"Gah!" Mari groaned, as Eurytion yanked the rake from her hand and hauled her through the window and out of the cart. He even had the nerve to let her topple to the floor, getting mud all over her face.
"Sorry 'bout that." He shrugged. "Can't really hold you and this one up at the same time." He jerked his head towards Nico Di Angelo, who snarled and tried to kick at Eurytion's stomach. Mari stared at her hand. She didn't know what sepsis was meant to look like, but her hand didn't look too bad. Well, actually, it was gushing blood like a garden hose, but other than that it didn't look too bad.
"Are you alright?" Annabeth asked, leaning out of the cart.
"Does she look alright to you, missy?" Geryon laughed. "Little girl shouldn't of gotten involved."
"You fiend!" Annabeth snarled.
Geryon grinned. "Don't worry, my dear. Once I've delivered Mr Di Angelo, you and your party can go. Well, most of your party can go. I don't interfere with quests. Besides, I've been paid well to give y'all safe passage, which does not, I'm afraid, include Mr Di Angelo."
"Paid by whom?" Annabeth asked.
"Never you mind, darlin'. Let's be off, shall we?"
"Wait. What do you mean, most of us?" Mari glared up at him, but his smile just got wider.
"I'm mighty glad you asked, Miss Carter. Why do ya think I said most of y'all? Really think about it, hmm? Luke Castellan didn't just hand over the cash for me to deliver Mr Di Angelo here, he made sure I was aware of a very specific demigod whose older brother might be interested in... 'takin' her home', I believe Mr Ray said."
Shit. Shit shit shit shit shit.
Mari stumbled back, shaking her head. He couldn't be talking about Mason. Mason couldn't be here. She didn't want to hear her brother call her Frankie again; she might just throw up in her mouth if he did. And Geryon was going to- he was going to call Mason here-
Mari turned to run.
She got about two steps before Eurytion was grabbing her shoulder with his free hand. "Stop strugglin', you're just gonna make it worse."
Mari did not stop struggling.
"Get her bad hand, you idiot," Geryon snarled.
"No, no-"
"Sorry about this, kid." Eurytion grabbed Mari's hand and yanked it over her head, digging his nails in. Eurytion's fingers in Mari's palm felt like concentrated salt being spread all over the wound. Mari felt tears prick at her eyes. She tried to hold them back but couldn't stop the shaking.
"You're not fucking sorry, you arse!"
"Alright, that's enough of that," Geryon said. "Those two are secure, and we have business to take care of. So, we best get goin'. C'mon, Eurytion." Eurytion followed Geryon with the pace of a man very used to doing nothing more and nothing less than what he was told. His hand dug deeper into Mari's wound as he went. Mari didn't know if it was intentional or not but either way, it hurt.
"Wait!" Percy said. Orthus growled, and Percy froze in fear but kept on talking. "Geryon, you said you're a businessman. Make me a deal."
"What sort of deal?" Geryon asked. "Do you have gold?"
"I've got something better," Percy said. "Barter."
"But, Mr Jackson, you've got nothin'," said Geryon.
"You could have him clean the stables," Eurytion suggested. Mari looked up at him in shock. She hadn't expected him to actually help. Then again, Eurytion was still clutching her hand in a death-grip and Nico's feet had not touched the floor since he'd been picked up, so Mari didn't feel like being too generous.
"I'll do it!" said Percy. "If I fail, you get all of us. You can deliver Mari to her brother and trade us all to Luke for gold."
"Assuming the horses don't eat you." Geryon sounded sceptical.
"Either way, you get my friends," said Percy. "But, if I succeed, you've got to let us all go, including Mari and Nico."
"No!" Nico screamed. "Don't do me any favours, Percy. I don't want your help!"
"I want his help!" Mari glared at Nico. "Don't listen to him, we definitely need help!"
Geryon laughed. "Percy Jackson, those stables haven't been cleaned in a thousand years... though it's true I might be able to sell more stable space if all that poop was cleared away."
"So, what have you got to lose?" Percy asked.
Geryon seemed to think about it for a second, before nodding with a mean smile. "All right. I'll accept your offer, but you have to get it done by sunset. If you fail, your friends get sold, the girl goes to her brother, and I get rich."
"Deal," Percy agreed.
