"Today marks the second anniversary of the strongest earthquake on record. What made the quake even deadlier was the fact that that the epicenter was in the center of New York City. The 9.8 quake killed over 200 people, and 23 people were never found…"

I tuned out the news broadcast after that. Had it already been two years since that day? Two years since I experienced a hell worse than Tartarus? Two years since they died? I rolled over to my other side and closed my eyes, trying to sleep without the nightmares.

I can still see them, my step-dad Paul, my mother, and Annabeth. Bound and gagged, held hostage by the goddess Akhlys, being tortured right in front of me. She had poisoned me when I came into my mom's apartment, paralyzing me and making it almost impossible to use my powers. I was helpless as I watched as she poisoned, whipped and cut my family.

Akhlys was getting her revenge, from when I almost killed her in Tartarus. I almost suffocated her with her own poison, and she was back and going to do the same to the ones I loved.

I tried all I could to break free of my paralysis. I tried to push the poison through my system. Concentrating it to only one area so the rest of me was free to move. I even tried to push it out of a cut on my forehead, but no luck. All I could do was lay on the floor of my mom's living room while I watched her drag a blade across the cheek of my mom. She poured a poison down Paul's throat that caused him such excruciating pain that I can still hear his screams and pleas for mercy.

What she did to Annabeth, however, will haunt me for the rest of my days. Annabeth was sitting in the middle of a pool of poisons, the same poisons that I almost killed the goddess with. I watched as Annabeth choked on the fumes, slowly dying a painful death. But she didn't get a quick and easy death. When she was on the brink, almost to the point of no return, the poison would pull away and Annabeth would be able to breathe.

I wanted to destroy Akhlys with every fiber of my being, I prayed to all of the gods to help me in some way, but no one answered my prayers, not even my father. I begged them, I even bargained, my life for theirs. I pleaded them to save at least Annabeth, to take me instead.

The first voice to be permanently was Paul. Eventually the poison he was forced to ingest became too much for him and with one final cry for mercy, he fell to the ground and was silent. My mom was the next one to fall victim to this cruel game of revenge. After Akhlys cut into her leg, she put poison into the cut. Within seconds, my mother looked at me one last time, smiled, and told me she loved me. Then she fell to the floor, and she was gone too.

Annabeth was the strongest, or Akhlys wanted to save her for last. By this point my throat was so raw that I could barely speak. I begged Akhlys, pleaded with her to spare Annabeth. I told her I would say or do anything for Annabeth's life, but the goddess only looked at me with an evil smile. She told me, "No one crosses me, now you are going to learn why it was a mistake to make an enemy of me."

She walked over to Annabeth, bent down and grabbed her face and forced Annabeth to look at me. "It's a shame that such a beauty has to die. Especially when she was going to have such good news for you."

"What do you mean Akhlys? What good news?"

The goddess looked at Annabeth, "Go on, tell him."

Annabeth refused to say anything, only clenching her jaw tighter.

Akhlys clicked her tongue, "So stubborn, well I guess I get to do the honors then." She stood up and walked over and kneeled down to get close to my face. "Do you remember how your girlfriend here had a doctor's appointment today?"

"What about it?"

"Well aren't you curious about why she went to the doctor? Well, she went to go have some tests run. Oh, and look, here they are!" She reached up to the table that I had hit my head on earlier and set down a stack of papers in front of my face. At the bottom I saw one word and my stomach plummeted. Pregnant.

I looked up to Annabeth, and there were tears in her eyes. She started shaking her head, "I was going to tell you tonight, but Akhlys..." She choked on her words after that. I felt my anger rise even more, I felt a fire in my belly rage to an inferno. I tried with all of my power to help her somehow. But nothing was happening.

Akhlys came around and sat next to Annabeth again. "Now Percy Jackson, I am going to take everything from you. Then I will kill you slowly. I am going to enjoy this immensely."

In her hand, a vial appeared, it was filled with a dark liquid that looked like liquid death. She held it out and said, "This is the most deadly poison there is. Brewed in the depths of Tartarus. It has a mixture of most venoms from dangerous creatures and poisonous plants in the world. I brewed it especially for this occasion."

