Contents
LXIX
Overview
Tartarus manifests a physical form to personally destroy Annabeth and Percy, paralyzing them with terror. Bob rejects his past as Iapetus, attacks Tartarus with aid from Small Bob, and wounds the god. Bob orders Percy and Annabeth to seize the Doors of Death as Tartarus unleashes his army.
Summary
Annabeth faces Tartarus, whose vortex-like face pulls at light, poison, and life itself. Paralyzed and voiceless, she realizes the monsters hold back, waiting for Tartarus to kill them personally. Percy, corpse-pale, drops his sword as Tartarus revels in having a body and the senses that accompany it.
When Tartarus reaches for Percy, Bob intervenes, challenging the god’s right to meddle. Tartarus’s power drags at Bob’s life force, but Bob charges anyway. Swatted aside, Bob refuses to be Iapetus, declaring his chosen name and identity.
Small Bob leaps from Bob’s coveralls, transforming into a translucent skeletal saber-toothed tiger. The cat claws Tartarus under his armor while Bob spears the god’s side, yanking the weapon back to his hand by will. Tartarus, enraged, vows to make Bob’s soul suffer eternally within his breastplate armor.
Grinning through the threat, Bob urges Percy and Annabeth to take the Doors of Death while he occupies Tartarus. In response, Tartarus bellows, shredding nearby demons in his vortex, and summons the entire monster host to destroy the mortals.
Who Appears
- Annabeth ChaseParalyzed before Tartarus, assesses the threat and relies on Bob’s intervention.
- TartarusEmbodies a physical form, exerts vacuum-like power, vows to personally destroy them.
- Bob (Iapetus)Defies Tartarus, claims his chosen identity, wounds the god, urges escape via the Doors.
- Percy JacksonOverwhelmed by Tartarus’s presence, drops his sword, targeted for death.
- Small BobTransforms into a skeletal saber-toothed tiger and claws Tartarus under his armor.
- Monster armyInitially holds back; then advances when summoned by Tartarus to kill the mortals.