Percy Jackson and the Saviors of Tartarus

Offer

Percy's POV

All the color drained from his face. "Tartarus."

• • •

I backed up, blocking Annabeth and fighting the urge to get as far away from him as I could. However, as I continued to stare at the primordial, I realized that something seemed... off. This figure was a relatively normal size, around seven feet tall, and it lacked the scariness and ferocity that he had had the first time we met. I still had nightmares about the moment and could remember the details vividly, making the differences stand out even more. As I watched, Tartarus seemed to flicker in and out of view. His face was solemn as he looked into the room.

"Who are you?" Jenna demanded, hand hovering over her bracelet.  Tartarus looked to me and Annabeth.

"I am who you think, but not quite."  His deep voice seemed to spread through the room and rattle in my head. 

Alex looked over, scared and confused. "What does he mean?"

"Please," Tartarus completely disappeared for a few seconds before reappearing.  "Let me explain." 

"Ok-" Neo began before Annabeth cut him off. 

"No way!" She exclaimed.

"Wait, let us talk."  Alex said. We huddled together.  "Do you really think we can trust him?"

"No," I said, but Neo shrugged.

"I'm interested in hearing what he has to say."

"Didn't you guys notice he's fading?  We could take him." Jenna added, eyes narrowing, looking ready for a fight.

"I can tell you if he's telling the truth." Neo offered.

I saw the gears turning in Annabeth's head.  "How about this, we'll talk to him outside, so we're not stuck.  All of us should hold hands as well, so Percy can get us out if needed.  Good?"  Everyone agreed, and we turned to face the primordial in the door. 

Alex told him our terms and he agreed.  He lead the way outside, walking with his back hunched and like every step hurt.

"What is going on?" Annabeth whispered to me, and the only thing I could do was shrug cluelessly. Once we had walked a few hundred feet, Tartarus seemed to tire out and sat where he was. We all gathered a good way away from him, linking hands in a line. I was in the middle with Annabeth in my right and Neo on my left.

(A/N: I'm making all this up for the story) Tartarus sighed. "I guess I need to start with a little back story. When the primordials we were created, it was with the idea that we would all be perfectly neutral. Not bad, and not good. Each primordial has two separate entities within it, one bad and one good.

"As you know, many of us are now often though of as being bad, or good. This is the result of one entity becoming more powerful than the other." I saw a look of sudden understanding flash across Annabeth's face. "As Tartarus, me and the other side were designed to trap the titans. This meant to be cruel, and that was the Other's job. Mine was to control the monsters and make sure they weren't regenerating at a rate too quickly for those in the mortal realm to handle.