A/N: Hello. Here is the second chapter. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians. I do not own Disney either.
Annabeth's POV
It was hard to listen to the easy listening music after the events that had just happened. My emotions were in complete turmoil, turning around in a vicious cycle of regret. There was guilt, sadness, anger, and determination. And they just kept going and coming back.
I had failed my boyfriend. I had watched as the Doors of Death closed on the beautiful green eyes of the one I loved most. And he had smiled at me while it happened, as if it wasn't my fault. But I knew it was. He had sacrificed his life for the safety of mine. He was stuck in hell, dead for all I knew. This was the guilt.
The anger was directed at both everyone and myself. I should have done more. There must have been something that I could have done. Perhaps if I had had more suspicion when my loyal to a fault boyfriend suddenly agreed to abandon his friends in of me wanted to blame myself, and the other part was insisting that it wasn't my fault. I had wanted to believe that he valued himself enough to get himself out. I wanted to believe that he thought himself more than a sacrifice. He had probably been planning to sacrifice himself ever since we entered Tartarus. And he had done it. He had succeeded in doing it because I wasn't smart enough to see through him.
And here comes the sorrow. I would never see my boyfriend again. He was more than my boyfriend. He was my other half. Without him, I would be completely incomplete. I had abandoned my boyfriend.
But the determination arrived right on time. I wouldn't let him stay down there for long. He was strong, he could stay alive for long enough for me to figure out how to get him out. I was confident enough in my own abilities to know that I would eventually find a way and formulate a plan.
However, the minute I remembered how confident he was in me, I remembered how much he had trusted me. He trusted me to follow every single plan I had without much question. He trusted me enough to know I would find a way to get him out.
And that brought me back to the fact that I had left him in Tartarus. The cycle continued to repeat.
I eyed Bob's back as he held the doors closed. Once the doors had snapped shut, I had stepped back as Bob braced himself against them.
Every now and then, they would slip a crack open and a whiff of what smelled like sulfur would leak through. The elevator shuddered dangerously.
I thought about Damasen, who was also down there with Percy. Immediately, even more guilt added to the already heavy weight in my stomach. I had completely forgotten about him. He deserved freedom just as much as the rest of us. He had changed his idea of his world after centuries, and now it was for nothing. He would be punished even more severely than before. And it was all my fault. I had inspired him to leave his home to help us, and what had it gotten him? An even worse lifetime of punishment.
And what would happen to Percy? It was very likely that he would be killed. I choked back a sob, but now my thoughts went in a downward spiral. If he was killed, would his soul be able to make it to the underworld? It was more likely that Tartarus would keep him alive down there for as long as possible to keep him suffering. After all, it was hell. You weren't supposed to escape.
Tears flowed down my cheeks. Right now, I cursed being a child of Athena more than ever. I had once been blessed with the power of thought, but now I considered it a punishment. Now I could only think of my new friends and soulmate stuck down there. There would be no escape from thought for me, and there would be no escape from hell for them.
But the determination came back once more. If I couldn't stop thinking of them, it was very likely that I would eventually stumble upon a way to get them out.
A ding interrupted my thoughts. We had arrived. Bob stepped back, expecting the doors to open.
They didn't. Bob looked at me.
"Someone needs to press the other button," He said. He looked slightly concerned.
"And if no one presses it?" I asked. Would we just wait here?
"Bad things," He said. He eyed the doors suspiciously.
As we both watched the doors, black smoke began to fill up in the seemed to just appear out of nowhere. I couldn't breathe it in. I forced myself to think through the panic brought on by loss of air. I had survived Tartarus. I was not going to let Percy's sacrifice go to waste. I had not gotten this far to be stopped by some smoke.
As the last bit of breathable air was overtaken by the smoke, I held my breathe. My vision was going black when the doors opened at the last second, like in one of those cliche movies.
I fell out of the elevator, collapsing on the ground. I took a deep shuddering breath. My eyes were closed as I inhaled when another dark fog rolled over me. It felt like the mist, but I knew that this was not the same. It felt threatening. It felt dangerous.
