anti hero - percy jackson ²

iv. message

Dear Reader,
If it has any chance in resulting in your survival, put your trust issues aside.
Trust me.
—

So much had happened in the past...however long, that Cassandra was surprised her brain hadn't exploded from the weirdness.

First, she had to drink literal fire to stay alive. Then she was attacked by a gaggle of vampires, led by a cheerleader Cassandra had killed two years ago. Finally, she was rescued by a Titan janitor named Bob who had Einstein hair, silver, and wicked broom skills.

Just an average day in demigod world.

She followed Bob through the wasteland, tracing the route of the Phlegethon as they approached the storm front of darkness. Every so often, they stopped so she could drink the fire water. It kept her alive, but she definitely wasn't happy it. Her throat felt like she was constantly gargling with battery acid.

And yes. She was skeptical. Bob was a Titan. And she didn't have the greatest experiences with Titans. But this was her best chance of surviving down here. And Percy had never said anything bad about him.

"So, uh...Bob" Cassandra tried her best to sound casual, which wasn't easy with a throat scorched by firewater, and her lack of social skills. "How'd you get down here? In Tartarus, I mean."

"I jumped" He said, like it was obvious.

"You jumped into Tartarus" She repeated slowly. "All because I said your name?"

"You needed me." His 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."

A rest stop. She couldn't imagine what those words meant in Tartarus, but she continued to follow him.

She watched Bob's back as he led her toward the wall of darkness, now only a few hundred yards away. His blue janitor's coveralls were ripped between the shoulder blades, like someone had tried to stab him. Cleaning rags stuck out of his pocket. A squirt bottle swung from his belt, the blue liquid inside sloshing hypnotically.

She recalled Percy's story of meeting the Titan. Him, Nico, and Thalia had worked together to defeat Bob on the banks of the River Lethe. After they had wiped his memory, they didn't have the heart to kill him, so they left him at the palace of Hades, where Persephone had promised to look after him.

Apparently, Hades and Persephone had decided 'looking after' meant giving him a broom and making him sweep up their messes. She felt slightly sorry for Bob. It didn't seem right to take a brainwashed immortal and turn him into an unpaid janitor.

But she also had to remind herself that Bob wasn't her friend. There was always a chance that he would remember who he was again—especially now that he was in Tartarus. And she wasn't in the position to fight a Titan. Following him was a huge risk. But, unfortunately, she didn't have a better plan.

They picked their way across the ashen wasteland as red lightning flashed overhead in the poisonous clouds. Cassandra couldn't see very far in the hazy air, but the longer they walked, the more certain she became that the entire landscape was a downward curve.

She'd heard conflicting descriptions of Tartarus. It was a bottomless pit. It was a fortress surrounded by brass walls. It was nothing but an endless void. The most accurate description she'd heard was that it was the inverse of the sky—a huge, hollow, upside-down dome of rock. She guessed it was like the sky—no real bottom and made of multiple layers, each one darker and less hospitable than the last.