Hey! I'm back! Took a long while to write this chapter…I redid it twice. Hahaha…anyway, I was in a bit of a mess writing this, I really had no heart to. And it was all thanks to my amazing beta, Venillashiz, that this really got into production.


"I'm giving you one last chance Grover, WHERE IS PERCY?!" Grover choked and whimpered as Annabeth's claw-like hand tightened it's grip around his throat.

Swallowing with difficulty, he rasped, "Not her – Ack!" He choked as Annabeth pushed him harder into the trunk of Thalia's tree. Grover really felt like crying, the bark was digging into his back - probably tearing his shirt up pretty badly too, Annabeth's nails were really, really painful and he hated the fact that he as hiding stuff from one of his best friends.

The internal battle raged within him as he tried to force some oxygen down his extremely constricted throat. Grover looked up, startled when he saw a crystal tear drip hit the swaying grass. Annabeth bit her lip and looked down, "Why?"

Now he really felt bad. "Ummm…"

"Why? Why won't anyone tell me?!" Her grip loosened, just a little and he could he feel his throat burn, not from the pain of her hold but from the growing lump of pent-up emotions lodged in it. Just how much guilt could a person take before exploding?!

Grover unclenched his hand, reaching up slowly to grab her wrist and shake it slightly to remove her vice-like grip. He patted her hand, smiling ruefully, "I'm sorry honey…I…" He paused, tell her?

Grover gritted his teeth. Percy would so murder the enchiladas out of him! "Um…I can't…tell you."

WHAM!

Her fist came out of nowhere, sending him reeling around, clutching his eye. Grover gaped, "Wha-"

"I've had it up to here with this shit. Rachel doesn't know so I came to you. I tried the easy way Grover, but guess like your time's up." Annabeth cracked her knuckles, stepping menacingly closer to him. Grover squeaked in fright, he had never seen her so…so demented before. She really had to love Percy.

"Come on Goat-boy, the clock's ticking, I'm gonna give you till 5 to tell me where my son-of-a-bitch-of-a-husband is!" Her screech reached a frequency that probably only dogs could hear.

"One…two…" She stepped closer with each number.

"Three…four-"

"UNDERWORLD! The underworld!" He gasped out, "He's in the underworld! Thalia and Nico went with him!" Grover panted as he lay back down on the grass, his eyes bulging in horror when he realized what he had just told her.

Annabeth's face morphed into a dazzling smile. She took a pen knife out of her pocket and threw it down on the grass next to him. "Thank the gods I didn't have to use that - I really hoped I wouldn't have to, you held out much longer than I expected though, thanks Grover!" She bent down to give him a peck on the cheek, running off towards the cabins.

Grover sat up and groaned, Percy was sooo gonna kill him, he'd have to ask Juniper to plan his funeral.


Annabeth was extremely cheery as she stepped into Percy's old cabin. It was still empty even up till now, and she sat down on the messy bed. Looking over to the carefully laid out blueprint lying on the bag pack, she frowned. It was going to be difficult to sneak out tonight. Annabeth flopped down on her back, looking up at the ceiling. She fingered her ring as she thought about the past few days…

Thump. Percy. Thump. Poison. Thump. Cold.

She remembered lying there, the pain eating her from the inside out. Remembered listening to her heartbeat, remembered wondering, just when it would stop, waiting for that last thump to come.

Percy.

He had been there, she could still imagine him. His warm arms enveloping her, his fingers ghosting over her skin as he brushed her hair away ever so softly. And the tears - she knew how much he hated crying, how much he hated showing his weaknesses. She wanted to reach to him, to tell him that she was alright. As hard as she tried, her arms wouldn't lift, and her lips would not move to form the words she so desperately wanted to say.

Poison.

It hurt, the pain. It coursed through her body, burning from the tips of her toes to the roots of her hair. She wanted to scream out, to shout so loud that the poison might flow out through the intensity of her cries. But he was there. His love, flowing in, melting every unshed tear away. That alone, could numb even the most painful of deaths to just a dull ache.

Cold.

Gone. He was gone. Percy. How could he leave? Every inch of her body screamed out for him. She wanted to wake up, wanted to walk up to him and slap him silly for leaving her bedside.

Then her heart fluttered. Was it Percy? She felt light; it was like she'd been reborn. She could feel her heart beating with new vigor now, pushing the poison away like a tsunami tide. Was she cured? She had to be. Thinking of nothing but being able to wake up and see Percy again, she had felt herself drift into unconsciousness…


"Hades!" Annabeth hissed as she pulled her foot out of yet another puddle. The sound echoed in the dark, followed by another splash and a string of curses. She sat down and pulled her blueprint out. A few months ago, she would have laughed and slapped any idiot who claimed that Camp Half-Blood was a fortress to escape. Now she had no choice but to agree. Who would've thought that Chiron would be able to set up this many obstacles to prevent her from escaping? He knew, of course, that she would go straight to Percy's 'rescue'.

She chucked it back into her bag as she stood before the boiling pit of oozing lava. How uninventive could they be? Crossing and avoiding lava was a piece of cake if you only had the right instruments. She grabbed a silver ring out of her pocket, a wedding present from Tyson, her Cyclops half-brother-in-law. Pressing the centre, it popped and expanded into a wide shield. Placing it on the lava, she got on and pushed hard. The force was more than enough to get her to the edge not more than 10 meters away.

Chuckling at the simplicity of her fellow campers, she practically skipped to the rock climbing wall. Honestly, has no one ever heard of non-slip gloves? She pulled the old gloves and threw them on the floor next to the wall. Chiron had counted on her old fear of heights to daunt her but he probably didn't know that anyone who hanged out with Percy long enough had their share of above-the-atmosphere Pegasus rides.

Finally, she could see it. The end of the strawberry fields. Annabeth wanted to jump up and shout out her victory but her fear of being eaten by the cleaning harpies overruled the stray thought.

The Underworld. Annabeth grinned. Guess it was time to make another visit to DOA recording Studios then. Charon better have missed her.


It's done! Annabeth's so cool! HAHAHAHA. I'll be needing those reviews! I want 10 for the next chapter! Thanks again for reading!