Disclaimer: I do not own Rick Riordan, the Percy Jackson books, characters, series, movies, or anything else you may recognize.

Chapter Twenty-One

Singing In The Maze

When I finally came to, I could move. When I looked over, I was in a hospital room with my arms and legs held down in leather restraints, and wearing one of those flimsy blue hospital gowns. There were machines beeping all around me, a tube around my nose, and another one down my throat.

Oh gods. I was in a hospital. What happened?

A doctor came in the room, followed by a nurse with a clipboard.

"Umm…her eyes are open," the nurse said, looking at me in horror.

"Oh yes," the doctor said, looking at me. "It happens sometimes. Don't worry – it's like her arms and legs, we had to tie them down because they were spamming. There's little to no brain activity – her mother is coming to sign the papers to pull the plug any minute now."

What?

No, I was here, I was here! I couldn't speak because of the tube down my throat. I tried and tried, but it did nothing but cause me more pain. I tried to kick my legs and move my arms, but I was frozen in place. I started crying and the nurse kept looking at me and back at the doctor.

"Doctor, she's crying, you need to do another brain scan – something's changed," the nurse said. "Maybe if we undo her restraints or take out the feeding tube…"

"There is nothing there, nurse. There's no coming back from her injury."

My injury? What injury? How was I injured? When did this happen?

I just wanted to move, to breathe on my own, to scream.

There was a knock on the door. "Doctor? The mother just came and signed the paperwork. She doesn't want to come in and see her – she just wants it to be over."

Val didn't even want to come in? She would've been able to see that I was here and alive! Why would she sign paperwork to let me die? She knows I can regenerate!

"Alright," he said, taking the paperwork and turned to the nurse who was trying to help me. "Get the syringe ready."

She nodded, casting a doubtful look back at me. The doctor walked in closer to me.

"I know you're alive in there. All of this – this is to stop you from getting better. To stop you from regenerating. You have some very important people who want you dead, Andromeda. And when the nurse gets back with the syringe full of hellhound saliva, it'll all be over. You won't be here to screw things up anymore."

I didn't want to die – not here! Not in a creepy ass hospital, not without someone who loves me with me, not like this!

The door burst open, and a blonde woman came through the door, followed by a frantic nurse. Who the Hades was she?

"I changed my mind, I want to be here while it happens," the blonde lady said and the doctor nodded.

"I'm sure she'll appreciate having her mother here, Avalon."

Avalon? My birth mother, Avalon, was dead. She died giving birth to me. Val was my mom.

This wasn't real.

I was thrown out of this nightmare-delusion-thing and onto the floor.

I took a minute to reorient myself. What was the last thing I remembered? We were standing in the Oracle at Delphi and…oh. We fell into a trap. So where was I now? I couldn't see anything – it was pitch black all around me.

"Annabeth? Grover? Percy?" I called, but my voice just echoed into the darkness. I tried to contact Annabeth through the bond but I couldn't feel anything. My heart started racing. I could always feel Annabeth. Even when she blocked me out, I could still feel the connection there. Crap. Crap, crap, crap.

I tried to light up my hands to try to see literally anything but they wouldn't light up – neither with fire or just light. "Great, I just love the dark," I muttered darkly. I was starting to freak out though. My powers weren't working, I couldn't feel my connection to Annabeth, I couldn't see anything, I didn't know where anyone was. If my powers weren't working though, maybe that was affecting the connection. I started to relax a tiny bit but remembered that I was still in the dark where anything could happen.

Gods I hated the dark.

"Maybe I have a flashlight," I said out loud as I started digging through my bag. I needed some sort of sound, even if it was my own voice, to keep me calm. I managed to find one and turned it on. It was so dark that I could only see maybe a foot in front of me. "This day sucks."

I started walking, trying to find a way out. After running into a few walls, I was able to deduce that I was in some sort of maze, so I kept one hand on the wall and one in front of me. Hopefully I'd find the key somewhere along the way. Hopefully was the key word here…get it? 'Key word'? I crack myself up some times.

After walking for what felt like hours, I stopped. "This is stupid, can we turn on some lights place?" I asked. "Maybe even decorate the place a bit. You know, hang up some nice minimalistic lights, maybe a canvas print over there, a nice modern chair in the corner – you could make it a real visitor's attraction."

