PLEASE TELL ME: DO YOU WANT BOOK 5 FANFICTION?

XXXIV

Percy

Percy was getting really tired of gods stabbing his girlfriend. Of course, Annabeth had been in this situation all to many times, and she easily dodged by holding up her sword and letting the momentum of the swing push her flat on the ground.

Maybe it wasn't the most comfortable landing, but it was better than getting impaled, right? Seeing the chance, Annabeth yelled, "Hey, I didn't know you were stupider than Krios!" Percy took the chance when he stepped forward to growl to run up behind Hyperion, kick off his leg, yell an insult, and swing Riptide downwards, using gravity (which existed in Tartarus) to drive the blade deep into Hyperion's neck.

Or so Percy thought. Apparently, either he had become obscenely weak in this hellhole, or Titan armor was overpowered. Instead of almost decapitating the beast, it sunk slightly into the armor, and penetrated half an inch into Hyperion's skin. Percy kicked back off the monster to avoid a flaming hand trying to grab him.

"Come on, you drool bucket," Percy taunted as Hyperion grabbed Riptide and crushed it. That didn't bother Percy, because as long as it wasn't clean cut into 2 pieces, it would appear back in his pocket in perfect shape.

The man-bull-titan snorted in annoyance—not even looking at Percy. Instead, Annabeth barely dodged a sword and put another arrow into the beast. Percy found that to be insulting.

He felt his pocket and took out Riptide, gripping it tightly. Hyperion only had 2 weaknesses—it's face and it's side. It was wearing a much older version of Greek armor, where on either side, the breastplate and backplate were tightened around the wearer with strings. That meant that not only did the sides lack protection, cutting the taut rope would be a huge pain in the neck to Hyperion. The only problem was that Hyperion was actually intelligent and did a good job of blocking those weaknesses with his buff arms. And Annabeth was already putting arrow after arrow into the Titan's face (which melted from the head not long after embedding themselves). Percy looked around.

It was a flat wasteland without any large boulders or cliffs to jump from. Percy sighed. He muttered, "Come at me, you ugly-" followed by a string of colorful language. . Then he charged—more subtly this time.

Hyperion didn't even notice him, which was both insulting and beneficial. When he raised his right arm for a swing at Annabeth (you'd think he realize by now that slow, powerful attacks won't connect with a nimble target), Percy quickly thrust in and out. He was surprised at how tough the skin was, though it certainly didn't offer much resistance to a sharp blade.

Hyperion stumbled sideways from the shock of the sudden attack and roared. "Puny mortal, I will kill you and then play Halo on your dead body!" He bellowed.

In response, an arrow shot into his eye, which caused another upset roar before falling to the ground in ashes and molten bronze.

Percy quickly sneaked a glance at Ixion, who was sitting on a small rock, whistling and not giving a care in the world. If he was going to babysit Percy, shouldn't he at least help him kill immortal titans? Still, he was feeling confident about his and Annabeth's chances.

Of course, that's how he jinxed it. He heard a familiar, but unplacable sound behind him. "What…?" Percy wondered out loud, standing there dumbly as Hyperion was shot yet again.

It was only his instinct that told him to duck before an arrow shot overhead, missing by a centimeter. The force ruffled his hair. Fortunately, it still missed him. Unfortunately, it flew into the next target ahead of him—Annabeth. Even though it was only a glancing blow, the shock of getting a cut out of nowhere made her stumbled back and grab her arm in shock.

Before Percy would react, Hyperion took the chance and kicked Annabeth to the ground, who screamed bloody murder at the Titan, mixed in with groans of pain. "Still so sneaky on the ground, girl?" He asked. Percy snapped out of his trance and sprinted forward. Ignoring another arrow whizzing past him, Percy spun and thrust his sword into the side of Hyperion, this time with a lot more force. It seemed Hyperion was worn down quite a bit, because instead of attacking them again, he groaned and stumbled away from Percy's vicinity before disappearing. His look said, this isn't over.

Percy barely got to smile before he was pushed forwards by a force behind him. He looked down at Annabeth, who was staring at him in shock. "What...?" he said before Annabeth's hand shot out and pulled his leg, making him fall to the ground. Percy's back spiked in pain, and he almost blacked out as another arrow soared overhead. Damn. He's been shot.

Upon that discovery, everything seemed to fade a little, and he saw Annabeth shoot an arrow before leaning over him and trying to get him to focus. He couldn't make anything out. Before he blacked out, he saw something nail Annabeth to the ground as well. Then all went black.

xXx

The telkhine snarled at him. "WHERE ARE THEY?" He roared, kicking Percy's stomach and making him groan in pain. "They're… They're gone," he managed to say before coughing, trying to keep up the act of being weak and useless. He almost felt bad for his soon to be dead interrogator. All the poor thing wanted was a Twinkie. Gaea must have been getting desperate in some way to be recruiting monsters with that level of loyalty. Hopefully, his friends above were killing a fair many of them.

Percy waited for his chance. He has secretly undone his bonds—easily untying the over-tightened rope cuffs. When the telkhine turned around, muttering to himself about the lack of Twinkies, Percy quickly stood up and grabbed the monster's neck, twisting it with a sickening crack! The sound nauseated him.

Taking Riptide out, Percy stepped outside the small 12 feet square cell, the door still unlocked. Or at least, he tried to. Instead, his back arched in pain again and Percy hissed. He couldn't feel an arrow shaft, but the telkhine obviously neglected to treat his wound. After twisting a few muscles, Percy diagnosed his left arm as inoperable and his running speed very restricted. Fortunately, he was right handed. Unfortunately, there was a shield on the telkhine's back, which Percy sadly could not take advantage of.

