Percy Jackson and the Saviors of Tartarus

Finding Hope

Percy's POV

"Are you sure this is the right place?"

Neo sighed. "Yes." I paced back and forth, trying to get rid of all the nervous energy trapped within me.

"But are you one hundred percent-"

"Yes, for the millionth time yes!" Even Neo was beginning to get annoyed and I made myself stop.

"Sorry, I'm just..." I stopped, not sure how to continue. Earlier I had grilled Neo for details about his vision, and he had revealed that the falling demigod in question was wearing an orange shirt and had blonde hair. I tried to reason with myself and not get my hopes up too much. It could have been any Athena camper, or even any camper with blonde hair. No, it was her. It had to be her.

"Would you mind revealing who exactly who you think this person is?" Jenna asked from behind me, not attempting to hide the annoyance in her voice.  I took in a deep breath and turned around. 

"My wife, Annabeth Chase."

Neo took a few stumbling steps back.  "Wife?  You're like what, 18?"

I shrugged.  "Looks can be misleading.  You guys are all also older than you appear."  Neo was about to reply when Alex pointed to something behind me.  I wheeled back around only to see a figure maybe a hundred feet away falling through the air.  I recognized her immediately.  "Annabeth."  I whispered. 

I began running, still able to hear Neo say,  "Oops, guess I wasn't too accurate."  I realized that I wouldn't get there in time on my feet, so with barely a thought, Aéras and I combined and two wings emerged through my back. I pumped them as hard as I could. I was going to make it.

Suddenly, I hit some kind of invisible barrier.  It acted elastic, giving way a little bit before springing me back.  I watched Annabeth's descent with an almost incomparable sense of dread.  Then I realized how much of an idiot I was being.  I closed my eyes and turned into vapor, squeezing myself through the boundary, and to Annabeth's side.  I caught her just before she hit the ground.  Her eyes were tightly closed and didn't open even when I caught her, almost as if opening them would render this a dream.

"Annabeth."  At my voice, her eyes flung open.

"Percy,"

Alex's POV

I watched Percy carry Annabeth- his wife?- back towards us slowly, savoring the time he had with her.  I could see their mouths moving but couldn't hear the words leaving them, although that was nowhere near the top priority of my mind.

As soon as he'd seen the figure falling, Percy had begun to run.  He was unbelievably fast, and at first I chalked it up to be a burst of adrenaline, but it had seemed to be more than that once he showed no sign of slowing.  Then had come the wings.  Wings?  Where had a son of Poseidon gotten wings?  Wasn't that kinda counterintuitive considering that Zeus was the lord of the skies?  And then the most impressive part of his display- the teleportation.  Had it been a trick of the mist?  No, that wasn't possible.  The mist had always been my specialty, and it was almost impossible to use down here. 

As I watched Percy draw closer, he walked into the barrier- oh yeah, also what the heck was that?- he paused and did the same thing, this time with Annabeth.  They disappeared and reappeared on the other side.  Annabeth looked a little squeamish, and gave Percy a playful slap on the neck.  He let her down and she walked towards us, gripping Percy's hand for support and a little wobbly, but her back straight and head held high.  I looked over at Jenna and Neo to see how they were reacting to the situation.  Neo's mouth was agape and a look of awe and admiration was drawn across his face.  Jenna, on the other hand, looked a little suspicious and maybe even scared.

I looked back in just enough time to see Percy and Annabeth finish closing the distance between us.  Annabeth's curly blonde hair was wind blown and knotted.  Her skin was tan and there were deep bags under her serious grey eyes.  Although her mouth was stretched into a wide smile, her eyes were calculating and seemed to evaluate each of us.

"Hello, I'm Annabeth Chase." She released Percy's hand and offered her hand to me.  I shook it, then she did the same to Jenna and Neo. 

"I'm Alex," I began.

"I'm Jenna."

Neo didn't say anything, he was too busy staring at the couple in shock.  Jenna elbowed him in the ribs, maybe a little harder than necessary.  This knocked him out of his trance.  "Neo."  Annabeth nodded, and looked at each of us again. 

"Halfbloods?" She asked.  I nodded, surprised that she had figured it out so quickly.  I was about to disclose who our parents were when she held out a hand.  "Wait a second, let me guess,"  She paused. "Hectate," she said to me.  "Ares," Jenna nodded.  "And... Apollo?"

"How.." Neo paused.  "Athena?"  Annabeth nodded.  

"So..." Annabeth looked around and the fact that she was in Tartarus seemed to finally set in, overwhelming the shock.  She hunched and leaned into Percy, almost for protection.

"Wait, what was that barrier?  Where are you guys from?"  She looked at Percy.  "How are you alive?"

"You have wings?" Jenna exclaimed, apparently no longer able to hold it in.  Percy flushed a little and rubbed the back of his neck.  Just in the past few minutes, I'd seen more emotion from him then in the rest of the time I'd known him.

Percy looked around.  "I think we all have some explaining to do."

  • • •  

Percy and Annabeth, hand in hand, lead the way back to the house.  As it came into view, I noticed Annabeth's scrutiny.  She turned to face me.  

"Did you guys make this place?" She asked, not seeming overly impressed.  I thought back to the day it had all started.  It seemed so long ago, yet it felt like only yesterday.  I had been immature and under prepared for what was to face me.  The terror was constantly consuming me, and it had reached an almost unbearable level.  That was when it had happened.  I was trudging across up a hill, on an endless journey to no where, when I just fell.  Everything turned black, yet I still was conscience in a weird way.  I hadn't been too tired or malnourished, and even now I felt fine despite the lack of feeling in my body.  A tingling sensation had suddenly began to cover my body, like the feeling in a foot after it had fallen asleep.  A voice filled my head, "Take care of this place.  You will be safe.  Take in others like yourself.  One day, you will have a chance to redeem yourselves."  I had woken to find myself in the entrance of the cottage, and had stayed ever since.  

I looked over at Annabeth, recovering from my little remembrance of the past.  "No, I found it.  Why?"  She looked back.

"Structurally speaking, not bad.  Could use a few touch ups here and there, but for the materials provided it's pretty good."  She said, her eyes almost glazed over as she spoke.  

Jenna, who had been eavesdropping from next to Neo, sped up to be next to me.  "Who is this girl?" She whispered, and I only shrugged.

"I guess we'll have to just find out."  We entered the house, and Percy immediately lead Annabeth to the couches in the living room.  

"How," she asked.  "Couches?"  The rest of the group.  Of course I'd questioned the amenities we had, but I decided to just not worry about it and be happy I wasn't currently digesting in some monster's stomach.  She sighed, appearently just deciding to go along with the weirdness.  "So," she sat gingerly on the couch, almost as if she was afraid it would collapse.  "What in the world is going on?"