❝own the strength in your softness❞
⤷ bridgett devoue
△△△
Kira hadn't meant to fall asleep.
And she regretted it very much.
As her other nightmares, it was plagued with demon grandmothers, her mother, Leo, and Gaea.
She woke up crying again. She managed to wipe them before Annabeth saw, but she was too wrapped up in Percy to notice anyway.
She smiled sadly at the couple, running her fingers over an old scar.
Damasen loomed over the bed. "There is no time, little mortals. The drakon is returning. I fear its roar will draw the others—my brethren, hunting you. They will be here within minutes."
"What will you tell them when they get here?" Annabeth asked.
Damasen's mouth twitched. "What is there to tell? Nothing of significance, as long as you are gone."
He tossed them all drakon-leather satchels. "Clothes, food, drink."
"Thank you so much," Kira said, putting it over her head.
"The Prophecy of Eight," Annabeth blurted.
Percy had already climbed out of the bed and was shouldering his pack. He frowned at her. "What about it?"
Annabeth grabbed Damasen's hand, startling the giant. His brow furrowed. His skin was as rough as sandstone.
"You have to come with us," Annabeth pleaded. "The prophecy says foes bear arms to the Doors of Death. I thought it meant Romans and Greeks, but that's not it. The line means us—demigods, a Titan, a giant. We need you to close the Doors!"
The drakon roared outside, closer this time. Damasen gently pulled his hand away.
"No, child," he murmured. "My curse is here. I cannot escape it."
"Yes, you can," Annabeth said. "Don't fight the drakon. Figure out a way to break the cycle! Find another fate."
Damasen shook his head. "Even if I could, I cannot leave this swamp. It is the only destination I can picture."
"There is another destination. Look at me! Remember my face. When you're ready, come find me. We'll take you to the mortal world with us."
"You can see the sunlight and stars." Kira added.
The ground shook. The drakon was close now, stomping through the marsh, blasting trees and moss with its poison spray. Farther away, Kira heard the voice of the giant Polybotes, urging his followers forward. "THE SEA GOD'S SON! HE IS CLOSE!"
"Annabeth," Percy said urgently, "that's our cue to leave."
Damasen took something from his belt. In his massive hand, the white shard looked like another toothpick; but when he offered it to Annabeth, she realized it was a sword—a blade of dragon bone, honed to a deadly edge, with a simple grip of leather.
"One last gift for the child of Athena," rumbled the giant. "I cannot have you walking to your death unarmed. Now, go! Before it is too late."
Kira gave him a salute, not trusting her voice to thank him again. The giant smiled at the daughter of Ares.
"We must leave," Bob urged as his kitten climbed onto his shoulder.
"He's right, Annabeth," Percy said.
They ran for the entrance.
She heard Damasen behind them, shouting his battle cry at the advancing drakon, his voice cracking with despair as he faced his old enemy yet again.
They stumbled along in the darkness, the air thick and cold, the ground alternating patches of pointy rocks and pools of muck.
Percy held Annabeth's hand, and Kira had to look away.
She trembled with the effort it took to run. Her energy had been slowly dwindling the past few days.
"This place is worse than the River Cocytus," Percy muttered.
"Yes," Bob called back happily. "Much worse! It means we are close."
Kira didn't want to think about what was close. She just trudged along, keeping alert and not letting her sword falter.
"We're together," Annabeth whispered, as if she didn't want Kira to hear her. "We'll get through this."
She probably hadn't. She could imagine the girl feeling bad that Kira was third-wheeling pretty hard, but at her words, Kira's heart sunk.
"Yeah," he agreed. "Piece of cake."
"But next time," she said, "I want to go somewhere different on a date."
"Paris was nice," he recalled.
Kira covered her mouth to silence her sob.
"I'd settle for New Rome," she offered. "As long as you're there with me."
Kira wiped her tears, but they only replaced themselves. She longed to be with Leo. She would do anything to be back in his arms, cuddling at the beach, back at Camp Half Blood.
