The Rise of Gaea

Percy 5

     Percy dodged her assault easily, with skill born of hundreds of fights and years of practice. He drew his sword, ready to slice her to bits, when a rope of webbing tangled around it, pulling it from his grasp and scraping the skin on his palm. Percy saw the next strand coming, and ducked under it. In the back of his head, he knew that Riptide would return to his hand in a matter of minutes, but those minutes could cost his life.

     Percy ran through a list in the back of his head of what he could do to delay while he waited for Riptide to return. He could try to talk to Arachne, but he had already done that. He could try to dodge her attacks, but eventually she would hit him. Then, the answer came to him so suddenly, he knew it was obvious.

     Water. There must be a source somewhere. Percy dodged another rope and ran to Arachne's side to give himself time. Closing his eyes, he searched for water. Thankfully, there seemed to be a large deposit right in front of him. Percy willed it to rise up, and opened his eyes in surprise as Arachne let out a pained and angry cry.

     "What the Hades are you doing, Jackson??"

      He had somehow managed to levitate Arachne so she was hovering about five feet in the air. She tried to shoot more rope at him, but he dodged again. Apparently what Percy had thought to be water was actually Arachne's blood. Percy smiled. He didn't even need Riptide. Making a sharp outward motion with his hands, he tore her apart by her blood. She rained down on him as golden dust.

      "That was for Annabeth." Percy growled.

     Ripping Arachne to shreds had awoken a sort of primal hunger and rage in him. Percy reached into his pocket and removed a ballpoint pen. Now he had two ways to fight. He couldn't wait to tell Annabeth- Percy sighed. Every second away from her felt like months.

     Suddenly, he had a horrible thought. He could faintly remember Annabeth saying something about how time ran differently in Tartarus. What if during the time it took him to locate the Doors, years passed above? Percy pictured Annabeth moving on, forgetting him, marrying someone else (who for some reason looked a lot like Luke Castellan), and living her life while he fought his way through Tartarus to get to her. Percy realized he was hyperventilating, and tears threatened to emerge from him eyes. Angrily, he blinked them back. He hadn't sustained any injuries from Arachne, but his arm was still broken, and the very air seemed to fill his lungs with death and burn his throat.

     Percy coughed. Surely there was some form of nectar or ambrosia in Tartarus. Something to keep the monsters alive long enough to endure their torment. Whether it would be suitable for demigods, Percy didn't know. But it was worth a try. Sending out his senses once again, he searched for water. It was also the perfect time to search for monsters. There were none near him, he couldn't sense any monster blood, but far to his left was a huge deposit that could only be a river.

    Percy used his senses to lead him there, as well as to keep watch for monsters. On the way, he killed a large group of empousa, the same way he had killed Arachne. Kelli was one of them, and Percy took great pleasure in ripping her apart. He was even more in need of the river now, as using his powers was energy-depleting. Finally the river came into view, it was a fiery, flaming, raging body of... could it even be water?

     Percy grinned. Leo would love this. Then his smile fell as he thought of Leo...and Frank, and Hazel, and Jason, and Piper, and Nico, and... Annabeth. Percy struggled to remain in control over his emotions. Now was no time to grieve. That would lead to him getting distracted and killed. Percy took in a shuddering breath, and let it out.

     He knelt by the river, wondering how he was going to drink it. Percy wasn't even sure if this was the right river, but as long as it wasn't the Lethe, it was okay. Percy dipped his cupped hands into the fire, and then drank. It went down like rotten ghost peppers. Percy coughed, choked, and retched, eyes streaming, but miraculously managed to keep it down.

     "Spicy, yet disgusting." He croaked, glad to be alive.

     "Hello Percy." Came from behind him.

     Percy froze, almost throwing up his firewater. As if thinking about him had called him back, the voice belonged to Luke Castellan.