Shadows and The Sea - The Darkling

Prologue

Percy's POV

The Second Giant War was over.

It should be a time to celebrate but there was no joy in my heart. The Seven were dead. And I couldn't do anything to save them. When Annabeth and I were in Tartarus, we were taken while traveling through the Mansion of Night. It felt a lot longer than nine days.

We were held in the very center of Tartarus where we had the pleasure of meeting the primordial of the pit. Let's just say for now that he was less than the ideal host.

I was able to get Annabeth out of there and drag us to the Doors of Death. However, she was so weak that I had to protect her and fight through the hordes of monsters alone. Since she was in this state, I felt little to no remorse showing a more cruel side of myself. No one was going to get to her if I could help it.

Once we got to the doors, Tartarus was waiting.

He had a deal for me. Gaea would still try to rise but my friends and family would not be harmed during the process. Gaea knew of mine and Annabeth's decent into the pit through her and Tartarus' bond as partners. The catch was that I had to stay behind. He didn't want to let go of his prized fighter.

So like the fatal flaw inside me would decide, I said yes.

So I stayed in that dam pit for what was supposed to be forever but it ended up being a few months.

One minute I was lined up for another fight, and the next I felt a tug in my gut and all I saw was black. It felt like something was pulling me up, through earth and stone until I ended up in what looked like the parthenon in Athens.

I was confused until I saw what happened.

"No. No, no, no, NO!" I screamed as I ran to the bodies of my fallen friends.

"GODS DAMMIT YOU SON OF A BITCH! WE HAD A DEAL!" I cried at the sky and started to pound at the stone ground of the parthenon. "WE HAD A FUCKING DEAL! WHY!? Why!" I screamed as the ground grew red from my hands.

"Because you are a fool, Percy Jackson," I heard Gaea's voice ring from behind me.

I slowly turned around from my position on the ground to face the Earth Mother. She had a shit eating smirk on her face and the air of victory. My vision was slowly growing red.

As she continued, she spared no detail of how each one died by her hand. She suffocated Piper, Frank, and Hazel. Jason was crushed. Leo had died trying to take her down with a massive fire blast. And she killed Annabeth by slowly encasing her body in earth until the weight squeezed her body so tight, she couldn't breath and broke almost every bone.

Gaea kept gloating and her arrogance might have been what led to her downfall because as she started to laugh from the look she mistaken for anguish on my face, I started to stand.

Her laughing stopped and I called on my powers. The tugging in my gut grew and water started to swirl around Mother Earth. She tried to fight it off but the water just lifted her higher into the sky, away from her power source.

I met her up there and sneered in her face, "You are the fool for going back on our deal." As I said this, I took Riptide out and one of the vials of Greek fire Leo had on him when he died. Even in death, he's still helping me. I unplugged the stopper and coated my blade in the green substance. The fire caused the blade to grow hot in my hands but that didn't matter to me. What mattered was getting rid of this monster.

Gaea started to scream and I plunged my blazing sword through her skull. She burned, the green fire shining through before exploding and disintegrating into nothing.

I let go of the water and let myself down onto the ground. I scanned over the faces of my friends until they landed on the person who went through literal hell with me. I stumbled my way to her body, let my legs buckle, and started to cry.

They were gone.

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A/N

Hey y'all! If you've made it this far then you've given my first attempt at a fanfiction, and writing in general, a chance. I hope you like it to some degree and give me your thoughts through the comments. Thanks!

Shadow_Charm