the new gods of olympus • percy jackson

Chapter 23: Settle Down

Chapter 23: Settle Down

Percy's POV

Annabeth and I walked silently next to each other, enjoying the comfort of each other's presences. And that's quite a lot of comfort when you're down here in Tartarus. I sighed deeply and reached down to grab a hold of her hand, squeezing it tightly.

Annabeth looked up at me and gave me a weak smile as she squeezed back.

We were all exhausted, the tiny part of mortal that was in us was showing through. We've been walking for hours, Nico had joined us about an hour ago. The House of Night seemed so close, but it was taking what seemed like a lifetime to get there. We had gotten to an empty cave, there was no monster blisters or anything harmful nearby, so we decided to go inside. It was completely barren, a little bit of red light shone through the cave entrance

"Let's settle down and have some rest, we can continue in a few hours," I announced, and there was a sigh of relief. For gods, we sure got tired easily. Jason volunteered to do first watch, so the rest of us began to mellow down.

We set up the sleeping bags that were in our backpacks and laid down on the cold floor. I laid down next to Annabeth in our giant sleeping bag, cuddling to her for warmth.

"For the first time in forever, I feel genuinely terrified," She whispered making my heart ache.

"We'll get through this Annabeth, we always do," I smiled down at her, bending down to give her a light kiss on the forehead.

"But it's different this time, we have three beautiful babies to go back to. I know we're immortal, but we can always fade," She trailed off, and my mind went to the triplets. Luke, Bianca, and Zoë were my world, along with Annabeth. We're doing this for them, so they have a beautiful and safe world to look over.

"We will defeat Tartarus, we will save our parents. We can do it Annabeth, we'll get through it." I smiled down at her, pressing a soft kiss to her lips. She tasted like ambrosia and lemon drops, a satisfying combination.

"Get some rest Wise Girl, I'll wake you when we leave," I kissed her forehead one more time, looking into her sleepy gray eyes before she closed her eyes, going to sleep nearly instantly. She's been under so much stress lately, with out trip to Tartarus, the war, and our triplets. She looking out deserves all the sleep she can get.

I sat laid there for a while, listening to the faint sound of the Acheron in the distance along with the roars of various monsters. It's certain not the ideal lullaby, especially when you have a trillion different thoughts and worries running through your mind.

The floor was getting uncomfortable, so I gently lifted Annabeth's head off my chest and placed it on the sleeping bag, before standing up and walking over to the entrance of the cave. Jason sat in the mouth of the cave, his golden sword in hand.

"Hey Bro," I said, plopping next to him. He laughed lightly, calling each other "bro" was a running joke between us two.

"Hey Bro," He replied, twirling his sword in his hand. We sat in silence for a little bit, looking out into the barren land.

"How did you guys do it? Being down here for so long, you guys weren't even gods yet," He trailed off, breaking the silence between us. I thought about it for a moment. We had this conversation before, I know it for sure. But this time, I was gonna answer honestly.

"We had each other, sounds cheesy I know," I added when I saw a smile developing on his face. "We were both so terrified, but the only thing keeping us alive was each other," I told him.

"We stick together always, no matter what." Jason stuck his hand out for a high five, and I laughed before returning the gesture.

"No matter what," I repeated.