CHAPTER VI

PERCY

When he touched the water his concentration broke. The same geyser that had risen to save them pulled them down into the depths of the river. Annabeth was torn away from him.

In the murky river waters ahead, he could make out her shadow as she fought the push of the undertow. He willed to current to push him after her. Just as he reached for her hand something wailed loudly in his ear, multiple something's. In his determination to reach Annabeth he pressed forward, alarmed that she was not longer fighting the flow, but sinking.

He reached for her hand and pulled her up to the surface. The moment his head went above water he flinched. The noise of hundreds of voices washed over him.

Life is pointless. You will never be able to escape. You're dead already.

The sounds reverberated through his skull. He found himself shivering, feeling the icy water for the first time. A part of him was horrified. Water was the only thing he could count on, at least, it had been back on the surface. He started to see the horror that was Tartarus. He cringed. Annabeth slipped an arm around him and tried to tow him towards the shore.

"Land," she struggled to form words through shattering teeth. "Go…sideways."

She kept tugging at him, but it was all Percy could do to stay afloat. The voices kept hounding him, filling his head with noise and not allowing him to think. He and Annabeth did not seem to move very far and as the river spoke to Percy, he found that he growing less concerned. The water no longer felt icy. He no longer felt it at all.

Pointless. Everything is pointless.

"Pointless," he muttered. His eyes were heavy and his skin was so numb he could no longer feel the ragged clothes he was wearing.

He let his mind drift and slowly he felt himself sinking. Water covered his mouth and then his nose. Just before his eyes went under, Annabeth shrieked. "Percy!"

He fought to open his eyes. The water seemed to suck him under. Annabeth pulled and kicked, struggling to keep him from slipping below the surface.

"The river is messing with your mind. It's the Cocytus – the River of Lamentation. It's made of pure misery!"

He nodded, raising his mouth out of the water enough to agree. "Misery," he said.

"Fight it!"

But Percy could not. He watched her struggling to keep her head above water and although he knew he should help her, his limbs felt like lead. He could move neither his arms, nor his legs. She kicked and pleaded once more, but Percy did not even try to swim.

She grabbed his shoulders, like she had been trained to in the canoe lake at camp. His legs lifted as she forced him to float. It seemed like the river knew what she was trying to do though and the water seemed to try to suck them beneath the surface.

Annabeth squeezed his arm and kissed him. "Tell me about New Rome," she demanded. "What were your plans for us?"

Percy stirred. "New Rome… For us …"

She snapped at him, desperately trying to keep her head above the water. "Yeah, Seaweed Brain. You said we could have a future there! Tell me!"

In his head, he saw the streets of New Rome. He saw the temples and the crowded streets with shops and homes. He saw children playing in the fountains. All were blonde and thin as if they had also spent their childhood training to fight monsters. He saw families picnicking in the small parks surrounded by old style buildings.

"Architecture," Percy said quietly. He could not hold onto an image for very long. "Thought you'd like the houses, the parks. There's one street with all these cool fountains." In his mind, a thought struck him. The children playing in the fountains in his imagination looked like miniature Annabeths. The thought made his insides warm. He felt the water shy away from his skin again and willed the current to push them towards shore.

The going was slow and just when he thought that the effort would exhaust him Annabeth gasped "College, could we go there together?"

"Y-yeah" he stammered, shivering. He could feel again. The frigid water felt as if it could freeze his insides. He looked at her and was alarmed to see that her skin was blue tinged, even in the strange red light.

"What would you study?" She was trying to sound lively but her voice cracked.

"Dunno," Percy realized that he hadn't given his own future very much thought. Instead he had worried about Annabeth. Annabeth, who was struggling not to drown. The thought allowed him to focus his energy on controlling the water. He could get them to shore. He had to.

Annabeth nudged him, still trying to stay afloat beside him. "Marine science? Oceanography?"

He laughed weakly, it came out more like a groan, "Surfing?

Annabeth laughed out loud. The voices receded and the water suddenly felt easier to control. Percy urged the current to quickly push them to shore before the clamor could resume. There was not enough time though, the shore was just out of reach.

