Percy POV:
The next morning, Artemis and I stood side by side with Ashley in my arms. It was time. We nodded at each other and took our first step forwards, then our next, and our next, until we were on our way. I didn't exactly know where we were walking to, but Artemis seemed to have a general sense of direction so I just followed her. After ten minutes, she increased the pace and soon we were sprinting, the trees a blur around us.
I had noticed that I tired much less after getting the Guardian's Blessing and I could full out sprint for over and hour without so much as break a sweat. At one point, I almost dropped Ashley, but managed to catch her before she hit the ground. Artemis was still pushing the pace and I was forced to speed up or else I would be left in the dust. I decided to try something.
Using my powers over air, I propelled myself and Ashley forward and outstretched my fist like Superman. I felt us traveling faster and faster. We were like a bullet, quickly catching up to Artemis and I glided next to her as she ran.
"Seriously Perseus? That's cheating," She said with a raised eyebrow. I smirked and sensed that she could go even faster, so I shot ahead and waited for her to catch up. It wasn't long before a caught up to, not even looking like she was trying.
"Geez, how fast can you gods run?"
"As fast as we need to. Now I would suggest we stop and try to figure out where we are."
I nodded and we stopped in a clearing. I sat down with Ashley in my arms. Artemis sat on another log across me.
"That was fun! We should do that again Percy!" Ashley yelled excitedly. I chuckled and ruffled her hair before turning to Artemis with a serious expression on my face.
"Do you have any idea where we should start?" She asked.
I thought about it before answering. Man, I would really hate saying this, but I think it's our only chance.
"I think the best place to start would be taking a visit to the one of only other immortals alive while Apollyon was still free."
Artemis looked confused for a second, but then she seemed to realize who I was talking about and her face paled immensely.
"You can't mean..."
I nodded,"We need to find a way to contact the titan council. It is our only chance of finding this key. I mean we have no information on it's whereabouts or even what it looks like. The titans were the only beings alive other then the gods and Primordials during that time. Obviously, I don't think it's a smart idea to find the Primordials and none of the current Olympians were alive back then. We can only hope that at least one of the titans had witnessed the making of the key."
She looked reluctant, but agreed at the reason behind my words.
"There is still the problem of how we contact the titans. Pretty much all of them hate us and I don't think they would be willing to meet with us peacefully."
"We don't need a reason other than the fact that the world may be close to the end of it's life. Without Earth, there's no titans. They will understand, trust me, they will. We just need to go to Mount Othrys, where the council is located."
She nodded at stood up,"Well, I guess we should get moving then, we shouldn't waste anymore time."
"But, I'm hungry," Ashley butt in.
I laughed a little,"Here you go." I summoned her a couple blue cookies before handing her to Artemis. Our hands briefly met and I felt a shock run through my body. What was that. I've been feeling like this a lot whenever I touch her. Maybe I'm falling i-. WAIT! SHE'S A MAIDEN GODDESS, WHY AM I THINKING THESE THINGS?! I must have had a weird expression on my face because Artemis said," Uhhhh... Percy? Are you ok? You were just staring out into space." The moment she said this, she clamped her hand over her mouth and her face had a mortified expression.
"Did you just call me Percy?" I teased.
"No! You just have bad hearing. I said Perseus you were probably just too deaf to hear it," she quickly said. Even she knew that was a terrible excuse, but she seemed determined to find a way out of the situation. I just nodded with a smirk on her face as she blushed, realizing that I hadn't in the least fallen for her story. She sniffed with fake annoyance,"Let's just get out of here already. We're losing precious daylight while you're here too deaf to hear anything I am saying."
"Whatever you say, Arty," I said.
"What did you just call me?!"
"Oh are you deaf now? I just called you Artemis," I said as nonchalantly as possible, but my eyes betrayed my humor. She growled and looked like she wanted to kill me, so I just zoomed off through the air, leaving Ashley with a very angry goddess of the moon. I chuckled as I saw her burst into motion and sprint towards me at full speed, her free hand held a deadly looking knife. I flew faster to make sure she stayed behind me. Wouldn't want to be missing any limbs for a possible fight. Well, I guess that's one way to get Arty moving.
I knew the general direction of Mount Othrys so I planned to just fly there until I reached it. After an hour of non-stop travel, we finally reached the base of the massive mountain. When I looked back, I paled as I noticed Artemis was still running towards my with her in her hand.
