Hey guys its Imperius here, I have decided to rewrite this story, The writing will be better as I am older, and hopefully my story telling and pacing will improve as well, I hope you all enjoy!
A young figure sat atop a cliff overlooking the Underworld. He stared at the Fields of Punishment, hugging his knees as he watched, horror like no other, torture and torment. He was too young to understand exactly what the reasoning for things like this to be happening, deep in his mind he wondered what they must have done to deserve an eternity of this.
"I wish I could save them." He muttered to himself. "No one deserves a life like that." He looked around to the Fields of Asphodel. The cliff he was sitting upon was a secret spot he was shown as a child by his father, he was told that is where he used to go millenia ago. The cliff top overviewed almost the entire underworld. You could see the beautiful lands of Elysium, the never ending Fields of Asphodel, and then there its, the most interesting thing to the boy, the Fields of Punishment. He never really understood it but he always felt some sort of connection to it. It gave him a sense of purpose, he was told from being a child that is where the bad people go, I guess it was a way to make him act better but it gave him purpose, he had always wanted to help them, maybe one day he could.
He kept muttering to himself, he was always kind to everyone, the only friends he really had were undead guards he was able to befriend, and those in Elysium, unfortunately he wasn't able to visit Elysium too often, as his father was a busy man, and he was undergoing lots of training. He was told that in a few months his trials would begin. He didn't know much about the trials, but what he did know is he could finally see the overworld after he completed the trials. He was told that they were the proving point in his training, they would let his father know when he was finally ready to perform missions for him, maybe even help him with his many duties.
The boy looked into the distance, he wanted to go to the overworld so bad, he had dreamed of going there, one day he would get to see it. His father always told him it was beautiful in its own way. That's why he was training so hard, because he couldn't fail these trials like last time, he needed to see it, to finally get out of the hot desolate landscape. It had its beauties, like the garden of Persephone, and Elysium, but everything else was dry and barren.
In the distance the boy heard the flapping of giant wings, he looked up to see a large dark figure approaching at a high speed, the figure soon was directly above him. The large man stepped onto the ledge and the wings folded into themselves completely disappearing into an unknown void. The man had one of the most handsome faces you could imagine, shoulder length black hair flowed to an invisible wind, his features seemed far too perfect for the armor he was wearing. Skull etched into the blackened armor, and very fine golden detail in some places, he had a hood but it was not upon his head at the time.
"Percy, I knew I would find you up here." The man said with a shy beautiful smile.
Percy ran up and hugged the man, they embraced and exchanged smiles. The man looked down at Percy with a worrying glint in his eye, he opened his mouth to say something but he stopped himself. He looked Percy in the eyes and proceeded to say. "We must return soon, we have a lot more training to do in these next few months."
"But father!" Percy cried. "You know I get so sore from all this training!"
"I know my son." The man said. "But the trials are coming and you must be fully prepared for them."
"Could we take a break for a day?" Percy gave an innocent look trying to convince his father. "Just one day!"
The man thought for a second looking at Percy' innocent face. "Just ONE day." The man sighed. "You are too old to be doing that Percy." He stated. "Maybe I can take you to visit your uncle and have him take care of you, for I have some pressing matters to attend to in the overworld."
"UNCLE HADES?" Percy proclaimed. "I cannot wait to see him again. It's been so long since I last saw him!"
"Yes uncle Hades." Percy' father rolled his eyes. "Now come here I'll take you to him."
Percy went up to his father and grabbed onto him, the man's wings sprouted from the same unknown void they had retracted to, the wings a pitch black darkness, they weren't even made of feathers, just pure darkness. As the wings sprouted they took one flap and Percy and his father were already 20 feet above from where they were standing. They then headed to the middle of the Underworld, in the center of it all stood a massive palace, made of stygian iron, the pillars were magnificent, the architecture grand, it was the most beautiful landmark in the entire Underworld, 3 roads join together to the main courtyard of the mighty palace, one from Elysium, another from the Pavilion of Judgement, and another goes into the wall of the underworld to somewhere Percy was never aloud to go. He was told that it was a meeting place for some of Hades' meetings.
The large man landed with Percy in his arms at the center of the large courtyard, he let go of his son and scanned the surrounding location, he then proceeded to the large gate blocking off anyone undeserving of entering the Palace, the man waved his hand and the gates swung open, the gate lead straight to the beautiful Gardens of Persephone, many flowers bloomed in a place that no life exists. They continued onward toward these double blackened stygian iron doors. Skeleton warriors stand guard all around the garden, the two finally reach the doors, before Percy' father could raise his hand, the doors swung open to reveal a tall muscular man with long black hair and a black beard, and a black crown sat upon his head. He was wearing black robes, with souls threaded into them.
The man at the door looked at the two and smiled, in his glittering black eyes a purple flame arose when he saw Percy. "Come in." Hades beckoned them inward. The father son duo walked through the doors and followed the king of the Underworld down the halls towards his throne room. "I have been expecting you Percy."
"Hades!" Percy proclaimed. "It's been awhile, we have to duel, I have been practicing a lot."
"I see." Hades gave a glance at Percy' father. "I was informed of your arrival, and yes of course we will have to duel."
