"What?" That was Zoe's only response.
"Yeah, the doors of death. They are Thanatos doors that he uses when he travels to Tartarus. They are now chained up in some place in Tartarus and being used by Gaea's forces to bring monsters and giants back to the overworld," Percy simply explained as they got to walk down the river.
"From what little I know about Tartarus, they should be in the deepest and darkest part of it. And if we follow logic, the rivers should lead to that place since it goes downhill," Percy suggested.
Zoe was so shocked by his thinking that she stopped moving. Her eyes widened and her jaw was slack after hearing his logic.
Percy looked back at her with a questioning gaze. "What? Did I say something wrong?"
Zoe shook her head before answering. "No, it's just that I always have seen you as an idiot and never like this,"
Percy gave her a small smile while chuckling. "That is because I didn't want to be seen as a threat to the gods. Anna-Annabeth was always there to come up with the plans, even if I didn't like them, so I didn't have to act like my true self. But now that we are in literal hell and the gods can't see us, I can use my actual mental capacity without having to worry about them watching,"
Zoe was really shocked after hearing that. All those years she had thought of Percy being just an average mentally capable demigod while Annabeth was the one who came up with plans. But actually hearing him explain why he did it and also witnessing his intelligence made her believe him.
"Okay, but how are we going to defend ourselves when we have no weapons?" Zoe pointed out.
Percy turned his gaze at her while giving her a mischievous smile before pulling out riptide from his pocket. Zoe facepalmed as she was reminded that Riptide was enchanted to always return to the wielder's pocket.
"Alright, you have your weapon, but what about me?" Zoe looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
Percy seemed to ponder over Zoe's statement before looking around. His gaze was shifted regularly until his eyebrows were pushed together. "I think I got an idea," He commented before heading to their left and over a few boulders.
Zoe was confused by this and decided to follow him since she didn't have anything better to do. Also, she couldn't let her only company die when she had just earned his company.
As soon as Zoe's vision was over the boulder, she noticed that there were a few monsters with spears and daggers on them. Percy was by her side with Riptide already in its sword form.
"Let me get rid of them and you can use some of their weapons. Also, having a few daggers as extra weapons can always come in handy," Percy stated and Zoe understood his thinking.
"Alright, since you have the sword I am going to throw a rock in the opposite direction that you are going to attack to distract them while you get behind them. After they notice you and start attacking you, I am going to get behind one of them and get one of their weapons, sounds right?" Zoe stated the plan not 2 seconds later and Percy nodded.
"Come on, once I hear the rock I will stab the cyclopes," Percy said before heading down the rock and getting behind the monsters.
Zoe waited until she saw the sea-green-eyed boy behind the cyclops sitting on a rock with a spear by its side. She saw Percy give her a nod and a second later she threw the rock with precision to the opposite of Percy's position.
At the sound of the rock hitting the burnt wasteland, the monster's attention turned to the direction of the sound. As Percy heard the rock hit the ground and saw the cyclops move its head, he was quick to stab Riptide through the back of the cyclop's throat to stop it from screaming. He didn't wait for the monster to completely die before taking out his sword and slashing across a nearby hellhound through its ribs.
The hellhound let out a cry of pain that got the rest of the monsters' attention and turned their gaze towards the sound. Once their eyes reached the hellhound, they were surprised to see the famous son of Poseidon in Tartarus killing their group.
The monsters started charging towards the demigod while Zoe got behind the last monster, which was an empousa holding a dagger, and yanked the dagger out of her grip before slashing the monster's throat with it. The cut on the monster's throat started seeping out black blood before the dagger was stabbed at her head and fell to the ground.
While Zoe was taking care of the empousa, Percy had already killed the hellhound that he started with, an empousa, and a telekhine. There were only five remaining monsters, which were two hellhounds and three cyclops.
Zoe got behind a hellhound before jumping on its back and driving her stolen dagger throat its head, dead before it hit the ground. The monsters turned to look at the sudden arrival of another mortal and Percy used the distraction to stab Riptide through the neck of a cyclops before slashing at the cyclops neck that was standing next to the first one.
The daughter of Atlas got off the back of the hellhound and to her feet before having to roll over the shard cover ground to avoid a bit from the remaining hellhound. She hissed in pain from feeling a good dozen shards stabbing her back but she ignored it as she slashed her dagger across the hellhound's neck as it tried to turn around to attack Zoe once again.
All the monsters in the group were dead besides one cyclops. The cyclops didn't know what had just happened in less than 2 minutes and before it could do anything, a sword appeared from the middle of its chest before it was pulled back and out of its body. The cyclops barely had time to turn back before its head was severed from its body by a gleaming bronze sword.
"Why do I feel so exhausted if we just killed a few of them and not an entire horde?" Zoe commented as he tried to catch her breath.
