The Vines of Fate (Percy Jackson fanfic)

Drinking Spicy Fire

"We have to drink." I breathed out.

Percy swayed, his eyes half closed. It took him a three count to respond.

"Uh...drink fire?"

"Annabeth and I did some research a few months back about Tartarus. The Phlegethon flows from Hade's realm down into Tartarus." I could barely talk. My throat was closing up from the heat and the acidic air. "The river is used to punish the wicked. But some legends call it the River of Healing."

"Some legends?"

I placed my hands on the ground to stop swaying. Swallowing, I took a shaky breath. I was starting to feel lightheaded.

"The river keeps the wicked in one piece so they can endure the torments of the Fields of Punishment. Annabeth had mentioned..." My eyes started to feel heavy. I had to force myself to blink. "It might be the Underworld equivalent of ambrosia and nectar."

"But it's fire." Percy winced as cinders sprayed from the river, curling around his face. "How can we-"

Desperation over took me. I didn't have the energy to explain it. I thrusted my hands  into the river. On first contact, the fire wasn't painful. It felt cold, which, if I remembered correctly, meant that it was so hot it was overloading my nerves. Before I could change my mind, I cupped the fiery liquid in my palms and raised it to my mouth.

I didn't know what to expect for the taste of the fiery liquid. It was defiantly not a spicy heat burning down my throat. It was like I combined all the spicy peppers in the world, blended it into a smoothie and chugged it all. My sinuses filled with the liquid flame. My eyes shed boiling tears, and every pore in my face popped. I collapsed, gagging and retching as my whole body shook violently.

"Ivy!" Percy grabbed my arms and just managed to stop me from rolling into the river.

The convulsions passed. I took a ragged breath and managed to sit up. I still felt horribly weak and nauseous l, but my next breath came more easily. The blisters on my arms were starting to fade.

"It worked." I croaked out, looking at Percy. "You've got to drink."

"I..." Percy's eyes rolled up in his head, and he slumped against me.

I quickly cupped more fire in my palm. Ignoring the pain, I dropped the liquid into Percy's mouth. He didn't respond. Fear crawled up my throat. I tried again, pouring a whole handful down his throat.

This time he spluttered and coughed. I held him as he trembled, the magical fire coursing through his system. Percy's fever disappeared. His boils faded. He managed to sit up and smack his lips.

"Ugh." Percy said. "Spicy, yet disgusting."

I laughed weakly. For some reason, Simba eating a bug came to mind from the Lion King. He said something along those lines.

"Yeah. That pretty much sums it up."

"You saved us." Percy told me.

"Somehow, yeah. But for now." I said. "The problem is, we're still in Tartarus."

Percy blinked. He looked around as if just coming to terms with where we were.

"Holy Hera. I never thought...well, I'm not sure what I thought." Percy furrowed his brows. "Maybe that Tartarus was empty space, a pit with no bottom. But this is a real place."

"There's no way we've seen all of it." I warned. "This could be just the first tiny part of the abyss, like the front steps."

"The welcome mat." Percy muttered.