Chapter 18: Trust and Choices

Iapetus lunged forward and kicked Percy's sword out of his hand. Percy began to panic as the Titan raised his spear to impale him.

Before the strike could be brought down, a gleaming celestial bronze blade sprouted from Iapetus' midsection and his eyes widened in shock. Iapetus tried to turn around only to have the sword pulled from his back and swiped across his neck.

The Titan dropped to his knees before collapsing onto the ground, golden ichor pouring from his deeply slit throat.

When the Titan's body hit the floor, Percy looked to see his savior and his eyes widened in shock and surprise.

Luke Castellan was standing over the now dead Titan's body with a sword in his hands and looking at Percy with a face that made it so Percy wasn't sure whether to thank him or get ready to defend himself.

Percy looked at Luke warily before he looked at his sword laying five feet away from him. Luke took a step forward before an arrow impaled him in the arm causing him to drop his blade. Percy used the moment to scramble back and grab his sword. He shot to his feet and knocked Luke to the ground where he held the Stygian Iron blade to Luke's throat.

"Why did you just save me?" Percy growled.

A flash of pain crossed Luke's eyes as he looked up at Percy, "I am not working with Gaia. I don't want to be your enemy Percy."

At this point the monsters had all been dispatched and Zoe, Bianca and Thalia were standing by Percy.

Zoe stepped forward, "Give me one reason why I shouldn't put an arrow between your eyes." She hissed with an arrow notched and aimed at the son of Hermes.

Luke shook his head, "Honestly, you probably should after everything I've done. But if you do, you have no chance of making it to the doors of death alive."

Percy stared at Luke, his eyes began to glow brown as he tried to force his way into Luke's mind. At first he couldn't but after a minute, he broke through after realizing Luke was letting him. Percy's eyes widened as he looked through Luke's memories before his eyes dimmed. He put a hand on Zoe's arm and shook his head.

Zoe's eyes narrowed, "You have no idea if he speaks the truth or not."

Percy looked at Zoe, "I need you to trust me Zoe. Please?"

Zoe blinked a few times, "What?" She asked confused.

Percy stared at her intently, "It's a simple question Zoe. Do you trust me or not?"

Zoe stared at Percy for a minute before she slowly nodded her head, "I do."

Percy nodded, "Then let him be… For now."

Zoe seemed unsure but slowly lowered her bow. She turned to Bianca and handed her the bow, "Watch him." She said gesturing to Luke. Bianca nodded and stood with the bow in a ready position a few feet from Luke. Thalia had been watching the entire situation in shocked silence.

Zoe grabbed Percy's arm and dragged him away from the group, "Why do you trust him?" She asked incredulously.

Percy stared seriously at his friend, "I read his thoughts and memories. I know he means what he is saying. I'm not saying I trust him completely but he means what he is saying, at least at the moment."

Zoe stared at Percy shocked, "What do you mean you read his memories?"

Percy smirked, "This is the power of a demigod of Hera. I can read people's thoughts and memories." Percy explained as his eyes glowed brown again.

Zoe's eyes widened before she glared at Percy angrily when she assumed he was looking into her memories as they spoke.

Percy's eyes dimmed and he returned her glare, "Relax Zoe. You are my friend. I would never intrude on your private thoughts like that. I can make my eyes glow when I want. You said you trusted me, now act like it."

Zoe's eyes widened at his tone before she nodded, "You're right Percy. It's just a habit around men."

Percy's glared softened, "Don't worry about it. I understand." He said before turning more serious, "Listen, I read his thoughts and memories; he doesn't regret his choice to join the Titans during the last war. But he is also MIA as far as Annabeth and Gaia are concerned. He doesn't want to join them and has been hiding within Tartarus for the past five years. Apparently he believes Annabeth has gone power crazy and not the person he loved. He still hates the Olympians but he does not want Gaia to take control of the planet. That being said, I still don't trust him. Even if I don't trust him, he may be our only chance to find our way out of here. Thalia has too much history with him so I want you and Bianca to watch him like a hawk. First move he makes against any of us, kill him without hesitation."

Zoe stared at Percy with a slightly impressed look, "I agree with you. Regardless of whether he is truly good or not, he can still lead us to the doors of death. Being here for the past five years means he will know his way around and he may be our only way to find the doors in time."

Percy smiled and nodded, "This stays between you, me, and Bianca. I love Thalia like a sister but I don't think she can be impartial when it comes to him. She will be looking for him to be on our side and may miss or overlook some things. I trust you and Bianca are more capable of watching mine and Thalia's back around him."

Zoe nodded, "We will watch him."

Percy smiled and turned to go back but Zoe grabbed his arm, "Sorry about before Percy. I would trust you with my life. I shouldn't have accused you of that."

Percy smiled, "It's fine Zoe. I know you trust me just as I trust you. But you should know that I would never do that to a friend."

