XXXII
Percy watched the Queen of Olympus flash away in a pillar of golden light.
He had a set task now.
He had a time limit.
And since arriving in this time, he found purpose and direction.
The demigod had to move.
But first, he had to ensure the safety of the Tesseract and his own identity. Despite his desire to take it with him, right now the safest place for it would be with Fury and SHIELD until he could find a more secure location for it after he dealt with the Parthenos.
However odd it was, it seemed that the Queen of Olympus couldn't care any less for the Infinity Stone.
Percy didn't dwell on it however, the mind of Hera didn't concern him nor would it score him any points in the ally department if he questioned her.
Until the Giant War was over, he was quite possibly at her disposal to do with as she wished. The Queen of Olympus had granted him a chance at living to fight another day. The demigod doubted it had anything to do with a warm heart but instead with a cold and calculated cost.
He represented a chance at something that could be prevented.
Allowing him to live instead of dying upon the muddy ground of Louisiana was a measured cost. His surviving of the Master Bolt as long as he had must have been a testament to his strength because he doubted any other being would have been given even the time of day to speak with the Queen of Olympus.
Her curiosity piqued and his own words had allowed him this second chance.
And he was determined not to waste it.
The demigod maneuvered to face Iliana and Nibble, the dryad having rose from her kneeling position and wringing her hands together nervously while the large alligator flicked his scaly and heavy tail around, sweeping the mud like a fan.
He was stretching as he did so. He could already feel the sudden burst of energy begin to leave him and the pain and soreness return and a sudden cramp took hold on the back of his leg.
He stretched again.
Percy may have been granted some hours to live but that did not guarantee that he wouldn't return to what was effectively a catatonic state before then.
He would need to move.
And he would need to do so fast.
"I want to thank the both of you." He said in sincerity as he looked to them both. "I won't forget what you've done here for me."
Nibble crooned as the alligator lifted its head in a puppy-like manner and Percy obliged the large reptile and scratched lightly underneath its jaw.
"It was our pleasure to play host for you, Lord Apollyon. You owe us nothing." Iliana's previously nervousness being sapped away as she curtsied slightly. He internally cringed at the title.
The demigod didn't think he would ever get used to it.
The rains continued to downpour and lightning arced erratically in the sky. However, as a nature spirit she was wholly unaffected by the weather and in fact seemed to revel in it.
"No. I owe you my life. If-" She cut him off with a dismissing wave of her dainty hand.
"Lord Apollyon, if what you say is true, then it will be us who owe you debts that will never be fully repaid." Iliana cut in and sighed. "I simply wish it was not under the threat of death."
Percy wished he could say the same.
But the shadow of death had always loomed over him as if he were carrion.
It was only now that he was racing against an even tighter clock than usual.
He had a handful of hours to recover the Parthenos from the den of one of the most deadly monsters in the Immortal Realm before his body failed him. And even then it seemed that Hera's magic would fade in that time as well.
The longer he stalled and wasted time, the risk of his body shutting down and the pain once again becoming unbearable to even stand would rapidly grow.
He nodded. "I still won't forget." And he meant it. She could have left him for dead or even let others know of his existence. Yet she didn't.
The dryad looked down towards the alligator. "Come on, Nibble. Let's get out of this rain."
And with those words, the dryad and alligator regarded the demigod one last time before turning and walking away and fading into the darkness and billowing trees and rain.
Percy turned on his foot, grasping Thyella in his relatively uninjured hand.
The familiar weight of the sword proving to be of comfort for him. At a mental command, he dismissed the rest of the wildlife around from his service. They left with little fanfare but did regard him one last time in respect before leaving his presence.
The demigod trudged through the rain and wind towards the mortal residence.
He rapped on the door and he could feel the charred flesh of his knuckle crinkle and break apart against the wet door.
It was an odd feeling and it stung the bone underneath.
He knocked again when there was no answer.
A moment later, he heard a shifting and the turning of the doorknob.
The door creaked slightly and he saw the head of Maria Rambeau peek through. Her eyes of previous suspicion turning wide at the sight of him as she swung the door to allow him in.
He did so, pushing past her as she maneuvered to get out of the doorway.
An even odder sight greeted him. Alien Skrulls lounging and resting on the wooden paneled floors of the home, in blankets. The alien girl he handed the Tesseract to on the stairs and looking at him in slight fear. Monica beside her looking the same.
The canister that contained the Tesseract in between her legs.
Eyes turned to meet him and surprise and worry clouded in them.
He disregarded the stares though as he saw Carol run into the room, in her black, red and gold suit, her fists slightly shining in waving golden clouds of energy.
