Light Birthed Through Pain

Tartarus? I'd Rather Be in Hades!

Percy POV

    I woke up. YEA! CELEBRATION! Finally, these goddamn nightmares end! WAHOO! Anyway, I woke up, feeling distracted, which my ADHD did not help with. Hmm, I feel weird, wait a sec... I checked the time. Then I let out an F bomb. It was 7:25. 5 FREAKING MINUTES UNTIL BREAKFAST! I quickly rinsed myself, getting refreshed, using my powers to dry and quickly putting my clothes on. 7:28, no now 7:29. I dashed across the entire camp, because lucky me, my tent was 10 WHOLE MILES away from the mess hall. Or cabin. Or Magical thingy-ma-bobber. It was like 10x larger on the inside than what it seemed on the outside, and was carved with intricate designs. For the first time in the 6 months that I've been here, this is the only time that I really noticed it because I had to watch my back, courtesy to Phoebe. I quickly served lunch and sat on a faraway rock that was isolated from society. Kinda like me and my former... Friends. Yea. Same feeling here. Just less personal, more sexist.
So after that I went out, and did my regular sprint, and just finished sharpening my arrows until... SOME EXTREMELY ANNOYING ANNOUNCEMENTS. Yea. Like they screamed at 10000000000% volume. This is what it said, "HUNTERS, YOU ARE UNDER ATTACK, GET READY AND DEFEND THE CAMP FROM THE THREAT!!!!" (sorry I couldn't have thought of something better, take it easy on me!) I already saw the hunters finish setting up traps, getting into position, and the last ones setting up the barricades. We needed them. Like really bad. There were monsters everywhere outside of the camp border. There were endless waves of them, lead by none other than ol' shiny head himself, and fish brains (which says something because I'm a seaweed brain). Hyperion and Oceanus. It looked like they had made an alliance with the giants, as I saw them right behind. I shuddered. I saw Gratius and... ORION. I had that expression on my face that everyone could see, and when Artemis saw where I was looking, she growled. Then. Let's just say that you don't want to see the hunters in battle. I looked again and realized that we couldn't win, even with the mad hunters (hope no one can read my mind). There will tens upon thousands of monsters! No joke. I was fighting with Thaila who had her Aegis and spear, against Oceanus and Gration. I knew that we only had one god on our team to defeat the giants, and that this would be difficult. Then? Surprise! The entirety of Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter, including Chiron and Mr. D came and helped us fight. The tides were changing ever so slightly. But that was enough to give us hope. Determination. Willpower. We refused to back down, and pushed the enemy back. By this time, we had defeated Oceanus and Gration, as well Hyperion, who well, let's just say that got turned again.
It looked like we were winning, until. Of course with my luck, another couple ten thousands of monsters flanked us. We even had Poseidon and Zeus come to help us, but it was no use. We were losing, but we held on. Nico and Thalia were at my side, fighting like there was no tomorrow, which was probably true. I fought like I had never fought before, like a devil, I slashed my way through dozens of ranks of monsters, and with Nico and Thalia by my side, until we made it to a hill, in which we had a vantage point for Thalia as she pulled out her bow and started sniping down monsters. We had to deal with a couple of difficult monsters, and we even beat a 6 headed hydra, courtesy to Nico's flaming bones that he stuck into their necks, so that they couldn't regenerate.
We relaxed after a while, but then saw something? It was releasing the energy of a Primordial, but there was obviously more than one. I sensed 3 auras coming to us, as if they could spare all the time they needed. The energies they were releasing was so strong, I could barely handle even being outside 100 yards of them! Me, Nico, and Thalia readied ourselves for some kind of impact, but instead, a black tornado appeared, and sucked Nico and Thalia in, but closed before I could jump in and help them. Why would I jump into a black tornado of darkness that sucked up my friends and made some kind of portal to another dimension? Keyword, friends. I just couldn't leave them behind, those two were like family to me! And I just lost them. The Primordials disappeared after that, but I didn't care. I just wanted to hurt who took part in hurting my friends. So I released all of my energy, and shot it like a wave of energy at the enemy. Infused with darkness, fire, and water, the monsters only had a split second to let the fear settle in their body before they disintegrated into golden dust. I roared and a few hundred more monsters died from my scream. I then ran into the ranks with Riptide and slashed, ducked, rolled, stabbed, etc. I couldn't stop my body from moving, nor did I want to. These monsters killed my FREAKING FAMILY! I wouldn't forgive them, even if they begged as hard as they could. Then I saw a small hole to Tartarus, and then realized that it had the same vibe as the tornado, except it had less darkness, and more Tartarus. I opened it up with the remaining bits of my energy, forcing it open, and fell in, falling unconscious during the fall, which didn't say much, as it took a couple days, but still, you know what I mean.

*1 hour later*

Artemis POV

Those memories kept going in my head, as if it was on repeat. Percy destroying the monsters in rage, opening the crack to Tartarus, and fell in, his eyes closing as he fell. I screamed and flashed over, but even that wasn't fast enough! Tartarus shut right before I could go in (you can't flash into Tartarus), and I hit the ground. I couldn't get those thoughts out of my head. I feel sad and happy at the same time that no one knew who he was, except the gods and the hunters. But was sad because everyone else who still respected him, didn't know him, except Nico (Thalia was a hunter, as you well know). I was deeply saddened, but for my hunters, I had to stay strong, nor would I let them know about that soft spot I had for him. He was always a good man. I don't like him, but I do admire him. Not just for his skills, not like Orion, but for his heart, as well. He cared for others, and would give up his life and literally go to Tartarus for his friends, as he just had. I felt sad, and I felt a small piece of my heart that cared about him, the part that flashed me to him, crack and turn to dust. That small hole in my heart is something I never felt before... Ever. I don't know what the feeling is, but I know that I could trust him with my life, even though he was a man.

*Down in Tartarus*

    Time Ratio: 10:1

Percy POV

    Ugh, I've been here for 10 hours, but it's felt like 100, trapped, separated from Nico and Thalia, but knowing they were in similar rooms as I, until I heard a voice. Then I saw several people, no it was just one. One I knew much to well. "Annabeth," I spat. She came over with her celestial bronze knife, with a psychopathic smile on her face. "Want some more torture, ok, here I come!" She drove her knife into me, more times than I could count, carving words that I didn't see, except for one cut on my right wrist in small letters: Worthless. I really am worthless. Unable to even protect my best friends. Unable to protect my family. I can't do anything right, can I? Darkness seemed to take over, until that glimmer of light shone hope, saying, keep trying, that is all you can do, and if you, then it will all be worth it in the end...

Sup. I'm sorry. I'll try to update tomorrow. Really sorry. Also, MUST READ: I will actually be updating about 2 times a week, good days 3, bad days 1, really good days 4, really bad days none. Welp, on that note, cya!!!