Now, let's see Percy's side of things, shall we?

Chapter 23

Shrine of Nyx

When Percy opened his eyes, the first thing that he saw was a great golden chandelier. A great, golden, broken chandelier. That was just about to fall on top of him.

This is it, he thought, this is how I am going to die. I can already see what will be written on my gravestone. Percy Jackson, died by being crushed to dust by a broken chandelier that he was too stupid to dodge.

As soon as the thought hit him, he was wide awake. No, I don't wanna die like that! That's way to stupid, even for me.

The chandelier made a creaking noise, and Percy bolted upwards, with speed he himself did not know he possessed. But his knees wobbled as soon as he got up and it took him a moment to gather himself and get out of the chandelier's way.

After he had made sure that his life was not in danger of being crushed by a chandelier, Percy finally noticed his surroundings. He was in a circular room with a dome-shaped ceiling. The wall was painted beautifully with intricate red designs over a plain but elegant black. The ceiling looked like it was made of mirror, because wherever he looked, he could see a reflection of himself. Hanging from the middle of the ceiling was the broken chandelier.

The room had a sort of ancient feel to it, the sort of feel you often get when near historical monuments or such. Percy was not sure if this was a historical monument or not, though, because he was fairly certain that those sort of stuff was not supposed to exist in Nyx's Realm.

...

And that's when it hit him.

This isn't the Realm of Nyx.

But if it wasn't the Realm of Nyx, then where was it? The last thing that Percy remembered was entering a shady looking room and then being shown that horrible vision over and over again. And then...

Oh, I get it now! So that's what happened...

Percy had passed out in Nyx's Realm, which, technically speaking, was actually just an extension of Percy's own subconscious. So, if he had passed out in there, then there was only one possible place where he could be in right now.

His real body.

It almost felt unreal, being back to his own body after such a long time. All this time, he had been trying all these crazy ideas trying to get out of Nyx's Realm and turned out, all he had to do was faint.

A laugh escaped his lips at the thought, but pretty soon, he was coughing.

His throat was really dry. He supposed that made sense. His body had not been used for a really long time, so it was only natural that things would be somewhat hard right now. He just hoped that this did not become a hindrance while fighting.

Percy tried moving his arms first. They were a little stiff but soon enough, he felt normal. He tried out a few exercises, and when he found out he could do them all perfectly, he thanked all the gods and goddesses in existence.

He moved around the room, trying to relax his legs. When he felt they were not as stiff as before, he tried out some full body exercises. Pretty soon, he felt he had perfected all his techniques, thanks to muscle memory.

He decided to look around the place, to see if he could figure out where he was. The place did not seem familiar to him but there was a nagging feeling in his gut telling him that he knew where it was. And that it was not a place he wanted to be in. At all.

There were three doors on three arcs of the room. Percy wondered whether it made any difference as to which door he took. Or was it some sort of place where you would die if you chose the wrong door? Like all those riddles that Annabeth used to love?

At the thought of Annabeth, a small, wistful smile made its way to his face. Sweet, smart, scary Annabeth. She was probably still a freak for riddles. If she was here, she would have known exactly what to do. She always did.

But alas, Percy did not possess the smarts of his girlfriend. He could not decide what to do.

At last, he decided to take the door to his left, partly because it was the closest and would take less walking, and mostly because its handle was blue in color. Blue had always been his color.

Percy made his way to the blue-handled door. He hesitated for a moment before deciding, Oh what the Hades, this can't be the stupidest decision I've ever made, and then he grabbed the knob and turned it. The door made a soft creaking sound as it opened, and for a moment, Percy again wondered if he had made the right decision.

The inside was totally dark. He could not see very well. With a sense of foreboding, he opened a door a bit wider and entered the room. As soon as he did, the door shut behind him with a loud bang.

Percy let out a yelp as his vision was suddenly filled with nothing. He could not see anything at all. It was all just darkness. A cold, sinister darkness that reminded him of Nyx and Tartarus. But it was slightly different, though just as powerful.

