━━ chapter seven
kelli's revenge

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     PERCY'S body was on autopilot. His fingers were cramped, he felt blisters on his ankles and he was shaky from hunger, but he still moved with little thought. 

     Part of him wondered whether they would die of starvation, or if the fire-water will keep them going. He briefly remembered Tantalus, who had been permanently stuck in a pool of water under a fruit tree but couldn't reach either. 

     (Gods, Percy hasn't thought about that ass in ages, but now he was starting to sympathise).

     Keep climbing, he told himself.

     Cheeseburgers, his stomach argued.

      Shut up, he scolded.

     With fries, his belly complained. 

     A billion years later and with a few blisters on his feet, Percy reached the bottom. He helped Fiona down despite her mutterings of, I'm fine. But despite it, she collapsed to the surface beneath and Percy couldn't help but join her, dizzy and aching. But he forced his head to stay up, blinking through the smoke to see a wasteland stretching for miles in front of them, bubbling with monstrous larvae and big insect-hair trees. To their right, the River Fire split into branches that etched the plain, widening into a delta of smoke and fire. To the North━or right in front of him, Percy had barely any bearings here, unlike on sea where he could sense everything━, along the main route of the river, the ground was riddled with cave entrances. Here and there, spires of rock jutted up like exclamation points.

    Welcome to your death! 

     Even his jokes were becoming dry. 

     Under his hand, the soil felt warm and smooth━alarming, for sure. He tried to grab a handful, then realized that, under a thin layer of dirt and debris, the ground was a single vast membrane ... like skin.

     He pulled away his hand and tried not to think about it, for his stomach wanted to heave fire-water. (That couldn't be good).

     Percy didn't mention it to Fiona, but he had a feeling like something was watching them━something vast and malevolent. He couldn't zero in on it, because the presence was all around them. Watching was the wrong word, too. That implied eyes, and this thing was simply aware of them. The ridges above them now looked less like steps and more like rows of massive teeth. The spires of the rocks looked like broken ribs, and if the ground was skin ...

     No, stop it. He forced those thoughts aside. This place was freaking him out━that was all. 

     Fiona grasped his shoulder and stood up, wiping the soot from her face. She glared out at the wasteland. "We're going to be completely exposed," she cursed. 

     About a hundred yards ahead, a blister burnt on the ground. Out of it crawled a monster━a telkhine with slick fur, a seal-like body and stuned human limbs. It manaed to drag itself a few yards before something else shot out of the nearest cave. It was so fast, Percy could only register a dark green reptilian head. The monster snatched the squealking telkhine in its jaws and dragged it into the darkness.

    Reborn in Tartarus for two seconds, only to be eaten. The telkhine didn't even get to the Monster Talk. 

     He swallowed the sour taste of the fire from river harshly. "You don't think━think you can control these guys like you could before?"

     Fiona managed a shrug. "I don't know," she murmured. "Before it was spirits who weren't meant to be out, that escaped through the doors ... maybe I could ..." she didn't finish the sentence, but Percy knew what she meant. She was wondering whether she could even muster the energy to try. 

     "This will be fun," he tried to lighten the mood, but it was ill-attempted. 

     Fiona helped him to his feet. He took one last look at the cliffs, but there was no going back. He would've given a thousand golden drachmas to have Frank Zhang with them right now━good old Frank, who always seemed to show up right when Percy needed him. 

     They started walking, trying to avoid the cave entrances, sticking close to the bank of the river. 

      They were just skirting one of the spires when a glint of movement caught Percy's eye━something darting between the rocks to their right.

     A monster following them? Or maybe it was just some random, heading for the Doors of Death━

     Until he remembered why they had come down here in the first place. He froze in his tracks.

     "The empousai━" he grabbed Fiona's arm. "Where are they?"

     Her eyes widened inhorror. She scanned a three-sixty━maybe the demon ladies had been snapped up by that reptile in the cave. If the empousai were still ahead of them, they should've been visible somewhere on the plans.

     Unless they were hiding...

     Percy's stomach lurched. He drew his sword, but he was too late━

     The empousai emerged from the rocks all around them━five forming a ring. A perfect ambush. 

     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 ... blood. She fixed him with her glowing red eyes and bared her fangs.

     "Percy Jackson," she cooed. "How awesome! I don't even have to return to the mortal world to destroy you!"

