it had when he went to Alaska. Had he not been dead exhausted, he would have been shaking with excitement.

As his mind wandered, Zoe cried out in alarm, shaking him from his thoughts. He glanced up, and the blood drained from his face. The shadows in the corners of the elevator were stretching and warping, like a plastic bag when you press if your hand into it enough to stretch it out. Was Erebus coming to make sure they died? Vengeance sprung into his hand, but the blade quickly slipped out of his numb fingers as if it were made of butter.

The shadows stretched one last time, and a person stepped out. He took the figure slowly. He took in the figure slowly. Black high heels, pale white skin, a long black dress that lightly trailed on the ground. He looked up and met the grim face of the goddess of Night.

"Nyx?" Percy asked, confused, "What are you doing here?" At the name Nyx, Zoe immediately went to bow, but Nyx waved her off. Confused, Zoe sat back down next to him, but he could tell she was thinking about something.

"Just a passing visit I'm afraid. If you return to the surface with a golden eye and Kronos's scythe after being declared dead, the Gods would kill you on sight. For your eye-" She snapped her fingers, and a wave of power washed over him, " I have given you the ability to change your eye back to what it was previously. Simply thing of changing your eye and it shall shift. And as for your sword, Zoe can return Riptide until you tell the gods the truth." At that, she glanced at Zoe, and she allowed a small smile to overcome her grim features.

"But, I also come with bad news. My husband, Erebus, has cursed you, Perseus. He will twist your mind and change what you see. He cannot control you, however, and all your actions will be your own. Beyond this, I cannot help you. The fates are already furious with my intervention so far, and any further help would bring down their fury on you. The travel between Tartarus and the surface is not meant for mortals. I have protected you thus far, but even I have limits. I must leave, but know when you awake, you will be among family." And with that, Nyx clicked her fingers once more, and disappeared into the shadows, much like Nicos shadow travel.

His eyelids began to close, but he forced himself to stay awake for just a little bit longer. Zoe looked over at him, "That was Nyx? The Nyx?"

Percy glanced over a lopsided grin on his face, "Yeah. She's pretty cool, huh?"

She nodded, "She's a lot different than I thought she would be, but I…" She trailed off.

A yawn tore itself out of his mouth, and his eyelids drooped, "You what?"

Percy's eyes closed, and he heard one last thing before sleep overcame him, "I think I recognize her."

===========?===========

Leo POV:

The giant was dead, burned alive by Hecate after Hazel and Nico had weakened it enough. The rest of the demigods, along with the archer twins, were fighting a horde of monsters that had snuck up behind them as they had battled the Sorceress Pasiphaë and the giant Clytius. Before they could be helped, the Doors of Death had to be closed. The doors loomed before the three demigods, as Hecate had already disappeared into a cloud of white mist.

Nico swiped at one of the chains, which snapped like a rubber band under tension. Hazel swung for the other one, breaking it as well. The doors shook but refused to disappear as they had been told they would. Leo laughed nervously, and the doors dinged and shook again, the up button on the side lit up green. Something, or someone, was in there.

The three demigods glanced at each other uncertainty before approaching the doors. The Doors stood in front of them, black pannels glaring down at the demigods. The door dinged again, and the up button glowed even brighter.

Nico's face grew grim, "We're going to have to open it to send the doors away. Get on either side and get ready, I'll open the doors." Leo and Hazel nodded, and the demigods moved to either side of the doors, ready to jump out and attack from either side. Leo pulled out a Ball peen hammer from his toolbelt, holding it nervously in his hands. Nico slammed his hand on the doors and quickly backed up.

The doors shook violently, sending rocks down from the ceiling. The doors slowly slipped open, and two figures fell out of them, crumbling onto the ground. It was far from the horde of monsters they had expected. He couldn't make out any features from where he was standing, but he heard Nicos strangled gasp. Nico rushed forward, his sword falling to the ground with a clang, and collapsed to his knees next to one of the figures. The doors disappeared with a quiet pop, and Leos hammer fell out of his hands. Laying on the ground was the supposedly dead Percy Jackson with an unnamed girl.

Nico rolled him onto his back and pressed his finger to Percy's throat. Leo had never really understood the godly side of his family, but looking at the two now, he could definitely see how they were related. Percy's skin was deathly pale, just like Nicos was when they found him in the vase, And his breathing was labored. Even though Percy had a silver streak in his hair, it was nearly black from the soot and grease that coated his body. Gold dust clung to his clothing, a shock of color to his dark clothes. But the biggest change was the scar. It ran from his eyebrow to his jaw, passing straight through his left eye. Leo and Hazel rushed over, kneeling beside the pale demigod.

Hazel covered her mouth with her hand, "Is he… Is he...?"

"Alive? Just barely. We need to get him and her-" Nico jerked his chin to the other figure, which Leo realized was a girl dressed in all silver, obviously one of the hunters of Artemis. She seemed about sixteen as well. Where had Percy found a Hunter in Tartarus? "-back to the ship to heal."

"And whos the chick? Someone, you know?"

Nico looked over at her, "Yeah, I know her alright, she's-" He was cut off as Jason, Piper, and Frank bust into the room, followed by the twin archers.

"APOLLO!" Nico hollered, "We need you over here!" The god of medicine instantly rushed over, medical gloves appearing on his hands. As soon as he caught sight of Percy, however, he stopped in his tracks, eyes the size of dinner plates. Artemis and the demigods, seeing the sun gods curious behavior, made their way over as well. The sight of the figures lying on the ground made the demigods pause, but they immediately rushed over, checking to see if Percy was still alive. They shook the two gods out of their stupor, and they immediately couched by the passed out demigods side.

Apollo rushed to Percys side, and his hands began glowing a soft yellow, and he could hear Percy's breathing even out. Artemis, however, ran to the unnamed girl's side, pulling her head into her lap. She murmured something that Leo couldn't hear as her hands glowed silver, trying to heal whatever wounds the girl had. After a few tense minutes, the Twins stepped back, seemingly content with whatever they had done. Apollo was muttering something under his breath, but Leo couldn't understand whatever it was.

"Alright!" Apollo clapped his hands together, "Join hands, and we'll teleport back to the ship." There was little fuss, and soon enough, the sickening experience of teleportation overcame the demigods, and then they were on the top deck of the Argo II, which was floating above the entrance to the Necromanteion. Several of the gods were wandering around the deck, including Hermes, Mars, and Hades. They glanced up at the arrival of the crew, but quickly realized they had extra guests.

"Prepare the infirmary," Apollo announced, "We found him."