We screamed as we fell. Grovers fingers were desperately digging into my arm. The pressure in my chest suddenly stopped and then, I felt something change.
Black flames traveled up my body, turning feet into hooves, hairless skin into fur and hide. As the fire traveled upwards, my hight and general mass increased as well. My arms grew longer and...
*WHAM*
We smashed into a jagged rock that jutted out of the cliff, breaking our fall only for a few seconds before we accelerated again.
The edge of the cliff had already disappeared into the darkness above and the impact had clearly broken some bones in both of our bodies.
Then suddenly, long black limbs burst from my back and slammed into the cliffside, burying their sharp claws deep within.
Our fall came to an abrupt stop. I felt elated as it became clearer that I would not fall further, then confusion settled in as neither had I initiated the transformation, nor had I ever had one that manifested not only my regular body but also apparently forced both the Rivers' Child but also Father Spider to meld together.
Then the pain settled in, it was excruciating, like sandpaper being brushed against the inside of my now leathery thick skin. Meanwhile Grover had managed to recover, had noticed that our fall had stopped and was now starring at me with a gaping jaw. Guess he didn't expect that I looked like this, even though I had already told him about my "situation".
"Grover..."
"Just get us out of here, Perc. We can talk after we complete this quest."
We began the ascent in silence, only accompanied by the quiet movement of my limbs as I held Grover close, unwilling to risk even a single second of distraction. The ascent took hours, hours during which we began to talk throughoutly. By the time we had reached the edge of the cliff again, I had informed Grover of most things in my life. I had told him of my adoption by the three fates, explaining why I knew future events while still keeping those to myself. I had told him of most of my abilities and how they even had the ability to grow both in strength and versatility, carefully avoiding actually talking about the system and even the nightmares.
As we climbed over the edge, carefully trying to drag ourselves up while not disrupting the sand that was trying to drag us back in, as even my spider legs had a difficult time finding purchase, a hand, pale and with long, slender fingers grabbed onto my shoulder and threw us away from Tartarus, back into the Underworld.
Grover and I had another rough landing, well mostly me since I had actually dropped him during the throw. So while Grover hit the ground, one that even though I was flying over it at high speed looked suspiciously like marble, I managed to literally crash into what later turned out to be a marble column.
It did wonders for our already broken bones and fixed them all... Not! The pain of the impact, coupled with the speed was enough for me to question if I had finally managed to actually break my spine but no, it wasn't. To my luck I had managed without breaking more bones than before, it's just that the already broken ones felt as if they were screaming.
Grover groaned, now that's an interesting sentence, and I, who had just finished sliding down the aforementioned column, didn't even bother trying to stand up.
Then steps began to echo around us, steps belonging to someone with hard sole shoes.
The closer those steps got, the faster and clearer I felt my body regenerating.
"How long do you intend to stay there, Percy Jackson? And try not to bleed on my floors, I just had them cleaned." a tired, old and clearly male voice sounded from where Tartarus was.
As soon as Grover heard it, he scrambled to get up and bow. Which wasn't really a wise choice since I can hear his broken hands and ankles protesting. I didn't even have to see Grovers face to hear the pained grimace on his face as he spoke.
"We are sorry, Lord Hades. We will try not to. Thank you for getting us away from there."
There was a tremble not only in his voice but also in his body as he spoke. Probably from both the pain and nervousness he was feeling.
Speaking of pain!
Those bones of mine were currently going back to their original position and corrected themselves but that didn't mean I wasn't barely keeping myself from vomiting out of pain.
"Hello uncle Hades, fancy meeting you here." I groan while slowly trying to stand up but mid sentence my leg decided that it wasn't ready to carry my weight while my torso though I was using to much strength while my ribs were currently fixing themselves. Needles to say, I fell over, smashed my knee into the floor, by the way I managed to hit my nerve during it, which again send me completely on the floor.
"If I didn't know any better I would think the Fates hate me." I mumbled to my self.
Meanwhile Grover was barely able to stand, his head still bowed while Hades was looking at my crumpled for on the ground, a certain glimmer of amusement visible in his eyes.
"Stay down nephew. I will have some servents go and bring you to the dining hall. And I am certain someone will take a look at your injuries while you are here."
"Thank you, Lord Hades, for your hospitality but I am not sure we can accept it." was said by Grover, clearly concerned about the entire situation that bore slight similarity to how Persephone came to be Hades wife. And apparently Hades noticed if the slight raising of his chin was anything to go by.
"Do not worry, Satyr. You can eat and drink from my table tonight without worry. Lord Thanatos has brought the servings from the Overworld at my orders. Though I do have to wonder why most of it is blue."
And with that he walked by us and into the palace. Almost simultaneously the rest of my broken bones snapped back into place and recovered even quicker. Some bruises still remained but even they healed at a speed visible to the naked eye. Then finally I managed to stand up, more stable this time and I remembered something.
How did Hades recognize me even while I was still in my monstrous form? How had he known that I wasn't just a monster that was climbing out of Tartarus.