Hey guys! Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I meant to Friday, but I was out of town. So is everyone having a good 3 day weekend? If not hopefully this cheers you up! Thank you to Hope-Hikari and Madelena for reviewing the last chapter. I do not own PJO or HoO! All rights go to Rick Riordan! Please R&R! Enjoy Chapter 8 :)

Thank you to Hope-Hikari and Madelena for reviewing the last chapter.

To Hope-Hikari: Don't worry, I have something planned for CHB, and it'll come up in Hazel's chapter, so keep a look out for it.

To Madelena: Thanks :) I don't get many reviews, but those I do get always make me smile. So thank you!

PERCY (VIII)

The Minotaur snarled and Percy froze. It..it wasn't possible. Just thinking about the monster couldn't bring the actual thing there, could it?

Annabeth shook his shoulder. "Percy! Snap out of it!" Percy blinked hard and tried to concentrate, which was hard to do in the darkness of the evil pit that they were in. Screeches and growls were occasionally heard, and dark shadows flitted past them, and being ADHD, it was pretty hard to not get distracted.

Strapped to the Minotaur's back was the double-bladed battle axe that Percy had last fought against. Each of the twin blades were shaped like an omega. They glinted in the faint glow of Percy's sword. Even though he was armed, the Minotaur was back in his tighty whities. He looked so ridiculous, wielding his weapon in his underwear, that if Percy wasn't scared out of his wits, he would have laughed.

The Minotaur bellowed, which sounded somewhere in between a loud burp and a dinosaur roar, and charged. Percy dodged, dragging Annabeth with him so that she wouldn't get be in the line of fire. The monster barreled straight past them and into the wall. He backed up, his eyes burning with anger and hate. He hefted his axe of his back and swung. Percy parried, making sure to keep Annabeth behind him, and tried to strike. They were at a stalemate before the Minotaur swung towards his head. Percy ducked and swung lower, at the Minotaur's belly. Unfortunately for him, he was wounded. The Minotaur met Riptide with his axe and caught the hilt. He thrust downward, disarming Percy. His sword clattered out of his hand, behind the Minotaur. Now Percy was wounded and weaponless. The Minotaur snorted in glee. He pawed the ground, getting ready to charge.

Percy chanced a look behind him and saw that Annabeth had disappeared. Panic threatened to overwhelm him. He turned his gaze back to the Minotaur. He had to kill the monster and find Annabeth. He couldn't bear to be parted from her again. Not after six months apart. Suddenly, the Minotaur gave a Moo in surprise. Annabeth, covered in grime and dirt, had grabbed Riptide and sliced open the Minotaur's belly. It was still bellowing when it disintegrating, probably cursing Percy and Annabeth.

Percy jogged to where Annabeth. She handed him Riptide and he was about to touch the cap to the point before Annabeth said, "Might as well keep it out and ready."

"You're probably right." He put the cap in his pocket. There was complete silence for a moment before an eerie wailing started up again. "Annabeth?"

"Yeah?"

"What do we do now? I mean," he took a deep breath, mentally preparing to ask the question. "How do we find the Doors of Death? Where is it?"

Annabeth shook her head, mystified. "I don't know, Percy." In the light of his sword, Percy could see her gray eyes analyzing the darkness. What scared him was the fact that Annabeth knew almost everything (at least in Percy's eyes) and yet, now that they were in Tartarus, she seemed like she knew nothing about the situation. "As far as I know," she said, startling Percy, "Nico is the only half-blood to actually make it out of Tartarus alive. All the others…." She trailed off, but Percy knew what she meant. They had all died. Tartartus made the Fields of Punishment look like a picnic, and Percy had seen the Fields of Punishment. It was not a pretty sight.

"So where do we go?"

"We have to track down Gaea's army."

"You're kidding right?" Percy stared at her. "That's suicide."

Annabeth gave him an annoyed look. Do you want to find the Doors of Death or not?" When Percy didn't say anything she just put her hair back into a ponytail. It had fallen out when Percy had dragged her away from the Minotaur's attack.

"So," he said slowly. "We have to find Gaea's forces, which are somewhere in the bottomless pit. Do we just find a giant or what?" He leaned against the wall. This was just too much to process. They were supposed to look for the enemy? How were they supposed to take the offensive if they only had one sword in between them?

