𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗧𝘄𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘆-𝗙𝗶𝘃𝗲:
𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭
a/n: plz lmk your thoughts babes <333
nervous about this one
"Ivy! Ivy! Ivy!" Hayley shouted as she jumped on her bed. Ivy groaned and put a pillow over her head. "Wake uppy!"
Ivy took the pillow off her head and glared at the three year old, "I'm going to throw you down the stairs."
Hayley giggled and Ivy saw the demonic look in her eyes. And she's supposed to be the evil one. Ivy grabbed her phone and was actually contemplating throwing Hayley down the stairs when she saw it was only eight o'clock. She had only gotten back five hours ago, and had only fallen asleep at seven. The last three days she spent searching for Percy, at least a lead to where Hera had him hidden. Vivi and Annabeth threatened to tell Sally she wasn't sleeping or eating, so she had to come back.
Ivy pushed herself out of bed, her back cracking as she stood. She went to go to the bathroom but Hayley stopped her.
"Carry! Carry!"
"Hayley," Ivy sighed. Her body was sore but Hayley looked at her with puppy dog eyes. Her hazel eyes were full of innocence...she wondered if she ever had that look. Maybe at some point, before the running away, before the monsters. Ivy lifted Hayley up onto her back and forced her way to the bathroom.
"You're a spoiled child, you know that?"
Hayley just giggled as Ivy set her down on the counter to the bathroom. Ivy pulled out her makeup and tried to make herself look less, well, tired.
"My turn?" Hayley asked after Ivy put away the brush to apply some concealer under her eyes.
"You don't need this, babes," Ivy told her but Hayley didn't waiver.
"My turn!"
Ivy rolled her eyes but handed Hayley the brush. She made sure that it had no makeup on it before, or at least, very little.
She made sure she was wearing enough makeup to look alive and ended up giving Hayley a brush that didn't have anything on it. It kept her entertained until she braided her hair down her back into two.
"My turn!"
So, Ivy brained her hair down her back. She didn't have much, it barely went pass her shoulders, but Ivy tried her best. When she finished, she took Hayley off the counter and then squatted to be leveled with her.
"Go wake up your sister so I can get dressed."
Hayley nodded and hurried out of the bathroom. When Ivy finished getting dressed, putting her knives in hidden places where the girls couldn't find, or reach them, as well as keeping two on her.
Gaea's rising, she won't stand for any judgment.
When she finally got downstairs, James was making breakfast and Sammy was cutting up fruit. Andi was drawing while Hayley babbled to anyone that listened, even making hand gestures that wasn't exactly sign-language, but was good for a three year old.
"Oh look, she's alive," James said dryly, glancing over at her.
"With no help from your baby momma," Ivy said just as dryly. "In fact, she seems to be trying to kill me."
"I doubt she's trying to kill you."
"I'm sorry, are we both talking about the woman that started one of the worst wars in Ancient Greece?"
"Hypothetically."
"Hypothetically," Ivy mocked bitterly as she sat down as far away from James' seat as she could get. "Why are my gods hypothetical but yours aren't again?"
"Do not start," Sammy sent them both a look.
They both grumbled and mocked the other behind their back. Andi reached over and tapped on Ivy's arm. She flinched but turned to the younger girl who immediately started to sign.
"You went missing for three days. Why?"
Ivy froze. She stared at Andi for a moment, opening and closing her mouth a few times as she tried to think of what to say. Finally, she moved so her entire body faced Andi and began signing and speaking.
"Friend of mine went missing. I went looking for them."
Andi stared at her for a moment with a frown. "Friend of yours?"
"Yes."
"Did you find them?"
Ivy frowned and shook her head, "No. No I have not."
Andi put a fist over her heart and made a circular motion, Sorry.
Yeah, me too.
She was getting real tired of things that can't die, trying to kill her. They keep getting older and older and older. Next thing she knows, they are going to fight Pluto. Not Hades Pluto either, like Pluto Pluto.