All the sudden, there was a dull pain in her chest.
She doubled over, gasping for breath, hand over her heart.
She thought it was the curse that she had endured from the arai again, but that didn't make sense.
It almost seemed like it was a feeling, like something horrible had happened.
"Kira?" Annabeth asked, looking back. "Are you okay?"
Kira didn't respond, her eyes filling up with tears.
"Kira?" Percy asked. They had stopped now.
She managed to stand straight again. "Yeah, I'm good. Sorry guys."
They continued.
Then the darkness dispersed with a massive sigh, like the last breath of a dying god. In front of them was a clearing—a barren field of dust and stones. In the center, about twenty yards away, knelt the gruesome figure of a woman, her clothes tattered, her limbs emaciated, her skin leathery green. Her head was bent as she sobbed quietly.
"We're here," Bob announced. "Akhlys can help."
Bob continued forward. Kira followed closely behind him, making sure the couple didn't see her gleaming tears.
"Akhlys!" Bob called.
She looked like the victim of a famine—limbs like sticks, swollen knees and knobby elbows, rags for clothes, broken fingernails and toenails. Dust was caked on her skin and piled on her shoulders as if she'd taken a shower at the bottom of an hourglass.
Her eyes were sunken and rheumy, pouring out tears. Her nose dripped like a waterfall. Her stringy gray hair was matted to her skull in greasy tufts, and her cheeks were raked and bleeding as if she'd been clawing herself.
Kira wiped her tears quickly.
Across her knees lay an ancient shield—a battered circle of wood and bronze, painted with the likeness of Akhlys herself holding a shield, so the image seemed to go on forever, smaller and smaller.
The woman looked right at Kira, her eyes glaring into her soul, as if she knew everything about her. All of her pain, all of her suffering.
When her eyes reached her, a collage of Kira's most heart-breaking moments played in her mind. She gasped and took a step away.
"That shield," Annabeth murmured. "That's his. I thought it was just a story."
"Oh, no," the old hag wailed. "The shield of Hercules. He painted me on its surface, so his enemies would see me in their final moments—the goddess of misery."
She coughed and glanced at Kira once again, who had tear-stained cheeks, and her wobbly stance.
Kira stared at the ground. "As if Hercules knew true misery. It's not even a good likeness!"
"What's his shield doing here?" Percy asked.
Her cheeks dripped blood, making red polka dots on her tattered dress. "He doesn't need it anymore, does he? It came here when his mortal body was burned. A reminder, I suppose, that no shield is sufficient. In the end, misery overtakes all of you. Even Hercules. It seems that it already has taken over one of you." The goddess said, looking directly to the tear-stricken girl. Kira bit her lip, not wanting her to win.
Percy inched closer to Annabeth.
Kira stood still, silent. She didn't trust herself to think of Leo. She may have broken down then and there.
"Bob," Percy said, "we shouldn't have come here."
From somewhere inside Bob's uniform, the skeleton kitten mewled in agreement.
The Titan shifted and winced as if Small Bob was clawing his armpit. "Akhlys controls the Death Mist," he insisted. "She can hide you."
"Hide them?" Akhlys made a gurgling sound. She was either laughing or choking to death. "Why would I do that?"
"They must reach the Doors of Death," Bob said. "To return to the mortal world."
"Impossible!" Akhlys said. "The armies of Tartarus will find you. They will kill you."
Annabeth turned the blade of her drakon-bone sword. "So I guess your Death Mist is pretty useless, then," she said.
The goddess bared her broken yellow teeth. "Useless? Who are you?"
"A daughter of Athena." Annabeth's voice sounded brave. "I didn't walk halfway across Tartarus to be told what's impossible by some minor goddess."
The dust quivered at their feet. Fog swirled around them with a sound like agonized wailing.
"Minor goddess?" Akhlys's gnarled fingernails dug into Hercules's shield, gouging the metal. "I was old before the Titans were born, you ignorant girl. I was old when Gaea first woke. Misery is eternal. Existence is misery. I was born of the eldest ones—of Chaos and Night. I was—"
"Yes, yes," Annabeth said. "Sadness and misery, blah blah blah. But you still don't have enough power to hide two demigods with your Death Mist. Like I said: useless."
