Chapter Text
The life of Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena, could be considered a comedy and a tragedy.
For so long, she fought, fought, and fought. For her friends, for her family, for the gods. All she knew was fighting. Surviving. Thriving.
There was no peace to be had. Annabeth knew well this was the life of a half-blood. The constant necessity of defending yourself against the endless monsters that wanted to feast on your flesh, break your bones, and end your existence.
That was what led to her fall. Their fall. She had not fallen alone. It was the only positive part of the madness she went through. Percy had been with her to the end.
They had faced Ananke, the empousai, the hordes of arai, Akhlys...
And Night.
Annabeth had wanted to give up when she saw Nyx.
It was a terrifying sight, of someone so powerful that their very presence warped reality in subtle, alien ways. She was cloaked in reality itself and it made everything else feel small.
It was only thanks to her mind that they had managed to trick the goddess, and were now running through the Mansion of Night and back to Tartarus, specifically, the heart of the god.
The terrifying god who was currently battling Damasen, bane of Ares, who was riding the maeonian drakon. She wished she had time to think about it, but she didn’t. At the moment, Annabeth was busy slashing left and right cutting through waves after waves of monsters. Telkhines, dracaenae, giants. The list was endless. Many she had only ever heard of in blood-soaked journals and drunken mutterings the one time Dionysus got Chiron to drink. Some of them she had never even heard of.
Percy had charged forward and become trapped inside the Doors, the elevator staying open for the moment, but only because he was holding it open with his foot. The Doors would then open completely, try to close again, before thankfully not crushing his foot and stopping. Annabeth was stranded in the middle of the army, having been separated from Percy after they slashed the chains. Her new sword, made of bone from the drakon Damasen was riding, cut through the monsters like butter, but there were just too many of them. An empousa clawed her arm, slashing through her skin and making Annabeth yelp in pain.
All she could do was try to kick the monster in its donkey leg. It worked; the empousa also hissed in pain and fell back behind her comrades. She only had a second to return to her balance, since a particularly bold hellhound jumped in her direction. Annabeth managed to kill the thing seconds before it could bite her with its impressive maw, so close that she felt the monster’s breath even as it dissolved into dust.
“Annabeth!” She heard Percy calling. Her wounds were losing a lot of blood, and the environment did not help. Any injury was only exacerbated by Tartarus’s deadly aura. Without drinking from the Phlegethon, there was no way to heal. Annabeth wanted to answer, but at the same time, another monster attacked. This time, an arai.
Unfortunately, Annabeth acted on instinct, stabbing the monsters. It caused her entire vision to blur; another curse to torment her. Her head also hurt, like something was pressing her skull. Despite this, she pressed on, her limbs moving faster than her mind could. Annabeth could roughly see Percy still battling the monsters who dared to fight him. Riptide was like a whirlwind of death, while he also used his powers to control the five rivers to his advantage, bursting open the veins in Tartarus’s heart and bathing the monsters in the waters. Some burned in the Phlegethon, others had their memories stolen by the Lethe, and began to wander the battlefield lost and confused like newborn children.
Through Percy’s prowess and power, both Bob and Small Bob had reached the Doors. The Titan was completely battered, his broom having been snapped by Tartarus, golden ichor covering multiple parts of his body.
“You have to get here!” Percy said, casually using Riptide to decapitate a cyclops. “I will hold the doors for you!”
“Yeah, right,” Annabeth answered sarcastically with immense difficulty. She could not speak without her throat feeling like it was filled with acid. “We can’t fight forever.”
“No, just long enough for you to get here!”
He was holding onto a wish that would not be fulfilled, Annabeth realized. There was no escape. In the distance, all she could see was the thousands of monsters that kept coming, relentlessly. Why would they stop? In a few minutes, they would be too weak to resist.
Annabeth looked at Percy, distracting herself from the horrors around them. He had looked worse with the Death Mist covering him, but he still looked terrible. It didn’t matter to her, however. All Annabeth saw was the same boy who drooled in his sleep. The same boy who made her happy, furious, who had made her grieve, cry, laugh.
