The Forgotten Olympian |BOOK 1| PJO X HP | Alexandra Marine

Chapter 141 - Percy - Seeing Through the Mist

"Have I ever told you about my policy?"

Tartarus was wearing a red suit with a black tie under his plain white shirt tonight. He was grinning, and he had a hammer protruding from one of his pockets. Dolls were hung everywhere around the lake, and they seemed to whisper to each other.

"What do you want?" I asked, terrified. 

"Just letting you know about my policy, since you're my favorite," Tartarus grinned. "For each one of my victims, I have a doll." 

He waved his hand, and two dolls appeared on each palm. Three were female, one male. 

"Voodoo magic?" I asked, smirking. Yes, I was afraid, but I wasn't going to let that show.

"You've got the guts, Jackson," Tartarus smirked. "But not enough to do a job for me, I see." He continued, "For every victim whom I bless with immortality at my realm, I hang a doll at the tree. Let's see an example, shall we?" He looked at the dolls inquiringly. "Who shall we start with? Hmm.... How about..... Annabeth Chase?"

"You wish," I said, trying to control myself. "Go chase a donut, Tartar Sauce."

Tartarus smiled. "You are the donut I'm chasing, Jackson. The donut that killed my wife." He put down the dolls. His stature grew until he was bigger than me by at least a hundred times. His flesh glistened purple and his muscles rippled.  His fingers were tipped with razor-sharp black talons. In place of a normal face was a swirling whirlpool and inward spiral of darkness. 

I closed my eyes. "This is all a dream, this is all a dream," I muttered to myself.

"This is all a dream, yes," Tartarus said, his voice almost projecting inward, instead of outward, "but that doesn't mean it can never be real. Gaea will now be avenged-"

Golden light blinded my vision. 

Tartarus made a high sound- like a building that was exploding- a bomb that had been set off. The sound almost killed me. I fell to the ground, trying to open my eyes, look at what was going on.

The figure was standing taller, prouder than Tartarus. I didn't know whether it was a man or woman, but I did know that it was more powerful than any other magical being I had seen- even Tartarus. Even Zeus. Even Gaea and Kronos. It's shining stature should have killed me, but I was still alive somehow. 

Only then did I realize that I had just heard Tartarus scream. He was not bold, terrifying anymore. He was the ant now, and the figure that was guarding me was the boot. And I was just something that the boot wanted to protect. 

"IT IS TIME TO WAKE, PERSEUS," a voice said. The last thing I can remember from the dream is realizing that the voice was female.

"Percy!" Alex woke me up, shaking me. 

I woke with a jolt, almost punching her. "Sorry!" 

"Shhh!" she whispered to me. "It's still nighttime."

"What happened?" I asked. 

"Come with me," she said. I realized that we were conversing in Greek. "Come on, Percy! Get up from your bed, for Zeus' sake."

Alex led me down the stairs and out of the portrait to the Common Room. 

"What are we doing here?" I asked her in Greek.

"Shut up. Wait till we're there."

She led me up a couple flights of stairs. "This is the seventh floor corridor," I said. "What are we doing here-"

"We need to go to the Room of Requirement," Alex said. She walked three times past the wall, thinking hard. Two small doors melted into picture out of the darkness. Alex and I pushed them open.