Anyone who knows Arya Jackson for more than five minutes knows her opinion of the world, and demigods not so fair place in it. Unfortunately, since the war Arya isn't that easy to get to know. To most she's little more than a legend.
Arya is fine w...
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26.
Mother's Punishment
ACE REALIZED HIS FEELINGS for Arya Jackson in the blink of an eye. In the second second it took for her to be in his line of sight and then gone, along with the floor below her, into a pit that led directly into the worst place in the universe.
Her name left his lips and he started to untangle himself from the ladder. He had wrapped himself around it with his bow in order to get a shot at Annabeth. By the time he had reached the ground he realized there was something else inside of him that felt like it was blistering the inside of his body.
His feet were carrying him over the cracks and unstable floor with no other goal than to get to Arya. The feeling was a selfishness he didn't recognize. He had grown to depend on Arya, she gave him a sense of comfort and clarity these last seven days. She was a concept he couldn't put into words. She was the thing he thought about most nights when he went to bed and the first thought he woke up to in the mornings. It had started as nothing more than an effort to make sure she didn't think he was incompetent. Now it seemed, it had grown into so much more.
Ace's heart stopped beating at the idea of her in Tartarus... After everything she's been through.
Everything flashed before him as he reached the ledge. Nico's panic, Arya's screams, Percy letting go with Annabeth in his grasp. All of them watched the two teenagers fall, the prophecy putting itself into place before they had a chance to decide it amongst themselves.
There was two seconds of nothing after the couple were swallowed by the darkness, then Arya's fingers shifted, and Ace knew exactly why.
He screamed her name hard enough that his throat felt like it split in half. He practically threw himself over the ledge to try and reach her. He knew he wouldn't be able to change her mind, she was stubborn. Instead all he had to do was keep her talking. One of the few things he thought himself semi-decent at.
As Jason grabbed her and put her back to safety Ace wanted to pull her into him and never let her go. He knew she would probably hate him. That was okay, he just wanted to save her from Tartarus.
He thought they were in the clear, all he had to do was make sure that they were in the boat. He would deal with the repercussions later. Then she looked at him, not with anger, but with complete despair.
Then they started to fall into darkness too.
Ace was expecting seven days. He was surprised when they landed after only a few minutes. His instincts gave in and he pushed to his feet, on alert for a fight. Whatever was under his feet was solid... kinda. Enough to stand on, but it was thin, membranous, like it could dissolve any second and continue them on their journey back to the depths of Tartarus.