"Maybe it has to do with the fact that we are in Tartarus? This place isn't supposed to hold mortals but monsters, titans, and gods. We are basically way over our element," Percy reasoned after he got a few breaths in.
Both of them were seriously rethinking the idea of getting out of Tartarus. Just killing a few monsters was more than enough to leave them breathless. How are they supposed to fight a horde of monsters when they can barely kill under 10 monsters and be tired?
"Why don't the bodies turn to dust?" Percy commented and Zoe was also wondering the same thing.
"I don't know, maybe it has to do with the fact that they are already in Tartarus?" Zoe suggested and Percy agreed with her reasoning.
"Alright, let's get some weapons before we leave," Percy said before both of them got to get their own weapons.
Zoe got a sword and a dagger from the bodies of the empousa while Percy just got a dagger from the body of the smaller cyclops. The dagger was big enough to pass as a short sword.
The duo resumed their trek back toward the darkest and deepest part of Tartarus. It certainly was going to be a long and hard journey, but they were ready for it now more than ever. They kept going down the Phlegethon River while getting a few drinks every time they felt their lungs sting from the toxic environment. They made small talk to try and make things more comfortable about their situation and both of them were grateful for it.
Percy was grateful that Zoe was on board with making conversation because he got to forget about his problems back on the surface. He completely forgot about Annabeth cheating on him, the danger he poses to his mother and new sibling, as well as his impending death after the war when the gods learn that he escaped Tartarus.
The daughter of Atlas was also grateful for the talk since it helped her feel somewhat normal. During her time after her death, socializing in the stars was awkward to say. A good majority of the souls there were once souls that her ex-mistress had sent up there in honor but they weren't on good terms. The only one she would talk to was Ouranos and it wasn't that much since he was still reforming. Then after she fell into Tartarus and was alone for over a day she was going nuts. It certainly did help that there was another person with her, it made things better that that person was Percy.
Line break
It had been a few hours since they started their journey toward the doors of death. They had drunk a few times from the river of fire to satiate their hunger and thirst and heal their bodies from the killing environment of Tartarus.
They had met a few small groups of monsters and didn't have any problems when dealing with any of them besides the incredible tiredness that they felt after a short fight. The duo had traveled a good couple of miles by that point when they felt the ground shake around them.
"What was that?" They both asked at the same time.
They turned their faces to each other before blushing from their same thoughts before another tremor took their attention.
"I'm seriously not starting to like that," Percy commented before holding up riptide since he had never capped it because it was their only source of light besides the river. Zoe held up her sword horizontally to the ground while the dagger was underneath it pushing it up in a defense/attacking stance.
Just as the tremors got stronger, they heard the iconic dragon-like roar that belonged to none other than a drakon. They quickly looked at each other and both knew that they were in a serious problem.
"This is gonna suck," Percy smartly commented, which gained him a glare from Zoe.
"Seriously?! This isn't the time for your remarks, Perseus!" Zoe scolded and before any of them could say anything, the serpent-like dragon appeared from behind a set of boulders.
The beast was around 50 yards in length with gleaming-black scales that were as thick as an arm and poisonous-green eyes. The drakon rapidly slithered at the two mortals before snapping its razor-sharp fangs at them. The fangs were as long as their bodies and the ground hissed from the venom dripping from them and onto the ground.
"Split!" Percy shouted and ran to the left side while Zoe didn't take a second to run to the right.
Zoe was a bit skeptical about his plan but when she saw the drakon confused as to who to chase she understood. It was a simple tactic to distract the beast to give them time to come up with a way of killing it.
Percy took the left side and quickly ran down the drakon's right side before jumping on it and plunging riptide hilt deep into its back, or at least that was the plan. As soon as Riptide touched the drakon's scales, Percy received a powerful whip from its tail. The son of Poseidon felt the tail hit his entire left shoulder and upper back before it sent him flying a couple of dozen meters and falling into the shard-covered ground. He felt an unbelievable amount of pain from not only the tail but also from his body crashing and rolling through the broken glass on the ground.
Zoe saw this and immediately stabbed her sword into the back of one of the drakon's back knees. The sword barely came out on the front of the knee and the drakon let out a roar of pain. The daughter of Atlas was quick to move back to avoid a whip from its tail. She saw that the force the drakon put behind its tail was greater than the one it used on Percy, so it was almost sure that she would be fatally injured or killed.
The drakon tried to move forward to attack Zoe, but the drakon could barely move a couple of meters without stopping from the pain in its back knee. Zoe smirked at seeing this, but she quickly got over it as she barely caught on the idea of her sword being on the drakon and not having a weapon besides her dagger.