And suddenly I couldn't control myself. It was almost as if I had become a puppet. Words were pulled from my throat before, even though I couldn't tell what they were. It was terrible. I could almost feel the life leaving my body with the words taken from me.
When I couldn't take anymore, it stopped. I was shrouded in the familiar mist. I looked up. Hazel was in tears, but fighting. She controlled the mist, wrapping it around both me and Leo, who also looked a bit choked up as well. I couldn't tell why both of them were upset, but I couldn't sit up, or think clearly enough to understand why.
I groaned, and pushing myself up, attempted to sit up and draw my sword. I had to help.
"Leo?" I whispered. He was sitting next to me in the mist. He didn't appear to hear me, instead watching the battle. I looked back at the battle, just in time to see Hazel get slammed into the wall.
"Hazel!" Leo shouted. He didn't leave the mist, and neither did I. I got the feeling that this was Hazel's battle. We would be of no use here.
Hazel threw her sword like a boomerang, and cut the final chains of the Doors of Death. They shimmered, spewing out a light purple mist before disappearing with a 'pop'. The Doors had been returned to their original state. They were free. And we were one step further in completing our quest.
Clytius looked enraged. I attempted to get to my feet, pulling out my sword. I only managed to get up onto one knee. Bob stood in front of us where Hazel once stood, defending us from the mist.
A disembodied voice appeared to come from the walls, and it took me a moment to realize that it was the giant's voice.
You have forfeited your right to a quick death, the giant said. It appeared that he was threatening Hazel. My head was down and I gathered all my strength to raise it. I will suffocate you in darkness, slowly, painfully. Hecate cannot help you. NO ONE can help you!
Another voice echoed around the small chamber, and I realized that Hecate was standing in the corner. She raised her torches. "I would not be so certain, Clytius. Hazel's friends simply needed a little time to reach her- time you have given them with your boasting and bragging."
What friends? These weaklings? They are no challenge. Clytius said.
As I pulled myself up completely and raised my sword, the air in front of Hazel appeared to shimmer. A doorway appeared and the rest of the seven appeared along with Nico.
Jason glanced around the room taking in the Titan who was standing over us, before glancing at Clytius.
"Sorry we're late. Is this the guy who needs killing?" He said, pointing at Clytius.
At Hazel's nod, they set upon him. They attacked him in every direction. Leo was shooting fire at his legs, Frank and Piper were jabbing at his chest, Jason was flying into the air and kicking him in the face, Nico running around the others, slashing away the dark mist away with his Stygian Iron sword. I attempted to help in the fight as well, but I couldn't think clearly.
Clytius was snarling, turning back and forth as if he couldn't describe which of them to kill first. Wait! Hold still! No! Ouch!
It was an overbalanced fight. After the others had weakened the giant, Hecate stepped up.
"And so it ends," Hecate said.
It does not end. Clytius's voice echoed from somewhere above, muffled and slurred. My brethren have risen. Gaea waits only for the blood of Olympus. It took all of you together to defeat me. What will you do when the Earth Mother opens her eyes?
Hecate didn't listen to his words. She turned her torches upside down like daggers and brought them down upon Clytius's head. He crumbled to ashes.
Hecate turned to Hazel. "You should go now, Hazel Levesque. Lead your friends out of this place."
Hazel's voice was bitter when she answered to the goddess. "Just like that? No 'thank you'? No 'good work'?"
"You look in the wrong place for gratitude," Hecate said. "As for 'good work', that remains to be seen. Speed your way to Athens. Clytius was not wrong. The giants have risen; all of them, stronger than ever. Gaea is on the very edge of waking. The Feast of Hope will be poorly named unless you arrive to stop her."
Around us, the chamber began to shake. Rocks shook free of the ceiling and crashed to earth.
"The House of Hades is unstable," Hecate said. "Leave now. We shall meet again." The goddess dissolved, taking the mist with her.