No one heard me, of course, because there was no one else around. "That's fine, just ignore my interior design ideas – I'm very artistic, you know. We could do a really good remodel on the place, and you could flip it for a phenomenal price! I really am a genius." It was times like these where you had to be your own friend to stay sane.

Although, I was starting to doubt how sane I was to begin with.

"I wish, I wish I was a fish because a fish can squish and make other sounds…" I sang. Okay, so maybe I wasn't in the best songwriting mood, but I had to do something to keep myself from being creeped out or thinking the worst. The dark was bad enough without the deathly silence.

"How about a haiku?" I asked myself. "Dad loves those, lately. Hmm."

"I hate this dumb maze,

I want the sunshine and sound,

Please let me go home."

"Okay, good, but depressing," I told myself, my words starting to sink deeper and deeper. I was okay and uninjured, but what about the others? What if they were in trouble? Or hurt? Or…or dead?

Crap. Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap! "PERCY! ANNABETH! GROVER! WHERE ARE YOU?" I shouted. My voice just echoed against the walls. "I hate this stupid maze!"

Wait – what if this maze came to life like the one in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire? Ohmigod, what if this maze ate me like it did Fleur Delacour? I mean, she just got spit out back at the start, but that was a children's/young adult book. This was real life.

"I'm sorry, maze, I'm sure you're a really good maze," I said timidly. "Please don't eat me." Luckily, the maze didn't try to end my life. Or chew me up and make my regeneration hell. I'd never been chewed up before…I don't imagine it would feel very good.

I looked and saw something glittering in the light of my flashlight. "What is this?" I walked up to the glittering object and picked it up. It was a brass, old-fashioned key. "So…it's literally a key? That's pretty silly." I looked at it closer, trying to find some sort of hidden message. I suppose I could just shove it down Kronos' throat. That might be fun. "Now why were you so easy to find?" I asked it, but of course it didn't reply. If it could talk, maybe it would have screamed so I could have found it earlier. And then it could also tell me what to do with it.

I tucked it into the cup of my bra, knowing that no one would be able to take it from there. Not unless they were Percy or wanted to lose their hand.

"Andee? Andee!" someone shouted behind me. I turned to see Percy standing there, his sword out and a look of amazement on his face. He didn't look good – he was bleeding all over and his clothes were badly torn up.

"Percy!" I exclaimed, practically tackling him with a hug. "There was this creepy hospital and they were going to kill me and I was so scared, but you're okay!"

"I'm so happy I found you," he said, pressing his lips to mine. I responded immediately, returning the kiss with just as much passion.

"I have the key," I told him, smiling with the relief of just being able to touch him and hold him.

"Really?" he asked and I nodded. "Then let's get out of here."

"Percy, are you okay?" I asked, noticing how distraught he looked.

"They're gone, Dee," he whispered, sinking to the ground and holding his head in his hands. "I couldn't save them."

"What are you talking about?" I asked quietly, kneeling down beside me. "Who couldn't you save?"

"Annabeth and Grover," he said. "They're…dead."

"No, they're not." I stood up. This couldn't be true. Not Grover. Not Annabeth. Not my friends. "They're not dead."

"You can't feel Annabeth, can you?" he asked and I tried again to communicate with Annabeth, but I still couldn't feel anything. It was kind of static-y, like a television that lost its signal.

"Even if there's no connection right now, I would've felt it. I would know," I insisted.

"Andee, we were ambushed – we all fought the best we could, but they killed Annabeth and Grover. I had to run just so I could try to find you," Percy said and I couldn't stop myself from crying. "I'm sorry, Andee, I really am."

"We need to go back and get the bodies," I said after a long period of silence, trying to calm myself down enough that we could get out of this maze in one piece.

"What?"

"I can't just leave my best friend's body here – I have to make sure she's buried properly!" I stood up, preparing myself to see the body that had once been the only sister I had ever known.

"Andee, we can't go back! The monsters could still be there!" Percy exclaimed, standing up too.

"Then I'll kill them – I'm not leaving our friends, even if they're dead," I said, about to push past him to go back.

"But if you go," Percy started, catching my attention, "you'll see that it wasn't monsters they were attacked by."

"Percy, what are you saying?" I asked carefully, starting to back away.

"I killed them."

"No you didn't, don't even say that!" I said, the tears starting to build up in my eyes again.

"It's the truth – and I know how much you hate liars," he said, a wicked grin taking over his usually awkward and adorable features. I tried to find that feeling that told me he was lying, but everything was gone. All my powers, my abilities – poof.

