The Journey Through Tartarus

The Heart Of Tartarus

Chapter: 10 The Heart of Tartarus

Percy's Pov:

The first thing I noticed was the massive hordes of monsters, thousands possible tens of thousands stood around jostling and fighting amongst each other. Hellhounds the size of tanks wandered snatching up smaller monsters in their maw, Hydras leaking poison melted others, like Telkines and Empousai, packs of what I could only assume were werewolves, wolf-headed men, Aria, Cyclopes, Drakons, Dragons, even some headless human-looking monsters. But possibly the most concerning were the Titans, I couldn't really see them, but titans just have this aura or force and power, they also glow really brightly, especially Hyperion...

I was distracted by a sound off to my right, as I hid the dim light of a titan began to creep over a hill. I hadn't even noticed earlier, at this point I had begun to panic, but when a mop of silver hair peeked over the crest, I felt immense relief again, Bob the Titan was back. The amount of guilt I had been carrying about him had been excruciating, early on I had promised myself to do everything in my power to make things right between us

Just before we crested the peak of the hill down to the doors of death Bob spoke again,

"Percy you will need to cut the chains," I was about to ask a question but "hush you will know what I mean when the time is right, but beware the guardians my mother has placed there" I nodded and I saw some sort of battle in his eyes before he spoke again,

"Percy, you reek of Night, I hope you kept your eyes closed through her mansion, if you angered her I would hate to see what horrors she will have in store for you when you die. " I ushered him in close before quietly muttering thanks and reassurance that when this was all over they would have a conversation about their separate journeys

With him at my side I marched towards tiny pinpricks or black metal at the far end of the cavern, I figured that this had to be the doors of death. From a distance, they didn't really look like much, but I figured that they would be more impressive up close, radiating death and such.

Walking into a horde of monsters is scary, even with a Titan it's scary, I can attest to this. The death mist seemed to be working. But still, I was on high alert. Walking in Tartarus' heart was hard, there were large veins everywhere all being funneled towards a massive chunk of what could only be described as flesh. It was at least seven stories tall and relatively heart-shaped, and not the fun lovey shaped heard, like the beating mass in your chest. As we got closer gravity seemed to get even heavier. It seems that Tartarus' Grace had done a lot for me but it could completely block out the effects, for instance, I was seeing Tartarus in its raw form, every inch of the ground was his body, the monsters were his blood cells, the whole expanse, this never-ending pit was his body. Most of my other problems seemed to have lessened. The air seemed to be less toxic or at least I had adapted, or maybe my lungs were so badly damaged that they just couldn't hurt anymore.

My attention was brought back to the real world when I heard a commotion up front and noticed what could only be called Auras, one was hot and angry, and another was very similar, but the other was completely different cold and gloomy. A lump formed in my throat as the hoard opened into a ring to show one of the most gruesome displays of authority I had ever seen. A glowing Titan was in the middle of a circle performing a beatdown, it seems that Antaeus had finally reformed.

I didn't usually feel sympathy for monsters especially not ones like him, but now pity was the only feeling I could have, his face was dented and his arms were muscle, sinew, and bones, it seemed his healing spell didn't work on Tartarus' fleshy ground.

Somehow he got up fast enough to roll away from another stab of Hyperion's spear, but then a moment of hesitation on Antaeus' part cost him his life, as he stood back up Hyperion threw his weapon which hurtled through the air before traveling straight through the fifteen-foot five thousand pound giant. Bob stood by me and when Hyperion waltzed over to decapitate the monster's head. A gruesome sight and as he held it up and all the monsters cheered, Hyperion looked pleased for a second, and as the fiery Titan spoke, I saw the other two Titans, they were standing right next to two regular sized elevator doors. With delayed awe, my mind realized I had seen those doors before. They were simple Stygian Iron rectangles rimmed in black, silver art deco designs were etched into the metal, they were a complete inversion of the doors to Olympus.