Chapter Three: The Long Dark

Annabeth, 24 hours after Eripus

"Holy Hera…"

"Quick before …. Bleeds out"

"Oh gods…. What happened!?"

"Nico… is she?...I'll get it…. Where!?"

Annabeth awoke in a world of pain, her entire body wracked with waves of nauseating agony. She was soaked in a cold sweat and every breath was a struggle, she was so tired. It was all she could muster to barely keep conscious between the exhaustion and the pain.

She could feel someone grab her, a pair of arms picked her body up as if she weighed nothing before she was jostled slightly. She could tell whoever was holding her was moving quickly, even if they took care not to move her about too much.

The air was cold on her face and she smelled pine and the fresh tangy smell of the sea as a gust of wind blew across her face.

Slowly she heard more shouts and several screams as the sound of dozens of people running about were followed up almost immediately by a deep brassy horn that rang out in the distance. Before being answered by several more in rapid succession.

"WHERE… ATLANTA!?"

"... GET ….. NOW!..."

Her hearing was on the fritz, like an old radio, she was hearing bits and pieces of the conversations as her ride carried her for around a minute or two, during which time she became increasingly aware of how much everything hurt.

Her mind wandered as she tried to figure out how she had ended up in such a state, her chest felt like someone had beaten it in with a baseball bat. Her lungs ached with every inhale and she could feel the massive wound on her lower stomach and sides as it was the worst pain she had felt so far in her short life.

"Get over here!"

"... *huff* it took a while…. Lady Artemis…. soon!"

"WHERE IS SHE!"

A female voice rang out clearly through the din of shouting voices and movement around her. Startling her from her daze, she grunted in pain as she tried to focus again, thinking back on everything and anything she could remember.

Her memory seemed foggy, like she was watching someone else as the last few minutes of consciousness prior to this all consuming pain played back in her head. She remembered fighting, Percy was beside her. They had fallen into Tartarus, no. No she had fallen and he had jumped after her.

The sulfuric smell of the air mingled with copper and smoke that burned her lungs with every breath came sharply to mind. She remembered how their odds of survival were slim, every monster in the Greek world had been coming for Percy's head. Everything they had ever taken down had a bone to pick with the "Hero of Olympus''. Somehow though Percy had gotten them through to the doors against overwhelming odds. Even when she had thought they wouldn't make it, Percy never faltered, it was something she truly loved about him. He had jumped into hell for her and had then proceeded to kick the crap out of anything that so much as looked at her. She could feel the tears pricking at her eyes, just the thought of what would have happened to her without Percy there was too awful to think about.

Thank the Gods above Percy had been there for her.

Percy.

Like a bomb going off in her head all the information rushed into her brain as she surged back to consciousness with a whimper. Partially due to the realization that Percy wasn't with her, and partially due to someone or something pressing hard against her stomach. The pain was so intense she almost threw up as a scream rang out across the room. Which after a second she realized was her.

"I-i-I'm so sorry, i know this hurts" a female voice from Annabeth's side practically sobbed.

"Mix those two into a paste, quickly boy" an distinctly authoritative female voice called out, followed by the sound of someone running across the room and a cupboard opening.

Within thirty seconds something was being rubbed into the wound on her stomach and she felt the pain lessen if only slightly, allowing her to think once more.

Percy had been fighting something in Tartarus, he had been… protecting her because she couldn't fight, she had a broken ankle sometime prior to the fall. She mentally added her ankle to the list of aches and pains she could explain.

She could feel them doing something to the wound on her stomach

She tried to stand, tried to get up. She had to find him, he could be hurt, worse.. No she couldn't and wouldn't think like that. However her body was not willing to do as she asked, and instead of shooting upright she sort of flopped in place before the burning pain in her stomach and legs came back with a vengeance.

"... Gonna tear… get me…. Now!"

"Hades… what…., oh god…. Annie…."

More voices in the background accompanied by a door opening. The voices sounded so familiar but at the same time she knew she couldn't trust her senses. Her memory was shot, her body wasn't working and she hadn't slept or eaten in gods knows how long.

Groaning in frustration she went to lift her arms to grab her head, it was all so unclear and bits and pieces still didn't make sense. She could remember him looking at her, he was hurt and she could see the tight lines of pain drawn clear across his face even as he smiled at her.

Then he had turned away to face something huge in the background, lifting his sword and running forwards and then it was nothing until she woke up.

He could be dead.

The thought ringing clear as day in her mind, it would explain why he wasn't here now, calling her name and telling her she would be alright. She knew something was wrong, deep down she knew something had gone terribly wrong but with her memory as it was she couldn't remember what.

Her mind was moving a thousand miles a minute, a hundred vivid images of Percy dying begging for her flashed through her mind before she gasped out and forced her eyes open. Only to be blinded by some lights above her head, pain exploded behind her eyes, followed immediately by the dull ache of a migraine setting in.

'No, Focus Annabeth. You don't have time for what if's, you need to get a handle on this before you start worrying about anything else.' She thought to herself, gritting her teeth against the pain.

