A/N: This chapter is rated PG-13/T for gladiator fighting.

Chapter 21: Percy Plays Gladiator

Rachel Elizabeth Dare was golden. I mean, literally. She was painted up as a statue outside the Marriott Marquis, motionless behind a sign that said, urban art for kids, donations appreciated.

So she was an artist. That felt like a stab in the gut, too.

We waited for her to notice us, but even when I waved my hand in front of her face, she didn't move. It was like she'd really been turned to gold, the way King Midas had transformed his daughter in the old myth. How were we supposed to get her attention?

'Maybe if we push her over,' I mused.

Percy shot me a pained look, like he wished I'd play nice. I resisted the urge to stick my tongue out at him. If Rachel heard us, she didn't show it.

A few more minutes ticked by, during which I counted the scattered pennies on the tarp in front of her (she'd made fifteen bucks in spare change), tapped out the rhythm of This Land Is Minos's Land against my thigh, and mentally remodelled the Marriott Marquis. The waiting was driving me crazy.

Finally, another kid, this one painted silver, stepped up to Rachel and struck a pose, freezing in position like her. Rachel stepped off the tarp and favoured Percy with a grin as bright as her painted skin.

I scowled.

We popped into a coffee shop to talk. I was about to order black coffee, but Rachel got an espresso, so I got fruit smoothies for me and Percy instead. He didn't comment. I wasn't sure he even registered my presence any more. He couldn't seem to take his eyes off Rachel's golden skin.

When we had our drinks and a table, Rachel gave me a quick once-over. I couldn't tell if she remembered me, until she said, 'So, it's Annabelle, right?'

I ground my teeth together. 'Annabeth.'

Rachel shrugged, like, whatever.

'Do you always dress in gold?' I snapped. My resolution to play nice crashed and burned before I could even start.

'Not usually.' Her voice grated on me. It was high and chirpy, and way too fast, like she was a freight train on a deadline. She explained her fundraising project. 'We do volunteer art projects for elementary kids 'cause they're cutting art from the schools, you know?'

The annoying thing was, I actually liked what she was saying. It was the kind of thing my mother would have approved of.

'But I'm guessing you don't want to talk about that,' Rachel said. 'You're a half-blood, too?'

My eyes widened. 'Shhh! Just announce it to the world, how about?'

To my horror, Rachel took me literally. She got to her feet and practically bellowed, 'Hey, everybody! These two aren't human! They're half Greek god!'

None of the mortals even glanced up, but I scanned the shop warily. You could never be too careful. I'd been attacked in way too many shops.

Rachel smirked as she sat back down. 'They don't seem to care.'

'That's not funny. This isn't a joke, mortal girl.'

Percy held up his hands. 'Hold it, you two. Just calm down.'

'I'm calm,' Rachel said airily. 'Every time I'm around you, some monster attacks us. What's to be nervous about?'

She even shared Percy's sarcastic humour.

'Look, I'm sorry about the band room,' Percy said. 'I hope they didn't kick you out or anything.'

'Nah. They asked me a lot of questions about you. I played dumb.'

'Was it hard?' I shot, before I could stop myself.

Percy slammed his smoothie down so hard, the liquid sloshed out onto the table. 'Okay, stop! Rachel, we've got a problem. And we need your help.'

Rachel glared at me, like she'd finally gotten the message that I didn't like her. 'You need my help?'

I had to drag the words out of my mouth. It was like pulling teeth. 'Yeah. Maybe.'

'Do you know about Daedalus's Labyrinth?' Percy said quickly.

'Like the myth?'

'Yeah, so, like I told you at Goode, all the Greek stuff is in America now, and we're on this quest to find Daedalus in his Labyrinth. We need to get to him before this other guy, Luke, does. The problem is, every time we go in, we get lost. We've been to all sorts of weird places, just not where we need to go.'

He told her about Alcatraz, and the ranch, and Hephaestus's workshop, but left out Mount St Helens. I wasn't sure how to feel about that. 'But we realised what we need is someone who can see through the Mist—you know, the stuff that makes the weird things you can see normal for everyone else.'

'So you want me to guide you. Through a place I've never been.'

'You can see through the Mist, just like Ariadne,' Percy said. 'I'm betting you can see the right path. The Labyrinth won't be able to fool you as easily.'

