Chapter 1- Percy

Percy heard his girlfriend, Annabeth Chase, tell him to let her go, that he couldn't pull her up from Tartarus. He knew that, right now, he was barely holding on to his makeshift ledge with his fingertips. But Percy Jackson had absolutely no intention of letting Annabeth go.

Instead he yelled up to Nico di Angelo, son of Hades, to lead the others to the mortal side of the Death Doors and that Annabeth and himself would meet them there. Percy really didn't have the strength to argue with the kid, so when he saw the doubt in his face, Percy made Nico promise to him that he would. For a split second Percy thought Nico would say no and try to climb down to help them himself, but then Nico seemed to realize how idiotic that would be, so he said in a shaky voice that he would lead the others.

That was good because Percy didn't think he could have lasted another millisecond holding onto that ledge and Annabeth at the same time. He tightened his grip on Annabeth's frail wrist, and spoke to her in the most sincere and honest voice he had, which wasn't that hard.

"We're staying together. You're not getting away from me. Never again."

Percy saw comprehension dawn on her beautiful face, and she nodded as she said, "As long as we're together."

With that, Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon, let go of his ledge and with Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena, plunged into Tartarus, to face their most dangerous adventure yet, and that was saying a lot.

Percy had been chased by the Minotaur, fallen off the St. Louis Arch, stung by a pit scorpion, fought in several battles with all different kinds of creatures, which lead to him receiving multiple wounds, bathed in the River Styx, and even held up the world with his own shoulders. Nothing could have prepared him for the pain he would experience in Tartarus.

If Percy thought his other injuries were painful, this was pure agony, waves of it surfing through his mind, almost causing him to pass out from the torture. He most certainly would have let the darkness claim his mind so he wouldn't have to feel the agony anymore, if it wasn't for Annabeth.

He knew that whatever he was experiencing, her pain would be worse with her broken ankle and the other ailments she had received from her fight with Arachne, the mother of all the spiders. So Percy held his girlfriend as close as physically possible and tried to shield her from everything he could. There were so many dreadful and truly terrifying things in Tartarus, Percy almost began to feel sorry for the monsters that were sent here when they were killed.

What he saw was too horrifying to put into feelings, let alone words, but when he later had to describe it to his friends, he told them that he had seen the most gruesome war scenes that would have made even Ares, the god of war, flinch in disgust. Also Percy saw monsters with 500 mouths with triple that many razor-like teeth consuming heroes, mortals screaming in terror at something, his mind couldn't process what it was, it was just too terrible, and countless other scenes like that. But if matters couldn't get worse, there were the screams from all around them, and what they were coming from; Percy didn't even want to try to guess.

He looked down at Annabeth in his arms and saw she wasn't moving and that her eyes were closed. As much as he knew it wasn't logical to do, Percy began to panic.

"Annabeth, no! C'mon Annabeth, wake up! Wake up! Annabeth, you have got to be kidding me! I did not just leap into Tartarus, for you just to die on me!"

With each word, Percy's voice became shriller and shriller until it was higher an octave than usual, and he sounded like a high-pitched girl. At his last word, when Annabeth still didn't show any response that she had heard him or that she was alive, Percy Jackson began to cry.

He did his best not to make any sound so he wouldn't further alert any monsters that could be nearby, but that didn't mean his shoulders didn't shake uncontrollably.

After he had almost lost all hope that he would ever hear his sweet Annabeth's voice again, she spoke.

"Seaweed Brain, why on earth are you sobbing like a little girl?"

"Annabeth! I thought you were dead!"

"Do I look dead right now, Seaweed Brain?"

"Well, no. But you weren't moving at all, and you were so pale and cold!"

"Ever heard of fainting? I'd like to see you try to remain conscious while falling in this miserable pit with a broken ankle."

"Jeez Wise Girl, you make one mistake in thinking your girlfriend has left you forever, and you get this!"

"I wouldn't be me if I didn't correct you on everything."

That is when things turned from terrible to horrible.

In his panic about Annabeth, Percy had forgotten about the remaining carnage of Arachne's chamber. Now he was diffidently regretting that mistake because it seemed everything was falling on them; and as if the universe didn't hate them enough, rocks, asphalt, wood, and every other material that was anywhere near them or the chamber when they fell, began to hit them too.

