AN: I know I said don't expect quick updates, but here's a little treat.
Vacation in the Pit
Ascension of the Fallen: Chapter 2
Many eons later
Perseus walked through the toxic, barren landscape of the Pit. The normally monster infested pit was strangely devoid of hostile beings who wanted to kill the former king of Olympus. Normally, he'd have hordes of monsters rushing at him, trying to extract their pitiful revenge. Monsters were not a logical group of beings; naturally they wanted vengeance but a god in Tartarus, although severely weakened, was still a god. Perseus looked around the barren landscape; there were brown plains for miles. No plants, no animals.
Tartarus was quiet, far too quiet.
The Pit was typically filled with thousands upon thousands of monsters, coupled with more than a few powerful Titans, thirsting for Perseus' blood; after all, Perseus had made more than a few enemies during his reign. No monsters did mean that the god of time could rest; after all, he wasn't one to take a gift horse in the mouth.
The god of time stopped at the banks of the River Phlegethon, bending down to drink the vile substance. Vile and disgusting it may be, but it was what kept him alive. Even for gods, the Pit was purely toxic. He spluttered and coughed violently as the amazing drink went down his throat. The god resisted the urge to throw up and forced the substance down. His strength and energy were restored, as his cuts were healed from the Phlegethon water. Perseus leaped across the Phlegethon, reaching the other side. One did not want to fall in the river; that would have been disastrous. Perseus trudged onwards, seeking to find the doors of death.
Suddenly, a figure appeared in the distance.
Perseus squinted; it was hard for one to see through the thick, orange haze that was covering the plains. Perseus drew a celestial bronze sword; his trusty blade was lost when those dishonorable Olympians overthrew him. He needed to obtain his symbol of power to wage war on them.
The god shook his head; no point in focusing on the past. Justice would be served soon. He would bide his time wisely.
The six-foot four god looked at the figure; it was fast approaching.
The features of the figure gradually became clearer as the person- or thing - approached. The first thing the god noticed was that the figure was significantly taller than himself. The figure wore pitch black armor, with a spear in hand. The armored figure radiated the power of an immortal; simply put, the massive frame coupled with the armor and spear was intimidating. But Perseus had stood up to the Crooked One himself. The god remained unfazed, as he watched the figure come closer. A couple of yards away, the figure stopped. It was clear that this was Pallas, the titan of warcraft. Pallas was nothing short of intimidating, radiating intelligence and strength.
Perseus immediately raised his sword, racking his mind for more information on the titan. The god couldn't recall any appearances of the titan in the titan war... maybe he was friendly?
The titan's dark eyes scanned the god, before narrowing.
Pallas raised his dark spear, yelling, "Watch your head!", before promptly hurling the spear with immense velocity straight at Perseus' head.
Perseus' eyes widened, before ducking and rolling out of the way.
The spear had lodged itself in the head of an overly large drakon, which promptly disintegrated.
Perseus watched the spear return to the titan's hand, before examining the titan's face, which was weary with exhaustion and covered with sweat and grime. Pallas sat down on the barren ground, patting the ground next to him.
Perseus warily sat a couple feet away from the titan. After all, Pallas had just saved his life, almost taking his life in the process, but that could be promptly overlooked; the least the god could do was sit with him and have a little chat.
"So," Perseus started, "what brings you down to this lovely place?"
Pallas chuckled at the god's thinly veiled sarcasm, "Your father is rising."
Perseus' back suddenly went ramrod. That couldn't be good; was the titan trying to recruit him?
He replied carefully, "And why does this concern me?"
The titan shrugged, "No reason, just thought I would deliver some news. The souls in the underworld whisper of the giants stirring. A storm is on the horizon, and I am positive the gods won't survive this one."
Perseus sat in shock, comprehending the load of information that had just been delivered. If the god could escape Tartarus, he could use subterfuge to wage a war on both sides without either side knowing.
"Pallas, where does your allegiance lie?" the former king of Olympus inquired.
The titan of warcraft snorted, "If I was allied with the titans, I would have stabbed you in the back already."
The god had to concede that point to him.
"Alright then. Why do you not ally with the titans? You hate the gods as much as I do, no?"
As much as the Olympians tried to keep the situation under wraps, the entire Greek pantheon knew about the usurping of Perseus.
"Yes, but the titans are rather moronic immortals," Percy snorted at this, as Pallas continued, "if you were to pry open their heads, nothing would be inside their skulls."
The god held in a laugh at this, gesturing for Pallas to continue.
"They think they can bring back the Golden Age, where man thrived and the Crooked One was not so crooked. My father and brothers are disillusioned with Kronos, although they have turned moronic themselves."
Perseus nodded, impressed with Pallas' line of reasoning, "How do you feel about joining me on a quest to defeat the puny gods and the titans?"
Pallas grinned borderline enthusiastically at the god, "I thought you'd never ask. I did always admire you, having the guts to stand up to the Crooked One himself."
