Chapter Text
Free fall through the air,
Drinking fire, it’s spicy,
Calling out for an ally.
***
It was a long fall to Tartarus, so Rhea decided to make herself comfortable, at some point she got bored and decided to play Uno with the two gods in the plane.
Aidoneus pulled a +4, Rhea grinned at Poseidonas and put down a +4 herself, said god only deadpanned and put down a +4 of his own, Aidoneus smiled at her.
Rhea’s eyes widened. “No.”
He gave her a sorry look before he put down another +4.
Rhea sniffed. “You guys are the worst.”
Aidoneus laughed and Poseidonas gave out an amused huff. Rhea pouted and got out of the plane, she opened her eyes to see red clouds hanging in the air like vaporized blood. The landscape—at least what she could see of it—was rocky black plains, punctuated by jagged mountains and fiery chasms. To her left, the ground dropped off in a series of cliffs, like colossal steps leading deeper into the abyss.
The stench of sulfur made it hard to concentrate, but she focused on the ground directly below them and saw a ribbon of glittering black liquid—a river.
Rhea cringed. “Oooh I’m going to hate this.”
“Brace yourself.” The blond said.
“You did not just say that.”
*~*
Good news ? The impact did not kill her.
Bad news ? This river is full of misery.
Wailing sounds filled her ears—millions of heartbroken voices, as if the river were made of distilled sadness. The voices were worse than the cold. They weighed her down and made her numb.
What’s the point of struggling? they told her. Give up. You’ll never leave this place. Who’s waiting for you anyways ?
Rhea closed her eyes and forced the river to spit her out on the shore. She collapsed on the dark sand. Exhausted, tired, and shivering.
Aidoneus frowned. “The River of Lamentation… but what is it doing here.”
Rhea snorted. “I wish this Tartarus was as organized as the one in your world, things would have been much easier that way.”
She forced herself to stand up, the sulfurous air stung her lungs and prickled her skin. When she looked at her arms, she saw they were already covered with an angry rash. Black-glass chips were now embedded in her palms.
So the air was acid. The water was misery. The ground was broken glass. Great~
Rhea glared at her palm and started to take out the glass while saying ‘f*ck you’ over and over with each peace taken out. Then she took out an empty water bottle from her bag and filled it with the water from the River, she made sure to secure it shut before putting it back in her backpack.
“This place smells like Gabe.” Rhea sneered.
“Only ten times worse.” Poseidonas sneered too.
These two… Aidoneus thought in amusem*nt. He turned to Rhea. “I hope you really have something planned.”
Rhea grabbed the map from her bag and took out Riptide so she can point at the map while walking.
“Well, I’m pretty sure we’re right here,” she said, pointing to the River Cocytus on the map. “There are two entrances: the Door to the Mortal World, which we’re not taking, and across the River Phlegethon is the Door to the Underworld, which we’re also avoiding. Our target is the Doors of Death just below.” She pointed again at the Door to the Mortal World. “Monsters usually use this door, but with the Doors of Death open, they prefer it since it’s much quicker, which makes it easier for them to execute Gaea’s plan the moment she demands it.”
She folded the map and tucked it into her bra for safekeeping.
“Contrary to popular belief, locations in Tartarus don’t change. However, the place creates illusions to make you feel lost and stray you from the right path. Time here is also tricky. The more desperate you are to leave, the longer you’ll be trapped. For instance, if you’re really eager to escape, you might spend what one-hundred years here, even though only a minute has passed in the outside world. It’s a form of slow torture, of course you won’t age.”
“And you are thinking about using that to your advantage.” Aidoneus concluded.
Rhea grinned. “Exactly. I really want to get out of here, but I have something that will take ages to finish. So, I'll focus on harnessing this place's time manipulation to my advantage, aaaaand I already miss my mom...” She deadpanned. “Also remember how Loki changed the Horn-Goblet to give it the ability to suck in essence so I can start reviving you two later on ?”
The two gods felt like she was about to say something stupid that will change into executing said stupid thing.
“Yeeess…” Aidoneus slowly said.
“…I will kill Akhlys.” Rhea casually said, like she was talking about the weather and not killing a Primordial.
You could hear a pin drop.
Aidoneus opened his mouth after a bit. “…How…”
Rhea just smiled and continued to walk.
