Hey! You guys know my story, You and Me Against the World? Yeah… well, you know how each chapter begins with a bit of the song Radioactive by Imagine Dragons? Well, if you watch the music video, Alexandra Daddario (Girl who plays Annabeth in the movies) stars in it! Weird, right? But it's a really good video! It'll make you laugh, but it is epic and a little bit creepy!

Sorry for typos/OOCness! I hope you enjoy!

Happy reading!

Chapter 17

Percy

Keto stood on the ice, showing off her huge braces. Her frizzy hair was wet and matted down. She looked freakishly happy as she waved her arms like she was on an airplane runway, motioning for whatever the army was to surge forward.

Percy and Annabeth did not move. They just watched. There was no army coming after them. But Percy had heard the footsteps… where were they? Had it just been an illusion?

Keto straightened her name badge that said Kate. She pushed up her glasses and coughed. She was bouncing on the balls of her feet like she was excited about something, and Percy could take a pretty good guess as to what that was.

"Oh, is this the daughter of Athena?" Keto said excitedly. "I've been aching to meet her."

"You must be delusional," sneered Annabeth. "There is no army, you idiot. Why don't you just crawl back into the water and do what sea monsters do the best. Nothing."

It was so unlike Annabeth to say things that harsh that Percy even snickered. Keto gaped at them. "Well, that was rude. And to think I was going to give all this important information about Scylla and Charybdis, and how the make loving house pets and-"

"Did you just say Scylla and Charybdis?" choked Percy, raising a finger.

"Well, of course I did," laughed Keto, as if it meant nothing. "I mean what better way to take down two demigods than let creatures who want revenge do it for you?"

"You don't want revenge on Percy?" asked Annabeth.

"No, I'd rather let my little babies do it for me. They'd been dying to see you again, you know?" She shifted her glasses on the bridge of her nose and shook out her hair. She was still wearing the same clothes from the aquarium.

Percy glanced down in the water and gulped. Now that he was paying more attention, he could see that the water underneath the ice was churning restlessly, like the ocean always did. "Are we on the ocean?" Percy decided to ask, slowly taking a step backwards.

"Silly." Keto threw her head back with a laugh. Percy took two tiny steps away from her. "Of course we're on the ocean. Could you imagine having these kinds of beasties in a lake? I sure couldn't." She shivered. "Ugh, the thought of such a thing!"

"What did a lake ever do to you?" asked Percy.

Annabeth kicked him with her good foot. "Now you're just being an idiot."

Keto didn't seem to be catching on that quick. She seemed delighted by the question, even though it was meant to get on her nerves as much as it got on Annabeth's. "Well, it wasn't actually a lake. It was a river. There was this naiad with greenish hair that just wouldn't leave me alone. I don't even know why she was trying to talk to me, because I was way too busy, and I only talk to Nereid's. But this girl was so annoying, you know?"

"I can imagine," Percy groaned.

"But enough about my problems- that is unless you want to hear more- let's get back to yours. My dearies are hungry. They've been waiting."

"I'm sure they have been," Annabeth said. Percy took another step back. Then another. "But please continue with your fascinating stories. They so informational and interesting. I can't believe Disney hasn't made a movie about them yet!"

"I know, that's how I feel. Heracles gets a movie and I don't?"

Percy turned his head and looked into Annabeth's eyes. They looked like miniature hurricanes. "Run," she breathed, and Percy bolted away, still carrying Annabeth.

Keto was still talking to them. "And then, one time, this giant squid- hey! Where're you going?" she called.

"Keep going!" screamed Annabeth in his ear. Percy ran away faster.

"Go on, my babies!" Keto said behind them, her voice loud so they could hear. "Get them and kill them. This should've happened a while ago!" She sounded as angry as she had before they'd started the conversation.

"Remember," she continued. "AIM TO KILL!"

"Why don't you just attack us yourself?" taunted Percy. "You seem pretty weak to me, just like you were in the aquarium. By the way, how is Porky doing? Is he down here in Tartarus with you too?"

