Sacrifice, Version 2

“We’re almost there!” Percy shouted. “Come on, just a bit farther.”

  Annabeth hobbled along as best she could on her still-wounded ankle and glanced up at her boyfriend. He was gasping for air—they both were—and his sea-green eyes were wild like a caged animal’s. His black hair, which was always a mess, was even messier now from so much time spent in the Pit. He was covered in dirt, and there was a thin scratch along his jaw. It was bleeding slowly.

  Annabeth looked over her shoulder at the monsters behind them. Several winged… things were circling overhead, calling down from above as if alerting the other monsters to the demigods’ location. Her heart constricted. True, they were almost to the Doors—Annabeth could see her friends on the other side, calling to them—but the monsters were getting closer. At this pace, wounded and tired and drained as they were, they’d never get there in time.

  “Hurry!” one of their friends screamed. Annabeth wanted to slap someone. Like they needed to be told to hurry.

  An arrow zipped over her head, probably shot by Frank, and an anguished wail sounded somewhere behind her. Annabeth knew it wouldn’t do much more than annoy whatever monster it had hit. Down here, everything reformed almost instantly.

  They hobbled along like they were doing a three-legged race, trotting forward to the rhythm of Percy muttering “come on, come on” under his breath. They were both visibly starting to panic. Percy was panting, inhaling the mirk and the smoke and the choking dust that was always in the Tartarus air. Annabeth struggled to breathe herself, but the gasses were thick and the more tired she became, the more air she needed, and the more air she breathed, the more tired she became. It was a viscious circle.

  Her ankle throbbed, stabs of pain shooting up her leg with every step, making the pain receptors in her brain light up a burning red. Somewhere along the line, she’d cracked a rib, and drinking from the Phlegethon had seared her throat, which certainly didn’t help her breathing problem. Her hands were raw and cracked, shaking from the pain. It was getting harder to think.

  Percy wasn’t in much better shape. It seemed that at this point, the only thing that kept him going was their proximity to the Doors and the hope of escape. His own hands were burned as well, blood seeping out through the blisters as he kept Annabeth on her feet through willpower and his strength alone. His left arm had been broken in a nasty fall, and it was now twisted at a strange angle, a piece of bone protruding near his elbow.

  “Hurry up!” Piper and Hazel screamed.

  They were less than a hundred yards away now. Annabeth poured on the speed as best she could, but it was a mistake.

  A rock that she could have sworn wasn’t there a minute ago appeared in her path. She tripped on it, landing hard on her bad ankle. She shrieked in pain.

  “Annabeth!” Percy shouted. He nearly fell as Annabeth hit the ground.

  Behind them, one of the monsters let out an evil hiss, like a laugh. More arrows flew by overhead, hitting monster after monster, but it was doing next to nothing.

  Annabeth shook. She couldn’t hold herself up because of the burns on her hand, and neither could her feet support her. Tears swam in her eyes as her vision alternately blurred and turned red.

  “Percy, go,” she muttered between clenched teeth. “Just get out of here.”

  He looked at her like she’d just suggested they walk to the moon. “Are you insane? We fell down here together. There’s no way I’m leaving without you.”

  She glared at him, angry now. “I told you to drop me.”

  Percy’s face changed so suddenly, Annabeth’s heart faltered. It had happened so fast, it reminded her of a freak storm out on the ocean. “YOU CAN’T DO THAT,” he shouted, getting right in her face. “YOU CAN’T ASK ME TO LET THE BEST THING THAT’S EVER HAPPENED TO ME DIE.”

  He moved to lift her up, but Annabeth knew that would only slow them down even more. She held back the sobs that were building in her chest and pushed him away, her own strength surprising her. His words had warmed her heart and broken it all at once, but she knew what had to happened.

  Somehow, she got to her feet, but it felt like holding the sky again. She stood unsteadily, drawing a knife that she’d found a while back. She turned and faced the monsters.

  They were close. The stench was horrible: like a thousand rotting corpses. Annabeth tried as best she could to avoid looking at them, but it wasn’t easy. Their howls grated on her ears, their hisses so high-pitched she almost couldn’t hear them. She faced the threat.  

  “Annabeth,” Percy whispered, his voice breaking. “What are you doing?”

