Chapter Fourteen
Humans. Just, humans.
NICO POV
Have a seat? I was floating around in only blackness, and he said have a seat? But, as soon as the thought crossed my mind, a table appeared, along with two chairs on each end. A floor assimilated beneath me, seemingly coming out of nowhere. Walls and a ceiling slowly faded in, like the sun was rising and removing the shadows. I sat. Presently, a man joined me. We both took a moment to study each other. His form was a plump old man, much like an elder in an ancient village-except Chaos seemed happy and unjudgmental. His silver eyes sparkled in Ann eccentric manner. With one hand, he held a book. His other hand stretched out far past the darkness. I couldn't see where it went.
"So," he spoke first, "a child of Hades. It makes sense that his heirs would reach me first." He told the last part more to himself.
"What brings you here?" He questioned.
"Gaea." I answered flatly.
"Ah, yes, my daughter. She always liked to cause trouble. What is it she's doing?"
I squirmed a bit nervously, which its unlike me. Was he teasing with me?
"Uh, do you not know? I thought you overlooked everything."
He grinned, standing up.
"A common misconception," his nose flared slightly when he talked. "You see, the Greek man, Ovid, I believe it was, had the correct assumption. I am no more than a shifting pile of, well, nothing, honestly. I am just here, able to take form as I please. I have the ability to oversee everything, but I choose not to."
"But why?!" I protested "You created this world, right? Don't you care what happens to it?"
His face grew sour.
"Do not make me angry. Do you see my hand? He pointed at his outstretched arm" Chaos warned. I didn't. "I am using this hand to bear the duty of Atlas as we speak. I have helped you demigods more than you realize."
"You're just going to sit around watching the world burn! Why? Because when this one's ruined, you can just create another one, can't you?! You don't care!" I snapped. His face drew taut.
"I do care, Di Angelo. That is why I refuse to watch over it anymore. Then I would have to intervene. Don't you see, boy? What I created, that was good, but now, it is corrupt! One evil thought led to the titans, giants, and the gods. Yes, the gods themselves may very well be the worst form of evil. But Percy Jackson. Now, he is interesting. That's why I've been watching him."
My mind raced. What was wrong with Chaos? The gods were the most evil? What the Hades was he talking about? I knew they weren't perfect.
"How?" I challenged.
"Because they are good, to themselves! That is evil, being good to only yourself... Hey you know what Webster's definition of evil is?"
"No."
He snapped his fingers, causing a bookshelf to create. He pulled of the latest edition of the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. He opened it, scanned the page and read.
"Morally Bad." He summed up. "Morally Bad id exactly what the gods are. They don't care about what others think our feel as much as they care about themselves. Oh, killing him makes me feel a bit better! Zap! Gone! Especially your father, son, he lives from death. And Zeus, King of the gods. An ever faithful wife, but is he?" A pause. "Think about this. How many men would cheat on their wives if they hadn't had an example? Zeus was the first example."
"So, I'm guessing you're not going to help us," I admitted, defeated. "I came all the way down here to have Chaos himself tell me that he can't help me."
His eyes once again glinted mischievously. His gray hair became brown.
"I never said I couldn't. I said I wouldn't. Besides, you never told me what your problem with Gaea was."
I huffed. "She's trying to take over the world for the third time."
He clasped his hands. "Ah! So, she has failed twice before. So why implore me to assist you? I have already helped Jackson plenty. He has made an excellent host"
Host? I didn't have time to think about it.
"Because, she has Tartarus helping her."
Every smug look instantly vanished from his face. He looked morally conflicted
"No. impossible." His neck snapped up. I followed his gaze. Where I had fallen, there was nothing anymore. Not even darkness. I don't know how to explain it, honestly. It was simply…nothing.
"What you say is true. Do you see that, boy!" He gesticulated wildly. "The entrance to Tartarus is gone! His Pit has dissipated, because he has created an essence elsewhere for himself. That should be impossible! The kind of power he needs to do that can only be obtained through... No, I must return you to earth immediately! Monsters...they'll reform on earth... Damn it all!"
Hearing Chaos curse was a bit weird, although I'm not sure why.
"What about you?"
"I am coming, but you will not recognize my appearance Di Angelo. Now go!"
With that, my body exploded.
REYNA POV
My body felt like acid had seeped in through every pore. Had I been fighting for hours now? I wasn't sure. I glanced at Percy. His anger was fueling him, keeping him alive. I think having gone into the Pit might have helped spur some anger. He slashed and hacked monsters, even though they reformed almost instantly. I was doing the same, though. I wondered where the goddess Calypso had gone. There was no way she had simply been enveloped in the tornado. Why did she abandon us? I was so lost in thought, I realized too late that a Spartus warrior had crept up on me. Its gladius opened a large cut on my shoulder. I grunted rather than cry out and ended the life of the creature. About that time, I noticed Tartarus meander forth.
"So, this is what I am greeted with? This is an insult! Only one Greek, and not even a proper one at that! And A daughter of Bellona?!" He said daughter with much contempt. I'm guessing he still held the 'classical' view of women and male superiority.
"At least it is the War goddesses' daughter, and not, say, Venus. Nonetheless, I shall take great pleasure in destroying you."
He raised his fist, but below him, the ground bubbled. Nico Di Angelo burst forth, gasping. Tartarus faltered.
"At last! A proper Greek. Yes, he may be a child of death, but Greek all the same! Is this your Angel, come to save you?" He laughed. "You'll have to do better than this."
Shakily, Nico stood.
