Well, here it is. Chapter 6. Hope you guys like it. READ AND REVIEW!!!

Disclaimer = I don't own Percy Jackson!!!!

Chapter 6

Just in the nick of time

Percy's Point of View

Annabeth was dangling from a set of chains that cut into her skin, just like in my dream. She was battered and her head was bent, making us unable to see her face. Many cuts and bruised painted her pale skin. She had her back to us, which didn't help us detect the amount of damage. Luckily, there was no one else in the room. But Annabeth was badly hurt; anyone could figure that out from here. And we couldn't see if her chest was rising or not, meaning it was a fifty/fifty chance that she was still alive. Oh gods… please let her be alive.

"Oh gods!" Grover exclaimed but soon lowered his voice, knowing that we could be watched any second.

"Alright, someone help me get this window open," I asked while trying to wrench the window open but it was slightly stuck. Thalia came over shakily and together, we were able to get the window open wide enough for us to go through. I was the first person to go through the window and once inside the cell, I got a good look at Annabeth.

She was badly hurt. Her face was bruised, cut and extremely tired. Sweat poured down her face as she breathed small but painful breaths. The knife that the doctor had pierced Annabeth with was still protruding from her stomach. Blood had dried around the wound, making me unable to asset the full damage. Annabeth's eyes were closed but they didn't seem peaceful. Her legs had been bruised and her clothes were torn. "Oh gods…" I whispered to myself as the others came into the room.

"Percy, get the bandages out of your bag. She needs them now," Thalia ordered and frankly, there was no way to contradict her. She was right. I rummaged through my bag and found some nectar and rolls of Ace bandages—yeah, Camp Half-Blood usually uses human bandages when healing others. Handing over to Thalia, she looked like she was about to cry. "Great, Grover and I will help her. You try to get Annabeth to wake up."

I was already in front of Annabeth when Thalia finished speaking. Cupping my hand gently onto Annabeth's face, I started talking to her slowly and soothingly. "Annabeth, it's me, Seaweed Brain. Can you hear me? Annabeth?" I kept repeating the same questions over and over until she stirred slightly against my touch. "Annabeth? Come on, love. You can do it. Open your eyes. Say something." My words seemed to get through to Annabeth as she tried to open her eyes slightly.

"Percy…?" She whispered painfully. A sigh of relief escaped my throat. Annabeth was still alive, and her glassy eyes were staring right back at me. Pain and sadness enveloped her eyes. A tear ran down her bruised cheek and I smiled at her. "You're here…" Her voice was strained, like it took every ounce of her strength to even let out a breath. Annabeth needed healing now.

"Yeah, we're here and we're going to get you out. Here, drink this and you'll feel better," I told her while bringing the canteen of nectar to her lips. Annabeth didn't argue. She knew it was me and no one else that came to save her. So, she started drinking as Thalia came beside me, some tears blurring her vision.

"How are we going to get the restrains off of her? Where's the key?" Thalia whispered while looking away from Annabeth, unable to see her best friend in so much pain. Releasing Riptide, Thalia pondered the thought and shook her head. "Something smaller."

"Like a hairpin or a pocketknife?"

"Yeah. Anyone have one?" All three of us looked at each other as Grover and I shook our heads. Thalia sighed and removed a hairpin from her hair. She uncurled it and handed it to me. "Unlock the shackles while Grover and I'll hold onto Annabeth. She'll be safer that way." I was surprised that she didn't say something sarcastic as usual. But, then again, these weren't normal circumstances.

"But we have to get that knife out of her. She'll suffer even more with it," Grover mentioned and we both nodded. Thalia cupped her hands on Annabeth's face and looked her in the eyes.

"Honey, we're going to have to do something that's going to hurt a lot. Do you think you can hold back the screams?" Thalia didn't mean to hurt Annabeth's feelings or anything when she said it. The fact that Annabeth had been hurt enough was proof that we needed to be even more careful with her now. "I'm really sorry," Thalia whispered to her best friend as a few tears stained Thalia's face.

