Chapter One

Percy

Percy's mind went blank as he fell, down, down, down, into a never-ending abyss. His hand was still intertwined with Annabeth's. It was hard to breathe and after a while Percy was holding his breath. For what seemed like hours, there was only darkness around him. He hadn't even tried looking up or down, figuring he'd get sick. As he whirled down, the wind howled in his ears. His mind went blank. Everything faded away except for Annabeth's hand in his.

Hitting the ground hurt more than anything else Percy had ever experienced. You know how people say it feels like hitting gravel when you fall from a high spot into water? Well it felt like that, only they were hitting gravel, not water. Percy would've controlled the water.

Annabeth moaned, holding her ankle. It was already broken, and now it might be worse. Her body shook with fear and pain. Percy wished he were still invulnerable. Then he would've been able to help Annabeth. Instead, he could lift his head. They stayed there laying flat on their backs, and the whole time, Percy regretting letting go. He should've pulled Annabeth up. He should've held on until help came. He should've done so many things, but instead he was stupid and let go. Yet somewhere deep down he knew that it had been his only option.

After an hour or so of drowsiness and moping, Percy sat up and looked at his surroundings. He immediately felt nauseous, but fought the urge to lay back down. All around him was black. There were black tunnels leading off into places still unknown to Percy. It reminded him of the labyrinth. At that moment he swore that he would never separate from Annabeth. Ever.

"Percy? Are you okay?" Annabeth whispered. She moved her hand and Percy saw how red and swollen and broken her ankle looked.

"I'm fine," Percy responded unsurely, "but are you? That ankle looks-"

"Percy, I'll be fine, okay? We should get going." Annabeth stood, but stumbled and lost her balance, falling into Percy, who caught her.

"Thanks," she muttered as she tried to stand again. She kissed him lightly on the lips. Just then, they heard a voice.

"Well, well. Look who's finally here. Oh, you are just too easy. Far too easy. You followed the plan precisely." The voice sounded very familiar to Percy. It was the voice that sounded like a blade on steel. It was the voice of Gaea.

"You two are like dolls!" She said. Percy looked around to see where the voice was coming from, but Gaea was invisible to Percy. She continued,

"You are just in time. I will have my tributes. Two shall die. One male, one female. Would you like to die, the two of you? Or will you be selfish and let the others die? Oh, the glory of causing discord! It pleases me greatly.

"Anyway, your little friends are too sailing straight into my trap. They will do anything to save the two of you. Possibly even kill themselves as sacrifices to me. They might even join me. Then the two of you will live with guilt and shame rested upon your shoulders until the end of your days. Then you will go to the underworld, now controlled by me, and live on forever in terror." Gaea laughed harshly.

"Look at them now! Just look at them! Wasting time, speaking of losing their best warriors. That's you. Oh, don't you feel the guilt rushing in? Do you?" An image appeared in front of Percy and Annabeth. It showed hazel, Frank, Jason, Piper, Nico, and Leo. Hazel's head was in her hands and she was sobbing. Piper was sniffled and said,

"I should've helped." Then Jason put his arm around her. She shook him away.

"You could've helped too. You could've flown." Piper looked at him questioningly.

"Why didn't you?" She asked. Jason sighed deeply. Percy felt sorry for him. He knew how that felt from past experiences.

"Piper, I'm sorry I didn't, and now I know I could've. I've felt bad the whole time knowing that I should've caught them. I'm really sorry, everybody. I'm sorry that we just lost our two best fighters." The image faded. Percy and Annabeth glanced at each, both of them skeptical. Was this really true? Or was Gaea making up these images to manipulate them?