Annabeth squirmed against the giant fist, but the more she struggled, the fist got even tighter. Annabeth could hardly breath now, and she was getting lightheaded.
Percy was fighting the cyclops, with Luke and Leo by his side. Percy stabbed the monster in the stomach, and golden ichor flowed from the wound. The cyclops roared in pain, and he let go of Annabeth. She fell to the floor, but quickly stood back up, picking up her sword.
Annabeth pointed his sword at the monster, but he ran towards the glass floor, still carrying Piper. Annabeth ran after the cyclops, but it was too late. The monster had already smashed through the floor, with Piper still in his grasp. Annabeth gasped. Gaea had a girl and a boy demigod. She would spill their blood on Olympus. She could rise now, and they couldn't stop her.
"No." Annabeth whispered, trying not to cry.
"Help!" She heard a familiar voice call out.
Annabeth ran in the direction the voice came from. She looked down through the broken glass floor, and gasped in shock. Piper was hanging onto the edge of the floor with her fingertips, with the cyclops still hanging on her leg.
Annabeth quickly grabbed Piper's hand as it slipped from the edge of the floor. All the weight dragged her forward through the broken floor, but somebody grabbed her hand just before she could go tumbling through the sky. Percy yelled through his teeth with effort, as he tried to hold them up.
Annabeth knew he was strong, but she knew that he couldn't hold them for long. Then he fell forward. Percy, Annabeth, Piper, and the cyclops tumbled through the sky. Annabeth heard the cyclops splash into the water below them, and she knew it was only a matter of seconds before they hit the water too. She knew that hitting water from that high would definitely kill them.
Just before they hit the water, she was cushioned by a ball of air. Then she remembered that Percy was a son of Poseidon. How could she forget? Suddenly, Annabeth could breath again. She opened her eyes, and caught her breath. She was in a bubble of air, under the water. Percy's doing, obviously.
Piper was lying safely beside her, and Percy was sitting in front of her, smiling.
"Works every time." He laughed.
Annabeth smiled, and leaned forward, kissing Percy on the lips. She pulled away as she heard Piper laughing. Annabeth blushed, and punched Piper in the arm playfully.
"Shut up, Pip--" Annabeth was tugged out of the bubble of air by her ankle, and pulled deeper into the water. She struggled against the attacker, trying desperately to get more air, but she was pulled deeper into the ocean. Suddenly, she saw Percy swimming towards her, his sword drawn, and he swiped at her attacker.
Annabeth realized that it was the cyclops pulling her under. How had he not died from the impact? Annabeth didn't have time to figure it out, because the cyclops let go of her leg, and she tried to swim to the surface. She was at least fifty feet under the water, when she started to feel lightheaded.
Annabeth's lungs burned. She needed to breath, but she couldn't move. She was giving up hope. Her vision began to blacken, as she thought that this would be a dumb way to die.
Annabeth felt a tug on her arm, and soon she was being pulled towards the surface. She looked up, and realized it was Piper pulling her up. Piper started to get slower and slower, and eventually, she stopped swimming, her face looking pale in the dark water. They were still at least thirty feet under the water. There was no way they could reach the surface alive.
Piper suddenly tried to swim upwards again, squirming more than paddling. Annabeth knew that Piper was trying so hard to keep them both alive, and suddenly, Annabeth was so glad she had a friend as great as Piper. She would never give up. She was so confident that they could live.
Suddenly Annabeth felt a burst of energy, and she started to swim upwards even faster than before. They reached the surface, and they both gasped for breath, trying to stay afloat. Annabeth had never been so happy to be breathing again in her entire life. She promised to herself that she would never go swimming again.
Annabeth looked around, and noticed that Piper was nowhere to be seen. Just before she could start to panic, Piper broke the surface a couple feet away from her, gasping for air. She was paddling frantically, and her head kept bobbing under the water. Annabeth wondered if Piper could swim or not, but she had seen her swimming before. Why couldn't she do it now?
Then Annabeth remembered that Piper's hands were still tied together. She couldn't swim like that. Annabeth quickly swam over to Piper, knowing that Piper could go under at any second. She tried to keep them both above water, but she couldn't do it. Every time she tried to keep Piper up, she went underwater, and every time she tried to keep herself up, Piper went underwater.
Annabeth decided that she would just have to untie Piper's hands. Then she remembered that she had left her sword up on the Argo II. She tried to untie it, but it was tied really tight.
"Annabeth..... My.... dagger." Piper said in between breaths.
Annabeth quickly reached for Piper's dagger, but it wasn't there either. "Piper, it's not there!" Annabeth said, starting to panic. Piper was starting to paddle slower, and she went under more often. Finally, she took one last breath, and she sunk like a rock. Annabeth waited for her to pop back up, but she didn't.
Annabeth frantically dove under a few feet, and looked around for Piper, but she was nowhere to be seen. Soon, Percy popped up out of the water, and smiled at her.
"Percy! You have to help Piper! Her hands are still tied together, she can't swim!" Annabeth told him, panicking.
Percy closed his eyes in concentration, and soon, Piper broke the surface, gasping for air. Percy quickly cut the the rope with Riptide, and piper's hands were free.
"Th-- thanks." Piper shivered.
Annabeth was starting to notice how cold the water was. She was chilled to the bone, and soon she started to shiver too. Percy just kept smiling, and he started to splash Annabeth and Piper. They splashed him back, but Percy just made the water turn around, and hit them instead.
"You cheater!" Annabeth laughed, trying to splash him again.
After they stopped laughing, Percy raised his hands, and the water shot them back up to the deck of the Argo II. Percy landed on his feet, but Piper and Annabeth both fell flat on their faces. Percy laughed at them, and Annabeth punched him in the arm. She got up, and tried to help Piper up, but she gasped in pain when Annabeth pulled on her arm.