When Percy's pain finally got down enough for him to get up, he noticed that Zoe's sword was stabbed into the drakon's back knee. He finally got to his feet at the moment he saw the drakon trying to get to Zoe but the sword on its knee was making it impossible for the monster to move. Percy used the advantage of the giant snake-like dragon being focused on Zoe to kill it. He ignored the throbbing pain on his left shoulder and his entire back from the tail and the cuts from the glass, as he carefully and silently made his way behind the monster.
Zoe was trying to find a way to properly kill the drakon or immobilize it for enough time for them to get out of there. Just when she was about to give up on those ideas and just run with Percy, she noticed him sneaking alongside the monster's side with riptide drawn ready for a killing blow. She immediately understood that Percy was going for a sneak and death blow attack, so she stepped forward to get the snake's attention.
The drakon saw the brown-haired girl stepping up to it and hissed at her. It showed its fangs that were dripping with green venom that melted the ground almost at the immediate touch. Just when the snake was going to pounce forward, it went rigid before its eyes became glossy and its body went limp.
Percy had finally made it to the head of the monster when he saw it hissing and varying its fangs at Zoe. He knew that it was going to launch at Zoe soon, so he used all of his remaining energy to jump as high as possible over the snake's head before plunging riptide hilt-deep into the monster's head. He felt the snake's body tensing before it went completely limp.
The son of Poseidon got his sword out of the drakon's skull with a grunt before looking over at Zoe. He saw that she was completely fine besides being out of breath. He took one step and just as his foot hit the ground and placed some weight on it, he felt it give up and went straight to the ground. He felt how the front part of his body smashed into the ground and luckily it wasn't covered in broken glass since the drakon had cleaned it when it was moving.
Zoe saw in slow motion how Percy's foot gave out and fell forward into the ground. She immediately dashed over to the son of Poseidon and was thankful that the ground wasn't covered in glass. But it was as far as grateful as she was because she then took notice of his back which was covered in blood and rapidly bleeding from the several slashes and stabs that he had gotten earlier.
"Shit, Percy, you are going to be alright, we just need to get you over to the Phlegethon," Zoe tried to reassure Percy, but it was more to herself.
"It's fine, I just need to rest for a little," Percy grunted as he tried to move, but his muscles were on fire and he could feel his consciousness slipping. He knew he wasn't fine, but he couldn't afford to be weak while his own hopes and Zoe's were frail.
"Just shut up Jackson and let me help you," Zoe scolded Percy with a hiss before grabbing Percy into a hug from the front with her face in his chest. Zoe might have a smaller body than Percy, but she was still a demi-Titaness even if she didn't have her father's powers.
Percy grunted and groaned in pain when he felt Zoe's slender arms wrap around his back making his wounds flare up in pain. "I'm sorry, but I need to carry you," She quickly apologized but Percy immediately told her that it was fine.
The walk to the Phlegethon was that far, it was just a mere 20 meters away, but their current state made it look like it was a kilometer away. Zoe had to support all of Percy's weight while the demigod had tried helping but his body wasn't responding to him properly. He couldn't feel anything else besides the pain and dizziness from his injuries.
"We are almost there, Perseus," Zoe tried to bring his positiveness back, but it was more for her than him.
Zoe felt how her muscles were screaming in pain and agonization from being without almost any energy. Her determination was the only thing driving her by that point since she felt like passing out several times but held on for Percy's sake. When the thought of Percy's well-being was the only thing keeping her going, it made her mentally laugh. Never in her entire time as a huntress would she be driven by her determination to save a male, but she knew that Percy was the only male that she would do it for.
The sight of the glowing river brought the demi-Titaness out of her mussing and quickly took the last couple of steps to bring both of them to the bank of the river. The moment she saw they were close enough to the river, she let both of them fall with Percy on top of her.
The son of Poseidon was barely aware of their position but he didn't have anywhere near the amount of energy for him to roll off of her or care about it. For him, it felt like he was laying on the smoothest and most comfortable thing in the world. He felt Zoe's body heat radiating from her and it was soothing for him. His head had landed on the valley between her breasts and could hear her heartbeat. If he was conscious enough, he would have madly blushed and apologized for it, but he was just relishing the feeling of Zoe's body underneath his.
Now, for Zoe, it was a completely new and weird experience. She had never had a male's body on top of hers. It had always been the opposite way and with her knife at their throat threatening them or they would already be dead. But this time, it was in a completely different manner and she was enjoying it. She somehow felt secure with Percy's body on top of hers. She didn't feel disgusted or threatened by him, she rather felt soothed by him. Zoe could feel Percy's heat and his head lying on her breasts. During regular circumstances, she would have kicked the shit out of Percy for touching her breasts, but she was really, really tired to care and she was rather enjoying it. She knew that it was wrong, but she couldn't help but enjoy it as she felt his breath on his breasts since her shirt was slightly ripped. She felt so good with his body on top of hers that her tiredness was winning and just wanted to close her eyes and rest.