"Seriously," Percy shouted at no one, "can't we catch a break!"

Just as his last word was finishing echoing around them, the falling materials began to pelt them with everything they had.

One piece of asphalt hit him square on the head, and he saw nothing but stars for a couple of painful moments. A boulder flew out of nowhere, and hit his right shoulder, and he could feel the bone snap in half.

Percy managed not to cry out from the pain of his broken shoulder, because he knew if Annabeth knew he was in pain, she would immediately remove herself from sobbing into his chest and try to protect him. The only thing that was protecting her from the raining materials, was Percy's body, and he wouldn't have it any other way.

By the time the debris managed to stop assaulting them, Percy had five fractured ribs, a broken right wrist, a broken right knee cap, a shattered left ankle, and he was also pretty sure he had a nasty concussion from all the things that hit him on his head.

From what he could tell, Annabeth hadn't even gotten a scratch from the debris but he knew she was still in agony from her ankle. He looked down at himself and he saw his five broken ribs protruding from a deep gash on his side that was quickly costing him large amounts of blood, his right wrist bone bent at the strangest angle he had ever seen, his right knee sticking out of its socket at a nauseating angle, he couldn't feel his right shoulder at all, which he knew was never a good sign since he felt the bone snap in two, also he was pretty sure his left foot was really not supposed to be pointing that way. To top it all off, he couldn't see straight from all the blows to the head he had taken.

Finally Percy couldn't stand the pain anymore, and he let out a moan of agony. Immediately he wished he hadn't.

"Percy! Oh gods! Are you alright?" Annabeth asked, her voice thick with concern for him.

"Just (gasp) peachy."

"No, you most certainly are not! Why didn't you tell me you were hurt?"

"Really Annabeth, I'm fine. It's nothing to worry about."

"Oh, really? Then I guess you wouldn't mind if I did this!"

With that, she lunged at him and gave him a huge embrace, that if the circumstances had been different, he would have loved, but now, made him gasp and cry out in excruciating pain.

"Annabeth!"

"You are obviously not fine, Seaweed Brain! Now lift up your shirt, so I can examine you, it's not like we are going anywhere."

"Really Annabeth, please don't worry about me. We need to do something for that ankle of yours."

"Perseus Jackson! My ankle is fine at the moment; I swear to gods you are such a moron sometimes, if you took all those blows from the debris just to protect me and my stupid ankle. Now lift up your shirt, or I will come over there and do it for you!"

Seeing that he really couldn't persuade Annabeth that he was fine and she shouldn't be worrying about his wellbeing, Percy reluctantly lifted up his shirt so he could show Annabeth his wounds. Unfortunately, even those simple movements made him moan and cry out in pain from his shoulder, wrist, and ribs.

"Holy Athena! Oh my gods, Percy, you look awful! Why, oh why, didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want to worry you."

"Worry me! Percy, you are the most idiotic person I've ever met, only you would take all those injuries in silence and not even bother to mention it and the agony you must be in right now! Now stay still while I try to see what is broken and what is just bruised, which in your case, is just about everything!"

"Annabeth, stop! You can't afford to do anything without making your ankle worse."

"Seaweed Brain, either you willingly stay still while I try to take care of you, or I punch you in the head, and given your state, that will knock you out instantly! So either I can take care of you while you are conscious or unconscious, your choice. Either way, you are being taken care of, whether you like it or not!"

Percy hung his head in defeat and reluctantly stayed still while Annabeth pulled the rest of his shirt off to get a better look at his ribs and shoulder, and also rolled up his pants for his knee and ankle.

Normally these movements shouldn't have caused Percy any pain whatsoever, but in his condition, tears unwillingly escaped his eyes and he couldn't help but cry out in pain.

"Seaweed Brain, do you realize how serious this is? From what I can tell you broke 5 ribs, your wrist, your shoulder, your knee, and your ankle. Also, I'm examining your head and I am fairly certain you have a terrible concussion. No one can function like this; who knows what we will face when we land, if we ever land! But if we do, what if we come across monsters, and you most certainly cannot fight them like this! Oh, Seaweed Brain!"

