The Queen's Champion

Welcome To Tartarus

Ch. 16

"Don't you dare." Artemis said with tears in her eyes.

Percy smiled sadly at her, "I have to do this. I will be back. Find the doors of death. Nico, I'll give you your sword back there, I'll need a weapon of the Underworld. Thalia and I will meet you guys there. I love you Artemis." Percy said before he backed up to the edge of the pit.

Artemis tried to grab him but couldn't before Percy back flipped into the canyon and fell into the abyss of Tartarus.

Artemis dropped to her knees as tears fell freely from her eyes. No one spoke. Everyone was trying to come to grips with what had just happened. Percy had just willingly jumped into Tartarus in an effort to save his best friend.

Nico stared down into the abyss in shock and horror. His two best friends were now in the depths of the pit. A place even his father wouldn't venture into.

The hunters stared into the pit, all with tears in their eyes, not just for their sister and lieutenant but also for the one man they trusted. They had all just seen Percy kiss their mistress, the goddess of virginity and a maiden goddess. The older hunters knew their mistress and Percy liked each other and honestly weren't that surprised to find out they were in love.

After a couple minutes of silence, Nico turned toward everone with a look of grief on his face but also a fiery determination in his onyx colored eyes.

"We must get to the doors of death. If there are two demigods on this planet who can make it through Tartarus, it's Percy and Thalia. Percy will hold up his end and we need to hold up ours." Nico said in a commanding tone.

The other six members of the prophecy nodded their heads in agreement.

Jason finally regained his composure after seeing Thalia thrown into Tartaru00s, "He's right, if we don't get there it won't matter if they make it through Tartarus or not."

"Do you know where the doors of death even are?" Artemis asked quietly as tears still fell from her face.

Nico nodded, "Ephialtes said the doors of death are in Epirus, Greece. When he thought he was about to kill us, he bragged how we would have never made it to Epirus. He taunted me for not realizing the location of the doors was in a temple dedicated to my father. He said they were in a place called the House of Hades." Nico explained.

Artemis finally regained some of her composure, "My hunters and I will join you in the journey to Epirus. The doors will be heavily guarded by Gaia's forces. We will help you take control of the doors on the mortal side."

Nico nodded, "Thank you Lady Artemis. We are grateful for your aid."

"Return to your ship. My hunters will join you shortly. I must go to Olympus and inform the gods about what has happened here." Artemis said solemnly.

Nico led the other six members of the prophecy out of the coliseum while the hunters remained behind to speak to their mistress. Once the demigods were gone, Artemis turned to her hunters with a saddened expression.

"I'm sorry girls." Artemis said looking down.

"Do you love Percy Jackson milady?" Phoebe asked in a tone that didn't give away her opinion of the topic.

Artemis looked up into her oldest huntress' eyes, "Yes I do." She said softly.

Phoebe remained silent for a minute before nodding, "Good."

Artemis' eyes widened, "You're okay with it?" She asked in disbelief.

Phoebe smiled, "If it were any other man in the world then I would be furious and probably try to kill him first chance I got. But I don't know if the world has ever had a male even half as good as Percy. You heard him when he went off on Aphrodite, although that does explain why he got quite that angry. He took the weight of the sky for you when he was fourteen and just willingly jumped into Tartarus to save one of our sisters. I can't speak for anyone else, but I am happy you've found the best male this worlds's ever seen milady."