"Now, now, Artemis, there's no need to get violent," I said nervously. She just continued charging towards me with Ashley in her arms still nibbling blue cookies looking completely oblivious to everything happening around her. As she got close, I controlled the vines around to stop her from moving and squeezing her wrist. She fought, but I just squeezed harder until she was forced to drop the knife.
I breathed a sigh of relief and let the vines recede. Just when I though I was safe, I felt a force smash into my stomach and send me flying me back ten feet. Artemis stood over me, a triumphant look on her face as she looked down at me. I groaned and got up.
"Now that that's over with, let's start actually go and talk to some titans."
We made our way up the side of the mountain. When we reached the top, we were surprised to see a palace in the center. We hesitantly walked up to the doors and opened them. Inside was a vast throne room where 12 massive thrones sat in a "U" shape around the room. The second we stepped into the palace, a flame in the center of the room shot up and there were 12 bright flashes. Where the empty thrones used to sit, there were now figures occupying each and every one. I knew the names of all of them from greek studies at Goode Highschool. At least there's one thing I learned before blowing the entire thing up. There sat the twelve original titans: Mnemosyne, Tethys, Theia, Phoebe, Rhea, Themis, Oceanus, Hyperion, Coeus, Cronus (for this story Cronus is the not evil version of Kronos) , and Iapetus (Not Bob in this story).
"Who dares enter the palace of the titans?!" Asked Hyperion.
"Lord Hyperion, we have come in peace. We are only here to ask for help in something that you will most definitely want to help with," I said as I bowed.
"An Olympian goddess and the hero Perseus Jackson. What are you doing here?! Do you want to die right here?! You're asking for it showing up here!" Hyperion shouted in fury. Apparently, he hadn't gotten over the fact that I had defeated him so easily. (I know Percy trapped Hyperion in a tree, but just assume that he just severely injured him)
"I am sorry about that (not), but I think you're going to want to listen to what we have to say." I said.
"Why should we listen to you little brat! You have been an enemy of the titans for far too long and we will not help you," He said.
"You should listen to us because if you don't then that will be the end of Earth, the titans, gods, and mortals," Artemis said. At this, the rest of the council looked a little bit more interested.
"What do you mean, puny goddess," Oceanus growled. I could tell Artemis was bristling with rage at being called puny, but managed to calm herself.
"I assume all of you have heard have the tale of Apollyon," I asked and all of them nodded a little impatiently.
"And what does this have to do with this "help" you need," Blurted Theia.
"It has to do with it, because that tale is real. Apollyon has escaped the void and has given us 2 months of peace before he attacks," Artemis said.
"Ha! You expect us to believe that this is true? You think we are so foolish to enough to follow the word of a mere demigod and goddess," Hyperion barked. All but one of the titans started laughing hysterically. Rhea sat in her throne, her face deathly white and her hands clenched the arm rest so hard I thought they would crack.
"Silence!" She shouted and everybody immediately stopped laughing,"Can you swear on the Styx that this is true. This is a very serious claim that you are making and it could be the end of us all."
"I swear on the Styx that everything that we have told you is true," Artemis said. When she wasn't struck down, Rhea face turned even paler if that was possible.
"If that is the case, then we will be willing to help you with anything that you need," She said.
"WHAT! Why are we helping these fools. They have done nothing but hinder the growth of the titan empire!" shouted Iapetus
"Because if we do not, then there will be no titan empire to grow. After Apollyon was trapped, the remaining Primordials, titans, and gods decided that it was best not to ever speak about him again, unless he has escaped. We swore this on our honor and immortality. What is it that you need young demigod?" Rhea said.
"After Apollyon was locked away, a key was created that would seal his tome forever, but it was never finished before the Primordials had faded. Now it is unknown where this key is, but we were hoping that one of you were alive during the creation of the key and that one of you know any idea of where the key was hidden," I explained.
The rest of the titans had grown silent, listening to what was being said with fear.
"I was the first titan and I was alive during the creation of this key, but even I do not know the exact location of where it was hidden. That information was classified for only the creators, who according to you have faded," Rhea said.
"Does that mean there is no way to find this key?" I asked deflated.
"No, I do know one of the possible locations that it could have lay. The Primordials always had one place that they would meet when there was an emergency and they couldn't meet in the throne room. I think that this is the most likely place it was hidden. The only problem is, it is the most dangerous place for any mortal or even immortal to venture. Tartarus."
