Chapter 20: Torturous Development
Artemis felt a heavy swing nearing her head. She dropped to the earth and kicked in a wide arc, sweeping her opponent off of her feet. The armored assailant crashed to the ground while the goddess shot back up. She suddenly felt a tingling on her nape and somersaulted backwards, narrowly dodging a tendril of lightning crashing down where she'd stood.
The armored attacker pulled off her helmet, revealing a mess of blonde hair and a pair of steely grey eyes. Annabeth watched from the ground, stunned, as a blindfolded Artemis whirled around and clapped her hands together, catching a golden gladius between her bare palms. On the other side of the sword, Reyna's eyes widened as she tried to wrestle her weapon from the goddess. As Annabeth climbed to her feet and Reyna pulled on her hilt, Thalia charged her mistress with her lightning-tipped spear.
Artemis roughly pulled the gladius toward her as she surged forward, shouldering the Roman Praetor in the chin. The blindfolded goddess then jumped back to avoid the slashing spear, smirking as her lieutenant growled. Thalia raised her weapon overhead, and thunder rumbled in through Long Island Sound. The deafening noise distracted Artemis, and her available senses were too late to pick up on the recovered daughter of Athena. Annabeth lunged forward and stabbed the blind goddess' forearm with her dagger.
Artemis gritted her teeth as she bounded away from the trio and dislodged the weapon from her arm. Above her, a girlish shriek could be heard, and she grimaced as she figured Apollo must have also taken a hit.
Overhead, the sun god erratically piloted his chariot, a flying Ferrari Spider, as he weaved between lightning bolts, arrows, and waves of fire. Jason lined up against the supercar barreling toward him as he brought down another bolt of lightning. It struck the vehicle, causing a momentary sputter before Apollo gripped the steering wheel with both hands and willed it forward. Jason spun to the side, narrowly dodging the car's hood before Apollo kicked the passenger door open and clotheslined the floating demigod, sending him into free fall.
The car's convertible roof was still retracted, and Apollo winced as he pulled the arrow Frank had shot him with out of his shoulder. He snuck a glance in his rear-view mirror, still perplexed by the fully dexterous gryphon flying through the air and nocking another arrow. The Olympian didn't have much time to focus on Frank's strange transformation before a wall of fire enveloped the car. Apollo coughed as he flew his vehicle straight through the flames, ramming it into the son of Hephaestus on the other side.
Leo gritted his teeth before his mouth morphed into a pained grin. He gripped the hood of the car tightly as it continued ahead with the demigod latched on. His hands glowed white hot, sizzling as they started to melt through the vehicle's exterior. Apollo's eyes widened; his sun chariot was built to withstand temperatures like lava, and Leo was still slowly searing through it. The sun god violently barrel-rolled the car, alternating directions before Leo eventually lost his grip and spiraled towards the ground.
Apollo pumped the brakes as Frank dove towards him, the god swerving to dodge the eagle-headed monster. Right as Frank seemed to overshoot the car, he transformed into the Erymanthian Boar. Apollo again let out a less-than-masculine shriek before the immense weight of the animal collapsed onto the Ferrari, sending the pair and the car crashing towards the ground. Jason and Leo, using wind and fire respectively to propel themselves back up, scattered as the modern chariot tore past them.
The four women fighting on the ground simultaneously paused, stunned as a fiery explosion rocked the area. Apollo had already stumbled out of the wreckage and was wielding his lyre when Frank, who'd become the Minotaur, lifted the flaming car overhead and launched it high into the air. Thalia used the confusion as an opportunity to stab her spear at Artemis. The goddess instinctively shifted her body to the right before locking her left elbow at her side, catching the thrust spear between her bicep and torso.
Thalia's eyes widened as Artemis tightened her core and twisted, lifting her lieutenant off of the ground and swinging her in a circle. Reyna grunted, tossing her gladius away to avoid running Thalia through, as the struggling huntress slammed into her. Artemis released the spear, sending the pair crashing to the ground. The goddess breathed in deeply, shutting her already blindfolded eyes, and she heard the nearly silent sching of an unsheathing blade behind her. Artemis dropped to her hands and donkey-kicked with a single leg as a bronze sword slashed through the air where she'd been standing. Her leg struck Annabeth's breastplate and knocked the wind out of her. The demigod coughed as she fell on her back and dropped her blade. Artemis flipped off her blindfold, smirking at the groaning demigods on the ground before she turned her attention to her brother.