Annabeth continued to press forward, dragging him the last few yards. As soon as their feet hit the sandy bottom they breathed in relief. She and Percy held each other as they hauled themselves up on the riverbank. Percy sprawled out on his back, breathing heavily. Annabeth crawled to him on her knees and touched his shoulder. She knew he wanted the reassurance. They were okay. They survived the landing.

Percy coughed on the ground next to her and winced. His lungs burned. He raised his arm to reach for Annabeth's hand only to stare in shock at the blisters forming. An angry rash covered the inside of his arm from the wrist to the elbow. His fingers and hands were still raw and bleeding where he had desperately clung to that ledge before they were pulled into the pit. He pulled his hand back quickly and slumped back to the ground only to gasp and sit straight up in shock and pain.

Annabeth looked up at his sudden movements. Before he could warn her, she moved to sit up and flinched. She gave a small cry and raised her hands. Percy's eyes widened as he saw small glass shards embedded in her palms. He nervously pulled at his shirt, feeling the shards cutting into his lower back.

Percy watched as the pain on Annabeth's face turned to shock. Her eyes started to water as she gaped at their surroundings. Desperate to distract her he said, "This place smells like my ex-stepfather."

She met his eyes and rewarded him with a brief half-smile. But the contact only lasted a moment before she cast her eyes elsewhere. He looked at her and frowned. Annabeth's t-shirt was shredded, she skin was red and blistered. He winced as he saw the Bubble Wrap splint still around her ankle. He had almost forgotten. Cobwebs still clung to it, but they were only small strings, the thicker cords that dragged them down had been washed away.

He looked back up to her face and saw her looking at him. "We should keep moving," she said. "Or we'll get hypothermia. Can you stand?"

With a nod he struggled to rise, then helped her to her feet.

He looked around. The landscape was harsh and uninviting. Everything seemed pointed and jagged as if to conform to a demonic theme of pain and misery. The glass covered beach where they stood extended almost one hundred and fifty feet before it dropped off a cliff. He turned and stopped, squinting to make sure.

With a gasp, he pointed, "Look."

Annabeth turned and her breath caught in her throat. Percy gripped her hand. He looked over at the blue Italian car. It was undoubtedly the same Fiat that had sent Arachne plunging into the pit.

Cautiously they approached the wreck. It was empty and the silken prison that Annabeth had tricked Arachne into weaving was torn. Shredded silk trailed off into the darkness alongside a series of scrapes that marked where something large and heavy, with many legs, had dragged itself.

Percy felt Annabeth shiver beside him. "She's alive," her voice just louder than a whisper. The sky seemed to pulse with her words, then the clouds darkened.

"It's Tartarus," he said. "Monsters home court." He thought about all the monsters they had sent to Tartarus. What would happen if they killed one here? Where would it go? Would it not disintegrate like the others? "Down here, maybe they can't be killed."

Annabeth tensed beside him. Percy hadn't realized he was speaking out loud. He looked at her sheepishly, "Or maybe she's badly wounded, and she crawled away to die."

"Let's go with that" Annabeth agreed.

Percy looked at his hands, which were shaking and bleeding. He frowned and looked at Annabeth just as she said, "This place is killing us. I mean it's literally going to kill us."

He knew what she meant. His breathing was labored and his cuts should have already started to heal themselves, but the open wounds kept weeping blood.

"Unless…." Annabeth's eyebrows scrunched together.

"Unless what?" He tried to grin for her. "You've got a brilliant plan, haven't you"

She shrugged, "It's a plan. I don't know about brilliant. We need to find the River of Fire."

OK. So I want to get a feel for how everyone is liking the story. Also I have finished the first few chapters of Percy/Annabeth and now in the HoH the POV goes back to the other seven. Most of which is in Leo's perspective and is mostly inner dialogue.

Would you all be okay with me skipping back to Percy and Annabeth? I promise you will get the others soon! I am kinda already toying with the idea of doing Calypso's POV... Yes? No? Feedback is our friend here...

Also... I have been harboring a theory about Percy.. I am going to look up a few things in Mark of Athena and then get back to you, but would you all like me to expand on Percy's POV and possibly suggest a reason for his (for lack of a better word) power up? My feelings will not be hurt if you just want me to stick to Rick's story - I can go and write another FanFic later about that lol.

Big thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far, I really appreciate it (Also it puts pressure on me to sit down and write if i know that at least one person is waiting).