Percy was falling for a couple of minutes. At some point, he literally became bored. However, that came to a quick end when he hit the ground... and that hurt a lot.
"Gaaaah," he moaned. Thankfully he didn't break any bones (at least, that he was aware of). He wiped the soot off of his clothes, and stood up. By that point, he realized why Tartarus was considered a place not worth visiting. Immediately, his eyes started to water from the haze he was surrounded in. Also, the ground released more of these vapors with every step he took.
He tried to find his bearings from the maps he had studied. He noticed a river down the hill from where he was standing. It was the River Phlegethon, the river of fire. At this point, Percy started to notice the blisters forming on his arm, from the air alone. He could hardly breathe from how dry his throat was. He decided to risk it. He scooped his hands into the water and drank it.
He started to shake. His body wasn't reacting to it well (although nothing was really reacting well with Tartarus). He gagged and heaved, but then the feeling passed over him, and his blisters started to disappear. 'Well that was gross,' he thought to himself.
He looked back up the hill, making sure that Artemis didn't take the trip with him. He felt relieved not seeing her there, although he did think about how her presence would be somewhat comforting in this wretched place.
Nonetheless, he made his way with the river. He knew that it ultimately led to the Doors of Death, the only escape from Tartarus. But he wasn't concerned about escaping. He planned to spend the rest of his life here after completing his mission.
At several points he had to stop walking and drink more water. The gagging and shaking never stopped, but he continued.
Eventually, he came across an all-black tree. The thing was massive, with no leaves. When he looked up, he saw several pairs of eyes glowing in the dark. All of them looked at Percy and appeared to be going to the lower limbs. Percy took that as a cue to run away, so he did.
He didn't stop running until he assumed he was out of their sight. From breathing the terrible air and running his heart out, Percy fell to the ground. He started to wheeze, and saliva started to goop down his lips. He crawled to the river and drank some more water.
When he stood back up, he found what he was looking for. Next to a large rock was a bubble forming. Inside of it was Hyperion, growing back to strength. Percy grabbed Riptide and popped the bubble. The liquid that was surrounding Hyperion fell upwards, as if it responded to gravity in the opposite direction. Hyperion slowly opened his eyes.
When he regained vision, he noticed the boy standing in front of him. "You?!" he asked. "You idiot mortal, you were the one who defeated me. I am going to kill you, Percy Jackson. If it's the last thing I do!" he taunted.
Percy looked at him calmly. "Your words mean nothing to me, after what you did," his voice started to quiver, but he prevented it from showing.
Hyperion looked at him for a second, slightly confused. But then realization struck his face, and his face lit up. "Oh, you mean that little surprise gift I sent your girlfriend? Oh man, I am so glad it made its way to you." Percy started to shake with rage. Hyperion continued, "Interesting thing about those arai's, they're curses. That's all, just little curses that anyone can make for basically any reason. But you see, they can't escape Tartarus unless someone lets them. And here I spent all of this time reforming, when someone else did all the work for me!" he howled with a level of insanity eminent in his tone. His laughter grew and grew, and Percy just stood there.
"You can laugh all you want, Hyperion. Frankly, I don't care. But the one who should be caring is you, because your life is on the line. And I am the one who is going to end it!" Percy yelled. Hyperion just looked up and laughed some more.
"Wow, you are an idiot mortal boy. We're already in Tartarus, what's the worst you can do? I'm just going to reform. And even if you manage to escape me, I will hunt you down until you die. Then you will reform, and I will spend the rest of my days chasing the idiot prey known as Percy Jackson." He laughed some more. Percy grabbed Riptide from his pocket and clicked the pen. Then, he dipped the sword in the river, and mumbled an ancient incantation from the book of Homer. (Translated) "I call on Chaos, to bring disarray. Along with Order, how things should stay. The oldest beings, from which I am made. In this moment, I ask the power to fade."
Hyperion continued to laugh and joke at Percy. Percy ran at him, and Hyperion made a quick stride forward and punch him in the face. Percy hit the ground hard, but he was still invincible from the Styx.
"You really think you can beat me without your stupid water powers?" He held his arms out, in a come-at-me position. "You heroes are the dumbest and most arrogant among us. You are born with these powers and think you can contend with the gods. You are nothing but weak, mortals."
Percy got back up, although his throat was swelling from the Tartarus atmosphere. Percy stumbled up towards him.
"You are the worst among the heroes, Perseus Jackson. A lunatic, who made his way down to Tartarus just to be my eternal play thing. Bahahaha," he crowed.
Percy made another stride towards Hyperion, who merely stepped to the side and hit Riptide right out of his hand. Hyperion then proceeded to punch Percy to the ground. Then, he followed it with kicks to his side.
"This is fun. I think I could get used to this. And you know what the best part is? You're going to live the rest of eternal punishment knowing that you could never avenge your girlfriend's death."
Percy screamed with a primal roar. The river sent a wave to his sword, which pushed it over to Percy. Hyperion tried to punch Percy, but he vaporized behind him. Then, he raised Riptide and shot it through the back of Hyperion.
"You stupid mortal," he said, with the blade still in his chest. "You know I will be back, right? That's what this hell hole is. I will always be back to kill you again and again." Percy smirked.
"Why are you smiling, you insolent fool? You moron," Hyperion sneered. Percy just stood there, as Hyperion's body slowly started to lose its materiality. He became translucent, and then faded into the Cosmos.
After that, Percy felt his knees buckle, and he hit the ground. He tried to will the river to him, but it was too late. This time, his body went into a state of shock. He was knocked unconscious, shaking at random intervals.
He was back at the top of the cliff to Tartarus, where he took the jump. He turned around, and there was Artemis, sobbing. She sat on a blunt stalagmite, with her hands covering her eyes. Percy approached her, and a sensation of guilt flew through his stomach. Artemis didn't look as beautiful when she was sad, and that made Percy sad.
He just stood next to her, with his hand on her shoulder, until she finished her weeping. She stood up, wiped her eyes, and made her way back towards Hades palace.
And then Percy was on the streets of Olympus, where he saw Hermes going for a run. Then Artemis appeared, and Hermes stopped to talk to her. Percy went closer to hear what they were saying.
"How was the trip?" he asked, a smile on his face, wiping the sweat off of his forehead.
She looked at him with a cold face. "It doesn't matter. What did you need in return?" By this point, Hermes face had turned flat. Artemis looked like she just lost one of her closest hunters again.
"Umm, you know, uh, let's just call it even. For that time I stole Apollo's cattle. Sure, I repaid him with a lute, but I am sure that was still extremely damaging on his pride. So, uh, yeah, no worries," he replied. It was obvious he didn't want to make Artemis upset. Artemis just nodded her head and walked towards the throne room. Percy followed behind.
"Artemis, what brings you to the hearth?" asked Hestia.
"Percy is gone, Hestia. He is never coming back," she replied, her face drooping with each word.
Hestia nodded her head. "I was afraid he would do something like this. Where did he go?"
"Tartarus," she replied, bluntly. Hestia's eyes widened for a second, then she nodded in conciliation.
"I assumed he would take it that far."
A tear shed down Artemis' cheek. Hestia looked at her in surprise. "In the millennia I've known you Artemis, I've never seen you cry. Not even after the death of Ms. Nightshade."
Artemis tried to wipe the tear away, but more came after. She took a deep gulp. "I don't know why," she replied. Percy just stood there in silence. He accomplished his task, but it looked like he ended up hurting somone in the process. Someone as beautiful as Artemis.
Thank you for reading. I hope you guys are staying safe from the virus. Have a great day