Hello again! I updated the story before a month had passed! That's a victory in my book!
I've got good news and bad news, everyone:
The good news: This is the longest chapter I've written-ever! It totals at 3,747 words NOT including my Author's Notes!
The bad news: This is also the last chapter of Each Other's Lifelines! Usually I mention in the previous chapter that the next will be the finale, but I didn't know if this chapter was going to be the finale. Nevertheless, I have an epic epilogue planned (inspired by an idea from Wild West Pyro) so stay tuned for that!
PS: The Doors of Death in this chapter are NOT like the ones in the House of Hades. Their look is the same but the way they function has been changed in order to better fit the story.
Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians/Heroes of Olympus
Percy's POV
The entire mirror situation had been very…awkward for Percy. Even a Seaweed Brain like him knew that bringing up other love-stricken girls in front of a guy's girlfriend- especially one that can easily judo-flip people- is never a good idea. However, Annabeth had taken the whole conversation well, much to Percy's relief.
Percy, on the other hand, had been going under cardiac arrest with anxiety and confusion for 5 whole minutes. According the Anti-Percy, he and Annie represented all the false characteristics of the real demigods…as well as some that they'd buried deep down. Percy knew he had no feelings for Rachel or Reyna anymore; that was easy to determine as false. Calypso, though…she had been his biggest "what if," after all.
What scared Percy the most was that he didn't know whether she'd fall under the "false trait" or the "buried trait" part of the mirror's words. It was true that Percy loved Annabeth and would never leave her side, but did he still have feelings for Calypso? He hadn't seen her since the Mount St. Helens incident, and he didn't even know if the gods had freed her like he'd asked. Percy really did feel bad for forgetting her until now, but- wait!
That was it! He had forgotten about her; that was all the proof he needed to show that he wasn't in love with Calypso anymore. Percy knew he'd never forget Annabeth- even Hera, Queen of the Gods hadn't been able to make him forget.
The son of Poseidon smiled to himself, happy and relieved about his sudden revelation.
"What's with you?" Annabeth asked him curiously as they picked their way over the collapsed mirror's broken glass shards, each piece reflecting the demigods passing overhead. "Smiling for no reason is bound to get you questions asked, you know."
"Huh? Oh, nothing," Percy replied nonchalantly, trying to act casual. "Just glad you're here with me." It was a lame excuse, but then again, it was the truth.
Annabeth rolled her eyes but didn't stop a small smile from spreading across her face. "C'mon, Seaweed Brain. We'll have enough time for romantic compliments once we get out of this hellish monster town."
That was Percy's Wise Girl- always knowing just what to say.
The couple continued walking out into the never-ending darkness that lay before them, their dirt-covered sneakers kicking little pebbles on the rocky ground. They'd left the dirt terrain back at the village, and now the world had turned into one giant, eroding rock. Of course, there might've been more on the land than just rock, but Percy and Annabeth couldn't see any of it through the blackness surrounding them. Riptide's glow could only do so much.
"Let's play a game," Percy abruptly announced, growing bored with the infinite march into the unknown.
"Oh yeah? Like what?"
"Hmm…how about I Spy? I spy with my little eye….something black."
Annabeth laughed, causing Percy to grin from ear to ear.
"Let me guess…the sky?"
"Correct!"
Annabeth laughed again, and Percy couldn't help but join in. Annabeth's laugh was one of his most favorite sounds in the world. That, along with "Dinner's ready!"
"All right, my turn." Annabeth looked around, pretending to be in deep thought. "I spy with my little eye…something black."
Before Percy could answer, she interjected with, "-and it's not the sky!"
Percy glanced around pointlessly before guessing, "How about the ground?"
"Congratulations, you got it right!"
They continued on like this, naming random and yet obvious things to spy, ranging from Percy's bronze sword to Annabeth's blonde hair. After a few turns it was Annabeth's turn again.
"I spy with my little eye something…silver?"
"Silver?" Percy asked doubtedly. He hadn't seen anything silver for miles. Where could she possibly…
Then he saw it. Far, far up ahead, something silver gleamed on the horizon. It was still too far away to make out the details, but something inside of Percy clicked when he saw it. There was no mistaking what he saw; it was-
"The Doors," Annabeth breathed, staring in awe at the silver light.
