A/N: Hello! This is the seventh chapter. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

Percy's POV

The ground underneath me was not the soft grass I remembered falling asleep on. I opened my eyes to be faced with the red glow of Tartarus. Despite being trapped down here, I fought the urge to jump up and shout in happiness. For once, I was out of any mental traps. It was hard for me to get around and out of an illusion, but I could usually fight my way out of a physical situation. And if I couldn't fight my way out, I could usually talk myself out of a bad place.

I got up off the ground and stretched, automatically checking for Riptide in my pocket. Even after all these years with it, I still had the irrational fear that I would lose it. That was one of my worst fears. That I would ever be completely defenseless in a situation out of my control. The pen glinted innocently in the dull light, but I gripped it with everything I could. Riptide would be the deciding factor in whether I made it out of Tartarus alive. And I intended to make it out of here, even if I had to fight every last monster here. I glanced around once more, quickly taking in my surroundings and physical state.

Somehow, I was perfectly healed. Maybe Eirene did it? In the mind place I was completely healed as well. Did that mean that the mind place was an actual place I could visit? Eirene had said that I might be able to go back someday. I hoped so. It was nice there. Yet, I knew that I couldn't plan on heading back there until I made it back to my friends, and even then, it would be a long time before I could allow myself a moment of peace.

I looked around, still marveling at the fact that I wasn't in pain. After so many battles, and so many injuries, I had learned that the state of being healthy and pain free was something to never take for granted.

Another thing Eirene said echoed around in my head. The corruption of mortal life. She had asked me to think of the mortal world only while I was down here. I thought I knew why. The spirit of Tartarus did not allow hope to live. Hope was something only the mortals could claim to have. The monsters down here lived for revenge. Revenge against those who had wronged them, those who had killed them earlier, the descendants of the ones who cursed them. I could see why staying here any longer would be bad for any mortal. I remembered a teacher telling me ages ago that the longer you spent around someone, the more you grew to be like them. And now, sitting in the homeland of all things evil and dark, I could almost feel myself changing as well. I had almost done it before. When Annabeth and I had met Akhlys. I had hated her. I wanted her to feel the pain of the misery she caused. And so I had given in to the hatred, and I had felt something break inside me. Only Annabeth had stopped me from continuing. A strange feeling came over me. After a few moments, I managed to pin it down.

It was the realization that I could become the one thing that I hated the most. If I continued to give in to those feelings, I could end up destroying everything I cared about. On the trip over here, I remembered cursing the gods for the behavior and feeling bitter.

A name popped up in my mind.

Luke, I remembered. The final battle with him felt like it had been centuries ago, even though it was probably only a year since then. I was really close to the same age as him when he had turned his back on the gods during my first year at camp. I had told myself then that I would never make the same mistakes he had, and yet, after so many quests for the gods, I found myself relating to the words he had spoken. The gods had used me several times, and I had contempt inside me for their actions. I shuddered slightly as a thought came to me.

What if, in another year or two, I found myself conspiring against the gods? What if I found a deity, a Kronos, that I knew was morally wrong, but still thought to be better than the Olympians? What if I decided that the only way to make the demigods lives better was to wage a war and overthrow the gods? The scary thing was that I knew it wasn't out of my power to do such a thing. If I thought that it would make my friends and family's lives better, I would definitely do it. I knew that the only reason I had stayed with the gods for so long was because they were the best option we had at the moment. I had called Luke evil back then. Would I consider myself evil now for being capable of betraying the gods in pursuit of a better life?

And as much as I told myself that I would never allow myself to turn on the olympians, a tiny voice in the back of my head whispered, You could.

I squeezed my eyes shut and shook my head slightly. This was getting ridiculous. All I had to do was get back to them. I knew deep down that the olympians were the best bet we had towards a somewhat happy life as a demigod, and I couldn't change that. The best I could do was continue to fight my way back to them. It wasn't worth it to complain constantly about the quests. This was my job, and I couldn't change my life situation by betraying everyone I loved.

Anyway, right now, I needed to focus on getting back to the people that mattered to me. Tartarus was messing with my head again, warping my thoughts and confusing me. I had to get past that.

