KARINA DOESN'T REMEMBER a single thing that happened after percy and annabeth fell into tartarus.

she didn't remember how leo had suspended grappling ropes down into the chasm, wrapping around her body and lifting her out of the cavern.

she didn't remember the cries of worry, and tears of distraught that came from her other crew mates at the sight of her condition, and how lifeless she was. how broken. her arm was nearly completely severed off, and her face was scratched with hundreds of cuts and bruises. her eyes held no emotion whatsoever, and her body was limp as they pulled her up as quickly as they could.

her eyes never left the dark, endless hole that had sucked up percy jackson and annabeth chase. even as jason flew down and secured her in his arms, getting her up onto the ship as quickly as he could, rushing to the med bay in a worried panic, noticing how cold she had suddenly become, and how she hadn't uttered a single word since they'd gotten her.

leo yelled orders at everybody on the ship, making sure they took off as soon as possible, and followed behind jason with a lifeless karina in his arms, hurriedly getting to work on her arm as soon jason had laid her down.

leo was forced to have to remove her shirt with how crucial her injury was, and how badly it was bleeding. a deep gash ran from the top of her armpit to the base of her collarbone— the skin completely gone, and it was so deep that leo could see the bone poking through.

he resisted the urge to vomit, taking a deep breath through his nose, and made a silent vow that he would do everything he could to heal her. he owed it to her. he owed her everything. they all did.

karina was already losing her vision, and leo and jason's voices were foggy in her ears. she saw jason looking down at her dying figure, and she could faintly see the outline of his lips moving— yelling something incomprehensible to her. the pain was ice cold at this point, becoming so bad to the point where she could hardly feel it as leo began to hastily stitch the skin back as best as he could— his hands covered in blood, and tears pricking at his eyes as he tried to keep his eyes off the slowly dying form of karina ashwood.

"stay awake, karina. come on!" jason said as he grabbed her face in his hands, keeping her head upright. "don't fall asleep! please!" his voice cracked on the last word, tears falling involuntarily down his face as he watched his best friend fall apart right in front of him.

karina couldn't form a single word to say to him. but, if she could, she'd tell him how much she loved him. she tell him that she was so proud of him, and how far he'd come in his life. coming up from being the parent-less boy who didn't know anybody at camp jupiter, to being one of the most respected demigods there was. she had watched him grow confident, and powerful in himself, and now as she watched his face go in and out of her vision, she couldn't help but see the little twelve-year-old jason walking up to her at sparring lessons, and adjusting her grip on her gladius with a small blush on his face. the first interaction they ever had with each other.

"don't you dare die on me, karina," leo said through gritted teeth as he worked to finish up the stitching on her arm, his hands shaking profusely. "not after i just pulled your ass out of a black hole."

through the corner of her vision, she saw hazel and frank staring eyes-wide in the entrance of the med-bay, both of them looking at karina with utter shock and despair. hazel's hand as placed over her mouth, her body going rigid at the horrific sight.

hazel turned her body into frank's, sobbing into his chest at the sight of her best friend dying right in front of her. frank, despite having tears in his eyes as well, forced himself to stay strong for her, and turned her away from the scene, rushing them back out, and away from the med bay.

leo rushed to the other side of the room, rummaging and throwing containers down manically, searching for something that'll help close the wound faster. "shit, where is it?!" leo asked to nobody, cursing as he knocked down a whole basket of ambrosia.

once he found the medicine he needed, he slid across the floor, back to where karina was, barely awake, and began to spread the medicine across her shoulder profusely, biting his lip and squeezing his eyes shut as karina suddenly screamed out in pain, her body thrashing against the bed.

"jason, hold her down!" leo ordered. "i need her to stay still for this!"

"what the hell is that?" jason asked as he latched karina's arms down to the bed, looking away from her with a pained expression as he saw tears rolling down her face at the excruciating stinging of the medicine.

"it's a healing solvent," leo said frantically, rubbing on the rest of the cream as fast as he could. "it— it'll heal the skin back together faster. that's why it hurts so much, it's basically speeding up the time of the healing process."

karina's screams slowly began to die down as she began to finally lose consciousness, the pain becoming to unbearable for her to stay awake.

