A/N: Hey guys, I realize I haven't posted on this fic in a year and a half, but I'm going to do some further work on it and possibly (not likely) finish it. Review it please!

POV: Annabeth

Annabeth woke up from sleeping in Tartarus. Oh gods, she slept in Tartarus. She was on the verge of having a complete panic attack until she felt Percy behind her, his breathing even and constant. She knew he hadn't slept at all and she felt bad. Why hadn't she woken up and kept watch for a while?

"You need to sleep Percy," she croaked, her throat was dry from the toxic air.

"I'm alright," he replied.

"Don't lie to me," she warned, "you're exhausted, and scared, you don't always have to be the hero."

She turned around and looked into his sea green eyes. On multiple occasions she found herself getting lost in those eyes. Today they were murky and seemed to have lost their usual spark of mischief. That made Annabeth sad, like somehow they had lost some hope in this journey. Percy's gaze fell as she stared at him. He didn't say anything in reply, it was like they came to an understanding, he would sleep for a while and then they would try to find the looming Doors of Death.

Once Percy's breathing slowed and was even, Annabeth got up and began to take inventory. Although her ankle was still giving her some issues the ambrosia and nectar she had taken yesterday (was it yesterday? How did time work in Tartarus?) seemed to have helped it a little. She still had a significant limp. Out of their supplies she had recovered a canteen of nectar that was half empty, her dagger (thank the gods), and some string from the cavern. Her backpack and Daedalus' laptop however were nowhere to be found. She could cry. She hadn't even gotten through half the information stored in there and now it was gone. It could be incredibly useful in getting out of here and yet she had managed to lose it in the most unlikely of places. As much as she wanted to cry over her lost laptop she couldn't, it seemed so frivolous to cry over something so small. So instead she took a sip of nectar and waited for Percy to wake up. The funny thing is, Percy still drooled in his sleep, after all those years. It was always something that made Annabeth miss the days when she pretended to loath him and they were just kids.

Percy woke up sometime later looking better than before. He didn't have the gray tinge to his face that had lingered earlier, and the dark bags under his eyes were beginning to fade. Even through that he still grinned goofily at Annabeth.

"So, it's been quite eventful down here don't you think," he laughed.

"Oh my gods Percy, only you could be in the depths of Tartarus, the only place the gods themselves don't even dare to go, and make a joke," she laughed and rolled her eyes.

"I'm thinking the doors are going to be in the deepest part of Tartarus. Unfortunately, I believe we are on the furthest outer edge where the monsters are not densely populated. The deeper we go, the more monsters we should encounter," she concluded.

Percy's face looked grim, "I mean if we have to," he said, "What are we supposed to eat?"

"I haven't figured that part out yet, but I'm getting there," she said. What were they going to eat? It's not like Tartarus would have a breakfast buffet anywhere. This place was meant to kill humans. Everything about it was anti life. The air was sulfurous, the ground jagged, like knifes waiting for the kill. She wished Percy still had the blessing of Achilles, maybe then she wouldn't be worrying about him dying so much. But that was long gone, washed away in the Roman camp.

She felt Percy take her hand in his and they began walking through the dim light the cavern gave. They both kept their eyes peeled, waiting for some sort of monster to strike. But they walked for what seemed like miles and none did. It was eerily quiet, and neither of them spoke at the risk of being overheard. Was this all Tartarus was? No, it couldn't be, she saw Nico after he escaped. There had to be something truly terrifying along the way. She'd never seen someone so… shattered and hopeless. Great, another thing to look forward to. She held Percy's hand tighter in order to reassure herself that she was okay, that she was alive and that they would be okay someday.

A/N: I know that was sort of boring but all my previous chapters were really action packed and I needed a chapter where the characters could breathe. That didn't make sense but whatever. I'll try to post a chapter tomorrow.