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Chapter Text

Chapter 1: Percy

Percy paced up and down the deck of the Argo II, in a few minutes he would be reunited with Annabeth and they would be on their way to Athens. If everything went well that is, if Annabeth was even still alive- he quickly shook the thought out of his head. No, he trusted Annabeth enough to know she would survive any challenges she faced down there.

But still, he was nervous, was Arachne still alive? Were she and Annabeth still facing it off underground?

There was only one way to find out.

“Leo!” He shouted “do you know how we get to her?”

Leo popped out from elsewhere on the ship, “it should be just under that parking lot,” he replied.

Percy grinned, “Great, then gather everyone on deck and let’s blow some stuff up!”

“You got it, Coach!” The satyr that had become known as ‘Coach’ aboard the Argo II appeared, munching on a tin can. 

“Did I hear someone say ‘blow some stuff up’?” Coach grinned like a wild goat, “I thought you’d never ask.”

A minute later, the 6 demigods, Nico and Hedge were gathered next to the rope ladder they would use to get off the ship. Although Hedge left almost immediately to ‘prepare the ballistae’.

Percy turned to face the group, “is everyone ready?”

Nico interrupted, his eyes darting around, Percy had never seen him look more worried “It’s not enough to close the doors on just the mortal side,” he grimaced, “Someone has to close them in- on the other side.”

“Tartarus, the deepest part of the underworld, right?” Percy guessed, a sinking feeling in his stomach.

“Right. And not even the gods go there,” Nico added.

“So let me guess, we’ll have to go there?” Leo said, and Percy observed a flicker of fear in his eyes.

Nico shook his head, “Impossible, I- I almost went insane.”

“No offence dude but-“ Leo quickly stopped whatever he was going to say when Hazel glared at him and gulped.

“We’ll figure out that problem later- right now our main priority is Annabeth, who is right under that  parking lot,” Percy butted in, changing the subject.

Almost on cue, an explosion shook the earth beneath the ship and they all looked up to see Coach Hedge waving his bat around screaming ‘Die, cars! Metal beasts!’ at the parking lot as the floor caved in.

Not wanting to waste any more time, Percy threw the rope ladder over the edge of the Argo II and began clambering down. “Come on guys, we haven’t got all day!” And the rest quickly scrambled after him, except Jason who floated down with Piper at his side, ‘ show off ’ Percy muttered.

“What was that Jackson?” Jason teased.

“Shut up Grace!”

Reaching the end of the ladder, Percy jumped the remaining length and stumbled as he landed, almost face planting onto the ground.

He scanned the cavern for her and when he saw her his vision tunnelled, Annabeth was standing a few feet away, covered in dirt and grime but Arachne was nowhere in sight. He smiled and sprinted towards her.

“I missed you Wise Girl,” he said into her shoulder, not wanting to let go, they had been separated too many times this year.

“I missed you too Seaweed Brain,” and then she broke down into sobs buried in his shoulder now. He comforted her, “it’s ok. We’re together.” The first bit was directed at Annabeth but he also felt like he has said it as a reassurance for himself as well.

Soon, Piper was also by their side, “Annabeth, what happened to your leg?” Percy couldn’t see her expression from his position but she sounded worried. He took a step back and looked Annabeth up and down: her leg was wrapped in a bubble wrap cast but there was something else as well, something… shiny. He wrote it off as a trick of the light and instead listened to her story.

Every so often, as she was talking, he would squeeze her hand, sending waves of reassurance and love. When she told them how she had outsmarted Arachne, he smiled and said “A plan worthy of Athena.” Causing Annabeth to scowl, Athena was the reason she had to do this, Percy remembered.

“What about you guys?” she asked “what happened with the giants?”

Percy explained the fight against the twins and Bacchus, what Nico knew about the Doors and about the ‘Tartarus problem’ as they had now labelled it.

But before they could discuss anything else, the Athena Parthenos tilted to one side.

“Secure it!” Annabeth shouted but Percy had the feeling something was about to go terribly wrong, he just didn’t know what.

Everything after that happened after that happened so fast that Percy was glad he had ADHD otherwise he wouldn’t have been able to keep up with everything going on.

Frank turned into an eagle and carried Leo back up to the helm of the ship, Jason summoned the wind and shot up into the air with Piper, “see you guys in a sec” Jason told them, and then they were gone.

Hazel grabbed both Nico and Annabeth by the arms as neither of them were in condition to sprint away. The four of them were almost at the ladder when Annabeth suddenly fell to the floor and began to slide towards a big hole in the floor , he hadn’t seen that before. 