"What have you done?" I whispered. "They're your best friends!"

"Were," he corrected. "And not really. They never really mattered to me. Neither did you."

I didn't matter to him? After everything I'd been through, after finally opening myself up to loving Percy, had the Prophecy been right? I didn't matter to him? I fell in love with him and he couldn't care less? He was just going to break my heart after all?

"So, as you've probably guessed, you're going to have to die too," he said, smirking before he grabbed me and injected me with a needle full of clear liquid. I immediately started convulsing.

Percy's POV

We found a door. We could see it from pretty far away because of the light leaking through the bottom. But before we could make it any close to the door, our path was blocked by two figures.

"Sorry, this isn't the exit but it's still off-limits," the female in the middle said. She was shorter than Andee, but she had long dark hair and bright blue eyes filled with mischief. She had a teenage guy standing behind her that was the exact opposite height-wise to the lady, and was dressed in jeans, a black shirt and a leather jacket. I clearly remembered hearing two male voices laughing – so where was the other one?

"Oh? And just who do you think you are to stop us?" Annabeth asked.

"I'm surprised you haven't figured it out yet, daughter of Athena," the woman grinned wickedly. "But I suppose I'll tell you anyways. I'm Até, the goddess of mischief, and this lovely young man is Phobos, the god of panic. His brother, Deimos, the god of fear, is with your little girlfriend."

"Well, that's nice to know and all, but we're going through that door whether you like it or not," Nico said, raising his sword. "Especially now that we know you don't want us to go in there."

"Look," Até said, holding her hands up, "I'll give you an ultimatum. If you turn around and find the actual way out of the maze, you can go free. But you have to leave behind the girl, that's all he really wants, anyways. Well, he wants you too, Son of Poseidon, but he already has a plan for that."

"We're not leaving without her," I growled.

"Well," Phobos said. "Prepare to see your worst nightmare…again."

"Yeah, I'd rather not," I said, jabbing at him. Annabeth and Grover also quickly armed themselves before the four of us launched into a full-blown battle with the two minor gods.

Let me tell you this – I had a whole new respect for minor gods after that fight. There didn't seem to be anything minor about them. They were some of the most powerful gods I had ever met, but I had a feeling that was part of what they were gods of. Panic and mischief. It was hard to keep my mind straight enough to fight them, when I was constantly on the verge of having a panic attack.

Finally, Annabeth, Nico, Grover and I finished them off, the pair disappearing in a puff of yellow smoke. We rushed into the room but found that its occupants were too busy to notice us. Two telekhines were going about their business, preparing something – a weapon – while a dark, moody-looking half-blood stood in one of the corners.

In the center of the room, a golden coffin sat on top of a dais, and I knew exactly – or rather¸ who – was in it.

Kronos.

What bothered me the most, however, was Andee chained to a wall with some guy approaching her. His had messy black hair from the back, and he was holding a sword one hand. He looked awfully familiar.

"Percy, please don't do this," Andee begged, tears streaming freely down her cheeks.

"You are pathetic," the person spat at her, their voice exactly like mine but harsher. "You are a waste of space, and a waste of power. You are worthless and pathetic. You seem to think you are so valuable, but you're not. Your own father and grandfather wanted to destroy you when you were just a child. Yours friends are dead. And your aunt and her fiancé could really care less about you now that they have a baby on the way. And me…well, you never really had me. I was just trying to recruit you for the cause. The gods have given you nothing but grief and sorrow. The Lord of the Titans could give you so much more…all you have to do is pledge your allegiance and the world could be yours. I could be yours. But since you're refusing, there's no real point in keeping you around anymore."

"Please don't do this to me – I love you, Percy," she cried and my heart fluttered a little to hear those words, even though they weren't directed at me – well, not the real me. They were directed at the fake Percy was threatening to kill her.

"Isn't it funny how that works?" he asked, twirling his sword around like it was a toy. "One person falls deeply in love with someone who has no interested whatsoever in the other person. Unrequited love, they call it. I think that's what you're experiencing. And what's worse, you can't not love me, can you?"

She kept her gaze on her feet, showing that he had been right. What did he mean that she can't not love him/me? That didn't sound right…

"And to think that all this time, I've just been using you to help restore Kronos back to his proper form," he said, walking over to the golden coffin. He lifted off the lid to reveal Luke's body lying inside with a bullet-sized hole in his heart.

