I'm sorry for not updating. My reasons: I was on vacation, I'm sick now, I'm getting ready to go on another vacation (Tropical Storm Chantal might stop that, though. I wish Poseidon and Zeus would quit fighting), I've become addicted to solitaire, and I just finished the entire Vampire Academy series, which I started on Monday. Vampire Academy has risen to become one of my favorite series ever.

Sorry for typos/OOCness.

Happy Reading!

Chapter 47

Annabeth

Annabeth could feel the darkness seeping into her as she and Percy landed in the House of Hades.

For a few seconds they were tumbling through the air, and it was like déjà vu. How many times had she been put into this situation? Too many for her taste. Fortunately, the fall didn't very long and it hurt like Hades when her back hit the hard ground. All of the wind was knocked out of her body and she struggled to breathe.

Someone was shaking her, and then she realized that her eyes were closed. When she opened them up, her body relaxed. Percy was kneeling over her. "Annabeth?" he asked frantically. "Annabeth, can you hear me?"

"Loud and clear," she answered, rolling onto her side. There was a dim light illuminating the House, and she coughed then spit something onto the ground. She had a feeling it was blood, but she wasn't surprised. Those sisters had one heck of a punch. She looked and saw the staircase, which was broken halfway and had caused them to fall. She bit back a curse.

Percy helped her to her feet. She brushed off the dirt and wondered what she looked like. Not good, obviously. She focused on Percy, who was scrounging around to look for anything they had dropped on the way down. His face was bloody and there was a long cut on his dominant fighting arm. She couldn't tell if it was deep or not.

Her boyfriend caught her gaze and gave her a half smile. "It's just a scratch," he teased. She wasn't buying it.

"It's more than a scratch, Seaweed Brain. How are you going to be able to fight?"

"It'll all be good, Wise Girl. You don't have to worry about me." That just made her want to worry more. She felt only a little better went she saw him pour nectar over the wound. It began to close up and wash away the blood, but as she moved closer, she saw just how bad it really was. He needed stitches, and she wasn't a doctor.

"We need to get a move on," Annabeth said.

"Not until we treat your wounds too," Percy insisted, walking up to her. She was hurt? Where? She couldn't feel anything. He gently pressed down on her shoulders to make her sit down, and then he proceeded to sit in front of her. He tugged off her backpack and then looked inside, searching for something to use.

He had pulled her leg into his lap, so she looked at it noticed the wounds. It looked like Mrs. O'Leary had decided to use it had a chew toy. She remembered the pain she had felt when her ribs and ankle had been broken. She felt none of that now, even though she could see the mangled junk that was her leg.

"It just looks worse than it is," she told Percy. She had been able to stand on it perfectly. And she was right. Percy pulled out gauze and antiseptics. She'd forgotten about packing those. He poured nectar and antiseptic onto her leg. It was the first time that it hurt. It stung so badly that she slammed her fist down on the hard ground, which resulted in her scraping up her knuckles.

"Sorry," he told her, and then wrapped her legs up in gauze. "You sure you're okay?"

She couldn't get over just how cute he looked when he was worried, with his eyebrows all scrunched up together. "Yeah, now let me wrap you up, Percy."

Percy gave small protests but then ended up letting her put gauze on his arm too. He thanked her, but after he did so, something clicked in Annabeth. With a gulp, she looked down at the clothes she was wearing and at the clothes Percy had on.

They were slashed to bits and pretty much hanging off of their bodies. Blood and dirt had stained their clothes and Annabeth was pretty sure that no stain remover would be able to take it away. She was thinner than she had been in a long time, probably from lack of water and food. They were malnourished and weak, fighting to stay alive. If she had a mirror, she'd be terrified to look in it.

Nonetheless she brandished her knife. Annabeth and Percy stood up. "Let's stop Gaea for good," she told him.

"Yeah, I'm kind of sick of her," Percy said.

Annabeth noticed that none of the Danaides had come after them. They had acted like they would stop at nothing to kill them, so maybe they thought that they were goners with Gaea. That didn't exactly settle right with Annabeth.

The cavern they were in was illuminated by Greek Fire torches. Dangerous. But then Annabeth realized that it could help. She snatched one of the torches off of the wall and held in out in front of her. The light did little to help them see, and Annabeth had the strangest feelings as they started to walk further into the House of Hades. Everything about the place screamed evil, from the obsidian rocks to the churning in her stomach.

