"I'm late! I'm late! For a very important date! No time to say hello- goodbye! I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!" - The White Rabbit
I am SO sorry this took so long to post; I'm an entire week late! My days were so busy and last night, as I tried to work on this chapter, my computer refused to be quick and continually gave me a rainbow circle symbol- the symbol of impending doom.
However, I have my chapter for you now, and I appreciate your patience.
Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians/ Heroes of Olympus
Annabeth's POV
Annabeth could now officially cross "Rodeo riding an oversized lion" off of her bucket list. Of course, why it'd be on there in the first place was beyond her comprehension.
As soon as she'd swung up onto his back, the Nemean Lion had seen red. How dare an incompetent demigod try so much as to ride him! No, the prideful lion would not stand for that. That was why, as soon as her leg had swung up and over the giant beast's furry back, the Nemean Lion began his rampage.
Immediately, Annabeth had been forced to grip the lion's fluffy brown mane as it bucked and span and jerked every which way. The sole demigod straddling its back was forced to do everything she could to keep from being thrown onto the rocky ground below or into the lava inching by on her right. Annabeth's teeth were clenched tight, for surely if she didn't she'd bite her tongue in half.
She had tried to clamp her legs together to give her more stability on the wild animal's rough back- his golden pelt was no where near as soft as his mane- but the added pressure it applied to her broken ankle had caused her to let out a gasp of pain. Why couldn't Medea have given us both some of that magic healing potion? Annabeth thought bitterly. I'm sick of having to be wary of that injury. With a start, Annabeth realized that she'd been subconsciously wishing that Medea had fed her the potion rather than Percy. She mentally punched herself. Percy had needed that medicine way more than she had; a broken ankle will always be outmatched by death.
Speaking of Percy, how was the newly-healed demigod holding up? Annabeth turned around just in time to see Percy run the Chimera through with Riptide. She let out a small whoop of victory. That was one out of three of the monsters they were facing at the moment.
Technically, it'd be one out of two. Percy had wanted her to keep the crazed lion alive for the time being. Annabeth had already guessed Percy's plan- he wanted to ride the Nemean Lion to the Doors of Death. Yeah, great idea, if you could actually control the monster. It was definitely not as easy as Percy must've thought it was.
Suddenly, the Nemean Lion reared back on its hind legs, trying haphazardly to shake Annabeth off. With a high-pitched shriek, Annabeth lost her grip and slid down its coarse back, reaching its hips and eventually its long tail. Now that she had a smaller target, the daughter of Athena was able to wrap her arms and legs around the golden tail, clinging to it for her dear life.
The lion slammed back down onto all four of its legs, satisfied with its momentary victory of ridding itself of the demigod. However, the lion did feel an unexplained weight on its tail, and it turned its head to see the blonde-haired menace still holding on to it. With a roar of frustration, the lion showcased his bright pink maw and rows of incredibly sharp teeth.
Annabeth knew that if she could throw her dagger into its mouth, she might be able to kill the lion. She and Percy would just have to find a more complying ride. Unfortunately, if she threw her dagger, she could miss, and either way she'd loose her only weapon.
Annabeth guessed that the lion had finally had enough, because one second she was hanging near the ground, the next she was being whipped up high, clutching the tail even tighter to keep from flying up and away.
"Could you-" She was cut off by being tossed to the right.
"-just stop-" Now Annabeth was flung to the left.
"-for a second-" Now upwards she was hefted.
"-so I can think?" And back down towards the rocky ravine.
The Nemean Lion roared as its answer, leaving Annabeth to be whipped all around on the beast's tail. At the speed she was going, the world surrounding her began to blur. She couldn't distinguish the dark sky from the rocks, nor make out any individual details.
One thing, though, did manage to catch her eye. She saw a large blip of blue denim invade her visual radar, and she immediately recognized the shape as Echidna. The lion had brought her so close that if she'd reached out her fingers she would probably brush against the monster's dress.
Wait- she could reach Echidna? That little tidbit of information quickly jump-started an idea in Annabeth's brain, forming as swiftly as only those of a child of Athena's could.
The demigod waited impatiently as the lion brought her high into the sky once more before slamming her back down, whipping her back up at the last minute. The creature was trying to use the momentum to knock Annabeth off, and obviously it wasn't working.
The lion's tail began circling again, and Annabeth thought to herself, It's now or never.
The daughter of Athena slipped her hand into her dagger's sheath, bringing back out with it the bronze weapon, and held it close to her to keep it from being knocked out of her grip. The large blue blur grew nearer and nearer as the lion's tail made its final rotation. Launching her arm outwards, Annabeth sliced through Echidna's side faster than the monster could've reacted.
Annabeth was finally granted the chance to catch a breather as the lion let his tail droop in exhaustion- wildly flinging a long tail like that takes more energy than you'd think.
Now that Annabeth could see straight again, she was granted the sight of seeing a pile of dust covering a denim dress lying limply on the floor, and just a few feet behind that a second demigod, he's arms and sword raised above his head.
"Darn it, Wise Girl, you beat me to it," Percy laughed, lowering his sword and returning it to its pen form.