Percy yelped and fell back onto the ground. He looked up to see Annabeth's surprised face next to him. The section of the wall that Percy had been leaning on had disappeared and now they were in a secret tunnel. But that didn't make sense. There were torches along the wall, lighting the way into the infinite passageway.

"What in Hades?" Percy asked.

"Di immortales! These tunnels must have been carved by the gods themselves!" Annabeth said, fascinated. She touched the walls carefully, as if they would explode.

"Or something older," Percy muttered darkly.

Annabeth shot him a look but didn't say anything more. In silent agreement they started walking down the tunnel. A grinding sound behind them made them jump. The wall had reappeared. Percy ran back to it and pushed on it. They were sealed in.

"We're trapped," Annabeth said. Her tone made Percy look over in wonder. She seemed happy to be trapped in a sealed tunnel rather than stumbling through the darkness of Tartarus.

"Yep. So should we…." Percy pointed down the passageway. Annabeth nodded and gestured for him to lead the way.

They walked for a couple hours, nothing changed. The tunnel walls still held torches forever and ever down the passageway. Percy and Annabeth didn't do much talking, but when they did, it was about happier times: their four months together, their quests together, the summers spent at CampHalf-blood. It made Percy wistful for his homes: CampHalf-blood and his apartment where he lived with his mom and Paul. He wondered how his mom had held up during his absence. He had sent her a phone call during his quest to free Thanatos, but he hadn't even thought about telling her that he had survived that quest. He made a promise to himself that he would Iris Message his mom if he survived Tartarus.

Finally, when Percy felt as if his legs would give out, Annabeth stopped. "I guess we should stop here for the night."

"The night?"

Annabeth glared at him. "Don't start with me, Percy. I can't walk another step." She groaned and leaned against the tunnel as if to make her point.

They didn't have anything to sleep on, so they just laid against the tunnel wall. Luckily it wasn't too uncomfortable.

"So how far do you think this tunnel goes?"

Annabeth shrugged. "Could go for miles."

"Great," Percy said weakly. That did nothing to reassure him. They sat in silence, the torches on the walls casting flickering shadows. "Do you think we're safer in here?"

Annabeth didn't answer at first. She just watched the walls with her intense eyes. "Honestly, I have no idea. I didn't even know that Tartarus had secret tunnels." She sounded so miserable, Percy felt bad for her. He put an arm around her and kissed her forehead. "There's nothing in the old stories about secret passageways. How could these even be here?" Percy felt like he had an answer, but the idea weighed so heavily with that he didn't want to share it. Annabeth stared into his sea green eyes. "You know, don't you?" she accused.

Percy dropped his gaze to the stone floor. "I don't know. I might. It's just something that I thought of." Annabeth's eyes blazed with anger, but she didn't say anything. Instead, she waited for Percy to continue. "What if, last year, when Kronos was letting all those monsters and other Titans out of Tartarus, he created these tunnels so he could they could get from one part of Tartarus to another?"

Annabeth looked impressed, which was only something that happened rarely. Usually she was the smarter one. "That might actually be it. That could also be why there are no stories about it."

"But like you said, no demigod but Nico has come out of Tartarus alive. I could be wrong," Percy pointed out. He didn't know why he said that. It was like it was drawn out of him. Something flickered in front of him. Percy was too stunned to tell what it was. When it flickered again, he could tell it was in the shape of a human. But that was impossible, wasn't it?

Annabeth gasped. "Is that…?" Percy didn't know what she was talking about, but he relaxed. He helped Annabeth to her feet. She had taken off her splint and limped towards the flickering image. This time Percy could definitely see that it was human, or something that had the shape of a human. Every time it flickered the image grew clearer. Percy gasped in amazement.

Standing in front of them was a girl with an olive complexion and dark black hair braided down her back. She wore the silvery outfit of a Hunter of Artemis and green floppy cap. Guilt welled up inside of Percy, like it did whenever he saw her. Percy swallowed.

"Bianca di Angelo."

So what did you think? Please review! I would really appreciate it. And thank you to my followers for following. Love ya guys 3