At the sight of him, the energy instantly dissipated, her eyes wide in disbelief and she made to speak. "You're ali-"
"No questions." Percy's words cut in before the questions could begin as he went for the Tesseract, ignoring the looks odd look he was receiving from the hybrid.
He could feel the serene whispers begin to invade his mind as the girl pushed the canister into his broken hand.
Percy hesitated and flexed the charred appendage and spared it a glance between the two. He hoped his hand wouldn't break from simple use regardless of the Queen's magic, as his entire arm had taken a glancing hit from the Master Bolt.
After the moment's hesitation, he took the canister and moved away to Carol and Maria. "I have things that need to be done and not a whole lot of time to do it. Where's Fury?" He needed to move fast. For his own life and for the survival of Olympus.
Maria gestured for her daughter to come and follow as Carol quickly led him towards the family room, where Fury was nursing a glass of juice. Disregarding his bandaged eye, he didn't look to be dying anytime soon.
"Jesus, you look like you've been through hell."
Percy physically recoiled at the thought, a flash of the burning hellscape of Tartarus in his mind. He pushed away the thought.
He hated that expression.
"It feels like it." Percy retorted in an even voice. "Sorry about the eye but you got in my way."
Fury regarded him and then his eye flicked to Carol who stood beside him. "Next time I make googly eyes at an alien space monster, you let me know."
"My bad." Carol sheepishly said and clenched her hands slightly.
Percy shook his head as he stepped over to the SHIELD agent.
The demigod hesitated for a moment as he felt the pull of the Stone from within the container in his mind. A desire to be used and wielded being implanted in his thoughts, to use it to crush the immortals that would go against Olympus immediately. He pushed it away as the feeling reminded him eerily of the Aether. As he wasn't in direct contact with the Stone, it was little effort to push the feeling away and present the canister to the SHIELD agent. "Here's the Tesseract. I'm leaving this in your care until I return."
The power however…it was an allure that scratched at his mind. The possibilities that could be granted when using a pillar of creation against the Time Lord and Earth Mother grated on his mind.
He wouldn't give in though to the temptation. The Stone would be a target and a vital one at that. Percy couldn't risk it falling into the hands of their enemies.
He didn't doubt the Stone's sentience or power, but it scared him that it had such an influence on him.
He mentally waved it away.
One step at a time.
"As much as I would love to help you out, I don't want the space cube." Fury said quickly as he shook his head. "Have Vers…" He heard a cough from behind him. "Er…Danvers, take it. All it'll do is bring Earth trouble."
"No." Percy said as he set it in front of the mortal. "I am charging its protection to SHIELD. This isn't a request. You will do it."
Fury stood to confront him. "You don't ge-"
But Percy was faster. In the moment it took Fury to rise from his seat, Percy had dissipated Thyella to her home within his satchel and with his more functional hand, had will a thick and heavy Mist into existence. It coated his hand like a white blanket and Percy grasped onto the side of Fury head. The intent to forget Percy and all he had learned of him in the demigod's mind along with an additional intent to protect and secure the Tesseract until such a time that it didn't need protection.
Better safe than sorry.
He didn't need Fury looking for him as he dealt with everything in the coming years.
And if the Asgardians came for it before Percy found a better place to put it, then Fury would be inclined to return it to them rather than continue to protect it.
Hopefully, nothing more would be needed.
Fury stumbled as his eyes lolled into the back of his head and Percy caught him by the lapels of his leather jacket before he could fall further. The man was out like a light as the Mist worked its magic and the SHIELD agent fell backwards limply in the chair.
"What the hell?!" Maria shouted startling all those around and Percy whipped around before Carol could move from her surprised state. His hand coated in the Mist once again as he grasped her head, the same intent on his mind but disregarding the instruction to protect the Tesseract.
Her eyes lolled into the back of her head as she fell to the side. Percy caught her and kneeled as he set her softly on the ground.
Carol raised a fist of energy in alarm and seemed prepared to attack. "Stop." Percy intoned, raising his injured hand. The blackened ash hand, looked like it was made of craggily obsidian with melted gold across its surface rather than any human hand.
"What the hell are you doing?!" The hybrid got into a fighting stance.
"Saving their lives." Percy defended as he explained, standing up as he did so. "I'm removing myself from your memories."
"You're messing with their minds?!" That was probably not the best thing to say to someone that had their entire life removed forcibly from their mind. The whole altercation caused a couple of the sleeping Skrulls to shift.
"Uh what's wrong with my mom?" A small and fearful voice said from the entryway of the sitting room. Percy's gaze snapped to her and Carol attempted to place herself between the two of them.
"She's just resting. Taking a nap. Its been a long day." Percy lied. Or rather, said? It wasn't exactly a lie but it wasn't exactly the truth either.
