The Missing Gods

Chapter 10 - We Need a Map

I didn't know how much time had passed before I finally woke up, could have been days, hours, or even minutes. When I finally came to, I realized I was clutching something hard in my arms and that it was starting to emit a strange burning smell. Dazed, I looked down and found that I was still holding the master bolt, which was the source of the odd smell, since it had started burning a hole through my jacket. I let go of it gently, letting it roll to my side as I tried to sit up, aching all over.

It felt like I had just gone through ten rounds with a cyclops, and I probably didn't look that great either. The hair on my arms had been singed off, and just by touching my hair, it felt like it was slightly charred. I didn't even want to know whether my eyebrows had made it through.

As I came to my senses, I started remembering what happened, and let out a small gasp when I realized Annabeth wasn't touching me anymore. It felt like I was sitting on a hard surface, but when I looked around, the air around me shifted and blurred, most likely due to a concussion, so I couldn't see my surroundings.

"Annabeth," I weakly rasped, trying to ignore the shooting pains in my ribcage. I couldn't hear anything, which made me uncomfortable since I also couldn't see anything. I reached up to touch my ear and my hand came away with crusted blood, which I hastily wiped on my jeans. I guessed that we probably shot so fast into the air that the pressure made my eardrums burst, which sucked because I kind of need them. I looked around again, this time more slowly, wondering if I was on a mountain, and where Annabeth had ended up. I chided myself, knowing I should have held onto her more tightly.

The air shifted again and I saw the remnants of a backpack about ten feet to my right. My heart leapt, but my stomach sank, hoping that the damage was from the fall rather than a hungry monster, and that Annabeth was intact and fine somewhere nearby. Gathering all my strength, I started doing this weird butt-shuffle thing towards the backpack, dragging the master bolt along, and hoping that no one would think to Iris-Message me right now.

Nearing the pack, I saw the trident snagged in one of the gnarled and burned straps, which I quickly wriggled free, still searching for the helm of darkness and any sign of Annabeth. I yelled her name a couple more times, until I realized that we could both be yelling for each other right now, not that either of us could hear it.

Suddenly I saw the helm, only a few inches away from my foot, and snatched it up quickly, wondering why I missed it earlier. I focused my eyes on that same spot, and realized that it wasn't my concussion affecting my eyes, the air was actually moving. It was like someone turned my surroundings on vibrate mode and forgot to turn it off. The air shifting and shimmering, sometimes allowing me to see fifty feet into the distance, and sometimes only a few inches. I felt disoriented suddenly, and started wildly looking around, searching for Annabeth.

I screamed. Something soft brushed the back of my neck, and before I could swipe Riptide in the air, a hand yanked my arm back, making my ribs white-hot with pain.

"What the—" I said, holding my ribs with one hand and struggling with the person behind me. Suddenly the hand on my arm disappeared, and a lock of blonde hair caught me full on in the mouth.

"Annuhbef," I yelled, hair still in my mouth as she slowly dragged her body around mine. She looked so beautiful, I almost didn't notice how injured she was. Almost.

She shook her head and pointed at her ears, which were caked with half-dried blood. Her arm was around her leg, holding a splint above a very nasty looking gash. I winced, knowing I probably didn't look much better.

We spent the next few moments frustratingly miming at each other, me trying to tell her about my ribs, with her motioning toward our left. After six attempts and me still staring at her blankly, she just rolled her eyes and gave up, reaching out to touch my ear. I could feel her fingertips, but my brain decided that was the time to clock out, so I drooped to my left and tried to ignore my painful wooziness and urge to vomit all over Annabeth.

She yanked the torn bookbag out of my hands and started searching. After finding nothing but holes, she started combing the ground around us with her hands. I watched her through my eyelashes, afraid to move or else the lump in my throat would give us a tasty treat that even Grover wouldn't eat.

Annabeth's hand darted out and she turned toward me with a wicked gleam in her eyes, my dad's trident in her lap. I perked up, realizing what she was doing, and allowed her to take my hand. She placed it on the trident and we waited for a few minutes until she finally spoke.

"Percy?" She whispered.

"I can hear you!" I said. She shook her head; she still couldn't hear me. Her voice sounded like she was talking through a wall. Like when you hold a seashell up to your ear, you can hear the ocean. Annabeth sounded like she was on a long distance collect call through a sea shell.

My head cleared up enough to get a clearer look of our surroundings, but it wasn't much better than before. The air was definitely vibrating though, and playing weird tricks on my eyes. It was like we were nowhere or in between. Like the DMV, I guess.

I couldn't even tell what type of ground we were sitting on or if it was snow, rock, or dirt. I looked up to find Annabeth gazing around us, surveying our surroundings as well, but she didn't seem to like the view.

"We have to get going," she said, tightening the splint around her leg and use my head as a stepladder. I grumbled; it wasn't like she could hear me anyway.

After she helped me to my feet, both of us wobbling dangerously, I tied my torn jacket around my ribcage, dulling a third of the pain. Holding the master bolt in one hand and the helm in the other, I tried to ignore the hair on my arms rising from the electricity in the bolt.

Annabeth gingerly carried the trident, putting her other arm around my waste to brace her leg. Together we limped off to see if there was food to eat or monsters to kill.