Chapter 3: Tartarus

Bell, Lili, and Welf stared at Percy, their minds reeling from his revelation. The tension in the room was palpable, but curiosity kept their weapons at bay.

"What do you mean you were there before the dungeon appeared?" Bell asked, his voice tinged with disbelief and curiosity.

Percy sighed, rubbing his temples as if recalling painful memories, "It's a long story, but I'll give you the short version. The gods you know now weren't always like this. Back in the day – my day – they could give about zero fucks about humans. To them, humans were irrelevant, beings they ruled over but were not obliged to look after. And some of these gods were the worst of the bunch. It did not matter which pantheon they were from."

The three looked at him in horror and surprise, wondering how he was able to say such… brutal things about the beings they cherished. They wondered about how much stuff he was saying was true.

"In the Greek Pantheon, I was the son of Poseidon and a mortal woman, Sally. Before you ask me, yes, they somehow managed to... do it and then he returned back to ocean while she had me. Being a demigod though, sucks majorly. You are literally fighting for your life every day as a demigod and the sad thing is that you can't win each time."

"What happens when you kill the monsters then?"

"Same thing that happens here. They return after some time. More often than not, some even remember you and look for you specifically," Percy lamented darkly, his gaze while focused on them seemed to be looking into the distance.

Bell asked curiously, "What happened then?"

"Well," Percy responded with a grim smile, "there were a few wars which repeated history and, at the end of one of them, an evil being with power far greater than anything anyone had dared to imagine fighting awoke. After Second Gigantomachy that I participated in where we stopped the rise of Gaia, Tartarus awoke from his slumber. His power was far too great, and the threat came too quickly to prepare so the Gods, Olympians, did what they naturally thought would work. They made a deal with Tartarus."

"What kind of deal?" Lili asked, her curiosity evident on her face as she listened to Percy intently.

"Tartarus wanted 7 of us that were the reason that Gaia was forced back to slumber but if the Olympians simply handed us over, they would lose most of their strength to stand against Tartarus so they proposed that they can hand one of the 7 as a hostage. Someone who would be imprisoned within Tartarus' domain and would be a peace treaty such that Tartarus would not start another war. Of course, Tartarus did not want to start another war either because his forces and power was significantly limited too and there was high chance that the other pantheons would step in if the balance was shifted in their pantheon. As such, he settled to take 1 of the heroes hostage and then declared that he would open his domain as a dungeon for the Olympians and other pantheons to clear. If they failed to show effort, the monsters would have a clear exit from his domain to enter the human realm - your realm. That was the origin of this dungeon."

There was silence after that as the three slowly digested the information Percy had told them. It was pretty much different than whatever little they had known, and the information itself could shake every familia and the way everyone treats the Gods.

"Who was the hero that was imprisoned?" Bell asked even though he had added up the response to it beforehand. Percy smiled sadly which was enough to confirm Bell's suspicions. No one would willingly stay in the dungeon like this.

Minutes passed before Percy shot to his feet and headed towards the door, "You should rest up if you still want to go to Floor 18. The doorway to that will not be open for long."

"Wait!" Bell followed suit, "What do you mean the doorway wont be open for long?"

Percy turned to him and sighed, "This prison of mine is designed such that its location changes every few hours. I could be fortunate enough to be on Floor 1 or unfortunate enough to be on Floor 100."

"What?" Welf rushed towards Percy and grabbed his shoulders, "You've been to Floor 100?"

"I'd say so. I have been in this place for so long, I am pretty sure I have been to every floor in this dungeon."

"Tell us what is at Floor 100 then," Lili asked, a gleam in her eyes.

Percy rubbed the back of his head and said, "I don't actually know which floor is exactly Floor 100. I just know I have been to Floor 100 because I kept a track at the start, hoping to find a way to get out from this place."

Lili sighed disappointedly as Welf asked, "But you managed to beat all the floors, didn't you?"

"I mean, I definitely struggled with a fair few of them but yeah, I have beaten all of them once at the least."

The trio looked at each other and with unsaid words but collective nods, Bell asked, "Can you train us?"

"No."

Silence followed the immediate response and Percy walked out of the door, leaving the rest shell-shocked. They weren't expecting his to agree but they also didn't expect him to flat out reject them without giving them a chance to convince him otherwise. He was powerful and definitely someone who could teach them.

Bell looked at Lili and Welf and said, "I will go and talk to him. You two get the stuff ready. We will need to leave soon."