There was small silence as Carol narrowed her eyes at him.
He decided to be as truthful as possible.
"Its for your protection. Just knowing about me places you in danger." His hand coating once again as he stood from his crouched position. "Listen, I don't have time to explain. It's entirely harmless."
They both looked at him, one in confusion another in suspicion.
"Carol. Its for your own protection." He repeated. "I don't know the specifics. I just know that it works. When you wake up, it'll be like I never existed and should I return, I may restore your memories."
Unlikely.
Maybe he would do so for Fury, as becoming the Director of SHIELD in the future would only be beneficial to Olympus. If the Chitauri were to attack as they did in his time, Percy would be able to work and prepare the mortals using SHIELD.
Then they wouldn't be so reliant on the team of so-called heroes.
The others however, served no purpose and thus would only be placed in unnecessary danger should they know.
In the silence that followed, Monica stepped from behind her. "Does it hurt?"
"No. You'll just be taking a nap. That's all." Percy assured the small girl as he crouched in front of her.
She took a deep breath before nodding.
Percy wasted not a moment and brought his Mist-cloaked hand to her temple. The moment it made contact the small girl grew drowsy, swayed and fell into his waiting arms where he quickly set her beside her mother.
The demigod looked back to Carol who had a look of conflict across her features and looked torn and confused from the sudden turn of events.
Another silence.
"You can get my memories back?" The hybrid asked evenly, her fists flaring slightly as small tendrils of energy flicked across her arms. Percy could see a slight hope brimming in her eyes.
"Not enough to help you. Like I said, its hard to explain. Magic is finnicky and I've never been the best at it. If I were to try and restore yours, at best I'd do nothing. At worst, I'd leave you a vegetable. Its not worth the risk." He paused. "I know others that can. If you let me do this, I'll be able to help you in the future."
She shook her head as she looked between him, Monica, who was resting her head in Carol's lap and the other sleeping mortals. "I can't let you take my memories from me."
Percy understood why she would be hesitant and against the manipulation of her mind. She had her entire life torn away from her and couldn't remember any of it. His own experience with losing years of his life to darkness notwithstanding, he wouldn't press the issue.
The mortals, on the other hand, had no choice. Especially, Fury. He already had a tendency of sticking his nose where it didn't belong.
It was not like he was in any state to be pushing for fights he could avoid The Spider would be his sole concern for the moment. Any and all other altercations would be avoided.
He felt a small feeling of pin and needles begin at his abdomen before it erupted in a small flare of pain for dying down to the pins and needles.
Percy winced and clasped his more injured right hand against the spot. He needed to speed this up. Whatever hours that were granted him seemed to be less than ideal.
The Queen of Olympus was not going to take any chances with him. She lost nothing in him as Percy had already gave her the warning to prepare. He figured he already changed a lot from that simple meeting.
It didn't matter to her if the Parthenos was recovered or not. It would simply be a bonus now.
Carol creased her eyes in worry at the action and while it looked like she wanted to say something about it, she didn't.
Not that it would do her any good. He had things that needed his complete attention and rest was probably among the last of them.
Regardless, Percy didn't know the extent of Olympian influence in the wider universe, but he could use his powers off of the planet. Asgard was evidence of that. He figured it was safe to assume they really didn't care what happened beyond the planet.
But then again for all Percy knew, they did and allowing Carol to leave with knowledge of him would just be signing a death sentence for her.
"I won't be staying on Earth…" She trailed off. Percy figured she already thought this through. "Figures as soon as I find my home, I have to leave it." There was a small silence as her laugh rung with hollowness
"I'm sorry." Percy said, dissipating the Mist that adorned his hand. Thunder boomed outside and the demigod craned his neck to peer into the crack of the window. He took that as his cue to get a move on. He began to move towards the exit taking care not to wake any of the sleeping Skrulls. "Remember not to mention me."
"When will I-we see you again?" She asked, quickly correcting herself. Percy stopped at the doorway and turned to face her. She had put Monica in her mother's arms and had stood to face him. Percy shrugged. He didn't have the heart to tell her that there was a good chance that it would be many years if at all.
Even in his time and as a teen he was swamped with his duties and quests however unknown they were.
And since Percy would be taking an even more active role in preparing Olympus for the wars to come, he had his doubts if he'd even have the time for his own rest.
Carol looked to Fury. "I gave him a beacon. I modified his pager to contact me in case something like today ever happened again. I thought with you…" The hybrid trailed off again. "I didn't want Terra to be without a protector."
"It's fine." He said in a low and soft voice. She may be willing to face death herself, but Percy could tell that she had a hard time with the subject when it concerned others.
"So if you ever have the time, just snatch it from him and give me a call." Carol said quickly and a little awkwardly though with a small and slight smile.