"no, no, no," jason muttered, looking at leo. "she's falling asleep. that's not good, right?"

leo shook his head. "no. but there's nothing else we can do. the medicine should be strong enough to keep her heart pumping. she should be okay."

"should?" jason growled. "that's not good enough!"

"what else do you want me to do?" leo snapped. "i'm not a god, jason, i can't just tap my finger to her face and make her better. this is all i can do!"

jason's jaw clenched, and he saw karina's green eyes fall back against her head, her body going completely limp as she succumbed to the inviting darkness.

jason's body slumped against the wall beside the bed in exhaustion, and tears still managed to roll down his face as he stared at the unmoving form of his best friend, who, just hours ago was talking freely and sitting beside him— completely oblivious to what would happen so soon after.

leo's body trembled as he stared at karina, his eyes glossy and lips shaking as he placed his hand— coated in blood that wasn't his— over karina's soft one. despite how horrible she looked right now, and how injured she was, her hands were still just as soft and inviting as they were before. he squeezed it softly, a single tear cascading down his cheek, before standing up, and turning to jason.

"we have to go back up," he said quietly, his voice unsteady. "she won't be up for a while, and the crew needs to know what to do."

jason didn't respond for a moment his eyes still trained on karina's sleeping face. his body felt so tired. so exhausted from losing his friends. he didn't even know how to cope with the loss of karina if it ever came to that. he couldn't. she's so important to him.

he won't let her die.

he finally nodded, and slowly got up from the bed, his eyes moving from karina to the doorway, and with a deep breath, he turned to leo and said:

"we're going to be okay."

THE NEXT TIME karina woke up, the argo II was rocking back and forth like a rollercoaster. she felt her body twist and turn uncomfortably as she slowly adjusted to her surroundings.

she woke up slowly, hearing the noises of her surroundings before her eyes opened. the light was dim in the room she was in, the only source being a small oil lamp in the corner. so, she found it quite easy for her eyes to adjust to the light.

karina looked around the room, and saw that she was in the med bay of the argo, her brown blanket from her room draped across her body, and she was wearing clean clothes— much different from the blood stained material she remembered last wearing. someone had dressed her in a pair of forest green sweatpants that were crimped on the bottom, and a black tank top. she felt the cold metal of her necklace pressing against her bare collarbones, and she internally sighed in relief. at least she hadn't lost her weapon.

her shoulder was wrapped tightly with gauze and wrapping bandages, and she could feel bandages wrapped around her waist too— most likely for the injuries on her back.

but, despite this, karina felt unusually better than she did before. her body still ached, and her shoulder and back were both cramping, but it was a significant difference from when she last remembered. though, she didn't even know how long ago she remembered from.

how long had she been out for?

all of a sudden, the boat shuddered again, and karina shuffled around on her bed, her legs falling over the side as the ship continued to rock back and forth.

she felt her arm begin to flare up in pain— and she hissed at the sudden sensation, but it wasn't unbearable. she could tolerate it as of now.

not like before.

feeling a sudden wave of deja vu wash over her, karina's heart drastically dropped, and she shut her eyes tightly, seeing the painful flashbacks of her gripping onto percy's hand, dangling in the endless dark chasm that led to tartarus. watching again as the love of her life slipped through her fingers, falling to his demise.

karina's breathing came out in shuddered breaths, her eyes stinging with tears as she placed a hand over her mouth, attempting to silence the cry's that threatened to escape her mouth.

it wasn't just a dream. she actually lost him.

she felt a small hole crawl it's way through her heart, leaving the area inside it empty. she could feel her brain processing the events that went down in a series of painful memories, and traumatic waves of emotions flowed through her as her body finally began to put into account that percy and annabeth were actually gone.

no. they weren't gone. she was going to get them back.

suddenly, karina straightened her back, and rolled her healthy shoulder. it was almost as if a switch had flipped inside her body, and she didn't feel all of the sorrow, and pain that she had experienced. no, she did feel it. but it was as if her own body was pushing it down, squashing it to almost nothing, until she couldn't feel anything but a deep pit in her stomach.

it almost was destroyed to nothing.

karina blinked away the tears, rubbing her hands over her eyes as to rid away any notion that she was crying, and she slowly got up from the bed.

