Erebian Fields, Erebus
Annabeth
Falling at terminal velocity sucked, especially for her stomach. Landing in a miserable field that any healthy-and-not-undead beings can't survive in sucked even worse.
As soon as they landed, Annabeth could feel the mist swirl into her bones, misery clouding her senses. Don't breathe! She would've warned Percy, except that he couldn't not breathe. Annabeth sighed. Better get out soon. "Does anyone feel... strange?" Percy asked, frowning at his arms. Annabeth shook her head, amused. Trust Percy not to read up beforehand.
"Yes?" Leo questioned, examining his own arms. "No? I don't see anything, but... I think-"
"Let's not talk about it," Jason confirmed. "Anyways, we have company."
"Who?" Percy whipped his head around. Annabeth turned to look, too. A group of glowing blobs were coming closer, floating throughout the misty fog. As they got closer, Annabeth could make out three individual shapes.
"Who are you?" Annabeth asked one of them, as they approached their group. She could tell that they were vaguely humanoid, with no identifying features like eyes, mouths, or individual differences.
"We?" A harsh, cold laugh emitted from somewhere. Annabeth realized it was their newcomers. It didn't fit them well; their light was so―gentle, soft, warm, yet the cackle was cold, harsh, foreboding. "We?" the voice repeated, in a shrill tone. "WE?" Laughter rang out again. "We are the Eyeless, the Mindless, the Soulless. And we are your guides." They retreated into the darkness. "Well?" one voice waited, almost impatiently.
"Well... what?" Percy asked, confused. It didn't reply, instead floated away.
"C'mon!" Annabeth dragged Percy as she hastened to follow them. The rest followed suit.
"Who-What are they?" Percy whispered to Annabeth. Annabeth shrugged.
"Nobody really knows anything about Erebus, we're literally the first people here that weren't dead. And even then, they go through the marshes, to get to the Gates of Erebus," Annabeth replied.
"Oh," Percy said, indifferent. "What are we looking for again?"
Annabeth sighed. "A clue that could tell us what is going on inside Hogwarts. And I'm sure the attack on Camp Half-Blood was related, it seems too... much of a coincidence, don't you think? And how did they get under the border? And why, is the letter from Chiron not from Chiron?"
"What? The le-"
"That wasn't Chiron's handwriting," Annabeth hissed.
"Maybe he asked someone else to write it for him," Percy answered, dubiously.
"Perhaps. But whatever the case, we're, going to get to the bottom of this," Annabeth proclaimed.
"Sure, sure," Percy relented. "Just... how long are we going to stay for? I don't... feel very well in here," Percy added, uneasy.
"Hopefully not that long. A day at most," Annabeth replied, doubtfully. "By the looks of this, the fields are never going to end."
"Oh yeah, and why, are we trusting them?" Percy gestured to the floating humanoids.
"You have a better idea?" Annabeth asked, her eyebrow arched.
"No, but still..." Percy said. "I don't like it."
"Neither do I," Annabeth sighed. Neither do I.
Erebian Fields, Erebus
Thalia
Marching through the grass after some shiny blob creatures was boring. Listening to the two lovebirds―Percy and Annabeth―talk was even more boring. So Thalia was relieved when it came to an end. "So what are we doing now?" Thalia asked the closest blob. They had hesitated, apparently in between Nowhere and More Nowhere.
"Now," one of them said, its voice suddenly jeering.
"Now," another continued, wobbling slightly, as if impatient or excited.
"Now," the last one declared, giggling wildly.
"Now..." they repeated, in unison. "Now, you must die."