We stood in silence for a minute before Bob spoke. I could feel the others slowly realizing that Percy wasn't there.
"I must return the underworld. I have duties to attend to," He said. There was a tone of regret in his voice, and I got the feeling that Percy had gone behind my back with him to make a promise on something. I nodded in understanding. He had most likely promised to get me to the surface world.
Bob walked to the crushed altar to Hades and knelt before it, before dissolving into darkness. I was sad to see him go, but I was glad that he had made it out of Tartarus. He was another person who had fallen into Tartarus because of me.
I looked back at the seven, who were all staring intently at me. I noticed the unspoken question in the air that nobody wanted to ask.
Where's Percy?
I didn't have the heart to tell them.
I knew I couldn't keep them in the dark forever, but I really wanted to. Eventually, Piper worked up the courage. She stepped up to my side, and placed a hand on my shoulder.
"Annabeth, where is Percy?" She asked, her voice soft.
I would be lying if I said that I didn't immediately burst into tears. I collapsed against Piper, who held me up and whispered soft words into my ears. I guessed that they thought he died, or at the least stayed in Tartarus. Either one of those could be correct. I had no idea what had happened.
The chamber rumbled dangerously. Bigger pieces of rock crashed down from the ceiling. One chunk of the ceiling almost hit Leo.
"Nico!" Hazel shouted over the noise of the chamber. "We need to shadow travel!"
Nico paled. "Hazel, I can barely manage that with only myself. With six more people-"
"I'll help you," Hazel said, cutting him off. I didn't remember Hazel being able to shadow travel, but she was confident and I trusted them both.
"Everyone, grab hands!" Nico yelled.
They made a hasty circle. There was a terrifying pause before we all dissolved into shadow, and reappeared on the Greek countryside.
I blinked in the bright light of the sun, which was rising in the east. The air smelled of honeysuckle. The clouds glowed orange. The water glittered in the distance.
I almost forgot about the world of monsters for a minute. It was just the peace and beauty of the world at that moment. But then my thoughts returned to Percy as they always did and it all came crashing down.
I wondered how long it had been since Damasen had seen the sky, the sun, and the stars. I imagined the look Percy got on his face when he was at sea. I don't think he ever noticed it, but his shoulders always loosened up and his smile seemed more genuine.
Leo staggered backwards. "You know… I think I'll sit down." He collapsed into the grass, and the others joined him. Piper helped me over and I sat in the sun.
The water was a brilliant blue. I stared at it. I wished Percy was here. I was already missing his sarcastic sense of humor. I knew that if he was here, he would have cracked a couple of jokes already. I dug my fingers into the dirt, trying to imagine that I was holding his hand.
It didn't work.
"Hey, Annabeth?" It was Frank this time. "Are you okay?" His voice was soft. I didn't know what they thought happened.
"No," I said. They waited expectantly for me to continue speaking, but I didn't know how to put my emotions into words. It was a strange feeling. I was always able to express myself somehow. When I couldn't, I learned how. But how could I explain that the only dependable thing in my life had disappeared? Percy had only been in my life more a little more than half a decade, but his impact was huge.
Piper picked up on that, and decided to play the question game. She had told me about the game that she had played with her father. We had played it often while building the Argo II. She was even better than I was at understanding others emotions. She was somehow able to tell when Percy was on my mind, and figure out my thoughts by playing the question game, although it was almost always one-sided.
"Was Percy…" She swallowed. "Was Percy killed?"
I shook my head, then thought for a moment and shrugged. Game over, I had to tell them. They wouldn't be able to understand unless I told them exactly what happened.
I swallowed the lump in my throat. I knew that my voice would break at any time, and I could feel the tears prickling in my eyes. I didn't want to return to that place, but I knew that i would. For Percy.
