16 || ⵊɴᴛᴏ Tᴀʀᴛᴀʀᴜs

A chime rang in the sky, and I knew it was time for the passage to open.

I ran to the upper deck, all were sitting there, talking -except Zoe-.

"Guys, fast, go to your rooms. The passage will open any minute. If you don't, you will drown in the water. Leo, you go to the control room. You have to put the ship in its flying mode when we cross the layer of water."

They frantically looked at each other, before they ran. The others went to their rooms, while Leo went to the control room.

After confirming that all were in their rooms. I shadow travelled back to my and Zoe's room.

-OO-

Perseus came out a shadow, he walked towards the now blanket engulfed bed. His precious wife -thought very stubborn- laid down on the bed, waiting for the portal to open.

Percy went towards the cushion of a bed, and sat on an empty spot.

"Come out, Zo." He said softly. Barely a whisper, hush words came out of his mouth.

"Please. We are about to enter Tartarus. It would be our last one-on-one time, at least for some time. I just want to talk."

Her cute bronze head came out from the end of the blanket, as she stared at the handsome guy who she is lucky to call her husband.

"What is it, Percy?"

"Why are you frustrated, Zo. Did I do something wrong?"

He pulled his wife out of her hiding, before he let her rest on him. He played with her hair, twirling, straightening, curling it. He was trying his best to keep her calm, and he could see that it was working, as her back muscles slowly lost their tensity.

"It's not you, Percy. Well technically, it is you. With you going to the Roman camp- "

Percy stopped her mid-sentence with a soft kiss to her neck.

"You are rambling, Love."

"Percy," she huffed.

"With you being forcefully separated from us, and no one to advise your brother, we all had so much work to do. And we were so stressed, but after seeing you after so much time, it... it just got the better of me."

"Don't worry, Love. I did technically deserve it, because as I didn't heed the warning of my sisters, I was punished. I changed the Prophecy, which was technically made to help us. But with mother waking now, no land is safe. Plus, the morons upstairs are not removing my restriction."

She chuckled at him calling the Primordials morons. The loud sound of lightning resonated around the ship, Guess the Primordials weren't happy with me calling them morons.

He felt the loss of gravity under this ship, and the sound of the lake -with all its water- engulfing us. The mighty mouth of the sea.

It basically swallowed the ship in.

The ground opened into a red abyss, the walls of the tunnel big enough for a Kraken to fit in, somehow the water was not getting in.

The ship reeked with turbulence, as each and every one of them went through the layer of water, a few drops of the salty water entered their cabin.

The drops were immediately lifted above, and then were excreted out of the cabin, as if Water was forbidden from entering the pit.

-OO-

Perseus saw the water droplets going out of the ship, merging with the layer above them.

"Do not get out. Under any circumstances. Understood?" she nodded. I left Zoe in the room and ran to the deck. That idiot mechanic made the engine room on the deck, who the fuck does that?

The moment I opened the door to the deck, I felt myself almost flying out into the endless, and empty abyss of the void. If we get sucked in, we fade.

The wind's current was too high for me to just walk.

I started to gather as many shadows as possible. Each and every shadow present on the ship, or around the ship was accumulated, and then was shaped into shoe stickers. They would stick me to the floor so tight, so tight that I wouldn't fly away.

I calculated each and every step. The foot should not be too high, not too low. Both with their disadvantages.

I took every step one-by-one. Each consuming a lot of my energy. I walked ten big steps, before I reached the door of Leo's engine room.

With a huff, I opened the door to find Leo putting something inside the engine. Ignoring this, I closed the door, before releasing all the shadows. My body shattered; I fell down on the ground from exhaustion.

"Why have you come here, Percy? You said to be in our rooms."

"Yes, well I came to tell you a thing. Turn on this ship's flight mode, and make us go as fast we can, downwards. Then when I tell you, stop, and take us far from that place."

"Aye, Aye Captain." He saluted at me, before turning on his remote-control system. He picked up his WII's remotes, and started to turn the ship downwards at full pace, before we blasted off down into the so-called 9-day adventure.

Our ship blasted the sound barrier, as we crossed the speed of 343 m/s.

Our ship boosted with its backup thrusters.

I heard the creeks of the wooden flooring outside the engine room. I went towards the door and opened it, just to see Zoe walking on the board with all her endurance, but I knew the force was too much for her.

I turned back and faced Leo. "Leo. When you hear any sound of water, stop the ship from going down at such speeds, slow down, when you see a river, fly above it and try to find a good spot to land, and then pray to me."

He nodded at me, I walked out towards my wife, the shadows holding me down on the floor.

"Zoe! What are you doing outside?" I had to scream as the sound made by the wind was too much.

"I can't sit inside like a coward, Percy."

Her left leg was lifted above the flooring, and she was left standing on one leg, continuously trying to fix her left leg back on the ground.

"You will blow away. This is too much for you." I shouted.

"I am no coward, Percy. I have to come outside, help with things."

