Chapter 3: Framing Frame
'NOOOOO!' Percy screamed. He ran through the crowd, pushing people left and right, until he reached the body of his girlfriend. Percy cradled Annabeth's head in his lap, tears flowing down his face. 'No…' He whispered. Annabeth's dead grey eyes stared upwards, her face contorted in shock and pain. He pulled the murder weapon from the body, tossing it to his side, just caring about his dead girlfriend. Annabeth still wore the same outfit as yesterday when Percy said goodnight to her, but her dried blood stained her orange CHB shirt, jeans and blond hair, the beads and ring on her necklace was also coated in blood, but scattered on the ground. Sound of hooves signalled the arrival of Chiron, whose dishevelled face turned an ashen grey and his eyes widened with shock. 'Di immortals…' He muttered. Dionysus, the camp director, also arrived on the scene. He gave one look at the crying son of Poseidon and the bled out daughter of Athena, and shouted into the mid-air, 'Father! Come down now!' Instantly all of the Olympian council flashed next to the demigods, for they know if the normally calm and indifferent god start shouting, something huge or catastrophic must have happened. In this case, both. Athena gave a cry of anguish and also ran to her daughter's side, tears already flowing down her face. She roughly pushed Percy aside, which gave no resistance whatsoever, and hugged her dead daughter. Athena looked around her, and saw the weapon coated with blood. She picked it up, and saw the writing on the side of the blade. 'Anaklusmos…RIPTIDE?' She roared. She turned to a shell-shocked Percy, grey eyes flashing. 'YOU KILLED MY DAUGHTER? HOW DARE YOU? YOU…YOU WORTHLESS PIECE OF SEA SCUM!' Athena screamed, and her battle armour formed around her. Her spear and shield appeared in hand, and she slammed her shield into Percy, who flew back a couple feet into the grass. She sprinted towards a motionless Percy, and kicked him hard in the ribs. A loud crack was heard, and Percy again was lifted into the air. Artemis, being the first to respond, knew too well what Athena was about to do, ran forwards, trying to save the Hero of Olympus.
Athena had just raised her spear, ready to impale Percy with it, before a silver blur tackled her to the ground. 'A...Artemis? Let go of me!' Athena struggled. 'I MUST AVENGE MY DAUGHTER!' Artemis yelled into her ear, 'Stop it! You must not let your heart rule your head! Discuss it in front of the council!' Athena stopped struggling, and gave a stiff nod. Artemis released her and Athena's golden armour faded from view. Zeus, recovering his wits, spoke to Chiron, 'You are in charge of here. The council will discuss the…event on Olympus. Hermes!' He turned to the messenger god. 'Go fetch Hades. Go!' Hermes nodded and disappeared in a flash. 'The rest of you, Olympus, now!'
