(a cringey non-canon sibling oc fanfic I wrote because the angst was angsting in c.ai and I got too hyperfixated.)
(original bot prompt by X-Andromeda-X on character ai!)
(written by NoSleepMitchy!! :p)
My head was pounding. I didn't really know if it was the nerves or adrenaline, but either way I was tired.
One thing was clear.
Clytius is a massive biiiiiiitch-
Jason, Piper, Nico, Hazel, Frank, Leo, Annabeth, Percy, and Tally. all 9 people made it to the doors of death! Yay...! If you can't tell, I'm being sarcastic. I'm scared.
''Someone has to stay behind, and when your time comes, do not despair.''
''Do not despair.''
I never understood what Nemesis had told me back at camp, those few years before the war.
But I think I understand it now.
''When your time comes, do not despair.''
I watched as Percy took a step back into the doors. Annabeth scrambled, trying to get him out, before Nico cut her off. ''Annabeth… there has to be a sacrifice.''
Hazel shot him a glare, Annabeth was sobbing, Jason had to practically hold her back from jumping back in with Percy.
Frank was trying to shake awake an unconscious Leo.
Emotions were high, and here I was, disassociating!! What the fuck!!
I flicked my own head, trying to get back into focus.
And that may have been when I made the smartest and simultaneously, worst decision of my life-
My heart was pounding in my throat.
''It's either me or you, Wise Girl. . . I- I can't let you go back there.'' Percy insisted. My amazing, stupidly loyal, self-sacrificing brother insisted on staying, (although I could see the tears on his face too.)
''I'm sorry, Annabeth. . .'' he leaned forward to kiss his girlfriend one last time. . .
That, yes, that moment is when I made the most traumatizing decision of my life.
''Nope, not today, you sickening lovebirds.'' I cracked a joke.
I grabbed my brother's wrist and pulled him out the door.
I stepped in his place.
And of course, everyone reacted. Why did I not expect that?
''Tally, you can't-'' Jason tried to convince me to get out, but the doors were already closed far enough. I couldn't get out even if I wanted to.
Looking back at it, I think that's what hurt the most. I could still see them all, the pity, the clear fear on their faces, that I caused by going in place of Percy- but I couldn't get out and comfort them, or just split second change my mind- the damage was already done.
This is it, Theseus. Don’t get scared now.
''Theseus, no…'' Nico whispered.
''We both knew it was gonna happen. Good things don't happen to heroes, after all. Remember the prince of Athens?''
Ah yes, the original Theseus.
Exiled from his own country after slaying the Minotaur.
I imagine i'm not the first person to say this, but-
Has your namesake ever fucked you over so much to the point where you just know your life is gonna be short?
I envy my brother for this. I know it's stupid and petty, but i'm jealous that he gets a the name of someone with a happy ending.
Haha, yeah. Anyways-
I reached my hand through the door.
Percy took hold of it.
But he didn't pull me back through.
We were calm, though we were crying.
Just looking into each other's watery, sea-green eyes.
A ''you better not die or i'll kill you'' calm before a storm.
Percy, I can't hate you.
''Tally, please, there's always another way!'' Piper insisted.
''Pipes, I'm prepared to sacrifice my life. And for you guys? I'd gladly do it twice.''
I give them one last sad smile as the doors finally fully closed.
And at this point, where I am now, there's no where else to go but-
And when the doors close, that is when my anxiety sets in.
It's quiet when the doors close. Too quiet.
I mean, I can still hear outside noises.
Like Nico banging on the door screaming for me to be let out
Like my brother attempting to break the door down
Like Annabeth crying
Like Frank yelling as well
But all this outside noise doesn't drown out the ticking noises.
the ticking is so loud in my head I can’t hear anything stop stop stop the noise hurts
My knuckles are turning white from how hard I am clenching my fists.
No, breathe, my time has come, do not despair.
Dear brother of mine, do not despair. Friends, please don’t despair.
Father, Mother, don't despair, you knew something like this would happen to me since the day I was named.
My time has come. Do not despair.
I am fine. I know I'm lying.
I don't want anyone to see me cry. I knew what I needed to do, and I did it! That’s just the first part and I did it, I did it.
I leaned against the wall, letting it support my weight while I slide down. I hunched over myself and took deep breaths,
Deep breaths.
Do not despair. I'll hide my chest and i'll figure out a way to get us out of here.
The noise is almost deafening, my head is going to explode.
