The House of Hades

Disclaimer: Annabeth says I'm not Rick Riordan and she's the smartest demigod alive, so I probably don't own this.

ANNABETH I

ANNABETH GRIPPED PERCY'S HAND, she was incredibly familiar by the grove of his palm and his long slender fingers, and how it fit perfectly against hers. Annabeth had no idea how long she'd been holding Percy's hand, time was undistinguishable in Tartarus, Annabeth could have been there with Percy for five minutes or eternity, all she knew was she'd been holding his hand since the fall.

Both of them had survived, that's all that mattered, neither of them had cuts or bruises caused from the fall, Annabeth already had a broken ankle.

Saying Tartarus was dark was an understatement, it was a child's nightmare, dark and with the constant fear that the worse is yet to come, as if it was waiting for the Grand Finale.

Annabeth would have been blinded if it wasn't for the light being given off by Daedalus' laptop. After landing in the debris she scavenged around and managed to find her bag. Miraculously the laptop was in perfect condition, she was half expecting it to be in several fragments. Apart from being full with an infinite amount of ideas, the best thing about Daedalus' laptop is that it never ran out of energy, nor needed signal to operate. One day she'll thank her half-brother for that.

Arachne was nowhere to be found. Annabeth was unsure whether to be relieved or be paranoid. She managed to finally get rid of the cobweb being attached to her foot. She was terrified for her next encounter with Arachne. But right now, she was with Percy, and even in the depths of Tartarus that made her strong.

In myths which Annabeth had studied, she knew it took nine days and nine nights to reach the centre of Tartarus. Although nothing ever mentioned where the Doors of Death were in Tartarus, so Annabeth would have to use common sense rather than her memory of myths. Plus the myths were are sometimes widely inaccurate; they describe Hera in positive words.

Percy was frantically looking out the room, as if seeing if there was a door marked exit. Annabeth knew he disliked small spaces, she remember on their first quest together he wasn't too keen about going underground, however she'd never seen him this nervous. His eyes flickered to every corner, although due to the darkness you could barely see five foot in front of you. And Annabeth knew Percy was never afraid of the dark.

Annabeth wondered if things changed when Percy went on a quest with Frank and Hazel. She made a note to herself to ask him that later. Percy's welfare was more important first though.

"Percy are you al-"Annabeth's sentence got interrupted by a shattering groan and she flinched. Annabeth knew only the sound coming from Tartarus could be that powerful.

Another thing that made Annabeth nervous, aside from Percy not being his usual Seaweed Brain self was Tartarus. She knew the myths of Tartarus being a dark cavern, however she also knew Tartarus was father of the Giants and if they had to face Tartarus, a just as powerful being as Gaia, it would be bad. Annabeth knew Tartarus was neutral in the first Giant War and allowed the Gods to encase the Giants, except this wasn't the first Giant War, circumstances were different. Annabeth knew the likelihoods of winning a fight with Tartarus was non-existent.

But a part of her, a small voice thought maybe they could. She and Percy had collected the Lightning bolt for Zeus, sailed through the Sea of Monsters and rescued the Golden Fleece, they had put up with the weight of the sky – survived the Titan's Curse, survived the labyrinth and won the war against Kronos. They had done so much very little things seemed impossible, especially with Percy by her side. They were invincible together.

Tartarus seemed quiet, dangerously quiet. Percy had filled in Annabeth about Nico, and his journey into Tartarus. The child of Hades seemed tough despite his appearance, he was moody but Nico had been through a lot- the loss of his sister at the age of 10 and the possibility of being a child of the great prophecy. The thought of Nico being broken by Tartarus was terrifying, Annabeth had reached her terror limit with Arachne.

Nico's experience of Tartarus didn't match with Percy's and Annabeth's, Nico got attacked by Gaia's forces straight away and they overwhelmed him. There must have been hundreds of monsters dying to kill Percy and Annabeth, to seek revenge; after all they had slayed a large amount of monsters in their 16 years of life. Where was Medusa, the Minotaur, the dracnaes, the empousas?

Annabeth and Percy had been at Tartarus for a few hours perhaps and there had been no sighting or sound of a monster, aside from the constant groaning of Tartarus.

Annabeth had been at the edge of Tartarus once before, she was twelve then, and she felt a suction forcing her to the centre. Now, Annabeth knew she was definitely in Tartarus, except the pull had faded. As if Tartarus was daring for Annabeth and Percy to walk to the centre themselves, to test their limits.

Annabeth was willing to accept that challenge.

She hobbled along Tartarus with Percy. She knew they weren't walk around continuously as Tartarus was a one way path, plus even though Annabeth didn't know it was possible, each place was darker than the last. Annabeth just hoped they were getting closer to the Doors of Death.

Annabeth's ankle still throbbed as she continued moving, and every time she tried to move too quickly, she got the searing pain which made her see stars, and she was out of bubble wrap. Luckily she had ambrosia to numb the pain. Ambrosia didn't prevent starvation though, and Annabeth had no idea of the last time her and Percy ate anything or had anything drink.

The odd thing was, in Annabeth's backpack before she fell into Tartarus all she had was the laptop, a water bottle, some string, a few pieces of ambrosia and a few remaining matches. However now, her bronze dagger was placed in there, with the cursed silver coin, more string, her Yankee hat and a cornucopia. Annabeth was positive it wasn't Piper's cornucopia, it looked older and more used, it must have been the original one; the one Heracles gave to Hera.

