It was just as bad as she had remembered.

The air, like poison, but still necessary to breathe. The weighing atmosphere. The moment her feet connected with the ground, Annabeth felt as if a hook was piercing her chest, trying to drag her down into the dirt.

"So this is Tartarus."

Annabeth turned on her heels. "Leo?" she demanded.

The son of Hephaestus was shaky on his feet but managed a weak smile. "Could be worse. Could be...raining," he said with effort.

"What are you doing here?"

"What are you doing here? I was trying to stop you, but apparently Tartarus is kind of grabby."

Annabeth somehow found a laugh tumbling out of her at Leo's prim tone. She stood up straight, then, remembering why she had come. She peered around but saw no sign of their friends. Not a surprise; visibility was rather low in this hazy cesspool.

"Leo," Annabeth mused, peering up at the clouds that had been haunting her nightmares. "Could you give me your hand for a sec?"

...

"Percy is back, and Bob is helping Percy and his friends! To Hades!"

"And this is actually Iapetus?" Jonathan asked wonderingly. "The Piercer?"

"Yup," Percy said simply.

"That's a pretty cool title," Clary observed. She was supporting half of her brother's weight, so she felt the weak laugh that went through him.

"As Greek titles go, it's pretty tame," Percy argued, but it was clear that his heart wasn't in the small talk. "Bob, how much farther?"

"Along the bad rivers until you see the ghosts of the dead," Bob answered brightly.

"Of course. Why didn't I think of that?" Clary muttered, and again she felt Jonathan laugh. It seemed his new appreciation for lack-of-demon-blood made him giggly.

Suddenly, flames scorched the sky above. They seemed different from Tartarus flames, not that Clary had suddenly become an expert on Tartarus fire; that is, they didn't seem calculated to torment. Instead, these seemed like the kind of flames that could warm you in the cold or burn your house down. Impartial fire. and it was spelling out the words:

WAIT UP, SEAWEED BRAIN!

Seaweed Brain...was what Annabeth called Percy, right?

To Clary, this seemed like good news, but Percy went pale as a sheet and started to shake. "What is she...What are they doing here?"

"They're here to help us, right?" Clary prompted.

Percy just kept shaking his head, until Jason put his hands on his shoulders and tried to get him calm. "Perce, it's okay. They're tough, they can-"

"She can't be here again; I almost lost her last time," Percy kept muttering, seeming like he might vomit.

"Let's just go to her," Jason said slowly, making Percy keep eye contact, "so that we're together so that we can all protect each other."

Percy finally nodded in agreement. "Sorry," he said. "Memories."

Jason nodded and clapped Percy on the back. "You're doing great so far. Let's get to Annabeth, Leo, and whoever else..."

"What about Nico?" Percy interrupted.

"...and Bob can keep carrying Nico to Hades. We'll catch up with him once we're all together," Jason finished.

Percy looked slightly conflicted. "Is that okay, Bob? You can take Nico to his father?"

"Of course! Nico is my friend like Percy is my friend."

Clary still marveled at the gigantic creature's adorable sentiments.

"We'll be quick," Percy promised. "We'll be right back."

"Uh, some of us can't be quick," Clary interjected. "Should we stay with the giant?"

"Titan," Jason corrected. "And...probably. We'll-"

"I know; you'll catch up."

"Soon!" Percy promised, then he and Jason took off.

...

"I, uh..." Leo shuddered. "Wow, yeah. I get it now. This place sucks."

"I know," Annabeth said.

"I mean, it extravagantly sucks. It goes out of its way to suck."

"Yep."

"If sucking were an Olympic sport-"

"Leo? Please shut up."

"I would if I could, but at this point it's a coping mechanism; I'm really kinda scared here."

Annabeth stopped scanning her surroundings for signs of the others, then. She looked Leo in the face as he sank to the ground and hugged his knees. "Deep breaths," she urged. "It does suck. Gold medal suckitude. But we're gonna make it; I've done it before."

"Sure, you did; you're, like, Annabeth Chase."

Annabeth put out a hand to help Leo up. "The point is, I wasn't alone, and neither are you."

Leo took her hand and stood up. When he released it, he seemed to note how her hands were shaking. "Not alone," he agreed. "That's good. Do you think they saw the message?"

And a terrifying voice above their heads responded, "I think someone might have."


(A/N: Sorry for the super long wait; I had started this chapter, but then it got deleted and I got so frustrated that I gave up, and now I've rewritten it and it's super short because I honestly wasn't expecting to continue this fic, but I got another review and I thought What the heck.)