He clings to the edge, fingers bloody from scrambling for a grip, he can't hold on much longer, the pull of the pit below reminds Percy of his first quest. But now he is alone, anyone who might have been able to pull him up out of reach. The prophecy he remembers, the doors of death, Nico said they were down there. Perhaps Percy was destined to traverse the depths of Tartarus.
Annabeth was in the cargo bay of the ship helping secure the statue, when the ground gave way under him. Nico is still on the ground level because even weak from his time in the jar if something happened he would be able to shadow travel it to the surface.
The others were still holding onto the straps raising the Parthenos up. Hazel tried to warn Nico when she sensed the shift in the rocks below Percy, but she was tangled in the ladder and by the time Nico got over Percy was already fifteen feet down the cliff edge.
Now Nico leans over. There's screaming in the background, he can't see Annabeth but he knows she is safe and that is enough.
"Nico," Percy shouts, "the doors! Lead them there, I'll meet you"
Nico shakes his head still holding his hand out desperately, there were tears in his eyes. Gods, Percy thinks, Nico is still but a kid, he's the age I was on my first quest.
"Please," Percy pleads, "I finally understand what Bacchus meant. This is my path, watch out for them. But stay safe, you are family, and if I don't make it back, take care of Sally, she already thinks of you as a son."
The ledge he has is slowly deteriorating, "Nico! Promise you will try,"
Nico finally nods, "you will make it back. I won't need to take care of them." He said with such surety Percy almost believed him.
As Percy lets go he says one last thing,
"Tell wise girl that I love her."
The fall was long. Percy if asked wouldn't be able to tell. One thing he did know was that he slept several times when he could no longer stay awake. The daylight from above had long since disappeared, and he was surrounded by pitch black.
His eyesight adjusted fast enough, the ability he never appreciated as much as he should have. As a child of Poseidon he had to be able to see in the sunless depth of the ocean. So while it was no longer truly dark for him, the speed in which he was falling blurred his surroundings.
The light came without warning, it was dim, but enough for his eyes to sting as the tried to adjust. It was a red glow, and he is now able to see a huge realm below him. A realm he was quickly falling towards.
"Fuck" Percy whispers, suddenly regretting now trying to figure out a way to slow down before hand. He looked below him, watching the landscape grow close when he noticed it. The line cutting through the ground, a river. He feels it now, and instinctively reaches out to it.
There's a tug in his gut but the water feels sluggish, resistant. Panic bubbles in his chest, and the ground is extremely close to him now, he lets out a shout, and yanks. The water raises up to meet him.
It is cold. And whilst Percy could breathe it was as if he had downed a slushy, his lungs were frozen. And as he made a whirlpool, the water getting easier to control now, as if he had won control, he started to hear wailing. Millions of heartbroken voices crying out, as if the river was made of them.
What's the point? They told him. You won't survive down here. You are alone, and know nothing. It be easier to sink to the bottom and remain there the rest of his life. He slowly stopped the whirlpool.
They were right. Fighting is pointless. He knew nothing about the realm, if monsters could be killed in the pit, what unknown creatures called this place home.
"Seaweed brain." He mutters to himself. The nickname brings Annabeth to mind, and clarity returns. She was up there, unknowing if he would return. His mother doesn't know he has fallen. And Nico, the small emo kid, was expecting Percy to make it.
He retook the water and shot himself up onto the land. He laid sprawled there in the black sand, heaving trying to warm up his lungs. In hindsight he should have know something was wrong the instant he hit the water, temperatures never affected him. Once he could breathe without pain he pushed himself up, hissing in pain. Looking at his palms there was small shards of glass embedded in his palms.
And whilst the river had healed the scratches from his fall, Percy wasn't too keen on touching the misery river again.
As he stumbled to his feet, Percy noticed that blisters were starting to form on his arms and as he took a deep breath he started to cough, a small splattering of blood coming up. Great, Percy thinks, this place it killing me, the sand is glass, and the air seems toxic.
He swept his eyes across the landscape. There was red clouds like they were composed up vaporized blood, there was no ceiling to the realm. The landscape was black, pits and ledges surrounding him. Then he spots it. The car they had sent into the pit taking Arachne with it. Anger claws its way into him, and he suddenly vows if he sees her again he would make her suffer the way Annabeth had.