"We…we did it. We actually found them. We found the Doors of Death!" Percy exclaimed, letting out a whoop of victory. Grabbing Annabeth's hand, Percy began sprinting towards the beckoning light, overcome with excitement at their discovery. Annabeth, however, did not sprint as willingly; for starters, her almost-healed ankle wasn't in top-notch state yet, so it still hurt a little to walk on, and second, and most important, she sensed a trap.
"Hold on, Percy," Annabeth warned him, pulling him to a stop. Some of his eagerness began to wane as he turned around to look at the daughter of Athena.
"What? Don't you want to get out of here?" The look of an excited puppy that had been plastered on his face began to dissolve.
"Of course I do, but look around you. Do you see any monsters?"
Percy quickly scanned the horizon, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. "No."
"Exactly. Don't you think that there should be at least one monster guarding the Doors? I mean, they're pretty important to be left completely undefended."
Realization dawned on Percy, and after glancing around again, he agreed with Annabeth. The entire dark expanse in between them and the Doors of Death was void of any monsters.
"What should we do?"
Annabeth paused, freezing briefly in her deep trance of thought.
"The only way to go is forward," she explained, half trying to convince herself that they had no other option. "So I guess we just keep going- keep an eye out though, we don't want any-"
Out of the blue- or rather, out of the black- a low growl rumbled just a few feet behind Percy and Annabeth, causing them both to hunch up their shoulders in agitation.
"-surprises," Annabeth finished in a subtle whisper, and Percy followed her lead in turning slowly to face the beast.
Only two feet away from them were two molten orange eyes, seething with a barely contained maniacal rage, staring back at Percy and Annabeth like they'd spotted a feast. The monster let out a second deep, throaty growl, and the sound made Percy shudder as a chill ran down his spine. The eyes' light was enough to illuminate the head of the animal, which resembled a stray and savage dog's face that had been through a battlefield and merged with a bull. Two giant silver horns sprouted out of its bony forehead, right next to its floppy and scarred ears; a long gash was drawn across the monster's face in way that made it look like someone had tried to split the head in half.
As the bull-like dog snarled, its moist black lips curled upwards to reveal red-stained fangs and messy rows of white teeth.
"Di immortales," Percy muttured under his breath. "Did the Minotaur hook up with a hellhound? 'Cause if he did, tell him it was a huge mistake to have any children."
The monster let loose a bark so loud is blasted the demigods' ears, and without a second thought they whipped around and sprinted for the Doors. Percy didn't have to glance behind him to check if they were being pursued; the obnoxious thundering steps of the animal were enough to ensure its position behind them.
"Do you…know what kind of…of monster that is?" Percy panted to Annabeth as he dared to take his gaze momentarily off of the Doors of Death, as if thinking that if he lost sight of them they'd disappear.
"Its…It's a Psofio Skylos!" she breathed back, blonde hair fluttering behind her as she ran for her life alongside Percy. "It m…means Dead Dog."
"Well…that's a…suitable name!"
Yet again the Psofio let loose an explosive bark, but this time it sounded more like an angry roar. Much to Percy's dismay, similar shouts and roars echoed back, seeming to come from dozens of monsters.
"There's the guards you wanted!" Percy yelled to Annabeth over the din of the monsters' battle cry.
"Oh, you think?" Annabeth replied back, voice dripping with sarcasm.
Percy couldn't but smile a bit as he rolled his eyes, then focused back on the task at hand. Now that they were a lot closer….
Percy now noticed the incredible detail on the Doors of Death; their black and silver architecture was designed in a very modern and contemporary fashion, using sharp edges and large, jagged lines to decorate it. Maybe Thanatos remodels them every once in while in order to fit the modern style, Percy thought, his ADHD letting him focus on the most minuscule questions. He also noticed that there were two large silver rings resting where the doorknobs would go, resembling the rings often put through a bull's nose.
Hope finally began to expand in the son of Poseidon's heart as he and Annabeth came closer and closer to their destination. Their freedom rested just on the other side, and Percy trusted his friends to be there when they flung the Doors open. He didn't have to wish for long before a boom racked the Doors, shaking them on their hinges but not pushing them open.
