AN: Fuck all that sappy shit so far, it get's real from here on out. Hope you enjoy this one as much as I did.

"Ow!"

Percy woke up abruptly, head throbbing from banging against his bed's headboard. The morning sunlight streamed through the thin curtains of his room, casting soft shadows on the wooden floor. He rubbed his temples, trying to piece together the fragmented memories of his conversation with Haley, remembering the surprisingly heartfelt conversation that had passed between them. Her kiss on his cheek still lingered in his mind, sending a warm, tingling sensation through his skin. He quickly shook off the distraction; he had a task to complete today— gathering iridium ore for Robin.

As he got out of bed, Percy took a deep breath, filling his lungs with the crisp morning air. He gathered his supplies, a pickaxe and his empty duffel bag, while his mind drifting back to Poseidon's unexpected visit. The thought of his father being here still made his stomach churn, but through Leah's words understand what had to be done. He needed to find his father and apologise for his outburst.

Percy made his way to the beach house, his footsteps heavy. The pathway was familiar, lined with wildflowers and the occasional clump of tall grass swaying in the gentle breeze. The sound of waves crashing against the shore grew louder as he approached. He hoped his dad was still there, to make amends for the harsh words he had hurled at him. He knocked the door, but when the only response was silence, he pushed the door to which was surprisingly left unlocked. He entered the house only to realise it was empty aside from a note on the table that read, "Gone. Will be back soon." With a sigh, Percy turned away. He had no time to wait; he needed to get to the mines.

Following the map that Robin had given him during his arrival, Percy managed to navigate his way to the entrance of the mines. He entered the cave, and grabbed a torch he found lying in the ground just in case. Before Percy could start making his way further into the mines, he hesitated. His instincts were warning him of the possible dangers that could lie within as this was Hades' domain, not his. Cool air from the cave entrance sent a shiver down his spine, but he had faced worse before, Tartarus, and this was 'Stardew Valley'; he really didn't expect to find hellhounds or empousas down here. He took a deep breath, steeling himself and entered the cage on one of the walls, which acted as the mine's elevator. Following Robin's instructions, he clicked the U-100 button.

The elevator doors closed with a creak after numerous seconds and with a jolt, the cage began its descent. The dim light from the single bulb above flickered as the elevator rattled and clanked its way downward. The air grew cooler and more damp with each passing second, a stark contrast to the warmth of the valley above. Percy gripped the railing, peering through the grated walls at the rocky interior of the mine shaft. Shadows danced on the rough stone walls, and the sound of dripping water echoed eerily.

As the elevator descended deeper, Percy's thoughts drifted to memories of Tartarus. He remembered the endless darkness, the oppressive weight of the air, and the constant sense of danger lurking around every corner. He remembered the time he spent in Tartarus with her. Compared to that, the mines of Stardew Valley should have seemed routine, yet his unease persisted. The sensation of descending into the earth felt all too familiar, triggering memories of their narrow survival.

Finally, with a grinding halt, the elevator stopped, and the doors slowly creaked open. The passage before him was dimly lit by flickering torches planted by previous miners, casting long shadows that danced on the stone walls. The air was heavy with the scent of earth and metal, and the sound of distant rumbling hinted at the mine's depth and complexity.

Percy stepped out of the elevator, his senses on high alert. He tightened his grip on his pickaxe, before exploring the floor. It was big, having the surface area similar to that of 3 football fields packed together. He spotted multiple types of ore around the mine, the bronze glow of copper, the glistening sparkle of silver ore and the rich colour of gold ore. However, none of them stood out as much as the vibrant purple that was radiating from what he assumed to be the iridium ore. Without wasting anymore time pondering, he got to work.

Percy mined diligently, collecting more iridium ore as he went further into the mine. The rhythmic clinking of his pickaxe against the stone was almost soothing, a steady beat that echoed through the narrow passages. However, he soon decided to delve deeper into uncharted territory within the floor, the parts that weren't lit in order to find more iridium ore. Everything was going smoothly until he struck a particularly hard piece of rock when mining a lump of iridium. As it shattered, it revealed an iridescent shard shimmering with an otherworldly radiance, refracting the dim torchlight that Percy held into a myriad of colours that danced across the walls of the cave. It seemed to pulse with an inner energy, each facet of the crystal casting a spellbinding glow. Percy's eyes widened as he gently lifted it from its rocky cocoon, feeling a surge of awe and wonder unlike anything he had experienced in the mines before. It was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

"What is this?" Percy muttered to himself, picking up the shard and examining it. It was beautiful, reflecting a spectrum of colours that seemed to shift and change as he turned it in his hand. Realising he was wasting valuable time, he quickly slipped it into his bag, which was now filled to the brim.