  “Go, Percy. This is my quest, remember?”

  “Tartarus was never part of the quest!”

  Just then, Piper dashed out, her fellow demigods screaming behind her, and grabbed Percy by the arm. “Come on!” she urged, charmspeak thick on her voice. She latched onto Annabeth next, but before anything else could happen, Annabeth charged forward.

  Somehow, she ran on her shattered ankle, meeting the threat head on. She engaged the first monster—something that resembled a human and a dragon, and carried a sword. She slashed and jabbed at the monster, getting inside its guard as best she could, but as her adrenaline slowly faded, pain entered her mind once again.

  The creature got in a lucky shot, and Annabeth stumbled and cried out, falling to the ground. She was vaguely aware of Percy screaming his head off somewhere nearby, but she hardly noticed. Above her loomed the dragon-man, sword raised for the final strike, teeth glinting in an evil grin. Annabeth’s eyes slipped close. Hopefully, she’d bought Percy some time.

  She just wished she’d gotten a chance to tell him she loved him.

  The creature brought his sword down in a deadly arc, dark fire in his eyes. Annabeth braced herself for the blow… but it never came.

  Instead, there was the sound of two swords meeting and sliding against each other, a grunt, a howl, and the whisper of a monster dissolving. Annabeth opened her eyes.

  Percy was standing over her, his sword covered in monster dust. One hand was clutched to his stomach. He was breathing heavily. Blood seeped out from between his fingers and his legs shook.

  It took Annabeth several moments to comprehend what she was seeing. The best she could figure, he’d saved her, but the monster had stuck its hideous claws through his stomach. He collapsed to his knees.

  She remembered sreaming, clamboring over the rocky ground to reach him. Blood was spurting out of his wound at a deadly rate. His eyes were glazing over.

  “Why did you do that?” Annabeth sobbed, tears making rivers down her cheeks. “Why did you save me?”

  It took several deep breaths before Percy replied. “You would’ve… done the same… for me,” he gasped. You… you did do… the same for me.” He tried for a laugh, but it came out as a wet cough and blood streamed from his mouth.

   Annabeth could only cry harder. She remembered last summer, when she’d taken a knife for Percy, even though he was invulnerable. When he’d asked why, she’d said because he would have done the same for her.

   And here he was, dying in front of her, doing exactly what she’d always known he’d do. She leaned over him and kissed his forehead.

  The rest of the Seven surged forward, holding back the monsters as best they could. Someone poured nectar on Percy’s wound and together, Leo holding back the monsters with his firepower, they raced for the Doors.

*


  Hours later, Annabeth struggled to open her eyes. They were heavy and warm, like she had a fever and had slept for a week. To be honest, she probably had.

  Tartarus seemed like a distant memory. Distant, yes, but still very vivid. She shivered, remembering the horrible things she and Percy had seen in the Pit.

  Percy. Annabeth’s sore muscles contracted in worry. She sat up in bed as best she could and looked around.

  Fortunately, Percy was in the bed next to hers, a white bandage wrapped around his midsection. His eyelids were fluttering.

  Though her wounds were healing well, it was still a painful effort to swing her legs over the edge of the bed. She walked slowly, carefully, over to Percy and sat down next to him, just as his vibrant green eyes opened fully.

  Annabeth wanted to sob with relief, but her ruined throat scraped in protest.

  “Hey,” Percy murmured, his voice cracking. He smiled weakly.

   Annabeth grinned, tears gathering in her eyes. “You’re okay. You’re okay.”

  “I guess I don’t owe you anymore,” he whispered.

  She nodded, smoothing the tangled hair on his forehead. “Yeah. We’re even, Seaweed Brain.”

  He lifted one weak, scarred hand to her face and pulled her down toward him. Their lips connected gently, warmth spreading through Annabeth, all the way down to her toes.

  Percy pulled away slowly, clearly not wanting to stop kissing her, but not having enough strength to continue. He wrapped on of his girlfriend’s blond curls around his finger. “I love you, Wise Girl,” he whispered, his voice choked with emotion.

  Annabeth kissed his rough fingers. “I love you, too. You and me, right?”

  Even as his eyes were slipping closed once again, Percy smiled. “You and me.”