Chapter 18: Scarred
3RD PERSON POV
The last three years of Percy's life have been an absolute hell. Literally. Well the last decade in the Pit has been hell. The first seven of which he was physically tortured every single day for hours. There wasn't a single place on his body that didn't house a fresh cut or an old scar. The one he hated the most was the "K" on the right side of his chest. A curse from his grandfather, Kronos, only allowing him three hours of nightmare infested sleep for the rest of his days.
The last three years were worse, if that was even possible. They gave him some sort of potion that knocked him out, but when he awoke, all the tortures were on his mind. Every single monster that came in, looked like a loved one and he couldn't control it or break free from it. He was beaten and cut up by the Seven, by Annabeth, by the Hunt, by his dead parents; all of them.
He knew it wasn't real, but they had broken him enough. He stayed silent. Immune to the physical pain, he didn't scream. But this time around, he had no sarcastic or witty remarks to be made. He just sat there, chained to the wall and accepted the punishment of his "family and friends". Kronos laughed maniacally the entire time it occured.
Polybotes had his fun with him by simulating drowning. How do you simulate frowning for a Son of Poseidon you ask? You strap him to a water board with Celestial Bronze cuffs and cover his face with a towel woven with Celestial Bronze threads and pour water over him. That sucked the worst in Percy's opinion. They knew that was his fear and exploited it, but he refused to give the water that hold over him. This was the monsters doing this, the water is just a tool for them; he wouldn't blame or be afraid of it. He would make it a tool for him.
Then came the faithful day at the start of his decade.
PERCY POV
'An entire decade down here. They can't have attacked the Gods yet, they either would've moved me or killed me by now,' I thought as I dangled from my chains. The last decade had been rough, but the mental torture was far worse. Seeing my friends and family cut me up and curse at me sucked. I knew it wasn't real, but it had done its damage. I would hesitate now whenever I saw them. I knew. They knew it. I hated it. They loved it.
I was dangling from my chains when Kronos and Polybotes came in and Polybotes was holding something. I knew it was whatever they gave me messing with me, but it was a repeat of the scene before I went willingly: Polybotes had a knife at my little sister's throat.
'That's NOT Estelle. They're baiting you!,' one part of my brain argued. 'Let them bait. Pretend that's our little star and use the rage to get out of here,' another part countered. 'Polybotes' blood is similar to ours even if he is anti-Poseidon. You'll have to act quick but let the rage fuel you and break out of here,' the darker part of my brain argued again.
I growled lowly at the sight before me. "Awh, little hero gonna save his little sister?" Polybotes cooed at me and I snarled louder. "Give it up, Grandson. She's going to die just like the rest of them. You failed," Kronos said and I started shaking but focused on Polybotes' blood flowing through his veins.
He made the motion and slit "my sister's" throat and I blacked out. Not in the traditional sense, but that someone else was controlling my body. With a primal yell, my head raised toward the ceiling and then to Polybotes who went rigid. I made him slowly raise his knife to Kronos. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING YOU FOO-" Kronos began but was silenced by the knife through his throat and brain.
With another primal yell, I boiled Polybotes blood in his veins. He screamed in terrible agony as his blood continued to boil. "This isn't enough to stop me you fucking Sea Spawn!" he bellowed and I froze his blood. I used the ichor from Kronos and formed it over my cuffs and froze it. With a mighty pull and another yell, the cuffs snapped and I collapsed to the floor. I coughed up blood and slowly rose to my feet.
I plunged Polybotes' knife through his eye and into his brain in hopes to slow him down. My pens appeared in my pockets after I snapped the chains and I found my katana in ring form shortly after along with my necklace with my armor and trident. I limped and hobbled my way out of wherever they were holding me and concealed my presence to not attract any attention. 'It's only a matter of time before Tartarus himself catches on though,' I thought and wandered aimlessly through the wasteland a second time.
ARTEMIS POV
As I fell into the realm of unconsciousness, I expected to dream about Percy again during his time with the Hunt. Lately, I've been dreaming about all the times we've had together, the bonfire where he sang for us, even the sparring sessions we had. 'I still can't believe I kissed him during one of those,' I thought giddily as the dream came into view.
