Previously...

You took a deep, trembling breath in order to steel your nerves. The fear in the pit of your stomach was growing fast. "Alright, guys," you whispered. "I'll go in first. Clovis, you go in last." You fell silent once more. What more was there to say? Ready? As if anyone could possibly be ready.

With a single, sharp movement, you jerked your hand forward before you could change your mind. It touched the portal, and with a blink, you were gone.

You didn't open your eyes until you felt that everyone was behind you. However, the second you did, you truly understood why you hadn't wanted to come.

It was terrifying. A healthy, kind soul- a hero's soul- should be light. Lighter than the sun. It should shine bright with all the victories brought to the good side, with all that was sacrificed for the sake of the world. Not because Percy wanted to, but because his loyalty was so strong that he would do anything for the ones that he loved. He should have the soul of an angel with all that he had done for the gods.

He should, and yet he didn't.

His soul was, to put it simply, black. There was something swirling in the pit, slithering and curling around his soul as though to protect it, but you knew it was actually a cage of shadows. The darkness was eating up any source of light to be found. If a strand managed to seep through the cracks, the inky blackness was there to stuff it back in and re-seal the hole. All and any light was sucked in if it even attempted to escape. Something evil didn't want anyone to help Percy.

You slowly stepped in a circle, getting a sense of what it looked like from all angles. You noticed that there were no happy memories floating in sight. Contrary to what people thought, the happiest memories stemmed from your soul, not your heart or brain. That was the same for bad memories, since instead of the happy memories, all you saw were the nightmares that he went through.

"Clovis," you whispered. He didn't answered. "Clovis." You turned to see all three stuck in some sort of trance. They were each staring at a memory, not blinking or reacting in any way. Their faces were blank and emotionless. Immediately, you snapped your fingers in front of their faces, bringing them back to the present. "Don't get pulled in," you hissed. "You could stay there forever." They nodded, wide-eyed.

They were understandably terrified; so were you.

Your plan needed to be put in action as quickly as possible though. There would be time for therapy later. "We need to start sending happy memories, okay? Your strongest ones. Any including Percy himself or someone he cares about would be the best, but anything with enough emotion works. Focus on love, happiness, pride. Positive emotions."

They nodded once more, but none moved to form one. You drew in a shaky breath. "Here, I'll try one."

You closed your eyes, thinking of the strongest happy memory you had of Percy.

You had seen him one day, sitting on the dock, feet dangling the water, sword laying far away from him. His friends, the Seven and Nico, were all sat next to and around him. They all seemed so relaxed. The worries and stress of all they had been through wasn't evident in the way they laughed and joked around. They were acting like normal teenagers, not soldiers who had fought in two wars.

Leo said something inaudible, and Percy gasped in mock shock. "How dare you, Leonidas Valdez!"

"Come on, you know I hate being called that," he grumbled.

Piper laughed at his expression.

"Yeah yeah, laugh it up Beauty Queen."

Her laughing ended abruptly. The others stopped talking to watch this exchange that would surely turn out for the worse for Leo. "Oh? And you know I hate being called that." Piper tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Whatever shall I do? Ah, I know." She grinned evilly. "I think you need to cool down!"

SPLASH!

She had shoved him into the lake.

That started an all out war. They all quickly got to their feet, determined to be the last one standing dry. Eyes narrowed, feet planted firmly in the ground, they guarded themselves like hawks. If people didn't know them they would assumed they were enemies. They waited for who would make the first move, all the while ignoring Leo who complained as he treaded water.

It was Annabeth, jerking quickly to the left and pushing an unsuspecting Hazel into the water. She let out a gasp as the cold water hit her skin and pulled her under. She surfaced sputtering, and stared, betrayed, at Annabeth. She sent her an apologetic look.

Leo swam up beside her and patted her arm consolingly. "It's okay. We'll get through this together." The grin he suddenly sported looked a lot like Piper's and left Hazel slightly wary. "We'll get revenge. Come on." He pulled Hazel inch by inch to the dock as to not attract any suspicious glances.

Meanwhile, there were still six left on the dock. Nico was glaring at anybody who even dared to look at him. But since the majority were obviously considering pushing the light boy, he sighed and shrugged off his jacket as to not get it wet. Unfortunately, that gave Frank the perfect opening to shove Nico, who let out a yell and went down.

There were now five. Piper and Jason gave up on being cautious and ran at a random person, trying to wrestle them into the water. Piper threw herself at Annabeth while Jason (believe it or not, this actually happened), took one step toward Percy and completely failed, slipping on a wet spot and into the water. Percy nearly fell off himself from laughing. He quickly regained his composure, although he was struggling to not burst into laughter again.

