Percy's P.O.V
After we said hello to the stars for Bob, Athena and dad took us to the guest rooms, they clearly weren't happy about us staying in the same room but begrudgingly they allowed it after the aftermath of the day, I knew it would be a while before I fell asleep.
"Annabeth, are you still awake?" I said as we lay in bed her head on my chest.
"Yes, I think it'll be a while before I manage sleep tonight" She confessed and I agreed with her.
"I'm sorry about earlier, y'know during my attack, I'm sorry I hurt you" I said and I felt incredibly guilty about it, but she hadn't let me voice my apology to her until now. Annabeth sighed and sat up in bed and I sat up as well, I immediately missed the warmth of having her cuddling into me.
"Percy, we've been over this every night, you don't need to apologise" I went to interrupt but she held up her hand to silence me so I waited "I know you feel bad about it, but I do the same thing to you when I have mine, and I feel equally bad about it. We can both handle it; we've been through mush worse than a few stray punches." I knew she was right, of course she always was.
"Okay, but not apologising for it isn't going to stop us feeling awful about it, and we have enough to deal with, without bottle that up as well." I pointed out because I didn't want this to be a 'normal' thing that I didn't apologise for, not after everything Gabe putt me and my mom through, just because she could handle it didn't mean she should accept it.
"I know that Percy, but I feel like it's all we say to each other sometimes." She replied sadly and I knew she was close to crying and that made me feel worse.
"Look, do you remember I told you briefly about Gabe?" I asked.
"Yes your mom married him to cover your scent to protect you" She replied.
"Well let's just say he wasn't the best guy" I gritted out trying not to let me anger over Gabe get the best of me.
"You said that too, but you've never really told me what that meant, I just assumed when you were ready you'd talk to me about it." She replied and I wished I'd told her about this sooner.
"He used to hit my mom" I whispered and I felt her stiffen up next to me, I knew she was angry about it, but I could feel her trying to control it.
"Did he ever hit you?" She whispered and I could tell it was taking all of her self control not to lose it at me for not telling her before.
"Yes" Was all I dared to answer, "I'm not telling you, to make you upset or angry, but I can tell I've achieved both. I'm telling you because I don't want to be like him Annabeth, I don't-"
Annabeth leaned over and kissed me and then wiped away the tears that I hadn't realised were falling down my face. She took my hands and made me face her.
"Listen to me Percy, you are nothing like him. Do you hear me? Nothing." She said it with such conviction that I just nodded sadly at her. "I wish you told me before, but I'm glad that you've told me now." She said.
"I'm sorry, I should have, it was just never a good time and I didn't really want to talk about it." I said "I still don't. But, it's in the past, we've been through so much worse than what Gabe did to me and mom took care of him. I've only brought it up now because I –"
"You need to be able to apologise for it so you don't feel like you're becoming him" She finished for me and I nodded, she was so smart and she knew me so well.
"Okay, let us make a deal then" She said.
"What kind of deal?" I asked.
"We'll continue to apologise for the harm our attacks cause each other, but once we've apologised, we have to stop feeling bad about it, otherwise the guilt alone is going to consume us Percy." She said and I knew she was right.
"Okay, I'm going to struggle with that, but I will do my best to try" I said
"I know you will, I will too, but all we can do is try" Annabeth said and I wondered if perhaps her fatal flaw was no longer pride but perhaps me. 'Stop being arrogant' I told myself in my head.
"What just happened?" Annabeth asked me.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Well, we were talking about trying to overcome our guilt and then you went quiet and frowned, why?" She asked me and I didn't want to lie to Annabeth, so I didn't.
"Just a really stupid and arrogant thought" I told her.
"You're never arrogant, what was the thought?" She asked and I could see the curiosity inside her bubbling through.
"I thought that maybe your fatal flaw isn't pride anymore, I thought that perhaps maybe it was me, which is stupid and arrogant. Because, I suppose actually it would be more loyalty to me, but again that's a stupid and arrogant thought." I replied.
