Artemis POV:
As we jumped into The Pit, my heart was racing. I could feel sweat trickling down my eyebrows and my breathing was harsh and rapid. I had never died in all my life as a god, so I had never been in Tartarus before. I didn't know what to expect. I felt a squeeze around my right hand and looked over. Perseus was looking at me with confidence and it made me feel a little better.
We fell and fell, until darkness enveloped us and we were on our way to the home of the monsters. I squeezed Perseus' hand back and we looked at each other, smiling slightly.
Maybe this won't be so bad after all. I have somebody by my side to go through everything that I am.
(Line Break)
We had been falling for an unclear amount of time. It felt like a week, but who knows, time flows differently in Tartarus. I'm not even sure it this classifies as Tartarus yet though. Finally, I could see a light bellow us, rapidly growing, until I could see the opening into the realm of monsters.
"Perseus! Look! There's the opening. We need to find some way to slow our fall before we smash into the ground," I shouted.
"I know! I'll just use my powers over wind to slow us. I'm not sure if they work, but we'll just have to try," He shouted back. I nodded and prepared to smash into the ground if this didn't work.
As we neared the ground, I was starting to get a little bit worried. He still hadn't slowed us at all, and we seemed to be moving even faster now. He needed to do something fast.
"Perseus! What are you doing?! We're about to hit the ground. There's no time to fool around!" I yelled at him.
"I'm not sure why it's so hard to control the air around here. It's like it's hundreds of times thicker than the air on Earth it's almost impossible to manipulate! You're going to need to prepare for an impact unless you have an idea!" He shouted.
Great. That's just great. I turned my body so that it was in front of Perseus' as he wasn't a god and would most likely take more damage from the fall than I would. I felt the air whistling past my ears and I shut my eyes, waiting for the inevitable.
Seconds before we hit, I felt my body come to a complete stop and we hovered in the air, just inches above the ground. My eyes were still closed and I didn't know what was going on. Why haven't we hit yet?
I slowly opened my eyes and looked down. I saw that we had stopped and looked over to Perseus questioningly only to realize that he had blacked out. He must have exerted too much energy getting us to stop. We dropped to the floor and Perseus rolled off me and falling limp onto the ground.
Tartarus was even worse than I had expected. All around us, there was a red haze, almost like fog, that covered the surround area. I could barely see twenty feet ahead of us. The whole place felt alive with corrupted power and it made my skin crawl realizing that Apollyon was probably somewhere in this pit with us. Just thinking about him from my dream sent shivers down my back.
Sighing, I picked up Perseus and started walking in a random direction. We were going to need to find a way to get some food. I don't think there are any restaurants in Tartarus.
As I continued walking, my mind wandered to Perseus. Why was he so different from all other men. It would just be easier for him to become somebody vile that I could hate, but no. He's the most kind and selfless man I have ever met and he deserves my respect. The only problem is that it goes against my customary way of thinking.
Suddenly, Perseus shifted on my shoulders and groaned. I stopped and set him on the ground and waited for him to wake up. After a couple minutes, his eyes opened and he blinked a couple times. He seemed to realize where he was and bolted up, looking around and madly, as if trying to find something.
His eyes set on me, before his shoulders seemed to relax and he let out a sigh of relief.
"Hello," he said. I mentally face palmed.
"You wake up in Tartarus after blacking out and all you can say is 'hello'?," I asked incredulously.
He scratched the back of his head," Uh, Yeah?" The moment he said this, it felt like all the tension in the air had disappeared and suddenly, we started to chuckle. It was not long before we were on the ground laughing so hard that our stomachs hurt. I'm not sure what was wrong with us, but people say Tartarus does things to people. It actually felt good to laugh that much though. I hadn't had somebody to laugh with since the moment my hunters died.
When we had gathered ourselves together, I said," I think we should start moving again. We don't have a minute to waste and even it we did, I don't want to spend a second longer than we have to in this place. It gives me an uneasy feeling."
Perseus nodded in agreement and stood up, holding out his hand to haul me up with him. Once we were both ready, I motioned in front of us signalling that he should lead the way.
"No, we're going to walk side by side. There would be no way of knowing if you had been swiped away behind my back. If we walk together, then it will be obvious is one of use suddenly disappears," He said, shaking his head.
I guess that made sense. I walked up to his side and he started forwards to only Tartarus knows where. The air soon became thicker and harder to breath, even for me as a god. Perseus seemed to have a hard time walking straight, as if he was drunk.
Suddenly, in the distance, there was loud cry, almost like a moan. It was a guttural heart wrenching sound of something in pain. Instinctively, my hand went to my side where my knives were sheathed. Before I could draw them however, I felt something warm and soft on my hand and looked down.
