I was smashing icicles above me when I found a way out.

I swung my axe high up and a length of ice the size of a broomstick fell between my legs. I immediately starting eating it, which was a stupid idea. The thing about eating ice was that sometimes you get sores at the back of your throat because of the low temperature. I didn't care, because I was so desperate for water that I was willing to risk another body problem to get it.

The ice in my mouth melted into liquid and I drank thankfully, glad that I was getting some form of water into my body. Already, I could feel the effect of the water because my eyesight had cleared; my arm straightened itself and my leg didn't hurt as much as it did. I wondered if my father was helping me, but I quickly over-ruled  it - he didn't have any power here on the mountain, even if the ice would eventually turn into water.

I got to my feet slowly - big mistake. As soon as I put pressure on my leg, it started to throb and I knew at that point that I sat down for too long. It was numb, but I smiled slightly because I remembered that my mom would probably call it a terrible case of "pins and needles."

I looked at my surroundings. There wasn't much to see - in front of me was the pit leading to Tartarus (I stayed well away from the ledge); I looked over to my right and I could see that it went further along the chasm and I thought that could've been a way out but I didn't want to try because the walls looked to slippery.

Then when I looked over to my left, I could see some sort of tunnel going deeper into the crevice. It made nauseous because if there was one thing I hate about these kind of things is that you don't what you'll find when going down there. I was literally begging that I could find a way down there - I just hope that the gods could send me a sign.

Apparently they answered because right in front of me, some sort of apparition appeared in front of me. It was cloaked and had a hood on, but I knew that it was some kind of person. Unfortunately, I got apprehensive because I thought that it was Everest.

I held Riptide in front of me. "Who are you?" I demanded, noticing that my voice wasn't raspy anymore. "What do you want?"

The apparition didn't speak - it raised its arm and pointed to the tunnel leading deeper into the chasm.

"Who are you?" I repeated. "You Everest? If you are I swear on the Styx I will kill you."

In answer, the hooded figure removed its hood, and I what I saw made me drop my sword. Because standing in front of me, looking just as I remembered her...was Annabeth.

Her blonde hair was loose around her shoulders and her grey eyes bore into mine. She looked at peace but she didn't smile. She looked as beautiful as ever because she looked like she was thinking a million miles an hour again. She just pointed at the tunnel that led deeper.

"Annabeth..." my voice broke as I looked at my girlfriend. Seeing her lifted my spirits up because I missed her so much. The conversation we had on the phone made me feel like I had given up too easily and that I wasn't ready to leave her.

She vanished and I was left standing there, wondering if I was ever going to see her again.

I was probably having hallucinations but when you're a demigod, you can never be certain because when you see things - they kind've tend to be real.

I decided that maybe I should do as Annabeth told me to do and limped into the tunnel, not knowing what I would encounter.

The whole tunnel was a tight squeeze but I managed to come out the other end after going a hundred metres and coming out onto a lower level.

I took in my new surroundings and was amazed at how big this crevice was. It look as if I was standing in the almighty throne room of Olympus, because that was how big and spacious the place was - as if it made Madison's Square Garden look like a broom closet. Now that was huge - knowing Annabeth, she would want to build a palace in here, and I knew she would. She was stubborn enough to do so.

I limped forwards slowly. My leg was seriously aching now - now that the effects of the water I had earlier was fading away, I could feel the tension the muscles in my leg were going through. I would need a lot of medical attention on this leg because Everest had clearly done some serious damage to it. To give me an extra boost, I brought out my water bottle and drank half of it, giving me a kind of adrenaline rush.

Before I knew it, I ran into another problem - a never ending wall that scaled upwards. It was bumpy and had holes in it - sort of like the rock climbing wall we had back at Camp Half-Blood. Knowing that, it brought back a lot of memories of that challenge.

But then, another apparition appeared in front of me. I was half expecting that it was Annabeth, but as I looked closely at it, I realised that I was looking at an old friend - and an old enemy.

It was Luke.

I inhaled sharply - how was this possible? He was dead - I saw him right in front of my eyes when he got rid of Kronos! I saw him stab himself!

"Luke," I gasped.

His blonde hair had gotten longer and the scar on his face wasn't there anymore. His clear blue eyes looked at me, but I could see the pain in his eyes. He spoke, "I'm so sorry, Percy - for everything I've done."

