*ANNABETH*
Annabeth never cursed, but now seemed like a good a time as any to start. She was tied to the hairy enemy of her mother, with no where to go, no way to see, and no weapon in reach. She took a breath about to let out a string of curse words that would make even Ares cringe, but Percy beat her to it. "Where the hell are you taking us?" He said angrily, as he began to squirm under the restraints, "What the f-" He began, Annabeth jumped in before he could finish that statement, "Arachne!" She yelled, "where are you taking us, where are we?" The prickly mass under her shifted and a hissing answer was delivered from the blackness. "I am right here, no need to yell you ungrateful brat! I'm taking you to my mistress, the savior of this world, Gaea." Percy feigned surprise, "Seriously! I had no clue she was after us!" "Well of course child! Who did you- wait was that sarcasm?" Arachne's voice took on a questionable tone, Percy sighed, "Figure it out." Annabeth sighed, how on earth, through this whole endeavor can he have the heart to joke, she thought to herself even though she appreciated his attempts at lifting the mood. Her mind was whirling in circles as she tried to fit the puzzle pieces together and deduce where they were headed. She wasn't sure if Gaea would want to bring them all the way to the Doors of Death, or try and take them in the opposite direction. She prayed that both they and Gaea had a common goal of reaching the doors, traveling on a spider that knows her way is faster than trying to feel your way through the daunting darkness. She tried to shove against the ropes that bonded her, and reach out to Percy, he was her only comfort, her only solace. The ropes, or webs she assumed were too tightly woven. She went limp and tried to control her shaking frame, the stress and fear were beginning to fray her nerves even further. Annabeth prided herself on keeping her head in dangerous situations, but this was beyond her capacity of calm, her breathing became ragged and panicked. "Annabeth calm down, your save wit meh." His voice began to slur like before as her breathing became more more rapid. "Anbet, SPOT!" She heard a muted thud as his head landed on the spider's back. She tried to slow her breathing but the longer he was unconscious the more she felt short of breath. Annabeth didn't know what was happening, she could literally feel her strength being sapped from her body, like a magnet was draining the blood from her veins. Right before she passed out, Arachne whispered a throaty chuckle and said, "Well, well, well, if you keep up like this Gaea will have to find two new sacrifices; you'll kill each other before she can get to you." Annabeth blacked out.
*PERCY*
Percy blinked and tried to lift his heavy eyelids, Arachne was moving faster now, the stagnant air was now whipping past his ears and ruffling his hair. He nudged Annabeth with his foot and was answered with a weak grunt. "You okay Annabeth?" He whispered, "Good as I'll ever get, I think I just passed out for a second." She said, uncertainty coloring her voice. Percy assumed he had just dozed off, actually he couldn't remember what happened at all. He scowled into the darkness, frustrated with his own memory. "You children are doomed to die, but I must deliver you safety to please the goddess, we are almost there, prepare." Arachne's voice rung in the darkness around them, he pressed against his restraints and made a grab for Annabeth, his hand grazed her side and she leaned into his touch. He knew that wherever they were going, it wasn't going to be a piece of cake. Percy dreaded meeting Gaea but as he learned when battling Luke, fate had a habit of getting its way, no matter what. Under his finger tips he felt Annabeth gasp, under his body he felt Arachne stop, under his eyelids he felt his mind go blank, as he was blinded by the light.
*ANNABETH*
Percy had managed to soothe her frayed nerves, until she was blinded. The light was so bright, it was from a fire, that much she could tell. She squished her eyes tight until the spots had erased themselves from her vision. Before her stood a gaping pit of fire that boiled and spit sparks up into the cavern. Annabeth gasped and turned to Percy; he was gaping with his mouth hanging, at their surroundings. They seemed to be in an enormous cavern, at least the width of five football fields, and the length of seven. Smack in the middle was a deep pit, filled with boiling magma; bubbles made their way to the surface and popped, sending bright orange raindrops into air. Off on the left side of the cavern were crowds of shapes, Annabeth couldn't tell what there were, only that the were shrouded figures that seemed to melt into the shadows when they moved. On the right side there was a sparkling black temple; it reflected the fiery pit like an evil mirror and warped the image into an intimidating light show. As Arachne moved towards the dark temple, the shadow-shapes began to hiss and whisper, they buzzed like the summer cicadas down in Virginia. Their voices combined were deafening and gave her chills; like nails on a chalkboard. Arachne hissed back at them, the shadows gave her a wide berth as she made her way up the obsidian steps. Just when Annabeth thought she was going to lose it again Percy coughed, "Hey Annabeth, how about those columns... there architecturally um- good, huh?" He tried to hide his fear with the goal of distracting her from her own. She gave him the best smile she could manage and examined the columns for his benefit. As her eyes roamed over the intricate arches supporting the ceiling, it dawned on her. Annabeth knew then with an unwavering certainty that whether they died or if the the world was destroyed by their blood; she was lucky to have met Percy and loved him as long as she had. There was no other being in the world that she would wish to have by her side when she faced Gaia, not even a god.