I pictured Annabeth in my head. She was studying something at her desk in the Athena Cabin back at camp, her hair tied back into a ponytail. She glanced down at a paper and nibbled on the tip of a pencil. Her eyes were focused as she read through the document. She tapped her foot quietly and quickly, as if she had a bit too much energy trapped inside her, but still needed to concentrate on something else.

That's what I wanted to get back to. Hours with her, where we could laugh and relax in the sun and just be teenagers. That was all I could ever want. Other images of my friends and family passed through my head, and I took a deep breath. I would not let this place get to me. I would never let this place get to me. There was too much at stake to risk losing them forever. No matter how hopeless the situation felt, I would try.

In the back of my mind, I laughed at myself silently. I sounded like an inspirational speaker, or a poster of some sort. I had always rolled my eyes at their endless positivity. It had felt as if the writer or speaker had no idea what life actually was. But now, I could only hope to have that kind of optimism. I had always been a pessimist, and even now, in the deepest pits of hell, I could feel another voice telling me that I was an idiot, that this would never work. I was fighting myself. There were to many conflicting emotions.

I wanted to get back home, I wanted to see my friends, but I also didn't want to let myself down and become vengeful if I didn't make it. At the same time, I remembered Annabeth constantly telling me that everything depended on the mindset, that determination and hope could get someone a long way. She had presented evidence of mortals healing unthinkable wounds just by believing they would get better.

At the end of the day, would lost hope really be the only thing holding me back from making it home? Could my attempts to be a realist be the only reason I failed? If I did indeed die down here, I wanted it to be because my skill level wasn't enough, not that I was the one holding myself back.

I glanced upwards at the red hazy sky. Somewhere, way up above me, my friends and family were fighting for their lives, mortals were stressing and laughing and living, the sun was shining and the clouds were raining, and the earth was still turning. And I was down here, in the earth's grasp, surrounded by my resurrected enemies.

In that moment, I felt truly small. There was so much against me. I had felt the same way when I had just learned of the gods. I hadn't even known I was a demigod for most of my life yet. Assuming that I was still sixteen, due to the fact that the world hadn't ended yet, I had really only known that I was a demigod for four years. Not even half a decade. But yet that knowledge had completely changed my perceptions of myself and the world. I couldn't imagine my life without the demigod aspect of it, even though that was the part of my life actively trying to make sure that I would cease to exist. I hadn't dreamed of facing these kinds of things a decade ago, much less half a decade. If the obstacles against me continued to get bigger like they had in the past, what would I be facing in the future? I could barely handle this. I couldn't handle this.

Annabeth had said that the teenage years were the most dangerous for a demigod. That if we made it to our twenties, monsters would show less interest in us. We only had to make it for a couple more years, and we could live in a little peace. I had asked her how she knew this. She said it was research done by the romans. Hazel had told her about it. All we had to do was survive for a bit longer, and we would be able to live our lives.

So, all I had to do to live a decent life was fight my way out of hell, defeat the embodiment of the earth itself, and live past my teenage years. And even then, we would still have to fight the monsters who occasionally would decide to hate us. The future looked bleak, and that was an understatement. The future looked completely impossible. I knew that there would be several thousand, maybe millions, more trials that I would have to make it through.

Yet I knew that I wouldn't give up. I couldn't imagine myself laying down my swords, and telling myself to stop fighting. I wanted to stop fighting, I was exhausted, but I couldn't stop. Maybe it was determination, maybe it was stubbornness, maybe it was the loyalty thing Athena had told me ages ago, but there was no way I could put Riptide down.

I sighed and shook my head. Emotions were confusing. This life was confusing. I took a deep breathe. I was thinking too much. I had to focus on one problem at a time. I couldn't overwhelm myself with the struggles of the future without defeating the ones in front of me first. There would be time to worry about that later, assuming I made it out of here alive. And if I died down here, there would be no future to worry about anyway. Standing around here, debating possible future problems would not help me at all. My mom had told me to leave the past in the past. I guessed now I had to leave the future in the future and concentrate on the present.

