Ghost King Meets Batman

Eventful day in Hell

  [Edited July 27, 2022]

[TW Body Horror & probably more but I'm not sure how to tag them]

 The first thing that he noticed when he came to was the fact that his head throbbed-- the pain told him that he was alive, at least. He peered through slits but his vision was too blurry to get a picture of where he was and even the dim light he was surrounded with hurt his eyes. The next thing he noticed is that the ground was uncomfortably warm. He blinked a few times and saw something move across his vision but he couldn't distinguish much more than a dark silhouette.

In his haze, he couldn't remember where he was or how he had come to be asleep. He groaned as his stomach churned, and he shut his eyes tight to try to keep down whatever was left in his stomach. His head throbbed in time with the floor, which was making him dizzy. Then it all started to sink in. It wasn't his equilibrium that was making the floor move beneath him. He was in Tartarus and the floor had a heartbeat of its own. A wave of intense dread and nausea came over him and he almost lost his battle with his stomach. He turned his face away from the light but he still couldn't find any relief for the throbbing in his brain.

His sense of hearing came back all at once, which he hadn't even noticed was impaired before. He could hear a cacophony from all sides. He had to be surrounded. He was too disoriented to be properly afraid or even to consider pretending to be asleep.

"Good morning, son of Hades." A voice that sounded like a paper shredder spoke to him. Nico pulled one of his hands out from beneath him and he found that it had gone numb. Or maybe his whole body had gone numb. There was an uncomfortable tingling sensation everywhere fabric touched his skin, his arms itched and everything else was numb. His hand was an angry red and it started to sting as blood returned to his fingertips. He hated that feeling.

The demigod pushed himself up onto his knees and was relieved to see that they were attached. His vision wasn't clearing so he started blinking to clear out the fog. It didn't do much but gradually he started to see a clearer picture. He rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands until they hurt. He didn't have time to be gentle with himself. He was likely surrounded by monsters and he needed to be able to see. He didn't understand why he was still alive, but he was going to make it their problem.

His eyes weren't the only things that were foggy, he couldn't seem to remember how he had come to be unconscious. If he could figure out what happened, he might be able to figure out where he was now and how much trouble he was in. The last thing he could remember was landing at the entrance of Nyx's palace and then nothing. He couldn't remember anything else and whenever he thought of Nyx he was overcome with intense anxiety and he had to think of something else. What had happened in there?

"We didn't expect anyone to be bold enough or dumb enough to try and take back the door from this side. Certainly not a lone demigod." Nico's eyes were clear enough to see a mass of red approaching him. He wasn't sure, but he didn't think that this being had legs. At least, he couldn't see where there was a division. Then he considered that the being may have a body more like that of a snake, but it didn't move much like a snake.

"So tell me," the being crouched in front of the son of Hades and gripped his chin in a fleshy hand, "Where are the others?" Nico put the pieces together. The red coloration, no individual legs, fleshy hands. This was Tartarus himself-- made from the same material as the floor. In fact, it looked like the membrane beneath his knees had risen to take the form of the primordial. The man didn't have legs because when he wanted to move, the membrane shifted with him like there was a man trapped beneath the flesh itself.

It was too much for Nico. He wrenched himself out of the being's grip and promptly lost the contents of his stomach. He was suddenly grateful that his eyes weren't fully clear yet because he wasn't sure he could handle the sight of Tartarus at the moment.