𝙻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚕𝚢 || 𝙿𝚒𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝙼𝚌𝙻𝚎𝚊𝚗

𝔽𝕚𝕣𝕖

Chapter four

(My apologies for the wait)

<|><|><|>

So maybe Thea had lied to herself when she decided to get up with a lot of energy and try to find the way out of the hellhole, because just a minute or two into her walk she already felt ready to collapse again.

Walking hurt, breathing hurt, and thinking hurt even more. At every step, she had to be cautious. At any moment, an unfriendly hellhound or another psycho harpy could come out to claim her life, or if she were even more unlucky, Enceladus, the giant she and her friends had defeated at the end of last year, would be somewhere down there, waiting for the perfect time to get some revenge.

At one point, the daughter of Hades had to hide behind a boulder as a flock of Dracaena (seriously, why were there so many of them around) walked past. Something about the terrible air and state she was in must've hidden some of her scent.

Usually, any monster would be attracted to the smell of a child of one of the big three, but all the ones she'd seen after getting down had not taken an extra second to look for her unless she was out in the open.

Maybe they weren't used to demigods in Tartarus.

She kept close to the fiery river the whole time as she walked, knowing that if some other attacks were to happen it would be the best shot at healing the wounds that usually would have disappeared much quicker.

Demigods, no matter the parent, had a knack for healing faster than ordinary mortals, but Tartarus was designed to kill, so every little cut or bruise refused to stop hurting.

If Thea was being completely honest, she was losing hope of getting out of Tartarus at all. She'd been walking around for what felt like days but could have easily just been minutes. The little ambrosia she had before had been eaten or lost somewhere after the fall, so it was no use.

The only thing keeping her going was the distraught look on Nico's face as she forced him to let go.

Piper and Leo would get over it after a little time, she knew that. In their lives, she had just been a small addition, so what would be the reason for hoping they would miss her for more than a couple of minutes?

Marielle would, hopefully, take a while to get over the loss of her, but Thea knew the daughter of Ares would get over it in the end. She was strong, and Lilith's death hadn't had much of an impact on her, though Thea suspected the two hadn't really been as good of friends as she had originally thought.

Maybe Marielle would grieve her and get a new friend to create new memories with, no harm done. Maybe it would just be better if Thea didn't get out. Maybe the river had been right. Maybe this wasn't worth the attempt.