I tore my gaze away from the horizon and scanned the environment around me. From what I would guess, I looked to be in the fields of Tartarus, somewhat near to where the heart and the Doors of Death had been, but not quite as close as I had been before. I idly wondered where all the monsters had gone. I should have meet several of them by now if I was actually where I thought I was. Unless Tartarus had done something to them, there was no way that those millions of monsters had all vanished into the millions of miles of Tartarus within the space of a day or two. Maybe more time had passed than I remembered? I wouldn't have been surprised. Time tended to pass either faster or slower in mythological places.

I spun around slowly, checking to see if there were any threats. To my surprise, there was nothing. I didn't know what to make of it. I was both grateful that there were no immediate threats and apprehensive that something else, something more dangerous, was nearby.

I wouldn't wait to figure out the answer to my fears. I had to get moving. I had already stood around here long enough, and that meant that some monster should have smelled my scent by now. I needed to be out of here soon. I could try to find Damasen's hut again, maybe find some food in his storages. Maybe I could head towards the heart? At least there was some water there. I would need the help of the fire water soon. I could already feel the effects of Tartarus on me, although they seemed to be taking longer and longer to develop after each sip. Maybe I was growing a tolerance to the air? Or maybe it meant that I was turning more monster like. I didn't know which disturbed me more.

I wrenched my mind off that mind train track. I didn't need that right now. My thoughts kept jumping and jumping and they were always moving. For once, I needed to focus solely on a single goal, and nothing else. I had no time to let my mind wander.

I drew Riptide, and focused on the warm bronze glow. There would be thousands more miles to travel, but I was glad that I had already carried Riptide with me for so long. I took a step forward, still keeping the sword up. I had no idea if there would be a trap in front of me, but I wouldn't be surprised if there was one. All these years as a demigod had drilled into my mind to expect the unexpected. Expect the unexpected and don't say anything that could jinx the situation. If you say that at least something is alright, that something will turn against you and everything will go wrong. Every time.

I saw movement in the corner of my eye and froze. I didn't turn my head, but I strained my eyes to look as far left as they could. I hoped that it was nothing. Perhaps a trick of the light, or maybe some monster dust swirling in a gust of random wind. Anything but a monster. I strained my ears and slowed my breathing down, trying to hear everything around me. There was a slight rustling sound that didn't sound as if it belonged with the other sounds of Tartarus. It was common to hear screams and howls, but those usually sounded as if they came from a great distance. This noise was a lot closer. I glanced around again, not moving my head. Maybe whatever it was hadn't seen me, and would eventually leave.

Not likely, but I could hope.

After a few moments, I took a couple of steps forward. The sound had disappeared, and I didn't see anything either. That, of course, didn't exactly mean anything. It could still be there, but I decided to take the chance. I wasn't planning on standing there forever just waiting for other monsters to find me.

I scanned the ground in front of me, searching for any possible traps. The area around me wasn't well suited for an ambush either, unless every monster was waiting on the other sides of the slight hill shaped mounds.

A couple more steps. I still didn't lower Riptide, but I stood up a bit from my crouch. If someone attacked, I could still quickly get back into position, and standing taller allowed me to take bigger steps to get away.

It seemed as if there was nothing there. Normally, I would have stood up completely and continued on my way, but something was screaming at me not to. In a situation like this, I trusted my instincts more than I trusted my head. Annabeth wasn't here to confer with either. Maybe if she had been here we would have kept going, but I stopped once more, glancing around. This time, I allowed my head to move. There was nothing. I almost groaned in frustration. I needed to move, but something was wrong.

I took some more steps forward. Almost immediately, a loud thud and several footsteps came thundering up from behind me, I raised Riptide and whirled around. Three dracena approached quickly from behind. I crouched into my defensive position once more, backing up a bit. I didn't think there had been any in front of me. I idly wondered how long they had been there. I had only just started moving. Eirene didn't seem like the kind of person who would make me land in the middle of an ambush, but I could never be sure. I couldn't trust anything down here, not even her.

I stepped forward into the first one's attack, slicing her neatly in half. The second one rushed me from behind and swing her trident at me. I ducked under it and jumped at her, cutting her arm. She yelped and stabbed at me. I feinted right, bringing my sword back and stabbing her through the stomach. The third one came up from my right and I turned toward her. She still attacked despite the fact that I had destroyed her other friends. We parried and fought, although she seemed a bit more skilled than the others. Maybe I could get some information out of her. There had to be a place where monsters got out of here. Otherwise there would never be any monsters in the mortal world. Maybe she knew?

