Sorry for the wait. Had some problems with my laptop.

On with the story! :)

Disclaimer: Me no own PJO! :(

PERCY

Even though I knew that it wouldn't hurt, I still couldn't think of anything else other than "Aaaaaarrrgghhhh". The wind whistled past my face and the water of Bolinas Bay (I actually checked on google maps for this :P) rushed up to meet me.

The next thing was a small splash as the water cushioned my fall. I didn't even sink two feet below the water. I gathered my wits as the salt water rejuvenated me and controlled the currents around me to push me deeper into the sea.

My plan was a simple one - Get to the Santa Monica beach by the sea, take a cab to the DOA Recording Studio, bribe Charon to ferry me across the Styx and worry about the rest once I was in the Underworld.

So I sped through the water and reached the Santa Monica beach in around half an hour. Thankfully nobody noticed me walk out of the ocean fully clothed and completely dry.

I quickly found a cab .

I thrust a wad of mortal money in the driver's hands and told him he could keep it all if he stepped on it and got me to West Hollywood in 15 minutes.(I'm not sure if that's possible but let's just assume it is.)

That turned out to be a mistake. I held on for dear life for the next ten minutes as the cab swerved through traffic and ran through traffic signals. I must have offered him more money than I realized.

Still, he got me there in 11 minutes. I got out right in front of the DOA Recording Studio and walked in.

It was pretty much the same as I remembered it. It was filled with spirits waiting their turn to go to the Underworld.

I walked up to the desk where Charon was sitting. He was wearing one of his silk suits and looked in a slightly better mood.

I walked right up to him and said, "Hello Charon."

He looked up, "Ah Jackson, did you drown in a bathtub again?"

I shook my head. That had been a lame excuse. I sighed and said, "I need to go to the underworld. It's really important."

He looked at me coldly, "This is not a cab service. You cannot go to the Underworld whenever you feel like it."

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes and reached into my pocket. I pulled out a handful of drachmas and deposited them in front of him and said, "I don't have time for this Charon. This is more than enough payment for one passenger on your boat."

He looked at me warily for a moment before reaching for the coins and nodding at the same time. He pocketed the coins and then led me to the elevator. It wasn't completely full like the last time but I don't think Charon cared.

The trip to the underworld was pretty much the same as last time. The elevator changed into the boat and the clothes of the spirits as well as Charon turned into grey and black robes. Charon began poling the boat across the dark river Styx.

This brought back memories of the last time I was here. I remembered the excruciating pain as I took a dip in the Styx. I was in no hurry to try that again and kept as far away from the edges of the boat as possible.

We made it to the shore and I got off with the other spirits. I turned around to thank Charon but he was already gone. Huh. That was weird.

I turned around again and froze. Now I knew why Charon had disappeared. Standing in front of me was an army of a few hundred monsters and in front of the army was a tall man. He was easily ten feet tall and was decked out in heavy Greek armor.

He had a huge greatsword in his hands and was staring right at me. Great another Titan. Oh joy!

I summoned up as much courage as I could and took out both my swords. The Titan let out a booming laugh which for some reason reminded me of an avalanche.

He spoke up, "Perseus Jackson. I was told that you had been captured but clearly, Iapetus and Koios underestimated you. Still, do you really believe that you can fight though my army and me? I am Perses, the Titan of Destruction. You stand no chance of defeating me. Is that Moon Goddess really worth your life. Remember that you are no longer immortal. Just lay down your weapons and I will make your death quick and painless. Fight, and you will be tortured mercilessly until you die."

His words had the opposite affect on me than what he was hoping. With every word, my anger grew and fear melted away.

"I may not be immortal any more, but I will still save Artemis if it's the last thing I do.", I yelled. I don't know where that came from but I knew that I meant it.

Perses just smirked and said, "You are too late demigod. Iapetus is going to start the ceremony shortly and you will be dead by that time."

I had had enough. I raised both my swords and let out a battle cry as I charged straight at the Titan. He just gave a feral grin and raised his own sword.

I jumped up when I was around 5 feet away from him and brought down both my swords in an overhead strike with all my strength. Perses raised his sword and the size of his sword allowed him to block both my swords. When our swords met, I literally bounces off. He didn't move an inch and I had put all my strength into that strike!