With that she threw herself at him and started sobbing on his good shoulder. The one time she willingly hugs me, I can't even enjoy it because she is in so much distress and I am in so much pain, Percy thought to himself. Black spots were starting to dance across his vision and he knew if he didn't remove himself from Annabeth's grasp, he would pass out from the agony.

"Annabeth, I'm really sorry that I've given you so many things to worry about, but this is really hurting me."

"Sorry, Percy, sorry! It's just that I could never stand it if you died on me and it would be my entire fault!"

"How would me dying be your fault?"

"Because if it weren't for me, we wouldn't be in this mess!"

"Annabeth Chase, I chose to let go of the ledge and hold onto you; me dying down here would never be your fault."

"I don't know, Percy."

"Well, I do. Come here Wise Girl, let me lightly hug you while you sleep, and I take first watch."

"Percy, what are you watching for? We are falling down a bottomless pit of Tartarus, in case you haven't noticed."

"Oh believe me, I noticed. I am watching for the bottom, we do not know for certain, this is bottomless."

"Percy, if anyone should take first watch, I should. You really need to get some sleep, try to repair those bones. Boy, I really wish I had some ambrosia and nectar to give you."

"It's fine, Annabeth. I'm not tired, you really should sleep."

"Seaweed Brain, again I am forced to say this. You are one good punch to the head from la-la land. Either you are going to sleep the easy way or the hard way; again, whichever way you chose, you are going to sleep."

"Gosh Wise Girl, if you keep up this violent streak, I won't need to heal, you can just take out the monsters with your punch to the head."

"Ha-ha, very funny, Seaweed Brain. Now seriously if you are not asleep in the next 15 seconds, I am delivering that knock our punch to your temple."

"Very well then, Wise Girl. You beat me this time."

"Seaweed Brain, what are you talking about? I beat you every time."

With that, Percy bent his head, and fell into a deep dreamless sleep. This unfortunately, lasted about 5 seconds.

"Percy! Wake up! I can see the ground, and it is coming toward us very fast!"

"What! I knew I should have taken first watch!"

"Never mind that! What do we do?"

"You're the daughter of Athena!"

"Right, right; but I don't know what to do!"

"Fantastic! Wait, I think I remember seeing something on the news once about a guy getting tossed into a tornado and didn't even break any bones because he was unconscious! So we just have to become limp enough so our muscles loosen, and that should protect us!"

"Seaweed Brain, you're a genius!"

"I have my moments. Come Annabeth into my arms, this way both of our muscles can loosen up better."

"Are you sure that's a good idea? By the way, how are you feeling?"

"I feel just fine, and even if it doesn't work, at least we have each other."

What Percy didn't tell her was that he knew that his muscles would have a harder time loosening up with her in his arms, but he wanted to protect Annabeth as much as possible, even if that caused him unbearable pain.

When Annabeth buried herself into his chest and held him close, he had to bite back a yelp of pain that it caused, but he still held her next to him and waited for impact.

The impact came too soon for comfort and right away, he knew something went wrong. His body should not be in this much pain. The world blended into one, and as his head slammed into the barbed wire below, Percy lost consciousness.

"Percy! Oh no, oh gods, please wake up! Wake up! You can't be dead, you just can't! Why, gods, why! Percy!"

As Percy slowly rejoined the world of the living, and in this place he uses the term living loosely, he heard Annabeth's hysterical sobbing, as she cradled his head against her chest.

This movement caused Percy such excruciating pain, he yelped.

"Percy, oh gods! You're alive! I thought you were dead for sure!"

"Do I look dead to you? Also I'm pretty sure the dead don't feel pain on these agonizing levels."

"But you are covered in blood and you looked so broken! You also weren't moving and your eyes were shut!"

"Ever heard of passing out from pain? I feel like every bone is on fire and is being torn apart."

"You knew you would take most of the impact with your own body to protect me! Perseus Jackson, you are the stupidest person I've ever met! By the way, don't think I missed your return comment back to me, by giving me grief over thinking you were dead."

"Wise Girl, I will always try to protect you, no matter what. I don't care how much pain this causes me, you are always worth it."

Percy saw Annabeth's stormy gray eyes swell up with tears, and she lunged to hug him and gave him a big kiss through her tears.