This lead Annabeth to deduct it must have been Hera who magically equipped her backpack before it fell into Tartarus. Admittedly she didn't feel too grateful, Annabeth would have preferred herself and Percy to have not dropped in to the evil pits of Tartarus, although a well-equipped backpack was the next best thing. Annabeth knew that none of the gods would give them any help now, Tartarus was a no god zone, and they weren't that crazy to enter Tartarus.

Annabeth and Percy were alone.

Percy gave her hand a squeeze, and by the light of Daedalus' laptop he looked perfect. His black hair was messy and his sea green eyes had the slight mischievous glint that Annabeth fell in love with. He looked scared and his cocky grin was missing.

"Thank you," Annabeth whispered. She thanked the gods that she had seaweed brain in her life, not just for sticking with her in endless darkness, just for being part of her life.

Percy smiled and it made Annabeth's heart flutter. "This place could really use some interior decorating, huh?"

Annabeth laughed. It felt as if she hadn't laughed in aeons,"Perhaps more effective lighting and maybe some pillars to add some ancient sophistication."

Annabeth and Percy went into a conversation of the architectural needs of Tartarus, this varied from pink flamingo lights, to disco balls, comfy beanbag chairs, and a map, with an X marked on saying 'You are here'. Just in case a lost demigod or two, got sucked into Tartarus and needed to find the Doors of Death or needed to know where Gaia's forces were hiding

"What do you think the others are doing?" Percy asked.

Annabeth felt guilty, she had been so absorbed thinking other things she completely forgot about the prophecy and the others on board the Argo II. She started thinking aloud.

She presumed Leo would be with the Archimedes sphere, Annabeth was almost seething with jealousy she never saw it, the answers it would hold excited Annabeth. Jason would most likely be devising a plan, swapping information with Nico. Coach Hedge would probably be engrossed with a new television show, changing the theme tune into something that involved killing monsters. Hazel and Nico would be exchanging notes to the others about what they knew about their father and the doors of death. Piper would be checking her dagger to learn information about the situation between the camps, Percy and Annabeth, and Frank was maybe suggesting battle strategies – according to Percy he was talented at that. She started hoping the bane of Athena would be placed where it rightfully belonged; she hadn't gone on the quest for nothing. And then there was the issue between the two camps, a Civil War brewing in the midst.

Percy whistled, "Do you always think this much?"

"Nope, just a dumb blonde."

"Yeah, I just call your Wise Girl for nothing," Percy grinned.

They continued walking for a while, their hands swinging to the rhythm of their walking, until Percy asked, "This isn't right, is it?"

"What's not right?" Annabeth asked. Being a demigod there's a lot of 'not rights' like it isn't right that a bunch of teenagers disagree cause Civil Wars or the fate of the world depending on seven teenagers.

"I was thinking about Luke," Percy began. Annabeth tensed at the sound of Luke's name, he was still a soft spot for Annabeth, "And about being pawns of the Gods."

Annabeth nodded, Percy had a point, "Percy, we can't resent the Gods. They may not always be right, but would you rather be Gaia's pawn or the Gods' pawn?"

Percy frowned, Annabeth knew he'd rather fight on his own accord, and after a moment of silence he shrugged his shoulders and muttered quietly, "I guess I'm just tired."

It sent a shiver up Annabeth's spine. She remembered having a conversation with Luke about being tired. It was a few days after he received his scars, at the time she claimed she understood, although she assumed she knew everything, when there was so much more to learn. It was a similar conversation to the one she had with Percy. With Luke she agreed, she didn't want to cause conflict between her and Luke as she was harbouring a crush as big as the Argo II. She wasn't going to make the same mistake with Percy.

Annabeth hated the look of defeat in Percy's eyes, the boy usually had so much energy and Annabeth envied him for that, in the toughest of times Percy came up with his most sarcastic, funniest comments. Now he looked tired, Annabeth admitted she was tired too, after saving the world once and losing someone close to her, she didn't want to go through that again.

Alas, the fates couldn't resist making her share the destiny on the universe on hers', Percy's and five other demigods' shoulders. She squeezed Percy's hand, "At least we have each other."

"I love you Annabeth Chase."

"I love you too Perseus Jackson."

She leant in to kiss her boyfriend smiling, she wrapped her arms around his neck but before her lips could graze his Tartarus emitted a roar that a lion would be proud of. Seriously? Annabeth thought.

"For the love of Poseidon, you've got to be kidding me" Annabeth heard her boyfriend murmur.

The ground shuttered and Annabeth grasped onto Percy's hand like it was life itself, her nails digging into Percy's palm. Annabeth knew they were being drawn further into Tartarus. The suction was like gravity, impossible to defy, the force was too great.

Percy reached into his pocket with his right hand, his left hand still clutching Annabeth's. He uncapped his pen which formed into Riptide. He looked handsomely brave, as if he was born for battle. Annabeth drew her dagger with her left she knew she had to let go of Percy's hand when the fighting commenced.

The force was dragging them at impossible speeds. Annabeth composed herself for the second time she fell deeper into Tartarus. With this fall it makes them closer to the Doors of Death and escaping Tartarus, even if it included destroying a whole legion of monsters. She and Percy will see the others again.

She gazed into the familiar sea green eyes before the darkness overwhelmed her.

Note: In case you decided to reread this, or you just enjoy staring at fanfictions for fun and realise that there's something slightly different, there is, I've swapped Jason's and Annabeth's chapters around, I had to do this so it works later on in the story.

In no particular order the POVs will be Frank, Jason, Hazel, Reyna and Annabeth. Reyna has a point of view included, to keep everyone updated on possibly what may be the next Civil War.