Percy doubted he would ever simply…'have the time'. He nodded however, he did promise a restoration of her memories when this blew over.
The Goddess of Memory and her children would be uniquely adept at that particular task.
While he was at it, he figured he might have her restore his memory of those two years. Percy figured he was deserved some closure with what had happened. He mentally shook his head, he doubted it mattered all that much now since he was displaced. Clinging onto any sentiments of his time would only hamper and distract him.
The demigod would have to move on from everything he had ever experienced. His family and friends that he had decided to leave behind. All that he had sacrificed. All that he had ever known.
He would remember for his own mental sanity.
But there would be no point in clinging onto and reminiscing of events that would never happen.
Percy nodded at her words.
And with that, he turned and opened the door to the storm outside and closed it behind him. He relished the cool air and winds that clung to him. The rain helping a little to ease the pains that began to grow throughout his body.
The demigod had one more destination before he turned his full attention to Arachne.
He pulled a thick cloud of Mist over his body as if he were pulling down a set of drapes, a conscious and active effort to remove himself from view as a charred mess of metal and flesh into an unassuming mortal.
Then he thought of the outside of the SHIELD offices in Los Angeles. A clear picture in his mind.
And a moment later he felt his body distort into mist and pull in that direction. He blinked and he found himself standing before the unassuming office building. Many government vehicles were parked in the lot and Percy began his work.
With what had went down in the past couple days, it looked like the office was packed to the brim and he had heard a passerby say complain of it being crowded since the entire branch was there.
It was easy if a little tedious.
And the pain of the Master Bolt grew ever larger as he worked.
He simply walked through and snapped his uncharred fingers at whoever he encountered with the intent to forget Percy on his mind. Since they didn't have as much if any significant interaction with him, they didn't instantly just fall asleep and instead blinked a couple times as if they had caught dust in them before returning to whatever they were doing.
He paused at Coulson though as he saw the man work tirelessly on whatever paperwork was in front of him and typing away on a relatively modern computer. His office was small and his simple metal desk jam-packed with a tower of files and paper.
Seeing the man reminded Percy that he probably had a file on him or something. He would need to get it and Mist it for the time being. It wouldn't be well if he was in SHIELD records.
So Percy snapped at his face for a moment, pulling a cloud of Mist in front of his face. He hoped it would be enough to not scare the man.
"Hey, Agent Coulson, right?" Percy asked as he rapped on the doorframe.
The man looked up and cocked his head at him and narrowed his eyes. "Where's Agent Fury?"
"Just mopping some things up, now. He asked me to come check in on you." Percy waved his hand in dismissive manner, a puff of Mist leaving his fingers and sailing towards the man. "I was wondering could you hand me the records you have on me?" The Mist made contact.
His eyes glazed over. "Sure?" The man fished a file from the stack at his side. "Not much in it since you didn't give us much to work with."
"That's alright." Percy waved his hand again. "Forget it ever happened."
Coulson slumped in his desk and he even heard a small snore come from the man.
That was rather easy.
Percy skimmed the file. It had approximations on him and his name but that was about it. Still, he wouldn't leave any breadcrumbs. The gods only know how many times that had come back to bite him in the ass.
No, he was being methodical.
He may not like mortals and in all honesty, couldn't care less if they died or not.
But Percy would rather not be the one responsible for it if he could avoid it.
A simple snap of his fingers later and the file had Peter Johnson and the opposite approximations of his physique. Now he was just a short and lanky nobody.
Just as Mr. D had always envisioned him.
Thunder boomed overhead.
Percy had to agree.
It did feel a little odd using something that the Wine God had intended in an insulting manner to actually hide in the Mortal World.
He lazily tossed the file back onto the desk.
The demigod's work here was now done.
He felt another flaring pain. His shoulder tightening and feeling as if something had suddenly stabbed into it.
Percy flexed and rolled it to ease the ever, increasing pain.
He would have taken some painkillers but being on death's doorstep, he needed to be keenly aware of when his body began to fail him as it would seem that it would be his clock.
Still he made his way out of the office by simply walking past everyone. Layered in the Mist as he was, the biggest issue he had was that he had almost gotten lost in the maze of corridors.
Stepping into the air of the outside world, the rain continued to pour but it seemed to had lost its intensity. It was dark out. The only sources of light being the streetlamps, the light he was standing under and the flashes and arcs of lightning that coursed through the clouded sky.
He felt another flaring pain. This time shooting down his more injured arm from his shoulder. Percy tightened his face at the throbbing sensation. It felt like he had suddenly been injected with liquid fire.
It took him a moment to compose himself but soon the pain numbed away.
Percy was running out of time.
