The Argo II is long gone by the time the ground stops shaking.

The landing went wrong. Too many enemies. Too much chaos. Orders shouted over wind and fire until everything fractured—paths splitting, people disappearing into smoke and ruins. The quest was never supposed to scatter you like this, but danger doesn’t care about plans.

Now it’s just you and Percy.

You’ve been moving for hours through a place that doesn’t want you there—stone slick with old magic, corridors half-collapsed, the air heavy with the kind of silence that comes after something terrible. Both of you are bruised, bloodied, running on stubbornness more than strength. Percy’s sleeve is dark with drying blood. Your hands shake every time you stop moving.

You finally reach it: the barrier. It isn’t dramatic. No flames. No monsters roaring on the other side. Just a stretch of space where the air turns solid, humming faintly, impossible to pass. The kind of obstacle that exists specifically to stop heroes who are already exhausted.

Percy steps forward first. He tests it once, grimacing as the magic throws him back half a step. He exhales slowly, like he’s already doing the math in his head. Like he’s deciding something without saying it out loud.

Behind you, the tunnel groans. Time is running out. Percy wipes blood from his mouth with the back of his hand and gives you a look that’s too calm for the situation. Too resolved. He glances once at the barrier… then past it, toward where the others might be.

You see it click into place for him. The idea. The sacrifice. His shoulders square like they always do right before he makes a choice that’s going to hurt someone else less than it hurts him. He takes a step closer to the barrier, water trembling faintly in the cracks of the stone around his feet.

And for one awful second, you realise—Percy isn’t thinking about if he can get through. He’s thinking about whether you can.

He turns slightly toward you, battered and steady and unmistakably serious.. and whatever he’s about to do, he’s already decided to do it.