"Leo must've fired the ballistae at the Doors!" Annabeth called out to Percy. "They found Epirus!" Percy just nodded in response, too out of breath to say much else. At the moment they were only 20 feet away from the wall of black and silver…15 feet…10 feet…
Percy reached out with his dirty and scraped up hand to grab at one of the rings, when all of a sudden Annabeth let out a scream behind him. Percy dropped his hand to his pocket, where he pulled out and uncapped Riptide before turning around to assess the problem.
She had tripped on a small ditch in the uneven ground, and a Psofio was presently standing over her, growling and dripping thick saliva from its maw.
"Hey! Big and Ugly!" Percy shouted angrily at the monster. "She's not on the menu!" The demigod sprinted towards the horned beast and sunk Riptide into its ribcage before it had any time to call back-up. Percy quickly knelt down and helped Annabeth up, urging her to hurry. "C'mon, we're almost there!" he encouraged her, and together they began to run again.
They'd barely made it three steps before another Psofio skidded to a halt in front of them, and two more lined up behind them. Both of the half-bloods knew that they were outnumbered; if they managed to kill these three, about 40 more were there to take their place, and who knew if more were on their way.
Annabeth peered over the Psofio's giant head at the glowing Doors behind it before looking at Percy and informing him, "The Doors look like they only open inwards, and judging by its structure and mechanics, no one on the outside can open or shut it. Therefore, Leo and the others can't help us until we've opened the Doors for them."
"Basically, we're on our own for now," Percy summed up.
"Yep."
The two locked eyes for a brief second, green looking into grey, and together they let out a fearsome battle cry and charged the Psofios; Annabeth took the one in front and Percy faced the two in back. These Psofios were not as slow nor were they as unprepared as the first one; simultaneously the monsters squatted down and propelled themselves at the son of Poseidon.
Percy went down into a baseball slide, slipping underneath the big black dogs' underbellies flying overhead. Thrusting Riptide upwards, Percy disintegrated one of the Psofio, but he still had the second one hot on his trail.
The mutt quickly turned around and charged at Percy, who swung at the monster and just barely missed as it curved away from the blade. Reaching out with its giant paw, it smacked Percy against the ground, kicking up a small cloud of dust as he hit the ground. Coughing, Percy swiftly stood back up and hacked down towards the Psofio's front leg; it kicked upwards instead and hit Riptide's grip, knocking it out of Percy's hands and scattering it a few feet away.
The monster took the opportunity to snap at the demigod's head, hoping to taste a type of prey it hadn't feasted on in a long time. Percy ducked with a small yelp and dove for his sword, grabbing it and jumping back up to his feet.
The Psofio clumsily whipped around and got a face-full of celestial bronze. As soon as the monster erupted into sand, Annabeth shouted, "Percy!"
At the Doors of Death stood the daughter of Athena, one hand poised on the silver ring, ready to open the doorway. She was waving urgently with her free hand for Percy to hurry up and get over there; she was waiting for him so that they could leave together.
Smiling, Percy sprinted harder than he'd ever sprinted in his life, and behind him he heard the now-familiar thunder of Psofios charging. It wasn't long before the smile was wiped off of Percy's face by his fatigue from the entire Tartarus ordeal as it began to set in.
No, Percy scolded himself. This is not the time to be tired. Just get to the Doors. Get to your friends. Get to Annabeth. Fueled by adrenaline, he tore over the ground and nearly slammed into Annabeth once he'd reached her side.
"Go! Go! Go!" he ushered her, repeatedly glancing behind them to see a wave of Psofio's pouring in at them from all sides. Annabeth wasted no time and yanked open the Doors of Death.
The Doors had barely opened a crack before Percy and Annabeth squeezed themselves through, entering the bright light on the other side. As soon as Percy made it through, the couple slammed the Doors shut with a loud bang, leaning against them to make sure they stayed shut for the time being.
Percy threw one of his hands up to his face to block out the light until his eyes had adjusted; from what he could tell, they were in a large stone room. The roof had been smashed in, which was how the extreme sunlight was shining through, and Percy could just make out a large golden ship on the far side of the old temple- the Argo II.
