Chapter Text
"Apollo?" Percy asked as the god rolled another strike.
Apollo pumped his fist and turned to Percy.
"Yeah?"
The bowling alley was large and flashy, something Percy could easily see someone like Apollo enjoying. Arcade machines lined the walls, ranging from old games, like Pac-Man, to newer ones, like [insert any popular new game here]. Purple, orange, and green lights flashed across the decorated walls.
"If... there was this horrible person, who's done horrible things to you, but you realize that you make this person better... what would you do?"
Apollo frowned and thought, sitting down at the table across from Percy.
"I... I don't know, Percy. Honestly, I-- well, in most of my relationships, I'm pretty sure the horrible person is me."
"Then what did the other person do?" Percy asked. "Your partners."
"They... cared for me. At least, some of them. But... Percy, I don't think I'm comparable to who I think you're talking about. At least, I hope I'm not."
Percy shook his head. "You're not, Apollo. I just... have a lot on my mind."
Apollo sighed and picked up a slice of pizza. "I bet. Honestly, Percy, I still hold the same opinion I did when I first learned, but I'm also not the best person to take relationship tips from."
"Yeah," Percy said. "I should just 'go for it,' right?"
Apollo shrugged. "I won't lie, man. Goes against my whole 'god of truth' shtick. You still should."
Percy sighed and stood. "My turn to bowl. I'll just... give it some more thought."
"Do whatever you need to," Apollo reassured. "Me and Afro will be here to help."
Percy smiled and grabbed a bowling ball.
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"Ready?" Tartarus asked.
Percy took a deep breath. "I-- I think I have a memory picked out. I just imagine not being cold?"
"Do not imagine it, force it into reality. You are not cold. This is your domain, and you will not let it control you," Tartarus explained.
"Okay," Percy said. "I-- I can do this."
"You can," Tartarus said.
Percy focused on bowling with Apollo, trying to grasp and hold the slippery feeling of happiness it had given him.
His senses extended, shooting out across the ground. He could feel the rock underneath him, the tiny molecules of snow that he realized now were sharp, like fiberglass. He could feel the mountain peaks around him, with the river Cocytus flowing through them.
And right in front of him was the brightest thing in the landscape. Tartarus pulsed with terrifying power, rolling out across The Pit. Percy knew that, if the primordial wanted, he could shatter the mountains with a single glance.
And quickly, Percy realized he could do that too. This ground he stood on, the ground floating above nothingness... was just as much his as Tartarus's.
Why was he cold? The snow wasn't even frozen water, just tiny bits of sharp crystal, frozen bits of the Cocytus, which somehow floated around and through the peaks, circling them.
He didn't want to be cold anymore. He didn't want to have to rely on Tartarus's body heat.
And suddenly, he was fine.
His eyes shot open, without him even realizing he had closed them. The 'snow' still drifted to the ground, but Percy was fine. His skin didn't sting, and his fingers quickly returned to their normal color.
"Well done," Tartarus said.
Percy looked at his hands. "That's... crazy. I can just do whatever I want?"
"Precisely," Tartarus said. "Unless what you want interferes with the control of another primordial."
Percy rubbed his face. "This is so weird."
Tartarus smiled. "Do not worry. I will help guide you."
Percy laughed. "Okay, sure. I can roll with that, why not."
Tartarus stepped back and raised his hand. A massive slab of red rock burst from the ground, hovering above the snow.
He flicked it back into the ground.
"Let's start with that," he said. "Land manipulation."
Percy looked at him as if he was crazy. "I can't do that!"
Tartarus raised an eyebrow. "Why not? Do you not move the items within your home?"
"I-- well, I do, but..."
"This is just like that," Tartarus said.
"I... you know what? Sure. If I can make myself warm, then why not."
He copied Tartarus's movements, and nothing happened. Tartarus frowned.
"Again."
Percy repeated the motion to no avail.
"Think about happy memories," Tartarus instructed.
"Do you think I'm not doing that?" Percy asked, repeating the motion again.
"Well, clearly, it's not working," Tartarus said.
"Just-- shut up," Percy said, repeating his hand movements again.
"Think of a different memory," Tartarus said.
"I'm thinking of one of my best!" Percy protested, trying again.
"Well, what memory are you thinking of?" Tartarus asked.
Percy grimaced and tried again. "I-- Annabeth. Reuniting with her after she dealt with Arachne."
Tartarus bristled. "Clearly, that memory is not happy enough."
"I don't know what memory could be better than that!" Percy said, failing once more. "Dammit! Why isn't this working?"
"Think of something else," Tartarus said. "Someone else."
"Who, you?" Percy snarled, looking back at Tartarus, hands still outstretched. "I don't think you remember how much I hate you."