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     KELLI had been incredibley dangerous on her own when Percy fought her in the Labyrinth. She could move fast, and would have killed him that day if Annabeth hadn't stabbed her from behind. But now, she had four friends with her.

      "Shame your friend Annabeth isn't with you!" Kelli pouted, as if ruined her day then and there. She touched her sternum, where the tip of the knife Annabeth had used stabbed her. "Oh, I totally remember her. Your friend here will be fun to kill anyway, I suppose━" she smirked at Fiona who glowered right back. 

     Percy tried to think. He and Fiona stood shoulder to shoulder, ready to fight. But neither of them were in god shape. Fiona was empty-handed and with an injured knee. They were hopelessly outnumbered. There was nowhere to run. No help coming. Part of him thought to call Mrs O'Leary, his hellhound friend who could shadow-travel. Even if she heard him, could she make it to Tartarus? This was where monsters went when they died. Could calling her kill her? Would it turn her back into her natural state as a monster? No ... Percy couldn't do that to her━he couldn't risk it. 

     That left one option; one Annabeth would be very proud of: trickery, talk, delay.

     "So ..." he started, "I guess you're wondering what we're doing in the Tartarus."

     Kelli snickered. "Not really. I just want to kill you."

     Well, dammit, that would've been it, but Fiona quickly chimed in with a:

     "Too bad, because you have no idea what's going on upstairs in the mortal world."

     Kelli's friends circled, watching her for a cue to attack, but she only snarled, crouching out of reach of Percy's sword. 

     "We know enough," she said. "Gaea has spoken."

     "Has she?" Fiona quirked a brow. "Because she's heading towards a major defeat." She sounded so confident, even Percy was impressed. She glanced at the empousai one by one, before settling back on Kelli. "I'm the daughter of Pluto and the legacy of Victoria," she stated, and the name seemed to weigh heavy on them all, surging with power. "And I can tell your death arrives soon━it lurks in the shadows at our feet; a melody in my ears. I can sense victory, and I tell you: Gaea serves you no truth━this one," she nodded at Kelli, "claims she's leading you to a victory. It isn't victory you face━it is loss, fatality, death. You will be sent back here with no mercy and the Doors will be closed. I speak for my father and my grandmother, and I speak truth."

     The other empousai muttered and shifted uneasily.

    "Enough!" Kelli's fingernails grew into long black talons. She glared at Fiona as if she was imagining slicing her into small pieces. "The girl lies━she holds no power to speak the words of the gods. Your father might be king of the Underworld, but he holds no power over Tartarus. And neither do you! The Earth Mother and her giants will destroy the mortal world, and we will totally feast on demigods!"

      The other monsters gnashed their teeth in a frenzy of excitement. Percy tensed his shoulders, knowing that if they came at the two of them all at once, they'll be overwhelmed. 

      But Fiona wasn't backing down. She━instead━grasped her ripped sleeve and pulled it up. In the dark, bloody light of Tartarus, her Camp Jupiter markings shone. Immediately, the empousai started to back up nervously with fearful hisses of, "Romani!"

      "The demigods have united!" she yelled. "Romans and Greeks fight together━you do not stand a chance! You will be overwhelmed!" 

      Percy had no idea how she managed it, but at her feet, swirled the darkness of her father's power, seeping out in such waves it made him fearful. At the sight of it, the empousai scrambled back. One fell off the boulder where she'd been perched. He decided to help, "She speaks truth!" he flung up his own, showing the SPQR mark. "I have been chosen as Praetor of the Romans━a Greek. You bet Romani! You mix Greek and Roman, you know what you get? You get BAM!"

     He stomped his foot, and the empousai scrambled back even further. 

     That made him feel good. But when Fiona's shadows flickered and disappeared, the light shined onto her weak features, and the monsters recovered quickly. Kelli sneered at the way she swayed a little on her feet.

     "Bold talk," she mused, "for two demigods lost in Tartarus. Lower your sword, Percy Jackson, and I'll kill you quickly. Believe me, there are worse ways to die down here."

     "Wait━wait!" Fiona tried again━however reaching she looked. "Aren't empousai the━the servants of Hecate?"

      Thank the gods for her determination to remember both Roman and Greek myths. 

      Kelli curled her lip, a little suprised she knew. "So?"

     "So, Hecate is on our side, now," Percy added, feeling a fresh burst of confidence. "She has a cabin at Camp Half-Blood. Some of her demigod children━they're my friends. If you fight us, she'll be angry."