immediately, she felt her back begin to stutter in pain, but she gritted her teeth, and attempted to straighten it out fully, making sure that she could move around in place before starting to walk again.

her movements were slow, and hesitant, as if she were scared to show her face to the rest of the crew. she knew that they all had seen her that night in rome. they saw how defeated she was, and how broken she looked as she hung helplessly in the dark pit of tartarus. they all saw her at her worst as she writhed and screamed while leo attempted to fix her shoulder. they all knew what she went through.

and she hated it.

as karina slowly made her way through the ship, her bare feet padding quietly against the wood floor, she took in all of her surroundings. it's not like she hadn't been here already— but it was almost as if she were waking up from a coma, and everything seemed new to her. the cabins seemed foreign, and the pictures on the walls seemed to strike familiarity through her, though it felt as if they were all brand new.

as she walked up the stairs onto the main deck, the rocking had seized, and she began to hear the faint voice of nico speaking up top.

"whatever we do," nico said, "we have to hurry. every day that annabeth and percy are in tartarus . . . "

she heard silence after that. but she knew what they were all thinking. they had to hope percy and annabeth could survive long enough to find the tartarus side of the doors of death. then, assuming the argo II could reach the house of hades, they might be able to open the doors on the mortal side, save their friends, and seal the entrance, stopping gaea's forces from being reincarnated in the mortal world over and over.

she stood in the doorway from a moment, watching as nico scowled at the italian countryside below them. "maybe we should wake the others. this decision affects us all."

"what decision?" karina finally spoke, and all three of the demigods— leo, hazel, and nico, and jumped back in utter shock.

her voice was croaked, and extremely scratchy from the lack of use over the past few days, but none of them seemed to care, as hazel bolted toward karina and slammed her into a hug.

karina involuntarily stiffened at the sudden contact, and scampered backwards in pain, feeling her back begin to seize up. hazel immediately let go of her after seeing her discomfort, apologizing profusely.

"i'm so sorry," hazel said, with a shaky voice. "i— i'm just so surprised that you're awake. gods, i've been so worried about you, i— "

karina stopped her by grabbing hazel's flailing hands and gripping them in her own, giving her a slightly blank look. "it's . . . it's okay, hazel. i'm okay."

hazel gave her a slightly disappointed look, her lips pulling down into a frown at her emotionless forte. but, she didn't say anything, and instead pulled her hands away from karina's and turned back to the other two demigods, who were patiently waiting their turn to greet karina.

"what's up, chica!" leo said brightly, but it was completely obvious that it was fake. karina could see right through him. his hands kept fiddling with something she couldn't even comprehend, and his eyes danced nervously around her face— a stark contrast to his attempted bright greeting.

karina couldn't manage a smile, and that worried leo. all he could think about was how much pain she was put through just two days ago, and how different she looked now. the cuts on her face were healed, and there wasn't a single trace of blood on her body. she looked healthier, but he figured that it would only be temporary. the medicine he gave her really sped up the process that she was bound the go through with the extent of her injuries.

the only thing that stood out to him was a small scar that ran along the side of her face, and down her right cheekbone. you could only notice it if you really focused on it, but it was there. it was only of the only battle scars that had managed to stay— leaving a small, white scar in its place.

"uncle leo really fixed you up good, didn't he?" leo asked, strolling over to her as he examined the bandages on her shoulder, nodding his head in approval. "i am so good." he praised himself. and karina couldn't find it in her to laugh.

she swallowed. "how long have i been asleep for?" she asked quietly, not a single trace of emotion found in her voice, making leo's stomach twist.

"two days," nico said from behind leo, walking up to examine karina, his eyes flitting over every inch of her body carefully, as if he was doing a full-body inspection with just his eyes.

karina nodded, somehow the fact that she was asleep for so long didn't seem to surprise her. it seemed that nothing really did, right now.

hazel sighed. "about your question before, nina, we're trying to think of the easiest way to get to greece."

"without having to go through the mountains," leo added.

"we need some creative thinking," hazel said. "another way to cross those mountains, or a way to hide ourselves from the numina."

"mountain gods," karina muttered to herself.

nico sighed. "if i was on my own, i could shadow-travel. but that won't work for an entire ship. and honestly, i'm not sure i have the strength to even transport myself anymore."