Percy cleared his throat. "Uh, Annabeth—"
Annabeth shot them pleading looks, but Kira couldn't find the words to mock the goddess. Not after everything she had seen.
"I mean...Annabeth is right!" Percy volunteered. "Bob brought us all this way because he thought you could help. But I guess you're too busy staring at that shield and crying. I can't blame you. It looks just like you."
Akhlys wailed and glared at the Titan. "Why did you inflict these annoying children on me?"
Bob made a sound somewhere between a rumble and a whimper. "I thought—I thought—"
"The Death Mist is not for helping!" Akhlys shrieked. "It shrouds mortals in misery as their souls pass into the Underworld. It is the very breath of Tartarus, of death, of despair!"
"Awesome," Percy said. "Could we get three orders of that to go?"
Akhlys hissed. "Ask me for a more sensible gift. I am also the goddess of poisons. I could give you death—thousands of ways to die less painful than the one you have chosen by marching into the heart of the pit."
Around the goddess, flowers bloomed in the dust—dark purple, orange, and red blossoms that smelled sickly sweet. Kira's head swam.
"Nightshade," Akhlys offered. "Hemlock. Belladonna, henbane, or strychnine. I can dissolve your innards, boil your blood."
"That's very nice of you," Kira managed.
"I've had enough poison for one trip. Now, can you hide us in your Death Mist, or not?" Percy said.
"Yeah, it'll be fun," Annabeth said.
The goddess's eyes narrowed. "Fun?"
"Sure," Annabeth promised. "If we fail, think how great it will be for you, gloating over our spirits when we die in agony. You'll get to say 'I told you so' for eternity."
"Or, if we succeed," Percy added, "think of all the suffering you'll bring to the monsters down here. We intend to seal the Doors of Death. That's going to cause a lot of wailing and moaning."
Akhlys considered. "I enjoy suffering. Wailing is also good."
"Then it's settled," Percy said. "Make us invisible."
Akhlys struggled to her feet. The shield of Hercules rolled away and wobbled to a stop in a patch of poison flowers. "It is not so simple," the goddess said. "The Death Mist comes at the moment you are closest to your end. Your eyes will be clouded only then. The world will fade."
"Okay. But...we'll be shrouded from the monsters?" Percy asked.
"Oh, yes," Akhlys said. "If you survive the process, you will be able to pass unnoticed among the armies of Tartarus. It is hopeless, of course, but if you are determined, then come. I will show you the way."
"The way to where, exactly?" Annabeth asked.
The goddess was already shuffling into the gloom.
Kira turned to look at Bob, but the Titan was gone. How does a ten-foot-tall silver dude with a very loud kitten disappear?
Kira nudged Percy. "Bob is gone."
"Hey!" Percy yelled to Akhlys. "Where's our friend?"
"He cannot take this path," the goddess called back. "He is not mortal. Come, little fools. Come experience the Death Mist."
Annabeth exhaled and grabbed Percy's hand. "Well...how bad can it be?"
Percy laughed. "Yeah. Next date, though—dinner in New Rome."
Kira remained silent, her jaw stiffening. Pushing back tears, she tried to think of random things to not think of him. She trailed behind the two, kicking a small pebble.
The fact that Leo might be hurt, which would explain the sudden dull ache in her chest, and Kira wasn't there to help him made her want to roll over and die.
They followed the goddess's dusty footprints through the poison flowers, deeper into the fog.
She'd gotten used to having the Titan on his side, lighting their way with his silver hair and his fearsome war broom.
As they struggled across the dusty plain, the fog became so thick that Kira had to resist the urge to swat it away with her hands. The only reason she was able to follow Akhlys's path was because poisonous plants sprang up wherever she walked.
The fog dissipated, and they found themselves on a peninsula that jutted out over a pitch-black void.