A few weeks in Tartarus builds a whole new respect for the term survival instincts, she would know, and those instincts had kept her alive till now at least.

Right now, every one of those instincts screamed that she was in an unknown environment and a possibly dangerous situation.

So wearily she forced her eyes open to look around. Wherever she was, it was a small room that shone brightly with a silvery light. Combined with some sort of light which hung directly over her head, it left her half blind and she couldn't make out who or what was running around her. She could tell it was several people however, just based on the sound of moving feet and the sounds of their hurried chatter as it filled the background like a white noise machine.

Another wave of pain hit her in the stomach as she felt her body arch against the hard ground, no scratch that, was it a table? Maybe a platform? An involuntary scream ripped itself from her throat as she felt like someone had poured hot coals into her chest cavity.

The burning pain continued as the world seemed to pulse around her weakly in tune with her heartbeat, which was so loud all of a sudden. She could feel hands grabbing at her trying to hold her down as she bucked in pain.

"SOMEONE HOLD HER DOWN!" screamed a female voice as another set of hands grabbed Annabeth by the shoulders to stop her from thrashing around. While someone else moved forwards to grab her feet, the mistake they made was to try and grab them one at a time.

Half on instinct, Annabeth reacted by lashing out with her free foot and felt her heel connect with something solid before the sound of a body hitting the floor and a low groan sounded from somewhere near the end of the bed.

"Shit! Frank!" a male voice called out from above her.

Seizing the moment, she grabbed onto one of the wrists near her shoulder and at the same time she punched straight up with her other hand, aiming for right above her own head if not slightly behind her.

She was rewarded with a 'CRACK' as pain exploded through her closed hand followed by a dull thud as a body hit the floor behind her. The second she felt the hands leave her shoulders she took her chance to roll off the edge of the bed she was in, and tumble the short distance to the floor.

"Jason!" shouted a female voice as Annabeth stumbled the second her feet touched the ground, her legs felt like wet noodles and it took all her effort to stumble away from the bed blindly as the lights in the room combined with her condition simply left her dizzy and confused.

She crashed into a metal cart, hearing the clatter of metal on metal from it as she lunged towards what she hoped was a knife, anything at all would be fine by her in all honesty.

She grabbed at the cart's top, wincing as she felt something cut her hand when she grabbed it. That didn't really matter though as she pulled her hand back and adjusted to the very small metal grip of the tiny knife she now held in her hand.

She could tell it was some type of scalpel, which was strange, but assuming she had been captured she wouldn't put it past monsters to torture her before they killed her.

Her heart was beating way too hard, her mouth was bone dry and she was under assault by blinding headaches as her eyes tried to adjust to the bright light in the room. she struggled to control the panic, the tightness in her chest or the bile rising in the back of her throat.

Grimacing she clutched at her stomach with her free arm, as she pointed the scalpel in the general direction of her opponents. The pain in her abdomen was steadily getting worse as a small whimper escaped her lips.

"I'VE GOT HER" a male voice sounded off from her right as she heard a quick shuffle of footsteps and saw the hazy blur of someone enter her field of vision. Its arms swung out looking like it meant to tackle her. One of which appeared to be in some white gauntlet. She mentally booked it as a possible weapon and readied herself.

Stepping inside the man's reach she punched out with her free hand, hitting him in the throat and was rewarded with a wheeze and some choking sounds. Causing the man to rear back and clutch at his neck, momentarily off balance. Following through on her forward motion she dropped to one leg and extended the other while spinning around as she did so, hooking her leg behind her opponents ankles.

With a resounding crash her opponent hit the floor hard, and in seconds she had nimbly jumped on top of him and grabbed his hair. Yanking his head back to expose his throat as she stared at him, preparing to thrust the knife into his throat, knowing that she would take as many of her captors with her as possible before she died.

She tried to focus her wavering vision, and for a split second she caught a look at the man underneath her.

She looked right into the terrified face of Leo Valdez.

She blinked, once and then twice, trying to clear her vision as she stared at Leo, who was visibly sweating bullets while pinned to the floor, a scalpel inches from his neck.

A million thoughts raced through her mind; Magic? Some sort of shapeshifting demon? Hallucinations brought on by pain? Each one seemed equally improbable, yet she didn't dare hope that this was real. If she did, if it turned out to be another sick joke….

Feeling a hand touch her shoulder Annabeth whirled about, scalpel leading the way as she heard a shriek and the hand was immediately withdrawn.

"... Annie….?" a voice called out tentatively, thick with pain. Tears immediately found their way to her face as she shook her head to clear her vision and looked at Thalia. Staring at her in shock, one hand clutching her cheek where already a steady trickle of blood was running down her face. Hurt, concern and relief were evident on her face as she took a step back towards Annabeth.

Annabeth stumbled off of Leo backing into the corner of what she now realized was some sort of medical room. It was clearly some sort of tent, and the fabric walls were a metallic silver color.

Her eyes narrowed as her breathing came in quick short bursts, it felt like her veins were on fire and everything was so unnaturally loud. Sweat was drenching her body, and the arm clutching her stomach was soaked.

