ɪ'ʟʟ ꜱᴇᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ᴀɢᴀɪɴ ᴡʜᴇɴ ɪ ᴇꜱᴄᴀᴘᴇ

The Edge of the Void

Percy trudged after the Goddess of Misery across the vast plain.

He walked through sulfurous mists that clouded his vision.The only reason he was still able to follow Alhkys was due to the trail of poisonous flora that popped up in her wake.

He guessed that if this was a part of Tartarus' body, it was the bottom of his foot.

Once they reached the big toe, a huge peninsula over a dark black chasm, the Goddess of Misery finally stopped.

"Where are we?" Percy demanded.

Akhlys cackled manically. "The verge of final death, of course, where Night meets the void below Tartarus."

Percy inadvertently shivered as he felt a chill down his back. He didn't know why, but there was something inherently odd about this place. Not evil necessarily, more... dark.

"This is darkness, the home of my mother, and below, the realm of Chaos, my father. Here, Perseus Jackson, you are closer to the nothingness from which we all rose than any other mortal has ever been. Then again, are you even a mortal?" Akhlys continued.

"What do you mean?"

"You know perfectly well what I mean, little godling." She whispered back menacingly.

For a moment, he glanced up, his eyes meeting hers, curious about her words. Then, he averted his gaze. She was probably just faking, trying to disturb him. (Is what you think Percy?)

He looked at the pit instead, stumbling a bit as he felt it pull at him, as he felt his life essence in self draining. Glancing down,

No. No.

He pulled back, refusing to let this empty chasm devour his soul. If he was going to die, it would be with Annabeth, or protecting his friends. Not falling stupidly into some dam hole.

Akhlys tilted her head curiously. Her expression shifted again, and for once, she didn't look like a sobbing ghoul. She stared at Percy, eyes no longer sunken and baggy but bright, beautiful, unearthly.

"Never before has a godling as new as you resisted the pull. You shall be interesting indeed, Perseus Jackson."

"Death Mist! Can you help me or not!" He snapped. He was all for being nice, but this goddess was getting on his nerves with her riddles and hints.

"Oh, but that's it. The Death Mist is for mortals. It shrouds them when they are on the very brink of death. However, you can't die anymore,not really, can you? I can't help you, little godling."

Percy felt like flopping on the ground and just letting the pit pull his essence from him. She was his last hope!

"So, what? You brought me here to say that you can't help?" He asked sullenly.

"Oh, no, not quite. I brought you here to see whether or not you're still mortal enough to be killed by a goddess. A nice sacrifice for Night, you shall be.

(I was so tempted to end it here, but it would have been really short)

Percy backed away as the psychotic goddess cackled manically. She raised her hands, her lips curving into a menacing smirk.

He raised his sword, prepared to fight, but it never came. Akhlys simply raised her hands, almost casually.

"This should be easy."

Percy hissed in retaliation.

Laughing wildly, she thrust her hands forward. He stumbled backwards as the plain erupted, liquid rushing from the poisonous flowers.

"You see, Perseus, I am also the goddess of poison. Let's see what my domain can do to a newly ascended sea godling."

Why did she keep calling him back godling? Monsters had used it before to mark him as a half-blood, but the way she uttered the word... and newly ascended? (Seaweed Brain)

Backing away from the slowly advancing tide of poison and the manical primordial, he felt the tug of the pit again. He inched forwards, sure that he had no chance of survival.

Streams of poison trickled towards him, caging him in. All of his instincts were screaming at him to run, but Percy was frozen in place by his own fear.

This was the end. He was going to die here, in Tartarus, alone and afraid. He was never going to see his Wise Girl again. Annabeth.

Annabeth.

Annabeth.

No. This wasn't going to be his demise. He promised her he'd see her again. He'd promised Nico he'd see him on the other side, he'd promised his mom he'd be back for Christmas. He wasn't intending to let them down.

At least not without a fight.

~🌊