Chapter Text
Annabeth POV (Taken directly from MoA):
Annabeth sobbed as she hit the edge of the pit. Her legs went over the side. Too late, she realized what was happening: she was tangled in the spider silk. She should have just cut it away immediately. She had thought it was just loose line, but with the entire floor covered in cobwebs, she hadn’t noticed that one of the strands was wrapped around her foot—and the other end went straight into the pit. It was attached to something heavy down in the darkness, something that was pulling her in.
“No,” Percy muttered, light dawning in his eyes. “My sword…”
But he couldn’t reach Riptide without letting go of Annabeth’s arm, and Annabeth’s strength was gone. She slipped over the edge.
Her body slammed into something. She must have blacked out briefly from the pain. When she could see again, she realized that she’d fallen partway into the pit and was dangling over the void. Her bruised arm had managed to grab a ledge about fifteen feet below the top of the chasm. She was holding on with one hand, gripping her dagger with the other, but the pull on her leg was much too strong.
No escape, said a voice in the darkness below. I go to Tartarus, and you will come too.
Annabeth wasn’t sure if she actually heard Arachne’s voice or if it was just in her mind.
The pit shook. Her arm was the only thing keeping her from falling. She was barely holding on to a ledge the size of a bookshelf.
Percy leaned over the edge of the chasm, thrusting out his hand, but he was much too far away to help. Hazel and Nico were yelling for the others, but even if they heard her over all the chaos, they’d never make it in time.
Annabeth’s leg felt like it was pulling free of her body. Pain washed everything in red. The force of the Underworld tugged at her like dark gravity. She didn’t have the strength to fight. She knew she was too far down to be saved.
“Percy, let me go,” she croaked. “You can’t pull me up.”
His face was white and empty. She could see in his eyes that he knew it was hopeless.
"I won't let you fall. I'm never letting you get away from me, never again!"
After everything, she couldn’t—wouldn’t allow him to sacrifice himself to be with her. The thought of Percy in Tartarus was enough to make her fingers slip.
”I can’t let you,” Annabeth said, craning her neck up to stare at him. He was shaking, trembling with fear. “You will lead the quest to the Doors of Death, and I'll be waiting for you on the other side.”
She saw the sunlight far, far above—maybe the last sunlight she would ever see.
”The prophecy—“ Annabeth’s arm was numb from pain. “I love you, Seaweed Brain.”
”Annabeth!”
Then she let go of her tiny ledge.