War Takes Its Toll

Bait

Hazel's POV

Nico led us down and down and down the tunnel. I could feel us getting closer. It was almost like descending in the House of Hades. I shivered. Yeah it was a lot like that.

Finally after what seemed like years of descending stairs, we emerged into Erebus. It looked exactly as I remembered it. Everything was dark and scary. Frank took my hand when we walked past the Fields of Asphodel. I did my very best to not look at it.

Once we reached Dad's palace, Nico let Annabeth lead. "Ok," Annabeth started, "I need Frank, Jason, and Piper to hand me over. And then when he comes to see me, the rest of you join the attack. We don't want to engage too much, just distract him enough so I can get a blood sample."

We all nodded our understanding. Jason and Frank stepped forward and each grabbed one of her arms, Piper following behind. Leo, Reyna, Will, Nico, and I stayed well enough behind so we could still rush in if we were needed.

Annabeth directed the two boys to where the entrance to Tartarus was, a place she'd apparently been when she was twelve. I had to give it to Annabeth, it was incredibly brave of her to come here so soon after she'd been to the actual place. But Percy needed this, and we all knew she'd do anything for him.

The Underworld usual had a cool, musty/moldy feel to it, but the closer we got to the pit, the hotter the temperature got.

In no time I was sweating. "How are they doing up there?" I asked. Nico approaches the wall of the tunnel and was soon gone.

"Dam it! Nico!" Will whisper yelled. A few seconds later, Nico returned. "They're—" He was interrupted by Will smacking him in the back of the head.

Nico snickered and winked at me. Will went to grab Nico, but the latter had already dissolved into shadows. Will huffed in annoyance and surprise, but screamed when Nico appeared up behind him and scared him.

We all stopped, wide eyed. Reyna made a cut-throat gesture frantically and Will stood stock still, listening.

I peeked ahead and saw Jason and Frank sort of shove Annabeth forward. She landed on her knees in front of the pit, crying fake tears. Piper circled her, calling out insults that I could tell were scathing from here.

Motioned for everyone else to come forward and see. The whole cavern started to rumble and groan as a warm gust of air blew from the pit, seeming to emit a purple glow.

I shivered despite the warmth. A deep laugh seemed to echo from the depths and we all took a
subconscious step back. And then there was a hand. A big, ugly, purple hand that grabbed onto the edge of the cliff face, as if to hoist the rest of its body up.

Jason, Piper, and Frank took shuddering steps backward, leaving Annabeth trembling near the edge. She drew herself tall, trying her very best to show no fear, though I knew her better than that.

The other three were too terrified to be of much help. Another giant purple hand grasped the other side of the pit, causing a few loose rocks to skitter over the edge.

There was a deep groan and then the cavern shook a bit harder and a leg swung itself over the edge, getting a better grip. And then Tartarus himself rose from the depths to his full height, dwarfing us all.

"Annabeth Chase," he grumbled in an impossibly low voice. He was a huge purple-skinned primordial with a swirling vortex for a face. And he was absolutely terrifying.

My knees turned to jelly and my heart beat so loud I was afraid he'd hear it. I knew he would be scary, but my imagination and Annabeth's descriptions could not prepare me for this.

"A sacrifice?" He roared, "First my poison has taken the boy, and now you give me the girl?" He laughed a deep, gurgling laugh. My heart skidded to a stop at the mention of Percy. Did he just say the poison took him? Does he mean that Percy is dead? Are we too late?

I made eye contact with Nico, who shook his head. "Liar," he whispered to me. Jason shot me a frantic look from ahead and I gestured back that he was alive and the mission was still on.

Jason glanced first at Frank, then Piper. They got the message. "This filth has been sabotaging our plans for months," Jason spat, gesturing to Annabeth on her knees. "You can have her back."

Annabeth started to really cry now, and if I didn't know any better, I wouldn't be able to tell she was acting. Piper kicked Annabeth in the side, toppling her.

There was an anger in Frank's eyes I'd only seen once before, in the heat of battle. He was really acting beautifully, they all were. Now if only the plan actually works.

Tartarus let out another deep bellowing laugh, reaching for Annabeth. Instead, he got a fire ball in the chest. He was only slightly surprised.

Leo was shaking next to me, his face white with fear. He'd just nailed the primordial with fire ball. Jason was startled out of his stupor and flew up, sending sparks at Tartarus's head.

Frank ran at him, changing into a bear mid-stride and barreling into Tartarus's legs. He didn't fall, but for the first time he actually stumbled.

Annabeth scrambled to her feet and dove at Tartarus with her primordial sized needle. I ran into the fray with my sword drawn, slicing at his knee. I felt a surge of strength and saw Reyna doing her thing.

Will was kind of still hiding for the most part, but he dashed into action when Jason got batted out of the sky. He dragged him out of the way to make sure he was okay. Jason was ready to go again in record time.

Leo meanwhile, lobbed fire ball after fire ball at Tartarus, trying to distract him. We knew our chances of beating him were slim, borderline nonexistent, so we tried not to engage directly.

"Got it!" Annabeth screamed. She held up the needle filled with a thick, purplish colored liquid. She didn't see the backhand coming.

Tartarus grunted and swung, hitting her square across the chest and she flew backward screaming. Except this time, she fell right into the pit.