He looked around wildly, what was going on? “Annabeth!” He yelled, fear filled his voice, panic coursed through his body.

“Her ankle!” Hazel shouted from the bottom of the ladder. “Cut it! Cut it!” The panic in her voice was evident. Percy looked around, panicked, cut what? He didn’t understand, but then he saw the same glinting shine from before and he realised.

Something, was pulling her into the hole. But it wasn’t just any hole. It was Tartarus.

He acted quickly and without thinking lunged toward Annabeth, uncapping Riptide mid air, and cut off the shiny thread pulling her towards the hole, but Percy’s momentum didn’t stop, and neither did he.

He hit the ground on the edge of the pit with a sickening crack in his arm and just… rolled off. But as he fell, he caught onto a jagged ledge that jutted out from the sides.

Panting and groaning from the pain in his arm, he looked up and saw Annabeth a few feet above him screaming his name.

“Percy! Oh gods- Percy!” Her screams echoed through the cavern and Nico stumbled to join her at the edge of the hole.

Percy looked down and what he saw, or didn’t see, made him want to throw up. There was pure darkness below him. He was hanging on the edge of a cliff. Falling meant certain death, but there was no way that Percy would be able to pull himself up.

“Percy!” Nico cried out.

Percy felt Tartarus calling out to him, sucking him in with an invisible force. He wouldn’t be able to hold on much longer. With all the strength he could muster he managed to give instructions: “The other side, Nico! I’ll meet you guys there! Understand?” He was surprised that his voice came out so confidently, he definitely didn't feel confident or strong at the minute.

Nico’s eyes widened, “But-“

“Nico, swear to me! Promise me!”

“I- I will” Percy could hear the tremble in his voice.

“Annabeth- I-“ he choked back a sob. “I promise I’ll come back to you.” His fingers were slipping, he didn’t have long.

Annabeth wailed in despair.

“Annabeth, never forget that I love you! I love you and I always will! You’re my wise girl..” He whispered the last part, but was certain that she had heard. His broken arm gave out and he let go with that arm, hugging it to his chest.

“I love you!” If he never saw her again, he wanted those words to be his last to her.

Annabeth choked back a sob, “I love you too.” 

His fingers were slipping, he hadn’t endured this much strain on his arms since he held the sky at fourteen.

He tried to reach out with his bad arm and a sharp, stabbing pain coursed through his arm. He yelled out in agony and his fingers slipped further.

There was no way to pull himself up. One way or another, he was going to fall.

So he let go.

Chapter Text

Chapter 2: Percy

Falling. Falling. Falling.

It felt like he has been falling for eternity, he had kept his eyes open to keep Annabeth in sight for as long as possible but now everything was just black. He squeezed his eyes shut and hugged his legs and arms into his body. He felt exposed and vulnerable, he had no idea what Tartarus was like or what sort of nasty things he would find.

Falling. Falling. Falling.

He had lost the feeling in his arms and legs, how long was this going to take?

Falling. Falling. Falling.

Everything was pitch black. His limbs ached and he tried to stretch them out. His foot hit something sharp and began to bleed, at least he thinks it did.

Falling. Falling. Falling.

How long had he been falling? Days? Hours? Minutes? He couldn’t tell, time was.. different. Strange.

Falling. Falling. Falling.

Would he even survive the landing? He tried to feel for water… nothing.

Falling. Falling. Falling.

The walls suddenly open out into a large, Hades, bigger than large, cavern? Is that the right word? It looked endless. The sky was blood red with massive dark red clouds floating across it.

Falling…

He shifted his body to face downwards and searched for water, Percy didn’t feel like going splat today, or any day for that matter.

There.

Water, he could feel it. Except it wasn’t water. It was thick, harder to control than normal water, Hades, was it even water?

An Underworld river, he realised. He hadn’t known that they went through Tartarus too.

He had controlled the Lethe before, so this one couldn’t be any different. It was just liquid after all, liquid was his specialty.

Then he paused, he remembered the look on his cousins’ faces when he controlled the Lethe. The realisation of the sheer power that Percy has. He may not like to talk about it, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t know it’s there.

But then he heard himself, “ I promise I’ll come back to you!” He had promised, he couldn’t die, not now.

So he flung out his good arm, and searched for the water.

There.

He concentrated, focused on the flow of the water and pulling it out of the river banks.

He was plummeting fast, he needed to pull harder.

He unleashed a guttural scream as he forced the river underneath him. He landed in it and he instantly noticed the freezing temperature, the cold crept through his veins. Why was he here? Was he being punished for all those deaths he’s caused?