"He… He tricked me." The others looked confused at this, and I swallowed again. "He got me in the elevator, told me that he was coming in next. But he didn't. He stayed back. He stayed in Tartarus. And I should have known!" I looked up at Piper, trying to convince her that it was my fault. "I don't blame you if you blame me. I should have known he wouldn't leave anyone behind. He pushed the button, and let Bob and I escape." My voice, which had been getting stronger, suddenly broke, like I knew it would. I whispered. "I failed him. And now there won't be an escape for him."
The others sat back. They probably still had a lot of questions, but I was thankful that they didn't continue to ask. Hazel scooted over toward my side. She rubbed my arm, and spoke in a reassuring voice.
"Annabeth, I'm sure it wasn't your fault. We all know you two loved each other to the death." I flinched at the word 'death'. Hazel winced as well, but continued to speak. "None of us blame you for anything. Percy is strong. He will survive. We will go to Mount Olympus, kick Gaea's butt into the dirt, and find a way to get Percy back."
Leo nodded in agreement. "Aquaman is strong. If anyone can do it, he can."
The others voiced their agreement. I smiled a little bit, but I couldn't make myself believe them.
I stared at the water once more, but was distracted by the sight of the Agro ! arriving in the distance. "Uh," I said. "I think our ride is coming."
Hazel turned, along with the others who had their backs to the water.
"That's my boy!" Leo yelled in response to Festus the Dragon's happy creaks . As the ship drew closer, I was able to make out Coach Hedge standing aboard the ship. A girl stood next to him, her face covered in soot and bloody scratches
"About time!" Coach hedge yelled. "What took you so long, cupcakes? You kept your visitor waiting.
As the ship approached, I was able to make out more features. She had long dark hair, weaved into a long braid. A purple cloak was wrapped around her shoulders.
Reyna.
She stepped off of the Argo II, Coach Hedge following her. I watched her as she realized that Percy was missing. Coach Hedge noticed as well, but he displayed his emotions a little more than she did. The grin melted away from his face as he drank in the circle. Grover had been able to read emotions. All satyrs were able to do that. I wondered if Coach Hedge had read my emotions.
Reyna watched me cautiously. I didn't know if she knew that the Doors had to be closed from both sides, but she did understand that I had left Percy behind in Tartarus. It didn't take a genius to know that. I suppose all one had to do was glance at the tear tracks on my face to know that something had happened to Percy.
I didn't cry often. Everyone around me knew that. Crying didn't have a productive purpose. Besides clearing dirt from someone's eyes, or relieving emotions. I had once read an article on the benefits of crying. I could barely remember it now. It didn't seem important. Not when Percy was suffering because of me.
I turned my gaze away from her, and instead looked back at the water. I knew that the others probably attempted to give her a silent warning, but I didn't care. She deserved to know.
I continued to stare at the water, not contributing to the conversation but listening. The sunlight glinted off of the Athena Parthenos, which Leo had brought out from its temporary travelling place within the Argo II.
Reyna observed it, commenting on its condition. It seemed like an eternity ago that I had gone on that stupid quest. I hoped Athena was happy now. I had avenged her, but at what cost? I didn't know yet. I had almost lost my sanity, and Percy might never see the sun again. I idly wondered how Poseidon was taking it. He had to know by now.
I wondered about the camp. What had happened to Grover? Last we had checked, the empathy link still existed. I couldn't bear the thought that two of my friends might die. I didn't know if it was possible for an empathy link to be dissolved, but I had a feeling that neither Percy nor Grover wouldn't have wanted it gone anyway.
Piper laid a hand on my hand. "Hey." She said.
I looked up at her, and noticed that her eyes were teary. She took a seat by my side and gazed at the water.
"You know, I don't think that Percy would want you to be sad."
I said nothing. Piper continued.
"We both knew that when you got in there, someone would have to stay behind, whether it be either one of you two, or a third person. I know that you would have done the exact same thing for Percy."
Piper ran a hand through her hair, pulling hair out of the side braid she had it in. I remembered how Percy did the same thing when he was stressed. It was one of his nervous habits. He also used to rub his hand against the neck when he was embarrassed. I noticed I was talking in past tense and swallowed a lump in my throat. I pushed back more emotions to focus on what Piper was saying.
