Chapter XIV

Katya

"Look," I told the cashier at the gas station. "I just need you to tell me where the nearest bus stop is."

"You've got to get to the hospital," the young college age boy said. "Your legs are bleeding and you look like you're going to pass out any moment."

"I'll be fine when I get on the bus. Just tell me where one is."

"No, you need help." I admired the boy's stubbornness when it came to a stranger's wellbeing, you could tell he was a compassionate person. But I didn't have time for compassion right now. I came out of a mine and ended up in this little town and no idea where to get anywhere.

"Can't you just tell me where a bus stop is, I'll be fine when I get to my destination."

"Katya!" I turned around, Percy was waving and smiling like an idiot next to Rachel, who was talking to a limousine driver.

I turned back to the cashier. "Looks like my friends made it after all."

I walked back over to Percy and Rachel. Percy hugged me. "I knew you could do it," he said.

"You can let go of me now. And thanks for believing I could outrun a pack of dogs, however stupid that idea was, it was true."

"Great, we have a ride, we're just waiting on Annabeth," Rachel said just as Nico and Annabeth appeared from the gift shop.

"I talked to Chiron," Annabeth said. "They're doing their best to prepare for battle, but he still wants us back. They're going to need every hero they can get. Did we find a ride? I hope Katya made it out of the maze alright, and she could probably get to camp al—Katya you're here!"

I laughed. "I thought you were the daughter of Athena, of course I'm alive, do you think I'd let a pack of dogs get me?"

"No-but…"

"The driver's ready when we are," Rachel interrupted.

The chauffeur was now talking to another guy in khakis and a polo shirt, probably his client who'd rented the car. The client was complaining, but I could hear the driver saying, "I'm sorry, sir. Emergency. I've ordered another car for you."

"Come on," Rachel said. She led us to the car and got in without even looking at the flustered guy who'd rented it. A minute later we were cruising down the road. The seats were leather. There was plenty of legroom. The backseat had flat-panel TV's built into the headrests and a mini-fridge stocked with water, sodas, and snacks. We started eating all of it.

"Where to, Miss Dare?" The driver asked.

"I'm not sure yet, Robert," she said. "We just need to drive through town and, uh, look around."

"Whatever you say, miss."

Percy looked to Rachel. "Do you know this guy?"

"No."

"But he dropped everything to help you. Why?"

"Just keep your eyes peeled," she said. "Help me look."

"Look for what?" I asked.

"An entrance to the maze."

"Oh!" I exclaimed, feeling very, very stupid, like, Percy stupid. "I know where the entrance is."

"How?" Percy asked.

"How do you think I got here," I glared at him. "It's at the entrance to the Western Museum of Mining & Industry."

"There." Rachel pointed to a hole in the side of a nearby hill—a tunnel that was boarded up and chained. "An old mine entrance."

"A door to the Labyrinth?" Annabeth asked. "How can you be sure?"

"Well, look at it!" Rachel said. "I mean… I can see it, okay?"

She thanked to the driver and we all got out. He didn't ask for money or any payment. "Are you sure you'll be all right, Miss Dare? I'd be happy to call your—"

"No!" Rachel said. "No, really. Thanks, Robert. But we're fine."

The museum seemed to be closed, so nobody bothered us as we climbed the hill to the mine shaft. When we got to the entrance, I saw the mark of Daedalus engraved on the padlock, the place I had just come out of. I touched the padlock and the chains fell away. We kicked down some boards and walked inside. For better, or worse we were back in the Labyrinth.

The dirt tunnels turned to stone. They wound around and split off and basically tried to confuse us, but Rachel had no trouble guiding us. We told her we needed to get back to New York, and she hardly even paused when the tunnels offered a choice.

To my surprise, Rachel and Annabeth started up a conversation as we walked. Annabeth asked her more about her background, but Rachel was evasive, so they started talking about architecture. It turned out Rachel knew quite a bit about it from studying art.

I hung behind Percy and Nico, I kept looking behind me, expecting to see hellhounds chasing me.

I couldn't escape the feeling of the chase. The erratic fear, your heart beating faster than it had before, the faster you ran, the more panicked you felt, but the fear of slowing down made you move faster.

I knew that feeling all too well. Not just because of the hellhounds, after I ran from Menshikov that night, I was running for a while. Every day travelling from city to city, escaping monsters, running from Menshikov. He found me once.

When I was ten, Menshikov found me, he took me down, tortured me for days. Then I was saved by a boy named Jason Grace. I remembered that well, he nursed me back to health, and we hung out for the rest of the week. He left and I went back on the road, but I think of him a lot.

I ran into Percy, who'd stopped after running into Rachel. We'd come to a crossroads. The tunnel continued straight ahead, but a side tunnel T'd off to the right—a circular shaft carved from volcanic rock.

"What is it?" Percy asked.

