Although Annabeth was falling in and out of consciousness, she was still able to feel her throbbing ankle and hear the sound of wind whistling past her ears. She didn't quite know if she was alive or dead, but she knew one thing for certain; she was falling to her death. The pain in her ankle was becoming white hot and she could vaguely hear the sound of what she figured was a rope snagging on something. She felt her body get jerked upward by something and the sound of Percy's voice cry out. The pain in her ankle became so intense could Annabeth feel herself slipping back into a state of unconsciousness, but was determined to stay awake.
It took a second for Annabeth to realize she wasn't falling anymore. She was lying on her back, but something was missing. Percy. She wasn't holding his hand anymore. In a wave of anxiety, Annabeth opened her eyes and saw nothing but the faint glow of celestial bronze. She let her eyes adjust to the darkness and she saw Percy hanging upside down off a small stone ledge about three feet off the ground, his feet tangled in what silk Arachne had used to pull them down. And she saw Percy using Riptide to saw the string off his feet.
"Percy wha-", Annabeth shrieked until Percy cut her off by shushing her.
"I'm cutting this off my feet." He said, his breathing heavy.
"Wait, are we at the bottom of Tartarus?" She asked, trying to orient herself. If this was the bottom of Tartarus, it was surprisingly unhell-like. In fact, she could see an edge about arm's length away from where she was sitting.
"Whoa!" Percy yelped as he fell to the floor, and onto his back.
"Oh my gods, are you okay?" Annabeth cried, trying to maneuver herself closer to him.
"I'm good. I'm good." He mumbled, sitting up. He rubbed his hand against the opposite shoulder as if it was hurt. Annabeth tried ignoring her pain and scooting closer to him, but he swatted his hand as to tell her to stop and he shifted himself so they were once again sitting shoulder to shoulder.
"Percy, how did you get us here?" Annabeth asked incredulously, eyeing the jagged ledge where Arachne's string had visibly been wrapped around.
"How's your ankle?" He asked, examining her foot.
"Percy!" Annabeth said loudly. "Did you flip us around that ledge so we would land here?" She asked him in disbelief.
Percy looked up at the ledge. "Uh…yeah. I did." He said, scratching his head. "Good idea, huh?"
"How did you know when to throw yourself at the ledge? You had to have an exact idea of what the angle of the ledge is." Annabeth said, narrowing her eyes at him. "That was genius."
"I just pretended it was like in the game cut the rope I guess." He shrugged, "I am really good at that game." He smiled, that sarcastic yet genuine smile he always had on his face. Annabeth felt herself almost start to sob in relief. She was okay. They were both alive. They were together. Percy's smile was enough proof.
Annabeth leaned over and kissed Percy. It wasn't a long kiss, but it spoke more than a 1000 words could have.
"I'll take that as a thank you." Percy murmured, his forehead still pressed against hers. They both started to laugh; they were too strung out on emotions to do anything else. They laughed for what seemed like a long time, their laughter echoing and bouncing off invisible walls. They both quieted down after a while, and Percy heaved a deep sigh.
"How are we going to find those doors?" He whispered, looking at Annabeth with desperation in his eyes.
Annabeth suddenly realized that behind them stood a cave entrance. "Wait, Percy, look." She said, turning his shoulders around. "We'll have to start there I guess." She said.
"Can you walk?" Percy asked, motioning to her foot.
"That is a good question." She sighed, looking at her ankle. The splint she had crafted wasn't holding up too well.
"Wait," Percy said, his hand rifling through his left pocket for something. He pulled out a small leather pouch about the size of a wallet, closed his eyes, and pulled a considerably large piece of ambrosia out of it. He broke it in two, and gave half to her, and put the other piece back into the pouch. "Here." He said, giving her the morsel of ambrosia.
"Where did you get that?" Annabeth asked, studying the food of the gods before she proceeded to pop it into her mouth.
"The ambrosia?" Percy asked, setting the pouch on his lap.
"No, that pouch. Where did you get that?" She asked him. She picked the pouch, and examined it.
"Oh, Leo gave it to me." He said nonchalantly. "It's like a mini-version of his tool belt. His dad gave it to him and said he was supposed to give it to someone he trusted. He gave it to me while we were flying over here to come rescue you." He explained.
"Percy," Annabeth said. "That was really generous of him. This thing could save our lives!" She said, gesturing to it.
"Yeah, it was pretty cool of him, wasn't it?" He said, starting to stand up. It amazed Annabeth sometimes how simply Percy thought about things. He didn't make a big deal out of things that she may have, and she liked that about him.
"Do you want to try to walk, or do you want me to carry you?" He asked.
"I'll try to walk." She said, starting to get up. Percy was immediately behind her, his arms holding hers, so she could put all her weight on them to stand. She put her weight on her good foot, but then when the injured foot moved she screamed in pain and felt herself fall over. Percy immediately caught her. Her eyes were stinging with tears, but the pain was already starting to subside.
"I'm carrying you." He announced, as he picked her up bridal style. She tried to protest; he couldn't possible carry her until she was able to walk again, it would just be counter productive. He would get exhausted too quickly. But it didn't seem like he was going to take that into account, since he started to stand up and walk in the direction of the cave.
There was absolutely no light in the cave other than riptide, that was hanging through one of Percy's belt loops. They couldn't see where the cave ended, and when Annabeth looked over her shoulder, it seemed like the ledge where the had come from had disappeared. There wasn't any sound either, other than Percy's footsteps and their breathing.
Percy carried her for what must've been a quarter of a mile until they both spotted an incredibly vague figure, with a luminescence to it. Annabeth could feel her heart beat faster, and Percy's too. This was Tartarus. The most logical thing that would happen if they found a glowing figure is that it would be something that would want to kill them.
"Hello?" Percy asked wearily, his steps stopping. The figure was starting to become brighter and more visible. It looked like a person, or spirit of some sort. "Hello?" Percy asked again, a twinge of fear in his voice this time.
They both heard a shallow breath escape from the figure. Annabeth bit her tongue as not to gasp out loud. The figure was now clearly a human figure, though Annabeth wasn't sure it was a living being. Annabeth studied it, and was starting to be able to make out that it was someone who seemed about the same size as Percy and herself.
Annabeth could hear Percy's heart race, and he slightly tilted his head towards her ear. "Annabeth." He said so quietly, it was barely audible, but there was a panic in his voice.
Annabeth narrowed her eyes and suddenly it was clear what she was looking at. A guy, with white blonde hair, that had something frighteningly familiar about him.
"Hello Annabeth." The guy said, his voice cracking. "Never thought I'd see you again."
Annabeth felt her head start to spin. She was looking at Luke Castellan.