I was in a swamp somewhere and it appeared to be nighttime because it was so dark. I wandered around through it, not knowing where it was or why I was there, when a hair raising roar pierced the otherwise quiet night.
I sprinted toward the source of the roar and came to a clearing where I found the largest drakon I have even seen. Easily as long as a subway train and its scales reminded me of the sunlight through a forest. It roared again and seemed to be fighting something. I saw a blur flip out of the way and summon a bow and release five arrows into its eye before he hit the ground.
"Percy!" I tried to yell, but my voice wouldn't work so I could only watch. Percy looked like he was tired and his clothes were tattered, but he summoned large spikes of ice that pierced the drakon's limbs. As it roared again, Percy set his trident ablaze with Greek fire and threw it into the beast's throat. The drakon made choking sounds before it exploded into gold dust.
I got closer to Percy and gasped. His body was riddled with scars. They were everywhere on his person and I felt myself starting to cry. I watched as he hobbled back to a little hut and collapsed onto the giant bed. "Thanks, Damasen. Even though you're gone, you're still taking care of me," I heard him say and my dream faded out.
I awoke with a jolt and realized it was still too early to do anything about the dream but I couldn't sleep, so I went to the beach to gather my thoughts. 'Are all those scars real? Where is he?,' I thought. I couldn't locate him anywhere, so I assumed he's still in Tartarus, but I've never heard of a swamp there.
I was broken out of my musings when the daughter of Athena approached.
ANNABETH POV
I had another nightmare of Tartarus with Percy and I couldn't sleep. I felt so guilty after the meeting with what Lady Artemis said and I hated myself for it. Trying to clear my mind, I headed to the beach like I always do and found the Moon Goddess there as well.
"Bad dreams?" she asked without turning around as I got closer. "Yeah… Nightmares from that place," I said softly and she nodded. "Perseus would tell me about those sometimes," she said with an almost wistful expression, which I found curious.
"What about you?" I asked and she stayed quiet as if contemplating sharing. "I had a dream about Perseus," she whispered. If I wasn't so worried about Percy, I would've paid more attention to Lady Artemis' nervousness and borderline embarrassment about having a dream of her Guardian, but I couldn't afford to care at the time.
"Is he okay?! What happened? Where is he?" I let out rapid fire and she glared at me. She sighed after a while and said, "He was fighting a drakon, bigger than any I've ever seen, in a swamp. He beat it and then went back to a hut of sorts." I went wide-eyed. "Was there a red giant there?" I asked and she looked at me confused. "No, just Perseus," she said and it was my turn to be confused.
"He did say, 'Thanks, Damasen. Even though you're gone, you're still taking care of me.' before my dream faded out," Artemis said and I gasped. "I know where he is! He's heading for the Doors of Death!" I shouted and Lady Artemis went wide-eyed. "I need to inform the Council," she said and flashed out.
'Hang on, Seaweed Brain. You're almost there,' I thought before heading back to my cabin.
3RD PERSON POV
Aretrmis flashed in and summoned the Council. Once they arrived, she didn't bother waiting for her father to ask. "I had a dream of Perseus last night. He fought a drakon and resided in a swamp. After conversing with Annabeth Chase, we confirmed that Perseus is nearing the Doors of Death," she said in a hurry, but everyone seemed to understand.
"How was he? How did he look?" Hera asked, her gaze full of worry and concern. Artemis' eyes prickled with tears, but she refused to let any fall. "He was battered and tired… and his body was covered in scars… like he'd been down there for years," she said softly and a few tears left Hera's and Poseidon's eyes.
"Hades, see if you can get Thanatos to assist in recovering him. Don't let him get too close. If Tartarus is stirring, we don't need to risk Thanatos getting captured again," Zeus ordered and everyone nodded. Everyone flashed out except for Artemis and Hestia.
HESTIA POV
I was poking at the hearth when Artemis approached after the meeting."He's coming home," I said with a smile as I poked the embers. "Yes, he is…" Artemis said, but trailed off. "What's the matter, my dear niece?" I asked and she sighed. "I'm worried he'll be… different when he gets back," she said and I chuckled.
"Of course he will. He was tortured in Tartarus. What you're worried about is if things will be different between you two, am I right?" I asked with a smirk. She blushed madly and stuttered, "H-How did you know?" she asked and I laughed again. "He's my Champion, dear. I keep my eye on him most of the time and I see how you two are around each other," I told her reassuringly.
