12. PERCY

Percy had to admit: He was relieved when the demon ladies went in for the kill.

Sure, he was terrified. He didn't like the odds of three against several dozen. But at least he understood fighting. Wandering through the darkness, waiting to be attacked—that had been driving him crazy.

Besides, he and Theo had fought together many times. And now they had a Titan on their side.

"Back off." Percy jabbed Riptide at the nearest shrivelled hag, but she only sneered.

We are the arai, said that weird voice-over, like the entire forest was speaking. You cannot destroy us.

Theo pressed against his shoulder. "Don't touch them," she warned. Her voice dropped to a whisper. "Di Immortales, Percy. They'll actually kill us, for real this time. Curse us to death."

"Bob doesn't like curses," Bob decided. The skeleton kitten Small Bob disappeared inside his coveralls. Smart cat. The Titan swept his broom in a wide arc, forcing the spirits back, but they came in again like the tide.

We serve the bitter and the defeated, said the arai. We serve the slain who prayed for vengeance with their final breath. We have many curses to share with you.

The firewater in Percy's stomach started crawling up his throat. He wished Tartarus had better beverage options, or maybe a tree that dispensed antacid fruit. Honestly, he could have gone for a beer.

"I appreciate the offer," he said. "But my mom told me not to accept curses from strangers."

The nearest demon lunged. Her claws extended like bony switchblades. Percy cut her in two, but as soon as she vaporized the sides of his chest flared with pain. He stumbled back, clamping his hand to his rib cage. His fingers came away wet and red.

"Percy, you're bleeding!" Theo said, which was kind of obvious to him at that point. "Oh, gods, on both sides. A projectile wound."

It was true. The left and right hems of his tattered shirt were sticky with blood, as if a javelin had run him through.

Or an arrow...

Queasiness almost knocked him over. Vengeance. A curse from the slain.

He flashed back to an encounter in Texas two years ago—a fight with a monstrous rancher who could only be killed if each of his three bodies was cut through simultaneously.

"Geryon," Percy said. "This is how I killed him..."

The spirits bared their fangs. More arai leaped from the black trees, flapping their leathery wings.

Yes, they agreed. Feel the pain you inflicted upon Geryon. So many curses have been levelled at you, Percy Jackson. Which will you die from? Choose, or we will rip you apart!

Somehow he stayed on his feet. The blood stopped spreading, but he still felt like he had a hot metal curtain rod sticking through his ribs. His sword arm was heavy and weak.

"I don't understand," he muttered.

Bob's voice seemed to echo from the end of a long tunnel: "If you kill one, it gives you a curse."

Theo looked scared out of her mind. "But if we don't kill them..."

"They'll kill us anyway," Percy guessed.

Choose! the arai cried. Will you be crushed like Kampê? Or slaughtered like the Minotaur? You have spread so much death and suffering, Percy Jackson. Let us repay you!

The winged hags pressed in, their breath sour, their eyes burning with hatred. They looked like Furies, but Percy decided these things were even worse. At least the three Furies were under the control of Hades. These things were wild, and they just kept multiplying.

"You've killed more monsters than I have," Theo said to Percy. Her grip on her bow was shaky, which Percy knew was a bad sign. A horrible sign.

Percy didn't see her point. "Thanks for the ego boost?"

She rolled her eyes. "I mean that you have more curses than I would. So... I'll fight. You try to stay out of it."

She steadied her arm to shoot, and Percy tried to stop her in protest, but the arrow flew faster than he could do anything. It embedded in the old lady closest to Theo and exploded her into dust.

Instantly, Theo stumbled back, her eyes wide. She cried in alarm.

"Percy?" she called, her arms extended and searching the area around her. "Percy, I can't—I can't see!"

Percy ran to her side as the arai cackled.

Python chose to curse you, Theodora Scott, when Percy Jackson struck him down. In his own lair, you made it so Python could not see. Now you will not see your attackers. Child of the sun sucked into the dark.