Keto screamed in rage. Annabeth locked her fingers around Percy's neck. She was shaking with what many people would think to be fear, but Percy knew Annabeth much better than most people. She was angry that she couldn't fight, and she wanted to.

The house in the distance was getting closer. Percy was sweating from the air temperature, yet he was trying his best not to slip on the ice. If Percy hadn't been running for his and his girlfriend's lives, he might have laughed at how ironic the situation was.

"Percy!" Annabeth said. She unlocked one of her arms and pointed ahead of them. "Look! The ground's changing!"

He squinted his eyes and looked. She was right. He could see the white turn into a light tan tint. There was sand ahead. He ran even faster. His lungs ached for air and sweat poured off of him. Something was stuck in his throat.

"GET THEM!" Keto screamed. "Perseus Jackson! Annabeth Chase! You will never escape, even if you think you have. We are always watching. Gaea is always watching you demigods."

Percy kept running but turned his head around to see behind them. The ice broke, and Scylla's many heads broke through the surface, arching toward Percy and Annabeth. The ice continued to split as the monster kept getting closer.

With a tug in his stomach, Percy summoned a tidal wave to break the ice directly behind him, but not the ice ahead of them. The wave pushed behind them with such force that Percy and Annabeth were thrown through the air.

They flipped once and landed on top of Percy. It wasn't that hard of a landing, but they skidded across the ice, rolling over each other. Every time Annabeth grunted from Percy's weight on her broken bones he cringed.

They stopped once they hit a large rock. Percy hopped up off of Annabeth. There was blood on her clothes. "I'm fine," she said, seeing his expression. Percy helped her up to her one good foot. She leaned against him. "Nice wave, though."

Percy looked back at the destruction he had created. The wave rose twenty feet in the air and broke everything around it. It smothered the monsters back into the ocean. They shrieked, and he could see the heads rolling around.

That's when Percy realized that his fist was clenched. He opened it up. The wave fell down with a giant splash. The ocean was exposed, and most of the ice was gone. Percy could see the cliffs that they had fallen off of.

Something floated to the surface of the ocean, just once.

Annabeth and Percy laughed. It was the Fiat, completely destroyed. The windows were smashed and the front end was smashed up, falling apart. It bobbed and then fell back under the water to where it would never see the sky again. At least the little sea creatures would have a nice home to live in now.

Rising out of the water came Keto. She looked mad.

Percy readied his sword in front of him and pushed Annabeth behind him, against the rock. She tried to protest but didn't get that far.

"Run, demigods," she hissed. Her bubbly voice was gone. "My monsters will not attack you anymore."

"Why? Are they too scared of what we're going to do to them?"

"Not in the slightest." She smiled creepily. "But even I know that there's a bigger chance that you'll die going where you desire rather than die from my babies. So go on, demigods. Try to find someone to help you. I promise, there is no one."

Keto tapped her foot. She was standing on the water, not the ice. She was getting impatient.

"What would make us trust you?" asked Annabeth, tilting her chin up defiantly.

"There's nothing in the world that would make you trust me, but this is true. That," she said pointing at the house in front of them, "Is much more dangerous than monsters. But considering you're desperate, I guess you'll have to go there."

"Why?"

The mother of sea monsters just shook her head. Her body dissolved into water and splashed into the surf. Keto was gone for now, but Percy knew they had bigger things to worry about.

Taking Annabeth's hand, Percy walked away from the ocean. The feeling under his feet was different, and he realized that he was walking on sand now. They were on the shore and off of the ice. Thank the gods for that.

But in front of Percy was the giant, mismatched building. A barbed wire fence wrapped around the building and blocked taking any other path. It stretched as far as Percy could see. The doors were in front of them and the moon was shining over them.

They had no choice but to go inside.

Have you ever just wanted to bang your head against a wall, screaming, "Angst! Angst!" Like Harry from Harry Potter Puppet Pals (Very Funny Videos!)? Yep, that's how I feel right now...

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-BBH