WOW! This is the first time I've ever written fanfiction/used and I'm so happy that so many people like this story. I thought of this idea a while ago – I was really into the whole "PJO read the books" thing. But I realized that that was somewhat cliché (very cliché) so I thought that a council of demigods on Olympus would be a good way for the camps/demigods to get to know each other and better…anyways. Then the story evolved into this. I'm not completely sure where this story is going to go (Yikes!). But let me know if you have any ideas/suggestions/corrections. This chapter'll probably be focused on the affects of Tartarus on Percy and Annabeth. Let me know if you think either of them don't stay in character (I hate OOC stories).

Disclaimer: I solemnly swear that I am not Rick Riordan or Annabeth Chase, therefore, I don't own Percy Jackson.

Percy chuckled, obviously trying (and failing) to lighten his own mood. He looked back at Annabeth, whose gray eyes still stormed in confusion.

Annabeth heaved a sigh of near relief despite the fact that she was entirely uncomfortable on the inside. People always talked about her dangerous looking gray eyes - usually she didn't pay attention to her eyes, nor did she care about the effect they had on people. But right now, in the center of the throne room of Olympus, Annabeth could feel her gray eyes harden as the other people looked at her curiously.

Confused, In pain, Grateful, Exhausted, Nauseated, Overwhelmed. These emotions burned her usually calm and collected Athenian brain. So, this time, Annabeth was very aware of it when she created a steely mask of indifference with her shocking gray eyes.

She could feel Percy's sea green eyes boring into her face in pure bewilderment. The rest of the throne room stared at them uncomfortably. Then Percy heaved forward, suddenly bending over in pain. He probably would've thrown up if his stomach wasn't completely empty. Annabeth looked at her watch. It had only been an hour. The effects of the poison couldn't be held off by their limited supply of ambrosia any longer.

As her boyfriend bent over and made noises similar to those of a singing whale Annabeth sprung into action. After all, taking charge was what she did best.

"All right, I don't know if this is real or not," she glanced at her mother, "No, I just don't know why this would be real. But if it is real, we need nectar, ambrosia, bandages; Poseidon, your son –"

"No!" Percy croaked in a surprisingly commanding tone. He charged towards the Seven and pointed Riptide at Jason's throat, the whole time maintaining a mask of deadly seriousness.

Upon seeing Percy and Annabeth Jason didn't know whether to feel relief or fear. He had imagined seeing them again when the Seven rescued them from Tartarus at the Doors of Death. Seeing them now seemed too good to be true. Should he be relieved that they were alive or afraid of what Tartarus had done to them already?

The selfish part of Jason wanted to rescue Annabeth and Percy from the Doors of Death himself and perhaps prove that he belonged to the Seven. He felt as if he had only been knocked unconscious the entire trip, not helping in any significant way. The selfish part of Jason, the jealous part of Jason, wanted to prove himself. After all, jealousy was his fatal flaw.

But he quickly shoved those feelings away. For one, Percy was his best friend; Jason looked up to him, he couldn't afford to be selfish. And, for another reason, Jason had a sinking feeling that he would have a chance to rescue them out of Tartarus, and that feeling didn't rest well with him. His gut instinct told him that this was only a temporary rescue – that Percy and Annabeth would have to go back to Tartarus after this mysterious council.

So when Percy charged toward Jason with Riptide, almost (but not quite) hiding a pronounced limp, Jason still didn't know what to feel exactly. But he was definitely leaning more towards fear than relief. It was a crippling fear, not as much because of Percy's sword at his throat, but because he didn't want to fight a friend, because he didn't want his friend to have gone insane, and because Percy didn't look completely like himself anymore.

Percy's eyes were tired and blank but, as Jason stared on in panic, Percy seemed to let a little of his old self shine through. A halfhearted smirk spread across his features as he slowly lowered Riptide.

Annabeth raised her eyebrows in exhausted amusement and annoyance. Really Percy? She had a feeling she knew what was coming. Annabeth could practically read his mind in the short determined glance Percy passed her as he lowered Riptide; I want a freaking cheeseburger Annabeth, she imagined him saying as she translated that single determined glance.

Percy continued to look at Jason, who seemed shocked at the sudden smirk that appeared on Percy's face, probably because even his troublemaker grin had been dimmed by their experience in the pit of hell.

"I want a cheeseburger. Like, a big juicy cheeseburger." Percy stared at Jason, his smile growing ever so slightly as he began fantasizing about food, though he still looked exhausted. Jason threw his head back and laughed in relief. Piper beamed beside him and pulled the Horn of Plenty from her backpack delivering a disgustingly greasy cheeseburger.

Percy swirled around, cheeseburger in hand, and nodded at Annabeth, a triumphant look on his face, as if he were giving her the permission to continue. "Are you about done?" she asked, hands on her hips.

In answer his face paled and he bent over in pain, dry heaving from the effects of the poison and probably thanking the gods silently that he hadn't eaten his cheeseburger yet. Annabeth would've called him a "Stupid Seaweed Brain," if she wasn't so exhausted and concerned for his life.

Massaging her temples, she ignored everyone in the room and turned to her mother. "All right, like I was saying, we need water, ambrosia, nectar, food, clothes –"

And an ocean, I really want an ocean," Percy interrupted her again; after he'd recovered from his bout of intense nausea, he limped over until he stood by her side, cheeseburger in hand.

