I pulled away feeling exhilarated. He felt the same way about me. He looked at me with a smile but his eyes betrayed him and displayed the true pain he felt from his past memories, but with the pain, I saw a glimmer of hope. I felt shame and sadness at what my family had done to the most loyal and modest hero of them all. I asked the question that was on my mind.

"You don't regret it?"

"Why would I regret it," he answered. "You're the only one that feels the least bit shameful for my being blamed for something I didn't do. You were always there for me and I guess, in my mind, I always knew that I loved you as more than a friend."

I pulled him into a hug and after a few minutes, he stepped away.

"I'm going to find Tartarus," he said.

"You're already here," I answered dumbly.

"No, I mean the guy," he said with a slight smile that quickly faded. "I'm going to join forces with him to get my revenge on the gods who have wronged me and the other demigods for far too long."

"I'll help you. I can be your inside source," I told him, almost begging. "I can feed them false information and help you get what you need."

He seemed surprised at my response and pretended to think it over while I waited "patiently". After a minute or so, he looked at me with a smirk.

"Alright Sunny Boy you can help but I have one request."

Percy paused for a few seconds and I prepared my self for the worst.

"Just make sure you send me a letter every once a while," he says flirtily.

I roll my eyes and shove him playfully.

"Sure thing Seaweed Brain," I say before thinking.

A wave of pain washes over Percy's face before he composes himself.

"I'm sorry Percy. I didn't think and it just came out. I'm so-"

He cuts me off before I finish.

"It's okay. Don't worry about it."

An awkward silence consumes us until Percy speaks again.

"So, I guess I need to go find Tartarus," he said unenthusiastically.

"I'll return to Olympus,'' I say. "Bye, Percy."

"Bye, Apollo," he calls.

He winks at me and starts walking deeper into Tartarus, towards the darkness and disaster that looms ahead.

When I said goodbye to Apollo, I tried to act more confident than I really was because internally I was terrified. I walked toward the heart of Tartarus, following the River Lethe. On the way, I saw hundreds of monsters but none attacked me.

I walked until I noticed the pulsing of lights underneath the surface of the ground. The veins of Tartarus. If I follow them to the source, I'll find Tartarus, I thought to myself.

It felt like hours before I finally saw the palace of Tartarus.

The gates around it were made of the same pulsating substance as the ground and as soon as I touched the entrance of the gate, it opened.

I walked through the gate and the courtyard and to the door of the palace. The door had a celestial bronze doorknob and a knocker in the shape of Kampe's hideous face, frozen in a ferocious snarl and the door handles, the shape of her blades. I raised my hand to knock on the door but the door opened, my hand hanging midair.

I peered around the door and saw a long hallway lined with depictions of the world in suffering: various paintings of famine and warfare and forests, devoured by wildfire and other things too horrible to think about. I walked down the hall, examining every picture with disgust until I was pulled out of my daze by a sudden hiss.

I looked away from the walls of the hallway and saw a basilisk slithering towards me. I got into my fighting stance, prepared to slay it, when the basilisk halted its approach and got into a striking position, staring at me, unmoving. After about a minute of this, a figure rounded the corner and approached me. He stopped halfway down the dimly lit hall but I knew who he was immediately, Tartarus. He seemed to ponder my sudden appearance for a few seconds before he spoke uncertainly.

"What are you doing here, wasn't one time enough?"

"I came to ask for your assistance," I said bluntly, deciding to skip an explanation for now.

"Why would you need my help," he questioned in a skeptical tone.

"I need to bring justice to the gods who have done wrong for way too long and need to be stopped," I replied. "I want to join you. With both of us, the gods will pay for what they've done."

He seemed at a loss for words for a few moments before he answered.

"What have they done to deserve your hate?"

"Nothing new, just the same old jumping to conclusions bullshit and using their own children as their slaves. The difference is I finally realize how oblivious I've chosen to be to their actions but I'm done playing the idiot hero and rushing to their aid so are you gonna help me or not."

He quickly masked his shock before giving me an approving glance.

"If you truly want to become my ally, then I need you to swear your loyalty to me and obey my commands," he said.

I nodded and added, "We will have to cooperate with each other and I get a say in what we do."

He nodded his approval.

"Then I swear on the River Styx to stay loyal to you."

Demonata