The fall didn't seem to ever end. I could see Charlie somewhere beneath me for a few moments until it went black. Something was hissing and growling, seemingly reaching out for me. I clung to my backpack. Not so I wouldn't lose it, but because I was terrified. I prayed that my mom or dad hadn't jumped in after me, even though I knew they were too far away to do so. I had to force my eyes open every few minutes to make sure we weren't near the bottom. I knew the River of Lamentation would be beneath me somewhere. It was there when Mom and Dad fell and we were in the same spot. Well, at least I hoped we were.

It seemed like I had been falling for hours, days maybe. My hands were going numb from gripping my backpack so tight. Suddenly, a cavern opened beneath me. I could see Charlie again. He'd gone still. Beneath us was what I assumed to be the Cocytus (River of Lamentation) but it didn't look like any river I'd ever seen. It was a dark murky grey. The only thing keeping it from turning completely black was grey and white souls stuck in its currents. I hoped Charlie was conscious, and willed the water to catch him. It did, but I was exhausted. It took the last of my energy to force the river sideways, pushing him towards shore. I was on the brink of consciousness now. I knew I should prepare myself for the cold, but instead I was focused on staying awake.

I hit the water. The cold forced a sob from my throat and bubbles rose to the surface. I tried to swim upwards but was suddenly taken back with despair.

"You're dead, It's worthless, you've left your family already, you can't survive this"

I tried not to believe them, but they were right. I knew what the river was trying to do to me. It was working.

"You're not strong enough"

I wasn't. A small part of me realized that Charlie was still up there, hopefully on the shore. The rest of me was ready to join the souls around me. With the last of my effort, I raised a hand towards the quickly disappearing light. My vision began fading to blackness. I couldn't tell if the hand reaching towards me was a figment of my imagination or not.

They're coming, they're coming.

I woke up in pain. Everything hurt. I was cold. I was alone. I wasn't in my bed. I forced my eyes open and immediately regretted the decision. It was hot, sticky. The salty tears on my cheeks made my eyes burn. I tried to remember what my mom had told me. The shore, the one I assumed I was on now, was made of broken glass. I carefully rolled over and tried to avoid cutting up my hands.

"Back! Get back you stupid bat!" Charlie yelled weakly. I turned my head and saw him a few feet away. In his hands was a small rock, which he was using to try and fend off the bat-like creature attacking him. I didn't have my sword, I didn't have my backpack. I grabbed a large chunk of glass and took steady aim, then threw it. The bat creature squealed as the glass impaled it right between the eyes, then it fell into the river we'd just escaped from.

"Jase!" Charlie dropped his rock, which I just then realized was actually his shoe.

"Charlie, you're alive." I pulled him in for a hug. "I wasn't sure if you made it."

"What are you doing here? Where is here?" he asked frantically.

I wondered if I should tell him that I jumped. "Nyx, she threw me in." I lied. I didn't want Charlie to feel guilty, which I knew he would if I told him the truth. Charlie's face contorted in sympathy and guilt and another emotion I didn't decipher. "We're in Tartarus. Greek Hell."

"Jase," he whispered. "I'm so sorry,"

I smiled despite the situation. "Hey, it's ok! At least we're together, right? Imagine going through this alone," I said. My mind wandered to Nico.

Charlie looked to the ground. "Yeah but if one of us were here the other would still be alive for Christmas," he muttered guiltily. This is why I couldn't tell him that I jumped. The guilt would kill him.

"We'll both be alive, Chuck. We're going to get out of here. You've heard the story of Percy and Annabeth right?" I'd told him my parents story over the nights of our traveling.

He scoffed, "We are not that strong."

"Not the point," I said, although I didn't disagree. "We know the general layout, so we know where to go to get out."

"No we don't! How does their story at all give us a map?"

I rolled my eyes. "Did you not pay attention? My mom, Annabeth, went through the entire story and talked about where they went. From there it's not hard to make a general map," I explained. Charlie just stared at me.

"I think you're more like Athena than you think," he said plainly. I rolled my eyes but silently admitted he was probably right.

"So, where do we go?" he asked.

I thought for a moment and tried to remember for sure. There was a deep heart-wrenching scream from behind us. One that could only have come from a monster. Charlie and I exchanged looks of alarm.

"Just, run!" I yelled as the noise got louder. Charlie didn't seem to mind the order.

We ran until we were unable to continue. "Ok, ok, stop," Charlie huffed and rested his hands on his knees. "I can't breathe."

It wasn't just because he was out of breath. The air was thick and smoggy. It was a smell I knew was familiar. It took me awhile to realize what it was. Death. It was the stench of after-battle mourning. It brought back memories of bloody fights and painful losses.

"Now what? How do we get out?" Charlie asked. He was looking over a cliff edge, letting his bare feet dangle.

I shrugged honestly. He probably wanted better news, but I didn't have anything for him. I didn't know how we were going to get out.

"We have to find the crack," I said.

"You mean the one we fell from? The one we just ran away from? The one that's in the other direction?!" Charlie threw his arms into the air.

"No. Not that crack. It was only a temporary one. It closed up after we fell. The monsters have been escaping from somewhere, but I don't know where." I lowered my head.

"So, follow the monsters?" Charlie yawned.

I stared at him. "YES! Charlie, that's brilliant!"

"Uh, yeah?" Charlie said unsurely. I laughed, probably a strange sound considering our current location.

"Why are you laughing? We are in LITERAL hell! We're surrounded by lava and monsters, how is this humorous?" Charlie said. Then he began to laugh too. The sound of our strained laughter caused the echos of growls to disappear in the distance. I'd keep my distance too- we were obviously insane.

"Wait, what lava?" I asked as we began to settle down. Charlie shrugged and pointed down the cliff. Beneath him, was the lava. Well, not lava exactly. I knew better than that. "The River Phaethon! We've got to get down there," I said, carefully lowering myself down the cliff's edge.

"Uh, Jase, I am not climbing down a dangerous cliff just so we can get to another dangerous thing. How is lava supposed to help us?"

"Just trust me!" I didn't put the effort into explaining, I was busy trying not to die. I'd had enough of falling for one lifetime

"That is a terrible idea!"

I glared at him before my head disappeared over the edge. "Then have fun surviving on your own!" I yelled.

"Wait, Jase! Wait up!" He began to crawl down after me. He was shaking, which made me realize something. Charlie was not a trained demigod. He didn't have a lava spitting rock wall to teach him, or a rope climbing class. In terms of experience, Charlie was just a normal kid. Yes, he was a giant help in defeating Khione, but all he'd done was blow up. It was impressive, yes. But he hadn't had to actually fight.

"Charlie, be careful," I warned. He hummed in response. We kept climbing and I began to think the cliff was getting taller the more we climbed.

I glanced down and noticed that finally, I was only about six feet off the ground. Charlie was about ten feet above me when suddenly he yelped, losing his grip.

I know that you guys hate the cliffhangers, but keep in mind that these only last a day or two until the next update XD Thank you to everybody who commented and gave me feedback, it was much loved and valued :)

To the reader who said, "I HATE cliffhangers. You are just like Rick witht he cliffhangers."... Thank you! That may not have been a compliment XD but I'd say ol' Ricky was pretty successful.

AleeAthenaDaughter37, I hope the suspense didn't kill you, but I appreciate the enthusiasm!

Thesweetscentofbooks, you have an amazing freaking screen name. And also, Jason might take your lecture to heart. He'll be contemplating his decision-and it's effect on his family-later on.