There was a voice in her head that yelled at her to turn around. The voice told her that there was a good chance she would die.

She remembered Hera's words. Then you will die heroes. If she was going to die, that would be the way to go. Elysium would be nice. She could just imagine herself there with Percy, sitting on the sandy beaches and exchanging kisses as they watched the sunset and ate barbecue and—

Whoa. Why was she thinking that? Dying was not one of her plans. She had to be optimistic. All eight of them would get out of their alive. They would all be fine. But still, the prophecy had said, "For Though the Eight May Stay, There is One too Many for Giant's Decay." That left her thinking that at least one of them wouldn't leave this, and the rest of the prophecy led her to believe it may be Nico.

Yeah, she was just Miss Positive.

Laughter cut off her thoughts. It didn't come from Percy though. It was ancient and old, matching the cavern they were in. Annabeth had no doubt it came from Gaea.

Two little pawns. Excellent.

The two of them stopped at her voice.

You idiot demigods believed that I required two half-bloods, a boy and a girl, to make me rise. How wrong you all were. Two will make me strongest, but just one is enough to bring me out of this cursed grave. Perhaps it will be one of you. No one is safe.

Percy told her some very unkind words that almost managed to make Annabeth smile, even in their situation. "You know what Gaea?" Annabeth asked loudly, her voice echoing in the large, empty space. "Say what you want. You're the one in the dirt, and we're the ones here to make sure you never, ever see daylight again."

Even in this state I am more powerful that you.

"If you insist," Percy said with a snicker.

I control the earth and all that resides on or in it. The plants and roots obey my command. I can start tsunamis and earthquakes. I am everything your precious gods are rolled into one deity. You have no chance at all.

Percy opened his mouth to say more to her, but she nudged him. "Don't give her the satisfaction of talking to us. She just wants to make us mad. Let's just get the job done and get out of here." When she said it like that, it sounded so simple. She wished it was.

Have you ever played chess?

Yes, she had. She was actually really good at it. She thought about the one time that she had tried to teach Percy how to play. He thought the rules were so stupid and couldn't remember any of them. She had crushed him in five clever moves. So when Gaea said chess, Percy groaned and rubbed his face with his hand, but Annabeth's curiosity peaked. Curiosity killed the cat, she remembered.

If you have then you know that the King must not be able to move without being taken for the game to be over. Checkmate. All moves have to be gone. Yet the King almost has no power; it can only move one space at a time.

Percy looked lost and he turned to Annabeth. "Where is she going with this?" Annabeth wish she knew.

Of course, the most powerful piece is the queen. She can move in any direction, no matter how many spaces. And then, there are the pawns. The useless little soldiers that they are. They stand in the first row, and they are the first to fall. They are the sacrifices that any player must make. They just keep moving forward and they never go back, no matter how foolish it may seem.

It was cold in the cavern. Goosebumps appeared on her skin. She shivered, and Percy draped his left arm around her shoulders, trying to rub some warmth back into her skin. She had a feeling it wouldn't help at all. The temperature just kept dropping. Wind began to blow. The ground rumbled and shook them both. Her knife faltered in her hand.

In this game that we are playing, I am the Queen. And you two are merely pawns. All eight of you are. You eight make up the first eight spaces. And one by one I will take you.

The walls started to widen on both sides. They continued to journey through the House of Hades, but Gaea remained silent. Somehow, the silence was worse than her voice, because Annabeth knew that she was up to something. Something very, very bad.

There was a nervousness inside of her that made her body ache even more. This was it. This was the end and this was when they were finally going to face Gaea. They would finally close the Doors of Death, once and for all. No more souls would escape.

But if they closed the Doors of Death, how would they ever be able to leave Tartarus?

She had already been thinking about it, but now that everything was so close to being over… She just didn't know what to do. It wasn't like they could climb out of Tartarus. Maybe the gods would help them somehow. Maybe Hades would be able to. Or Hermes. Annabeth hated Hermes, but maybe if the god could help them, she might hate him a little less.

Percy hand stopped her. "Look."

She'd been looking at the ground, at the Greek Fire, at him, at anything but what was in front of her. And when she did, her heart skipped a beat. The Doors of Death were right in front of her.

