ɪ'ʟʟ ꜱᴇᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ᴀɢᴀɪɴ ᴡʜᴇɴ ɪ ᴇꜱᴄᴀᴘᴇ

A Glimmer of Hope

PERCY DECIDED THE MONSTERS wouldn't kill him. Neither would the poisonous air, nor the dangerous landscape with its pits, cliffs, and jagged rocks. 

Nope. Most likely he would die from an overload of weirdness that would make his brain explode. 

First, he had had to drink fire to stay alive. Then, he was attacked by a gaggle of vampires, led by a cheerleader that Annabeth had killed two years ago. Finally, he was rescued by a Titan janitor named Bob who had Einstein hair, silver eyes, and wicked broom skills. To top it all, it just happened to be the same titan that he had wiped the memory of. 

Sure. Why not? 

He followed Bob through the wasteland, going alongside the Pleghmy River as he approached the storm front of darkness. 

Every so often he stopped to drink firewater, which kept him alive, but Percy wasn't happy about it. His throat felt like he was constantly gargling with battery acid. 

His only comfort was Annabeth. The fact that she was waiting for him, above, and that he needed to reach her.

"Bob knows what he's doing," He reminded himself. 

Wow, he had some really... interesting friends. I guess that's what being a demigod does to you.

"So, Bob..." He tried to sound casual and friendly, which wasn't easy with a throat burnt by fiery water. "How did you get to Tartarus?"

"I jumped," he said, like it totally was obvious.

"You jumped into Tartarus," he said, "because I said your name?"

"You needed me." Those silver eyes gleamed in the darkness. 

"It is okay. I was tired of sweeping the palace. Come along! We are almost at a rest stop."

A rest stop. Percy couldn't imagine what those words meant in Tartarus. He remembered all the times he and Annabeth had relied on old sheds as rest stops while on quests, trying to survive. Wherever Bob was taking him, he hoped it had clean restrooms and a snack machine. 

He repressed the giggles. Yes, he was definitely losing it. 

Percy hobbled along, trying to ignore the rumble in his stomach. He stared at Bob's back as he led him toward the wall of darkness, now only a few hundred yards away. 

His blue janitor's coveralls were ripped between the shoulder blades, as if someone had tried to stab him. Cleaning rags stuck out of his pocket. A squirt bottle swung from his belt, the blue liquid inside sloshing hypnotically.

He remembered meeting the Titan. Thalia, Nico, and him had worked together to defeat Bob on the banks of the Lethe. After wiping his memory, they didn't have the heart to kill him.

 He became so gentle and sweet and cooperative that they left him at the palace of Hades, where Persephone promised he would be looked after. Apparently, the Underworld king and queen thought "looking after" someone meant giving him a broom and having him sweep up their messes.

Percy wondered how even Hades could be so callous. He'd never felt sorry for a Titan before, but it didn't seem right taking a brainwashed immortal and turning him into an unpaid janitor.

He's not your friend, he reminded herself. He was terrified that Bob would suddenly remember himself. Tartarus was where monsters came to come back. What if it healed his memory?

 If he became Iapetus again...well, Percy had seen the way he had dealt with those empousai. He had no weapon except a jagged bone torn from the carcass of a monster. He  were in no condition to fight a Titan.