𝙩𝙪 𝙢𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙨 - p. jackson [₂]

𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒙𝒙𝒙𝒗𝒊𝒊𝒊.

―✧―

"𝐑𝐈𝐋𝐄𝐘!" 𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐔𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐃 𝐌𝐄 𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊.

my foot nearly slipped off a drop-off, almost sending me sprawling into gods-know-where, but percy grabbed and pulled me into his arms.

"it's okay," he promised, keeping a tight hold on me.

i pressed my forehead against his chest, unable to keep from trembling. i felt annabeth's hand on my back, reassuring me that i was safe, that i was okay.

"thanks," i whispered, pulling away, but keeping my eyes closed. "can you tell where we are? what's in front of us?"

"water," he answered. "i'm still not looking. i don't think it's safe yet."

"agreed," annabeth muttered.

"i can sense a river... or maybe it's a moat. it's blocking our path, flowing left to right through a channel cut in the rock. the opposite side is about twenty feet away."

i squeezed his hand, "is there a bridge, or—?"

"i don't think so," percy said. "and there's something wrong with the water. listen."

i concentrated. within the roaring current, thousands of voices cried out — shrieking in agony, pleading for mercy.

help! they groaned. it was an accident!

the pain! their voices wailed. make it stop!

i didn't need my eyes to visualize the river — a black briny current filled with tortured souls being swept deeper and deeper into tartarus.

"the river acheron," annabeth voiced my thoughts. "the fifth river of the underworld."

"i liked the phlegethon better than this," percy muttered.

"it's the river of pain," i explained, a vague memory of one of my camp lessons coming back to me. "the ultimate punishment for the souls of the damned — murderers, especially."

murderers! the river wailed. yes, like you!

join us, another voice whispered. you are no better than we are.

my head began to flood with images of all the monsters i'd killed over the years.

that wasn't murder, i told myself. i was defending myself!

the images changed to show demigod friends of mine — lee, michael, castor — all friends of mine who'd died in the war. 

you could've prevented it, the river told me.

i shook my head trying to clear the images, but it made no difference.

memories of silena and cayden played in my head.