Rachel considered this. 'And if you're wrong?'

'Then we'll get lost. Either way, it'll be dangerous. Very, very dangerous.'

'I could die?'

I guess she wasn't stupid after all.

Percy winced. 'Yeah.' But he looked at her like he hoped she'd agree anyway.

'I thought you said monsters don't care about mortals,' Rachel said cautiously. 'That sword of yours—'

'Yeah, celestial bronze doesn't hurt mortals,' Percy clarified. 'Most monsters would ignore you. But Luke … he doesn't care. He'll use mortals, demigods, monsters, whatever. And he'll kill anyone who gets in his way.'

'Nice guy,' Rachel said.

I bristled. It was one thing when Percy slammed Luke. He'd been personally betrayed by the guy. Rachel didn't even know him. 'He's under the influence of a Titan. He's been deceived.'

Rachel stared at me. It was weird when she blinked, like watching a golden statue move. Part of me—okay, almost all of me—hoped she'd refuse. I had to remind myself that we needed her help. Then she looked at Percy. 'Okay, I'm in.'

I wasn't sure she understood the gravity of the situation. She treated it like some lighthearted adventure, an escape from summer holiday boredom. But she'd agreed.

'So what do I look for?' Rachel asked.

'We have to find an entrance to the Labyrinth,' I told her. 'There's an entrance at Camp Half-Blood, but you can't go there. It's off-limits to mortals.'

'Okay. What does an entrance to the Labyrinth look like?'

I explained that it could be anything, as long as it had the mark of Daedalus on it. 'A Greek Delta, glowing in blue,' I added.

'Like this?' Rachel traced Daedalus's mark in the puddle of Percy's spilt smoothie.

'That's it. You know Greek?' This came as a surprise, and also an annoying jab. Was there anything this girl couldn't do?

To my relief, Rachel said, 'No. Let me get changed. You'd better come with me to the Marriott.'

'Why?'

'Because there's an entrance like that in the hotel basement, where we store our costumes. It's got the mark of Daedalus.'

I wondered if the entrance Rachel had noticed was the one Clarisse had popped out of last year, until we saw it. The metal door was old and stiff and looked like it had been bolted shut for a thousand years. Just how many entrances were there in Manhattan? We'd assumed there would be one per city, but there could be dozens.

'I tried to open it once, just out of curiosity,' Rachel said. 'It's rusted shut.'

I felt a prick of pleasure. Here was something I could do that Rachel couldn't. 'No, it just needs the touch of a half-blood.'

I activated the entrance. Rachel peered into it. The flecks of glitter in her hair shone in the glow of Daedalus's mark.

'Wow,' she said. 'So … after you?'

'You're the guide,' I said. 'Lead on.'

Rachel led the way down a flight of stairs into a brick tunnel. When we turned on our flashlights at he bottom, Percy clutched at my arm. I saw immediately what had terrified him. The skeleton was Tyson's size, with only one hollow eye socket. It had been strung up against the wall like a warning: X—DO NOT ENTER.

Rachel backed up, treading heavily on my toe.

'It's just a Cyclops,' I told her, shoving her off my foot. To Percy, I said, 'It's very old. It's not … anybody we know.'

Percy nodded and released my arm.

'You have a friend who's a Cyclops?' Rachel no longer sounded like this was all some big joke.

Percy explained about his monster family connections. Rachel's voice got smaller with every question he answered.

Good, I thought vindictively, maybe that'll scare her off. Then I berated myself. We didn't want her to get scared off. We needed her help.

Rachel's first test came at a crossroads fifty feet later. A marble tunnel led off to the right, while an earthen passage crawled left.

'That looks like the tunnel Tyson and Grover took,' Percy said hopefully.

'Yeah, but the architecture to the right—' I reminded him that we needed to find Daedalus's workshop first.

'We need to go straight,' Rachel said.

Her choice made no logical sense. It was just red brick straight ahead. I stared at her doubtfully. Had we made a stupid mistake bringing her down here?

'You don't see it? Look at the floor.'

I saw nothing. The walls were the only clue. And they clearly pointed right.

