10-10-13

Hey, guys! Not much to say right now.

Oh, one thing: please do not put "House of Hades" spoilers in your reviews! First of all, I haven't read the book yet, and second of all, I don't want it being spoiled for anyone else who happens to look at the reviews. I'm just saying that because somebody reviewed with a spoiler for one of my other stories. That was a very unpleasant surprise...

Thank you Phoenix McLean for reviewing!

I suppose I've gotten so little response for the last chapter because everyone's reading the real awesomeness right now... *Sigh*

Enjoy!

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ANNABETH

Annabeth placed her hands on the Door and pushed with all her might. Beside her, Percy was fending off the monsters that were trying to stop her. Annabeth struggled against the Door. It was so heavy, it was like holding the sky. And she knew firsthand what that was like. No matter how hard she tried, it wouldn't budge.

"Percy," she called. "A little help."

Percy backed up into the Door and leaned as best he could while still fighting the monsters. It still wouldn't close.

"Why won't it move?" Annabeth panted.

"Maybe," suggested Percy between thrusts, "we need more power?"

Annabeth's mind was in a turmoil. Why wouldn't it move? She heard the sounds of battle on the other side. The others must have made it. Wait a minute. If the Doors had to be closed on both sides, maybe both of the Doors had to be pushed shut at the same time.

"Percy," she shouted over the noise, "do you think you can hold them off long enough for me to talk to the demigods on the other side?"

"Yeah, sure," he grunted. "Just don't take too long."

Annabeth hesitated slightly. She didn't want to leave Percy here, but she didn't have a a choice. She had to let the others know if they were going to close the Doors. But she just couldn't bring herself to leave him.

Percy turned his head and their eyes locked. Annabeth leaned forward and kissed him softly.

"Be careful, Seaweed Brain," she whispered.

She quickly dashed around the edge of the Door, wiping away a single tear. She stopped for a moment, blinking in the light. It really wasn't that bright out considering that storm clouds completely covered the sun, but after being underground for so long, this was almost blinding. Her jaw dropped in shock as she saw what lay in front of her. Guarding the Doors was an enormous army of monsters, but that wasn't the shocking part. Making their way to the Doors, she could see Greek banners and the Golden Eagle of Rome. Roman eagles and Greek pegasi. Orange T-shirts and purple T-shirts. Imperial gold mixed with Celestial bronze. The two camps were here. And they were working together.
She probably could have stood there all day staring at this phenomenon, but she shook herself out of it. They had to close the Doors of Death. She had to get back to Percy. She saw Jason flying over the horde with Piper in his arms, aiming for the Doors. Annabeth dashed out into the temple, and almost cried. Fresh air, after all those days underground.

She waved her arms in the air. "Jason," she shouted. "Over here!"

Jason saw her and a huge grin broke out on his face. He dove down and placed Piper gently onto the ground before landing himself.

"Annabeth!" Piper screeched in delight, jumping on her and giving her a bear hug.

Annabeth stiffened. She grabbed Piper's arm and flipped her over head. Before she knew it, Piper was floored on the ground and Annabeth had her dagger pressed against her throat. Annabeth's breath came in ragged gasps. She quickly climbed off of Piper and scrambled away, her hands pressed against her forehead.

"Oh gods," she stammered. "Sorry, I'm so sorry, I just… not used to… " She collapsed onto the ground and started sobbing, tears flooding down her cheeks as she rocked back and forth. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to," she rambled. She flinched as Piper and Jason crouched in front of her.

"Hey, it's okay," Piper soothed, though she looked pretty shaken. She smiled slightly. "I thought you said you only did that to your boyfriend. What does that make me?"

Annabeth managed a small smile. She took a deep breath and tried to calm down. "Sorry," she repeated. "It's just these past few days, weeks, whatever, anything that touched you was an enemy."

Piper reached out as if to comfort her, but she hesitated.

Annabeth nodded to reassure her that it was fine, and Piper began to rub her back.

Annabeth stiffened slightly, but managed to relax as Piper's hand made small circles on her back.

"It's okay," Piper soothed. "You're out now. You're safe."

Annabeth shook her head and buried her face in her hands. "No," she said. "I have to go back. Percy's still in there. I can't leave him." She took a deep breath, and stood. "I just came to tell you that we can't close the Door on our side. We think it's because the Doors are designed to be closed on both sides, which means you guys have to push on the Door out here at the same time we're pushing ours."

Piper still looked worried, but nodded. "Okay."