I looked at him, not knowing what to say to him.

"I know that I did a lot of wrongs in my life," he continued, "but I think in supporting you with this is my way of making it up to you. Can you trust me?"

I sat down, the shock finally getting to me. "How are you alive?"

He smiled and I thought I saw a glimpse of the nineteen year old guy I met back at the Hermes cabin. "Lets just say that we don't want you to die - it's not your time. You got a lot of life ahead of you. Plus, I don't want Annabeth to be alone, raising your son all by herself."

"We?" I stammered. "Who's 'we'?"

Luke looked at me and just said, "All the friends you lost." He turned to the wall. "You can make it Percy - I know you can. Be strong and don't give up."

With that, he vanished like he wasn't there in the first place.

Luke...I remembered the last look in his eyes when he died. He made me promise to make sure that the gods noticed their children, instead of ignoring him. I never gave much thought to him...and I hadn't given much thought to forgiving him. He saved us in the Titan War and yet it has been almost five years since he died, and I still remembered the last words he spoke to me. "Don't let it happen again."

"Luke, I forgive you," I whispered, hoping he heard me. I meant it and a huge weight was taken off my shoulders.

I turned towards the wall and started to climb it. It hurt my leg when I applied pressure to it but I had to get to the top because I knew it was my only way out. I had to get out of here and make it to Annabeth and my son, because if I died in here it would crush Annabeth's and my son, Alan, would never have a father.

I reached the top and pulled myself over, lying on the ice for a moment as I caught my breath. Struggling to my feet, I continued walking forward. 

I reached some sort of archway and came to a stop as I looked at the most bizarre thing in my life.

In front of me was like a blue circle carved into the ice. Inside the circle was another circle and it continued onwards as it got to the circle in the centre. As I looked more carefully, on each circle there was a string of symbols that looked more like star signs. As I looked closer, I noticed that each symbol represented a God - thunder for Zeus; strident for Poseidon; owl for Athena and so forth.

I wondered what this was all about, and my thoughts were interrupted as yet another apparition appeared to my side. As I looked, my heart fell as I saw Zoe.

She looked so young and yet she was so old. I looked at her with a pained expression, but she gave me a smile which made my heart flutter for a moment. 

"Hello Perseus," she said. Her hair was in a ponytail down her shoulder and she wore her Hunters of Artemis jacket. She glowed with a silver light which illuminated the whole chasm. She looked at my sword, which was still drawn out. "I see that Anaklusmos had changed it's appearance. How are you coping with it?"

"It does that?" I asked, glancing at the sword which flared like blue plasma. I knew what she was talking about it - she was it's first owner and creator.

"It changes itself to suit it's owner after a few years," she said. "You already knew it's original form - the same form Hercules had used before."

I noticed that she didn't say Hercules' name with venom anymore. She had obviously moved on from it all.

"Zoe, I am so sorry," I said, tearing up as I remembered her death, remembering Atlases final blow on his daughter.

Zoe frowned. "For what?"

I threw my arms up in a defeated expression. "For everything. For putting you through the quest we were on. For getting you and Bianca killed-"

Zoe grabbed my hand. She was solid enough to grab something and her touch was so warm.

"My death wasn't your fault," she told me, smiling still. "Don't blame yourself for it. Bianca told me that you were guilty of her death but she died in her own way. I did the same - you can't live in the past, Perseus. It does no one any good."

I nodded my understanding. I knew what she meant - she didn't want me to do the same thing she did: living in the past.

The former lieutenant of Artemis pointed at the twelve ringed circles, which to me looked like an oversized darts board. "To progress, you must place each of the gods symbols of power in order. Can thee do that?"

I smiled. She still used old English which was the way she preferred to talk. "I think so. I know the gods pretty well - I just hope I can get them in order."

Zoe nodded. "Good luck then. Remember: don't blame yourself for anyone's death when it isn't your fault. Promise me that."

She vanished, leaving me alone again with empty silence. And once again, I couldn't help but remember how much I missed her as an old friend...

I turned towards the circles. I started moving the circles one at the time, making sure that Zeus came first and then Poseidon. I wondered if Zoe meant by the amount of power each god had - so I turned each of the symbols around so that they aligned themselves in each gods rank in power.