'There's a brightness there, very faint. But forward is the correct way.' Rachel described a whole bunch of traps to the left and right, in so much detail that I was sure she was just making it up. There was no way she could actually see all of that.

'Okay, forward,' Percy said.

'You believe her?'

'Yeah, don't you?'

It was preposterous. Imaginary lights and weird traps only a mortal could see. The traps fit the kind of thing the Labyrinth would have, but still …

I sighed and waved Rachel on.

The path ahead was winding but direct, with no offshoots or crossroads or traps. It dipped downwards, which made me uneasy. Our route to Mount St Helens had been a descent as well. Rachel walked several paces ahead of us, with Percy right behind and me bringing up the rear. She seemed so confident of the way, just like Ariadne had been.

Unlike how I'd been when I'd tried to lead my friends through.

It was so wrong. How could a mortal get the ability to see this clearly? How had Ariadne come by it? She wasn't a demigod, but her parents had both been. Was that the trick? Maybe Rachel had some demigod ancestry in her heritage that she didn't know about.

I tried to keep my voice civil. 'So, Rachel, where are you from, exactly?'

Rachel glanced over her shoulder. 'Brooklyn.'

'Aren't your parents going to be worried if you're out late?'

I meant to work round slowly to a question about her lineage, but her answer took me by surprise.

'Not likely. I could be gone a week and they'd never notice.'

'Why not?' Despite my irritation, I found myself actually curious about her answer.

'Well, my dad—'

A loud creak up ahead cut her off.

'What was that?' I said sharply.

'I don't know.' Her ability to 'see' invisible stuff seemed to have fled her. 'Metal hinges.'

I rolled my eyes. 'Oh, that's very helpful. I mean, what is it?'

The corridor started to shake. Something was coming our way, with great pounding footsteps louder and bigger than Tyson's, or even Hephaestus's. They sounded as threatening as Kampê.

'Run?' Percy suggested.

'Run!' Rachel squeaked.

And once again, we were dashing for our lives through the maze. We fled backwards through the tunnel, which made our trek this far completely pointless. We should have just taken the right tunnel to begin with. Why had I listened to Rachel?

Then things got ten times worse. A pair of dracaenae marched up the back of the tunnel, led by a perky African-American cheerleader. Her short skirt barely covered her thigh—not that it mattered, because one leg was bronze and the other was covered in fur.

'That's Kelli!' Rachel gasped.

Percy and I drew our weapons, but the empousa was quicker. She went straight for our weak link. Before we could even swing our blades, she had her manicured nails at Rachel's neck.

Kelli cooed at Percy. 'Taking your little mortal pet for a walk?' She ran a long, sharp nail across Rachel's throat. Up close, I could see that they were actually claws, as dangerous as the blade in my hand. 'They're such fragile things. So easy to break.'

I spun around, looking for a way out, only to find that the giant thundering down the other end of the tunnel had caught up to us. He was a Laistrygonian, a northern giant so tall his head scraped the ceiling.

Rachel had led us straight into a trap.

The giant disarmed us in no time. Riptide would reappear eventually in Percy's pocket, but the loss of my dagger gave me a sharp pang in my chest.

Our captors marched us through the tunnel at javelin-point. Past the point where we'd turned to run, the tunnel was curved, with little doors spaced at intervals along one wall. It reminded me of the interior of this massive track and field stadium I'd visited a long time ago with my dad: a circular corridor beneath the stands, with doors for the athletes to enter the playing field. If I listened carefully, I could even hear muffled roars on the other side of the wall, like a crowd at a football match.

We continued forward until we reached the largest doors of all. They were cast in bronze, even taller than the Laistrygonian, and marked by a crest with two swords crossed to form an X.

The giant pushed open the doors. Through it was a dirt floor. A centaur sprinted across my field of vision, chased by a pair of legs—another giant, I guessed. I couldn't see its upper body. It was like being in the bleachers before a game, looking out onto the playing field. Except this field was a gladiator arena.

One of the dracaenae prodded Percy forward. When I tried to follow, the giant grabbed the back of my shirt, lifting me right off the ground.

'Hey!'

Kelli held Rachel back as well. Percy turned to apologise, promising to get her out.

'That would be nice,' Rachel said faintly.

