A New Olympian

Chapter 25

Opening his eyes, the son of Poseidon found himself in an empty, black, desolate space. There was nothing. Not a gust of wind, not any feeling beneath his feet, and no sound. For some reason, he had a feeling if he stayed in here for too long, he'd go mad.

"Hello?" Percy called out, surprised that he couldn't hear his voice.

"Hello. Hello. Hello!" He tried again but to no avail. Now he was really getting worried. Was he actually in fucking space? If that were the case where were the stars? Where was the moon and Earth? Looking around for any signs of life but finding none, the God could only rub his eyes in agitation. Already the blank space was starting to play tricks on him.

"Calm down, Perseus. I'll let you out of here once I'm finished." A voice said from behind. Quickly turning, his relief of having someone here with him and that he wasn't dead, quickly turned to confusion when he couldn't find the source of the voice.

"You can't see me, child. My essence is spread too far thin to conjure a visible being."

Wait a minute, he recognized that voice. The sheer, awe-inspiring power behind it wasn't much there anymore but it was still recognizable.

"Tartarus?" He asked, his voice still unable to be heard.

"Yes, it is I." The primordial answered back, somehow able to hear Percy's voice, causing the God's eyes to widen in shock. How was he still alive? He thought he had faded when the armor was given to him.

"I thought so too, Perseus but I made a grave mistake when passing down my armor to you."

The black-haired God felt his heart quicken, feeling anxious at Tartarus's unsettling tone. What could've possibly slipped the mind of an elder being such as him?

"Calm yourself, Godling. Let me explain. Do you remember what has happened since you were last awake in the physical realm?" The being asked, causing Percy to close his eyes, doing his best to think back before he was here. Searching deep within, he felt a darkness creep within his veins. A coldness the likes he had never felt before caressed his heart as he thought back. Echoing screams and cries of pain bounced around in his head as he began to remember.

"Stop this, Percy!"

"AHHHH! HELP ME! HELP!"

"You're not a murderer! Don't do this!"

"Nooooo! Please, I don't wanna die!"

"Come back to us, son!"

"Did someone say my name!"

An image of a figure adorned in black and silver armor in the middle of the arena, covered in both blood and ichor alike, quickly flashed in his mind. Just the mere image of the man was enough to bring Percy to his knees as he felt the absolute power roll off of him. Collapsing to his knees and throwing up whatever contents he had in his stomach, he heaved for air as he remembered what he had done.

"I-I killed them." The God whispered, mortified. He had killed so many of them. His friends, his family, and even some of the minor Gods. He had killed them without reprieve and there was nothing he could do about it.

"Stop that way of thinking, Perseus. It wasn't you but I that killed the Olympian subjects." The primordial tried to reassure, making Percy lift his head up slowly. He needed more than that. He needed an answer as to why he did those things. How he could do such things without mercy?

"The mistake I made, a simple but fatal one, was giving you my armor without detaching all of my essence from it." He answered but the God was still confused.