The plains of Tartarus
Percy recalled how dangerous Kelli had been the last time they'd fought in the Labyrinth. Despite those mismatched legs, she could move fast when she wanted to. Back then, she'd dodged his sword strikes and would have eaten his face if Annabeth hadn't stabbed her from behind.
Now she had four friends with her. And only Percy had invulnerable skin.
"And your friend Annabeth is with you!" Kelli hissed with laughter. "Oh, yeah, I totally remember her."
Kelli touched her own sternum, where the tip of the knife had exited when Annabeth stabbed her in the back. "What's the matter, daughter of Athena? Don't have your weapon? Bummer. I'd use it to kill you."
Percy tried to think. He and Annabeth stood shoulder to shoulder as they had many times before, ready to fight. But neither of them was in good shape for battle. Annabeth was empty-handed. They were hopelessly outnumbered.
It reminded Percy of their fight against Chrysaor. Just like then, if Percy struck with Riptide and the Curse of Achilles on his side, he might do okay, even with the curse's exhaustion weighing on him. But Annabeth would be overwhelmed. There was nowhere to run. No help coming.
Briefly, Percy considered calling for Mrs. O'Leary, his hellhound friend who could shadow-travel. Even if she heard him, could she make it into Tartarus? This was where monsters went when they died. Calling her here might kill her, or turn her back to her natural state as a fierce monster. No . . . he couldn't do that to his dog.
So, no help. Fighting was a long shot.
That left Annabeth's favorite tactics: trickery, talk, delay.
"So . . ." he started, "I guess you're wondering what we're doing in Tartarus."
Kelli snickered. "Not really. I just want to kill you."
That would've been it, but Annabeth chimed in.
"Too bad," she said. "Because you have no idea what's going on in the mortal world."
The other empousai circled, watching Kelli for a cue to attack; but the ex-cheerleader only snarled, crouching out of reach of Percy's sword.
"We know enough," Kelli said. "Gaea has spoken."
"You're heading toward a major defeat." Annabeth sounded so confident, even Percy was impressed. She glanced at the other empousai, one by one, then pointed accusingly at Kelli. "This one claims she's leading you to a victory. She's lying. The last time she was in the mortal world, Kelli was in charge of keeping my friend Luke Castellan faithful to Kronos. In the end, Luke rejected him. He gave his life to expel Kronos. The Titans lost because Kelli failed. Now Kelli wants to lead you to another disaster."
The other empousai muttered and shifted uneasily.
"Enough!" Kelli's fingernails grew into long black talons. She glared at Annabeth as if imagining her sliced into small pieces.
Percy was pretty sure Kelli had had a thing for Luke Castellan. Luke had that effect on girls—even donkey-legged vampires—and Percy wasn't sure bringing up his name was such a good idea.
"The girl lies," Kelli said. "So the Titans lost. Fine! That was part of the plan to wake Gaea! Now the Earth Mother and her giants will destroy the mortal world, and we will totally feast on demigods!"
The other vampires gnashed their teeth in a frenzy of excitement. Percy had been in the middle of a school of sharks when the water was full of blood. That wasn't nearly as scary as empousai ready to feed.
He prepared to attack, but how many could he dispatch before they overwhelmed him and got past him to Annabeth? In his state, it wouldn't be enough.
"The demigods have united!" Annabeth yelled. "You'd better think twice before you attack us. Romans and Greeks will fight you together. You don't stand a chance!"
The empousai backed up nervously, hissing, "Romani."
Percy guessed they'd had experience with the Twelfth Legion before, and it hadn't worked out well for them. He took the advantage.
"Yeah, you bet Romani." Percy bared his forearm and showed them the brand he'd gotten at Camp Jupiter—the SPQR mark, with the trident of Neptune. "You mix Greek and Roman, and you know what you get? You get BAM!"
He stomped his foot, and the empousai scrambled back. One fell off the boulder where she'd been perched.
That made Percy feel good, but they recovered quickly and closed in again.
"Bold talk," Kelli said, "for two demigods lost in Tartarus. Lower your sword, Percy Jackson, and I'll kill you quickly. Believe me, there are worse ways to die down here."
"Wait!" Annabeth tried again. "Aren't empousai the servants of Hecate?"
Kelli curled her lip. "So?"
"So Hecate is on our side now," Annabeth said. "She has a cabin at Camp Half-Blood. Some of her demigod children are my friends. If you fight us, she'll be angry."