However, before she could let herself fall asleep, she needed to take care of Percy's wounds. Reluctantly, she started moving underneath Percy to get enough leverage to lift him up and get out from underneath him. After a couple of seconds of struggling, she finally got enough room to move her arms and slide herself from underneath Percy's body, and stand up.
The entire time that she had moved to get out of Percy's body, she felt her limbs barely having enough strength to push herself out from underneath him since he was too heavy for her. She immediately missed the feeling of having his body on top of hers but she quickly shook away those thoughts and got back on track.
"Okay, this should help," Zoe muttered to herself before taking more amount of fiery water than the previous times. She gulped down the fiery liquid and after the agonizing hotness of the water had passed down, she felt her breathing go back to its normal pace and energy soared through her body.
She turned back to Percy, who was lying face down on the ground, and flipped him over. Even if Zoe had more energy than before, she still didn't have enough to lift him up, so he dragged him over half a meter so that he was parallel to the river. She took a seat on her knees by his head before lifting his head and placing it on her thighs.
"Come on, Percy, just stay awake for enough time to swallow the water," Zoe said once she noticed his eyes being closed and his breathing at a soft, slow pace and really shallow. She shook him a bit but he didn't respond anything other than a grunt. She tried to wake him up for a couple of minutes but it seemed that Percy was in a deep sleep or had completely passed out.
Zoe tried to find a way to make him drink the water but the only way for it to happen was to close his nose and coop the water into his mouth so he was forced to drink it. However, her plan had several flaws starting with the fact that she had nothing to hold the water besides both of her hands and she needed one for closing his nose and another to keep open his mouth.
After a few minutes of thinking and not coming up with anything, she looked down at Percy and took notice of his red skin and warts starting to form with some of them already bursting. Zoe could tell that Percy was in pain from his facial expression and his breathing slightly changing to a heavier one. She finally had enough and did something that she had never thought to do in her life, but it was a desperate situation and desperate situations require desperate solutions.
Zoe cooped a good amount of water in her hands before bringing the water up to her mouth and drinking it. But instead of actually drinking it, she just poured it into her mouth and didn't swallow it. She just kept it there and leaned down towards Percy's face with one hand prying to open his mouth and the other closing his nose. She placed her chapped lips on Percy's own chapped lips, due to Tartarus' environment, and poured the water into his mouth. Zoe tried to not think about having her own lips on Percy's, but with her fatigue status, it was really hard. Even if both of their lips were chapped, she felt a shock going through her body, a tingling sensation on her lips, and the slight feeling of being light-headed.
However, as much as Zoe enjoyed their lips touching, she separated her lips from his to make sure he swallowed the water. It didn't take more than a second for Percy's own body to swallow the water in the need for air and she saw how his facial features relaxed and his warts started to heal and fade.
Zoe was glad that her plan actually worked and she wasn't regretting a single moment of it. In her mind, she knew that it was wrong, but also something right. The side of her brain that remembered her 2 millennia as a huntress and a few less as Artemis' lieutenant were telling her that it was wrong because he was a male. But the part of her brain that had accepted Percy as the best man to ever exist, was telling her that it was the right choice and to seek more than just a simple lip touching with him being unconscious.
The daughter of Atlas was shaken out of her thoughts by Percy's groaning and shifting. She looked back at Percy's face and saw his eyes slowly opening and focusing on her face. Zoe saw something in his eyes that she had previously seen whenever she saw him looking at Annabeth. But before she could place much thought into it, it went away and was replaced by a look of confusion.
"Z-Zoe, what happened?" His voice was dry and raspy.
Zoe mentally shook her thoughts away to think about them another time before responding. "You passed out and I had to make you drink from the Phlegethon," She nonchalantly replied without thinking twice.
Percy was slightly confused about it since from what Zoe told him he was out and not conscious to drink and he definitely didn't remember it happening. "Zoe, how did you make me drink the water?" He hesitantly asked as he was starting to think of a way she could do it.
Zoe's eyes noticeably widened for a second and her face started to blush. Percy could tell that she was blushing even if the place's environment made their faces red. "I-I-I ha-had to force you," Zoe stuttered and avoided looking into his eyes.
"Yeah, but how?" His face started to turn red as his thoughts were starting to get confirmed.
Zoe blushed an even deeper red before taking a deep breath to calm herself. "I had to close your nose and pour the water into your mouth," She answered in a more familiar tone.
"Yeah, but how did you pour the water the water into my mouth?"
"With my..." She trailed off and was slightly shifting in her place.
"With you what? I couldn't hear," Percy was blinking as he tried to properly think if what she was going to say was what he was thinking.
Zoe took a few deep breaths before looking down at Percy, neither noticing how close their faces were. "I pour the water with my mouth, okay? Get over it," She tried to sound cold and stern, but her eyes and blushing face gave her away.
