Chapter 3: Catching Up

"Did we get everything?"

"Everything we need for a suicide mission. Trust me, I would know."

Reyna nodded, not even bothering to sigh at my joke. That's how you know she's upset.

"Is something wrong? Did you cover everything in that note?"

"Enough to direct Jules for a month and general directions for a year after."

"I'm surprised you were able to write all that in a note."

"It's more of a folder."

"Uh-huh."

"Or maybe a binder. Whatever. How about you, are you ready to go?"

I opened my mouth to make a self-deprecating joke, only to have it lodge in my throat like a fishbone. Maybe a joke about how nobody would miss me, or that I didn't own anything that I couldn't fit inside a backpack. But that kind of joke turn sour when they're also true.

"I'm ready."

Reyna turned to look me up and down. "No Spear?"

My throat tightened. "No. I'm not ready for that. Not yet. Maybe not ever."

"We can't afford that, Percy."

"I know. Which is why I brought training wheels," I said, motioning to my pocket. A feeble smile wasn't enough to convince even myself that the weight of the defaced golden coin hadn't become overbearing.

"And yet you're still carrying that gladius."

"I might need training wheels for the training wheels. Training training wheels."

"Look, are you sure you want to do this?"

"Wherever you go, I follow. I don't want anyone else I love to get hurt. I'll figure this out. Don't worry."

It took a while to realize what I just said aloud and who I said it to. Of course, it was a little embarrassing, but not in the way I thought it would be. Not that I had said it, just that I had said it earlier than I meant.

Reyna's lips twitched into a smile. "Thanks, Percy. I appreciate that."

"I… uh."

She turned and walked away, slow enough to be an invitation. I followed in silence, thinking of a way to fix things, wondering if they needed fixing.

People who stay up late and say that the night brings peace are liars. Everyone's a night owl. Every bored legionary throwing a party always does it at night, thinking that everyone else is asleep while they were trying to throw their own secret parties.

Dawn is when you are truly free. The quiet hours between late night and early morning, when the world decides to take a long, slow blink and begin a new day.

So, it wasn't much of a wonder that the two most infamous people in camp could walk in full gear and supplies for a month-long expedition without anyone noticing. Even the spies are asleep at this hour.

Reyna took me to the Colosseum. Many a young couple had enjoyed a late-night tryst here, to the great chagrin of veterans who were too old to find somewhere else to tryst. Nowadays, the only inhabitant was the wind, curling around corners and into the tunnels.

I huddled my jacket a little tighter. At this point we were somewhere even I recognized. Octavian and I were facing the other way on top of an elephant, but our heroic entrance to the battlefield years ago was a memory I hoped to never forget.

Reyna stopped by a door rusted shut. She studied the wall beside it for a while before lifting a hand and hovering it above a jutted brick in the masonry. Somewhere, a bird called. Then beneath the grime and the weeds, a small symbol glowed, the same as the one I saw in the monsters' warehouse: a glowing blue triangle, the Greek letter delta.

The wall yawned open. Ancient stonework crumbled to dust and revealed a gaping entrance made even larger by the darkness of its interior. There was no guessing how wide it would be. We might be walking into a hippodrome or a chute. Light shied away from it. I was reminded of the black water of the abyss. The stray thought threatened to snap my mind shut, but this time, I was ready to repel it.

"Why a delta?" I asked.

"Delta. As in 'D'."

"Yeah, I get that. But why is that letter important?"

Reyna looked at me like I had grown horns. "Are you telling me that you don't know about Daedalus's Labyrinth?"

"Of course I do. I was the one who killed the Minotaur, remember? I think I still have those scars. But what does this labyrinth have to do with that one?"

"It's the same thing."

I snorted. "There's no way. Daedalus died after he made his escape. Then Theseus killed the bull. Then Minos died. And all this happened all the way in Crete a million years ago. That's one of the few stories that had a real ending."

"Icarus died," Reyna corrected. "Daedalus vanished. Nobody knows what he did after that. He could've expanded the Labyrinth. He could've made another one. He might even still be down there, working on his masterpiece for all eternity."

"Why would he go back to his own prison?"

"We both relive our mistakes. Isn't that the same thing?"

I tried not to think about that too much.

"Okay, I guess that's a good point. But are you telling me that he expanded the Labyrinth all the way to America? That's… far. Across oceans."

"From what Alex told me, space doesn't work the same way in the Labyrinth. One day she's in California and the next she's eating lunch in Calcutta. Who's to say that time isn't also distorted somehow?"

"Are you telling me that I can come out of there with a full beard?"

"Gods, I hope not. But it's possible. Some legends say that Daedalus died, after all. And the only reason that the Labyrinth would expand all the way here is if… well, if it moved. Or if it grows."

I let out a chuckle that turned into a coughing fit. "Yeah, but that would imply that this thing is alive."

Reyna pursed her lips, the way she does when she's really nervous. "Alex always said that there was something strange about the Labyrinth. She described it like being watched. Like an animal in a zoo."

"Huh. Growing a beard might not be the scariest thing about this place, then."

"Maybe."

"What do you mean?"

"I guess it depends. If I was the one who grew a beard – now that would be a nightmare."

I was stunned into silence before bursting into laughter. "Oh my God. Did you just make a joke?"

"I guess I did," Reyna smiled.

I had to laugh. It was nice to still be able to joke around. Even in the literal face of impending doom. I didn't miss the fact that neither of us wanted to be the first to step inside, though. We were both toeing the doorway. Maybe this was our last chance to turn back. Something told me that once we enter, there was no going back. In the literal sense this time.