He didn't look at me. It gave me another sharp pang, but I didn't have time to wallow in hurt. Almost as soon as the dracaenae marched him into the arena, the centaur that had dashed by a moment ago crashed to the ground by his feet. Its leg was twisted at a funny angle.

I could hear the crowd's chanting clearly now: 'DEATH! DEATH!'

Percy's dracaenae guard leaned over him, whispering something in his ears. I saw his fists clench. One hand was in his pocket, but either his pen hadn't reappeared, or the dracaenae had just delivered a deadly threat, because he didn't draw his sword.

A massive foot came down over the centaur's chest. I cried out and covered my face. From my new vantage point, I could see the full body of the giant in the arena. I couldn't watch him bring his javelin down.

When I dared to look again, the centaur was gone. His blood seeped into the dirt floor.

The rest of the arena was visible to me now. Spectator seats ringed the stadium, separated from the battle area by a railing of skulls set on pikes. They glared down into the ring from every angle, like evil, grinning cameras. Directly across from our door was a raised dais, a seat of honour where another giant sat like an emperor. A smaller figure was seated next to him, but they were both too far away for me to see their faces properly.

The Laistrygonian seemed to tire of holding me up. He dropped me to the ground next to Rachel. His fingers remained curled threateningly around my collar.

'You're crying,' Rachel said.

I touched my cheeks. They were wet.

Rachel's face was full of sympathy. 'I'm sorry. Did you know him?'

I stared at her blankly. Then I realised she was talking about the fallen centaur. 'No. He just reminded me of someone.'

'A centaur friend?' There was a strange thirst in her voice.

'Chiron,' I said. 'He trained me, and Percy.'

Rachel looked back to the centre of the arena, where Percy was now facing the emperor giant.

'You guys are good fighters, right? I mean, I saw him slice up this one's friend.'

Kelli's claws tightened around Rachel's throat. 'Watch it, mortal girl,' she hissed. 'Where's your school spirit?'

A bellow rose above the cheers of the crowd. 'Good entertainment! But nothing I haven't seen before. What else do you have, Luke, son of Hermes?'

Luke. My heart did a pole vault straight into my throat. I followed the sound of his reply straight to the tiny figure now standing beside the giant.

Did he know I was here, too?

Rachel mouthed the name. Her eyes widened. 'Is that the jerk Percy was talking about? The one who—'

'Shut up!' I snapped. 'You don't even know him!'

Kelli laughed. 'So it's you.' Her grip on Rachel slackened the tiniest bit. 'I wondered why Luke was holding out on me.'

'What? What are you talking about?'

Luke's voice rose above the chatter of the crowd. 'Lord Antaeus, you have been an excellent host!'

Rachel's brow furrowed. 'Did he say "anteaters?"'

'Lord Antaeus, foolish mortal!' Kelli hissed. 'The master of the arena. A son of Poseidon, like your little boyfriend.'

Hostage situation or not, I wasn't going to listen to this. I pulled back my arm to punch Kelli. The Laistrygonian caught me and twisted it behind my back.

'Ow!'

The crowd whooped and jeered. Luke had just introduced Percy.

'A son of Poseidon?' Antaeus boomed. There was intrigue in his voice. 'Then he should fight well! Or die well!'

My insides took a painful dive. Stones flew into the arena from the booing crowd. A sharp burst of red blossomed on Percy's cheek.

'Luke, stop this! Let us go!'

'Annabeth?' I could barely hear his gasp over the agitated crowd. They wanted blood.

'Enough time for females to fight afterwards,' Antaeus shouted. 'First, Percy Jackson!'

The crowd roared in approval. The dracaenae pushed Percy down to his knees before the despicable giant.

Who was Antaeus? I knew this. A son of Poseidon … Percy's dad had plenty of monstrous children, most famously the Cyclops Polyphemus, but this one …

'I am his favourite son!' Antaeus boasted. 'Behold, my temple to the Earthshaker, built from the skulls of all those I've killed in his name! Your skull shall join them!'

Earthshaker. I saw the walls of earth from my prophecy, a dirt tunnel rising up from the floor.

Earth.

'Percy! His mother is Gaia! Gai—'

The Laistrygonian's hand smashed into my face so hard, I thought he might have broken my nose. Kelli leaned in. 'One more word, girl, and your mortal pet gets it.'

