Annabeth was amazed. Sure, she'd seen Percy control water plenty of times before, but here in the Underworld? She had been sure his powers wouldn't work down here. But here they were, on the brink of Tartarus, and somewhat alive. She also couldn't believe how fast Percy had planned everything out. Annabeth was usually the one with a plan. It had felt like everything had happened so quickly. One minute they're facing a mob of Earthborn, and the next they're flying wildly across the desert. Oh, by the way, Percy's amazing explosion has now covered most of Tartarus in a land-locked ocean. It was a lot to take in, seeing how the whole scenario has taken place within five minutes. The current problem, however, was trying to figure out where to head now.

With a bit of tugging and pulling on Riptide, the sword came loose from the chunk of rock. Annabeth looked into the distance, expecting to see more sand or ocean. Instead, she saw trees. A wide, thick, and extremely dark forest. "You know what I see out there?" she asked Percy. "Let me guess: more sand?" "Nope, I see a forest." "What?" Percy came up the small dune to get a better look. "Well," he said, "that seems a bit random, don't you think?" Annabeth shrugged, "It's better than desert. Besides, you'd think Tartarus would be separated into different environments." "True." Annabeth looked out to the dark green trees. It would be even darker in there than out here, what with the trees looming overhead. They trekked over the dunes of sand to the edge of the forest. "Will we even be able to see where we're going?" Percy asked. "I don't know. At least we won't see anything better than we can see now. That's for sure." Percy took Annabeth's hand, then said, "Well, in that case, we'll need to stay together." He turned and looked at her, flashed her that troublemaker's grin, and they set off, guided only by their reassuring grip.

It was even darker than Annabeth had expected. Pitch black, not even a sliver of light came through the trees. Percy took out Riptide, which always cast a dim glow, but the desolate light was not enough to see their direction. When Annabeth tried to look behind them, she could not see the gap where they had entered through. It was if the entire thing had closed them off from the rest of Tartarus. No turning back now.

From the feel of the ground they were walking on, it was the same sand that they had just been on. Annabeth decided that their best bet would just be to keep walking straight, and find the exit. They continued on, holding on to each other so they didn't drift apart. It wasn't long before the sand they had grown so used to grew wet and marshy, squishy and soft. They stopped at the sudden change of landscape. "Um, that's a bit strange, huh?" Percy remarked. He bent down to feel the ground, shifting his hand in Annabeth's. "It's almost like..." he moved a little bit off the trail, "there's something here, it feels a bit like water...but thicker. Almost like..." He stood back up. "Like what?" Annabeth asked, confused. "Almost like it's...alive."

A/N: OK, HERE'S WHERE IT GETS CONFUSING. I AM GOING TO SPLIT THE POVS BETWEEN PERCY AND ANNABETH. WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN IS ANNABETH WILL BE ITALISIZED, AND PERCY WILL BE BOLDED. LIKE THIS: Percy Annabeth GOT IT?THEN LET US CONTINUE:

A split second after Percy said 'alive', I felt something wrap around my ankle, the one that had broken. It didn't feel like any kind of monster, though. It was the water, just like Percy had said. I shook it off and said, "We need to get-"

Annabeth was suddenly yanked right under the surface of the water. I didn't have any time to react, and I lost her hand. "Annabeth!" I yelled, and I dove under the surface of the water.

I was pulled right under, and lost Percy's hand. I could feel something pulling me, some kind of force in the water.

Like I said, it didn't feel like water. It was just thicker, like liquid soap.

I struggled against it, squirming and trying to break free. My knife wouldn't help me in this case.

Strangely enough, you could see better down here than above, and I saw Percy trying to get to me. I pulled as hard as I could and got my arms free so I could try to reach out to him.

I had trouble getting through it, and couldn't control nor breathe in it like I could normal water. I didn't care, though, nor stop and think about it. I had to find Annabeth, before I lost her again. I hadn't gone too far, when I saw her struggling against the force which had dragged her down. I think she saw me too, because she pulled her arms free and reached out. I grabbed her arms and tried to pull her back up.

I was temporarily freed, and dove back up with Percy. We barely broke surface again when I felt it again, and started kicking. "Percy!" I screamed, right before I was gone again. This time, though, I wasn't dragged through, more like pushed and shoved. I couldn't even see upward.

The muck wouldn't even let me under, now, no matter how much I tried. It was like it was pushing me back up, and more importantly, Annabeth down. And I know what you're thinking, how is the water even stopping you? The entire lake just felt like it was freezing up or something, becoming a solid barrier.

We were being pushed apart, and I couldn't break free or go around the opposing force. After pushing against the current, along with holding my breath for so long, I blacked out from exhaustion and oxygen deprivation.

Then as suddenly as it froze, it started melting and I broke through as fast as I could. I dove down and searched for Annabeth. I almost forgot I couldn't breathe in this water, so I returned to the surface for air, then dove right back down. Up, down, up, down. At long last, I decided it was hopeless. Annabeth wasn't down there.

...

I collapsed on the beach, exhausted. How could I have been so stupid?! I'd let her slip right through my fingertips, literally. And now, Annabeth was gone, probably forever, and it was my fault.

I didn't know what I was going to do now. Gaea had beaten us. With these thoughts, I finally blacked out on the shore of the cursed lake. It was over.

A/N: SO THAT'S IT, FOLKS! LOOK FOR THE SEQUEL, DOWN TO TARTARUS PART 2, COMING SOON! :D