²𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐆𝐄𝐃𝐘✸ percy jackson

XXXII.

ΉӨЦƧΣ ӨF ΉΛDΣƧ

TW: detailed panic attack

AFTER ENTERING THE DARK PATH, they plodded on for what seemed like hours, relying on the light of Percy's Celestial bronze blade, and on Bob and Lucia, who glowed faintly in the dark.

Lucia could only see about five feet in front of her. Here in Tartarus, the fog was thick and black—almost like ink. Rocks loomed out of nowhere. Pits appeared at their feet, and Lucia barely avoided falling in.

Monstrous roars echoed in the gloom, but Lucia couldn't tell where they came from. She could just hear them surrounding her. All she could be certain of was that the terrain was still sloping down.

Down seemed to be the only direction allowed in Tartarus. If Lucia backtracked even a step, she felt tired and heavy, as if gravity was getting heavier and dragging her down. Assuming that the entire pit was the body of Tartarus, Lucia had a nasty premonition that they were marching straight down his throat.

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

Percy yelled, "Whoa Luz!" He grabbed for her arm, but she was already falling.

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

She screamed bloody murder and flailed, toppling sideways off the mound. Her heart did a hundred jumping jacks.

Percy helped her to her feet. "You okay?"

Lucia only responded with a ring of Spanish curse words under her breath.  "Hijo de puta, casi me muero del puto susto. Titán de mierda. Ay, que asco! que asco!." Son of a bitch I almost died out of fucking fear. Fuck ass Titan. Oh gross! Gross!

"Err—So kinda?"

Curled in the membrane bubble in front of her 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, Lucia could feel the heat radiating from his body.

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

Lucia's shoulder suddenly ached from an old wound. During the Battle of Manhattan, Lucia, and Percy had fought this Titan at the Reservoir water. Lucia made him bleed ichor by burning a hole into his stomach. She kept him distracted, stressing him out to no end with all her holograms.

Then Percy had summoned a hurricane for the first time—which wasn't something she would ever forget.

Lucia was still resenting the fact that he stole the show after her grand entrance!

"I thought Grover turned this guy into a maple tree. He's supposed to be providing us with pancake syrup not giving me a damn heart attack." 

"Yeah," Percy agreed. "Maybe the maple tree died, and he wound up back here?"

Lucia remembered how Hyperion had summoned fiery explosions, and how many satyrs and nymphs he'd destroyed before they stopped him.

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

Lucia bit back a curse. Of course, they looked alike. Hyperion was his literal brother. Hyperion was the Titan lord of the east. Iapetus, was the lord of the West. 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.