She grabbed Annabeth's face and forced her mouth open, and slowly poured the poison down her throat. I could see the pain in her eyes, I started crying and screaming for her. My heart was tearing itself into a thousand pieces. I felt an anger that I had never felt before. My world was shaking, and falling apart.

Akhlys started looking around, with a scared look on her face. "Stop that! How are you doing this?"

I looked around, trying to figure out what she was talking about. Then I realized, it wasn't just my world that was shaking and falling apart, the entire room was. I felt a surge of strength and I felt the pull in my gut that I pushed the poison out of my body. It oozed from my head wound, it came out in my tears, it even seeped out of my pours.

I stood up and walked toward her with the entire apartment shaking. I took a glance out the window and in the brief moment I saw the buildings in the city swaying like trees in a hurricane. The ground looked like the ocean in a big storm, waves that were taller than some buildings. Explosions were going off everywhere from broken gas lines, it looked like a scene from a bad sci-fi movie. I was causing this earthquake, an actual earthquake. I kept walking toward the goddess and grabbed her by the throat. For the second time, I looked into her eyes and saw sheer terror.

I looked down to Annabeth and saw that she was suffering. "FIX HER!" I screamed into the goddess' face.

She shook her head, "It is too late there is no cure for her poison. Enjoy your time while you can demigod"

My grip loosened a small amount, and she took advantage of that. She twisted my wrist breaking my hold on her throat and quickly vanished into shadows. The room was still shaking, and when I fell to the floor to hold Annabeth, I started crying.

Tears splashed all on Annabeth's face, I started yelling out for help. I knew that no one would be able to come help in time. I felt a soft hand on my face, looking down I looked into the stormy gray eyes that I had fallen in love with. They were filled with tears when she spoke. "Percy, don't feel sorry for me. I'm sorry that we couldn't have our happy ending, but the time I spent with you has been the best of my life. Don't lose yourself alright? I'll wait for you in Elysium. But if you get there quickly, I'm going to kick your butt every day until the end of time. I expect to see you when you are old and gray. Got it?"

I shook my head violently, "I can't do that Annabeth, I can't go on without you. I cannot promise you anything."

She pulled my head down so our lips could meet. I held the kiss as long as I could. As if the kiss could cure her. Eventually she pushed me away a bit and with a small smile, she looked into my eyes and said, "Percy Jackson, I love you. Don't lose yourself, okay?"

I nodded a bit, "I promise Annabeth."

"Swear it on the Styx."

More tears rolled down my cheeks, "I swear on the River Styx, I won't lose myself."

She gave me one last smile, then she let out her breath, and she was gone.

When I came to my senses I wasn't in my mom's apartment anymore. I was underwater in my father's palace. I looked around my bed and I saw my half-brother Tyson. He looked like he had been crying for a while, his lone eye was blood shot. When he saw that I was awake he scooped me up in a huge hug and I thought my ribs would break.

"Tyson, gentle! I can't breathe!"

He released me and stepped back a step. "I am sorry brother. I thought you were dead."

"What happened? Where is Annabeth?" I asked. I looked around hoping that I would find her.

"Tyson, why don't you go prepare for our departure," a deep calm voice came from behind me. I turned around and saw Poseidon, my father, walking toward us. His usual tropical shirt and shorts replaced with a black suit. His usual happy looking face was sullen and eyes puffy.

When Tyson left, my father walked up to me and put his hands on my shoulders. "Son, I want to give you the most sincere apology that I can give. Athena and I tried to come help you and Annabeth, but Akhlys had allies that surrounded the entire block completely impenetrable to any immortal, and by the time we got word to your friends the earthquake had started and it was impossible for anyone to even get close to Manhattan."

"What of Annabeth? Mom? Paul?" I asked as I felt my stomach become an even deeper pit than before. My world fell from under me when his head sunk and he shook his head.

"It was too late for us to reach you. It took all of the gods' power to break the magic barrier and I had to transport you down here before you caused Manhattan to be completely destroyed. You are the only survivor."

I couldn't believe my ears, they were all dead. I couldn't speak

He continued, "The funeral for your mother and Paul will be in an hour. The gods have seen to it that Annabeth receives a hero's funeral on Olympus. It will be later tonight. I have a suit for you if you wish to go. But if you need to stay down here and be alone, we all understand."