Life is despair, voices told him, Everything is pointless, then you die.

“Pointless…” he muttered. He would never see any of his friends again, what was the point of living if this was his life now? He could just stay here and drown, how ironic, the son of Poseidon drowning in his own misery.

“I promise I’ll come back to you.” His promise echoed in his brain. No, he has to do this. For the Argo crew, for Annabeth. The memory of when Annabeth thought he had died, after their Labyrinth quest.

He remembered her tear filled eyes and felt a surge of strength overcome him as he fought his way to the river bank.

The voices whispered in his ears, sending shivers down his spine, telling him to end it all, to get it all over with.

His arms ached, his legs hurt, every breath resulted in a burning throat and coughing up the freezing water.

He thrust his arm forward, kicking his legs out, one final push to reach the bank. He willed the water to move out of the way, he felt the current relax slightly and he was able to reach out and touch the sand. He heaved himself out and collapsed on the ground, coughing and spluttering.

He lay on the ground, shaking and shivering, choking up the water. He had really thought that he was going to drown. Panic set in as he realised his hellish reality, he was stuck in Tartarus, alone, and no idea how to reach the Doors Of Death alive, let alone close them.

As the convulsions seemed to ease up a little, he noticed the throbbing pain in his arm. Schist, it was broken and he had put even more strain on it . If he wasn’t careful, his arm might never be the same again.

He tried taking deep breaths to calm himself, but as he inhaled his throat closed up and he choked on the air. His throat felt as if it was burning and he had a strong desire to scratch at it until he couldn’t feel it anymore.

Shakily, he got to his feet and held his hands out in front of him- there were small jagged black stones cutting into his palms. The whole floor was made of thedesigned to kill and injure.

But that wasn’t his biggest problem right then, the air was killing him. If he didn’t do something he would die.m, designed to kill.

If he didn’t find food and water soon, he would die. He imagined monsters getting a takeaway from some Monster McDonalds restaurant in Tartarus before leaving to kill some unfortunate demigods in the mortal world.

He almost laughed. Almost.

Maybe he would get lucky, stumble across some burgers and fries lying around. But he wouldn’t get anything by just standing there, he had to do something.

So he began to walk. He wasn’t sure where, for all he knew, he could be heading away from the Doors, that would be just his luck. But at least it was something.

His coughing fits were coming more regularly, every step hurt, the black stones cut into his feet through his sneakers, his legs and arms covered in red, painful blisters, the chill still hadn’t left his bones but he looked as if he’d been doused in oil and then left in a sauna overnight. Every breath he inhaled scratched at his throat, burning his lungs. Still, no food in sight.

He leaned against a large boulder to rest for a minute.

“He must be around here somewhere!” A familiar voice hissed. Who was here? Maybe they could help him, if monsters were looking for them then maybe, just maybe, they might be a good guy. But no, he couldn’t get his hopes up, no one could be trusted down here. And where did he recognise that voice?

He slid further behind the boulder to hide himself, demigod scent probably wasn’t the same down here. After all, it did smell very strongly of rotten eggs.

“How could sure that the half-blood is down here?” Another female voice asked sceptically.

Percy stood up straighter and the air suddenly felt as if it had been forced out of his lungs. He tried to suppress his coughing but that only made it worse. His blood ran cold the sound erupted from him. Not good, not good at all.

“Who’s there?!” A third voice asked.

“It’s him! It must be!” The familiar voice exclaimed, he had probably killed her before; she sounded angry.

“Oh, shut up Kelli!” Percy froze. Kelli, the empousa, the last time they had met Annabeth had stabbed her in the back. Monsters tend to hold grudges longer than most.

“Shut up Serephone, it’s him, I know it!” Kelli half shouted. “The Earth Mother told me he would be around here.”

If Percy was going to kill all of them, he needed to keep the element of surprise. They couldn’t find him, he had to find them.

He pulled Riptide out of his pocket, the bronze glinted in the dim, red light.

With his back against the rock, he shuffled around to the side and could see five empousai out of the corner of his eye. Just his luck, five of them.

He raised his sword and ran out from behind the boulder. He lunged forward and slashed in an upwards arc, effectively ridding the first empousa of her head. He turned to face the remaining four monsters. There was a moment where no one moved and Percy used this to his advantage. He charged forward, stabbing another monster cheerleader in the chest. She burst into gold dust and he swung his sword in a wide arc, cutting off the foot of an empousa about to kick him.

