[3] 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐁𝐎𝐘𝐒 ― p.jackson, l.valdez

022.

「022. the heart of tartarus 」

BARBIE WASN'T dead yet, but being a corpse sucked. every step she took felt like she had to try too much, and though she'd learned to move with the death mist somewhat normally, the shroud of magic around her made her feel like she was wrapped in a coat of helium. a dark thought had entered her mind as they travelled. what if the death mist stayed with them- what if, even if they somehow managed to survive tartarus- she looked like that forever... dead. she'd have to live the rest of her life like that, feeling horrified at the scar tartarus would leave on her. forever a memory of the trauma she'd faced down in this pit of hell.

she'd tried focusing on something else, but there wasn't a safe direction to look. under her feet, the ground glistened a nauseating purple, pulsing with webs of veins. in the dim red light of the blood clouds, death mist annabeth and percy looked like freshly risen zombies- though barbie was sure she probably looked just the same if not worse. ahead of them was the most depressing view of all.

spread to the horizon was an army of monsters – flocks of winged arai, tribes of lumbering cyclopes, clusters of floating evil spirits. thousands of monsters, maybe tens of thousands, all milling restlessly, pressing against one another, growling and fighting for space – like the locker area of an overcrowded school between classes, if all the students were 'roid-raging mutants who smelled really bad.

bob led them towards the edge of the army. he made no effort to hide, not that it would have done any good. being ten feet tall and glowing silver, bob didn't do stealth very well. about thirty yards from the nearest monsters, bob turned to face percy. "stay quiet and stay behind me," he advised. "they will not notice you."

"we hope," percy muttered.

on the titan's shoulder, small bob woke up from a nap. he purred seismically and arched his back, turning skeletal then back to calico. at least he didn't seem nervous. annabeth examined her own zombie hands. "bob, if we're invisible ... how can you see us? i mean, you're technically, you know ..."

"a titan," barbie finished. both percy and annabeth looked at her, "what? it's not tabooed." she paused, nodding to bob, "continue."

"yes, titan," bob nodded, "but we are friends."

"nyx and her children could see us," annabeth said.

bob shrugged. "that was in nyx's realm. that is different."

"uh ... right." annabeth didn't sound reassured, but they were here now. they didn't have any choice but to try.

barbie stared at the swarm of vicious monsters. "well, at least we won't have to worry about bumping into any other friends in this crowd..."

bob grinned. "yes, that is good news! now, let's go. death is close."

"the doors of death are close," annabeth corrected, ever the athena child. even in tartarus, you could count on annabeth to correct your grammar. "let's watch the phrasing."

they plunged into the crowd. barbie trembled so badly he was afraid the death mist would shake right off her. there were several reasons why she was afraid. and maybe only a small portion of it was due to the insane amount of monsters in front of them. she was unsure of herself, to put it lightly. she'd not done... she'd not done anything important that had saved them- there was that swirl of doubt in her mind again. was she strong? she hadn't done much- she hadn't helped much. was she as she was before, the forbidden stereotype that plagued her days?