Forged Destinies

Love and Loss

Ch. 11

Zoe had no idea where she was.

Her entire world was filled with darkness. She blinked her eyes but nothing changed.

The ground beneath her was cold, hard and flat. It felt like metal. She spread her arms frantically, looking for anything that might tell her where she was. At first, she found nothing but then her left hand landed on something small and fluffy.

At first she was confused. Fluffy? She didn't own anything fluffy.

She tried to remember the last place she was but her mind swam and moved like jello. Her brain felt fuzzy, a fog lay over her keeping her from recalling her memories.

She squeezed her hand and earned a hiss from the fluffy object. It almost sounded like a... cat.

That was the spark she needed and everything came flooding back to her.

Her fall into Tartarus. Percy wrapping her in his arms as they fell towards their deaths. Their impossible survival by landing in the Cocytus and then the journey through the abyss and their even more impossible battle at the Doors of Death. The last thing she remembered was Percy throwing her against her will into the elevator.

Her heart stopped.

"Ugh..."

Her eyes went wide, "Percy?"

"Hmmm?" A groggy voice answered. But it was a voice she'd recognize anywhere.

"Percy!"

"Come on Zoe, like ten more minutes. I'm so tired."

She sat straight up and turned towards the sound of his voice, "Percy Jackson!"

After a few seconds, she heard Percy sit up fast.

"Holy shit, where are we?"

She tried to reach out for him but couldn't find him, making her panic until she felt a firm held grab hers.

"I'm right here, Zoe." He held her hand tight.

"Percy, I can't see anything."

"No, I don't suppose you do." A new voice boomed from in front of them.

Zoe looked up and found two glowing blue orbs in front of them. They were high above them, about twenty five feet above them, which answered the question of who was speaking.

A giant.

"Fan-fucking-tastic," Percy sighed. "Obviously escaping Tartarus wasn't enough, we have to reappear at the feet of a giant."

The glowing blue orbs seemed to intensify as a low rumbling came from the giant. A laugh, or at least the sound a giant makes when he laughs.

"And what a short escape it will prove to be."

Line Break (Return of the Line Break for the return of an old friend)

Annabeth Chase stood at the entrance of the Necromanteion.

She felt an emptiness inside that threatened to consume her.

It had been two long weeks since Percy and Zoe had fallen into the abyss. Two weeks of struggles and delays. Two weeks of uncertainty. Perhaps two weeks too late to have any chance to save her two closest friends.

The Argo II had had anything but a smooth journey to Epirus. They'd dealt with Ourae attacking their ship; two weeks of silence from the gods with the exception of a visit from Hecate whose conversation with Hazel was still shrouded in mystery. Though the details Hazel gave were vague, she and Nico had taken to disappearing for hours at a time ever since. When they returned, they looked fatigued and weary. The only explanation they gave was that Nico was helping her with her Hades powers... whatever that meant.