The black-glass beach stretched inland about fifty yards, then dropped off the edge of a cliff. From where she stood, she couldn’t see what was below, but the edge flickered with red light as if illuminated by huge fires, Rhea turned searching for something.
A hundred feet away, a familiar-looking baby-blue Italian car had crashed headfirst into the sand. It looked just like the Fiat that had smashed into Arachne and sent her plummeting into the pit.
It’s the right path ! She thought.
One of the car’s tires had come off and was floating in a backwater eddy of the Cocytus. The Fiat’s windows had shattered, sending brighter glass like frosting across the dark beach. Under the crushed hood lay the tattered, glistening remains of a giant silk cocoon—the trap that Annabeth had tricked Arachne into weaving. It was unmistakably empty.
Slash marks in the sand made a trail downriver…as if something heavy, with multiple legs, had scuttled into the darkness.
“You need to find the River Phlegethon, this place is killing you.” Poseidonas frowned.
“That’s where we’re going.”
They reached the ledge, the cliff dropped more than eighty feet. At the bottom stretched a nightmarish version of the Grand Canyon: a river of fire cutting a path through a jagged obsidian crevasse, the glowing red current casting horrible shadows across the cliff faces. Even from the top of the canyon, the heat was intense.
“…Ok it’s more horrifying in real life.” Rhea blinked.
Poseidonas raised an eyebrow. “You saw this.”
“Eeeeeeeeeeeh yesn’t.” Rhea cringed. “Let’s not think about it … the jump can’t be as bad right ? I mean I jumped from Odin’s castle once.”
“That is a horrible comparison.” Her uncle pointed out.
Rhea snorted then took out a pair of gloves from her bag, she put them on then carefully started to climb down.
“…I’ve been wondering, I know whatever I’m breathing is bad, since it’s killing me, but … how in the world does oxygen exist here ??” Rhea said. “It’s the land of the dead why is oxygen here ?”
There wasn’t an answer to that.
Rhea finally made it to the bottom of the cliff, her arms and legs were trembling.
Aidoneus grimaced. “Your skin…”
“I know, don’t point it out ! I already feel bad as it is.” Rhea sniffed.
Her vision was blurry. Her throat felt blistered, and her stomach was clenched tighter than a fist.
She staggered over slick glass ledges, around massive boulders, avoiding stalagmites that would’ve impaled her with any slip of the foot. Her tattered clothes steamed from the heat of the river, but she kept going until she crumpled to her knees at the banks of the Phlegethon.
Without hesitation she thrusted her hands into the river and cupped the fiery liquid in her palms and raised it to her mouth then drank it.
“Gah ! Why is it spicy.” She gagged she raised a finger her uncle who was smirking at her. “Don’t answer that.”
“I didn’t say anything yet~”
The blisters on her arms were starting to fade.
“Am I pretty again ?”
Aidoneus snorted. “Yes.”
“Thank goodness !” Rhea stretched. “Gonna need to be careful to avoid Miss Sunshine.”
Poseidonas looked at her like she was stupid. “Who ?”
“Opposite of Day, I call her Miss Sunshine to avoid attention, I ain’t calling her the N-name or the word opposite to Day cause I don’t want her attention !”
There was a presence behind her, she quickly summoned her trident, she turned and swept the blade. A horrible wail echoed through the canyon. The remains of Arachne rained around her like tree pollen.
“Bitch.”
She continued on her way following the river’s path.
*~*
She’d only traveled a few hundred yards when she heard voices. She followed the source.
Honestly this was the worst. The fiery water of the Phlegethon may have healed her and given her strength, but it didn’t do anything for her hunger or thirst.
Then she heard them again, female voices having some sort of argument. She hid behind the nearest boulder, wedging herself so close against the riverbank that her shoes almost touched the river’s fire. On the other side, in the narrow path between the river and the cliffs, voices snarled, getting louder as they approached from upstream.
The monsters got nearer, their voices didn’t change in tone. Their uneven footsteps—scrap, clump, scrap, clump—didn’t get any faster.
“Soon?” one of them asked in a raspy voice, as if she’d been gargling in the Phlegethon.
“Oh my gods!” said another voice.
This one sounded much younger and much more human, like a teenaged mortal girl getting exasperated with her friends at the mall.
“You guys are totally annoying! I told you, it’s like three days from here.”