I was shocked and just stared. I mean, I hated Luke for betraying me and my friends, but even he didn't deserve this. I couldn't believe Kronos had taken over his body. It made me wonder why he wanted Andee so badly if he already had a body (although it might have been weird to be in a girl's body). "Recognize him, Andee? An ex-boyfriend of yours, right? You could be back together if you really wanted. I mean, I know it's what he wants."

Andee had mentioned a Lucas. I had never thought it would be Luke Castellan. It just hadn't seemed plausible.

Andee shut her eyes determinedly, keeping her head turned away from the golden coffin. "Unfortunately, that plan hasn't really been working so I guess all that's left is to dispose of you."

"My brothers will know something's wrong when I don't come back from my quest," Andee snarled at him.

"Not when I tell them that while we were on the quest, you were ferociously attacked by a hellhound and there was nothing I could do to save you," he reasoned.

"They'll know that you're lying."

"But the thing is, I won't be," he said and out of nowhere, a giant hellhound appeared, growling at Andee. Her eyes widened with fear as she tried to free herself from her restraints. "I can't kill you with a sword – we both know that. But my friend here can kill you with a single swipe of its paw." He started to walk away, leaving Andee alone with the hellhound. He stopped after a few steps and turned to look at her, smirking. "Oh, and if you change your mind, just let me know."

He disappeared and the hellhound advanced on her slowly, growling at her. Andee was screaming and crying, asking for the gods to help her.

I was furious. I would never do that to her. I would never even think of doing that to her. I was going to kill Deimos. Who the Hades did he think he was, impersonating me and doing that to Andee. He wasn't going to get away with it – I'd make sure of that.

The look in Andee's eyes told me that she expected to die.

"Andee!" Annabeth shouted, but she couldn't hear her. I've learned today that when you're in a situation with the thing you fear the most, you go to deaf to the world. Annabeth, Nico and I leapt into action, fighting the hellhound to try and distract it long enough so that Grover could free Andee and we could all escape.

I had never actually fought a hellhound before, but let's just say it's not a fair match, even with Annabeth and Nico fighting with me. It's about ten times the size of a normal Rottweiler and about a hundred times as aggressive.

It took way too long but we managed to send it back to the Underworld, most because of Nico and his sword. But it was because of the hellhound that we didn't notice what was happening in the background.

The two telekhines were bowed down and holding Backbiter out to the sarcophagus and the dark half-blood, who I now noticed had an eye patch, was standing in front of it as well.

"Ethan, please don't do this. Don't help him – you can stop him and we can fix everything, please," Andee begged.

He turned to the wall where she was still hanging and Grover was frantically trying to undo the restraints. "I'm a song of Nemesis, the goddess of revenge. This is what I was meant to do," the boy – Ethan – said before turning back to the dais. "I renounce the gods! They have done nothing for me! I will see them destroyed. I will serve Kronos!"

The room rumbled and Luke bolted upright in the coffin, his blue eyes now gold. He looked around the room as if he had just been reborn, taking in the sight before him and grinning evilly. "This body has been well prepared." His voice was cold and sharp – like a razor running over a chalkboard. "What do you think, Percy Jackson?"

I couldn't move. I couldn't do anything but stare at him in horror.

"Did you know that Luke feared you?" Kronos asked me. "His jealousy and hatred have become powerful tools in his obedience. I must thank you for that."

He grinned again and I could only stare at him. The telekhines trembled with the sword and Ethan fainted. He walked over to where Andee was trapped against the wall, and flicked his hand, sending Annabeth, Nico and Grover across the room and far away from Andee. "My princess," Kronos cooed at Andee. "It's only a matter of time."

"I would rather die than be anywhere near you," Andee spat at him, squeezing her eyes shut. I knew that if she looked him in the eye, she was gone. The Andee I knew and loved would be gone for who knows how long – maybe forever. "Bring the hellhound back and let it finish the job!"

Even though she wasn't looking at him, her necklace was glowing bright green.

"There is no use fighting it anymore," Kronos said, touching her cheek. "You will be mine."

I finally got myself together and charged him, but my sword bounced off his chest as if he were made of steel. He flicked his hand and I was thrown across the room.

I slammed into a pillar and had to struggle back up to my feet while the others tried again to free Andee, who couldn't allow herself to open her eyes. I was just blinking the stars out of my eyes when Kronos picked up his scythe. His attention was all on me now, giving my friends a better opportunity to free Andee.