"I'm going to take your friends with me, then. Back to the lodge. We'll wait for you there," said Geryon. He nodded to Eurytion, who, like a well-oiled machine, jerked Mari along with him without a word. The others got to follow along in the cart, lucky things. She gasped in pain but Eurytion didn't slow his pace, even though he did shoot Mari a sympathetic look. She stomped on his foot in retaliation. Eventually, she and Nico were both tossed to the ground, the other three following. Mari looked around. They had been dumped right next to a grill outside the house. Little flowers were growing between the legs of the grill. There was a red and white checked tablecloth, clearly a set-up from a barbeque. It was almsot picturesque, if not for the smell of poop.
"Well, I best get goin'," Geryon said. "Got some calls to make."
"But Percy isn't back yet!" Annabeth said. "You gave him till sunset. It's not even dark."
"Ha!" Geryon laughed. "Demigods always lack perspective. The stables are impossible to clean. And Luke is offering millions for demigods like y'all. Even if Mr Jackson somehow manages... well, what's to stop me from sellin' you anyway?"
"You're a scammer!" Grover said.
"'Course I am!" Geryon nodded. "I'm a businessmonster. You don't make millions by holding on to silly little principles like ethics. Where would I be if I kept my promises and paid my workers fairly?"
"You don't pay me at all," Eurytion grumbled.
"Exactly!" Geryon held a hand out to Eurytion, as if saying, 'See? This guy gets it!'. "Eurytion, tie them all up. I've got a few calls to make, can't have my merchandise escapin'."
"Oh, gods." Mari leaned her head against the bottom of the grill, exhausted. "We're all going to die."
"Yup." Grover bleated sadly. "And we didn't even get the chance to burn down this stupid ranch."
"I miss Janina. She'd know what to do." Mari clutched her hand to her chest, trying to stem the bleeding with her shirt. It didn't work. She used her free hand to dig around her backpack and pluck out a shot bottle of nectar, but before she could sip it, Eurytion plucked it out of her hand. "Don't let Geryon catch ya with this stuff. Ambrosia sells for good money, almost better than he makes for renting out the flesh-eatin' horses. He'll take it from you and search the lotta y'all."
He handed it back to Mari and she downed it like a shot. Then she spat in his face. "Why would I trust a single thing you say, Maláka?"
Eurytion sighed, looking contrite. It didn't stop him from gagging her and tying her hands and feet together. At the very least, the wound had healed enough that the rope pressing on it didn't make her feel like she was holding it to a cheese grater. Mari closed her eyes. At least this way she could pretend that none of this was happening, and that she was just at Naomi's house. Mari had made a habit of sitting on the steps leading to the door and closing her eyes in the setting sun. It calmed her down. Usually, Naomi would come and get her before she stayed out too long. The bottom of Geryon's grill was sharper than the rail on Naomi's porch, and the fire heated her nose, but it was close enough.
Her mind drifted. She thought about the dream she'd had earlier, about Francesca Ray. The little girl who, given the choice, had only begged Thanatos for another chance to see Mason again in her next life. Was that... was that why Mari had wanted so badly for Mason to come back to camp when she found out he'd joined Kronos? Adela had told her it was weird. She'd barely known Mason two weeks, and five years had passed since then. Mari had ignored this at the time, but, as much as she hated to admit it, Adela kind of had a point. But what did that mean? That she - that she'd never chosen to trust Mason for herself? If that was true once, then what if it was true in other places, too? What else had she done in the name of a ghost without realising it? Did she - did she ever make a choice on her own? Or was it all Frankie, the sister that Mason actually wanted around? Mari shuddered at the thought.
She wasn't sure how much time passed, maybe an hour, maybe three. Annabeth pulled her away from the fire at some point, before Geryon could squish her skull with his foot to get her out of the way of his grilling. They huddled together for warmth in the cool evening air. Well, Mari, Annabeth, Grover and Tyson huddled together. Nico scooted far away and glared at the lot of them.
It was just about to get dark when Percy finally sprinted over the mountain, looking like he hadn't taken a breath since he'd first started running. "Let them go!" he yelled. "I cleaned out the stables!"
"Did you now?" Geryon turned around, one spatula in each hand. "How'd you manage it?"
"A naiad helped me," Percy said. "She told me about the soil, how it's full of Ancient seashells. I used those to create saltwater springs in the stables."
"Very ingenious." Geryon smiled. "It would've been better if you'd poisoned that pesky naiad, but no matter."