Line break
For once, Olympus is silent. Well, almost silent as it can be. The clanking from a metal table in the middle of the throne room never stopped. Apollo worked on an unconscious son of Poseidon, as much as he would like to pop a joke to loosen up the tension, he knew Athena will murder him. Even now, she is glaring daggers at the figure lying on the table, barely containing herself, as she will burst into her true form once a few minutes, before switching back to her normal form. Apollo wiped his forehead, which was beaded with sweat. Percy was so close to dying. His skull was cracked from the shield bash, his entire right ribcage collapsed, two rib bones punctured his right lung, massive internal bleeding in multiple organs, and although he sent pulse after pulse of golden healing beams into Percy's body, his heart was beating dangerously weakly, as if the demigod had lost the will to live. After another painfully long half hour, Percy started to wake. But as Apollo looked at his eyes, he was shocked. Percy's eyes, normally a lively sea green and ever-changing, is now a pale green, void of all emotions, as if the son of Poseidon has died inside. Percy then woke fully, and with the aid of Apollo, managed to stand up. Percy gave no response to Apollo's comforting look nor his friendly pat on the back, just standing there, emotionless, leaning against the metal table. With a bow to Zeus, Apollo flashed back to his throne, looking at his sister, which gave him the same look as he did, addressing Percy's lifeless eyes. Zeus cleared his throat, catching everyone's attention. 'Uhmmmm…Ok, today we are here to discuss the suspected murder of Annabeth Chase by Perseus Jackson. Percy Jackson, do you have anything to say?' Silence. Percy just kept staring forward and downwards, not giving any kind of response. 'Percy Jackson? Jackson? Do you hear me?' Athena then lost her temper. 'JUST SAY HE IS GUILTY ALREADY!' She screamed, bursting into her true form. Zeus recoiled. No one, in several millennia, had spoken to him in such a tone. But given these situations, he knew better than to shout. Not only because of Athena is scary when she is angry, also he will lose one of his only allies in the Olympian Council. But then Poseidon glared at him as well. Zeus tried to reason, 'My daughter…' 'Don't my daughter me, Zeus!' Athena exploded at Zeus. 'There is evidence that the sea brat killed my daughter, and there are no evidence against! ANYONE would like to object?' She said in a dangerous tone. Everyone stayed quiet. Zeus looked at Poseidon again, the sea god leaned against his throne, eyes shut, bracing for the worst. Under the threatening glare of Athena, Zeus had no choice but to say, 'Under the absence of evidence to prove the innocence of Perseus Jackson, I, Zeus, as the King of Gods, under the laws that were passed after the Titan War, banish you to Tartarus to suffer for eternity!' Zeus muttered, 'Sorry, brother.' Before raising his master bolt and blasting Percy with it. When the light subsided Percy is gone.
Poseidon then slammed his trident into the floor, with an emotionless face that matched Percy. He was about to go back to his realm and to mourn before Hades, sitting in a ceremonial black throne, telepathically said to Poseidon, 'I am sorry brother. I will send help immediately to Tartarus for Percy, but who or what I cannot say. Plus, your son is not dead Poseidon. Yet. Strangely, I think Zeus just put him there, instead of killing him, as for why I do not know. Either way I will help your son, I am more indebted to him than you may think.' 'Thank you.' Came Poseidon's reply in a broken voice, and the sea god vanished in a sea breeze. Hades also took his leave. One by one, the gods flashed out, leaving only Zeus to sit in his throne, pondering if he had made a huge mistake.
Line Break
Percy feel his emotions return to him. As he is falling down a long familiar chute, he can finally understand what just happened. In the space of a few hours, he had been reduced from the hero everyone admired to the dirt on everyone's shoes. But the most important thing is he is alone. Annabeth, his Wise Girl, his Owl Head, his other halve of him, had been murdered. Brutally taken away from him. He can never listen to her laughter again, hear her witty remarks; see her beautiful grey eyes, or kiss her on the lips, she is just…gone. Percy closed his eyes, tears threatening to overwhelm him. He can finally understand what Selina felt when Beckandorf died, to lose a person so dear to you, it just makes everything irrelevant, meaningless and useless. And the worst part is, he got framed for it. Damn Athena. Zeus had become a better ruler since the Giant War, more just and fair, but under the pressure of Athena he could do nothing. Percy gritted his teeth to stop the tears of sadness, loneliness and pain flowing. The chute widened, signalling Percy has reached his destination. Keeping his eyes closed, he fell like a rock through the blood red skies of Tartarus. Half-wishing to land to the hard ground, die and forget everything that happened, Percy kept falling at terminal velocity until suddenly, he fell into something not very ground-like.