I hit her in the side of her head with Riptide's hilt, causing her to stumble. I pointed Riptide at her throat.

"How do you get out of Tartarus?" I asked her, attempting to look as intimidating as I possibly could.

She laughed, a weird choking sound. "Sssstuck down here without your friend, are you, Perccy Jacksson?"

I moved Riptide closer. There was a quick flicker of fear in her eyes. "Tell me," I snarled. I was about done with this monster. I would have slashed through her immediately, but I needed her to tell me. I was done with wandering around down here with no purpose. I needed a physical goal to head towards. I could manage from there.

"I will not tell you anything," She said, still smiling. Although it looked fake.

I got even closer. "Listen closely, you pathetic piece of scum. I am Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon. I can kill you in a million different painful ways. I could turn your own body against you with the water inside of you. You can either tell me that information and die quickly, or suffer in pain for what I will make feel like an eternity."

I was not playing games, and I could tell that she knew that. I could feel the water moving in her bloodstream. I knew that I could follow through with my threats. And Annabeth wasn't here to stop me this time. Something cracked inside of me. Not physically, but spiritually.

My eyes widened just a fraction in realization. What was I doing? I had promised Annabeth that I would never do something like this again. I had told her that I wouldn't attempt to control this side of my powers. And here I was, threatening a monster like this.

The dracena didn't pick up on my sudden conflict. She had given up on trying to be in control in the situation, and at this point I didn't think I was in control of it either.

"We get out passst the heart of Tartarusss," She said. "There are a pair of gatesss that take usss to the mortal world. That is where you mussst go if you want to essscape." She said.

"Thank you," I whispered, slicing of her head, and watching her dissolve into dust.

What was wrong with me? I remembered Eirene again. Corruption, she had said. Was that it? I didn't even want to know what a corrupt me would be capable of. I had to get out of here as quickly as possible. I stumbled backwards a little bit, dropping Riptide. I glanced down at my hands. They were calloused from my years as a demigod. Did I really threaten to do that? Even now, it didn't seem possible that I had threatened to use my powers so violently. But I had. I had threatened Akhlys with the water in the poison, and now I had threatened a dranceana with the water in her blood.

I was scared of myself. I didn't even know what I was capable of, and from what I had seen, I was terrifying myself. I only wanted to use my power for good, but sitting down here, I could only question my definition of good and evil. I thought myself to be good because I was defending my friends and family, and the monsters to be evil for fighting to kill me. The monsters saw themselves to be good by attempting to defeat the ones who cursed and banished them, and we were evil by being in their way. I was on the side that would keep me living, so I was with the demigods and the gods. I was on the side of my friends, and on the side of my family. I couldn't lose them. I couldn't let them die. I had to get out of here, and even though I knew I wouldn't be the same, I couldn't allow myself to delve into that side of my powers.

Hands shaking, I leaned down and picked up Riptide. At least now I had an actual goal. I wondered if the dracaena had been telling the truth. I didn't want to trust her, but I knew that I had no choice. I needed to get out of this place as fast as I possibly could, and if that meant going past the heart of Tartarus, where all the other monsters would be heading to as well, then I would do it.

I looked up in what I believed the direction of the heart to be in. I could feel the large amounts of water over there. My escape would be somewhere over there. Maybe then I could find my way back home.

I took a couple of steps forward again. I had to put this behind me. I would not let it happen again. I would not. If I was fighting monsters, I would do it within reason. I would not make them suffer when I had to kill them. No one deserved that.

My stride grew a bit more confident. I had a goal now, a physical location to make it to. There would be no stopping me. I would not wander down here forever and wait for my mind to become corrupted. I would escape, I would make it to the surface, I would find my friends and help them defeat Gaea, and I would make it so that I could spend time with my friends and family. This would be a phase of my life that I would look back at later and be proud that I made it.

I refused to let myself be taken down here.

The call of the water of the five rivers of the underworld was my source of direction. They flowed through the veins of Tartarus and all met in his heart. I didn't believe that that was where they combined. That was somewhere else. But I still followed my gut feeling towards the water. I could find direction from there, I was sure of it. I just had to make it there, then I could figure out what to do next.