"Chaos himself is coming! Is that a challenge enough?!"
Gaea flinched. Tartarus faltered.
"You lie, boy!" Tartarus snarled. He reached into his arm, and pulled out a Dracnae. That was gross. But, if he was Tartarus, and the Pit was his body, then did all the creatures in Tartarus at the time turn into his flesh? It was disturbing to think about. He shook his leg, and a full Drakon came forth. I nearly vomited. I hoped Nico's warning was true. At the same moment, another figure rushed onto the scene. He was around six foot, best I could tell from my distance. He was strong, and dare I say...attractive. Thinking that reminded of my curse. I would never find a demigod to heal my heart. With that, I pretty much knew my love life would be hopeless. I had no desire to marry a mortal man-I could nor live with myself if I dragged him into my dangerous world. Despite my intentions, I felt a weird sensation about this man. His brown hair was cut short, but with enough to leave some flowing with the breeze. Nico snapped me out of my daze.
"Chaos! That's Chaos!" He pointed at the newcomer. I stared. Him? My mind told me I should be disgusted, but I wasn't. That was Chaos?
"Couldn't he make himself a bit taller?" Percy shouted above the noise. My thoughts exactly.
"Agreed!"
Chaos turned and glanced at me.
"When I am pressured with time, I do not have the time to create a large body for myself, but believe me, I am still just as powerful. You ought to know that, Perseus."
His eyes seemed to linger on me a moment longer before he turned back to battle. My heart fluttered, and I chided myself. It simply couldn't work.
PERCY POV
Chaos was kind of a disappointment. Same height as me against a fifty foot tall living embodiment of eternal damnation. I didn't like our chances. And what did he mean that I should know? Nico stumbled over towards me.
"Where did everybody go?" He asked. I pointed to the tornado.
"The storm caught them off guard. All of them are in there."
"That's why its so large," he mused. "Not good."
"We need more!" Chaos shouted. "If I need to face Tartarus, I needed someone to fend off these infernal beasts!"
"Can you break up the twister?" Nico wondered. I shook my head.
"Nope, no matter how much water, or what force I send it at, out just gets sucked in with everything else."
He frowned.
"So how did you and Reyna avoid it? I mean, even Chiron is gone!"
I had been thinking the same thing.
"Gaea. She's messing with us. But Chaos is right, we need reinforcements."
Nico chewed his lips. "godly ones."
On cue, the skies parted and all Olympus broke loose-the gods had arrived. And I mean ALL the gods, Greek, Pure Roman, even ones I had never seen before. Amongst the gods, I also spotted Elizabeth, Hera's Daughter. I was wondering why I hasn't seen that girl around lately. Leading the gods, was Calypso. She hasn't run away; she had rallied the troops, despite having her Titan-ship taken away!
"Aeolus, the storm! Put an end to it. Athena, battle strategy for the rest." Zeus bellowed commands.
"It its simple, father. We are so great in numbers this time, we shall do as Ares and Bellona enjoy best. Simply attack and keep everything away from Chaos."
Ares grinned. "Hades yeah!"
"I still take offense to that," Hades mumbled.
The gods charged, divine energy blasting everywhere. Sometimes it's better to not ask questions and just accept things.
"Thank you for the Calvary!" Chaos shouted. He began to face his attention on Tartarus, who was releasing Monsters as fast as possible.
Thanatos scrambled around, trying to find a soul to reap. "Impossible! Without a Pit, monsters would simply sprout again from His essence!"
"Leave that to me!" Reyna exclaimed, running head first at the hulking giant.
Meanwhile Gaea was not pleased. The ground was as muddy as possible. No matter what she had planned for, I knew she hadn't accounted for this. Neither had I. She cursed as Aeolus gained control of the winds, ruining the tornado. Demigods rained from the sky. A few weak ones curled into a ball, whimpering. Apollo's kids tried to help them and the physically wounded. I scanned the crowd for Annabeth, but my attention was drawn away by Tartarus screeching in anger and pain.
"NO!"
Reyna had launched herself onto his body. Skillfully, she climbed to his stomach and stabbed it, cutting a large hole with her blade, and pulling his gut out. Yes, disgusting, but it worked. Chaos grabbed the flesh, squeezed it into a balk and chucked it through the ground.
"The Pit of Tartarus is returned!" He announced. Almost immediately, the battlefield was clear of a majority of monsters. We were lucky, except for Reyna, who was smacked in the face, hard. Her lump body sailed like a rag doll, her black hair covering her bruised features. Anger welled up again. Why did Reyna have to be so stupid as to do that. How, even, did she know to do that. My vision clouded, and I raised Riptide, letting the tugging of my gut and the roar in my ears take over. I vaguely remember riding a tidal wave over Tartarus's head. I used the force of the water to propel my body straight through his. I heard the satisfying crack of the skull as I pierced it. I made it to the stomach, before I tumbled out his gaping hole. And, yeah, I'm talking about that hole. Not my proudest moment. My tsunami churned inside of him. I hit the ground, looking to the left. For a moment, I saw things through the eyes of Chaos. My body was pure energy. I blinked, and my vision was my own. The gods backed away from me, expressions of horror and surprise gracing their appearance. All except Chaos, who had begun to glow. He took Tartarus by the leg, literally picked him up, and smashed his body on the ground. Tartarus exploded to many fragments.
"Close your eyes! I must scatter these fragments across the universe!" His glow grew brighter and brighter. And I, being the Seaweed Brain that I was, watched. And promptly blacked out.