'Percy? Percy Jackson? What are you doing in my river?' A female voice resonated around Percy. He opened his eyes, and found himself standing on the bottom of a swirling black river, an air bubble around him. Percy, remembering his punishment, levitated himself upwards as quick as possible, and landed on the bank of the river. Percy stood up, and noticed a pack of hellhounds huddled in the not-so-far distance, feeding on something. Something red. Percy shivered at the thought of what that is. He walked forwards, hoping they won't noticed him. But as so as he took a step, one of the hellhounds started sniffing the air before its sight landed on the demigod. 'Crap.' Percy muttered to himself, before reaching into his pocket to find Riptide not there, presumably being kept by the Olympians. Percy's mind is once again filled with sadness at his blade being used to kill his one and true love. He cursed as he summoned his new sword but struggled to lift it since he was so tired. Before he can charge his enemies though, the river exploded behind him. Miraculously, the water flowed past Percy, and crashed down on the hellhounds. When the wave subsided, the hellhounds are nowhere to be seen. Percy wondered what just happened and was going to keep trekking on despite of his tired body and mind, before someone behind him said, 'Percy Jackson?'
Percy whipped around, just to find a pale-skinned women with black hair and grey streaks in a black dress looking at him with eyes of the same colour, a curious look on her face. 'Uh…hello?' Percy said with a weary tone. He reminded himself that he is in Tartarus and kept his sword up, albeit his shaking hand. Everything may try to kill him. 'You don't remember me? You took a dip in my river some years ago, what happened? Why are you in Tartarus?' Percy scrunched his eyebrows before his eyes widened in realization. 'Oh, Lady Styx! I didn't recognize you just then, sorry.' Percy tried for a grin, but all that appeared on his face was a grimace. Styx noticed his expression, and sensed something was wrong. 'Uhm, Percy, can you tell me what happened? Last time you were in here, your girlfriend was with you, weren't it? Phleg told me everything. Uh, uhm, did I say something wrong…?' Styx trailed off, noticing the look on Percy's face. Then her questioning expression changed to one of shock as Percy Jackson, the two-time saviour of Olympus, let go of his sword, dropped to his knees in front of her and started to break down. Styx stood, rooted to the spot as she struggled to wrap her mind around what is happening, before deciding on trying to comfort him. She tentatively knelt down, and let out a whelp when the dropped sword burned her. The noise caught the attention of Percy, who between sobs returned his sword to its ring form and then resumed his breakdown. Styx quickly knelt down and swept him into a hug, not knowing what else can comfort the son of Poseidon. After quite a while Percy stopped crying, and gently extracted himself from Styx, her shoulder wet from his tears. He noticed this, and touched her shoulder, forcing the water out of Styx's black dress. He shuddered and said in small voice, 'I'm sorry Lady Styx, emotions got the better of me.' She waved her hand dismissively. 'It's fine. And stop with the "Lady Styx" crap, Styx is fine.' 'Sure, La- Styx.' She sat on the ground, motioning Percy to sit beside her. 'Now, care to tell me what happened? You are one of the last people I think that will get chucked into this part of Tartarus, so what mission are you on? What do you have to kill?' Percy managed a weak chuckle. 'No Styx. I was thrown here. The Olympians thought I killed my girlfriend, the girl you mentioned. I…I am stuck here. For eternity. And what do you mean about "this part of Tartarus"? Aren't all parts the same?' Styx slowly shook her head. 'No, Percy. Let's see it this way: Tartarus is classified into three categories, bad, worse and worst. This is the absolute worst part of Tartarus, the prison for the worst abominations of the world. That is why my river flows here as well as the entrance to the underworld, no one can cross or escape. Except…' Styx faltered. 'Except who?' 'Kronos. He escaped by essence, so I could not stop him.' Styx said angrily. Percy raised his eyebrows at her angry tone. 'Why are you angry?' 'If I stopped him, there could have been one less war.' She shook her head. 'I know some of your friends died too. I'm sorry. I wasn't strong enough.' She punched the ground. Percy cracked a weak smile. 'Hey, I'm the guy with the messed up life. But now what can I do? Sit here and die?'