They would not make it together. Annabeth wanted to weep, but no tears would fall from her eyes. They had fought for so long, only to stay apart for months, only for all to culminate in this moment.
There was only one way out of this. They would die either way if they both remained here.
The only thing she could do was give him a chance to survive.
Percy once again used the rivers to give him and Bob a small window to catch their breath; the nearest horde of monsters neutralized. They only had a few seconds until the next one arrived. She used the opportunity to give Bob a pleading look. Annabeth would never reach them in time. Damasen was having a hard time as it was. The Titan seemed to understand, even from a distance.
Behind them, the Doors dinged once again, as if they were protesting the fact that they couldn’t close. They began to slide open, and Annabeth waited. Percy was completely focused on the approaching monsters to notice her moving. Once the doors began closing again, Annabeth gave the signal to Bob, who thankfully understood and shoved Percy back, freeing the doors.
Percy was obviously not expecting Bob and fell back inside without being able to resist. He had fallen to the elevator floor and raised his head in shock at her; he could only see her now. Annabeth didn’t want to look, but how could she not? “Annabeth?!”
“I’m sorry.” She mouthed, but with the commotion around them, she doubted he saw this.
“NO! Don’t-” Whatever that had been, Annabeth would never find out. The doors closed with a satisfied ding, and she saw Bob pressing the up button with his left hand, trying to ignore the agony in her heart from what had happened. The only thing she could do now was fight until the end. All that mattered was for them to hold tight for twelve minutes.
Small Bob came to her aid, the cat now turned into a sabertooth tiger. Together, they slashed and clawed any monsters that approached the Doors. Bob only needed time. Every second felt like an hour, every minute felt like a year. Annabeth fought robotically, ignoring every thought in her head, the pain in her heart, the sorrow in her soul as if she was bathing in the Cocytus’s waters.
Never had twelve minutes passed so slowly in her life. Annabeth did not want to think she would die. Even if it were the case. Perhaps stuck forever in Tartarus’s essence, roaming forever in the breastplate that already harbored the souls of so many monsters. The maeonian drakon was now on its last legs. With each second, Tartarus got more used to his corporeal body, which meant Damasen was at an increasing disadvantage. The giant was powerful and had come to their aid, but he was still the anti-Ares, for better or worse.
Their best fighter was wounded, beaten, and holding the button to ensure the elevator kept rising. Annabeth had lost count of time, but she was sure Bob wouldn’t. Even if he did, she was sure the Doors would give some sort of signal once they got to the surface.
No thinking. Annabeth couldn’t think. It was what she did best, but right now it would be her death sentence. Athena wasn’t simply the goddess of wisdom; she was the goddess of war. Annabeth would fall like a warrior.
Minutes passed, and the monsters continued to come. The drakon fell, but not before a devastating blow that wiped out most of the creatures that had been aiding Damasen against Tartarus. It even knocked the primordial god back, giving the giant a moment to breathe. This was it. The end of the end. Annabeth was still busy, killing monsters left and right. She missed her dagger, but this sword was perfect for her. It almost made her smile.
Finally, after what felt like days, the Doors once again dinged softly and disappeared, no longer unnaturally bound to this part of Tartarus. It was over. She could only hope the others had made it to the other side. Nico had promised Percy, hadn’t he?
Bob made his way towards Annabeth, still limping and holding onto a wound near his stomach. He used a surge of power to vaporize the nearby monsters, while Small Bob fended off the more distant ones. It created a small window of opportunity. “I am sorry, Annabeth. For not being able to save you.”
She couldn’t stop her lower lip from trembling. Annabeth embraced the Titan in a hug, a sob escaping her throat. “No. Please. Don’t apologize. It’s not your fault. You did so much.”
Bob gave her a short smile. “I helped my friends. I could not wish for a better end.” He paused, releasing Annabeth and looking to the renewed conflict between Damasen and Tartarus. “You must run.”
“Run?” Annabeth asked incredulously. “Run where?”