I walked towards her. It took a lot out of me as the ship was in a vertical position, my back was facing the downward end of the tunnel. I felt the strain which was Zoe putting on herself.

I took a large step to cover up more ground, but that turned out to be a mistake.

As my leg was still in the air, Zoe became unbalanced, and she fell forward. Her body coming towards me, I used the shadows to stop her, but the gravity was too much here.

The shadows were broken through by her body, and she crashed into me.

We both fell downwards. Her body became limp as she started to lose consciousness. Tartarus would be bad for a first timer. Not many can remain conscious the first time they come here; the harsh environment does that to you.

With all I could do, I covered the boat with shadows, the environment won't affect them until they come to the ground, or I also lose my consciousness.

We fell, I don't even know for how long, the ship had overtaken us a long time ago.

I was going to close my eyes; the tiredness had crawled up to my mind. Just a moment after, I heard the gurgles of water. I heard the waves, the splashing and the sound of water as it passed the land.

With renewed strength knowing this was our last hope before we go splat, I turned downwards, decreasing our momentum with any shadow available, we splashed into one of the rivers in Tartarus.

As soon as my skin touched the water, I felt chills run up my spine. The water was ten times as cold as raw ice.

I threw Zoe on the shore knowing nothing would happen to her, I fell into the chilling waters of the river Cocytus. The river of the wailing. All the specially punished souls of the underworld were thrown here.

Dead souls tried to talk to me, "Give up life, Perseus. You are of no use to anyone. Your wives, your family hate you. You are not as strong you were before. You would just be a liability on the quest. Be with us, Perseus. We would be in misery forever, and your wives would survive."

I was so tempted to give in, to be in a world where my wives would survive. But with the last part of my brain being logical, I knew that the river was trying to be as miserable as possible, so I used the last of my strength to swim up to the surface.

I took a large breath as I got in the harsh, sulfuric air of Tartarus. I saw the limp body of Zoe on the shore, so I swam towards her.

I reached her body, feeling the chills as the wind hit my body. I involuntarily shivered.

I sat near Zoe, and put my hand near her nostrils. I felt warm air on my hand, as she exhaled. She was alive, I was so relieved.

I had felt the silent prayer of Leo, "Percy, we reached a safe spot. You should come, the whole ship is in commotion, and are asking for you. Should I tell them?"

I could not see any shadows near me, but there was a tiny source of light. Lava could be seen leaving the Volcanoes in the pit, I used the Light, and sucked them to me.

With all I could muster, I used the Light, and with a bright flash, we teleported to the ship.

As Light illuminated the ship, we were resting on the wooden deck of the ship. I could notice the burns the ship had taken when the thrusters were used to make us reach Tartarus quicker.

Seeing the bright light on the upper deck, the whole crew came out to check what happened. As soon as they saw us, they ran towards us.

Knowing we were safe -at least for now- with Tartarus's protection, I closed my eyes, and fell into the realm of Hypnos.

I woke up to find I was back in my bedroom, with a heater on, plus a heating pad on my stomach and back.

It felt as if the pads had cooled, and I felt the warmth that was missing when I entered Cocytus.

I had been covered with a thick blanket, so I removed it, and tossed it to the opposite end of the bed. I never wanted to leave the bed, it was so comfortable, but knowing my wife and my friends needed me, I had the determination to get out of the room, and search across the ship.

I went to the top of the ship to find just silence, nobody was there. Just the noise of Volcano's blasting at a distance covered the ground.

I went to each room, just to find made beds, I walked to the engine room. Just a dragon head was present, it tried to speak to me in squeaks and creeks, but I didn't understand a thing.

"Leave it, Buddy." I patted the bronze dragon on its head, and walked out of the room.

I walked towards the dining room, which was the last place on the ship. If they were not there, then either something happened to them, or they left me here.

I opened the door to find them all talking, eating breakfast. There was a large feast in front of them. They were eating like mad people, perhaps because they didn't eat anything for the past 2 days.

As soon as they heard the door open, they stopped and looked at me.

Their eyes were wide, I looked around to find Zoe, and she was sitting beside Piper, and an empty chair.

Leo had a croissant hallway to his mouth, which had already been bitten.

"Percy." Jason announced.

"You okay, Dude?" He asked.

"Yes, Jason." I answered.

"Good." Piper replied to me.

"Why was I covered in heat pads? And why was there a heater in my room?"

"Percy, you were colder than the lowest temperature possible. You were at minus 250 degrees. Nobody can handle that, Percy, not even a god. Just because you are used to the cold with your domain of Darkness, you are still alive." Hazel answered.

"Oh." Was my brilliant reply.

"Thanks guys."

"You are welcome, Perseus." Answered Frank.

"We are friends, you have no need to say thanks to us."

"Okay." I replied cheerfully.

"So, do you know what happened?"

"No, Zoe said that you will tell us, as she can only remember about the tunnel."

