When Kronos was defeated, he used the last of his strength to get his revenge. He killed Percy and took him to Tartarus. After five years of torture in Tartarus, Percy managed to escape, but time works differently in the underworld. Up above only Seven months had passed. Seven months with all of Percy's friends and family thinking they would never see him again. Now all Percy wants is to reunite with all the people he loves so dearly, but is it meant to be? It seems the gods feel otherwise…

Percy's POV

I wasn't going to make it. That much was clear to me as I got closer to Camp Half Blood. I had too many monsters to count chasing me and my energy was running out. I could feel my breaths getting quicker, my strides getting shorter. It was all I could do not to pass out right there; then I would be dead for sure. They were gaining on me and I wouldn't make it in time. My only option was to stand and fight, to fight alone against an entire hoard of monsters. I took out my lethal ballpoint pen, riptide, and uncapped it, changing it into its bronze sword form. Then I turned around and prepared for the ensuing bloodbath.

The hellhounds were the first to reach me. Seeing them instantly reminded me of my old pet hellhound, Mrs. O'Leary. Yes, I did just say that I used to have a pet hellhound. And yes, her name really was Mrs. O'Leary. At the memory I was suddenly filled with an extreme sense of longing. It had been five years since I had seen any of my friends. It had been five years since I had seen her; it had been five years since I had seen Annabeth. I pictured her beautiful hair: the way it always glinted gold in the sun, the way it carelessly fell down into perfect curls framing her face and made her look like a goddess. I pictured her gorgeous eyes: the way they sparkled whenever she talked about architecture, the way they would darken and swirl like storm clouds when she was angry, and the way I could get lost in them for hours. I thought of the how she would laugh whenever I was exceedingly stupid, I thought of how she didn't care about her looks like most girls did and most of the time dressed in simple jeans and a t-shirt—and she still managed to take my breath away every time. Those thoughts, that longing, that desire…no, not desire, need...to see my friends again, rejuvenated me. I had to make it to Camp. I had to see Annabeth one more time. I had to show them that I was not, in fact, dead…well…not anymore at least.

I clung to those thoughts like a toddler clinging to his mother. They filled me with the same inspiration I used to escape from the depths of Tartarus, the same inspiration that I used to escape from him: Tartarus' jailer: the one whose blade cut countless scars into my skin; the one whose eyes were the only things in the world that scared me anymore. I would not go back there. I would not fall back into his grasp. I would not feel the sting of his blade, see the look in his eyes, and hear the sound of his manic laugh that accompanies every torture. I would not feel the same fear he instilled in all of his captives. Never again.

Time slowed.

At least, that's what it felt like. Really it was just the adrenaline in my system making my body think and move faster, so by comparison everything else seemed slower. But that's beside the point.

With this newfound strength I fought with the same intensity I had during my escape, which is, to say, like a demon. I danced and twirled, my blade an extension of my own body, and some ice I froze an extension of the blade. I leaped, and ducked, and rolled, and spun, slicing through enemies like butter. I was surrounded by dust, like a miniature sandstorm, swirling around in my own personal hurricane, as the monsters disintegrated around me. In less than ten minutes all fifty assorted hellhounds, dracnae, emposai, and other deadly monsters were reduced to mere ashes on the ground. Even though I had lost my curse of Achilles, I was still invincible. The monsters simply couldn't touch me. Anything I didn't dodge was stopped by the thin layer of water I now keep surrounding my body during fights, hardening into protective ice upon any undesired contact, guarding me from harm nearly as well as the Achilles curse used to. If one good thing came out of my stay in Tartarus, it was that I had become much stronger.

And smarter.

When all the monsters were reduced to ashes I capped riptide and put it back in my pocket. I turned back around and continued towards Camp Half Blood. With my adrenaline-induced energy now depleted it was all I could do not to collapse on my journey to the camp. If any more monsters caught up to me I would be a goner but I couldn't let that happen. Then they would take me back to Tartarus and all my hard work would be for nothing.

As soon as Half Blood Hill came into view I got excited. Had I not just been completely drained of energy from the battle I would have sprinted the rest of the way. I could hardly wait to see everyone at camp. I wondered how long it had been. I had spent five years in Tartarus, five excruciatingly long years before managing my escape. But I knew that time works differently in the underworld. In the real world it could have been a hundred years, it could have been one year, it could have been only a month. For all I knew it could have been mere seconds. Judging by the lack of carnage back in New York, the last option seemed unlikely. But other than that, there was absolutely no way of knowing.

