Sorry for the late update! I've been so busy the past week and I couldn't find the time to write. Sigh…I really need to thank my wonderful beta, Venillashiz, for forcing me to get to work on this.

Love knows no bounds – it is a powerful bond between two people that can never be broken, nor separated by walls.

And Charon had clearly never met with the wrath of a severely pissed off woman in love because the moment Annabeth walked into the room, he had already started sweating bullets. The ferrier of souls to the underworld was currently cowering in his chair, a bronze blade pressed to his throat, staring into the unmistakable grey eyes of Annabeth Chase-Jackson, who was very, very angry indeed.

Charon licked his dry lips. "Nice to see you again kid. What? No boyfriend with you? I liked that boy, finally got me my raise."

"Huh. Since you like him so much, how bout you let me in so my husband doesn't become chopped hydra?!"

"Oh? You kids got hitched eh? Great! Congrats! Never thought it'd happen though, honestly, you're too good for that boy." He grinned at her.

"Yea whatever," Annabeth rolled her eyes, though she couldn't help but grin. "Now will you let me in or not?"

"No can do hon, the Lord of the Dead doesn't want any visitors right now." Charon shook his head, leaning back on his chair.

"That's great then, since I'm not here to see him either. Clearly the past half an hour has been useless because I'm here to see Percy not Lord Hades, Percy Jackson. P-e-r-c-y J-a-c-k-s-o-"

"Yea yea I get it. Still not going in." He waved her away, pulling up his newspaper.

Annabeth threw her hands up, muttering curses under her breath. A particularly colorful one caught Chiron's attention. "Well, if you're going to be so descriptive, could you take it else where, for example, where your boyfriend is."

Annabeth spun around, "He's not here?"

"I'm sorry? Did you say something?" Charon winked at her and grinned, his eyes glancing at the door.

Annabeth grinned, "Thanks Charon."

"Don't mention it, mate - seriously, don't, it'll ruin my reputation." He saluted her as she laughed and left.

"Hades!" Annabeth growled as she kicked the crunching gravel under her feet. Charon had told her Percy wasn't in the underworld but he also forgot to mention where he actually was as well. Then again, maybe he didn't forget. That bugger! So there she was, sitting on a bench in some god-forsaken park, alone, cold and the sun was almost setting.

She shivered as another man passed by leering at her. Bringing her knees up to her chest she sighed. Percy was probably sitting at some beach right now, forgetting all about her, drinking out of coconuts. Suddenly she stood, inspiration hitting her like a thought in the shower. Of course, she should just look for him at a beach! The sea animals would probably know where he was!

Jogging up to a public toilet, she stepped in and shut the door. Clicking a button on her watch, a holographic map came into view and she smiled as the red dot beeped right next to where she was standing. The beach was closer than she thought!

The trees were thick and the sky was dark enough to hide Annabeth from view as she splashed her way through the water. The waves swirled around her thighs and the current tugged at her feet, trying to pull her in. The wind seemed to pick up the moment she touched the water and Annabeth was beginning to think that Percy really didn't want her going after him and this was his defense. She snorted, as if that could stop her.

The waves swirled even higher and until it reached the middle of her waist, surging around her. Annabeth opened her mouth, filling her lungs with air as she screamed Percy's name, her voice ringing out in the darkness, only to be carried away by the powerful winds. What was she doing? She didn't even know. Was she hoping that by some miracle Percy might just hear her? Was she waiting for someone to go and stop her? To tell her it was alright? Annabeth didn't know. She just kept screaming until her voice grew hoarse and the winds stilled.

Exhausted, she kicked back, allowing her legs to float up to the surface and her head to gently rest on the water. The water moved to fill her ears, blocking the sound of the waves crashing against the shore. She could hear her blood pound in her ears and the water swish around her as she floated aimlessly. She was just too tired to think. Annabeth laughed at herself - she couldn't remember a time when she just stopped thinking. Percy really messed her up.

A nudge at her leg sent ripples of shock vibrating through her body. Annabeth jerked, her body immediately going rigid. Spitting out salt water, Annabeth opened her eyes to a pleasant surprise. She grinned as she bobbled in the water, reaching a hand out to pet Rainbow the Hippocampus. He neighed happily and swam a circle around her, reaching out nuzzle her. Annabeth smiled, there was no stopping her now, she'd get to Percy no matter what.

The sun was blazing and Percy could feel his back sizzling – the skin on his arms glared an angry red. Sighing, he decided to enter the small cave to cool off. Percy rested against the cold, damp rocks and closed his eyes, leaning his head back. The cave was his only refuge, the only place where the guilt didn't eat him from the inside out. He fiddled with the cool silver band around his finger and his eyes dimmed.

Annabeth was probably sticking pins into a voodoo doll of him right now. Annabeth… he missed her so much, it ached to think of her. Percy knew he would never forgive himself for leaving her. How could he stay? And waste another precious minute to save her life? He'd rather her hate him than for her to never have the chance to.

Heaving himself up, Percy left the cave, moving to grab his binoculars and to sling them around his neck. Crawling on his elbows, he brought the binoculars up to his eyes, gasping when he caught sight of a familiar man walking out of a tent. No, it couldn't be!

And that's all for now! I'll try to update as soon as possible again. Thanks for reading!