The Return of Evil | A Percy Jackson Fanfiction

=22= POKE

[A/N: Nope. I have no excuse]

=LEO'S POV=

I groaned and sat up. My head spun and every bit of my body hurt.

"Piper?" I mumbled. "Jason?"

No one answered.

Panicked, I bolted to my feet, ignoring the sore pain that was in all my muscles. My head whipped around so fast, all I could see was a red blur. Wait what? A red blur? I frowned. Last I checked, the sky was blue...

I was so preoccupied, I didn't noticed the fleshy surface of which one of my shoes were planted on. Suddenly a soft moan came from my right. I felt fingers grip my ankle.

"Agh!" I screamed and jumped back, my heart thumping against my ribcage. Trembling, I looked down- only to be greeted by a half-unconscious girl staring at me.

I shrieked and my hands subconsciously lit on fire. The girl chuckled, her kaleidoscope eyes twinkling mischievously. "Leo, I'm surprised you still haven't recognized me on-sight." She held out her hand. "Come on, now help me up."

Hesitantly, I reached for her hand- but stopped abruptly. I squinted. My eyes suddenly widened. "Piper?"

She huffed. "Now, you realize who I am?"

I laughed. "Sorry."

"But seriously, what took you so long? I mean, your brain speed is usually a little faster than this."

I grimaced, my mood immediately darkening. "I was...preoccupied with other thoughts."

She nodded and took my hand. I pulled her up. Piper glanced around as she brushed dust off her pants. "Hey, Leo..."

"Yeah?"

Her eyes suddenly widened in alarm. "Where-where are we?"

I blinked and looked around, finally coming to terms with where we were. Blood-colored stalagmites, fiery chasms and horrible shrieking... That could only mean one thing. But that was impossible. We couldn't be...

I sucked in a breath, suddenly finding it hard to get oxygen into my lungs. "Tartarus."

"You got that right."

Piper and I turned in synchronism, both jumping at the sound of another voice. Annabeth, Jason, Hazel, Frank and Will gazed back at us. The daughter of Athena's grey eyes were cold and unwelcoming. "And I have a pretty good idea of why we're here."

"Did Tartarus send us here?" Frank asked, his arm around Hazel. "I mean, to try and give us a chance to rescue Percy?"

At the sound of Percy's name, Annabeth choked and her eyes momentarily flitted towards the dragon-bone sword that was strapped to her waist. Then her eyes hardened and she regained her composure- as if nothing ever happened.

Could she have gone through what I did? Leo thought as he stared at his friends. Could they all?

"At any rate," Annabeth interrupted. "Tartarus sent us here for a reason." A small tear traced its way down her cheek, but she wiped it away furiously. "When- when Percy and I were in Tartarus, he let us live till the end." She locked her eyes on each of them, one by one. "Maybe he wants to see how far we can survive in this hell hole."

Grim looks reflected across each of the demigod's faces. For once, I didn't know how I could brighten the mood.

"Come on guys." I said, walking in a direction I assumed was north. "We may as well just get started."