madness and ecstasy // leo valdez

-sibling bonding time-

this is a long one, grab some snacks and get comfy 

<3

Percy wasn't dead, but he was already tired of being a corpse.

He didn't say that aloud though, as they trudged toward the heart of Tartarus, because he figured Teqi- because he figured Tony wouldn't appreciate it very much, and Percy had to admit, the guy was scary.

It wasn't in Teqi's violent ripping people's throats out kind of scary that was avoidable if you weren't rude to her friends and made the right amount of superhero references. Her brother on the other hand, reminded him of Drew Tanaka, who he only had a few vague memories of, but they all contained snide comments and an uppity attitude. And a lot of eyeliner. 

Tony had a resting bitch face and looked ready to kill Tartarus himself armed with a bad mood.

It was safe to say, Percy kept his lips zipped. 

He kept glancing down at his body though, wondering how it could belong to him. His arms looked like bleached leather pulled over sticks. His skeletal legs seemed to dissolve into smoke with every step. He'd learned to move normally within the Death Mist, more or less, but the magical shroud still made him feel like he was wrapped in a coat of helium. He worried that the Death Mist might cling to him forever, even if they somehow managed to survive Tartarus. He didn't want to spend the rest of his life looking like an extra from The Walking Dead.

Percy tried to focus on something else, but there was no safe direction to look. Under his feet, the ground glistened a nauseating purple, pulsing with webs of veins. In the dim red light of the blood clouds, Death Mist Annabeth looked like a freshly risen zombie. Usually, Annabeth could make Percy feel better without even knowing, but now he was just glancing at his ghost girlfriend and hoping she'd never look like that again.

Ahead of them was the most depressing view of all.

Spread to the horizon was an army of monsters, all different shapes and sizes. There was no simple way to explain the dread Percy felt clawing at his chest, seeing the monsters jostling around, scales and spikes and swords waving in the putrid clouds of toxic air. It was like the locker room after gym class, only instead of sweaty boys, it was sweaty demigod eating demons.

Bob led them toward the edge of the army. He made no effort to hide, not that it would have done any good. Being ten feet tall and glowing silver, Bob didn't do stealth very well.

About thirty yards from the nearest monsters, Bob turned to face Percy. "Stay quiet and stay behind me," he advised. "They will not notice you."

"We hope," Percy muttered, his hand inching towards Annabeth's, who took his quickly.

Tony scratched Small Bob's chin as the kitten woke from his nap. He purred seismically and arched his back, turning skeletal then back to calico. At least he didn't seem nervous. Percy wondered if everyone else just saw a little cat floating through the air. It wasn't even the weirdest thing in a two-meter radius, so he assumed they were safe on that part.

Annabeth examined her own zombie hands and frowned. "Bob, if we're invisible...how can you see us? I mean, you're technically, you know..."

"Yes," Bob said simply, not lingering on the fact Annabeth was talking about how he was technically meant to be standing in this crowd with the rest of the immortal blood thirsty monsters itching to kill them. "But we are friends."