Does the sun shine in Tartarus?

11 - Let the Arrow Fly

The pair walked through Tartarus in near silence, the deafening quiet broken only by a small whimper from Percy or a slight gasp from Apollo. Peaceful wasn't quite the right word to describe it, but it was a comfortable silence. A trusted one. It seemed that Percy had decided to not waste any more energy on disliking Apollo, and the pair had now formed a fragile bond. However, fragile was not enough to defeat the Titan Lord... no, if they wished to succeed, there was something else they'd need.

"I know," Apollo's voice broke the sound of silence, ringing out loudly. "I know this is hard, Perce..."
"Do you really, though?" He responded dryly. "Gods, I hope not."

Apollo sighed. "Percy, just let me talk. I know this must be hard for you, but everyone lost people in the war. I'm not trying to tell you that it doesn't hurt. It hurts like Hera, I know. But in the end... it's just sacrifices. Your friends all died heroes. They will not be forgotten. They're free now."

"Free..." Percy murmured, as if he was thinking deeply about Apollo's words.
Gods, I'm good at this. Apollo gave himself a mental high-five. Then he groaned inwardly at his thoughts. Come on, at least try to be better than your reputation...

"Yes, free." Apollo responded, taking Percy's hand and squeezing it gently. The demigod pulled away, frowning.
"Let's just... get this over and done with." He said, after a while. His voice was emotionless, and his face blank. Apollo sighed. Back to square one, it seemed.
"We should be passing by soon." Percy muttered. "I just want to make sure the Drakon hasn't destroyed anything, and we can keep heading to the heart. I'm sure that's where Kronos is."
Apollo nodded. "Alright, Jackson."

~~~

They walked and walked, until Apollo was sure his legs would fail. Already, they shook with overuse, being used to just light travelling and/or teleporting to wherever Apollo wished to go. But down here, there was no light for Apollo to travel in, and he wanted to save his powers and energy for the final battle. He sighed.

He soon saw a small light in the distance, growing brighter as they went closer. He grabbed Percy's hand, and light traveled to the place it emitted from.
Percy's brow furrowed in confusion, and he gripped Apollo's hand tighter. "No, why would there be a light... where's the drakon? Apollo, where's the Drakon?"
Apollo blushed slightly at their hands holding, but pushed the swelling emotions down in order to find out what had made Percy so frantic. "What do you mean, Perce?"
"The Drakon. It should be here. Damasen isn't alive to kill-"

"PERCY JACKSON!" A voice roared, and all the negative emotions on Percy's face melted away.
"Damasen!" He let go of Apollo's hand (much to the sun god's dismay) and ran into a small hut that had appeared from the darkness. "Damasen,  I thought you'd died!"

Apollo followed Percy inside, and his heart lurched when he saw Percy clutched in a Giant's hands. "Let go of him, you oaf!" He yelled, drawing his bow and slinging an arrow in it, aiming at the Giant's heart. Hed make sure the shot was fatal. He couldn't let Percy get hurt. He wouldn't let Percy get hurt. No more people he loved would die on his watch, because of Apollo's own weakness. Not again, not him... he couldn't lose another.
"Apollo, it's okay! He's a friend!" Percy cried frantically. Apollo, in his love-crazed panic, didn't believe him. There was probably some mind control powers thing that the Giant had inflicted on Percy - could Giants do that? Apollo silently cursed himself for not paying attention to Athena more often.
"No, Percy. That's a Giant." He responded, and then

he

let

the

arrow

fly.

~~~

To end here, or not to end here?

nah mate, I'm not that cruel.

~~~

The arrow missed. Why, you may ask, did the arrow let loose by the god of archery miss?

Well, it all had to do with a small Calico cat.

"Small Bob!" Roared the Giant, the agony in his voice ripping through Apollo. Damasen dropped Percy, who glared at Apollo, and picked up the small, skewered cat.
Percy blinked furiously, and turned away. "You- you killed him." Remorse filled Apollo. Percy and Damasen were telling the truth. He could see that now.

"Small Bob! You naughty kitty. I've told you not to break any more ribs." Damasen scolded, the pain gone from his voice. Apollo looked closer, and could have laughed in relief. Small Bob was now a skeleton cat.
"No, I didn't." He gently took Percy's arm, and turned him back around so that he faced the Giant and cat.

What happened next was so adorable Apollo could have yeeted himself off a cliff. His heart swelled to 10 times its size, and he probably resembled a tomato.

Percy grinned a shit-eating grin and grabbed Apollo's hand, pulling him over to the cat and Giant. "Apologise. Now." He commandes sternly, and Apollo smiled.
"You mean, Apollo-gise, right?"
Percy groaned. "Say you're sorry to the cat."
"I'm not apologising to a cat!"
"Apollo. I once said hello to a poodle. You can say sorry to a cat."

Apollo said sorry to the cat.

Percy smiled again, and gently squeezed Apollo's hand, causing the sun god the blush slightly.
"That wasn't so hard, was it?"
His mood seemed considerably lighter, Apollo noticed. It was like seeing Damasen has rekindled some hope and happiness in Percy. Apollo felt a twinge of jealously - he had wanted to be the one to do that. Maybe then he'd earn Percy's love. However, he forced himself to smother the ugly emotion in favour for being happy that the demigod was getting better. Stop being selfish, he chided himself.

Percy's brows furrowed suddenly, deep in thought. Then he squeezed Apollo's hand tighter, as if he was using it as a support. Apollo frowned.
"Percy, what's going on in that mind of yours?" He asked softly. Percy didn't answer. He instead stood up, still holding onto Apollo tightly, and looked to Damasen.
"Where's Bob?"

(1032 words)

I am so so sorry this took so long and that it's so short!!