She actually hadn't expected them to look like, even after Calypso's small explanation. She looked through the doorway, and the other side of them wasn't the same place. It had to be some place in the mortal world. Annabeth longed to just grab Percy's hand and they just run through, save themselves. But what kind of hero would she be then? She'd be a coward.

The Doors themselves were huge and made of concrete. One of them was on this side, and other was on the mortal side. When they were brought together, the Doors would seal themselves from both sides.

And in the middle of the doorway, ruining it all, was Gaea.

She was standing in the center of a pit. The pit churned with dirt and rocks, and it sort of looked like quicksand, trying to pull the goddess down. Gaea's cloak was made of dirt too, and she wore a veil made of dust. She had a very pale face, and her eyes were opened into the slightest of slivers. In the light of the Greek Fire, she could just make out that her eyes were dark red and speckled with brown.

For a minute, no one did anything.

Until Gaea lashed out at them.

She didn't actually move, but the ground split and roots shot out of it. One hit Percy and sent him flying back through the air. Annabeth wanted to see if he was alright, but she wasn't given the chance. Another thick root snapped at her, and she barely managed to dodge that. Right after one swung over her head, another swept at her feet.

Annabeth was always in motion, dodging and weaving her way through the root. The ground split beneath her and the entire cavern shuddered like it was going to collapse down on them. She wondered briefly if that would stop her. "Percy?" she screamed. "PERCY!" Oh gods, if he was dead…

"ANNABETH!" came a voice, definitely Percy's. She allowed herself to feel better for a second. He was alive.

Though Gaea was still slashing at them, Annabeth noticed that the small, more flexible roots were trying to wrap around her body, most likely to pull her into the pit and make Gaea stronger. The Earth Mother cackled at them, and then entire time she never even moved. She just stood in the dirt.

She tried to bring her knife down on the roots, but that did little. Percy's frustrated yells had to mean that his sword wasn't doing much either. There wasn't any way they were going to be able to close the Doors of Death if Gaea kept this up.

The Greek Fire torch. It was still in her hand.

She couldn't throw it far enough, but if she could get close to Gaea…

Instead of falling backwards, she ran forward, screaming a battle cry. "FOR THE GODS!"

The plant matter still snapped at her, but Gaea seemed confused for a second. Annabeth was fast, and all of the running she'd wanted to do over the past few days just exploded out of her. She sprinted around everything that came at her, and nothing could stop her. The feeling was so amazing that she wanted to skip, but that was just wrong.

"What are you doing?" bellowed Percy, far behind her.

She didn't answer. He'd see soon enough.

Once she was close enough, she threw the Greek Fire and prayed it wouldn't go out. As it spun through the air, Gaea actually turned towards her. Annabeth faltered back a step, but she didn't want to give Gaea the satisfaction of seeing her scared. She wouldn't bow down to anyone.

The Greek Fire landed in the pit and grazed Gaea, but that was enough. The fire spread all over her and her screams of pain filled the entire House of Hades. The roots collapsed back into the ground as Gaea was turned into nothing more than green flames. The shaking stopped.

"Payback sucks, huh?" she asked.

The answer was screams.

Percy was by her side in an instant. He grabbed her hand and they ran towards the Doors, ready to close them.

Something caught her ankle and yanked her skyward, only there wasn't any sky. Just a high stone roof, which was even worse. She'd barely managed to shriek before the thing pulled her again. It was one of the roots. One tied up her legs, and another squeezed her arms to her chest. Her knife fell to the ground. The roots tightened, and she stopped breathing. There was no way she could.

Her world was turned upside down, but she focused on Gaea. The flames were completely gone. She looked fine, like nothing had happened.

There was a smile on her lips.

You're only pawns.

"Gaea, if you were smart, you'd drop them right now."

Annabeth stopped struggling, and the roots loosed just a little bit. She could breathe again. But she did not fall, thankfully. That would've hurt. The voice hadn't been Percy's. She looked at saw that he was in the exact same position. The voice hadn't even come from the House of Hades. It was muffled. It was from the other side.

She focused on the doorway, and watched as Jason, Piper, Leo, Hazel, Frank, and Nico appeared on the other side.

Bad ending, but thanks for reading! Review Challenge: How do you think this story is going to end? I, of course, know, but I would love to hear your thoughts and ideas. And, the best and most far out idea will actually get a sneak peek of one of the upcoming chapters!

Reviews and ideas are loved.

-BBH