Apollo raised his hands to catch the nearing Ferrari, agitated and ready to swing it as a massive weapon. Leo suddenly appeared in front of him, conjuring and throwing a fireball into his face. The god slapped the flames from his eyes while still holding a free hand up. Jason landed far behind Apollo and thrust his own arms forward, calling to the winds before pulling to the side. A violent torrent of air swept the legs of the flustered sun god, knocking him off balance as the burning car flattened him with a loud crash.
Cheers exploded from the previously silent group of spectators, none louder than the hunters at seeing Apollo's defeat, as the three demigods celebrated their sparring victory. Chiron grinned as he marked down a tally on his whiteboard: Olympians 9, Demigods 1. Artemis lightly clapped while Thalia, Reyna, and Annabeth climbed to their feet.
"You all did very well, girls. Not bad at all for ten consecutive rounds," Artemis praised, noting the several bruises and wounds they'd inflicted on her body.
The goddess tossed the battered demigods pieces of ambrosia as she chewed on some herself, taking a seat on a nearby bench. Thalia lounged next to the goddess, kicking a leg over the armrest before sighing.
"I'm missing Percy a little extra today, not sure why. Maybe it's because you banged me up so bad, and I'm wondering what it felt like when he did that glowy hand thing to fix injuries," Thalia said, grinning as she bit into a square of the god food.
Artemis smiled as she reminisced on those memories with him. As good as ambrosia felt to the goddess, it didn't hold a candle to the warmth from his touch.
"I apologize, Thalia," Artemis said, nudging her lieutenant's shoulder, "but it is my 'banging you up' that has led to such growth in your strength in these last eight months. Demigods with this kind of stamina against Olympian opponents is a historical feat."
Annabeth and Reyna joined them on an adjacent bench as a glowing, red fist violently emerged from the wreckage of the orange Ferrari. Apollo clawed his way out, shearing the car in two, before dramatically bringing his hands together and taking a deep breath. The triumphant trio of male demigods snickered at his antics as Apollo calmed down and returned to a radiant smile.
"Leo, you're building me a new chariot by hand," Apollo instructed, pointing an accusing finger.
The son of Hephaestus raised his hands in exasperation.
"Why don't you get the big piggy boy that flattened the car to do it?" Leo fumed, gesturing behind him.
Frank, back in his human form as a tall and muscular demigod, exaggeratedly looked over both shoulders.
"Who are you talking about, Leo?" Frank asked, feigning confusion.
Jason mimicked his friend's behavior.
"Yeah, no 'big piggy boy' here."
Leo groaned and Apollo sharply clapped twice.
"Chop chop, I want it done by the end of the week. And Artemis," the god said, spinning towards his sister, "can we stop with the handicaps now? I want to use my bow!"
Artemis scrunched her nose at his whining tone.
"An Olympian both struggling and failing against demigods is unheard of. And besides, you at least have your sight and your lyre. My restraint is a blindfold and no weapons of any kind, yet I am undefeated," Artemis bragged to her fuming twin.
"You've also spent every waking second for thousands of years hunting and training and fighting; I'd hope you're better than me at hand-to-hand combat by now," Apollo fired back.
Artemis materialized her bow and peppered Apollo with a handful of blunt-tipped arrows at lightning speed.
"I am the better archer, as well."
Apollo huffed before the pair of Olympians and group of demigods turned towards the rumbling arena ahead of them. The remainder of the spectating crowd had dispersed, adding to the noise of the massive array of demigods training. The camps had mobilized in earnest over the last eight months after the incredibly strange development of their enemies vanishing entirely.
Besides Mrs. O'Leary, nobody had seen even a single monster since Tartarus had visited Olympus. After the hunters had scoured the country for a month and found nothing, they were permanently stationed at Camp Half-Blood to lead regiment training. Membership had exploded, totaling over a thousand active demigods across the two camps and fifty in the Hunt, because new demigods could be escorted completely safely.
And they trained like hell. The comparatively lazy campers of Long Island were unrecognizable. Artemis was incredibly surprised by their rapid development, and knew much of it had to do with them finding out that their year of peace was directly related to Percy's death. Looking out across the arena, she smiled knowing he was still inspiring his friends months after he'd been gone.
The goddess still thought about him every day. She would go to their spot on Alcatraz Island once a week to talk to him, the same way he used to talk to Poseidon. She'd often complain about their year of peace, because she still didn't understand how they'd received it. Had Percy brokered some kind of deal with Chaos before he died as part of the initial contract? Whatever it was, Artemis was happy to have another four months of quiet left because of him. She couldn't help but wonder what he'd be up to if he were here.
(Line Break)
"AAHHHHHHH–" Percy muffled himself, submerging his mouth into the thin channel of the Phlegethon in front of him.