"Ow." Piper said, staggering to her feet.
"I think you dislocated your arm when you were holding on to the ledge. You were holding a lot of weight." Annabeth said helping Piper stand. "You probably dislocated your leg too, with that cyclops hanging off of it and all."
Piper groaned. "That explains why I can't feel my leg." Piper tried to walk forward, but gasped in pain. "Never mind. I can feel it now."
Annabeth caught Piper just before she fell face forward onto the deck.
"Are you okay, Piper?" Annabeth said cautiously.
Piper attempted to stand up again. "Yeah, I'm fi--" Piper collapsed to the deck, completely knocked out.
Leo laughed. "Um, I think she swallowed too much seawater."
Leo, Calypso, and Luke had just come up to the deck just as Piper collapsed. Luke playfully ruffled Leo's hair, and Leo laughed, shoving him away. Annabeth smiled at the two of them. They had been getting along really well with each other. They were so much alike in a lot of ways.
They were both funny and forgiving. They played lots of pranks, they told jokes, they were so loyal. Except that Luke had betrayed them and joined sides with Kronos. But Luke was still so... different. His smile was so comforting to Annabeth. She didn't know why, but she felt so safe around him. Like when Percy is next to her, she feels safe because he's so powerful and strong. But with Luke... She just felt so... safe. But not because he's powerful or strong, but because he was just so protective of her. Like when he jumped in front of her to take an arrow, or when he fought the dragon. He was just so warm. But Annabeth was scared that he would turn on them again. She didn't want to lose him again.
"Helloooooooo!" Leo yelled, snapping his fingers in front of Annabeth's face.
She came back to reality, but was still staring straight ahead of her. "What?" Annabeth said, coming out of her daze. Annabeth looked at her watch, and realized she had been lost in thought for over ten minutes.
Leo rolled his eyes. "I said, Piper won't go to sleep. She's afraid that she's gonna have dreams of... you know, Tartarus."
Annabeth had almost forgot that Piper had been there too. All by herself. Annabeth couldn't imagine what it would have been like without Percy there. She would have drown right away without Percy, or Arachne would have killed her. She would have never survived Tartarus alone. She wondered how Piper had.
Annabeth shrugged. "I'll go talk to her." Then she walked down the steps, and into the hall. She stopped in front of Piper's door, and knocked softly.
"Who is it?" She heard Piper yell through the door.
"Uh, it's Annabeth." Annabeth responded.
"Hold on a sec." Piper called back, and Annabeth could hear the ruffling of paper, and a drawer close. Then she heard footsteps, and Piper cracked open the door. "What is it?"
Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Piper, you have to sleep sometime. You can't stay awake forever."
Piper pursed her lips. "I'm not tired."
Annabeth sighed. "Piper, I know it's hard. I know what it feels like to--"
Piper shook her head. "No you don't, Annabeth. Someone was there for you. Someone to hold you in their arms when you were scared. Someone to comfort you, to keep you safe. Someone to protect you. Someone who would never leave your side." Piper said, a tear rolling down her cheek. "I had no one." Then she silently closed the door, and Annabeth stood there in silence.
Annabeth felt so guilty. Like it was her fault that Piper had gone to Tartarus alone. But then Annabeth wondered if It was her fault. It was her fault Piper had died. If she hadn't died, would she still have gone to Tartarus?
Suddenly she heard Someone in pipers room cry out in pain, and a loud thud. "No! Stop it Gaea!" She heard Piper yell, the tone of her voice suggesting she was crying.
"Piper? Are you okay?" Annabeth asked, turning the door handle. It was locked.
"Let him go!" Piper screamed from inside of the room. "Don't hurt him!"
DO NOT DISAPPOINT ME, OR HE WILL DIE! I HAVE ALREADY KILLED THAT STUPID GUARDIAN OF YOURS, I WILL NOT HESITATE WITH THIS BOY! Gaea's voice rang inside the room.
"P--Piper." Said a raspy voice. "Don't you dare try to--" There was another yell of pain, but it was cut short, and Annabeth could hear Piper sobbing.
"Piper! What's wrong!? Let me in!" Annabeth said, pounding on the door. "Piper!"
She banged on the door, and kicked it, until it finally swung open. Piper was curled up in the middle of her bed with her head in her hands, sobbing.
"Piper! What's wrong?!" Annabeth asked, running to Piper's side.
"He's dead! She killed him!" Piper cried, keeping her head in her hands. "It's all my fault."
Annabeth froze. Who was dead? She almost didn't want to know, but she was too worried. "Piper, who did Gaea kill?" Annabeth said slowly, putting a hand on Piper's shoulder.
Piper looked up at Annabeth. "Gaea killed my dad." She said, her voice wobbling, and her lip quivering. Then she quickly put her head back in her hands, and she began to sob even louder. Annabeth felt so sad inside. For Piper. She had just died, went through Tartarus, came back from the dead, almost drown, and then Gaea had to go and kill her dad.
Annabeth's eyes teared up, and her own lip quivered. "Piper... I'm so... I'm sorry." Annabeth said, hugging Piper. Piper hugged her back, sobbing into her shirt. After a while, Annabeth's arms started to get numb, but she didn't care. She just wanted Piper to have someone. Jason was gone, so Annabeth decided to be the one who would be there for Piper. Annabeth would hold Piper in her arms when she was scared. She would comfort her, and keep her safe. She would protect her. Someone who would never leave her side.
If Annabeth could help it, she would never let anything bad happen to Piper again.
And she swore it on the River Stix.