"Let my friends go," said Percy. "We had a deal."
"Ah, I've been thinking about that." Geryon's smile changed. It became a cruel smirk. "The problem is, if I let them go, I don't get paid."
Percy's face fell in anger. "You promised!"
"Yeah, broken promises. Not so nice, are they?" Nico muttered. Mari resisted the urge to kick him.
"But did you make me swear on the River Styx?"Geryon asked. "No, you didn't. So it's not binding. When you're conductin' business, Sonny, you should always get a binding oath."
Percy drew his sword. Orthus growled. A movement on Mari's left caught her eye: it was Annabeth, fighting tooth and nail to get out of the restraints, her eyes darting between Percy and Geryon.
"Eurytion," Geryon drawled. "The boy is starting to annoy me. Kill him."
Annabeth strained even harder against her bonds. Mari tried to summon a blade of mist to help her, but with her movement restricted it was no use. Last year, she'd have been able to do it, no issue. Drew had been right, she was out of practice. Even Percy didn't look too confident about his chances against a huge hulking guy with a club-
"Kill him yourself," Eurytion said.
"Excuse me?!" Geryon whirled around, eyebrows raised.
"You heard me," Eurytion challenged. "You keep sendin' me out to do your dirty work. You pick fights for no good reason, and I'm tired of dying for you. You want to fight the kid, do it yourself."
Huh. It seemed that Eurytion did have a backbone after all. A small one. It definitely would have been nice if he'd had this revelation before severely aggravating her hand wound.
"You dare defy me?!" Geryon threw down one of his spatulas, brandishing the other like a lethal weapon. "I should fire you right now!"
"And then who'd take care of your cattle?" Eurytion asked. "Orthus, heel."
The dog instantly stopped growling at Grover, and bounded over to Eurytion, tail wagging, and curled up at his feet. Grover slumped in relief.
"Fine!" Geryon swapped out his last spatula for a pair of two long, wicked-looking carving knives. "I'll deal with you later, after the boy is dead!"
He threw them both in unison, one at Percy, who deflected it with his sword, and the other at Eurytion, who didn't look very impressed. The cowherd made no move to get out of the way, and it turned out he didn't have to. The sword impaled the fancy chequered tablecloth just a few centimetres from his fingers. Mari wondered how much Geryon would have to pay to get that fixed - hopefully a lot.
Percy went on the offensive. He swung his sword at Geryon, who plucked up a pair of red-hot tongs and used them to block it. Geryon lunged at Percy's face with the tongs, and Mari squirmed. Last winter, she'd have been able to do something. Cut the ropes with the mist, hold Geryon back, anything. But right now, she was dead weight, and it was all her fault. She should have practised more. Percy dodged Geryon's attack and took an opening, stabbing Geryon right through the middle chest. Mari narrowed her eyes, thinking back to Will's anatomy books. There was absolutely no way of knowing which chest contained Geryon's vital organs. Maybe the middle, since it seemed to have the most direct connection to Geryon's neck, so his spinal chord would definitely be there, but for anything else, it was a one in three chance. And sure enough, Geryon wasn't disintegrating the way normal monsters did.
"Nice try, Sonny," he said. "Thing is, I have three hearts. The perfect backup system."
Oh, that was bad. Really bad. So much worse than Mari thought. It wasn't just a process of painful elimination. Percy had to somehow get all three chests at the same time. Geryon tipped over the barbeque, and a bunch of hot coals tumbled over, rolling next to Annabeth's face. She let out a muffled scream and shuffled away. Tyson struggled against the ropes but even his Cyclops strength didn't break them. Grover whimpered, and even Nico looked scared for a second. Mari hated this, even worse than when things attacked her. At least then, she could fight the monsters off. But Percy was facing off a monster with three hearts all alone and she'd never felt so useless.
Percy jabbed Geryon in the left chest, but Geryon only laughed. Percy tried the right, but that was no good, either. If he didn't get all Geryon's hearts at once, it was pointless. Percy looked at his sword, then at Geryon again.
Then he ran back into the house.
"Coward!" Geryon screeched. "Come back and die right!"
Mari didn't think Percy was a coward. She'd known him for over a year and he'd probably saved her life, multiple times. He wasn't the kind of person to cut and run, so he had to have a plan. Gods, Mari really hoped he had a plan. There was a large bay window in the front of the house, with a clear view of the interior. It was ugly, decorated with a bunch of hunting trophies. If Mari was allowed to decorate, she'd toss everything out (maybe apart from the bow and quiver on display against the wall) and she she'd definitely do a much better job.
