Ivy Pittaluga had always made a solemn vow to keep her distance from Percy Jackson, determined to keep her world separate from the camp hero.
However, she realizes that fate has a mischievous plan in store for her. Suddenly thrown together as unlik...
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We followed Bob through the wasteland, tracing the route of the Phlegethon as we approached the storm of darkness. Every so often we stoped to drink firewater to keep ourselves alive. I was starting to resent it. It was as if I was drinking battery acid.
Percy slipped his hand into mine as we traveled. Every so often he would glance over and smile, or squeeze my hand. I know he was doing it to cheer me up. He had to be just as scared and miserable as I was, and I loved him for trying to make me feel better.
"Bob knows what he's doing." Percy promised.
"You have interesting friends, Shark Boy." I muttered, trying to be positive.
"Bob is interesting!" The Titan turned and grinned. I raised a brow. He had good ears, too. "Yes, thank you!"
"So, Bob, I have a question for you if you don't mind me asking." I brought up. "How exactly did you get into Tartarus?"
"I jumped." He said, like it was obvious.
"You jumped into Tartarus because Percy said your name?"
"He needed me." Bob's silver eyes gleamed in the darkness. "I was tired of sweeping the palace. Come along! We're almost at a rest stop."
He made it sound like there was a gas station in Tartarus where we could go buy snacks and drinks for a long trip. Hopefully there were also clean restrooms. I ignored the rumble of my stomach at the idea of food.
To distract myself, I stared at Bob's back as he led in front. There was a rip in his overalls in between his shoulder blades, as if someone tried to stab him. Cleaning rags stuck out of his pocket. A squirt bottle swung from his belt, the blue liquid inside sloshing hypnotically.
I thought about the story of how Bob lost his memories. Percy, Thalia, and Nico worked together to defeat Bob at the banks of the Lethe River. After wiping his memory, they didn't have the heart to kill him. He had became so gentle and sweet and cooperative that they had left him at Hades' palace, where Persephone promised to look after him.
Apparently, that meant making Bob the janitor. Hades and Persephone gave Bob a broom to sweep up their messes. I don't know how they could be so callous. I'd never felt sorry for a Titan before, but it didn't seem right to take a brainwashed immortal and make him into a janitor. However, I still felt a little uneasy being around him. Worry gnawed at my mind at the thought of him suddenly remembering everything and lashing out at Percy and I. The both of us were in no condition to fight him if need be and they way Bob easily defeated the empousai...
The three of us picked our way across the ashen wasteland as red lightning flashed overhead in the poisonous clouds. It was hard to see far in the hazy air, but the longer we walked the more I was noting that the entire landscape was a downward curve. We passed a blister in the ground- a withering translucent bubble the size of a minivan. Curled inside was the half-formed body of a drakon. Bob speared the blister without a second thought. It burst in a geyser of steaming yellow slime, and the dragon dissolved.