Regardless, I needed to see my camp friends again. They had become like a second family to me during the war with Kronos, and I missed them extremely badly. That's why as soon as I saw the figure standing at the bottom of the hill I called out excitedly. He just stood there, waiting for me to reach him, so I sped up my pace a little. When I got there though, I was surprised by whom I saw. Standing at the bottom of the hill was not a camper. In fact, he wasn't even a demigod. He was none other than Hermes, god of thieves.

"Lord Hermes, what are you doing here?" I asked, bowing courteously. Hermes had been good to me in the past so I decided to show him some respect.

"I bear a message from Lord Zeus," he said, looking sad and a little guilty, making me wonder what the message could possibly be about, "you are not to return to Camp Half-Blood."

It took me a few moments to process his words. Then my first reaction was shock. Afterwards I felt anger, then curiosity, then anger again. "And why the hell not, might I ask?" I said, glaring at him.

"By order of the Olympic Council, you are officially banned from Camp Half-Blood," he said, not meeting my eyes.

My mouth hit the floor. Then that shock was replaced by burning anger that I could hardly control and I literally started shaking. No—it wasn't me who was shaking—it was the ground. I had started my own personal earthquake. I tackled him and half a second later had him on the ground with riptide pressed to his throat, drawing a thin line of golden Ichor. "You may be immortal, but I doubt a sword to the neck will feel too great, so I suggest you give me a good reason why I shouldn't do it right now."

"B-because I-I'm just t-the m-messenger. It wasn't my decision. S-stabbing m-me would a-accomplish n-nothing." He choked out.

I punched him in the face. "DON'T LIE TO ME!" I screamed, eyes flashing, my voice reverberating through the area and sending birds out of their trees. "I know it has to have been a unanimous decision, and you are a member of the council. You are just as responsible as anyone else!"

"I-I'm sorry, b-but I had n-no choice."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I growled, digging my sword in a little deeper.

"L-let go of me and I-I'll tell you."

I released him and stood up, but didn't take my eyes off him. "Well, explain yourself."

"You know it's illegal for a soul sent to the underworld to return to the world of the living."

"Yeah, so?"

"Well you did, and Hera wanted you killed for it."

"But—

"I know you save all our lives by defeating Kronos, and I know he took you straight to Tartarus for it, but in Hera's eyes that doesn't mean you can break one of the ancient laws. So, she decided she wanted you dead and asked to put it to a vote." He said carefully, watching my expression to try to see if I would attack him again. "Surprisingly, Athena was the one who stood up for you and argued on your behalf. She said that you needed to be rewarded for your actions and that being allowed to live could be the reward."

I tried to imagine Athena, the mother of my best friend and rival of my father, the goddess who seemed to hate me more than any other, standing up for me before the entire council. I couldn't.

"But Hera was adamant that the laws could not be broken. She said, 'if the law is allowed to be broken once, suddenly everyone is going to want to break it.' Then Hades came up with the idea that you be allowed to live on the condition that your life remains a secret, to be known only to a select few.

Those few were decided to be the gods, your direct family, and children of Hades, whom it would be impossible to keep the secret from anyway. Hera was appeased, on the condition that if anyone were to find out, you and said person would instantly be killed. Furthermore, she did not want your mother to know because she is mortal and Hera doesn't like the idea of a mortal knowing so much. Poseidon tried to change her mind about that but she was adamant. So the idea was put to a vote, and it was decided unanimously in favor. Unfortunately, part of keeping it a secret means that nobody who knows that you died is allowed to know that you are alive, so you cannot return to camp."

I closed my eyes, taking it all in. After all I went through to see my friends again, after putting myself through hell, literally, and going through all those extra tortures there just for the chance to escape. All of that, just so I could see my camp friends, so I could hug my mom, bicker with Thalia, tease Nico, hang out with Grover and Tyson, spar with Clarisse, prank the Stoll brothers, and spend time with all of my other camp friends. All so I could see Annabeth one more time. Now I was being told I would never get to see them again? I was furious…no that's an understatement…I was completely mad with rage.

I felt the familiar tugging sensation in my gut and everything went chaotic. The ground started shaking violently, all the water nearby shooting around violently—it had recently rained so there was a lot of water around. Before I could do anything stupid, I said to Hermes through clenched teeth, "I recommend you leave now, before I do something I will regret.

He followed my advice.