Instinctively, Percy's hand went into his pocket, hoping against hope to find his trusty sword/ballpoint pen there. When his hand touched the cool surface of Riptide, he let out a sigh of relief and brought it out. As soon as he uncapped it, the bronze glow of Riptide filled the room and for a moment, Percy was blinded. When his eyes finally adjusted to the sudden light, he realized that the room was not a very big one.

It was painted totally black, and it wasn't the elegant sort of black that had been in the previous room. It was just...nothing. And that somehow made it scarier.

There were three coffin-styled boxes lying on the ground. Percy wondered if he should open it. What would Annabeth do in this situation? Try as he might, he could not focus properly.

The son of Poseidon decided to check out the coffins. This time, he chose the one on the far right. He approached it cautiously. Bending down to his knees, he touched its surface. And immediately, on cue, a memory started playing in his head.

He was sitting on the beach watching the sea. The sea was calm today and the view from his position was just breathtaking. Suddenly, he felt a pair of arms wrap around his torso, and he knew immediately who it was.

"Come on, Wise Girl, let's go play in the water!" He said enthusiastically, making wild hand gestures.

Annabeth's laugh greeted him, and it was music to his ears. Her body was pressed against his, her blonde curls falling on his shoulders. She smelled of lemon grass and olive. Percy had never quite understood the combination, but he could not help but think that she smelled really nice.

"Sure, Seaweed Brain! But you better be fast or I'm leaving you behind!" Annabeth said, laughing. She quickly scrambled away from him and started running towards the sea. Percy also got up and ran after her, yelling for her to wait for him.

Annabeth gave him a rather taunting smile. "Come on, get here fast, Seaweed Brain. I can't wait all day!"

"Why, you-" Percy ran towards her at full speed and picked her up before she could protest. Annabeth told him to put her down, but she sounded like she was rather enjoying herself. Percy then began tickling her, which resulted in her laughing till her stomach hurt.

Percy had a large grin on his face, the one he always got whenever he could get Annabeth to laugh in that carefree way. It was his most favorite sound in the world. More beautiful than Piper's songs, and Apollo's singers.

The two of them sat together at the shore, the gentle waves touching their feet. Their hands were intertwined, and they were gazing into each other's eyes as if they were the only people in the world. Behind them, the sun was just about to set. The soft breeze was soothing and even the seagulls passing by seemed to be in the best of moods.

Their faces closed in, until their lips were touching. It was a gesture full of love, of their complete devotion to each other. It was a long time when they finally broke apart.

"I love you, Seaweed Brain," said Annabeth, her eyes full of fondness and love.

"I love you more, Wise Girl," replied Percy, meaning every single word, "We'll be together. Forever."

"Forever," Annabeth agreed.

And then the memory stopped and Percy was whisked back to reality. He realized that the scene playing out of his head was just a figment of his memories from fie years ago, when he was still with Annabeth and all of his friends.

He didn't realize he was crying until his eyes went glassy and his cheeks were totally wet. God, he missed those days so much. He wondered if things would be the same when he went back. He wondered whether things could ever be as before. It would probably never be like before again. Even if e managed to reconcile with Annabeth again, things would not be the same.

Just what was this coffin-shaped box? Why was it showing him this prized memory? Was it taunting him, showing him the things he could not have anymore?

"It's the Memorial," a sharp voice cut through the room, "It shows the precious memories of the one who touches it."

Percy's blood immediately ran cold at the voice. It was a voice he knew well. A voice he could never forget. That voice from that pit where he and Annabeth had been damned to...

"Tartarus," he breathed out, feeling sweat gathering on his forehead. He did not dare turn around. He did not want to see him.

He could almost feel Tartarus's smile piercing through him. "Well done, you remembered who I am."

Of course he did. How could he ever forget? Tartarus had been the first to show Percy what true fear was like.

"Where am I?" Percy asked, although he knew he would not like the answer one bit.

Again, he felt as if Tartarus was stabbing him with his smile. "Why, you're at the Shrine of Nyx, of course."

I am so sorry I took so long to update this. I really can't apologize enough. I hope you guys liked this chapter. I will try to update as soon as possible. Leave a review. Until next time ;)