Perseus had grabbed my hand to keep my from pulling out my knives. He gently moved it away from be side and squeezed it lightly. I expected him to let go after a couple second, but he kept a firm hold on it.
"W-what are y-you doing?" I asked.
"It's getting darker around here and I think it's best that we hold hands to make sure that we don't get separated from each other," He replied. I blushed at the thought of holding hands with a him for some reason.
"And don't worry, I'm not just making an excuse to hold your hand. I really think it's a good idea to do this, otherwise I would never think of grabbing your hand like this. I rather like my left hand." He added. I nodded, but inside, I felt a little disappointed that he didn't actually want to hold hands with me.
Why are you thinking these things? You should glad that he harbors no feelings for him, or else you would have to kill him. My heart clenched in a way that I didn't understand at the thought of ever harming him.
It's because you like him. He has helped you countless times and you respect him for it, a voice in my head said. No I don't! He's a male. There's no way that I would like him in that way. Respect him yes, but like him no way. And who are you anyways. Aphrodite, did you find a way to mind message me from Olympus?, I thought back.
Artemis, listen to my voice. I'm yourself except your more logical self. I have always tried to break through the barriers you have blocked me with, but I've never been able to. It seems that Perseus weakened them significantly. Anyways, just trust me, you like him. You may not realize it now, but you will soon enough, The other me told me.
I swore that I would never fall in love in my entire immortal life. I've stayed to that oath for over 3 millennia. I'm not going to stray from it just when one acceptable male comes along. I argued.
Love is not something that you can control. Love is something that controls you. You cannot choose whether or not you are falling in love, oath or not, it said.
I have not fallen in love in all my three thousand years of living and I am not about to start now. So, will you just be quiet!, I snapped back.
"What? I was just trying to lighten the mood, but if you don't want that, then I won't even try," Perseus said to me. Wait, oops, did I say that last part out loud. I didn't mean to hurt his feelings.
See? I told you that you care for him, said the other me smugly. Shut up, I thought, making sure that I didn't say it out loud. I turned to Perseus.
"I'm sorry. Tartarus is doing things to my brain. I didn't mean to snap at you, I promise," I said. I was going to tell him about the voice in my head, but I couldn't have him questioning me about it. I was already confused about my own feelings and I didn't need Perseus knowing what was going on in my head to add to that.
He looked skeptical and still a little hurt, but he didn't argue. We kept walking, hand in hand, in an awkward silence. I could tell that Perseus did not really want to talk to me right now because he was slightly annoyed at me for being so rude at him. I did feel a little guilty about it, but it was better that way. One, I couldn't have him knowing about my inner thoughts, and two, maybe I should try not to be so close to him anymore. It is not good for my maiden vow.
Luckily, we didn't walk long in silence before it was interrupted. Unluckily, it was interrupted by a loud roar coming from my right side. Perseus and I scrambled away in surprise and looked over at where it had come from. Standing just ten feet in front of us was the Nemean Lion.
Standing on it's hind legs, it gave another loud growl at us and set it's legs down on the ground, stalking towards us. I quickly pulled out my two knives while Perseus managed to unsheath his sword. The Nemean Lion pounced at Perseus with it's jaws wide open, ready to rip his head off. Perseus expertly dove underneath it's belly and swiped his sword upwards.
His sword struck the stomach of the lion, but did not penetrate the invincible skin of the Nemean lion, only seeming to anger it even more. I got into a fighting position as I saw it circle around again, ready to make another attack. This time it charged at me with blinding speed. I barely managed to bring my knife up in time to block a swipe from it's paw and roll away from it's gaping maw.
"Artemis! Pull out your bow and get ready to shoot into his mouth. It's his only weak spot," I heard Perseus yell.
I nodded toward him and snapped my fingers. My beautiful silver bow materialized into my hand and I pulled back the string. An arrow shimmered into existence on the bowstring.
"Here Kitty-Kitty. I killed you once and I'm going to do it again. You ain't got nothing!" Perseus taunted the Nemean Lion. It rounded on him as his words had the desired effect of making it even madder if that was even possible. It ran at him with the intent of gutting him with it's claws, but Perseus was too nimble and dodged away towards me.
I saw what he was doing. He was trying to give me an opening to fire an arrow.
"Is that all you got?" He taunted again. The Nemean lion roared at him, it's mouth wide open. Perseus lunged towards it and jammed his sword into it's jaw, keeping it from closing. The lion fought, trying to dislodge the sword stuck in it's mouth, but it only managed to dig it deeper into it's skin. I quickly released the arrow before I shot another and another and another. Before long, it looked like it had a porcupine sticking out of it's mouth. There were so many arrows that you couldn't even see any of the pink of it's mouth any more.