"I can… do that… Just hurry…" Annabeth whispered painfully as she finished drinking the nectar.

Thalia nodded and looked at me with tear-filled eyes. "When you pull the dagger out, I'll put some bandages on the wound. If we don't, she'll probably bleed to death," Thalia answered and I nodded in understanding. Cupping my hand again on Annabeth's cheek, we didn't need to say anything. She tried to smile at me and nodded slightly, unable to do more because she winced at the pain the movement caused her. "I'll kill Luke…" Thalia muttered to herself as I placed my hand on the hilt of the dagger gently.

"Annabeth, on three, I'm going to pull out the knife. Are you ready?" I asked her, hoping Annabeth understood what I was telling her. Anyone could tell she was on the verge of unconsciousness.

"I trust you Percy…" She whispered and relief washed through me. Annabeth didn't care about the fact that she was in incredible pain. She just wanted to have us near her now. "Do it now…"

"Alright. One, two," I grasped the hilt completely and saw Annabeth wince slightly. "Three!"

And with that, I pulled and Annabeth's face scrunched up in utter pain. She ground her teeth together, threw her head back and shut her eyes closed tightly. Thalia immediately started lifting Annabeth's ruined shirt and wrapped the wound in heavy bandages. Even as Thalia covered the wound, blood still seeped through the bandages. Annabeth had bled enough already. "I'm sorry Annabeth. It's over now," I answered as a few tears slid down her face once more. Annabeth never showed her weakness, not even when she was in pain.

But this was an exception. She'd been hurt physically and emotionally.

I looked at the knife and found a silver dagger with a golden hilt. Wait a second, silver?! It was golden when the doctor plunged it into Annabeth's skin. What… what did that mean?

Placing the dagger in my backpack, a thud was heard from above us. Thalia, Grover and I all looked above before looking at each other. "Percy, unlock the shackles. Grover, hold her arms so they don't fall. This is going to probably hurt her even more," Thalia ordered and we didn't' even bother arguing.

Grover placed his hands carefully on Annabeth's arms, holding her gently not to hurt her. Thalia held onto my best friend's stomach and tried to apply almost no pressure while I picked the locks. Footsteps could be heard from across the hall and I tried to hurry as much as possible. Luckily, it was only one lock that held both of her wrists together. When it clicked open, her bleeding wrists were free and Grover brought her arms down slowly. Thalia lowered Annabeth's close-to-unconsciousness body down on the floor and I hurried to work on unlatching the shackles at Annabeth's feet.

"You're pretty stupid to come here, Percy," A familiar voice answered from behind me. Lifting my head upward as the latch of the lock opened up, I turned around and found Luke standing in the doorway, Backbiter in hand. His grin shined in the dim light as he approached us slowly. "I knew that if we kept Annabeth here long enough, you'd come looking for her."

"You're not getting anywhere near her," I threatened, raising Riptide to prepare myself for battle. Luke laughed a bitter and maniacal laugh as he stood against the wall, looking at us with mockery written all over his face. Somehow, I could feel Thalia's glare behind me. She was really angry.

"Luke…" She almost growled in anger. Did Thalia ever growl? "Why would you do this?"

"Hey, everybody has to have a hobby. In this case, it's to lure Percy to his death," Luke cooed as he swung his sword around. Standing up, I tried to concoct a plan. Maybe if we could find some way to get out of here. Maybe… I got it! The Greek fire! It was the only way we could get out of here safely. Dropping my backpack onto the floor, Thalia looked at it and then to me as she held onto Annabeth's almost unconscious body.

"Well, we'll just see if that'll happen," I answered coldly.

"Well, well, well… Percy Jackson. You decided to come and show your face," A woman's sinister voice answered from the hallway. Turning my head slightly to the left, my eyes detected movement from the shadows and saw that Hecate, the goddess of Magic and Witchcraft, stepped into the room. "It took you longer than I thought to come here."

"Hecate."