Percy was seriously shocked that Zoe actually did that. Even if she didn't mention that she placed her lips on his, he could tell by her reaction that she actually 'kissed' him for lack of a better term. To think that she would actually touch the lips of a male, his lips, is rather mindblowing.
"Ah, ah, al-alright," He stuttered as he finally took notice of how close their faces were and got flustered.
Zoe was confused by Percy's reaction. He was acting almost like he was nervous or in front of someone he couldn't talk to. She was going to ask what the problem was until she noticed her dark brown hair was down and around their heads leaving their faces free. Her hair was basically acting like a cocoon to give them privacy and it felt almost intimate.
She immediately understood why he was acting so strange and immediately straightened up. Both of them were looking everywhere except each other's eyes. Finally, after a couple of awkward and silent moments, Percy finally made a move to sit up since he had barely noticed that his head was resting on her thighs. He hadn't realized it until he thought about the reason why his back was feeling uncomfortable while his head felt like it was on the most comfortable pillow.
Zoe helped Percy sit up while both of them still avoided eye contact.
"So, what are we gonna do now?" Zoe cut through the awkward atmosphere.
Percy took a deep breath before looking around until his sight landed on a cave. "I think it will be best if we take some rest. We have been traveling and fighting for hours and this atmosphere is trying to kill us," He proposed as Zoe looked in the direction he was looking at.
Zoe nodded, but before she could stand up, she felt a hand grab her wrist keeping her from standing. She knew that it was Percy's hand and felt a tingle and shiver going from the point of contact to the rest of her body. She quickly got a hold of herself before looking back at him with a questioning gaze.
"We better take another sip from the river before we go. We don't know how long our bodies need to rest," He quickly explained as his gaze was fixed on the river to keep Zoe from noticing his blush.
The daughter of Atlas saw the blush, but she couldn't tell if he was actually blushing or the glow from the river on his face. She decided to not think too much about it since it was crazy that Percy would be blushing from touching her. She knew that his heart was severely broken by the Athenian spawn and would take a while for him to properly heal. But just as the last thought crossed Zoe's mind, she couldn't help but think that she could help him heal from his broken heart if he gave her a chance.
Zoe quickly got rid of that thought since she was more conscious than before drinking from the river. She nodded at Percy's suggestion before they both coop some more fiery water and left for the cave that was a couple of dozen meters away from the river.
As both mortals arrived at the cave, they noticed that it was a bit dark and felt colder than the outside, which both of them were grateful for. They also took notice that it was rather Percy's height and it got narrow as they went further in. Both of them decided to be as far away from the entrance as possible so that no monsters could easily spot them unless they went into the cave.
As they got to the end, which was a couple of meters from the entrance, they saw that the available space to sleep was just wide enough to fight two people tightly. After a very awkward and short conversation, both mortals lay on the ground with their backs facing each other and facing the wall before finally letting their tiredness take over.
Line break
As Percy finally felt his senses come back, he noticed an unfamiliar weight on his collarbone and a soft, warm air hitting his neck almost every other second. He finally opened his eyes and noticed the dark silhouette lying on top of him and felt a set of legs entangled with his own. Percy finally fully woke up and came to the conclusion that Zoe was sleeping on top of him since she was the only other person with him.
The son of Poseidon slightly shifted his head to see how exactly Zoe had laid down on top of him and found out that almost her entire body was on top of his. Her entire upper torso was on his chest with her head between his collarbone and the crook of his neck, while one of her legs was entangled with his own and only her hip and other leg were on the ground.
Percy was feeling a combination of interesting feelings. At first, he was nervous and completely shocked to see one of the women who hated men the most, lying asleep on top of him like he was the most comfortable thing in the world. Then, he was feeling rather happy and relaxed at having her body pressing against his own. It was almost the same feeling as the time when he was almost unconscious and lying on top of her.
However, the sudden movement of Zoe's body brought him out of his thoughts and looked at her face. It was mostly covered by her dark brown hair and almost impossible to make out in the dark, but he could feel her smile on his collarbone.
During the entire time that Percy was lost in his thoughts, Zoe woke up and noticed the position that both of them were in. She was rather confused as to how she got into that position since it was mad obvious that she moved on her own accord since she had most of her body on top of Percy's. She thought that she would feel disgusted, but she felt really comfortable and relaxed being on top of him.
Both of them didn't know what to do since neither of them knew the other was already awake. So, instead of moving or doing anything else, they just lay there not moving an inch and just enjoying their current position.
They spent a few minutes just laying there until Percy started to notice that the air was getting harder to breathe and his skin was sensitive. He let out a groan as he started moving to try and get Zoe to move.
With Percy's movement and groan, Zoe was jolted awake from her restful state and understood that it was time to move. She quickly and smoothly got off Percy and onto her side and faked being asleep until she felt Percy nudging her on the shoulder to get her to wake up.
