Time: Same Time
"What for?" Percy spoke up for the first time, making everybody look at him."Why is that voice familiar?"
"Yes, that voice is familiar."
Whispers broke out following Percy's question. He felt himself sweating bullets in the armour he was wearing... and which he had not realised he had been wearing. Damn ADHD.
Tartarus narrowed his eyes at him, thinking and calculating, his eyes cold, before a small smile broke out on his face. A small, crooked and creepy smile.
"For sitting on the throne of the Judges." The unknown stranger spoke out, before adding, "I'm Erebus, by the way. People nowadays don't really know my face." He sighed dejectedly, making Percy's eyes widen a fraction when he realised he was on the same rank as the original Dark Deity.
"So, who are you, Dark God, to sit upon the seat of the Judges?" Hades stood up. From the expression upon his face, he had recognized Percy's voice, and his expression was half torn between shock, and pride.
Percy stood up after Hades had retaken his throne. "I am the Fifteenth Olympian, the God of Heroes, War, Darkness, Fear, Horror, Nightmares, Insanity and Time."
There were whistles at his declaration, accompanied by whispers saying that he fed on, or fed them power in the web. "I can see why you are on the Judges' seats," Perses spoke up.
"Your identity." Hades seemed about to burst a vein, being unable to keep himself reined, claiming bragging rights.
"I am..." Percy did not speak anymore, instead taking off his helmet, revealing his face.
He looked up to the ceiling, seeing his reflection in the mirror, not bothering, or caring for their shock or anger at his identity. He noticed with faint interest that his long, raven hair was back, and his tanned skin had regained its normal tanned shade, coming back from the pale tinge it had taken. His sea-green eyes shined with unrestrained power. Cool beads of sweat rolled down his forehead, both from anxiety and the heat within his armour.
"You!" Nyx seemed to finally lose it, lunging across Nemesis to attack Percy, who just tilted his head back, letting her thrust blade pass harmlessly in front of him, the steel cool against his nose.
It was not only a critical error on Nyx's part to attack another Dark Deity, a judge on top of that, but also a display of cool reflexes on Percy's part.
Two birds with one stone.
Nemesis looked horrified at her, grabbing Nyx and forcing her back into her own throne. Percy just lazily lolled his head back, gazing at the struggling Primordial through half-lidded eyes.
Their gazes met, dark meeting sea green, and Nyx stiffened in abject fear as she, and only she, felt the sheer force of Percy's godly power bearing down upon her. Despite her fear, the Primordial of the Night could not help the silver blush creeping up her neck at the dominating, masculine force, just charged with testosterone, that marked Percy as a dominant alpha male.
"Nyx!" She jumped in her seat as Erebus slammed his fist down upon the armrest of his throne. "Have you gone insane! Attacking a Judge!"
Tartarus eyed the exchange idly. "I believe that all of us are shocked at our latest recruit. Nevertheless, it is expected of all of us to welcome him with open arms, and treat him with the respect he deserves as a Judge. Any attempted attack on him, is an attempted attack on all of the Judges." He observed quite apathetically.
Nyx shrank in her seat under the stares of the Judges and her numerous colleagues, muttering out a meek apology.
Percy raised his hand. "I get that a lot of the time. It is not her fault. I'm sure many of you here are just itching to run me through." He chuckled at the end, and the others couldn't help but join in with quiet chuckles and smiles.
They couldn't but marvel at the Dark God, arguably the Darkest of them all, and his humour and jovial nature.
Nyx looked up at him gratefully, thankful for his intervention. Percy just continued to stare at her with an emotionless expression, again reminding everybody that this Judge who effortlessly cracked jokes was also the Darkest of them all. The Primordial of the Night immediately looked down at her lap, a silver blush on her face. How could she find his hostility arousing, only Chaos knew.
There was grumbling from around, which stopped when Tartarus said. "I have a score to settle with you, too. I heard that the daughter of Athena you fought by, passed recently. My condolences." He noticed the whitening of Percy's knuckles as his grip tightened on his battleaxe.
"Umm..." Erebus interrupted, "I'm sorry, this is a very emotional and teary reunion and all, but I'm quite at a loss at who this is. Can anybody shed some light on his identity?"
"He's Perseus Jackson, the son of Poseidon who's been going around the last few years, insulting any and everything in the world," Styx spoke up, her voice surprisingly smooth and soft considering she was still angry at him for cleansing her curse at the Tiber.