Zoe smiled a bit and nodded before they made their way back towards Luke, Thalia and Bianca.

Percy eyed Luke warily, "So Castellan, mind informing me of the reasons for your sudden change of heart? Or how you are alive? I see you no longer carry the Curse of Achilles and are now an immortal."

Luke sighed but nodded, "When you killed me it removed the curse as you found my Achilles spot. After I died, I was judged and sentenced to eternity in the Fields of Punishment. When I got there, I was snatched up by a couple monsters and tossed down into Tartarus. When I landed, Annabeth was standing over me with Iapetus and Prometheus. They explained about Gaia and her plans to wage war on Olympus. They didn't even ask if I wanted to join them. They simply immortalized me and began to explain to me their future plans for the second Giant War. At first I worked with them because I thought I wanted what they wanted. But after a while, the more I learned of their plans, the more I wanted out. They are going to kill every demigod alive and enslave the mortals under Gaia's rule. I don't want that. I joined the Titan Army because I hated the gods and the way they treated their children. I didn't want the world to suffer, just the Olympians."

Percy listened to Luke's story carefully. Percy believed his explanation but needed Luke to understand something.

"I believe your words but you should know that I still plan on killing you. You crossed a line when you and your little girlfriend killed my mother and future stepfather." Percy spat.

Luke's eyes widened, "I swear on the River Styx that I did not know about Annabeth killing your mother until I was in Tartarus."

Thunder rumbled in the distance.

Percy narrowed his eyes, "That oath is useless right now. Since you're immortal and we are already in Tartarus there are no consequences for lying."

Luke frowned, "I am telling you the truth. I have no idea why she even did that. I thought our vendetta was against our parents, not the demigods. I don't know how else to prove to you that I am telling the truth."

Percy stared at Luke for a moment before nodding his head slowly, "Very well Castellan. I will take your word for now. But I swear on my life if you make one move against us you'll be dead before you know what hit you."

Luke nodded, "That sounds fair. I know none of you really trust me but I am truly not against you. I will lead you to the doors of death but that is the easy part. Taking control of them will be nearly impossible. There will be hundreds of monsters there guarding the doors on both sides."

"We have no other choice. I have no interest in settling down here in Tartarus. Lead us there and we will find a way to take control." Percy replied back icily.

Luke looked wary but nodded nonetheless.

"This can be your chance for redemption Luke. Help us get out of here and we will take you with us. We will explain to the gods how you helped us. They will have to pardon you for your past actions." Thalia said hopefully.

Luke turned toward Thalia with a pained expression on his face, "I don't think anything can redeem me for the things I have done."

Thalia was about to reply but Percy spoke up, "We can worry about Luke's redemption later. Right now, we need to talk about what our next move is. How exactly are you planning on getting us to the doors of death?"

Luke stared sadly at Thalia for a minute before turning to Percy, "It's a long way from where we are but it shouldn't take more than a day. We will follow the River Styx for a while and try to skirt around most of the monstrous hot spots."

Percy's eyes widened, "How far are we from the Styx?"

"It's only about a ten minute walk from here. Why?" Luke asked confused.

Percy's eyes narrowed, "Take us there. We will figure everything out once we get there."

Luke sighed, "Alright. We should be able to make it there unseen. But after that, we will have most likely not be able to remain unseen until the doors of death."

Percy nodded, "How many Titans do we need to worry about down here?"

"Now that Iapetus is dead, the only Titans reformed at the moment down here are Perses, Prometheus and Krios. I spend the majority of my time in the shadows so I'm not one hundred percent positive that there aren't others but those are the only ones I've seen." Luke answered.

Percy nodded, "Alright. Lead us to the Styx."

Luke nodded and turned to walk out the exit of the room they were in.

Zoe, Thalia and Bianca walked up next to Percy eyeing him suspiciously.

"Why do you want to go the Styx so bad?" Zoe asked suspiciously.

Percy shook his head, "I just need some time to think and want to get out of this room before we are found."

Zoe eyed him suspiciously but nodded as Percy walked after Luke followed by the three girls.

After walking for a little more than ten minutes they came to the shores of the River Styx.

"Okay now that we're here, shouldn't we continue on in whatever direction leads to the doors?" Bianca asked.

Everyone turned to look at Percy who rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "Yeah, we will but I need to do something first."

Thalia and Zoe's eyes widened, "You are not taking another bathe in the Styx." Thalia hissed at him.

Percy sighed, "I'm sorry but I am. Do you guys have another idea of how we can even have a chance to survive the battle at the doors of death?"

All three girls tried to think of an argument against it but their minds all came up blank.

Percy smiled sadly at them, "I have to do this. It might be the only way to get you three out of Tartarus. If there was another way I would try that but I can't think of any."

Percy walked up to the edge of the river as he eyed it warily.