Percy walks to the car, searching it for anything useful. There were a few snack bars in the glove compartment, out of date, but food is food.
The backseat has a bookbag, it had a notebook and pencils, a pocket knife that could be useful, a bottle of water (he thanked whichever god was listening). When he got to the trunk there was a few flares that he added to the bag, some clothes, too small for him but he could cut them into bandages. The was a first aid kit that he also slides into the bag. There were a few more bottles of water he took as well. Once he deemed he got all the was useful, he took off. Following marks in the sand, that was if a giant spider was scuttling away.
He makes it a little bit further when he he sees a couple bronze glints in the sand. He sinks slowly, gently touching what he found. Annabeth's dagger and computer. He puts the computer in the bag, and using some cloth makes a makeshift sheath for the dagger. It is as he stands that his instincts scream, and riptide is out, he is already swinging at the creature behind him.
There is a shrill screech as the blade connects, removing a leg. Arachne backs up a little, blood leaking from the stump where one of her eight legs were cut off.
Percy flourishes his sword, a bloodthirsty grin stretching across his face. He rarely got to let loose in fear of harming friends. But here, he might as well.
"You are not Athena's spawn, you're of the sea, her lover that I have had visions of."
"Gods, Annabeth was right about you looking weird." He mentally face palms hating his ability to speak before thinking.
Arachne growled, lunging at him, pincers snapping at his face. He rolls under her talking two of her back legs. Arachne collapses with a howl.
Popping back onto his feet he lunges at her stabbing into her abdomen and leapt with a startling amount of strength landing in front of her. There is a look in her eyes, something akin to fear, as he swings the blade down, splitting her head in half. He stood above her, glaring, as she turned to dust.
At least they can die, Percy thinks before heaving over with a coughing fit, more blood coming up. He grabs a water bottle out of the pocket, taking a sip, he feels as his wounds start to heal, cuts on his back and knees from the ground close, the blisters disappear, and he can breathe clearly.
He takes another sip, feeling strength return to him fully. Before he knows it he has chugged the bottle. Idiot he berates himself, knowing he should have been rationing water until he finds a sustainable source. He tucks the empty bottle into the bag before looking around.
He closes his eyes, taking a deep breath, and expands his senses, searching for nearby water sources. He ignores the two remaining bottles on his back, spreading out further. He feels the rushing of a river, and he instinctively knows that it is safe to drink.He follows the tug, finding himself at a cliff edge, below fire is raging brightly, the warmth doesn't seem too harsh for his heritage. Still a river of fire is not what he had been anticipating.
Something Nico had told him after the quest in the underworld for Hades' sword had concluded wriggled into Percy's mind. He can't recall the name, but the river of fire, it is used on the prisoners in the fields of punishment to heal them to reface punishment with each day. It will heal, but its healing is still punishment, after all, you are drinking fire. Percy hopes his heritage will help increase the healing and decrease the heat. But first, he must get to the bottom.
The heat of the river below him, combined with scaling down the cliff, reminds Percy strongly of camp, it's been almost ten months since he had last seen it. Longing and nostalgia fill him. If he closed his eyes Percy could almost imagine he was climbing the lava wall back at camp, except if he closed his eyes he would fall, possibly to his death. And whilst he could probably survive the dip in the fire water, Percy wouldn't risk it. In the way down there are a few ledges that jet out far enough for him to sit and take a sip of water, enough to sustain him on the way and nothing more.
Slowly but surely, he lowed himself on to the ground. Fire licked up onto the riverbed, melting the glassy sand into smooth sheets of class. He approached the river, kneeling down, cupping his hands he spoke.
"Ok me, on the count of three you just gotta pick up some fire and chug it." He giggled, delirium might be catching up with him.
"One, two, three" he says before sticking his hands in the river, scooping up the water and chugging it. At first it was cold, then the heat hit him. He doubled over coughing tears steaming. But then he sits up, left over pain subsiding, and whilst yes it was hot, it wasn't as bad as he thought.
"Thank you dad." He whispers, thankful once again for his abilities. He fills the bottle with the river and since he finished another on the way down he fills it as well. He will keep them for later.
Percy stands, looks around the area and turns down the river, following a gut feeling. Something seems to be pulling him in that direction. And he knew to trust his gut if nothing else. His gut rumbles reminding him that it requires a fee, so he grabs a snack bar and starts to eat it as he follows the river downstream.
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