Thank you guys for the many reviews! I appreciate every single one of them! This chapter is extremely exciting! It was about 6 pages in word, single spaced. It's long. You deserve it. (Apologies for OOCness, if any. Percy is difficult to write for me)
Let it commence.
Percy
"What I'm wondering is how Octavian knows of that place," Jason muttered, glaring at his golden sword like he'd want to run Octavian through with it. I could relate.
"What do you mean?" Piper asked.
Jason looked around, chewing on his lip before he answered. He looked genuinely disturbed by what he had seen in the message.
"Some of the original founders of New Rome built a secret prison hidden underneath the Senate building. I think it may have been when the Romans and Greeks were fighting in the eighteen hundreds. It was used for prisoners of war that the Romans had captured." Jason sucked in another breath. "The information was soon forgotten and it was only passed down from praetor to praetor in case of emergency. Reyna told me when I became one. Even I've never been down there. I don't know how Octavian learned about it. "
"I think we know how," I said coldly. "Gaea."
The others looked grim. I didn't even want to believe what I had just said, but the evidence was staring me straight in the face.
I fiddled with my pen cap in my pocket before asking a question that was nagging me in the back of my mind. "If the location of the prison is kept a secret, how did Annabeth and Bethany know it existed?"
Jason shrugged. "I have no answer for you there."
We were quiet again until Leo clapped his hands loudly and rubbing them together, making us all jump. "What are we waiting for?" he asked in a falsely cheery voice. "Let's go kick some dirt's butt."
We hurried to the Senate building, all of us on our guard and weapons out. During our short run to the Senate building, a bizarre thing happened to us.
We were jogging down a cobblestone path that sharply turned a corner. We flung ourselves around it and almost smashed into two Roman guards heading in the opposite direction. I instantly leaped forward, sword swinging, when the first guard instantly dropped to the ground, hands over her head.
"Truce! Truce!" she shouted. "Please!"
The second guard tossed his spear towards us and also raised his hands. "We're on your side. I swear."
Jason snatched up the spear and pointed both it and his sword under his neck. "Swear on the Styx."
"I swear on the River Styx that we are on your side, and not following Octavian," the Roman said swiftly.
Jason immediately lowered the weapons and helped the girl to her feet.
"Jason," the girl said, inclining her head. Jason did the same.
"What do you mean 'you're on our side'?" Leo asked.
"Octavian forced everyone in the First Cohort to join," the girl answered. "He should have thought about that one. Not all are loyal to him. Most are following him because they don't want to be thrown in prison."
Jason nodded. "Let us pass. We did not meet."
He tossed the spear back to the boy, who nodded curtly, and the two of them quickly walked away, not looking back.
"Well...that was weird," Leo said as we continued to run to the Senate building.
"Romans seem to follow more along the lines of formality," I explained. "The kids back at Camp are much more laid back."
"I'll say," Leo muttered. "It felt like I was talking to a member of the government, not some teenaged kid."
"One of them was a Senator," Jason said, grinning.
We soon vaulted up the steps to the Senate building, and Jason led us away to a hidden area behind a group of pillars. He glanced around once before sliding a hand along the wall, his fingers looking for something.
"Aha," Jason said quietly, and a tiny bronze lever flipped out from the wall. He pulled it, and small square piece of wall swung inward.
"Well, ladies first," Leo said, looking at Piper.
"Ha ha," Piper said sarcastically. "After you, Repair Boy."
Leo scowled before getting on his hands and knees. He crawled forward, and I could hear him banging around and cursing at small stones that poked his hands.
"Alright, I'm through!" Leo's voice finally called back.
The three of us quickly crawled through the tunnel and straightened up, stretching our backs. The tunnel was built with large slabs of limestone, and flickering torches in Imperial Gold stands cast shadows against our faces.
"This is...fancy for a prison," I remarked, looking around.
"Take it in while you can," Jason said, flipping his coin and catching a sword. "Where we're going, it won't look so nice."
"If you've never been here before, how do you know where we're going?" Piper asked.
"I don't," Jason said.
We looked at each other, shrugged, and started walking down the tunnel.
"Wait," Leo suddenly said. "Hold up."
He was kneeling on the ground, examining the dirt. He traced his finger inside a line that was drawn through the soft ground. He looked up, grinning. "I think I know how to find them."
"What do you mean?" Piper asked.
