Hey guys, a second update for today, just cause. Also cause I've officially finished typing up the entirety of the Labyrinths plot so I'm in a good mood- the last chapter is shorter than average but hey, who cares if it works. Anyway I hope you all enjoy this chapter, which includes some serious talks- some awesome Leo and ridiculous Percabeth cuteness- also, Nico is a nerd and I will fight anyone who says otherwise- kid was obsessed with Mythomagic.
Percy woke choking, gasping for breath- though she managed to stifle the noise so that she wouldn't wake anyone else.
Not that everyone was asleep, Percy realized that quickly- she could see a faint glow from the corner of the room, away from the others who were sleeping.
Percy shifted slowly, trying to calm her pounding heart as she lifted her head to peer over at the two figures huddled together- Leo and Grover, a blanket draped over both of their shoulders. Leo was clutching something, holding it so that Grover could see it- and both of them lifted their heads to look at Percy when they heard her moving.
"Percy?" Grover's voice was a whisper, "Are you okay?"
"Demigod dream." Percy whispered back, carefully slipping her hand out of her girlfriends. "You two?"
"I couldn't sleep." Leo admitted, "So I figured I'd try finishing this- I did it I think." he held up the object in his hand and Percy realized it was a phone. Percy tensed, eyes widening.
"Is that?"
"I think I've managed to make it work so that it won't draw in monsters." Leo's face was slightly flushed, and he gave a small grin "I haven't tested it yet- don't wanna risk it until we're somewhere safer but-"
"That's awesome." Percy carefully managed to get herself of the couch without stepping on her girlfriend and she padded towards Grover and Leo, ruffling the younger boys curls- which made Leo grin widely. "My baby bro's a genius-"
"He is." Grover's voice wasn't as upbeat as usual and Percy frowned.
"What's up G-man?"
"Leo managed to get onto the internet." Grover's voice was hushed, his eyes downcast, and Leo gave him a sympathetic look. "We know what day it is?"
"Uh- okay why-"
"Time moves differently in the Labyrinth." Grover shook his head, "It's June thirteenth Percy. Seven days since we left camp-"
"Oh." Percy's eyes widened and she dropped down so that she was sat on Grover's left, grabbing the blanket and pulling it so that it was over her shoulders too as she wrapped an arm around Grover. "G-man-"
"I'm out of time. As soon as we get back they'll take away my searchers license. I'll never be allowed to go out again-"
"I could fight 'em for you." Leo piped up, laying the phone down on the floor in front of him to mime boxing with someone, punching the air in front of him,
"Boom, pow, make them give you more time. You're pretty cool for a goat guy. You totally deserve better." and Percy was honestly impressed that Leo's voice never went above a whisper- the boy usually had trouble staying quieter- but he was clearly trying to avoid waking up the others just as much as she and Grover were.
And Grover smiled slightly, "Thanks Leo- but... it wouldn't work they'd never go for it." he looked pained, "The world is dying you two. Percy... gods what you did today, saving the ranch animals from Geryon, that was amazing- I- I wish I could be more like you-"
"Hey." Percy elbowed him lightly, "Don't be hard on yourself G-man. You're totally a hero."
"No I'm not. I keep trying, but…" He sighed. "Percy, I can't go back to camp without finding Pan. I just can't. You understand that, don't you? I can't face Juniper if I fail. I can't even face myself."
His voice was so unhappy it hurt to hear. They'd been through a lot together, but Percy had never heard him sound this down before.
"Grover... we'll figure it out, you haven't failed, you're the champion goat boy-" she grinned teasingly, "And Juniper knows that- and so does everyone who
knows you."
"Yeah." Leo nodded, "If Percy likes you that's gotta mean something-"
Grover's lips twitched slightly. "I guess. Thank you guys."
"No need to thank us. Now you two need to get some sleep." Percy pointed out softly.
"So do you." Leo leaned forward slightly to peer past Grover, "Or you'll be all tired tomorrow."
"Fine." Percy gave a fond smile, "We'll all sleep then, sound like a plan?"
"Sounds good to me." Grover agreed as Percy and Leo both laid their heads on his shoulders.
They didn't wake up again until there was a muffled noise- giggling Percy thought, and she cracked one eye open slightly so she could squint in the direction
of the giggling- and the others were all awake, Annabeth was glancing at the huddled up trio- and Percy could hear Leo's soft snorting and Grovers less soft snoring, a sign that they were both still asleep. Tyson was sat talking to Annabeth as she packed up bedrolls- and Kayla and Nico were stood looking at the trio and- and Percy became aware of their obvious amusement at something.
