This is an alternate version to Percy and Annabeth's initial fall into Tartarus. I changed how things actually happened because I wrote it before the book actually came out. oops ;) but I dug up the file and decided to to post it! here's hoping you enjoy!

"You meet us there, Nico. Promise me. Meet us on the other side." Percy's voice was strong and authoritative voice of reason in this chaotic, deadly turn of events.

I-I... I promise." Nico's tiny voice just barely made it over the echo of the caverns.

Percy nodded once, satisfied, before returning his gave to Annabeth. It looked like he was trying to smile, but to Annabeth it just looked like a desperate grimace, "Together." he said, squeezing her hand a little.

She tried to smile, her desperate laugh a little watery. "Together." she agreed.

Annabeth looked one last time to the sky, to the blue, blue sky that held the sun and warmth and clouds and grass and sea. She looked to the sun with light and hope where she knew she might never get to be again. The thought terrified her and nearly sent her already uneven breath into shambles. She didn't want to think about that. She didn't want to think of how much she didn't want to go into Tartarus and how much she didn't want to go alone, but how much she wanted Percy to be with her at the same time. She didn't want to think of spiders, or riddles, or any of the shit that they had been through for the past couple weeks. Hell, the shit she's been through for the last few months! None of this! She didn't want to think of any of this! But she was a child of Athena, and she had a job to do.

"Annabeth..."

Annabeth turned her eyes from the blue sky to Percy's sea-green irises. They looked scared, and she realized that he didn't want to go into Tartarus any more than she did, but he was still going to. For her. She looked into his sea-green eyes and almost immediately felt her breath evening out ever so slightly. She reminded herself that she wasn't going alone, and that he was here with her, as her companion and friend and partner.

She felt the first signs of tears start to prickle the edges of her eyes, "Percy."

He didn't exactly say it out loud, and neither did she. Neither of them were cliché enough for that. But his eyes did say it, and she hoped her eyes did too.

'I love you.' 'I love you too.'

He let go.

She expected to feel a little bit a weightlessness, but the spider silk attached to her ankle jerked the pair down the hold quicker than either of them could catch their breath. Annabeth cried out once at the sudden pain that shot through her broken, abused ankle. She felt her stomach drop with her and fought to hold down her pizza from a lifetime ago.

They were falling so fast and so far. Annabeth tried to calculate how far they had already fallen but her mind spun too terrifyingly and violently for her normal comfort mechanisms. Through the crazy haze of falling rocks and the petrifying sense of falling, Percy gripped her arm tighter and started pulling her towards him. Her wild gaze met his steady one as his other hand gripped her shoulder. His arms went around her back, pulling her into a sort of midair hug and Annabeth's arms immediately followed suit. That was her only comfort as they fell: the feel of his next to her, hearing the wild, erratic heartbeat through his shirt and feeling the tickly of his hair against her forehead was the one thing keeping her from losing her mind.

They fell and they fell, deeper and deeper until Annabeth was nearly certain they had already passed through the center of the earth and were now making their way through the other half. They fell. At one point Annabeth thought Percy was trying to shot something into her ear, but she couldn't hear it over the roaring wind.

They kept falling until all too soon they weren't. She hadn't even seen the ground coming, whether that was because her face was dug too deeply into the crook of Percy's shoulder or because her eyes were squeezed shut she didn't know. The only thing she felt was a searing pain in her neck as Percy and her collided with the rocky ground. He had fallen first, breaking Annabeth's fall only slightly.

Her head remembered to think that was a problem only a couple seconds before the rest of her mind was occupied with the now crippling pain in her ankle and now her neck and back and knees.

Her mouth and eyes were frozen open in a silent scream, her mind numb to all her surroundings before black started to creep up into the edges of her vision. Annabeth was only to happy to oblige to the comforting darkness.

Anything to escape this pain...

She let her eyes drift closed as her world faded to black.

Annabeth came to an immeasurable time later. She awoke to the pain in her injured ankle and tried to grip it before being stopped by an equally painful jolt from her back at the movement.