"No, I need to go. I need to see them. Can we get Grover and the rest of my friends?"

He nodded, "Anything else"

I thought for a second, "I don't know how well I will handle this. If I start losing control, can you get me out of there?"

He thought for a second, "Zeus may not like it, but I think he will agree that, given the circumstances, it is for the best if we transport you somewhere for everyone's safety."

I was glad that my father would help me out. I was determined to keep control, but I wasn't sure that I could. I could feel the anger just beneath the surface, threatening to burst forth at any moment. A question came to my mind, "Dad?" He turned around with an eyebrow raised. "How bad was the damage I caused to Manhattan?"

He looked at the floor, "Uh, well, I guess you would find out sooner or later." He walked over to me and put his arm around my shoulder. "Your earthquake was the strongest on record. You actually moved the island of Manhattan to shift further out to see by a few yards."

I let that sink in for a second. "How is that possible? I'm just a regular demigod"

He shook his head, "You know it isn't as simple as that Percy. You've never been JUST a demigod. You are the strongest demigod that any of us have ever seen."

I looked at my hands, horrified with what they have done. "I'm a danger to this world. I shouldn't be left alive."

Poseidon turned me so I was looking him directly in the eyes. "Perseus Jackson, don't you ever say that. You have done so many great things in the short time you've been in this world. You are the greatest hero that I have ever seen and I am proud to call you my son."

I nodded, not believing his words, but choosing to agree so he would leave me alone for a while. He gave me another hug and then walked to the door. "The suit is in the closet over there. I'll be back in thirty minutes and we will head to the service. I'm really sorry for all of this Percy, we will get to the bottom of this."

When he finally left, I went to the closet and got the suit out. I got dressed slowly and silently. I looked around for the cuff-links but couldn't find any so I decided not to mess with it and rolled up the sleeves a bit. I left the room and found my dad. He grabbed me by the shoulder and we shot through the water like a torpedo. We surfaced at the cabin at Montauk, there were a lot of people there, all of whom I recognized as campers.

My mom had sort of become the adoptive mother of all the kids at camp, sending sweets and care packages as often as she could. Everyone loved her and she loved them. Paul had become the unofficial tutor to a lot of kids, helping them understand literature despite their dyslexia. So the entire camp came out to pay their final respects to them. When they saw me walk up, they all looked at me with such sadness and pity in their eyes. I hated the pity, I didn't want anyone to feel sorry for me, and they should hate me for bringing this fate on my mother.

Chiron walked up between the two pyres and clopped his hoof on the ground, quieting everyone. "We are all gathered here today, to send off two beloved people to this camp. Their end was brought on far too early. Sally Jackson was a kind soul who loved all children at this camp as if they were her own." Murmurs went around the group, everyone was nodding their heads. "Paul Blofis was a good man. One who was not born into this world, but brought in by Sally. He helped so many here, and other children in his job as a teacher."

He then allowed any campers to come up and say words of respect for my parents. A lot of people around me expected me to get up and say something, but I just couldn't. It was still hard to believe that my parents were actually gone. It was all I could do to just sit there and not start gripping my head screaming.

Once everyone had paid their respects, my father leaned over and said quietly. "It's time for your part. You don't have to if you don't think you can, but it was tradition in Ancient Greece for the surviving members of the family to place the drachma on their eyes for the ferry ride."

I wasn't sure that I could do it, but I thought about them sitting in Charon's lobby for a century. I couldn't do that to them. I nodded and slowly stood up, walking toward the funeral pyres. Chiron gave me a reassuring pat on the shoulder when I got up there. I felt my father place the coins in my hand and I heard him step backwards. I walked up to Paul and put the coins on his eyes and said a silent prayer, asking his forgiveness.

Then I walked to my mom, tears streaming down my face. I laid my head down on her chest, sobbing. I was praying that she would wake up and tell me that this was all just a bad dream. That we would go back to their apartment, all of us, and enjoy blue cookies and laugh at how they had me going. But I knew that it was real, that she wasn't going to wake up. I lost track of how long I cried, no one tried to stop me. The whole group was silent when I raised my head. When I placed the coins on her eyes, I kissed her forehead and ran off away from the group.

