Percy Jackson Series. Annabeth Chase X Male Reader Story

I Get Seduced by a Boat

(Y/N)'s POV

"I take it back. That was awesome" Percy said, as he clapped me on the back and I could finally breathe again, I got too caught up in the moment. I crouched down and took a deep breath.

"Yeah, that was pretty sweet of you ghost boy." Annabeth said, nudging me as the doors opened and suddenly, we were standing in a wooden barge.

The others got very confused, but I for one had never felt so comfortable. Even Percy seemed unsure about this particular boat, I was drawn to the front of it, stepping towards the ominously dark wooden oar at the front of the ferry.

As I took another breath, I placed my hands on the oar of the ferry, a feat reserved for those who dwelled in the Underworld, only Charon had ever dared. It took me no time at all to know why.

As soon as I touched it I felt cold, bitterly cold, frozen to the core. I felt the river beneath me, it barely moved, but I felt the power connected to it, I had never felt so connected to the Underworld.

The river Styx spanned the border of the Underworld, encircling it, and I felt it all. The sorrow, the hate, the regret that swirled through its waters. I suddenly understood why Charon was so upset all the time, it was truly harrowing.

It was like the boat was a living being, breathing almost, the same as Thalia's tree does, but slightly different, I felt every soul on board and instinctively knew how many there were, how long they had waited for passage and the circumstances of their deaths.

Soon I was poling us across a dark, oily river, swirling with bones, dead fish and other, stranger things – plastic dolls, crushed carnations, soggy diplomas with gilt edges. "The River Styx," Annabeth murmured. "It's so..."

"Polluted," I finished for her. "For thousands of years, humans have been throwing in everything as they cross, hopes, dreams, wishes that never came true. All the things they leave behind." How did I know that?

Mist curled off the filthy water. Above us, almost lost in the gloom, was a ceiling of stalactites. Ahead, the far shore glimmered with greenish light, the colour of poison.

"If it weren't so depressing, you'd like it here." I said as I rowed. The shoreline of the Underworld came into view. Craggy rocks and black volcanic sand stretched inland about fifty metres to the base of a high stone wall, which marched off in either direction as far as we could see.

A sound came from somewhere nearby in the green gloom, echoing off the stones, the howl of a large animal. "Here we go, now the real fun begins. You three, keep low." The bottom of our boat slid onto the black sand.

A strange sensation came over me as we docked and I went to let go of the oar, a small part of me wanted to stay, to keep ferrying souls, it was trying to convince me that I could do a much better job than Charon.

It was assuring me that if I were to stay, I could offer empathetic hands to any soul who needed it and make their passing that much easier. Soon, it felt like my hands were super glued to the oar.

It took great effort to pry my hands free and once I did, I felt normal again, suddenly gaining a lot more respect for Charon, who had been doing this for centuries without breaking down. It occurred to me that perhaps he was given this job for a reason.

I was right with my earlier assessment, the boat was like a living thing, trying to seduce me into eternal servitude in the Underworld ferrying souls. Whether it was Hades or Charon's doing I don't know, what I did know was, I really don't like this boat, it gives me the willies.

The dead began to disembark. A woman holding a little girl's hand. An old man and an old woman hobbling along arm in arm. A boy no older than I was, shuffling silently along in his grey robe. "May you all find peace." I wished as they departed.