𝐂œ𝐮𝐫𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐬é𝐬 [Percy Jackson]

98

Hadrian literally stumbled over the second Titan.

After entering the storm front, they plodded on for what seemed like hours, relying on the light of Percy's Celestial bronze blade, his bow and on Bob, who glowed faintly in the dark like some sort of crazy janitor angel.

Hadrian could only see about five feet in front of him, even with his bow in hand. Maybe because Apollo had gifted it to him, it had a magic that made it glow brighter. Whatever the case was, he was glad for the light. 

Rocks loomed out of nowhere. Pits appeared at their feet, and Percy barely avoided falling in. Monstrous roars echoed in the gloom, but Hadrian couldn't tell where they came from. All he could be certain of was that the terrain was still sloping down.

Down seemed to be the only direction allowed in Tartarus. If Hadrian backtracked even a step, he felt tired and heavy, as if gravity were increasing to discourage him. Assuming that the entire pit was the body of Tartarus, Hadrian had a nasty feeling they were marching straight down his throat.

He was so preoccupied with that thought, he didn't notice the ledge until it was too late.

Percy yelled, "Whoa!" He grabbed for his arm, but he was already falling.

Fortunately, it was only a shallow depression. Most of it was filled with a monster blister. He had a soft landing on a warm bouncy surface and was feeling lucky—until he opened his eyes and found himself staring through a glowing gold membrane at another, much larger face.

He screamed and flailed, toppling sideways off the mound. 

Percy followed him down, and glanced at what he was looking at. "You good?"

"As much as I can be"

But gods of Olympus... Curled in the membrane bubble in front of them was a fully formed Titan in golden armor, his skin the color of polished pennies. His eyes were closed, but he scowled so deeply he appeared to be on the verge of a bloodcurdling war cry. Even through the blister, Hadrian could feel the heat radiating from his body.

"Hyperion," Percy said. "I hate that guy."

A memory itched to be thought of again. Hadrian scoured his brain for whatever he remembered. During the Battle of Manhattan, Percy had fought this Titan at the Reservoir—water against fire. 

"I thought Grover turned this guy into a maple tree." Percy mumbled. 

"Maybe the maple tree died and he would up here?" Hadrian suggested. Tartarus wasn't just giving him the heebie jeebies, it felt like spiders were continuously walking up and down his spine.

Hadrian remembered how Hyperion had summoned fiery explosions, and how many satyrs and nymphs he'd destroyed before Percy and Grover stopped him. He'd been dazed with grief, barely breathing. That had been the last straw. He ran and ran until he collapsed, far away from the Empire State building. 

A few monsters tried to stop him, called him traitors. He slashed through them and kept on running.

He was about to suggest that they burst Hyperion's bubble before he woke up. He looked ready to pop out at any moment and start charbroiling everything in his path.

Then he glanced at Bob. The silvery Titan was studying Hyperion with a frown of concentration—maybe recognition. Their faces looked so much alike....

Hadrian bit back a curse. Of course they looked alike. Hyperion was his brother. Hyperion was the Titan lord of the east. Iapetus, Bob, was the lord of the west. Take away Bob's broom and his janitor's clothes, put him in armor and cut his hair, change his color scheme from silver to gold, and Iapetus would have been almost indistinguishable from Hyperion.

"Bob," he said, "we should go."

"Gold, not silver," Bob murmured. "But he looks like me."

"Bob," Percy said. "Hey, buddy, over here."

The Titan reluctantly turned.

"Am I your friend?" Percy asked. Hadrian couldn't help but listen to his words fondly. Percy always spoke with a soft voice you wouldn't believe belonged to him. He was a warrior, Aristos Achaion. He'd killed a thousand monsters and even a few Titans and Giants. But when he spoke like he was doing now, softly with a gentle, delicate voice, it was easy to imagine his hands had never touched a blade. He'd make an amazing dad. 

"Yes." Bob sounded dangerously uncertain. "We are friends."

"You know that some monsters are good," Percy said. "And some are bad."

"Hmm," Bob said. "Like... the pretty ghost ladies who serve Persephone are good. Exploding zombies are bad."

"Right," Percy said. "And some mortals are good, and some are bad. Well, the same thing is true for Titans."

"Titans..." Bob loomed over them, glowering. Hadrian was sure Percy had made a mistake. But he didn't stop. Percy still spoke with the small voice, like he was talking to a child and Hadrian wanted his arms wrapped around him while he sobbed. Percy was... first and foremost, nothing like anyone else he had ever met. 

"That's what you are," Percy said calmly. "Bob the Titan. You're good. You're awesome, in fact. But some Titans are not. This guy here, Hyperion, is full-on bad. He tried to kill me...tried to kill a lot of people."

Bob blinked his silver eyes. "But he looks... his face is so—"

"He looks like you," Percy agreed. "He's a Titan, like you. But he's not good like you are."

"Bob is good." His fingers tightened on his broom handle. "Yes. There is always at least one good one—monsters, Titans, giants."

"Uh..." Percy grimaced. "Well, I'm not sure about the giants."

"Oh, yes." Bob nodded earnestly.

Hadrian was tempted to jump in with charmspeak, but Percy had handled it amazingly.

"We should go," he urged. "What do we do about...?"

"Bob," Percy said, "it's your call. Hyperion is your kind. We could leave him alone, but if he wakes up—"

Bob's broom-spear swept into motion. If he'd been aiming at Hadrian or Percy, they would've been cut in half. Instead, Bob slashed through the monstrous blister, which burst in a geyser of hot golden mud.

Hadrian wiped the Titan sludge out of his eyes. Where Hyperion had been, there was nothing but a smoking crater.

"Hyperion is a bad Titan," Bob announced, his expression grim. "Now he can't hurt my friends. He will have to re-form somewhere else in Tartarus. Hopefully it will take a long time."

The Titan's eyes seemed brighter than usual, as if he were about to cry quicksilver.

"Thank you, Bob," Percy said.

How was he keeping his cool? The way he talked to Bob left Hadrian awestruck... and maybe a little uneasy, too. If Percy had been serious about leaving the choice to Bob, then he didn't like how much he trusted the Titan. If he'd been manipulating Bob into making that choice... 

He met his eyes, but Hadrian couldn't read his expression. That bothered him too.

"We'd better keep going," he said.

He and Percy followed Bob, the golden mud flecks from Hyperion's burst bubble glowing on his janitor's uniform.