Erebus' eyes bulged out at the proclamation. "You are the son of Poseidon that invaded the Palace of Night?" He laughed. "You should have seen Nyx that day! She is still ridiculed around in Tartarus."
He jumped up from his throne, clapping his hands together in approval. "Bravo! Bravo! No wonder she is so angry!" He laughed, surprising Percy with how enthusiastic the Primordial of Darkness was.
"He's my favourite nephew!" Hades finally burst, and seemed relieved at his proclamation.
He noticed everyone staring at him, all chatter in the room stopped at his outburst. "What?" The God of the Underworld snapped at the looks he was receiving.
"We were all aware of the... small fact." Eris' voice was dry, and devoid of humour.
Hades blushed slightly, a faint gold tinting his pale skin, making Percy's eyes widen exponentially. Was Hades blushing?!
"No need to look at him like that. He's also like us." Nemesis said, snapping Percy out of his thoughts. "I much prefer it when you are looking at me... like you were doing earlier." She added, her voice low so that only Percy could hear her.
He turned towards her only to see her leaning against his throne slightly, giving a much better view of her cleavage. The black leather seemed so much like latex, tight on her body, that for a moment, Percy wondered if she was actually wearing latex.
He immediately destroyed that dangerous thought, instead concentrating on his helmet, which he held in his hand. He realised that he was wearing Templar armour, which was worn during the Crusades. Just instead of being white, it was made of Stygian Iron, which made it the darkest, blackest metal available to the Gods. The slot for the eyes was guarded by a sliding metal plate, the same black as the rest of his cylindrical helmet. A golden cross was etched onto the helmet, the very metal assuming a distinct golden colour, beautiful against the black of the Stygian Iron.
His metal gloved fingers tapped his breastplate, running his fingers along the impenetrable Crusader armour. A similar golden cross was etched onto the black breastplate. It felt snug against him, like a second pair of skin and muscle, and although it was slightly hot inside, Percy could cool it down with slight effort, using his Poseidon powers. The insides were cushioned with soft velvet and silk, soft and gentle against his skin. A dark black cape with red designs was thrown over his right shoulder. Percy knew instinctively, that the cape invariably showed his enemy's worst nightmares, a harsh blow to opponent morale during war.
"Perseus, we must introduce you to the rules of the Dark Deities." Hades started, and everyone straightened, dropping all fun, and assuming serious faces. Percy sat up straighter in his throne.
"First-"
"Its Percy," Percy smirked slightly as he timed his line perfectly, making a few snicker.
"-a Dark Deity always looks out for another." Hades continued as if he hadn't been interrupted, save for a death glare thrown his way, "As I am sure you have already seen from the power web, every one of us is related to the other. As such, none of us can attack or cause harm to another, and for your case, that extends to your harem as well." He coughed slightly into his fist, sitting back down.
"Second." Erebus stood up, "A Dark Deity is shunned by everyone else, be them Gods, Titans or Primordials. We don't need those lesser. We are the true children of Chaos, we can survive on our own, only relying on the infinite energy provided by the Sea."
"Third." Tartarus stood up, a grim look on his face. "This applies to you very much, Perseus. People will judge you for who you are. Do not pay them heed. The power is yours, use it as you feel. Don't let it rule you, but-," his eyes bored into his, as if the Primordial was capable of reading his thoughts, "-don't bottle it up, don't think by absorbing it you can reduce strife in this world. Strife is eternal, our domains are eternal, we rule, and control strife. All must be perfectly balanced, as all things should be."
Percy gulped at Tartarus' macabre warning, thinking of his earlier plans, and wondering if it was a genuine warning or some shit to make everything sound better.
Tartarus sat back down, tapping impatiently on the wooden table.
Percy absorbed the idea.
"Like any domains, you need to manage your own. Don't let it get out of hand, but don't try to absorb it either. If your domains decrease too much-," Hades started, only to be interrupted.
"Knowing him, he's gonna do just that." Nemesis interrupted, and almost immediately, Eris took up her line. "It's not only your life, but ours, too, that depends on your actions. As a judge, we all-", she gestured to the four women by his sides, "-All our domains depends on your actions."
Percy halted his train of thought. Everyone seemed to be waiting for his answer, but he didn't know what to say. He wasn't sure that the truth would be so appreciated.