"Percy!" Zoe yelled.

Percy turned around to look at her.

"Remember to ground yourself to the world." She said seriously.

Percy smiled at her and the other two girls before he spread his arms and let himself slowly fall backwards into the river.

The minute his body hit the water Percy knew something was wrong. Instead of pain, it felt the same as when he was inside any other body of water. As Percy slowly drifted down to the bottom of the river where he was contemplating whether or not he should just get out. Before he could, he saw a beautiful dark haired woman looking at him with an unreadable expression.

"Perseus Jackson;" the woman said harshly. Percy felt like he was about to either get chewed out or blasted out of existence. As he stared at the woman he noticed she wasn't actually a woman at all. She was a nymph. She was the river nymph Styx.

"Lady Styx." Percy said as respectfully as he could.

"I have never let anyone survive a second bath in my river before. Explain to me why I should allow you to be the first." She asked harshly.

Percy paled, "I am sorry. I was only trying to find a way to help my friends escape Tartarus. I could not think of another way to give them a chance to escape."

Styx eyed Percy for a minute. After some time she nodded, "Very well Perseus. I will allow you to survive this time. But your mortal soul will now be eternally bound to my river. Should you lose the curse again, you will still return to my river when you die. Your only escape will be immortality. I will allow you this one chance to change your mind and leave my river freely without consequence. Would you like to walk away?"

Percy stared at Styx for a minute before he shook his head, "I can't do that Lady Styx. If I can get my friends out of Tartarus then whatever consequences I face will be worth it."

Styx didn't seem surprised and even smiled a bit, "Very well Perseus, I wish you luck on escaping with your friends."

Percy paled a bit at the thought of eternity in the River Styx but shook it off as it was the only option, "Thank you Lady Styx."

Styx nodded, "You can trust your friend Luke up there as well. I may not be able to punish him since he is already in Tartarus but he was speaking the truth about your parents anyway."

Percy's eyes widened and he nodded.

"Remember your mortal point Perseus. I'm afraid you still must be bound to the earth if you want to survive this swim." Styx said seriously before she dissolved into the river.

Percy was suddenly hit with unimaginable pain. The water burned his flesh nearly to the point of blacking out. Percy focused his mind on the things in the world he had to return to.

Percy thought about his mother Hera; the woman who saved Percy from himself and helped him to get over the loss of his mother and the other bad events of his past. He saw his father, his new sister Sophie and little Chloe; the two girls who were the little sisters he had always wanted. Percy saw images of all his friends; Nico, Thalia, Zoe, Bianca, the rest of the hunters and the campers he had befriended over the years. Those images were all pushed out of his head and replaced with the harsh glaring silver eyes of Artemis. Percy felt himself pale a bit despite the situation.

"Pick a different spot Percy. And get the Hades out of that river. Remember what you promised me before you jumped into Tartarus like an idiot." Artemis said.

Percy felt a tug on his sternum. He looked up and saw Artemis fiddling with a hunting knife and looking at him like she was contemplating whether or not to gut him. Her eyes gave away her happiness though. Before Percy knew it, he was spit out of the river and in front of the crying eyes of three hunters.

Percy panted heavily as the three girls and Luke stared at him with wide eyes.

"Hey guys." Percy said tiredly.

All three girls' eyes narrowed and they looked ready to kill him.

"Hey guys? That's what you say, 'Hey guys'?" Thalia snapped angrily.

"What?" Percy asked confused.

Zoe walked over to Percy as he sat up and slapped him hard across the face, "You've been in the damned river for over an hour!" She snapped as she clutched her now injured hand.

Percy's eyes widened before he figured out time must have passed differently in the river.

"Sorry, I had a little heart to heart with the river nymph Styx." Percy said apologetically.

Everyone looked at Percy in shock.

Percy sighed. First he turned to Luke, "I know you didn't kill my mother. I still don't trust you, but I will not try to kill you unless you betray us."

Luke's eyes widened. He was about to speak up but Percy held up his hand.

"Lady Styx told me that while she couldn't punish you while you were in Tartarus; you were telling the truth about my parents." Percy explained.

Luke looked relieved and nodded.

Thalia stepped up, "What else happened?"

Percy shrugged, "Nothing important. Now let's get out of here." He said before turning away from Thalia and gesturing for Luke to lead them on.

Thalia, Zoe and Bianca stared at Percy's back with worry. It was obvious that he was holding something back but now was probably not the best time to push for answers.

Luke led the group for a few hours before he ducked down behind some rocks followed quickly by the others.

"Why are we hiding?" Percy asked while the rest looked to Luke for his answer.

"We are nearing the place where Krios makes his home. He will have hundreds of monsters around as he is supposed to lead an army out the doors of death when the demigods come to Greece." Luke explained.