At least the window meant that they could see what was going on, even if they couldn't hear it. Percy ran into the house and Geryon stormed in after him, hurling the tongs at the wall barely half a metre away from Percy's face. Mari gulped around her gag. She really hoped she was right about Percy having some kind of plan...
Percy dropped his sword and reached for the bow on the wall. Mari's heart dropped. Percy, it seemed, did have a plan. A horrible, terrible plan.
Percy was good at most things. That was a plain fact. Thing was, anybody who spent more than five minutes with Percy at the archery range (Hades, anybody who knew him at all) also knew that he was absolutely terrible with a bow. Like, astronomically, comedically awful. If the arrow flew more than a couple of metres, he usually missed catastrophically. He'd once tried to fire an arrow at a target and ended up nearly shooting through one of Lee's fingers. Michael banned him from the archery range for a month after that. So for Percy to drop his sword and reach for a bow... he was either very desperate or having a moment of extreme idiocy.
Mari looked upwards, towards the sun, and sighed.
Dad. She thought. DAD. There's a serious emergency. Percy's shooting a bow! I know you probably think that sounds great but the one thing Percy should not be doing right now is shooting a bow. I know you helped guide Paris's arrow when he killed Achilles in the Trojan war, so do you think you could maybe, I don't know, do that again? Just a little bit. I'll paint a really nice picture of the sun in your honour or something. Just... please. I don't wanna die.
Geryon charged. Percy dived sideways and shot a single arrow into Geryon's right chest. Mari cringed. She would have at least tried to shoot three arrows at once. Michael had taught her to do that a couple of times. She wasn't the best but she could usually get all three arrows at least close to bullseye. But, then again, she should probably count herself lucky that Percy's arrow had even left the bow at all.
The arrow went clean through each of Geryon's chests, sailing into the stuffed head of a bear on the wall. Mari blinked, but, no, she'd really seen that. Percy had shot an arrow. And he hadn't missed horrifically. Geryon dropped his swords, and started to disintegrate, golden sand crumbling into his boots. If Mari's hands had been free, they would have been at her mouth. Had her Dad just... helped her? Mari didn't think he'd ever done that before. She felt like crying. She owed him a seriously good painting.
"You need to start treating your animals fairly," Grover told Eurytion, arms crossed. For a Satyr as shy as Grover, the way he was glaring up at Eurytion was honestly impressive.
After Percy had killed Geryon, things had gone a lot more smoothly. He'd come back outside and untied them all with no resistance from Eurytion. The cowherd in question had assured them that Geryon hadn't actually gotten around to Iris-Messaging the Titan army about Nico, so the son of Hades was safe. Relatively speaking. As for Eurytion himself, apparently he wasn't too happy with his boss either. After hearing about how he basically had to spend eternity stuck with only Geryon for company, Mari couldn't really blame him for what he'd done. Well, her hand still felt a little tingly and she kind of wanted to shove his face in a puddle of mud, just a little bit, but she was willing to let that go. Correction, she was willing to let most of what he'd done go.
"And stop cooking my father's cows," Mari said. "If I find out you've made Janina, or any of them into a burger I'm reporting you to my Dad, and if that doesn't work then I'm reporting you to whatever the American version of the RSPCA is."
"The ASPCA," Grover supplied.
Huh. That was a lot more simple than she'd imagined.
After they'd all been untied, Percy had gone off to talk with Nico about something, probably Bianca Di Angelo. Annabeth had gone inside to wash the ash off her clothes, since the hot coals hadn't got close enough to give her burns (Mari had checked) but they certainly looked annoying. Mari wasn't sure what Tyson was doing, but he'd said something about 'playing with the rooster-ponies'. That had left her and Grover alone, to have a very important chat about animal welfare.
"I get what you're saying," Eurytion nodded. "But I can't keep this place going without makin' money somehow. Especially if I'm gonna be cutting the Titans off and findin' cleaning utensils. That stuff costs, ya know."
"You could see if the naiad is willing to help," Grover suggested. "Paying one person is probably easier than paying a bunch of people, but you better pay her well. And don't try and make her use her river. Percy said that when Herakles did that it ruined the ecosystem."
