Being in Tartarus was the last of Percy's concerns. What he was worried about was how Thalia had managed to get into his subconsciousness. He gasped in pain when his abdomen clenched, blood pulsing out. He had no medical equipment. It was bleed out while staying still like a rock or moving and possibly making it.
He hauled himself to his feet from his fallen position on the floor. Falling out of a tree wasn't his ideal way to wake up, but it was how he did wake up, and now, his ribs were broken. Sweet. He staggered through the brush, hoping to find a place where he could relax. No. This was the place where all enemies and bad agents were sent to.
Staying in the pit of hell was suicide.
After being tortured by Mystia, he was glad that woman was dead and reforming somewhere, but at the same time, he wish he had died. The blood hadn't stopped oozing from his neck since the day she'd been killed. Horrors Percy didn't even think existed were swarming around him, eating away at his mental health.
Sitting down on the floor when he couldn't walk any further, he looked up at the blackness above him.
"Are you okay, Annabeth?" he whispered, his voice crackling and his lips parched.
When he had to stand up again, he limped his way through. Surprisingly, he hadn't found any monsters yet. Well, he should've knocked on wood because that's when a gang of monsters found him.
Three snake-ladies and the gaggle of empousai.
"Uh... hey," he said when none of them made a sound.
The empousa he recognized as Kelli turned to the older one next to her. "Seriously? This idiot?"
"I take that as a compliment!" Percy decided to stall.
"A compliment?" Kelli scoffed. "Really?!"
"Really. Oh and who are your friends there? They look pretty cute," he pointed to the three ugly snake ladies.
"Enaphix," one pointed to herself.
"Mazraphix."
"Sisaphix."
"Ah... have you met anyone named Sisyphus?" Percy directed it towards Sisaphix.
"I was his least favorite sister, you idiot," she hissed.
"I thought he was human..." Percy frowned, smirking inwardly at their annoyance.
"You little--"
"Enough!" Serephone's eyes glinted with glee as she looked at him. "We have someone here, let's not scare our guest away."
"Do you have cookies?" Percy asked stupidly.
"NO!"
A spear entered his side. Lovely.
"THIS IS TARTARUS! NOT YOUR MOTHER'S KITCHEN!"
"Does anyone know how I could get to my mother's kitchen?" Percy asked. "Cuz that'd be nice--"
"CHARGE!"
Percy whipped out his sword and braced himself for another wave of pain. He knew the monsters just wanted to do this so he'd feel pain. He cut through a snake lady and she let out a scream as she evaporated. A long gash ran down his side and he clenched his jaw with pain. But he kept fighting. He stabbed Kelli in the chest, feeling a stab wound appear on his own.
Serephone tried to rip him apart with her claws, but he simply punched her neck as hard as he could, breaking it. He collapsed to the floor as the splitting pain in his neck came. The monsters laughed with delight. Not giving up, he looked at the monsters with defiance burning in his sea-green eyes. Lifting himself up, he delivered a hard punch to Enaphix's head, cracking it open with the hilt of his sword.
It seemed to bleed out like an egg yolk, her lifeless eyes glazing over before she turned to dust. He punched the last sister in the face. She wasn't even doing anything as she smirked at him.
"Go on, child," she whispered. "Kill me."
So Percy did. He stabbed her in the back. At the same time, he fell over, gasping in agony. This was his curse. An undeserving curse. Percy decided that he couldn't stay sprawled in the middle of the street, so he got up, staggering over to the comfort of a bush. Yes. He didn't care if it was prickly or thorny or if the little pricks poked into his skin.
He was already out by then, fading in and out of consciousness.
A person was standing over him, a long brown braid brushing against his nose. Her brown eyes sparkled as they landed on him.
"Percy..." she whispered, her voice like an angel.
Her hands ran through his hair and seemed to cradle him slightly as she stared at him. She spoke in Italian. Percy could only understand because he was required to learn some of each global language.
"Come sta Nico?"
"Nico's good... I think..." Percy managed to rasp, though she put a finger to his lips. "Don't talk, Percy."
"It's such a shame I can't be with you in the real world, my little fish," Bianca sighed.
"Fish?" Percy muttered deliriously.
"Yes, Percy." Bianca let out a light laugh.
"Wait, you're not real?" Percy murmured, forgetting that she was dead.
"No, Percy. I'm a memory... But I exist in Elysium. Tell Nico I send him all my love."
With that, she stood up as Percy's eyes closed. But when he opened them again, he could see someone else standing over him. His mother.
"Mom?" he whispered.
"Percy..." she laughed, brushing her hand through his hair. "When will you come home, you little goofball? I have someone you need to meet!"
"You're not real..." he muttered. "Everything's fake right now..."
"You can choose if you want it to be fake or real, honey. But come back... I need you..."
He closed his eyes and opened them again to see a boy with milk chocolate skin standing over him, a grin plastered on his face. A hammer hung by his side and he clapped Percy on the back.
"Hey, Percy, my man!"
"Beckendorf?"
"Hell's pretty, isn't it?" he sighed. "I just wanted to let you know that Silena and I are gonna be waiting for you. Use your memories. They hold your happiness and your sadness. But above all, they're things you can control."
"Thanks... man..." Percy slurred.
"You're the best, bro," Beckendorf chuckled before he disappeared.
Then, a girl with stormy gray eyes and blonde princess curls. She kissed his face and strawberry filled his senses.
"Seaweed Brain..." she breathed into his ear.
"Wise Girl..." he coughed slightly.
"I'm waiting for you," she giggled through the wind in his ears. "I'm always waiting for you. No matter how long you take, I'll love you forever. Will you?"
"Always..." Percy murmured before he was back in hell, strawberries still on his lips.