CHAPTER XXVIII:Fly High And Fall Far Icarus.

Metal hitting metal, and magic dispersing from skeletal husks echoed through the emptiness of the abandoned Underworld. I cut down legions of dead effortlessly with my dagger and sword. I narrowly dodged swings from swords, and heard arrows whistle past both ways.

Penny was next to me chopping down skeletons, and watching my back. Seth and Olivia were fighting side by side butchering the dead keeping them momentum up. Adam was shooting his sunlight arrows at enemies who got a little to close for comfort, the blinding flashes of gold barely missed us as we kept fighting.

I rolled under Penny's shield narrowly missing it, and slashed two skeletons turning them to dust as Penny slammed a skeleton down and stabbed it in the chest dispersing it's spell turning it into dust. I threw my dagger into a skeleton, and got up. I ripped the dagger out, turning him into dust, and stabbed it into another one as a flash of gold whizzed past my face. I followed the arrow as it took out three skeletons.

I moved group to group chopping down skeletons into ash. The combat continued on. Minutes felt like hours, as my movements slowed down. No matter how many skeletons we took out, more seemed to pop up in their place.

I took minor injuries from a few lucky hits, but was otherwise unscathed. I rolled into a group of skeletons, ready to fight, when I got pulled off my feet. Again with the fucking flying, I thought to myself. I looked up and saw Thanatos smiling at me. His eyes showed a sheer state of lunacy.

"I tried to be nice! Now we do this the hard way!" Thanatos yelled, his voice echoed in my head.

"No! Put me down you oversized turkey vulture, and fight me!" I yelled back.

He dropped me in Persephone's garden roughly. My vision got blurry, and I felt blood dampen my clothes and hair. Thanatos landed in front of me and laughed. I gripped my dagger, and tried to get up. I felt pain shoot through me, shocking all of my nerves, and I cried out in pain.

"Hurts, doesn't it? If only there was something here that could help." Thanatos sarcastically said while grabbing a pomegranate from the nearby tree, he cut it and handed it to me, "Go ahead, I promise it'll help with the pain." He said.

This Titan was insufferable, and was hard to shake. I got up a bit and used the last of my strength to smack the piece of fruit out of his hand before falling again and crying out. Thanatos grabbed my arm and started twisting it, and snapped it like a dry twig. Pain shot through my body again. I tried to shout, but I was to shocked for any noise to come out. Tears burned my face as they ran over cuts and scrapes from the fall.

Thanatos handed me another slice of Pomegranate, "Let's try again. EAT THE FRUIT." He said.

I went to eat the piece of pomegranate, finally giving into his demands, and heard a thundering voice that sounded familiar come from everywhere at once overwhelming my senses. "GET AWAY FROM HER!" It commanded.

I saw Thanatos' eyes widen, and he immediately tensed up. My vision finally blacked out after hearing the voice, and that was invitation for every nightmare to come forth.

I dreamt of pure darkness. It was still and without sound, It smelled of death and decay. I had my sword in hand, and I was surrounded by ash and golden tipped arrows. I moved through seeing scenes of fighting and despair of soldiers from various wars. I felt the overwhelming presence of death, and continued forward. The dead Thanatos had raised came to haunt me once more, making sure I never forgot this hellish day of almost losing to him.

I stopped and woke up back in Persephone's garden. My dad was in front of me. His suit was even more torn than usual. His hair was messy and looked like black wires strewn about, he had a cup in his hand.

"You ok?" Hades asked quietly, I nodded and tried to get up, but my dad sat me back down quickly "No, you need to rest." He said calmly.

"But my friends need me dad." I said tiredly.

"They're fine, you aren't. Now rest up okay? I'll get you out of here." He said putting his hand on my forehead.

I blacked out again, and dreamt and saw nothing at all. Just a blessed moment of sleep, that I definitely owed Hades for.