"It's not a stupid thought, and it's not arrogant, it's actually really sweet. I struggle with my pride, but not as much as I used to and that is thanks to you. You told me once that I was what anchored you to your mortal life, remember?" She asked me and I did. "Well, you do the same for me; I don't need to bathe in the river Styx to know that Percy, and that statement is prideful. I guess what I'm trying to say is just because you aren't my fatal flaw doesn't mean, you aren't just as important to me." She said and I thought about what she had said to me and I understood it.
"I love you" I said.
"I love you too" she replied, "We should really try and get some sleep"
"You're right, as always" I told her seriously and we settled back down and tried for sleep.
Sleep came to me quite a while after Annabeth finally fell asleep. And my dream was worse than anything I'd had before.
I dreamt of the time when Annabeth and I were facing Akhlys, I could feel the anger swimming inside of me as I pushed poison back at her, I could hear Annabeth screaming for me to stop. I knew I was scaring her, but still I didn't stop. A new voice took over the thoughts in my head. 'Don't be weak, you're pathetic, you'll never amount to anything' it was Gabe's voice and it made me angrier and I couldn't control it. The poison started flowing towards Annabeth, 'NO! NOT ANNABETH!' I tried to control it to pull it back in but Gabe's voice kept taunting me.
"PERCY! WHERE ARE YOU?!" Annabeth screamed out in her sleep and it brought me out of me nightmare with such a start. I didn't recognise where I was, I reached over for the lap to turn it on.
By the time I remembered where we were Annabeth was thrashing about and her fist made contact with my eye, it was painful but it didn't matter, I needed to pull her out of this dream.
I cursed myself for taking so long to act, but the fear of being somewhere I didn't recognise had thrown me, I'd let Annabeth dream on, for far too long.
"PERCY, WHY DID YOU LEAVE ME?!" She continued to scream.
I pulled Annabeth up to my chest and wrapped her up in my arms, she was fighting me but still I held her.
"Annabeth, I'm here, I'm right here" I said and the thrashing subsided enough that I could try and wake her up effectively; I brushed my hand against her cheek, and kissed her. "I'm right here, Annabeth, we made it out, we're together." I said, her breathing slowed down and I knew the panic was leaving, her eyes fluttered open and settled on mine and instantly tears appeared in them.
"You were gone, I was all alone again" She sobbed.
"I know, I'm so sorry, I'm here now, we're together" I whispered.
"Why are you sorry?" She asked, as I continued to try and comfort her.
"I took too long, I didn't remember where we were, I took too long to bring you out this time, I'm sorry. Do you want to talk about it?" I asked her.
"It was different this time, like before with the curses but not at the same time" She said and I knew what she meant mine hadn't been 'normal' either. "It wasn't just that I couldn't find you, you'd actually left this time, and it was like you didn't care to stay." She sobbed.
"I will always care enough to stay, Annabeth; I will never leave you of my own free will. I love you." I said.
"I know I love you too" She said and I kissed her.
Annabeth snuggled back into me, and we stayed like that for a while in silence before Annabeth broke it.
"You didn't have a nightmare?" She asked.
"No, I did, but you woke me from it with yours" I told her.
"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked me.
"It was like yours, and by that I mean it was different to the normal ones, I don't know why, but for some reason I think that made it less real to me." I started and she looked at me, confused. I sighed, "Gabe was in it, kind of, it was the one with Akhlys and I was angry and out of control like I always am but Gabe's voice was in my mind as I lost control, calling me weak and pathetic almost egging me on. And as I lost control and the poison started flowing towards you, I started to shout like I always do but I heard you shouting and you woke me from it. I suppose because we'd been talking about him, he was there but, because he'd never been there not really, I think that's why I woke easily from it. I don't know really, I'm just glad I did because it meant I could wake you. And, then I didn't remember where we were and I took too long, I'm sorry." I said.