I pictured Annabeth in my mind again. She was laughing this time, smiling in the sunshine. Her eyes sparkled when she looked at me, and I couldn't help but smile as well. I loved her. And I had to make it back to her.

I had already broken one promise to her, that we would always be together. Now I had broken another one.

"I promise that I will make it back to you," I promised again. I had no idea if I would even be able to complete this one, but I knew that it would be the most important of the three. "Even if I am ever forced to leave you, I promise that I will find you again," I whispered quietly. My voice sounded a little hoarse, but I ignored that. I focused on the words themselves. I walked to their beat and repeated the phrase in my mind over and over again. I had no choice.

I thought of my mom. She hugged me tight and leaned up to kiss me on the forehead. I had promised her that I would make it back to her when I was back in Alaska. I could almost smell her chocolate chip cookies. My stomach rumbled quietly. It had been forever since I had last eaten something. Hunger was another monster I had to deal with, but this one I couldn't fight. It gnawed at my insides, and i forced my mind off of food. I could dream about a thousand different meals, but it wouldn't help.

When I got back, I was going to eat every single cookie my mom could make.

I imagined my friends one by one, laughing at some of the memories I had with them, and giving myself courage to keep walking. I needed it. I focused my eyes on the horizon and stepped forward, one foot after the other. I left Riptide out in sword form, although I did not keep it up. The glow illuminated my path, and gave me a comforting feeling. I kept my mind on the world above and my eyes on the world around me.

I could do this.

I was Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon and Sally Jackson, and I would not let myself be stopped down here.

My mind continued to wander as I walked forward. I had no idea where I was heading beyond the fact that it was where the dracaena said monsters headed. I could be heading towards my death. But I was always heading towards my death. I pushed that train of thought away. Maybe something else. What would happen when I got there? How did the monsters get up to the mortal world? Was it similar to the Doors of Death, where the monsters were transported across the earth? Or was it harder than that, where only a few managed to make it up? If it was similar to the Doors of Death, Gaea wouldn't have needed the Doors, and could have just asked Tartarus to disperse the armies where she wanted them. No, the place where the dracaena had told me to go must be different. I didn't know what to expect.

What were my friends doing now? I hoped that they were on their way to Mount Olympus. I wondered if they had encountered any difficulties so far. They most likely had. After all, six demigods in one place attracted a lot of attention. I wondered if Leo had ever put that smokescreen idea he had had into place.

What about my friends at Camp Half-Blood. From what I knew so far, there was conflict between the Romans and the Greeks. I hoped that the other six could get there before too much violence happened. If there were deaths and injuries, I doubted that the sides could peacefully get along together.

Hera had played a risky game by allowing us the knowledge of each others existence. She had gathered the seven to fight Gaea at the risk of us eventually turning against each other and having another war against demigods. I could only hope that we could avoid such a war. Right now, this was in my friends hands. I had to leave myself out of the equations for now.

I sped up my stride. I wanted to go as fast as possible, but I also wanted to keep going for a while. My feet were silent against the somewhat mushy ground of Tartarus. I could almost see my goal, it felt like it was just over every hill that I climbed.

Just a little farther, I kept telling myself. Just a little more.

Everything I wanted and needed had never felt so close. I could almost feel it. I had a physical goal. I just had to get there.

My breathing got heavier and heavier, my legs straining to keep up with the pace of my mind. I wanted to keep going, following the path to where I knew I could go home.

I felt like I was flying up and down the small hills. There wasn't any wind, but i felt the air pushing against me. I needed to move, I needed to move, I needed to move….

I needed to stop. If I was attacked, I wouldn't be able to fight well. I had gotten ahead of myself. There might be thousands more of those little hills ahead of me, and I needed to take a break to catch up. I had pushed my body past its limits. I couldn't sleep, but there was nothing wrong with taking a little time to let my breathing slow down a bit, right?

I bent over, hands on my knees. There was a stabbing pain in my side. Normally I had decent stamina, but I had overdone myself.

I kept my eyes on the horizon. I would make it back to them eventually, and I wouldn't ever give up.

A/N; Thank you for reading, and please review!

Updated: December 28th, 2017