Falling for You

Percy: XXIX

Percy: XXIX

Koios snatched wildly at Percy, who jumped back as the Titan got to his feet, practically vibrating with anger.

"My brother!" Koios roared.

He threw Krios' still severed arm to the side. It turned into dust as soon as it hit the floor, and the Titan started towards Percy, scooping up Percy's drakon bone sword in his hand. The celestial bronze sword lay discarded on the ground, and Koios was momentarily distracted as he stared at the blade, that had darkened considerably since touching the Lethe.

His hesitation seemed to annoy Tartarus, and the Primordial strode forwards, snapping his head up.

"I do believe Titankiller would now be a better name." Tartarus remarked darkly, reaching out a large hand to grab Percy around the waist.

Percy reacted on instinct.

He took a step back, the edge of his foot hanging precariously off the edge of the cliff, the Lethe bubbling furiously beneath, and reached out a hand, that twisted and clenched in the air.

Tartarus stopped.

Percy winced internally.

A litany of curses, each more likely to get soap in his mouth, ran through his head.

While he could feel some vague sense of ichor, he had absolutely no control over it.

Tartarus had not stopped because of him, and even as Percy strained so hard his own blood began to hurt, Tartarus did nothing but stand there.

"My child,” the ancient being spoke, “I assure you, you cannot stop me. You have mighty power for a demigod, and I'm sure my children and grandchildren are well within your grasp to slaughter as you please. But you cannot kill me. Not in my area of expertise, which is," Tartarus gestured around vaguely, "Well- everywhere. You think you have power over me? You do not. You could never defeat me here, I doubt even Chaos themself could put me down."

Tartarus began to advance on him slowly, and Percy found himself teetering on the edge.

"I was there when the first monsters began to crawl. I was there to shape them, craft and twist them into creatures of blood and malice and death. I gave them fangs, claws, poisons and powers. Skin as impenetrable as metal, and ichor in their veins, flowing fast and thick, able to make the flesh of mortals melt off like water."

Percy felt his knees waver as he stared directly into Tartarus' whirling face of death, but stayed standing.

"These monsters kill, and torture, and laugh. They make demigods and gods alike beg in their last moments, on their knees."

Tartarus paused.

"It is always the gods who beg first." he hissed, with such quiet power that Percy's heart skipped a beat.

"And you stand here, in my domain," Tartarus said, growing larger every second it seemed, "In my own body, the first to lay eyes on my corporeal form in a millennia, and you dare to challenge the one who taught each and every single monster those acts?"

Percy didn't know what to say to that. What was there to even say?

His eyes flickered to the side, where Koios was inching further away, his face pale and sunken in fear. Percy wondered if he looked like that himself.