madness and ecstasy // leo valdez

-ten ways to make your trauma more organised [NOT CLICKBAIT]-

The next few events had to be put in order, for the sake of Annabeth's poor brain. 

She knew that if she didn't make them simple bullet points, she would probably throw up and then drown in that throw up.

1. What joke is this? Tartarus hissed. Why have you come, my disgraced son?

2. Damasen glanced at Annabeth, a clear message in his huge eyes: Go. Now.                                                           

3. He turned toward Tartarus. The Maeonian drakon stamped its feet and snarled, blood-spattered scales shifting in the light. 

4. "Father, you wished for a more worthy opponent?" Damasen asked calmly. "I am one of the giants you are so proud of. You wished me to be more warlike? Perhaps I will start by destroying you!"

5. Damasen levelled his lance and charged.

6. The monstrous army swarmed him, but the Maeonian drakon flattened everything in its path, sweeping its tail and spraying poison while Damasen jabbed at Tartarus, forcing the god to retreat like a cornered animal.

7. Small Bob followed.

8. Tartarus threw his hand out and sent a horde of monsters flying in front of himself as a shield. He stomped his foot, and the earth shuddered, creating cracks that sent monsters spiralling downwards.

9. He stomped his foot, and Bob stumbled into the battle, wailing as he raised his half a broomstick, tears and blood pouring from his eyes and his wounds. He didn't look like Bob anymore, he looked like Iapetus.

10. Because Tartarus stomped his foot, and when he lifted it again, Small Bob was just a fly on a windscreen.

11. Percy gave them as much cover as he could—causing blood vessels in the ground to burst one after the other, while Annabeth sobbed. She probably clawed at her face a bit and then threw up again, but it was blurry. Some monsters were vaporized in Styx water. Others got a Cocytus shower and collapsed, weeping hopelessly. Others were doused with liquid Lethe and stared blankly around them, no longer sure where they were or even who they were.

12. Annabeth cried some more.

13. The Leopard snake shot venom at an approaching cyclops and then purred as Tony stalked over, pale and shaking with anger. His voice was sharp. "Go," he ordered. "I've got the button."

14. Percy gawked at him. "Tony-"

15. "Percy." Annabeth's voice threatened to break. She hated herself. Her head spun and thudded against her shoulder. "We have to."

16. "We can't just leave everyone! Tony you can't- you won't go back to the Underworld, you'll die properly! We're not-" Percy looked towards her, face falling. "Annabeth... we're not..."

17. Annabeth looked towards the fight, or at least what she could see of it through her tears.

18. Fifty yards away, the Maeonian drakon trampled through monsters, its feet making sickening squish squish noises as if stomping on grapes. On its back, Damasen yelled insults and jabbed at the god of the pit, taunting Tartarus farther away from the Doors.

19. Tartarus lumbered after him, his iron boots making craters in the ground. You cannot kill me! he bellowed. I am the pit itself. You might as well try to kill the earth. Gaea and I—we are eternal. We own you, flesh and spirit!

20. He brought down his massive fist, but Damasen sidestepped, impaling his javelin in the side of Tartarus's neck. Bob came up behind him and pulled his neck back even further with a heart-breaking cry. Souls of the damned slipped from the rip they'd created. They joined the fight.

21. Tartarus growled, apparently more annoyed than hurt. He turned his swirling vacuum face toward the giant, but Damasen got out of the way in time. A dozen monsters were sucked into the vortex and disintegrated.

22. Bob drove his broom into Tartarus' back.

23. "Guys, just get out of here," Tony snapped, and moved towards the button, his legs wobbling. The snake leopard monster began licking his ear, and he pushed it away with a grimace, "gross, get lost."

24. Percy fought back, stepping away from the doors, because of course he had to be so annoyingly loyal to a mean boy they'd known for two days, just because he saved their life. Annabeth felt bile rise in her throat. 

25. She'd never forgive herself. 

26. "Come on, Percy, we have to go."

27. "I have a plan," Tony yelled over a scream that echoed through the cavern. "But the longer you all take to get your shit together, the less likely it is of working, so get in there." He looked towards the shadows circling overhead. "I'll be right behind you, just..."

28. "Tony- you're... you're-" Percy steeled himself, his grip on Riptide loosening with defeat. Annabeth tried to pull him towards the doors, shoulders shaking. "You're leaving Teqi in here too! Don't do this!"

29. Annabeth gritted her teeth. She couldn't stand properly, but she managed to support herself as she shoved Percy into the elevator. He fought back, and nearly toppled them both over. She could've grabbed his left shoulder and he would've gone unconscious with pain, probably, but that was mean.

30. It may have been meaner to Judo flip him into the elevator, but she did it.

31. Tony pressed the button. "Just look after Will for me, okay?"