A/N Hope y'all are still enjoying this! Thanks for the reviews, as well! They are so nice to receive; it's great to know my work is appreciated! Oh, and I should probably mention that from now on there's going to be a huge theme of Solangelo (they are so cute together!).

Chapter 4: Analysis

Percy's P.O.V

"We've got a clever one here, have we? I'll allow you to speak your mind: ulne." They were back in Tartarus, and he had Percy sitting in front of him. Tartarus was about to force him to explain his thinking, most likely. No point in lying, Percy judged.

"Well you've never told me to not speak. It wasn't too difficult to come up with a way to communicate," he replied. It was getting easier to speak against Tartarus, seeing as he kept invading his mind anyway. There wasn't much he could hide. Once Percy figured out Tartarus wasn't going to kill him, it gave him a little more courage. How else could he torture him, when he is literally making him attack his friends. "You really need to work on avoiding loop holes."

"You're not going to accept your fate, are you? At least not anytime soon."

"If I had you wouldn't need to keep forcing me to do what you want me to."

"Has anyone ever told you that you're extremely annoying? Because you wouldn't be alive right now if I didn't need you."

"That's usually the reason why so many monsters want me dead."

Tartarus walked round behind Percy and the rock he was sitting on to grab the I.V. that had been in his arm the first time he had come down there. He then wheeled it round beside Percy and held out the tube that would connect to his arm.

"Uetatoiw," he said. Percy's arm immediately tensed and raised.

"To be honest, you don't really need to give me any more. The only reason that I could talk to Annabeth was because I found a loop hole. No more control is going to change my ability to do that," Percy really didn't want to go through the same pain he got every time he was dosed with more of Tartarus's blood. Each time it happened, a different part of him that was being 'enhanced' hurt like daggers. "I guess this time it's gonna be my mouth?" he said in defeat.

"Dev uinouv. No more talking now, eh? And yes, you guessed right. This is going to enhance your mouth so you are more capable of uttering original commands. I know the last time nearly killed your vulnerable, mortal soul. And we wouldn't want that, would we? At least, not yet," Tartarus said, preventing Percy from talking anymore. He then stuck the tube into Percy's arm with far too much pain. But because he hadn't been told to move, he couldn't give a reaction to the stabbing pain, not even a cry. Tartarus then had him walk over and lie down on a rock that he had been originally tied to when he was first kidnapped.

"Sweet dreams, Perseus," Tartarus said mockingly. As Percy slowly drifted out from consciousness, he had just one thought. "Thank the gods that I could talk to Annabeth. I haven't failed yet." Then the pain started.

Leo's P.O.V

As Annabeth came to in the bed up in the big house, Leo noticed the small damp patch by her mouth on the sheets. He smiled as she looked up at her.

"You drool in your sleep," he said jokingly. Much to Leo's surprise, that then sparked a new round of tears. A voice came from the doorway.

"You really can't say that to her, not right now." Leo turned to find the voice coming from a saytr. The saytr came to sit beside Leo on the bed beside Annabeth's.

"Those were her first words to Percy. My name's Grover, by the way. I was Percy and Annabeth's saytr."

Leo gasped. "Oh my gods, that was their first conversation? Annabeth, I'm so sorry I didn't mea-"

"No, it's ok," she said, drying her tears. "You didn't know. It was just after he and Grover made it through the gates. Percy had just killed a Minotaur that had almost killed his mum. He was knocked unconscious, and I was in charge of feeding him nectar and ambrosia until he woke up. Grover, it's great that you're here, but you've heard what's happened?"

"Yeah, Chiron cleared it up for me. But he didn't quite see what happened when you two were fighting," Grover responded.

"Yeah, I didn't see either. The barrier prevented us from hearing anything. All we saw was Percy collapse and fall down a fissure, the monsters follow, and Tartarus say one quick thing to you before addressing the camp," Leo chipped in.

"Well, you saw that we fought, and it was difficult. Everything about him was enhanced; I have no doubt that wasn't his true ability. But then he… he said he was in there. He said he loved me-" Annabeth cracked off with new tears.

Grover placed a hand on her thigh sympathetically. "Tell us the rest later. There's a meeting about to happen on what to do about this all, and perhaps it would be better if you explained to everyone, rather than just us," Annabeth looked slowly up at them both, red eyed but not crying anymore. She began to open her mouth to speak when Leo interrupted.

"No one cares if you cry in front of them. We all know you care so much about Percy."

