The House of Hades

Chapter 16: Percy

Sorry it took so long to update this time! I had a lot going on this week.

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Chapter 16: Percy

Considering that Lycia was supposed to be their 'guide', she didn't really seem to know where they were going. After what felt like hours of walking around in circles and going off into random directions, then doubling back again, Percy came to the conclusion that Lycia didn't have a clue where they were.

He supposed part of the trouble was how Tartarus kept changing, which kind of made it hard to identify landmarks (though Lycia had assured them she knew Tartarus like the back of her hand). The monster attacks every five minutes also weren't helping. It felt like every single foul thing in Tartarus was being drawn to Percy and Annabeth as moths are drawn to light.

Percy didn't know how much longer he could stand Tartarus. It wasn't just all the monsters. It was the oppressive darkness, the feeling that he was in a dark room with the walls closing in on him that made him clutch at Annabeth's hand, and above all, the horrible images that kept looming out of the darkness. Without Annabeth at his side, Percy knew he probably would have gone crazy a long time ago.

Finally, he couldn't take it anymore, "Lycia, where in Hades are we?" he asked angrily.

"Hmm? Oh, we're in Tartarus," she answered lightly.

"Ha ha, very funny," Percy said, rolling his eyes, "I didn't mean where in the underworld, as you know. I meant do you have a clue where in Tartarus we are?"

Lycia turned around, her hands on her hips, wearing a frown, "First of all, if that's what you meant, a fair warning, do not use Hades's name in vain like that. It makes him mad,"

"Yeah, and making Hades happy is one of my biggest priorities," said Percy sarcastically. Lycia ignored him.

"Second of all, you know, it's not like there's an elevator somewhere that takes us down to the next level of Tartarus. You kind of have to find the right spot to open up a passage there,"

"And, where are those spots?" Percy prompted. Lycia glared at him.

"I don't know, kelp head, it keeps changing. I've been trying to find one!" Anger boiled up inside Percy. It was okay when Annabeth called him names like that, but when some annoying spirit from the Underworld did that, he got mad.

"Go ahead then ghost-girl," Annabeth murmured, and Percy had to work hard to conceal a smile as Annabeth gave Lycia one of her evil eye looks. Annabeth was great at those. Lycia didn't answer. In fact, for the next thirty minutes she didn't talk at all. Finally she said, in a low voice,

"Keep an eye out for a patch of black,"

"Um, newsflash, everything's black in this hell-hole," answered Annabeth. Lycia sighed.

"It'll seem kind of...blacker. Emptier," Lycia struggled for words, "Well, it'll be different, okay?" Percy scanned their surroundings, but he couldn't shake the feeling that they were on a wild goose chase. They walked on, and on, and on. Percy's feet felt strangely heavy, and he felt exhausted. Maybe it was a side-effect of being in Tartarus or having been badly wounded an then healed in the space of about ten minutes, but whatever it was, Annabeth seemed to be feeling it too. She was quiet the entire time, just holding on to hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze every now and then.

Just when Percy was thinking of sitting down and refusing to go on any further, he heard Lycia yell, "Okay guys, I found a, well, I like to call them the hot spots of Tartarus,"