Percy In Tartarus

1: A Very Hard Fall

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Word Count: 2,920 words

POV: Annabeth

Chapter 1: A Very Hard Fall

Annabeth had seen some strange things before, having been privy to the mythological world since she was only seven years old.

One of the things strangest – and cruelest – she could name off the top of her head was her first time at Camp Half-Blood, when she witnessed her best friend die and then be turned into a pine tree. She'd also seen the Stoll brothers pull off pranks that increasingly defied the laws of physics. Not to mention, there was that time when she had even seen her boyfriend be turned into a guinea pig by a vengeful sorceress. And yet, that wasn't even half of the stuff she had to deal with on the daily.

But if there was one thing she had never witnessed before, it was cars raining from the sky. If she was being honest, it wasn't as cool as it sounded.

Like, three out of ten.

Would not recommend.

As the roof of the cavern collapsed, beams of sunlight came through, blinding Annabeth. Through it all she caught a glimpse of the Argo II.

It had used its ballistae to blast a hole straight through the ground.

Giant chunks of asphalt tumbled down, along with six or seven cars. One would have crushed the Athena Parthenos, but luckily the statue's glowing aura acted as a force field, and the car bounced off.

Unfortunately, that car fell toward Annabeth.

She launched herself to the side to avoid it and accidentally rolled her bad ankle. Pain washed through her, making her lightheaded. She was able to flip onto her back just in time to see a bright red sports car slam straight into Arachne's silk trap, punching through the cavern floor and disappearing with the Chinese spider-cuffs.

As Arachne fell, she screamed like a freight train on collision course.

More chunks of debris and cars slammed through the floor, riddling it with holes. The Athena Parthenos remained undamaged, but the marble under its pedestal was a starburst of fractures.

When everything settled and debris stopped falling, Annabeth was finally able to calm down and take stock of the situation. Her body throbbed like one giant bruise, her ankle was on fire, and she was covered in Arachne's silk. Above her, the Argo II hovered, slowly descending. Annabeth absentmindedly trailed the strands of leftover spider silk from her arms and legs like the strings of a marionette. The cavern floor looked like a punch-card, the surrounding area was ruined, and Arachne had been pushed into the chasm, but amazingly, somehow, none of the debris had hit Annabeth.

She wanted to believe that it had been the statue of her mother that had protected her, but bitterly, she suspected it may have been nothing but luck.

Around her, the army of spiders had disappeared.

Either they had fled back into the shadows, or they had fallen into the chasm along with Arachne, and there was no lost love from Annabeth for either option.

As natural light flooded the cavern, Arachne's silk tapestries along the wall crumbled to dust. Annabeth could hardly bear to watch it, especially when the tapestry depicting Percy and her kissing underwater turned to nothing.

But none of it mattered the moment Annabeth heard her boyfriend calling from above.

"Annabeth!"

"Here!" She sobbed. "Over here!"