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🍦— 007. vivi meets new people.
IF YOU EVER WANTED to go on a quest, rethink your wish, because Vivi doesn't recommend it. The group didn't stop running, until they ended up in a room full of waterfalls. The floor was one big pit, ringed by a slippery stone walkway. Around them, on all four walls, water tumbled from huge pipes. The water spilled down into the pit, and even when Percy shined a light, she couldn't see the bottom. Briares slumped against the wall. He scooped up water in a dozen hands and washed his face.
"This pit goes straight to Tartarus," he murmured. "I should jump in and save you trouble."
Tartarus. Vivi knows what that place is from stories of her grandma. The dark abyss looked terrifying from where she stood above it. Not now. Vivi heard voice, but she couldn't tell from where it came from. She turned around; Annabeth was catching her breath, while Percy stood next to Tyson. Soon, we will meet, the Messenger. Soon. The voice was unrecognizable. It made hair on the back of her neck stood up.
"Don't talk that way," Annabeth told Briares. "You can come back to camp with us. You can help us prepare. You know more about fighting Titans than anybody."
Vivi walked over to them, wanting to get away from the black hole.
"I have nothing to offer," Briares said. "I have lost everything."
"What about your brothers?" Tyson asked. "The other two must still stand tall as mountains! We can take you to them."
Briares's expression morphed to something even sadder: his grieving face.
"They are no more. They faded."
The waterfalls thundered. Tyson stared into the pit and blinked tears out of his eye.
"What exactly do you mean, they faded?" Percy asked. "I thought monsters were immortal, like the gods."
"Percy," Grover said weakly, "even immortality has limits. Sometimes. . . sometimes monsters get forgotten and they lose their will to stay immortal."
"I must go," Briares said.
"Kronos's army will invade camp," Tyson said. "We need help."
Briares hung his head. "I cannot, Cyclops."
"You are strong."
"Not anymore." Briares rose.
Percy grabbed one of his arms and pulled him aside, where the roar of the water hid their conversation. Vivi couldn't exactly hear what they were saying, but the shaking of heads and hundreds of finger guns, told her it wasn't going well. Then, Briares turned and trudged off down the corridor until he was lost in the shadows. Tyson sobbed.