And it hadn't even been an hour yet.
He needed to move.
The demigod recalled in his mind at where the Parthenos should be. A monument. The Vittoriano. The statue and forum dedicated to the first King of a unified Italy since the times of the ancient Roman Empire.
He only knew that because they had both visited it before their…fall and after the war, where he and the Hunters of Artemis began their hunting campaign across the continent. He had leveled the office building and the ground above the caverns himself.
Luckily, there would be no divine wards emplaced around Europe at this time. It would help his travel immensely.
He felt that familiar pull as he willed himself to that particular location and as if he were stepping through a threshold of water, the demigod appeared on the marble and stone steps of the monument. It was night. The cool air was a welcome change to the humid, hot and dry climates he had previously been in.
A spike of pain once again flared at his side.
It felt as if a fire had ignited on his shoulder. Only this time it did not die down. Percy grasped at it. As the flaring pain continued, running like roots from his shoulder and spread through his body.
He began his mantra. One that had carried him through Tartarus and through the Giant War. 'Pain is good. Pain means I'm alive.'
Percy moved, extending his more divine sense outwards to guide him. However, old the streets were they still retained much of the same layout as before. He moved down the street in the direction of where the office building was. Lucky for him he was alone for the most part. Most of the mortals having already turned in for the night and not frequenting the tourist destination. There was the odd mangle of crowd though and those he did avoid.
He soon found himself where he needed to be, where his sense of the divine was telling him to head.
It appeared to be some old warehouse. Abandoned by the looks of it. He couldn't recall there being a warehouse here before but he guessed that being in a different time might have had something to do with it.
As much as he hoped that wasn't the case, because that meant that other things would be different as well, he shrugged it off and forced his way in with a summon of Thyella. The door stood no chance as he simply cut into the door's handle breaking the lock.
He made his way in.
And with as dialed as he was, it was no surprise that when he heard a POP! at his feet, he leapt forward, rolling along the ground and coming to a stop with Aegis forming from a mist of water and his spatha at the ready, expecting a trap,
Only to find himself looking around a storage area that was absent of any threats.
Percy looked at his feet and where he had previously stepped. It was only sheet of stray bubble wrap on the floor.
He took a deep breath and stood calmly as he looked around, his eyes finally adjusting to the dark interior. Along the walls to one side were large rolls of bubble wrap, beside them were empty wooden pallets.
Barring the packaging equipment, he spotted nothing else inside except for the odd crumple of trash or stray sheet of bubble wrap scattered about the floor.
He relaxed if only slightly, bringing Aegis down and adjusting to its sudden weight. There were no threats even as he took an additional moment to scan the area once again.
Percy walked around. This was the area. Or at least he was standing somewhere above it as that aura of divinity seemed to plume upwards.
Now to get underground.
He pushed the bubbling of fear that tugged at him at the thought but he pushed it away.
There was no alternative way of going about this.
It took him about half an hour to finally find an old and rusted door. Well, more old and rusty compared to the others. Breaking the lock on the heavy door it swung outwards, to reveal a spiraling set of metal maintenance stairs.
Why does it always have to be stairs?
Percy shook his head in slight dismay.
And began his journey downwards.
Probably sensing the growing darkness, the blade in his hand grew its seaweed-like tendrils of pale green about it. Its ever-present tempestuous and mournful song growing in intensity with the glow.
It wasn't long before he found himself at the foundation. A dead end. A well of stairs that led to nothing except some old plumbing and dusty brick walls.
But he could still sense that divine essence close. He raised Thyella, casting the luminescent light about the area as he scanned the dead end.
His eye fell upon the brick wall to his direct left. There was something…off about it. The aura of celestial energy radiating faintly from beyond it.
The demigod cocked his head at it in curiosity and brought Aegis up.
And struck.
The old bricks were no match for the celestial bronze edge of Aegis and even in his weakened state, a pocket of the wall gave way as several bricks fell backward into an eerie tunnel.
A gust of air was felt.
And that divine aura grew just a little stronger.
Percy peered into the darkness. From what he could see, there were large and thick tan bricked walls and just at the edge of where the darkness took over, an arching entryway. Clouds and plumes of dust were seen throughout.
He mentally nodded to himself and broke down the wall further with a few more strikes from the edge of Aegis, the old bricks that were directly struck shattering on impact while the rest simply tumbled to the ground as he made the entryway.
The demigod pulled himself in. Dark tunnels only illuminated by the pale light of Thyella went as far as he could see. Along the walls, he could see small etchings of ancient Latin inscribed into the stone, initials as far as he was able to tell.
Other than that the eerie catacombs were just that. Non-descript, ancient and quiet except for the echoing tumble of brick from his forced entrance.
