So, this is happening. I realised that what Percy went through in Tartarus was never revealed, so that's here. This will be updated intermittently around the larger updates for the upcoming Confused by Time rewrite (which will be posted on 22nd December), with me timing them specifically to avoid spoilers for the larger fic.
Two chapters will be posted for this fic before 22nd December.
THIS IS A COMPANION FANFIC TO THE 'CONFUSED BY TIME' REWRITE, AND SHOULD BE READ ALONGSIDE IT.
Chapter 1
Percy stared hopelessly out of the Doors of Death, one fisted hand keeping the Doors held open. The sight beyond was one that chilled his blood.
Tartarus' new form, the lumbering humanoid figure trying to swat aside Damasen and Bob, bellowed in frustration and anger. The drakon Damasen was riding twisted and turned across the plains, desperately trying to avoid Tartarus' every strike.
The Doors rattled as a blast rippled across the plain, the rocky and purple-skinned ground rolling. Percy ducked his head against his arm and pressed himself into the side of the elevator, other arm springing out and pushing Annabeth against the side of the elevator to protect her with his own body as he shielded his face from shards of rock which ricocheted off the back of the elevator.
Percy glanced back towards Annabeth, both of them pale and shaking. Grey eyes met his in the mist and Percy's heart jumped and twisted in despair when he saw the terror on Annabeth's face.
The son of Poseidon twisted sharply, jerking away from the side of the elevator and poking his head out again. "Bob!" He yelled. "Bob!" His voice fell short, unable to be heard as one of Tartarus' feet crashed into the ground and formed a new crater in the Pit, uplifting parts of the membrane-covered ground. Percy grit his teeth, his mind racing as he tried to figure out what to do.
"He can't reach us," Annabeth said. "Oh gods, Percy-"
"It's alright," Percy hurriedly said, even though it clearly wasn't alright. They needed someone to hold the button. Tartarus knew that clearly, because he was preventing Bob or Damasen from having any time to help Percy and Annabeth as they had to avoid his strikes. Small Bob raced around their feet, trying to time it right to attack the Primordial, but any damage he was doing was minuscule to the personification of the Pit and he was blatantly ignored.
Bob and Damasen were too busy.
Percy glanced back at Annabeth, an idea taking root in his desperation. Instantly, her eyes widened and she reached out to grab his hand, tugging him to face her. "No," she urgently said, sounding terrified. She always knew what he was planning just from one look. It was always nice, how easily Percy and Annabeth understood each other, but in this moment it just made Percy's heart twist in his chest. At least he didn't have to tell her to leave him; she already knew what he wanted just from that one look. "Percy, no," Annabeth whispered desperately, a sob tearing free. "You can't."
"I have to," Percy murmured to Annabeth. "Please," he begged. "Annabeth, let me go. One of us has to get out, and it's going to be you," Percy said fiercely to her. "You're the one who deserves to," Percy added quietly, softly.
Annabeth's grip tightened around his hand in response, the exact opposite to what Percy wanted. "We go together or we don't go at all," she firmly said, tears in her eyes.
Percy kept one foot wedged between the elevator doors. "Please," he whispered to Annabeth, turning completely to face her. He cupped her face between his hands, feeling both cold determination and sheer terror at what he was going to have to do to make sure she got out. "You have to get out," Percy breathed, leaning towards her and pressing his lips to hers. The doors closed on the foot he had put between them, bouncing back open with a pleasant ping. Percy resisted the urge to stab Riptide straight through the speakers on the inside of the Doors for interrupting them.
Annabeth sobbed, her fingers twisting into Percy's hair and pulling him closer. Percy squeezed his eyes shut, feeling himself trembling as he finally pulled back what seemed an eternity later. But he couldn't let himself cry. Percy knew that if he did, Annabeth wouldn't leave – she'd refuse if she saw his tears. Tartarus bellowed in fury in the background, but Percy barely heard him, focused as he was on Annabeth. "Percy," Annabeth whispered. "Please, don't." Her hand was still snagged onto his, tight and firm. "You're coming out with me, you have to. We've got to take down Gaea together, remember? You and me, and then – New Rome, you said you wanted to go to University at New Rome," Annabeth reminded him. "Your mother, Percy," Annabeth continued.
Percy just shook his head, even as his heart twisted in his chest and seemed to swipe away all his breath at the thought of his mother waiting for him to come home. They were both a mess, both with countless scratches over them, along with scattered monster dust and muck over their faces. Percy didn't care about any of that as he pulled Annabeth into a fierce hug.
