Percy had been walking along this banks of the Phlegethon for he-didn't-know-how-long and still hadn't seen any sign of monsters. Percy was starting to think that he was also cursed that he could never see another monster as long as he lived. Usually, for a demigod, that would be the best curse they could ever have. Usually.
Not when you're an immortal-monster-blood-drinking-vampire-demigod who couldn't eat or drink normal food.
'Probably not a demigod anymore though', Percy thought, 'never heard of any demigod like that before.'
His stomach was aching with hunger and his throat was dry and parched with thirst. Percy also noticed that he was getting quite jumpy as he travelled, turning around thinking he was seeing stuff of the corner of his eye, only to see that there was nothing there.
Percy concluded that it was because he was looking for monsters so intentionally, that he was starting to hallucinate them out of the corner of his eye.
'Not a very good sign', he thought.
Percy had been practising his 'liquid-kinesis' on the Phlegethon to help pass the time, and he had improved since he'd started. He could now make a small wave as if it was water, but that was as far as his improvement went, due to the fact that when he used his powers, he seemed to get thirstier.
Percy was beginning to think he would just keep wandering around Tartarus for eternity in starvation, until he heard a sound! Annab-shehad once told him in one of her 'random fact speeches' that the human brain would actually create sounds if you're listening hard for them. (*Random Fact #101).
It was very faint, yet Percy was [almost] 100% positive that his mind wasn't playing tricks on him. This time. It seemed to be coming from over the top of a sand dune up ahead, on the bank of the Phlegethon.
Not wanting to count his chickens before they hatched, or monsters before they appeared, Percy [tried to] stealthily ascend the sand hill to scope out the perceived enemy (hopefully food as well).
It was with great relief - and no small amount of trepidation - that Percy spotted three Laistrygonians beside the Phlegethon. The humanoid monsters seemed to be arguing amongst themselves and seemed seconds away from swinging their fists.
Relying on the fact that the Laistrygonians hadn't seen him yet, Percy crept closer to the group of bickering beasts. As he gained a clearer looks of their features, Percy had this odd feeling that he had met these specific monsters before. If memory served him right, Percy's notorious luck - more bad than good - had managed to get him to stumble upon the only group of Laistrygonians that he knew by name.
Sure enough, Skull Eater, Marrow Sucker and Joe Bob were fighting over what appeared to be the remains of something's - or someone's; it was hard to tell - leg. Joe Bob even still had that cheesy tattoo; JB luvs Babycakes.
Well, Goal #1: find monsters, was completed. Now Percy just had to work out how to suck blood out of a monster that was known for its thick skin.
'First of all, I should probably get rid of two of the monsters somehow', Percy thought, 'I don't have Riptide, and I can't exactly fend off two Laistrygonians while I try and work out how to 'get a drink' from the other'.
The only weapons Percy had were his rudimentary skills at manipulating the Phlegethon, and his supposed charmspeak that Hecate had given him which he had yet to try out. 'Well, now is a good a time as any'.
After contemplating his conundrum for a few more brief seconds, Percy decided he would try to manipulate the Phlegethon to pull two of the monsters into the river, and if that failed, try and charmspeak them to jump in the River of Fire. If THAT failed - there was a high chance it would - Percy would do what he did best; wing it.
Meanwhile, Joe Bob had apparently won the small-scale battle over the grotesque remains of some unfortunate creature - no small surprise considering he was their pseudo-leader. Skull Crusher and Marrow Sucker looked none too happy about going hungry, so had started taking hits at each other.
'This is my chance', Percy thought, 'While they're distracted'. He moved towards the rowdy group as close as he could without being spotted. The dune Percy was on curved around the Laistrygonians on two sides, leaving the Phlegethon as a third side and the open expanse of Tartarus from the forth.
As he moved, Percy heard a crunch beneath his feet. He had unknowingly crushed some of the black glass strewn across the bank of the Phlegethon beneath his feet. 'I'd forgotten about the glass', Percy mused as he picked up a shard about the length of his forefinger. He'd been travelling along the sand dunes, so he hadn't been walking over it.
The glass was a deep onyx black, yet strangely transparent. It gave off an oppressive feel reminiscent of a certain son of Hades sword. 'Could it possibly be… Stygian Glass?'. Percy had never heard of such a thing, but it wasn't like he'd gone and asked what every little detail he'd seen whilst in Tartarus; he'd had been quite content to not discuss his trip into the Pit in any great detail to any of his 'friends'.
Searching briefly, Percy found a shard of Stygian Glass about the length his wrist to his fingertips. The base was about an inch wide and tapered off to a sharp point at the other end. It was the closest thing that he had to some sort of physical weapon, and approved his chances of not-dying by a significant portion in Percy's opinion.
Percy was now crouched between where the high-crested sand dune met with the Phlegethon. Hoping that his brief practising of manipulating the Phlegethon was enough, Percy reached out with his hand, focused on the fiery water and envisioned it 'grabbing' onto the lower limbs of the bickering Laistrygonian pair. His hunger and thirst kept clawing at the back of his mind, greatly impending his ability to focus on this one task - his ADHD wasn't being much of a help either.