The son of Poseidon was glad that Zoe was awake to get off of him so that he would fake not knowing about their position to avoid a very awkward situation. He let out another groan as he completely sat up and nudged Zoe to 'wake' her up since he knew she wasn't asleep.
"Hey, we got to get another sip from the river. It's getting harder to breathe and it should have been enough rest so we can continue with our journey," Percy quickly told Zoe before he got up to walk toward the cave's entrance.
It took a moment for Zoe to finally feel how the air was getting harder to breathe and her skin becoming sensitive. She got up and followed Percy. They took a quick sip from the river before continuing their journey.
Line Break
As the hours passed, Zoe and Percy traveled over 20 kilometers while killing a few monsters every other 10 minutes and a few sips from the Phlegethon. The farther they ventured into Tartarus, the darker it became. They were mostly relying on Percy's sword and the river of fire for illumination. Zoe was abnormally close to Percy for three major reasons. First, Percy had their only source of light besides the river. Second, she was still preoccupied with losing her only company in that place. Last but not least, she felt rather at ease the more she was near him.
Even if Zoe's last reason seemed to confuse her, she wasn't going to fight it. She knew that the feeling was something everyone who loves someone feels and knows that it's futile to fight it, even more, when it is about Percy. However, she was going to think about those feelings if- once, they got out of there.
Their scenery changed from the barren, burnt wasteland of hills and downhill, to a more foresty, dark, and rather cold one. They both could feel how every shadow that was cast from the nearby naked trees and rocks from the sword's light were moving almost like they were alive and trying to get them.
"I don't like this place," Zoe muttered as she adjusted her grip on both weapons.
"Yeah, me neither," Percy then took a more defensive stance as they advanced through the dark, cold woods.
The trees were completely naked and dark, almost like they were burned and left like that. But when Zoe and Percy took a closer look at the trees, they noticed that they weren't burned, they were like they grew like that. Just to be a completely dark and naked tree.
They eventually broke through the dark forest of trees. The first thing they noticed was that they were right in front of a big, and dark wall. At first sight, it seemed like there was nothing there and just complete darkness. But when they tried to push through, they felt the darkness being as solid as a rock.
"Huh?" Percy stretched his hand to inspect the darkness. "Feels cold, almost like ice, but at the same time solid," He muttered and Zoe also placed her hand on the wall of darkness.
"What is it? It's like the darkness turned completely solid and created a wall," Zoe then brought her dagger to slice through it, but it just slid like it was a solid piece of rock. "Huh, that's weird. I thought my dagger could cut through anything since it is celestial bronze,"
Just as Zoe was about to thrust it with more force a shadow took the form of a tendril that shot up to her hand holding the dagger and kept her from moving.
"What?!" They both shouted as they saw the shadow holding Zoe's wrist.
The shadows around them started to go crazy and some of them took hold of their limbs to keep them from running away. They both felt how the tendrils of darkness were cold and soft, almost as if they were being gentle with them and not threatening like they would imagine them to be.
"What is going on?!" Percy shouted as his grip on riptide slackened and it fell to the ground.
As they struggled to get out of the bonds of darkness, they noticed that a greater amount of them started to move in front of them until they formed two cocoons of darkness. They felt how the air around them got thicker and way much heavier to breathe.
Not a second later, the two pillars of darkness started to form into two silhouettes. One of them was bulky and taller while the other was feminine and shorter. As the darkness started taking form, they noticed that they were changing to those of a human and understood that the two beings in front of them were deities.
"Oh my, what do we have here? I thought the rumors of two mortals in Tartarus were just that, rumors. But actually seeing you in person is rather, surprising," The voice was feminine, soft, and delicate, almost motherly with a barely audible English accent.
"Yes, it is rather surprising and interesting seeing the first two mortals to ever be in Tartarus to be so close to our domain," The voice was manly and strong, but also cold but not one of hostility but feelings also having an English accent.
A/N: Since I am not Brit-ish(hahaha sorry, had to do it), I am going to write this story in American English. If anybody knows about it or is their native language, place a comment with translations. For instance, things like "pants = trousers" and stuff like that.
Both Zoe and Percy were confused as to who these deities were. For all they know, Tartarus was only Tartarus' domain and nobody else's. So, who would be so powerful to have their domain in Tartarus out of all places? Not even Hades was brave enough to venture into Tartarus, let alone put his domain in it. It had to be somebody very powerful and daring enough to even think about doing it.
"Who are you?" Percy spoke first.
"Oh my, the legendary Perseus Jackson is here. Let me know child, how did you fall into Tartarus out of all places? But before you answer, let me introduce us, I am the embodiment of the night, Nyx. And this is my husband, embodiment of darkness and shadows, Erebus," The woman, now identified as Nyx, responded as her body finalized forming.