"Oh, Seaweed Brain! I will always protect you too!"

"Thanks, Wise Girl. But do you know where we are?"

Percy saw Annabeth wipe the tears from her eyes as she looked around, trying to get a sense on their bearings. He would have looked around himself, but he had a feeling that the movement would cause him to black out again.

"It looks like we are in a field of barbed wire. Why this is here, I have no idea."

"Well, that explains the state of my shirt and skin. It's a relief though not to hear that you didn't just decide to attack me with a weed whacker."

Through his daze of pain, Percy heard Annabeth laugh in what seemed like months.

"Don't give me any ideas, Seaweed Brain. Now before we set out to escape this dreadful place, let's have a look at your new wounds."

"Do we have to? I have a feeling it's going to hurt me a lot more than it's going to hurt you."

"I have a feeling you're right, but we still have to do it, otherwise they can become infected, and that is something you really don't want to happen. So just brace yourself for the pain, ok?"

"Fine, I'll try. Count of three, you yank my shirt off, or what is left of it, alright?"

"Deal. One, two, three!"

As Annabeth yanked his shirt off as fast and gentle as she could, Percy's vision got dark around the edges from the pain of everything. He knew he did something really bad to his body as soon as he heard Annabeth gasp in shock, but he didn't dare look down to see what it was.

"Oh, Percy!"

"How bad is it?"

"Well, you diffidently won't be going anywhere for a while. Um, do you mind if I use what is left of your shirt to try to use it as a bandage to stop the bleeding of your worst wounds?"

"Wait, do you have any wounds? Also, how's that ankle?"

"Percy! Enough about my ankle! It's about 95% healed now, which is 95% more healed than I can say for your many injuries. Furthermore, no, I did not even get a bruise from that fall, because you were idiotic enough to take the impact all by yourself!"

"Well, I'm happy to hear that you didn't hurt yourself, and that your ankle is feeling better. So if you really don't have any wounds that we need to tend to, then yes, you can use my mangled shirt to try to clean and bandage my injuries."

Annabeth gave him a short curt nod, and began to carefully rip his destroyed shirt into strips, to use as bandages.

After about 15 minutes of her creating long strips of bandages, we had about 25 strips to try to bandage all his wounds.

"Percy, this is going to hurt a lot. I really wish I had some way to properly clean your wounds because who knows how much dirt and germs are down here, but we really don't have a choice. Also you should also know that I don't have my backpack anymore. So I lost my knife and laptop, and all of my ambrosia and nectar."

"It's fine Annabeth, I can deal with a little pain."

"Seaweed Brain, this is going to cause you more than a little pain. Just so you don't pass out again on me, take deep calming breaths, and if you need to, squeeze my hand as hard as you can. Whatever you do, don't lose consciousness!"

"Alright, Wise Girl. I got it, don't pass out. Now before I lose my bravery, can you please clean my wounds, but also can you tell me what new injuries I have acquired this time?"

"Seaweed Brain, do you really want to know? Because trust me, it's not pretty."

"Wise Girl, trust me, I need to know what I did to my body so I can be careful not to injure it again."

"Have it your way then, Seaweed Brain. But don't say I didn't warn you. Adding onto your concussion, broken 5 ribs, shoulder, wrist, knee, and shattered ankle; you crushed 4 more ribs, you broke your right cheekbone, and you shattered your left hipbone. To top all that off, you have more than a dozen long gashes on your back and chest that makes it look like you really did get attacked by a weed whacker. For your skull, I don't know if you fractured it or not, but just in case, promise you will be really careful not to get anymore head injuries."

"Alright, I promise to try not to get anymore head injuries. But all that doesn't sound so good."

"I told you so, now stay still so I can bandage those gashes and your head and also so I can splint your shoulder, wrist, midsection for your ribs, knee, and ankle. With any luck, there is no infection in the wounds so hopefully, they won't kill you."

With that pleasant thought, Annabeth began to bandage Percy's many wounds. It hurt so bad his vision began to narrow and darken, and he knew that he was seconds away from passing out again. Remembering Annabeth's advice not to black out, he started to take deep breaths to try return his vision back to normal, but when that didn't work, he seized Annabeth's hand and squeezed as hard as he could.