"i could maybe rig some kind of camouflage," leo said. "like a smoke screen to hide us in the clouds." he didn't sound very enthusiastic.

hazel's eyes drifted down the italian countryside, and with a small gasp, she said, " . . . arion."

"what?" nico asked.

karina furrowed her eyebrows and peaked over the railing, and to her surprise, arion was sprinting below them. she knew that she should be excited, she loved the horse, but she felt nothing in her emotions change as she stars that the brown stallion racing across the countryside.

leo let out a happy whoop as the dust cloud got closer. "it's her horse, man! you missed that whole part. we haven't seen him since kansas!"

hazel laughed— and looked to karina to see if she was just as excited as well, but she only found her staring at the land below with a blank look, making her stomach twist in sadness. it seemed that the karina she was she was going to see after she woke up, wasn't the same as she had thought.

about a mile to the north, the small beige dot circled a hill and stopped at the summit. he was difficult to make out, but when the horse reared and whinnied, the sound carried all the way to the argo II.

"we have to meet him," she said. "he's here to help."

"yeah, okay," leo scratched his head. "but, uh. we talked about not landing the ship on the ground anymore, remember? you know, with gaea wanting to destroy us and all."

leo's eyes unintentionally flicked to karina's eyes for a split second, the mention of gaea reminding him that a part of the earth goddess was standing right next to him. he hadn't realized it until now, but after karina had attempted to save percy and annabeth, it seemed the gold lining in her eyes at increased in size— not much, but it was noticeable. the gold nearly took up about a third of both her eyes now, instead of just a thin lining around her pupil like it was before. leo didn't know what that meant to him and the crew, and that scared him.

"just get me close, and i'll use the rope ladder." hazel said. "i think arion wants to tell me something."

AS SOON AS HAZEL reached the ground, karina watched as she ran to arion and threw her arms around him. she was talking to the horse to quiet for her to hear from the top of the ship, but from her happy expression, karina figured that she was trying to catch up on where arion's been.

"hazel!" nico called down. "what's going on?"

"it's fine!" hazel crouched down and summoned a gold nugget from the earth. karina had noticed over time that hazel was getting better at controlling her powers. precious stones hardly ever popped up around her by accident anymore, and pulling gold from the ground seemed like an easy task now.

she fed arion the nugget, then she smiled up at karina, leo, and nico, who were watching her from the top of the ladder a hundred feet above. "arion wants to take me somewhere."

the boys exchanged nervous looks. karina just kept her head lowered, staring at the ground around hazel.

"uh . . . " leo pointed north. "please tell me he's not taking you into that?"

a mile away, on the crest of the next hill, a storm had gathered over some old stone ruins— maybe the remains of a roman temple or a fortress. a funnel cloud snaked its way down toward the hill like an inky black finger.

hazel spoke to arion for a moment, and then she tightened the straps of her imperial gold cavalry sword and climbed onto arion's back.

"i'll be okay!" she called up to them. "stay put and wait for me."

"wait for how long?" nico asked. "what if you don't come back?"

"don't worry, i will," she promised.

she spurred arion, and they shot across the countryside, heading straight for the growing tornado.

karina stared at the fast retreating form of hazel until she was no longer in sight. she felt the presence of leo and nico slowly leave her side as they noticed her rigid she'd gotten once they got close to her, her hands gripping the railing tightly.

karina swallowed, and turned away from the mountains. she began to make sure way straight to the stairs, not saying a single word to nico or leo as she brushed by them, a empty look on her face as she retreated out of sight without a trace.

leo turned to nico, a worried expression on her face. "i don't know what happened to her," he said. "she's been so . . . blank. i'd hoped that when she was healed she'd get better, but . . . " his voice trailed off.

nico stared at the doorway from which karina had just went through. "i saw everything," he admitted. "i saw how desperate she was to save them, leo. she put her own life on the line to get to them in time before they fell. she was the one who allowed percy to order me to meet him at the other side of the doors." he paused, swallowing hardly.