"We will get him back, Annabeth."
Even as she said the words, I knew that we both understood that everything was unknown. These promises were only reminding me of the prophecy. My friends could die from keeping these promises. I didn't want their promises. I didn't want anyone else to suffer.
We watched the sun set. I had already gone a full day without Percy. Every single minute of today had been filled with my endless worry for him.
But I could understand their words. Percy had told me that the gods had called him the glue of the team. I knew he was. He somehow caused us to grow closer through his sarcastic jokes and obliviousness. I loved him so much. But I had to let him go for now.
I was Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena, architect of Olympus. I was not going to let myself stop from finishing a mission because I couldn't let go of who I loved. I would not be some stupid teenage girl from a sucky romance novel who gave up their life for someone else. Percy had loved me for who I was, not for the sorry mess that I was today. He had kept going, even when the prophecy during the Second War against the Titans said he would die. He had managed to save the world and his life. He had done both through sheer determination. And that's why I loved him. He would never settle for anything that didn't meet his expectations. He was stubborn. And now I had to draw strength from him.
I stood up, Piper's eyes upon me. The sky was clear, and the star splashed light across the entire hillside. I could feel a slight wind blowing through my hair, and rushing against my face. Piper stood up next to me. She looked into my eyes and could tell that I was back.
"Let's go back to the ship," I said. My voice was slightly scratchy, but that would fade with some food and some sleep and some time. I pushed the memory of Tartarus and Percy to the back of my mind. "You guys need to tell me what has happened while I wasn't here."
Piper nodded slowly, and I could tell that she was watching me for signs of mental instability. I wanted to tell her that I was fine for now, but I knew it would have done nothing.
It felt kind of weird to myself too. It was almost as if I suddenly had an increase in my ability to control my emotions. Perhaps a god had done something? Then I shook away the thought. They hadn't done much for us so far, so why would they have helped me this far along into the journey.
Piper helped me walk back to the ship. The others had long since boarded the ship, but she had stayed behind watching the water with me. I was slightly peeved that I had to be helped to walk, but I could tell that it was only my sense of pride and that if I refused the help I would have fallen down.
Once we boarded the ship, Piper took me to the mess hall of the ship. I sat down in one of the chairs, and looked at the celestial bronze plate in front of me. I could have anything. I hadn't had food in so long. The last time I had something solid to eat was back in Damasen's hut…
I pushed the memories back for what seemed like the millionth time, summoning a bowl of soup and a bit of bread. I shouldn't eat too much after eating basically nothing at all. I had to wait for some time. I knew I would be gaining some weight in the weeks to come as well, and looked forward to the time where I could eat normally again.
Piper came back in the room. She noticed what I had been eating and smiled. She held out some ambrosia. "Hey," She said. "I brought you some of this for you injuries. You look like you need it," She said in a joking tone.
I smiled, accepting it and nibbling at a corner of the square. The buttery popcorn taste was comforting, reminding me of movie night with my dad. I savored it, eating it between sips of soup and bread. I could almost feel my stomach begging for more, but I forced myself to stop. If I ate too much now I would only throw it back up later, and I needed to digest this for the nutrients. I would be able to eat what I wanted later.
Piper smiled at me once more, before exiting the room. It was late here. I stared at the walls of the room, which Leo had enchanted to show real time footage from Camp Half-Blood. I had loved it at first, but now it was only making me homesick. It was sometime in the afternoon over there and many of our friends would be doing their activities. However, they were gearing up for a war of their own, and many of them were doing training activities. I watched the Athena cabin a training session in the Training Arena. I could feel another pang of homesickness in my chest as I watched Malcolm help some of the younger students. It only made me more aware of how far away we were from home, and how late it really was.
I stood up, leaning on the wall behind me. I needed to get back to my cabin for rest. I was sure that they would tell me everything tomorrow. It was too late now, sometime in the early morning of the next day.