He groaned into the river of fire. Air bubbles floated to its surface as the demigod gulped down the broiled water, its healing properties slowly closing the wound of a spear that'd run him all the way through. His entire body shivered while the gasoline-like liquid worked its magic and stifled the blood pouring out of his stomach and lower back.
Percy pushed away, lifting his head out of the raised aqueduct carrying the hellish river, and let himself fall backwards to the floor. He looked around the large, dimly lit room as he tried not to throw up. Every inch of the serrated walls reverberated with twisting, grotesque imagery. Even glancing at it forced paralyzing fear into Percy's heart, similar to the effects of Tartarus' swirling face. His body begged him to turn away, but he steeled his nerves and stared back at the ghoulish faces and tortuous scenery that danced along the walls. The throbbing in his head worsened, his mind splitting to tear his gaze away, until a voice jerked him out of his fixation.
"Percy? Come have dinner!" a cheery voice exclaimed, juxtaposed against the prison nestled below hell.
The healed demigod pulled himself to his feet and walked towards the well-lit dining spread on the opposite side of the wide room. He did his best to gingerly avoid the groaning bodies all over the floor, sidestepping dozens of hulking figures as well as smaller, twisted ones. He arrived at the long dining table where Nyx was already seated, the goddess wearing the elegant black dress she always did in her present form. Her soft, pale features creased as she smiled at him, an impossible change from the churning, ashen mass she'd been an hour ago when she'd impaled him on a spear. Percy sat down across from her, tracing one of the many new scars Nyx and her children had given him over the past several months, and she warmly passed him a plate with a burger on it. The demigod would never fully adjust to the fickle nature of primordials.
*Flashback*
After vanishing from the tribunal, Percy and Nyx appeared in the House of Night. The demigod's eyes took a second to adjust to the dim lighting as the walls of the room slowly came into focus. When his vision finally sharpened, his blood turned to ice. Percy's heart throbbed in his chest as he met the crazed gaze of a Gorgon etched into the wall. He wasn't turning to stone, but he felt paralyzed as he remembered Akhlys' words about the terror the mansion creates in all mortals and deities.
run. Run. Run! RUN. RUN! RUN! echoed through Percy's mind louder and louder until his legs unfroze and jackhammered forward.
Fear continued to build in his throat as his eyes darted from wall to wall, unable to stop as he tore forward and experienced new horrors moving from room to room. He ran and ran through the seemingly endless prison until both his mind and body gave out, overwhelmed by terror unlike anything he'd ever felt before. Percy doubled over in the middle of a long hallway, panting as he squeezed his eyes shut. Enveloped in his own darkness, his mind tried to rationalize what he'd been seeing.
They're just images. It's pictures and drawings on walls. They can't hurt you. Calm down.
The demigod took several deep breaths, his eyes still shut, until his heart rate evened. He slowly opened his eyes, doing everything in his power to look only forward and avoid the walls. Thankfully, he had an object to focus on. Unfortunately, it was Nyx in her shifting, towering, ashen form wielding a scythe. The ground beneath him shook under the weight of something massive running at him from behind. Percy couldn't avert his gaze without being paralyzed by the walls, so he stared straight ahead and braced as whatever it was reached him. He'd expected a brute bulldoze into his back that never came. Instead, he shouted in agony when a spear drove through the back of his thigh and pinned him to the ground.
Through his blurred vision, Percy was able to turn his head and come face to face with his assailant. A hulking mass strapped in all-black armor gnashed its teeth at the demigod, whose consciousness was fading. Through darkening vision and muffled hearing, Percy watched Nyx transform into her calmer self and listened to her huff.
"That is enough, Moros! It is only his first night; we cannot go too far this quickly, son. You are the God of Doom; how could you do that when you know doom is much sweeter when it is first impending?" Nyx scolded, slapping the creature upside the head.
Moros hung his head and vanished as Percy's vision went black.
When the demigod woke up, he could still feel his throbbing heartbeat in his head. He was slumped forward in a chair, his head resting on an empty aqueduct near the corner of the room. On the other side of the pipeline, Nyx hummed as she walked along the curved structure. It jutted out of one wall and ended against the nearest one, forming a quarter-circle between the two that met at the corner.
"Finally awake," Nyx started, not taking her eyes off of the wall as she felt along it.
"Here we are," she said, stopping before she balled her fist and swung it through the serrated barrier.
Dust scattered as she did the same to the exiting side of the aqueduct. Percy covered his ears, the pain worsening, before liquid fire gushed in through one hole in the wall and out through the other, carried by the conduit. The demigod's eyes widened as he remembered the flaming river, and he gulped the liquid down by the handful.
