"No one else finds this place creepy?" Percy grumbled and Zoe nodded in agreement as she stayed close to him. His hand was on fire as he lit the path through the labyrinth, Annabeth walked beside them while Malcolm took the rear. Some of the tunnels were decorated with bones and dried blood, Percy wasn't afraid he was simply disgusted and on edge. There was a cold draft in the maze but Percy was like a personal heater and barely noticed it, Zoe shivered and Percy wrapped an arm around her. He concentrated and soon his body became warm, Zoe sighed and snuggled into his side. Annabeth adjusted the large pack of food on her back while shooting Zoe a jealous glare, Percy had forgotten to tell her about his food powers.
"If by creepy you mean fascinating then ya it's creepy." Malcolm said in awe and Percy shot him a worried look.
"I worry about you Athena kids, you find a bunch of dead things fascinating? That's totally my thing." Percy complained while Zoe chuckled.
Annabeth rolled her eyes,"We are not interested in a bunch dead things. Malcolm and I love the architecture in this maze, it's so beautiful." She said dreamily, one of the walls were sculpted in the ways of the Romans while the other was the Greek culture. Percy liked the Roman wall, it showed a picture of his father Pluto rising the dead, but then he lost interest when it showed Romans worshiping Jupiter and fearing Neptune.
"The Roman wall is amazing." He commented and Zoe laughed at what he was implying. Annabeth and Malcolm looked at the wall in disgust before turning back to the Ancient Greece wall. Percy let it slide because it was natural for Romans to hate Greeks, yet he had no problem with Greeks at all, probably because Artemis and the hunt were Greek.
"So uh, why exactly are we down here again?" Zoe asked, Percy wondered as well. He knew they needed to be here because of the oracle but he didn't understand why.
Malcolm glared at the two,"We have spy's within the camp, if we know about the labyrinth then the titans do too." He spat angrily.
Percy frowned at the blondes implications,"So what your trying to say is that I'm a spy?" He asked as calmly as possible.
Malcolm scoffed,"Sorry if I'm a little skeptical of you and Nico, the two sons of Hades. I mean, your father isn't even an Olympian so why are you helping us?" Percy clenched his jaw in the effort to keep calm, he wasn't surprised that a child of Athena doubted his loyalty.
Before he could speak Zoe beat him to it,"Listen here blondie! Percy would never betray us! How do we know you aren't the spy? Percy has been raised by three Olympians and is more loyal to the gods then you are." She spat at the now wide eyed Malcolm. Annabeth felt conflicted, she wanted to defend Malcolm but he was wrong for yelling at Percy. She wanted to yell at Zoe but couldn't argue with her logic. Percy smiled down at Zoe and gave her a kiss on the forehead, Annabeth's eyes shot open wide at the gesture. Their best friends, she assured herself but felt uncertain. Percy was happy that Zoe had defended him so fast.
"Whatever, just asking since your fathers dark and controls the dead." Malcolm grumbled angrily. Percy's eyes blazed and skeleton hands popped out of the earth and grabbed Malcolm's ankles. The son of Athena panicked and tried to move but the hands held firm, Percy grabbed him by shirt and gave him a hard punch to the face. Malcolm's head snapped back but he stayed in place by the skeleton hands. He seemed unaffected by the blow and Percy's knuckles began to hurt. He was about to fry him to a crisp as his anger grew.
"Percy stop!" Annabeth cried and grabbed his arm, he whirled around and glared at her. She flinched at his eyes and he hesitated, he didn't like scaring his friends, his whole life people have feared him, he didn't mind scaring pansies like Jacob and Octavian but he was loyal to his friends. Percy stepped back and the hands disappeared, Zoe looked at him in concern before glaring at the children of Athena. Percy massaged his hand and looked at Malcolm curiously who looked slightly hurt from the punch.
She marched up to Malcolm and poked him in the chest,"Listen here boy! Your nothing but a stupid, worthless, good for nothing child of Athena! Your incredibly dense if you think you can mess with Percy and get away with it! Now if your not gonna say anything useful then keep your fat trap shut!" She roared and Malcolm nodded meekly. Percy took deep breaths and squeezed his eyes shut in an effort to calm down.
"Guys we gotta keep going, arguing isn't going to help us finish this stupid quest." Percy growled and stalked ahead. His hand was burning brighter and the three stayed back knowing he needed to cool off. Zoe glared at Malcolm why Annabeth felt guilty for not defending Percy from her brother while Malcolm was seething quietly in the back. Annabeth decided to take the lead again as she navigated them through the maze.
"So what specifically are we looking for?" Percy spoke up.
"We're looking for Daedalus, he knows the labyrinth inside and out. He can help us if he gives us Ariadne's string." Annabeth answered and Percy nodded, they seemed to be walking forever but no one questioned Annabeth as she led them. Percy didn't know why Hecate needed him on this stupid quest, did she want him to kill Malcolm? He would, she just had to ask. Zoe walked up to Percy and grabbed his hand that wasn't on fire, he flashed her a smile that she returned. Malcolm and Annabeth took a right that Percy and Zoe didn't see. They kept walking until Percy realized that the children of Athena weren't in front of them anymore. He turned around with Zoe but couldn't find them, he began to panic and looked around frantically in hopes to see the two blondes but to no avail. Zoe's eyes widened and she groaned, sure she hated Malcolm and Annabeth but she needed them to show the way.
