A/N: So, this chapter was taken mostly (entirely) from the Mark of Athena. It's like that chapter, and I didn't feel like changing the perspective so, shrugs.

Annabeth, continued…

Annabeth had seen some strange things before, but she'd never seen it rain cars. As the roof of the cavern collapsed, sunlight blinded her. She got the briefest glimpse of a giant ship hovering above. It must have used its ballistae to blast a hole straight through.

Pieces of debris and wood rained down, a large piece nearly hitting her. She jumped to one side, hovering slightly so she'd make it. A wave of agony almost made her pass out, but she flipped on her back in time to see a chunk as big as a fiat 500 slam into Arachne's silk trap, punching through the cavern floor and disappearing with the Chinese Spidercuffs.

As Arachne fell, she screamed like a freight train on a collision course; but her wailing rapidly faded. All around Annabeth, more chunks of debris slammed through the floor, riddling it with holes.

Annabeth was covered in cobwebs. She trailed strands of leftover spider silk from her arms and legs like the strings of a marionette, but somehow, amazingly, none of the debris had hit her. But none of that mattered when she heard Percy's voice from above: "Annabeth!"

"Here!" she sobbed.

All the terror seemed to leave her in one massive yelp. As the ship descended, she saw Percy leaning over the rail. His smile was better than anything she'd ever seen.

The room kept shaking, but Annabeth managed to stand. The floor at her feet seemed stable for the moment. Her body ached. She could barely move without making something new hurt even worse. Her wings were probably broken, if wings could even break. But Annabeth didn't care. She was alive.

She edged closer to the gaping hole. Jagged rock walls plunged into the darkness as far as Annabeth could see. A few small ledges jutted out here and there, but Annabeth saw nothing on them—just strands of spider silk dripping over the sides like Christmas tinsel.

Annabeth wondered if Arachne had told the truth about the chasm. Had the spider fallen all the way to Tartarus? She tried to feel satisfied with that idea, but it made her sad. Annabeth was dimly aware of the ship hovering to a stop about forty feet from the floor. It lowered a rope ladder, but Annabeth stood in a daze, staring into the darkness. Then suddenly Percy was next to her, lacing his fingers in hers.

He turned her gently away from the pit and wrapped his arms around her. She buried her face in his chest and broke down in tears.

"It's okay," he said. "We're together."

He didn't say you're okay, or we're alive. Their friends gathered around them. Sagittarius Castellan was there, but Annabeth's thoughts were so fuzzy, this didn't seem surprising to her. It seemed only right that she would be with them.

"Your wings." Piper went behind her, examining the damage. "Oh, Annabeth, what happened?"

She started to explain. Talking was difficult, but as she went along, her words came more easily. Percy didn't let go of her hand, which also made her feel more confident. It felt strange, but right. When she finished, her friends' faces were slack with amazement. Once she had mentioned the Crooked One, Sage and Percy went to explaining about him itself.

The chamber groaned. The casing of the Crooked One tilted to one side. Its front caught on one of Arachne's support cables, but the marble foundation under the it was crumbling. Nausea swelled in Annabeth's chest. If it fell into the chasm, all her work would be for nothing.

"Secure it!" Annabeth cried.

Her friends understood immediately.

"Zhang!" Leo cried. "Get me to the helm, quick!"

Frank transformed into a giant eagle, and the two of them soared toward the ship. Strange.

Jason wrapped his arm around Piper. He turned to Percy. "Back for you guys in a sec." He summoned the wind and shot into the air.

"This floor won't last!" Hazel warned. "The rest of us should get to the ladder."

Plumes of dust and cobwebs blasted from holes in the floor. The spider's silk support cables trembled like massive guitar strings and began to snap. Hazel lunged for the bottom of the rope ladder and gestured for Sage to follow.

Percy gripped Annabeth's hand tighter. "It'll be fine," he muttered.