'Ow. Dammit," she cursed, holding her injured ankle to her chest while simultaneously burying her forehead into the ground.

She hurt all over to the point where her body simply ached no matter her movement. She really didn't want to think about how far she had fallen and at what velocity she had hit the ground. It really was a wonder she was breathing right now. By all laws of nature she should have died on impact. The force of her speed ricocheting off the immovable object should have sent her entrails splattering all over the ground. She even considered herself lucky, if Percy hadn't broken her fall a little-.

Percy.

Annabeth's heart dropped coldly in her chest. Percy had taken the full force of the fall, slamming back-first while Annabeth had fallen onto his stomach. She must have either bounced off of him or rolled away in a haze of pain a disorientation before passing out.

She painfully lifted herself off the floor. Propping herself up on her elbows, she scanned the floor hastily before her eyes fell on a slumped, limp form lying ten feet away.

"Percy!" Annabeth's voice nearly broke as she screamed his name. It didn't help either that she couldn't remember the last time her parched throat had had water.

Her ankle screamed in protest, but she forced herself to half-crawl, half-drag herself over to his slack form. She whimpered and cried out in pain, but the adrenaline coursing through her veins forced her to keep pushing forward. She made it to his side. He had somehow flipped over onto his stomach, with his face turned the other way, only his thick black hair visible to her. Annabeth, gingerly as she could, flipped him onto his back. The sight of him nearly broke her.

His face was bloody. Horrible, terribly bloody with vein-like trails forming an almost sick, twisted zebra pattern over his features. Her hand went shakily to the top of his head and came away red. Somehow when he had landed, his head had struck a rock and formed a gaping hole in the back of his head.

"P-Percy..." her voice trembled something awful as she looked to the rest of his body. His camp half-blood t-shirt was nearly ripped to shreds. Small cuts and scrapes littered his arms and chest making Annabeth wonder just how much blood had he lost by now. His head was still bleeding...

Annabeth's breath started coming out in broken hitches, her throat constricting painfully as tears threatened to pool out of her eyes.

She took his shoulder in her hand and shook it profusely, not really caring how bad that was to do to a concussion victim. "Percy... wake up, seaweed brain." when she received no response other than his injured head falling to his side. Annabeth started to panic. "Dammit seaweed brain. Open your eyes!"

But he didn't. He lay there, breathing wet and ragged, completely unresponsive to Annabeth's pleas.

She dipped her head helplessly. "No... gods dammit no!" She couldn't lose him again, not like this...

Quite suddenly, a loud banging came from behind her, causing Annabeth to jump violently, as well as a slight wince from the pain in her ankle. She instinctively reached for her dagger in her back pocket holster, positioning herself into as defensive position as she could manage. For the first time, Annabeth looked around at her surroundings.

It was dark. Impossibly dark besides the almost supernatural green glow that emaciated the ground near their feet. It was only this one spot that had light, however. Everything outside their little ten foot circle slipped into total darkness. Annabeth heard scurrying and tapping from all around her, but for the life of her could not place where the objects came from. They seemed to come from all around her all at the same time. Whether it was the result of some terrible trick played by the god of the underworld or simply her own fears toying with her mind, she could not tell.

Annabeth managed to stand on shaky legs. With nothing visible too brace herself up, she gingerly tried putting weight on her broken ankle. She instantly regretted it as she tumbled back onto the floor. Tears pooled under her tightly shut eyes, and all she wanted to do was curl up in a ball and forget this entire day ever happened. But she couldn't. Percy needed her.

A snarky laugh came out of the darkness on her right, and Annabeth;s eyes quickly snapped open. She whipped her head to the sound.

"Who's there?" she demanded.

She had meant for that to come out a bit fiercer then it did.

"Well, well, well, look who's found their way down to the pit." The voice in the darkness sounded absolutely giddy.

Annabeth tried desperately to steady her shaking hand. "W-who are you? Show yourself, coward!"

The voice roared with laughter, stopping Annabeth's blood. "How wonderful! The blessed child of Athena. Thinking she can taunt a judge of the dead." The voice changed position, now calling from behind Annabeth. "Do not misunderstand, child. I am not one to be trifled with. You are in a different world here. We play by different rules."