The Titan’s silver eyes truly looked like those of an ancient deity, but they held the same compassion as ever. “I was never bestowed with the gift of prophecy, Annabeth, but I do not believe it is the end for you.” Bob tapped her arm. “Go. We will hold Tartarus.”
Annabeth wanted to protest, to remain fighting to her death, but she was so tired of fighting. Each one of her limbs was screaming in pain, while the wounds all over her body made her lose a lot of blood. She nodded, painfully. Like one hard decision wasn’t enough, now this.
All she could do now was not think. That is what she did. Annabeth turned on her heels, and she ran. Without a clear direction, no purpose to follow. She just ran. The noises from the battle became more and more distant as she sped through the hellish landscape.
The tears still wouldn’t stop.
After a long time, Annabeth finally stopped, trying to breathe, but the air here barely relieved her suffocation and continued burning her lungs. Her skin was red, she was covered in her sweat and blood. What could she do? Where to go? There was no escape…
Only for Annabeth to notice the darkness around her. A familiar darkness, the same one she felt in the Mansion of Night…
By the gods, had she returned?
She couldn’t see anyone. Just the dark, the shadows. Tartarus wouldn’t be able to reach her here… but someone else could.
Annabeth saw a form spiraling around her, like a black cloud. In it, there were two white dots, the only thing that glistened in the all-consuming dark. The dots met her eyes, and she felt her willpower crumbling. Annabeth fell to her knees, every single remaining thought in her brain telling her to fight.
The daughter of Athena, however, did not. She accepted her fate. Be it death, eternal darkness…
The only thing she could focus on as she lost her consciousness was those two dots.
…
Annabeth woke up.
That was enough to startle her. She woke up. Where was she? Was she dead?
No, probably not. The pain returned as soon as she opened her eyelids and sat up, but it was less severe than before.
Perhaps she was on the Fields of Punishment? Had Hera gotten her way and overruled the judges of the Underworld?
That didn’t seem very likely. Hades would sooner let Persephone spend the summer with her mother, than willingly allow the queen of the gods to interfere in his domain. Regardless, the pain felt very real. It didn’t make any sense, yet somehow it made Annabeth ecstatic. Pain meant she was most likely alive. She had never felt so happy to be feeling pain, but the question remained, where was she? Who or what had saved her?
Has Tartarus gotten to her? It didn’t make sense for her to be feeling much of anything if that was the case. Or at least she imagined the primordial god would subject her to pain much greater than what Annabeth was feeling now. The type that would break her mind, spirit, and potentially flesh should have there been any left. Instead, it was fairly minor compared to that.
Annabeth realized she could not see anything. That made her panic. Had she been blinded? Or…
Or was it too dark to see?
Her mind was a bit foggy right now, but she remembered stepping into a dark area… and that was it. Nothing else.
“At last, the little half-blood awakes…” A soothing feminine voice spoke from what seemed to be above Annabeth. Some of the darkness dissipated, though the environment was still very somber. The good news, Annabeth hadn’t been blinded. The bad news…
She was in an empty room with black walls and no light source whatsoever. The only reason Annabeth could even see anything was because of the two white dots that glowed in the dark. They were eyes. Annabeth had an idea of whose eyes they were.
The Fates hated her.
She saw the eyes moving diagonally, as if the being was tilting its head. “Can you not speak now? I am very certain you did not have your tongue ripped out.”
“N-no.” Annabeth’s voice trembled. Would this nightmare ever end? “I m-mean, I can speak.”
The eyes inched closer to Annabeth. It began to fill her vision. “Then answer me properly. You are a smart one, are you not?” The being paused, “You were quite ingenious in your plan to distract me. I have been down here for so long, I failed to see how obviously your deception was.”
All the daughter of Athena could do was look in fear, wondering if anyone would hear her prayers. “Sorry.” She made a big effort to prevent her voice from cracking. “I needed to get to the Doors.”
“And you did, did you not?” Night asked. “I can feel his frustration even now. His ire brought doom to a sizable part of the army the Earth Mother waited so long to amass.” There was a dark amusement in Nyx’s voice, but all Annabeth could think about was Damasen and Bob. How their fate had been one worse than death.