She looked like a woman in her late twenties or early thirties. She had long, purplish-black hair, completely black eyes, and a body that would make any man and many women drool over her and make some women kill for her body. She was wearing a pitch-black, one-shoulder dress with a low cut that revealed a decent amount of her bust and a long cut in the bottom of her dress that showed one of her model-like legs. All in all, the woman was a natural beauty and left any goddess in the dust for looks. Percy would have been entranced by her bodily features but he preferred somebody else's body, but if he would say whose he would most likely be killed.
Then, the man beside her, Erebus, finalized forming. He had short, pitch-black hair. His skin was as pale as a sheet of paper and looked to be around the same physical age as his wife. He was wearing a dressing black shirt and suit with dark pants and dress shoes. All in all, he looked like he was a businessman at a casual party with his wife.
"We-we are so sorry, Lady Nyx and Lord Erebus," Zoe was quick to apologize while Percy was too stunned to say anything. Sure, he had disrespected gods, Titans, and the primordial of the literal Earth, but never a fully awakened primordial, let alone two!
"No need to be afraid of us, we are actually curious and interested to have a decent and casual conversation with both of you," Erebus quickly said and his tone changed to a friendlier one.
"W-why?" Percy finally spoke after getting over his initial shock reaction.
"Because both of you intrigue us. It's been millennia since we had anybody to properly talk to besides our children and our siblings. Also, both of you have created quite the problems for our brother Tartarus ever since you came here. Monsters have been trying to find you both to have some revenge and he is getting tired of monsters trying to get him to transport both of you to them," Nyx casually responded and both mortals were shocked.
The way that the two primordial beings in front of them were so casually talking was mindblowing to them. They expected primordial beings to be arrogant and threatening like all divine beings, especially when they were the oldest and strongest beings in existence.
"Wh-what?" Percy, oh so intelligently asked.
Nyx giggled while Erebus chuckled at his reaction. Now, that was even more shocking. Both primordial beings of literal darkness and the night were friendly to them. They didn't know any friendly divine beings besides Hestia, Poseidon, Apollo, and Artemis, the latter in Zoe's case.
"We know it can be rather, what is the word they use today? Mindblowing? Yeah, that is. It can be rather mindblowing or strange that we are friendly since stories and people throughout history have made us, primordials, to be aggressive and cold in nature when it is the complete opposite. We got that bad rep from Gaea and her son and husband Ouranos because of their fights," Erebus said in the last part with clear hate.
Percy and Zoe were speechless at hearing the embodiment of darkness and shadows answer. It was as clear as day that they didn't have any positive feelings toward their sister and nephew.
"Yes, but we don't need to talk about that right now, maybe for a later conversation another time," Nyx was quick to change the subject and her husband nodded. "For now, why don't we move to a more comfortable and friendlier place to chat?" Nyx suggested before the shadows wrapped around the four of them and vanished from the spot.
Both mortals were even more surprised at hearing that the dark couple wanted to have another conversation with them at a later date. But the shadow traveling that they had to go through was something they would never forget. Percy was already familiar with the concept of shadow traveling because of Nico and had experienced it, but it definitely felt way different than Nico's shadow traveling. For starters, Nico's shadow traveling is like his body is wrapped in darkness before being pushed to another one while everything is cold. However, with Nyx's and Erebus' shadows traveling was like he became one with the darkness and literally traveled at the speed of the darkness.
When the shadows that had consumed them had them reappeared once again, they noticed that they were in some type of living room that belonged in a mansion, a really dark mansion. The furniture's clothes were almost pitch-black and what the wood should be, it was replaced by silver. It was an enormous living room with a silver and gold chandelier that was a good 6 meters up in the air and a fireplace that was lit in a purplish-black fire.
"That definitely feels-" Zoe didn't get to finish her sentence before she felt her stomach make a complete 360 and launch herself as a bucket that was 3 meters away from her in a corner of the room.
Percy felt pity for Zoe since he remembered how he felt the first time he shadow-traveled with Nico and Mrs. O'Leary. He reached her before pulling her hair to her back so that she wouldn't accidentally vomit on her own hair.
"Let it all out," Percy didn't even know if they had anything in their stomachs besides the water from the Phlegethon.
"It's easy for you-" Zoe's statement was interrupted by another wave of nausea and vomited into the trashcan.
A couple of minutes later of Zoe throwing up, she finally got well enough to stop vomiting and took a seat on one of the black couches in the room. She sat on a long couch with Percy on a single-seat couch beside her. The primordial couple was sitting on a love couch.
"Well, let us get you something to eat. I know that Tartarus definitely does not have food adequate for mortals since this place is made to torture malignant souls," Nyx stated with a motherly tone before waving her hand and a silver platter appeared out of nowhere. The platter had a pitch with water, cups, and two plates with roasted chicken, and a few vegetables on them.
