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Jason Grace grinned flinging a hand out to wrap around a lean, corded arm.
“Thought you weren’t gonna catch me for a sec Grace,”
“The only falling you’re doing is for me Jackson,”
Percy laughed, eyes twinkling with mischief, “Save it for after we’re out of this hellhole… literally.”
“Oh I plan to,” Jason purred.
They slammed into the ashen floor, dust and debris crunching under their feet.
“Just have to make it past this river and we’re home free.” Dark eyebrows creased in determination.
“I have never been so excited to get into a body of water before.” The blonde shuddered.
“Hopefully I have enough strength to keep it from touching us,” Percy’s voice cracked.
Jason grabbed his hand, intertwining their fingers and squeezing softly. “We have gotten this far Pers, we will make it through. Together.”
“Yea I know, I know,” The half-blood shook his head, returning the reassuring squeeze.
Without letting go the two walked towards the Archeron. This crossing would be the hardest by far. The one that could end them. The river called to the miserable and who could be more miserable than two demigods who have fought their whole lives to stay alive and know they will fight even after this. The River of Woe. It was fitting that it’d be the last stop in this hellscape.
“Hello ssssweeetheartsss,” A hissing started from behind them.
The demigods stiffened, clasped hands as white as sheets. Slowly they turned around, swords swinging aimlessly.
“Well well well I was starting to wonder when the dogs would bark,” Percy smirked.
“Shut it ssssson of Poseidon,” The thing spat.
“Hey that’s no way to talk to people. Didn’t your mother raise you to have some manners?” Jason chided, a gleam in his eyes.
“It will be ssssweet to kill you,”
“It’ll be sweeter if you shut up,” Percy snapped.
The thing smiled and it looked like dying. But what all these monsters failed to understand is that the half-bloods they faced did not fear death. The Son or Poseidon and the Child of Greece embraced it like an old friend, like a warm hug. They watched death smile and grinned back.
“Jase, I’ve been meaning to ask you,” Percy mused, twirling his sword in his hand, “Have you figured out how to manipulate the electricity that controls our nervous system?”
Jason’s eyes glittered, “Oh yea, I actually figured it out a couple of hours ago. Your blood-bending really had me thinking,”
The creature, with its serpent tail and fanged mouth, its ugly leathery wings and uneven scaled skin, glanced between them. Without warning it struck that spiked tail into Percy’s side.
With a resounding clang the poisoned end bounced back, and slammed into the ground. The demigod looked up from where his now dented sword had been covering his side, green eyes glowing.
“That wasn’t very nice,”
The monster let out a vile screech and pounced. Jason had a split second to bring his sword over his head before the rugged underside of this thing fell over him.
Before it could claw at the through skin and bone, the blonde was rolling onto his feet and slicing his sword into a charcoal wing. He could see Percy sawing at the other side and couldn’t help the smile that graced his features. Percy’s hair was curly and wild, his sea green eyes so bright they were luminescent, and the muscles in his torn shirt sleeve rippled as he worked through the wing.
The monster beneath their blades shrieked and thrashed but before long its wings were twitching on the floor. But with the pinion sliced off the demigods didn’t have anything to keep it down so they were both unprepared when it swiped its tail across their legs, slamming their bodies into the ground.
With a groan Percy rolled over, “Fuck that hurt,”
“The next time I wanted us to be on our backs it involved much more fun activities than this,” Jason growled.
Before either of them could get up, the heavy weight of cold, bony feet pressed them into the dirt.
“Not sssssoooo arrogant now,” It cackled.
“Do you ever stop talking?” The black-haired boy sighed.
The creature hissed, claws protruding to rip out their throats, “I will kill you Percy Jac—”
It froze, eyes wide, claws stiff, sides leaking some variation of tar.
“If you ever,” Jason’s voice was low, seductive with the promise of malice, “Ever threaten him again I will slaughter you so violently you will not even be remembered by history. I will scatter you so far the world will have to fold in on itself to put you back together. This is a warning.”
And with that the monster contorted, limbs bending at awkward angles. It gave a disgusting shuddered, twitching and shaking, before falling to the floor and crumbling to dust.
“Damn Grace, is it weird that I am horribly turned on right now?” Percy threw a heartbreaking smile his way.
“You are such a freak, let’s get out of here so I can explore it,” Jason returned the smile.
“I’m holding you to that Lightning-Boi”
“Just get your ass over here so I can hold you.” His voice was shaky as he held his hand out for Percy.
“Hey,” The Son of Poseidon frowned, brushing golden hair back softly, “Hey, it’s okay. I’m here. I’m safe. You’d never let anything happen to me.”
The blonde put a hand to his chest, feeling the steady heartbeat underneath.
“You aren’t allowed to die on me. I will hunt you down and kill you again.” His words were rough, stern, but the softness in his eyes melted Percy to the core.
“Only if you can promise me the same,”
The Son of Jupiter nodded, letting his forehead drop to rest against Percy’s.
“Ready to cross the River of Misery?”
“One step closer,” The black-haired boy sighed.
And with a final brush against a golden cheek, they intertwined their hands once more and stepped into the river that would take them home.