But before he could take another step into the tunnels, he felt another flaring of pain ignite across the right side of his body and into the rest of like a wave of fire. He fell to a knee at the sensation, the only things keeping him upright was using Aegis as a prop.
It retreated into a dull ache but thrummed as if it had a heart of its own.
And Percy took a pair of measured but straining breaths.
The magic of Hera would not last any longer.
He was running out of time.
He stood on a pair of shaken legs and continued onwards down the darkened tunnel, the pale green glow of his sword providing a small light to his immediate surroundings. He followed that divine aura. A small but steady incline downwards as he descended further into the winding catacombs.
All the while small snippets of the pain that the Master Bolt had inflicted upon him returned, slowly approaching like encumbered, darkened and malevolent clouds of storm that promised a deluge of fury.
He kept focused, the tempestuous melodies of Thyella turning into dulcet tones of calm and relaxation as if it knew the state he was in and desired an ease to his pain and torment.
Thoughts of all that he could do and ensure burning like hot but ashen coals in his mind. A smoldering reminder of what could be accomplished should he succeed and everyone he could save.
Flashes of Annabeth.
Thalia.
Grover.
Zoe.
Beckondorf.
Silena.
Clarisse.
The Dekatheon.
All those demigods and legacies that had paid the ultimate sacrifice.
The soothing notes Thyella provided and thoughts of achievement and all that he could prevent were the only things that had pushed him onwards and to ignore the pain that ran like a cascade of slow lava.
He stopped as he approached another entryway. Its stone and make up different from the running catacombs that he had journeyed through thus far.
Around the entrance were large and thick slimy webbing, looking more of a sickly and greenish white instead of pure silk. It stalked up and around the walls, like an overgrowth of pale bushes and trees.
But he had smelled it long before he saw it. It was putrid and made what nose hairs he had curl up in disgust. As if oil, vinegar and rotten eggs and fish had been mixed into some sort of foul and perverse concoction.
He sucked in a breath and took a moment to compose himself before moving forwards.
Percy took it as a sign that he was in the right path.
He was lucky that the did not eat beforehand or he was sure to have lost whatever was in his stomach.
The stones were a shadowed grey and cut larger and expertly rather than the smaller crude pieces that made the catacombs. The rock and stone covered in the webbing and caked the floor in a thin film, muffling but making his steps stick.
He took in the surroundings, casting his blade about as if it were a torch.
The interior was grand and spacious. Despite the thick webbing that rose in pillars and cloaked the walls in a blanket, he could tell it was ornate and he would bet his drachma that this used to be a cathedral of sorts. Tall, rising but hollow spires filled with thick and heavy nests of silken web, sat on either flank and into each corner.
Half a dozen chandeliers sat arrayed above, their candles having long been spent as lashes of that same webbing coiled and stuck them to the walls.
He could see the small shadowed forms of spiders. Each the size of dogs, with reflecting ovular void eyes that peered at him, slinking back in to the shadows and darkness as he waved the emerald light of Thyella.
Broken, shattered, splintered and rotten wooden pews were set before a large dark stone altar.
And his prize.
The Athenos Parthenos resting just beyond that, its pristine marble being poisoned and cloaked by sickly web while a thick rope of that same web lashed across the statue in a mocking parody of a robe.
Percy was truly in the den of the Mother of Spiders.
There was, luckily and suspiciously, no dull maroon glow of the Pit. But he could feel and sense its close malevolence over in the direction of the statue.
The demigod stalked forwards, bringing Aegis to bear and having his blade at the ready at his side.
He took measured steps. The pain of his mortal wound flaring all the while. It would be a hinderance but he was sure he could best Arachne even in this state.
The stakes were too high for him to fail.
So he would not do so.
He made it before the altar when he heard her voice once again.
"My…my…what a delectable little morsel!" Her poisonous voice was raspy and withered as if it hadn't been wetted in a long time. It echoed in the grand cathedral hall but he knew it came from before him and beyond the dark altar.
A wave of chittering and skittered made itself known as several of her spawn screeched lowly as if in agreement.
She seemed to pull herself upwards to the pulpit, her ghostly pale skin being of greyness and making her seem more like a stone gargoyle than a human. Veins of red and blue were visible along her arms as she revealed herself and her heavy form rounded the corner of the wide altar. The green light of Thyella flickering across her form like a torch of greek flame.
Arachne was just as he remembered her.
From the waist up, she was a woman but that was all that was human about her. Leathery grey skin veined in a similar manner as her muscled arms, covered her torso and her nude form was otherwise and thankfully covered by oily, greased and tattered raven hair that clung to her body in a thick curtain.
