How You Changed Me (Demigods In High School AU)

Chapter 41 || 2 Days In Tartarus

ANNABETH CHASE

"Is this river ever gonna end?" Percy choked out hoarsely, stumbling slightly from dehydration.

Annabeth felt woozy, accidentally knocking into Percy, sending him to the floor. He groaned slightly and she muttered a tired apology, attempting to get him to his feet, but collapsing herself in the process.

"It's obvious this isn't gonna work," she whispered to Percy, who had managed to roll over onto his back.

"Yeah, I feel like shit," he rolled his eyes.

"And there's probably no water down here because everything in here is basically created to inflict death," Annabeth reasoned.

"No shit, Sherlock," Percy scoffed, "But we need to keep going. Do you think we're gonna make it..."

He trailed off, staring in horror at something ahead of them.

"Wha..." Annabeth turned around to stare at it, too.

At the end of the River Phlegethon, there was a crowd of monsters, all hunched together, not having spotted them yet.

"Quick!" Annabeth whispered, "Hide!"

They dove behind a large boulder, littered at the edge of the river.

"Smother yourself with mud so we'll be more camoflauged!" Percy hissed, rubbing some mud on himself, careful not to get it in the bandages.

Annabeth followed him, gagging slightly at the smell of the mud. But it worked, because they weren't seen by any monster as their "meeting" went on.

"So," a monster said, "One of the monsters that went in the attack says that Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase fell into Tartarus, which means they're probably somewhere near the front."

"No, they could be walking to the Doors of Death as we speak!" another hissed.

"Mazraphix, you don't know anything, so shut the f**k up!"

"No, you, Enaphix!"

"Shut up!" another said, dragging the two snake-like ladies apart. "For all we know, they're somewhere here, though I doubt they'll survive down here with Tartarus being the place that opposes godly power."

"I don't know," another said uncertainly, "If you mix that sea spawn with the girl, they're stronger than Kronos himself--"

"And Kronos ended up down here, didn't he?" the previous monster snapped, "So they'll eventually die off. Of course, it'll be fun if we can see them on the way to the Doors of Death, where they most likely want to go, and where we're going. After those two leaders are dead, we can destroy the rest of the seven, including that... Death Boy and the Ex-Barbie Girl."

"After that, Camp Half-Blood stands no chance at beating us in war!" one cackled as the rest followed.

"So their plan is to get rid of us so they can attack camp easier?" Percy whispered.

Apparently, a little too loudly because all the monsters whipped around.

"I heard a voice!" one said, twirling around in circles. "I HEARD IT!"

"Maybe it's your excitement?" another suggested.

"Listen," the monster whispered, "Listen carefully."

They didn't dare breathe, move, or talk. Being stone-still, they even closed our eyes to prevent ourselves from being heard or seen.

"It's probably just my mind, then," the monster said and they instantly relaxed as it turned back. "Once we kill of the demigods, we'll be unstoppable! Then, those titans and primordials will know that we monsters aren't servants!"

They all cheered and Annabeth grabbed Percy's hand.

"We have to follow them."

"What? We'll be surrounded by them in minutes!"

"It's our only chance to getting out of here, as the river clearly doesn't have a place where it'll go. It's helped us, but now, we need to actually find a path."

"Sh!" Percy hissed, watching as the monsters took off, one by one going their separate ways.

"They all seem to be going north... so that means we're on the right track!" Annabeth gasped in delight, "That means we'll be out soon!"

"After 2 days of following a stupid river, this is the information we get," Percy muttered sarcastically, "Goody Gumdrops."

"I think our best bet is to follow footprints," Annabeth reasoned, "It's less risky."

"Unless the monsters are behind us and follow our footprints."

"You're trying to be smart and overthinking everything," she sighed, "We need a decent plan and we can work out what to do afterwards."

"It's the trust issues," Percy shrugged, putting his hands up, "I'm innocent."

"So innocent," Annabeth rolled her eyes.

She looked around and spotted a little trail leading up to a cliff.

"We could see what happens from that cliff and we could plan out our route better," she suggested.

Percy nodded and they both staggered up the cliff. Staring out over the edge.

"You know..." Percy rasped quietly, "If you imagine those rivers are streets, and if those monsters are cars, and if those boulders and trees were buildings and skyscrapers... then just add some imaginary lights, you could almost think this place was Manhattan. They even got the traffic down! I mean, this place is like Times Square with all the people bustling in that clump over there!"

An idea struck Annabeth as she heard him say those words.

"Percy," she interrupted him, "You're a genius!"

"What did I do?" Percy asked, furrowing his brows.

"You're exactly right! The rivers are just like the streets, and the monsters are just like cars. We just need to figure out which one of the rivers lead to the Doors of Death, which is what you called Times Square," she explained to him.

"Oh..." Percy grinned again, like an idiot, "Do you think we could meet Nemo down here? Aw, man! I forgot to bring my Nemo plushie for him to sign!"

"Uhm..." Annabeth froze when she saw a snake peek its head out from behind a boulder. "Percy..."

He whipped around and the moment Annabeth saw a hand touch the stone, she put a hand over his eyes, shutting her own. 

They both turned around and she heard a voice drawl, "Annabeth Chase and Percy Jackson? Don't you remember your Aunty Em?"

Annabeth stiffened as Medusa grabbed her arm, her talons sinking into Annabeth's flesh. She bit back a yelp as she tried to make Annabeth open her eyes. Percy must've noticed because he slowly backed away, giving a wink to her as he slunk around Medusa, who was too busy staring at Annabeth to notice that he had gone behind her. 

He slowly uncapped Riptide, but the glimmering caught one of Medusa's snakes' eyes, and she whipped around. Percy quickly did a wild swipe, wincing as he turned the color of stone for a second before it returned to normal.

"You okay?" Annabeth asked, getting up from the floor, kicking Medusa's head off the cliff.

"Yeah... she flashed me with her eyes for a second before I cut her head off," Percy said, rubbing his temples.

That's when the flapping of wings caught their attention.