Annabeth rolled her eyes and continued, though a smile almost made its way to her lips. "Poseidon, your son is dehydrated. He used his internal water supply to hold off the poison as long as possible but it is getting worse." A headache started pounding and she felt like she was about to throw up herself. An unfamiliar feeling had been clinging to her skin ever since they'd arrived, as if the essence of Tartarus was still dragging at her heels. She sank to her knees and then proceeded to bring her legs toward her body to sit Indian style, unable to maintain a standing position without passing out. Not completely blinded by pride, Annabeth Chase knew her limits.

Thalia resisted the urge to help Annabeth sit down, knowing it would only hurt her pride. Thalia couldn't imagine the effort it took for Annabeth to remain in control, or even to remain conscious. Everyone in Olympus stayed quiet, probably attempting to respect the unnerving physical and emotional instability of Percy and Annabeth. Thalia couldn't help the feeling of unrest that overwhelmed her whenever she looked into Percy's eyes; his emotional and physical exhaustion seemed to draw a shade over his usually bright features. Every one of his expressions was laden with fatigue.

Annabeth finally sat down cross legged on the floor, blinking a few times, perhaps to keep the world in focus. Realizing no one was moving except for Poseidon and Athena, and even they were moving rather slowly (or at least too slowly for Thalias liking) as if they thought this was all a dream, Thalia began directing the room in Ancient Greek, effectively keeping the undeserving Roman's out of the loop. Soon every demigod was sitting on the floor in a more orderly fashion, their eyes still fixated on the two demigods as if they were dangerous zoo animals.

Percy had limped back over to Annabeth and had sat down beside her, staring at his cheeseburger intently, probably deciding whether he should risk eating it or not. Before Percy could make a decision his father walked towards him and placed his hand on his chest. Percy's eye's closed and he grimaced in pain, effectively squashing the cheeseburger in his vice grip.

Thalia watched this in fascination, occasionally glancing at Annabeth who looked on with a mixed expression, full of guilt, sorrow and relief. Apollo stood beside the sea god and watched Percy with concern, "If you fill him with water, most of the poison should wash out. Interestingly the poison seems to be a sort of anti-water, thus the dehydration. But being that you're the sea god it should be forceful enough to rinse out the poison."

Poseidon's eyes didn't leave his son's face as Percy continued to clench his eyes shut, unable to hide a few sharp grimaces. Tears sprouted from beneath his lids and then he finally drew a shuddery breath of relief and moved his father's hand away.

"Thanks," he croaked, "I just don't want to burst like a water balloon. I think it helped." Percy glanced at the bucket by Poseidon's feet which contained a black liquid - the poison. Poseidon didn't look too sure, but he patted Percy on his left shoulder, with the awkwardness of a dad that only saw his son a few times each year.

And to everyone's surprise Percy almost shouted out in pain. But being the brave Kelp-Head that he was, he caught the shout halfway out of his mouth. Poseidon looked aghast and Annabeth went pale, letting her façade of control fall for a moment. Percy recovered. "My shoulder, sorry," he croaked sheepishly as he looked apologetically at every one before turning to the unusually quiet Annabeth.

Percy was absolutely sick of this confusion. He normally admitted to being confused, I mean, he let Annabeth call him a Seaweed Brain all the time. But this was emotional and mental torture. Tartarus still plagued his mind. And, as he sat in Olympus, he couldn't even remember where exactly they had come from.

Still embarrassed about the amount of pain he was feeling he turned away from their audience (the curious stares of everyone in the room were starting to get on his already short nerves). Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Thalia ordering Will Solace to gather medical supplies, as she occasionally glanced at Annabeth.

Percy shook off the last reverberations of pain that still clung to his dislocated shoulder and turned to the only person that could answer his questions.

"Annabeth, where exactly did we come from; I'm really confused; I'm either really stupid or just slow, because this isn't making any sense to me."

Annabeth looked at him without conveying any emotion, her eyes swirling without the glimmer they usually had when she thought things through; she was obviously calculating the best way to break it to him that he had gone completely bonkers.

"We were in Tartarus, Percy," she said calmly and carefully. She placed her hand on his knee ever so softly, as if she thought he might break.

Percy realized his confused/Seaweed Brain look must have been far more pronounced than usual. He tried to huff in annoyance, but he realized his voice wouldn't allow it; he rolled his eyes instead, "I know that, Wise Girl. Where in Tartarus? I can't fit it together," he complained.

Annabeth's eyes flashed with pain, allowing her façade of calm-control to drop for another single moment. She motioned to her own left eye. Percy, realizing what she meant, touched the skin surrounding his own left eye and winced as it came away bloodied.

So that's where they were. One of Tartarus's torture chambers. When Percy finally put two and two together to make torture, Annabeth sobbed tightly – a single sob (or maybe it was just a half sob) before she placed a hand tightly over her mouth.

Hello again : ) Ehem…I may have lied to you guys a bit. Sometimes I like OOC stories. I mean, I especially hate it when Percy or Annabeth are out of character. But, on rare occasions, I like it when Jason is out of character. I like it when Jason is jealous of Percy, or feels insignificant in comparison to Percy, even though the books don't really say that directly. BUT, I still don't like it when it's unrealistic (if you know what I mean). So, I tried to talk about Jason's jealousy in as realistic a way as possible, without making him seem like a jerk. I always figured that Jason's fatal flaw was Jealousy.

Anywho, let me know how you like it. Again, I've seriously never written fanfiction before, I'm a newer writer! But writing is still a passion of mine so I do like constructive criticism.

Oh, also, please read my story House of Hades: Scenes and Oneshots that Come to Mind. It began as a HOH fanfiction, but it's probably just going to be a collection of scenes I've imagined might happen after the Mark of Athena (again, they're probably not going to happen but I imagined them and they please my inner fangirl).