I landed painfully on my back but quickly jumped back to my feet. He advanced on me slowly as I waited for him to strike. He lunged forward with speed I wouldn't have thought possible for a being his size. Even his armor didn't seem to weigh him down. I barely managed to block his strike to my neck but the force from the strike pushed me back atleast ten feet.

I didn't have any time to rest as Perses attacked me again and again. Rather than completely blocking his blows, I tried to deflect them as much as possible. I was still being pushed back. I was completely on the defensive and already had multiple cuts on my arms and legs.

The monsters were just sitting back and watching the fight. I was atleast thankful for that. I don't think I could have fought Perses and fended off monsters at the same time. As it is, I was getting slower and weaker by the second.

I desperately tried to think of a way out of this. I suddenly remembered what my sword from Apollo could do. Could I just cut through Perses' sword? Suddenly Riptide was twisted out of my hand and I was now fighting with only one sword.

I was backed up right to the shore of the Styx. The river was just two feet behind me.

I didn't see any other way out so when I went to block another strike, I thought of the sun and my sword started glowing. Our blades met and my sword sunk halfway through his sword. I suddenly felt twice as tired as I was a moment ago. I remembered Apollo's warning about the sword taking energy from me and I hastily thought of the moon. The sword stopped glowing and it was left embedded in Perses' sword.

Not a moment too soon. I would have passed out if it continued to draw energy from me. As it is, the sword was yanked out of my hand as Perses pulled his sword back. He looked at the sword embedded in his sword in disbelief.

He tried to pull them apart but it wouldn't budge. He threw both swords away and turned to glare at me. I hadn't moved from my position. I was too tired. My arms were numb and my muscles felt like they were on fire from blocking all those strikes.

Perses sneered, "Well well, not so mighty now, are you Jackson? I don't know what you did to my sword or how you did it but you will pay for it."

I was too tired to even bother to reply. I just glared at him, dreading what was to come next. My only thought was that I had failed to rescue Artemis.

Perses in the meantime was still glaring at me. Then he looked at something behind me and his face broke into an evil grin. "Death would be too good for you. You would just end up in Elysium. No, I'd rather completely destroy you. Not just your body, but your soul as well.

Now I was confused. I had never heard of anyone having their soul destroyed. The only way I knew of was..."

I froze. No. I didn't think I could survive that again. But before I could do anything to stop him, he lunged forward and kicked me in the chest. I flew back and landed in the middle of the River Styx with a big splash.

(I was going to stop here but decided that it would be too cruel to you. :P)

As soon as I touched the water, it felt like my whole body was on fire. I submerged completely and for only the second time in my life, I felt what it was like to drown. The pain was even worse than I remembered. I tried to scream but no sound came. I could feel my body starting to burn away. I tried to fight it but it was too much. I started seeing the faces of all my friends and family - Grover, Thalia, Nico, Jason, Leo, Rachel, Frank, Hazel, my mother, Paul, Poseidon. But they faded as soon as they appeared. The pain was too much.

I could feel my body dissolving into the water. I tried to concentrate on my lower back. The same point I had used last time. I felt a faint tug and suddenly I could see clearly. I saw Annabeth standing on the shore and holding out a hand to pull me up. The pain started to decrease. I reached up to take her hand but suddenly she withdrew her hand, turned around and walked away. The pain returned and I almost gave up. But then I saw a flash of silver eyes and I remembered why I was here in the first place. I had to save Artemis. I couldn't let her die. I found new strength and fought for all I was worth. I refused to give up. I will not die!

My vision cleared again and suddenly the pain was gone. I was sitting at the base of a river. I recognized it as the Styx but I was confused. I didn't feel any pain. If anything, I felt great. I felt like I could take on anything in the world.

Then I saw her. Standing in front of at the base of the river was a beautiful tall woman with flowing black hair and dark eyes that seemed to flow like water. She was staring at me with awe and perhaps a little bit of fear.

I slowly stood up and asked, "Who are you?"

She rearranged her expression to a neutral one and said, "I am Styx. I am the personification of this river and the one who binds the oaths made in my name."

I stared at her. As far as I knew, I had never heard of the personification of Styx. I never knew that Styx was actually a person. I immediately bowed to her.

She spoke up again, "There is no need to bow to me young hero. Rise."

I straightened up and asked the question foremost in my thoughts, "What happened to me? How am I still alive? Why don't I feel any pain?" Okay so three questions.