'You can't.' A new yet familiar voice said behind them. Percy and Styx scrambled to their feet, Percy's sword once again appearing. Behind them, two people appeared, one titan-sized and one human sized. Percy pulled Styx behind him and pointed his sword at the newcomers, a move that he had done so many times on a certain daughter of Athena, now only a painful muscle memory. He growled, 'Get out of my sight in ten seconds or I will destroy you.' The shorter of the two quickly put his hands up, 'Woah, calm down Percy. We are here to help you.' 'Explain.' Percy said in the same tone. 'Lord Hades sent us. I hope you remember me, Percy. You dipped me in the Lethe, after all.' The titan smirked. Something clicked in Percy's mind, and he remembered. 'Bob?' 'Yeah. Iapetus if you want, but both is fine.' The titan chuckled. 'I have to thank you Percy. After the last trip I was killed and reformed again, but Hades took pity on me and I became his bodyguard in the Underworld. You and Hades made me see the error of my past ways, and I was grateful to you. So when Hades said you needed help and explained the situation to me, I didn't hesitate. As for this,' Iapetus looked at his companion. 'Is Achilles. I suppose you two should be familiar with him, eh? He came down to see how you are, Percy.' 'Nice to see you two again, after our last encounter.' Achilles said in a slightly accented tone. 'Now, Lord Hades told us to come down, guard you and help you in any way possible.' 'And you two agreed to come?' Percy said in a shocked tone. They both shrugged as if no big deal. 'It gets boring up there. Nothing but skeleton warriors for me to fight against.' Achilles said. 'Ah, by the way Lord Hades asked me to give you this.' He fished out a letter from the bag he was carrying. Percy turned his sword to a ring again, and read the letter.
'Dear Percy,
I am so sorry about your punishment. Athena is too angry about her daughter's death to see any sense. However I do think there is something wrong about young Annabeth's death. I spoke to her in Elysium and she was furious about your punishment, yet she told me that as she died she saw a pair of Nike shoes, presumably the killer's shoes. Not a very good piece of evidence, but I will try to find any more evidence if I can, I owe you that after you cleared my name in both wars. Also, young Annabeth asked me to tell you that do not let her death trouble you and move on. If anything arises, I will ask Iapetus to bring you letters, as he is not bound by the Ancient Laws like I am.
XOX,
Hades'
Percy's eyes widened in surprise. 'He actually cares?' Achilles replied, 'Don't let his normal demeanour fool you Percy. Under his cold and uncaring shell is an actually decent human being, but being in the Underworld for so long brings out the worst in you, you know?' Percy nodded. He folded the letter and sat down again. 'And now what?' Percy sighed. 'I just sit here and die?' Iapetus walked in front of Percy. 'Like I said, you can't. Even the Olympians are not aware of this, but the new states specifically "suffer for eternity".' Iapetus noticed that Percy's mouth opened once again. 'Which means…' 'I am stuck here forever.' Percy's shoulders slumped. Not only is his girlfriend dead and he got punished for it, now he will stay in the worst part of this hellhole until gods know when. He shook his head, tearing up again. Achilles noticed this and quickly knelt by the demigod. 'Come on Percy. Do you think your girlfriend would like to see you in this state? Her name is Annabeth, is it not?' Percy nodded weakly. 'Then get up! You must survive this fate wrongly brought on you, and seek revenge on those who orchestrated her death. Remember everything about Annabeth, and let her memories drive you forward and fight. Now get up, soldier! Embrace your losses and stand up like a man.' Percy then stood up, a tear tracing down his face but deep down he knew what Achilles said was true. He nodded, breathed deeply, wiped the tear off his face and stood up. He spoke in steady voice, 'Tell me what I got to do.'
A/N: So that's Chapter 3. So, tell me in the reviews what do you think about my story! Current reviews stand at the high number of 1, and while I thank the guy, Black Hazard, I really don't know what you guys think. Good, bad, anything to improve, tell me all of them! Thank you guys in advance =)
