Well, guess who just updated twice in one day? That's a new record! I also believe I've bested my old score and created an even longer chapter! Two new records! That's a new record, too, breaking two records in one day. That brings it to three records! Then-
Ahem, I got a little ahead of myself there.
Anyway, I was able to fit in one more chapter before my brief hiatus. Enjoy!
Percy's POV
Percy's mind switched into overdrive as he latched on to Annabeth's arm and frantically pulled her body down the ever-growing mound. He guessed he had about 3 seconds before the new geyser erupted.
2 seconds left…Percy was almost at the bottom.
1 second…Tripping over a rock, he and Annabeth rolled down the rest of the rising, vibrating hill.
Boom!
This time, Annabeth snapped awake, her grey eyes flying open at the sound of the geyser and the wave of heat.
"Holy Poseidon, Annabeth!" Percy groaned as he sat up, covering his ears in a small attempt to block out the roar of the lava. "What does it take to wake you UP?"
"Wha-What's going on?" Annabeth gasped, watching the lava exploding upwards all around her in 3 separate places and trying her best to hurriedly scoot away from all of them.
"We're caught in some sort of geyser minefield!" Percy explained, shakily standing up and pulling Annabeth to her feet. His burnt back was killing him, feeling as if it were still aflame. Percy even looked over his shoulder to check if it actually was still on fire, but was slightly relieved to see no flames. What he did see was no back to his shirt- which had probably turned to ashes and fallen off- and horribly blistered and scarred skin.
Percy sucked in a breath, trying to ignore the agony that was coursing through his veins. The lava must've have gotten him. Annabeth noticed this and turned him around so that she could see his back.
Gasping, her hand flew to her mouth. "Gods, Percy…"
Lucky for her, she was only red on her face and arms, like she had a bad sunburn, for the front blast she'd slept through hadn't been too bad, and Percy had blocked the brunt of the eruption from the back.
"That's it, I'm not leaving you on watch ever again," Annabeth said illogically.
"You can't…never sleep, you know," Percy moaned, struggling to stay standing.
Yet again, the dirt floor below them began to shake.
Percy's eyes widen in horror and screamed, "RUN!" He grabbed Annabeth's wrist and yanked her away, running in between two previously exploded geysers, and off into the darkness. He'd dropped Riptide back near the lava geysers, but he knew it'd eventually return to his pocket.
"How…How long was I out? Have those geysers been going off the whole time?" Annabeth interrogated Percy as they ran at top speed away from the lava.
"You were out…for 7 minutes?" Percy estimated, his feet slamming against the dirt in his hurry to get away. "Those geysers…were only exploding around us…for a minute or two…" he panted.
Suddenly, Percy thought of something. Usually it was Annabeth thinking these kinds of questions, but for once it was Percy's turn. If those geysers had been sending lava upwards, it was sure to come down, right? So why had it not been pooling around them when they had been surrounded?
While he still had a chance, Percy looked behind him and Annabeth to really watch the geysers. A fresh one exploded that was the fairly close, though not enough so to be any threat, and Percy watched as the lava flew into the sky. At the top, it lit up a dark, flat surface- the ceiling. Amazingly, it began to harden in mid-air. Starting at the top, the lava solidified into a dark obsidian all the way down to its core, freezing the geyser in its eruption. What was left was a tall, abstract pillar connecting the floor to the ceiling.
Percy began to notice that there were many of those pillars in the stretch of land behind him. Percy had thought that Tartarus didn't have a ceiling- at least, not one for miles up- but apparently in this area of Tartarus the ceiling dipped low to the ground. The pillars actually looked like they were supporting it, like in an actual building.
Percy shuddered as it reminded him of the time he'd acted as a pillar for the sky when he'd taken on Atlas' curse.
It seemed that Tartarus was self-generating its support. Weird, Percy thought. Lava can't freeze that quickly, can it? It was indeed cold down there, but not enough so to immediately harden scolding-hot lava. Again, this was Tartarus, and everything there was weird. Therefore, logic was useless.
Eventually, the geysers/pillars faded into the distance, and Tartarus' ceiling seemed to slope back up. Annabeth and Percy slowed to a stop, panting heavily, and knelt down to the ground to rest.
"That was…horrifyingly close," Annabeth commented, happy to be off her ankle.
"No kidding," Percy responded. Now that the adrenaline of the situation was beginning to wear off, the burns on his back hit him full force again, and he felt his eyes water.
He was kind of glad there was no light anymore, that way Annabeth couldn't see him cry. It'd make him look weak.
Percy had no way to ease the pain. No water or ice to soothe the fire, no ambrosia to heal his back- or his arm, for that matter.
