Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Rory knew fear better than anybody, but this was different.
Waves of terror crashed over her. Her joints turned to jelly. Her heart refused to beat.
Her worst memories crowded her mind — Grover nearly being dragged into Tartarus; fighting Polyphemus and being so close to death that she met her mother; Annabeth falling off that cliff at Westover; watching Bianca di Angelo sneak into Talos' foot and sacrifice herself; Zoë Nightshade dying; leaving Percy alone to fight an army of telkhines under Mount St. Helens and the volcano erupting behind her as she ran; being stabbed with a poisoned dagger; the drakon that attacked Manhattan; Silena Beauregard's death; watching Luke sacrifice himself to kill Kronos; realizing that Percy was missing.
Worst of all were the flashbacks to Tartarus. Rory knew they were just that: flashbacks. But they felt so real. They blurred the line between reality and hallucination. She could have sworn she saw arai standing between Piper and Annabeth. Ahklys' poisonous flowers sprouted at her feet, their sickeningly sweet stench hitting her nose. The darkness above her swirled like Tartarus' face. Her body was reacting the same way as when the primordial god took on his physical form — paralyzing and incomprehensible fear.
Every time she blinked she saw something new. Blink. Her hand nearly slipping from Percy's grip as they hung over Tartarus. Blink. Kelli the empousai standing over her, claws ripping her throat and fangs bared, ready to end Rory's life. Blink. Her vision turned milky white, like it did during their fight with the arai. Blink. Nyx and her vampiric horses looming over her and Percy. Blink. Tartarus. Bob and Damasen fighting for Rory and Percy's lives, willing to sacrifice themselves so they could return to the mortal world and stop Gaea. These images flashed in her mind like a never ending slideshow.
She didn't even notice when the giant raised his sledgehammer to smash them flat. Piper tackled her to the ground and she barely even felt it.
The giant chuckled. "Oh, that wasn't fair!" He hefted his sledgehammer again.
"Rory, get up!" Piper helped her to her feet. She pulled her towards the far end of the room, but Rory moved sluggishly.
Rory shook her head, trying to tug her hand out of Piper's grip. Tears started forming in her eyes. She couldn't do this again. She couldn't relive Tartarus. It was bad enough it happened every night as she slept, but this was worse. Much worse. It was enhanced and compounded with all her other bad memories. She knew she was awake and she couldn't tell what was real and what wasn't. She didn't think her mind would be able to handle it. She wanted to stop fighting — let the giant kill her now and put her out of her misery.
Annabeth stumbled over to Rory and Piper. Her face was white as paper. She placed a reassuring hand on Rory's shoulder.
"We're here," Piper promised, filling her voice with reassurance. "We will get out of this."
