Sea Green Eyes

Chapter 68

Cressida Lynn, died age 16.

She died of massive injuries that could've been avoided since she'd developed a fear of heights after falling or almost falling from so many.

She was an idiot that leapt into the abyss of Chaos and splattered on the entry hall floor of Nyx's mansion.

She wanted to die in a dramatic way, and there was nothing dramatic about falling, which she knew from experience as she'd done it several times.

She is survived by a brother, Pollux, who is presumably still alive if the Romans haven't destroyed their camp yet.

She also has a father, who is half out of his mind, but the sane half (the Greek half) wasn't happy about the way she died or that she died at all.

She would request that instead of flowers, that you please send donations and prayers to Camp Half-Blood, again, assuming it hasn't been destroyed by the Earth Mother either.

She also severely apologises for the death of Percy Jackson, but she can't exactly be blamed for that since the idiot was stupid enough to fall in love with her, follow her into Tartarus and now into the Chaos abyss.

She also groaned in pain when her feet hit a solid floor as she stumbled forward, yanking Percy after her.

"DON'T LOOK!" she shouted as her eyes were squeezed shut. She could feel the horrors that lay inside the mansion were designed to drive you mad, to make your mortal brain melt and that was the last thing they needed after their literal hail-Mary plan worked.

"Wasn't planning on it," he said. "You can feel that, right? We're still in the Mansion of Night. I do not want to see it."

"Smart man," she praised, because as stupid as he could be sometimes, his instincts were usually just as flawless as hers.

Above them in the dark, Nyx and her children scuffled and yelled, "I've got them! My foot! Stop it!"

They kept running as the e squabbling sounds of Nyx's children got farther away. That was good.

Percy's hand also had an iron grip on hers.

In the distance ahead of them, Cressida began to hear a throbbing sound, like her own heartbeat echoing back, amplified so powerfully, the floor vibrated underfoot. The sound filled her with dread, so she figured it must be the right way to go. She ran toward it.

They were still running blindly in darkness the throbbing got louder.

"You still with me?" Percy asked, panting for breath.

"I'm still with you," she assured him, and she was so sure they were close to an exit. She sensed the walls opening up on either side of them. The air smelled fresher—or at least not quite as sulphurous. There was another sound, too, closer than the deep pulsing...the sound of flowing water. If they could make it out of the Mansion of Night, maybe they could leave the dark brood of demons behind. She began to run faster, which would have meant her death if Percy hadn't stopped her.

"Cress!" he yelled as he pulled her back to his chest, wrapping her in his arms as she almost pitched forward into who-the-hell knew what kind of a drop-off. "It's ok," he promised. "It's ok. I got you."

She pressed her face into his shirt and kept her eyes closed tight. She was trembling, but not just from fear. Percy's embrace was so warm and comforting that she wanted to stay there forever, safe and protected...but that wasn't reality. She couldn't afford to relax. She couldn't lean on Percy any more than she had to. He needed her, too.

They could relax when they got the hell out of hell.

"Thanks for the save," she muttered, still clutching onto him, not that he was anxious to let go.