"I'm sorry," Percy whispered into her ear. "I'm so sorry. But one of us has to get out of here, and it's not going to be me." He couldn't let Annabeth convince him otherwise – if she was going to get out, then Percy needed to hold the button for her. And Percy would always choose to save Annabeth before himself.
Percy shoved Annabeth away from him, making her stumble back with a startled, panicked shout even as Percy stepped back out of the elevator. The doors immediately slid closed without him blocking them, silencing Annabeth's protest. "Percy, no!" Annabeth cried. Percy allowed himself a brief moment to look back at her, engraving her everything into his very soul as Annabeth threw herself at the closing doors, desperately trying to stop him. He spun and slammed his hand down on the button to kick off the ascent of the Doors of Death.
Percy held Riptide out in front of him, keeping his left hand on the button as he turned to watch the monsters around him warily. A hellhound snarled at him, baring sharp fangs that glistened in the darkness that was ever constant in the Pit. It's hind legs tensed and bunched up and Percy prepared himself to cut it out of the air when there was a feral growl from the side, a blur of orange, and a sabre-toothed cat slammed into the hellhound's side. The two rolled into the monsters around them, kicking off fights and sounds of fury as Small Bob tore into the hellhound's flank.
Percy threw his hand out, his gut twisting as he burst a vein running beneath the surface and doused a dozen monsters in the river Styx, grimacing as they screeched and wailed as their limbs and bodies dissolved.
The demigod slashed Riptide in front of him at a dracaenae that had slithered too close for comfort, taking off its head. In the distance, the form of Tartarus lashed out at Bob and Damasen, scraping a clawed, rocky hand through the side of the valley. Percy heard the pained screeches and wails from where he was as hundreds of monsters were crushed beneath the dislodged rocks. Plumes of debris curled through the air, Tartarus' dark form barely visible, only a darkened figure through the dusted rocks.
Small Bob had destroyed the hellhound he'd been fighting and prowled out of the monsters to linger around Percy, clawing out at the monsters he considered were too close to the demigod. Fortunately, most of the monsters seemed more concerned with fleeing the destructive fight between the three immortals than attacking Percy. He wouldn't stand a chance otherwise.
Percy shifted slightly, his left hand on the button sweaty and slick with muck and blood. He couldn't risk it just sliding off the slimy button – that would mean Annabeth wouldn't make it out, she'd be pitched out into the edge of chaos. He grit his teeth, raising the Styx water he'd chucked before and throwing it back at the grouped monsters again to keep them at bay as Small Bob was nearly overwhelmed.
The sabre-toothed tiger kicked a hellhound in the side, claws gouging bloody furrows through its thick hide before he sank his giant canines into the side of its neck. Percy cast a desperate glance over their heads, only being able to make out Tartarus' lumbering form as he struck out at Bob and Damasen closer to the ground.
A sharp screech from the direction of the three hit Percy's ears and made him flinch. A monster took the chance to lunge at him with his distraction while Small Bob took down another. Percy cut it into two across the face, recoiling as monster dust settled all over him. Before he could check to see what had just happened in the clash between the immortals, Percy found another monster lunging for him.
The monsters clearly gave up waiting him out then, for several rushed Percy at once. He shouted, pressing his weight back against the button as he killed two of them, the third a dracaenae whose spear grazed Percy's side before Percy managed to remove its arm. There was no time to pause, no time to breathe as more monsters were on him immediately. Snarls, screeches and hisses filled Percy's ears as his world narrowed only to Riptide, the monsters throwing themselves at him and the button behind him. His own teeth were bared, gritted as he hacked and cut at the monsters swarming him, breathing in the monster dust which lined his throat and nearly choking on it with each breath.
His arm burned, aching from the swings of Riptide. Cuts and gashes lined his limbs from the hits he'd taken. Small Bob looked a mess too, monster dust and his own blood matted in his bright fur – swirls of red amongst shining gold. Percy stumbled, nearly tripping over his feet, his chest heaving, but he forced himself back against the button; he had to survive just long enough to get Annabeth up to the surface. He screamed out his pain and anger, bursting another vein on the ground which shuddered and shook as the large figure of Tartarus bellowed in anger at some blow from Iapetus or Damasen. Monsters scrambled back from the wave of Cocytus river water that sprayed over the front line swarming Percy and Small Bob.
The shadows twisted and swirled around their feet, tendrils reaching up and choking a dozen monsters at once even as Bob pounced from a shadow under a cyclopes, jabbing his spear into its belly and tearing it out sideways.
