The House of Hades (Fan-Fiction)

Chapter 23

Monsters flooded in from all directions. Immediately Annabeth stood and rushed to her knife. She barely managed to have the knife in her hand before she had to slash the monsters around her. There were so many. Just faces and claws and teeth and warm bodies pressing against her, trying to kill her, trying to grab her. Something clawed at her face and a trickle of blood dribbled down her cheek. Something else pulled at her hair and her hair tie snapped. Her blond curls fell around her face, and she could feel her hair getting yanked by the roots. She cried out and was forced to the ground.

“No, please!” She looked up through her blurry vision to see only monsters glaring hungrily at her. “Don’t!”

Where was Percy? She scanned the monsters again and her heart pounded almost painfully in her chest.

Then she heard it. Someone screamed in defiance through the swarm of monsters. It was a scream of pain.

“Percy!” Annabeth managed to stand with difficulty. There was no way she could get to him without getting killed by the monsters. Panic expanded at her lungs.

No, a voice inside of her whispered, I’m a child of Athena. Calm down. You are going to have a plan. You’ll live through this attack. You’ll live to see another day.

She raised her knife. “I’ll live to see another day!” she cried as she rushed into the monsters. Her ankle was on fire, her vision was blurry, and she was weak, but she knew she could do this.

Monsters tried to claw at her, to bite her, to restrain her, but she just ducked and managed to keep running.

Then she saw him. Percy. He was struggling to stand. Blood was pulsing from his leg. A Laistrygonian was smiling, and he raised a club over his head.

“No!” Annabeth limped over. Percy looked up, his eyes yelling at her to run. The Laistrygonian looked pleased; it was obvious he wanted to kill.

The ogre swung his club. Being light on her feet, Annabeth jumped. The club passed only inches from her toes. When she landed, however, it was like breaking her ankle all over again. She gasped rather painfully and collapsed onto her stomach. Her knife clattered out of her hand and her backpack slid off. Revulsion hit all over again. She tried to swallow the bile taste in her mouth, her leg curling up so she could hold her ankle in agony.

The Laistrygonian stood above Annabeth, an ugly smile on his face. His club was ready to smash her skull, and she could do nothing. After all, she was just a weak daughter of Athena with no special powers of any sort.        

Before the ogre could smash her skull, he frowned like he was annoyed. Then poof! He hit the ground, just dust. The dust tried molding together, the shape of the monster coming back together.

Behind the dust stood Percy, blood staining his jeans, probably in pain, but he ran over and wrapped his arm around Annabeth’s waist.

“Look,” he said, pointing at the rock wall. There were small stones leading up to a small hole in the cavern ceiling. “If we can get up there I bet we can be safe.”

The monsters were surging forward. Annabeth just nodded. “Anything to get away,” she agreed.

Percy flashed a smile, tightening his hold on her waist. He then helped her to the wall and gave her a little push up. She grasped at the stones and began to heave herself up. The hole in the roof was about twenty feet up.

It was hard work. She grasped for a stone and her other hand slipped so she only hung on by one hand. Her feet dangled in open air and she screamed, “Percy, I’m slipping!”

Something pressed on the bottom of her sneaker and helped her good foot stand on a rock. “No you aren’t, Annabeth,” Percy said quietly. “Keep climbing.”

Breathing heavily, Annabeth grasped for another rock. Finally she grasped the ledge and pulled herself onto stable ground, twenty feet above the monsters. She lay on her back, trying to catch her breath, shaking all over. The monsters had almost grabbed her. She had almost died. She would live to see another day.

Percy pushed himself next to her. As he swung his legs to safety, the monsters howled from twenty feet below. The whole cavern shook dangerously, which meant the monsters were clawing at the rock walls with no avail.

“My plan worked,” Percy said with a smug smile, though it looked exhausted. “I’m a genius.”

“Hold still,” Annabeth said. She sat up and put her hands on his bloody wound. “You’re hurt…”

He flinched away from her touch, pain etched on his face. “No, Annabeth, it’s fine. I’m perfectly fine. Worry about yourself. I think you fractured your ankle again.”         

She looked down and saw her ankle bent at an awkward angle. The pain shooting up to her hip was the signal that her ankle was in bad shape.

“I know,” she sighed.

Percy opened his mouth to answer her.

Suddenly there was a low rumbling around them. Annabeth didn’t realize how dark this level of Tartarus was. It was like being in space without the sun. She knew the shaking wasn’t from the monsters below her- there was no noise. The rumbling was more powerful, something powerful stirring. But was it stirring from… sleep?

“Oh no…” Annabeth could feel her stomach tightening. She knew this power. “P… Percy…”

He saw her face, going from ghostly white to a pale green. His eyes widened in alarm. “Annabeth, what’s wrong?”

“K-K-”

“Kronos,” Percy breathed. “You think Kronos’s essence is scattered… here?” His breathing became jagged and fear was evident on his face.

Annabeth could only nod. “Maybe…” She stopped talking when she saw the black vapor. It was leading her away from the rumbling. “The black vapor is here.”

She turned to look at Percy and saw that he had passed out, probably from the blood loss. She frowned before firmly pressed her hands to his wound to stop the blood. Then she stayed on watch, her knife inches from her fingers.

It was going to be a long watch.

Please just... don't kill me! It's been almost a month since my last update, so my writing skills are a little rusty. I hope this is good enough for you c:

Leo: How bad is Kronos?

Kronos: Pretty bad. Wanna check?

Me: What Kronos said. I'm so glad Ricky owns him.

Leo: Hmm.

Kronos: Now run away or I kill you.

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*me and Leo run away screaming*

ANNOUNCEMENT: I'm getting kind of tired of questions, so instead you guys just comment and then I'll decide on the best comment! Best comment gets a dedication now! c:

This chapter is dedicated to joejoeisbored.

Guys, thanks so much for all the votes last chapter! 36! Seriously. Thanks for being patient with my slower updates, and I'm hoping the next chapter will be easier to write!

Mwah! - Megan c:

(Song you should listen to cause I'm listening to it now: Still The One by One Direction. c: mwahaha)