I laughed a little longer than was necessary. When I met Reyna's eyes, she shared my seriousness. I gave her a nod.

"Together?" she asked.

"Together."

I took a breath. I lifted a foot. When I put it down inside the Labyrinth, Reyna's was right beside mine.

One step after another. And another after that. Before long we were walking with something like normality in the darkness.

Something rustled behind me and I glanced back to find the entrance shutting itself. But instead of the Mist reforming like I thought it would, the individual particles of disintegrated stone climbed on top of each other and solidified, like water into ice.

But the way each tiny piece of sediment, slowly and methodically extinguishing the moonlight, I knew that Reyna was right. No amount of magic in the world could convince me that that was anything other than a carefully designed mechanical process.

What little humor left in me died.

Suddenly, a light bloomed. I twitched at my gladius, but then I saw Reyna's face beside mine. I was suddenly reminded of how close we were. I could feel her breath, hear her heart. With the help of the flashlight, I could still make out her brown skin and dark features, turning away from the path behind us and fixing on me for a moment. And I slowly glided back to reality.

She offered a smile. I returned it. Though there were no more words between us as she shined a light on the room we were in.

The close, dense chamber was open and airy. Reyna's flashlight picked out the walls immediately, our shadows sneaking into vision with every turn of the light. But there were no motes of dust, no floating specks of grime, as though the room was ventilated. Focusing my hearing revealed no draughts of wind, though, only the brand of silence found in elevator rides made alone at night.

Reyna found a way out. Predictably, it led to another dark room or tunnel or corridor or pitfall that we couldn't make out unless we shone a light right when it wouldn't make a difference. Still, she made several more passes around the empty room we were in before taking a small step towards the exit.

That's how we travelled. Inch by inch, careful and steady, making sure that nothing was behind us before making a single motion forward. The flashlight quickly became less of a lifeline and more of a taunt, a constant reminder of how much we couldn't see instead of showing us the little we could.

"So, what's the plan?" I asked.

Reyna took a breath before answering, eyes never leaving our short trail of light. "We'll destroy the Labyrinth."

"What? But I thought we can use this to our advantage. You know, a sneak attack right in Mount Othrys."

"I suppose, but that works both ways. And as it stands, the monsters are more powerful than us. Mentally, at least. Besides. I don't want a single legionary to step inside this place if I can help it. This place is… it's not just aware, Percy. It feels alive. Conscious. Capable of evil."

I would've laughed at her if she showed me that in a report. Suddenly I understood why Reyna insisted on Alex continuing her exploration. But having it described to you and being inside the Labyrinth itself are two different things.

"Alright. I'm sure the Vulcan boys can whip something up and collapse these tunnels."

"I was sure, too. So was Vanessa. She tried, Percy. No explosive can even make a scratch on these walls. TNT, dynamite, napalm, nothing works. Imperial gold weapons don't cut it and neither does Celestial bronze. I tricked one of our Cyclopes into hitting it with a hammer the size of a wrecking ball and he broke his arm."

"So what are we supposed to do, break it up with our teeth?"

"If it comes down to it. But no. I have a plan. One that might not work but is a better shot than using brute force. First, we go to hell."

"Loving this plan already."

"We need help to do this. And who better to ask than the people who created it? I can't be sure if they know how to destroy this place, or if there's even a way to do it, but it won't hurt to ask."

"Just stroll to the Underworld, no problem. But didn't you say that Daedalus might still be alive? Why don't we just go after him?"

"Right. Just find the guy who's hiding so well, he's avoiding death."

"Then why the Underworld?"

"Because Daedalus wasn't the only one who lived in the Labyrinth."

"Reyna. I think you're a genius."

She smiled and my heart forgot to beat for a second. "I am if I'm right. And if it works. And if he helps us."

"I'm sure he will. Icarus must want this place destroyed even more than us. Can you imagine a lifetime in this place? No wonder he flew too close to the sun. Who wouldn't, after living underground?"

"I hope so too. But it might not be the case. Remember what we said about being a glutton for punishment? And Romulus wasn't what we expected, either. We'll need a plan. I'm not sure how, but we'll need to convince him. We need to sneak into the Underworld, of course, and that's hard enough, but when we actually talk to him, it's going to take some doing. We'll talk about Daedalus for sure, maybe the glory days of his youth. We definitely shouldn't talk about him flying too close to the sun, I imagine that's a sore point. We could – "

"Reyna. You're rambling. We'll face that problem once we get there."

"We can't. We have to plan, to prepare, to make sure we won't any more mistakes, and – "

"And we can't. You know that. No amount of preparation could've readied us to face Romulus. And it was like that with Circe too."

"We can't just walk into it blind. This isn't like old times. It's not an adventure. We could die in here."

"I know. But we can't worry about things we can't do either."

It was easy to know what Reyna was thinking and feeling, but that was getting harder and harder nowadays. I had trouble reading her expression and it wasn't because of the darkness.

"I don't agree," Reyna said. "Forcing yourself to worry about the things you can't do will improve your chances when the time comes to do them."

"I'm not sure if I agree with that. But I trust you to know better."

"Thanks, Percy. But it's true what you said – it's still some way off. We have to figure out how to get to the Underworld."

"Can't be too hard. Everyone and their mother went down there in the myths. It's like going to a McDonald's. Or a Denny's, I guess, since those stories are the kind that are birthed in a Denny's."

