Percy
I stepped off the road, heading in the direction of the town. I was proud of us. We had made it all the way to Alaska, none of us dead yet. We had fought like a true team and always had each other's backs.
That is what I was thinking when I sunk under the earth.
I had put my foot down on what looked like solid ground, but before I knew what had happened, I sank. I was completely covered in mud and couldn't breathe. I couldn't tell how far under I was, or what way was up. I was suffocating.
So this is what the prophecy meant: The son of Neptune shall drown.
I was drowning in the earth.
Stupid Gaea. Stupid quest. Stupid choices.
I wondered: if I had chosen not to come on this quest, would I not be here? Would I be happy and alive, finding Annabeth?
Annabeth.
I would never see her again. Yea, maybe I would in the Underworld, but she would live a long life, probably forget about me. But I would still wait for her if I died.
If I died. I wasn't dead yet! So why not fight? I decided that is what I would do.
I would not give up without a fight.
I started flailing my arms around, searching for something solid that I could grab onto. For a while my hands just ran through liquid earth.
I started feeling woozy. How long had I been down here? It seemed like hours, but was probably only minutes. My lungs ached for air, and I felt myself start to slip away.
I ran my hand through the mud once more, and suddenly my hand hit something solid.
I grabbed it. It was an ankle! Did Hazel or Frank really jump in after me? Or was this the corpse of another victim of the earth?
I felt a tug and suddenly I was heaved out of the earth.
I gasped for breath and my lungs filled with the air they had been deprived from. I heard Hazel gasping beside me and Frank yelling, "Oh my gods! Oh my gods!"
I lay down, covered in mud, and just stayed there.