He wiped the sweat from his forehead, and Serephone charged forward, fangs bared, and kicked his wrist. He dropped his sword and she kicked it away. He ducked to the side as she lunged forward. Riptide was only a meter away, he scrambled to get to it but Kelli moved in his way.

She picked up the sword. Percy snarled, “ Don’t touch Riptide.”

She laughed, “Ha! Tell me, Perseus Jackson, when has a monster ever done what you want?”

Percy took a moment to consider, “Bob.”

Serephone hissed, “What kind of a name is Bob? .”

“Bob the Titan, formerly Iapetus.” Percy said and their eyes widened.

Percy thrust his hand out at Kelli to search for water, he felt something vaguely like water. Must just be Underworld river, he told himself. He pulled, and Kelli stumbled forwards, dropping Riptide. He picked it up and slashed Serephone.

“Testing your new tricks on me, are you Jackson?” Kelli taunted.

“What new tricks?” Percy asked, bewildered.

Kelli laughed, “Kill me if you want Percy Jackson, the Earth Mother will just revive me again.

Percy snarled and brought his sword down on her head. She disintegrated into dust. He almost collapsed, the adrenaline of the fight wearing off. He took a few steps, stumbling over his own feet when the large boulder began to grow legs. Hairy legs. Like a spider- a spider, Arachne, he realised. He felt repulsed, he had been leaning on her.

He was too exhausted to fight though, gods, he could barely lift his sword. Every movement was like moving through jelly.

CRASH!

Percy was knocked to the floor when something big fell on top of Arachne.

He rubbed the dust from his eyes and could make out a large being holding a broom in a janitor’s uniform.

“Percy!” The being beamed at him, it was Bob.

“…Iape- Bob?” He croaked.

Chapter Text

Chapter 3: Hazel

Hazel was sat in her room, staring at the wall blankly. She felt awful for letting Percy fall into Tartarus. She should have done something, but instead she had just watched, frozen, helpless as one of her only friends had plummeted into the depths of hell.

There was a soft knock at the door, she didn’t move, didn’t say anything as the door was pushed open and she felt the bed dip beside her.

“Hazel?” Frank asked gently. “We’re about to have breakfast.”

She turned to face him and smiled, “Okay, let’s go then.”

They walked to the dining room. Everyone was gathered there, except Annabeth. She hadn’t left her room since Percy fell.

“Someone should get Annabeth, she needs to eat something.” Jason said.

“I’ll go.” Piper offered.

“No,” Jason said, “She might feel threatened, by your charmspeak, I mean.”

Piper looked upset but hid it quickly, “Okay.”

“I’ll go.” Hazel piped up, shooting hm an apologetic glance to Piper.

Hazel stoop up and walked out of the room, heading to Annabeth’s room.

She knocked on her door, and when she got no answer, she pushed the door open gently.

“Annabeth?” The room was empty.

She walked out and was about to go back to the dining room when she heard a muffled sound.

She followed the sound to Percy’s room, it was Annabeth.

She knocked on the door softly, “Annabeth?”

“Yes?” She replied.

“It’s Hazel, can I come in?”

“Yes.” She walked in, Annabeth was wiping away tears from her face.

“How are you doing?”

“I’m fine.. it’s just.. Percy- I never thought that…”

Hazel shushed her, “He’ll get out.” She told her firmly.

“I’ve been researching,” she said, “On Daedalus’ laptop. It said- it said that time is different. One day up here could be years down there.”

Hazel’s heart sank, “Oh.” Hazel felt terrible for Annabeth, she couldn’t imagine what she would do if Frank fell into Tartarus. If they were separated like that.

“We’re having breakfast, do you want to come?”

“No. I have to find a way to help him. Anything I can do to help him.” Hazel admired Annabeth’s determination and love for Percy.

“You haven’t eaten since-… you can’t help anyone if you starve to death.”

“Yeah.. Yeah. Okay.” Annabeth lifted her head up from her hands, her eyes were red and puffy. Hazel offered her hand, Annabeth took it and stood up.

“Thanks, Hazel.”

They walked out of the room and Hazel noticed that Annabeth was wearing Percy’s blue jumper. The one he had when he showed up at Camp Jupiter, it had been washed since then, obviously, but it still had the smell of the ocean on it.

They arrived at the dining room and everyone turned to look at them.

Jason was the first to break the uncomfortable silence, “Annabeth. Hi.”

Annabeth didn’t reply, just walked to an empty chair and sat down. The room lapsed into silence once again.

There was quiet conversations throughout dinner but it was mostly silence.