      He met Fiona's gaze and gave her a subtle nod. Her eyes lit up with pride. 

      One of the other empousai growled. "Is this true, Kelli? Has our mistress made peace with Olympus?"

     "Shut up, Serephone!" screeched Kelli. "Gods, you're so annoying!"

     "I will not cross the Dark Lady!"

     Fiona took this opening. "You'll all be better following Serephone. She's older and wiser."

      Kelli struck so fast, Percy didn't have the chance to raise his sword. Fortunately, she wasn't interested in them at this moment. She lashed out at Serephone. For half a second, the two demonds were a blur of slashing claws and fangs. 

      Then it was over. Kelli stood triumphant over the dust of Serephone, claws riddled with the tattered remainds of her dress. "Any more issues?" she sneered at her sisters. "Hecate is the goddess of the Mist! Her ways are mysterious. Who knows which side she truly favours? She is also the goddess of crossroads, and she expects us to make our own choices. I choose the path that will bring us the most demigod blood! I choose Gaea!"

      Her friends hissed in approval.

     Fiona glanced apprehensively at Percy, and he saw that she was out of ideas. And so was he. They did what they could━they got Kelli to eliminate on of her own. Now, there was nothing left but to fight ... and they were stil gravely outnumbered.

     "For two years I churned in the void," Kelli growled. "Do you know how completely annoying it is to be vaporized? Slowly re-forming, fully conscious, in searing pain for months and years as your body regrows, then finally breaking the crust of this hellish place and clawing your way back to daylight?" Her eyes settled on them. "I wonder what happens if a demigod is killed in Tartarus. I doubt it's ever happened before. Let's find out."

     Percy sprang before she got the chance to attack first, his heart racing. Riptide slashed in a huge arc━one of the empousai screeched as he sliced them purely in half. But Kelli dodged and charged Fiona. The other two empousai launched themselves at Percy. One grabbed his sword arm. Her friend jumped on his back. 

     He stumbled, crying out to try and throw them off. He staggered, determined to get to Fiona, ignoring the pain of their claws and talons that seared through his shirt and into his arms and back. But she was doing pretty well. She tumbled to one side, evading Kelli's claws and came up with a sharp rock in her hand. She slashed it across, striking Kelli's cheek. The monster wailed and she scooped up gravel. With a yell, she flung it into the empousa's eyes. 

     Meanwhile, Percy thrashed from side to side. Her claws only sank deeper into his shoulders. The second empousa held his arm, preventing him from using his sword. He was getting desperate━was there water? Anything to use as water━he wondered whether he could somehow control the river of fire, burn these monsters back to the painful, boiling pods of this hellhole. But it was too far away; he was too exhausted, and his concentration wavered as pain started to cloud his mind and weaken his grip. 

     Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Fiona only just grasp Kelli's hand before her claws descended down to her face. She was wide-eyed, terrified. She pushed desperately as Kelli urged downwards. 

     Percy's heart jolted. Kelli's talons inched closer and closer━he stumbled, desperate to get to her━

     Fiona gritted her teeth and raised her good foot. Furious, she brought it up and slammed it down to Kelli's ankle with such force Percy heard a crack! He was shocked for a moment, unable to believe it as the empousa cried out in pain at her damaged hoof and Fiona pushed her off of her. Standing up, she was limping and in serious pain━but still, she glowered down at her, "Try and move fast with that you bitch."

      Then, the vampire on Percy's back sank her teeth into his neck. Searing pain coursed through his body. His knees buckled. Fiona looked over, and she cried, "Percy━!"

      Stay on your feet, he told himself, suddenly very muddled. Stay on your━

     The other bit his sword arm, and Riptide clattered to the ground. 

      Using the distraction, Kelli pulled herself up onto her good foot and raked her claws menacingly against Fiona's back. She screamed, falling to the gravel. No ... Percy tried to get to her. He tried to push through it all━he crawled, feeling the other empousai hovering over him. Kelli loomed over Fiona, savouring her moment of triumphant━

     This was it. His luck finally ran out ...

      "Fiona━" he croaked, but couldn't manage anything else more than that.

      A shadow came to their rescue. A deep war cry bellowed from somewhere above, echoing across the plains of Tartarus, and a Titan dropped onto the battlefield. 

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      a/n: i managed to get this out *pats self on back*. i expect a lot of spelling mistakes, but what was that? What was it that fiona did? those shadows? hmmm?????

     (BOB!!!!!)