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Sorry for typos or OOCness!
Happy Reading!
Chapter 9
Percy
Dreamless sleep equals happy demigod. For once, this was the case with Percy.
When he opened his eyes, nearly four hours later, he couldn't believe any time had passed at all. The trees around him still glowed the same color, and a little river of water was dripping down on his forehead. Annabeth was passed out with her head on his chest.
For a moment, he was confused about the fact that trees didn't glow, and that it was the only light given off. Heck, why was he in a forest, covered in water and leaves, with Annabeth next to him. The Annabeth part did not bother him, put everything else did.
Then the previous events came back to him. The fall, Arachne, the Fiat. A fake Welcome to Tartarus sign stuck out in his mind.
He jumped to his feet in surprise, bringing out Riptide in one swift motion. He was in Tartarus and fallen asleep. How stupid could he be? There were monsters and an earth goddess watching his every move.
Annabeth's head hit the ground, and she grumbled something in her sleep, then turned over.
Percy backed up against a tree, his eyes scanning the area all around them. He jumped off of the tree. It had burned him. He looked down at his hand, and then saw the blisters on it. Annabeth and him had fallen asleep against that tree, yet it hadn't hurt them. Maybe their clothes were protective or something.
Percy willed the little river of water to grow. Pulling Annabeth out of the way, a steady stream came down. He stuck his head underneath it and took a sip. Just as great as he'd remembered. Maybe the water was laced with something. Perhaps nectar?
Then he stuck his hand under it. The water healed the redness and blisters before his eyes. And then he could feel all of his other cuts and bruises mending. A small fracture in his collarbone that he refused to tell Annabeth about healed. He could feel the bones coming together. He hadn't told Annabeth because she had enough problems.
Percy wished he could heal other people. He had once tried to heal Annabeth with his water powers shortly after the Titan war. The result had been a very wet, very angry girlfriend. He didn't want to try that again.
Snap! Percy heard a twig close by. His heart leapt into his throat. He swallowed loudly. Annabeth was unfazed. Percy didn't want to wake her up. Sleep was the best way for her to heal now.
But he couldn't just let a threat go unhandled. He had to see what it was. With one final look at Annabeth, he brandished his sword again and followed the source of the noise.
He prayed that she would be okay by herself. Annabeth was always resourceful. Being a Daughter of Athena, everything around her was like a canvas, waiting for her use. Percy was pretty sure she could use anything to kill something if it came at her. But still he worried about his choice.
Snap! He heard it again. He started to jog, but he was worried he would get lost. The trees light began to fade, and Percy was grateful for the light given off by his sword. Sighing, he slowed down and just looked around. Every tree looked the same.
Percy lowered his sword. The sounds echoed in the forest. He wasn't sure where it was coming from now. He took a step near one of the trees and leaned against it. Slowly, he peered around the side. There wasn't that glow. There was only darkness, and the snapping of twigs.
He heard a low growl and backed up, tripping over a tree root. With a snap of its jaws, a creature jumped out of the forest and lunged for Percy.
The paws hit Percy's shoulders and sent him falling backward. When he hit the ground with a thud, it knocked the wind out of him. His sword was thrown in a different direction. Teeth bit at his face, and pushed its nose with all of his strength. It would not budge off of him. Apparently, the creature wanted a little taste of Percy.
Too late did Percy realize that it was a hellhound trying to eat him. Percy had been attacked by hellhounds before. He hated hurting them, since he had a soft spot for them with his own pet one, Mrs. O'Leary.
"Bad boy," he yelled at the dog. It was the size of a couch, which meant it was only a baby. "You do not eat demigods! They cause diarrhea!"
The hellhound didn't care. He bit away at Percy. He yelled and cursed the dog, and turned his head away from the hound. Please don't bite me, please don't bit me.
Percy could only rely on his power now. All of these trees around him were filled with water. But he could only get it out by touching the tree. Even though the effort was futile, he closed his eyes and relaxed his muscles as much as he could without letting the dog get a taste of Percy.
He felt a tug in his stomach, and the sound of an explosion behind him. Water rained down on him. The hellhound stopped and looked up. Percy looked over his shoulder. Once by one, the trees were exploding, water bursting out of them. The rain froze and pelted them both with hail. The dog yelped and jumped off of him, trying to get away from the unrelenting ice. Percy too jumped up and lunged for Riptide. Once he had his sword in his hands again, he felt a lot better. He'd rather face the hellhound then torture it with pelting ice.
The hail ceased. The dog crouched down. He was bleeding, and one of his eyes looked injured. The dog didn't look like it was going to jump at Percy. It looked defeated and hurt. The dog whimpered.
Percy couldn't kill a baby hellhound. He hadn't known better than to attack Percy. The baby had probably watched his momma do this thousands of times. That was what Percy called bad parenting.
He crept forward, put his sword behind his back. Percy reached out with one hand so the hellhound could sniff him. He did, and a drop of blood hit Percy's hand. He cringed in sympathy.
The dog didn't attack, but it did get up. He didn't come at Percy, but it ran away through the dead rainforest. He was probably going to go back to his mom now. They needed to move.
Percy was lost for a second. His sense of direction had been messed up. He saw where the hound had broken through, and he saw pretty sure he had come from the opposite way. It was his only lead, so he took it sprinting.
