The Sea and The Moon

Chapter 19

A.N: Before you read this, I apologize in advance for any grammatical or spelling issues in this chapter. I was a little rushed so I didn't have time to edit, but after I post it, I will make sure to go through it an fix any problems.

Percy POV:

All I remember after I was stabbed was the warm feeling of someone's hand in my own. I couldn't see or hear anything, but somehow I knew that the person this hand belonged to had been next to me the entire time I was unconscious.

Suddenly, my eyes opened in an unfamiliar place. I was standing in the middle of a dark wasteland. I saw demigods with swords and spears through their stomachs and golden monster dust piled around me. It was like a slaughter house. There was not a single living soul in sight. I stepped around the dead bodies, before my face settled on one and my heart lurched. The face of Artemis.

She looked like she was in pain, a grimace on her face. I hated that look on her face, but the worst part about it was the sword that stuck out of her chest. Riptide.

I hadn't used that sword since the beginning of the war because it brought back terrible memories, but here it was, in the worst place that it could ever be. I gasped as I looked past her and saw the bodies of everybody that I loved, staring back at me with their lifeless eyes. Ashley, Mom, Dad, Hestia, everybody. I almost broke down in tears at the sight.

The only thing holding them at bay, was the warm feeling rooting me to the outside world. Reminding me that this wasn't real, that this was all a dream.

"Oh, this is just a dream, but this is very much real,"Spoke a voice behind me. I whirled around and found myself face to face with the Angel of the Abyss himself. His eyes were darker and more haunting then ever. They gazed at me, unblinkingly, with almost unbearable intensity.

I scrambled away from him and him and tried to avoid looking in his direction at all, for if I did, I would have surely wet my pants in fear. It was unbecoming of the Hero of Olympus to anything of the sort.

"What are you doing here?! And where am I?!" I yelled. It was all I could do to keep myself from stammering. I refused to show any sign of weakness to this monster, although based on the evil smirk on his face, I could tell that he could sense my fear from a mile away.

He chuckled at sneered at me,"Do you know where we are right now?" He didn't give me a chance to answer,"We're in your mind. This is where your greatest fears lie. You are afraid that everybody you know will die right before your eyes. Am I right?"

I didn't say anything. The truth of his words struck me like a hammer on an anvil. I had never thought about what my greatest fear was, but now, after I had seen this, I knew exactly what it was. Apollyon seemed to sense my thoughts.

"You know don't you. This is what will happen if you fail. This is what will happen if you are not able to fulfill you mission. This is what is going to happen. I will crush you with my bare hands and rip everything that you have ever loved away from your grasp," He snarled at me. I did not doubt his words and I shivered in fear.

I glanced up into his eyes and was confused to see a level of understanding in them. A look of longing within their inky depths. For just a moment, the icy look in his eyes was replaced by a warm, almost wistful look, but it was gone in a flash. There was something about him that he was hiding from the outside. Even the strongest most powerful beings succumb to emotions and Apollyon was not an exception.

"Something has happened to you. Something that has caused you to retreat into yourself and hide it away behind a facade of cruelty and savagery," I said with a burst of confidence. It was swept away with one look into his now blazing eyes.