"AAAAAAH!" we continued to scream even as we landed gently on the ground of Tartarus. Apparently there's something that stops you from dying if you land inside it. Kind of useless I think, considering the typical inmate is already dead. My hand was still intertwined in Annabeth's and I looked over to make sure she was okay. She was sitting up beside me, her dagger out in one hand, her eyes alert. I took out Riptide. Better safe then sorry.
"You alright?" She was questioning me, making sure I was okay, but her eyes were still checking out the area. We were in a large empty cave, the walls and ground all a dusty brown. It looked like the ceiling could collapse any minute. I swallowed hard. I'm not really claustrophobic, but a cave at the center of the Earth like this could freak out Hades himself.
" I think we're alone in here." I leaned back on my elbows, and so did Annabeth. She finally looked me in the eyes, her guard down, and we both began to laugh. I wrapped my arms around her and leaned over her, trying to be romantic, but I rolled over too far and just ended up on the other side of her, hurting my arm. "Ow." I rubbed my elbow.
"Seaweed brain." She said, laughing, and she kissed me on the head. "So you can fight off giants but you can't seem to kiss your girlfriend."
"It's not an easy job when she's a daughter of Athena."
"Is that so?"
"So smart, and strong," I said kissing her on every word, "not to mention intimidating."
Annabeth rolled over on top of me with perfection. "Is this intimidating?"
"A little." She kissed me once more and then rolled back over to her side. "So what are we gonna do. I'm sure these walls can be broken down if we find a weak point, then we can just fight through Tartarus and get to the doors of death. It'll be easy, I think if we-" Annabeth stopped talking, glaring at me with her stormy grey eyes. "What are you doing?"
I was digging through the bag that she had on her back. "A man's gotta eat." I found a power bar and sat up, splitting it in half. We shared the bar in silence, enjoying each others company.
"We're stuck in Hell and all you can think about is food. Typical." She rolled her eyes, a look I was used to. She stood up, brushing dust off her shorts, and began to walk towards the edge of the room. I stood up and grabbed her around the waist.
"No. I'm alone in a room with my girlfriend, finally safe after a day of battle. I could have lost you." I spun her around. We had been separated, and the whole time all I could think about was her- what I would do if she was gone. I couldn't live without her.
"I love you." She held onto me and I held her tight, letting no space come between us. We'd be fighting our way through monster and demons soon but for the moment we were together and safe. The calm before the storm.
"How long do you think it will take before the others find the doors to death?" I looked up, smiling.
"Probably a while. They're going to be hopelessly lost without me."
"And how much supplies do we have?"
"Enough to last around 2 weeks. I packed heavy."
"So what's stopping us from relaxing for a week and starting the treacherous journey late?"
"Absolutely nothing."
I grabbed Annabeth again, wrapping my arms around her, holding her tight. the only thing that could have stopped us was Gaia herself.