"Then… does that mean he…" she started but trailed off. I shook my head, "Now that he has been in Tartarus again, I do not know. But before Tartarus, he harbored those feelings for you as well. I am confident that you will be able to drag those out of him again, if that is what you want," I told her and she sat there pondering my words.
"Just have hope, Artemis," I said and disappeared in a column of fire.
PERCY POV
True to Kronos' words, I woke up after only three hours of sleep and had nightmares of all my tortures again. I grumbled to myself and found some spare food in Damasen's hut. I missed my friend, but if not for him I wouldn't have survived Tartarus this time, let alone the first.
I still felt like shit, but better than yesterday, so I moved out before the drakon found me again. I trudged along the hellscape and kept my presence well hidden so I wouldn't have to deal with any monsters as I headed toward the Doors of Death. I hadn't seen, heard, or felt any movement from the Pit himself and that put me on edge.
I arrived at the doors and found a fuck-ton of monsters each waiting their turn to get on and go back to the land of the living. I also noticed that there were monsters patrolling the line to the doors. 'They're looking for me,' I thought as I stayed out of the way from the line.
'I'm going to need to time this so right. First, I need to board with a group that I can take out. Second, I need to slip into the elevator as a sea breeze just before the Doors close. Lastly, I need to take out those in the elevator in extremely close combat,' I thought and sighed. 'I can't just leave all the others to simply wait their turn.'
I scouted and waited for what felt like hours, but my chance came. A group of cyclops, empousai, dracnae, a dozen hellhounds, and Medusa boarded the elevator. 'Time to go!' I thought, I fire flashed to the middle of where the monsters were waiting and landed with a huge earthquake to hopefully kill some of them before they could go back to Earth.
Before they could recover and close the Doors, I turned into water vapor and slipped in the elevator. 'So far, so good' I thought but all of 10 seconds later. "I smell the sea," Medusa said and I silently cursed her and myself. Deciding she was the largest threat, other than the numbers, I floated down behind her still as vapor.
Right as I was going to solidify, her tail coiled around me and I yelped in surprise. "Well, Percy Jackson, Tararus isn't going to be pleased you escaped," Medusa said and the others growled and snarled. I didn't say anything, nor did my face portray any emotion.I set myself ablaze with Greek fire and medusa screamed. Her screaming was silenced immediately as my katana separated her head from her shoulders.
The rest of the monsters went down just as quickly, but due to their numbers they got some scratches, bites, and blows on me. But I was used to the pain. I didn't feel them, but my body still knew I had to be careful. I had no food, ambrosia, or nectar and I decided to save the rest of my energy for a one-way trip.
After 12 minutes of deafening silence, I appeared ironically in Los Angeles. Outside DOA Recording Studios. I took one big breath and fire flashed to the Throne Room where I immediately blacked out.
3RD PERSON POV
The Gods were back in the Throne Room trying to figure out what to do about Percy. "Can Thanatos not help?" Athena asked and Hades shook his head. "Tartarus is more cautious about the Doors and if Thanatos goes directly, the chances of him getting captured are high," Hades said in reply.
Muttered broke out among the gods about what to when Artemis sprang to her feet like a rocket. "He's back! I can sense him! He's-" Artemis began when the flames of the hearth grew to 13 feet high and spat out a figure before returning to its normal flickering. Immediately, Hera, Hestia, Poseidon, Artemis, and Apollo sprinted forward.
Apollo got there first and grimaced at the scars, but went straight into doctor mode. The rest of them got to him next and all gasped. Every inch of his body was covered in scars. Criss-crossing cuts, stand alone cuts, burns; every kind possible, but the one that stood out the most was the blackened "K" that adorned the right side of his chest. Hera, Hestia, and Poseidon all were crying openly, but Artemis let her tears well up in her eyes as she traced the scar with a shaky hand.
Percy no longer looked like he did before. But he was mentally changed as well. Desensitized to the torture and killing that he had endured and partaken in. He was emotionless, very much trapped in his warrior persona. The Gods didn't know it yet, but they would come to find out. For better or for worse.
AN: Chapter 18! Hope you enjoyed it! Until next time!