Percabeth (completed): Book 1 - Percy Jackson Fanfiction

Chapter One ~ PERCY

• Chapter One • 

• PERCY •

The darkness was overwhelming. It was nothing like Percy had ever experienced, and it made him feel like a useless tool. He wanted to get out of the pits of Tartarus.

However, more than anything, he wanted Annabeth to be safe. He loved her, he was certain. And he was sure that she loved him. He felt terrible, letting her fall into Tartarus. But he had to go with her. He couldn't be without her.

"Percy." Annabeth came up behind him and wrapped her arms round his waist. "Percy?"

He turned round and hugged her back. "I'm okay. Are you?"

Annabeth forced a smile. Her dirt-blonde hair was tied back into a messy ponytail, streaked with mud and grime. Her arms and legs and face were bruised and cut from repeated battles with monsters. But her grey eyes shone with hope and beauty and intelligence. She was gorgeous.

"Percy, you're not a machine," she said quietly. "I know you're not okay."

Percy felt deflated, but he managed a smile. "But I have you. That's enough for me."

She grinned. That pretty much made up for all the pain and misery he felt.

"We should get moving," she said, planting a kiss on the tip of his nose. "We have to keep searching for the Doors."

Their hands found each other, and their fingers interlaced. The only warmth in the whole of the pits. But it didn't shield them from the cold or the threats.

Annabeth led the way, but Percy didn't mind. She was the daughter of Athena, the wisest strategist out of all of the twelve Olympian gods. If anybody could find the Doors of Death and save them both from Tartarus, it was Annabeth Chase.

Percy admired her more than anybody he knew, even his mum. Annabeth was pretty and kind, but dangerously clever. She could outwit you in seconds and you wouldn't know for ages. She could make you feel inferior just by stepping into the room. An aura of power and wisdom so strong it was unexplainable. But Percy never felt intimidated by her. He only felt admiration, pride, and love.

Yeah, he wasn't a soppy guy. But being alone, facing death or - perhaps worse - utter madness, he knew he needed Annabeth. Not just to survive. But to be with.

Annabeth stopped in her tracks. She was shivering and shaking all over. She gripped Percy's hand tighter.

"P-Percy -" she stuttered. "I-I..." her voice trailed off.

"What is it?" Percy asked. He drew Riptide.

"Arachne," she whispered.

Percy knew the story. Arachne had been a human, who was the most talented winner ever. Athena challenged the weaver to design a tapestry. When Athena almost lost, she transformed Arachne into a strange spider-human hybrid. Arachne was banished, hidden away with the statue Athena Parthenos, only to be found by the a child who bore the Mark of Athena.

Of course, Annabeth was the only child of Athena wise enough to find Arachne and the Parthenos. But Athena's children were deathly afraid of spiders. Arachne was Annabeth's worst fears. And here they both were, in Tartarus.

"How can you tell?" Percy whispered back.

"When..." Annabeth gulped. "When I was with her, I sort of... I don't know. I felt something like a connection with her. I can feel her presence."

"So you can, child of Athena," said a crackly voice from the shadows. The voice was etched with pain, but the hint of anger and hatred was undeniably clear. "For here I am."