A BLACK HEART Chapter 9
A/N:- Here's the ninth chapter! Hope you like it!
Quintus pulled Percy aside as the council was breaking up, Hector and Annabeth walking together somewhere else.
"I have a bad feeling about this," Quintus told him.
Helena bounded over to them, wagging her tail happily as she saw them. She dropped her shield at Percy's feet, and he threw it for her and she romped after it.
"I don't like the idea of you going down there," Quintus said. "Any of you. but if you must, I want you to remember something. The Labyrinth exists to fool you. It will distract you. That's dangerous for half-bloods. We are easily distracted."
"I know that I felt that too… but you've been in there?"
"Long ago." His voice was ragged. "I barely escaped with my life. Most who enter aren't that lucky. Plus, that's where I found Helena, the big white Hellhound, she was just a puppy and was scared. I took her with me," He said, looking fondly at Helena chewing out a dummy head.
He gripped the demigod's shoulders. "Percy, keep your mind on what matters most. If you can do that, you might find the way. And here, I wanted to give you something."
He handed Percy a little silver tube.
"A whistle?"
"A dog whistle," Quintus said. "For Helena."
"Thanks, but-"
"How will it work in the maze? I'm not a hundred percent certain it will. But she is a hellhound. She can appear when called, no matter how far away she is. I'd feel better knowing you had this. If you really need help, use it; but be careful, the whistle is made of Stygian ice."
"So it's not going to melt?"
"Yes, but it will shatter when you blow it, so you can only use it once."
"Thanks," He told Quintus, and walked off, waving, in search of Hector.
Percy was wandering here and there when he heard sounds coming from the Athena cabin. It was a silvery building, nothing fancy, with plain white curtains and a carved stone owl over the doorway.
Percy went closer and peeped through the crack in the door to see Hector and Annabeth hugging each other tightly.
The son of Hades just smiled fondly and went in search of his cabin, where Percy lay on his bed and fell asleep.
-TIME-SKIP-
Just after dawn, the quest group met at Zeus's Fist.
Percy had packed his thermos with nectar, a baggie of ambrosia, some rope, extra clothes, and flashlights.
It was a clear morning. Campers would be having their lessons today, flying pegasi, practicing archery, and scaling the lava wall. Percy could've also done that, but now he had to go underground.
Juniper and Grover stood apart from the group. She had been crying again, but she was trying to keep it together for Grover's sake. She kept fussing with his clothes, straightening his rasta cap and brushing goat fur off his shirt.
Grover was dressed as a human, with the cap to hide his horns, and jeans, fake feet, and sneakers to hide his goat legs.
Chiron, Quintus, and Helena stood with the other campers who'd come to wish them best of luck, but there was too much activity for it to feel like a happy send-off. A couple of tents had been set up by the rocks for guard duty. Beckendorf and his siblings were working on a line of defensive spikes and trenches. Chiron had decided to guard the Labyrinth exit at all times, just in case.
Annabeth was doing one last check on her supply pack, along with Hector as Tyson and Percy were talking with each other, about how Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches were the best.
Chiron trotted over. "Well, it appears you are ready!"
"Hey, uh, Chiron, can I ask you a favor while I'm gone?" Hector asked.
"Of course, my boy."
"Be right back, guys." Hector followed Chiron out of earshot.
"So, what were you guys doing yesterday?" Percy asked Annabeth.
"Oh, nothing… just talking about how we can navigate the Labyrinth and all that," Annabeth said frantically. "You know, Hector and Chiron are taking too much time, I think we should go check on them, right?" She said, anxious to change the subject. Percy nodded weirdly but followed Annabeth with Tyson to check what Hector was doing.
"Hector, you ready?"
Hector nodded, he and Chiron seemed to be talking about something serious.
"Take care," Chiron told them. "And good hunting."
"You too," Hector said and followed Percy, Annabeth, and Tyson.
They walked over to the rocks, where Juniper and Grover were waiting, Juniper was still fussing over her boyfriend. Finally, she left with a tearful goodbye.
They stared at the crack between the boulders—the entrance that led to the deadly Labyrinth. "Well," Grover said nervously, "good-bye sunshine."
"Hello rocks," Tyson agreed. And together, the famous five descended into darkness.
