Does the sun shine in Tartarus?

16 - punch mark

"Fight now, think later."

Percy had been repeating those words like a mantra for a while now, and Apollo was unsure whether he should be worried or not. On one hand, his mind could be stuck in a loop which could lead to Percy panicking like he had earlier with the 'no more'. That wasn't ideal, especially as they neared the heart of Tartarus. But on the other hand, it could be Percy's way of keeping himself in the present, not allowing himself to get caught up in the memories and fear. Fight now, think later. Hm. The demigod might be on to something.

Nevertheless, the way Percy kept repeating it over and over caused Apollo to grow somewhat concerned, and so he gently linked their arms together. He whispered into the son of Poseidon's ear, "What is Zeus' favourite cheese?"
Percy broke his mantra to look at the sun god strangely. "Why the hell would I know that?" He asked, with a ghost of a smile tracing his lips.
"Swiss cheese. Wanna know why?"
"Why...?"
"Because it's holey."
"Oh, fuck off."

Apollo laughed. "No can do, sea glass. You're stuck with me."
"Yay me," responded Percy dryly, and Apollo clutched a hand to his chest in a mock expression of hurt.
"You don't mean that!" he cried.
Percy rolled his eyes. "'Course I don't, sunny. Keep up."

Apollo grinned, and he swung his arms restlessly as they walked. It felt like they'd been walking for days - which they probably had, he realised - and neither of them had slept. Despite his eager desperation to get this quest finished as soon as they could, Apollo knew they couldn't go on much longer like this. And, they'd also need to be at full rest and energy for the final fight.
"Percy," he cleared his throat. "Percy. We need to rest."

The demigod avoided Apollo's gaze and kept walking, automatically falling silent. He fiddled with the cap on Anaklusmos mindlessly and Apollo sighed.
"You know I'm right."

"Let's just get this done and get out of here. Fight now, think later, remember?" muttered Percy, looking down at his blue converse that were scuffed and dirty. Apollo remembered the day Sally had given the other those shoes - he hadn't meant to look in on their life, but he did anyways.

"Mom, I'm fine, really. I just tripped."

Sally was fussing over a black eye that was painting Percy's face blue and purple, while Gabe slunk out of the apartment. Apollo had half a mind to deck him then and there, but he ignored that in favour of watching the exchange between the mother and son.

"Yeah, uh huh. That's a punch mark, Percy. I'm not naïve."
"Drop it, Mom," Percy's tone was pleading. "Please. I promise you, I just tripped over my own shoes."
"I'll get some more tomorrow. I'll pick up an extra shift or something, okay?" Sally pulled her son into a hug. "I love you, sweetie."
"I love you too."

"It was a punch mark," Apollo said, suddenly. Ignoring the quizzical look on Percy's face, he took the other's hand and tugged him along the track. If the boy wasn't going to rest, they might as well keep going. And Apollo didn't know how much longer he could stand the thick silence between them. "That day, when you got the shoes. It was a punch mark. From your wicked stepdad."

Percy stiffened, but kept walking, an expression of calm gracing his face. "I don't know what you're talking about," he replied, coolly. A quick glance at the stormy look in the son of Poseidon's eyes told Apollo that the conversation had strayed into dangerous territory, but the sun god pushed on.
"Yeah, you do. That black eye was from Gabe—"
"Don't say his name."
"From your stepfather," Apollo corrected, without further comment. "You didn't trip."

"Look," Percy sighed. "I dunno what you want to get out of this conversation. But whatever it is, you'll do without, because we are not talking about this. Not now. Not ever. Never."
Apollo frowned, but decided to respect Percy's boundaries. Tempting a fight would not do either of them any good, not with the finale so near in the future. He could tell the battle was growing near, from the way the air was so thick you could cut through it with a knife as from the foreboding sense of doom that had settled over him. It was coming. They had to be ready.

They walked, and they walked, and Percy never let go of Apollo's hand but the sun god didn't want to focus on that. Instead, all of his focus was on what they were about to do. This was Kronos. The Titan Lord. He wished he had asked his Oracle of Delphi, Rachel Dare, for a spare blue plastic hairbrush. That thing seemed to work a treat. But alas, they were hairbrush-less, and that would have to do.

An awful screeching filled the air and Percy ripped his hand out of Apollo's to uncap Riptide. Both men stood back to back, scanning the horizon for any threat, in a matter of seconds. They really were too good at this. Not even a minute after, a euronymai flew into view, screeching for food.
"Don't let it scratch you!" Percy yelled. "It does this weird zombifying shit!"
"Noted!" Apollo yelled back.

~~~

How to kill these? Percy's mind was running a thousand miles an hour as he dodged the monster and struck at it, trying desperately to remember whatever he'd learnt on these in monster studies (a crash course Annabeth had given him on the Argo). They are— were— Hazel's specialty to kill, Percy thought, ignoring the sharp pang the correction had on his heart. Oh, how he wished the daughter of Pluto were here. He missed her greatly, she was like a sister to him. He remembered messing around with her on the Argo, and how brave she'd been in Alaska, and seeing her all powerful and witchy with Hecate against Pasïphae. She was amazing.

She would have been much better on a quest like this than him.

Percy's thoughts were killing him, and he soon lost all focus on the fight, shooting Apollo a desperate look.

~~~

The sun god could barely react in time to see the euronymai slash at Percy's back.

~~~

Pain. Pain. Pain. There was so much pain. Percy sank to the ground.

~~~

Apollo got angry.

~~~

A flash of light, and the monster was gone, Percy could barely register anything but those two through the agonising throbs from his back. He'd been stupid, getting wrapped up in his thoughts. He couldn't risk getting injured at such a critical point in their quest and what had he done? Gotten injured.

~~~

Apollo cradled Percy's head, murmuring soft healing spells. His previous burst of power had taken a lot out of him, however, and his spells would only slow the effects of the scratch on Percy. If they were lucky, he'd still be able to fight against Kronos. But even getting him to walk within the next few hours would have been like asking a harpy for the moon.

A groan, and ten minutes later Percy sat up. Apollo gave him some nectar and ambrosia, unsure if they would help but figuring he might as well try. Oh Hera. He'd have to dress the wound.
"Percy," he murmured. "Lay on your stomach for a sec. I won't be a minute."
"Nnnnngh," groaned Percy again, and he did as he was told with only a little help required from the sun god.

Apollo found some bandages and muttered a quick protection spell over the wound before wrapping it tightly. He really didn't want to spend any more time than necessary looking at the injury - it was quite an unsightly thing, already crusted with black and reeking of a stench that could wake the dead. He shuddered and helped Percy sit up again.

"We're gonna rest here for a bit. I'm gonna regain some strength. And then we can square up and get the hell out of here—" Percy hissed in pain.
Apollo sighed. "You're only going to get weaker, sea glass. When we get back to the surface, I should be strong enough to heal you completely, but down here I cannot. I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault, Sunshine."
"We need to go. Can you stand?"

Percy sighed and nodded before struggling up, and he leant on Apollo. They kept walking.

(1417 words)

sorry for the wait!!