"Don't be sorry Percy, you brought me back out of my nightmare, and I'm not sure what I would have done had I have woke up to you having a bad nightmare and not realising that we where we were. There will always be a slight fear that waking up in an unknown place is that we're still in the nightmare, it's understandable. Thank you for waking me, I think you're right about your dream that because of talking about Gabe that's why he was in your nightmare" She said "You do have control though Percy, so much control I'm only just now putting the pieces together but, I never realised what had happened to you even with how close we are, I never picked up on the fact that Gabe had hit you. You were always in control of that, you never showed signs of it not like some of the other kids I've seen who have been through something similar. And, with the poison you had control, you stopped for me, I know you'd never hurt me." She said.
"Never" I replied and I meant it, I could never intentionally hurt her, I loved her too much.
I thought about what she had said about Gabe, about not showing signs of it and I guess it was because at the time we had met, he hadn't hit me for quite some time, I'd learnt how to annoy Gabe but not to the extent that that would happen again, I'd also learnt to stay out of his way. Thinking back on it, Gabe being a bully was one of the things that made me mad, it's why I stuck up for others who got bullied, I knew how it felt and I hated it, no-one should have to feel that way.
Athena's P.O.V
I knew Annabeth and Percy weren't sleeping, even here on Olympus we couldn't make them comfortable even that they would sleep. I'd heard my daughter's thoughts she was having a nightmare again. As soon as I was aware it was happening, I watched they pair together, Percy comforting my daughter, the two of them talking about their dreams.
I watched as Percy stayed up for the rest of the night, as his black eye started to form, just so Annabeth would get some sleep. I might not have approved of their friendship in the beginning but I couldn't deny I did now. I hoped one day I could tell them that, and that one day Annabeth would forgive me.
Annabeth's P.O.V
I woke up, unsure of the time but Percy was already a wake.
"Morning Wise Girl" He said turning to face me and I noticed he had a black eye and instantly I knew it was my fault.
"Morning Seaweed Brain" I said and reached out to touch his face "I'm sorry about your eye, why didn't you say I hit you in the face?" I asked.
"It wasn't important at the time" he replied and I also noticed that he looked tired like he hadn't slept anymore than he had before he woke me from my nightmare.
"You did it again didn't you?" I asked "You stayed up so I could sleep"
"I did, but it's no different than when we're on a quest and I take watch so you can sleep" He said.
"The difference is, you used to wake me to take the second shift, since we've been dating you don't anymore, you let me sleep and not to sound ungrateful because I am grateful but I really wish you'd let me take a watch." I told him and he laughed, a small genuine laugh and it was nice that this early in our day that he had laughed it was a nice change.
"I'll have a shower now and the water will give me energy for the day" He said, I knew water revived his energy stores but even that wouldn't last as long as a good night's sleep would. I raised my eyebrow at him to let him know, that I knew it wouldn't be enough to sustain him for the day.
"Okay, okay, if we have to stay here overnight again, you can stay up while I sleep, if that will make you feel better?" He asked.
"Yes, it would" I replied getting up to dress, finding clothes had already been provided for us.
We made our way into the throne room, breakfast was already laid out so that we could eat and then continue reading. Percy's shower had healed his black eye thankfully, so we didn't have too much attention this morning. Percy and I sat off to the side on our own and I found that I was watching the room and that Percy was too. It hummed with conversation and normality. Even the Gods were conversing with our friends and family as if it was normal.
Percy's mom and Paul were talking to his dad; my dad and Helen were talking to my mom, you'd think it would be weird be with everything else we've been through it was pretty normal, almost like a demigod version of a parent teacher conference. Eventually the conversation died down, everyone settled on the sofas and Lady Hestia began to read.
Chapter 10 – Annabeth
Oh good we're back to me! I thought sarcastically, Percy squeezed me closer to him, as if that was possible, in a reassuring manner and I appreciated.
Annabeth decided the monsters wouldn't kill her...
... She would die from an overload of weirdness that would make her brain explode...
