PERCY
The couple fell, the darkness seemed endless. "Annabeth," Percy said squeezing her hand. He knew this would be the hardest task they, or any other mortal, would ever have to face.
"Sorry, I'm currently fighting to the death and can't pick up the phone. Please leave a message after the beep." He couldn't help but snicker. That was her voice mail. All Annabeth's mortal friends thought it was just her being quirky but cool, demigods knew differently.
"I love you, no matter what happens down here, I want you to know that. Besides, it's really a tone, not a beep."
"Yeah... but it's closer to a buzz." He could tell she was smiling. Everything was as it should be, her correcting him. Then it finally dawned on him. This was a pit to Tartarus. They were falling down to the deepest part of the earth, the Alcatraz of Hades. No human had ever made it out.
"Except for Nico." Annabeth suggested, as if she'd read his mind. "We're going to make it out of here... even if we don't," that was Annabeth, always the optimist, "we're together, so it won't matter." She was right, of course, that was her job.
Suddenly (though they were expecting it), they hit the bottom of the pit, but it was surprisingly soft and cushiony (which they weren't expecting). An overly excited voice coming from above them said, "Welcome to Tartarus, your number one destination for murderous, villainous, cute-puppy-loving monsters of the world. You'll find all your evil needs, well, who are we kidding, I'm evil. I'm not going to provide anything for you."
"Tartarus." Annabeth whispered to nobody in particular. It was pitch black. Percy needed his vision, he felt, well, blind, without it. Curious to 'see' what had cushioned their fall, Annabeth and Percy stood.
Percy reached for Riptide and uncapped the pen. The light was fairly dim and didn't provide much assurance in the dark.
They both looked down. Annabeth stifled a scream. Beneath their feet was a fifteen metre high pile of decaying bodies. On the floor were skeletons, crushed by the pressure of the weight above them but as the pile rose, the carcasses became fresher until they reached the top where a giant spider lay, wrapped in her own cocoon and Annabeth's dagger sticking out between her eyes.
Percy advanced towards the spider's almost humanly face but as he shifted his weight, so did the bodies underneath him and he was sucked into the mass of grossness.
"Percy!" Annabeth yelled. He was sinking rapidly, in a matter of seconds; he was neck deep in decay. He saw Annabeth making her cautious way over to him, tripping over legs, bones and clothing before he was surrounded by a stench and stickiness that made him gag. He couldn't see, which was a good thing, and he couldn't breathe, which wasn't as good.
He felt a pulling sensation, Annabeth's done it again, he thought, always with the saving. Before he knew it, he was free of the death-trap and tumbling, head over heels down the side of the heap, gasping for precious oxygen.
They hit the bottom, that was twice they had fallen that day. He looked at Annabeth gratefully in the faint light of their weapons. Sweat poured over her brow and she was covered in blood, none of hit her own, thank the gods.
She laughed nervously, "Percy, I swear, you really have to be more careful."
"Kinda pointless if you're always saving me, though." He pointed out, playfully. May as well keep our spirits up, even if we are going to die down here, he thought to himself, he didn't want Annabeth to know he thought their efforts were hopeless. No matter what we do, he thought, we're never going to get out of this stupid, good-for-nothing-but-imprisonment pit.