I couldn't speak anyway. I could barely breathe. The Laistrygonian's hand smelt like he'd been washing it in pig slop for years.

I could only hope Percy had gotten the hint. Antaeus was the offspring of Gaia and Poseidon (and no, I didn't want to think about how Percy's dad had essentially had an affair with his own grandmother). It meant that he had the power of earth and water. If we were going to defeat him, we needed to draw on some other element … air, or fire.

I wished so hard that Tyson were here right now.

From the other side of the arena, under Antaeus and Luke, metal gates clanged open. Percy's first challenger, a dracaenae, emerged. She wasn't even remotely a match for him. The fight was over in less than a minute.

Antaeus and the crowd howled in outrage, though from what the giant was screaming, it was the speed of the battle rather than the outcome that annoyed him.

Luke steepled his fingers under his chin. 'Nice job, Percy. You've got better with the sword, I'll grant you that.' His words were calm, but I thought I detected a tremor in his voice.

Percy wiped a smear of blood from his cheek and glared at Luke. He looked like he was imagining running Riptide through Luke's chest. This time, I couldn't really blame him, but the visual made me shudder.

The arena looked too much like the Minotaur's arena in my dreams.

I knew a girl like you once. She had a choice to make, too.

The next opponent to emerge from the gates was human. He was just a teenager, thin and lanky like Theseus. An eye patch ran diagonally across his face.

Percy seemed dumbfounded. He held his sword loosely in his hand. I saw him conferring with his new opponent, but I couldn't hear their conversation.

Then the kid charged him. Percy's sword came up defensively. The battle began.

The kid was good. Although his eye patch should have been an obvious weakness, he guarded his left so well, Percy couldn't get a hit in. I wondered if he'd been trained by Luke.

They faced off for five minutes that felt like an eternity. The crowd's jeers got louder, demanding blood. Percy's opponent looked up nervously, then intensified his attack.

It wasn't a wise move. Percy was no slouch—he'd been fending off direct attacks with ease since his first week at camp. Riptide hit the hilt of the boy's sword and twisted, a move Luke had once tried to teach all of us. No one but Percy had ever mastered it.

His opponent's sword flew out of his hands. In a thrice, Percy had him flat on the ground, sword-point to chest. The boy looked up. I didn't recognise him, but he could have been one of us—another demigod caught in a monster's trap.

Suddenly, it wasn't the boy with the eye patch I was seeing, but Luke, with Thalia's spear at his throat.

'Don't do it, Percy,' I whispered.

Rachel met my eyes. Hers were wide and scared.

Percy sheathed his sword. He held out his hand to pull the boy to his feet.

'No one dishonours the games!' Antaeus sprung to his feet. Even from this distance, I could see how red his face was. Steam was practically rising off it. 'Your heads shall both be tributes to Poseidon!'

'Why don't you fight me yourself?' Percy challenged. 'If you've got Dad's favour, come down here and prove it!'

What was he doing? Hadn't he gotten my message? He couldn't win against Antaeus, not without Tyson.

Antaeus smacked his chest proudly. 'I am the greatest wrestler in the world, boy. I have been wrestling since the first pankration!'

I remembered something else about Antaeus then. He had his mother's blessing, such that he couldn't be wounded as long as he touched the earth. We were in the earth. How could we possibly defeat Antaeus in his territory?

I wanted to yell at Percy to stop, but the Laistrygonian still had me in his disgusting gag hold. All I could do was shake my head desperately, hoping Percy would see.

Percy forged ahead. Just as he'd done on Geryon's ranch, he laid down a high stakes bet: winner takes all. But this time, he remembered to hold Antaeus to it with an oath on the Styx.

Antaeus swore to it as casually as he would a dinner date. He swung himself over the railing and landed with a thump that shook the ground. Dust billowed up in clouds. When it settled, he and Percy were facing off in the centre of the arena. Eye patch boy scrambled out of their way.

As I'd predicted, Antaeus could not be wounded. Percy fought like a demon, slashing and rolling, lunging and stabbing, but it was no use. Although his blows landed true, every time he cut the giant, sand spilled out from the hole and the earth regurgitated it to heal the wound. Even when Percy stabbed Riptide directly into Antaeus's chest, the giant just yanked the sword out and tossed it away. The earth rose in a column, surrounding Antaeus and repairing him. Percy was flung aside.