''Father, can you hear me. . .? Dad?''
''No, I don’t think you can. I dunno if anyone can anymore…''
I put my earbuds in.
''And when our eyes meet/All that I can read, is "You're the B-side.''
What a joke on my life.
I slipped my thumb ring off, summoning my axe.
Always on hand, huh? You're as loyal as my brother.
Percy, I can't hate you.
It gave me a small sense of comfort, the axe's hilt in my grasp. The familiar smooth prismarine stones around the edges.
I ran a fingertip across the blade.
It bled.
Stupid, stupid, stupid.
Calm down. Water isn't very different from blood, you can control this.
I focused, and the blood stopped dripping down my finger.
You have control.
Should I put the blade to my own neck? I'm gonna die anyways. No one's watching.
No. There's a reason you’re here. Don’t waste your life over silly doubts and fears, no reason for them to come true.
Right?
You have control over this. Don't let your opportunity go to waste. Try to breathe-
''Stupid, stupid, fucking stupid. Stupid me.''
I choked back a sob.
''I can’t hear them anymore. . .''
I was too far down.
The fall finally stopped. I let out a slow exhale. My hands shook, and I felt sick. The anxiety I felt during the fight with Clytius was coming back again, in slow waves, rocking against my head, but surely, it was all coming back to me.
When the Dark Mist came over them I couldn't breathe-
their voices were NOT theirs.
Push it back.
No.
What the fuck-
I squeezed my hand and felt the blood rush to my fingertips.
I kept it there for a tiny bit, feeling the small cramp that came along with blood bending. It was a little bit of pain, but it brought me back from. . . whatever kind of spiral that was.
Another slow exhale, trying to calm my nerves before I stood.
I grabbed my axe, nervously tapping my fingers against the hilt as I stepped out. My eyes gazed everywhere, re-taking in the tilts and curves of the underworld. It was fiery and warm; the air was so dry that it hurt my lungs.
Jeez, what kind of traumatized idiot do I look like right now? I was shaking, my eyes were wildly darting at every fucking staccato beat of the earth, I was gripping my axe so hard that the knuckles of my left hand were going white, my breathing was ragged, and my braid was coming undone- am I going crazy already?
''Hey.''
A hand was placed on my shoulder.
I flinched, turning around to the mystery person-
''Woah, woah, woah, you’re good. You’re okay.''
She gave a lopsided grin, showing off a few crooked teeth.
''Lacey?'' My voice was strained. The grip on my axe softened.
''As real as it gets.'' Her eyes softened. I took in her appearance. Bleached blonde, short-cut hair, her bangs a dark brown, her natural hair color, contrasting from the rest of her style, along with a few black hairpins. She wore a green and blue crewneck, along with a white collared shirt, a black knee length skirt, black leggings, and gray running shoes. Acne and blade scars dotted her face. It seemed as if she had just gotten down here.
''Tally?'' Lacey tilted their head. They were smiling, it seems that either they hadn't been there that long, or they were used to Tartarus and the Underworld. Not too surprising, considering they were a child of Nemesis.
''Lacey...'' I could feel my breath returning to normal. “Damn, you’re a sight for sore eyes.” I gave a smile in return to hers. ''What’re you doing here?''
''I had a vision.'' She had a poker-face on for a split-second. ''My mother said something to me.''
''I don’t really understand why, though. She didn’t look like my mother. That fiery hair, the weird spark in her eyes... I dunno, I'm not sure if that was my mother. I'm never able to tell, I don’t see her much.''
As most demigods do.
''It's probably nothing.'' I brushed it off. Internally, I was hyperfixating on that one sentence. Lacey is a child of Nemesis. Nemesis sent me on this stupid thing. ''Nemesis'' told something to Lacey. Lacey is a child of Nemesis. Is Lacey gonna kill me? Is Lacey gonna help me? What the shit-
Lacey tapped me on the shoulder again. ''Hey... dude, you good?''
“I- yeah. I’m fine.” I gave a grin that hopefully hid the fact that I was scared shitless and very very very much wanted to cry. Holy crap, i am a traumatized idiot-
She crossed her arms. “First time?” I grimaced. “Yeah. Uh, you?” She chuckled. “No, no, not my first time. Hug?” She extended her arms out to me. I raised an eyebrow, a bit confused. Or maybe i was disoriented, i don’t really know...
