The 7 and More Travel to the Past

Tartarus Was an Intriguing Topic to Talk About

Nico's Pov

It was around three o'clock when all eighteen of us left the Zeus cabin for the fourth time today. We walked back down to the dining pavilion and sat down at a table. Slowly, the campers saw us and started taking seats at the empty tables. About fifteen minutes later all the campers had arrived and were seated at their tables. Now, all we needed was Chiron to come over for us to start talking about the quest. When Chiron appeared out of the cabins, Annabeth stood up.

"Chiron, come on over. We are going to start talking about the next part of the quest." Annabeth yelled across the pavilion. Chiron trotted over and took a place in the back of the pavilion.

"Alright, now since everyone is here we are going to start talking about the next part of the quest," Said Percy.

Hazel cleared her throat and started to talk. "The Argo II had been relentlessly attacked for two days straight by rock Gods called numina montanum in Latin or ourae in Greek. Leo defended the ship by firing celestial bronze cannons at the Gods. Once Leo's attacks failed, we flew away from the Apennine Mountains. Leo wanted to wake Frank, Piper, and Jason up, but I vetoed that idea because barely any of us had been able to get any sleep due to the attacks. I blamed the attacks on the fact that the earth spirits did not like children of Hades or Pluto, as they are children of the Underworld. We threw around suggestions on how to get over the mountains. I prayed to my dad to give me a sign of help and in the distance I spotted Arion. I then told Leo to get close enough to the ground where I could talk to Arion. I then met Hecate, and Hecate told me that my mother, Marie was gifted in magic. She told me that I would also learn sorcery, or the ability to manipulate the Mist, in order to save Percy and Annabeth. Hecate showed me the doorways, telling me to choose my own path. The western doorway showed Roman and Greek demigods fighting one another on a hillside under a pine tree. I was riding Arion trying to stop the fight. The eastern doorway showed the Argo II above the Apennines, but the ship was badly damaged. The northern doorway showed Leo, Frank and myself severely injured. Percy and Annabeth laid unmoving. Hecate then told me to choose one of the doorways or to go backward. I picked the middle doorway, but told Hecate that I was not choosing any of her choices, and that I would save Percy and Annabeth, stop Gaea and the Giants, and prevent the Greek-Roman war at the same time, with the others. I then returned to the ship with Arion." Hazel said, her mind elsewhere, probably thinking where Arion was in this timeline.

"Meanwhile, Percy and I were still falling into Tartarus. I told Percy, as my supposed last words, I love you. Then I saw the ground and a river flowing below, so I told Percy to try and control the water from it to survive. He succeeded in cushioning our fall, but the river we landed in was the Cocytus, the River of Lamentation. We felt all the pain of the sorrow and misery of bitter souls. The spirits from the river urged us to succumb, but I told Percy to fight back, telling him of our dream future in New Rome. We barely survived, and then we collapsed onto the river bank. The two of us then realized that the river bank was made out of glass shards, and the air of poison. Percy and I were badly intoxicated. I then remembered that the River Phlegethon's fire had healing properties. We found the river, and drank from it, temporarily healing ourselves but it tasted like liquid fire. Suddenly, Arachne appeared and tried to attack us, but Percy killed her with Riptide." Annabeth said, her face emotionless.

"Annabeth and I were then attacked by Empousai, including our favorite, the one and only Kelli, though we were unexpectedly rescued by Iapetus, who was still convinced that his name was actually Bob because he went took a bathe in the river Lethe and forgot all of his memories. Bob then joined us on our trek back to the real world. On our trek, the three of us got attacked by Arai, the embodiment of curses. I killed the first Arai and got the wound that killed Geryon, and then I realized that every time one of us would kill an Arai, we would get cursed. Annabeth became blind from the curse from Polyphemus and thought that I left her from a curse from Calypso. I got a stab in the gut, a tic in my right eye, a chill in the blood, and a burn by a blowtorch. I then got the curse of Phineas, and it nearly killed me. Meanwhile, the Arai told Bob that he used to be a Titan and that I had wiped his memory. I also learned that Nico told Bob that I was a good person. As I was dying, I saw Tartarus for what it really was, unveiled, and realized that was how Nico saw it. I regretted how I had treated Bob, Nico, and Calypso, and wished that I was a better friend. Bob then killed all of the Arai, healed Annabeth, and then took me to be healed." Percy said, he shot a quick glance at me and I nodded at him.