"This is all I have down here to help you recover," Nyx said apologetically as she conjured a seat alongside the demigod ravaging the river.
Percy eventually leaned back in his chair, healed and panting as he held his eyes shut.
"Why are you being nice after you literally just tortured me?" Percy finally asked.
"Because I am rooting for you against my brother," Nyx answered innocently, "You are my favorite mortal."
Percy, still refusing to look at anything, raised an eyebrow towards where he assumed she was sitting. Nyx rolled her eyes.
"The walls of my mansion are entrenched with the collective terror of all beings. When you look at Tartarus, you feel a similar but less intense fear. Therefore, if you can develop a resistance to my home, you can fight him without being immediately petrified like you were when he jumped at you in Mother's court," the primordial explained.
"So why not just train me directly? Why straight up torture me and then hang out with me afterwards like you didn't just have your kid put a spear through my leg?"
"Because it is fun! I truly wish you victory over my exasperating brother, and would be saddened by your loss. But I will have eons left to live, and Tartarus will eventually grow tired, allowing mortals to exist again," Nyx said nonchalantly as she stood from her chair.
The Primordial of Night transformed, rising to her towering height as smoke billowed around her.
"So for now," she said, her voice becoming shrill, "Moros!"
The God of Doom materialized as Percy's eyes shot open, and the demigod tore into a sprint away from the charging monster.
*End Flashback*
Percy sat playing with the last bite of his food as he thought back on the eight months that'd come and gone. He wondered what Artemis was doing. Probably training the hunters. His friends had probably become much stronger, too. The demigod traced the scars underneath his shirt, some traveling the full length of his torso. The largest one started on the side of his neck and sloped down the left half of his chest, then cut diagonally through his abs before it disappeared. He couldn't wait to see his family again, he couldn't wait to see Artemis again, and he just hoped they weren't too shocked by what they saw.
As Percy popped the last bite of his burger into his mouth, a hulking figure in black armor stirred from the floor. The demigod rolled his eyes but didn't shift his head. He continued to look at Nyx as he conjured a black bow and arrow out of nothing, near-instantly firing a dozen shots into Moros, who again fell still. Nyx snickered as she continued to eat her food.
"I cannot believe I gave you a partial blessing at the halfway point of your sentence," she said, shaking her head.
"To be fair, I did earn it," Percy said, gesturing to his body riddled with scars.
"That you did."
(Line Break)
Tartarus paced a massive cavern, its circumference lit by mounted torches. The malevolent primordial that towered forty feet high ended his impatient patrol by taking a seat on the throne in the room's center. At his side stood another humanoid, twenty feet tall with a severe hunchback and a hitching voice.
"L-lord Tartarus, ev-ever since you rid my mountain of Lord Erebus, it has been much more peaceful. Thank you," the creature said.
"That was not my doing, runt!" Tartarus snarled, causing the hunchback to skitter back.
A labored laugh rang out from the wall Tartarus was facing. The Primordial of the Pit growled as the figure chained to the wall spoke.
"No, it wasn't. It was my son's," Poseidon said proudly, "And he will be freeing us both from Tartarus' grasp next, Ourea."
The timid Primordial of Mountains' eyes widened at the statement while Tartarus slammed his fist into the throne's armrest. The monster glared impotently at the decrepit sea god, enraged that he couldn't kill the withering old man himself. Poseidon, having been contractually informed of the deal by the primordial, continued his taunting.
"Why do you spend so much time here with me, Tartarus? Did it become frustrating just sitting idly by in your domain while Percy was so close, but untouchable in the House of Night?"
"No, I became bored of hearing his screams day-in-day-out," Tartarus spat back, maliciously grinning and earning a glare from the sea god.
"Erebus would often shout angrily here, each time Percy thwarted another one of his plans. When his dark dome over this mountain faded, I knew my son had defeated him. I am excited to hear those same rants from you before you vanish, as well," Poseidon goaded.
"My oafish brother lost because he held no respect for the word of prophecy. I have no similar weakness. I knew that he would fall to your son's blade, and that the strike would be dealt to himself, because I have learned much about deciphering prophecies over the eons. It is also why you, an otherwise meaningless god, were such an important bargaining chip to me. You are the Olympian of the prophecy, either preserved or raised. I must preserve you how you are now: a feeble, incapacitated, fraction of your former self. You would otherwise be raised from this prison, and you have a unique strategy that would directly impede my hidden advantage," Tartarus arrogantly explained to the frozen sea god.