Ivy always said she wanted to die on her own terms, die fighting because that's just who she is. She truly doesn't know who she is without fighting, but now. As she stared up at Tartarus' dark, whirlpool face, she decided she does not want that. She wants to die without fighting. Like a heart attack, or falling off a building.
After everything she had seen in Nyx's mansion, she didn't think anything could terrify her. Didn't think anything could send a wave of fear so harsh down her spine it almost made her drop to her knees.
But Tartarus, oh gods...Yet, she couldn't look anyway.
She was dimly aware of the army of monsters swirling around her, but after their initial roar of triumph, the horde had fallen silent. Ivy and Vivi should have been ripped to pieces by now. Instead, the monsters kept their distance, waiting for Tartarus to act.
The god of the pit flexed his fingers, examining his own polished black talons. He had no expression, but he straightened his shoulders as if he were pleased.
It is good to have form, he intoned. With these hands, I can eviscerate you.
Ivy's hands shook so bad, she dropped her sword.
His voice sounded like a backward recording—as if the words were being sucked into the vortex of his face rather than projected. In fact, everything seemed to be drawn toward the face of this god—the dim light, the poisonous clouds, the essence of the monsters, even Ivy's own fragile—really fragile, life force. She looked around and realized that every object on this vast plain had grown a vaporous comet's tail—all pointing toward Tartarus.
It sounded ridiculous, but she wanted to laugh. She wanted to laugh and ask her mom if this is what she wanted? Is she now entertained? Did she get her money worth?
She had had hope. For a second, after outrunning her mother and her insane siblings and mom, she had hope. She had thought maybe, maybe they can do this, maybe they could get out.
The Bob explained how the doors worked, and everything vanished. She felt heartbroken to break her promise to Percy, if Nico even gave it to him, but she tried. She tried and that has to count, right? She tried her hardest, she fought and she cried and she felt pain like no other, but she tried.
That is what matters, right?
She needs that to matter because that's all she has to give.
Her first is Vivi, it forever will be.
She and Vivi have only survived this long because Tartarus has allowed them to. He was savoring his new form. He wanted the pleasure of physically ripping them to pieces. If Tartarus wished, Ivy had no doubt he could devour her existence with a single thought, as easily as he'd vaporized Hyperion and Krios.
Would there be any rebirth from that?
Tartarus hissed again—possibly laughing.
Your fear smells wonderful, said the god. I see the appeal of having a physical body with so many senses. Perhaps my beloved Gaea is right, wishing to wake from her slumber.
He stretched out his massive purple hand and might have plucked her up like a weed, she was in no shape to fight, but Bob interrupted.
"Begone!" The Titan leveled his spear at the god. "You have no right to meddle!"
Meddle? Tartarus turned. I am the lord of all creatures of the darkness, puny Iapetus. I can do as I please.
His black cyclone face spun faster. The howling sound was so horrible, Ivy fell to her knees and clutched her ears. Bob stumbled, the wispy comet tail of his life force growing longer as it was sucked toward the face of the god.
Bob roared in defiance. He charged and thrust his spear at Tartarus's chest. Before it could connect, Tartarus swatted Bob aside like he was a pesky insect.
The Titan went sprawling.
Why do you not disintegrate? Tartarus mused. You are nothing. You are even weaker than Krios and Hyperion.
"I am Bob," said Bob.
Tartarus hissed. What is that? What is Bob?
"I choose to be more than Iapetus," said the Titan. "You do not control me. I am not like my brothers."
The collar of his coveralls bulged. Small Bob leaped out. The kitten landed on the ground in front of his master, then arched his back and hissed at the lord of the abyss.
As Ivy watched, Small Bob began to grow, his form flickering until the little kitten had become a full-sized, translucent skeletal saber-toothed tiger.
"Also," Bob announced, "I have a good cat."
