Sea Green Eyes

Chapter 56

Both Percy and Cressida felt more relieved with Castor around. He seemed to trust the Titan that unnerved the two of them a little bit. Cressida seemed even more alive with her brother being here too. He told them all about Elysium and the massive mansion he was sharing with some of their old friends, Beckendorf, Silena, and Michael Yew. Even Luke had stuck around for a while before trying for rebirth.

It seemed to bring the woman Percy loved a lot of relief to know that her brother was ok and happy.

He even told the story of how he and Bob became friends. How he'd seen the Titan mindlessly sweeping his way through the Underworld before inviting him in for a drink. Castor always had a thing for taking in strays. Not to mention how Bob kept saying that he was Percy's friend as well.

Bob had said he jumped into Tartarus all because Percy called his name. "He needed me," the Titan had said, those silver eyes gleamed in the darkness. "It is okay. I was tired of sweeping the palace. Come along! We are almost at a rest stop."

Cressida's knees almost buckled at the sound of a rest stop as she walked with Castor's arm over her shoulders and her hand linked with Percy's. And Tartarus didn't seem so bad as she walked with two of the people she loved most in the world.

Cressida was telling Castor about Pollux. Even though he checked up on them every once in a while, Castor still loved listening about how Cressida was suspecting that Pollux had a girlfriend he wasn't telling her about because even when Percy hadn't been missing, he'd been blowing her off, saying he had school things and other vague excuses to not come and visit when he usually jumped at the chance to check up on his baby sister and annoy Percy.

"Here," Bob said after a time.

They stopped at the top of a ridge. Below them, in a sheltered depression like a moon crater, stood a ring of broken black marble columns surrounding a dark stone altar. "Hermes's shrine," Bob explained.

Percy frowned. "A Hermes shrine in Tartarus?"

Bob laughed in delight. "Yes. It fell from somewhere long ago. Maybe the mortal world. Maybe Olympus. Anyway, monsters steer clear. Mostly."

"How did you know it was here?" Percy asked.

Bob's smile faded. He got a vacant look in his eyes. "Can't remember."

"That's okay," Percy said quickly.

"Hey," Castor said as he put a hand on Bob's arm. "It's ok if you can't remember, Big Guy. You want to help me keep watch?"

"Bob will watch out for mean monsters with Little Guy," he said enthusiastically as they climbed into the crater and entered the circle of columns.

Cressida collapsed on a broken slab of marble, too exhausted to take another step.

Percy stood over her protectively, scanning their surroundings. The inky storm front was less than a hundred feet away now, obscuring everything ahead of them. The crater's rim blocked their view of the wasteland behind. They'd be well hidden here, but if monsters did stumble across them, they would have no warning.

"Bob," Cressida called and the Titan turned to her. "Do you know who was chasing us?"

Bob swept his broom around the base of the altar, occasionally crouching to study the ground as if looking for something. "They are following, yes. They know you are here. Giants and Titans. The defeated ones. They know."

"You guys have been kicking ass up there," Castor said proudly as if he wasn't at all concerned about the monsters trying to kill them.

"Why are we stopping, then?" she said. "We should keep moving."

"Cress, you can barely stand," Castor admonished.

"Soon," Bob said. "But mortals need rest. Good place here. Best place for...oh, long, long way. I will help Castor guard you."

"Hey," Percy said as he sat next to her. "Get some sleep. I'll stay up with them for a little bit."

Bob rumbled in agreement. "Yes, good. When you wake, food should be here!"

Her stomach cried. She didn't know where Bob was going to get food from, but she didn't really care. She'd never been so hungry in her life.

She poked Percy's chest with her finger. "You wake me for second watch. Don't try and be sweet. Or a hero."

He gave her that smirk she'd come to love. "Who, me?" He kissed her, his lips parched and feverishly warm. "Sleep."

And he guided her head to his lap as he played with her hair and her eyes drifted close and exhaustion forced her to sleep.

Castor eventually sat across from him, watching with a small smile. "Not bad, Jackson. Getting her to go to sleep was always a battle."

"Still is," Percy admitted. "She misses you," he said. "She and Pollux got -"

"My name tattooed on my birthday," he finished with a nostalgic smile. "I know. I watched them do it. It was good. They're learning to let go."

"I know I wasn't there much over the last year, but I've really tried to keep her happy. And I -"

"Percy," Castor said. "I wouldn't have helped you or convinced my brother to lay off you if I didn't think you were a good guy. You love Cress and you've done your best to take care of her. Hell, you jumped into hell after her. If that's not a sign that you love my sister, I don't know what is."

Percy stared down at the sleeping girl in his lap. "I couldn't let her go. Not after I just got her back."

Castor beamed. "And that, my friend, is the kind of attitude that's going to get you two out of here. Because you're going to get out of here. Cress wants to see Hawaii next."

Percy laughed. "For our one-year anniversary," he said as he remembered what they'd talked about on their date to Paris.

"Get some sleep," Castor said. "You're both gonna need it. It's still a long way to the Doors. We got the guard thing."

Percy nodded. "Thanks, man."

"Anytime."

And as he got up to head back over to Bob, Percy actually felt like they had a chance at getting out now. A real chance.