I knew we were going to die. I knew it in my heart. I knew it by the weakness spreading through me like a disease, knew it by the pain in her grey eyes and by the crushing darkness around us. That's why I saved her.
You see, my Father told me of that special power - he called it the life-saver, and said that I would only be able to use it once in my life, such was the draining effect it had. I don't regret saving her.
What little light there was disappeared with her golden hair and heart-wrenching screams, but I continued to fall.
I wondered how long it would take for me to hit the bottom. Surely, centuries had already passed... Not that I cared. In my weakened state, I became delirious. If I was not out cold, I was picturing Annabeth wrapped up in my arms, face buried into my chest, or hearing her silvery laugh...
Hell was not so bad if she was there.
I wish she could be - but I was not selfish enough to drag her down with me, and for that I'm glad. I need her to be safe, and if that means tearing her away just as I get her back, well... the hole in my chest has to heal sometime, right?
Oh, Gods... All I can see is her look of panic, fear, pain and accusation. Her tortured cries seem to echoes through the pit, one hundred times worse than anything I've ever felt, because I did that to her. Not a monster, not Tartarus, not a god, but me. I can never forgive myself.
But I can't give into my pain. I can only shoulder hers and stay strong enough for both of us.
But its so hard... with this darkness pressing around me, the ache and numbness of my entire body... sleep, or even death would be welcome.
But, just as she was when I was burning in the Styx, Annabeth is my chain to the real world, my reason to fight beyond my furthest endurance. I think of her, of seeing her at Deaths door, and I know I can handle anything.
Even this endless fall...
Surely I am getting closer, though? The cries of pain surrounding me seem not to be coming from above, as they were before, but below. A dank musty smell, one I can only describe as of death hits my nose, and I am jolted awake, if not alert and energetic.
But no - I'm still falling.
All of a sudden, an icy sheet washes over me, and I gasp as my skin turns white as snow, my fingertips nearly blue. It feels as though I'm falling through a waterfall of ice, and I nearly scream as the cold burns my skin.
But it's over as suddenly as it began, as the freezing temperature is replaced by a muggy heat. Now, the voices that screamed from below are no longer muffled but clear as if they were coming from me. Any traces of Annabeths yells are gone, and I don't know whether to be relieved that I can't hear her pain or agonised that every sign of her has disappeared.
I'm glad she isn't experiencing this overwhelming pain. Well, no doubt she's missing me, but at least I fixed her ankle and these screams aren't driving her to insanity.
I can sense rather than see the opening when the pit widens into a cavern of some description, so I'm almost prepared for the halt when it comes. As I slam onto a rocky surface, a burning, aching pain shoots up my body, licking my side like flames. I feel at least three ribs and my left wrist shatter. There is a sickening, wet tear and I am horrified to see that my leg is now sporting a long, deep gash - almost the bone in some places. I glance at the jagged rock that must have raked down my shin, and nearly faint at the pool of blood surrounding me. My head feels like it will split open any moment.
I'm not sure exactly why I passed out, but I think the menacing low growl and heavy footsteps beside me must have been too much, and my mind is swallowed by a suffocating darkness.