"Here we are." Akhlys turned and leered at them. Blood from her cheeks dripped on her dress. Her sickly eyes looked moist and swollen but somehow excited. Can Misery look excited?
"Uh...great," Percy asked. "Where is here?"
"The verge of final death," Akhlys said. "Where Night meets the void below Tartarus."
Annabeth inched forward and peered over the cliff. "I thought there was nothing below Tartarus."
"Oh, certainly there is...." Akhlys coughed. "Even Tartarus had to rise from somewhere. This is the edge of the earliest darkness, which was my mother. Below lies the realm of Chaos, my father. Here, you are closer to nothingness than any mortal has ever been. Can you not feel it?"
Kira could feel the ledge calling her, urging her to step into it.
"We can't stay here," Percy said.
"No, indeed!" Akhlys said. "Don't you feel the Death Mist? Even now, you pass between. Look!"
White smoke gathered around Kira's feet. As it coiled up her legs, she realized the smoke wasn't surrounding her. It was coming from her. Her whole body was dissolving. She held up her hands and found they were fuzzy and indistinct. She couldn't even tell how many fingers she had.
Percy turned to Annabeth and stifled a yelp. "You're—uh—"
Annabeth's skin was sallow, her eye sockets dark and sunken. Her beautiful hair had dried into a skein of cobwebs. She looked like she'd been stuck in a cool, dark mausoleum for decades, slowly withering into a desiccated husk. Kira assumed she looked the same.
"Oh, gods," Annabeth sobbed. "Percy, the way you look..."
Kira didn't take it personal that they didn't notice her. Instead, she became intuned with looking down to her ghostly palms. Her olive skin looked paler then what could be healthy.
"I've looked better," Percy decided. "I can't move very well. But I'm all right."
Akhlys clucked. "Oh, you're definitely not all right."
Percy frowned. "But we'll pass unseen now? We can get to the Doors of Death?"
"Well, perhaps you could," the goddess said, "if you lived that long, which you won't."
Akhlys spread her gnarled fingers. More plants bloomed along the edge of the pit—hemlock, nightshade, and oleander spreading toward their feet like a deadly carpet. "The Death Mist is not simply a disguise, you see. It is a state of being. I could not bring you this gift unless death followed—true death."
"It's a trap," Annabeth said.
The goddess cackled. "Didn't you expect me to betray you?"
"Yes." They all said together.
"Well, then, it was hardly a trap! More of an inevitability. Misery is inevitable. Pain is—"
"Yeah, yeah," Percy growled. "Let's get to the fighting."
He drew Riptide and drew drew her sword.
She should name her sword, Kira thought. Riptide was a cool name.
Not now, she thought.
When Percy slashed at Akhlys, the sword just floated across her like a gentle breeze.
The goddess's ruined mouth split into a grin. "Did I forget to mention? You are only mist now—a shadow before death. Perhaps if you had time, you could learn to control your new form. But you do not have time. Since you cannot touch me, I fear any fight with Misery will be quite one-sided."
Kira gulped. She held her sword tightly, it had become heavy in her grip.
Akhlys fingernails grew into talons. Her jaw unhinged, and her yellow teeth elongated into fangs.
The goddess's claws raked across his chest and Percy stumbled back.
Kira and Annabeth galnced at each other briefly before charging.
"Hey!" Annabeth screamed in the goddess' ear.
Akhlys flinched, turning toward the sound.
She lashed out at Annabeth, but Annabeth was better at moving than Percy.
"Over here, Smiley!" Kira yelled from behind her, making her turn. She dodged the goddess attack, and Annabeth then distracted her.
They worked as a team, both momentarily distracting Akhlys until one of them could come up with a plan.
Annabeth tried to veer aside, but the goddess grabbed Annabeth's wrist and pulled her hard, sending her sprawling.
Kira jumped in front of her, but she growled, plucking her off the ground and clutching her.
"Hey, Happy!" Percy yelled.