Percy wanted to hug Annabeth, she was so brilliant.
One of the other empousai growled. "Is this true, Kelli? Has our mistress made peace with Olympus?"
"Shut up, Serephone!" Kelli screeched. "Gods, you're annoying!"
"I will not cross the Dark Lady."
Annabeth took the opening. "You'd all be better following Serephone. She's older and wiser."
"Yes!" Serephone shrieked. "Follow me!"
Kelli struck so fast, Percy didn't have a chance to raise his sword. Fortunately, she didn't attack him. Kelli lashed out at Serephone. For half a second, the two demons were a blur of slashing claws and fangs.
Then it was over. Kelli stood triumphant over a pile of dust. From her claws hung the tattered remains of Serephone's dress.
"Any more issues?" Kelli snapped at her sisters. "Hecate is the goddess of the Mist! Her ways are mysterious. Who knows which side she truly favors? She is also the goddess of the crossroads, and she expects us to make our own choices. I choose the path that will bring us the most demigod blood. I choose Gaea!"
Her friends hissed in approval.
Annabeth glanced at Percy, and he saw that she was out of ideas. She'd done what she could. She'd gotten Kelli to eliminate one of her own. Now there was nothing left but to fight. It was up to him now.
"For two years I churned in the void," Kelli said. "Do you know how completely annoying it is to be vaporized, Annabeth Chase? Slowly re-forming, fully conscious, in searing pain for months and years as your body regrows, then finally breaking the crust of this hellish place and clawing your way back to daylight? All because some little girl stabbed you in the back?"
Her baleful eyes held Annabeth's. "I wonder what happens if a demigod is killed in Tartarus. I doubt it's ever happened before. Let's find out."
Percy sprang, slashing Riptide in a huge arc. He cut one of the demons in half, but Kelli dodged and charged Annabeth. The other two empousai launched themselves at Percy. One grabbed his sword arm. Her friend jumped on his back.
Percy tried to ignore them and staggered toward Annabeth, determined to go down defending her if he had to; but Annabeth was doing pretty well. She tumbled to one side, evading Kelli's claws, and came up with a rock in her hand, which she smacked into Kelli's nose.
Kelli wailed. Annabeth scooped up gravel and flung it in the empousa's eyes.
Meanwhile, Percy thrashed from side to side, trying to throw off his empousa hitchhiker, but her grip was strong. The second empousa held his arm, preventing him from using Riptide.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kelli lunge, raking her talons across Annabeth's arm. Annabeth screamed and fell.
Percy stumbled in her direction. The vampire on his back tried to sink her teeth into his neck, but her mouth just bounced off.
"He has the Curse of Achilles!" she wailed.
Without turning around, Kelli said, "Hold him down! We'll find his weak spot eventually."
Percy tried to double his efforts. His legs were shaking from the empousa's weight and the exhaustion.
Stay on your feet, he told himself. You have to beat them.
Then the other vampire knocked Percy's legs out from under him and Percy went crashing to the ground. Riptide clattered from his hand. The empousai piled on top of him and held down his arms and legs.
That was it. His luck had finally run out. Kelli loomed over Annabeth, savoring her moment of triumph. The other two empousai drooled on Percy in anticipation.
Then a shadow fell across Percy. A deep war cry bellowed from somewhere above, echoing across the plains of Tartarus, and a Titan dropped onto the battlefield.
Percy thought he was hallucinating. It just wasn't possible that a huge, silvery figure could drop out of the sky and stomp Kelli flat, trampling her into a mound of monster dust.
But that's exactly what happened. The Titan was ten feet tall, with wild silver Einstein hair, pure silver eyes, and muscular arms protruding from a ripped-up blue janitor's uniform. In his hand was a massive push broom. His name tag, incredibly, read BOB.
Annabeth yelped and tried to crawl away, but the giant janitor wasn't interested in her. He turned to the two remaining empousai, who crouched on top of Percy.
One was foolish enough to attack. She lunged with the speed of a tiger, but she never stood a chance. A spearhead jutted from the end of Bob's broom. With a single deadly swipe, he cut her to dust. The last vampire tried to run. Bob threw his broom like a massive boomerang (was there such a thing as a broomerang?). It sliced through the vampire and returned to Bob's hand.
"SWEEP!" The Titan grinned with delight and did a victory dance. "Sweep, sweep, sweep!"
Percy couldn't speak. He couldn't bring himself to believe that something good had actually happened. Annabeth looked just as shocked.
