Let it commence...
VI
Percy
Falling into Tartarus, the deepest, darkest and most horrifying part of Underworld wasn't Percy's idea of fun. This was where the gods imprison their enemies… and the place where every single monster Percy had ever killed was waiting for him. When Percy killed a monster he figured it would be sent to Tartarus and he would most likely never see it again, and if he did he would know how to kill and sent it back off to Tartarus again. He had never considered it from the monsters point of view before; he knew that if he was a monster he would be in no hurry to get back here.
There was something else bothering him, he had known there would be monsters down here but there was one thing he hadn't considered when he let go of the ledge… when he killed monsters down here what would happen to them? Could he actually kill monsters down here? They couldn't be sent to Tartarus because they were already in Tartarus. He hoped that they would be sent deeper into the bottomless pit of evil or even better they would be fully destroyed, but considering his luck that wouldn't be the case. There was a much more depressing idea forming in his head, what if, like Alcyoneus, monsters simply could not die in their home territory. It's not as if anyone had ever been in the pit before and survived to tell the tale, no one except Nico. But Nico hadn't spoken much about Tartarus and Percy couldn't blame the poor guy, the only reason he was still ok was the fact he was with Annabeth. But what if monsters couldn't die; they might as well write out their wills and pick their coffins.
No! He refused to think of things like that, he and Annabeth had to reach the doors of death, if they didn't succeed then it wouldn't only mean his and Annabeth's deaths but the rise of Gaea and the destruction of Western civilisation as they knew it.
Annabeth…
He could feel her soft breath against his neck and her arms wrapped tightly around his waist as they fell. He had promised her he wouldn't let go and he swore to the gods that he would do everything in his power to keep that promise. He had lost her too many times already, and he was sure he wouldn't be able to bear it if he lost her again.
When she had been made to bear the burden of the sky… he had saved her. He had denied immortality for her, twice… Calypso had offered him immortality, love and a new beginning but he had chosen Annabeth. When the Gods offered him immortality and a life with the father he almost never new, he had chosen Annabeth. He hadn't even had to think when she had told him to let her go, he knew that he would give his life to be with her… and he did. So many thoughts and memories were running through his head, like how long had they been falling? How will they find the doors of death? What will happen when they get there? Will he have to make the ultimate sacrifice for Annabeth… will he be forced to let her go? So many questions running through his head, none of them could be answered.
He held Annabeth tighter, he had to keep her safe; Annabeth was with him and that was all that mattered. Annabeth lifted her head, a look of pure terror on her face, 'Percy!' she yelled.
Something was wrong, her voice snapped Percy away from his thoughts. Annabeth kept trying to say something but she couldn't seem to form a full sentence, her voice was ripped away by the wind, left somewhere above them as they fell. 'The walls!' she gasped.
He looked around and noticed what she was talking about. The earthen walls were moving, hands made of dirt and rocks reached out and tried to grab them, but that wasn't what Annabeth had meant. The face of a sleeping woman churned in the dirt, smiling and whispering something they couldn't hear. Annabeth gasped and they hurtled towards the side of the pit, one of the arms had grabbed hold of her waist. Percy was helpless, he couldn't do anything, he was completely powerless. All he could do was hold onto her, he promised he wouldn't let her go and that's what he was going to do. As they neared the side of the pit he started to appreciate the sheer scale of it all. They had been falling close to the middle of the pit but the darkness made it almost impossible to see the sides. Now as they were being pulled towards the side of the pit at a face peeling speed Percy figured that the pit must be at least 50m in diameter. Almost 12m from the side Percy started to panic, what would happen when they got to the side? Would they be splattered against the side of Tartarus like bugs on a wind shield? Would Gaea separate them? What would happen? Percy didn't know. Closer… 5m… 3m… 2m… and then… Darkness. They were pulled straight into the side of the pit, no longer pulled by the hand but by an invisible force, it felt like when Percy had fallen into the muskeg. They were pulled deep into the earthen walls of Tartarus, Percy started to panic… he was drowning! Was this it? Was this the end? Annabeth was pulled away from him, he tried to scream her name but ended up with lungs full of dirt. He was suffocating... everything went black as he lost consciousness.