Fortunately, Nyx, it was NYX of all people, that came to his rescue. "Soo..."
Tartarus drew his longsword, resting it on the table. He looked up, meeting Percy's eyes with his own, the dark fiery eyes burning with blackened flames, that screamed of death and pain. He slid along the sword so that it rested at the foot of Percy's throne.
Everyone was speechless at the simple action. "It has never been done before, but I believe a spar with me would give my fellow Judge a taste of the Dark. After all," he shrugged, as if justifying his action, "I do have a score to settle with him." He laced his fingers in front of his face, resting his elbows on the armrests of his throne as if waiting for an answer.
"You're supposed to accept the challenge. If you do, give one of your weapons to him." Nemesis whispered in his ear, helping the new god out.
Percy nodded slightly in understanding, shifting his axe to his other hand, and gently rested its blade on the table. He let go of the handle, letting it clatter to the surface.
The sound echoed through the empty chamber as he gently slid his axe forward with his boot.
Tartarus' eyes shined with anger at the subtle insult, drawing a cocky smirk to Percy's lips.
Almost reverently, Styx raised Tartarus' longsword and handed it to her judge. Across the table, Perses mirrored her actions with his battleaxe.
Tartarus seemed to temporarily forget about his insult as he examined the heavy, Imperial Gold battleaxe in his hands. "Ancient Roman... hmm... beautiful craftsmanship..." He muttered mute praises, which wafted through the empty chamber.
Percy drew his eyes to the longsword in his hands, almost as heavy as his own axe. It had a beautiful black wooden handle, with a large black diamond forming the pommel, and a spiked obsidian guard with which he could punch a hole in anything. The edge looked sharp enough to cut concrete like a hot knife through butter, catching the light. The beautiful Damascus pattern in the metal brought out by the light, the dark and grey metals blending together. Twin fullers ran on either side of the blade, strengthening it even further. A spiral groove along with finger swells made the handle comfortable to wield. It was perfectly balanced in his hand, surprising him as no weapon other than his axe and Anaklusmos felt balanced for him.
Percy could feel the malevolent power rolling off the sword in waves, identical to the energy he felt from the Primordial himself, and wondered how he could do that to his own weapons.
He rested the beautiful sword reverently on the table, repeating the process again, and getting his axe back. "This is Cursebreaker," Tartarus spoke, jolting him out of his musings on how to imbue his own power into his blade. "What's yours?"
Percy stared at him, in a tight spot. What to name his blade?
The answer, again, was supplied by his godly half- "You know Anaklusmos, of course. The axe is Doomslayer." (Lol XD)
Tartarus (it auto corrected to Tetanus, XD) seemed impressed by the name, and it showed on his face. "A good name for a good weapon. But can your skills in wielding it match your skills in naming it?"
The world warped again, and there was no table in the middle of the room, which had grown much larger in size to accommodate everything. The thrones were still there; and everyone occupying it were still there, increasing Percy's stress.
With a surprised jolt, the Dark God realised that the now-named Doomslayer had changed in appearance. The Imperial Gold was streaked with black Stygian Iron, and some of the gemstones had been replaced with black diamonds. There was a spiked club at the end of the weapon, much like a morningstar. The dark power, this time similar to his own, rolled off the weapon in thick waves of sheer dark energy, filling the air around it with the horrifying stench of decay and despair.
Percy realised that not only had his weapons changed, but his armour, had too. The black Stygian Iron Templar armour seemed to be imbued with the same energy as his weapons, his energy, which made it feel like the darkest artefact in existence, darker than Hades' Helm of Darkness. Percy basked in the despair, the sheer hopelessness energizing him, the darkness fuelling the raging, blackened fire in his heart. The screams of those trapped in endless, horrifying nightmares were music to his ears, echoing out from his armour to please the shadows in his heart.
He realized, not only did it energize him, but it also protected him from Tartarus' power.
Percy placed his helmet back on, lowering the visor and raising his axe in a defensive position, holding it tightly across his breastplate with both hands. Tartarus crouched down halfway, his legs bent, and his longsword, Cursebreaker, pointing forward.
The two met in a flurry of black and gold and silver, a shower of bright sparks as soon as Erebus announced them to begin, too fast for some of the spectators to comprehend.