Laughter erupted from our friends at the thought, I looked at Percy and he smiled at me and in spite of myself I smiled too. Glad that at least for a little while the tension in the room was low.
... They followed Bob through the wasteland...
... Annabeth wasn't happy about it...
... Her only comfort was Percy...
Aphrodite squealed and it was way too early in the morning for such a loud noise.
... "Bob knows what he's doing," Percy promised...
... The big guy had good ears. Annabeth would have to remember that...
I looked at Percy and conveyed a silent message, 'I was wrong about Bob.' He sent one back to me 'It's okay; I would have been dubious too.' I was grateful for our silent conversations.
... "How did you get to Tartarus?"
"I Jumped"...
... "Because Percy said your name?"
"He needed me"...
... "Come along! We are close to a rest stop."...
"A rest stop in Tartarus, he can't be serious?!" Will said, it was Reyna who responded.
"I think he is serious, he's a Titan, a rest stop for him, might be different than a rest stop for us." She said and that sobered everyone up, as they thought about what kind of rest stop Bob could be taking us too. I thought about how it had saved us all.
... She remembered all the times she, Luke and Thalia had relied on highway rest stops...
...Wherever Bob was taking them, she hoped it had clean rest rooms and a snack machine. She repressed the giggles. Yes, she was definitely losing it...
I could feel Percy laughing silently beside me and smiled at him, though I was curious what had set him off, I had thought the mention of Luke would have upset him.
Sally's P.O.V
I watched Percy and Annabeth, as we listened to the book, I had hoped they'd come to talk to us at breakfast but I got the impression they'd had bad dreams last night and didn't want to talk about it. I was quite pleasantly surprised to see my son laughing and quietly explaining something to Annabeth, I saw a curious look in her eye and he clear had too, Soon she was quietly laughing a long side him, and it was so nice to see them genuinely laughing again. The last time they had been like this was the night before they went to camp of the winter break that Percy had gone missing. I was happy that the point of reading this book appeared to be working, at least this morning anyway.
...Annabeth remembered Percy's Story about meeting the Titan...
...they left him at the palace of Hades...
...Apparently... 'look after'... meant giving him a broom and have him sweep up their messes...
The throne room erupted and this thought.
"HADES!"
The Lord of the underworld didn't shrink away from the glares he was getting.
"It's my domain, I can do with it was I see fit" He said, I could see Nico roll his eyes at his father, before a fight could break out between any of the Gods, Lady Hestia continued to read.
... She'd never felt sorry for a Titan before...
...He's not your friend she reminded herself...
"No he's not" said Apollo, but based on how Annabeth and Percy were reacted, I thought that maybe he was.
... Tartarus is where monsters came to regenerate. What if it healed his memory? ...
...She and Percy were in no condition to fight a Titan...
... Following Bob through Tartarus was a crazy risk...
Although when Annabeth put it like that, the thought was terrifying. I looked at the two of them to remind myself that they were here they'd made it out and they were alive. I was starting to use my own version of their mantra for nightmares. Paul squeezed my hand as if sensing my uneasiness and I returned the gesture.
...she'd heard conflicting descriptions of Tartarus...
...One story described it as the inverse of the sky...
... That seemed the most accurate...
...and even that wasn't the full, horrible truth...
A collective gasp sounded around the room.
...Monsters are zits on the skin of Tartarus...
...She wished she didn't have such a good imagination, because now she was certain they were walking across a living thing...
"It's bad, when you and Percy are having the same thoughts about that place" Rachel said to Annabeth.
"What's bad about us having the same thoughts?" Percy asked her.
"Well when you're thoughts came up, we could put it down to the stupid idea section of your brain, but now Annabeth's had those thoughts, well for one thing it means that you're ideas aren't all that stupid and it means that this particular one must be true." She replied Percy looked like he didn't know whether or not to be offended. Annabeth nudged him and smiled at him, I think she knew as I did that Rachel, in her own quirky way was trying to break the ice that had glazed over the throne room.