“Where is the other?”
Annabeth realized she was talking about Percy. “He got away. We broke the chains, and he got away.”
Night’s eyes moved in a manner that made it look like the goddess was nodding. “Impressive. Yet you remained.”
Silently, Annabeth nodded. Before, Nyx had been very eager to kill her and Percy. Was that what awaited her? Maybe Night would grant her a less painful death. Thanatos was Nyx’s son; maybe he would collect Annabeth’s soul.
There was a noise that resembled a whirlwind, and the room she was in became clearer. Annabeth was able to notice Nyx’s form, which was like the silhouette of a woman with the same two dots in her eyes like twin stars in the sky. Apart from that, there were no human characteristics. She did not have a defined face for Annabeth to look at.
Nyx approached her further. Annabeth wanted to crawl away, but only a few steps and she would be cornered against the wall. “What is your name?”
“Annabeth Chase.” She answered hesitantly. “Daughter of Athena.”
“I see the resemblance.” Night mused. “You serve the Olympians?”
Annabeth nodded once again. As much as she would like to pretend she did it for her friends and loved ones, at the end of the day, someone had to bow. “We are trying to stop Gaia.”
“That I figured. Only the most deranged or desperate would hear what the Earth Mother has to say.” Nyx snickered, a deep sound that made Annabeth’s skin crawl. “Now, Annabeth Chase… What do you know of Night?”
She was obviously referring to herself, not the period of the day. “Not much… I mean, only the known stories.”
“They are more than likely to be accurate.” Night paused, putting some distance between her and Annabeth. The demigoddess was fascinated by the primordial’s spectral form. “Do you know why I am stranded in this hole?”
Annabeth shuddered, recalling what happened the last time someone offended Tartarus like that. The fact that nothing happened afterwards was a good sign. “No.”
“Eons ago, I was as powerful as any of the deities you can think of,” Nyx told her, a hint of nostalgia in her voice. “We, unlike your gods, did not fight. We had children, we created. It was only when Ouranos grew into a tyrant that things began to… sour.” Night paused. “I heard his screams of pain from above as the Crooked One cut his body. Then, the Earth Mother entered her slumber. We lost our grace, our innocence.” There was another pause. Some of the previous darkness had returned. “I retreated to Tartarus’s domain. Built my Mansion. Do you like it, Annabeth Chase?”
“I… um… it’s… It’s pretty.” The truth was that Annabeth could barely see what the Mansion looked like.
Nyx did not look very convinced by her praise, but continued. “Tartarus wasn’t always what he is now. Time made him violent. Erratic. Like the Earth Mother, in fact. That is why they are so madly in love.”
Bonnie and Clyde style, Annabeth reckoned. “Does he prevent you from living… uh… my lady?” She really wasn’t sure how to address Nyx, but she reckoned being respectful could earn her some points.
“Indeed.” Night confirmed. “His presence and power prevent my escape. My children do not share this limitation.” Annabeth once again shuddered when she remembered the children. Eris, Geras, the arai… “I have tried it all to escape. You wouldn’t believe the lengths I went through.” Something told her that Nyx was grinning. “The result was failure. For years, I gave up. What else could I do? But now… You are here.”
“Me?” Annabeth asked, confused. “What can I do to help you?”
“You want to live, don’t you?”
The half-blood closed her mouth, not wanting to show how terrified she was. Of course she wanted to live! Annabeth hadn’t come so far to give up. She was still alive, somehow. “Yes.”
“Then there is a price.” Night leaned even closer than before. It made Annabeth feel sleepy, so much so that she had to fight to keep her eyes closed. “A mortal like you has many uses, and you are a smart one. With you, I can escape.”
“How?” That was all Annabeth managed to ask.
“Your body.” Night explained. The two bright dots were locked on her grey eyes. “I do not have a physical form as you do. Not anymore. Taking over your body, however… that will do. There is a possibility to escape.”
The thought irked Annabeth to her core. Nyx was talking about… she wanted to take Annabeth’s body like Kronos had done to Luke. Was this how he felt when he heard the news? Of course, he had suggested that they run away, to which Annabeth could never do by that point.