"watching her fall apart like that . . . was probably one of the hardest things i've ever had to experience." he said, his voice growing heavy. "when percy's hand slipped from her's, she looked so defeated, so lost. she didn't scream, or cry. she just stayed there, staring into nothing. it was awful."

leo's mouth tasted like acid. he didn't fully know what had happened before percy and annabeth fell, but all he knew was that is was bad. but now, hearing these words come from nico . . . made him begin to see karina in a different light. she had every right to be broken, or empty. she had witnessed the love of her life fall— possibly to his death— right in front of her.

and she was still alive to bear with the pain.

leo shook his head. "i don't know what to do anymore," he said. "without karina and her positive attitude to bring everyone's spirits up . . . i'm afraid that we're going to fall apart."

none of them had realized it before, but until now, karina had genuinely been the rock of the group. she was always the one who was swooping in to save anyone who was in trouble. she was the one who'd put herself in front of an explosion in order to protect someone else. she was always cracking jokes, and picking people up when they got discouraged, or sad. she kept everyone going— and kept the group level with each other, making sure that no fights broke out, or arguments.

and they now realized that without her, things were changing.

they could barely have a steady conversation about what the plan for the rest of the quest was without everyone exploding into arguments. when karina was asleep, all the crew would do was argue— their anxiety levels high and patience running thin without the strong words from karina to calm them down. it was so hard now, without her help. and he just doesn't know what they're going to do.

nico shook his head. "we already are, leo."

karina had made her way back to her cabin when she left, her footsteps light and quiet as she walked past the cabins of her sleeping crew mates. she really wasn't in the mood for everyone to crush her into a hug, and tear up about how worried they were about her. she didn't want to hear the pity from them, and how scared they were for her.

she didn't want to hear any of it.

walking into her room, she was greeted with the all-too-familiar scent of vanilla and incense. nothing had changed since she'd last been in there, but it seemed like it'd been in eternity since she'd actually been in her cabin.

she couldn't remember the last time that she'd properly had a good nights sleep in her bed. every time she tried to sleep, her nightmares would plague her— leaving to scream and cry instead of actually sleeping. she hadn't in so long. she felt so exhausted, so defeated. she couldn't even count how many times in the past hour that she'd thought about giving up. just locking herself in her room for the rest of the quest, and never speaking to her friends again.

she sometimes believed that it would benefit everyone if she did that. she wouldn't be able to hurt any of them if she was ever possessed by gaea, and they could continue on their quest without the danger of her getting in the way. she knew that the crew would always deny that they were afraid of her, but deep down she knew that they all were.

she saw the way leo's eyes flicked to her's at the mention of the earth goddess. she saw the way that frank would back up slightly whenever she got mad, or lashed out, as if he was afraid that she'd turn to gaea. she noticed how all of the crew would whisper things to each other about gaea, and how they didn't know if it had gotten worse with karina or not, and how they were scared to ever ask her.

she knew everything that the crew tried to keep from her.

and the only person that wasn't ever afraid of her, was percy.

only percy.

karina swallowed, and slowly sat down on her bed, letting herself lay completely onto it as she placed her head on her pillow.

she curled herself into a ball with her body, her arms wrapping around one of the throw blankets that was closest to her, and pushing her legs up to her chest, letting her eyes squeeze shut, feeling a single tear drop slide down her face.

now that she was alone, she felt her stomach crawl back up with all of the emotions that she'd tried her hardest to push down. around leo and nico, she'd felt almost nothing, and it was a bittersweet feeling. she couldn't feel the unacquainted amount of pain— physically and mentally— or the guilt of letting percy slip through her fingers. but, she couldn't manage to feel anything positive. she couldn't make herself laugh, or even lift a small smile. she just simply felt . . . empty.

she stayed there for as long as she felt needed, before making her way back up to the deck, hearing the sounds of hazel coming back onto the ship.

as she ascended the stairs, she saw hazel's knees buckle beneath her, nico and leo immediately grabbing her arms and helping her to the steps of the foredeck.

karina walked to nico's side, not saying a word to any of them as hazel looked up at her with a slightly guarded look, as if she was trying to mask her hurt from karina's non-reactive state.

"i met hecate," hazel managed to say.

hazel told them about a secret northern pass through the mountains, and a detour hecate described that could take them to epirus.

when she was done, nico took her hand. his eyes were full of concern. "hazel you met hecate at a crossroads. that's . . . that's something many demigods don't survive. and the ones who do survive are never the same. are you sure— "

"i'm fine," she insisted.

karina knew she was lying. and for some reason, it sort of angered her that she wouldn't tell the truth. why did she feel like that?