"I have no idea what a Denny's is."

"Boy, do I have a disappointment for you."

"We'll be sure to catch up when this is over."

"Do you think we can?"

She glanced at me sideways. "Catch up? Of course. Unless you – "

"No, I would love to. I'd love to catch up right now. But 'when this is over' is becoming farther and farther off in my mind."

"That's true." She pondered for a moment, one of those unreadable expressions on her face. "Then I suppose we'll have to catch up along the way. Nothing says romantic quite like an underground tunnel."

My eyebrows wandered to my forehead. "Romantic? What's gotten into you? I thought we were just going to spar and teach other all the new tricks we picked up."

"Are you saying you don't find that romantic?"

"I love it when you try to be funny. It's cute."

"So. We catch up along the way to hell."

"Then I hope we take the scenic route."

"We are, in a way. Instead of the Styx, we're going through the Acheron. The same route Odysseus took when he went down there. I think it's fitting, since we're just going down there to ask some advice instead of doing something stupid like bringing someone back to life. And we're not going to ask too much of anyone. And we're sneaking. And, since we both have some dealings with Circe, me for years, hopefully some of her enchantments have carried over to us."

"Right. That sounds great. But I'm sure Circe must've used some serious magic to get the river to open up to the Underworld. And the last time I met Circe she wasn't doing too hot on the whole magic thing. Who knows, maybe you can travel down the Underworld while I stay up here. And we can't have that. We need to catch up, after all. Maybe we can – "

"Percy." Reyna looked at me and I knew that I was still an open book to her. "What's wrong?"

"I just think it's not the best idea. Right now."

"Because?"

"Because I'm scared. Of water."

Her expression softened. I don't know if I liked the look of understanding on her face, it looked too much like pity. I wanted someone to cut me some slack and tell me everything was alright. But I needed someone who can tell me to snap out of it, one way or another. Love and caring were never the Roman ways and treating myself kindly has never gotten me anywhere but more pain. Maybe they had it right by desensitizing their generals.

If it had come from a friend, I'm not sure how I would have reacted. But this is Reyna.

"Is that why your actions have been so unpredictable?"

"Yes. Well, mostly. It's also because I've been having trouble dealing with… you know."

"But you once told me that water makes things better for you. In every way. Even mentally. Don't you think it could help?"

"Maybe. But water doesn't really make things better in my head, it's more like… my senses become sharper. It brings clarity, not strength. Like a disciplined mind instead of getting more IQ. Does that make sense?"

"I don't see why you would be afraid of that. Isn't that what you need?"

For the first time in my life, I detected a little envy in Reyna. She hid it well, making sure that her body was facing straight forward, but the few side glances she flicked at me were telling. She wanted to know my reaction.

And who wouldn't? It's easy to call a gift a curse when you're the only one with it. Even a demigod as powerful as Reyna can't come close to what I can do with a thought. But it's even easier to dismiss gifts when they give too much power.

"No," I said. Maybe I was being honest, maybe I was being delusional. In the end, I'm not sure if it matters. It's an answer that I believed true, after all. "No. Because I'm not ready yet. If I lift the veil now, it would just be more pain. I'm not prepared for that."

"Some may argue that your being ready for it isn't important. Ready or not, good things are good for you. It might be even better if you're not ready."

"I don't think so. Maybe it's just the finishing touch. The end and not the beginning. Maybe the process of readying yourself for the truth is more important than the truth itself."

"I can't believe that. But I respect you, so I'll give it a thought," Reyna said.

"Thank you."

"At the same time, why are you worried? We won't even have to pass through the water. We'll be in a boat. The Acheron might be the one river in the stories where the heroes don't have to go through convoluted trials. It's safe, direct, and easy."

"It's not for me."

Respecting a person's opinion is easy. Doing the same for their decisions when they affect yours is much harder.

Reyna flipped back and forth between berating me and empathizing. I saw it in her quickened pace, the tightness around her eyes. The wordless accusation still rang out to me, though, the same word that I used on myself.

Coward.

"What about Hercules? He went down there to kidnap Cerberus and managed to do it. Maybe we can recapture some of that success," I said.

"He went down the Styx."

"Okay… how about – "

"Every entrance to the Underworld is a river, Percy. Styx, Acheron, Lethe, Phlegethon, they're all rivers. Why do you think Charon is a ferryman and not a shepherd?"

"That's not true. What about Orpheus? He opened an entrance to the Underworld without Pluto even knowing about him until he revealed himself. And it's a tunnel."

"You, singing? We'll look for Icarus in Elysium, not the Fields of Punishment."

"Very funny. But seriously, what do you think?"

"Of course not. Neither of us can sing that well."

"Maybe the act of singing is enough to open the door."

"You think it's that easy?"

"And you think it's that easy to just waltz down the Acheron?"

"I do. Charon does it every day."

"Okay, that's a good point. But – "

"Percy. I know you don't want to do it. But trust me on this. Pushing yourself to do something you're afraid to do is the first step of being unafraid to do it."

"No. I'm not ready for that."

"Nobody is. You just have to do it."

"No."

"Percy – "

"I'm not taking advice from someone just as fucked up as I am."

It was easy as that. Reyna kept quiet for a moment, and though she kept her pace steady and straight, I felt more than silence gulf between us.

Was it my fault? Of course. But I was beginning to think that my fear of water was overtaking my trust in Reyna.

"I'm sorry. Look, I'll give it a shot, alright? We can go to the river – "

"No. I can't risk you turning into a liability."