Nonetheless, Percy felt an immense force in his gut - stronger than earlier attempts at controlling the Phlegethon. Percy grit his teeth and pulled. The waters of the Phlegethon lurched and latched onto legs of the Laistrygonians. Skull Crusher and Marrow Sucker paused mid-punch and looked down in apparent surprise as their tiny brains tried to register what was happening.
Wrenching his hand back towards himself, Percy pulled the liquid fire back into the Phlegethon. The two monsters let out a very unmanly sounding squeal - Percy couldn't believe his ears when he heard it - as they were dragged forcefully into the River of Fire.
Joe Bob was so absorbed in ripping chunks of flesh off his mass of misshapen meat that it took him several moments to look up and around in confusion as he wondered why it was suddenly a lot quieter than before.
It was at that moment that Percy acted; while the Laistrygonian distracted, he lunged from behind the dune towards the back of the monster. His right hand clutched the base of the dagger-esque Stygian Glass shard as Percy swiped low at Joe Bob's exposed ankle. His aim was true as his weapon completed its arc; severing the monster's Achilles Tendon.
Joe Bob let out a roar of pain from the unexpected injury and fell to one knee; no longer being able to support himself properly. This was advantageous to Percy as although he wasn't short - roughly 6 feet tall - Laistrygonians stood around about 8 feet tall. Though now that Joe Bob had been driven to one knee, it was a lot easier to deal fatal blows with a small weapon.
Percy moved to fatally slash at the Laistrygonians expose neck, but suddenly froze as his brain registered a heavenly scent. Looking down, Percy realised that his initial attack on Joe Bob's ankle had caused blood to gush out in significant amounts. He stared - transfixed; the blood smelt good.
Percy's hunger and thirst that had momentarily abated with adrenaline returned with a vengeance at the sight of the life-giving liquid. He longed to taste it...to drink...to feel it run down the back of his throat as he...
Pain.
Joe Bob had apparently recovered from his ankle injury and had chosen to capitalise on Percy's distraction. The Laistrygonian swung his meaty fist right in the centre of Percy's chest.
The force behind the blow was enough to send Percy flying back several metres onto his back. He coughed up some ichor and took several wheezing breaths. Percy tenderly touched the place where he had been struck; wincing as he did so. Definitely several broken ribs.
Warily climbing to his feet, Percy readjusted his grip on his Stygian shard and struggled to regain his senses. The smell of blood was still heavy on his mind and it didn't help that he had coughed up blood from his injury. He wanted - no needed - blood now, and the Laistrygonian in front of him was the only available source.
Meanwhile, Joe Bob lumbered towards the fallen immortal; intent on maiming the one who has hurt him so.
Focusing on what he wanted, Percy faced the monster and commanded with the strongest will he could muster "Stop!"
The effect was instantaneous - Joe Bob's legs seemed to seize up and stiffen, causing the monster to fall painfully on his face. Percy had no sympathy as he dashed forward towards the prone Laistrygonian, pushing the pain from his chest to the edge of his mind.
He swung the Stygian shard at the monster's exposed neck. Percy was so focused on his goal that he didnt notice how the glass cut through the flesh with a lot more ease than seemed possible for a simple glass shard. All thoughts left Percy's mind at the resulting torrent of blood that gushed out of the neck wound.
There was so much... The sight of it overloaded his senses, and suddenly there was nothing holding back his overwhelming hunger and thirst. The Stygian glass fell from his hand and Percy practically pounced on the downed Laistrygonian. He felt as if he would go insane if he didn't drink the monster's blood right now.
He somehow knew instinctively where the jugular artery was located. Percy's newly-acquired fangs sank into the neck of his prey with ease - quite surprising considering how thick the hide of a Laistrygonian is. Joe Bob put up a feeble resistance when the immortal clamped unto his neck, but was unable to fight back as he felt weakened due to his head being half-decapitated.
After wondering Tartarus in a state of constant thirst and hunger for several days - or weeks or however long it had been - the blood that now flowed into his mouth tasted like... like...
Elysium
That was the only word Percy could use to describe the absolute sensory-overload he was experiencing. He could taste the ichor was being pumped straight out of the artery, by the heart, into his mouth. Percy could see the copious amounts of blood pouring from the Laistrygonian's grievous neck wound and feel it run through his fingers as they tightly clenched the monster's shoulders. The smell of ichor pervaded the air around him and filled his nose with its heavenly scent. Percy sucked harder on the neck; he wanted more blood at quick as possible.
Percy could feel his hunger and thirst abate for the first time since he had arrived in Tartarus, and he thanked Hecate that monsters didn't taste as bad as they looked or smelt on the outside. He had a feeling the monster population of Tartarus was going to decline during his permanent 'visit' to Tartarus.
O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O
Sorry for taking so long in updating… Kinda combination of things, including school + life + discovering anime + other stuff… Hopefully I'll be able to update a lot faster in the future. Also, thanks to everyone who's reviewed, favourited and followed this story.
Please leave a review on the way out! If you have any constructive criticism, please say it. I like to be able to improve my writing. The first 400 or so words of this chapter were written a year ago and the rest was written in the past few weeks.
VenatrixCazador