Annabeth's mind was reeling. The voice sounded horribly snakelike in tone. He enunciated his 's's to the point where each little letter sent a shiver down Annabeth's back. She racked her brain for a name. He called himself a judge of the dead. But Minos didn't come down here. None of the judges did. They just sent people down...

"I-if you're not a coward, then why don't you come into the light?" She challenged.

His horrible laugh echoed the walls again. "Child, who do you think granted you that light? Who do you think slowed your fall? You seem so afraid and you do not need to be. Fear had no place in this world. Fear will tear you apart."

Quite suddenly Annabeth felt a chilling breeze on the back of her neck. Goosebumps peppered her skin as she flipped around with a little yelp, knife held out in front of her.

Two pairs of yellow eyes blinked in the darkness. The beady pupils burned themselves into Annabeth's vision and she knew she would have nightmares about them. "I can hear your heartbeat, child," he said all too calmly. "I can feel the sweat on your brow. You will not survive long here. Just like your friend."

"What?"

He giggled. "Just like your friend." A Cheshire cat smile appeared underneath the eyes before fading away into the darkness once again.

Annabeth's heart thumped painfully in her chest. Even as she branded her dagger, she felt no safer then she had under the wrath of spider chick. She scuttled painfully back to Percy's side, taking in the little comfort she could from his mute presence. She dared to nudge him again.

"Percy," she whispered earnestly. She didn't even really care how small her voice sounded.

The figure's maniacal laughter filled the walls once again from the darkness. A cool breeze suddenly wafted through the air, causing Annabeth to shudder at the now-present goosebumps. With the breeze came the odd feeling of breath, like the wind itself had a life, a soul. The thought did nothing to ease her mind.

Then, quite suddenly, Percy groaned, and gave a weak cough.

"Percy!"

Annabeth was at his side immediately, her hands gripping his shoulders and looking directly into his face. His closed eyes danced under his lids a couple seconds before green eyes blessedly opened.

Annabeth could have cried in relief. "Oh gods. Percy."

The son of Poseidon blinked rapidly, trying to bring the daze out of his eyes. He coughed once more, the action bringing him obvious pain, before focusing on Annabeth more clearly. "A-Annabeth?"

Annabeth laughed in relief and nodded her head earnestly. She cupped the side of his cheek, running her hands over his sweaty, dirty skin like it was the first time she had seen him.

Clarity returned to his eyes quickly, then. His world seemed to come into focus and all previous pain and misunderstanding flew right out the window. His eyes lit up as much as they could in the deep pits of Tartarus. "Annabeth."

He reached up with his arms and pulled her on to him with conviction. She squeezed him tight, as tightly as she dared with all his injuries. The pair embraced and in that moment Annabeth forgot everything. She forgot her fear. She forgot her pain. She forgot her dread. Instead she felt courage fill inside her. She felt like they could actually manage whatever they set out to do. With him there, she believed they could face anything this horrible place could dish out to them.

She didn't know how long they lay there, intertwined in each other, but she happily obliged when Percy tugged the side of her head from the crook of his shoulder and faced it towards his own. His eyes held a certain glint to them she hadn't seen since his first night on the ship. His hand placed itself strongly on the back of her head and pulled her mouth to his in one easy action. The taste of his lips against hers filled her with the energy she had been without for nearly three months. His scent filled inside her and started the much-needed fire that she knew would carry her through.

He pulled back too soon. "Annabeth," he breathed.

She giggled once at his breathless tone, then sobered up and slapped him hard across his cheek.

His hand went to the impact zone immediately. "Ow!" He looked absolutely adorable with that little hurt expression.

"That's for scaring me half to death, seaweed brain. How many times are you going to make me think you're dead?"

His face turned into a half smile. "Depends on what I get in return. If it's a kiss like that it might not be so bad."

"You're impossible."

"I get that."

She resisted the urge to playfully slap him again. Instead, she settled for kissing him one more time, then moving to sit him up.