Yeah. It was easy as that.

"We can go to Lake Avernus," she said coolly. "Orpheus's cave is right by it."

"Thank you. And even if it doesn't work, it doesn't hurt to try, right?"

"Mm."

"So, anyway, how does this Labyrinth work? Are we supposed to ask for directions or what?"

"Alex said the Labyrinth knows where you want to go. No matter where in the world, it can take you there. Just keep heading straight."

"But I've never been to Lake Avernus. I don't even know where that is, really."

"Neither do I. But the Labyrinth does. We just keep walking."

"I guess Waze should take a few notes. How great would it be to have this place as a big GPS, huh?"

Reyna didn't answer. I didn't try to make her.

We walked in silence. With all conversation snuffed out, I could only hear the sounds of our footsteps, echoing off the floor, walls, and ceiling. Sometimes I heard no sound at all, and other times I felt like every face of the halls were closing in on us like a vise.

We faced a crossroads at one point. Reyna didn't hesitate to keep going forward and I didn't question her. When the road forked, she took a second before choosing the path on the left. I cast a forlorn glance down the right path before following her into the darkness.

Maybe we were under some construction building. Maybe we were under a zoo. But when we were walking down that path, I heard creaks and groans from organic and metallic sources, like a great cybernetic creature rearranging its innards. Rusty gears harmonized with the silk smooth whirr of pistons, blending with the sighs and grunts of a surly animal metamorphosizing.

I was thoroughly unnerved long before Reyna squinted her eyes and extinguished her flashlight. Before I could complain, a wisp of light wafted into the darkness, a straight beam approaching from somewhere in the distance.

I drew my gladius as Reyna flipped her coin. The golden weapon it produced was almost identical to the one I was holding, but I knew that her sword fit her hand like a key to a lock. I knew a bit of envy as she turned it in her grasp. The gladius I was using worked just fine, being Imperial gold itself – but there was no replacing Lupa's coins. Whatever magic was used to create it, the weapon was a part of me as much as any of my limbs and organs.

It says much when I refused to use it because of what it had become.

We crept to the exit. As we got closer, the light took the shape of a ragged doorway, one that we still couldn't see through. Reyna and I pressed against the wall to either side of it, mandatory guerilla training kicking in to clear the corners first.

For a moment I thought we were near an ocean. Then a second breeze hit my face and I corrected my observation. The loamy scent of healthy earth and grass could never coexist with saltwater. As my eyes adjusted, I saw an endless expanse of green, populated by trees, dense with foliage. There weren't of a kind I recognized, and though I was no child of Ceres, I was sure that they wouldn't be found anywhere in the US that I know of.

With nothing but a canopy of dark green and light brown to stuff my vision, my mind wandered toward the other immediate stimulus it detected: the substantial body of water nearby, its banks no less than 153 feet away from me. I felt it tugging at my mind like sleep on a procrastinating college student, flitting in and out of awareness, promising bliss while nightmares lurked in the fine print.

I've grown adept at shunning my power even when near the Little Tiber. But here in Greece, birthplace of the gods and home of heroes, the reserve of strength was almost palpable. What should be a drizzling rain became a tempest barely restrained. There was magic here, powerful magic, the kind that seeps into the soil and leaves a mark, one only recognized by people who carried the same brand of divinity in their veins.

It was an effort to refocus my eyes. A wash of color soon turned into individual trees bunching together. Beyond, someone had cleared out part of the forest for a small house and a simple farm beside it.

Reyna signaled with one hand. I replied in kind, confirming that they were no threats before mirroring her question. She gestured for caution and I tensed.

Reyna slipped out of the Labyrinth and into cover behind a pile of rocks. After a moment, I followed her lead and put my back against a nearby tree.

A look around it told me nothing new. Only a sea of trees, this time with the sparkle of sunlight on water. But somewhere there, between the chirping birds and creaking insects, I heard an unmistakable sound.

Footsteps, mingled with slithering and plodding.

Reyna made sharp, cutting motions with a hand. I nodded and took point, keeping my body low and my sword concealed lest it glinted with the sunlight.

Footing quickly became treacherous. The clearing afforded by the boulders gave way to wild undergrowth that clawed at my feet with every step. A fight here would be disastrous. Even retreat would be difficult. If we were going to fight, we had to get the jump on them. If we were going to fight at all.

Their scalps brushed into vision just above the shrubbery. I crooked my body even lower and held up a clenched fist to signal Reyna. After a moment's hesitation, I turned to face her. She considered and gave a miniscule go-ahead.

With my belly almost flat on the ground, I dragged myself forward, careful to time any snapped twigs or disturbed foliage with strong breezes and the monsters' muttered curses.

The plants right in front of me were too dense. I shifted to the side, vying for a better angle, and finding one behind some ferns whose leaves had thinned and fallen. They tickled my face as I approached as close as I dared.

The monsters were arrayed in a loose semicircle. There were all kinds – empousai, dracaena, and a few humanoid creatures I didn't even recognize. They had their backs turned to me, shifting and jostling and craning necks to get a look at something their bodies concealed. There were no sentries, no lookouts. They weren't even that heavily armed or armored. A scouting force, maybe. But what were they doing all the way here?

"Can you get it to open?"

"I might if you be quiet. Let me think."

"What's there to think about? Just open it."

"If you're not going to be helpful, at least be quiet."

I paused. Human voices. Rogue demigods? But why would there be only two of them in a single unit? And why did they have Greek accents?