Blinking a few more times, Percy's vision had righted itself, and he could make out faces all staring joyously back at him.
He saw the golden eyes and frizzy hair of Hazel Levesque, who had her hands clapped over her mouth in her excitement; Frank Zhang stood next to her, a large grin plastered on his face. The blonde-haired Jason Grace was rushing over to Percy and Annabeth, closely followed by his girlfriend Piper McClean. Leo Valdez was practically hopping up and down with excitement. There was one face missing though…
Percy gasped as he felt a wave of water dumped over his head; it indeed felt good- he was the son of Poseidon- but it had definitely taken him by surprise. Looking up, he saw the worried expression of Nico Di Angelo.
"Was that enough to counter the Lake of Life's water?" he asked anxiously, holding the now-empty bucket of water in his hands.
"The what?" Percy asked, completely confused and still stunned a bit from the involuntary shower.
"The lake where we saw Medusa," Annabeth supplied. Nico had told her that he'd bring water to 'cleanse' Percy from the Lake's poison.
"Oh, man, I got over that sickness a long time ago," Percy told Nico with a slight laugh; the son of Hades still looked confused, but Percy shrugged it off and said, "We'll catch up later."
The other demigods couldn't hold it in anymore, and the initial shock of seeing their friends again had worn off. Now, they all rushed in for a giant group hug, full of laughs as well as tears of joy.
Their hug-fest was rudely interrupted by a loud BOOM coming from the opposite side of the Doors of Death, and all eight demigods rushed to keep the Doors from opening. The pounding continued, and occasionally the Doors would pop open before the half-bloods slammed it closed again.
With all of their backs pushed against it, Piper called out, "Why won't they stay shut?"
BOOM.
"Their architectural design, and no doubt aided with some magic, allows them only to be shut from the inside," Annabeth told the daughter of Aphrodite. "Someone has to pull them closed from inside Tartarus to keep them shut."
Silence followed as it settled in as to what was required in order to shut the Doors of Death. Someone needed to sacrifice his or herself and stay forever in Tartarus. The only sounds interrupting the demigods' silence were the scratching and howling of the Psofio Skylos inside tartarus, awaiting their dinner.
"I'll go," Leo suddenly volunteered, turning towards the Doors.
"No way," Jason stopped him, and continued with, "I want to go. The others need you to captain the Argo II."
"Well, I'm not letting you die, Jason," Piper countered. "I will go."
"No, I will!"
"Let me!"
"You guys are all needed on this quest!"
"Guys." Frank's loud voice cut through his friends' bickering. "I'm going to go. I know for a fact that all of you will be needed to stop Gaea. I know about sacrifice and duty more than anyone here, and I will not have anyone dying for me. I am going to close the Doors from the inside."
Before anyone could interject, even before Hazel, Percy stepped up to Frank, determination setting in his sea green eyes. "Frank, you are not going in there. I am. I know what's on the other side, and I can handle it, at least for a while. I won't…I can't have anyone else do this. I want to protect all of you, not have all of you try and protect me."
"Percy, I for one will not allow you back in there," Annabeth declared stubbornly. "I'll go."
"No," Hazel announced. "I wouldn't be able to live without any of you- especially Frank- and if I go I won't have to bare that burden."
Frank grabbed Hazel by the shoulders and gave her a kiss before saying, "I'm not taking any excuses as to why I shouldn't go. I am going, and I'm sorry Hazel for leaving you. I love you so much, but I can't let you, nor anybody else go besides me. It is my duty, and it's my choice."
The others all understood Frank's determination, and they also knew that no matter of convincing would change his mind. Even Piper's charmspeak couldn't change his mind at this point. Being a son of Mars, he knew about the duties of a soldier, of a general, of a legionnaire, and he was ready to sacrifice himself for the greater good.
Everyone, very reluctantly, gave Frank a final hug each, Hazel's hug lasting the longest. The only one who didn't hug him was Percy; the son of Poseidon was standing in front of the Doors, his arms spread out as if to block anyone from passing.