Percy leaned back, smoothly dodging Tartarus' downward strike, feinting the club up to bash him in the chest. The Primordial saw it coming and leaned back, casually raising his sword to block the upward strike that Percy had delivered with the blade of his axe, changing direction midway at astonishing speed. His eyes widened when he felt his heels digging into the ground at the sheer force of the blow, and thinking quickly, he decided to kick out at the Dark God to put some distance between the two.
He had thought that he would be able to rush him in close quarters due to the weight of his weapon, but apparently, he had been wrong. Still, Tartarus knew that he would be able to suppress the upstart son of Poseidon in a battle between godly power. His lack of experience could be exploited to the other's advantage.
But it seemed Percy had other ideas, as he hooked Tartarus' longsword with the curve of his axe, pulling him along with the god, and disorienting him in one stroke.
Percy reverted to his previous method of quick, double-pronged attacks with the blade and the club at opposite ends, switching hands randomly, forcing Tartarus to go on the defence, keep blocking rapidly with his longsword.
The kid was good. Seriously good.
Something which posed a problem.
Tartarus' eyes blazed with fury at being kept at bay by a rude demigod turned god. He leaned back, letting Percy's club swing harmlessly by him, and Spartan kicked him in the chest, throwing him back.
Percy's eyes widened as he stumbled back. It was steaming inside his armour. If it had been some lower opponent, he might have been able to keep himself cool at the same time, but maybe, starting his career as a Dark God with a fight against Tartarus might have been a bad mistake. His muscles burned due to wielding the heavy axe for so long, and sweat rolled down his forehead, his long raven hair sticking to his skin beneath the helmet.
Tartarus feinted towards Percy's head, and like a rookie, he went to block the attack, exposing his chest and stomach again to another kick, which sent him sprawling.
Percy stared at his throne helplessly. It was like a Void, sucking in all light and leaving the surroundings in darkness. It was made of plain, dark obsidian, the only decoration being an intensive network of white webs crisscrossing against the black obsidian, a metaphor for the broken, shattered and insane, dark and hateful minds that he was god of.
What his domains truly stood for, dawned upon the Dark God, the realization sending a fresh wave of adrenaline and energy pumping through his veins.
Percy rolled to the side, letting Tartarus' lethal blow crash harmlessly into the ground, the blade lodged into the rock.
Percy sprang up, coming to his feet at the same time Tartarus freed his sword with a mighty roar. Smoothly drawing Anaklusmos, which also had black streaks running along the length of the Celestial Bronze blade, he blocked the backward strike aimed at his back.
Jumping backwards again, he brought Anaklusmos back to his front, parrying a jab at his chest, and sending a lethal downward arc at Tartarus' exposed neck. The Primordial blocked his attack, jumping back.
His eyes widened when Percy swung his heavy axe upwards with only one arm. He sidestepped the downward strike, again surprised when Percy used the momentum to laugh himself forward, Anaklusmos first.
Tartarus went to sidestep again, only to find his path blocked by the enormous axe sticking out of the ground. He turned to the other side, but it was too late.
Anaklusmos sank deep in his stomach, it's tip protruding out the other side of his abdomen, piercing through the armour and spilling his guts. He felt cool silver ichor gush out of the wound, staining the upstart demigod's trusty sword. A mind-numbing pain echoed through his core, setting his nerves on fire. But the Primordial was too exhausted to note anything other than a dull, throbbing pain in his gut, akin to a lousy stomach ache. The shadows in the corner of his eyes lengthened, beckoning.
Damn, the demigod, no, the Dark God, could wield his weapons as well as he could name them.
But all was not lost. After all, he was Tartarus, ruler of the Pit. Maybe the kid could beat him one day, but the day was still far off, after decades of training.
He had managed to run his sword through Percy's shoulder.
It was a draw.
Tartarus' eyes widened when Percy's sharp teeth sank into his neck, his canines tearing through his skin like a hellhound ripping into a demigod, like a mindless animal, and ripping out his throat.
And both the combatants blacked out, one temporarily dead, the other passed out due to sheer pain and a throbbing ache in his jaw.
Percy was sure that some of his teeth had come loose.
Damn, mental note to oneself, never bite Tartarus again.
AN: Was this chapter a bit abrupt? Hmm... maybe. I don't know, I'm just trying to include a nice fight scene here, and justify the role of the Dark Deities in the story. Don't forget to comment/review!Keep calm and CR7!! Keep calm and LM10!! (Messi)