Perseus Jackson: Champion of Thanatos

Buried

Percy awoke in a pine box six-feet under hard packed dirt. His heart was beating erratically as if someone had just started it up with jumper cables. There was dust particles sprinkling on his face through the cracks in the coffin. It groaned from the weight of the soil above. He was stiff as if he had gone through rigor mortis and just needed to shake it off. Percy grunted as he tried to push against the weight of the cover of his coffin. He gasped and ripped his hands away from the wood, as he saw it age and turn black before his eyes. He looked at his hands; seemingly the same as they were before he "died". He was sure he would have many slightly interesting abilities since no one had ever been blessed by the two fear and death Gods. He was anxious considering what powers he would have to use in the coming days. He came to realize, when the coffin creaked from the sudden aging of wood; that he was just anxious. Not afraid. Normally even the most hardened warrior would be frightened at slowly asphyxiating and becoming food for worms. Yet Percy had a weird inkling that he would never be afraid of anything ever again. He figured it most come with the power of Phobos' domain, complete mastery of your fears. It was now that Percy realized the power of the deity of fear was vastly underappreciated. Fear controlled almost everything in everyday life, and the life of a demi-god was much more intense than normal living. Oh, and of course there was the blessing of the God of Death. Who, Percy assumed, was the one that buried him here; quite a morbid sense of humor, The God of Death. When Percy's heartbeat had relaxed he began to formulate a plan for escape. He supposed he may have the power of shadow travel, but he had no idea how to even attempt that, and he was absolutely exhausted from whatever means had put him here. He needed to use whatever powers were already in effect, and get out of this; hopefully, temporary resting place.

X

Being a son of Hades; Nico sensed a strange disturbance in the world of spirits. There was a huge imbalance of power to one side. It was near impossible to explain to anyone who could not feel the aforementioned fluctuation in power. It was like a scale that was even, and then something massive was dropped on one side. Someone, or maybe something, had entered the world and could do some serious damage. That was what Nico was, damage prevention, a valuable asset for the Gods. Looking back, he wished with all his might that there was more he could have done to prevent the descent of Percy into that Pit of perpetual suffering. He didn't have much say in the matter; who was he in the face of immortals? He was so afraid of suffering the same fate as Perseus, and elevating conflict amongst the Gods, that he didn't even speak a word for his friend. The Immortal Council only saw him as a tool for their use. Percy always tried his best to remain loyal to his friends, and Nico; had betrayed him.

He was pulled out of his reveries when he heard the distant call of voices, and odd rays of moonlight shining into a copse in the trees. Is this the ominous feeling I have been having? Nico thought, as he slowly crept closer to the quiet din of voices in the forest. Nico prided himself in being stealthy, in being as quiet as the Prince of Ghosts. So when his foot barely brushed a fallen leaf, and he saw a silver arrow land in a tree an inch to his right, he was somewhat shocked. His mind was just quick enough to form one thought before he was quickly subdued. Oh, fuck. He was kicked in the back of the knees and a knife found its way to his throat in seconds. He saw multiple hunters drop from the trees; bows notched and aimed at his face. "What are you doing here, boy?" The Goddess of the Hunt spat with contempt. Nico gulped deeply, "Um, if you could kindly remove that knife I would be more than willing to cooperate." Artemis sighed and kicked him into the dirt, "Fine, speak words that I do not dislike."

The child of Hades didn't really know how to explain why he was here, considering how he didn't even know what he was looking for. He figured he could at least try to explain before the Goddess slit his throat. "Nico!" He heard amongst the growing congregation of hunters. The lieutenant of the hunters burst through the ring of females with a lightning bright grin. Never had Nico been more relieved to see a woman in his life, than this moment. Thalia came rushing over to the two people of interest. "I assume you know this man, sister." Artemis said with her eyebrows raised. "Of course milady, this is the son of Hades; remember?" Artemis picked him up by the hair, causing Nico to grimace. She squinted at his face with her silvery searching moons, and then her eyes widened. She dropped him unceremoniously in the dirt. "Oh yes, I'm so sorry I did not recognize you at first; welcome Nico Di'Angelo!" Nico relaxed the tension in his muscles and had a reluctant smile. Artemis' face immediately came to a smirk, "That brings me back to my first statement, Nico Di'Angelo; tell me why you are here or I kill you." Thalia looked to her leader disapprovingly while Nico looked ready to wet himself yet again. "Just tell us why you're here death breath, no one's gonna hurt you." Thalia assured her cousin. So with that last statement Nico went on to tell them about his feeling of unease and how he felt the power was out of balance. As he spoke, Artemis did not seem as surprised as he anticipated, and when he finished his explanation she just quirked an eyebrow. "Odd as it may seem, we are in these woods for the same reason, your father assigned me this task." Then it was Nico's turn to raise his brows. His father had, unfortunately, disowned him. He did not like what Nico had to say about Percy's fate. He kept asking his father, seemingly a supporter of Percy Jackson; how he could just watch the other Olympians throw him into the pit. Hades had just told him of some "higher purpose", and how Nico had no part in that future conquest. He told him he wasn't needed in his domain, and that's why Nico walked around in the woods chasing gut feelings. Artemis continued her explanation, "He told me someone had escaped Tartarus, yet he did not seem too worried; he did tell us to expect something powerful however." Thalia whispered into Lady Artemis' ear, causing the Goddess to sigh and speak again. "We are having...difficulties locating the source, as no one with me is familiar with the realm of the Underworld. Would you perchance, be able to lead us to the source?"