“I wonder,” said a third voice, gravelly and ancient like the first, “if perhaps you do not know the way, young one.”
“Oh, shut your fang hole, Serephone,” said the mall girl. “When’s the last time you escaped to the mortal world? I was there a couple of years ago. I know the way! Besides, I understand what we’re facing up there. You don’t have a clue!”
“The Earth Mother did not make you the boss!” shrieked a fourth voice. More hissing, scuffling, and feral moans—like giant alley cats fighting.
At last the one called Serephone yelled, “Enough!”
The scuffling died down.
“We will follow for now,” Serephone said. “But if you do not lead us well, if we find you have lied about the summons of Gaea—”
“I don’t lie!” snapped the mall girl. “Believe me, I’ve got good reason to get into this battle. I have some enemies to devour, and you’ll feast on the blood of heroes. Just leave one special morsel for me—the one named Rhea Jackson.”
The demigoddess in question rolled her eyes.
“Believe me,” said the mall girl. “Gaea has called us, and we’re going to have so much fun. Before this war is over, mortals and demigods will tremble at the sound of my name—Kelli!”
The creatures shuffled off, their voices getting fainter. Rhea decided to take a glance. Sure enough, five women staggered along on mismatched legs—mechanical bronze on the left, shaggy and cloven-hooved on the right. Their hair was made of fire, their skin as white as bone. Most of them wore tattered Ancient Greek dresses, except for the one in the lead, Kelli, who wore a burned and torn blouse with a short, pleated skirt… her cheerleader’s outfit.
Rhea sighed. “What a romantic walk I’ll be doing here.” She snorted. “You know, the more I think about some of my counterparts the more I remember that in some dimensions, they fell in love with Tartarus.”
“…Why.” Aidoneus cringed.
“Are they blind.” Poseidonas raised an eyebrow. “Brain damage ?”
“Stockholm Syndrome for some actually.” Rhea shrugged and started to follow the monsters. “While for some others, well, they got accused by something, the gods casted them in Tartarus, things happen, boom sex with a Primordial.” She smirked. “I have a counterpart who was actually the reincarnation of The Devil, now that was hilarious to watch, it was a whole mess with the Christians, or when my counterpart got so fed up with the Greeks he converted to Christianity and the Big G actually responded, it was hilarious especially because whenever the Greeks tried to get to him they lost him immediately, so they sent Artemis who tracked him down and she was blasted out of Church, she lost her Godhood because of that too, it was so bad to the point that the existence of a Goddess named Artemis got erased from that world.”
Aidoneus snorted at the mental image. “Well, I guess someone did something.”
“Hmm, demigods who decides to change their faith to either Christianity, Islam etc.. are most of the time protected like a lot, any power the gods from other Pantheon had on them get immediately shut off, they can’t get cursed, their fate become unpredictable and uncontrollable, they cannot follow or find those demigods anymore unless said demigod stays in the pantheon by their own choice despite following another faith. Like one of Odin’s Valkyrie Samirah, since she stayed the rules of the Norse still applies to her, if she left they wouldn’t be able to track her down and her fate would be out of Norns hands.” Rhea explained.
“The rules of this dimension are fascinating.” Aidoneus said. “In our world it doesn’t matter what faith you choose, mortals will end up at the same ending point once they die.”
“Your system is much easier to understand, I still don’t get why there are so many underworlds, who cares to which Underworld you go to in the end ! Just merge everything in one place and work together to put order, like the Egyptians has a better Judging System, the Greeks has the best Punishing System, the Sumerian Underworld is literally pure bullsh*t, I guess the Nordic one is balanced but not enough if you ask me and—”
She continued her rant, Aidoneus nodded and agreed along since Rhea was describing the same system he used back in his world, he also thought that keeping the underworld divided was a foolish move.
“Hold on, if both of you control and rule everything that is in your domain while having the other underworld and sea gods work for you, also sky gods including your Zeus, doesn’t that make you Emperors instead of Kings ?”
“It does.” Poseidonas said.
“Huh, that is much better, Emperor Poseidon, Emperor Hades, it does have a nice ring to it.” Rhea giggled.
About a hundred yards ahead of them, a blister burst on the ground. A monster clawed its way out…a glistening telekhine with slick fur, a seal-like body, and stunted human limbs. It managed to crawl a few yards before something shot out of the nearest cave, so fast that Rhea could only register a dark green reptilian head. The monster snatched the squealing telekhine in its jaws and dragged it into the darkness. Reborn in Tartarus for two seconds, only to be eaten.