Looking up, she saw grappling lines shoot from the Argo II and wrap around the chest. Leo shouted orders from the helm as Jason and Frank flew frantically from line to line, trying to secure them.

Sage and Hazel had just reached the ladder when a sharp pain shot up Annabeth's leg. She gasped and stumbled.

"What is it?" Percy asked.

She tried to stagger toward the ladder. Why was she moving backward instead? Her legs swept out from under her and she fell on her face.

"Her ankle!" Hazel shouted from the ladder. "Cut it! Cut it!"

Annabeth's mind was woolly from the pain. Cut her ankle?

Apparently Percy didn't realize what Hazel meant either. Then something yanked Annabeth backward and dragged her toward the pit. Percy lunged. He grabbed her arm, but the momentum carried him along as well.

"Help them!" Hazel yelled.

Annabeth glimpsed Sage hobbling in their direction, Hazel trying to disentangle her cavalry sword from the rope ladder. Their other friends were still focused on the statue, and Hazel's cry was lost in the general shouting and the rumbling of the cavern.

Annabeth sobbed as she hit the edge of the pit. Her legs went over the side. Too late, she realized what was happening: she was tangled in the spider silk. She should have cut it away immediately. She had thought it was just loose line, but with the entire floor covered in cobwebs, she hadn't noticed that one of the strands was wrapped around her foot—and the other end went straight into the pit. It was attached to something heavy down in the darkness, something that was pulling her in.

"No," Percy muttered, light dawning in his eyes. "My sword…"

But he couldn't reach Riptide (his new sword) without letting go of Annabeth's arm, and Annabeth's strength was gone. She slipped over the edge. Percy fell with her.

Her body slammed into something. She must have blacked out briefly from the pain. When she could see again, she realized that she'd fallen partway into the pit and was dangling over the void. Percy had managed to grab a ledge about fifteen feet below the top of the chasm. He was holding on with one hand, gripping Annabeth's wrist with the other, but the pull on her leg was much too strong.

No escape, said a voice in the darkness below. I go to Tartarus, and you will come too.

Annabeth wasn't sure if she actually heard Arachne's voice or if it was just in her mind.

The pit shook. Percy was the only thing keeping her from falling. He was barely holding on to a ledge the size of a bookshelf.

Sage leaned over the edge of the chasm, thrusting out her hand, but she was much too far away to help. Hazel was yelling for the others, but even if they heard her over all the chaos, they'd never make it in time.

Annabeth's leg felt like it was pulling free of her body. Pain washed everything in red. The force of the Void tugged at her like dark gravity. She didn't have the strength to fight. She knew she was too far down to be saved.

"Percy, let me go," she croaked. "You can't pull me up."

His face was white with effort. She could see in his eyes that he knew it was hopeless.

"Never," he said. He looked up at Sage, fifteen feet above. "The other side, Sage! We'll see you there. Understand?"

Her eyes widened. "But—"

"Lead them there!" Percy shouted. "Promise me!"

"I—I will."

Below them, the voice laughed in the darkness. Sacrifices. Beautiful sacrifices to wake the Crooked One.

Percy tightened his grip on Annabeth's wrist. His face was gaunt, scraped and bloody, his hair dusted with cobwebs, but when he locked eyes with her, she thought he had never looked more handsome. She'd never even referred to Percy as handsome.

"We're staying together," he promised. "You're not getting away from me. Never again."

Only then did she understand what would happen. A one-way trip. A very hard fall.

"As long as we're together," she said.

She heard Sage and Hazel still screaming for help. She saw the moon far, far above—maybe the last moonlight she would ever see.

Then Percy let go of his tiny ledge, and together, holding hands, he and Annabeth fell into the endless darkness.

A/N: That was pretty hard. I had to take out a lot of the percabeth fluff. So let's explain some things. During their explanations, Sage told about the Void. Basically, the discoveries those scientist guys made reflect the Greek world, so namesakes correlated with the place. Good? Good.