"H-how . . . ?" she stammered.
"Percy called me!" the janitor said happily. "Yes, he did."
Annabeth crawled a little farther away. Her arm was bleeding badly. "Called you? He—wait. You're Bob? The Bob?"
The janitor frowned when he noticed Annabeth's wounds. "Owie."
Annabeth flinched as he knelt next to her.
"It's okay," Percy said, still weak. "He's friendly."
He remembered when he'd first met Bob. The Titan had healed a bad wound on Percy's shoulder just by touching it. Sure enough, the janitor tapped Annabeth's forearm and it mended instantly.
Bob chuckled, pleased with himself, then bounded over to Percy and helped him to his feet. The Titan's hands were surprisingly warm and gentle.
"All better!" Bob declared, his eerie silver eyes crinkling with pleasure. "I am Bob, Percy's friend!"
"Uh . . . yeah," Percy managed. "Thanks for the help, Bob. It's really good to see you again."
"Yes!" the janitor agreed. "Bob. That's me. Bob, Bob, Bob." He shuffled around, obviously pleased with his name. "I am helping. I heard my name. Upstairs in Hades' palace, nobody calls for Bob unless there is a mess. Bob, sweep up these bones. Bob, mop up these tortured souls. Bob, a zombie exploded in the dining room."
Annabeth gave Percy a puzzled look, but he had no explanation.
"Then I heard my friend call!" The Titan beamed. "Percy said, Bob!"
He grabbed Annabeth's arm and hoisted her to her feet. She immediately came over to Percy and gripped his hand.
"That's awesome," Percy said. "Seriously. But how did you—"
"Oh, time to talk later." Bob's expression turned serious. "We must go before they find you. They are coming. Yes, indeed."
"They?" Annabeth asked.
Percy scanned the horizon. He saw no approaching monsters—nothing but the stark gray wasteland.
"Yes," Bob agreed. "But Bob knows a way. Come on, friends! We will have fun!"
They didn't have any other options, so when Bob started walking, they followed him silently. Annabeth kept her distance from the Titan. Percy didn't blame her—he was still a little nervous. But he couldn't deny that Bob had perfect timing. Without him, they would be dead. Percy hadn't been able to protect Annabeth, even with the Curse of Achilles. What if Bob left them at some point and they were back on their own? Would Percy be able to protect Annabeth then? Or would he fail again?
"You should have this," he said before he could second guess himself. He curled Annabeth's fingers around Riptide, which he hadn't sheathed yet. Better to be prepared. "You need it more than I do right now."
Annabeth gaped at him. "Percy—"
He shook his head. "At least I've got the mark of Achilles. You need a weapon."
Annabeth sighed and tightened her grip on Riptide. She held it higher, but her arm shook from the strain. "I appreciate the offer, Percy, but this is your sword. You're ten times more powerful with this sword in your hand. Besides, it doesn't feel right in mine."
She closed Percy's hand back around Riptide's hilt. He sighed. "Are you sure? I can't stand the thought of you getting hurt, I—"
Annabeth smirked. "How long have you known me? I'm never helpless, even without a weapon."
Percy tried to smile. "I know. You did pretty well against Kelli for a while."
"Damn right I did."
Percy laughed. Dam. Crossing the country to rescue Annabeth and Artemis and stop Atlas and hold the sky seemed like small potatoes compared to Tartarus.
"We watch each other's backs, okay?" Annabeth said. "And down here where there isn't as much water . . ." She trailed off and Percy knew what she was thinking: clean water. Safe water. There was plenty of dangerous water. "You're better with the sword."
Percy tried to take comfort in her words, but he just felt worse. His fatal flaw was personal loyalty, and he couldn't even protect Annabeth. He'd barely taken out one empousa back there. So far, all he'd done was: nearly drown them in the River of Lamentation, scare Annabeth with his anger at Arachne, and fail to protect her against a few vampires. It was a miracle they'd survived this far.
"Hey," Annabeth said, drawing his attention back outward. She kissed him softly, her lips parched and feverishly warm. "I know what you're doing. You're beating yourself up about not protecting me. But remember, I don't always need your protection."
There she went, knowing exactly what he was thinking again. But she was right. He'd learned that painfully when she went off to search for the Athena Parthenos on her own.
Percy nodded and focused on Bob in front of them. "I know. I'm just—"
He couldn't bring himself to say the last word. Annabeth let out a breath and said, "I know. Me too."
Scared.