It was getting dark by the time Frank and Hazel found me. When I saw them I wanted to tell them to leave me alone, but I saw how red their eyes where, how worried they looked and I just collapsed and we sat there in a group hug for a while. Eventually we composed ourselves enough for Frank to talk. "We should leave, we are due on Olympus soon for..."

He didn't need to finish the sentence. I nodded, "Yeah, thanks for finding me guys. You're the best." They nodded and they stood me up and we walked back toward the camp. There were chariots pulled by Pegesai, and at the lead chariot was my old friend Blackjack. I walked up to him and rubbed his neck, "Hey bud, long time."

Sorry boss, need anything? Donuts maybe?

I chuckled, "Maybe later buddy, but thanks." He whinnied and I walked back to the chariot to join Frank and Hazel. As soon as we were all set, the flock of Pegesai took off for Olympus.

When we got to Olympus, the entire city was dimmed. It appeared like the whole place was in mourning. We landed in a courtyard and walked toward where a large crowd was gathering. When we got to the edge, I saw what was in the center, a funeral pyre what was large and beautiful. And laying on top of the pyre, a beautiful blonde girl with princess curls. I started to break down when I heard a woman' sconce behind me.

"Percy Jackson, I am glad you made it," I turned around and saw Annabeth's mother, Athena walking toward me with her hands behind her back. I bowed low and slow, trying to keep my calm. When I came up, I saw that Athena was not her usual proud, composed self. She looked normal, but the aura she put off was one of sadness and anger. "I have never really liked your relationship with my daughter, but you made her happy. You have my eternal gratitude for that."

"Thank you my lady, I hate to bring you more bad news, but did you know that Annabeth and I, we were..." I couldn't bring myself to say it. I still couldn't believe that it was true.

"Yes, I know that you two were expecting. I am truly sorry for your loss, I would have enjoyed seeing you two having a happy ending."

That made it even harder to stay composed, Athena had never talked to me like this. It just made the gravity of the situation even more apparent. She cleared her throat, "I did not just come here to give my apologies. I came here to give you something." She brought her hands forward and a small box was resting in her hands. When she opened it, were two cuff links, shaped like the owl earrings that Annabeth wore.

I took the box and held it in my hands like it would disintegrate at any given moment. "Thank you my lady. They look like..."

"They are exact replicas of Annabeth's earrings. They are magic, they will transform into rings. If you twist the one on your right hand, your eye sight will become better than an eagle's, the ring on your left hand will allow you to extend your hearing far beyond its normal limits. Consider it my way of helping you in your future endeavors."

"Future endeavors, my lady?"

She gave me a knowing look and looked toward the funeral area. When she looked back to me she smiled softly, "You will see soon enough son of Poseidon," then walked away.

I shrugged and took the cuff links out of the box and put them on my sleeves. When they were attached I walked to join Grover and my other friends. Grover was crying harder than me, and I put my arm around him. He knew Annabeth longer then I had, then he could feel my emotions about the situation. I felt horrible for the poor guy.

When everyone had been seated, Zeus came up to the funeral pyre and cleared his throat. "We have lost a great hero today. Annabeth Chase played a crucial role in saving Olympus, not only for the Titans, but from the Giants and Mother Earth as well. She was fierce, intelligent and she accomplished what no other child of Athena could accomplish before, she found and brought home the Athena Parthenos."

The speech was nice, but it was only of her accomplishments. It wasn't about how Annabeth actually was. When Zeus had finished his speech, the courtyard grew quiet. That's when Grover got up and walked to stand next to her.

He bleated, then started talking. "Annabeth was one of my best friends. I found her when she was seven years old, on the run with two other demigods. I never could have guessed the impact she would have on my life. She was the strongest person I've known, well until Percy came around. They were so alike in so many ways that it was scary." That brought a small chuckle from everyone, and more tears from me.

"Annabeth will be missed. I will miss her every day, but I know that if she were here, she would be yelling at us for feeling sorry for her. So I will choose to remember her for the good times that I had with her." He was looking right at me, and I could feel how he was pointing the words at me. Trying to give me comfort and advice. I nodded in appreciation, and he came back to sit next to me.

"Thanks G-man, I appreciate it," I whispered to him.

