The Legacy of a Demigod

Trial of Shadows

[Y/N's POV]

Beating yourself up was about to have a new meaning.

Despite the fact that the shades could only release choruses of whispers, they drowned out any chance Y/N had at thinking. He was surrounded, in a colosseum, like a gladiator of old, circling the battlefield opposite a lion. The difference is that this lion was a physical manifestation of the worst parts of himself, and unfortunately, those were also the strongest parts.

Y/N had barely, if ever released the true power of the demon. If it had ever happened, it was during the battle of the bridge. And even then it hadn't been a conscious, clear headed decision. All Y/N saw was that the love of his life was bleeding, and he had to save her no matter what.

That was the same love that he had abandoned with a Titan, only to come down here and deal with all of this alone. He knew that he would have to walk this path alone eventually, but it didn't make him feel much better that she could be gone by now.

He didn't want to think about it. Granted, the alternative was thinking about the fact that he was literally moments away from fighting what was a literal ghost from his past.

Well, it wasn't a ghost. It was a monster, the worst edges of himself that he had tried for years to shave off, to push down, to resist, only to stand up to it at the final moment possible, and kill it.

He thought he had killed it, killed it dead, but here it was, now a literal manifestation of his pain, all the rotted patches that had been appearing on his skin since he and Annabeth fell into Tartarus. And now, they were face to face.

'You have no idea how long I've been waiting, stewing, scheming.' it growled, its voice loud despite the fact that its voice topped out at a whisper.

'You thought stabbing me, wounding me, would be enough to rid you of my presence? No, boy. That little girl, the daughter of Hecate, she thought she had saved you, but she only left a part of me inside you.'

Bile rose in Y/N's mouth, trying to understand these taunts laid before him. Lou Ellen had saved him, yes, but now, he started to wonder. It wasn't that he trusted anything from this monster's mouth, but a couple of things lined up too well.

She told him in that moment before he came back to life, that to save him, she severed all ties to the demon. All but one. The one that would revive him, but now Y/N was starting to wonder if it was even worth it. That was a stupid thought, a doubt creeping up nerve to nerve, bone to bone, atom to atom until it reached the deepest part of his thoughts.

Of course it was worth it. Of course it was worth being alive, being able to still be here with Annabeth, to be with his family, with his friends. The only reasons he didn't lay down and die right in the middle of this arena.

That's why it was worth it. That's why he was going to beat this thing. He didn't know how, he didn't know why, but he damn well wasn't going to go out without a fight. He tightened his hold on Moonlight, the silver handle cool in his grip, contrasting the blistering heat he was now feeling in here.

He could hear the shades taunting, tormenting, whispering, telling him everything he had ever done wrong, telling him everything he was going to suffer through before Erebus cleared his ledger, and used Y/N for what he had always wanted to. To kill him, to destroy the very foundations of the light tied to the world above.

Down here, in the shadows, Erebus had control, and he wanted to spread that poison, seeping up through the cracks, which logically didn't make sense. Y/N was beginning to lose track of how many times he had said this. Nothing made sense in Tartarus.