-TIME-SKIP-
They had made it a hundred feet before they got hopelessly lost. The tunnel was round like a sewer, constructed of red brick with iron-barred portholes ever ten feet. It felt like a horror movie. Suddenly they heard a big screeching and several voices, whispering 'Failures', 'Stop. Don't move forward.'
Finally, Percy slammed his hand on the wall, and a rumbling sound passed down one of the portholes, and the voices stopped.
All the time, Grover was shivering, his teeth were chattering, not because of the cold, but because of fear. Tyson followed him, silently.
Annabeth tried her best to guide them with her idea to stick to the left wall.
"If we keep one hand on the left wall and follow it," she said, "We should be able to find our way out again by reversing course."
Unfortunately, as soon as she said that, the left wall disappeared, and they came out in the middle of a circular chamber with eight tunnels leading out.
"Um, which way did we come in?" Grover said nervously.
"Just turn around," Annabeth said.
Everyone turned toward a different tunnel even though it was ridiculous.
"Left walls are mean," Tyson said. "Which way now?"
Annabeth swept her flashlight beam over the archways of the eight tunnels. "That way," she said.
"How do you know?" Percy asked.
"Deductive reasoning."
"So…you're guessing," Hector said.
"Just come on," she said.
The tunnel she'd chosen narrowed quickly and the sewer walls turned to gray cement, and the ceiling got so low that pretty soon they had to hunch over. Tyson was forced to crawl.
Pretty soon, Grover was hyperventilating. "I can't stand it anymore," he whispered. "Are we there yet?"
"We've been down here maybe five minutes," Annabeth told him.
"Technically, it's been…. Wait what? My watch isn't working!" Hector said.
"It's been longer than that," Grover insisted. "And why would Pan be down here? This is the opposite of the wild!"
Suddenly the narrow tunnel opened into a huge room. Percy shined his light around the walls and said, "Whoa."
The whole room was covered in mosaic tiles. The pictures were grimy and faded, but they could still show the Olympian gods at a feast. There was Poseidon, with his trident, holding out grapes for Dionysus to turn into wine. Zeus was partying with satyrs, and Hermes was flying through the air on his winged sandals. The pictures were beautiful, but they weren't very accurate.
In the middle of the room was a three-tiered fountain. It looked like it hadn't held water in a long time.
"What is this place?" Hector muttered. "It looks-"
"Roman," Annabeth said. "Those mosaics are about two thousand years old."
"But how can they be Roman?"
"The Labyrinth is a patchwork," Annabeth said. "I told you, it's always expanding, adding pieces. It's the only work of architecture that grows by itself."
"You make it sound like it's alive," Percy said.
A groaning noise echoed from the tunnel that was in the front.
"Let's not talk about it being alive," Grover whimpered. "Please?"
"All right," Annabeth said. "Forward."
"Down the hall with the bad sounds?" Tyson said. Even he looked nervous.
"Yeah," Annabeth said. "The architecture is getting older. That's a good sign. Daedalus's workshop would be in the oldest part."
But soon, the maze was toying with them- when they went about fifty feet or so further, the tunnel turned back to cement, with brass pipes running down the sides. The walls were spray-painted with graffiti. A neon tagger sign read MOZ RULZ.
"I'm thinking this is not Roman," Percy said helpfully.
Annabeth took a deep breath, then forged ahead.
Every few feet the tunnels twisted and turned and branched off. The floor beneath changed from cement to mud to bricks and back again. There was no sense to any of it and soon, they stumbled into a wine cellar-a bunch of dusty bottles with liquid in them in wooden racks.
Later the ceiling turned to wooden planks, and they could hear voices above, the creaking of footsteps as if they were walking under some kind of bar.
Then they found a skeleton.
"AHH!" Grover screamed, and jumped on Tyson.
The skeleton was dressed in white clothes, like some kind of uniform. A wooden crate of glass bottles sat next to him.
"A milkman," Annabeth said.
"What?" Hector asked.
"They used to deliver milk."
"Yeah, I know what they are, but...that was when my mom was little, like a million years ago. What's he doing here?"
"Some people wander in by mistake," Annabeth said. "Some come exploring on purpose and never make it back. A long time ago, the Cretans sent people in here as human sacrifices."
