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Sorry for typos and OOCness. I did the best that I could with Calypso, and she is OOC because of all the torture she's been through.

Happy Reading!

Chapter 43

Annabeth

Calypso?!

Annabeth had always suspected that Percy knew Calypso, but she had never been too sure. She had believed that when Percy had gone missing for two weeks, many years ago, it was to Calypso's Island. But neither of them really liked to bring it up because that was always a touchy subject.

Immediately, Annabeth felt a small pang of jealousy that she hated with a passion. She couldn't help it, though. Calypso was beautiful, even in her poor and hurt state. She had caramel colored hair that cascaded down her shoulders. Her eyes were curious and she looked broken. Her Greek dress was dirtied and falling apart, and she was bleeding from the multiple cuts all over her body.

But when she looked at Percy, her eyes shown with something deep and raw.

"Percy?" she asked softly, her voice hoarse from all the screaming. "Is that really you?"

"Yeah, it's me," Percy told her, breathless. She was still gripping his hand as if it were a lifeline, and Annabeth felt like she was intruding on a lover's reunion or something like that. She felt awkward standing in the same room.

Just like they said in the myths, Calypso was beautiful, but she didn't seem as sinister as they portrayed her to be. Annabeth remember reading the Odyssey and the parts about Calypso, and she had always been described as a terrible witch keeping men on her island so that they'd marry her and stay forever.

But that couldn't be the same person. This Calypso, even though in so much pain, showed kindness and softness. When she took a step forward, she moved elegantly, as if she weren't even walking. When she smiled, her entire face changed. Just seeing Percy had done that to her. Had she and Percy… had something?

Okay, that wasn't the important thing. Hera had said that the screaming girl would help them find the way to the Doors of Death. They had found the screaming girl, and now they needed to find the Doors of Death.

Calypso was crying tears of joy. "Oh my, I can't believe it's you. I can't believe that you're here…"

And then her expression changed into fearfulness. She looked like a deer in front of headlights. She let go of Percy's hand and backed away, tripping over her own feet and shaking. The gliding steps were gone. "Perseus… you must get out of here, before he catches you too. He'll be down here in a minute for watch, and if he see's you, they'll kill you."

"Wait, Calypso," Percy protested. "Who is he? Why the heck are you in some prison? Did you do something wrong?" Percy acted like it was crazy to even think that, but Annabeth wasn't so sure. Did Percy really even know her well enough to know what was right and wrong about her? He still needed to be cautious around her. There wasn't anyone that they could trust.

Instead of answering his question, she turned to Annabeth. She studied her face for a minute, and Annabeth stared a terrible slash on her cheek that was still bleeding. Something like recognition flared in her eyes, but that was impossible because Annabeth had never met her in her life. But Calypso asked, "Are you Annabeth Chase?"

She wasn't sure how she was supposed to answer that simple question, because she still didn't trust her.

"Yeah, this is Annabeth," Percy explained to her and put an arm around Annabeth's shoulders.

Calypso gave her a small smile. "I wish we weren't meeting in this type of situation. Percy has told me so much about you, and I can see that you two have grown very close together." That smile became wistful. Perhaps she wished that it were her dating Percy, but all jealousy faded away. Percy had actually told Calypso about her.

"Likewise," Annabeth told her, but she wasn't exactly sure what to say. Calypso nodded at her understandingly. Annabeth turned away from her and looked down the dark hallway. The greenish moonlight did nothing to help them see, and the other monsters paced restlessly in their cages. The Minotaur looked so pitiful in his cell that Annabeth wanted to laugh, but she knew that it wasn't the right time.

Percy glanced back and forth between them like he wanted to explain everything to the both of them, but he never said anything. Instead, his eyes settled on Calypso, who was still in the back of her cell. She was shaking, and then Annabeth realized exactly how cold it was inside. It had to be in the forties.

"Calypso, why are you in this prison?"

She shook her head and refused to meet his stare. He repeated himself, and then she met his stare. "Gaea put all of us in this prison, because we all had affiliations with you."

He took a step back from the cage. "What do you mean?"

Calypso stood to her feet, and Annabeth noticed how malnourished she looked. She was bony and her dress was hanging on her at weird angles. Annabeth wondered how she could still be beautiful, even because of that, but she was. It did seem very out of place that someone like her would be in a torture prison, if that's what they were in. But the myths did contradict how she was acting now. Annabeth didn't know what to believe.

