ɪ'ʟʟ ꜱᴇᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ᴀɢᴀɪɴ ᴡʜᴇɴ ɪ ᴇꜱᴄᴀᴘᴇ

The Doors of Death

First thing: go check out @Son-of-Nyx and @ImDoubleAgent1 for supporting my story so much! (ALTHOUGH THE 46 NOTIFS IN TEN MINUTES I GOT YESTERDAY WERE MOSTLY YOU GUYS! \_(•-•)_/ )

What seemed like it had been eons ago, Percy would have woven through the crowd like a ghost, ducking out of sight, trying to stay hidden.

That wasn't who he was anymore.

Instead, he held his head high, blending in with the monsters around him. After all, he was one of them.

Holding his wings high, he grasped Bob's broom in its spear form. Monsters gave him a wide berth as he dragged the tip along the ground, letting it carve a deep rivet into the earth (Is it still called earth if it's not really on earth???)

Anytime a monster even dared glance at him, he would casually tuck his hair back with one of his deadly claws, or flash a quick grin, making sure to show his glistening fangs. They quickly averted their gaze.

Monster, whispered his consciousness yet again. Yes. He was a monster. Yet, this is what it took to get back to Annabeth.

I'll see you again when I escape. He had whispered.

And he would do it over and over again, despite such a high price. She was worth more than he was.

Peering through the sea of scales and tails and blood-stained teeth, he saw the Doors of Death. Huge looming elevator doors. A mirror of those on Olympus, reflecting the marble and gold with obsidian and silver.

As another round of monster entered, hissing and snarling with another, he watched the doors rumble shut. The Titan at the door with huge ram horns jammed his finger on the button.

About twelve minutes later, he let go, and the chains restraining the door shuddered, shaking the ground beneath them. So... they were holding the door in place.

All he had to do was break them, and next time the doors left, they would move.

He drew his sword, walking almost to the front of the crowd before ducking into the shadows. The titans were sure to recognize him.

He needed to cut the chains, easy! Without Krios and Hyperion or about a million monsters noticing. And causing him to get killed in the process. Then again, when were the fates ever on his side?

"Would you MIND holding the button for a bit? My thumb feels like it's burning!" Krios snarled.

"Keep complaining and I might ACTUALLY burn it!" Hyperion snapped back, wheeling around to face his brother.

Taking the opportunity, Percy ducked behind the Titan of Light and towards the doors, folding his wings around himself in an attempt to shield himself from view.

"Oh, yeah? How'd you like it if I snuffed out your little fire!?!" Krios retorted.

Tip-toing around the bickering immortals, he quickly sliced through the first chain. The elevator shuddered quietly. He froze, afraid he might be discovered.

"In the name of Mother, why must you INSIST on antagonizing me!"

"Me?! You're the one who keeps whining like ZEUS, of all immortals!!!!" (He's too arrogant to compare themselves to people, so he used 'immortals' in its place)

Yeeeaaaah, he was probably safe. For now, at least.

Slipping behind a crowd of monsters shrieking about the hold up, he quickly brought his sword down on the second chain. It shattered, and the elevator gave another rumble.

Percy sighed in relief. He would just go into the elevator, ride it ba- THE BUTTON

It seemed that while he was going up... someone needed to hold the button. Yet, I was alone down here. How would I be able to find someone?

Or was this it? Would I die in this abysmal pit?

If it meant Annabeth was safe, all of his friends at the camps, the seven, Nico... then it was worth it.

If he could just get a few mostly harmless monsters in the elevator, send it off, then he could hold the button. Yeah, he's probably not survive the process, but once the elevator reached the top... well, then they would at least have a chance of winning this.

They'd just have to do it without him.

Percy raised his sword, ready to fight to his death... but it never happened.

The ground rippled, like a huge ocean. The crowd of monsters started murmuring, bumping into each other. Percy dug his sword into the ground to avoid sliding backwards.

"Perseus Jackson... how interesting. I never expected you to get this far."

~🌊