"I've got you," Percy promised. He put his arm around Theo, but as the arai advanced he didn't know how he could protect either of them.

A dozen demons leaped from every direction, but Bob yelled, "SWEEP!"

His broom whooshed over Percy's head. The entire arai offensive line toppled backwards like bowling pins. More surged forward. Bob whacked one over the head and speared another, blasting them to dust. The others backed away.

Percy held his breath, waiting for their Titan friend to be laid low with some terrible curse, but Bob seemed fine—a massive silvery bodyguard keeping death at bay with the world's most terrifying cleaning implement.

"Bob, you okay?" Percy asked. "No curses?"

"No curses for Bob!" Bob agreed.

The arai snarled and circled, eying the broom. The Titan is already cursed. Why should we torture him further? You, Percy Jackson, have already destroyed his memory.

Bob's spearhead dipped.

"Bob, don't listen to them," Theo said, both of her hands clutching Percy's shoulder. "They're evil."

Time slowed. Percy wondered if the spirit of Kronos was somewhere nearby, swirling in the darkness, enjoying this moment so much that he wanted it to last forever. Percy felt exactly like he had at twelve years old, he and Theo battling Ares on that beach in Los Angeles, when the shadow of the Titan lord had first passed over him.

Bob turned. His wild white hair looked like an exploded halo. "My memory... It was you?"

Curse him, Titan! the arai urged, their red eyes gleaming. Add to our numbers! Curse him—or even the girl!

Percy's heart pressed against his spine. "Bob, it's a long story. I didn't want you to be my enemy. I tried to make you a friend."

By stealing your life, the arai said. Leaving you in the palace of Hades to scrub floors!

Theo gripped Percy's chest. "Which way?" she whispered. "If we have to run?"

He understood. If Bob wouldn't protect them, their only chance was to run—but that wasn't any chance at all.

"Bob, listen," he tried again, "the arai want you to get angry. They spawn from bitter thoughts. Don't give them what they want. We are your friends."

Even as he said it, Percy felt like a liar. He'd left Bob in the Underworld and hadn't given him a thought since. What made them friends? The fact that Percy needed him now? Percy always hated it when the gods used him for their errands. Now Percy was treating Bob the same way.

You see his face? the arai growled. The boy cannot even convince himself. Did he visit you, after he stole your memory?

"No," Bob murmured. His lower lip quivered. "The other one did."

Percy's thoughts moved sluggishly. "The other one?"

"Nico." Bob scowled at him, his eyes full of hurt. "Nico visited. Told me about Percy. Said Percy was good. Said he was a friend. That is why Bob helped."

"But..." Percy's voice disintegrated like someone had hit it with a Celestial bronze blade. He'd never felt so low and dishonourable, so unworthy of having a friend.

The arai attacked, and this time Bob did not stop them.

Percy and Theo took off.

"Left!" Percy dragged his girlfriend, slicing through the arai to clear a path. He probably brought down a dozen curses on himself, but he didn't feel them right away, so he kept running.

The pain in his chest flared with every step. He weaved between the trees, leading Theo at a full sprint despite her blindness.

Percy realized how much she trusted him to get her out of this. He couldn't let her down, yet how could he save her? And if she was permanently blind... No. He suppressed a surge of panic. He would figure out how to cure her later. First they had to escape.

Leathery wings beat the air above them. Angry hissing and the scuttling of clawed feet told him the demons were at their backs.

As they ran past one of the black trees, he slashed his sword across the trunk. He heard it topple, followed by the satisfying crunch of several dozen arai as they were smashed flat.

If a tree falls in the forest and crushes a demon, does the tree get cursed?

Percy slashed down another trunk, then another. It bought them a few seconds, but not enough.

Suddenly the darkness in front of them became thicker. Percy realized what it meant just in time. He grabbed Theo right before they both charged off the side of the cliff.

"What?" she gasped. "What is it?"

"Cliff," he gasped. "Big cliff."