She opened her eyes, narrowing them at her brother and his friend, which made them just start snickering harder. "What did you two do?"
"Nothing." Nico's voice was light, "Why do you think we did anything?"
"Because you're far too amused." Percy straightened up. "What did you guys do?"
"Nothing." Kayla grinned, "We were just saying how adorable you three looked all cuddled up like that-"
"You did look very cute." Annabeth remarked lightly, tucking a curl behind her ear. "Don't worry, they didn't do anything that bad-"
"Did you know you drool-" Kayla started- and Percy cut her off before she could finish.
"In my sleep. I'm aware of the fact, Annabeth told me that."
"I did." Annabeth grinned playfully, "You're cute though-"
"Of course Annabeth knows that." Kayla snickered, "I swear you two are ridiculous- I don't think there's any couples as cute as you two in camp-"
"Well, we are pretty cute- but that was actually back before we dated."
"I was one of the people who had to look after the Seaweed brain when she first got to camp-"
"Oh! I remember that." Kayla shook her head, "No one would shut up about it for days."
"It was definitely one of the more interesting arrivals." Annabeth gave a wry smile.
"It was." Percy grinned, "Looking back on it there is one thing that makes me laugh?"
"Oh?" Annabeth raised an eyebrow, "I mean, I'd have thought it was a kinda traumatic memory-"
"Are you kidding?" Percy's eyes met Annabeth's. "You said I was the one-"
"No I-" Annabeth paused, brows furrowing before she let out a loud laugh, loud enough that both Grover and Leo were startled awake by it. "I did didn't I?"
"You were practically prophetic-"
"I mean, I didn't mean it like that but I wasn't wrong-"
"How did you mean it?" Nico raised an eyebrow. "I mean, there's really not many ways I can think that you could mean that?"
"I meant that she was the one who I'd go on a quest with." Annabeth grabbed something from the bag and tossed it at Nico- who ducked so that it ended up hitting Leo- who let out a sleep slurred grumble of complaint.
"Too early for this crap-"
"Well it's time you guys woke up anyway. We want to head off bright and early- Eurytion said he'd make us some sandwiches and things to take with us."
"That's nice of him." Grover stretched and yawned as they three who had only recently woken up and got up, and Leo picked up the ball of fabric that had been tossed at him a moment before.
"Are these socks?" his voice was incredulous, "Did you throw socks at me?"
"I threw socks at Nico." Annabeth's voice was perfectly even and she shrugged, "He just happened to duck."
"Rude." Leo looked at socks for a moment before grinning, "Oh well. They're mine now-"
"Okay Dobby." Nico snorted, "As long as you get up and start getting ready we don't care."
"Hah!" Leo grinned, "I knew you were a secret nerd Di Angelo-"
"It was hardly a secret." Kayla rolled her eyes, "Kid plays Mythomagic for Hades sake."
"Children, children." Annabeth raised her hands, "Behave, we have a quest to be getting on with."
"Yes mom." Leo rolled his eyes- and Annabeth glared at him as Percy let out a cackle of laughter- which just made Annabeth's glare switch to her.
"Persephone Jackson I will murder you if you laugh at me again."
"Ooh, I'm so scared." Percy mocked as she started packing away the blanket while Grover and Leo started helping to pack away the bedrolls. "Death threats- how very unusual. It's the first time I've ever had someone threaten to brutally murder me-"
"Okay." Annabeth didn't skip a beat, "I won't kiss you for a week-"
"Oooh!" Leo's eyes widened and he mock gasped, "Now that's a true threat." as he said that Percy's mouth was dropping open in shock.
"Now that is mean Annabeth- you take it back.
Tyson laughed at that. "That's silly. Annabeth likes kissing Percy too much-"
And that made her go bright red. "Tyson!"
"But it's true!"
"That doesn't mean you have to say it Ty." Annabeth lightly slapped his arm- and Tyson was grinning widely as everyone laughed along- and it was almost
strange- all things considered. They were about to go into the Labyrinth, one of the most deadly and dangerous places in the world, and yet they were all feeling very confident- able to laugh and joke.
And when Percy caught Annabeth's eye as somehow the conversation turned into a bickering match between Leo and Kayla, she knew that Annabeth was thinking the same thing- they needed to try and keep this atmosphere up for as long as they could- they couldn't let the Labyrinth drag them down.
And it didn't take long for them to finish packing their things and they'd headed to the cattle guard with Eurytion, who had said he'd see them off and say goodbye.
