Hey, everyone! It's another FanFiction Thursday, so it's time for another...CHAPTER!

I just read the new one-shot by Blondie B Happy, Billow and oh my gods...I'm so mixed up with my emotions right now!

So, in responce, I couldn't write a solid ending! You know what that means!

Enjoy!

Chapter 11

Annabeth

Annabeth couldn't take it anymore.

The running, the fighting, the screaming, all with her broken ankle. Not going to work for Percy, and definitely not going to work for her.

As she swung the metal pipe she'd picked up, Percy came up behind the Echidna and stabbed it through its snake tail.

It screeched and turned to sand, screaming, "It's rude for a man to kill a lady, Perseus!" and finally disappeared.

Annabeth moved the pipe through the sand to scatter it and delay her return, and then Percy bent over and scooped her up in his arms, bridal style.

"Percy, carrying me this way will only slow you down," Annabeth groaned.

"I don't care," Percy grunted as he ran at a rather slow pace. "You're ankle could be completely destroyed, and it will be all my fault. I'm not going to do anything but carry you."

"That's really romantic and kind of scary," Annabeth said as an after thought, "but riding piggy back would probably be easier on both of us."

"Oh," Percy stopped running and helped her change positions. "Right."

Percy started running again as soon as Annabeth was comfortable, and Annabeth started thinking about why she did that stupid swan dive.

"Come on, Annabeth!" Percy had said. "You can lean on me, and we can jump together!"

Annabeth had started to protest, but Percy had said, "Oh, come on, Wise Girl, are you actually afraid to have fun?"

So, Annabeth leaned against Percy like he was a life-saving crutch, scared to death of plunging into a sea full of monsters that probably want to kill them more than any other demigods, because they were probably the ones who put them there.

Roughly four years on the job partnered with Percy Jackson, hated by all monsters, Titans, and Underworlds alike.

So when Percy had told her he'd found a whole in what looked like the yellow flames, and he claimed he saw a regular light, almost white, they'd decided to do that stupid swan dive through the whole, right next to the monster masses.

And she hadn't wanted to do it, but Percy had done it anyway.

Annabeth's only lesson from this was: Say No to Peer Pressure.

They'd landed in what looked like a cave with an opening nearby. Annabeth had landed on her broken ankle, and now the bone was poking through her skin and Percy was feeling horrible about it.

She had been determined not to cry, but she couldn't have helped but scream. And that's when the Echidna had found them.

Percy had carried her out of the cave, running, and they'd run into a grassy field with holes in it here and there.

Percy had tripped over something sticking out of one of the holes, and Annabeth had protected her injured ankle by landing on her okay ankle and tucking in her injured leg and doing a could rolls until she landed on her back and came to an abrupt stop by the hole that made Percy trip.

A metal pipe was sticking out of it. Annabeth had tugged it out of the ground when the Echidna had caught up to them.

The grassy plains ended abruptly and cut into a desert. Percy's run slowed to a trot and the temperature seemed to rise fifty degrees. The sky was clear: no clouds anywhere, but there was no sun, no moon.

Actually, Annabeth couldn't be quite sure it was clear. It was a neutral shade of gray, and it hadn't changed yet.

They finally stopped moving when Percy began panting. He slumped down onto one knee, and Annabeth carefully protected her injured ankle and stepped onto the sand.

It seemed like it was a sponge. A tan sponge with no holes, just cracks. Lots of microscopic cracks.

She knelt down and touched the dirt with her hands. It felt like sand. Like dry, crusty, dusty sand.

"Percy, feel this," Annabeth whispered. "Doesn't it seem odd to you? What kind of land are we on?"

"Sand?" Percy said. "I thought we were in a desert?"

"I did, too," Annabeth sighed. "What do we do now?"

"Keep going."

So Annabeth climbed back onto Percy's back, despite her protests, and they walked along under the hot, gray sky.

Percy nearly collapsed.

"How many times do I have to tell you for you to finally get the message, Percy? Let me down! You're hurting yourself!" Annabeth said.

