Percy Jackson and the Saviors of Tartarus

Discovery

Percy's POV

Riptide dragged a trail into the burnt black ground as it trailed behind me. I was too tired to even lift my arm, but I trudged forwards, step by step.  One foot in front of the other.

I had no idea as to how long it had been since I was down here. It could've been hours, days, or weeks and it would have made no difference. In the years since my last trip to this hell, I'd forgotten how little time meant down here.  It reminded me of the Labyrinth. The Labyrinth... that reminded me of Annabeth. I'd been fighting to remember every detail about her, but lately, little things were getting lost in the monotony of my new life. I couldn't quite recall the exact sound of her magnificent laugh or how her hand fit in mine. However, she was the only thing that kept me going. I had to find the doors of death, and I had to get back to her. It seemed like every step, that goal seemed more and more impossible, but I wouldn't allow myself to give up hope entirely. As long as there was any possibility of me seeing my Wise Girl again, I would clutch to it like my lifeline.

I heard something behind me and swung my body around to face it, using that momentum to pull my sword up into the air and cut the dracaena behind me in half with barely a thought. As its golden dust faded away, it revealed the crowd of other monsters gathered behind it. There were probably around seven of them. Normally I would need no assistance, but in my current state, I needed help.

'Aéras' I called in my head.

'Got it.' She responded, sounding absolutely exhausted. I didn't blame her, I was running completely on adrenaline and false hope and didn't see how I was going to last much longer, especially with the constant monster fights. She appeared, still bloody from our last fight, with her head slumped over however hard she tried to hide it. She bucked her head at the nearest dracaena, and I took this as a sign to start the fight.

I ran forward and ducked under the monster's blade, rolling and cutting through the back of her calf, exhausted from the slight effort.  She dissipated and I turned to the next one.  It advanced and I blocked the blade, just barely, and managed to pry it from her grip.  It went flying and landed in the river.  The monster hissed and, now angered, sprinted towards me with an unearthly speed.  She thrust her thumbs towards my eyes and I grabbed her wrists, busing them away from me.  She pushed back at me, and she had the upper edge.  Her hands were slowly approaching her eyes when she dissipated.

I saw Aéras standing where the monster had just been when she slumped forward and fell to the ground from exhaustion.  When I tried to rouse her, I found that she had fallen completely unconscious.  I sighed as she slowly turned into light and merged with me once again.  Usually when she joined with me, it made me feel revitalized, but now I just felt bogged down.

I stumbled forward a few steps when the ground shook beneath my feet. The motion stopped as soon as it began. The first thing my mind jumped to was an earthquake. I realized this was very improbable, as I had never felt an earthquake in all of the time I'd been there. Only when the motion stopped and started again did I realize what it was. Footsteps. Slowly, dreading what I would find, I turned. I was met with the worst possible scenario. There was a giant towering before me, his face so high up it was clouded in the natural darkness of Tartarus.

"Why, we meet again, Percy Jackson." I could not tell who the giant was, but at that moment, I didn't care.  For once I had no inclination to fight the creature and show him up.  I just wanted to run.  Run far away and hide and never come out.  The giant took yet another step forward and I moved back.  I held up my hands in surrender.

"Please," I whispered, my voice cracking in desperation.  I knew it was in vain, but I had to try.  I wasn't sure I could fend off a mosquito, never mind a giant.  The giant put out a humongous hand and picked me up by the collar of my shirt. 

It said only one word. "No."  The giant pulled his arm behind his head and, with a groan, threw me as hard as he could, deeper into Tartarus.  I found myself wishing he'd just killed me.

• • •

As I flew through the air, only one thing consumed my mind.  Complete and utter terror.  My mind flashed back to when I had first flown, the freedom and weightlessness drifting through my veins.  Only this was the complete opposite.  I felt out of control and hysterical.  After a solid block of time spent freaking out, I managed to shove my fear to the back of my head.

I thought about my options.  One: I could use my wings.  I quickly ruled this out as I was moving so fast I would most likely hurt my wings if I tried, and Aéras was exhausted beyond measure.  Two: I could try and navigate myself with the moisture in the air and soften or slow my fall.  This was too rejected, as I was beyond exhausted. 

That left only my final option: hit the ground and die.  Of course the thought of the relief of death had been in the back of my mind since the very beginning of my stay in Tartarus, but I had never allowed myself to explore it.  My main goal was just to see Annabeth once more.  Since she was immortal, if I died, there was no saying how long it would be until she joined me.  It could be years, decades, or even eons.  At least while I was still alive, there was still a chance, no matter how thin, that I would see her again soon.  Only now did I realize how impossible that goal seemed, and the mortality of my situation.  Finally, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.  In and out. 

As I awaited my deadly fall, I made sure that Annabeth was the only thing on my mind.  I closed my eyes and pictured her.  For the first time in a while, every detail was finally clear.  I was at peace.

A ripple of energy not my own passed through my body and reinvigorated me.  I opened my eyes just as my fall began to slow although I was still a good twenty feet off the ground.  I watched the ground grow closer and braced myself just in time for the impact.

I hit the ground hard, but not hard enough for any serious injury or nearly as hard as I should have.  Laying on the ground for a moment, I gathered the energy needed to sit up.  The wave of energy I'd gained when the magic passed through me was already wearing off.  When I stood up, a sharp pain spread throughout my entire right side.  My breathing rasped and every movement hurt.  I coughed and something warm and thick filled my mouth.  Blood.  I immediately knew that I had broken some ribs and one had punctured my lung.  I stumbled forward, the full weight of my exhaustion catching up to me.

I was ready to just give up and fall to the ground once more when I heard an out of place sound.  It filled my ears and spread through my body.  I heard laughter.  Laughter in Tartarus.  It wasn't an evil 'I love watching people suffer' laughter, but a more human, genuine enjoyment kind of sound.  There was a hill before me and it seemed to be coming from just beyond it.  I stumbled my way up the hill, filled with more hope than I could ever remember having.  Once I made it to the top, I spotted a little brick cottage.  Even from a distance I could see the moss and other native Tartarus plants sneaking up its walls.  The windows were lit and smoke blew out of a chimney, and laughter continued filling the air around me. 

"Hey," I called, my voice barely more than a whisper.  "Hey!" I tried again, only a little better.  I continued down the hill letting gravity do most of the work for me.  "Help!"  I shouted.  "Help me!"  I shouted it again  and again, ignoring the screaming of my lung and the blood filling my mouth.  I was less than thirty feet from the door when my legs began to give out.  The door swung open and three shadowy figures were revealed, illuminated by the light behind them.  They raced from the house towards me just as I began to fall, the world fading with me.