Rachel stared down the dark tunnel. In the dim flashlight beam, her face looked like on of Nico's specters.

"Is that the way?" Annabeth asked.

"No," Rachel said nervously. "Not at all."

"Why are we stopping then?" I asked.

"Listen," Nico said.

I heard wind coming down the tunnel, as if the exit were close. And I smelled something vaguely familiar—something that brought back bad memories.

"Eucalyptus trees," Percy said. "Like in California."

Last winter, when we'd faced Luke and the Titan Atlas on the top of Mount Tamalpais, the air had smelled just like that.

"There's something evil down that tunnel," Rachel said. "Something very powerful."

"And the smell of death," Nico added.

We exchanged glances.

"Luke's entrance," I guessed. "The one to Mount Othrys—the Titan's palace."

"I have to check it out," Percy said surely.

"Percy, no," Annabeth argued.

"Luke could be right there," Percy said. "Or…or Kronos. I have to find out what's going on."

Annabeth hesitated. "Then we'll all go."

"No," Percy said. "It's too dangerous. If they got hold of Nico, or Rachel for that matter, Kronos could use them. You and Katya stay here and guard them."

I could tell he was also worried for Annabeth, I was too, he didn't trust what she would do if she saw Luke again. He and I both know how many times he'd manipulated her before.

"Percy, don't," Rachel said. "Don't go up there alone."

"I'll be quick," he promised. "I won't do anything stupid."

"By going alone you'll be doing something stupid," I interjected. "I'm going with you."

"No," he said. You need to help Annabeth."

"Percy, we need to talk." I dragged him out of ear shot. "You know Annabeth doesn't need me, and you also know it is safer together, so what is your problem with me going?"

"I just…" he looked for words. "I can't let you get hurt again."

"Like in Mount St. Helens, Percy, you couldn't have stopped me either way," I whispered softly. "It wasn't your fault."

"And in the arena, and all those other times I failed you," he told me. "This is my way of making up for that."

"Percy, you don't need to make up for that, and you don't need to worry about protecting me all the time."

"Katya," he sighed frustrated, "why are you so stubborn?"

"Percy," I mimicked, "why are you so stupid?"

"Hey!"

I walked back to Annabeth and Rachel, who both had this face that said, 'you-two-are-totally-made-for-each-other', which was weird because there were no couples in our little group.

Annabeth pulled her Yankees cap out of her pocket. "At least take this. And be careful."

"Thanks," Percy took it. I remembered the last time Annabeth had left Percy and me to face the telekhines, Percy had given me a kiss, and then we blew up a volcano. This time, all I got was a nod of the head.

Percy put on the hat. "Here goes nothing." And we sneak, obe of us invisibly, down the dark stone tunnel.

Before I even got to the exit I heard voices: the growling, barking sounds of telekhines.

"At least we salvaged the blade," one said. "The master will still rewards us."

"Yes! Yes!" A second shrieked. "Rewards beyond measure!"

Another voice, this one more human, said: "Um, yeah, well that's great. Now, if you're done with me—"

"No, half-blood!" A telekhine said. "You must help us make the presentation. It is a great honor!"

"Gee, thanks," the half-blood said.

We crept toward the end of the tunnel. I stayed against the wall, and out of sight. I couldn't tell where Percy was. We were standing near the top of Mount Tamalpais. The Pacific Ocean spread out below, gray under a cloudy sky. About twenty feet downhill, two telekhines were placing something on a large rock—something long and thin and wrapped in black cloth. The half-blood with an eye patch was helping them open it.

"Careful, fool," the telekhine scolded. "One touch, and the blade will sever your soul from your body."

The half-blood swallowed nervously. "Maybe I'll let you unwrap it, then."

I glanced up at the mountain's peak, where a black marble fortress loomed, with walls fifty feet high. There was magic going on here—really powerful Mist if the mortals couldn't see that. Above us, the sky swirled into a huge funnel cloud. I couldn't see Atlas, but I could hear him groaning in the distance, just the thought of his curse made my ribs ache anew.

"There!" The telekhine said. At first I thought they had seen me. But instead he lifted the weapon and my blood turned cold.

A scythe, a six foot long blade curved like a crescent moon. The wooden handle wrapped in leather. The blade glinted to different colors, iron and bronze. It was the weapon of Kronos.

"We must sanctify it in blood," the telekhine said. "Then you, half-blood, shall help present it when the lord awakes."

I felt air rush past me, I could tell Percy had run past me, but I couldn't move any farther unless I wanted to be seen.

"We must sanctify it in blood," the telekhine said. "Then you half-blood, shall help present it when the lord awakes."

Then the golden lid to the coffin was pushed back by an invisible force, and that invisible force had to be Percy. It fell to the floor with a huge WHOOOOM!

