The Champion of Chaos

Prologue

OMNISCIENT'S POV

Ever since the beginning of time, End has loved Misery.

Her tangled black hair curled on itself as she stared into his soul with her own grief-filled eyes. Despite her emaciated body frame, her knees were swollen as she would kneel on the black soil of Tartarus. Against the darkness, her pale skin seemed to glow with the power she radiates, only to be covered up with dirt that she seemed unable to wash off. Any wandering monster would hear the scratches she's made in the loose soil with her long fingernails; they'd hear her sobs as she cried human blood on her translucent cheeks.

But End thought she was beautiful the moment he laid eyes in her.

Achlys sat near the eternal abyss at the bottom of Tartarus. Yes, she had seen the great Perseus Jackson here once before, but he didn't even reach the actual edge of the abyss.

Similar to the ocean above and Tartarus itself, this abyss had layers. Perseus and Annabeth were on the equivalent of the beach above. Misery was overlooking the final drop off into an eternal fall.

Just leaning over the edge gave her the adrenaline which she desired to experience everyday. Just on the edge of ending her eternal punishment, even for a little bit of her immortal life, excited the miserable woman. The way her old heart raced at the thought of death was something she had grown to live off of.

She kicked a useless pebble and watched it disappear amongst the mist. It was her mist that absorbed it into nothingness. She smiled at the thought that she too could end up just like that rock. The thought pleased her.

She teetered on the ledge, contemplating the choice that seemed too simple to make. Death or life? That was the question in its simplest form.

She was about to let gravity pull her into the earth when a voice echoed in her mind. Achlys, he called in his sickly sweet voice.

She smiled. After all this time, he had finally contacted her. You called? She asked, just to be sure.

Yes my dear, he answered, I am back.

She turned away from the abyss and kneeled. My dearest, why did you leave me here to die?

I did not leave you here to die, he corrected. I kept you here to preserve you for when the time was right.

And I assume my time has come, Beloved? She purred.

Oh yes. You time has now come, Misery.

She breathed with a sense of purpose before slumping again. What if this isn't true? What if this isn't the way I want to return?

The man chuckled on the other end of the connection. I've heard your cries when Perseus Jackson tortured you when he too was trapped in this infernal place. He has locked me here, in a place where no others have entered or left alive. He has caused me pain as well.

She growled verbally. That arrogant boy will pay for his actions! Help me escape my eternal punishment! How do I serve you?

The man smiled from where he was bound, deeper in Tartarus. Journey to the Heart of Tartarus, where the Doors of Death lie. There you will have the easiest time passing the line of monsters awaiting their freedom.

But how? You know that I am not at my full power.

I will have a potion delivered to you by the morrow. Then should you be nearing the Heart and the abundance of monsters. Use the potion to bypass the line and the giants. They will gladly open the doors and let you out.