"What I want to know is how Prissy got to this conclusion before Owl Head" Clarisse said clearly picking up on the thought process of Rachel.
"It's obvious isn't it?" Thalia said taking up the baton "Kelp Head has a rubbish attention span and Annabeth has a pretty decent one, so up until this point she was actually focusing on what she needed to where as Kelp Head's mind wandered." She said chuckling and Percy threw a cushion at her, which she caught and threw back at him.
I thought it was amazing how a group of people who had been through so much could still make light of a situation to try and bring the mood of the room up for everyone else. I could see Annabeth's dad and step mother certainly appreciated it as much as I did.
Piper's P.O.V
I didn't really know what to think. I understood where Rachel was coming from, she and Percy had been friends for a long time and she was good friends with Annabeth too, but I couldn't help thinking that actually Percy quite often got the answer first and we teased him for his crazy ideas but they weren't all that crazy, not really when you think of everything he's been through. I noticed the tension lifted a little with Rachel, Clarisse and Thalia's attempt at doing so but I also noticed that the rest of us from the Argo II had not tried to join that effort. It was hard to hear what our friends had gone through down there, while we had been on the Argo II, it might not have been safe 100% of the time but it was a lot safer than down there, it was difficult to let your spirit be lifted when you were always thinking about that.
...Just as Gaia inhabited the surface of the earth, Tartarus inhabited the pit...
...Enough. No more thinking...
Athena and Malcolm frowned it was not like a child of Athena to want to stop thinking, but I think deep down they understood the need for it. Annabeth's thoughts had been terrifying, I'm not sure I would have had the courage to keep going had they have been mine.
'Yes you would have, Piper, don't doubt yourself' my mother's voice sounded in my head.
'Thanks for the vote of confidence mom, but I don't think I would have' I thought back and I got no reply but when I looked at my mother she wasn't looking at me but at Annabeth and Percy. I looked at them too and noticed they were doing their silent conversation thing again, although I wasn't certain, I was pretty sure Annabeth was trying to convince Percy to have a nap. Though looking at them, it looked like they both needed sleep.
... "Here" Bob Said...
..."Hermes's Shrine"...
...Percy frowned...
..."How did you know it was here?" Annabeth Asked...
Hermes was frowning now, it was clear he hadn't known his shrine was down there, and he wasn't happy that it was.
... If he remembered this shrine he might start recalling other details...
... That would not be good...
... Annabeth collapsed on a broken slab of marble...
... Percy stood over her protectively...
Mom squealed again, I tried to be as annoyed as everyone else at the sound animating from her but I couldn't because despite everything going on, despite all the horrible things that had been described, Percy was still being romantic. And, as a daughter of Aphrodite it was hard to smile about that, especially when it came to Percy and Annabeth.
"There he goes again, raising that bar" Leo said sarcastically, I knew he was trying to do as Rachel, Clarisse and Thalia had and Lighten the mood.
"Seriously dude, what have we said about that?" Jason asked Percy.
Percy was looking at Annabeth again and she was laughing at him as he silently pleaded her for her help.
"I'm sorry, what did we say about it?" He asked, and resigned himself to the fact Annabeth wasn't going to give him the answer on this one. I was also finding it hard not to laugh.
"That you're setting the bar too high, making the rest us look bad" Jason said to him though he was only teasing Percy, I got the impression he meant what he said a little.
"Sorry?" Percy said though it came out as more of a question and I couldn't help but laugh, Hazel, Thalia and Annabeth were laughing too.
I leant over to Jason and whispered in his ear "You're not doing too badly Sparky, don't worry" I teased him but he did give me a smile so I knew, that he was aware that I was teasing him.
"Enough of this mush, can we read? Is there more action?" Ares asked which earned him a heap of glares from parents, Gods and demigods alike. Percy and Annabeth didn't seem too worried so I hoped that the rest of this chapter at least was action free.
