Life and Death Don't Mix

Chapter 2

        I did not know how long I had been falling, but it felt like forever. All I could think about was Leo and if he would be okay. I hated having to leave him but knew if he fell, it would be way worse.

A part of me knew that I might never see Leo again. There were stories about demigods who had fallen into Tartarus, but they all ended the same. The demigods died. I knew that even if I survived the fall, there was no guarantee that I could even make it to the doors of death and get out of here.

The wind whistled in my ears as I became aware of how hot the air had become. I looked around, noticing the pit had become brighter with a reddish tint.

Suddenly, like I had gone through a door, the hole turned into a cavern. There were huge rocky plains, jagged mountains, and a fiery chasm. If I was not falling, it might have been a pleasant sight. I looked below me as the ground was coming closer and closer. I felt myself laugh as I noticed a black river below me. I was not going to die here, not until I saw Leo again.

I held out my hand, focusing on the water and willed it to catch me. I looked at the water, nothing happening as my heart began to pound.

Once again, I closed my eyes, focusing on the water because screaming out for it to catch me. When I opened my eyes this time, the water shot up engulfing me. I felt my body grow heavy as my eyes shut, and I blacked out.

When I woke up, I was floating on the water. As soon as I was fully conscious, the water seemed to pull me down. I went under the water as I heard cried of millions of heartbroken voices. They were filled with sadness, grief, and loss, causing my own heart to pound.

'Why are you struggeling?' they asked, 'You will never make it out of here.'

I could tell my body was trying to sink as the voices talking. I wanted to believe that they were right. I could not listen to them; however, I needed to get out. I needed to find Percy and Annabeth and get out of here.

'You will never see your friends again. Your precious Leo will die knowing you were stuck here.'

"No, you are lying he will be fine, I will get back."

'He will die, and your brother and his girlfriends did not make it. The impact killed them. There is nothing left for you, stay with us.'

I felt myself giving up. Percy and Annebthe had died, and Leo was going to die before I got out. If all this was true, why was I fighting? Why was I trying so hard to get back to a world that had nothing waiting for me?

No, I told myself. Percy was the son of Poseidon, he had been on more quests then I had there was no way he would die here. I looked around, finding the light shining through the water's surface as I tried to swim up. I could not seem to move, it was like the water was holding me down.

Using the rest of my energy, I commanded the water to launch me out and onto the shore. The water did as I commanded.

Once I was on the shore, I pulled myself away from the water before lying on my back, trying to catch my breath.

After a few minutes, I slowly sat up. I hissed in pain as something dug into my skin all over my body. I looked down, noticing what I thought was black sand was actually glass. The glass had cut my body all over. I quickly stood up, plucking off any pieces of glass still on my skin.

Once I was standing, I looked at myself, examining all the injuries I had. There were hundreds of small cuts all over from the glass. I had a large wound on my arm a few days ago, which had now opened back up and was bleeding. Other than that, there were not many other injuries.