"By the way," Annabeth said. "How'd the two camps get here?"

Jason's face broke into another huge grin. "Oh my gods, you should have seen it. Piper single-handedly convinced both camps to stop fighting and come help us through an Iris Message. It was amazing!"

Piper blushed. "You helped me," she protested. "You told them about the Athena Parthenos. I completely forgot about that."

"Seriously, Piper?" Jason said. "It was amazing!"

Annabeth laughed lightly. "You're just like Percy," she said. "He can never take a compliment. That was good thinking, Piper. Now I should get back."

She turned to leave.

"Wait!" Piper said. "You don't have to go. You shouldn't go. Let one of us go instead. Let me go."

Annabeth stopped and managed a small smile. "Unfortunately, the decision has been made," she said. "Percy won't leave anyone behind. And I won't leave him behind."

She turned back and gave Piper a hug. "Punch Gaea in the nose for me, will you?"

Piper's eyes watered. "I—I will," she gulped.

Annabeth let go and gave Jason a quick squeeze. "Take good care of her, Jason," she said. "Say hi to Thalia for me."

Then, before they could react or she could change her mind, she dashed back into the horrible blackness of Tartarus.

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Annabeth placed her back against the Door, and stabbed a hellhound that had been about to bite off Percy's head. "Piper and Jason are on the other side," she told him. "Start pushing." She leaned against the Door as hard as she could, Percy doing the same. The hinges creaked and groaned in protest, but the Doors slowly started moving inwards.

"It's working!" Annabeth cried out in glee. She positioned herself so that she could lean and stab at the same time.

Slowly, ever so slowly, the Doors started creeping closed. The monsters attacking them redoubled their efforts to stop them, unwilling to let their entrance into the world be closed so easily. As the monsters pressed them harder and harder, Annabeth found herself unable to keep pushing the Door without getting overwhelmed.

"Annabeth," called Percy, "try moving the Door by yourself. I'll guard your back."

Percy moved over until he was directly in front of her, and Annabeth turned around and pushed with all her might. She could hear the grunts of the other demigods on the other side as they shoved too. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get the Door to move.

"Not working," she gasped. "We have to do it together."

"How can we do that?" he asked. "I can barely keep the monsters off of us."

Annabeth tried to think as she stabbed at the monsters. Obviously, she wasn't strong enough to close it by herself. It had to be both of them. But how could they do that without getting mauled to death?

Something grabbed her shoulder. She swung around, slicing with her dagger, and just managed to stop herself before she cut off Nico's head.

"Whoa!" he cried, taking a step back. "Watch it!"

"What are you doing here?" Annabeth snapped, directing her attention back to the monsters. "You should be helping them on the other side."

"They don't need it. The other five are already working on the other Door, but it wasn't moving, so we figured you guys were in trouble on this side. I'll fight, you guys push. Rachel says that only the demigods of the seven should close the Doors."

Annabeth considered shoving him back through to the other side. She realized with a shock that Nico of all people had volunteered to help them on this side, and he was the only one who had been in Tartarus before. He must be terrified of this place, but he'd come in anyway. She decided that at the last possible moment, she would force him through to the other side.

"Fine," she agreed. "Percy, help me push. Nico's taking over the fighting for now."

"How'd Nico get in here?" Percy asked.

Nico gestured behind him. "I used the Doors."

"Ha ha, very funny," grumbled Percy.

"Guys!" Annabeth pleaded.

"Right," Percy said. "Survive now, talk later."

Annabeth turned around and shoved the Door. Beside her, Percy had his back to it, pushing and helping Nico at the same time. The Door began moving again, slowly creeping farther and farther into its frame.

Time became a blur as Annabeth alternately shoved at the Door and hacked at the monsters. Before she knew it, there was only about two feet of space remaining of the wide open space they had started with.

"Nico," she panted, "get out of here."

Nico hesitated, then shook his head. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Nico," Percy insisted, "get going. Now."

"Not happening, Percy."

Annabeth glared at Nico. The gap was getting smaller. About a foot to go. She was not going to let Nico stay with them. He had already been in here once, and almost shattered. If he stayed with them, he would break.

Percy must've been thinking the same thing. Without warning, he grabbed Nico around the waist, and forced him through the gap. He planted his back on the Door. "Annabeth," he panted. "Go. Get out of here."

Annabeth stared at him in shock. "Percy! How dare you even think such a thing? I'm staying here, with you."