Percy let out a relieved gasp, scrambling back to give Bob room to move as the Titan swept his spear sideways through the monsters, smashing heads in and breaking limbs. Half of the first few ranks of monsters dissolved into glittering gold on impact, settling in a thick layer over the ground. "Bob," Percy said, his eyes wide.
The Titan was limping and bleeding from too many places to count, his bright silver eyes turning into Percy's. "Percy Jackson," Bob said. "We must go."
"No – Annabeth-" Percy faltered as he suddenly registered the lack of a solid weight at his back. Percy's expression twisted in horror as he realised the Doors of Death had completely vanished. "What… where…?"
"No time," Bob snapped at Percy, holding an ichor-soaked hand out to him. Specks of golden monster dust were embedded into the ichor along the limb. The Titan's gaze was fierce, deadly as he looked to Percy. "We must go," Bob repeated, reaching over to Percy and picking him up as if he weighed nothing.
Percy's eyes widened. From his brief vantage point, before Bob put him down again, he could see over the scrambling and panicking monsters, a sea of monsters fleeing from the valley. At least the monsters seemed more preoccupied with fleeing rather than turning on Percy and Bob. Percy turned and looked behind him to where the Doors had been, now the only sign of their existence being the hooks and broken chains still embedded in the ground. "Where…?" Dread pooled in his gut, Percy's eyes widening. "Where are the Doors?" He demanded, panic sharply raising his voice. "Bob, where are the Doors?" Percy choked out. A pained scream from the side of the valley elsewhere made Percy flinch slightly. "What about Damasen?" He asked sharply. Percy's heartbeat roared in his ears, adrenaline making his heart race and his focus steady itself against the threat at hand.
"He will distract the Pit for long enough for us to get out of the valley, at least," the Titan grunted. "The Doors have gone elsewhere," the Titan said as he started through the valley filled with monsters, the giant figure of Tartarus still lashing out at the Giant that was Damasen. Tartarus' large hand gauged into the valley's edge, meshing and melding with the hillside itself in a wave of motion, causing a landslide that buried even more monsters on the other side of the large valley and barely missing Damasen as the Giant scrambled back. Percy cast a glance back to where the Doors had been, choking out a terrified whisper to Bob, not even sure what he was trying to say himself. The demigod had to get out of the valley before he was also one of the ones buried alive beneath the rocks and debris being carved out of the Pit itself.
It was also more than clear that Tartarus was simply toying with Damasen, not caring the slightest about both Percy and Bob. Percy felt sick to his stomach as he glanced over to them and watched as Tartarus closed a large hand around Damasen's lance and tossed it aside, backhanding the Giant across the membrane-covered ground before he proceeded to merely watch as Damasen retrieved his lance. A large weapon in the Giant's hand, but looking nothing more than a toothpick when Tartarus had grabbed it. The ancient god was clearly getting some enjoyment out of battering his son with his new physical form. If Percy were honest with himself, he felt a little offended that the Primordial was clearly completely ignoring him and Bob, as if they were entirely non-existent. Percy wanted the Primordial to look at him, he wanted to scream at him and insult him for it was Tartarus' fault that Percy was now stuck down in the Pit. The least the immortal could do was pay Percy some attention after that.
Percy just bit his tongue and turned to limp after Bob, the Titan beginning to clear a path through the crowd of monsters. As Percy passed, feral eyes stepped to him, the hunger obvious from the monsters crowded around them. Percy's heart lurched up into his throat, threatening to choke him in his fear – Tartarus probably didn't even have to bother with Percy, the monsters would do him in first. One hellhound growled and started forwards, only to be stabbed through the top of its head by Bob's glowing spear. The amnesiac Titan scowled as he looked over the gathered monsters, silently warning them off. The demigod didn't know what was going to happen now, with his only path out of Tartarus being gone, but he did know that staying with Bob was his only option to survive.
There would be time to panic later, once they were away from the ongoing fight between Tartarus and Damasen.
For those who've read the original CbT, you'll know how nasty this one is going to get just from those few hints in the original. For any new readers, I'm sorry, but this will get dark... since, y'know, it's set in Tartarus. This is your only warning, remember it.
The first chapter of the 'Confused by Time' rewrite will be posted on the Winter Solstice (22nd December). There will be two chapters (total) for this companion fic before then. This fic will consist of snap-shots of Percy's experience down in Tartarus; some chapters might have large time-skips between them, but I'll make it clear if that's the case.
Hope you all enjoy! And, as always, reviews make the world go 'round! XD
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