The room seemed to grow colder and the lights dimmed at that name.
"You are saying that to find this key, we must purposely travel to The Pit?" Artemis asked. Rhea nodded gravely.
Ashley as still looking lost and marveling at the throne room around her. I wished that I could have been her at this moment. I remembered the what Zeus had said and I decided that it would probably be best to send her back to Olympus. Tartarus was not a place that anybody, let alone an 8 year old, travel to.
"Be warned though. This key was not finished when the creators faded, so that means you are going to have to find some way to complete it and use it before Apollyon gets to it. He is not stupid, he will be there in The Pit while you are and he can feel you. Wherever you are, he knows and at any time, he would be able to kill you if he wanted to. In fact, I think the only thing keeping him from doing so is that he told you he would give you two months of peace. That means within these two months, he can't attack you directly," Rhea said.
We nodded at this worrying news.
"As much as I don't like you, I think that it is necessary to give you some gifts before you leave on your journey. It would not be wise for use to let our arrogance get the most of us and send you off on a death mission without any help," said Hyperion shocking us all.
"We will grant you partial immortality and immunity to the airs of the Pit," Hyperion said. The rest of the titans reluctantly nodded and their hands shot forward. A bright glow enveloped me before dying down.
"Thank you, Lord Hyperion. These gifts will definitely be most useful down there," I thanked. He nodded towards us.
"I would also like to give you something," Rhea spoke. She got down from her throne, shrinking to human size, and walked towards us, with something behind her back. What she brought out surprised me.
"This is the last flower from the last living black rose growing in the gardens of Mount Othrys. If you crush the bulb into a powder and then mix it with water, then it has the power to revive somebody who has passed. It is extremely rare and valuable so please do not waste it," Rhea said, pulling out a beautiful black flower.
"If it is so valuable, then why are you giving it to us?" I asked.
"Because I have watched you throughout your quests, I know you are worthy. I know that you will do everything and anything you can to accomplish your final goal and save Earth," Rhea said,"You should be off, you will not have much time to before Apollyon reaches the key. Good Luck."
"How do we get into Tartarus?"
"I can personally send you there if you are ready."
"Wait, we must send this little one back to Olympus," Artemis said. I took Ashley from her arms and whispered in her ear.
"Hey little sis, Artemis and I are going on a very dangerous quest. I'm going to send you to Olympus so that you will be safe ok?"
"But I want to go with you," She whined
"Not this time little girl, maybe another time. After we get back, you can have as many blue cookies as you want ok?"
At this she immediately agreed. I gave her one last kiss on the forehead, before signaling to Artemis that it was time to send her away. Artemis kissed her cheek and flashed her back to my Father's palace.
"We're ready Lady Rhea," I said.
"Ok, I sincerely hope that you are able to find this key. I wish you the best of luck," She said. The rest of the council looked at me with gratitude and nodded along with her statement.
Rhea raised her hand and chanted in some language, before a hole in the ground started form until it was big enough to jump into. I could feel the power coming from inside that deep bottomless pit. It was almost as if this hole was the embodiment of evil and it was daring me to jump in, daring me to end my life the second I did. Nodding one final time to the titans, I turned to Artemis and subconsciously grabbed onto her hand, intertwining our finger together.
I glanced to my side and our eyes connected for a second, a deep understanding and something unknown running between us. And then we did exactly what the Pit was daring us to do. We jumped. Into certain death? Probably. Into a hopeless battle to save the world and possible the entire universe? Most definitely. But I was determined to try. With Artemis right by my side.
(End of Chapter 13)
ghostchilli666: Thank you! I'm glad you liked it because it by far my favorite chapter to write!
the guy that loves all gunpla: I don't offense to that. You actually caught a pretty big mistake that I made. I also really like the idea you have with riptide, so I might actually use that my story. Thanks for the ideas!
A.N: So there you go! Arty and Percy starting their adventure in Tartarus. I hope you guys liked this chapter and I'm glad you liked the last one as well. I'm really enjoying reading all the reviews that you guys give this story and I don't think there has been a single negative one yet. Thank you guys so much for the positive feedback!
Also, shoutout to TidalMoon2003. He's been a huge help to me in improving my story. He has a great Pertemis Fanfiction 'Percy Jackson and the Hunters' Guardian Angel' go check it out!