"Huh." Eurytion looked dumbfounded. "Actually workin' with the nature. Why didn't I ever think'a that? I could've had this place flourishing within the year! I owe you guys, if you ever want to stop off here for a rest, it's on the house, no questions asked. You can count on ole Eurytion to give you good food and a place to stay the night."
"Can I visit Janina?" Mari asked.
"Yeah, yeah!" Eurytion nodded. "You can visit all the cows you want, kid."
"Where are we, anyway?" Grover asked.
"Uh, 'bout two miles out of Austin," Eurytion said. "Nothin' much around, to be honest. No roads nearby. It's a good job you kids came out of the labyrinth, because I can't imagine many people coming by to give y'all a lift."
No way. Mari would definitely have to IM Naomi before they went back in the labyrinth. Naomi had asked her to, if she could, and she was literally in Austin. Keeping her word was the least she could do after how kind Naomi had been. Before she could ask Eurytion for a drachma, though, Percy walked up, a shaken-looking Nico in tow. "Eurytion," Percy said. "We're going to need a pit, like a grave. And food and drinks. I talked to Nico, he's agreed to..."
"To try and summon Bianca," Nico said. "To try."
"What?" Annabeth walked up to them from the house. "Percy, I don't think that's such a good idea."
"It's not up to me, it's up to Nico," Percy said.
"There's a hole dug out back for a septic tank," Eurytion told them. "We can use that. When the Cyclops boy gets back, we can get him to fetch my ice chest from the kitchen - I hope the dead like root beer."
Eurytion seemed to be trying to make a joke. Unfortunately for him, nobody found it all that funny. Percy went to get Tyson, who had apparently become bored playing with the rooster-ponies anyway. The two sons of Poseidon fetched the root beer, but Nico wanted to wait till dark. That gave them a couple of hours. It was probably good that Nico wanted to wait, because Mari's stomach gurgled and only then did she realise how hungry she was. Luckily, the barbeque was still going. The rest of them sat down to eat, but Mari noticed that Nico was on his own again. She guessed that nobody really knew what to say to him. She went to sit next to him, when Eurytion caught her arm.
"Uh... last time you did this I ended up with a hand wound. Can you not?" Mari pulled her arm from his grip, and he had the decency to look sorry.
"I need to talk to you. I, um, I know I said that Geryon didn't call Luke, but-"
"Did you lie?!" Mari startled, reaching for Drys.
"No!" Eurytion held his hands up, shaking his head. "No. Geryon didn't call Luke. He wanted to wait till the barbeque was over. But, he, uh... he did call your brother. He didn't tell him about Nico, I know that much. He likes to keep his deals separate, in case things go wrong on one end. But he did tell your brother about you being here."
Mari sagged in relief. "That's fine," She said. "I was more worried when I thought we were going to be locked up here for days. America is a big country, right? Wherever Mason is, we'll be long gone by the time the Princess Andromeda even docks. It will probably take him hours to get to this state, anyway. When he gets here, tell him he's too late and he'll leave you alone. He... I don't think he'd hurt anybody."
Last winter, she would have said she was sure he wouldn't. But after what he'd done while she was holding Atlas's burden, she wasn't so sure. But at the very least, she did know he had limits. He hadn't known he was hurting her. He couldn't have. He just couldn't. He wouldn't seriously hurt anybody, not on purpose. Mari had to believe that, at least.
Eurytion shuffled nervously. "You sure?"
Mari nodded, and he sighed. "Good. And look, I really am sorry about, uh... your hand. I didn't want to, for what it's worth."
Mari flexed her fingers. Still a little numb, but the nectar had done its work, and she was pretty sure she didn't have septicaemia. So far. "It's okay," she said. "I mean, I would have appreciated it if you hadn't hurt me at all, but if you let me visit Janina then I'm pretty sure we can let bygones be bygones."
Mari clapped Eurytion on the shoulder and went to sit by Nico. Unfortunately, there wasn't any vegan food at the barbeque. Mari didn't want to bother Eurytion with that, not after the day everyone had been having, so she just picked at a lettuce leaf.
"Don't like burgers?" Nico asked.
"I like burgers. I'm vegan," Mari said.
"Oh. You want a fry?"
"Oh my gods, yes. Please. You're now my favourite person here." Mari snatched the plate of chips from Nico's hands, stuffing five in her mouth.