It actually did lead him back to Annabeth. She was still asleep, oblivious to anything that had happened. Percy shook her, and her eyes popped open.
"Hey," she said stretching. "What time is it?" Before Percy could tell her anything, she stood up. She gasped in pain and fell to the ground. Percy caught her and held her up. She winced in her side.
"What happened?"she asked, looking down at her. Then her eyes widened and she looked at their surroundings. "Oh my gods, where are we?" Percy opened his mouth to answer, but she said, "We're in Tartarus, aren't we?" Again, Percy tried to say something, but she went on. "Oh no, we are. It wasn't a dream. My rib and ankle are broken." Her eyes got even bigger in horror.
"Yes," Percy finally said. "And we need to leave now."
Annabeth reached up and touched Percy's forehead. "What happened to you?"
Percy didn't know what she was talking about. But as an explanation, she showed him her fingers. In the blue light, they looked black, but Percy could smell that metallic scent; he was bleeding.
He touched his own forehead. He couldn't even feel anything. It didn't matter. "We need to leave now," he repeated. Annabeth knew better than to ask why. She just nodded and grabbed his crutches. Percy began to run out of the forest. She hobbled as fast as she could on her crutches, but that wasn't that fast.
They needed to go fast. Percy snatched Annabeth up, honeymoon style. She yelped and squirmed, but Percy ignored her. She still clutched to her crutches.
The forest got darker, which was good, because that meant they were near the edge of it. Percy looked up and could see the roof of the forest getting thinner. He could see the car in the distance. They were getting closer.
The growls started again. Baby hellhound had got momma hellhound, and they were out for blood. Preferably his.
They broke out of the trees with a crash. Percy literally threw Annabeth in the passenger's seat and then jumped in his side. He fumbled with the keys. The growling was getting louder.
He tossed Annabeth his pen. "If the hellhounds come out of the trees, whack them."
"What hellhounds?" she asked, he didn't reply. The car started, and Percy gassed it. They went straight back into the jungle at a hundred miles per hour. Annabeth screamed and Percy gripped the steering wheel so tight that his hands were white.
His reflexes were good. He steered in and out of trees, only hitting branches. Annabeth clung to the chair for dear life. "You're insane!" she screamed at him.
"Did you just figure that out?" he yelled back, swerving around a down tree, clenching teeth.
"Nope. That's why we're a couple!" she confirmed.
"You know it!"
"Look out!" cried Annabeth, pointing in front of her. There was a wall of vines. There was nowhere else to go. So Percy and Annabeth crashed right through the vines, screaming all the way.
Thankfully, there was only a bunch of other trees on the other side, not a brick wall or anything. That really would've sucked. Percy kept zooming along. But the barks and growling of the hellhounds was still behind them, getting closer and closer.
Annabeth screamed, and Percy looked over at her just in time to see giant teeth scrape against the side of the car. Annabeth leaned out of the car and thwacked the dog. She hacked at the ear, and Percy sucked in a breath as the dog yelped and stopped running after them.
She got back inside the car, rage on her face. Percy hated seeing the hellhounds in pain, but he tried t remind himself that these creatures were not his friends. They wanted him dead. They were probably working for the giants or the titans.
The trees were beginning to stop glowing. Percy couldn't see that much blue around him anymore. They were nearing the other side of the forest. They were so close to freedom of this freak forest. "Step on it!" exclaimed Annabeth, leaning out of the car again with his sword.
He pressed on the gas again. One hundred twenty miles per hour now. Trees blurred past them and Percy's head slammed back into the seat. Annabeth came back inside and handed him his sword. Leaning across the consol, she took the wheel from Percy. "They're coming up on your side," she informed him, keeping her eyes on the forest ahead of them.
"Okay." Percy leaned out of the window, keeping one hand gripping his seat so he wouldn't fall out. He could see the blurs of black fur bounding closer to them. Death glares met death glares. Someone was definitely going to die. Percy didn't want it to be either of them.
The baby hellhound jumped, probably trying to get on top of the car. Percy slashed in a wide arc, creating a blossoming amount of blood that hit Percy's face. The dog whined and collapsed against the top of the car with a thud. Then it rolled off and hit the ground, successfully hitting the momma. The mom faulted against it and tripped. Soon they were out of distance.
Percy got back inside the car and grabbed the wheel from Annabeth. She slid over back into her seat. Even the small efforts she had made hurt her. Percy heard her hiss in pain. She was sweating.
"How are you?" Percy asked, gripping one of her hands.
She shook her head. "Don't worry about me. Just keep your eyes ahead of you. Who know when they'll be back? We gotta be prepared."
But Percy couldn't help but worry. In the past however long they had been there, she had been seriously injured and deprived of help. Percy wasn't of any assistance to her. He was being a pretty bad boyfriend.
Even though their main goal was to close the Doors of Death, it was more than that to Percy. He wanted revenge on all of the people that were responsible for Annabeth's health. That was more than Arachne. That was Gaea and all of the giants and all of the monsters. Percy couldn't stand to think of any of them.
For the first time in Percy's life, he was thirsty for blood.
Hmmm... Mad Percy? Very interesting...
Hey! I've started a new Percy Jackson story called You And Me, Against the World. It's an apocalyptic survival romance story! Go check it out! Chapter one is posted.
Reviews and ideas are loved!
-BBH