"Just push me, at this point."

Percy huffed a dry laugh. He couldn't see how far the cliff dropped. It could be ten feet or a thousand. There was no telling what was at the bottom. They could jump and hope for the best, but he doubted 'the best' ever happened in Tartarus.

So, two options: right or left, following the edge.

He was about to choose randomly when a winged demon descended in front of him, hovering over the void on her bat wings, just out of sword reach.

Did you have a nice walk? asked the collective voice, echoing all around them.

Percy turned. The arai poured out of the woods, making a crescent around them. One grabbed Theo's arm. Theo scoffed in rage, tossing her elbow back to flip the monster and drop it on its neck, putting her whole body weight into an elbow strike that would've made any pro wrestler proud.

The demon dissolved, but when Theo got to her feet she looked stunned and afraid as well as blind.

"Percy?" she called, panic creeping into her voice. "Percy, please, it's so dark—"

"I'm right here."

He tried to put his hand on her shoulder, but she wasn't standing where he thought. He tried again, only to find she was several feet further away. It was like trying to grab something in a tank of water, with the light shifting the image away.

"Percy!" Theo's voice cracked. "Where did you go?"

"I'm right here!" He turned on the arai, his arms shaking with anger. "What did you do to her?"

We did nothing, the demons said. Your beloved has unleashed a special curse—a bitter thought from an innocent soul whom she apparently once revered, then abandoned. Now her most hateful wish has come to pass: Theodosia feels her despair. She, too, will understand the abandonment and betrayal she inflicted upon her.

"Percy?" Theo spread her arms, trying to find him. The arai backed up, letting her stumble blindly through their ranks.

"Who did she abandon?" Percy demanded. "She hasn't—"

Suddenly his stomach felt like it had dropped off the cliff.

An innocent soul. Abandonment and betrayal. Percy couldn't think of anything Theo had ever abandoned as innocent... except for one. One poor girl who must have felt spited by Theo and wished her tragedy once before.

Rachel Elizabeth Dare.

They had a tragic, messy past; Percy knew that. And girls could be mean. But could they be so mean that Rachel would wish despair and betrayal upon Theo, even after all this time? How long had it been since they hated each other? How old was the wish?

There is no statute of limitations on hatred, the arai hissed, like they could hear Percy's thoughts. Especially wishes as hateful as these.

"She wouldn't," Percy mumbled, his sword arm falling. "Rachel is kind. She would never curse..."

The eyes of the demons blurred together like their voices. Percy's sides throbbed. The pain his chest was worse, as if someone were slowly twisting a dagger.

Theo wandered among the demons, desperately calling his name. Percy longed to run to her, but he knew the arai wouldn't allow it. The only reason they hadn't killed her yet was because they were enjoying her misery.

Percy clenched his jaw. He didn't care how many curses he suffered. He had to keep these leathery old hags focused on him and protect Theo as long as he could.

He yelled in fury and attacked them all. And For one exciting minute, he felt like he was winning.

Riptide cut through the arai as though they were made of powdered sugar. One panicked and ran face-first into a tree. Another screeched and tried to fly away, but Percy sliced off her wings and sent her spiralling into the chasm.

Each time a demon disintegrated, Percy felt a heavier sense of dread as another curse settled on him. Some were harsh and painful: a stabbing in the gut, a burning sensation like he was being blasted by a blowtorch. Some were subtle: a chill in the blood, an uncontrollable tic in his right eye.

Seriously, who curses you with their dying breath and says: I hope your eye twitches!

Percy knew that he'd killed a lot of monsters, but he'd never really thought about it from the monsters' point of view. Now all their pain and anger and bitterness poured over him, sapping his strength.

The arai just kept coming. For every one he cut down, six more seemed to appear.

His sword arm grew tired. His body ached, and his vision blurred. He tried to make his way towards Theo, but she was just out of reach, calling his name as she wandered among the demons.

One of the arai pounced on Percy, which Percy really thought they should have known better than by then. He sliced through her with ease.

