madness and ecstasy // leo valdez

-monster pimples-

Annabeth decided the monsters wouldn't kill her. Neither would the poisonous atmosphere, nor the treacherous landscape with its pits, cliffs, and sharp rocks. Not even the thousands of unknown horrors Teqi was lurching away from, face pale and breath as sharp the jagged boulders they stumbled over.

Nope. Most likely she would die from an overload of weirdness that would make her brain explode.

First, she and Percy had had to drink fire to stay alive. Teqi nearly jumped off a cliff to get to, what, a hell siren? Then they were attacked by a gaggle of vampires, led by a cheerleader Annabeth had killed two years ago in a high school band room. Finally, they were rescued by a Titan janitor named Bob who had Einstein like hair, silver eyes, and wicked broom skills with hidden weapons.

They followed Bob through the wasteland, tracing the route of the Phlegethon as they approached the storm front of darkness. Every so often they stopped to drink firewater, which kept them alive, but Annabeth wasn't happy about it. Her throat felt like she was constantly gargling with battery acid. Teqi once again tried to keep some as a pet, but Annabeth knew better than that. Everything here was designed to torture kill and maim them.

Her only comfort was Percy. Every so often he would glance over and smile or squeeze her hand. He had to be just as scared and miserable as she was, and she loved him for trying to make her feel better.

She loved Teqi, she really did, with her never ending references and very specific lyrics, but she really wasn't helping. Her jokes had been replaced with bitter one liners and silence. Sometimes the silence was even worse, because usually it meant she'd spotted something they hadn't, they couldn't, and Annabeth had held her hair back a few times as the girl puked up fire water.

"Bob knows what he's doing," Percy promised them quietly.

Teqi whipped around to an empty spot beside her with a sharp glare, "shut up!"

"You have interesting friends," Annabeth murmured back, giving him a stink eye. She wasn't mad though, despite her fear, this was their only hope. She reached out and took Teqi's hand, dragging her away from the invisible thing offending her.

"Bob is interesting!" The Titan turned and grinned. "Yes, thank you!" The big guy had good ears. Annabeth would have to remember that. She was already planning out what they would do, how would they even communicate if they had to leave him behind, if he got too dangerous.

"So, Bob..." She tried to sound casual and friendly, which wasn't easy with a throat scorched by firewater and lined with smoky air. "How did you get to Tartarus?"

"I jumped," he said, like it was obvious.

"You jumped into Tartarus," she said, "because Percy said your name?"

"He needed me." Those silver eyes gleamed in the darkness. "It is okay. I was tired of sweeping the palace. Come along! We are almost at a rest stop."

"McDonalds?" Teqi asked hopefully, and started giggling to herself, shaking her head at the ground. Her smile froze on her scared face though, like she was remembering something bad. It seemed to be the only thoughts any of them could have down here, Annabeth realised. Bad memories.

She remembered all the times that she, Luke, and Thalia had relied on highway rest stops when they were homeless demigods, trying to survive. Wherever Bob was taking them, she hoped it had clean restrooms and a snack machine. She repressed the giggles, something Teqi hadn't learnt to do yet. Yes, Annabeth was definitely losing it.