Aquaphobia (Percy Jackson Fic)

Susan Need's to Take a Chill Pill

A/N: It's been a long time since I last updated, but the good news is that I have thought of the ideas for the rest of the book, so I won't have to fight through writer's block anymore. A lot has happened recently, and grade 12 is a lot harder than I expected. I got into Law school in the UK though, so I'd like to think it's worth it.

Disclaimer: I wish I did, but alas, I don't own the Percy Jackson franchise. I only own any characters I create and most of the plot line.

Red seemed to be an endless colour in Tartarus. The sky was red, the plants were red, the soil was red. When I got home, I was burning everything red in my room. I walked along the river, hoping to reach the heart of Tartarus. I had left the cave cautiously, wanting to avoid monsters as much as possible, and luckily, I had yet to encounter any. The bead from Poseidon weighed heavily in my pocket reminding of my deadline. I desperately wanted to crush it, but I had a job to do.

I stopped to drink from the river. Tears fall down my cheeks as I force the fire down my throat. I cough and dry heave but force myself to keep moving. I discovered quickly that the water only allows me to breathe in Tartarus for a few hours, so I was going to have to drink it more often than I thought.

I hear something snap and whip my head to my left. At first, I see nothing, but I notice a patch of the red is moving. A giant scorpion shaped creature scuttles towards me, its face horrifically resembling that of a human. "Demigod, I never expected to encounter one of your kind here. You will provide a nice snack to refuel my return to the mortal world." With that, the monster lunges at me. I waste no time summoning my daggers for defence. The monster's pincers clash with the daggers, and my arms strain to hold them back. I don't know if its exhaustion or the river water, but my brain comes up with the brilliant idea that this monster needs a name. I look sceptically at is face while it tries to rip off my own. It vaguely resembles a woman I knew from my old apartment with my mother who snuck countless alley cats into the building. "Susan." I say out loud. Susan falters and stares at me incredulously. "What?"

"I am going to call you Susan." This seemed to be the wrong thing to say, as Susan lunged at me faster than one of her namesake's cats chasing a mouse. I whip my daggers back and forth, playing defence as I looked for any weak spot in Susan's exoskeleton. I begin to tire, which Susan notices and takes advantage of. She swipes at my stomach with a blow that should have been fatal. Don't get me wrong, it hurt, but somehow I wasn't in danger of bleeding out. I know Poseidon said the spell would make me and Greyson harder to kill, but I hadn't really believed him. The newfound revelation gave me a sense of determination and I attacked Susan mercilessly. I stabbed everywhere I could, stomach, back, but I struck lucky when a blow under the armpits sunk between a gap in the monster's armour. Susan howled as I removed the blade. I waited for her to turn to turn to dust, but she never did. I came to the horrific realisation that this is where Monsters go when we kill them, which mean they cannot die here. I re-entered my fighting stance as I tried to think of a strategy. Susan locked at me then my blade. "You win this time Half- blood," I stare in shock, surprised to see her back off, "just know I will soon heal, and this red landscape will be the last thing you ever see." With that she scuttles off, leaving me on my own. I go to banish my daggers but notice a soft blue light emanating off them. I wonder if Father did something to make sure I was still able to fight the monsters? I sigh and banish the daggers. Time to keep moving.

🌀🌀🌀🌀🌀

I resume my trek next to the fire river. I don't know how long it has been since we left the others, but I'd say at least one day is gone. That means I only have a little under two days to find the key, but I have yet to see any signs of it or Greyson. Three days in this hell hole. I will never understand how Percy and Annabeth managed to stay down here for over a week. Percy says he wouldn't have survived without Annabeth with him, but I know that isn't true. My brother is the strongest demigod I know, he could survive anything. I, on the other hand, am just a scared kid playing hero. I am alone, walking without direction, and separated from Greyson, my only anchor down here. All in all, hell is not what I would call a good time. What am I doing? I am way in over my head. How do I know I'm even going the right way? I have to find this stupid key, but the prophecy chose the worst person to do it. It would have been way better if Percy.... no. Percy did this once, I can't wish he had to do it again, no matter how much I despise this awful place. I've already been selfish enough, forcing him to come on this quest, the least I can do is make sure he doesn't have to relive any memories.