They'd been in Tartarus for less than a day, and already Percy wanted to give up.
Annabeth, always the practical one and having forgotten about Percy's injury, asked, "Are we near the lake?"
Percy closed his eyes and sent out his senses, searching the air for water. Maybe it could help heal his back…
"That way," Percy pointed, then realizing Annabeth couldn't see his hand, restated, "To our right."
Annabeth stood, not without difficulty, and this time offered her hand to help Percy up. He took it, shaking as he stood, and took a deep breath. If the water could heal him, he'd be free of this pain soon.
The couple held hands and continued their journey to the lake.
It wasn't two minutes later when something glimmered up ahead.
"Is that…" Annabeth began, then was cut off when Percy answered, "It is."
The lake! Oh, sweet salvation, he could be rid of his pain. And maybe Annabeth's ankle could be healed, too. Percy'd never tried it before, but why wouldn't he be able to use his healing powers on Annabeth?
Renewed with adrenaline, the couple sprinted off towards the shimmering surface of the lake. As they came closer, they realized that the lake seemed to emit its own light, probably to make itself known so that monsters could drink and such.
Speaking of monsters…
"Hey Annabeth," Percy started as they neared the lake.
"Yeah?"
"Why are there so little monsters around? I mean, we heard them earlier, and then there was Arachne, but other than that no one's attacked us."
This stopped Annabeth in her tracks, just a few feet from the lake's shining surface. Percy came to a halt as well, though he severely wanted to leap into the water. She held a hand up to her chin and stared intensely at the ground. Annabeth loved a good puzzle, even if it was about something as troubling as this.
Smiling, the demigod snapped her fingers. "Remember how Gaea had opened the Doors of Death? Maybe so many monsters took that opportunity to leave that very few are left here!" Satisfied with her answer, she looked at Percy for a reply.
Before he could answer, a chuckle was heard in the wind, followed by a voice that caused both of their hearts to skip a beat.
"Many have left, but not all."
Percy and Annabeth whipped around, looking in the direction they'd just run from. Coming into the faint light of the lake, a pretty woman stepped towards them.
She wore all black, which helped her to blend into her environment. Percy had been about to look at her face to see if he could recognize her when telltale hissing made its way to his ears and stopped him dead. Well, actually, it stopped him from being dead. If his gaze had continued upward, he would've looked straight into the beautiful but deadly eyes of Medusa.
"Medusa," Annabeth spat, immediately shifting her gaze to the ground. Percy did the same.
"Long time no see, daughter of Athena," Medusa mocked with a fake cheeriness.
"Yeah, the last time we met was when I cut off your head, I believe?" Percy said to the ground.
"Ah yes, son of Poseidon. Quite uncomfortable, that was." Her snakes hissed on the 's.' "Luckily, my head has grown back, so now I have the wonderful chance to see those entrancing green eyes they say you have."
Percy saw the feet of Medusa in his peripheral vision, signaling she'd approached him. Percy took a step back, but Medusa continued towards him.
"Stop where you are!" Annabeth demanded, thrusting her knife out blindly.
"Oh please, girl, I just want to look," she hissed. Percy had to shut his eyes tight as Medusa's cold hand was placed on his chin, lifting his head upwards.
"Aw, I just want…to…see," she coaxed. Percy reached for his sword, but with a shock of terror he realized that it had not yet been transported back to his pocket. He was unarmed, and he would die if he opened his eyes. Not ideal.
Annabeth yelled and ran forward, keeping her head down and knife forward. With a mischevious giggle, Medusa simply stepped to the side, keeping her hand on Percy's chin and giving Annabeth a straight shot at his stomach.
Using the reflection on her dagger, Annabeth noticed this change in position and skidded to a stop, slipping on the dirt floor and landing with a thump.
"What a shame. I almost got to watch you kill your own boyfriend," Medusa tsked in disappointment.
Percy took a large step back from his enemy, his eyes still squeezed shut, and smacked her hand away.
"Poor child. Curiousity always kills the cat, and it might just do the same to the demigod. Open your eyes, Percy."
"Fat chance," Percy snorted, feeling his pocket and whipping out the recently reappeared sword. Medusa gasped and backed up, remembering the sharp touch of that blade, and tripped over the still-seated Annabeth. With a yelp, the gorgon collapsed onto the ground.
"Maybe you should stay down more often," Percy joked to his girlfriend. "That's two trippings in one day." Annabeth would've rolled her eyes if they hadn't been shut.
"So Medusa," Percy said, opening his eyes and staring at the ground. "If you can't get people to look at you, you're really no threat at all, are you?"