"Gaea started to rise just after the end of the Titan War, right after I was finally released from my prison on Ogygia. And thank you, Percy, for having me released. I ventured around, here and there, trying to become accustomed to the 21st century. One day, I do not know how long ago anymore, I was kidnapped by these monsters that died off millennia ago, which startled me even more than the kidnapping itself. They dragged me down here and stuck me in this torture chamber, and I've been down here ever since."

"I don't understand though," Annabeth said to her, because she was getting to be just as confused as Percy. "Why would you be stuck in a prison for knowing Percy? And why get stuck with all of these other monsters?"

"Hey! We can hear you!" yelled one of the monsters. "We didn't do anything wrong either. You demigods are always so assuming." And she was quickly shushed for being so loud by all of the other monsters.

"The monsters that had kidnapped me had been some that were never supposed to escape Tartarus, but since the Doors of Death were opened, Gaea had commanded them to come and find me, along with various other monsters, such as the ones that are in here with me. Some of them had still be in Tartarus and some had escaped."

Calypso came forward them and looked down the hall, trying to make sure that they were alone. "Gaea knew that those monsters that had already faced you would not be loyal to her. They would only be out to make sure that you ended up dead. As for me… well, since I am a Titan, she believed that my focus would only be to help the Titans rise once more, I suppose. And I had been a friend to you, which wasn't good so she set me in here."

"Then we have to get you out," Percy said immediately. "You've done nothing wrong. You don't deserve to be punished for just knowing me."

A watery smile flashed on Calypso's face before turning into a sad gaze. She wiped a tear off of her face, but it was soon followed by another. "Perseus, when will you ever learn that you can't save everyone?"

Percy was taken aback.

But Annabeth understood was Calypso was saying.

There was no way for them to rescue her, and she knew it for a fact. The bars were pretty much indestructible, and they didn't have a key. Even if the happened to find the key to unlock her cell, how would they be able to even save her when they could barely save themselves? She had to know that they were here for more than just a hello.

It wasn't like Percy, though, to just not try and save a friend. Personal loyalty was his fatal flaw. Percy had even tried to help people he didn't know, or enemies. Calypso, Annabeth guessed, had saved his life after the volcanic eruption he was in a few years ago. "Calypso, I can't just leave you here. You saved my life once, and I have to repay that."

"Percy, what you need to do is look at the bigger picture. I know you aren't in Tartarus for no reason at all. You must be here to try and stop Gaea, and that is the best thing that you can do. If you stop her from rising, you'll save everyone, and then I will be freed."

"Look at yourself, Calypso. You're covered in blood and hurt. Gaea's army has done that to you and they'll do worse. I know you can't die, but sometimes, there are things that are worse than death. We're going to get you out of here, I promise."

"Then that's a promise you won't be able to keep," she sighed, and she turned her back to them and sat down in the corner.

"Why were you screaming 'Let me out', if you knew you weren't going to get out?"

"Why not try?" she answered. "I meant what I said. I haven't done anything wrong, and they should let me out. I want to be out of here. I guess I sometimes hope that they will let me, but only they know how to get me out. You do not. There is nothing you can do to help me."

Annabeth decided to take measures into her own hands, because they weren't here to try and save Calypso. They hadn't even known it was her until only a few minutes ago. They were in Tartarus to seal the Doors of Death, and Hera said that she would be able to help them. They needed her wisdom.

"Calypso, we talked to Hera a few hours ago," Annabeth started off.

"Hera," Calypso spat, for the first time sounding hateful and a bit vengeful. "I've never liked that goddess."

Join the club, Annabeth thought. "She told us to follow the screaming, and that it would lead us closer towards the Doors of Death. We're down here because we need to close them, permanently. And you supposedly know where they are."

"It's a suicide mission," she said automatically, her voice depressed.

"What do you mean by that?"

"While they were dragging me down here, I did manage to escape once." She looked at them over her shoulder and through her hair. "I ran and ran, but I had no idea where I was going, because I've never been to Tartarus before. So, I guess I was lost, and I saw this building I decided I would hide in there from the monsters."

"What building was it? This one?" Annabeth questioned.

She didn't answer but continued on with her story. "I got lost inside of the building too, and then the Doors of Death were in front of me. They were clear, so I could see through them, but they showed a different image than the room I was in. I suppose that's the mortal side of them. But before I could even touch the Doors, there was this strange patch of earth blocking my way."