I followed the wall, leaning heavily on the walls until I made it back to my cabin. It was just as neat as I had remembered it being. I would shower in the morning. I was too exhausted to do much now. I collapsed face first onto my bed, not bothering to change or even wash my face. I would worry about everything tomorrow morning.
It was so comfortable.
I… I missed this. It was so strange. I was going to sleep in a bed. I had barely slept at all while we were in Tartarus. Only twice, if I was correct. Once at the Hermes Shrine, and one in Damasen's hut. But the others said that it had taken almost twenty days to get from Rome to the House of Hades.
Tears streamed from my eyes. I would never be the same, and Percy would never be the same either. I looked at the mirror over to the left and saw a girl with broken grey eyes and a body in terrible shape. I was covered in grime, probably stank a whole lot, and had scars inside and out. But as the tears flowed down my face I smiled because I knew it would be okay eventually, and that it would get better somehow.
I shivered slightly, and huddled up underneath the covers. It was warm, and I felt safe, the soft rocking of the ship lulling me into a sense of security. The light dimmed as my eyes drifted to a close.
But they wouldn't shut.
It might have been a force of habit after the time we spent in Tartarus, but even though I felt as safe as possible, and exhausted enough to sleep for ages, I couldn't close them completely and let myself drift off into the combined realm of Hypnos and Morpheus.
I knew I was safe, I knew I was completely okay, but I couldn't do it. It wasn't going to happen. I wished Percy were here. He was the one person I felt comfortable enough to sleep around. But he wasn't here. I opened my eyes completely, not seeing clearly in the dark room. Things seemed to blur around the edges, my vision was fuzzy as if there was a net of some sort in front of my face.
I could almost imagine a monster appearing out of the darkness to kill me. I could feel the breath of the arai on the back of my neck, whispering that there were oh so many more curses wished upon me, a few of them by Percy. I could see the empousa standing in the corner, laughing quietly at my discomfort. I could see a figure raising its arm above me, about to kill me with my own knife.
But then I shook my head. They weren't real. They couldn't be real. The light turned up a little bit, as if sensing my distress. I silently thanked Leo for being nice enough to program the rooms like that. I sighed softly as my eyes adjusted to the slightly brighter room.
I would sleep with the lights on for tonight.
I had read pages after pages of articles about how humans needed to sleep with the lights off if they wanted optimal brain function. But I would never get any sleep if I spent the night in the dark.
I closed my eyes completely, letting the light filter through my eyelids, giving me a vision of a faded orange. It reminded me of the time I spent hanging out on the docks with Percy. We would swing our legs above the water, and tell jokes, enjoying each other's presence. I remembered how I would laugh and smile. Everything was so bright, and everything seemed happy.
I promised myself that one day it would be like that again. It was another promise, but I needed this hope.
Memories filled my head, this time happy ones. I felt a faint smile on my face. I felt the sense of comfort and security I felt when Percy held me in his arms. The laughter and the jokes. His face. When Sally made cookies and he stuffed his face. When I had to help him with homework. He had pretended not to understand it just so he could hear me talk. He would drag me all around New York, showing me everything. I remembered our Disney nights, where we would spend an evening over at his apartment, watching movie after movie.
These were things I could never forget. His grin, his laugh, his hair. The way he smelled just like the sea. The depth and emotion expressed in his eyes. The way he looked at me. His crooked smile, the one he called his troublemaker grin. The way he kissed me, making me feel as if I was melting. I would never be able to get tired of anything he did. I would never be able to forget anything he did.
I really, really, really loved him.
He was absolutely everything to me. But after a day of just thinking, my emotions felt back on the track. They were no longer a swirling mess in my gut. I had organized them, separating them, and picking them apart one by one.
I had grown up alongside Percy. We had fought together, risen up with each other. And now, as I closed my eyes in a dimension where we were in different worlds, I could feel him right next to me, hugging me and singing me to sleep.
I slept in complete peace.
A/N: Thank you for reading, and please review!