Just before he turned around to head back to the elevator, a sickening howl that sounded like a dying pig echoed through the tunnels, sending a shiver down his spine. He barely had time to react before a creature lunged at him from the darkness in front of him.

Percy nearly froze in terror once he took a glance at the creature. He'd seen it before. The creature had the grotesque features of a mutant deer—elongated limbs, sharp claws, and antlers protruding from its skull. Its eyes glowed with a malevolent hunger, and its breath came in ragged, snarling gasps. Percy was immediately knocked down by the creature, and barely managed to keep his space between the razor sharp antlers with his pickaxe. Dropping the torch he was holding with his left hand, he jammed his now available left hand into his pocket and drew Riptide, before stabbing the creature through the head with it. The creature let out a blood curdling scream, but to his surprise, the creature did not dissolve immediately, and instead continued pushing against the pickaxe that was the barrier between them two with its rage fuelling its strength. With one final resort, Percy slashed both the deer-hybrid's legs off, rendering it immobile.

Percy quickly stood back up, gasping for breath and grimacing at his arms and shirt which were all covered in blood. He quickly put the bag filled with ore in his back and got ready to run, but to his utter dismay he heard even more screams coming from his direction.

Realisation dawned on Percy—he couldn't outrun them all. Even if he made it to the elevator, the doors took too long to close. The only way out was to fight his way out.

Percy turned to face the advancing creatures. Riptide flashed in the dim light of the mine as he engaged in a desperate struggle for survival. He slashed and parried, his movements fueled by adrenaline. Each strike was precise and deadly as he took down countless of the deer-hybrids, but the creatures were relentless.

For every creature he struck down, two more seemed to take its place. Percy's arms burned with exhaustion, his breath coming in ragged gasps. The wounds on his arms were bleeding heavily, soaking his shirt crimson. He felt a searing pain as one of the creatures managed to stab him in the thigh with its jagged claw, tearing through his pants and drawing blood.

Gritting his teeth against the pain, Percy fought on, adrenaline dulling the ache in his thigh. He swung Riptide in wide arcs, cutting through the air with deadly precision. However when another creature lunged at him from the side, its antlers piercing through his left torso like butter, he knew time was running out. Pain flared through him, but he continued pushing through it, focusing solely on survival.

As the battle raged on, Percy's vision blurred slightly from blood loss and exhaustion. He knew he couldn't keep this up much longer. His movements slowed, and the monsters closed in, sensing his weakness.

One of the creatures lunged at him for the death blow, its razor-sharp antlers aimed at his heart. Percy closed his eyes, having made peace with the inevitability of his own demise. To his revelation, he didn't feel anything. He opened his eyes to see Poseidon, trident in hand, fending off all the monsters at once. He fought with a ferocity that surpassed Percy's, his eyes blazing with determination. The trident's prongs glowed with a radiant blue light, crackling with the energy of the sea.

"Go, Percy! Get to the elevator!" Poseidon shouted, fending off the creatures with powerful strikes. His voice was commanding, brooking no argument.

Percy hesitated, unwilling to leave Poseidon alone to fend off all the dear-hybrids at once As no matter how strong he was, being out of his element Poseidon had no chance against the waves of monsters mercilessly entering the battlefield.

"I can help—" Percy began, but Poseidon's stern look cut him off.

"No, Percy! You need to get out of here. Now!"

Reluctantly, Percy turned and with difficulty, limped towards the elevator. He could hear the sounds of battle behind him, the clash of Poseidon's trident and the snarls of the monsters.

The next five seconds proved to be the worst five seconds of his life, worse than what happened at Camp Half-Blood. He made it into the elevator, punched the U-0 Button and leaned his back on the handrail in exhaustion. His mistake was facing the ongoing battle which Poseidon was losing control of. He had suffered blows everywhere in his body, and in the final seconds before the doors closed, Poseidon turned backwards and locked eyes with Percy.

...

