Race To Tartarus

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Percy watched in amusement from his chariot. This was the first time that he'd actually had a chance to see it. A wedding gift from Ares, the chariot watched over any who were in battle, and right now, Ten was having a rather hard time freeing a particular Titan.

Selene had answered the son of Abaddon when he'd called for her but so far she'd done the same thing as Percy, she had sat back and watched in amusement as Tenacious struggled to comprehend a plan.

"Why are you even bothering? I definitely wouldn't." Selene shrugged casually.

"Wait, isn't he your brother or something?" Ten was caught off guard by that. Back on the chariot Percy had been overseeing this and numerous other things while he was in a good position to do so. Kronos was finally speaking with Leto whom had been freed much earlier, between them they would free the Titans who were in no way guarded by any of Abaddon's lesser forces.

With a mere thought, Percy had suddenly appeared at the gaping mouth of Tartarus, "So are we going down there or what?" He asked them casually.

Ten gave him an estranged look and Selene had straightened up in his presence which he believed to be entirely unnecessary. "This Selene is the daughter of a primordial. The OTHER Selene is that Titan's sister, both children of Hyperion." Percy informed him casually.

"Right. So let's get this over with." Selene commented, getting up and walking over to where Ten was peering over the edge that would lead to a sheer drop towards Tartarus.

"What's the hold up? You're powerful enough to erase Tartarus itself from existence completely, you can't be feeling stage fright." Percy asked, looking at Tenacious who was still not convinced that going down there was the best idea.

"I know right?" Selene chuckled, "If he couldn't fly then I'd have pushed him off the edge ages ago." She sighed.

"I'm just wondering whether or not I'll accidentally kill anything upon my entry. There might be demi-gods that do not belong down there. Tartarus is still bitter about his loss at your hands Perseus." Tenacious explained before he himself had let out a loud laugh.

"Last one to reach the bottom has to listen to all of Apollo's favourite haikus." Percy bellowed before he jumped over the edge, his body had narrowed into an arrow that was bolting down the dark passages with blinding speed, his legs had turned into a jet of pure darkness that trailed in his wake.

Percy had thought it was a good idea until he saw Ten go faster than he had believed possible, even for someone that was the son of Abaddon. He passed Percy like it was nothing at all. The next thing to approach him was Selene, a brightness that would offend the eyes of most, fast approaching him.

"Oh no, I'm not going to be the one encouraging the sun god." Percy laughed again before he let out a burst of power that had propelled him forwards even faster, the most surprising thing was that even at his utmost power, his fastest speed that he could muster, he was still not as fast as Tenacious, he was still recovering somewhat but that didn't change the fact that Chaos' 'anomaly' was actually capable of faster speeds than he was. He wasn't happy about that, perhaps he would actually train himself once he was back in Asgard.

As Percy's thoughts travelled back to his kingdom he realized that he had overlooked one incredibly important thing; Artemis. His last moment with her was of him forcing her back to Asgard once he'd cut off her demand for a child, and now here he was, plunging head first into Tartarus yet again, she was sure to kill him this time.

Asgard

Ragnar walked through the endless meadows that sat below Valhalla, this was where the general of the armies had been allowed to train. Very few were allowed this privilege and he was proud to have been granted such an honour.

It was in these lush green fields that he held such gruelling personal sessions, it was here that day after day he continued to build the legend that he was, Ragnar was a god among men yet he wasn't comparable to a man when one considered his gods. He needed to improve, he always needed to better himself.

Despite becoming accomplished enough to be both formally and informally recognized within Odin's court alongside that of both of his sons, Thor and Perseus, he still felt like he needed to overcome one final barrier; he was still just a man, and he intended to achieve Godhood one way or another.

"Ragnar." He was brought out of his personal musings when the queen had come striding over, not even phased by the intense obstacles that were lain from the beginning of the meadow, she circumnavigated them with such ease that it must have been second nature. He wasted her with pride and respect, this was a queen that he would happily follow into battle.

"Yes my lady?" He asked, kneeling in front of her as she finally caught up to him.

"Do you know the whereabouts of my husband? He seems to be up to something but his control over his powers are returning and I cannot seem to find him anywhere.

"Aye, I received word half an hour ago of his whereabouts. If I inform you, you must first promise over Odin that you will not destroy me." He told her quickly, holding his hands up to defend himself against what he honestly expected was her inevitable wrath.

"No." She glared, almost growling at the way he had worded it.

"Fine, worth a shot. He has ventured into Tartarus to free Helios with his champion, Tenacious." Ragnar told her quickly.

She was surprised to say the least yet she wasn't angry with him or at all. "Oh well that isn't as bad as I-" She quickly stopped, her face had gone pale. "What was that last word?" She asked, a deadly edge to her voice.

"Tenacious, milady." Ragnar wasn't sure of the significance.

"I may have misheard your sentence, but when you said that... WORD, you meant it as an adjective, yes?" She glared at him, daring him to disagree.

"No, it is the man's name. I know nothing of hi-" Once again Ragnar had been cut off.

"No." Artemis' eyes had glazed over with what Ragnar could only ever describe as pure unadulterated fury.

"No?" He was confused, what was wrong with that name? Had she met the man previously? He knew of the tales of Artemis in Greek mythology, she hated men of all kinds, perhaps she had already met King Perseus' champion.

"No." She continued, still in her own little world.

"What is wrong Lady Artemis?" He asked, trying to bring her back to the present.

"No." She said once more, this time Ragnar let silence reign for a moment where they both just stood in the green meadows.

"Milady?" He tried once again, this time she seemed to snap out of it and looked around in confusion, she glanced back at Ragnar before nodding at him and quickly making her way back towards the city, not another word had come from her.

Ragnar let out a breath that he didn't realize he'd been holding, that was far too tense for him, and he'd been in more than a few immortality threatening moments.

Artemis had met that man once before, a hundred years ago, but back then she'd believed him to be a... She didn't know what she thought he was, but now it was evident that he was something else entirely. That man was bad news, especially seeing as he was completely indestructible, though if he was serving Percy directly, he'd probably need it.

It just meant that Artemis now had two punching bags instead of one when those idiots finally emerged from Tartarus.

Without thinking she wandered over to a scarcely populated area of the fields surrounding the palace. The sun shone down beautifully. Her gaze fell upon a marvelous stone with two black diamonds each the size of her body, jutting out from within. Nobody knew how to crack those black diamonds save for Percy as it was HIS weapons that resided within. He'd been far too busy to see about freeing them right now but it was the first thing on his mind when he returned, that much Artemis did know.

She had a sneaking suspicion as to why she could feel two strong aura's blitzing around from within the black diamonds as well, but that was something that was only going to be confirmed once Percy returned... Percy.

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