PERCY WOKE TO THE SMELL OF SOUP. He sat up groggily, and for a moment, he expected his mom to call him downstairs for breakfast.
But no. Percy was about as far from home as possible, inside of the literal incarnation of hell itself, in the hut of a giant that most likely was going to put Percy in his soup and eat him. Wonderful.
The giant approached, holding a bowl of soup, face hidden behind his wild red beard, and Percy prepared himself to be violently murdered.
Instead, the giant offered him the soup.
"Eat this. You will feel better."
Percy's jaw dropped.
"Um, aren't you going to chop me into pieces, spill my blood for the earth mother or something like that? Isn't that what you giants want?" He asked skeptically.
Mr. Red Beard only laughed and told Percy to eat again.
He prodded the soup with the huge spoon. He was starving, but could he be sure he wasn't being poisoned?
Small Bob purred, rubbing against the giant's leg before settling in Percy's lap.
Oh, whatever. He was hungry, and the soup smelt good. Besides, if his cat trusted the giant, he could too. Maybe.
He ate a spoonful of the strangely salty soup, gagging a bit at the odd taste. However, he didn't immediately drop dead for double over in pain, so that seemed like a good sign.
Besides, he was up for any food as long as it wasn't more firewater.
Although he was fairly sure that he had seen the giant chew up some leaves and put them in the soup though.
Yeaaaah... maybe he was good.
"You need to have more. It will heal you." Grunted the giant.
Grudgingly, Percy drained his bowl, resisting the urge to barf all over his lap.
However, the effect was almost immediate. His blood stopped boiling and the pain slowly left him until he didn't feel like he was going to spontaneously combust on the spot anymore.
That was probably a good thing.
"Thank you... um, what's your name?" He said after his last swallow.
"Damasen. And don't thank me yet. I need you to pay for my service."
Percy gulped nervously. "Uhm, what kind of payment?"
"Hmmmn, how about a story? It gets rather boring down here in Tartarus. Tell me how you, a demigod, got here. The land of monsters." The gian- Damasen, replied thoughtfully.
The land of monsters. Maybe Damasen was wrong. Maybe he did belong here. Maybe he was a monster.
But that didn't matter. He had to get out of here, and although he didn't exactly feel happy about telling a giant his story, it seemed like his best chance to survive down here.
Besides, if he could stay in this warm, cozy hut for just a little longer before venturing back out into the pit, then he was willing to reveal a little bit about himself.\
So, he talked about his quests, how he'd fallen into Tartarus, how he'd met Bob. He talked about how bad he felt about Bob, how bad he felt about all those he had hurt and abandoned. Before he knew it, he was pouring out his heart, confessing how he needed to get back to Annabeth, his friends, his family.
"I swear, I didn't mean to. I wanted to help Bob, he seemed so friendly, so innocent. I didn't know that Hades' idea of helping someone was making them mop zombie guts!" He tried to explain.
It didn't sound convincing, not even to himself. Hades was the god of the dead, he was bound to be a little bit of a creep. But it hadn't turned out too bad. At least Bob had Nico to look after him when Percy abandoned his friend at the palace.
Nico wasn't what one would call friendly, but no matter how much he tried to hide it, he cared. He had taken care of Bob when he hadn't, made sure he had someone to confide in, to help him.
He was a much better person than Percy had ever been.
He talked about Gaea rising, the Argo ll, how he needed to get back and stop her.
"Please. I need to reach the Doors of Death. It's the only way." He pleaded.
"Well... there may be a way. But it's stupid, and you'd be dumb to try."
Percy considered for a moment, but did he really have a choice? He needed to escape, to see her.
"Okay."
~🌊