Suddenly Queen Hera appeared, Percy smiled and gave her a light bow while Zoe frowned.
"What did you do? We can't find Annabeth and Malcolm now!" She yelled and Percy paled once he saw Hera glare at Zoe.
Zoe glared back before Percy jumped in,"Queen Hera, to what do we owe the pleasure." Zoe glared at him, butt kisser, she thought in annoyance. She had to admit, Percy was very charismatic and he was extremely easy to talk to. He had this charm that made you want to be his best friend immediately, ironically his charm had taken Zoe a little while to warm up to.
The goddess smiled at Percy,"Hello nephew, Annabeth and Malcolm won't be joining on this part of the quest. Keep going straight and you will reach Hephaestus's forge, it is vital you get there. You shall both see them soon I promise, oh and enjoy your alone time. Not even Apollo could reunion it this time, or that crab...he was strange." She mused, she had watched the little creep stare at Percy and Zoe while they kissed, who watches people like that? She thought in annoyance before winking at Percy then vanishing leaving a blushing son of Pluto and a surprised daughter of Atlas.
"She was spying on us?!" Zoe yelled incredulously throwing her hands in the air. Percy laughed at the thought of the sea crab, he decided to name him Sebastian since he was one of his favorite characters from the Little Mermaid.
"Well we are a pretty hot couple, especially me, we could be on a reality show!" He enthused before Zoe smacked him upside the head. He grumbled before they kept walking straight as Hera had instructed.
"But they don't have any food!" Annabeth protested and gestured to her food bag. Hera and Annabeth hated each other, Hera found Annabeth rude and annoying while Annabeth hated how Hera sent cows after her all the time. It's happened so often that Annabeth would eat cheeseburgers by cows or near the Hera cabin just to upset the goddess.
Hera rolled her eyes at the daughter of Athena,"Percy and Zoe will be fine, just go and you'll see them soon." Annabeth scrunched her nose in confusion and anger. She wanted to yell at the Queen of the gods for being so vague but didn't feel like being chased by more cows. Malcolm felt relieved that Percy and Zoe were no longer with them, Percy frightened him and so did the hunter, they seemed extremely close which was odd. He knew Percy was raised by the hunt but he seemed especially comfortable with Zoe.
"Any specific direction?" Malcolm asked curiously and Hera glared at him angrily. She hated Athena's children but she absolutely detested Malcolm for treating Percy as he did, Percy had on numerous occasions put her stupid husband in his place and she was grateful that the demigod had done that.
"Find your own way Athena spawn." She spat and vanished.
Annabeth glared at the spot she was standing,"Stupid Peacock lover, she's as fat as her ugly cows. She smells like them too, probably stunk up the entire labyrinth." She grumbled, Malcolm looked around nervously and hoped Hera didn't hear that. When nothing happened he visibly relaxed and kept walking beside his sister.
"I'm so glad those two are out of our hair." Malcolm said smugly.
Annabeth glared at him, "You shouldn't of talked to Percy like that, it was rude and your statements were false." Malcolm rolled his eyes but kept quiet, he didn't feel like arguing with Annabeth right now. He was nervous on what would come, on what he'd have to do. Annabeth adored her big brother Malcolm, he was her second in command and one of her best friends. He was extremely judgmental however and far mor prideful then she was, he had hubris worse then any child of Athena.
Percy was humming a random tune and walked with a bounce in his step, he felt happy to be away from Malcolm, had he been by the blonde any longer he would of thrown him in the fields of punishment with Gabe. It wasn't right for that stupid blonde to speak of his father as though he were evil. Zoe looked at him in annoyance, he had been humming for what felt like hours and it was extremely annoying.
"Will you stop!" She snapped and he looked at her with a raised eyebrow. To annoy her further he hummed louder and began to clap his hands just as loudly.
She grabbed his ear and brought him close to her face,"Percy,if you don't shut up right now-" He cut her off with a small kiss on the lips, she blushed heavily and kissed him back. Her hands tangled in his hair and he wrapped his arms around her waist. Once it ended she gave him a small smile before giving him a hard punching the stomach. He bent over gasping as pain shot through his stomach, he could of sworn the kiss would get him off the hook but it got him a injury instead. He groaned and straightened himself, Zoe had kept walking through the maze and she smirked at him over her shoulder.
"Nice try." She taunted and Percy pouted before running to catch up with her. They continued walking before they got tired and sat down. Percy made themselves sandwiches and water. He started humming again much to Zoe's irritation, he bobbed his head up and down while eating his food.
"What are you humming?" She questioned and annoyance laced her voice.
He smiled widely,"You know, kiss the girl from the Little Mermaid?" She frowned and shook her head.