Frank and he ran into each other, planting their feet into the ground and struggling to not get pushed back. It was only a few seconds when Frank flicked his eyes at Hazel, who waved and blew him a kiss. His face turned red, and he lost everything there. Percy twisted him sideways, and out he went.

Piper and Annabeth were still going at it. However, Annabeth was slowly winning, pushing Piper bit by bit to the edge. When her foot hit an empty space, she toppled backward and fell with a splash.

That left Annabeth and Percy. He was smirking. "Come on Wise Girl, you know you love me." She smirked back at him. "I know I do, but that doesn't apply in times of war." With a yell, she charged Percy, who realised that he had made a grave mistake.

What happened next was completely lucky for Percy, and completely unlucky for Annabeth. She felt two hands grab her ankle and give a swift tug, resulting in her being pulled into the water. When she surfaced, she was subject to a dying-of-laughter Percy and a giggling Hazel. She glared at Hazel, who gave her the same apologetic look Annabeth had given her.

"Karma sucks," Hazel laughed, "Doesn't it?"

Percy was officially the victor. He whooped and pumped his fist in the air. "Haha! You all thought you could take on the King of the Sea in his own element? Well, sucks to be you because you can't! Haha!" He continued gloating at his friends in the water, who unbeknownst to him, were actually grinning right at him. They had noticed something he did not- where was Leo?

All of a sudden, he was tugged from his ankle much like Annabeth. He let out a- very manly- shriek and crashed into the lake.

He opened his eyes to see everybody laughing at him as Leo grinned, and he grinned himself. He started laughing, and soon enough, they were just having fun in the water instead of on the dock. They looked so happy.

You opened your eyes, the memory blazing in your mind. It had taken only a few seconds to grab ahold of it. You focused on the happiness, on the joy and love that each friend was radiating, because they were more than just friends; they were family.

With that final thought, you concentrated in order to pull the memory from your mind and into a solid ball of light in your hands. It was tiny compared to the all-around darkness. Hopefully, it wouldn't be sucked in. You suddenly thrusted your hands up and out, letting the memory explode into his soul.

For a while, nothing happened. You were getting discouraged by the second. What if the darkness was just too strong? It was too horrible a thought, to think it had all been for nothing. But out of the blue, you saw the memory float by, blazing with pure white light that signified the happiness oozing out of it. A surge of hope plowed through you. Maybe this would actually work.

The others were staring in amazement at what you had done. A good memory is worth ten bad ones, so the light was already filling up his soul. "Come on!" you exclaimed. "Let's get some memories out!"

They started doing it themselves. Aria released one of training with Percy. Demitri had one of playing with his friends out of camp. Clovis gave one of his dreams. Each one burst out and into his soul, slowly brightening it up.

You continued as well. You let your heart and mind swell with all the happy memories you've ever had, and you started releasing them, one by one. Soon, there were more happy memories floating around than there were nightmares.

For a while, it seemed like it would actually work. Adrenaline was coursing through your veins, blood pumping and making you forget the fact that you were in somebody's soul. More and more light was shining through as well as cracks appearing on the cage of shadows. If this continued, it would only be a few more memories before the cage burst. Perhaps you wouldn't have to do it. Perhaps you wouldn't have to complete the last step of your plan.

But of course, you were demigods. Nothing, nothing ever went according to plan. With no warning, the shadows started pulsing, fighting back. A good memory floated by the wall. It got consumed, turning into a black shadow. You froze for a second, then doubled your effort. "Hurry!" you shouted. "He knows we're here! We don't have much time! We need more memories!"

You worked faster and faster. You were giving out memories at nearly triple the speed you were doing before. It was exhausting, and you were tiring quickly. It didn't seem to be working, though. The darkness was too strong. He was too strong.

A desperate glance shared between you all left you with one last option. Your strongest emotions. Memories that you had been saving for the final blow. You focused on all the feelings you had ever felt for Percy. Anything and everything that would help.

Your first time seeing him, being absolutely floored by his looks.

The first time you spoke and the amazement and shyness that made it hard to force out words.

Every single time he looked at you and how your heart started beating erratically.

When your hand and his touched, sending tingles up your arm that you never forgot.

The smile that made you melt whenever it was directed to you.

The wanting to help him that blazed inside you when you were first approached by Annabeth.

Everything.

The emotions raged inside you. It was more than any of the other memories you had given up to this point. This had to be what broke the barrier. It had to work.