"Ow, Percy! Jeez, are you trying to break my wrist to match yours?"

"Sorry, Annabeth. Are you done yet?"

"Almost, just a few more minutes."

Those few minutes felt like an eternity of agony. Wave after wave of excruciating pain surfed across his mind until finally, Annabeth was done.

"That's the best I can do with just your shirt to use as bandages and splints. But at least I was able to stop most of the bleeding from the gashes and set the bones properly. Since we are half-god as well as half-human, we heal a little bit faster than regular mortals but not nearly as fast as gods, so you will heal anywhere from 2 to 8 weeks. Hopefully, we will live long enough to see how fast your bones heal."

"Great, I get 2 months of agonizing pain. Fantastic."

"We will just have to manage the best we can, hopefully somewhere down here, there are some real medical supplies and ambrosia and nectar. Anyway, do you think you can stand up and walk/hobble, because I really don't think it's wise to stay here for much longer."

"I can try."

With that, Percy tried to stand, trying to put most of the weight on his right leg because of his broken left hip, but that wasn't much better because he still had a broken right kneecap that absolutely did not want weight being put on it. Since that didn't work, Percy tried to put his arms on the ground and push himself up that way, but when someone has 9 busted ribs, a broken wrist, and a broken shoulder, that way hurts worse than putting weight on his broken knee. To make things worse, Percy felt his gashes split open and start gushing blood again.

Percy's sea-green eyes crossed in pain and he turned a nasty shade of green. He gasped out in pain and his eyes filled with tears of agony.

"Percy! Oh gods, are you all right?

"I think so; gods, that hurt!"

"I'm so sorry to push you like this, but we really do have to move, I can feel something coming, and I know it's not friendly. Come here, I'll help you up."

Annabeth bent down to help lift Percy off the ground where he currently was moaning in pain, and that's when she saw the blood. It was coming out of Percy at an alarming rate and he was turning from green to grey. She took a deep breath and lifted him off the ground and helped him stay on his feet.

Percy looked down at his body and saw how bad he really was. His shoulder was wrapped up tight and he knew he would never be able to lift that arm in a fight, his wrist was splinted so it was immobile, his skull was wrapped many times in bandages so it felt strangely heavy, his ankle splinted like Annabeth's had been when she had broken hers, with two pieces of wood bound by bandages rather than Bubble Wrap, and his knee held straight by a cast-like bandage. But the worst thing was his ribs, the gash that ran from the middle of his chest to his right hip was loosely bound and he saw some of his busted ribs poking from the bandage. He knew he still had a badly broken left hip and right cheekbone that couldn't be splinted, and he didn't want to even know how swollen they were or what the gashes on his back looked like.

"I really don't look too good, do I?"

"No, no you don't. Come on Seaweed Brain, I'll help you walk. But don't even mention my ankle, because nothing will stop me from helping you get along, especially since these injuries are my fault. Now don't even bother to reply, save your strength for walking, you'll need it."

With that, they set off to escape the field of barbed wire and to find the Doors of Death. Annabeth was practically dragging Percy along, while he did his best to stay conscious and semi-alert for any monsters that may come out and attack them. Naturally, that is just what happened.

After walking/hobbling about 2 miles, the barbed wire field finally came to an end and was replaced by a forest of twisting moving trees that had razor branches attached to them. If that wasn't bad enough there were cobwebs everywhere and miniature spiders swung from tree to tree. Just when things couldn't get any worse, a familiar voice that they thought they would never have to hear again, spoke and a terrifying figure appeared.

"Well done Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase; you have managed to separate yourselves from your friends and lose the majority of your weapons and supplies. I may not have the Curse of Achilles anymore to protect me, but neither do you. Finally, I can defeat you with the help of my beloved immortal servant who hates the gods as much as I do!"

As the last word echoed around them, Arachne appeared behind the trees, perfectly fine, but that wasn't even the scariest part, her eyes were solid gold. Percy had only seen those eyes once before but he would never forget them; they had belonged to Luke at the time, who was possessed by Kronos, the lord of time, and the most evil Titan there ever was. Kronos was here now, possessing Arachne, determined to kill them once and for all.