No-Longer-Small Bob sprang at Tartarus, sinking his claws into Tartarus's thigh. The tiger scrambled up his leg, straight under the god's chain-link skirt. Tartarus stomped and howled, apparently no longer enamored with having a physical form. Meanwhile, Bob thrust his spear into the god's side, right below his breastplate.
Tartarus roared. He swatted at Bob, but the Titan backed out of reach. Bob thrust out his fingers. His spear yanked itself free of the god's flesh and flew back to Bob's hand, which made Annabeth gulp in amazement. She'd never imagined a broom could have so many useful features. Small Bob dropped out of Tartarus's skirt. He ran to his master's side, his saber-toothed fangs dripping with golden ichor.
You will die first, Iapetus, Tartarus decided. Afterward, I will add your soul to my armor, where it will slowly dissolve, over and over, in eternal agony.
Tartarus pounded his fist against his breastplate. Milky faces swirled in the metal, silently screaming to get out.
Bob turned toward Vivi and Ivy. The Titan grinned, which probably would not have been Ivy's reaction to a threat of eternal agony.
"Take the Doors," Bob said. "I will deal with Tartarus."
Tartarus threw back his head and bellowed—creating a vacuum so strong that the nearest flying demons were pulled into his vortex face and shredded.
Deal with me? the god mocked. You are only a Titan, a lesser child of Gaea! I will make you suffer for your arrogance. And as for your tiny mortal friends...
Tartarus swept his hand toward the monster army, beckoning them forward. DESTROY THEM!
Ivy, in a slight, fearful dazed, picked up her sword and stood, looking over at Vivi who, even without the Death Mist, looking nothing more then a corpse.
"Do you still believe in your god and saints?" Ivy shouted as Vivi rose to her feet. Vivi nodded and Ivy looked at the incoming waves of monsters. "Pray for me, yeah?"
Ivy could distantly hear letting out curses as she ran to the doors.
The monsters surge. Ivy took a deep breath, turned her sword into knives and spun them in her hand before she grew her wings out. She flew up and began doing what she did best, causing absolute chaos.
The entire plain was full of chaos, Chaos themselves was not far, all of that only strengthened her. She grew apples, throwing them in the midst of groups and immediately a group of Cyclops dove for them along with a few telkhines. The telkhines that didn't, advanced on Ivy, but she focused on their anger, their need to leave Tartarus, and forced it against a group of Harpies. The two groups began eating each other alive.
Aeternae pushed through the fighting groups, at least five to eight, all with bony, saw-toothed horns sprouting from their heads. They charged and Ivy slashed, letting out a laugh as she stabbed on with it's own horn. Then, by complete accident, she threw a knife before realizing what the monster was, and Ivy's wings fell in and she fell, landing on her, already bad leg, and she swore she heard a snap. There was a stab on her side and she groaned as she pushed herself up.
Stupid arai.
"Ivy! Ivy!"
Ivy turned behind her and saw Vivi in between the doors. A sword flew next to Ivy's head and she pushed herself back but Vivi caught it like it was nothing, stabbing it against a monster.
Damn. She's got to tell Annabeth about that.
Besides her injuries from the entire trip, and a few more cuts and scratches, she looked as unharmed as she could be.
Ivy ran—or rather limped really fast over to Ivy, holding her hands out and left apples all around. It should buy them a few more moments.
As she ran to Vivi, stabbing few monsters or strangling them with their own anger—which sent her a weird, relaxing, relieving feeling—she caught a glimpse of Bob and Small Bob.
Bob and his saber-toothed sidekick continued to weave around Tartarus's legs, attacking, and dodging to stay out of his clutches. They didn't seem to be doing much damage, but Tartarus lurched around, obviously not used to fighting in a humanoid body. He swiped and missed, swiped and missed.
Vivi scanned her up and down, breathing heavily. "You're fine. Broken ankle, two broken ribs—those are old, sprained wrist, your lungs are awful, cuts...You're fine."
Ivy blinked. What?
Vivi looked behind Ivy and put the sword that was thrown in between the door before shouting, "Move!"