"You kids look after yourself down there." the son of Ares had changed, he'd cleaned himself up, wearing new jeans and a clean Western shirt. He'd even trimmed his beard- it seemed like he was looking forward to taking over from Geryon. "If you need to stay a bit longer I don't mind."
"We appreciate the offer." Annabeth gave a tight smile, "But we need to get on with our quest."
"Of course. I want you lot to know that I'll be running things differently here. No moresacred cattle meat. I'm thinking about soybean patties. And I'm going to befriend those flesh-eating horses. Might just sign up for the next rodeo. But we're sure as Hades not going to be selling anything to that Alabaster guy or the rest of his little Titan army."
"That means a lot." Percy gave a small grin, "And you should be okay with the horses for now- they swore not to try and meet anyone anymore. Or I'll come back and bathe them in saltwater again-"
"Hah, bet they didn't like that."
"I prefer the fish ponies." Tyson spoke up, "They don't try to bite Percy."
"So do I Ty." Percy grinned, "So do I."
"Good luck." Annabeth smiled warmly. "It's really good that you're going to make changes like that."
"Yeah, well, I owe you kids for getting rid of that bastard."
"My pleasure." Kayla gave a little bow, a grin on her lips, "Thanks for letting me keep the bow and quiver-"
"Hah, I don't want it, not my type of weapon. At least you'll get use out of it."
"Who knows." Kayla grinned, "Maybe I'll use it someday at the Olympics- Don't speak Leo."
Leo had, in fact, opened his mouth to say something, probably some terrible pick up line, but he didn't seem too bothered by Kayla's interruption, a wide grin still on his lips .
"Sorry, sorry, just trying to have some fun."
"Of course you are." Nico laughed, "Stop flirting with my friend Valdez, before I murder you."
"Ugh, you're all boring. The great Flameo deserves more respect than this-"
"If the great Flameo doesn't shut up I will stab him too." Annabeth rolled her eyes fondly as Leo started to pout.
"Sorry about that." Grover shot Eurytion a small grin, "We're always like this-"
"I see." the son of Ares looked amused, shaking his head, "Well, I know you guys want to leave... do you even know where you're going?"
"We're looking for Daedalus' workshop." Annabeth told him- and Percy forced herself not to wince at the mention of the son of Athena, at the memory of the pain. She hadn't had the chance to tell Annabeth about her dream yet, it felt too personal to tell everyone but she would tell her girlfriend when she got the chance to speak to her alone.
Eurytion studied the cattle guard, and Percy got the feeling that the subject of Daedalus's workshop made him uncomfortable. "Don't know where it is. But
Hephaestus probably would."
"That's what Hera said," Annabeth agreed. "But how do we find Hephaestus?" Eurytion pulled something from under the collar of his shirt. It was a necklace—a smooth silver disk on a silver chain. The disk had a depression on the middle, like a thumbprint. He handed it to Annabeth.
"Hephaestus comes here from time to time," Eurytion said. "Studies the animals and such so he can make bronze automaton copies. Last time, I— uh—did him a favor. A little trick he wanted to play on my dad, Ares, and Aphrodite. He gave me that chain in gratitude. Said if I ever needed to find him, the disk would lead me to his forges. But only once."
"And you're just giving it to us?" Annabeth's voice was surprised. "Really?"
Eurytion blushed. "I don't need to see the forges, miss. Got enough to do here. Just press the button and you'll be on your way."
Annabeth pressed the button and the disk sprang to life. It grew eight metallic legs. Annabeth shrieked and dropped it, launching herself at Percy, who caught her, sweeping her legs out from under her and holding her bridal style in a practised motion, much to Eurytion's confusion.
"Spider!"
"Can you not scream right in my ear!" Percy yelped, "It's okay Wise girl it's a- Leo do not play with it-" Because Leo was reaching out for it an eager look on his face.
"But my dad-"
"Yeah, I know your dad made it, but we'll be meeting him soon anyway- you can ask if you can keep it after."
"Oh, right." Leo paused, "Okay. I can do that."
"Good."
"What's-" the son of Ares glanced between the daughter of Athena and the spider and Grover, clearly trying not to laugh- Nico and Kayla were only just
managing not to cackle with amusement.
"She's, um, a little scared of spiders," Grover told him. "That old grudge between Athena and Arachne."
"Oh." Eurytion looked a little embarrassed. "Sorry, miss."
The spider scrambled to the cattle guard and disappeared between the bars, and Percy set Annabeth down quickly, "Come on Wise girl. We're gonna have to follow it. So let's follow it."