We're Coming Home
She Wanted Freedom and He Wanted Paradise
Disclaimer: I do not own the Percy Jackson series or the Heroes of Olympus series. They rightfully belong to Rick Riordan. Though, I guess the greek mythology is owned by Greece, and the roman mythology is owned by the Romans. I also do not own the songs Iris and I'm Coming Home II.
Warning: There is Fem!Percy, so if you do not like, then I would advise for you not to read this story. This is also character deaths, along with already dead characters. This story will have slightly sad moments and might have some dark or bloody moments (it has monsters, half-bloods, and immortals for gods sakes!) Little mentions of child-abuse, only in the past, nothing explicit.
Shout Out: Extended Experience, harryginny9, pandalover9914, CupCakeAwesomeness, and Maine008 for reviewing chapter four!
Also, AlphaOmega314 and dragon444 for reviewing chapter three after I posted chapter four! (Sorry if the last part was confusing, it just means that I'm giving you a shout out for reviewing chapter three after I posted chapter four, so I couldn't give you a shout out previously.)
dragon444: I'll think about it. Maybe I could make a one-shot about that. I already have plans for this story, so I'll see if I can add it in.
Enjoy!
Chapter Five - Part One
Ephialtes and Otis
Mother Earth was perhaps, the scariest immortal alive. Why wouldn't she be? She could control all forms of land and she has many allies. She was devious and ancient, her powers and mind wizened with age.
Sure, many would say that Tartarus was the most frightening immortal, or maybe Chaos. But right now, Otis was pretty sure that his mom was.
Otis hung his head low as his brother, Ephialtes, stomped forward. Ephialtes was still cursing the daughter of Poseidon for washing them into the drain, which led into the Roman sewers. And like all sewers, it was horribly gross.
"I swear on mother that I'll kill that scum of a demigod," cursed Ephialtes as he fanned his nose, hoping to get rid of the sewer stench.
Now, Otis knew he was the less intelligent one out of the two giants, but even he knew what female demigods were known as. Most say that the male demigods are stronger and scarier, but Otis was one hundred percent sure that the female demigods were.
"Brother, don't you mean demigoddess?" Otis asked Ephialtes, who paused his walking to enable him to glare at his brother.
"I know that you fool!" Thundered Ephialtes as he punched the sewer wall, causing it to shake slightly. Otis slumped even lower before deciding it was best to stay silent.
Ephialtes paused, looking at the place on the wall where he just punched. His eyes gleamed slightly before he smirked. He knew how to get out of this stingy place.
Signum est Gaea
Ephialtes grinned in triumph, beckoning his brother towards him. "Come here idiot, I found mother's medal."
Otis brightened up. "Now she can get us back on track towards the demigods!" Exclaimed Otis, while Ephialtes just blocked the chattering giant out.
Ephialtes sighed and looked at the faded mark. It seemed that the little mark was engraved into the stone wall and traced with with green paint or ink. Ephialtes brought out his right hand, the hand he used to pledge his loyalty to his mother. He took a knife out and sliced his palm from the beginning of his index finger to the left end of his hand. He let his golden blood seep out and slammed his palm onto his mother's sign.
Otis silenced himself to watch his brother. Otis never used Gaea's Medal because his brother always feared that the dumber giant would mess up. So Otis enjoyed watching his brother do the complicated stuff, Otis was a simple giant. Follow his brother, kill, get attention. That was all he was supposed to do, so that is what he'd do.
Ephialtes scrunched his right hand, as if he was trying to take a lid off of a jar. His blunt nails digged into the sewer wall and he slowly twisted his wrist. The portion of the wall that Ephialtes' hand grasped, twisted with Ephialtes' hand.
Ephialtes tugged on the stone and the part with Gaea's sign was pulled out. On the face, the stone was as large as Ephialtes' hand. But in height, it was around two feet long. The whole chunk of stone was a cube and when you peeked into the hole that the cube once occupied, there was a glowing medal.
Ephialtes reached for the medal and held it with his bleeding hand. The medal was made of marble and had engravings on it. It said Mother Earth at the top, with a small landscape beautiful engraved at the bottom.
Then, the medal glowed, and the landscape shifted into a sleeping face on the land. Specifically, Gaea's sleeping face. Her features weren't very detailed, but you could see that her eyes were slowly opening, along with her mouth.
"Ephialtes," spoke a rich and evil voice. "What is it that you need, my child?"
Ephialtes felt himself shift in slight fear. He hadn't thought about the consequences of failing his mission. Now he knew he'd be in big trouble.
"Well, mother. Our plan failed...but, we have a good reason."
The sleeping face contorted in rage, and she snarled harshly. "And what is this good reason?" Demanded Mother Nature as she opened her eyes.
"Well…" Otis thought it was a good time to intervene.
"The daughter of Poseidon has escaped her lonely prison and washed us away," chirped Otis, smiling at the medal. He didn't understand that his mother was angry.
"What!" Screeched the medal. The medal glowed a violent brownish green and the landscape started becoming more and more detailed. Apparently the earth goddess was more than angry now.
"Yes, it seems that Leo Valdez brought her back," whispered Ephialtes as he meekly stared at the medal.
"My plans!" Wailed Gaea as the marble started dripping stone droplets. As if the medal and Gaea was crying in rage and disappointment. "My plans are all ruined!"
The screams of fury echoed throughout the sewers of Rome as the twins got the beating of their lives.
'Yes.' Thought Otis, who was nursing his bruised head. 'Mother Gaea is the scariest of them all.'