The case of his back injury came into play once she tried to lean him forward. Apparently his lower spine had collided with a stone in the ground in just the right angel to bruise his back, but not cause any permanent damage. Annabeth thanked the gods. Still, movement of any kind was painful.

"Ow! Ow, ow, ow," he hissed, eyes squeezed shut.

"Sorry!" Annabeth tried, "you've got to sit up, though. I need to check your head."

"My head?" he asked through the wave of pain.

"I think you hit it on the way down." She said as she moved away the hair on the back of his head.

Though what she saw wasn't the massive bump and scab of dried blood she had been expecting. Instead, she was met with dried blood covering his locks, but no sign of a wound at all. His head seemed to have miraculously healed itself.

Or someone healed it for him.

"What?" He asked, obviously suspicious of her frozen movement.

"Your head... It's... it's healed."

"Healed? What happened to it?"

"It was bleeding...badly. You hit it when you fell I think. You weren't waking up..." she spoke softly.

Percy paused, considering her words before turning his head to look at her. "And it's healed now?"

"Yeah," she said, unbelieving. "How does it feel?"

"It hurts like hell... which is a pretty good pun, all things considering. But it feels no worse than anything else."

Annabeth stared in disbelief. Well huh. "It must have been that guy..."

"What guy?"

She spoke slowly, turning her gears as she reasoned. "There was a man here before. I'm pretty sure he's supposed to be one of the guys in charge… or at least a former guard who went off his rockers. He was telling me how I wouldn't survive in here, and how you wouldn't either. I think he did something that made you wake up. He must have healed your head."

Percy made an impressed little frown and let out a 'Hmm.' "If I see this guy I'll have to thank him."

Annabeth snorted. "I don't know if he's the one to thank here."

"You children are both right."

Annabeth and Percy jumped simultaneously, the pair exchanging expressions of frightened surprise.

Their small circle of light visibly expanded and out of the shadows against a nearby wall stood a tall, lean figure. He was dressed in what at one point must have been a fancy, grey pinstriped suit and top hat. Over his years of abuse and general neglect, the suit acquired what must have been hundreds of poorly-repaired tears and holes. The suit had probably never been washed. The man's black hair mimicked the amount of care he spent on his suit, as it lay across his shoulders in large, mangy waves.

Yet, all that was easily ignorable when Annabeth looked at his eyes. Even in the limited light, their redness shone through the darkness like a lighthouse. They had the look of a devil and a madness to match. One look at them could send Annabeth into a puddle of fear, and he knew it.

He parked his wide eyes on Percy, his head lolling any which way it seemed to please. "You're right to thank me, boy. You know you're alive because of me."

Percy immediately glared at their newest company. His hand seemed to find Annabeth's and she squeezed back tightly, sucking it its comfort. How could he look so unfazed at him? Annabeth knew Percy wasn't that good of an actor. Had his time at the Roman camp really changed him that much?

"To who do I owe that pleasure?" He asked, almost derogatory. His voice was as cold as ice.

"'To whom' I believe you mean," the man corrected, smiling ever the more. "Proper grammar really is very important to me, boy. I mean, what else can a man hold onto in a place like this?" he gestured wildly to the darkness around him.

"I really wouldn't know." Percy replied.

The man roared with laughter. His cackle echoed around the walls. "Too right! You are too right, boy."

"Who are you?" Annabeth cut in, her voice a little stronger now that Percy's hand was in her's.

He slowly stopped laughing, letting himself fall into a sitting position on the floor. His lanky limbs folded in on himself like hinges. He looked to be made of nothing more than paper. "You are the child of Athena, my dear. Think about it. Who else would have this kind of power" he snapped his fingers and a small flame appeared. He looked into the swarming colors admirably, "all the way down the slide here?"

Annabeth had in fact been racking her brain since his voice had first assaulted her ears. She thought of all the kings of the underworld: Minos, Aeacus, Rhadamanthus. None of them could be this man, though. None of those beings had any reason to look so disheveled, and certainly none of them had any reason to spend extended time in Tartarus. But who else could have this man's power? Who else could stay so in control, yet seem to mad? Unless...