Rhea avoided the cave entrance, sticking close to the bank of the river. She was just skirting one of the spires when a glint of movement caught her eye—something darting between the rocks to their right.
She stopped and summoned her trident.
The empousai emerged from the rocks all around her—five of them forming a ring. A perfect trap. -except for the fact that Rhea knew this was going to happen, but whatever-.
Kelli limped forward on her mismatched legs. Her fiery hair burned across her shoulders like a miniature Phlegethon waterfall. Her tattered cheerleader outfit was splattered with rusty-brown stains, and Rhea was pretty sure they weren’t ketchup. She fixed him with her glowing red eyes and bared her fangs.
“Rhea Jackson,” she cooed. “How awesome! I don’t even have to return to the mortal world to destroy you!”
“Heey biiiitch~!” Rhea grinned. “Bet you have no idea what’s going on in the mortal world huh.”
The other empousai circled, watching Kelli for a cue to attack; but the ex-cheerleader only snarled, crouching out of reach of Rhea’s trident.
“We know enough.” Kelli said. “Gaea has spoken.”
“And you’re leading them ?” Rhea raised an eyebrow at the other empousai. “You do realize that Kelli here is a failure right ? Last time she was in the mortal world she was in Kronos army and helping Luke, I killed her two times, which says a lot about how stupid she is, at the very end Luke killed himself and the Titans lost, and it’s her fault.”
“IT WAS NOT !”
“Uh … it so was, you had one job, keeping Luke in line, and you failed, miserably may I add.” Rhea deadpanned. “Point is, she says she’s leading you to a victory and she’s lying.”
The other empousai muttered and shifted uneasily.
“Enough!” Kelli’s fingernails grew into long black talons. She glared at Rhea as if imagining her sliced into small pieces. “The girl lies ! So the Titans lost. Fine! That was part of the plan to wake Gaea! Now the Earth Mother and her giants will destroy the mortal world, and we will totally feast on demigods !”
The other vampires gnashed their teeth in a frenzy of excitement.
“She also had a thing for Luke and failed to seduce him~” Rhea added.
The other empousai gave Kelli a weird look.
“Also, the titan’s loss was not part of the plan to wake Gaea and you know that, to PZZT that’s a lie too.” Rhea said. “One more thing, the Greeks and Romans are working together.”
The empousai backed up nervously, hissing. “Romani.”
“One more thing ! Why are you empousai going with Gaea when Hecate is on the side of Olympus anyways ? Hecate has a Cabin at Camp Half-Blood, I know all of her demigods children, if you go against your own creator she will be angry, and seeing how you are siding with someone who want her destruction, she going to unmake you if words get to her … and the words are getting to her, I kind of said her name twice in a row.”
One of the other empousai growled. “Is this true, Kelli? Has our mistress made peace with Olympus?”
“Shut up, Serephone!” Kelli screeched. “Gods, you’re annoying!”
“I will not cross the Dark Lady.”
Ok, f*ck it, I got bored. Rhea deadpanned and raised her trident at Kelli who’s attention drifted from Serephone onto the demigoddess.
Kelli jumped at her, fangs and claws out, but it was futile, Rhea took off her head before the monster could even approach her properly.
“Well, that was underwhelming.” Rhea shrugged. “What are you waiting for ? You want to end up like her ?”
“No.” Serephone said. “We shall take our leave.”
Honestly Rhea has never seen monsters run away so fast.
“Now what ?”
Rhea looked at her dad. “BOOOOOOOB !” She called and waited.
A silvery figure dropped out of the sky after what seemed to be half an hour or something. The Titan was ten feet tall, with wild silver Einstein hair, pure silver eyes, and muscular arms protruding from a ripped-up blue janitor’s uniform. In his hand was a massive push broom. His name tag, incredibly, read BOB.
“Rhea called me!” the janitor said happily. “Yes, she did.”
“Nice to see you again, but if you could lead the way.” She said.
Bob tilted his head then he became serious. “Oh.” He frowned. “Yes, yes, we must go before they find you. They are coming. Yes, indeed. Bob knows a way. Come on, friend ! We will have fun!”