"what if hecate is tricking us?" leo asked. "this route could be a trap."

hazel shook her head. "if it was a trap, i think hecate would've made the northern route sound tempting. believe me, she didn't."

leo pulled a calculator out from his tool belt and punched in some numbers. "that's . . . something like three hundred miles out of our way to get to venice. then we'd have to backtrack down the adriatic. and you said something about baloney dwarfs?"

karina sharply inhaled. "dwafs in bologna, you idiot," she said, but her tone wasn't playful. it seemed rather harsh, not like how she usually was.

leo furrowed his eyebrows at her sudden harshness, as did the other two demigods beside him. karina didn't say anything else, but the pit in her stomach wasn't only seemed to grow larger as she thought about what she had said.

why had she been so harsh all of a sudden? it didn't feel like her, it almost felt as if someone else was playing with her emotions. making her feel angry, and annoyed. it felt the same as when she lashed out at jason and leo when they were contradicting on saving nico. and that's when she realized.

gaea.

but it wasn't just a one time thing like before, she now was feeling it al other time. ever since she'd woken up, she'd felt nothing but emptiness at times where the guilt of the past events didn't consume her. or, she felt angry, and the only things she could manage to say were harsh. but, she couldn't help it. not when gaea is in complete control of how she feels.

karina clenched her jaw slightly. "sorry," she muttered, her eyes flicking the ground.

hazel shook her head, getting back to the topic at hand. "um, yeah. i guess bologna is a city. but why we have to find dwarfs there . . . i have no idea. some sort of treasure to help us with the quest."

"huh," leo said. "i mean, i'm all about treasure, but— "

"it's our best option." nico helped hazel to her feet. "we have to make up for lost time, travel as fast as we can. percy's and annabeth's lives might depend on it."

karina's stomach twisted at the word might.

"it's not 'might'," she said hardly. "they do depend on us getting there in time."

nico, despite having her argue back at his statement, kept a neutral expression as he turned to her. "you're right," he said. "they do depend on us getting there in time. but you do realize that we are going to run into problems that we can't escape, right? and so relying on time isn't going to get us very far."

karina's hand clenched hardly, and she was fighting back the words that threatened to leave her mouth. it was like she was fighting of a another voice speaking for her, the urge to lash out always bubbling in her stomach.

she managed to swallow back the words, and nod her head, turning back to leo, who said, "fast?" he grinned. "i can do fast."

he hurried to the console and started flipping switches.

nico took hazel's arm and guided her out of earshot, leaving karina to stand alone the deck.

later that night, as everyone slept peacefully, karina sat wide awake on the top of the ship, her knees pulled up to her chest and arms wrapped tightly around them  as she stared at the twinkling night sky, the stars shining brightly.

she refused to sleep. her nightmares had always been bad, but she knew that they'd be so much worse now, after watching percy and annabeth fall into tartarus. and she knew that gaea would use her trauma to her advantage. she wished that she could sleep with her eyes open, so that no nightmares could reach her whenever her eyes closed. she'd never learned how to do that, though. so she was out of options.

karina spotted the constellation of orion in the sky, and had tried to pass the time by trying to find ursa major— the most difficult one to spot, in her opinion.

she'd only seen the constellation one time, and that was when her and jason would climb onto the fifth barracks roof at night and try to catch a shooting star. they'd lay beside each other, arms locked and heads resting against each other's as they talked about pointless matters, and karina would tell him stories about the constellations they'd find, and he'd give her his full attention, wanting to hear the sound of her soft voice talk to him.

karina wished that she could go back to that time, where everything was so easy. when she wasn't hosting an evil goddess in her body, and trying to defeat her at the same time. when she wasn't on a warship in the middle of the ocean, with a bunch of highly powerful demigods by her side, trying to defeat an entire army of monsters in the span of a month. or just when she wasn't worrying about saving her boyfriend and best friend from a basically impossible place to escape from.

good gods, her life was a shit show.

karina rested her head against the wall behind her, and let her eyes drift to the horizon, slowly glossing over as she continued to stare into the abyss.

before she knew it, she began to see a small sliver of the awakening sun peak above the horizon, showing its beautiful colors of orange and red as it began to light up the night sky.