"I said you could have one." Nico glared at her.
"Semantics," Mari told him. "You okay?"
"I'm fine," Nico spat. Mari didn't think he sounded fine, but she didn't bring it up, since it wasn't her business and she didn't want to make him uncomfortable. "How do you know about who my Dad is?" Nico asked.
"Oh, Percy is almost as bad at lying as he is at archery," Mari told him. "I mean, nobody else found out or anything! Chiron still doesn't know. You're safe. And he did try to cover for you. I just figured it out. Um, look. I may not be too fond of your dad, but you seem like a decent person. Other than the whole 'trying to stab Percy' thing. You gave me your chips-"
"You stole them."
"-You gave me your chips, which, you can have back if you want since they were yours in the first place, and you were cool when we met last winter. You probably don't remember."
"You and your brother asked my name and then tried to bribe me to beat your other brother in Mythomagic. I don't play that game anymore, by the way. Waste of my time."
"...Right," Mari said. "Well, you're not automatically evil just because your dad did something very bad to someone I care about, a lot. I don't think that we're defined by who our parents are. I mean, I hope not, because I barely know my father and my mother dropped me off at an orphanage a couple of weeks after I was born." She was very careful not to actually insult Apollo - she didn't know what the quota for pissing him off was, but after he'd told her about Hal Green, she didn't want to be anywhere near it. Besides, he'd... he'd helped her, hadn't he? With the arrow. Maybe he did listen, sometimes. She'd take what she could get.
"And your brother?" Nico asked. "The one Geryon talked about?"
"...Yeah," Mari said. "My brother. Mason Ray. He joined Luke. I didn't. Mason didn't take that well. There's some other stuff, but..."
"Did he regret it?" Nico asked. "Leaving you all alone, I mean?"
Mari sighed. "I don't know. I hope so. I don't want him to suffer, but if he doesn't regret it then he won't come back, and he won't..." He wouldn't stop calling her Frankie.
Nico didn't say anything after that. Well, he did take most of the chips, but that was fair enough because they were his in the first place. As it got dark, they all headed behind the house, dragging the tank of root beer with them, so that Nico could start his 'summoning session'. The back of the house had a few sickly trees growing in the shade, and sure enough, a small pit dug into the soft mud. The full moon cast an eerie light over the pit, making it look unnaturally sinister. The spooky effect was kind of ruined by Nico digging a bunch of root beers out of a bright yellow ice tank and pouring them in.
Nico tossed some of the barbeque in too, and began chanting in Ancient Greek. The air got colder, and Mari leaped back from where she'd been standing next to Annabeth, as shadowy shades swirled around Nico, under the cover of a thick, sulphourous mist. A blue shade slid to the edge of the pit, drinking from the root-beer-barbeque mess.
"Stop him!" Nico cried. "Only Bianca may drink!"
Percy slashed the rest of the ghosts away with his sword, but he was too late to stop the first drinker, whose shadows spun into the form of a bearded man in a white chlamys. He had a golden circlet on his head, which didn't pair well with his cruel expression.
"Minos!" Nico snapped. "What are you doing?"
"My apologies, master," Minos said. "The sacrifice smelled so good, I couldn't resist. It is good to see myself again, almost in solid form-"
"You're disrupting the ritual! Get-" Nico had to start up the chanting again to keep the ghosts at bay.
"You're quite right, master." Minos smiled thinly, rotting teeth showing. "You keep chanting. I've only come to protect you from those liars who would deceive you. Like Mr Jackson over here... my, my. The sons of Poseidon haven't improved over the centuries, have they?"
"We're looking for Bianca Di Angelo." Percy glared at the dead king. "Get lost."
But Minos only laughed. "I understand you once killed my minotaur with your bare hands. But worse things await you in the maze. Do you really believe Daedalus will help you? Daedalus cares nothing for you, half-bloods. You can't trust him. He is old beyond counting, and crafty. He is bitter from the guilt of murder and cursed by the gods."
"The guilt of murder?" Percy asked. "Who did he kill?"
"Do not change the subject!" Minos snarled, the ghosts around him flaring in fear. "You are hindering Nico. You try to persuade him to give up his goal. I would make him a lord!"
"Enough, Minos!" Nico said.
"Master," the ghost sneered. Mari gave him the middle finger but she wasn't sure he noticed, which was a damn shame. "These are your enemies. You must not listen to them! Let me protect you. I will turn their minds to madness, as I did the others."