"It was just when he called me Wise Girl, I just… I just..."

Grover butted in. "We know, don't worry."

Nico's P.O.V

Nico didn't know how to feel. Everything that had happened so far was just too much. Having been one of the demigods who had been down to Tartarus, he knew the horrors it held. But what he couldn't imagine was having them surrounding him all the time. And to have Tartarus himself in his head? Nico couldn't wish that on anyone.

"Alright guys, we're gonna start now," Jason said sombrely after Annabeth, Leo, and a saytr that had been introduced as Grover entered and took their seats. The same people were sitting round the table as last time, with the exception of Annabeth and Grover.

"Annabeth, although it will be difficult, it will help what we can do to help Percy. Please could you tell us what happened while you were up there?" Chiron asked bravely. She nodded, and seemed to be gathering courage to say what she would next.

"So, um… you saw that we fought. When Percy collapsed though, that was because he… he was being punished," Annabeth started.

"What do you mean, punished?" Clarisse asked cruelly. Will slapped her on the shoulder. Gods, did Nico love that boy.

"He… he's still in there. His consciousness. Because… because he told me he was. He told me… that-that he loved me…" Annabeth faded out, clearly trying not not cry, but one or two tears escaped while the table was silent, waiting to her to say something else.

"Then Tartarus punished him with pain," she continued after a while. "I have no doubt he is being punished at the moment for saying just those short sentences. But this shows that there's still hope, doesn't it? He's still in there, he's just not in control of his actions. He's not dead."

Grover placed his hand on Annabeth's that was resting on the table. "You're right, we still have hope," he said, then looked round the table. "So let's figure out the rest of this prophecy."

"We've already established that the first line means Tartarus has Percy, but he wants Nico and Jason," said Connor as the two boys cringed. "And the second line means there needs to be a sacrifice."

'We're still unsure about the third line, though. Maybe Tartarus is strapping them down with leather as he makes them obey him?" Leo said. "But we haven't talked about the last line yet, what was it again?"

"Opposites attract; light and darkness will prevail only when together," Annabeth said, sniffling slightly to avoid tears. "I have a theory, and it's probable, in my opinion." Everyone looked at her expectantly. She breathed deeply before continuing. "It means Nico and Will. They're the sons of Hades and Apollo; pretty much the darkness and light gods. And they're in a relationship – opposites attract is commonly used to describe relationships."

Nico wasn't surprised. He had had that theory whirling round his mind since the prophecy had been spoken. However, Will gasped, and was obviously shocked. Nico grabbed his hand underneath the table, and gave it a supportive squeeze.

"Us? But… but I'm not important! I'm a healer, I can't defeat primordial gods! And as much as I hate to say it, neither can Nico," Will exclaimed.

"But that's the point. No one can defeat a primordial god. But, much like the Greeks and Romans banding together to defeat Gaia last year, this prophecy states that opposites must be the ones that defeat him," Chiron said.

"I'm starting to see a pattern to develop in defeating primordial gods…" Piper mumbled quietly from beside Nico. Then, raising her voice, "maybe the only way to defeat the impossible is to do the impossible – unite two polar opposites."

"I think you may be on to something there, Piper. However, we need to decide what to do soon. I vote a quest, and say that Will, Nico and one other demigod goes to stop Tartarus. And I suggest it not being Jason, as then we would be giving him exactly what he wants on a plate." Chiron started the vote. "Piper, Nico, Will, Jason. Who do you think should go on the quest?" Four votes for Annabeth.

"It's Percy," Piper explained. "If anyone is going to get through to him, it's her."

"Ok, Clarisse, Connor, Travis, Grover?" Two votes for Leo, and two for Piper.

"I think the last thing we need to do is give Tartarus the chance to put Annabeth in danger in front of Percy," Grover said.

"Rachel, Leo, and Annabeth." Leo and Annabeth voted for each other.

"Rachel?" Leo asked cautiously.

"Against my better judgement, I vote Annabeth. There's just something telling me that she's got the best bet at surviving down there, sorry Leo and Piper. There's just something telling me… ugh, sorry. I've lost the thought," Rachel trailed off. Chiron turned to Annabeth.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked.

"If anybody's gonna take my boyfriend and expect me not to fight back, they've got another thing coming."

A/N I am so sorry about the drool in your sleep bit, but I had the idea at about three in the morning last night, fangirled over just the idea, then fell back asleep. It's was painful, but I liked writing it, ngl.