𝙩𝙪 𝙢𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙨 - p. jackson [₂]

𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒙𝒙𝒗𝒊𝒊𝒊.

―✧―

𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍 𝐓𝐖𝐎 𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐔𝐓𝐄𝐒 𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐑, 𝐖𝐄 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐕𝐎𝐈𝐂𝐄𝐒.

the three of us were dragging ourselves along the banks of the river. i was still hungry, and thirsty, but of course the river did nothing for that. i suppose it's the sort of thing that just keeps you alive so you can face the next punishment this place has to offer.

my head rested on percy's arm as i tried to keep myself from collapsing.

"get down!" annabeth whisper-yelled.

she pulled us behind the nearest boulder. i had to wedge myself so close against the riverbank that my shoes almost touched the river's fire. i was already in hell, but if i had to walk through it barefoot, i might actually die.

on the other side, in the narrow path between the river and the cliffs, voices snarled, getting louder as they approached from upstream.

i tried to steady my breathing, hoping i didn't sound like an asthmatic who just went up seven flights of stairs. 

the voices sounded vaguely human, but that meant nothing. pretty much everything in tartarus was the enemy. honestly, i didn't even know how the monsters could have failed to spot us already. monsters could smell demigods — especially powerful ones like percy, the son of poseidon. i doubted that hiding behind a boulder would do any good when the monsters caught our scent. 

still, as the monsters got nearer, their voices didn't change in tone. their uneven footsteps — scrap, clump, scrap, clump — didn't get any faster.

"soon?" one of them asked in a raspy voice, as if she'd been gargling in the phlegethon.

"oh my gods!" said another voice. this one sounded much younger and much more human, like a teenaged mortal girl getting exasperated with her friends at the mall. for some reason, she sounded way too familiar for comfort. "you guys are totally annoying! i told you, it's like three days from here."

percy gripped my wrist. he looked at me with alarm, as if he recognized the mall girl's voice too. annabeth's face went pale, indicating she also knew the voice. my brain began going through all the monsters we faced together. unfortunately, there were a lot.

there was a chorus of growling and grumbling. the creatures — maybe half a dozen — had paused just on the other side of the boulder, but still they gave no indication that they'd caught our scent.

i wondered if demigods didn't smell the same in tartarus, or if the other scents here were so powerful, they masked a demigod's aura.

"i wonder," said a third voice, gravelly and ancient like the first, "if perhaps you do not know the way, young one."