There was only one logical explanation. But I've never seen a Titan who wasn't towering. Even with the crowd of monsters, how could they be so small as to be overshadowed by dracaena? There weren't even any Cyclopes in the mix.

"I remember," a whispered shout, decidedly feminine. "I remember!"

"You always do. But what we do with it?"

"The Labyrinth does this sometimes. It spits outs its contents when it doesn't want it, like a petulant child. But like a child, it can't keep it away for long. There's usually a time limit involved, or some obstacle or trap it intends us to face. Daedalus didn't design a trap, after all. Just a very dangerous pathway. It can't keep us out forever."

"I hope not. But while we're here, why don't we do something about it? Could we take a peek at Mount Olympus? Wouldn't Saturn – "

"Absolutely not. What do you think he'll do to us? He'll already be upset over us being late."

A small pause, before the other voice, male, replied in what could only be a whine.

"Come on, you know I can't answer these questions. It's not in my…"

"Power?"

"Nature. Why do you always do this? Everyone does it. I know I'm not my brother, but you could at least be nice to me."

"Your brother is infinitely preferable than you in a war."

"At least I didn't get tortured by a bird for a million years. My liver is well and truly intact, thank you very much. And why is he better than me anyway? Do you really think that not repeating past mistakes isn't useful?"

"Better not to have made those mistakes at all."

"Oh, that's rich, coming from you."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Ma'am?"

"What?" both voices said at the same time.

"It's come to our attention, that, ah… some among our ranks have smelled half-bloods."

I pressed my body against the ground and rubbed soil on my face.

"Of course. This is Greece! Everything smells like half-blood. Even the dirt."

I rubbed the soil out of my face.

"Yes, but this is different. It's faint, but she's saying that she smells the ocean."

I crept back. For once, I regretted taking that shower. Maybe I should've taken a page out of Smelly Gabe's book. Maybe he had the right idea after all.

Even knowing where to look, it took a while to find Reyna.

"We need to go," I said. "There are a bunch of monsters up ahead. They've caught our scent."

"What kind and how many?"

"Nothing we can't handle."

"Then why haven't they attacked yet?"

"They're waiting for permission. I think they have Titans with them. But not any that I recognize. I couldn't even see them – they must be human sized if they were hidden by the monsters. And I couldn't tell who they were, either. They were bickering like – well, like demigods."

"Must be minor deities then."

"Then why do you look so worried?"

"It's a bad sign when even the nobody Titans are pulled into the war. Who knows how many more we'll have to face? It's a big family. And our anti-Titan weapon isn't here. We'll have to lay low and wait for them to leave."

It was easy to say no. But this is Reyna. And after the mess in the Labyrinth, I wanted to disappoint her even less than usual.

"That might not be true."

"What do you mean?"

"Over this way!"

Reyna didn't hesitate to retreat, trusting in me to follow close behind. I kept up, though I couldn't stop myself from casting looks behind my back, waiting for a scale or a piece of armor to cut through the trees.

We fell back to the boulders we first appeared from.

"We're heading back in," Reyna said. "Let's not pick a fight. We'll have plenty of those later. No, it's this rock, Percy."

I nodded and took a position behind her, watching our backs. I could hear their footsteps if I focused, but they hadn't come into vision. Yet.

"You got it?"

"It's taking a little longer than usual."

"But you're sure we got the right rock."

"I'm sure."

"Then why isn't it opening?"

"I don't know! The delta's here and it's glowing, but the damn thing won't open up."

"Let me try."

We switched places. I touched the symbol with a finger. It felt like a rock in the middle of Greece. Then I pressed my fingerprint on it. Then my palm, then my hand, then my wrist. I rubbed it, slapped it, hovered my hand above it.

"Is it open?"

"Maybe it needs both of us together."

Reyna's hand appeared next to mine. The mental image of two idiots rubbing a rock came to mind. Maybe the monsters would think we're just dumb mortals and leave us alone.

"This way!"

Or not.

I dove for cover. It was a pathetic little outcrop of rock too small to be called a boulder. Reyna's was little better – a small hump in the scree that barely hid her.

"Are you sure? I still don't smell anything."

"Respectfully, ma'am, you rarely do."

"Wait! I remember this scent – not this one specifically, but I recall part of it. You're right, it's like the ocean. Focus, brother. Doesn't that remind you of Oceanus?"

A deep inhale.

"More like Neptune. Though I've always had a hard time telling the two apart even when they're right in front of me."

"Well, think back. What did set them apart?"

A longer pause. Then another voice spoke. It was the same as the male Titan's but different at the same time. It was the same body that produced the sound but a different person, a different mind. The words were carved and enunciated in a sleek flow, almost a slither, each one following close behind the other like scales on a snake. It was dreamy, entranced.

It was like Octavian.

"Oceanus was a deep-sea diver coming to shore after he went down and forgot to take a breath for millennia. He was the sea in a storm, the ocean at peace, the ebb and flow of high tide fading to low, a cycle without end. But Neptune… Neptune was a fisherman, a visitor who claimed the waters made before him. He was a sailor on a journey, a warrior on a galley, a bird migrating to warmer lands. He was the fury of a tempest and the calm of a breeze."

"Yes. I remember now."

"And this smell – "

"Smells like Neptune."

I jumped out of cover. They were as surprised to see me as, surprisingly, I was surprised to see them. The monsters were more familiar to me than some of the newer legionaries in camp. The Titans were not at all what I expected them to be.