"Ah, but you see, I've learned from my many ecounters in life," she said smoothly. Quick as a whip, she snatched a dagger of her own from the folds of her gown and thrust it underneath Annabeth's chin.
The demigod shut her eyes and gulped, feeling Medusa's hand wrap around her back to keep her from running away- or, in this case, scooting away.
"Surrender, Percy, or your girlfriend dies. I get so lonely down here, and I'd love to have some new statues to keep me company."
"Percy, don't!" Annabeth called out as Medusa pushed the knife closer to Annabeth's neck.
Percy, his eyes shut once again and not actually having seen Medusa and Annabeth, didn't know exactly what Medusa was doing, but he knew any rash movements would be bad, as well as dangerous to Annabeth.
After a moment of thought, Percy lowered his sword, then, much to Annabeth's surprise, dropped it. "Alright, Medusa, you win. Come over here so I can open my eyes for you."
"Perfect," Medusa grinned evilly, thought not letting go of Annabeth. She brought herself and her prisoner over to a vulnerable Percy.
"Percy, what are you doing?" Annabeth asked anxiously.
"What's right," was all he answered with, eyes still closed.
"See? In the many years we've been apart, the boy's gained a brain," Medusa chuckled.
"Or lost one," Annabeth accused, hinting to Percy he was making the wrong choice.
"I think Medusa's right," Percy smirked. "I have got a brain now. And one of the things I know for certain? Never be at a disadvantage in a fight."
Percy thrust his right arm out towards the lake, then flicked his hand back towards Medusa. The lake responded to his will and surged out of its banks, flying straight at the monster.
"Argh!" Medusa gurgled as the water splashed all around her and wrapped her up. Bending around Annabeth as to not drag her in as well, it retracted back into its normal position, dragging Medusa into its depths.
Riskily, Percy opened his eyes and sauntered over to the lake, his newfound ally in Tartarus. His mind sensed where Medusa was under the water, and he threw his sword at the spot. It sunk below the surface and swam straight into the heart of Medusa. A burst of air bubbles flew upwards, popping on the surface. All that was left of Medusa was a pile of dust that had floated to the top.
Using his foot, Percy splashed away her remains, preventing her reformation.
"It's okay now, Annabeth," Percy replied happily. "Open your eyes." She did so, and seeing Percy's expression, she knew that Medusa had been defeated.
"Even though I saw almost none of it, I assume it was awesome," Annabeth smiled.
"It was," Percy replied. He turned to look at the lake, exposing his seared back to Annabeth, and she gasped for the second time at it. She'd completely forgotten!
"Percy!" she exclaimed, and he turned to look at her, eyes wide. "Your back!"
Wincing, Percy was reminded of the pain as it flowed back into his body. He'd been so distracted with Medusa that it had faded into the back of his mind. Now, for the third time, it felt like it caught fire and burned badly.
"Get in the water, now!" Annabeth demanded, knowing it would heal him. Faster than he could do it himself, Annabeth shoved him into the water, where he splashed face first into the glowing liquid.
Flipping over and floating on his back, he sighed, and it became obvious that it was working. Percy's back cooled down immensely, and the bone in his arm was relieved of pain and felt as if it was mending itself back together.
Through all the relief, however, Percy noticed something odd. Behind the cooling sensation was a hidden layer of…something. It felt as if an illness was seeping into his body along with the healing. That makes no sense, Percy thought. This water is healing me, not making me sick.
Even so, he felt something enter his body, something that felt like it was draining his energy and freezing his insides.
"Um, Percy?" Annabeth asked. She noticed that Percy's eyes looked spaced-out, he was shivering, and his face had gotten a slight green tint, like he was going to be sick.
"I think it's time to get out now," Annabeth said, grabbing Percy's arm and pulling him out of the water. He didn't react, nor did his eyes refocus. It was beginning to scare Annabeth.
"Percy?" she squeaked. "Percy, what's wrong?"
"Con…Contaminated…water?" was all he could get out. Annabeth delicately laid him on the ground, then crawled over to the edge of the lake. Dipping her finger in, she pulled it back out and dipped it in her mouth, tasting it.
Immediately, she began to gag. That water was not normal. Then again, nothing here was.
Percy saw her look back at him, a worried expression plastered on her face. Whatever had been in that water was not good, and even though his arm and back had completely healed, his body was still sick.
"Call…Nico…" Percy coughed, pointing to the lake. Understanding dawned in Annabeth's eyes and she began splashing water up in an arch.
She fished a lone drachma out of pocket and whispered, "This better work…" before speaking the incantation to call on Iris.
Oh no, what's wrong with Percy? Sadly, you must wait until Chapter 5 for that answer.
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-8DemigodRunner8