'Now you see why I never lose, demigod.' Antaeus raised his arms in victory. Riptide's hilt stuck out of the dirt behind him. 'Come here and let me crush you. I'll make it quick!'

Percy looked at me, desperation in his eyes. I couldn't bear to watch—how could I stand to see him killed again?—but I couldn't look away either.

He gritted his teeth and turned back to the giant. Antaeus had a huge grin on his face as Percy feinted right and left, like this at last was the entertainment he'd been demanding. The crowd roared with laughter. I caught sight of Luke's smirk. In that moment, I hated him almost as much as Percy did.

Then Percy ran straight at Antaeus. My heart skipped a beat, but I noticed something else at the same time: Riptide was no longer buried in the sand behind the giant.

Instead of barrelling into Antaeus, Percy jumped on him. He clambered up the giant's body and took a great leap towards the ceiling. As he disappeared from view, a sound like metal chimes echoed around the arena.

'Come down here, coward!'

'Come up and get me!' Percy shot back. 'Or are you too slow and fat?'

'Ooh,' went the crowd. A second later, Antaeus hauled himself up. His flabby butt dangled in the air.

Rachel, Kelli, and the Laistrygonian all looked up, but the Laistrygonian's stranglehold kept my head facing down.

'Mmmmphngh!' I shouted against the giant's hand. Fortunately, Rachel understood my desperate need for information.

'There's chains up there and, um—whoa, are those skulls? Percy's swinging on them—he's got Antaeus hooked up. Ha! Take that—oh wow, that's … I could've gone without that visual. Okay, he's totally tangled now.' She sounded really impressed.

I strained to see for myself, but my eyes would only reach the raised dais over the far entrance to the arena, where Luke presided over the match. Our eyes locked. For one long moment, he looked like he had on my doorstep last spring: frightened and desperate. Please, Annabeth.

Then Antaeus bellowed, 'Get me down!'

Luke looked up. At the same time, Percy landed on the dirt floor, panting.

Luke's face went red. 'Free him! He is our host!'

'I'll free him,' Percy snarled. With a SHINK, Riptide sprung back into action. Percy thrust upwards. Sand rained down over him. This time, the earth didn't respond. Chains creaked overhead.

Luke sprang to his feet. 'Jackson, I should have killed you long ago!'

Percy pointed his sword at him. 'You tried. Let us go, Luke. We had a sworn agreement with Antaeus. I'm the winner.'

The audience whistled and stamped their feet. Luke's face twisted into an ugly, unforgiving expression. I knew even before he said it that he wasn't going to uphold the bargain.

Kelli laughed. Rachel's eyes slid sideways to her, looking murderous. I struggled harder against my captor. The Laistrygonian grunted and twisted my head further back.

'Spare the girl!' Luke called out. He pointed at me. 'I would speak to her before—' His voice wavered, 'before our great triumph.'

He didn't look like he was anticipating victory. He should have been elated that he'd won. Thanks to Percy, he no longer had to contend with Antaeus. But his angry expression dissipated into something jittery. Whatever was about to happen, it frightened him.

What did he want to say to me?

The Laistrygonian released me at Luke's command. I jabbed him with my elbow.

'Oof!'

Percy brought his fingers to his mouth. He had something in it, a silver whistle. He blew hard into it …

And nothing happened. Percy stared at his hands, which were empty and dripping wet.

Kelli tittered. Her claws pressed into Rachel's flesh, eagerly anticipating Luke's command. From the spectator stands, I heard the SHING of a million sharp blades being drawn.

And then all hell broke loose.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

A/N: Thank you to Numberfivewithabullet, Livvi May, ArtimuosJackson, Thunderwolf7226, Hello, SG2000, thatoneguy, CQ816, and MariaClaire for all your comments in the past week. I know many of you have been looking forward to seeing Rachel return, and I had so much fun with the Annabeth-Rachel interaction this chapter. Do tell me what you think of it!

And in keeping with the holiday spirit ... well, New Year's Day is another great time for a surprise, isn't it? ;)