Akhlys spun, dropping Kira. "Happy?" she demanded.
"Yeah!" He ducked as she swiped at his head. "You're downright cheerful!"
"Arggh!" She lunged again, but she was off balance. Percy sidestepped and backed away, leading the goddess farther from the girls.
"Pleasant!" he called. "Delightful!"
The goddess snarled and winced. She stumbled after Percy. Each compliment seemed to hit her like sand in the face.
Kira struggled to her feet, running to Annabeth to help her up.
"I will kill you slowly!" The goddess growled, her eyes and nose watering, blood dripping from her cheeks. "I will cut you into pieces as a sacrifice to Night!"
"Cuddly!" Percy yelled. "Fuzzy, warm, and huggable!"
Akhlys made a growling, choking noise, like a cat having a seizure.
"A slow death!" she screamed. "A death from a thousand poisons!"
All around her, poisonous plants grew and burst like overfilled balloons.
"Percy!" Annabeth yelled. "Uh, hey, Miss Wonderful!"
"Cheerful! Grins! Over here!" Kira yelled, holding Annabeth steady.
Percy was stuck on an island of dust not much bigger than a shield. A few yards away, his backpack smoked and dissolved into a puddle of goo.
Percy had nowhere to go.
"You will feed the eternal darkness," Akhlys said. "You will die in the arms of Night!"
Annabeth and Kira threw anything they could at the goddess. Kira got the closet with a rock, but it bounced off Akhlys harmlessly.
All the sudden, Percy raised his arms. Kira was confused, there was no water source near them.
The lake of poison rolled toward the two in tiny waves and rivulets.
Akhlys shrieked. "What is this?"
"Poison," Percy said. "That's your specialty, right?"
Akhlys gagged. "I—"
Kira and Annabeth both reached the edge of the cliff.
Annabeth glanced at Kira, terrified, and looking for help. It was only for a moment, but she saw all her emotions on display. Maybe it was because they were dead. Or, appeared dead. Same thing.
Kira was surprised. Annabeth had always been in charge, always been a shoulder for Kira to lean on.
But here she was, eyes wide as she watched her boyfriend kill Akhlys. She had a begging look in her eyes.
"Percy!" Annabeth called.
"Percy, you're scaring her," Kira managed, coughing.
Percy glanced back at them. Kira flinched at the dark look in his eyes. It made her want to fly right up the the safety of Leo's arms. She stumbled back, trying to hold Annabeth up.
"Stop..." Annabeth pleaded, her voice hoarse. "Percy, please..."
He turned to the goddess. He willed the poison to recede, creating a small path of retreat along the edge of the cliff.
"Leave!" he bellowed.
Akhlys scrambled along the path, fell on her face, and got up again, wailing as she sped into the dark.
As soon as she was gone, the pools of poison evaporated. The plants withered to dust and blew away.
Annabeth stumbled toward him. Kira stayed, frozen. She was wary of the boy now. She knew he was powerful, but seeing him have such a dark, evil look in her eyes made her see him in a new light. Percy had a dark side.
"Percy, please don't ever..." Annabeth's voice broke in a sob. "Some things aren't meant to be controlled. Please."
"Yeah," Percy agreed. "Yeah, okay."
Kira hung back, behind the two. It wasn't anything new, but she wasn't rushing to get close to Percy at the moment.
He glanced back at her, but she didn't reach his eyes.
"We have to get away from this cliff," Annabeth said. "If Akhlys brought us here as some kind of sacrifice..."
"She said something about feeding us to the night," he remembered. "What was that about?"
The temperature dropped. The abyss before them seemed to exhale.
Percy grabbed Annabeth and backed away from the edge as a presence emerged from the void.
"I imagine," said the darkness, in a feminine voice as soft as coffin lining, "that she meant Night, with a capital N. After all, I am the only one."
Hi guys! Sorry about the second chapter notification two days. I accidentally posted a chapter that I wrote in advance. Sorry about that confusion! Thank you guys so much for 400 votes ,and I hope everyone has a good day!