Percy quickly made a tourniquet with some spare cloth in his backpack, which was right outside the door. He grimly noted the orange color—it probably was the Camp Half Blood shirt he wore before Ixion had given them new, plain white ones.

Percy wondered where he was. Stepping outside and slinging the pack over his shoulder, Percy heard a loud clang to the corridor down his left. Although the plain stone hallway was well lit, Percy couldn't tell what it was. He set off in that direction in a fast walk. On the way, he quickly disintegrated an unlucky dracaena who had her back turned to him.

Although Percy knew it wasn't very far, between his arrow wound and his exhaustion, it seemed like a light year. After a few minutes, or what seemed like a few minutes of walking, he found scattered bits of monster dust outside another cell. That meant Annabeth had been here recently. He kept walking along. Percy really didn't understand the logic behind an extremely long cave with a couple of cells. He guessed Tartarus wasn't big on fashion.

After another eternity, Percy finally saw some change. Ignoring the pain in his back, he stepped down a few stairs and came upon a cave, similar to the one Polyphemus lived in when he was in the Sea of Monsters. Fortunately, the Cyclops himself was nowhere to be found. He DID, however, find Annabeth sitting by the cave entrance, looking outside.

Percy limped over to her and teased, "Not even a welcome kiss?"

No response.

"Come on, Annabeth. Don't give me that."

Nothing.

Percy frowned. "Annabeth?" Confused, he lightly touched her skin, and then drew away in shock. "What….?" He muttered.

Although the not-so-Annabeth still hadn't moved, the place that Percy had touched was black… and crumbling. Great. Percy immediately realized it was just Tartarus messing with his mind again and kicked the illusion to dust. Then he blinked harshly twice. Although Tartarus had fun trolling Percy and Annabeth, he never kept an illusion for more than a minute.

Percy stood up and this time saw Annabeth—for real, just coming out of the long corridor he was recently in. He waved to her, but frowned. Her eyes were darker than usual, and she seemed dizzy and uncertain. "Annabeth?" He asked cautiously. He walked up to her and grabbed her arms. "Hello?"

She responded by collapsing. "Jesus," she moaned. "I swear, getting thrown around like that hurts like a bitch."

Percy laughed slightly, this was her alright.

"C'mon, let's ge-"

"Now, now," A deep voice said. "I have some… unfinished business with the girl. "Percy spun around and the 2 demigods drew their weapons. Hyperion—the weak version Percy had faced in the Titan War—was leaning against the door casually, a non-lit cigar in his hands. He wore a suit, and he looked just like an '80s businessman. However, the image was ruined by his fire-colored eyes and evil smirk.

As soon as Percy registered that, he disappeared and appeared next to Percy and grabbed his sword arm tightly. Hyperion looked him dangerously in the eye. "Boy, if it wasn't for the Ancient Laws, you would be dead right now. Tartarus is a dangerous place, one that will scar you permanently, should you leave here alive." Then, to Percy's shock, he let go and waved dismissively at him.

"Wait… you're letting us go?" He incredulously asked.

"Don't push it, boy. All I can tell you is that the situation with Gaea is… messy. Things are in turmoil, and you had best take this chance to get out. I've left a pack of supplies outside. Put them to good use." Then the air around him distorted, and the Titan of Light was gone.

Neither of them said anything for a moment, then Annabeth carefully said, "Did he… just… let us go AND help us?"

"I think so…"

As they walked, Percy wondered about what Hyperion had said. Something about how Gaea was in a turmoil state? Maybe there was some sort of rebellion going on? Either way, Percy was eager to listen to Hyperion and get out of this hellhole. The thought of getting out served as a motivator, and he could feel the evil of the Doors of Death getting larger with every step.

And then they crossed over a hill. "Jesus Christ," Percy muttered as he took in the spectacle.

Hyperion was right. Underneath them was a massive army. Except it wasn't marching in cohesion. It was at war with itself. Telkhines were attacking dracaena, Cyclops were wrestling hyperboreans, and it was total anarchy. The numbers must have been in the thousand, and it was as if every human on Earth was firing a rocket launcher right next to their ears.

"What is this?" Percy asked to no one in particular.

"This, Perseus, is why I neglected to fight this war." A young woman stood behind Percy as he turned around. Annabeth frowned. "You look familiar… who are you?"

The mysterious, dark woman smiled. "Names are dangerous. You two of all people should know that."

"Things can't get any worse than they already are, can't they?" Percy challenged. He was getting really pissed at any Greek immortal.

The woman chuckled and waved over the anarchy below. "Do you think so? Jackson, Gaea's predicament is worse than it been since she was created. She is legitimately worried that she might not be able to pull her plan off."

"What's happening?" Annabeth asked.

"Look at the situation below. Her forces are in completely disarray after that stunt you two pulled with Arachne and the twin giants. You have destroyed the object that keeps order within her ranks. She herself requires the sacrifices to wake enough to restore her authority. Gaea grows desperate," The cloaked female mulled.

"You still haven't told us who you are."

"If you are that insistent…" The woman threw off her cloak covering her head and revealed a beautiful young woman with black hair and completely black eyes, but her skin was pale.

"You know me as Rhea. Ex-Wife to Kronos."

Terrible ending, I know. Also, I said wanted to make this over 3000 words… but… oh well. The next chapter will have 5,000 words :D Which will be around late May to early June. Another Hates will be up around that same time too. Circle of Life is still on unknown hiatus.

Anyways, the poll on my profile. It decides the future of me. Go vote.

Guys, so I replayed the entire ME trilogy, and then listened to the SOTC. My heart shattered and I think a tear escaped me. o7 Shepard. You will be remembered. I feel so depressed that we'll never see him again…

QOTC- Derp

SOTC-The End of An Era- Cris Velasco

EOTC-Halo: CE