The House of Hades (Fan-Fiction)

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Annabeth

Annabeth was jerked awake, tears streaming her cheeks like rain trickling down a glass window. Her dream had been horrifying.

She saw the Athena Parthenos, the statue she had worked so hard to get; the statue she had fallen into Tartarus for had been falling. Piper, Leo, and Hazel were under the statue, supporting its weight, all of them looking frazzled. Jason had come, yelled to them, so Leo and Hazel scrambled away. Piper had stumbled, the statue had fallen, and the dream cut off right when the statue was inches from cracking into her skull.

Then Gaea had purred in Annabeth’s dream. Piper McLean never saw it coming. I was planning a bigger fight from the daughter of love, but she died quickly. I barely had to use any of my energy. Prepare for your friends to die, Annabeth Chase.

So now Annabeth was hidden in a cavern in Tartarus, consumed with darkness, and was sobbing.

To her left, Percy sat up, looking groggy and sleepy. He had been sleeping. When he saw Annabeth crying, he immediately scrambled over to her, being careful of his elbow that must have been sore. He wrapped an arm around her.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, intently looking at her with his intense and beautiful green eyes.

She quickly explained her dream, her voice shaking. She didn’t want to include the way Gaea had tormented her, but she had to.

Percy’s face went slack. “While Arachne targets us here, Gaea is targeting our friends up there. Gods, I should have known!” Then he looked at Annabeth with a serious face. “You know Gaea is probably lying to you. The vision must have been incorrect. She lied about a lot of things.” He looked away, his eyes pressed shut tightly. “My gods, Annabeth, we were told we were going to die so many times, and we’re still alive. Gaea may be after our blood, we may be in Tartarus, but just believe we’re going to come out of this alive.”

The way Percy put his words together made it sound like Annabeth wasn’t doomed to death. Tears danced in her eyes, not from grief, but from complete pride and hope. Her boyfriend could have been idiotic. She was just so proud with him, just so hopelessly in love with him.

Whoa. She knew she loved him, but was she truly in love with him?

Yes. She was.

As she struggled for something to say, Percy gave her a little hopeful smile. “You know, I bet someone grabbed Piper at the last minute. Or that never happened. Annabeth, you can’t believe everything Gaea says. She’s manipulating you.”

“Well, her manipulation is working.” Annabeth winced as she stretched her leg, her broken ankle flaring with a roar of pain that caused tears to jump in her eyes, threatening to fall. “What if… what if we really die down here?”

“Then I’ll die with you,” Percy answered, his voice so caring that Annabeth nearly wept with despair.

She swallowed dryly. She had no water, and her throat felt like Death Valley in the middle of the afternoon in July. She turned to Percy and asked, “Do you feel like there could be water down here?”

He closed his eyes, resting against the cavern wall. In the dim light, he looked like he was sleeping. His eyes opened slowly and he said, “There’s some water. I can’t tell if it’s fresh.” He pressed his hand to the cave floor. Slowly water came to the surface, trickling in a trickle in front of Annabeth.

“It’s clean,” he announced.

She eagerly cupped her hands and drank giddily. The water felt nice on her throat that was sandpaper dry. When she finished, she was aware of her growing hunger.