Please read and review, it would really make my day! Constructive criticism is welcome but please no flames, they will be deleted and reported. I'm still fairly new to this whole writing thing, so I apologize for any mistakes. Depending on how people like this I may decide to write another chapter. Enjoy!
I run out into the corridor, my heart racing, but turn back at once. I can't just leave Percy in there by himself. I doubt he actually has a plan, he just had wanted to get me out of there, which was cute, but also quite stupid, as we work much better together.
I start back towards the volcano, but before I get there, an explosion rocks the ground and throws me backward. I hit the wall and barely have time to register my Yankees cap laying a few feet away, before blacking out.
Everything was silent as I slowly came to, the only sounds are the crumbling of rocks dislodged in the explosion. My head spun as I sit up and slump against the wall, digging in my pack for the baggie of ambrosia I had stashed there.
After stuffing a small piece down my throat, my vision clears, and I am able to stand up without getting dizzy. Percy was in the volcano somewhere; I have to find him. If he hasn't come out yet he must be injured, or worse. Coming into the volcano I gasp softly, lava spatters the walls, rubble is strewn about the cave, and the roof of the cavern is blown off.
"Percy? Percy!" I scream his name over and over to no avail, he's not answering.
The side rooms leading off the main cavern have all collapsed, if Percy happened to be in any of them at the time he would have been crushed. He has to be alive; he has to. Despite what my brain says, I half-expect that Percy would pop up any second now with his lopsided smirk, declaring everything was all right.
I knew he wouldn't though. Whether he was crushed by falling rocks or burned by lava, it was obvious he wasn't going to walk out of the rubble and make everything in the world okay again. No, I think as my knees buckle and I slowly sink to the ground, he's gone.
The tears start slowly, forming tracks on my cheeks as they slowly drip into my lap. They turn into sobs as I think of the truth I will have to face. Percy was the only one who had stayed with me. Thalia had been a tree for five long years, and while that was in no way her fault, it didn't change the fact that she had left. Luke had betrayed me, trading our small rag-tag family of runaways for Kronos's army.
Percy however, Percy had always been there.
Ever since he had collapsed on the Big House's porch four years ago, I had felt something between us, no matter how hard I tried to deny it. I had dropped hints, I had even kissed him for hades sake, but he still remained oblivious to all of it. Now he was gone, most likely for good, and he would never know how I felt.
If only I was bolder, we were old enough, I could have told him back at camp and maybe. . . camp!
I need to get back there, to tell them what has happened!
Besides, if there was any chance, any at all, that Percy was alive, that's where he would head. I collect myself, getting ready to head back, before realizing that the labyrinth, which I have no way of navigating, is my only way home.
As if reading my mind, I hear scuttling a spider crawls into view near my feet. Shrieking, I back against the wall, only now realizing that the spider is mechanical, the same one Hephaestus gave us to show us the way to the volcano.
The spider scuttles towards me before turning and heading down the path into the maze. He was obviously leading me somewhere, so I hop to my feet and scramble to catch up.
Heading into the labyrinth once again, this time without any of my friends to help me.