A New Olympian

Chapter Eight

"The Acheron is up this hill Lord!" The cyclops yelled to the God as they continued their treacherous hike.

"Quit calling me Lord!" Percy said annoyed. Ever since their incident with Kampe the monster insisted on calling Percy "Lord." He asked why he was calling him that and the cyclops responded with "You spared my life." Now Percy did spare his life but he only did it so the cyclops could be his guide to the rivers. It was a lot easier than trying to figure Tartarus's landscape on his own.

After ten more minutes of hiking and cursing they had finally arrived the banks of the Acheron.

"Might I suggest not diving into these waters Lord." The cyclops recommend. Percy couldn't help but agree with that remark. Last time he was here he had landed in these waters and almost died. But then again when was he ever not almost dying. He brought out his pen and uncapped it. The bronze blade shot out.

"I guess I just dip the blade in the water then?" Percy mused. He plunged the blade into the water and let it sit for a moment. "Is that it?" Suddenly an overwhelming sensation hit him. A feeling of dread and sadness. The feeling caused him to stumble back from the water.

"Lord are you ok?" The cyclops asked.

"I'm fine!" Percy snapped. In reality he wasn't fine. The feeling wouldn't go away and it felt like his sanity was edging away.

"Back so soon?" A soft, melodic voice spoke inside his head.

"Who's there?" Percy said aloud. The cyclops looked confused at his Lord's outburst.

"Lord there is no one." The monster said. Percy couldn't hear the cyclops. His mind was overloaded with mind numbing emotions.

"Control your breathing. Let the emotions resonate through you." The voice said. Percy grunted as he fought with the river. His sword wouldn't emerge out of the water and he refused to let it. "Control yourself. You can't fight it." Percy knew he couldn't trust the voice inside his head but he had no other solutions. He sighed in defeat as he took a deep breath and did as the voice suggested. He took deep, controlled breaths and let the emotions overtake him. Visions flashed through his mind. The wars, his friends that died in battle, Annabeth scared of him. Percy screamed in pain as the images passed but he didn't fight it. The pain went as quickly as it came as Percy fell to a knee. Riptide seemed to be unstuck and be capped it back into his pocket.

"Congratulations you've mastered my waters." The voice came back. "Remember what I've told you. It will help you in the coming days."

Percy wasted no time in getting away from the river of woe as they made their way to the next river.

"Lord who spoke to you?" The cyclops asked from behind. The same images flashed through his mind again. Percy grunted in annoyance but didn't fight against it. It seemed what the river had told him was true. Don't fight against your emotions, let it flow through you.

"The river spoke to me." Percy answered back.

-X-

"Sally. Sally I'm home!" Paul yelled as he walked through the apartment door with groceries in hand. Paul struggling with the bags plopped them down on the countertop. "Sally!"

No answer

Paul confused where Sally was made his way to their bedroom in search of her. As he arrived at the bedroom door he noticed that it was slightly ajar. He took a closer look at noticed that there were three distinct scratches on the frame.

"What th-

"Hello Paul." A voice said from behind. Paul yelled out in pain as his head was slammed against the door. Blood poured out from his nose as he got up. "Don't get up. Make it easy for yourself." A fist hit the side of his temple, effectively knocking him out. He slumped to the floor with blood pouring around his face.