Percy's eyes flew open the second his feet hit the ground. He had never been so happy to see the desolate landscape of Tartarus.
He looked back, but all he saw was the river, and Nyx's palace flickering like a mirage on its other bank.
A hill stretched in front of him, so he began to climb it. He had no idea how much longer he had to walk before he reached the doors from Nyx's mansion. She hadn't told him. But it couldn't be much longer now.
What he saw when he reached the top of the hill took his breath away. A large army of monsters was gathered around one central point. They looked like blurs on the horizon but Percy had no doubt in his mind about what they were.
The doors of death
There must have been thousands and thousands of all sorts of monsters gathered around the doors.
There was no way that he was getting even remotely close to them without a plan.
Just then, a pack of hellhounds walked by very close to the rock on the hill that Percy was hiding behind.
Before he could hide, one of them spotted him, looking at him with those fiery red eyes.
He had flashbacks to when a pack just like this one had attacked him, and the scars from his still healing wounds ached as a painful reminder.
They were about to give him away, so he had to think fast.
What had Nyx said about her children listening to me? Are hellhounds Nyx's children?
He had no other choice, as they were seconds from howling and giving him away.
Standing up and turning around, he showed them the mark that Nyx had burned into his skin.
They immediately stopped and cocked their heads as if confused before the meaning of the symbol finally dawned on them.
Reluctantly, they lowered their heads in a sort of bow and stood still.
Waiting for my command I suppose.
He couldn't believe that that had actually worked. It was kind of a last ditch effort, but this could really help him out with his plan.
Beckoning one forward, he said, "I am going to climb onto your back and lay low in your fur. You are going to walk towards the doors with your pack. Do not give me away".
The hellhound growled at him, and for a second he was scared that it would try and kill him blessing or no. But at the last second it stopped and lowered its body so that he could climb on.
The hellhounds were massive, and their fur could easily cover up and hide him if he laid down flat on ones back.
His plan for pretty much his entire time down in Tartarus had been improv, and this time was no different. He had absolutely no idea how he was going to be able to cut the chains holding the doors to this place and not be seen.
But first he had to get as close as possible to the doors. The hound shifted below him as it walked at a slow pace. He risked a peak over the side of its body and discovered that he had travelled a long distance. Even though it felt like they were moving very slowly, the hounds strides were so long that they still covered distance very quickly.
The hellhound got as close as he dared to the huge doors before stopping and growling. Obviously trying to convey that he would go no farther.
The doors were no larger than any other elevator doors that you might see in an average apartment building. But they radiated so much power that Percy could understand why the monsters were staying so far away from it.
Finally, he spied the problem, there were extremely thick chains restraining the doors to the ground, and they shook violently with every group of monsters that went up.
If he could just get close enough to cut those chains and jump in the elevator than he would be okay. But as it was, that was impossible.
A large titan guarded the doors. One that he had never seen before but recognised all the same.
Koios.
Percy knew that if he revealed himself now he would be killed and it would be over.
He briefly wondered if his soul would even go to the Underworld if he died down here.
But then he spotted a familiar face among the crowd.
Moros
The monsters let him pass, and he walked straight up to Koios,
Percy was too far away to hear what was being said, but whatever it was did not make Koios happy.
He roared and slapped Moros across the face.
"You imbecile! He is just a half-blood and you let him escape!".
"Watch your place, titan. I should not have to remind you that I am a primordial god, and you are just one of Gaea's discarded children".
"Yes, as you keep reminding me, and yet I have yet to see any of these primordial powers you claim to have".
Koios spit his words at Moros, and that seemed to be the last straw.
Both grew into what Percy imagined were their true forms. They looked to be evenly matched, but Percy could feel the raw power radiating off of Moros and knew that in a real fight, it wouldn't be a question who would win.
Nevertheless, Koios and Moros marched away to the center of a mob of cheering monsters.
The elevator dinged again, but nobody seemed to notice.
Looking around, Percy knew that this was his best chance to get out without being seen.
Still, it wasn't ideal. A lot of the monsters were completely occupied on the fight, but not all of them, there was still a hefty number of various monsters standing near the doors.
Slowly creeping off the hellhound's back, he creeped around in the shadows until he was just behind the doors.
The chains were large and thick, and it took a big swing of his sword to break them.
They finally snapped with a loud clang, and all the heads of every monster in the area looked over.
Stepping into the light, Percy allowed them to see him head-on.
"It's the half-blood!"
"Get him!"
Percy slashed and swung his way through too many monsters to count, completely caking himself with yellow dust.
But he didn't get away unscathed, a particularly brutal whack with some sort of club in his stomach knocked all the air out of him, forcing him to his knees as he frantically tried to draw something back into his lungs.
The monster stood above him, some sort of cyclops, and smiled wickedly, raising his club above his head for the final strike.
Percy didn't have enough time to raise his sword to protect himself, the only thing he could do was the thing that he swore to never do again.
He took control of the monster's blood, paralysing it and taking the extra time it provided to get to his feet again.
The cyclops' eye was wide with terror, and the rest of the monsters around them just stared.
With one clench of his fist, the monster exploded and he turned around to face the others, revelling in the feeling of power that came whenever he did this.
They tried to run, but he wouldn't let them, killing them all one by one until only one monster remained.
"What is going on on the surface?". The monster, a dracanae was paralysed with fear and didn't speak.
"What did they do to my friends?!", he yelled, more forcefully this time, slowly twisting his hand until it cried out in pain.
Percy was aware of every drop of water within its being, from the sweat dripping down the side of its scaly face to the water making up the blood that pumped through it veins.
This feeling of absolute power, exhilarated him, and he smiled. Not his usual mischievous I'm-up-to-no-good smile, but a darker one, more sinister. One that made the monster blanch in terror.
"The giants— the giants have captured them. They will be kept until the Earth Mother rises", she just managed to stammer out.
She looked into his eyes for mercy, but there was none.
With a clench of his fist she disintegrated and he ran to the now unchained doors.
Judging by the screams and yells of encouragement, the battle was almost over; he didn't have much time.
The giants had captured them.
He let that fact sink in before whistling to his hellhound and calling it over.
There would be a battle, and having a hellhound under his command in that battle would be very helpful.
The doors of death were just closing behind him when he saw the triumphant face of Moros emerge from the crowd of monsters. Only to turn into a mask of rage as he saw Percy within the closing elevator.
He ran towards him, but it was too late, the doors had already closed, and he was on his way up.
Finally, finally after what felt like years he was on his way home.
He collapsed to the ground, his exhaustion finally hitting him as the adrenaline from the battle wore off.
The ground rumbled beneath his feet as the elevator climbed and climbed and climbed, time passed, but he had no idea how long it took.
His exhaustion took over, and his eyes closed as the rumbling of the elevator lulled him to sleep.
—-
Fresh hope coursed through the group of demigods stuck in the cage, and a plan began to form in Jason's mind.
"Leo! Can you melt the bars and make a hole for us to escape through?".
Jason didn't know why he hadn't thought of it before. It seemed so obvious!
Leo nodded and began work on the bars while the others sat around him and tried to block the monsters' view of what he was doing.
Looking around, Jason made eye contact with Annabeth.
There was a small amount of fear in her eyes, but for the most part she looked angry. And alternated between glaring at her captors and looking at Jason with a face that clearly said "get me out of here".
He nodded and pointed almost imperceptibly towards Nico, who was hiding behind the doors ready to press the button at any moment.
It dinged, and everybody got quiet, before any of the monsters could react Nico slammed the button and all Hades broke loose.