Son of Tartarus-Chapter 5

Disclaimer: NOTHING belongs to me. PJ belongs to Rick Riordan.

A/N: My original plan was to have chapter 5 and 4 as one chapter but I decided against it. So I just want to clear something up. This chapter will continue to roughly follow the storyline of the lightning thief but after the next chapter things will change drastically. I might not post tomorrow because I have some PERSONAL stuff going on (please don't ask). Hope you enjoy!

'This is me thinking'

"This is me talking"

Previously

Annabeth/Luke

"And we're live in 3… 2... 1… Action!"

At once dozens of mechanical spiders were released. Upon seeing them Annabeth's eyes went wide and she screamed in fear.

Now

Percy

As soon as Annabeth's scream reached his ears, he took of running in the direction it had come from. He saw a tunnel where he assumed the ride exited from but he there was a metal grating blocking his way.

"Annabeth! Luke!" He called.

"Percy!" Luke's voice was distant, "Where are you?"

"At the end of the tunnel, I can't get through!" Percy replied, "You guys are going to have to make your way over here!"

"Alright!" Luke shouted. Percy could here distant echoes of him talking to Annabeth, telling her it would be fine.

Percy waited anxiously for a few minute before he saw the distant figures of Luke and Annabeth approaching. Annabeth was sobbing into Luke's arms and Luke was gently stroking her hair reassuring her. Once reaching the metal grate Luke pulled a pair of shoes out of his bag and put them on. He lifted Annabeth in his arms and walked closer to the grate.

"Maia" Luke said and wings sprouted from the shoes and carried him and Annabeth over towards Percy.

"Are you alright? What happened?" Percy rushed towards Annabeth and pulled some Ambrosia out of his bag, "Does she need some?"

Annabeth gratefully took the Ambrosia from him and popped it in her mouth, she spoke once she regained her strength, "It was a trap. Hephaestus set a trap and there were cameras and…" She trailed of and Luke spoke for her.

"There were spiders. Mechanical ones. And children of Athena have a phobia of spiders because of Arachne"

Percy nodded in understanding, "You feeling better?"He asked Annabeth.

"Yeah," She responded shakily, "Let's get going"

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"Here's you stupid shield" Percy spat as he thrust the shield into Ares' waiting arms, "Now where's our ride?"

"Come with me," Ares beckoned, "Grab my hands and close your eyes. And, whatever you do DON'T let go"

The demigods did what Ares asked and grabbed his hands. Percy closed his eyes not a second too soon for they were whisked away. The journey was incredibly quick but Percy felt incredibly sick and dizzy. He almost puked but luckily he didn't. The same can't be said for Annabeth for she vomited straight onto the War god's leather jacket.

Ares looked down at Annabeth who squeaked in fear, "I suppose I should go now" he said as he snapped his fingers to clean himself of, "I do hope you survive kid," ares said looking at Percy, "Oh, and, before I forget, here's a little gift" He tossed a bag at Percy, "Swear on the Styx that you won't open it till your quest is over"

"Okay," Percy readily agreed as thunder rumbled overhead, "But what's in it?"

"You'll find out later, kid" Ares' smirked and winked at him, "I need to go now" The demigods averted their eyes as he disappeared with a flash of bright light.

Annabeth blinked and looked around, "So, where are we?"

"You're in my shop of course!" A strange voice greeted them and they turned around to see a grinning man walking up to them, "Welcome, demigods, how may I assist you on this fine day?"

"Who are you?" Luke eyed the man suspiciously, "And what do you mean by 'your shop'"

"Of course! Silly me! Introductions first. I am Crusty, runner of this fine establishment. I sell beds, you see. Any bed you could want. Unfortunately, I only have them in one size, but do not fret, I can make adjustments so they fit you perfectly!" The shopkeeper announced all of this in an overly happy voice, "Now, come try a bed"

"Oh, we just ended up here by mistake, we should really get going" Percy shuffled his feet nervously. Something about Crusty unnerved him.

"Yeah, we don't need any beds" Luke said, "We need to be on our way so if you don't mind, we'll be on our way"

"Nonsense! Of course you need a bed, you wouldn't be here otherwise" Crusty beamed and grabbed Annabeth, "Come, my dear, I have the perfect bed for you. You two boys can stay here, I'll be back in a minute!"

