madness and ecstasy // leo valdez

-oh look its an [invisible] cameo-

Percy had taken his girlfriend on a few romantic walks before, and even though they usually had to kill some monsters before they ordered ice cream [pistachio with strawberry sauce for Annabeth, and whatever was blue for himself], this wasn't one of them.

Aside from the fact they were in hell, Teqi was also trudging along behind them cursing every few minutes and kicking rocks. Then again, Percy would be more worried if she was skipping along and singing, so maybe it was a good thing. They followed the River Phlegethon, stumbling over the glassy black terrain, jumping crevices, and hiding behind rocks whenever the vampire girls slowed in front of them. The rock kicking didn't help.

It was tricky to stay far enough back to avoid getting spotted but close enough to keep Kelli and her comrades in view through the dark hazy air. The heat from the river baked Percy's skin. Every breath was like inhaling sulphur- scented fiberglass. When they needed a drink, the best they could do was sip some refreshing liquid fire. Teqi gagged the first time she tried it, when her skin finally began blotching up, and tried to carry a bit with her as a pet instead, but Annabeth made her tip it back into the river.

Yep. Percy definitely knew how to show a girl a good time.

At least Annabeth's ankle seemed to have healed. She was hardly limping at all. Her various cuts and scrapes had faded. She'd tied her blond hair back with a strip torn from Teqi's puffy white jacket [which they ripped to shreds making bandages for when they would inevitably get hurt- it was far too hot to need it any way], and in the fiery light of the river, her grey eyes flickered. Despite being beat-up and sooty, she looked great to Percy.

So what if they were in Tartarus? So what if they stood a slim chance of surviving? He was so glad that they were together, he had the ridiculous urge to smile.

"I need to piss."

Percy bit back a sigh. Annabeth peered over a ledge, squinting at the demons in the distance. "We've only got a minute; we'll lose them if we keep stopping."

"I can just find them again," Teqi muttered with a wave of her hand, walking behind a large boulder shaped like a split avocado. Percy tried not to think of the nachos and guacamole Hazel made for dinner a few nights ago.

Imagining all the food he could dream of probably wasn't the best way to deal with the pain in his stomach, but the thought of his mum's homemade lasagne was hard to fight. Annabeth looked over at him, finally tearing her grey eyes from the figure in the distance. "What are you thinking about?"

"Lasagne," Percy answered instantly. "With cheese sauce."

"Of course you are, seaweed brain." She huffed, rolling her eyes with a fond smile. Percy didn't know why she was so amused, but it was worth it when she stood on a rock to kiss him quickly.

"Why are you standing on a dead spider?"

Annabeth leapt off the rock with a yelp, clutching the front of Percy's shirt. Teqi grimaced at the scattering of small boulders that obviously weren't rocks and scrambled over the ledge. Percy held his girlfriend steady until she recovered, and the three of them kept tailing the monsters.

Once, the demons sped up in excitement and swarmed something that looked like a beached carcass on the riverbank. Percy couldn't tell what it was— a fallen monster? An animal of some kind? The empousai attacked it with relish, screaming with excitement. He didn't feel like lasagne after listening to the squelching of flesh been torn.