Sorry I've been dead so long. I've recently picked up writing again. As you can probably tell, I have off times and on times, but it usually works out in the end. I've pumped out a bunch of oneshots these past couple of days. Some of them are good, some of them are bad. Oh well. :P

Anyways, the setting below is supposed to be right after Percy and Annabeth get out of Tartarus and back on the Argo II.

Tartarus. It was a hot, desolate place where even the worst of creatures go to die. The glass sand, the fire rivers, and even the ground; everything here was designed to hurt and kill.

Percy felt the glass on the ground crush under his feet as his recurring dreams brought him back to this horrid place.

Why aren't I done? Percy thought to himself.

There is no 'being done' with Tartarus, a voice in the back of his mind said.

Percy found that he was holding Riptide in his hand. The dark bronze color of the blade emitted a generous amount of light, illuminating the hell of hell.

Percy tensed as he felt something move behind him. A dark blur of a creature pounced on him, but Percy's fine-tuned reflexes were too quick. He brought up his sword at the last second and the creature that had rushed him crumbled to dust in the air.

"Percy, help!"

The voice was unmistakable.

Percy turned towards the sound of the voice, only to be horrified. Dangling from a long strand of spider web was Annabeth.

"I'm coming!" Percy called frantically as he raced towards his entangled girlfriend.

Just as he was in a sword's length of her, the ground beneath him sunk, causing his feet to implant themselves, restricting his movement.

"Oh no you're not," a hissy voice spoke.

"Arachne," Percy muttered.

"Did you really think I would be defeated that easily?" Arachne clicked her pincers together. Her menacing, black eyes shone with lust.

"Let her go," Percy said darkly. It was hard for him to sound threatening when most of his thoughts were consumed with worry for Annabeth.

What would Annabeth do? He thought to himself.

Distract and overcome? The seemed like Annabeth.

"Dear me, it's going to absolutely pain me to watch you in so much grief," Arachne hissed.

"What do you mean?" Percy spat.

"Oh, you know, when I devour the soul of your friend here. You know, it'll be so much fun with you watching! You get to share with me her last moments!" she clicked her pincers and swiftly moved to face Annabeth.

Pros: His arms were still free, meaning he could still use his sword; he might even be able to throw it.

Cons: his legs weren't going anywhere, so neither was he. On top of that, there was a gigantic spider lady about to eat probably the only thing that kept him going down here at the end of ends.

"Hey Arachne!" Percy called. The spider woman had plucked Annabeth off the thread of spider silk and was dangling her between two of her long spider legs.

Arachne turned towards Percy, brandishing Annabeth like a weapon. Her mouth was bound with silk and there were tears streaming from her eyes. She tried to say something, but it came out as a muffled yell.

"Oh, silly me, I forgot you can't share you oh so precious last words," Arachne sighed. "Well, I'm feeling generous today, so let me help you with that."

In one swift movement, the silk covering Annabeth's mouth was gone.

"Percy? Oh my gods," Annabeth stuttered.

"Don't worry, I'll find a way to save you," Percy said desparately.

"Percy," she said sadly. "If this really is the last time I'm going to see you…" she trailed off, choking up.

"Aww," Arachne cooed. "That's sweet. It's too bad I hate sweet," she snarled. She grabbed Annabeth by the feet and lifted her to her mouth. Annabeth screamed.

"No! Percy, I just want you to know that—"

Arachne dropped Annabeth into her mouth and chewed.

Percy could hear Annabeth's screams from inside Arachne's mouth echoing in his head.

His eyes fluttered open.

"Percy!" Someone called frantically. "Are you okay? Open the door!"

Percy scrambled out of bed and opened the door to his room on the Argo II.

Jason looked tired and worried.

"Are you okay? You were screaming so loud I could hear you from my room. You and Annabeth both."

"Annabeth…" Percy's face lost all color. He pushed past a confused Jason and raced towards Annabeth's room.

He didn't have to run far, for Annabeth seemed to have the same idea.

"Percy… water… the fire… you… couldn't swim… couldn't save you…" Annabeth said through gasps for air and sobs.

Percy wrapped her in his arms, holding her tight.

"I saw you get eaten by Arachne," he said grimly.

The two didn't notice the rest of their friends as they crept up on them cautiously.

"It's okay, everyone is alright," Piper spoke softly, using her charmspeak.

Annabeth stopped sobbing and Percy stopped shaking. They didn't let go of each other, but they had calmed down.

"Are you guys okay?" Leo asked. "Uh, I could, like, put on some music or start a dance part or something. Anything to get you guys to stop thinking about Tartar—"

"Leo!" Jason cut him off.

"Sorry…" Leo said somberly. "I'll just go fix the ship or something…" he moaned slightly as he dragged himself up the bronze stairs.

"So… uh…" Jason cleared his throat. "None of us have ever really been to Tartarus, much less been there and returned, so we don't really understand how hard it is or what you guys are going through."

"Think of it this way, we may have been able to leave the actual place, but the spirit of Tartarus never wanted us to leave. We were supposed to die down there. He's haunting our dreams with visual representations of our greatest fears." Percy's face looked grim.

"Okay, is there anything we can do?"

Percy shook his head.

"No, I don't think there is," Annabeth spoke softly.

Jason got a good look at the two of them. Sure, they were still Percy and Annabeth, two of his best friends ever, but there was just something… off about them. Something had definitely changed since their time in Tartarus. Huge bags under their eyes indicated that they got little to no sleep.

"Why don't you guys just sleep together?" Frank said, his ears turning bright red after realizing what he said. "Wait, that didn't come out right," he tried to save himself.

"You don't say," Jason mumbled.

The awkwardness in the room was almost thick enough that one could reach out and touch it.

"He might be onto something," Piper said with an air of curiosity.

"Psh, coming from the daughter of love," chuckled Hazel. "Of course you would be interested in people sleeping together."

With Hazel being from the past, of course this idea seemed scandalous to her.

"Well, I'm just saying," Frank went on. "If you guys are constantly having dreams about each other being in great danger or dying or whatever, wouldn't you find more comfort being closer? I mean, I'm not implying that you guys would… you know… do anything, but still, we need two of our top demigods in top condition."

"I guess so," Annabeth sniffled. "But isn't that against the rules?"

"I don't see why it would hurt anybody," Piper said cheerfully. "But no, eh, funny business," she directed this mainly towards Percy, who blushed slightly.

"Um," started Percy. "Are you sure this is a good idea? I mean, I don't have a problem with it, as long as you don't," he gave Annabeth a little squeeze and looked down at her.

"To be honest, I'd feel a lot safer," she said. "And I'd be able to keep a closer eye on you to make sure you don't go blow yourself up or something stupid like that." Annabeth laughed a little. It was only a light laugh, but it lightened the mood in the cramped corridor ten-fold.

"Oh ha-ha," Percy mocked.

"Alright then, you two sleep up. Good night," Piper said. Jason gave Percy a look as if to say: Don't try anything stupid, as Piper dragged him upstairs.

Percy and Annabeth settled into bed in Percy's room.

"This is nice," Percy admitted as Annabeth snuggled into him.

"Yeah," Annabeth said groggily, sleep already starting to overtake her.

"Good night," Percy said, kissing the top of her head.

"'night," she mumbled.

The rest of the night was quiet and peaceful.

Review please? :3