... "You said someone was chasing us," Annabeth said. "Who?"...
... "They are following, yes. They know you are here. Giants and Titans. The defeated ones"...
"NO!" Athena and Poseidon yelled together along with Percy and Annabeth's mortal parents. The thought of them having to face those whom they had already defeated sent the room's tension factor up again.
Annabeth and Percy tried to offer everyone reassuring smiles but it was to no avail the idea was in the forefront of everyone's mind now, and it was incredibly hard to shake from it.
... Annabeth tried to control her fear. How many Titans and Giants had she and Percy fought?...
... All of them were down here in Tartarus... Actively hunting Percy and Annabeth...
"Oh Gods!" Nico muttered, but we all heard him, the silence in the throne room was so tense, you'd be able to hear a pin drop. He wasn't the only one thinking it.
... Annabeth glanced at Percy, sending him the silent message: uh no...
... Going to sleep while the Titan guarded you... She didn't need to be a daughter of Athena to know that was...unwise...
Laughter erupted from the demigods in the room, I wasn't sure what the others were laughing at but I knew I was laughing at Annabeth's silent message. Sometimes I forgot the daughter of Athena could extrude such sass.
... "You sleep" Percy told her. "I'll keep the first watch with Bob."...
... "Yes, Good. When you wake, food should be here!"...
"Wait, does he mean like actual edible food?" Leo asked, and I had to admit I was curious.
"From the shrine, this is how you did it isn't it?" Rachel asked, looking at Annabeth who graced her with a nod, but the rest of us had no idea what was going on.
"Did what?" Frank asked.
"You'll see" Rachel said cryptically but she was smiling so it couldn't be a bad thing. Everyone who wasn't in the know looked confused, but even then Percy's mom and Annabeth's dad looked at her with Pride, I doubted they knew what she had done, but based on Rachel's statement, she'd done something they could be proud of. Even Chiron looked at her proudly though I kept forgetting he was here because he was yet to say anything, he just silently took in everything that was happening to his two favourite campers, almost filing it all away for later.
...Annabeth's stomach rolled over at the mention of food...
... She didn't want to sleep but her body betrayed her...
..."Percy, wake me for second watch. Don't be a hero."...
"Oh yeah, cause he totally knows how not to be one of those" Clarisse said rolling her eyes and the rest of us laughed,
"He didn't wake you did he?" Thalia asked her but she got no response as Annabeth and Percy were lost in a silent conversation again.
"I'm going to say he didn't" I said to her and Annabeth turned just enough to smile at the pair of us, Thalia rolled her eyes but I smiled back. If Percy could be this romantic down in Tartarus, well it was no wonder their relationship looked easy from the outside. And by easy I meant that they just flowed together as one, there was no trying too hard to impress the other or awkwardness that you might expect there to be with the relationship being fairly new, it was like they'd been together for fifty years and knew exactly what the other needed and or wanted, it was easy in that sense.
... He gave her that smile she'd come to love. "Who me?" He kissed her...
... She curled up on the hard ground and closed her eyes.
"Yeah there's no way he woke you up" Thalia said as Lady Hestia finished reading, Annabeth just smiled at her, I assumed it was because she thought it would come up in the book and didn't want to give anything away, but it was hardly a giveaway if you knew Percy as well as we all did.
~Author's Note~
Wow! Thank you all for your feedback and reviews I really appreciate them and you! This might be quite a long note as there are quite a few people to thank etc. But I hope you all enjoy this chapter and please let me know what you think.
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– Thank you so much for your review, I'm so glad you're enjoying and that you think I'm using the right passages of the book, it's a tricky balance that I hope I'm getting right for you all. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, let me know!
CaptainMcSchizzl – Thank you for both of your reviews, I would never call you the worst name in the British dictionary! I would hope no-one would! I totally agree with your fed back for chapter 9 and I hope this chapter has emulated that a little but for you. Hope you enjoyed this chapter let me know!
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Happy reading all