"The others?" Annabeth gasped. "You mean Chris Rodriguez? That was you?"
"The maze is my property," said Minos. "Not Daedalus's! Those who intrude deserve madness."
Mari had heard enough. She hadn't known Chris Rodriguez very well, but Clarisse had. And Clarisse was her friend. Her friend who was in pain, watching someone she seemed to care about a lot suffer just because apparently Minos had decided to get territorial. Mari knew what she had to do. She picked up a rock and lobbed it at Minos's head.
"OW!" Apparently ghosts could feel pain. Good to know. Minos glared at her. "What are you doing?"
"Throwing rocks at your head." Mari picked up another.
Nico held out a hand, in a STOP gesture. "Begone, Minos!" he demanded. "I want to see my sister!"
Behind Nico, Mari brandished another rock at him.
"As you wish, master." Minos seemed to bite out the words, eyes full of rage. "But I warn you, you cannot trust these heroes."
Then, he dissipated into the putrid mist.
Yeah, fuck you too, Mari thought.
"Bianca, appear!" Nico started chanting faster, trembling slightly. At first, nothing happened. Mari was about to ask if something was wrong, if this was even safe (there definitely weren't regulations for this kind of thing), when a silvery sliver of mist flickered from the trees, floating forwards and settling by the pit. It drank, and began to glow brighter. When the glowing went down again, a girl was standing in its place.
Mari could see how this girl and Nico were related. She had the same olive-toned skin as Nico last winter, and the same hair, though Bianca Di Angelo had hers tied back in a plait. She was dressed in the silvery parka that was standard for all the hunters of Artemis, with a silver bow slung over her shoulder. Not something anybody would want to wear in the afterlife. Mari wondered if people were stuck wearing the clothes they died in - it seemed like kind of a raw deal.
"Hello, Percy," she said.
"Bianca." Percy's voice seemed to catch, and he looked incredibly stricken for a second. "I'm so sorry."
"You have nothing to apologise for, Percy." Bianca smiled at him. It was a sad smile. "I made my own choice. I don't regret it."
"Bianca!" Nico stumbled towards the ghost, tears in his eyes.
"Hello, Nico." Bianca's expression somehow got even sadder. "You've gotten so tall."
"Why didn't you answer me sooner?" Nico cried. "I've been trying for months!"
"I was hoping you'd give up." Bianca looked down, ghostly lips trembling.
"Give up?" Nico stilled, his voice breaking. "How can you say that? I'm trying to save you!"
"You can't, Nico," Bianca told him. "Don't do this. Percy is right."
"No!" Nico shook his head. "He let you die! He's not your friend."
Bianca reached for Nico, as if to cradle his face, but her hand evaporated as it came into contact with him. Nico's frame shook at the loss. Mari didn't know why, since she barely knew these people, but seeing this... it made her want to shrivel up and cry.
"You must listen to me," Bianca said. "Holding grudges is dangerous for a child of Hades. It is our fatal flaw. You have to forgive. You have to promise me this."
"I can't." Nico shook his head. "Never."
Bianca sighed, giving Nico another one of her sad smiles. "You're so close to the truth now. It's not Percy you're mad at, Nico. It's me."
Mari's hands started trembling.
"No," Nico denied, but Bianca continued. "You're mad because I left you to become a Hunter of Artemis. You're mad because I died and left you alone. I'm sorry for that, Nico, I truly am. But you must overcome your anger. And stop blaming Percy for my choices. It will be your doom."
"She's right," Annabeth said, her voice soft. "Kronos is rising, Nico. He'll twist anyone he can to his cause."
"I don't care about Kronos!" Nico cried. "I just want my sister back."
Gods, where had Mari heard that before?
"Excuse me," she whispered to Eurytion. She was fairly sure he was the only one who heard her. "I need to be alone."
Eurytion nodded, handing her a couple of drachmas. "Take these. You said somethin' about IMing someone, earlier. Your mother?"
"No, Naomi isn't... I don't really have one of those." Mari gulped. "Never mind. Thanks."
Mari tiptoed off, wiping her eyes. She really didn't even know why she was crying. She didn't have a right to. Thank the gods she hadn't made a noise, because this wasn't about her. This was about Nico, who deserved closure for his sister's death. What kind of awful, self-centred person ruined that? Well, she wouldn't let it be her. Thankfully nobody noticed as she left.