karina sighed to herself, letting her face fall into her hands as she felt the reoccurring headache of lack of sleep begin to hit her. her eyes felt heavy, and she could almost feel the dark bags under them. she knew that jason would be the one that noticed her lack of sleep— he always did. even when they were kids. she just hoped that he'd ignore it for the time being.

she began to head down from the top of the ship, and make her way down to her cabin to get herself ready for the day. she put in a pair of denim mom jeans, and a random band shirt that she'd found laying around in her room. she tucked in one side of the shirt into her jeans, and then put on her brown converse, going over to her desk to put on her rings.

as she was putting them on, she looked for her final ring, her favorite and most important one— her mother's wedding ring. she furrowed her eyebrows as she began to look around her room, flipping over over and tossing through her bed sheets in a hastily attempt to find it. her heart began to beat faster as she couldn't find the ring anywhere, and her stomach twisted.

karina slowly stopped her movements as she sat down on her bed— digging her face into her hands in exhaustion. how much more could she lose? it seemed that with each passing day, she lost more than the day before. this ring was the only ring that mattered most to her, and it was the only thing that she had that connected her with her mother.

and it was gone.

and now, she just felt herself slipping more than ever.

AS PERCY FELL, he thought about karina. he thought about her smile, her laugh, the way her cheeks reddened whenever he kissed them. he thought about her arms around him as they slept, making him feel safe and comfortable. he imagined her hands holding his face after being separated from each other— something that she always seemed to do whenever she was reunited with him. he almost felt as if he could feel her presence with him, that she was right beside him he plunged into tartarus.

but she wasn't. right?

he'd lost track of time of how long him and annabeth had been falling— hours? a day? it felt like an eternity. they'd been holding hands ever since they dropped into the chasm— the only source of comfort being his best friend. he pulled her close, hugging her tight as they tumbled through absolute darkness.

percy had unknowingly been gripping onto something tightly ever since he'd slipped from karina's hand. he didn't know what it is— or if it was even anything of importance, but he didn't care. he was going to keep it with him until he could see what it was.

the object seemed to have a strong presence around it— he could feel it. the energy around surrounding it felt powerful, and it could almost feel it pulsating around his hand as he gripped it tightly. he wasn't going to look at it now— too scared that he'd drop it just as he got a good look at it. but he almost felt as if this object was connected to karina in some way. he could feel the same presence from his object that he felt around karina.

power, and the earth.

he felt annabeth wrap her arms tightly around him, and he knew that she was trying not to sob.

she pressed her lips to percy's ear. "i love you."

percy gripped her tighter at her words. he loved her too. he loved her so much. she was basically his family. she was the one who was always here for him, ever since the beginning. and he's glad that if he was going to die— at least he'd get to go out with his family.

but he wasn't going to die. he had someone else to get back to. to survive for. someone so much different from his family.

he needed to come back to her.

their surroundings began to change. the darkness took on a gray-red tinge. he realized that he could see annabeth's hair as he hugged her. the whistling in his ears turned into more of a roar. the air became intolerably hot, permeated with a smell like rotten eggs.

suddenly, the chute they'd been falling through opened into a vast cavern. maybe half a mile below them, percy could see the bottom. for a moment he was too stunned to think properly. the entire island of manhattan could have fit inside this cavern— and he couldn't even see its full extent. red clouds hung in the air like vaporized blood. the landscape— at least what he could see of it— was rocky black plains, punctuated by jagged mountains and fiery chasms. to percy's left, the ground dropped off in a series of cliffs, like colossal steps leading deeper into the abyss.

the stench of sulfur made it hard to concentrate, but he focused on the ground directly below them and saw a ribbon of glittering black liquid— a river.

"percy!" annabeth yelled in his ear. "water!"

she gestured frantically. percy's face looked shell-shocked and terrified, but he nodded.

percy could control water— assuming that was water below them. he might be able to cushion their fall somehow.

the river hurtled toward them. at the last second, percy yelled defiantly. the water erupted in a massive geyser and swallowed them whole.

the impact didn't kill him, but the cold nearly did.

freezing water shocked the air right out of his lungs. his limbs turned rigid, and he felt annabeth lose her grip on him. strange wailing sounds filled his ears— millions of heartbroken voices, as if the river were made of distilled sadness. the voices were worse than the cold. they weighed him down and made him numb.

percy was struggling the keep the whirlwind going. usually water reinvigorated him, but not this water. controlling it was taking every bit of his strength.

what's the point of struggling? the voices told him. you're dead anyways. you'll never leave this place.

percy gripped annabeth's hand. together they kicked upward and broke the surface.

percy gasped, grateful for the air, no matter how sulfurous. the water swirled around them, and percy knew that he couldn't last much longer.