"Annabeth, just go! I wouldn't be able to live with myself if you stayed."

"Of course you wouldn't, cause you would go crazy and die, so you wouldn't be living at all. I'm staying with you, Seaweed Brain."

He opened his mouth to protest, but Annabeth leaned over and kissed him. "As long as we're together," she whispered.

He hesitated slightly. Annabeth could see the relief in his eyes. "Together," he repeated. He began to push on the Door again. "Quick," he grunted, "in case Nico tries to get back in."

Annabeth positioned herself on the Door, and gave it all she had left.

Six inches…four inches…two inches…

She heard a startled yell behind her, and whirled around to see Percy sliding on his back towards the monsters. How had that happened? Then she saw it. Somehow, they had managed to put a shackle on Percy's ankle.

"Percy!" she screamed, starting towards him.

"Don't worry about me," he called as he tried to fend off the monsters swarming him, "Close the—" he was cut off as the monsters completely buried him.

"Percy!" she shrieked in horror. "No!" She was still screaming as she turned around and gave the Door one last desperate shove. It slammed shut with a jaw rattling boom, and she slammed the bolt into place. The monsters wailed angrily. She didn't stop to celebrate, but charged into the mob, slicing at everything within reach of her dagger.

"Get away from him!" she shouted, punctuating each word with a stab of her dagger. "Get away!" She fought with such ferocity that the monsters quickly backed out of reach. She rushed to Percy's side. He was curled up in a ball, his eyes squeezed tightly shut, holding his stomach.

"Percy," she whispered. No response. She reached over and shook his shoulder slightly. "Percy," she said, more insistently, "get up."

Percy moaned quietly, but still didn't open his eyes. His breath came in shallow, ragged gasps.

Annabeth fought down a surge of panic. Don't freak out, she thought to herself, Remember your training. She examined him carefully. There were a few claw marks on his back and shoulder, but nothing too serious. Wait a second. She leaned in closer and peered at his hands, which were still clenched tightly around his stomach. She gasped in horror. His shirt was soaked in blood. She gently pulled his hands away from his stomach.

"Oh no," she muttered, tears filling her eyes, "Please, no." Something had slashed Percy across the stomach, and from all of the blood surrounding the wound, it was pretty deep. She ripped off her shirtsleeve and dabbed at the horrible wound as best as she could, but the makeshift bandage was soon soaked with blood.

Annabeth collapsed on top of Percy, sobbing brokenly. They had run out of nectar and ambrosia a long time ago. She didn't even have any water. There was nothing else she could do. The cut was too deep. She could hear the monsters as if from a distance. They were probably closing in right now. But she didn't care. Nothing else mattered except that Percy was going to die.

Tears dripped down from her cheeks and onto Percy's face. He stirred slightly as the tears dropped on him. Wait a minute. Annabeth leaned back and studied Percy closely. A little bit of color had returned to his face. But then, just as quickly, he started getting pale again. Annabeth tried to think through her grief. Why would that happen? She put her head in her hands, and realized that her cheeks were slick with tears. Tears. Water. Was it possible? Quickly, she ripped off another part of her shirt, and sobbed into it, trying to make it as wet as possible, which wasn't hard to do. Pretty soon, the rag was soaked. She pressed it onto the cut on Percy's stomach, praying desperately.

Blood stopped gushing from the wound and started flowing more slowly. A fresh sheet of tears rolled down Annabeth's cheeks, but this time they were tears of relief. She leaned over Percy, letting her tears fall all over his stomach. Slowly, but surely, the wound started to close. Percy stirred and sighed quietly, his breathing becoming more normal. Annabeth was giddy with happiness. Percy was going to live!

Suddenly, she felt something cold and heavy clamp down on her wrist. What? She tried to rise, but was shoved roughly back down. Her head smashed against a rock and spots danced before her eyes. She screamed in defiance. There was a clattering sound, like metal on rock, and something started spinning her around and around, covering her with celestial bronze chains. She wriggled and squirmed, but they only wrapped her tighter until she could barely breathe. Cuffs clamped down on her wrists and ankles. The last thing she felt before falling unconscious was rocketing upwards.

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So what do you think? Definitely OOC, but drop a review anyway?

The next chapter is the last, guys. It's been fun! I hope you all enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. I will try to come back and fill in the gaps, i promise. It might take a little bit, but I will do my best.

Still don't have a copy of the book... I feel like punching a bookshelf... (Hehe, get it? "Son of Neptune" reference!)