"Annabeth isn't an idiot," Leo said. "Since she's never been down here before, she knew that she might get lost. She probably traced this line in the dirt to tell her where she's been and how to get back."
I felt a sudden surge of pride for my girlfriend. She was brilliant and knew how to take care of herself. It was incredibly simple, and incredibly Annabeth. I knew I'd find her at the end of the line. My heart started thudding in my chest.
I hoped she was safe.
We followed the traced line in the dirt, trying to make sense of it. It kept doubling back and winding down corridors randomly. Just following the line was getting us lost.
The torches became monotonous, and the prison walls that I had admired before seemed to be closing in. I tried hard not to panic. Maybe this wasn't left behind by Annabeth. Maybe this was a trap. Maybe—
"Oh dear," Leo suddenly said.
"What?" I asked quickly. "What is it?"
"That," Leo said, pointing.
Oh.
The stone blocks of the prison suddenly morphed into craggy gray slate. The once soft dirt changed into hard packed ground. There were no torches, and soon the end of the cave was swallowed in darkness.
"The trail ends here," said Leo.
"And this is where we need to go," Jason said. He rolled his shoulder back once, and then started down the cave, swallowed by the darkness. We quickly followed behind, holding our swords out to dimly light the way.
As we walked, I suddenly tripped over something. Turning around, I held Riptide out so I could see what it was.
It was a rusty, crude, Celestial Bronze sword, and it was lying next to a pile of yellow dust.
"Annabeth has been here," I said, saying this aloud only for my benefit. "This is where we're supposed to be." I got a few sympathetic looks before we hurried down the tunnel again.
The tunnel was winding, with corners everywhere. We never knew what we would see when we turned, but the results were always the same: nothing. Torches soon began to appear on the walls, only they were spaced out so much they might as well have been useless.
We finally reached a sharp turn, and after a seconds pause as we made our breath even, we charged around the corner, weapons and hammer raised, ready to attack at the enemy.
There was nothing.
Again.
All there was was a large collection of yellow dust spread all around the cavern. Footprints and what looked like bearprints were visible in the sand. But that wasn't the most shocking thing.
Huge, rusty double doors were inlaid in the cave walls. Tarnished brass knockers and handles hung, and looked like they hadn't been used in millennia. I honestly wouldn't have been surprised if they hadn't. The prints in the yellow dust lead to the doors, and then vanished behind them. I just hoped the person the footprints belonged to was Annabeth.
I walked forward, about to push the door open when Piper yelled, "Percy, wait!"
"What?" I asked, trying hard not to sound irritable.
"We don't know what's behind those doors. It could be anything."
"No, I think we know what's here," I said. "We saw it in the Iris message. So are you coming with me or not?"
Jason's hand fell on my shoulder. "We're with you, man."
And with that, I shoved the doors open and walked inside.
The first person I saw was Annabeth, knife out and pointing at the ground, and something that hardly appeared on her face.
Fear.
Frank was standing behind her, and it looked like his arm was half transformed into a bear claw. The fur on his arm was raised, and the claws looked nasty.
And finally, Bethany. She was hunched over, clutching something that was growing out of the ground.
No, not growing. Trapped.
It was Nate. He was inside the earth, and all that was visible was his head. It was battered and bruised and covered with blood.
Well now, it seems the heroes are here to rescue the damsels in distress.
Gaea's voice echoed in my head, and I didn't even realize that I had Riptide gripped tightly in my hand, held out in front of me.
Annabeth dared look back for half a second, and when she saw me, her expression was unreadable. She looked back to Gaea.
"Percy, what are you doing here?" she asked evenly, still gazing down the point of her knife.
"Saving your butt," I shot back.
Jason came up to guard my flank, his sword also pointed toward Gaea. Piper stood behind him, knife out, and Leo came to stand on my other side, hammer and fire out, looking murderous.
It seems nearly all the demigods are here, Gaea chuckled. But where is Hazel?
"Leave Hazel out of this," Frank snarled.
No, I'm afraid I can't. It is because of her that I am beginning to rise, is it not?
Frank let out an angry yell and started to charge. Gaea merely smiled lazily, and the ground became soft under Frank's feet. He sank down as if it were water, and suddenly stopped, his nose barely visible so he could breathe.
Do not tempt me boy. One more move, and you might slip just a bit further.
Frank struggled, but couldn't move.
