The Return of Evil | A Percy Jackson Fanfiction

=24= WHY...WHY?

=ANNABETH'S POV=

I nearly tripped over a huge blister that stuck out of the blood-colored Tartarus ground. Again. I was seriously starting to wonder- if everything down here was part of Tartarus' body, then were the blisters pimples? I mean, they popped right?

Glancing back at the huge thing, I shook my head. There wasn't time for me to be thinking about stupid thoughts like that. Especially when a monster could burst out of those blisters at any second. Especially while Percy was gone.

Lighten up, I chided myself. You don't have to be so serious all the time. The world may be crumbling around you, but that doesn't mean you can't have a good laugh.

"Hey, guys." Piper said, a few meters ahead of me. She had her hand intertwined with Jason's.

The pain was sudden. A small pang to the heart. Then it was gone.

"I think I see something." Piper continued, trying to peer ahead.

My instincts as a leader immediately took over. "Frank," I barked. "Go turn into a cheetah or something and take a quick glance ahead." I pointed towards where Piper was looking, but the Chinese-Canadian boy still looked hesitant.

"Go." I repeated. Frank instantly shook his head and morphed into- no, not a cheetah- an ostrich.

He left without a sound, only a whoosh of wind in his place. I noticed Hazel hurriedly wipe her eyes. I decided not to pursue the matter. We'd all been through tough times. Especially in the last twenty-four hours.

We should take a rest, I thought. Gain some of our energy back.

"Hey," I started, turning to the rest of my allies. They all looked solemn and grim. An expression which I probably mirrored back to them. My stomach grumbled. "We should get some food and rest. I mean, we might have to fight a big battle pretty soon."

"That's a good idea." Jason agreed as he cracked a smile. "My stomach's killing me."

Piper nodded as she gave Jason a quick peck on the cheek. My heart took another stab. "Yeah, I agree. I haven't had a single ounce of sleep since, like, yesterday."

"Let's wait until Frank gets back." I concluded- making the corners of Hazel's mouth turn up into a small smile. I nodded my head towards her in acknowledgement, with her returning the favor. So we waited. And waited. And waited.

But Frank never came.

And it was only after half an hour when we finally started getting worried.

"Should we go look for him?" Will asked, his voice cracking at the last bit. His tone had an obvious sense of urgency to it- with the reason being what everyone was thinking:

Where was Frank?

Hazel suddenly shot to her feet. There were tears in her eyes.

"Hazel, what are you-"

"Shut up." She hissed, her face a mixture of pure anger and fear. She used a tone which I never thought I would hear on the poor girl.

Will seemed taken aback. But he stayed silent. Hazel thrust an angry finger towards the direction Frank had went in. "He's gone." She said the word with pure anger. "And none of you are even doing anything about it. And he's not coming back, if you've noticed."

I stood up. "Hazel. Calm down."

"Don't you tell me what to do, fearless leader," she mocked. Her mouth was clenched so hard, I wondered wether one of her teeth would crack.