Chapter Five - Part Two
The River Cocytus
Part Fire-
You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be
And I don't wanna go home right now...
And I don't want the world to see me
'Cause I don't think that they'd understand…
Leo's heart froze when he saw Percy's figure disappear in the dark depths of Tartarus. Suddenly, it seemed like all his moments with Percy was flashing before his eyes. Her smile, her laugh, her sparkling eyes. Her wishes, her promises, her experiences with life. It was as if he was looking through her memories.
Without a second thought, Leo stepped forward and did a stunt that only he would willingly do. He knew that he'd probably regret being such an idiot, but he couldn't help it. He had to help her or she'd go through Tartarus alone! He started sprinting towards the pit, smacking the grabbing hands of his friends away.
"LEO!" Screamed all of Argo II's crew as they watched Leo make a run for the pit. Their eyes grew wide as the boy stepped back, ready to jump down.
Then he was pulled back by Malcolm, who had somehow reached the boy. Malcolm smacked Leo on the back of the head and glared at him. His grey eyes were cold and harsh as he spoke.
"You idiot, Percy wouldn't have wanted you to follow her down to Hell," scolded Malcolm, causing Leo to shiver at the cold words. The son of Athena was still gripping Leo's arm, but loosened his hand slightly.
"Well, I don't care!" Exclaimed Leo as he waited for the right moment. And then he felt it. Malcolm had lost grip of his arm. "Because she's too important to me to die!" He jumped into the pit without a second thought. He shut his eyes tightly, waiting to hit the bottom.
LxP
Cold.
That was all she felt. She felt the wind around her become chilly and cold. The darkness was empty and made the temperature feel lower, the screams from Tartarus could be heard from where she was. It was cold, oh so cold.
And lonely.
She felt like she was in Ogygia again. Stuck, imprisoned, alone. But the difference was that this wasn't the beachy paradise island, it was the frightening nightmare. The one that haunted everyone's dreams, a place where monsters strived.
'How long will it be till I hit the bottom?' Wondered Percy as hopefully she closed her eyes, not noticing a difference in lighting at all. For all she knew, her eyes could be open right now. IT was too dark to tell.
'Will it take a day? A year? A decade?'
'Will I die before I reach the end?'
Percy shivered before wrapping her arms around herself, wishing Leo was with her. Leo had always been warm, being able to control fire. He had always worn a smile and made a joke, always made her feel happy.
Then, she felt it. It was a small flicker of warmth, so familiar. She opened her eyes and saw a small light above her. Well, she wasn't sure if she was facing the bottom or the top of the pit. It was reddish orange and was slowly growing bigger.
The air shifted. It felt warm and comforting. It wasn't cold, but actually hot.
"Concha de mar?" Called a voice right next to the light.
Percy's eyes widened in shock. Only one person called her that, and only one person could actually control fire.
"Leo?" Percy yelled before hearing a groan next to her.
"No need to shout Persephone," said Leo as he came closer to her, his face visible. Percy grinned in relief before realizing what was happening.
"What are you doing here, Valdez?" Demanded Percy as she shook his shoulders back and forth.
"I came to help you, duh," replied Leo, rolling his eyes. "You think I'd leave you all alone? Well, I'm not going to."
"First, I can take care of myself. Second, go back!" Percy exclaimed, pushing him away causing the fire in his hands to flicker slightly.
"I know you can take care of yourself. Also, I can't go back. We're falling in a pit that goes to Tartarus, I can't just 'go back.'" Leo grinned at his friend before putting an arm around her. He looked below him and frowned slightly.
"Damn, when are we going to reach the bottom?" Leo asked himself, ignoring Percy's glare.
Percy huffed in slight anger, hiding the fact that she was kind of happy that Leo had actually jumped into Tartarus for her.
"Stupid repair boy," muttered Percy causing Leo to now glare at her.
"You hang out with Beauty Queen too much," accused Leo as he fumbled around with his magic tool belt.
"For your information, Piper is a great friend! And besides, I like the name Repair Boy. It fits you," replied Persephone, smirking at her friend's exasperated look.
"Whatever, Concha de mar."
"That's what I thought."
It was silent and silent and silent before Leo decided to interrupt the awkward moment. "Hey Persephone, what are we-"
"Shh! I think I can hear something." Percy whispered, straining her ears to hear what she heard a second ago. Then, she heard it.
Whooosh. Whoosh. Whoosh. Crash. Whooosh. Whoosh. Whoosh. Crash.
Water!
Persephone concentrated on the water, her eyes closed as she tried to feel the water flowing with her. The water was quick and violent, and soon, so was her breathe. She followed the water's patterns with her breathing patterns, trying to get a feel for the water.
'Damn, this river must be special or something. It's so hard to control it!' Thought Percy as she pulled Leo closer to her, just in case.
"Perce, we're going to hit the water!" Leo yelled. Just as they were about to hit the water, a big wave followed towards them. It formed a hand and caught the two softly before falling back into the water, bringing the two demigods with them.
SPLASH!
~End of Chapter Five~
Key: (Google Translate)
(Latin) Signum est Gaea - Gaea's Medal
(Spanish) Concha de mar - Seashell
Author's Note: Sorry for the short chapter! Anyways, I'm so happy! This story reached over 15 reviews and over 1,000 views! In all truth, I expected this story to get next to no feedback but I was wrong! Thanks you guys, I hope you liked this chapter. I liked the Ephialtes and Otis part, it was amusing to write.
Please read and review! Reviews are welcomed and so is constructive criticism!