Percy looked at Luke suspiciously, "You seem to be awfully well informed of Gaia's plans for the war. If this is some kind of trick where you plan to betray us, there won't be a hole in Tartarus for you to hide from me."

Thalia glared at Percy, "I thought you said Styx said you could trust him. Why are looking for a reason to doubt him?"

Percy returned her glare, "I'm watching out for our safety. I don't want him to betray us but I seem to remember him and his little girlfriend bringing about the deaths of a lot of my friends; including two that are with us right now. I will not take a chance of losing them again or you."

Thalia frowned by bit her tongue; she knew Percy's trust was hard to earn and Luke was not likely to get the benefit of the doubt anytime soon.

Percy turned to Luke waiting for an answer.

Luke shrugged, "I may not like my father but I am still a son of Hermes. I specialize in spying on people without them knowing. I am not on their side but I try to stay informed in hopes of one day getting out of Tartarus. I know I deserve to be here but it doesn't mean I'm not going to try to get out someday."

Percy seemed to consider his answer before he looked over at Zoe who was doing the same. The looked at each other for a minute until Zoe gave him a nod. Percy turned back to Luke, "I believe you. I'm not trying to be a dick but you can't expect me to trust you just because you saved my life one time."

Luke nodded, "It's fine Percy. I will not betray you but I don't expect you to believe me. How do you want to proceed from here?"

Percy looked thoughtful for a minute, "I will go in with you and Thalia trailing behind me. I will try to find Krios and take him out while you guys try to hold off the monsters. Zoe will find a good spot to pick off as many monsters as she can. Bianca will protect her from any monsters like get too close for her to take out with her bow."

Percy looked around to see if anyone had any better ideas. When no one spoke up he nodded. Percy reached into his armor and pulled out a small dagger and handed it to Zoe, "Just in case you need something to protect yourself with in close combat."

Zoe took the knife with a grateful smile.

Percy turned back to Luke, "Show me you meant what you said." He said seriously before he put a hand on Luke's arm where Zoe had shot him with an arrow. Percy's hand glowed for a minute before he pulled it back. Luke stared at Percy in shock.

"I would have done it earlier but I don't make it a habit of helping people who could betray me and my friends. I did this because you have held true to your word so far. Don't make me regret it." Percy said seriously.

Luke nodded with a small smile, "Thanks Percy. From what I remember there is a doorway up ahead. Behind it will be filled with monsters. Krios most likely won't be far and should show up once the battle starts."

Percy nodded and looked at Zoe, Bianca and Thalia. All three nodded that they were ready.

Percy looked down and took a deep breath, when he looked back up his eyes were on fire as he pulled out his sword which also caught fire.

Percy walked up to the doorway and kicked it in. Over a hundred monsters' heads snapped in his direction.

Percy smirked and lit his free hand on fire, "All my best buddies in one place? I guess my invitation got lost in the mail." He said before sending fireballs into the left, right and center of the monsters.

Percy stomped his foot on the ground, sending a big enough earthquake to knock a number of monsters off their feet before he charged, decapitating a half dozen monsters before they could get back to their feet. Percy slashed, hacked, and stabbed his way into the center of the swarm of monsters. Monster's blades and claws merely bounced harmlessly off his body as his Achilles' spot was hidden underneath his breast plate.

Luke and Thalia were near the front of the monster army fighting side by side in an effort to watch each other's backs. Luke was fast as lightning with his sword, using his blade to strike down monsters while never letting Thalia get too far away from him. Thalia's spear was crackling with electricity as she impaled a Cyclops and used her shield Aegis to knock out a Hellhound that was trying to sneak up on Luke,

Zoe found a small ledge about five feet above the ground where she began picking off the biggest and most dangerous monsters she could find. When Bianca noticed she did not need to protect Zoe, she took off into army of monsters with her hunting knives out. Her skill with a blade had improved immensely under the tutelage of Zoe during their time in Elysium.

Percy was a literal arc of destruction as the bodies of monsters trailed in his path. His sword was still ablaze as he cut the arms off a Dracaena before spinning and jamming with sword down the throat of a lunging hellhound. Percy thrust his hands outward sending huge walls of flames in both directions; clearing an area where he could turn around and survey the situation.

When he looked, he saw only a few monsters remaining while Zoe was still picking off the stragglers from her little sniping area in the back of the room. Thalia and Luke were finishing off injured monsters while Bianca was treating a gash on her left arm. Just as Percy was about to go help Bianca with her wound, Percy heard a bellowing voice from behind him.

"Well, well, well. Looks like the great Perseus Jackson has graced us with his presence. That was quite the spectacle you made there Jackson but I'm afraid mother earth will be pleased when we present her with her favorite demigod in chains." The voice bellowed.

Percy turned and paled a bit when he saw two large figures entering the room; Perses, the Titan of Destruction and Krios, the Titan of Stars and Constellations stood at the back of the room looking at Percy with evil grins.