Strange she thought, before looking down for a brief second as it all made sense remembering feeling the wound on her stomach. Indeed her arm was soaked, In her own blood. It literally gushed out from under a heap of bloodied bandages that were just barely staying on.

"Annie you've got to put the knife down…. You… you're really badly hurt. You tore your stitches and if you don't stop and let Atlanta help you…" Thalia choked out as tears openly poured down her cheeks.

"Wh-..." Annabeth croaked out as she tried to talk, her vision was swimming in front of her as she tried to hold the knife steady, regardless her hand started to shake like a leaf.

"T-Thalia..?" Annabeth croaked, as her knife arm lowered slightly.

"I-its me Annie, you're safe i promise… but you need to stop and lay down… please…" Thalia practically begged as she took a few steps forwards.

She looked about the room and saw the unconscious forms of Jason and Frank, both sporting rather large bruises already. Jason's nose was quite clearly broken and blood was smeared against the face. Frank had a bruise already forming that covered the entirety of his jaw on the right side.

Standing just behind Thalia were two hunters Annabeth recognized from the battle of Manhattan, Atlanta and Phoebe she recalled after a second. Beside them stood Hazel whose arms were covered in blood, and Piper who looked white as a ghost as she stared at Annabeth, tears pouring down her cheeks as she held Katoptris a slight look of fear on her face.

Leo for his part had yet to move an inch off the floor and may as well have been a statue, as he looked at her before gazing back at the rest of the seven and slowly inching his way to his feet. Clearly keeping a very neutral non threatening posture as he did so.

"Gods Annie…. What did they do to you…?" Thalia half sobbed out as she took a few more steps closer to Annabeth, tears falling freely from the normally stoic lieutenant of the hunt.

To add to the situation the door to the tent was thrown open and two godly figures burst into the room, one glowing silver and the other glowing gold as the figures of Apollo and Artemis rushed into the tent.

"Where is she!" Demanded Apollo, his normally jovial and joking behavior cast aside as he looked deadly serious. Casting his gaze around the room before he spotted Annabeth.

"WHAT IS SHE DOING WALKING AROUND!?" Roared the sun god as he looked around the room at the members of the seven and the three hunters.

Atlanta shrugged, albeit slightly guilty and pointed to the unconscious forms of Jason and Frank.

Artemis gave a short whistle and raised an eyebrow as she looked over the unconscious boys before her silver eyes focused on Annabeth.

It was enough to overload Annabeth's brain as the shock started to set in, the adrenaline from fear was replaced by confusion and a bone numbing exhaustion as she heard a metallic clatter and realized she had dropped the scalpel.

Suddenly Thalia was right in front of her, arms wide to catch her as she collapsed into her best friend's arms. For a second she grabbed at her, desperately trying to make sure it was real, not some vision or illusion.

Then Annabeth started to shake, trembling as a gut wrenching cry broke free from her and she sobbed into Thalia's shoulder. Her whole body wracked as she poured her heart out, weeks of fear and stress; The Mark of Athena, Arachne, Tartarus all of it was inconsequential because at the moment she was that same little girl that Thalia and Luke rescued all those years ago.

She heard several other voices crying quietly and felt several tears fall on her cheek as thalia cradled her against her chest, rocking back and forth slowly as she stroked Annabeth's hair.

"It's okay… it's okay… I got you Annie…" Thalia crooned, her voice heavy and thick.

Annabeth heard footsteps approaching her, and as she turned her head she was nearly blinded again by a golden light. She looked to see Apollo standing before her, a look filled with pity and a hint of fear on his face.

"It's okay sis, I'll take it from here." Apollo said gently as he reached down and pried Annabeth free of Thalia's grasp.

As soon as the god laid hands on her, Annabeth felt better. Her wounds ached less, the cold feeling that had settled into her hands and feet faded slightly. She moaned slightly as the absence of pain felt heavenly.

:... you'll fix her right?…. I.. I-I can't lose her too…" Thalia choked out, her hands clenched in fists at her side as she stared at Apollo.

"It'll be close, but have a little faith. I'm me, after all." Apollo said with a slight smile and a wink before he took several steps out of the tent and a flash of light filled the clearing in the middle of the hunters camp.

Annabeth briefly saw a massive domed ceiling shimmering in an array of golden light before her brain decided it was time for a nap, and she passed out.

Author's Note: Oooooh she's back, guess the question is how? I'm sure it'll come up at some point in a later chapter. Yes, some chapters will be written from other characters' perspectives and if you want a specific one be sure to leave a review with whose perspective you want to see and I'll do my best to accommodate it.

Before anyone asks, Apollo and Artemis are not as affected by the Roman/Greek pantheon issue for two reasons.

Artemis has no roman hunters so her ties to the hunters are helping keep her grounded in the correct form. Artemis is also the stronger of the two aspects currently (again due to lack of hunters for Dianna) So while it causes her discomfort and some power loss she is functional.

Apollo is almost identical between his Greek and Roman aspects, not changing his name and merely being more responsible and respectable as a Roman aspect. So I took some liberty to assume that he wouldn't be as affected as some of the other Olympians.

As always, until next time.