Tartarus hesitated. "I... did not realize you still had such a set opinion of me."
Percy's angry expression fell. "I-- goddamit."
He let his arms fall to his side and turned to Tartarus. "I don't... I don't hate you. I just... don't have any good memories with you. Not where we stand right now."
"I understand," Tartarus said. "But, no, Percy. I was not talking about myself. I meant the others you are close to. The Goddess of Love, that annoying Sun God, your mortal family, the young Pluto girl, that Satyr... memories with them should work as well."
Percy turned to look at his footprints in the snow. He had already thought about some memories with those people, and it hadn't worked.
"What if... it works differently for me?" Percy asked. "Like, right now, I'm not as strong as you, right?"
"Correct," Tartarus said.
"What if my powers have to be kickstarted by something else? If I'm weaker, maybe I have access to less methods of control than you do."
"Hm..." Tartarus said. "The problem is that you need overlap. I know you have control over my-- our domain, but, for now, you have only shown control over yourself. You need something that hit both parts of your soul."
Percy thought back to right before Dr. Thorn had appeared, how his marbled voice had made a spike appear from the ground.
"What if... ok. I have an idea."
Tartarus raised an eyebrow. "And that is?"
"It... sounds stupid. Just take a few steps back, in case this works more than I want it to."
Tartarus took a few steps back, feet crunching in the Cocytus snow.
Percy took a deep breath. This wouldn't be that hard, would it? All he had to do was start. Get over the embarrassment of doing this in front of someone, get over the embarrassment if it doesn't work-- just do it.
He took a deep breath, and sang.
Words flowed from his mouth, wrapped in beautiful melodies. For a second, Tartarus almost laughed. Then the ground started to rumble. Percy continued, and behind him, a massive structure began to rise out of the ground. Tartarus watched with astonishment as a statue bigger than the Eiffel Tower pushed through the ground.
As Percy sang, something new entered the clearing. It was subtle, like a change in the wind, but it was there. A being older than any other, watching over and enjoying this event in particular. Tartarus recognized it.
Percy's voice changed. He moved away from the simple rhymes his mother had sung for him as a child and moved to a new song. Slowly, the sound of accompanying instruments sprang from nothing, joining the ancient words flowing from his mouth.
Tears gathered at the corners of Tartarus's eyes as the statue finished rising. Floating orbs of color began popping into existence around it, and the river Cocytus eventually moved to flow around its head like a crown.
From the ground, flowers began to bloom, pushing through the crystal snow. They were beautiful shades of ocean blue and blood red, each petal alternating. The entire snowy valley quickly became covered with the plants, painting the ground with the two colors.
Then, slowly, Percy's voice died out. He stumbled as he finished, having used much more energy than he thought. Tartarus quickly caught him, keeping the demigod from hitting the snow. The presence disappeared as quickly as it had arrived, and the sounds of instruments ended.
"Wh-- what happened?" Percy asked, eyelids fluttering.
"You... you..."
"I what?" Percy asked, trying to wipe his exhaustion away. "What did I do?"
Tartarus stayed silent, unable to formulate words.
Percy managed to stand again, rubbing his eyes. "Tartarus?"
"I-- you-- how did you know that song?" Tartarus asked, tears still in the corners of his eyes.
"What song?" Percy asked.
Tartarus swallowed. "The song you sang. Just now, to create that," he said as he pointed to the statue.
Percy turned. His eyes went wide as they traveled up the monument, past the floating orbs of colored light and streams of water.
"I did that?" Percy whispered in awe.
"You sang... the same thing my mother did. Percy, you sang the same thing she still does. The background noise of the universe, the music that creates new worlds, new life."
Tartarus bent down and picked one of the flowers, walking to stand beside Percy.
"You created this," he said, gazing at the flower. "I don't know how, but... I think, just for a few seconds, my mother was here, watching us."
Percy looked at the flower and slowly plucked it from Tartarus's hand, examining it. He spun it in his fingers and looked back up at the statue.
"I did this..."
Tartarus nodded. "You did this."
The statue was of Tartarus, standing with one hand out, holding a goblet, and the other reaching down to pet the head of the massive Nemean Lion curled around his legs. A cloak hung from his shoulders, the bottom draping around the Lion. He wore no shirt and had a simple tunic with a gem in the middle of the belt.
"I created this," Percy whispered again, placing the flower behind his ear.
Tartarus nodded. "What... made you think singing would work?"
"Sirens," Percy admitted. "They live in the ocean, but they're still monsters. Overlap."
"Good idea then, I suppose," Tartarus said. "It worked."
"Yeah," Percy said, tearing his eyes away from the statue. "What now?"
"Now... we see how bad memories affect you," Tartarus said.
