10.2- Above the Pit that leads to Tartarus-PJO:
Annabeth ventured closer to what seemed like a tiny cavern with an opening in the ground. She waited anxiously for Percy to come because they had agreed to fight together like they had always done. Until then, she'd find out whether that apparent cavern was safe or not. "Hey, there you are, I've been looking for you", came a voice from behind her just as she had stepped closer to the opening. She turned around and saw Percy smiling at her. She ran to him, and they hugged each other before a low rumbling sound broke them apart. The rocks next to the opening that was near them started shaking, softly at first, then with growing intensity. The rocks started falling in the hole, which was now widening. Annabeth started dragging Percy back, but it was too late. The ground underneath their feet crumbled, and the darkness took them both. They were falling, slow and steady. As they held hands, they looked at each other very gravely, for they knew what lay below them. They had done this fall before, and it was painful to remember. Then, a portal appeared below them, which turned the nine-day fall into a few more minutes of free-falling. The chute opened up into a new cavern, one that Annabeth remembered she had thought could fit the entire island of Manhattan. Blood-red clouds were all around them, and the bottom was not too far away, full of jagged mountains and pits on fire. They saw the river of Lamentation below them, a black squiggly line snaking through the land. 'Cocytus', Annabeth thought. She landed in the freezing water, and both Percy and her kicked upward towards the surface before swimming against the current towards the sandy riverbank. They gasped and sputtered as they crawled onto shore. Both of them were breathing very heavily when their nightmares had come true, haunting memories of them being trapped in Tartarus, where they were at the moment. Annabeth hugged Percy tight, because both of them needed each other's touch to distract from the horrors they had gone through when they were younger. Suddenly, Annabeth saw Percy glance up, and she started hearing yells from far, far away. 'The other Tributes', she thought. Percy looked at her, and she saw worry in his eyes "We have to get away from here." "No crap, Seaweed Brain. Let's go.", they ran away from the chute they had just gone through and ran until they found a rock formation that they could use as a miniature fort complete with a blockade. If need be. This was also a good viewpoint to watch the approaching Tributes, which is what Annabeth signalled to Percy to do. They looked on as the other Tributes crawled their way out of the river, then ran to different places, careful not to fall into the flaming chasms. Before Annabeth and Percy could go track them down, however, they noticed a low hissing sound near them. Annabeth mouthed "Be still" to Percy, and so they waited. All of a sudden, clawed hands started appearing outside the cracks of the rock formation. The talons were growing, and the faces of the things those twisted hands belonged to were no less scary. "Empousai", Annabeth managed to breathe out in fear. They had flaming hair, pale skin, and red eyes. All complete with needle-sharp fangs. In addition, they had mismatched legs. She could see Percy trying not to laugh at the bronze leg and the donkey leg, but had to give him credit for not being seduced by the beautiful women in front of him. 'What a keeper', she thought as she smiled to herself. The Empousai had spotted prey, and had turned back into human form. Annabeth and Percy weren't fooled. One of the Tributes, on the other hand, was entranced. He walked towards these ancient vampires quite unsuspectingly... And they lured him in, closer, closer, beckoning to him. Annabeth immediately recognized who it was "Day", she told Percy. When Day got close to the Empousai, they switched back to their regular form, and used their talons to shred Day. He screamed, but it was too late. A cannon went off, and Annabeth grabbed Percy and ran away. The Empousai were busy snacking on Day's remains to notice them, and she pulled Percy into a gate she had just spotted. The gate opened when they shook it, and inside it was another portal. A split second later, Percy and Annabeth had left Tartarus and were headed back to the main arena... Something Day would never do.
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