Luke and Percy looked to Annabeth who just shrugged uncomfortably. The trio decided it would be best to just go along with it. Luke and Percy waited for a few minutes before Crusty came back.

"Where's Annabeth?" Percy asked, he was now suspicious of Crusty, "What have you done with her?"

"Don't fret, your friend is just enjoying their new bed. Now, Luke is it? Follow me. We'll find you the perfect bed"

Luke aloud himself to be led away by Crusty and Percy waited a few minutes before growing impatient and going to check on them.

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Luke

Crusty led Luke to a luxurious looking bed. The bed had a few red stains on it and Luke knew something was wrong. He couldn't see Annabeth anywhere but let Crusty guide him towards the bed. He sensed something. Someone was telling him that Crusty wasn't to be trusted. A voice nagging in the back of his mind, saying that Crusty was a thief and his name wasn't Crusty.

And then everything clicked into place. Crusty was short for Procrustes. The man was a famed villain from Greek mythology. Crusty was still going on and on about the comfort of the bed before him. He spared a quick glanced and realised what the red stains were, blood.

He suddenly felt sick but swallowed the lump in his throat and cautiously reached for his sword. He had the element of surprise on his side; Crusty didn't know that Luke had figured him out. He took a deep breath and drew his sword and struck in one motion. To his surprise Crusty dodged the attack easily and grinned a wicked grin.

"Naughty demigod, you'll have to be taught a lesson" Crusty lunged forward and grabbed Luke, pinning him to the bed. Crusty tied Luke securely to the bed and tutted, "This won't do, you too small" Crusty produced and axe and proceeded run his finger down the glinting blade, which was still stained with the blood of his last victim, "I was planning on killing the girl first but you need to be taught a lesson" Crusty stared at Luke, seemingly contemplating something, "Let's start with your legs"

Luke squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his teeth, waiting for the axe to come down. It never did. Instead he heard a thud. He opened his eyes and saw Percy standing there, Riptide sticking through the front of Crusty's head. The axe had fallen to the floor and Percy kicked it out of the way. He deftly untied Luke and pulled him up.

"Come on, let's get out of here" He said. Luke opened his mouth to ask a question but Percy interrupted him before he could, "I've already found Annabeth, let's get out of here"

Luke just shrugged and followed Percy out of the store, where he was met with Annabeth. Annabeth's wrists and ankles were red and she was tentatively eating some ambrosia. She looked up as they approached and threw herself at Luke, wrapping her arms round his body. She suddenly let go and her face flushed red. Mortified, she turned away. Luke looked towards Percy who had an amused expression on his face.

"Annabeth, you said you knew where the entrance to the Underworld was?" Percy asked.

"Yeah," Annabeth said, "Hermes told me when he came to leave a package," she lifted up a parcel, "It's for you, Luke"

Luke took the parcel in his hands and gently put it in his bag, "I'll open it later, after the quest"

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Percy

Annabeth led us towards a building that was apparently hidden from sight of the mortals. It was very well furnished and didn't look like the entrance to the Underworld. They approached a main desk where a man in an Italian suit was sitting.

"Excuse me? Sir?" The man ignored Annabeth and she tried again, "We need to get to the Underworld…"

The man looked up and stared at them for a long moment before speaking, "You're not dead, are you" It was a statement, not a question, "What could three demigods such as yourselves want with the Underworld"

"We need an audience with Lord Hades" Annabeth raised her chin defiantly, "We're on an important quest for Olympus"

The man let out a bark of laughter, "You really think Lord Hades cares that your on a pitiful quest" He stared hard at Annabeth who, to her credit, didn't back down, "Listen, kid, you best get out of here now" The man turned around and walked round the desk, grabbing Annabeth's arm.

"Wait!" Luke cried, "We have important information on Hades' Helm" He said the last part in a whisper, "We have to talk to him"

The man's gaze swept over the demigods before coming to rest on Percy, "You smell different…" He murmured before trailing of, "You have information you say" His gaze snapped back to Luke.

