Annabeth would love it here...
This country seemed to be filled with bright, colorful markets full of music. He could picture her running from stall to stall, oohing and aahing at all the shiny objects for sale, cooing over the baby animals in that stall there, and dancing to the piper there's tunes...
Pity she didn't come with me... She's missing out!
He sighed, walking past another set of stalls selling jewelry items. Light reflected off of gems, precious metals and mirrors.
She would've stayed there for and hour or so, purchasing the whole stalls had she been able. He chuckled, remembering how long it'd taken him to find the necklace he'd given her.
How did that song she sang go...?
The one about December...?
Dancing bears, painted wings, things I almost remember...?
Something like that?
Movement caught his eye.
That stall-owner...
That was one big knife!
"Don't move..." the man growled.
"Nice try..." he smirked. He took off.
Several stall-owners gave chase.
Recalling what Annabeth had said, he desperately hoped none of these guys could do that Ninja Centerfold, whatever that was!
More in front of him! Crap!
Skidding, he turned, darting around people and through stalls. "Look out!... Comin' through! Make way! 'Scuse me...!" he cried, pushing and squeezing through people.
As he shoved his way into a building, he found that it was mostly empty. Taking that to his advantage, he put on an extra burst of speed. Spotting a spiral stair-case, he ran up it.
"He went in here! Search the place!" he heard someone yell.
Dammit!
Now what?!
He kept running up the stairs, hoping they'd give up... "Oof!"
What the heck...? What kind of stairs spiraled up into a wall?!
Spotting a small chink in the wall, he figured it out...
"Nice..." he sighed, opening up a tiny door. He could just barely fit in the small tunnel behind it... But those people chasing him wouldn't! Not with those huge bulky muscles! Ducking down, he began to crawl through the tiny tunnel. "Dammit, Annabeth and everyone else would be making small jokes by now..." he growled, swiping away more cobwebs as spiders fled before him.
"Gah!"
The floor had given out beneath him! He was falling!
"Arrrrrgh!" he yelled, flailing.
"Oof!"
"S-sorry!" he gasped, climbing off the filthy boy and running again. He must've fell down some chimney flue or something...!
"Hey!"
He paused for a second to look back. Crap! That sweeps-boy was with them?! Had to be, with that huge scimitar and the way he was chasing after him! He started to bound, hardly breathing, heart in his mouth.
"Annabeth, if... If I live... I'm gonna kill... Kill you!" he gasped, swerving around a tight corner and slipping down a steep slide. Spotting someone ahead of him, he ducked down, slipping between their legs. From the crash behind him, the sweeps-boy had crashed into whoever it was.
"Crrrr-aaaaaap!" he yelled, finding himself face-to-face with three men the size of Major Armstrong... And wielding axes.
Oh well!
He jumped to the wall, pushing himself off and to the next wall... Until he found himself past the men. "Ha-hah!" he laughed.
"Not so fast...!"
"Arrrrrgh!"
What the heck was that?! A flame-thrower of some sort?!
No... It was... What did Annabeth call that picture of hers...?
A stun-gun. That was it...
Panting, exhausted, and now stunned, apparently, he fell over, blacking out.
Before I forget again...
DOMOU ARIGATOU to my friend elysenjazz for greatly helping me with this! I never could've gotten it put together so well without you!