Mari sighed, stepping into the house and closing the door behind her. She found a rag, ran it under the tap and wiped her eyes. This was fine, she was fine. Mari got a cup and poured some more water, lighting up her pinkie finger to make a rainbow. Then she tossed one of the drachmas into the colourful light.
"Oh, Iris. Goddess of the rainbow, please accept my offering. Show me Naomi Solace, in Upper Boggy Creek, Austin, Texas."
Shimmering rainbow mist rose from the cup of water, swirling up in circles. In the fog, Naomi's face appeared. She was curled up on the couch, scribbling down a lyric in her song writing notebook. She usually did that in the evening, after she made Mari and Will go to sleep. Sometimes, if they were having trouble sleeping, she let Mari or Will stay up and watch old DVDs while she brainstormed. It was nice. The Iris-Message must have made a noise, because she looked up, dropping the notebook to her lap in shock.
"Mari!" she gasped. "Are you alright? Sweetheart, have you been crying?"
"No," Mari lied.
"Your eyes are red," Naomi said. "Are you hurt?"
"No." Mari lied again. "It's just... been a long day."
"Are you safe?" Naomi sighed, closing her eyes. "As you can be, I mean. I don't wanna have to Iris Message Chiron after this and give him a piece of my mind, cos' he really ain't half-bad, but I will if I have to."
"You can actually do that?" Mari asked.
"I'm sure I can find a way." Naomi shrugged.
Mari laughed. "Don't Iris-Message Mr D, he'll probably try to turn you into a dolphin. I, um, I'm kind of safe, right now. Ish. I think. The others are outside, and... you're not going to believe me when I say this, Naomi, but the labyrinth spat us out in Austin."
"Where?" Naomi's eyes flashed with determination. "I'll pick you up. Just give me the word."
"I... you can't do that, Naomi," Mari told her. "I'm on a quest. I just wanted to tell you because you're nice, and you asked me to. I'm sorry."
Naomi's eyes softened. "S'okay, honey. Will you at least tell me where in Austin you are?"
"About that..."
"You don't know." Naomi sighed. "Okay. That's okay. Do you have enough food? Water? Do you..." Naomi wrung her hands, sighing. She looked awfully helpless, and Mari's heart sank.
"I'm sorry," she said.
"Do not apologise." Naomi's head snapped up. "None of this is your fault, Mari."
Mari didn't feel that way.
"Do you know what you're doing next?" Naomi asked. "Where you're going?"
"I dunno," Mari said. "We're trying to get to Daedalus's workshop, but we don't really know anything for sure about where the labyrinth could send us. For all we know we could be in... Mississippi? That's a far away state, isn't it?"
Naomi's lips twitched, like she was trying to hold in a laugh. "Mari..."
Mari pouted. She wasn't bad at remembering which state was which, per say. There were just so many. And what the fuck was that business with Kansas and Arkansas? If anything, it was America's fault for being so damn confusing. She'd actually thought Mississippi was next to New York. That was probably wrong. "We're probably leaving in the next few hours, when the others are done outside. I left to IM you."
"What are they doin' outside?"
"Summoning the dead."
"Forget I asked."
Mari continued, "I, um, I wouldn't have minded staying a bit longer. But there was a bit of a fight, earlier. We're at this ranch, the person in charge was a monster. Big guy with three chests. Percy killed him. But the monster did manage to contact Mason before he died, so we probably only have about twelve hours before he gets here, give or take."
"Mason, the brother who...?"
"Joined Kronos. Yes."
"Right." Naomi nodded. "You're sure you'll get outta there with enough time to avoid him?"
"Yeah," Mari said. "Mason's been living on a ship for the last couple of years. There's no way he's anywhere near. It will probably take him a while to get here. Honestly, even twelve hours would be safe, but..."
"Don't take any chances," Naomi advised her. "As much as I wanna come get you, I don't wanna put you at risk to do it. I don't want you to be in any position where he could hurt you, okay?"
"I... I don't think he would," Mari said. "Not on purpose, at least."
"Don't risk it," Naomi advised. "I guess it's real lucky that they live on that boat, huh?"
"Yeah," Mari agreed. "Really lucky."
"Oh, absolutely," Mason said, before a frying pan was swinging at her face and she lost consciousness.