I was one lucky demigod because I got it right on my first go. Once I got them in order, the wall right in front of me crumbled and I was covered in snow again. I stepped forward as the ice settled in front of me. 

Unfortunately, as I stepped forward, I fell off a ledge and landed on my stomach after falling twenty feet from where I was standing.

I groaned as I got on all fours.

I had landed on a slope that went upwards. It was covered in snow and ice, which would explain why my landing was hard and painful. As I looked upwards, I was met with a beautiful sight. Right in front of me, as if it were a gift from the heavens, a hundred feet up, was a massive hole which beamed in the early morning sunshine. The light shone on my face, instantly warming me up. I took it all in, feeling safe for once. And another thought crossed my mind. It came at me so sharp that my heart started racing in excitement. 

I could climb this slope. This was the way out that I was looking for. The slope was enough for me to climb. I could climb this slope and I freaking well do so as well.

I find that I was so excited that I didn't take in the warning signs. I started to notice when I started crawling forwards and I heard a low rumble underneath me. I stopped in my tracks and looked at the snow I was crawling on. I frowned and patted the snow, wondering what that rumble was. I was met with a startling sound - the rumble was coming from underneath the snow.

I realised then that this wasn't a safe slope; that wasn't completely stable. It was sort of like the chamber of Arachne - Annabeth once said that the foundations of the spider woman's shrine was slowly eaten away from all the bitter thoughts that the Athena Parthenos was causing. But this was completely different because I was once taught in a geology class that snow sometimes falls into crevices and collects over time. This was one of those things and I knew at once that I was on a fragile slope.

I crawled forward slowly, careful not to shuffle to much. When I grabbed one of the rocky ice bumps, I dragged myself to my feet and placed my feet onto harder snow that felt like more ice and rock. The groaning and rumbling of the snow stopped and I sighed in relief.

Now I could concentrate on the last challenge and I looked up - the sun still shone on my face. It was maybe seventy feet up - I could manage that if I had enough strength which I didn't. But then again, the last wall I had to climb was maybe fifty feet tall and it had drained me.

I sat down carefully and took my water bottle out. I drained it completely and I felt myself getting stronger with each gulp. I started to get up when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked around and I saw my father, looking at me.

He was smiling as usual. "You've been so brave my son. I'm so proud of you."

My shoulders sagged. "Then why do I feel so worn out?" I panted.

"You've put too much of your energy into this, that's why," Poseidon answered, chuckling as he said it. "Now you've completed one of the most challenging experiences of your life..." He looked up at the hole that led towards sunlight. "...and this is your last test."

I looked down in exhaustion. I shook my head. "I don't think I can get up this. I might of had water to give me a boost, but I don't think it's enough to get me up there. The best I can do is about fifty feet at most - this is seventy feet tall."

Poseidon considered my words. And before I knew it, I blacked out when he placed a hand on my head.

It seemed like ten seconds had passed when I woke up.

I found myself kneeling upright on a patch of soft snow, feeling no discomfort whatsoever. Apart from my throbbing leg and arm, I was generally feeling stronger than I did before. My chest didn't feel like I was inhaling sulphurous air and my head cleared thoroughly. 

Next to me, Poseidon stood with his trident in hand, looking out for any immediate danger. When he saw me awake, he nodded like he was satisfied. "You okay?"

I nodded. "Thank you," I gratefully said. I frowned slightly. "Why did you help me? I thought you weren't allowed-"

"Zeus told me to," my father spoke. "He saw you in the state you were in and decided that you should be helped. To be fair, you did scare the Styx out of him with your drop in sanity - you're gonna have to watch your language son, because you did use some several strong choice words."

I blushed in embarressment. "Sorry - I kind've lost it in there."

I looked back and I saw the entrance to the crevice that I was in. It felt good that I was out and not near the pit that went straight to Tartarus. I fell backwards and took in the sunshine with a happy heart. Poseidon smiled as he watched me enjoy my freedom of being out of the chasm.

"I must go back to Olympus," he told me. "I will see you soon. I'm sure of it."

And then he, like all the others I saw down in the depths, vanished.

I looked at where I was and noticed that I was maybe a thousand feet above Base Camp. I could see the tent that belonged to Olympus Explorers. And as I looked, I noticed that the sky was getting dark again and I knew right then that I had been in that chasm for some time. If it went dark, then I was screwed.

I got to my feet and started walking towards Base Camp.