"What have you done to Luke?"

"Luke serves me with his whole being, just as I require. The only difference between is that he feared you, Perseus Jackson. I do not."

I glanced behind him and the others had gotten Andee free so I did the only smart thing I could think of – run. But my feet felt like lead. You know how in dreams when you try to run and it feels like you're going in slow motion? It was kind of like that.

Kronos laughed. "Run, little hero, run!"

I glanced back and saw him approaching with ease, swinging his scythe like it was the best feeling in the world to have it back in his hands again. No weapon in the world could stop him. No amount of celestial bronze or Olympian gold.

"No!" Nico yelled. He clapped his hands together and a jagged piece of rock the size of an eighteen-wheeler erupted from the ground in front of Kronos. The tremor was so powerful that it made the whole front of the room started to crash down.

We all ran back into the maze and as far away from that door as possible. Andee looked completely destroyed, having to be held up by Annabeth the whole way. When we stopped to rest for a moment, she immediately wrapping her arms around Annabeth tightly and started to cry. "The connection was gone…I was so scared…there was a hospital and they were killing me…and then the dark…I was so scared, Annie…he doesn't love me…he wants to kill me…" she muttered to Annabeth who was trying to calm her down enough so we could all get out of the maze in one piece.

"The connection is back – you feel it just like I do," Annabeth told her soothingly, rubbing her back. "Show me what you saw." After a few moments, Annabeth's grip on Andee became tighter. "I'm so sorry, Dee Dee. I should have been there. None of it was real, I promise." Andee just cried even harder. "Do you have the key?" Andee nodded. "Then we need you to find the way out. You have to calm down a bit, because we need to get out of here quickly, okay?"

Andee nodded, taking Annabeth's hand and stumbling down the dark corridor with her, leading the way out. Grover, Nico and I followed a few paces behind them. I wanted to help Andee, comfort her, and carry her back if she needed, but she probably didn't want to see me right now. I can't imagine what she was feeling right now, especially towards me.

"So that's your girlfriend?" Nico asked, apparently trying to make conversation, but it really wasn't a good one."

"Yup."

"It doesn't seem like she likes you very much."

"This isn't normally how our relationship works."

"Well, that's a relief," Nico said, and I gave him a look to tell him to shut up. We followed Andee and Annabeth for the rest of the trip in silence. We found the exit much quicker than I had expected, and as soon as we were out the door, we found ourselves back in New York, outside of a busy Starbucks in Manhattan.

"How did we end up back in New York when we were just in Delphi?" I asked.

"You guys were in Delphi? I was in Texas," Nico said.

"What matters now is getting back to Camp," Annabeth said, right back to business as usual. Andee handed Annabeth her phone and gave her serious look. Annabeth passed it to me as Andee sat down on the curb, staring at the ground.

Three days had passed in the time we were down in the maze. "How did that happen?"

"In places where magic is present, time goes faster," Annabeth said before groaning. "I should have realized that before."

"Do you have the key?" Grover asked.

She nodded, reaching into the top of her shirt and taking the key out from the cup of her bra. That was my Andee. She held it out in her hands and it started to change forms, turning into a piece of parchment. Andee stared at it for a few minutes before throwing it to the ground, tears welling up in her eyes again.

I picked up the discarded document and read what it said, finding it relatively easy because it was in Ancient Greek.

Right now you are probably wondering why the key you have been searching for turned into a piece of parchment. I set this up as a trick. Very few people have reached this point, so if you are reading this, congratulations! Everything you thought was true is false. Really, there is no key to stopping Kronos. So the best thing to do now would be to pledge allegiance to Kronos. The Titan Lord will prevail – it is inevitable. Your best attempt at surviving would be to join his ranks. – X

"Who's X?" I asked.

"It was all a trick. There's no key…there's no way to defeat the Titan Lord," Andee said in monotone. "We went through all of that for nothing."

"There's has to be a way," Nico said quietly, taking the note and pocketing it. "No one is indestructible."

"I might as well give myself up to him now. It would save everyone a lot of trouble," Andee said under her breath.

"Don't say that!" Annabeth and I said at the same time.

Andee sighed and stood up. "Stêthi 'Ô hárma diabolês!" She dropped a drachma on the ground. Immediately a smoky gray taxi pulled up, with the Gray Sisters sitting in the front. "Let's go. I don't want to be here anymore."