"Correct. But I do believe you cannot leave just yet. There is still some… unfinished business to attend to," She mused as Hecate went to stand beside Luke proudly. An evil smirk played across her face as she ran her fingers through her brown, luscious hair. Hecate was the one that tormented Annabeth. She would pay, along with Luke and that doctor, whoever he was.

"You're quite right, Hecate. He can't leave. And along with his friends, he will suffer." And that's when the doctor came in the picture. The man in the military suit walked into the room—you know, if anyone else comes in here, there's not going to be enough space for us to fight (if we had to)—and took a place right beside Luke and Hecate. "So, surrender now Percy Jackson and your friends won't be harmed any further."

With that statement said, I looked over my shoulder and found Thalia looking at me thoughtfully. WE NEED TO GET OUT was written all over her face as she handed Annabeth to Grover and came to stand beside me, Aegis equipped and ready to use. "There's Greek fire in my backpack. We can use it to escape with Annabeth," I whispered to her, barely moving my lips.

She nodded without removing her gaze from the company. Looking over at Grover, my gaze went to my backpack for one second and went back to him. Grover understood immediately and slid his arms under Annabeth before hoisting her gently into his arms. She moaned slightly but stayed motionless. The only sign that showed she was still alive was the slight rise and fall of her chest. Chiron needed to see her right away.

"Dr. Thorn, I suppose we can dispose of the Athena girl now?" Hecate asked with a slight smile.

"Of course. Luke, kill them all," Dr. Thorn answered as he snapped his fingers. Luke seemed hesitant at first but straightened himself and pointed his sword right at us. Thalia pushed Luke's sword out of the way with her spear and moved in front of me.

"Luke, you can always step away from all of this and come back with us," Thalia answered softly, which gave me enough time to get the Greek fire out and use it. Kneeling down, I took the metal bottle containing the Greek fire out and hid it behind my back. "There's always a way out of this," Thalia continued, as if I hadn't done anything. She was quite the actress. Unfortunately, Luke had suspected something.

But… he wasn't doing anything about it.

What was up with him? Wasn't he one of the bad guys?

"I'm sorry Thalia, but it's for the best. Gods need to be rid of," Luke answered as he looked at her. Thalia backed up a bit, bringing me along with her so we could stand beside Grover and Annabeth, but still stared Luke straight in the eyes. The Greek fire was still in my hands, ready to be thrown whenever needed. "NOW!" She screamed and in a second, the Greek fire was out of my hand and thrown at the window we had slid into. When it came in contact with the wall, the metal bottle exploded and the wall was blown to bits, making it a possible escape for us. Ignoring the smoke and the cement flying towards us, we ran to the exit—Grover being careful not to hurt Annabeth any further—and jumped outside.

Hey Boss! We've gotta go now! They're on your tail! Blackjack thought urgently. Looking back, I did see that Dr. Thorn was trying to get out of the house, which had now started to crumble slightly. Luke came out after Dr. Thorn and Hecate came out before the house crumbled completely and turned to dust. Hecate turned towards her house and started shouting and crying. Wow, she's quite mad, Blackjack thought as I climbed onto his back and Grover handed me Annabeth. Porkpie couldn't handle three people on his back. It was way too much.

Cradling Annabeth carefully in my arms, she moaned slightly and lost consciousness in my arms. "Blackjack, can you carry two people?" I asked urgently while positioning Annabeth carefully on Blackjack's back, leaning her head against my shoulder.

Sure thing. Now, let's get the heck outta here! He thought before both Pegasi flew in the air, leaving the three evil doers on the ground. We had escaped safely with Annabeth safely with us.

She whimpered slightly in her sleep and my arm wound around her, holding her safe as we flew through the air at a safe speed.

"You're safe, Annabeth. We're going back to camp. You're safe," I whispered to her through the whole trip. She was safe in my arms.

Alright, so Percy finally saved Annabeth. But what will happen now? It's not the end. Trust me, there's more to come. MUAHAHAHAHA!!!! So REVIEW for more chapters :P

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