"Frank, I can't let you do this," he said, a hidden fear in his eyes. He couldn't lose another friend in his life, especially someone as close to him as Frank. His fatal flaw of personal loyalty made it practically impossible for him to let anyone go, and he wasn't planning on losing anybody today.
"Percy, please, let me through," Frank said, authority creeping into his voice. He wasn't backing down, and neither was Percy. They stood like that, glaring at each other with their stubbornness showing so obviously.
BOOM.
Percy was thrown forward when a Psofio rammed into the Door, but he quickly regained his footing and pushed it shut again.
"Frank. I'm going in there if it's the last thing I do."
Frank sighed, then did something no one was expecting. He hugged Percy, pulling away just to say, "Take care of Hazel while I'm gone," and he suddenly disappeared. This sent Percy into a panic, causing him to lean off the Doors and allow them to open momentarily.
"Where in the Hades did that demigod go?" he demanded, looking around frantically. Everyone else was just as baffled as Percy. Where could he possibly-
"Goodbye, guys," a familiar voice said from behind Percy. The son of Poseidon whipped around to see Frank standing just inside the Doors. He had turned into a fly and flown over Percy and into Tartarus. "Go kick some earth goddess butt for me."
Before anyone could utter another word, Frank closed the Doors of Death.
"Frank!" Percy shouted, yanking on the pair of rings that were attached to his side of the Doors. They didn't budge. "No, Frank!" He slammed his fists against the silver and black metal, but it did nothing to change the fact that Frank Zhang was gone.
Hazel couldn't hold it in any longer, and she collapsed into Annabeth's arms, sobbing uncontrollably. Piper began to sniffle, and tears leaked out of everyone's eyes, even Leo's.
Once Hazel had pulled herself together enough to stand, Annabeth let her go and silently approached Percy, who was still kicking the Doors and mutturing curses under his breath in Ancient Greek.
"Giati ligo…ilithio 'foro'…aprepe na me afeisei…" Percy cried, which roughly translated to "Why you little…stupid 'duty'…should've let me…"
"Percy," Annabeth said, tears streaking her face as she softly touched Percy's arm. He turned to look at her, his eyes already bloodshot, and the son of Poseidon whispered, "Can't you hear them?"
She had been about to ask "Who?" when she heard the hungry snarls and barks of the Psofios in Tartarus, as well as a certain son of Mars shouting as he fought off the herd. The couple stood silently and listened to the hopeless fight as tears continually poured down their faces, and suddenly the noise on the other side quieted down.
Annabeth's voice hitched when she asked the unthinkable. "You don't think-?"
Their suspicions were confirmed when Hazel let out a yelp as she reached into her pocket and threw something on the floor, backing away hurriedly. Everyone turned and looked to see what was wrong, and they all watched, frozen to their spots, as a little chunk of wood was devoured in a bright yellow and orange flame, despite the fireproof cloth it had been wrapped in. It was Frank's lifeline.
In mere seconds, the wood was gone, leaving behind only a little pile of ashes, and that only meant one thing: Frank Zhang, son of Mars and descendent of Poseidon, Centurion and member of the Fifth Legion, was dead.
Not everyone had understood what the stick burning up had meant, but those who did broke down even more. Hazel could barely breath in between her bouts of sobbing.
It was then that Percy made a promise, even though he knew how dangerous the recent prophecy had made promises. He promised that he would defeat Gaea. He would send her some place deeper down than Tartarus. She'd never be able to return after he was through with her. Percy and his friends would win this war. For Frank.
F-FRANK! I can't believe I just did that! *cries in a corner while banging head on the wall*
Well, that probably just wrecked some of you emotionally.
Luckily, the epic epilogue (I like that alliterated phrase a lot) should heal some of those feels wounds.
I'd like to give a big thank to everyone who followed this story and reviewed, favorited, or even just took the time to read it, and I hope you all enjoyed it! Thank you for putting up with my late posts and cheesy quotes, and thank you for all your support!
Individual Thank You Time:
Thank you to fieryjunior35 for the story and author follows!
Heyitsthecats: Yeah, just a little cute fluff before I bring everyone down again with this chapter ;)
See you all soon,
-8DemigodRunner8