"You're Sarpedon." Annabeth said.

The man's face lit up like a Christmas tree. He spread his arms in gratitude. "Well done, dear. The children of Athena never fail to impress."

Percy tugged on the edge of her t-shirt sleeve. "Who's Sarpedon?"

Annabeth didn't dare take her eyes off the ex-king. "He's a son of Zeus. And brother to Minos and Rhadamanthus, the judges of the underworld," the ex-king paced around their circle of light, hands clasped in front of him, nodding approvingly every so often like he was encouraging her to keep going. "He was betrayed in life by Minos when he was caught cheating on Minos's wife. After that he fell from the privilege of becoming a judge of the dead, instead being replaced by a man named Aeacus. And you're been down here ever since, haven't you?"

Sarpedon smiled a horrible rueful smile. "Indeed, my child. You are very clever... I can tell you, out of anyone, would understand my slight discord for the mister king of Olympus... Little bastard has done nothing to help me after my brother's banished me to this gods-forsaken place." his rage bellowed up in his voice, causing Percy to squeeze Annabeth's hand a little harder. "Unfortunately, that contempt seems to have trickled down the totem pole. Do not misunderstand me, I do not wish to bring you or your friend any more ill will then the pain you have already endured, and are about to endure. Believe me when I say much of this is out of my control. But also know that I cannot aid you on your meaningless quest. Not while your alliance stands with Olympus." He paused, and a horrible smile appeared on his face, "sorry, my child. Forgive me, but I get to little opportunity for fun down here. And you two are simply adorable, clinging onto each other like that."

His red eyes grew wide once more and his laughter filled the air. Annabeth blinked and in that moment his form vanished. What was left in his place was an ever-growing green light that lit the floor like a path. Again, no source of the light could be seen, Annabeth wondered if it was nothing but a trick of her brain until she saw Percy staring at the same spot. Seemingly alone once more, Percy looked back at Annabeth solemnly, and she returned his expression.

"What was that?" He asked bluntly.

She nearly smiled at his incredulous tone. He was the one keeping her sane here. She simple held onto his hand tighter. "Our best shot at help, unfortunately," she responded.

"You trust him?" he asked seriously.

"No," she admitted right away. "But all I can see is that light. And we're not gonna find Nico by just sitting here."

Percy looked away, obviously conflicted. Annabeth couldn't blame him one bit. "Are you okay?" he settled on.

She was about to open her mouth to say 'no, her ankle was still broken.' but she looked down to said injury to find that it didn't hurt anymore. In fact, it hadn't hurt for a couple of minutes. Whatever had healed Percy's head had also fixed up Annabeth's busted Ankle.

Someone was either on their side, or really wanted to watch them burn.

Either way, there was no way she was staying here. She held strong onto Percy's hand. "Yeah. You?"

"Been better... We have to go, though. Don't we?"

Annabeth nodded, "can you stand?"

"I think so." Percy grunted as Annabeth stood swiftly, holding onto both of his hands to gently raise him as well. Percy eventually evened out, swaying slightly on his feet the first few seconds. He quickly recovered, however, only leaning on Annabeth's side because he wanted to be. Annabeth didn't pull away. The pair both faced the green light that seemingly went on forever.

Percy looked to her. "You ready?"

No. Her heart thumped painfully and her head swam from days of pain and constant action. Her body ached and all she really wanted to do was curl up in a blanket on half-blood hill with a book and waste the entire afternoon. Percy knew that. Hell, Percy probably felt much the same, maybe minus the book reading part. But she didn't say that. Instead she steeled herself, fingers intertwined with Percy's, and nodded as confidently as she could manage.

"Yeah, I'm ready."

He nodded back, a small smile playing across his lips. The pair stepped forward, each step taking them both into the center of Tartarus.

yoyo hello!

I was going through some old documents on my computer and I found this little gem. Once upon a time I actually did research for stories. Crazy times, man. This thing is really meant to just be a little oneshot from Mark of Athena, my version of it cuz im like 90% sure I wrote this before the book actually came out...

but thank ya for clicking and reading!