Forged Destinies

Dinner With Debbie Downer

Ch. 7

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Zoë stepped forward with her bow drawn, "A giant who doesn't want to kill us? Who are you?"

The giant continued carving off slabs of Drakon meat completely ignoring the question. Zoë narrowed her eyes in annoyance, "Hey, who are you?" She demanded this time.

The giant stood up, his reddish bronze skin seemed to gleam in the dull light of the pit.

"I am Damasen," he growled. "And I do not take orders from the likes of you little mortal!"

Now....

Percy glanced at Zoë, wondering how exactly she thought pissing off the twenty foot immortal was a good idea.

"Hey, hey, big guy," Percy said lowering his sword. "No one's ordering anyone. You'll have to forgive us, the last half dozen guys we saw that looked like you had a variety of different ideas on how to best prevent our continued breathing."

"Bah!" Damasen grumbled. "Miracle you're still alive as it is. You'd think you'd learn to steer clear by now!"

Percy capped Anaklusmos and held up his hands, "In our defense, you kinda threw a Drakon at us."

Damasen sheathed his dagger and crouched down real low so that he was eye level with Percy.

"You're a mouthy little demigod, aren't ya?"

Percy tried to contain his smirk, "So I've been told. Name's Percy Jackson, nice to meet ya, Damasen." He held out his hand for a shake but the giant stared at him like he was insane...

Given what he was doing, he had a pretty good case.

Damasen narrowed his eyes, "How did you get down here, demigod?"

"We fell," He answered like it wasn't even a big deal. "It kinda sucked. We're looking for the way out... You couldn't point us in the right direction by any chance, could ya?"

"HA!" The giant roared standing up and enjoying a laugh at Percy's expense. "Leave this place? You'll never leave this place, little human."

Percy frowned and shook his head, "Jeez there, Debbie Downer. A simple no would have sufficed."

Damasen stopped laughing and eyed Percy for a minute, sizing him up, which couldn't have taken long considering how much smaller he was.

Damasen glanced from Percy to Zoë and then back to Percy again before he snatched up the last of the Drakon meat, tucking it into his pouch and looking at the two demigods skeptically.

"When was the last time you ate?"

The question froze both of them. To be honest, they had tried to think about food as little as they could, to avoid the unpleasantness of remembering how long it had really been. They had learned shortly after their arrival that Hestia's blessing of home cooked meals did not work down in Tartarus.

Yet another entry on the list for the pleasant surprises of Tartarus.

Percy's stomach grumbled loudly at the mere thought of a meal. Damasen raised an eyebrow looking annoyed at his silence.

"It's been a bit. Why? You know where we could find some take out down here? I've been looking for a Taco Bell or maybe even a McDonalds but so far nothing but half reformed Titans and decaying monsters, which we respectfully passed on."