Zoe and Percy didn't even take a second to jump into the food and devour it. For them, it tasted like the best-roasted chicken with vegetables in their lives. It could probably be counted for the fact that they hadn't eaten something solid for over a day, but they were too focused on their food to give it any thought.
"So, tell us, how did you guys fall into Tartarus out of all places?" Erebus started the conversation after he saw that Zoe and Percy were done with their food.
Percy decided to start with his story starting with how he was kidnapped last winter and then put into a coma for months before being sent to the Romans without any memories. He explained his quest to save Thanatos, which caused Nyx and Erebus to thank Percy.
"Thanks for saving our son, Perseus. We didn't know that our sister had captured our son. If we had known, we would have gotten him out and your quest shouldn't have been necessary," Nyx said with clear gratitude in her voice while Erebus nodded in agreement.
"Wait, you can do that?" Percy asked, a bit surprised by their response.
"But of course, we can. If it involved any mortal then we couldn't have done anything, but since it was the giants we could have intervened," Erebus quickly explained.
Percy's reaction to that was his jaw almost hitting the floor while Zoe was wide-eyed. Percy was rather shocked about their statement as well as infuriated at the gods for making them go on a quest to free Thanatos when they themselves could have gone. Zoe for her part was just shaking her head after hearing Erebus' explanation. She should've known about it since it was obvious that no mortals were involved in it until the gods involved Percy and the other two that are Roman demigods.
"So you are telling me that the gods themselves could have gone to Alaska to free Thanatos, who is your son, instead of sending me along with Hazel and Frank to free him and fight an almost unkillable giant?" Percy exclaimed while radiating an intense aura of power and rage.
Nyx and Erebus gave Percy a sympathetic look while Zoe was nervous about him releasing his anger. She had watched how Percy reacts when he frees his anger at other beings and she wasn't looking forward to it.
"Yes, but enough of those irritating godlings," Nyx dismissed the previous conversation before moving to another. "Now, how did you," Nyx pointed at Zoe. "Got here?"
Zoe took a deep breath before sensing Percy's rage increase. She looked at Percy and saw his infuriating face before she placed a hand on his arm. She was rather surprised by her reaction, but she was even more surprised after she saw Percy visibly relaxed at her touch and a couple of seconds later he was back to normal.
While this happened, the primordial couple watched their interaction with amusement. It was clear that both mortals had an attraction for each other even if they didn't know or wanted to acknowledge it. But they just smiled and had a quick mental conversation about not telling them everything and just wanting them to find on their own.
Zoe then looked back to the primordials in the room after Percy had calmed down. She then started to recount her time after her death up in the stars till the part where Zeus visited her before casting her down to Tartarus.
Nyx and Erebus's reaction to her story was rather amusing. The primordial couple just took a couple of deep breaths before muttering to each other in a language neither Zoe nor Percy could understand. They both assumed that they were probably speaking in a language that was so old only primordials could understand and decided to not ask about it.
"Should have followed Pontus' and Thalassa's option when they brought it up after the Second World War," Nyx muttered in English after she had finished her conversation with Erebus in the previously unknown language.
Percy and Zoe were confused but Nyx waved her hand to dismiss her previous thoughts.
"As much as we have enjoyed this conversation, we must talk to both of you about something more serious," Erebus stated, his tone completely changed to one that both mortals immediately recognized, seriousness.
"Yes, this conversation originally regarded Percy alone, but after the recent finding of you Zoe, you must now be included in this conversation," Nyx continued before a door appeared in the middle of the room.
"Wow, what is that?" Zoe and Percy simultaneously asked. They both look at each other before blushing and looking away. Erebus and Nyx just quietly laughed at their interactions.
"It's a door that leads to someone who wants to talk to you both. As we said, it was originally for Perseus only but recent events have led to Zoe also being involved," Nyx explained with a motherly tone that Percy couldn't help but compare to his own mother and Hestia and Zoe to her mother Pleione even if she had really vague memories of her.
"Alright, but who is behind the door?" Percy asked after taking a quick look at the door. It was a simple dark wood door with a vertical eye in the middle. To Percy, it felt like he had seen the symbol before but couldn't place a name on it. Zoe was just completely confused as she looked over the symbols but she only knew that they were old symbols.
"It is someone who has been eager to meet you, Percy. But don't worry about her, she doesn't want to hurt you, just have a nice and serious chat with you and Zoe about your future, well futures now," Nyx answered before sending a warm and reassuring smile at both mortals.
Percy gave the door another quick look before changing his gaze over to Zoe who was quiet and observing the door. She then looked over at Percy and saw him looking at her as if she was ready. She gave him a determined smile before unconsciously taking hold of his hand. By the time she caught what she did, it was too late since she didn't want to retrieve her hand and Percy had tightened his grip on hers.
"Alright, let's go,"