Annabeth
Annabeth was hacking her throat apart, but she couldn't care less. The action ripped her throat to shreds, but it gave her something else to think about. Sitting there in her bunk, she coughed wildly as tears streamed down her cheeks. Her hair was messier than normal, the blond curls morphing into dreadlocks that refused to obey any laws of gravity. But Annabeth didn't care about that right now. All Annabeth could think of was how grateful she was for this distraction.
"Annabeth!" Piper and Jason burst into her bedroom, and Annabeth sat up straighter, her coughing fizzling out.
"We thought you were dying!" Piper pinched her forehead together while Jason steadied himself against a wall, quietly repeating "Oh gods…"
"I'm fine," Annabeth croaked, flipping a light on and fumbling around for her water bottle. "Just… coughing."
"That wasn't normal coughing," Piper insisted. "That was demon crap right there."
"I'm fine," Annabeth repeated. "Really."
Jason tilted his head, straightening up. "I heard you choke-coughing or whatever that was from two doors over, Annabeth. Are you okay?"
Annabeth sat for a second, before plastering on a smile. It wasn't anything over the top, just enough to get them off her backs. "Yes. I promise. I'm okay."
Piper nodded, and took Jason's hand. They were ready to exit before Piper turned back to Annabeth. "We'll see you in a few hours, okay?"
Annabeth nodded, and kept the smile on until the door closed behind them. Then her face crumpled and she retreated, wrapping her blankets in a cocoon around her. She grabbed Daedalus's laptop from her bedside table, flipping it open.
That was the fourth time they'd checked up on her in three nights. Annabeth figured she wouldn't sleep scare them if she didn't sleep.
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Percy
Percy crashed into the water at full speed, the shock of doing something that wasn't falling rattling his bones. He gasped for air as soon as he made contact, the icy liquid engulfing him tightly. And somehow… there were voices. Voices slithering through his mind, making their way into his thoughts.
Don't try to survive, they hissed. It's all pointless after all. Why make your torture longer? Just give it all up now…
No, Percy thought. He couldn't give up. He needed to get out of here-
Just relax… Percy stopped kicking upwards. He was still willing the water up, but at that moment he was ready to just let go.
"Seaweed Brain," a voice said, and Percy kicked up frantically. He broke the surface of his self created whirlpool, and turned around desperately. He couldn't see the speaker.
"Seaweed Brain," the voice said again, and Percy turned back towards the shore.
Annabeth knelt on the bank of the river, laughing. Her eyes sparkled with amusement, and she looked happier than she'd looked in a while.
Percy knew this wasn't real. He had imagined this before. But now he was back in the Styx, slowly burning to death as he looked up at Annabeth. Annabeth had been sitting on the dock at camp then, helping Percy out of the lake, smirking at his idiocy.
But right now, Annabeth was here in Tartarus. Percy wanted to scream for her to leave, but his voice wasn't working. His bones were being wrapped by the words of the voices in the river, pulling him down. He tried to stay afloat, concentrating on her. He needed her to get out while she could.
"Grab my hand," Annabeth said, reaching towards him. Percy reached up, ready to grab it-
Annabeth dissipated, leaving Percy surging out of the water with a burst of energy. He landed on the bank of the river with a thud, drained from that burst. The water was heavier than anything else he'd ever tried to manipulate, and every fiber of his being ached. He shifted, groaning, before wincing up. The sand… the sand was glass?
He picked up a grain, and confirmed his suspicion. It was in fact a small chipped fragment of glass, and his face and hands were already scratched with a vengeance of a thousand paper cuts.
"Schist," he cursed.
He looked around, and accidentally took a large whiff of his surroundings. He gagged. The smells resembled the sour, musty, repelling scent of…
"Gabe," he groaned, standing and growling. He took stock of himself, trying not to focus on the world around him. He had his ripped Camp Halfblood t-shirt and tattered jeans, with ever faithful Riptide in his pocket. He recalled seeing it slip out continuously as he fell, the cycle repeating as soon as it reappeared in his pocket. It finally rested deep in his pocket, and he didn't particularly want to take it out.
Percy's eyes lifted to his surroundings, and he inhaled a shaky breath. Dark read coated the horizon, low hanging clouds that imitated smoke that dangled from the black sky.
He wanted to cry right then and there.
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Annabeth
Annabeth stood above deck with Hazel, one fist clenched on the edge of the ship and one around the hilt of her dagger. Neither she nor Hazel had uttered a single thing since Annabeth had joined her, and it was pleasant. Hazel was watching the horizon avidly, concentrating. Annabeth knew that she wasn't particularly in a talking mood, and Annabeth was honestly okay with that. Each day been long, too long. Thoughts and feelings rattled around her mind all day, blurring the reality within which she was confined.
It was easier being up here at night, where there wasn't the full crew. Well… there wouldn't be the opportunity for the crew to be all together. Annabeth-
"Look out!" Nico yelled from the crows nest, and Annabeth's hand encircled Hazel's wrist to pull her down to the deck, Annabeth crashing next to her. Leo, who was at the helm, frantically waved his Wii remotes, jerking the ship down. There were shouts of outrage from down below, but all Annabeth could focus on was the boulder shooting over head. It crashed right below the crows nest, and Nico toppled to the ground.
"Nico!" Hazel shouted, running over as the boulder dropped into the clouds below. Nico sat up from the rubble on the deck, a gash running from his chin. "H-hey."
"That's the third time this week!" Leo screamed, jumping up and down as Annabeth stood shakily. "Stupid rock gods!"
"Get us out of here!" Annabeth screeched at Leo as another boulder sailed overhead, threatening to smash into Annabeth.
Leo raised the remotes, sailing above the incoming rocks.
The mountain gods had been pissed all week, chucking boulders. Annabeth felt helpless, unable to do anything. Nothing she had could affect the gods. It felt like everyone else could do something. Hazel could manipulate the ground. Jason and Frank could go up and make sure the boulders don't crash into the Argo II. Piper could talk to the gods below. Leo could move the ship. All Annabeth could do was run for cover and calculate the trajectory of the massive stone.
"Should we get the others?" Nico asked, standing and wiping his chin.
"I think they're already up. And it's the night shift," Hazel reminded him. "They need their sleep."
"Yeah but look at this!" Leo gestures to the broken mast.
"We'll solve it on our own," Hazel said.
"Whatever," Leo said.
Annabeth could see Leo was acting a lot different than normal, ever since Percy fell. Annabeth hated to see him so angry and distant.
Hazel was looking at Leo as well, an odd expression on her face. Annabeth watched her for a second, trying to understand the longing and regret in Hazel's eyes.
Annabeth couldn't handle the extra emotions in the air.
She sprinted below decks, and slammed the door to her room. She couldn't handle it.
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Percy
"Gods," Percy muttered, straightening and stepping towards the familiar vehicle. "Oh, gods."
The baby blue Fiat stood overturned in the pits of Tartarus. Percy reached towards the car slowly, brushing against the surface of the bumper before pulling away.
Spiderwebs.
He frantically wiped off the web residue from his fingers, before his eyes caught on something else. A silk cocoon was trapped underneath one of the tires, empty. Tracks ran away from it, limping from the wreckage. They looked like… dragging spiderwebs.
Percy clenched his jaw and pulled out Riptide, uncapping it. He wasn't going to let this itsy bitsy spider get away this time.