His mouth fell open,"You've never seen that movie! It's a classic!" He exclaimed while throwing his hands in the air. She rolled her eyes and continued eating while Percy talked animatedly about the movie.
There was a loud yell,"Percy?" The two froze and Percy instantly recognized that voice. A guy ran towards them and Percy jumped to his feet, he uncapped Riptide and held it to the guy.
"What are you doing here traitor?" Percy hissed and the teen raised his hands in surrender.
"Percy, I'm just trying to come home." The traitor replied.
Percy narrowed his eyes,"Why are you really back Luke?" He remembered a line to the prophecy, and find a traitor who's escaped hell. Thalia had told him how Luke tried to throw the master bolt in Tartarus, Luke had escaped the underworld which was also known as hell, which is in Hollywood, Percy found this extremely hilarious because of the irony. Zoe was on her feet with an arrow notched in Luke's direction.
The traitor sighed,"I want to come home, you were right Percy, the titans were only using me to host Kronos. Yes I wanted revenge on the gods but not like this, I do not have a quarrel with all the gods just my father. The titans are cruel, they would slaughter anyone or anything that failed. I didn't realize how good I had it at camp until I lost it all, I played victim when I honestly didn't have it as bad as most demigods. I had this dream of what would happen if the titans won. New York was covered in human bones, titans would kill mortals for their amusement they would enslave the demigods who won and lost the war and monsters would be rabid in the streets. It was terrible, you and Thalia and Annabeth were there. Kronos was torturing all of you and-" He broke off and collapsed on the ground, he held his head in his hands and leaned against the wall. Luke remembered the dream and it was all to much, he couldn't stand to watch as Kronos ran his scythe down Thalia's back.
Percy ran to Luke and dropped his sword,"Luke it's okay, it's over now. But I need you to swear all this is true." Percy said as he patted his back reassuringly. He was worried about Luke, he had never seen the mischievous son of Hermes so broken. When he had met Luke the son of Hermes was confident and laid back, he wore a grin that promised trouble and had easily befriended Percy. Percy felt touched that Luke didn't want him to be tortured by the king of the titans.
"I swear on the Styx I'm not a spy, that I truly want to come back, and that my dream was real." Thunder boomed loudly and Luke felt as though a large weight was lifted off his shoulders. Tear stains decorated Luke's cheeks and he wiped them away, Zoe looked at him suspiciously as Percy helped Luke to his feet.
"I still don't trust you boy." Zoe growled and Luke glared at her. Percy looked at both of them and wrapped his arm around his girlfriend's waist making her calm down, she put away her bow. Percy was happy that Luke came back but found his betrayal inexcusable.
Luke wagged his eyebrows at Percy,"So you got a girlfriend huh? A hunter no less." He teased making Percy blush and Zoe glare at him. Luke was extremely surprised that Percy hadn't died yet from Artemis, that Percy had even won the affections of a hunter was impressive. He then figured that this was a joke but wondered why the hunter hadn't bitten Percy's hand off yet. Percy didn't like how Luke acted as though nothing had happened a few minutes ago, as though he didn't side with the titans.
Percy ran a hand through his hair,"Ya, don't tell anyone." He grumbled and Luke's eyes popped open wide. As if to prove he was telling the truth Percy kissed the hunters temple making her grin.
Luke gave Percy a serious look,"Artemis is going to kill you." Percy and Zoe chuckled making Luke raise his eyebrows. Though Luke had comeback Percy still was wary of him, his loyalty made it so he detested betrayal and he knew it would take him a little while to fully forgive him. Percy was a bit bitter with Luke for abandoning Annabeth and Thalia like that.
"Perce, aren't you-"
"Look Luke, just because your back doesn't mean I forgive you. You betrayed me and its going to take me a while to trust you again. Until we get there you can call me Percy, only my friends or siblings can call me Perce. You hurt Thalia and Annabeth and that's not okay, Thalia used to talk about how you were the big brother of the group and you failed them. You betrayed and abandoned your family and you never do that to family! Just because I didn't kill you doesn't make us friends!" Percy snapped and his eyes lit on fire,"Stop pretending nothing happened because it did, you betrayed us so stop acting like you've been my friend."
Luke's eyes widened at the sight of Percy's eyes, how much had he missed when he left? Guilt and shame ate away at him as he thought of Percy's words, he had left his family. Percy had every right to be angry with him.
"I'm sorry Percy." Luke desperately wanted to ask Percy why his eyes were on fire but knew now wasn't the appropriate time to ask.
Percy just shook his head,"Don't apologize to me, apologize to Thalia and Annabeth, their the ones you left."
Luke looked at him helplessly,"I had considered you a friend since you saved me."
Percy glared at him,"Did you come to this revelation before or after you betrayed us? You switched to the right side good for you, but don't expect to get off the hook so easily."
And sorry the chapters a bit short, I was busy today. Okay, the Man who made a choice is not the sequel to this story but to my OTHER STORY the boy who grew up. And I made it so Percy didn't forgive Luke yet because...well he betrayed them enough said. Okay and I added aLittle bit more of the little mermaid because I love that movie. So comment.