I was a bit shocked. I was still a little tired and I was trying to register everything. I knew the Minotaur was charging at me, but that's pretty much all I could understand. I lunged away from the Minotaurs attack. Percy lunged at the Minotaur from behind, but the Minotaur interpreted the move and swung around. Percy was slammed into the tree behind him. His back cracking at the impact.
"PERCY!", I screamed. The noise his back made was terrible and sickening. I was instantly washed in pain and anger.
It all hit me like a rock. I was in Tartarus, fighting a bull that Percy had killed when we were twelve. There was a war going on above us somewhere, maybe hurting all our friends. The Minotaur was on a rampage. It was furious.
Percy was still trying to recover from the blow as the Minotaur turned to me. It stamped it's hoof and ran full speed toward me. I stepped to the side at the last minute, letting the Minotaur hit the tree i was leaning against for support. That just made it even more mad.
The Minotaur was stuck, so I took this chance to run over to Percy. I tried to help him up, but he scrunched his face up in pain. I heard the Minotaur bellow from behind me. I hurriedly took off my backpack and dug through it. I grabbed the ambrosia and handed a piece to Percy. As he took it, the ground shook. I turned back around to see the Minotaur pull his head from the tree.
I stood up, ready for the Minotaur. Right as he approached, he changed direction. He charged at Percy. My head started spinning. I went to jump on the Minotaur, but Percy rolled out of the way, groaning in pain. For a minute I was so worried about Percy that I lost focus. I returned to reality as my head hit the ground.
The Minotaur was on top of me. His hot breath blowing on my face. He had me pinned down and I couldn't move. I looked over at Percy and saw him getting up. Riptide forming in his hands. His eyes locked with mine. Green on grey, as we silently came to a quick agreement.
Just as the Minotaur pulled back for the kill, he disintegrated. Yellow powder covered my entire body. Percy stood with his sword pointed down above me, covered in monster powder. He reached down and held out his hand. I happily took it, stood up. Shaking all the powder off of me. The wind picked up and blew the powder into the forest. I knew it wouldn't stay like that for long. We were already in Tartarus. The place where all monsters went when they got killed.
Percy wrapped his arms around me into a tight hug. I could tell he was still in pain, because he tensed up the slightest bit. I hugged him back, careful not to hurt him anymore. He pulled back and kissed my temple.
"Let's get out of this forest before another monster comes", Percy said, letting his arms fall from my waist. He reached over and slipped his hand into mine. Lacing our fingers together. I was so happy he was still with me. We started to walk, but as we walked the forest got deeper and deeper. Instead of getting out, we just got ourselves lost even more in the dark forest.
As we walked, I thought about the good and bad things of being in Tartarus. I was with Percy. After all the time spent away from him, I was glad he was back. I missed the feeling of his arms around me, his lips on mine, and his hand laced through mine. Down here in Tartarus, I'll be spending time with him. No matter what happens, atleast Percy is with me.
I could test my skills, and see how good I really am. All those years training at Camp Half-Blood were leading me to this. I had trained my whole life for fighting monsters. Now I'll see if I'm actually good. The bad part is, if I'm not good, I die. I mean, Nico came out alive, but he barely did. I wasn't so sure that Percy and I would be that lucky. So far, we didn't have any luck.
Even though I was with Percy, it still wasn't as happy as normal. I'm normally happy to see him, but now, it just reminds me that it's my fault we're both down here. Percy acts like it's fine and we can handle this, but i'm not sure we can. I can see that he's upset and trying to keep it together just for me, and I don't want him to. He always tries to help me, and I want to help him back, but he won't let me. He'll say I need it more than he does, but I can tell he's in pain.
I was snapped back in to reality when Percy shook my arm. "Annabeth. There's a lake!" Percy told me. Sure enough, there was a sparkly blue lake with a bridge going across it. It was beautiful, except for the other side. It was a grave yard, and I swear I saw something moving. Being in Tartarus, I wouldn't doubt it any. If we killed it, it would just come right back.
I saw something dark deep in the water, but it was gone as soon as it was there. Percy didn't notice it. He seemed to be looking at something across the lake, and he looked worried. I followed his gaze, and gasped when I saw what he was looking at.
There was a young woman standing in the middle of the bridge. She wore a knee-high dress that was blue like the lake. It was shimmering, and it looked like it was moving. As if it had been made straight from the lake. Her hair was black and went past her shoulders. It was in a braid down her back.
"Hi", she said while waving. "My name is Arethusa. I am a naiad, and I believe that you are lost".
We just stared at her until Percy finally said, "How do you know we are lost?" Arethusa just smiled and shook her head, slighty. "You to are to innocent to be monsters. I know you don't belong down here in Tartarus. I highly doubt you want to cross the bridge. Many dangers lurk in that cemetary".
"If only monsters are in Tartarus, then why are you here?", I asked her. She laughed while looking at me expectantly, as if I should know why.
"You see, my dear, this is my bridge. I only let the ones I believe can survive, pass.", Arethusa replied. I wasn't sure if she would let us pass. She was looking at us as if she was analyzing if we could fight. I sorta hoped we couldn't pass, but I also believed we need to so we could find the Doors Of Death.
"You may pass, but beware, those creatures will stop at nothing to attack you. They will only attack if you stop walking. My warning is, do not stop moving. Always go forward, and you will be safe. I believe you are good enough to follow my directions and heed my warning. No harm shall come your way.", Arethusa reassured us.
I was scared, but I wasn't going to show it. Percy and I started across the bridge. We thanked Arethusa and entered the grave yard. Percy grabbed my hand reassuringly, and smiled. I smiled back as we trudged ahead. Out of the corner of my eye, I kept seeing shadows shifting and moving around. I was scared to look back so I just looked at Percy or the ground.
After about an hour of walking, we finally exited the cemetary. I was so glad! I was tired and nervous. We walked for about 30 more minutes, until we stopped for rest. We were near an open meadow. We layed in the grass. My head on Percy's shoulder with his arm around my waist pulling me close to him.
"How much more do we have to suffer?", I asked Percy. He moved his head to look at me.
Let's just enjoy the peace while we can. Then we'll figure evrything out." He said back as he leaned in. I leaned in to and soon our lips were touching. He pulled me closer as we kissed, and I smiled against his lips. He pulled away and smiled, putting our foreheads together.
I yawned, and Percy knew I was tired. He told me to go to sleep and he'd have first watch. After some arguing, we agreed that we would both sleep and just relax for a moment. Taking in the fact that it's probably the only peace we will ever get in Tartarus.
I layed my head on his shoulder, and Percy layed his head on mine. Right as my head it his shoulder, I was surrounded by blackness. For once, I wasn't attacked by nightmares, instead I had a peaceful sleep, wrapped in Percy's arms.
I haven't updated in a while! This chapter is my longest yet. I hope everyone enjoys. I just got done with school and exams and my birthday is in like a week and a half! I can't wait... I asked for Percy Jackson books, well, the ones I don't already own, anyways. Well, I hope you like the chapter. Please review! Ideas and thooughts would be great! R&R!