"What can I say? Being a daughter of Athena has its perks." Looking up at the giant lion taking a quick break, Annabeth asked Percy, "Are you sure you want to ride this thing? He's not very controlla-"
Before she could finish her sentence, the half-blood was flung up into the air, the speed snatching the air straight from her lungs. She had been resting herself while the Nemean Lion took a break, so her now-relaxed grip was easily broken as the force of her sudden flight yanked her off the tail and up, up, up into the air.
"PERCY!" she screamed as she hovered for just a millisecond before plunging back down, falling right above the lava stream.
"Annabeth! Just, just hold on!"
"Hold on to WHAT?" she snapped back. She was dropping with her back to the ground, so all she could see was blackness above her. Annabeth could feel the heat from the molten rock growing more and more intense as she continued her descent. This is gonna hurt, she thought grimly, squeezing her eyes shut and instinctively bringing her knees to her chest. Why she did this, she didn't know. It's not like it would protect her from the fiery river she was about to be incinerated in or anything.
Thud. Annabeth was suddenly knocked to the side by something hard slamming into her from the left. Instead of splashing into what would've only resulted in her death, she rolled across the gravely banks of the river, coming to a halt next to a spike jutting out of the ground.
Her eyelids peeled themselves open, and only now could she see what- or rather, who- had just saved her life.
The son of Poseidon was breathing heavily a foot or two away from her, lying on his back and trying to catch his breath. Percy had dove into her mid-fall and knocked her out of harm's way.
"Why…Why couldn't you be a daughter of Hepheastus, huh?" Percy panted, slowly regaining his breath. "If you had been fire-proof like Leo, I wouldn't have to be hurling myself over rivers of lava to save your sorry butt."
Annabeth let out a small laugh of hysteria as the realization of how close she'd been to death settled in, sparked by her boyfriend's little remark. Percy then joined in, but both of them were abruptly cut off as they were forced to scramble to the side as a giant paw smashed down in between the couple.
Annabeth had briefly forgotten that the Nemean Lion was still there, still trying to kill them both.
"Hey Kitty Cat, how about you help us out a bit, okay?" Percy called up to it, standing in a rush and putting his hands out in front of him as if to steady the beast. "We need a ride to the Doors of Death; you think you could help us out with that?"
The Nemean Lion swiped at Percy's face, but he simply ducked down to avoid the claws. "Now, now, no need to get testy," he taunted the monster. Roaring, the lion slammed his paw down right where Percy had been standing a moment before. The Nemean Lion didn't even have a chance to pull away before Percy leapt onto the golden foot, climbed up the muscular leg, and finally reached its back.
"C'mon!" Percy yelled down at Annabeth, knocking her out of a stupor she'd been in.
Annabeth launched herself at the Lion, grabbing its golden fur and pulling herself up its flank and onto its back alongside Percy.
"So…what now?" Percy asked her over his shoulder.
"You got a way to command this thing?" she asked whilst rolling her eyes.
"Uhh…" Percy said in a moment's hesitation before exclaiming, "Hiyah!", hitting his feet to the lion's sides like he would a horse. The lion growled and, instead of moving forward, jerked to the side and scrambled up and out of the ravine, sending rocks and boulders tumbling down the cliff. The demigods grabbed tufts of fur to prevent themselves from falling off during the lion's vertical climb. Once at the top and on flat ground, the lion paused.
"It's a start," Percy smiled. "Now, go that way!" He pointed to his right, straight at the horizon. The lion didn't respond. It seemed frozen, its only signs of life being its sides moving as it breathed.
"Go! Andale! Mush!" Percy ordered the lion, all to no avail.
"Why isn't he responding?" Annabeth asked, half to herself. "I'm not expecting him to follow our orders or anything, but wouldn't he at least be attempting to get us off his back by now?"
A childish laugh echoed around them, dripping with mischief to come.
"What…was that?" Percy asked. Then, raising his voice, he yelled, "What are you doing here? Are you the reason our ride is being stubborn all of a sudden?"
The laugh sounded again, this time much closer. Annabeth's eyes strained to see the young…whatever it was through the darkness, but even after her time in Tartarus, her eyes never adjusted to the pitch black. So focused was she on the land around her that she nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt a light tap on her shoulder, followed by a soft "Boo."
Whipping around, Annabeth was greeted with a wide smile plastered on a 9 year-old's pale face. His grin was missing a tooth right up front, leaving a dark gap in its place. His proximity to her was so close that she immediately scooted herself up against Percy. The son of Poseidon turned around to look at the child as well.
"Who are you?" Annabeth asked him.
The kid laughed before saying, "I'm Agrios. And you are?"
"Very uncomfortable. Would you please give me some space?"
Chuckling, the kid tumbled right off the Nemean Lion's back and plummeted towards the ground.
"Oh my gods," Percy gasped, startled at the boy's sudden death wish. He leaned over the edge to see if the boy was okay, when all of a sudden Agrios zoomed right back up into the air, a large pair of bright white wings extending behind him.