Percy reluctantly put her down, and she used him as a crutch and they hobbled along slowly together.

It had been hours, and they hadn't seen anything but the tan, dusty sand under their feet and the gray sky above them, which was starting to turn more black than gray.

"Percy, you need to rest! You've been walking for so long, you need a break!" Annabeth insisted.

"No," Percy gasped. He was sweating powerfully, but he wouldn't stop. "Not until we find you some help."

"Percy!" Annabeth said.

But he kept moving.

Annabeth had to do something or her boyfriend was going to work himself to death under this heat.

She stopped moving. He tried to move her, but she put her injured ankle on the ground.

The pain was terrible, but she needed Percy to stop.

"Annabeth, what are you doing? Stop!" Percy cried.

"Not until you stop, Percy. You're going to work yourself to death under this heat! It's not getting any cooler, so we need to rest!" Annabeth basically shouted.

"Annabeth," Percy came really close to her, their noses nearly touching, his voice a low whisper. His enchanting sea green eyes were filled to the brim of nothing but worry. "Please keep it down. We don't know what's in this desert."

"I'll be quiet if we rest," she whispered.

"When we find shelter from this heat and any danger," Percy agreed. "Until then, let's keep moving."

"No, we'll dig a hole and sleep in there," Annabeth said defiantly.

Percy sighed. "If we find anything in the hole, then we're moving."

Annabeth smiled. "Thank you, Seaweed Brain."

She kissed him, and she could taste the salty sweat on his lips.

They'd finally dug a hole around five feet deep and discovered that around two feet down, it turned into dirt.

Annabeth dug little hand and foot holds into the side of the pit so they could get out as she climbed down first.

She touched the bottom with her good foot and it felt a little squishy. She took off her shoe, and Percy called down, "Annabeth?"

"Yeah, I'm okay!" she called and pulled her sock off. "Just don't come down right now!"

She touched the ground with her bare foot and laughed slightly as her toes slid against squishy, muddy dirt.

"Percy, I think there's water under this layer of dirt!" she called up to him.

"WHAT?" and he was next to her in a minute. "What do you mean? And why is your shoe off?"

"Just feel the dirt!"

Percy knelt down and touched the damp dirt with his finger pads and he laughed. "Water! Finally!"

Percy started digging a small hole into the wet dirt, and Annabeth pried herself of the hold wall and knelt down next to him and helped him dig.

The water looked dark. Almost black, in the shadow of their bodies.

Percy cupped some in his hands and the pulled away, putting it in the light.

The water was crystal clear, and kind of a blue color.

"Isn't water usually clear? Like, completely clear?" Annabeth asked Percy as he stared hungrily at the water pooling in his hands and slowly seeping through his fingers and over the edges of his cupped hands when he moved.

"Can't we try it, Annabeth? Please?" Percy begged. "I need it! I'll rest, I promise!"

Annabeth gave in. "Fine, but if you get addicted to it, I'm cutting you off."

Percy smiled at her, gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, and then drank the water eagerly out of his hands.

He sighed and whispered, "That was so go-"

He started choking.

"Percy!" Annabeth cried, and ran to his side. She patted his back and tried to get the water out of him. "I told you! I told you not to drink the water!"

Then Percy fell back laughing, landing with his hair in the small water hole.

"You dirty little skunk, Seaweed Brain!" Annabeth said, frustrated. "I thought you were dying!"

"I'm fine, Annabeth! Really, I'm fine," Percy sat back up, his laughter gone. "I'm sorry I made you so worried."

"Yeah, I would be, too, if I'd just made a daughter of Athena mad who knew where you kept your knife," Annabeth said, then she smiled at Percy's scared expression.

"Okay, I'm sorry, Wise Girl," Percy admitted. "I just need a little more water."

"I'll get it for you," Annabeth said. "You just rest."

As Annabeth crawled carefully over to the small water hole, and she gasped right before she put her hands in.

The water had turned from blue to red.

Percy's head.

NOOOOOOOO, PERCY, WHY?

Thanks for Reading and don't forget to vote on my poll on my profile! I really need your advice!