Hey, everyone!

So, I want you to know that this chapter is kind of a filler...!

Enjoy!

Chapter 13

Annabeth

"Percy!" Annabeth dipped her hand in the water. "Percy, your head! Is it still bleeding?"

"Hm?" Percy asked, looking over at her. "I don't think so."

"Check, please!" Annabeth said, and pulled her hand out of the water. It was covered in a mixture of water and blood.

He pressed his hand to the back of his head. He pulled his hand away, looking confused.

He palm was coated in a mixture of water and blood.

Alarmed, he used his other hand to feel around for the open cut. His face relaxed, he laughed slightly, and pulled his hand away.

It was covered in water and blood.

"Annabeth, it's okay," Percy sighed. "It's just the dried blood from before coming off when it got wet."

"Oh," Annabeth looked back down at her hand. "Well, we should re-dig a water source, because this one is filled with your-"

She cut herself off when she saw the hole. All the blood had been removed from it, almost like it was sucked up by a giant vacuum, and all that was left was the blue water.

"What?" Percy asked, crawling over to her. He too looked in the hole. "That's amazing," he whispered.

He scooped up some more in his hands and drank eagerly.

From this close up, Annabeth could truly smell the sweat and see the fatigue covering his body and taking over his muscles.

"Percy, we should rest," Annabeth coaxed, running a hand over his back and shoveled more water out of the hole.

"I feel…rejuvenated…" Percy whispered through gulps. "I don't…need to…rest anymore."

"But I do," Annabeth whispered, rubbing his back. "Please?"

Percy backed away from the water. He looked at her and nodded. "Okay. But, do me a favor."

She looked at him.

"Drink some water. You need to replenish what you've lost from being out in the desert sun so long."

Annabeth was reluctant at first, but she slowly dipped her cupped hands in the water, scooped out as much as she could, and pulled her hands out.

Just the simple feeling of the cool water running over the top of her hands and trickling down the back of her hands made her want to drink as she brought the water up to her lips.

She swallowed her handful in three big gulps and realized how much stronger it made her feel.

She took another handful of water and swallowed that down. She felt stronger, and rejuvenated, just like Percy claimed he did.

But she knew sleep was still important. She knew she still had to rest. She could drop down from exhaustion from more than just heat.

"Percy, my ankle hurts," Annabeth lied. "I don't think I can move without some rest first."

"Oh," Percy leaned over and looked at it. "Okay, I guess."

She felt bad manipulating him like that, but if it was the only way to get him to sleep than it must be done.

She lay down on the damp dirt and Percy laid beside her, close enough so they were touching.

"When we wake up, we drink a little more water and start moving again," Annabeth told him.

"Absolutely," Percy replied. "Sleep well, Annabeth."

Annabeth closed her eyes and fell asleep to the knowledge that they were together, and that Percy wasn't bleeding, and that everything was going to be okay.

For now.

Annabeth woke up first.

She was having trouble breathing; her throat was so sore, and her lips were so dry.

She crawled around Percy and over to the water hole. She drank for a little while and instantly felt better.

She sat and waited for Percy to wake up.

Annabeth opened her eyes to see Percy in front of her.

"Hey, Annabeth," he smiled at her. "Ready to get moving?"

She nodded. "When did I fall asleep?"

"My question is when did you move?"

"I woke up really thirsty and I got some water and sat up to wait for you. I guess I fell asleep."

"Yeah, you were awake when I found you," Percy admitted.

He helped her use the hand and foot holds she'd created and they successfully crawled out of the hole and onto the spongy desert ground.

Under the horrible desert heat.

Percy carried Annabeth for a little while as he had before, with Annabeth riding on his back.

Annabeth felt like there was no time for them to dig another hole and find more water, but she was starting to get kind of thirsty, and Percy was starting to sweat once again.

Hours past. Annabeth was basically asleep from heat exhaustion, the soaked, sweaty fabric of Percy's shirt seemed to comfortable to her as she rested her head on his shoulder blade and started to close her eyes when Percy shouted, "Annabeth, look!"

Annabeth picked her head up and looked over Percy's shoulder and saw a forest in front of them. It seemed lush, green, and great protection from this harmful, harm sun.

Percy started running. "The sooner we get out of here, the better we'll feel, I promise," Percy replied to Annabeth's protest about him straining his body and wasting his energy.

The forest was approaching quickly, and Annabeth felt excited and apprehensive at the same time. She didn't know what would lie in the forest, and if the leaves were dangerous or the sap poisonous or if the trees could sap their life energy or something bizarre like that.

This was Tartarus after all.

Annabeth couldn't see anything more bizarre than that.

When Percy broke through the trees, the rainfall was like sweat relief pushing through her dirty, sweaty blonde hair and soothing her sun burned neck.

She sighed in delight and Percy dropped down on one knee. She climbed off her back gently and he helped her walk along the damp soil of the rain forest as if Percy was a crutch.

"I need to find you a crutch," Percy said as they hobbled along together.

"Or a walking stick," Annabeth joked.

Percy smiled and laughed slightly.

The rain started to thin out until it had stopped all together, and Annabeth's thighs felt like they couldn't work anymore.

"I feel like I've been walking for miles, or hours," Percy sighed.

"Me too," Annabeth nodded and they sat down by a couple of trees on the soft, soaked soil.

"This place follows a different time zone than we do," Annabeth reflected.

"No, really? Seeing how it's never night, or even day, really, I couldn't say I've noticed that," Percy joked, staring through the thick palm leaves above them.

"Shut up, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth sighed. "And they don't follow our rules with weather and climate or terrain change. You wouldn't find a rain forest with actual cool rain in the middle of a scorching hot desert!"

"What if we're finding a scorching hot desert in the middle of a cool rain forest with real rain?"

"Percy!" Annabeth shoved him playfully beside her and he laughed a little bit.

He smiled at her, and his eyes softened. "Annabeth, I'm going to get you out of here alive and safely, you know that, right?"

Annabeth nodded. "I know you'll try."

"And now you know I'll succeed," Percy whispered. "No matter the cost."

"There is one cost I won't stand," Annabeth looked at him seriously. "Leaving you behind."

Percy was silent. "We'll cross the bridge when we come to it."

Annabeth looked up at the sky through the leaves of the various trees, and sighed. The sky was still that neutral shade of gray.

"Goodnight, Percy," Annabeth whispered as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"Goodnight," Percy replied quietly as Annabeth closed her eyes and fell asleep.

I know, I know, I get that your disappointed in me! I'm sorry! But didn't I tell you it was just a filler? I just needed to get them to the forest so stuff could start happening!

The real action is on the ship now, anyway! So, I hope you enjoy the NEXT chapter I put out, and I hope you think the next Annabeth chapter I put out will be worth having this filler to get there!

Thanks for Reading, and please please please please PLEASE check out my new(ish) Hunger Games story, Bloody Water!