Perhaps she felt a similar level of desperation as the son of Hermes had. All that mattered now was how she was going to answer.
Taking a deep breath, Annabeth turned to look at the white dots, forcing herself to suppress her fear. “Is that the price for me to live?”
“Indeed.” Night mused. “You have the great honor of opening your soul to me.”
“What exactly do you want to do?” Annabeth asked too quickly, making her cheeks warm. “Gaia wants to kill everyone. If I help you, is that what you’re going to do?”
It seemed Annabeth had surprised Nyx with the question. “Not necessarily. I will not let anyone stand in my way.” Not a good sign. “However… I do not have the homicidal tendencies that both the Earth Mother and Tartarus have. I would be very happy to simply be free. I am a prisoner, Annabeth Chase. As much as it pains me to admit it.”
“Then you are not gonna genocide everyone?” Annabeth allowed her voice to become more demanding. “You need me, that’s what I’m understanding. Without me, you stay, right?”
A soft laughter echoed around the room, a sound that would haunt her nightmares. “You are a clever one. What would it take for you to cease your worries?”
Annabeth felt like she would need to gamble here. “An oath. On the Styx. Promise you will not kill for the sake of killing.”
Night’s presence became more hostile, some of the darkness enveloping Annabeth’s body. “Fine, little demigod. For the sake of your cooperation, I swear on the Styx I will not kill indiscriminately once your body is mine to control.” She heard a soft, distant noise, which made Annabeth think that was the thunder from the oath. “Now, tell me, how exactly did a demigod like you fall to Tartarus, and not only that, survive.”
During this entire conversation, Annabeth realized she was still sitting on the floor. She got up, regretting doing so, since the pain immediately returned to her limbs, but it felt more dignified. Nyx’s presence had also subsided, making the room more visible again. “I was part of a quest. We are trying to prevent Gaia from awakening, but we… there was a big disagreement between us Greeks, and the Romans. The gods are out of commission.”
“So there’s what that was.” Night said. “Many of my children have shown weird behavior.”
“I did notice you were not affected.” Annabeth pointed out.
Once more, she felt like the goddess was smiling. “Indeed. The Greeks know me as Nyx, my first name. The Romans called me Nox. In the end, I am simply Night. There can’t be two nights.”
Right. Annabeth wasn’t sure that made a lot of sense, but whatever. “We crossed the world to get to Europe. Um… you do know the gods are in America, right?”
“I am not an idiot, Annabeth Chase.” Despite the words, Nyx’s tone was one of amusement. “We are not speaking Greek, as much as we both could. I am aware of the flame of the west.”
“Okay. We got to Rome, following a trail my mother spoke about.” A grimace overtook her features when remembering that interaction with Minerva. “It led us to a statue, the Athena Parthenos. We got it, but… me and Percy, the one that was with me, we fell.”
“Impressive, I have to admit.” Night said. “You were aided by Iapetus, weren’t you?”
“Eventually.” Annabeth thought it was best not to mention the whole Bob situation, if only to simplify things. “I think he’s dead now. Damasen, the Giant, too. They helped Percy to escape.”
“I could hear the commotion from here. I would not put my cards in them being dead. Immortals cannot die. Even the ones which have faded will not stop existing. They will become a part of the primordial chaos.” Nyx explained.
“You are still very wounded.”
Annabeth nodded. “Yes.”
“That will not do. Your body will not withstand the ritual in these conditions.” Ritual? “I will have my children fetch ambrosia and nectar for you. in the meantime…” A door opened, cranking like it was made of old wood. “I wish to show you my home. I promise it is safe to look.”
Nyx was definitely grinning now. Before, Annabeth hadn’t dared to open her eyes while walking through the halls of the Mansion of Night. Percy had come to the same wise conclusion. There were things there, things that were not meant for mortal eyes to witness. “On the Styx?”
“Yes. I promise on the Styx it is safe for you.” Nyx’s voice was dripping with annoyance. “Shall we?”
Like she had a choice.