My arm felt like it was being ripped clean out of his its socket. Annabeth didn't weigh all that much (years of combat training had made us both lean and strong), but our combined weight was just too much for my finger grip on the ledge. I was being pulled in two different directions. I wanted desperately to get a better grip on the ledge, but I was afraid that if I loosened my fingertips, I would lose the little hold I had. The pull of Tartarus added to the pressure attempting to rip Annabeth away from me, and after everything, I didn't have the strength to hold out against it much longer. It was just too strong.

Somewhere above my head, I could hear Hazel shrieking like a banshee, calling for our friends, I thought. I looked up, towards the faint light of the sky, the bulk of the Argo II, and saw Nico's terrified face. He was reaching for me, but there was at least a dozen feet of empty space between us; he couldn't help.

"Percy..."

I dropped my gaze back down to Annabeth, dangling in the blackness, looking like a mangled angel against the evil below her feet. I could just make out the bubble-wrap cast on her left ankle and the spider-web that was doing its best to drag her down. She was visibly exhausted, so drained that she couldn't even grip my hand back. My rock-like hold on her wrist was the only thing keeping her from falling all the way into the pit and leaving me.

"Let me go," she said in a horrible voice. It sounded like buckets of dust had gathered in her lungs. My heart fluttered angrily; Arachne and Athena would pay for doing this to her... "You can't pull me up."

She stared up at me with horror-filled eyes, and I was sure my own eyes mirrored that emotion. I knew Nico, Hazel, and the others wouldn't be able to help us; only Jason could really do anything and he was nowhere in sight. We wouldn't be getting back up to the ship; I knew that. But that didn't mean I had to give up.

"Never," I told her firmly, trying to tell her with my eyes that everything would be all right, even though I doubted it. Her expression of sadness and hopelessness nearly broke my heart, and I quickly looked back up at Nico. "The other side, Nico!" I yelled, hoping he would hear me over the ruckus of the chamber collapsing and the Argos II's engines. "We'll see you there! Understand?"

Even from 15 feet below, I could see his dark eyes widen in surprise, understanding, and terror. "But-" he started.

I didn't let him finish. I could feel my fingers slipping. I didn't have much time to get this through his thick skull. "Lead them there!" I ordered firmly. "Promise me!"

He was terrified, but he nodded. Something wet struck my cheek, startling me. It took me two seconds to realize it was a single tear that could only have come from Nico. "I - I will," he stammered.

I couldn't take any more time with him. I was running out of strength; my fingertips were going numb.

Below Annabeth, I heard a deep, resonating laugh. Sacrifices. Beautiful sacrifices to wake the goddess. It sounded way too happy that we were about to die.

In a last ditch effort I knew was in vain, I gripped Annabeth's wrist tighter and met her eyes. I did my best to hold them the way she always did so easily to me. I wasn't sure if it worked, but I thought I saw a tiny twitch in the corner of her mouth that might have been an almost smile. That and the nearly indiscernible flicker in her glowing gray eyes gave me the strength and conviction to speak and do what I was planning. They convinced me that I would be doing the right thing, and that was all I needed.

"We're staying together," I promised her. My voice wanted to break on the last word, but I wouldn't let it. All the times Annabeth had shown no fear... Now she was terrified and it was my turn to be the rock, the stronghold, the brave one. "You're not getting away from me. Never again."

Understanding dawned on her face and it was like she could read my thoughts. A one-way trip. A very hard fall.

She finally caught hold of my wrist, her sweaty palm pressed against mine. Her act of valor before all the pain ended. She opened her mouth, and I watched her lips form the words as she said, "As long as we're together."

That was all I needed to hear. As one, we looked up to see the sunlight... possibly for the last time. Hazel and Nico were still trying to get to us, refusing to give up. I almost smiled. Nico had always been a stubborn kid.

Then I released my hold on the ledge, pushing myself away from the side of the chasm with all my remaining strength. I surged towards Annabeth as we were pulled down, down, down, down into the endless darkness. Both her hands held tightly in mine, my face only inches from hers, I screamed one last word before my lungs collapsed with the rapidly dropping air pressure: "Together!"

I blacked out.

When I opened my eyes, I sat up instantly, feeling pain and fear at the same time. My body felt like someone had used me as a punching bag and my head spun. But I had lost hold of Annabeth sometime during our fall. I had to find her. Looking around, my vision was filled with darkness, but there was a faintly glowing orange light off to my left, illuminating the cavern I had landed in just enough for me to glimpse Annabeth.

She lay not far from me, but she wasn't moving.

Staggering over on my hands and knees, I slammed my ear down against her chest, forgetting any embarrassment I might have felt at any other time. A steady, firm, very alive heartbeat thudded inside her, filling me with relief. I lifted my head and stared down at her face. Scratches and cuts covered her skin; spider webs hung off her body, which I quickly swept away; her bottom lip had split open. But even in that condition, when she opened her eyes and met mine, I thought she had never looked so beautiful. A tiny smile blossomed on her face, and my heart leapt and started beating double-time.

I gasped her name and clumsily gathered her into my arms, hugging her tightly to my body, trying to touch all of her at once, trying to feel her warmth everywhere. She was alive. I was alive. And we were together. Suddenly, I felt her grab a handful of my hair and yank my head out of her shoulder. She smashed her cut lips against mine and gave a quiet whimper of pain. I tried to pull away, but she breathed "No," and kept right on kissing me. When she parted our lips to take a breath, she whispered in a rush, "Oh, my gods, we're still alive! We... we... almost died! I love you!"

I smiled against her lips. "I love you, Annabeth."

She wrapped herself tighter around me, and we held each other. We only pulled apart when we began hearing ominous sounds that could only be caused by monsters. Holding hands again, we stood together. We both wobbled unsteadily, used the other for support, and tried to get our bearings. I pulled Riptide out of my pocket with my free hand and uncapped it; its Celestial Bronze glow light up the massive cavern a little bit more, enough for Annabeth to see something she never expected to see again.

"My dagger!" she said incredulously. Its point was sticking into the ground not far from where she had landed. She walked to it, tugging me along with her, and picked it up. Now both of us were armed.

Hastily, I capped Riptide and shoved it into my pocket again. Annabeth gave me a strange look in the half-light, wondering what I was doing. She probably thought I was suicidal now. Knowing that there wouldn't be much time for it in the coming minutes, hours, days, I let go of her hand. She had a second to look absolutely terrified, then I moved. Fast, faster than I had ever done anything before, I cupped one hand around Annabeth's neck, my thumb in the hollow under her ear, and laid the other on her dirty curls. I closed my eyes and kissed her hard, murmuring "I. Love. You." each time I shifted my mouth. I wouldn't have time to tell her how much she means to me later, so I did it now.

I pulled away, uncapped Riptide again, and gripped Annabeth's hand. She squeezed my hand. I flashed her a reassuring smile. And we walked into the most dangerous place in the universe.

We didn't know how we had survived the fall. We didn't know how we would get to the Doors of Death. We didn't know how we could possibly fight the monsters we would meet when we were literally in their element. We didn't know where our friends were or if they would make it on their end. We didn't know how to lock the Doors of Death. We didn't know if we would live the next ten minutes.

But we were together and when we were together, we had always gotten out of the horrible situations life, Gaea, and the gods had thrown at us. We would be all right. In the end. Because we... were...

Together.