To Swear On Styx

Chapter Twenty Five: I Sign My First Death Warrant

Playlist Part Twenty Five:

Heroes - Gang of Youths

Mr. Rattlebone - Matt Maeson

Broken Crown - Mumford & Sons

The Four Seasons: Winter - Antonio Vivaldi, Adrian Chandler, La Serenissima

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Author's Note - hiiii guys did you miss me lmao

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The River Styx hadn't looked inviting when he was fifteen, and it certainly didn't look any better five and a half years later.

In fact, it probably looked worse- it was either that, or Percy being completely and utterly unenthused about having to take a second bath in the thing was messing with his head.

Heaving a sigh, the son of Poseidon rubbed his hands together, before rolling his shoulders back and staring blandly up at the cavernous rock ceiling far, far above him.

It was the middle of the night, but you wouldn't be able to tell as much in the Underworld, where the only two settings seemed to be dim and pitch black. The air hummed eerily around him, and the whispers of shades as they flitted by on the Styx's opposite shore drifted out at him through the murk, about as comforting as a death threat.

To his right, Annabeth- who'd pretty much been stuck to Percy's side ever since the Olympians had so graciously informed the campers Kronos'd risen again- cast him a side-long look. "I'm guessing it doesn't exactly tickle?" She asked, gesturing at the Styx's churning water, and Percy's lips quirked up into a lopsided grin.

"Nah," he said, "-unless your idea of tickling involves a whole lot of pain." Trailing off, he shifted his eyes back down to the frothing, oily water. It tore along the banks like fresh snowmelt, save the fact it was inky-black and smelled of death.

Annabeth laughed, but it sounded forced, like she was trying and hopelessly failing to lighten the mood. The sound echoed sharply up off the jagged rock walls, before the silence again stretched between them- Annabeth staring blankly down at the river, and Percy still hyping himself up to jump in.

It'd been easier the first time- he hadn't known what to expect, how painful it would be to let even a drop of the water flick against his bare skin. Now- now though, now that he knew what to expect, he couldn't help but feel like a bit of a coward. Like the past few, nice, quiet, uneventful years had him going soft.

"Well, uh," Percy's voice cut through the tension, and he clapped his hands together as he turned on his heel to meet Annabeth's gray eyes. "See you on the other-"

"Perseus Jackson," a woman's low, rumbling voice cut him off, and both Percy and Annabeth startled- Percy flicking off Riptide's cap and Annabeth brandishing her knife, the dim glow of Celestial Bronze illuminating the bags beneath their eyes and throwing their silhouettes up against the gaping walls.

"If you're going to pull the full name card," Percy yelled out, sounding more annoyed than worried, and causing Annabeth to let out a muffled snort from over his shoulder, "-you're either my mom or some crazy monster that wants to kill me, so-"

Behind them, the River Styx erupted. Percy, having not expected that, lurched in front of Annabeth, tearing apart the cursed water with a vicious yell. The droplets splattered on the stone floor around them, hissing as they met earth, thin lines of acidic steam seeping up into the air.

There was a beat of silence, before, like the Styx was laughing at them, a throaty chuckle echoed out from the shadows. "I knew there was a reason I let you live." The words reverberated around them, sounding and resounding in Percy's ears.