With a shout, the memories burst from your head, filling up his whole soul with light. You were blinded for a moment from the brightness, and when it faded, nearly everything had been overtaken by the light. His soul finally looked like it should have for his whole life: peaceful, pure, and light. You stole a hopeful look at the cage of shadows binding his soul, needing so bad for it to have worked.

There were cracks.

There was not a single bad memories in sight.

... There were no holes.

The despair crushed you when you realised it had not been enough.

"No," you whispered, grief consuming you. It hadn't worked. The cage pulsed twice as strong as before, quickly repairing the hundreds of cracks that had been left. If that hadn't worked, then no small memory would help. This required something more.

This required... a sacrifice.

"Clovis," you called out. He turned his head to you, knowing immediately what you were going to say. He tried to protest, but you beat him to it. "It's the only way, Clovis. Please. Leave."

He bowed his head, silently agreeing. The still-open portal was swirling, the darkness keeping back through it. "Try and come back to us, (Y/N)," he whispered. The look you sent him said it all. His face fell. He turned to the portal, gesturing for the others to follow him. "Come on, guys. She told us to leave."

They cast sorrowful faces at you which you tried not to look at. They left one by one. You nodded once at Clovis just as he disappeared. You were now alone.

The adrenaline from earlier was fading. You were now very aware of how your heart beat like a hummingbird in your chest, of how you could barely move let alone breathe from the fear of having to confront such a deity. At least I don't have to see him in person like Percy did... The thought gave you hope. If Percy had done it, you could do it to! I won't let myself be stopped when I've come so far.

You took a deep breath. "Tartarus!" you shouted. "I know you're there! I know you can hear me!" You tried to make it sound like you weren't ready to piss yourself.

A chuckle resonated through the cage. The slight confidence you had gathered was instantly erased. Why, puny demigod, I'm surprised you've gotten this far. It's a shame you'll never stop this. It's too powerful. And you're too weak.

You couldn't speak. The fear was overwhelming, complete terror. You knew that you should say something, anything, but your voice wouldn't work. You took in another shaky breath. Come on, you thought, Speak! You only have one shot at this! If you could, you would have growled in frustration, since nothing was working to force a word out.

He laughed. I love your fear. It's intoxicating. So much is coming from you... It tastes almost like the fear of those two demigods... what were their names? Ah, yes, Perseus and Annabeth.

Those names sent a jolt through your body. Perseus... Percy was who you were doing this for. You were trying to keep him alive, to bring back happiness into his life, because he deserved a chance at happiness after everything he had been through. That was the whole point of this journey you took. That was the reason why you were prepared to do whatever it took for somebody you had barely spoken to. That was why you were facing the most terrifying being in the universe. You were doing this for Percy, and you would not let anything stand in your way of finishing it.

You opened your mouth. "I am going to- to get rid of all this. I will stop y-you."

He- it- chuckled again. Really? Because as I recall, you just used your strongest memory, and even that couldn't break through.

"I haven't used myself, yet."

There was no response for a few seconds. When he did reply, his voice was low and dangerous, warning bells ringing in your ears. I do believe you don't know what you are talking about.

You could feel yourself get more confident. "Well, I think I do. The strongest memory is one made in the present. And this is one memory that is sure to never be forgotten."

What? The cage pulsed quicker. It was determined to take over the light. You're speaking nonsense.

You didn't answer this time, since you were concentrating. You gathered up all the emotions you had felt for Percy just like last time. Unlike last time, though, you brought them to your own soul, not your mind. You let them grow bigger and bigger in there, stronger and stronger until you felt ready to burst from all the emotions radiating off of you.

Tartarus must have felt it too, since he growled angrily. Whatever you are doing will not work, demigod. Nothing can defeat me. I am more powerful than the gods and titans combined! You are nothing compared to me!

"It's a good thing you aren't here, then. Only this darkness is. You can't do much from down there, and I think you're realising this too." You actually weren't that sure of it. It was a complete guess. It was only a distraction for Tartarus to keep talking and not notice how terrified you were and how much power you had already built up.

He roared in anger. I am the most powerful being in this universe! Nothing can possibly even attempt to over-power me, much less a little demigod! I am Tartarus! I am-

What he wasn't was perceptive, since he didn't take into account the fact that you had started glowing slightly. The emotions were so strong that light was coming off of every inch of your body. A strange tug appeared in your gut as the power grew, getting tighter and tighter as it squeezed your core to its limits. You started shaking from the strain of controlling the raw power of love.

You interrupted the speech that was still going on by smiling and saying, "Goodbye. May you live with the knowledge that another demigod has out-smarted you."

He roared, and you exploded in a ball of light.

You were no more.