We Land At The House Of Hades
Annabeth's POV
We were falling. And falling. And falling. Me and Percy, we were falling into Tartarus, but it seemed endless. I kept wondering when my feet would touch the ground- oh, right. Tartarus has no ground. I shrugged, quickly going into Wise Girl mode. At the terminal velocity at which we were falling, it meant that the air pressure, if combined with energy, might zap us out of here. Simple physics. Except there was NO energy here. Darkness and silence. I could only just make out Percy's face. "So this is it? We keep falling till forever, or what?" Percy demanded. I nodded. "Yeah, We keep falling till the gods realise we aren't dead and send us back." I told him. And as I said this, a hot wind blasted my face. A hot, dry wind that felt ominous. I clutched Percy's hand. "Annabeth. Don't get scared. We'll face this together." He instructed me. The wind, meanwhile, got fiercer and was whipping us. It whirled around us like a hurricane. It got fiercer until finally, it stopped. Then the pressure stopped and I was falling like a cork. And then, my feet slammed into something hard. I tried to land on my feet, which didn't go too well.
My feet bent with a sickening crunch and I fell to my knees. I tried to get up but- oh gods! My legs… what happened to them? They were red, swollen and bruised. Plus, they weren't exactly pointing the way they should- ouch. I scanned the place for Percy. I couldn't see him, but I could hear him. Calling for me. "I'm right here, Percy." I yelled back. He appeared by my side and helped me get up. I was speaking to him when a horrible red glow cast everywhere. It illuminated the place. It also illuminated a tall, grave black house in front of us.
"What the Hades-" I gasped. This wasn't right. Something about this was definitely off. "You are right, demigod." I heard an oily voice grumble behind me. I nearly fell down in shock, but Percy steadied me. "Who are you? And what do you mean?" he asked, keeping Riptide at the ready. "That sword shall not harm me, demigod." The same voice said coldly and a figure came into the light. I had no idea who that was. It was a sinister looking person with pale skin, greasy black hair, cruel eyes and was wearing a black suit. Pained faces seemed to leap out of his suit and his face showed a kind of cruel, crazy power. I didn't recognize him but apparently Percy did, because his arms tightened around me. Then the man's form flickered and he turned into a tall, deadly looking man with greasy black hair, cold black eyes, a gilded gold circlet and black robes like a kaftan with an overcoat. Hades. "WHAT? What's going on? Why are we here? And what IS this place?" I screamed at Hades. Hades simply snapped his fingers and my feet healed. "You have been brought here for a reason. This place is my only sanctuary. It is hidden from the other gods, for some dark magic persists here, that is beyond even my control. If the other gods knew, they would surely make me destroy it. And this, mortal, is the House Of Hades."