And now… fourteen!

We stopped in a room ringed with waterfalls. I bent over, catching my breath. I don't know, but something about fighting dragon ladies really takes it out of you. We stood on the edge, looking into the bottomless pool in the center.

"This pit goes straight to Tartarus," Briares murmured sadly. "I should jump in now and save you the trouble." Quite the pessimist, isn't he?

"Don't talk that way," I scolded. "You can come back to camp with us. You can help us prepare. You know more about fighting Titans than anybody."

"I have nothing to offer. I have lost everything." Except the memories. Poor Briares.

"What about your brothers?" Tyson asked. "The other two must still stand as tall as mountains! We can take you to them!" Oh no. I had heard a rumor about this.

"They are no more. They faded," Briares grieved.

Tyson blinked tears out of his eye, and they mingled with the water of the falls.

"What do you mean they faded?" Percy asked. Oh dear. "I thought monsters were immortal, like gods." You thought wrong then! You can be such an idiot sometimes! This is not the time to bring this up!

"Percy," Grover's voice was as weak as tea left out for a week. "Even immortality has limits. Sometimes… sometimes, when monsters get forgotten, they lose the will to stay immortal."

I was pretty sure Grover was thinking of Pan. And that Percy was thinking (if that was even possible) of everything he'd ever heard of monsters fading. I was thinking of Medusa, and how she was completely alone, without even Poseidon to come and love her. For a second, it kind of made sense why she had tried to kidnap Percy. I mean, he is pretty great. I felt bad for her, but that feeling flitted away almost instantly as I remembered, in detail, the look on her face as she attempted to petrify us. I shivered, even thought the pit was warm.

"I must go," Briares voice sounded strong in the silence.

"Kronos's army will invade camp," Tyson reminded him. "We will need help."

"I cannot, Cyclops," Briares drooped.

"You are strong!" Tyson argued.

"Not anymore," Briares straightened up.

"Hey," Percy tugged one of his arms and led him a little ways away, where they could talk privately.

I touched Tyson's arm, trying to console him. His sadness was almost tangible. His shoulders heaved as he let out a deep sigh.

"Hey, you're fine," I whispered.

Grover looked at me and shook his head. 'No,' He mouthed, meaning that Tyson should be left alone.

'Fine,' I mouthed back.

I watched Briares as Percy glared at him, in his Percy way. Briares's face changed to shame, and he turned and trudged down the passageway, without even so much as a glance in our direction.

Tyson sobbed like a toddler.

"It's okay," Grover touched his shoulder tentatively, which must have taken all of the guts bottled up inside of him.

Tyson wiped his nose on the back of his hand. "It is not okay, goat boy. He was my hero."

We were silent. The rushing of the waterfalls echoed in my ears.

I took a deep breath. "Come on guys. This pit is making me nervous. Let's find a better place to camp for the night."

(Grey line)

We established our camp in a room similar to a Greek tomb, which felt surprisingly comfortable. I had decided that the older the maze was, the closer to Daedalus's workshop we would be because I was pretty sure he built out from the center. Percy sent an odd look my way when I stated that. Not exactly skeptical, but just… odd. Maybe he needed to warm up to the idea first.

"We must be close to Daedalus's workshop," I said, trying to raise the group spirits. "Get some rest everybody. We'll keep going in the morning."

"How will we know when it's morning?" Grover whined.

Darn it. Didn't think of that. "Just get some rest," I sighed.

Grover yanked some straw out of his backpack, and mashed it into a roundish shape. He used it as an edible pillow and reached out with his teeth, slowly chewed the straw. He was snoring in seconds.

Tyson sat heartbroken in a corner, fiddling with little metal scraps.

Percy crawled over to him. They talked for a little while. I didn't try too hard to listen; it felt too intrusive.

I sighed and tried to get comfortable. I pushed my pillow into different shapes, and leaned my back against it. I felt stiff and tired, but I was the leader of this quest. I had to stay strong.

Percy shuffled away from Tyson. I sat for a while, just thinking. I thought about Percy. I thought about how he was getting to be so grown up, but how he was still such an annoying little boy at times. But then, like today, there were times when he seemed so much older and commanding. I thought about our relationship. I liked it where it was…friendship. Sure it could be a little… disappointing at times, but I had a pretty great best friend fighting beside me. My thoughts drifted to the mortal girl, Rachel. Maybe he couldn't see it, but I could. She had at least some feelings for him. And personally, I didn't want any competition.

A noise from behind me set me on high alert. Turns out, a lumbering Percy was approaching.

"You should sleep," I said, secretly glad for an excuse to stay awake.

"Can't," he simply replied. "You doing all right?"

"Sure. First day leading the quest. Just great."

"We'll get there," he promised. "We'll find the workshop before Luke does."

I brushed a strand of my blond hair out of my eyes as Percy examined my face.

"I just wish this quest was logical. I mean, we're traveling, but I have no idea where we'll end up! How do you walk from New York to California in one day?" I moaned. It made no sense!

"Space isn't the same in the maze."

"I know, it's just…" I glanced at him. "Percy, I was kidding myself. All that planning and reading. I don't have a clue where we're going."

"You're doing great," he reassured me. "Besides, we never know what we're doing. It always works out. Remember Circe's island?"

"You made a cute guinea pig."

"And Waterland, how you got us thrown off that ride?" Oh, that ride.

"I got us thrown off? That was totally your fault!" It was!

"See? It'll be fine."

I smiled. He really knew how to make things better, didn't he?

"Percy, what did Hera mean when she said you knew how to get through the maze?"

"I don't know. Honestly!" He replied.

"You'd tell me if you did?"

"Sure. Maybe…" He hesitated.

"Maybe what?"

"Maybe if you told me the last line of the prophecy, it would help."

And lose a love to worse than death.

"Not here. Not in the dark." Not with you around.

"What about the choice Janus mentioned? Hera said-"

"Stop," I snapped, shutting him out. "I'm sorry Percy. I'm just stressed. But I don't… I've got to think about it."

We sat silently, my outburst hanging in the air.

"Nico's down here somewhere," Percy said. "That's how he disappeared from camp. Then, he found a path that led down even farther—to the Underworld. But now he's back in the maze. He's coming after me."

I thought about that. "Percy, I hope you're wrong. But if you're right…" I painted pictures on the wall with my flashlight.

"How about I take first watch?" He said. "I'll wake you if anything happens."

I wasn't in the mood for arguing, so I just slumped over in my sleeping bag, facing away from him. Soon, I fell into a peacefully dreamless sleep.