Her lower half being that of a large and overgrown spider the size of mini-cooper, a bulbous thorax separated human and arachnid. The blood red hourglass of the black widow adorned on the heavy hide of her spider abdomen. A piercing needle centered between her spinnerets while her thick spindly legs and carried her large form with dull thuds as they landed. She towered a good meter above him.
As Percy didn't respond, Arachne opened her mouth at his defiance. Though to call it such a thing was perverting the mortal form she previously had. It was more like a maw as it seemingly unhinged itself, with two rows of sharp and pointed teeth. A pair of mandibles with serrated hooks on their ends. She chittered and screeched at him, her mandible and unhinged mouth clicking and flaring at him in an unholy noise.
Her mouth closed and seemingly reconnected as she sneered at him. "The statue is mine, godling!"
"Olympus is above asking." Percy responded in an even voice.
To anyone else, she was the stuff of nightmares. A thing that would drive any not used to such a sight insane and paralyzed in fear.
To him, she was just another ugly creature that stood in his way.
He could feel the pain continue to grow. He prepared his blade and stood at the ready, taking in his surroundings and taking a measured breath one last time as he focused and prepared himself to fight to the death for his objective.
As such, his time to trade barbed words was over. He did not have time nor strength for a prolonged conflict.
He had to end this now.
And Arachne seemed to realize this as well and she was the first to strike, springing and launching herself at him.
Percy slashed and leveraged her against his shield at the same time, cutting a thick gouge in her thorax and tossing her to the side. She screeched in pain as she crashed into a column of pews and shattering and splintering them even further. He buckled and fell to a knee, the pain of the Master Bolt flaring at the heavy and sudden exertion.
"Kill him!" She screeched again, casting a long and lanky arm and poisoned finger at him. Her other arm clutching at her newest wound. "We feast on god-flesh tonight!" Her large form encumbered by the debris around her as tried to pick herself up.
An uproar of demonic screeching and chittering was heard and he could feel and hear the thundering and clacking of their hundreds of sharp taloned legs.
He may not be able to call upon his powers over liquid nor summon a storm but he was underground.
And unlike in the mortal base, Percy held no reservations about using his more earthen abilities.
Percy stood again and began moving in a methodical and deliberate pace forwards towards the statue. The demigod brought his blade in an upwards slash, calling upon the roots of the earth to come to his aid.
And they responded.
Large, solid pillars of granite and stone rose like sudden geysers, throwing the charge into disarray and breaking it as a cluster of stone would a stream of water, causing them to scatter and regroup.
The demigod stomped towards the closes group that was not impeded by the pillars of stone. A wave of stone rose up and even though it was easily evaded, Percy pulled his shield hand back, bringing Aegis to bear but also causing the wave to return at his bidding and readied his blade as if preparing to engage the spiders.
But instead of being the previous rolling small mound of dirt, large slabs formed and fell like dominoes onto dozens of spiders, causing pained and cut screeches into the air as the crushed beneath the stone.
Brackish green ichor spilled from underneath and the legs that were visible began to slowly dissolve into gold dust.
The foremost spider leapt at him and clawed at a raised Aegis, a simple slash of his sword, and half its legs were severed from its body and the convulsing spider itself thrown at its comrades.
He pulled with his shield downwards and a rain of falling blocks fell upon the wave, crushing many in sickening crunches and pained screeches.
The rocks seemingly carving a path for for him to continue forwards.
Percy continued forwards, running on autopilot as he cut a swathe through the horde of arachnids.
Only to be thrown forwards into the ground as a large granite block crashed into his back. He felt the air in his lungs leave him as he was thrown into the dirt.
Several spiders leapt on him with one sinking a pair of incisors into his already severely wounded and unarmored shoulder and attempt to drag him. The others clawed and slashed at him and Aegis with the sharpened talons at the ends of their legs.
He shouted in pain and even as his body naturally fought against the hostile substance, he could feel his strength begin to wane.
He was running out of time.
He swept his sword, causing the silver metal stone to cut one of the monsters completely in half, a spray of black and green ichor spraying across them all. The swing did not stop as the blade dug and bit deep into the head of the one that had bit him, as it had attempted to divest him of his sword.
He curled his hand holding Aegis, and the shield retracted allowing the spiders free reign.
Until he curled his hand again.
And the shield sprang back into full force. The celestial bronze disc sending three of them into the air and off of him.
He quickly pulled himself upwards and breathed deeply. He was getting overwhelmed.
Had he not been so sapped of strength nor already on death's door when he arrived, this would've been an easy fight.
Had he been able to use the full extent of his powers, this would have been an entirely one-sided affair.