Ourea clapped excitedly from his hunched position beside the throne. Poseidon tightened his jaw.
"My son will survive his imprisonment and he will stop whatever 'hidden advantage' you speak of himself if he has to."
A glint shone in Tartarus' glowing red eyes that sent a paralyzing shiver through the Olympian in the same way that the primordial's true face did.
"Unfortunately, you are half correct; he will more than likely return from the House of Night. But I can tell you for certain that afterwards, he will die!"
Poseidon gritted his teeth and slammed his fists against the cave walls. Fresh cracks spidered along the sloping ceiling and beneath the Earthshaker's feet before the god doubled over from exhaustion. Tartarus roared with laughter at another one of the Olympian's futile attempts to escape, and Ourea worked furiously to repair the cracked cavern. Tartarus scowled before his face morphed back into a whirlpool of darkness. He tightly clutched the throne armrests, creasing the metal.
"He will die."
A/N: Revving up for the final war! Big disclaimer incase anyone is skeptical: Nyx's blessing won't make Percy some overpowered broken guy incase you were worried. But I didn't think it was realistic for him to be part of taking on another primordial without some kind of help, especially now that he doesn't have a super mega bomb with him at all times haha. Anyways, hope you enjoyed!
levisorus: aye i have! it's damn good in my opinion. worth the watch. although i must say; it has a lot of parallels to the first movie. on a more important note! the new chapter! now this was my christmas present. not many active pertemis books out there anymore, to the point i'm dabbling in writing myself, but this book just reminds me of the good old days. back in like 2015 where it was all chaos books haha. it's nostalgic but yet so different. you're an incredibly talented writer and i remember binging it in a couple hours up to chapter 16 and then i had to wait of course, chopping at the bit i must say, for updates. i wasn't your first supporter but i'll definitely be here till the end! now, on to chapter review. it's incredibly intriguing to start off with, to take the stance that percy directly disobeyed artemis and i feel that whenever our lover boy makes it back to her he'll either keep it a secret or tell her and she'll be upset about it. of course it seems that's far down the road so i won't focus on that bit. even more interesting to me is nyx standing up for percy. a year in her domain. i see this as going two ways, it really is a punishment and poor percy is left going through gods knows what or nyx takes him under her wing and helps train him? although based off the chapter i must say i feel like homes gonna go through hell lol, we all know how bipolar these guys are. another thing i really liked about this chapter is that percy seems to acknowledge that these guys were the real deal and they didn't even actually care about him. the way grandpa sky daddy reacted definitely shows that and i think it's a great detail that sets your story aside from the others, the primordials are all significant and percy realizes that. anyways, started rambling there. this chapter was outstanding. i look forward to the next one my friend. (ps i'll probably change my user it's a bad habit of mine but just know that i am reading and supporting ya mate. happy late holidays!)
Haha, I see you've already changed your username. I absolutely love lengthy reviews because it makes me feel like we're having a real conversation. I'm so glad you enjoyed the chapter, and left such a kind review. Also I checked your profile and am very excited to read Accepting Mortality tonight after I finish up the rest of my work! About the chapter, Percy and Artemis' reunion isn't as far off as you might have originally thought. And in regards to his punishment, I like to think it's a combination of both ways you said it could go. Poor guy is going through hell but she is still rooting for him. And thank you for the comment about the primordials, I wholeheartedly believe more people need to treat them as more significant. Hope you enjoyed this chapter as well and can't wait to read your story!
PokemonAndPJOFanboy: Phew, sighs of relief seeing that Percy will make it back to Artemis! So is the house of night essentially going to be like a long training montage? Well you're really kicking in to gear now, don't stop, this is fantastic!
It's always so nice to see a familiar username again. I'm glad you're enjoying and that I was able to largely address your question about the review. Basically yes, while his friends aboveworld train as well.
HughJasz:
Not copying this review into the chapter because it's fairly lengthly and unfairly negative. You reviewed Chapter 2 but I don't believe you actually read the chapter beyond the first paragraph of two. The entirety of the chapter is focused on the contents of your review: the reasoning behind Percy being shunned in camp. If you were unhappy with my reasoning, that is completely fair and I'd love to hear what you didn't like. But that's not what you did, you just spent several sentences bashing an idea that didn't even happen.
***I am very happy to receive criticism because it allows me to write better content for all readers. And I'll never delete even false negative reviews or anything, but it's just not a good thing to do under anybody's story because it's both incorrect and unproductive.
Anyways, that's that but I hope you guys enjoyed! (Almost) Happy New Year!