Annabeth and Percy gulped at the same time, and their hands found each other. Annabeth had a pretty good idea to what she was going to say next, and she was right.

"Gaea was rising, right in front of the Doors. I guess it was there because once she has risen, she wants to be out of Tartarus as quickly as possible. If her army has risen and is already in the mortal world, then the closest she can be right now and still have control over them is at the Doors of Death. If you want to close them, then you have to take her on first."

Percy said, "Calypso, where are the Doors of Death?"

Before she could answer, heavy footsteps sounded above them. There was shouting and a man's voice. The sound of a whip went off again, and Annabeth heard whimpering, but she couldn't make out the words that were said. The footsteps sounded again, walking down the hallway above them, and went on to the next monster.

From where she was standing, Annabeth could see Calypso's eyes dilate. "Oh no," she whispered. "He's coming back." Then she fully faced them and shot forward, gripping the bars. Her face looked gaunt. "Quickly. You must get out of here. Leave this place and don't even think about coming back, especially for me. If he catches you two you'll end up dead or in the hands of Gaea."

"Who is he?" Annabeth asked, steadying her knife in her hand.

"Orcus," Calypso answered, with a shudder.

"Who?"

Annabeth began to explain to him as quickly as she could. "Orcus was a god of the Underworld and punisher of people who broke oaths. He's a Roman god and a lot like Pluto or Hades."

"Yes," Calypso agreed. "And you must get out of here before he spots you. He won't follow you, but he has contacts that will follow you to the end. If he sends Mania and Mantus after you, then you both won't stand a chance. Please. Leave now before he spots you."

Annabeth had heard the names Mania and Mantus before, but she couldn't exactly remember who they were. They were Roman, but she didn't know what they were. But by the look on the Titan's face, Annabeth knew that they did not want to run into either of them. There was pure fear all over her, like they were the personifications of horror themselves.

"We have to know where the Doors of Death are," Percy insisted.

Then, the stairs started to creak, which could only mean that Orcus was coming downstairs to check up on the prisoners. "Hide," Calypso whispered, but there was nowhere for them to hide. All of the cells were blocked off and the hallway was rid of furniture.

"Not until you tell us where the Doors of Death are," Annabeth said. "We have to know."

The monsters all around them were shying away into the depths of their cells, pressing themselves into the corners like they were trying to melt into the walls. Calypso took a few steps back and started speaking quickly, but so quietly that Annabeth could barely hear a word she was saying.

"The Doors of Death are inside of the House of Hades," she told them. "They're in the basement of the House. It is not too far from here."

"But the House of Hades is in Epirus, Greece, and that's up there and not down here," Percy protested. He looked at Annabeth, as if wondering if she was keeping a secret from him, but she felt just as confused as he looked. Percy had told her everything that Nico had said, and he had said the House was in Epirus. "Nico told us that a while ago. The House of Hades has the mortal doors of death, but we need the ones located in Tartarus."

"Then this Nico must be wrong," Calypso told them. "The Doors of Death are in the House of Hades, and the House has always been in Tartarus. It's never been anywhere else. But… it does go by a different name, I think." And then, Calypso got this look on her face like she was thinking but couldn't remember.

The footsteps of Orcus were getting closer. One of the monsters started crying when the sound of the whip against the wall went off. The stench of blood rolled down the hallway and the moons glow made the place look very scary. Annabeth thought about all of the movies that took place in the exact same situation, and the protagonists usually ended up dead. In this case, she and Percy were those protagonists.

Calypso snapped her fingers in remembrance. "The House of Hades is also called Where the Lost are Revealed."

BAM! Do you know how long I've been planning that little reveal right there? Well, a very long time. And I know it was all talking in this chapter, but I promise that the next Percy chapter will have some fighting in it.

Review Challenge: I really love you guys a lot, so I decided that I would make a bonus one-shot for you guys. What I want you all to do is choose your favorite Percy/Annabeth chapter, and I'm going to write it from the opposite person's POV (If it is Percy chapter, it'll be in Annabeth's POV, and vice versa). So your challenge is to choose your favorite Percy/Annabeth chapter and tell me which one it is in the reviews. The most popular one will be chosen, so review with your choice and it may just be chosen.

Reviews and ideas are still loved. There are only a few more chapters, so the reviews really do help out.

-BBH