The Stories of Our Heroes

MORE Scenes from Tartarus (Sort Of?)

My vision was going dark around the edges. The tips of my fingers ached with the force of trying to hold the elevator doors together. My ears were ringing. My tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth. I just wanted to close my eyes, and sit down, and - 

"Almost there, Percy," Annabeth whispered next to me. Or maybe she yelled. I couldn't tell. I couldn't see her face but her shoulder pressed against mine, shaking yet strong. She was right. I could do it. For her, for us, for our friends. We were so close, we had made it so far, we just had to keep the doors closed for a little longer before we reached the mortal side and then our friends would let us out and we'd be free, we'd be home and the air would be fresh and water, we could drink water  -

Ding.

The doors slid open. I didn't know what I expected. Maybe a celebration where the Argo II crew would sweep us into hugs with cries of happiness. Or maybe a full fledged battle, the sounds of war raging around us. But it wasn't like that at all. I only saw darkness. I only heard silence. My foot stepped forward, across the threshold of the elevator and back into the real world. I reached for Annabeth beside me. I couldn't feel her. Lights popped behind my eyes. They looked like... stars. Stars. Bob loved stars. Bob would love it here.

***

The doors were open. I wanted sunshine. I wanted a bright blue sky. I got another cave, full of more dangers. I had only a few seconds to register the smoke and the rumbling walls of Epirus before the whole world seemed to tip on its axis.

"No," I gasped as Percy's body swayed sideways. His hand raised towards me and his eyes fluttered. Reality seemed to be moving in slow motion. Was this even real? I tried to grab him, barely catching his fingers, and his weight pulled us both down to the ground. I sank on top of him, begging him to wake up. Begging him to be okay. Begging him to come back to me.

"Percy!" I screamed, shaking his shoulders. My heart sputtered in my chest as a low groan slipped past his lips. I took his face in my hands and his eyes opened briefly. He was alive.

"Annabeth!"

I startled as someone screamed my name. It wasn't Percy. Percy, who looked as if he were sleeping again. So peaceful. So relaxed. I almost wanted to let him be. Maybe he would be better off this way.

"Annabeth!"

I ignored the voice again as Percy's peaceful facade was ruined. His face twisted in pain. He twitched underneath me. It reminded me where we were and what was happening. We fought our way through Tartarus. We found the Doors of the Death. We made it back to the other side. Which meant our friends had found us. Which meant...

"Annabeth!"

This time I heeded the shout, looking up to see who called for me. Not just one voice - two. Through a haze, I made out the two figures. Their familiar faces sent a wave of emotion that shocked me to the core. Leo and Hazel. But they didn't look relieved, like I expected. They looked scared. Thick wisps of smoke kept them away from me and Percy.

"Move, Annabeth!" Hazel gestured up, my gaze following. The ceiling shook above us, and my body reacted before my mind could catch on. I stood, hooking my arms under Percy's, and tried to put as much distance between us and the elevator doors as possible. We didn't make it very far before the first chunk of rock came crashing down, right where we had laid only moments before. Pure adrenaline and determination allowed me to drag Percy on and away from danger, but it was becoming futile. Debris landed behind us. In front of us. All around.

I dropped to my knees, wrapping my arms around Percy. I cradled his head, leaning over the top half of his body to shield it with my own. It felt like a cruel fate to start my journey to Tartarus nearly squashed in a tavern and end it the same way. Perhaps it was a bit poetic. We'd make a good myth to retell, Percy and I. Our breaths mingled. I prayed that our last breaths together would be painless.

***

I felt her warm embrace. I heard her small cries of fear as vibrations rolled across the ground beneath us. I opened my eyes to see her face, right over mine, as the world collapsed around us.

I forced my limbs to move, fueled by white hot anger. All things considered, being crushed to death by falling rock was not a way I was willing to go out. And I certainly wouldn't let Annabeth take the hits before me. Looking over her shoulder, I watched for the moment sure to come. I held her tight and tucked my foot under us, ready to push off. As a few huge chunks of ceiling fell straight towards us, I rolled.

We tumbled, tangled up in each other and scraping against debris. We didn't get as much momentum as I hoped, not making it far enough to be completely out of harms way. The air whooshed out of me as Annabeth brought us to a hard stop. Rock landed inches from our bodies  on the side we had aimed towards, and despair settled heavy in my bones. There was no escape.

***

I saw Percy's resolve crumple as I once again laid on top of him, a hair's breadth away from being crushed. His eyes flashed as he took in something above us - more falling rock, undoubtedly - and tried to roll one more time. He flipped us over, but it was no use. We couldn't go anywhere else. We were wedged between two massive chunks of ceiling. Percy and I laid on our sides, locked in a lovers' embrace that reminded me of the infamous Pompeii victims. Everything shook, the ceiling, the ground. Me. Him. I couldn't see anything particularly spiky, which I supposed was a blessing. At least we wouldn't be impaled by a rock. Hopefully getting smashed was a much quicker death. I could think of worse ways to go than wrapped up in Percy's arms, his body cocooning mine.

"I love you, Percy." I pulled him in for a kiss. His mouth tasted like dust and iron. I savored every second of it. "Close your eyes," I whispered in his ear as the sky finally fell. I waited for the pain.

It never came.

My eyes blinked open to see the rock frozen right above us. No, not frozen... stuck. It had landed atop the other surrounding boulders, caging us in but also protecting us. I shuddered in relief. Percy lifted his head slowly and looked around.

"Let's just... stay here for a minute," he muttered, as if we had a choice. But I was content to wait out the avalanche in the relative safety, even if we both flinched every time more debris crumbled over us.

The cave seemed to slowly settle, less rocks raining down and the shaking subsiding. I could hear our friends voices over the din now, and my grip on Percy tightened as the faintest glimmer of hope filled me. We could survive this yet.