Even confirming my own suspicions, it was strange to see them the size of humans. Sure, they were tall at over six feet each, but that was still within reason. Yet their eyes, golden and lambent, marked them as anything but human.

The male Titan was clad in unadorned milky armor. Its edges were grooved in such a way that even when he pivoted at the smallest angle to face me, every part of body flowed and rippled like a tangle of snakes in a whirlpool. But in the middle of his breastplate was a single discolored point, a dead pixel on a vista, that forms the illusion of a ripple of water. Somehow, the one definition in a wash of color nebulizes his appearance: hypnotism given form.

The other Titan's armor was stranger still. She was built just as solidly as her companion and carried each chunky piece of armor with ease. But on every surface, all the way to the joints and edges and adjoining straps, there were writings and images, likenesses that bubbled to the surface and faded just as fast. They were a smattered, random concoction of images and information with epicenters all over her body. Then an empousai shifted a few feet back and the strange flowing circle moved in tandem with its head. Then I realize the epicenters for what they were: a bridge to the mind. That explains why the one facing me was so big.

But this was no time to speculate. I reached into the earth and forced it to obey.

Where the water called to me like a lighthouse, the earth was metal on an anvil, made to be hammered. Neptune was also called the Earthshaker, but the earth was outside of his domain. It wasn't something to be controlled. It was too large, too powerful, vast as the sky, anchor of the Underworld and Tartarus, home of all living things. It didn't give me strength or call to me. It wasn't something to use. It was something to break.

With a scream I jammed both arms into the air. I met resistance along the way, like shells on a beach mistaken for sand, clawing at my arms, dragging against my skin. And breaking.

Twin pillars of stone jutted from the earth, spitting out two screaming Titans into the air. But that wouldn't last long.

"Reyna!"

"I know!"

The shock wore off by the time we drew our weapons. But it didn't matter how prepared the monsters were – we'd drawn our weapons.

Reyna and I plunged into their ranks from either side, two fangs biting into the same animal.

An empousai broke my charge, lightning strikes skittering off my sword, golden sparks flashing into existence. I feigned weakness and she dove in for the kill, a reckless lunge I discouraged by cutting off her sword hand, quickly followed by her head. Two dracaenas attacked at once, bodies piling on each other and spiraling in a twisting advance. Once I got used to the cheap tricks they were killed just as fast.

With their lives, they managed to give their comrades those precious few seconds of time to form a small phalanx. Spears bristled behind linked shields, invincible to any who didn't know how to penetrate it. But I knew I didn't have time to do it the conventional way. By the time I reached their sides and outflanked them the Titans would have recovered. I went straight through.

I whirled my gladius in a wide arc sideway, warding off spears, opening the smallest chink for me to grab one of their shields and rip it from their grasp. The dracaena stumbled, fell victim to my sword, and the rest of their formation followed suit. The blade became a part of them as much as it was a part of me, dancing between ranks, licking open wounds, delivering killing blows on unsuspecting victims.

Even without everything that made me the son of Neptune, I was still a legionary. I can't be stopped by anything other than an army.

Before I could get to the last monster it shrieked and fell to Reyna's blade. She gave me a glance up and down and I to her, confirming that we were both unhurt. The fight took only minutes, but they were minutes we could scarcely afford.

"Let's get moving."

"Perseus Jackson! Son of Neptune, Child of Prophecy, Abysswalker. Face the depth of your failure."

The same serpentine voice echoed from the distance. My eyes scanned the forest before it locked onto the male Titan, armor rippling in the background as it centered itself on the foreground, oscillating back and forth like a bad dream best forgotten.

"Reyna Arellano, Daughter of Bellona, Praetor of the Twelfth Legion. Recall the sins of your past."

Now the woman was speaking strangely. But her voice was as the waves, pushing and dragging, rising and falling, moving in rhythm to lull you to peace and drown you unawares.

I felt my back press against Reyna. She was sweaty, hot, and reassuringly alive. "Who are these clowns?" I asked.

"Not anyone I recognize. You take the guy and I'll kill the girl."

"I thought we were going to run?"

"Not anymore. There's something…"

"Reyna?"

She cut across the battlefield and accosted the woman. Reyna was a blur, her sword almost leaving afterimages in the wake of a deadly mix of skill and fury. But the woman wasn't bothered. She took each blow, parried every strike, making Reyna's onslaught look like oil on water before her. Nothing moved past her guard. She even spoke as she moved, her lips forming words drowned out by the sound of clashing metal. The Titan's sword was an unremarkable hunk of metal, but one that was achingly familiar. Where have I seen it before? It was like my sword and Reyna's, Octavian's, and Vanessa's. Once or twice, I mistook it for one of Alex's knives and even Felix's bow. But that didn't make sense.

"Keep your eyes on me."

I barely lifted my sword in time before talking the blow on my sword. The force was jarring, far more than a human should be able to generate, but I've taken hits from Helios and Oceanus. My synapses flared before I even regained my balance, recalling the memory of a sword class one day in camp. As I stumbled, I bounced off my foot to return a jab with all the Titan's power converted into momentum. Imperial gold bit into his armor and into his flesh. I was more surprised that I managed to land a hit on a Titan, no matter how small he was. Even more surprising was how easy it was to pierce his armor. It was like cutting through a sponge.

Strangely, the Titan didn't even look surprised. He just came after me with redoubled efforts in a style I didn't recognize, reckless and brash. I went on the defensive for now, trying to analyze his pattern and technique, and finding none. I continued to retreat until there was no more mistaking it.