"He needs a break from his training and I have very important matters at hand, which you already knew." His father spoke. "I thought, what better way to let him rest then with you."
"Percy is always welcome here Thanatos." Hades said. "Next time try and give me more of a heads up." His gaze drifted back to Percy. "Now you, you have grown much since I last saw you, how old are you now?"
"I'm turning 14 soon." Percy said.
Hades' eyes snapped onto Percy fully. "ALMOST 14?" He said shocked. "I remember when you were just a child."
"That's what everyone says." Percy rolled his eyes. "They are always surprised when I tell them that."
Hades chuckled a bit. "He will fit right in with overworlders."
Percy rolled his eyes once more, as they entered the throne room. Hades headed towards the throne as Thanatos stopped Percy by placing his hand on his shoulder. "I will be back tomorrow, don't get into too much trouble with your uncle, he has a short temper." Thanatos said as he glanced at Hades. "Now I must go."
As he said that he started to walk away back towards where they came from. Percy looked at his father then started making his way towards Hades. "Now, since you are so old you will help with some things before we get on to our duel." Hades smirked.
"If he's going to be here might as well put him to work" Hades thought to himself.
—Line Break—
Percy grunted as he continued forward, his legs felt like they were going to give up on him. His back burned from the weight of the pack, and his armor he was carrying. He had been running for what felt like days. His eyes moved from the ground back to where he was running towards. Sweat dripped down his face, some of it getting into his eyes. He was only 2 miles away, so close.
Percy kept on pushing as his feet hit the ground again and again, he was running in a rhythmic beat. He felt the wind of his running, his messy black hair was partly flying in his eyes making it harder to see or it was flowing above his head. "1 more mile." he thought to himself. "I can do this." he saw spirits on either side of him. He brushed past some spirit, it reminded him of his friend Perseus. "Can't be him." Percy said aloud. "He lives near Ajax, and that's a few miles to my right."
He ran like he had never ran before, he knew today was the day he beat his record, today was the final day of training before the trials, so he needed to get this right or else. Percy heart beat so fast it felt like it was about to come alive and jump out of his chest and fight him. His breathing was getting coarse, his head was starting to feel cloudy and dizzy, all that came to his mind was run, run like you have never before, run until your legs crumble under the weight of your accomplishments. Percy' blood started to boil, he was so close, but it still felt so far, it was less then a mile left, he could see his father through his cloudy, sweaty eyes.
Finally what felt like a forever more Percy fell to his knees, panting gasping for air, his legs burning, sweat dripping everywhere. Before him stood his father, a smirk on his face as he saw his panting son. "You just beat your latest record by almost a whole 3 minutes." Thanatos walked over and patted Percy' shoulder.
"ONLY THREE MINUTES?" Percy blurted out as he fell to the ground panting like crazy. "I was certain it would be like 5 minutes." he gasped for breath.
"Oh but you did a spectacular job there." Thanatos smiled as he loomed over Percy. "The trials are in three days. You will be resting the two days in between now and the trials, you will need to be at your best before you start them."
"Oh thank Hades." Percy managed to get out. "I just want to sleep and eat right now."
"Which is understandable." Thanatos put his hand out for Percy to grab. "You have done well son."
"Thanks." Percy said half hearted as he grabbed his hand and squirmed to get to his feet.
"Before you can start your rest there is just one more thing." Thanatos said as he looked at Percy. "Take your armor off."
"Already on it." Percy said, struggling to get out of the armor he was coated in. "What's that one more thing though?"
"Hurry up and I will show you." Thanatos rolled his eyes.
Percy struggled some more but finally removed the last piece of armor. "So what was it?" he sighed.
"I wanted to give you this." Thanatos grabbed something from his pocket and handed it to Percy.
Percy grabbed the item from his hand. "A ring? What do I need this for?" Percy looked confused.
"Just put it on and say the word Kleos." Thanatos spoke firmly.
"Okay." Percy slipped the ring over his right middle finger. "Kleos!" As he spoke those words he was engulfed in black armor reminiscent of hoplite armor except covering the entire body. A blade appeared at his hip, the weapon and the armor radiated darkness, almost as if you were looking at nothing, they had a faint glow. Percy knew exactly what it was, only one metal looked like it. "Stygian Iron?" Percy exclaimed happily.
"Correct." A smile came back to Thanatos' face. "The armor and weapon fit to what the wielder of the ring wishes, it forms to the person so you will not be able to grow out of it."
"This is by far the best gift I've ever received!" Percy said happily, he walked over to his father and hugged him. "Thank you."
"Don't thank me." Thanatos said, embracing his son back. "This was Hades' farewell gift before you departed on your trials."
"I will miss you both." Percy said solemnly. "Do you know how long this will take?"
"That all depends." Thanatos spoke. "The trials are different for everyone, but whatever happens just know, breath, and remember your training." Thanatos started to turn to head back to his duties but he paused. "Oh and never forget, be patient, your life will depend on that." after that Thanatos' wings appeared behind him and he shot into the air.
Percy smiled as he saw his father fly away. He started to head back to his home. He was ready for the trials, but he needed to sleep as soon as possible.