"Percy, you should say something," he said back. When I looked at him, he was serious. Before I could protest, he cut me off, "Percy, this is your last chance to say something to Annabeth. They believe that until the funeral is finished, the soul can still hear when people talk to them. Now get your butt up there and tell her good bye."

I nodded and stood up and walked toward the body of the girl that I love. I got close to her and I took a deep breath. "When I first saw Annabeth, I thought that she was a princess. I have never been so wrong in my life," chuckles spread through the crowd again. I looked to Grover and he motioned for me to continue. I looked through the crowd and saw all of my friends; Piper, Jason, Leo, Frank, Hazel and Nico. Then Reyna whose eyes looked a little red even though she was still composed. When I saw Thalia, who was not trying to hide any of her tears but wore them with pride, give me a thumbs up I got a little more courage.

"Annabeth was the best friend that I could ever have. We knew everything about each other, so much that we remained undefeated as a sparring team. I was never as intelligent or quick as she was, but I did my best to keep up. Other than my mother-" my voice cracked at the mention of her. I cleared my throat, "Annabeth was the only woman to ever put me in awe. I had hoped to start a life together. The day she, left us, she was going to tell me that we were about to start a family." I stopped talking for a minute to compose myself, calm the anger growing in my belly. "Annabeth wanted to build something permanent, and she succeeded. She will always be in my memories. When I disappeared and had my memory wiped, she was still there. I just hope that someday I will get to tell her how much she has meant to me all of these years. I know I will have to wait a while because her last words to me were a threat that if I met her in the underworld too soon she would kick my butt until the end of time." I let out a small laugh, which the rest of the crowd copied.

I turned to her body and I lowered myself and kissed her eyes, then her head. "I love you Annabeth, I am going to avenge you, and then I will see you in the next life. I won't forget you, and I won't forget my promise," I whispered in her ear, then I straightened up and put the golden drachma on her eyes and walked back to my seat by Grover.

At that point, Athena came up to the body of her daughter and said her final blessing. She then clapped her hands and a brilliant golden flame engulfed Annabeth's body and a second later, she was gone.

Jerking awake, I cursed slightly for the nightmares not giving me a single night of rest. Every night since Akhlys I've had to relive those hellish moments. Looking around the bus station I took in my surroundings. The bus station appeared to be normal, no one was screaming or running around with a weapon trying to kill me. I looked at the time, 5:00 am, my bus towards Chicago was about to arrive, so I gathered my things together. I was headed toward the entrance to the Underworld in Los Angeles so that I could continue my mission to the underworld. I was worried about going back down there, but I had no other choice. I needed to meet with Hades, he had information I needed.

I checked my bag for the essentials; Annabeth's Yankee's hat, the rings Athena had given me and the photo that someone had taken of me, Annabeth and my parents when we were reunited after the Giant war. I knew Riptide would be in my pocket so I swung my bag over my shoulder and walked to the area with everyone else was standing. I probably looked like another homeless teen standing in line.

I hadn't showered in a week, and the clothes I had on were long overdue to be changed. My orange Camp Half-Blood t-shirt was stained so much that it looked more brown than orange. My jeans were torn and stained from all the monster dust that got on them. My shoes were starting to fall apart and my jacket had more holes than Swiss cheese. I didn't care, I was on a mission to avenge Annabeth, my mother and Paul. I was going to willing to pay any price to do it.

I went over the information I had again. The day after Annabeth's funeral, Athena and Poseidon came to me and told me they had news. They acted very strange when they had told me that Akhlys wasn't acting alone. It was believed that she was working with some of the older gods, making Tartarus to grow out of control. Monsters hadn't been coming to the mortal world like they usually do and it was worrying the gods. The gods were wanting someone to go down and make things right, but they didn't ask me right out to go down. So I took it upon myself to go back to Tartarus and take out some of the monsters and instill fear back into them and let the older gods know who is really in charge.

I could tell they were holding back information, I tried to press on and get it out of them but they told me they couldn't because they swore an oath on the River Styx. They said I would learn in time what it was, but their hands were tied. I wanted to scream and yell, what if the information they weren't telling me was something vital, something I would need in Tartarus?

Normally, someone volunteering to go back to the living hell that is Tartarus would sound like some bad joke; but this was something that needed to be done, and I have a score to settle with a certain goddess of poison and suffering.