"What?!" Percy exclaimed. "Hold on, I--"
"In high-stakes situations, you must not lose control," Tartarus said. "No matter what happens. We can practice continued use of abilities through bad things by making you remember bad things while training."
"I-- where am I going to get bad memories?" Percy asked.
Tartarus stared at him.
"Oh," Percy muttered. "I-- well I guess-- yeah, I have some bad memories. But I-- I don't want to practice with bad memories today. Or, I guess tonight. Whatever."
"You asked me what was next," Tartarus pointed out.
"I mean-- I did," Percy conceded. "But... I don't know if I can do much else. I used a lot of energy."
Tartarus hummed. "Very well. What do you wish to do? Wake up?"
Percy looked back up at the statue. "I... don't know."
"You don't know?" Tartarus repeated.
"I..."
Percy trailed off. He found that he didn't want to leave yet. He was comfortable here, breathing air that no longer hurt and standing in a snowy field that was no longer cold.
"How about..." Percy said. "We walk?"
"Walk," Tartarus repeated.
Percy nodded. "Walk."
"Is there any particular reason you want to walk here? You could walk just fine back at your camp."
"I... figured it would give us a chance to talk," Percy said.
"Why would you want to talk to me?" Tartarus asked.
"I just... I don't want to go back yet," Percy said. "And, if we talked, maybe you'll learn something?"
"What would we even talk about?" Tartarus asked. "I-- Percy, I will be blunt. I dislike this idea. You should continue practicing your powers. If we want to talk, at anytime, we don't have to walk. Remember, you swore an oath."
"I-- I don't want to think about bad things right now!" Percy retorted.
"Why?" Tartarus asked. "If you lose control after waking up, you could hurt someone! Isn't that something you care about not doing?"
"Well-- I-- why do you care?" Percy asked.
"Because I thought you do!" Tartarus responded. "I-- I need to try and help you with the things you care about. Dr. Thorn said that was-- I-- ugh, mortals are so complicated."
Tartarus turned around and crossed his arms. Percy tried to figure out what to say, but couldn't.
Until, finally, he took a few steps forward and placed a hand on Tartarus's shoulder.
"I do care," he said. "I do. And the fact that you're trying to help me in things I care about is good. But tonight... I didn't want to ruin it. I was feeling good, great even, which is a first down here. I just... I felt like if I ruined the night with bad memories, that would be it. "
Tartarus shook his head. "Mortals are so complicated. You... feel so much more than immortals do. And those pesky gods of yours feel more than I, or any of my siblings, ever will. I have only known hate and rage since my creation. I had the briefest bit of love, and then I was stuck here."
Tartarus rubbed his face. "All of this is new to me. And, according to Dr. Thorn, there are still feelings I don't have. Shame, eagerness, regret, apathy, insignificance, whatever the... me arousal is. I don't have those. What I do have, is power. The same power you do. And I know, from how strong I am, that you need practice. Not a... not a night of walking and talking."
Percy lowered his hand. "I get it. I'm sorry, Tartarus, I just-- not tonight. Please."
The primordial laughed. "All I have to do is ask you to 'tell me the most important thing that happened at camp today,' and you'd--"
"Someone asked me out on a date," Percy said before clamping his mouth shut.
Fuck.
He wasn't supposed to say that. He had wanted to forget about it, despite how appreciative he was of the girl for taking his rejection well.
Tartarus was suddenly in front of him, looking at him intently, almost dangerously.
"What."
"Now, hold on," Percy said. "I think you might--"
Tartarus placed his hands on Percy shoulders. His hands were placed softly, but they kept Percy completely trapped in place.
"You cannot go on a date," Tartarus said, eyes boring into Percy's soul.
"I-- you've got--"
"You must not," Tartarus said, as if every word was important. "You are above any lowly demigod."
"You--"
Tartarus pushed forward and pressed his lips onto Percy's, whose eyes went wide. Slowly, the demigod sank into the kiss, relaxing and pushing back. Tartarus's lips tasted like a mixture of blood and chocolate, something that Percy never thought he'd find appealing, but somehow did. He wanted more. Around them, the frozen bits of Cocytus melted, and Percy felt different. Stronger, more in control, happier. Something changed, and it was for the better.
Then Tartarus disconnected, tightening his grip on Percy's shoulders as he stared up at the primordial.
"You cannot go on that date. It is beneath you."
"Tartarus, I-- I turned her down. The date was never happening," Percy said, still processing what had happened.
The primordial froze, realizing what he'd done. His lips still tingled with the saltiness of Percy's.
"I-- good morning, Percy."
Percy's eyes widened. "Don't you fu--"
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Percy shot awake in his bed, the Nemean Lion snoring on his legs in cat form.
The taste of bloody chocolate still lingered on his lips.
"What the fuck!"