Bob limped to the Doors. Golden ichor flowed from the wounds on his arms and chest. His janitor's outfit hung in tatters. His posture was twisted and hunched, as if Tartarus's breaking the spear had broken something inside him. Despite all that, he was grinning, his silver eyes bright with satisfaction.

"Go," he ordered. "I will hold the button."

Percy gawked at him. "Bob, you're in no condition—"

"Percy." Annabeth's voice threatened to break. She hated herself for letting Bob do this, but she knew it was the only way. "We have to."

"We can't just leave them!"

"You must, friend." Bob clapped Percy on the arm, nearly knocking him over. "I can still press a button. And I have a good cat to guard me." Small Bob the sabre-toothed tiger growled in agreement.

"Besides," Bob said, "it is your destiny to return to the world. Put an end to this madness of Gaea."

"Bob, don't!" Percy said, his eyes pleading. "He'll destroy you permanently. No coming back. No regeneration."

Bob shrugged. "Who knows what will be? You must go now. Tartarus is right about one thing. We cannot defeat him. We can only buy you time."

The Doors tried to close on Annabeth's foot.

"Twelve minutes," said the Titan. "I can give you that."

...

"Qi is an alias! She's K-" Poseidon never managed to finish his final sentence before he was rammed into the ground by one of the deer-hybrids. The last thing Percy saw before the doors closed was Poseidon being impaled through the neck by one of the hybrids, the life leaving his eyes as a woman's maniacal laugh rang throughout the mines, before Poseidon's body faded away in grey dust rather than gold, his punishment served for breaking the ancient laws.

The dim light of the mines flickered through the narrowing gap, casting eerie shadows on Percy's blood-streaked face. His breath came in ragged gasps, each exhale tinged with pain and exhaustion.

Alone in the confines of the elevator, Percy leaned heavily against the cool metal wall. His hands trembled as he clutched Riptide, the celestial bronze blade now smeared with the blood of his enemies. The wounds on his arms throbbed with each heartbeat, reminding him of the battle he had just barely survived.

The adrenaline that had fueled him during the fight was gone, leaving behind a hollow ache in his chest. Tears pricked at his eyes, threatening to spill over as the weight of his near-death experience crashed down on him. He had faced countless monsters before, but this encounter had been different—a brutal reminder of his mortality, of how close he had come to not making it out alive.

Percy slid down the wall of the elevator, his back hitting the cold floor with a soft thud. He buried his face in his hands, his shoulders shaking with silent sobs. Poseidon was dead. His dad was dead. He hadn't even managed to make amends with him before he faded away from existence. The elevator hummed softly as it ascended, carrying him away from the horrors of the mine, but the echoes of screams and snarls still rang in his ears.

He was brought out of his thoughts when he spotted a glowing object in the corner of the cage. He crawled towards it to find a note signed by his dad with what looked like a star-shaped candy. He shoved the note into the duffel bag he still had on his back, and popped the candy into his mouth, trusting his dad's final gift. To his suprise, he felt his senses suddenly increase tenfold. While his body was still firing up with pain as if glass shards were dug into every inch of his body, he found his mental capabilities to be more focused.

Once the cage reached ground floor, he crawled his way out of the mines using the last bit of energy he had left before finally feeling the warmth of the sun hit the back of his head

"Help..." he croaked, his vision blurring. "Someone, please..."

As darkness began to close in around him, he saw a familiar figure rushing towards him. Haley. She knelt beside him, her eyes wide with worry.

"Percy! Oh my god, what the fuck happened?" she cried, her voice panicking as she tried to support his weight to no avail.

But Percy couldn't respond. His strength was gone, and the last thing he felt was the warmth of Haley's arms around him before he slipped into unconsciousness.

AN: And this is where the real fun starts :)

P.S. In terms of whats being held in the future, I've already got the whole layout figured out. This story will consist of 11 chapters total, with an additional chapter including notes, analysis and inspiration of this story. A chapter should release every day, or if I'm busy every two days since I am travelling a lot. With every chapter being around 2k words, that means it'll be around 22k words total. Seems really short, which it is but other than one more chapter there is no filler, only action.

Also, I just wanted to thank any of you who are still reading, it means a lot to me if at least one person is enjoying it so far. If you are, feel free to check out my profile, where I have future stories already planned out, and hopefully you are excited for at least one of the premises which I've tried my best to keep completely original.