"land," annabeth croaked. "go sideways."

percy was near death with exhaustion. the whirlpool began to dissipate. annabeth hooked one arm around his waist and struggled across the current. the river worked shading them: thousands of weeping voices whispering in her ears, getting inside her brain.

life is despair, they said. everything is pointless, then you die.

"pointless," percy muttered. his teeth chattered from the cold. he stopped swimming and began to sink.

"percy!" annabeth shrieked. "the river is messing with your mind. it's the cocytus— the river of lamentation. it's made of pure misery!"

"misery," he agreed.

"fight it!" she screamed. "think of karina! think of being back with her, happy and safe. you need to fight to get back to her!"

"karina . . . " percy mumbled, his head barely above the water. just hearing her name slip out of his mouth made him want to cry. "need to get back to her."

"yes!" annabeth said, hugging him closer. "tell me about her. tell me your favorite things about her."

he groaned. "her smile . . . " he stopped her a moment. "smelled good . . . "

annabeth forced out a laugh. "really? i bet she did. what did she smell like?" she was basically begging for percy to stay awake at this point, asking anything and everything to keep him awake.

"lavender . . . " he murmured. "lavender and vanilla."

annabeth smiled. "good! what about new rome? didn't you tell me about your plans to go to college there with her?"

"y-yeah," he agreed, a little more confidently.

"what would you study, percy?"

"dunno," he admitted.

"marine science," she suggested. "oceanography?"

"surfing?" he asked.

she laughed, and the sound sent a shock wave through the water. the wailing faded to background noise.

annabeth used the last of her strength to reach the riverbank, and she and percy hauled themselves ashore, shivering and gasping, and collapsed on the dark sand.

percy coughed. "this place smells like my ex-stepfather."

annabeth managed a weak smile, and that's when percy suddenly remembered the small object that he'd been grasping in his hand since he had fallen.

he carefully lifted his right hand up to eye level, and released the tension in his fingers, revealing the object.

percy gasped, his breath getting caught in his throat at the sight of a emerald green stone ring, with silver vines entwining the rock to the band.

karina's ring.

"annabeth," he choked out. "l—look."

he showed her the ring, and annabeth looked at him with a look that he couldn't quite decipher. "that's karina's?" she asked quietly.

percy nodded, looking at the ring with glassy eyes, the ring being all to familiar against his skin. he always felt the cold metal rub against his fingers whenever he held karina's hand. and now holding it without the safe comfort of karina's hand gripping his own— the metal felt colder than ever.

he turned back to annabeth, who was staring at the ring with a focused expression, as if she was trying to unravel the history of the ring with just her eyes.

"percy," she began. "this ring . . . it feels really— "

"powerful?" he asked, and she nodded. "i know. i felt it, too."

annabeth licked her chapped lips, reaching out to close percy's fingers around the ring, dropping his hands into his lap.

"keep this safe with you," she said. "it'll help you stay grounded down here, knowing a part of karina is with you, now."

percy swallowed, and nodded, reaching for the clasp of his camp necklace. he clipped it off of his neck and carefully slid karina's ring onto the wire, making sure it's in between the other charms on the necklace so that it stays in place. he quickly put the necklace back on and turned to annabeth.

"ready?" he asked.

"no," annabeth said truthfully. "but there's really no way for me to back out, so, yeah. i'm ready."

and so with that, they started their journey.

7435 words

hello first chapter of hoh!

so yeah,, if u couldn't tell already, this part of the story is definitely going to be different than all of the other parts. it's going to be reasonably darker ,, but i'm going to try my best to make it as good as i can !!

also, i will be switching from karina's pov to percy's occasionally, but it won't be in every chapter. but i thought it would be good to put the thoughts of both of them in this book and not just karina!