"Piper," I muttered under my breath. "Charmspeak has much as you can. Distract Gaea. Jason, get to Nate. Leo, you're with me."
They all nodded.
"On my signal," I hissed. "One...two...THREE!"
We sprang into action. Piper began charmspeaking so hard that she was nearly screaming. Jason ran forward, dodging Gaea's attacks of rolling earth, and made it to Nate, protecting him. And Leo and I ran straight to Dirt Face.
There's no water here, demigod. You are powerless.
Bethany and Annabeth ran together just in time. The ground was opening, trying to swallow them, but they nimbly danced out of the way. The ground bubbled and boiled, and soon massive dirt-like men sprang out of the ground.
"Percy, you're left!" Leo shouted. I jumped aside, sword sweeping straight through the creature, and it exploded.
Jason was trying to fend off as many dirt men as he could, but was struggling. They all swarmed around him, and nearly got him before Piper's scream filled the cave.
Piper was thrown aside like a ragdoll by one of the monsters and fell to the ground, head making a sickening crack as it connected on the hard floor.
"Piper, no!" Jason screamed, and the hair on my arms suddenly stood on end.
"HIT THE DECK!" I yelled, grabbing Leo and flinging ourselves on the ground.
Lightning flashed out of nowhere and erupted on Jason, causing all of the dirt men surrounding him to turn to ash. He raced to Piper, fighting like a whirlwind.
But the men kept coming.
Gaea cackled in my head. You will lose your strength soon, demigods. You cannot last forever.
Leo was blasting fire at the men, and they were baked into statues. He then smashed his hammer against them, and they crumbled at his feet.
Bethany was using incredible agility as she ducked and weaved through the men, stabbing and thrusting through every dirt man she came in contact with.
Jason was fighting off the men surrounding he and Piper, but I could tell that using the lightning had depleted his strength. He wouldn't last forever.
But where was Annabeth?
"Annabeth!" I yelled, slicing the head off of a dirt man.
"Behind you, Seaweed Brain," I heard her wonderful voice say. I felt her back press against mine and we faced the oncoming swarm.
It was like we were a well-oiled machine. We had fought together so many times, we could anticipate each others moves. We were practically unstoppable.
We were winning. We were going to get out of here alive.
Until the unthinkable happened.
I heard Annabeth scream, and I whirled around, taking out three dirt men with me. She fell through the ground, clawing at it with her hands. She had dropped her knife.
"Percy!" she shrieked.
I grabbed her hand and tried to pull her back up, but it was no use. She sank through the ground until only her head was visible. She gave me one last look, sucked in her last breath, and then vanished in the ground.
Gaea had swallowed her.
"Annabeth!" I screamed, the voice sounding nothing like mine.
Gaea laughed in my head, filling me with anger and adrenaline. My first sacrifice. Who will be next? Your friends are failing. It is only a matter of time.
I saw Leo fall to a horde of dirt men, his face pale and ashen from using up so much fire. Bethany was caught between two of the monsters, and I saw Jason collapse.
Looks like it's you, son of Poseidon. You will join your precious Annabeth. No water is here to save you this time.
An anger so hot surged through me, it felt completely foreign. Adrenaline was pumping so hard through my veins I felt like my heart was going to explode.
And then, peace.
A tingling started at the tip of my head and went all the way down to my feet. I could suddenly feel the tremors of the earth, the strength that it held. I knew what I had to do.
With the loudest scream that ripped my throat apart, I held up Riptide, and then plunged it into the ground. It sank through like it was made of butter.
And then the ground started to shake.
The cave walls buckled. Pieces of the rock ceiling began to fall, but none landed on my friends. They crashed into the dirt men, reducing them all to powder.
And the ground. The ground was rolling and shaking, threatening to collapse. A groan came from the very Earth itself, growing and growing with power until it was deafening.
And then, starting from my sword, a massive crack appeared, spreading throughout the entire cavern.
It split the image of Gaea completely in half, and she let out a scream of fury as she vanished. The crack in the earth spread to Frank and Nate, releasing them from their prisons.
And then...Annabeth.
The ground split where she had fallen, and she was released. The ground spit her out, and she landed in a gentle heap on the ground.
I began to black out. I wrenched Riptide from the ground, and raised it into the air.
"I am Percy Jackson, Son of the god Poseidon, Creator of Horses, Master of the Waves, and the Earthshaker. Your time is over, Gaea."
And then I fainted.