She still looked slightly in awe as she answered me. "I do not know exactly what happened. You were somehow able to defeat my river and gain it's powers without any price. You are now immortal but in a different way. You do not have any mortal point. You have the Curse of the Styx but it is more like a blessing for you. Nothing can physically harm you now. I don't know if this is because this was your second swim in the river or because your anchor itself was immortal. It could be because of both or there could be another reason altogether. I do not know. This has never happened before."

I stared at her, dumbfounded. I was immortal again! I had the curse again but I didn't have a mortal point! Then I registered everything she had said and asked another question, "What do you mean my anchor is immortal? My anchor is Annabeth right?" Did she mean that because Annabeth was immortal, so was I?

"No. Your anchor was the daughter of Athena the first time you took the curse. This time it is someone else. A Goddess. Think. What made you fight? Why would you not give up?"

I thought about it. Then I froze. It couldn't be. My anchor was Artemis. But how? I knew we were friends or as close to friends as you can be with a maiden goddess when you're a man but still, we were nowhere close enough for her to be my anchor to this world.

But this reminded me of where Artemis was and that I didn't have time for this now.

"I must leave. I cannot waste any more time. Can I talk to you again about this? I have to figure this out.", I said to her.

She nodded and said, "You can return to this river whenever you want, these waters will not hurt you now."

I thanked her and quickly swam towards the shore. I automatically tried to use the currents to speed me up and was surprised to find that I could actually control the water. With a start I realized that I could breath too. I shook my head. That should have been my first thought.

I rocketed out of the river and jumped onto the shore, right in front of the army of monsters. Perses was walking with his back to me, towards the monsters.

The monsters all froze when they saw me. I let my anger fuel me and stomped my foot, sending an earthquake towards the army and Perses. Almost all the monsters lost their footing and were knocked around. Perses held his footing and whirled around.

His eyes widened when he saw me and he mouthed, "How?" but no sound came. Then he frowned and charged towards me with a sword. Where did he get another sword? Riptide had returned to my pocket as soon as I left the river and I somehow knew that I had my other sword as well. I really need to name it soon.

So I took out both my swords and blocked his first strike. I could feel the immense strength behind the blow but I didn't budge. Instead I pushed him back and attacked.

Perses was so surprised that I pushed him back that he didn't even block my attack. I left a huge gash on his chest. He howled with pain as golden ichor poured down his front. I didn't stop and kept attacking. He tried to fight back but he didn't stand a chance. The amount of cuts on his body increased continuously and ichor was flying everywhere.

Finally I disarmed him and held both my swords to his throat. Somehow we had ended up in the same position as before except now he had his back to the Styx. I could see fear in his eyes.

He spoke up, "Please, let me go. I promise not to hurt you. I will even fight for you if you wish. I was forced to work with Iapetus. Please!"

I hesitantly lowered my swords. As soon as I did that, he lunged. I didn't have any time to raise my swords so I kicked him in the face. He flew back and landed in the Styx. He screamed in agony and then he was below the water. I knew he was gone since no immortal could survive a swim in the Styx.

I took a deep breath and checked for any injuries. Of course I had none. I wasn't even tired.

I turned back towards the army. they were all looking at me with fear and inching back. I didn't give them a chance to run and charged. The next five minutes were a blur as I slashed, stabbed, ducked and dodged. Then I was through the army and turned back to charge again when I saw that there was nothing left except a layer of gold dust on the ground. I had destroyed the entire army in five minutes.

It was somewhat similar to the first time I took a swim in the Styx. I put away both my swords.

I took a deep breath and too off running in the direction of Tartarus. Thankfully, I had become friends with Cerberus when I came here once with Nico so I was able to pass without a problem.

I sprinted towards the entrance to Tartarus. Soon, the palace of Hades came into view. I ran past the gates to the palace.

When I reached the pit, I saw both Iapetus and Koios chanting something and standing over the chained form of Artemis. Even from a distance I could see the various bruises and cuts on her body. The sight made my vision go red.

Blocking my path was just one monster. It looked like a cross between a huge serpent and a dragon. I didn't stop running but took out the sword that I decided to name Sunflare.

The huge dragon-snake thing looked right at me and as soon as I was in range, it jumped at me with its mouth open wide as if to swallow me. Without breaking stride I jumped to the side, thought of the sun and brought down my sword as it started glowing with the power of the sun. It cut right through the hide and completely severed the head of the monster.