Immediately, he felt nauseous—not normal I'm-gonna-puke nausea, but the kind of gut-wrenching nausea that only came with immense pain, as though he'd been roundhouse kicked repeatedly in the same place. Annabeth had once told Percy that emotional hurt could register as physical hurt, if the trauma was bad enough. This was that kind of pain.

The arai cackled gleefully. All around Percy, their voice echoed. You have picked an apropos curse, demigod. Another ill wish whispered from the mouth of a companion. More than a companion—a beloved.

Percy stumbled over to his knees. A beloved? Surely they weren't talking about Theo. Who else was a companion of his? Grover? Annabeth? Jason?

"What... is it?" he croaked out, clutching his stomach. His gut felt a thousand times worse than when he'd swallowed the fire water—now it felt like his entire being was disintegrating from the inside out.

"Percy!" Theo's voice called through the darkness, and Percy's eyes drifted over. She was stumbling close to the edge.

Too close.

Her name ripped out of Percy's throat with a mind-numbing sort of pain erupting from his gut, but he knew Theo couldn't hear him. She couldn't see him, either. The demons had been right. The daughter of Apollo—the sun in Percy's life—would die alone in the darkness.

And Percy couldn't do anything to stop it.

You once hurt her, the arai crooned, circling around Percy's collapsed body. You made her feel just as you do now. You inflicted a pain like no other on this love of yours, Percy Jackson, and she willed you to understand her despair. So here you are. Do you understand it yet?

Percy tried to speak. His stomach felt like he'd been stabbed over and over again in the same place, but he wasn't bleeding. His arms wrapped around himself and he groaned in pain, but all he could think of was Theo. Theo, who once had been hurt so badly by Percy that she felt the same way he did now. Theo, who loved Percy to the ends of the earth.

She had once been in so much pain by Percy's hands. And he hadn't even realized.

I won't die like this, he thought. Not only because it was painful and insultingly lame to die at the feet of a bunch of old demon ladies, but because Theo needed him. Once he was dead, the arai would turn to her. He couldn't leave her alone.

And he wouldn't do that to her now that he knew how horribly he'd made her feel before. He had to make it up to her, even in death.

The arai clustered around him, snickering and hissing.

"Bob," he croaked. "I need you."

A hopeless plea. He could barely hear himself. Why should Bob answer his call twice? The Titan knew the truth now. Percy was no friend.

He raised his eyes one last time. His surroundings seemed to flicker. The sky boiled and the ground blistered.

Percy realized that what he saw of Tartarus was only a watered-down version of its true horror—only what his demigod brain could handle. The worst of it was veiled, the same way the Mist veiled monsters from mortal sight. Now as Percy died he began to see the truth.

The air was the breath of Tartarus. All these monsters were just blood cells circulating through his body. Everything Percy saw was a dream in the mind of the dark god of the pit.

This must have been the way Nico had seen Tartarus, and it had almost destroyed his sanity. Nico... one of the many people Percy hadn't treated well enough. He and Theo had only made it this far through Tartarus because Nico di Angelo had behaved like Bob's true friend.

You see the horror of the pit? the arai said soothingly. Give up, Percy Jackson. Isn't death better than enduring this place?

"I'm sorry," Percy murmured.

He apologizes! The arai shrieked with delight. He regrets his failed life, his crimes against the children of Tartarus!

"No," Percy said. "I'm sorry, Bob. I should've been honest with you. Please... forgive me. Protect Theo."

He didn't expect Bob to hear him or care, but it felt right to clear his conscience. He couldn't blame anyone else for his troubles. Not the gods. Not Bob. He couldn't even blame all of the monsters that had placed these curses on him.

It took all his remaining effort, but he got to his feet. His legs shook. His insides burned like he'd had a drink of hot lava. At least he could go out fighting. He raised Riptide.

But before he could strike, all the arai in front of him exploded into dust.

Via Chatter

Something not that chill happened last night