She didn't hesitate and dived to the side. Vivi stabbed another monster with her sword that would've definitely killed Ivy. Ivy threw her knife and hit two horse looking things in the eyes.
"V, get in the damn—"
"I swear on the Styx if you finish that sentence—" Vivi raised her hands as a hoard of Cyclops advanced once again. Immediately, they cried in pain as they fell before they—
Ivy stared at Vivi in absolute shock as she closed her fist towards a lone Cyclops that survived, and Ivy made it choke on it's own anger.
"Did you just make them explode!"
Vivi stared at where the Cyclops once were. Ivy could see the guilt and hate in her eyes but Vivi forced it down. "I'll do that to you if you even suggest that we don't leave together."
Ivy sighed and moved back to Vivi. They stood shoulder to should in front of the doorway. The monsters hesitated moving closer, Ivy could actual feel their reluctance and fear. "So then, what do we do?"
The Doors of Death stood right behind them—their exit from this nightmarish world. But they couldn't use the Doors without someone manning the controls for twelve long minutes. If they stepped inside and let the Doors close without someone holding the button, Ivy didn't think the results would be healthy. And if they stepped away from the Doors for any reason, she imagined the elevator would close and disappear without them.
The situation was so pathetically sad, it was funny.
Maybe that's why Ivy started laughing. Not even a second later, Vivi started to as well. It was a sad, slightly manic laugh, which is why the monsters that got their courage back, fell back once again.
Meanwhile, Bob's attacks were getting slower. Tartarus was learning to control his new body. Saber-toothed Small Bob lunged at the god, but Tartarus smacked the cat sideways. Bob charged, bellowing with rage, but Tartarus grabbed his spear and yanked it out of his hands. He kicked Bob downhill, knocking over a row of telkhines like sea mammal bowling pins.
YIELD! Tartarus thundered.
"I will not," Bob said. "You are not my master."
Die in defiance, then, said the god of the pit. You Titans are nothing to me. My children the giants were always better, stronger, and more vicious. They will make the upper world as dark as my realm!
Tartarus snapped the spear in half. Bob wailed in agony. Saber-toothed Small Bob leaped to his aid, snarling at Tartarus and baring his fangs. The Titan struggled to rise, but Ivy knew it was over. Even the monsters turned to watch, as if sensing that their master Tartarus was about to take the spotlight. The death of a Titan was worth seeing.
Their laughter stopped and Ivy turned to Vivi, "V..."
"Tartarus cannot be fought, Ivy," Vivi mumbled, pain in her eyes. "You'll get yourself killed. I can't watch that, don't make me see that."
Ivy knew Vivi was right. Tartarus was in a class by himself. He was more powerful than the gods or Titans. Demigods were nothing to him. If Ivy charged to help Bob, she would get squashed like an ant.
But she can't let Bob die alone. She can't do that. Yes, she was hesitant about the Titan, manipulated him, even kinda hated him, but he saved Vivi's life. She owes him, and besides, she's grown a soft spot for the Titan.
Vivi seemed to understand as she grabbed Ivy's hand and gave it a squeeze. Ivy understood what that meant. They weren't going to leave Tartarus. They would die together, fighting.
This is a burden I have to bear and I will bear it alone, okay?
She told Percy those exact words hours before she fell with Vivi. And it was supposed to be.
I promise.
Ivy hoped Nico didn't tell him. She prays that he kept it to himself, that he knew she wouldn't survive, that way she doesn't break her promised.
I'm sorry, Percy.
I'm sorry, Annabeth.
I'm sorry, Vivi.
They straightened themselves up. They dropped their hands and got ready to advance—
A ripple of alarm passed through the army. In the distance, Ivy heard shrieks, screams, and a persistent boom, boom, boom that was too fast to be the heartbeat in the ground—more like something large and heavy, running at full speed. An Earthborn spun into the air as if he'd been tossed. A plume of bright-green gas billowed across the top of the monstrous horde like the spray from a poison riot hose. Everything in its path dissolved.