Perseus grinned back at the titan, having found a new ally for himself. The two new allies stood up. The god of mountains clasped forearms with the titan of warfare, "Then may we conquer our enemies together, and bring them to their knees."
Line break
Thalia was hungry, frustrated, and utterly tired. She growled at the goat – or satyr, Thalia didn't care.
"How much farther?" she snapped at the poor satyr.
She felt slightly bad, but Thalia would apologize later.
"Thalia, calm down. Grover, we need to stop. You need to rest," Luke stated worriedly.
"No, camp's not much farther," Grover trembled and shivered, "We can't stop anyways. Monsters are near us."
Less than half a day later, the four were struggling over the hill, a thunderstorm brewing. Thalia heard the growling and cackling of monsters and urged the group forward. The entrance of the camp was just a little farther, but they wouldn't make it. Besides the daughter of Zeus, a young Annabeth Chase trembled in fear; she must have come to the same conclusion.
"Grover!" Thalia shouted, bringing the trembling satyr's attention to her.
"Bring Annabeth and Luke to the camp. I'll hold them off," she stated confidently, but the trembling of her lower lip betrayed her. Thalia's can of mace expanded into a spear. The daughter of Zeus flicked her left wrist, expanding her bracelet into a copy of Aegis.
"No!" All three of them shouted over the storm, "we fight together."
Luke and Annabeth both stared at Thalia in sadness, fear present in their eyes, but Thalia needed them to leave; it was her fault the monsters were after them in the first place.
"Go, now," Thalia barked fiercely over the howling wind. However, her stubborn companions stayed with her, and the monsters promptly surrounded the four, cutting off all routes of possible escape.
The bat wings in front of her face signaled the arrival of the dreaded furies, who were each carrying whips, staring at the demigods. One of them cackled at Thalia, laughing like a Hyena. "Lord Hades demands your death child," a fury stated in a morose voice.
Thalia looked around, trembling slightly. The daughter of Zeus steeled her nerves. The monsters were beginning to grow impatient. She tried to stall for time, "Why?"
"Lord Hades sensed your power; our master believes you are a child of Zeus. Now prepare to die, spawn of Zeus!" the fury snarled.
Alecto launched her whip towards Thalia, promising pain, and death. Thalia closed her eyes in resignation, but the pain never came. Thalia opened her eyes, seeing that the whip had frozen in the air a few inches away from her face.
The daughter of Zeus stepped backwards in shock, noticing that the whip was restrained by shadows. The shadows tightened, and the whip was violently wrenched away from Alecto's hand.
"Who dares to interfere?" The fury roared, frustrated at the turn of events.
Thalia was stunned when a tall man formed from the shadows.
"Me," the man stated. The hooded man cut an imposing figure, towering over the fury. Annabeth gasped at her side, causing Thalia to become confused. The daughter of Zeus looked back to her companions to find that Grover and Luke were just as bamboozled.
The fury slowly took steps backward, trembling in fear and apprehension.
"No," Alecto stated slowly, "it cannot be." Alecto's volcanic black eyes scanned the imposing figure; the horror was clear on her face.
The man advanced on the fury and grinned, "oh but it is."
Alecto tried to fly away, but the man leapt forward with impossible speed, his hand gripping the fury by her throat and lifting the fury into the air. Alecto's wings fluttered as the monster gasped for breath, trying to escape the iron grip of the man.
The monsters around the group began to back up, away from the god, but gradually turned towards the demigods.
The man crushed the neck of the fury with a sickening snap, dissolving the fury into dust. With lightning speed, the man flung daggers that were not on him previously into the monsters, turning more into golden dust.
A dracaena tried to lunge at Luke, but a spike from the ground cleaved her cleanly in two. The dracaena dissolved with an ear-piercing scream.
The man continued disintegrating monsters left and right like it was nothing, all while the four watched him in shock. Thalia's jaw dropped at how powerful the being was.
Finally, the man had taken care all of the monsters, and turned to look at the demigods, noting their looks of shock with amusement.
Perseus advanced towards the demigods, causing Thalia to shakily lift her spear. The god raised an eyebrow, before mentally facepalming, remembering that his hood was on and that the demigods could only see his mouth. Perseus flicked his hand, getting rid of Thalia's spear.
Despite Luke shooting her a 'shut up' look, Annabeth immediately started asking questions, unleashing her inner Athena, causing the god to groan.
The god held up a hand, "The way you owl-children fire off questions...is so utterly exhausting."
The daughter of Athena blushed a bright pink at that, ceasing her question cannon.
"What are you doing here?" Luke asked.
Perseus responded, "To save you all, of course."
Thalia asked the man, who she now suspected was a god, "Who are you?"
Perseus shrugged, "No one of importance." The god vanished into the night, so quickly that one would have thought he hadn't been there at all.