“Most people need a hug when they’re down here... y’know, most people need 4 hugs a day for survival! It’s a true saying, by Virginia Satir.” Her arms were still held out, albeit awkwardly. I did want a hug. So, we hugged, Lacey attempting to be comforting, while i was just trembling like a leaf. “4 hugs for survival, 8 hugs for maintenance, 12 hugs for growth, that’s the full quote.” She whispered, rubbing my back.
I let out a shaky exhale. “You’re okay, Thes.” I let my shoulders relax.
It was quiet for a bit there, just me and Lacey, making small talk, while casually strolling to wherever the heck her mom was, over in Tartarus. All while avoiding the elephant in the room of how we both got here. I knew Lacey could be the “therapist” friend sometimes, but there’s some things we just don’t talk about.
I didn’t know if it was out of discomfort or respect for boundaries. We hung out, just chatting.
I almost forgot we were in Tartarus, this just reminded me of walking around camp and talking with her about archery, and stars, stupid crushy stuff, and whatever the hell else our heads could think up.
“So... how’s Annabeth and Percy?” Lacey grinned.
“Oh gods, they’ve gotten more lovey-dovey since we yanked them out of Tartarus-” I sighed.
“Wait... Tartarus?” Lacey raised an eyebrow.
“Yeah, there was this big thing with Clytius, doors of death- If i explain one thing I'll have to explain the entire thing....” I sighed.
“Wow... I've missed out on a lot! I mean, i heard about The Seven- the Argo II took a long time to build, even with help from outside the Hephaestus Cabin.” They chuckled.
“Yeah...” I sighed. Gods, I missed them all.
“Look- I dunno what’s been going on lately, but since they all left the House of Hades- my guess is that they’re either bringing the Athena Parthenos back to camp or heading to Athens before the Feast of Spes.”
“Hell, probably both, the Argo II goes East, the Statue goes west.” Lacey shrugged. “I wouldn’t be too worried; your brother is capable. He and his friends will take care of it, I'm sure. I mean, Percy and Annabeth have done it before... plus, they could get people from the other place?”
The Romans. Ugh, we might have burnt that relationship... literally.
“Yeah, that’s not what I'm too worried about...” I crossed my arms. “Whatevs. We’re in Tartarus, so.... we need to go the Mansion of Night?” My voice was strained.
“Yeah, my weird grandma’s place.” Lacey seemed to visibly deflate at that question. “I saw when Nico... he... never mind, I'm just- I'm not excited for that. I’m not excited for Nyx.”
I paused. “You saw when-” I turned towards Lacey. “How long have you been down here?”
Lacey tugged on her sleeve. “Tally- there’s been another prophecy, since you and the rest left... We didn’t know what it was about, but this one line stood out.”
I fidgeted with my rope bracelet. “Rachel spouted another prophecy?” In the middle of the war?
"Just last week. It involves four people.” Lacey was deep in thought. “I don’t remember the specifics, but a... descent, a child of Poseidon, a child of Nemesis, a daughter of Apollo, and a... seemingly lost son of Athena.” Their eyes met mine. “We assumed it would either be you or Percy stuck down here again.”
It would have been Percy if I hadn’t stepped in.
“The daughter of Apollo part... I know it’s wishful thinking, but could it be-” I didn’t finish my sentence. Aubrey and I had parted ways after the incident, she was a stranger to me now.
“If she is.... I’m scared for her.” Lacey tried to smile, though it looked pained. “The daughter of sunshine’s song will end slow. No one... really knew what that meant.” “I just hope it’s not what I think it is.”
“Huh... Let’s just focus on not dying, yeah?” I smiled for them. Either way, we both needed a bit of sunshine.
“Yeah.” She nodded, and we both kept walking.
Aubrey sat, gloomy on her bunk in the Apollo cabin. Kayla was out shooting arrows, Austin was out somewhere else, and Will was in the infirmary as usual these days. So she just laid down on her bed and listened to music on her Cassette Player.
“She can’t keep them all safe!”
“They will die and be afraid!”
“Mother, tell me so I say...”
Aubrey haphazardly yanked her earbuds out. Everything just reminded her of that stupid prophecy, the one that reminded her of the worst. And she really didn’t want to think about that. At least not for now, while everything was perfect. Everything was perfect, and she didn’t need to worry. Tally was out running on the trail or something, Lacey was probably in the arena, and there Aubrey was. Lying around, pretending to sleep under the covers.
How amazing.