I raced down, jumping over rocks, just trying to reach Percy, not caring if the telekhines saw me. Then I saw what was inside of the coffin. Mortal legs, dressed in gray pants. A white T-shirt, hands folded over his stomach. One piece of his chest was missing, the size of a clean bullet wound, right where his heart should have been. His eyes were closed. His skin pale. Blond hair…and a scar running along the left side of his face.

The body in the coffin was Luke's.

"What has happened?" One of the telekhines screamed from right behind where Percy should have been when he saw the lid.

"Careful!" The other demon warned. "Perhaps he stirs. We must present the gifts now. Immediately!"

I hid behind a column.

The two telekhines shuffled forward and knelt, holding us the scythe in its wrapping cloth. "My lord," one said. "Your symbol of power is remade."

Nothing happened in the coffin.

"You fool," the other telekhine muttered. "He requires the half-blood first."

The half-blood stepped back. "Whoa, what do you mean he requires me?"

"Don't be a coward!" The first telekhine hissed. "He does not require your death. Only your allegiance. Pledge him your service. Renounce the gods. That is all."

"No!" An invisible Percy yelled from the next column over yelled. "Ethan, don't!"

"Trespassers!" The telekhines bared their seal teeth. "The master will deal with you soon enough. Hurry, boy!" I ran up and stood next to Percy.

"Ethan," Percy pleaded, "don't listen to them. Help us destroy it."

Ethan turned to us, his eye patch blending in with the shadows on his face. His expression was something like pity. "I told you not to spare me, Percy. 'An eye for an eye.' You ever heard that saying? I learned what it meant the hard way—when I discovered my godly parent. I'm the child of Nemesis, Goddess of Revenge. And this is what I was made to do."

He turned toward the dais. "I renounce the gods! What have they ever done for me? I will see them destroyed. I will serve Kronos."

The building rumbled. A wisp of blue light rose from the floor at Ethan's feet. It drifted toward the coffin and began to shimmer, like a cloud of pure energy. Then it descended into the sarcophagus.

Luke sat bolt upright. His eyes opened, and they were no longer blue. They were golden, the same color as the coffin. The hole in his chest was gone. He was complete. He leaped out of the coffin with ease, and where his feet touched the floor, the marble froze like craters of ice.

He looked at Ethan and the telekhines with those horrible golden eyes, as if he were a newborn baby, not sure what he was seeing. Then he looked at Percy, and a smile of recognition crept across his mouth.

"This body has been well prepared." This reminded me of when Isis and Horus were hosted by Sadie and Carter, but this was more of a possession. "Don't you think so, Percy Jackson?"

Kronos threw his head back and laughed. The scar on his face rippled.

"Luke feared you," the Titan's voice said. "His jealousy and hatred have been powerful tools. It has kept him obedient. For that I thank you."

Ethan collapsed in terror. He covered his face with his hands. The telekhines trembled, holding the scythe. I kept my stance firm and my glare fierce.

Percy lunged. He thrust Riptide at Kronos' chest, but his skin deflected the blow like he was made of pure steel. He looked at him with amusement. Then he flicked his hand, and he flew across the room.

I screamed his name. He slammed against a pillar. He struggled to his feet, but Kronos had already grasped the handle of his scythe.

"Ah…much better," he said. "Backbiter, Luke called it. An appropriate name. Now that it is re-forged completely, it shall indeed bite back."

"What have you done to Luke?" I asked.

Kronos raised his scythe. "He serves me with his whole being, so I require. The difference is, he feared you, Percy Jackson. I do not."

Percy started running, and when he reached me, I ran with him.

I looked back when I realized that Percy was running in what looked like slow motion, but I knew it was the power of Kronos. His presence was so strong it could bend time itself.

"Run, little heroes," he laughed. "Run!"

He was approaching leisurely, swinging his scythe as if he were enjoying the feel of having it in his hands again.

He was ten feet away when I heard, "PERCY! KATYA!"

Rachel's voice.

Something flew past me, and a blue plastic hairbrush hit Kronos in the eye.

"Ow!" He yelled. For a moment it was only Luke's voice, full of surprise and pain. Percy started running at normal speed and I was close behind him. He ran straight into Rachel, Nico, and Annabeth, who were standing in the entry hall, their eyes wide with dismay.

"Luke?" Annabeth called. "What—"

I grabbed her arm and pulled her after me. I ran as fast as I've ever run, straight out of the fortress. We were almost back to the Labyrinth entrance when I heard a loud bellow—the voice of Kronos, coming back into control. "AFTER THEM!"

"No!" Nico yelled. He clapped his hands together, and a jagged spire of rock the size of an eighteen-wheeler erupted from the ground right in front of the fortress. The tremor it caused was so powerful the front columns came crashing down. I heard muffled screams from the telekhines inside. Dust billowed everywhere.

We plunged into the Labyrinth and kept running, the howl of the Titan lord shaking the entire world behind us.

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