madness and ecstasy // leo valdez

-not him being a better swimmer than Percy-

Happy New Year!!!! 

After free-falling for what could have been days into Tartarus, jumping three hundred feet to the Mansion of Night should have felt quick. Not necessarily fun, but quick, nonetheless.

Instead, she had ample time to clutch Percy's arm and refrain from screaming her head off as icy wind that stunk of corpses and creepiness cut at her and the screeches of Nyx's children echoed above them and then below them and then to the right. It was at that point she realised she was probably spinning.

Then there was something other than black in her vision and it was white hot pain instead.

Very unwelcome. Her feet were tremoring on the solid floor and her legs had been crumpled into a million little pieces. As she was gasping for breath, feeling a lot like a dying fish, Percy hauled her after him, stumbling forwards into the unknown.

Above them in the dark, Nyx and her children scuffled and yelled like little kids.

Annabeth kept running. Well, it was more like stumbling with two prosthetic legs in sand carrying the weight of the world, but she gave it a good go. She couldn't see anyway, so she closed her eyes, not noticing the difference. She used her other senses—listening for the echo of open spaces, feeling for cross-breezes against her face, sniffing for any scent of danger—smoke, or poison, or the stench of demons.

All she heard was loud screeching from above and behind, as well as the string of curse words Tony was muttering without pause in front of her. It was impressive, really, how many he could come up with.

It wasn't the first time she'd plunged through darkness, but at least she wasn't alone. She imagined she was back in the tunnels under Rome, searching out the Athena Parthenos. In retrospect, her journey to Arachne's cavern seemed like a trip to Disneyland.

The squabbling sounds of Nyx's children got farther away. That was good. Percy was still running at her side, holding her hand. Also good.

In the distance ahead of them, Annabeth began to hear a throbbing sound, like her own heartbeat echoing back, amplified so powerfully, the floor vibrated underfoot. The sound filled her with dread, so she figured it must be the right way to go. She ran toward it.

As the beat got louder, she smelled smoke and heard the flickering of torches on either side. She guessed there would be light, but a crawling sensation across her neck warned her it would be a mistake to open her eyes.

"Don't look," she told both boys, but she honestly wasn't sure if Tony could hear her over his own explicit words. Whatever horrors lay in the Mansion of Night, they weren't meant for mortal eyes. Seeing them would be worse than staring at the face of Medusa. Better to run in darkness.

"Wasn't planning on it," Percy said. Smart boy, Annabeth thought, relief pouring over her. She didn't want her boyfriend to have a broken mind. That thought made her feel sick a second later.

Poor Leo.

"Wow. Uh, yeah, don't look. But wow." Tony sucked in a sharp breath to her left. "That's actually kind of impressive though."

Annabeth gulped.

The throbbing got louder still, sending vibrations straight up her spine. It felt like someone was knocking on the bottom of the world, demanding to be let in. She sensed the walls opening up on either side of them. The air smelled fresher—or at least not quite as sulphurous. There was another sound, too, closer than the deep pulsing...the sound of flowing water.