The Nemean Lion tries to give another menacing growl, but it couldn't without whimpering in pain. It's legs gave out beneath it and it collapsed onto the ground of Tartarus, thrashing about. A minute later, it stopped convulsing and vanished in a poof of golden dust, leaving behind a sword and a hide made of golden fur.
"Well that was interesting. Our first fight in Tartarus. We have a one hundred percent win rate!" Perseus said excitedly. I just rolled my eyes and walked up to him.
"You should take the fur. You deserve it for coming up with the idea to kill it," I said to him.
"No, you were the one to kill it, I think your should have it. Plus, I don't want you to get hurt," He argued. I subtly blushed at the thought of him being worried for me. He had such care in his voice when he said that. See? I told you that you like him. Who knows, maybe he likes you back, The voice in my head said to me. Didn't I tell you to shut up?!, I thought angrily back at it.
"Percy, I'm a god, you are more at risk of something happening to you than I am," I replied.
"Oh, it's Percy now? And do I hear some worry in your voice, Arty?" He said teasingly.
"Shut up! I wasn't worried about you. Just about the fact that if you die, then I'll be stuck here alone. And don't call me Arty!" I yelled.
"Whatever, Arty. You know you're worried about me," He said, his voice filled with mirth. That idiot was obviously enjoying this.
"No I'm not! Will you just take it already so we can leave?!" I snapped at him. Finally, he bent down and picked up the hide, wrapping it around his shoulders
"Fine, but next time we get a spoil of war, you're taking it ok?"
I quickly agreed, not wanting to spend another second bickering with the moron. He held out his hand for me to take again, but I indignantly shook my head and strode past him into the darkness of Tartarus.
He had to jog to catch up with me.
"Hey, look, sorry if I annoyed you, but I was just trying to lighten the mood. I hope you don't hate me too much. It wouldn't be too pleasant walking through one of the most dangerous places even for gods with somebody that you don't like," He tried to apologize.
"I know and I'm sorry that I got so annoyed, but you just infuriate me so much some times. It may seem like I hate you, but I really don't and you are the only male that I can accept company from," I sighed.
I know it went against my original train of thought, but I just couldn't keep deluding myself into thinking that Perseus was not worthy of my friendship. He is everything that a male should be and he has not done anything to disrespect me in any way, aside from mild teasing.
You're relationship with Percy is growing. This is going to turn into something beautiful, the voice in my head almost sung. This time, I chose to ignore it, I was too tired to even project a thought to it.
"Thank you, Artemis. OOOOOOH! Look! A fortress!" He shouted. I looked around but didn't see anything.
"What fortre-" I said, before catching sight of the biggest fort I had ever seen. I couldn't even see from one end to another with my godly vision and the top extended far into the red clouds above. It had an eerie feeling attached to it. There was nothing stirring around it and I couldn't here a single thing inside. There was no way I had missed this. It was huge!
"What the hell?" Perseus breathed.
"I don't know. I'm not sure how I didn't see before. Even if I hadn't seen it, I should have sensed it from a mile away. I wonder what it's here for."
We started to walk around it before Perseus made the stupid decision to touch the wall. And there were no words to describe what happened after that.
(End of Chapter 14)
the guy who loves all gunpla: Unless I'm mistaken, then I don't think you're thinking about the right book. The last book of the first series is called "The Last Olympian" and "The House of Hades" is in the second series. So just to make it clear, Iapetus is not Bob yet in this story.
Guest #1: Yeah! I'll try to give him some powers over other liquids in a future chapter. Not sure if I'm going to be able to do it while their in Tartarus though.
Guest #2: I'm not sure what you want me to do. The link you gave me doesn't really lead to anything. Sorry!
siqdaqlotay07: Thank you! For the sake of this story, I'm going to say that cronus is the not evil version of kronos. I admit that after you asked me this, I realized that cronus and kronos are the same people. You can call me stupid xD
ghostchilli666: Maybe, maybe not ;). You're just going to have to read and find out I guess. Thanks though!
BlueWafflesFTW: HaHa! Yep, it totally sucks doesn't it. I like your pen name btw :)
A.N: Hey Guys! I'm really trying my best to the best quality chapters out. I really enjoy reading your reviews and I just ask that you keep showing the support that you've been showing me from the start. Thanks!
P.S: Sorry for not updating at regular intervals, but I kind of like to update whenever I feel like it. I promise that it won't be too long in between chapters though. Just don't be surprised when three or four days go by without another chapter.