A/N: So, I know it's been a while since I updated. And I'm sorry. This time, it's more my fault because I've been lazy. There were were times I had the chance to write, but I didn't. So I'm sorry.

Quote of the day: ''With great power... comes a great need to take a nap. Wake me up later.'' - Nico Di Angelo

Chapter Eight

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I watch Beatrice disappear over the edge, then look at Max. He looks surprised. He turns to us.

"Okay then," he says, "who wants to go second? To a Stiff?" Max shoots the Dauntless-born initiates a disapproving look.

I take a deep breath and step forward. At the same time, Percy makes a move forward. I sigh and step back. So does Percy. I grit my teeth in was bad enough when this would happen at school when another student would try to go through the same doorway as me. Now, doing the same thing with the edge of a building just seems ridiculous.

"We could go at the same time", Percy suggests. I consider a moment, then nod.

We stand there for a moment, staring down into the abyss. The wind is rough, causing Percy's loose gray outfit to flap in the wind and my now loose hair to whip around my face. Then, simultaneously, we step over the edge and plummet into endless darkness.

The walls rise up around us. Percy is lower than me, and I I reach down and grab his hand. Suddenly, I feel a strange sensation overwhelm me. I feel nauseous. The scene disappears around me, and suddenly I am in a different pit, hanging over the edge, with Percy holding my hand.

He grips a ledge in the pit, barely managing to hold us both up. A boy leans over the edge, far above, too far away to be able to help. Words spill out of my mouth.

"Percy," I croak, "let me go. You can't pull me up." His face is white with effort. I can tell he knows I'm right.

But he responds, "Never." And turns to look at the boy at the top. "The other side, Nico! We'll see you on the other side! Understand?"

Nico's eyes widen. "But-" Percy doesn't let him finish.

"Lead them there! Promise me!"

"I-I will," Nico stammers.

Below us, a voice laughs in the darkness. Sacrifices, it hisses, beautiful sacrifices to wake the goddess.

Percy tightens his grip on my wrist. His face is gaunt, scraped and bloody, his hair dusted with cobwebs, but, despite all that, I still notice how handsome he is.

"We're staying together," he says, "You're not getting away from me. Never again."

Only then do I understand what will happen. A one way trip. A very hard fall.

"As long as we're together," I say. I glance up at the sunlight far above- most likely the last sunlight I'll ever see. Then Percy let go of his ledge, and holding hands, Percy and I descended into endless darkness.

I awake to the sensation of my body hitting a net. I glance over at Percy. I watch his eyes fly open, and he stares at me in confusion, much the same as the look I am giving him. The people around us are in a mixture of cheering and giving Percy an odd look. I realize how funny it is, to them, that the first person to jump, and one of the two second people to jump, are "Stiffs."

But no one seems to notice the way Percy and I look at each other, both of us thinking the same thing. What the heck just happened?

A/N: CLIFFHANGER! Reviews are appreciated. Until next chapter, goodbye.