Ghost King Meets Batman

Goddess of Misery

[Edited July 27, 2022]

[I honestly don't have time to be doing this but for the 1 Mil celebration, I'll have to make time!]

[TW Gore and Horror, Derealization & Depersonalization, psychological distress, & brief suicidal ideation. I am serious so please read at your own risk.]

Nico's situation was getting more and more desperate by the minute. He had managed to dispatch or chase away all the curse harpies but not without a cost. He had been cursed-- his cracked ribs and the traitor's brand on his chest ached with every breath. There was also the fact that Nico was running dangerously low on firewater, though it didn't seem to have much of an effect on the curses. He'd just have to keep moving and hope that he could push through long enough to find a way to complete his mission.

To that end, Nico had a problem. One of many, at the moment, but still a problem. He didn't know where to find this goddess. The harpies had said something about her being the only one who could help him? Akhlys? The name bounced around in his brain. He knew that name from somewhere. Where? It felt important and it would have been infuriating to him if he weren't in so much pain. He wished he had paid more attention to the monsters and deities classes at Camp Half-Blood instead of doodling in his notebook.

He stopped on a ledge that was just barely wide enough for him to stand on if he pressed his back into the wall. His legs trembled and he prayed to anyone who could hear him that he wouldn't fall to his death. There was still quite a way to climb before he would be out of the Phlegethon canyon and he didn't think he'd be able to make it in this condition. Rifling through his utility belt, Nico brought out a pouch of ambrosia. He risked an entire square and took a breath of relief as a wave of warmth came over him. He hoped it was from healing and not that he had overdone it and was about to combust. It was doing something at least. It was a temporary fix. Curses would take more than ambrosia and firewater to heal. This was putting a bandaid on a bullet wound.

It was then that he realized how outmatched he was. He was dying. Slowly but surely these curses and this atmosphere were eating away at him. He was losing and he hadn't even reached the doors. How would he be able to fight off the army by himself? How did he expect to make it far enough through the swarm that was no doubt gathered around the doors? How could he expect to get close enough to the doors to even have a chance at freeing them?

Nico couldn't stand the idea that this had all been for nothing. He had given everything up so that he could give his friends on the surface a chance. They were risking their lives fighting an unbeatable army. They were relying on somebody to even the odds and Nico had every intention of making that happen. He had to. He had gotten this far, after all. It was a noble thought, but standing on that ledge with his knees shaking, Nico couldn't see how he was going to make that happen.

He had come down here with the understanding that it was going to be a one-way trip. He hadn't ever imagined that he'd be out before the final fight. A wave of defeat forced him to press himself tightly against the cliff face. This wasn't a battle he could win, was it? His eyes began to sting with unshed tears and he contemplated just leaning forward and letting gravity pull him to the canyon floor below. Gravity would be kinder to him than the monsters would.

Then he heard it-- the heart-wrenching wailing in the distance. Sounds of pure misery shook Nico to his very core. he found himself frozen to his spot as the sound brought forth every memory that he would have rather forgotten. Every moment he felt grief, betrayal, hatred, or pain came rushing to the forefront of his mind. His throat closed up and he clutched his hands over his ears though it did little to block out the sound. He felt repulsed and pulled to the wails in equal measure. He felt as though they were calling specifically for him. Then it fell silent and the whole of Tartarus seemed to be holding its breath.