"Yes, she had fallen unconscious."

"Then why didn't we fall unconscious too? Why only after you sleep?" asked the ever-curious Leo.

"Because my shadows were protecting you. They left after my mind relaxed."

"Oh."

"So, tell us, what happened?"

"Well, I and Zoe fell into the tunnel. I don't even know how much time we were in the air. She fell unconscious after some time, but I have come here many times to talk to Uncle Tartarus, so I was used to the climate. But not sleeping, it got me tired too. My power was of a normal demi-god, so I had no power reserve. So, when I was on the brink of closing my eyes, I saw the river Cocytus."

"The river of wailing?" asked Zoe.

"Yes, Zo. So, I threw you aside and I took a chance. It tried so hard to keep me down, but I came to you, and then Leo prayed to me that they found a safe spot to land, so I flashed us both with my Light powers, as there were no shadows there."

"At least you are safe now. What will happen now?" asked Cherokee Demi-goddess.

"We have to find a statue of Kronos. It was hidden by the gods a long time ago; it was basically thrown into Tartarus. But the problem is not finding it, it is that ancient monsters are protecting it. In front of those monsters, the newer generation is nothing. Leviathans, the first Hydra, are to name a few. Leviathans cannot be killed easily. It took an angel to kill them, but all the angels were killed. Now I could kill them if I had my full powers, but right now, I couldn't even make a dent in them."

"Then how are we going to kill them?"

"We can't. Plus, the strongest monster ever created has been reborn, and she hates me. She can use the powers of all the faded immortals, and that is going to be a huge problem."

"Why can't Chaos kill her?" asked Frank.

"Because she can't be killed. Gerlos was formed out of the void, and the void is where all immortals go after they have faded. And she can't fade. She was locked up by Chaos, but then she was free. So, he sent me to kill her. I killed her, barely. But now she is back, and I am at my weakest point."

"So, what can we do?"

"I have an idea to trap her, you guys lift the statue, and take it away. I will follow you afterwards."

"Okay... I have some repairs to make. And we would need to heal ourselves properly. You have been here before, Perseus. Can you go and fetch water from the river Phlegethon? There is a container on the end of the room, take that." Leo asked.

"Sure, Leo." I answered.

"Then every other person can freshen up, the water pressure's okay, and there is a geyser so no need to worry, and the shower can be used by two." He winked at me and Zoe, Frank and Hazel, and Jason and Piper.

We blushed at the same time, before I shadow travelled outside the ship, teleporting the jar into my hands at the same time.

I found myself on a shaggy, bright red path holding a bronze jar. It was as if Tartarus wanted me to follow it, which it probably was. I put the Jar into a shadow, and set off.

I walked the red surface for about 10 minutes, before I came to a cliff. One more step, I would have fallen down.

I could hear the faint sounds of the water churning. I looked down to see a faint orange aura being illuminated in the foggy area.

I saw a Goat path leading downwards, so I took it. It had pebbles, large stones, and other things; I almost broke my ankle. I walked down to find the hot waters of the river Phlegethon.

Glass shards covered the entire area around the area, it was as if it was made to hurt, and the river to heal.

I sensed a foreign presence on the surface of the glass shards. As I narrowed my eyes on a specific glass shard, I noticed a faint purple tint on its top, Poison.

It was sprayed here so that nobody could enter the area, and I could sense traps on the ground around the river. But just to confirm, I tossed a rock on the ground, but nothing happened.

I started to walk forward, before 4 large bear traps, a cage, and an arrow fired at where the rock was placed.

I took another rock, and threw it at a nearby place, but nothing happened. I waited for 3 minutes, but nothing happened.

I covered myself with shadows, just in case something was fired at me. I took a careful step ahead, and waited for the inevitable to happen, but nothing did.

So, I did the same thing with my other step, but the result was the same.

I ran towards the end, screaming like a little girl.

I was leaning on top of the river of Fire. I cupped my hands into a bowl's shape, and dipped it into the river.

It felt cold, meaning that the heat frayed my nerves, making me feel cold instead of hot. With my conscience persuading not too, but I didn't give a shit.

I drank the water. For the moment I felt nothing, but then it started to burn in my stomach, my throat became dry, and I felt my eyes closing, before all of it stopped.

I felt the pain in my body, my tiredness going away, my body feeling better than it did in a long time.

I took out the jar from the shadows, and put it gently in the dangerous waters. It came to its brim, almost leaking out, before I put the lid back on. The maximum, only for my friends and family.

I flashed back to my ship to find it empty. A note was stuck to the upper deck's biggest wall.

It was stuck with the help of a knife.

It read a special note to me:

Long time no see, Perseus. Heard your powers were stripped, and it would be easier to tear you to pieces. If you want your friends back, meet me at the Arena. We would fight fair-and-square. Ask Tartarus where it is, if you do not know it.

Sincerely,

Gerlos

Fucking shit. Hope you can protect me, Chaos.

Words: 3274