"Ok Master Bell," Lili exclaimed as she quickly rushed out of the house and towards, what Bell was hoping, her supplies and backpack.

Welf started to leave before pausing as if he remembered something and turned towards Bell, throwing something small at the latter. Catching it swiftly, Bell recognised the familiar knife as he twisted the Hestia Knife in his hand. "Thought you'd want it back," Welf claimed as he walked out.

The white-haired boy quickly sheathed his knife and rushed to find Percy. It took a few minutes of running around till he found Percy staring at a pond, sitting on a massive rock. Strangely, the water was swirling in the pond as if it were a mini whirlpool and Bell wondered if Percy had the skill to control water.

"What do you want? Was I not clear when I said 'No'?" Percy asked without moving.

Bell responded, "But why not? It's not like its too much we are asking for."

"What you are asking me for is not something I can teach. I am not a teacher and definitely not looking to learn how to be one now. You can find a proper teacher," Percy stated as he stood up on the rock and drew the leaf-shaped bronze sword from before.

"You are the strongest one from all the ones I have met so far. Even the strongest swordswoman in Orario can't compare to you and I was trained briefly by her before we entered this dungeon."

Percy offered no response as he drew a stance with his sword and Bell grew exasperated at the former's lack of concern. Agreed that it wasn't his responsibility, but he didn't have to be this extreme of a jerk.

However, before he could voice his opinion, Percy swiftly moved with his sword, slashing and fluidly twisting his body with each movement. For anyone else, it would seem that he was standing at one place, but Bell was able to see a few movements by Percy with his eyes and it was magical.

Finally, Percy stopped, breathing heavily as he wiped his brow from the sweat. Bell unsheathed his knife and drew it similar to how Percy was holding the sword.

"That's not a sword Bell," Percy commented, "you can't hold it like this."

Percy turned Riptide back to a pen, something that still amazed Bell, and walked back into the house. Disappointed, Bell began walking towards Lili's room to get her and Welf but was stopped as he heard Percy's footsteps coming closer.

He turned around and saw the sea-green eyed man carrying a worn dagger. He stopped before Bell and drew the dagger in a reverse knife grip, "I am not a teacher so whatever you can follow along with me and learn from that will be what you get from me."

With wide eyes and massive grin, Bell nodded and mimicked the same pose as Percy. Percy charged at Bell, forcing the latter to take a defensive position and shield himself from what seemed to be a downward slash. Except, it twisted mid-strike, and Bell found the sharp edge on the skin of his throat.

"What was that?" Bell asked as Percy took the dagger away from his throat, "How did you change your attack mid-way?"

"Practice. It's a bait attack but faster and more discreet. You will get more used to it as you practice."

Bell nodded uncertainly and readied his knife again. Percy retook his original stance and charged at Bell but this time, Bell sensed a stab coming to his side which prompted him to dodge and manage to block the actual dagger attack coming at his forehead, surprising Percy who kicked Bell in the gut and bring the dagger to Bell's throat.

Bell sighed defeatedly but looked at Percy with increased determination, but Percy raised his hand and said, "That will have to be enough. Its almost time for the doorway to close and my floor to change so you might want to grab your friends and rush to Floor 18."

The red-eyed teenager nodded and rushed towards the house, calling out Welf and Lili who hurried out with their stuff and extras that Percy had lent them. Within moments, they were lined at the doorway and Bell could see drops of dried blood on the grass which was, to no surprise, most likely his.

"Alright, go now. You will get to Floor 18 from here," Percy declared.

Welf and Lili nodded and stepped through the door, falling down immediately. Bell reached the edge and turned around to ask Percy, "How can we free you?"

Percy looked at him surprised before smiling slightly, "I still don't know. You would have to ask the Gods or Tartarus."

Bell gave him a determined look and promised, "We will free you. I promise."

Percy simply smiled in response and Bell jumped over the edge and found himself sliding through the familiar tunnel. He wasn't sure who Percy was, but he definitely knew who would be able to answer his questions.

Lady Hestia.

A/N: Took me longer than what I intended. Apologies for that. I had wanted to originally post in mid-year but with the other fics being updated and my work placements, it was challenging so I fast tracked this one. I will promise more updates soon enough, especially since I am participating in NaNoWriMo so more writing. Hope you enjoyed this though and if you get the chance, a follow, favourite and dropping a review either flaming me for late uploads or telling me how you felt about this chapter will go a long way. Thanks for reading and support.