Was I fighting an idiot or a genius?

Whatever. I switched it up on him. Whichever was the truth, I was going to find out as fast as possible, opting for speed over precision and hammering him with blows. But that didn't work either. He abandoned all of his attacks and went on the defensive, dodging and sidestepping each attack like they were nothing. He parried, ducked, blocked, and countered with the perfection of a metronome. And yet I couldn't help but feel that he was familiar somehow. Have I seen this guy before?

Then I dropped the finesse and went for power. I feinted a lunge and pulled back into an overhead swing that could have cut an ordinary demigod in half. The Titan took it square on his blade, used the momentum to step back with one foot, then used all my power as kinetic energy and drove his sword into my heart.

Only a last second twist saved my life. His sword bit deep into my shoulder instead of my chest. I gritted my teeth and ripped myself away from his reach, but the damage was done. Pain fanned into a fire, but one I couldn't fully stoke with all my confusion.

He was fighting like me.

Fine. I can use weird magic, too. I sidestepped my own overhead cut and focused my anger to break the world. He returned a backstroke that almost took my head off, but it was too late. I swiped a claw through the air with my free hand and the earth beneath his feet gnashed stony teeth, lacerating his ankles and sweeping his feet from under him.

Somehow, he still reacted – just as fast as I would – yet still stumbled on a foot. I pounced on him, brought down my gladius in a vicious swing that would cleave his shoulder apart. Imagine my surprise when I bounced off his amor.

I took advantage of the momentum and stumbled back one, two, three steps. Even through the haze of battle, there was no mistaking it. I was sure I hit the same spot where I pierced him before. And yet there was no hole, no damage, no chink in his armor. Instead, Imperial gold gleamed in the light. Then it spread like a contagion and coated the rest of his armor.

"Tell me. Whose death do you think of the most? Your oldest, truest friend? Your budding student, mirror of yourself? Or the one you can't admit to never truly caring for?"

My gladius loosened in my hands. "What?"

The Titan darted forward. I could only defend, but facing against myself, with all the power of a Titan behind my skill, I was pushed further back and back.

"Tell me, Percy Jackson! Who else did you kill? Who else hates you? Did you know you could have done better? Did you know that you could have saved them? I spent minutes inside your mind and already I know. I could have saved them. I wouldn't have needed your powers. I would've ended this war. Tell me how proud you are of yourself. Tell me again how much you love your friends. Tell me!"

Images flashed into my mind. The Titan took the face of Felix, Eli, Izzy. Then I saw Octavian, Reyna, Vanessa, Alex. My mother. Myself. People I disappointed, raining down the retribution I deserved, a torrent of attacks I couldn't stop. I didn't want to stop.

Then someone shouted. I looked up, barely noticing my own death falling on top of me, and saw Reyna fighting for her life. She was swinging her sword with the skill of a broken warrior too desperate to think, dueling an opponent killing her slowly.

I couldn't do it. She was fighting with everything she has. I didn't deserve to do anything less.

The Titan attacked relentlessly. But I knew myself. So I knew what was coming. It still took everything I had, punctuated with a scream, to drive my sword against his and send them both spinning in the air. He snatched it out of the air while mine flew into the distance. It didn't matter.

I reached into my pocket and flipped my coin. The motion was so familiar, so practiced, it was like meeting an old friend. But even in the single second it touched my skin, I felt its corruption rake my fingertips. I knew that whatever I summoned was not the weapon Lupa gave me.

The sword fell into my grasp. One edge was Imperial gold, shining, noble. The other, facing me, was dark as the void, black as a drowning death outside of time and space. Abyssal water coursed through veins in the blade like a thing alive, intertwining with the golden brilliance to create something that shouldn't exist.

I swung Downfall on my opponent. For all his strength and skill, the Titan cowered and retreated before my black blade. I saw Oceanus in the fear in his eyes. I saw a Titan defeated.

He pulled the same trick I used on him, sending our swords spiraling. But he wasn't the only one who adapted. I leapt and caught my sword, captured the momentum of my jump and turning it into a flurry of blows he had to run back to avoid.

"Mnemosyne!" he said, the bellow shaking the earth. "We're leaving!"

"What? But I almost have her! Why do we – oh."

The pause in battle stopped my advance. I turned and saw the Titan – Mnemosyne – turn her back on Reyna and whine to her partner. My stomach churned as I feared the worst, but Reyna was unhurt. Even more surprising, she didn't take the hundred chances that the Titan gave her to fight back. Reyna was never one to show mercy to an opponent with her back turned. I knew something was wrong when I saw her kneeling on the earth and panting.

The Titans kept arguing. They were two vulnerable targets, and I had the second-most powerful weapon in the legion in my hand. But Reyna was in no shape to fight. And I didn't stand a chance against anything that can bring down Reyna. I had to satisfy myself with shooting glares and whirling Downfall a few times while edging closer to her.

"You alright?" I asked, never taking my eyes off them.

"I'm fine," she snarled. "Where is she?"

"Reyna. I'm trusting you. Can you still fight?"

"Of course I can!"

"I'm trusting you to tell the truth."

"I am!"

"Then we're attacking the moment they turn their backs. But if I was wrong to trust you then we both die. I can't fight them alone. I need you. And I need you to be thinking straight. Are we doing this?"

For a moment I thought she was going to hit me. Then she stumbled back to the ground and looked away.

"No."

"Okay."

Then both Titans turned to us and I froze.