"And you thought I was going to let myself fall!" he laughed, clutching his stomach. "Oh Hermes, your faces were priceless!"
"Hermes?" Annabeth wondered. Usually a demigod's exclamations were with his or her parent's name; for example, Nico would say, "What the Hades?" or Leo would shout, "Holy Hepheastus!"
Looking Agrios over, Annabeth asked him, "Are you a son of Hermes?"
"Yep!" he replied, doing a somersault in the air. "As well as the son of an empousa!" Annabeth felt Percy shudder at the mention of the female monsters.
"I hate empousai," he murmured under his breath, quiet enough so that Agrios couldn't hear.
"So, Agrios…why are you here?" Annabeth asked frankly.
The angel-boy was now hovering upside down, his toga somehow staying upright on him but his hair falling around his head like a blonde halo. "I'm known for reeking havoc and unruliness wherever I go. My name means 'wild,' you know. Obviously, that kind of mischeif would land me in this place." With that, he flew down to hover right in front of the Nemean Lion's face. "I'm the one who put this guy right here into a trance. As soon as I release him, he'll be as wild as Dionysus at a bar party!"
"Could you, um, not do that?" Percy asked Agrios, able to imagine just how wild that meant. "We are in a hurry to get to the Doors of Death, and we need to be able to control this lion as our ride to get there. So, having him out of control would be the last thing we'd like."
"Hmm," Agrios hummed to himself, looking bored. "Control is never fun. That's why I spend my time making people and animals crazy with madness and energy. If you take my name and mix it around, you'll get 'Ragios,' which is pretty close to 'Rabies' if you think about it…"
Annabeth doubted that the word 'rabies' came from Agrios' name, but she decided it'd be best not to bring that up.
Walking on air, the son of Hermes began to circle the two demigods sitting atop the Nemean Lion's back. "Keeping this monster in control right now is very tiring, and if I lose control by, oh, falling asleep, it'll be off into the wild for you two. And I am very sleepy today…" Agrios mused, throwing in a yawn for effect.
Both Percy's and Annbeth's eyes widened at Agrios' words. "You wouldn't."
"Watch me," Agrios smirked before lying down on top of the lion's head. He stretched his arms wide and, curling into a ball to go to sleep, was quickly stopped once he found a bronze sword thrust under his chin.
"Fall asleep and you won't be waking up," Percy threatened the boy, narrowing his eyes in determination. "I've slayed far worse than you, Agrios, so this will be as easy as one…" He pushed the sword a little closer in.
"Two…" Agrios broke out into a nervous sweat but refused to budge.
"Thr-" Up flew Agrios, wide awake now.
"Alright, alright, I'll leave you be. Jeez, you're such a party pooper," Agrios sighed as he shot off into the distance, fast as a bullet.
"At least we're not perched on top of an about-to-be-berserk animal anymore," Annabeth observed. "Now its just a frozen animal that is still of no use to us."
No later than after Annabeth finished her sentence did the Nemean Lion stir, shaking his enormous mane and stretching his large jaw out.
Then it let loose a high-pitched shriek and sprinted off towards the horizon, going at speeds Annabeth hadn't thought possible. She lurched forward and wrapped her arms around Percy's chest to keep herself from falling off; Percy clutched a fistful of the lion's mane to steady himself.
"That little-" Percy was interrupted by one of the lion's random, jerky movements as it ran. "He went back on his word and made it go crazy!"
"At least we're going in the right direction!" Annabeth shouted over the pounding of the lion's feet against the rough ground.
That, my friends, was how the two half-bloods found themselves riding a giant lion towards their freedom, with death by lava down on one side in the ravine and infinite unknown on the other, neither a desirable option. Forward was the only way to go.
What'd you all think? I personally like the OC of Agrios :) . It was fun to write the part of a mischevious little boy bent on causing problems. Should I have him come back later? He could be a key pawn in my plans... :) Let me know in the comments!
A big thank you to all of my readers for waiting so patiently for this chapter to be posted! I am so grateful that you all continued to follow anyways, and just know that I will always eventually get a chapter up.
Individual thank-you time!
Thank you to The Wild West Pyro and Hocapontas for the story favorites, and thank you to The Wild West Pyro, Hocapontas, and Puppylove77 for the story follows!
Wild West Pyro- I like the idea of bringing in the deceased demigods, and even though it'll be a little different than having them follow Percy and Annabeth, I will be mentioning them and including a scene with them in it :). Thank you for the idea, and when I post it I'll give you credit.
WarLord of Poseidon- Wow! I'm so honored by your comment, really! :D I have taken your advice and have come up with some more events to take place in Tartarus; I can' wait to write them all. I have also brewed up a whole new batch of OC's to share with you all, Agrios being the first of many. If you have any ideas for OCs, feel free to let me know. I'll try my best to include them and will give you credit for your ideas.
Hibye: I'M ALIVE! I have risen from the dead to publish the next section of Each Other's Lifelines!
Guest on Chapter 1: I like what you did there, with the "o" being part of the phrase and face ;) .
Like always, please read, review, favorite, and/or follow!
-8DemigodRunner8