Luke looked nervous as he spoke, "Yes," He drew a bag from his pocket, "And if you take us to the Underworld we'll give you all this"

The man took a peek inside the bag before shoving his hand in and drawing out a pile of golden drachmas. He gave a malicious grin and surveyed the group once more, "I'll take you across"

Percy breathed a sigh of relief, they were one step closer to finding out what Hades knew.

"Follow me" the man said.

_(This is a Line Break)_

Annabeth

The man, Charon, led them down and down before coming to a stop by a river. Annabeth recognised it as the River Styx, one of the five rivers of the Underworld. They crossed in silence and Annabeth watched Luke fidgeting with something. She blushed and tore her gaze away. Her eyes fell on Percy who was staring at the water with his brow creased. They reached the other side of the river without much hustle and stepped onto the bank.

"Thank you," She told Charon.

Charon looked at her in surprise, "You're welcome" he paused, "Would you mind asking Hades about a pay raise?"

"Sure!" Percy jumped in, "It's the least we can do, I promise to ask him about that"

Charon nodded his head in acknowledgment and the three demigods walked away from the river and deeper into the Underworld. They saw hundreds of souls waiting to be admitted entrance. The demigods walked pass the ghosts and carried on their way. It was a relatively peaceful journey, no one stopped them. At least, until they came across the giant three headed dog. Cerberus was sleeping peacefully, his chest rising and falling. The ghosts were walking under him, or rather, through him.

"How are we meant to get past that?" Percy whispered to Annabeth.

"I don't—" Annabeth's reply was cut of by the beast's eyes snapping open and the low growl that emitted from its throat. Apparently it had really good hearing.

The Cerberus eyed them warily from where it lay. It suddenly let out a loud bark that nearly shattered Annabeth's eardrums. Percy looked terrified but he walked slowly towards Cerberus, holding his hand out.

"Percy! What are you doing?" Annabeth hissed but Percy ignored her and continued approaching the massive beast.

"Here boy. It's okay. We're not here to hurt you. Just let us past, okay?" Cerberus eyed Percy but made no move towards him. Taking this as a good sign, Percy ploughed on, "Are you a good boy, Cerberus? You're a good boy, right? Just let me and my friends past" The Cerberus lunged towards Percy and Annabeth couldn't stop herself from crying out. The beast ignored her and dragged a sloppy tongue over Percy's hand. Percy laughed and reached up to scratch the dog behind the ear.

"Good boy, Ceberus!" He motioned for Luke and Annabeth to come through and they followed him, "I'll come play with you soon boy. I promise"

Percy gave Cerberus one last pat on the head before following his friends.

"Did you just tame a Cerberus?" A wide-eyed Luke asked.

"Looks like it," Percy shrugged, "He's actually really cute"

"You know that cute means 'ugly but adorable' right?" Annabeth pointed out.

"Precisely"

"That shouldn't have been possible" Luke shook his head, "I don't know how you do it Percy"

"Neither do I but i just had a feeling that I should approach the dog" Percy explained, "What…" Percy laid eyes on the Underworld. It was massive. It stretched as fer as the eye could see in every direction. Percy walked forward a few steps and stopped, "What's that?" He asked. He was pointing to a hole in the ground.

Annabeth could feel a strong pull coming from the hole and knew what it was, "Tartarus" she breathed, "Percy, don't get any closer!"

Percy ignored her and continued staring at the hole, "It feels familiar," Percy murmured, brows furrowed.

Annabeth cautiously approached him and once again felt the gravity of the hole pulling her closer. Without meaning to she took a step forward. She would have fallen in if Percy hadn't grabbed her and pushed her away. She sighed in relief and turned to thank him when her eyes widen in horror. Why? Because Percy was falling. She hadn't seen what happened or how it happened, but everything seemed as if it was in slow motion.

Percy's eyes were wide as he tumbled over the edge. He knew what was happening and he was powerless to stop it.

A/N: So Percy has finally fallen into Tartarus. How did it happen? What will Annabeth and Luke do now he's gone?

This is my longest chapter yet so I'm happy. I will try post tomorrow but I might not be able to.

Hope people enjoyed reading it!