Contest Entry 2!

Auntie Em's revenge
by Miya (queen-huntress13)
The worst thing about tartarus? The darkness. It covers you like someone's trapped you in a big black
blanket and no matter what you do, you can't get out.
Annabeth and I were sitting together on the cold stone floor (yeah, there's flooring in tartarus, weird
right?) I'd lost track of how long we'd been down here. It felt like years, but Annabeth said we probably
only fell into tartarus afew days ago. The memory of it was fuzzy. I remembered seeing Annabeth
with a sprained ankle. I remembered holding onto a small rock ledge, telling her I'd never let her go.
I remembered a sickening horrible voice from within the chasm whispering. I remembered thinking I
couldn't let Annabeth fall down there alone. I remembered free falling for what seemed like ages, but I
couldn't remember anything after that. Now Annabeth and I were sitting together on the - wait, I already
said that. The faint light of Riptide, my awesome pen/sword weapon was just bright enough to illuminate
Annabeth's face. Her grey eyes sparkled beutifully in the bronze glow. We barely spoke. I guess we were
thinking about strategic ways to get out of here and find the doors of death. Okay, cross out we, only
Annabeth was thinking that, she's the smart one. Without her, I'd be curled up in a ball hyperventilating
right about now, but Annabeth gave me courage. I always felt better when she was around.
"Seaweed brain?" She looked up at me with those amazing eyes. Her voice startled me. Tartarus was
so quiet it was like you could hear it. I couldn't bear to speak, for fear of breaking the horrible silence. So
when Annabeth spoke I jumped about a foot off the ground and dropped riptide with a loud clang
Annabeth cracked a smile. I regained my composure and asked
"what?"
"We'd better get going if we want to get out of here." She said simply
"Uh, huh? Oh yeah, it's just-" I stammered
"No, I don't know the exact way out, but we made it through the labyrinth right?" Annabeth tried to
sound positive, but there was a deep hopelessness in her voice. Of course the labyrinth seemed like a
simple garden maze compared to what I was feeling now, but I had to be strong, for Annabeth. At least
we were together.
"Yeah, yeah totally, let's go then." I managed. Annabeth hesitated, then rose. The glow of riptide wasn't
very bright compared to the thick blackness of tartarus. In fact, if Annabeth moved two steps away from
me, she would disappear in the endless darkness. So we stayed close together, holding hands so we
wouldn't get separated. Which I totally didn't mind. Along the way Annabeth stopped me from falling
to my death. A thin (just big enough for someone to fall through) and very deep crevice was right at my
toes. I jumped easily over it but it would've been deadly for someone running through, not watching their
step.
I don't know how long we'd been walking when we heard the sound of snakes hissing. Annabeth
squeezed my hand tightly and I made a little squeak, which I was sure Annabeth would tease me about
later if we survived. Something about that noise was familiar, like an old memory I couldn't quite
get rid of. Annabeth must've felt the same way. Relization dawned on her face and I found out why I
remembered this hissing sound so clearly. It belonged to something I had forgotten, something from long
ago that I never dreamed of facing again.
"Medusa." Annabeth and I said together.
"I'm glad you rember me, demigods." medusa hissed. She came closer to the light and Annabeth
clapped a hand over her eyes. I was too late and watched as medusa's face came into view. Except
something was wrong. Medusa had no eyes. I shook Annabeth's arm.
"it's okay, Annabeth. Medusa lost her eyes"
"What the-" Slowly, Annabeth uncovered her eyes and gaped at Medusa's eyeless face
"Yes, yes" Medusa sighed.
."I have not fully reformed since you killed me last, but even without my eyes I can kill you annoying
little scumbags like I've been wanting to for years. I will have my revenge - hey, where'd you go?"
Annabeth and I had not made it very far. Despite her lack of eyes, Medusa could find us pretty well and
was making her way blindly toward where we were hiding
"I will find you eventually, demigods. You cannot escape me" Medusa warned as her clawed hands
groped dangerously close to Annabeth's arm. Medusa moved away and I dragged Annabeth as far as
possible from the eyeless Medusa, stumbling around in the dark. But our footsteps echoed on the stone
and Medusa turned. Her snakes hissing angrily.
"I hope you have a plan, wisegirl." I whispered. Annabeth didn't say anything but shook her head,
looking pale. My spirits sank. If Annabeth didn't have a stratigic and dangerous plan up her sleeve, we
were toast. I watched Medusa stomping angrily in the dark, groping at thin air. I tried desperately to form
a plan but my brain cells were running around screaming "we're gonna be kilked by a monster with no
eyes! Help! Help!" Then Annabeth made that face Like an evil mastermind at work. I knew right away
she had an idea.
"Run!" She told me urgently
"What?" I asked. It sounded stupid. Medusa was fast, there was no way we could lose her.
"Please, you have to trust me!" she urged and pulled me after her. I guess Annabeth's mind was already
getting damaged from tartarus. Her plans were not nearly as great as they were before. We ran through
the darkness in the direction we came from, Medusa's snakes hissing close behind us. My heart was
pounding in my chest. I didn't know how much longer I could run.
"Jump!" Annabeth whispered. Fortunately for me, I knew what she meant. We were back at that weird
crevice in the ground. I lept over it with the last of my strength. I realized Annabeth's plan wasn't so crazy
after all.
"I'll get you son of Poseidon! I will have my revegaaaah!" Medusa's screams grew fainter as she fell
through the hole. I looked at Annabeth in awe. She grinned at me
"Of course she's not dead," she said
"But it will take her quite a while to get back up. I'm a genius."
I laughed for the first time since we had entered tartarus, and shook my head but I knew it was true. The
best thing was not that I was alive. It was that I had Annabeth by my side. Together, we might just get
out of this place alive.
The end!