He didn't know how long it had been since the day (or night; who knows in Tartarus) he had first tasted monster blood through the thoughtful donations of Joe Bob and co. It felt like it had been an age and a half that he had been wandering endlessly through Tartarus, with only a few small-time monsters here-and-there for sustenance. The laistrygonian group seemed to be an anomaly as he hadn't found any other monsters travelling in groups; all the common monsters that were wrought on the surface world during the Wars were found scavenging along the banks of the Phlegethon solo. Not that there were many that Percy had encountered, only a few stray hellhounds and laistrygonians. The only notable developments that have happened being Percy's increased liquidkinesis ability (or Phlegethonesis, one might say, as he had only been able to practise on the Phlegethon) and a better proficiency in charmspeak, which wasn't saying much considering he had only used it on a few monsters who were not exactly winning any intellectual olympics any time soon.

Percy had found had found that the Stygian glass shard that he has picked up from the shores of the Phlegethon was actually quite an efficient weapon. It wasn't a celestial bronze sword, but it did do the job of keeping him alive and what passed for well-fed. In the end though, it was still glass, forged in the fires of hell or not, and Percy didn't like his chances if he ran into one of the many not-so-small-time monsters that made this lovely place their home (read: that Percy had killed and sent here and whom were most definitely eager to exact vengeance). Alas, as unfortunately there were no random swords just lying on the ground in Tartarus waiting for some poor demigod-or-not-demigod-anymore to use, it would have to do. Oh, how he wished for something as simple as one of Damasen's bone swords...

Percy had decided to keep moving upstream along the edge of the Phlegethon, as he knew from his time previously here that all the Rivers of the Underworld flowed from the same source. He didn't walk right on the bank though, as his sneakers had long since been shredded by glass, and he knew who could come out on top in Percy's Bare Feet vs. Broken Stygian Glass (hint: it wouldn't be his feet). Plus, he had found that monsters liked to linger near the edge, as they, unlike Percy, were able to utilise the healing properties that came from drinking liquid fire from the Phlegethon, and being on the dunes was a good vantage point.

So far, the landscape had yet to change from sandy dunes and a glass-covered bank. He must have been [un]lucky when he was banished here, and landed in the Endless Desert of Doom™. Percy didn't know what exactly he was searching for, but he had nothing else to do.

Returning to present-day (or night; again, who knew?), Percy was once agin beginning to feel the ache that meant he was getting hungry again. It was always a constant feeling in the back of his mind that only lessened with the consumption of blood, but never truly abated, and only increased as time passed and hunger retuned. He didn't particularly want to go any longer than necessary without blood, as Percy found that he got more and more agitated the longer he waited and it became harder to think clearly.

Unfortunately, there wasn't exactly an abundance of monsters in this area of Tartarus, so his only option was to just continue on as before until he hopefully came across some unsuspecting monster.

—

Some time later, a strangled cry broke the vast silence of Tartarus. It didn't sound like any monster he knew, but it sounded like whatever made the noise was in a great deal of pain. 'It sounded like it came from fairly close by... maybe over the next few dunes.' This was good news and bad news for Percy. Good in that there were monsters — or something similar — nearby. Bad news in that there were monsters (plural) of currently unknown species nearby, as something had to be hurting the other something to cause pain (that's a lot of somethings). It was the best bet Percy had at this point though, so he continued moving towards the sound.

—

It turns out that whatever made that sound was not 'fairly close by', as it was quite a distance until Percy was crouching low at the top of a dune, peering over the edge at the scene below. There had definitely been a fight of some kind here, as claw marks and craters littered the flat, glass-covered bank. Rusty gold dust drifted through the air on a non-existent breeze before settling to join the mass of monsters remains scattered along the ground. To Percy's misfortune, there was not a living monster in sight, which was quite an issue as he getting more than a little bit hungry and parched. 'There's got to be more to this. Who killed them all? And where are they now?'

A deep, rumbling voice abruptly snapped Percy out of his reverie. "Well, what do we have here?"

'Wait, that came from right behin—' was as far as his thoughts went before sharp pain filled his head and all he saw was black.

—

It is I, VenatrixCazador, updating story coincidentally after exactly two years. Legit though, I didn't plan the two-year thing. I woke up super early this morning and couldn't sleep due to a super bad earache and thought 'Why not?'

Sorry it has take me so long to update; a lot has happened in two years (i'm female btw). I started my senior year in high school, then graduated, moved cities (or town to city more like) and have now finished my first of two years of university studying an accelerated science degree, which has taken up a lot of my time.

This chapter was definitely the hardest to write and also another contributor to why it took so long. I have a fair idea of where I wanted to go with this story from this point, but there was this blank space (this chapter) that had me stumped. Not too happy with how it turned out, as it was mostly filler to get the story moving from A - B, but I am so glad to finally have it written (only about 900 words tho ;-;). How did the chapter read? Was it too choppy or did it work? Sorry i kind of skimmed through the last section, but i really wanted to get to the next part of the story.

Anyways, thanks for sticking with me for the massive break, and I can't make any promises regarding update schedule, but it shouldn't be two years. I hope that all my readers had a great Christmas and Happy New Year to you all! (p.s. who's keen for HTTYD 3, KH3, and Avengers: Endgame? Actually theres a tonne of stuff im really looking forward to... im so keen for 2019).

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