Thalia examined the map carefully. They were next up after Annabeth's group, and of course, she was nervous as ever. Leo blasting "Girl on Fire" through loudspeakers wasn't helping her calm down one bit.
"WILL YOU SHUT THAT THING OFF?!" she yelled.
"NO!" Leo screamed back before chairs fell, their wooden legs hitting the floor with a 'thunk'.
"THIS GIRL IS ON FIREEE!" he sang.
"Gods, make it stop..." Thalia whispered, slamming her palms on her ears. It didn't stop.
Ever since Annabeth, Nico, and Frank had left, it had been just pure chaos through the whole day. Honestly, she felt left out as the only "newbie", though others tried to tell her that she was at the same level as they were.
She didn't believe that.
"EVERYBODY STARES AS SHE GOES BY!"
Okay, she had enough of the song. Deciding she was going to shit on his parade, she grabbed the electricity cord and yanked it, effectively creating a power outage on the ship. The music stopped blaring and Leo's whine was louder than the music itself.
"HEY!" he yelled.
Thalia sighed, walking out of the room, thankful for the silence. That's when Leo got out his pre-recorded song of Alicia Keys.
"Luckily, I still have you," he sighed, pressing the play button. "THIS GIRL IS ON FIREEE!"
A colorful flow of curse words flew out of her mouth as she stormed over to the only quiet place on the ship. Percy's room. Slamming the door, she almost forgot that he was asleep. He stirred in his sleep, but said nothing as he went still again. Thalia winced when she saw the wounds littering his body. His neck had a line around it oozing blood, several burn marks on his skin, and some nasty gashes on his legs and arms.
"I'm sorry, Percy..." she whispered as she held his hand. "OW!"
She yelped as a shocking feeling went through her and she pulled her hand away. But Percy's hand was gripped on hers like it was a lifeline, his grasp tighter than anything imaginable.
"You okay, Thalia?" Hazel's voice called from outside the door.
"Y-Yeah!" Thalia yelled. "I'm okay!"
When the footsteps faded, she took a look at her arm, still firmly in Percy's grasp. That's when he suddenly changed his grip in his sleep to press down on the nerves.
"Wha--" Thalia started but he had pressed down on a certain part of her hand and the world flipped as her head hit the cot Percy was on.
The world disappeared into black after that as she passed out.
Thalia came to in a place that smelled like dog poop. Opening her electric blue eyes, she sat up to realize that she was in some pit. The trees dripped weird saps that sizzled when they touched the floor. She reached for her shield only to realize that it wasn't with her. Feeling around for her locket, she realized that wasn't on her either.
"What the--" she started when a sword came flying at her.
She moved out just in time before the bronze sword flew and hit the tree, chopping it effectively off.
"OW!" a boy's voice yelled as a thud sounded nearby.
Thalia, ignoring her own thoughts, ran over to the sound of the thump. She saw... Percy. His whole body had cuts and scrapes all over it, but now, a new one came as a large line appeared around his waist, the cut gushing blood.
"Percy!" she gasped.
"Who... Who are you?!" he yelled, trying to get up.
"No. Percy, stay down," Thalia pushed him gently back onto the floor. Then, it hit her. He didn't know who she was. "Percy... what?"
"I said... who are you?"
"Percy look at my face," Thalia motioned to it.
"Thals?"
"Yes, you Seaweed Brain!"
"What are you doing here?" Percy's face was full of horror as he stared at her.
"I don't know! I was standing in your bedroom a few moments ago holding your hand before you literally grasped it like it was your lifeline. Next thing I know, I'm here."
"Weird..." Percy frowned. "But you have to get out of here."
"What? Why?"
"Thalia, this is the living pit of HELL. Do you really think people choose do be down here? The only people who live here are evil and evil people do evil things..."
"Then why are you down here?"
"The curse sends me down here," Percy muttered. "I'm currently being hunted by every person in this f**king pit. You get a picture of my luck? Now get out before they curse you, too."
"What do you mean--" Thalia started before she heard a roar.
Percy's eyes flashed with fear. Then, he slapped her.
"Perseus--"
He slapped her again. And again. And again, before the whole pit seemed to fade. Percy raced up a tree as a beast ran into clearing. That's when Thalia woke up with her head pressed against the cot.
She stared in alarm to see that Percy had let go of her hand now. But to her horror, a wound was on his stomach. The exact same one she'd seen in her dream. Then, she realized it wasn't a dream.
Percy's subconsciousness wounds weren't just in his mind. They followed him to the land of the living.
"We're nearing Greece!" Leo called. "Sorry, I kinda didn't follow Annabeth's directions. I can't fly Festus when the wind's blowing against us."
Thalia sighed, getting up.
"I'll be back, Perce," she promised before running out of the door.
Hazel was already waiting, her backpack strapped on expertly.
"You're gonna jump out of the ship."
Thalia almost choked. "What?!"
"You're jumping off, since we can't afford to waste time by landing."
"B-But--" Thalia started but Hazel had strapped the parachute on her.
"Go before you miss Greece! You're right above the destination!" Leo shoved her and Hazel down and Thalia let out a scream as she fell through the sky.
"AHHH!"
Hazel grabbed her parachute string, but Thalia was frozen with fear.
"PULL THE STRING!" Hazel screamed, grabbing her and pulling her string before she was out of range.
Being lifted in the air wasn't fun. Especially when a seagull could've just pooped in her face.