The body of the monster writhed around before turning to dust along with the head. I continued running towards the Titans. they must have heard the commotion because Koios turned around and a shield and spear appeared in his hands.

He stood protectively in front of Iapetus, who was still chanting, and Artemis. I could see that she was conscious and staring right at me.

Koios started to say something but I didn't give him a chance and charged straight at him as I took out Riptide as well. He got into a defensive position and waited. I lunged at him and he blocked with his shield. He actually slid back a couple of inches when he blocked. He swiped at me with his spear but I ducked under the blow and stabbed him in the thigh. He yelled and I was blown back fifty feet. I landed on my back but jumped up almost instantly.

I saw a red glow coming from the pit and I knew I didn't have much time. I charged him again, dodged his spear, kicked his shield away and stabbed Riptide right through his neck. I knew I had snapped his neck. He slumped to the ground as I pulled out Riptide and burst into gold dust as his essence returned to Tartarus.

I didn't waste any time in lunging forward and knocking Iapetus away from Artemis. I knelt next to Artemis and said, "Lady Artemis are you alright?"

I knew it was a stupid question as soon as I asked it. Of course she wasn't alright. Now that I was closer, I saw that her injuries were even worse than what I had first thought.

Artemis was just staring at me as if I was a ghost.

I tried to cut the chains holding her with Riptide but it just bounced off. So I used sunflare. I thought of the sun and it easily cut through the chains.

She suddenly found her voice and croaked, "Perseus..." She tried to speak more but apparently she couldn't. I reached for my pack to give her some Nectar and Ambrosia when I realized I didn't have it with me. I cursed under my breath. I must have lost it in the river Styx. I helped her up and asked her if she could walk.

She nodded and tried to walk but stumbled on her first step. She almost fell but I caught her.

I took a deep breath and said, "I'm sorry Lady Artemis" before lifting her easily in my arms. Her eyes widened and she squirmed a bit before giving up.

I suddenly realized that I had forgotten about Iapetus but when I looked around, he was nowhere to be seen. I shook my head, he must have ran away like the coward he was.

I thought about what to do next as I walked away from the pit carrying Artemis. I didn't have any way to get out of the underworld. I thought about going to Hades' palace but I wasn't sure if he would help either of us. I was a son of Poseidon and Artemis was a daughter of Zeus.

Then it struck me. I whistled loudly and heard a loud WOOF as my faithful pet came bounding out of the shadows. I dodged as Mrs. O'Leary launched herself at me as she might injure Artemis further. I managed to get her to settle down.

Artemis was looking from me to Mrs. O'Leary and then back again. I answered the unspoken question, "Mrs. O'Leary is my pet hellhound. She's the only friendly hellhound in the world."

Then I climbed onto her back and asked her to take us out of the underworld. She jumped into a shadow and we came out in an empty field somewhere outside Los Angeles.

I slid off her back with Artemis still in my arms. It was almost sunset. Mrs. O'Leary just slumped down to take a nap.

Artemis' eyes were closed. She was either asleep or unconscious. I threw my head back and yelled, "Apollo!" at the sky.

There was a bright flash of light and the sun god was standing in front of me in all his glory.

His eyes bulged at the sight of his sister and I could see the anger in his eyes. This was probably the only time I had seen him truly angry. The only other time I could think of was during the Giant War.

He rushed forward and grasped my shoulder. We disappeared in a flash and appeared in a gold room similar to the one I had woken up in a couple days ago. I walked forward and laid her down on the bed. Then I stepped back as Apollo raised both his hands and Artemis was covered in a bright gold light.

When the light died down, she was completely healed. She seemed to be sleeping peacefully. Apollo staggered a bit but managed to stay on his feet.

"How is she?" I asked.

Apollo took a deep breath and said, "She will be fine. She just needs some rest. Come, we must tell the Council what happened."

He placed a hand on my shoulder and we vanished in a flash of light.

Whew! That was a long chapter. More than 4k! It took me almost 5 hours to write!

A big thank you to CourtingTheMoon for the idea of Perses and Python, even though Percy didn't recognize the monster guarding the pit.

Also a thank you to Epithet2 for the name of the sword, Sunflare.

I'm grateful for all the favorites and follows and reviews and hope that you guys liked this chapter.

Please review about the idea of Percy gaining immortality from the Styx. I thought that up on my own and would like to know what you guys think of it.

R&R! :)