Across the swath of sizzling, newly empty ground, Ivy saw the cause of the commotion. She looked at Vivi, and she was grinning. It was bright and warm, Ivy had to squint to truly see it.
The Maeonian drakon spread its frilled collar and hissed, its poison breath filling the battlefield with the smell of pine and ginger. It shifted its hundred-foot-long body, flicking its dappled green tail and wiping out a battalion of ogres.
Riding on its back was a red-skinned giant with flowers in his rust-colored braids, a jerkin of green leather, and a drakon-rib lance in his hand.
"Damasen!" Vivi cried.
The giant inclined his head. "Viviana Desmond, I took your advice. I chose myself a new fate."
What is this? the god of the pit hissed. Why have you come, my disgraced son?
Damasen glanced at Vivi.
He turned toward Tartarus. The Maeonian drakon stamped its feet and snarled.
"Father, you wished for a more worthy opponent?" Damasen asked calmly. "I am one of the giants you are so proud of. You wished me to be more warlike? Perhaps I will start by destroying you!"
Damasen leveled his lance and charged.
The monstrous army swarmed him, but the Maeonian drakon flattened everything in its path, sweeping its tail and spraying poison while Damasen jabbed at Tartarus, forcing the god to retreat like a cornered lion.
Bob stumbled away from the battle, his saber-toothed cat at his side. Ivy and Vivi did their best to help cover them. Vivi would whistle, explode monsters. Ivy would throw apples, knives, and even made a few choke.
Bob limped to the Doors. Golden ichor flowed from the wounds on his arms and chest. His janitor's outfit hung in tatters. His posture was twisted and hunched, as if Tartarus's breaking the spear had broken something inside him. Despite all that, he was grinning, his silver eyes bright with satisfaction.
"Go," he ordered. "I will hold the button."
"Absolutely not—"
"Ivy," Vivi's voice broke. The guilt and pain was all she could now see in her eyes. "We have to, amor, we do."
"I—No—No!" Ivy protested. She can't believe she's the one that can't leave Bob behind. "V, no, we can't leave them, okay. We can't."
"You must, friend." Bob clapped Ivy on the arm, a sharp pain shot through her whole body. It wasn't his fault, but it still hurt. "I can still press a button. And I have a good cat to guard me."
Small Bob the saber-toothed tiger growled in agreement.
"Besides," Bob said, "it is your destiny to return to the world. Put an end to this madness of Gaea."
A screaming Cyclops, sizzling from poison spray, sailed over their heads.
Fifty yards away, the Maeonian drakon trampled through monsters, its feet making sickening squish squish noises as if stomping grapes. On its back, Damasen yelled insults and jabbed at the god of the pit, taunting Tartarus farther away from the Doors.
Tartarus lumbered after him, his iron boots making craters in the ground.
You cannot kill me! he bellowed. I am the pit itself. You might as well try to kill the earth. Gaea and I—we are eternal. We own you, flesh and spirit!
He brought down his massive fist, but Damasen sidestepped, impaling his javelin in the side of Tartarus's neck.
Tartarus growled, apparently more annoyed than hurt. He turned his swirling vacuum face toward the giant, but Damasen got out of the way in time. A dozen monsters were sucked into the vortex and disintegrated.
"He'll destroy you, Bob!" Ivy pleaded. She was crying but she didn't care. "You—You'll be gone, for good. No Bob, no Iapetus."
Her whole body was aching, she felt like throwing up. The thought of freedom made her think of everything she's endured, all the pain she cussed and felt. The moment she walks out of those doors on the mortal world, there will be no more adrenaline. All of it was come rushing back, she knows it.
Bob shrugged. "Who knows what will be? You must go now. Tartarus is right about one thing. We cannot defeat him. We can only buy you time."
The Doors tried to close on the sword, but Ivy couldn't pull it out.
"Twelve minutes," said the Titan. "I can give you that."
