Odyssey

Depths

After Clarisse heard the news of what Annabeth and Percy's true identities, she said she had to "Take a walk." And left the cave.

"Do you think she believed us?" Annabeth said, watching Percy wash blood off of his skin.

"Hard to say," Percy said.

"Come here," Annabeth said, patting the stone floor in front of where she was sitting. Percy did, and sat in front of her. She scooted up, sitting on his lap as she pulled out a dagger she had stolen. "You look like a mess," she said softly, as she pulled a tuft of his mangy beard and cut it off. Letting the blood caked beard fall to the creek and flowing away to the darkness.

"You look like a beautiful mess," Percy smiled, his lips were hidden behind his beard. Annabeth chuckled and kept on cutting his hair.

"You had me worried, you know?" Annabeth pouted. "I heard word that the Spartan Perseus was killed, and I dropped everything to come make sure it wasn't true."

"Sorry to make you worry," Percy said softly. He kept his mouth still as Annabeth started the close shave against his face.

"You got new scars," she said. "I don't care about them," she huffed. Percy chuckled.

"Last I remember, I was pretending to sleep, as I listen to you silently count them," he smirk. Now that his face was clean shaven, Annabeth could see his stupid smirk.

"I hate your face, I shouldn't of cut your beard," she said.

Percy puckered his lips, like he expected Annabeth to just come whenever he did and kiss him. Well she wasn't going to kiss him not anymore, never again... she kissed him.

"I hate you," she murmured.

"Uh-huh," Percy smirked, holding her close. Annabeth suddenly got up from his lap, and sat behind him.

"I'm tired of seeing your face," Annabeth said as she tugged on his long blood caked hair and started chopping away.

"Ow..." Percy said. "Ouch! Hey!"

"Shut up and take it, I need to get my frustrations out and your hair is what I want to do it on," she said pulling a fist full backwards, tilting his head upside down, their eyes meeting. Regretfully...she lost all self control and kissed his forehead. They didn't talk for the rest of the haircut. Annabeth became gentle, and Percy enjoyed it. He then dunked his head in the small creek as she washed off excess hair from his body.

"She ran in this cave!" a unfamiliar voice echoed through the cave. Loud booming stomps of someone running echoed around the cave making it impossible to tell if they were getting closer or not. Then suddenly Clarisse burst into the room, panting.

"Here, put this on and cover that snake up!" Clarisse said. "We got a problem."

She handed Percy a lightly stained blue tunic, "There's blood on it?"

"The owner needed help with giving it away," she said. "But seriously, they know where here, we gotta find a way out."

"I see a light!" a voice cried out, a lot of footsteps roaring deeper in.

Percy bend down, placed his hand in the creek water and closed his eyes. "I have a plan, I need you two to hold my hands." Annabeth quickly took Percy's hand, why he held out the free one to Clarisse.

"No way Sea Weed Brain!" Clarisse said. But the thunderous roars of men coming in persuaded her. "Fuck this..." She grabbed his hand and Percy ran along the creek, Annabeth and Clarisse getting drug behind him.

"Don't go deeper in!" a voice said, Percy looked back and saw torch lights twinkling just outside of their room in the cave. "Don't you know what cave this is! It's the Cursed—"

Suddenly, the ground they were running disappeared, and they started falling, and falling, and falling, splashing down in a deep large well filled with ice cold water. The water was pitch black for Annabeth, who was struggling with trying to find the surface. Percy could see perfectly fine through, Annabeth had held onto his hand the whole time, while Clarisse panicked as she hit the water and let go. Percy threw Annabeth upwards to the surface so hard, she flew a few feet in the air before splashing back in. She managed to swim to a ledge and pull herself out. While Clarisse was sinking deeper and deeper. Percy swam fast, going after Clarisse. She hit the bottom when Percy grabbed onto her. He pushed off the floor with his legs and they both rocketed out of the water and flew onto the shore with Annabeth.

Clarisse was laying lifeless on the stone floor, Percy quickly went to her, and willed the water out of her. She puked it up like a powerful jet of water, coughing and retching. "Fuck...you..." she murmured. "I'm never...holding your... hand again..."