I thought they were going to threaten us. Leave us with an ominous threat. But they just turned and left.

Mnemosyne walked into the forest and disappeared from vision. My opponent followed her but spared a glance at me. I could still see the fear in his eyes. I could also see, almost imperceptible, a dark spot in his golden armor, twisting like water.

Fatigue finally caught up to me and I crashed to the earth. Reyna and I sat there. Maybe a stalemate against two Titans was commendable. But not for us. Ragged and traumatized as we are, at least I could keep my faith in our physical strength. Now, I'm not so sure.

If we lose that too, then what's left of us?

Author's Note: Friendly reminder that I can't reply to reviews when they're made as Guest

What's this? A reasonably-timed update? Couldn't be me.

I'm so glad I've finished this chapter, because it might be the hardest one in the book to write. The first one was to catch your attention, the second to set the stakes, but this third chapter (as is tradition, I think) really decides how the rest of the book will flow. I think this would be the inciting incident of the story if you're into plot structure and stuff. Here's where we decide what the real conflict is going to be. The main goal of this chapter is for our heroes to set goals, decide on a (initially bad) plan, then see how they will proceed, and what's holding them back. The biggest thing I wanted to establish is that the heroes can't just punch their way out of this adventure, because their problems are psychological.

From before they enter the Labyrinth there's some hints to that. Following that there's a bunch of exposition that I hope I didn't butcher too badly, but I'm hoping that the dialogue can carry your attention. The Labyrinth itself is appropriately creepy, at least at first. But then they get to discussing what their next move is and the cracks begin to show.

A big theme of the book is getting over your demons, and Percy's most immediate one is his fear of water, hence why they're taking their chances with Orpheus. I admit, part of me just watched Hadestown and really really wanted to include Orpheus in here somehow, and I'm glad that I found a way. Somehow I restrained myself from including the lyrics to 'Wait for Me', but only just.

But jokes aside, that might have been the hardest thing to write in the book so far. Just because two people are in love doesn't mean they don't argue, and I really wanted to show that naturally in the book. There can be cute moments and confessions and trust and whatnot, but if there's no bitter then there can't be sweet. Still, I don't like drama in romance, so I kept it related to the immediate plot. I'm glad that I didn't take the love triangle route with Alex, because believe me, I thought about it, but I think I like it better when the plot is straight as an arrow. Still, it's hard to show that Percy and Reyna respect and love each other while still being able to quarrel. Hopefully that was effective without me being too direct.

Finally, the Titans. I actually had no idea who to include - my outline just said 'monsters and Titans' and I left it at that. I realize that the biggest weakness of this series, in my opinion, is that there's really no antagonist. PJO had arguably the best antagonist in YA fiction in Luke, but in my series, I really don't have that. Instead, it's almost episodic with different villains for each book. I thought about changing the beat and using a reoccurring villain like Helios and Krios to make some kind of rivalry/grudge between characters for a satisfying final battle, but decided not to, because this book isn't about fighting things out, it's about talking it through. So I explored my options.

Luckily, it's a big family. I also realized that there haven't been any female villains, something I wanted to change, so I brought Mnemosyne, Titan of Memories, into the fray. But one Titan against two of the strongest demigods in the legion? That hardly seems fair. And I couldn't resist bringing the other Titan, who I'm sure you've identified, Prometheus's brother Epimetheus, Titan of Afterthought.

It's cool that these Titans exist at all since I've never heard of them. Bringing them in the story was unplanned and exciting, something I want to do again in the future. I'm particularly proud of Epimetheus's personality and dynamic with Mnemosyne. Honestly, the two of them together should be the protagonists in their own series, the greatest buddy cop duo in all of fantasy. It has potential. I didn't expect to have so much fun writing their dialogue or their powers.

Again, I wanted to reinforce the fact that our heroes' problems are mental instead of physical. That's why they're able to hold their own against the Titans, Percy especially since he flexed his earth powers and his new sword, but the minute they start talking they're able to break them down. That's the big conflict here and I hoped I showed that.

I was worried that the ending was rushed and it might still be so. But it is consistent with the established fact of immortals fearing mortality above everything else, so I decided to keep the ending to the chapter as is. Might not be the best decision. I'd love to hear what you guys think.

On a related note, Downfall! I had so much trouble thinking up Percy's new personal weapon and this series' answer to Riptide. Naming it Riptide as well felt corny, and a lot of other names like 'Memory' or 'Destroyer' or 'Promise' didn't really fit. Then I explored Latin names, and eventually stumbled on 'downfall', which in Latin is 'ruina'. Doesn't really mean anything by itself, but I realized that it sounds a lot like 'Reyna'. And I just found that poetic. So I kept it. And I kept my promise of hinting at it in the previous book, where Percy calls it his downfall. Pretty happy with the name but very happy with how the sword looks. Black and gold is an underrated combination.

Well, I think that's all for this note. On to the question: Which Underworld entrance do you think Percy and Reyna will take?

That's all from me, folks. Although I just wanted to note that I was right and that Baldur's Gate 3 is amazing and I cannot wait to play the update on the 13th. All my projects and calls will have to be put on hold, thanks very much. But jokes aside, I think I'll keep up the pace I have going now, more or less. I think it's fair for you readers and for me. The next chapter should only take a few days to write and even less to edit - I don't think I'll deviate from my outline too much and I think it'll be a lot smoother this time around.

Thanks again for reading all the way here, and please don't forget to leave a review! I always love hearing from you guys. Till next time!