Ivy looked at Bob and dropped to one knee, despite the horrible pain. "You and Damasen are heroes. I will assure both Roman and Greek camps remember you as such. It will be passed down from generate to generate. You will be eternal."
Smile lines crinkled around his eyes. "That is good. Until then, my friends, tell the sun and the stars hello for me. And be strong. This may not be the last sacrifice you must make to stop Gaea."
He held out his hand and helped her stand back up. Ivy an apple in it. For the best Titan and friend. "No more time. Go."
Vivi grabbed Ivy's arm and dragged her into the elevator car. Ivy grabbed the sword from between the doors on their way in. She had one last glimpse of the Maeonian drakon shaking an ogre like a sock puppet, Damasen jabbing at Tartarus's legs.
The god of the pit pointed at the Doors of Death and yelled: Monsters, stop them!
Small Bob the saber-toothed crouched and snarled, ready for action.
Bob winked at Vivi and Ivy.
"Hold the Doors closed on your side," he said. "They will resist your passage. Hold them—"
The panels slide shut, and horror began.
She wished she just died.
Ivy and Vivi pushed themselves against the door. There were no handles, or anything else to hold on to. As the elevator car ascended, the Doors shook and tried to open, threatening to spill them into whatever was between life and death.
Ivy's body ached. The elevator's easy-listening music didn't help. If all monsters had to hear that song about liking piña coladas and getting caught in the rain, no wonder they were in the mood for carnage when they reached the mortal world.
Percy asked her why she sabotages herself. Why she's so scared to let people care about her, and this is why. A giant and a Titan on now dying to keep her and Vivi alive. She pushed everyone away after Violet died because she couldn't handle the pain of losing her. But Percy and Vivi are nothing if they aren't consistent.
Her classmates, she always kept at a distance. The Henwicks, the others on the Argo II, at camp. She kept them away because she couldn't allow that pain again. Especially after Percy disappeared, the pain was unimaginable.
What's so scary about it?
Everything.
The panels had started to slide apart, letting in a whiff of...ozone? Sulfur?
Ivy looked at Vivi, and the way she looked away for a moment before back at her, she knows the anger is clear in her eyes.
"I will rip Gaea apart, V."
She pushed against the door when he tried to open again.
"I know, Ivy, I know," she mumbled, but her eyes blazed bright as she pushed on the door.
Ivy remembered Tartarus' boost. He could not be killed. Neither could Gaea. Against such power, even Titans and giants were hopelessly outmatched. Demigods stood no chance.
She also remembered Bob's warning: This may not be the last sacrifice you must make to stop Gaea.
She felt that truth deep in her bones, but what more does she have to sacrifice? She's given her all and more.
"Twelve minutes," Vivi murmured. "Just twelve minutes."
She put all her faith into Bob that he could hold the UP button that long. She wondered what they would find once they reached the top of this elevator ride.
If their friends weren't there, controlling the other side...
"We have to do this," Ivy said weakly. "We are too close."
"I know," Vivi mumbled. "I know."
And she started to pray, and Ivy could help but listen.
They held the Doors shut as the elevator shuddered and the music played, while somewhere below them, a Titan and a giant sacrificed their lives for their escape.
╒═══════✰°
𝘬𝘳𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘴...
𝘜𝘯𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥
°✰═══════╛
4.5k words
oh gods, we are so close <3
i would like to point out that ivy has a lot of injuries, like, a lot, and the reason why they haven't affected her in tartarus is because she's been constantly running on adrenaline and the fire water (in my book anyway) only keeps them healthy enough to not die. she has a lot of mental and physical injuries that will truly effect her in the next act.
vivi has a lot too, but hers a lot more to do with her guilt and a lot more minor injuries compared to ivy. she can heal faster and more normally just naturally bc she's a daughter of apollo that specializes in her healing nature. vivi just needs a lot of fucking rest and some nectar and ambrosia, and some cuddles with annabeth and some time to pray and she'll be...okay?
anyways <3333