As it was, Hera's magic was fading and the wounds and injuries incurred by the Master Bolt were now fully coming to bear. Aegis was becoming too much of a burden and he curled his wrist, relinquishing it back into its haven and switched his blade to his more uninjured side as he pulled himself upwards.
His right side began tightening, flaring in pain.
He looked around, and could feel the celestial energy of the statue near him. The pristine marble glinting in the green pearlescent light of his sword.
Hope bloomed within him.
Percy reached his hand out and placed his injured hand on the statue and pictured Half Blood Hill in his mind.
His mind slammed into a wall of silver divine energy. His mind recoiled and burned in the aftermath as if the wall had lashed out at him for his attempt.
He felt his heart sink as he brought his attention back to the creatures surrounding his, his hand lowering away from the marble statue.
The hum of Thyella turning from its soothing and melodic notes and turning into a storm of chords in anger.
Spots of darkness forming in his vision as he took the scene in about him. He was being circled and surrounded by a tide of spiders, hissing, chittering and screeching at him.
Arachne stalked forward, her lumbering form forcing the spiders to part before her. In her hand was a makeshift but effective flail. Her webbing was among the strongest in the world and held as if it were thick, heavy chains, Annabeth had said. A rope of it, lashed against a heavy granite block made a deadly weapon.
She stood away, watching him through narrowed eyes, His initial strike against her had been sewn shut with a stitch of webs.
The light of Thyella forced them back unused to the light as they were.
Either that, or they were simply waiting for a command or to see if he would die of his own accord.
He held his injured arm close to his abdomen and raised his spatha in defiance.
If he was to die, he would try his utmost to take the Mother of Spiders with him.
A spider leapt forward, and Percy responded, bringing his sword downwards and stabbing into the top of its hideous visage. The point of the blade cut deep and through into the monster and it began to evaporate into a golden dust at the point of entry while oozing its brackish green blood.
Percy was not done. He forced the blade further downwards and pierced the earth below. He forced not only metal, but his intent as well. His resolve and his duty being pushed into his last strike.
The entire cathedral shuddered causing the ravenous monsters to become hesitant and confused.
Even Arachne had looked about the cavern as the chandeliers shook even anchored as they were with web.
A great crack emanated beneath the slain spider.
And the earth shook and echoed with a dull shockwave.
A boulder fell from the ceiling, crushing a chandelier and a clutch of spiders along with it.
Another boulder fell, this time reducing the dark altar to rubble.
More rocks began to rain from the ceiling though beyond that he could see the earthen catacombs that he had initially traversed open, metal and concrete spilling into the tunnels and even a small car before it too was crushed by earthen debris.
"Kill him!" Arachne sneered and she rushed forward. Though he didn't know to where, the light of Thyella now only extending so far and the spots in his vision having grown to shadows.
Percy could feel his strength further wane.
But before he could move, a boulder from above him fell.
It crashed right before him.
But instead of stopping, it continued.
A pit of maroon and hellish glow revealed itself and howls of burning wind rocketed upwards.
Percy staggered backwards on instinct and fear. The spiders immediately ceased their assault, skidding to a stop but some of the momentum carried them forward and crashed into one another. The foremost spiders fell, screeching in fright as they tumbled into the Abyss.
Rocks continued to fall around them forming a crevasse to the Pit and separating the statue and him and the monsters. The edge and cliff he was standing on becoming ever smaller as the ceramic and tiled flooring continued to shatter and break off into the Pit.
The smaller spiders scurried away in fright and desperation.
Only he and Arachne remained.
Fear boiled and clutched at his heart at the sight of the hellish realm. It overwhelmed his logical thought and instinct.
Dying was one thing.
Tartarus was an entirely different matter.
Percy would not go through that again.
His thoughts turned feral and wild.
And so he leapt forward, dissipating Thyella as he did so to retreat into his satchel. The rock below him and the statue giving way. Arachne screeched in surprise and she too leapt, not willing to part with her prize and launched web after web to keep the Parthenos from falling into the Pit.
The demigod was able to grasp the edge of the opposite cliff and tried to pull himself up, putting all his remaining strength into the effort. He had his torso near halfway above the floor.
Only to feel something or rather someone pull him down.
A menacing and devilish chuckle hummed and resonated from below him.
He could feel the floor he was holding onto slipping.
No!
The rock gave way, his fingers scraping in desperation against the edge.
And Percy fell into an abyss of hellfire and a soft glow of amber.
'There is no such thing as paranoia. Your worst fears can come true at any moment.'
-Hunter S. Thompson
On that note, (and as always), you can find me on the Emerald Library Discord! It's a fantastic place to interact with other writers and readers where we just chill and chat about ideas, future works and generally just have a good time! You can also find an update schedule for Of Water and Salt on there!
The link to that is on my profile!