Grover gulped. "He's been down here a long time." He pointed to the skeleton's bottles, which were coated with white dust. The skeleton's fingers were clawing at the brick wall like he had died trying to get out.
"Only bones," Tyson said. "Don't worry, goat boy. The milkman is dead."
"The milkman doesn't bother me," Grover said. "It's the smell. Monsters. Can't you smell it?"
Tyson nodded. "Lots of monsters. But underground smells like that. Monsters and dead milk people."
"Oh, good," Grover whimpered. "I thought maybe I was wrong."
"We have to get deeper into the maze," Annabeth said. "There has to be a way to the center."
"Annabeth, you have to stop, try to regain your bearings, do you really know where you are going?" Percy asked.
"Yes, I do! Now follow me!"
She led them to the right, then the left, through a corridor of stainless steel like some kind of air shaft, and they arrived back in the Roman tile room with the fountain. Just, this time, they weren't alone.
There was a person, with two heads, they jutted out from either side of his head, staring over his shoulders, so his head was much wider than it should've been, kind of like a hammerhead shark's looking straight at him.
He was dressed like a New York City doorman: a long black overcoat, shiny shoes, and a black top hat.
"Well, Annabeth?" said his left face. "Hurry up!"
"Don't mind him," said the right face. "He's terribly rude. Right this way, miss."
Annabeth's jaw dropped. "Uh...I don't..."
Tyson frowned. "That funnyman has two faces."
"The funnyman has ears, you know!" the left face scolded. "Now come along, miss."
"No, no," the right face said. "This way, miss. Talk to me, please."
The two-faced man regarded Annabeth as best he could out of the corners of his eyes. It was impossible to look at him straight on without focusing on one side or the other.
He wanted Annabeth to choose an exit.
Behind him were two exits, blocked by wooden doors with huge iron locks. They hadn't been there before. The two-faced doorman held a silver key, which he kept passing from his left hand to his right hand.
"The exits are closed," Annabeth said.
"Duh!" the man's left face said.
"Where do they lead?" she asked.
"One probably leads the way you wish to go," the right face said encouragingly. "The other leads to certain death."
"I-I know who you are," Annabeth said.
"Oh, you're a smart one!" The left face sneered. "But do you know which way to choose? I don't have all day."
"Why are you trying to confuse me?" Annabeth asked.
The right face smiled. "You're in charge now, my dear. All the decisions are on your shoulders. That's what you wanted, isn't it?"
"I-"
"We know you, Annabeth," the left face said. "We know what you wrestle with every day. We know your indecision. You will have to make your choice sooner or later. And the choice may kill you."
The color drained out of Annabeth's face. "No...I don't-"
"Leave her alone," Hector said. "Who are you, anyway?"
"I'm your best friend," the right face said.
"I'm your worst enemy," the left face said.
"We're Janus," both faces said in harmony. "God of Doorways. Beginnings. Endings. Choices."
"I'll see you soon enough, Hector Babington," said the right face. "But for now it's Annabeth's turn." He laughed giddily. "Such fun!"
"Shut up!" his left face said. "This is serious. One bad choice can ruin your whole life. It can kill you and all of your friends. But no pressure, Annabeth. Choose!"
"Don't do it," Percy said.
"I'm afraid she has to," the right face said cheerfully.
Annabeth moistened her lips, beads of sweat forming on her head. "I-I choose-"
Before she could point to a door, a brilliant light flooded the room.
Janus raised his hands to either side of his head to cover his eyes. When the light died, a woman was standing at the fountain.
She was tall and graceful with long hair the color of chocolate, braided in plaits with gold ribbons. She wore a simple white dress, but when she moved, the fabric shimmered with colors like oil on water.
"Janus," she said, "are we causing trouble again?"
"N-no, milady!" Janus's right face stammered.
"Yes!" the left face said.
"Shut up!" the right face said.
"Excuse me?" the woman asked.
"Not you, milady! I was talking to myself."
"I see," the lady said. "You know very well your visit is premature. The girl's time has not yet come. So, I give you a choice: leave these heroes to me, or I shall turn you into a door and break you down."
"What kind of door?" the left face asked.
"Shut up!" the right face said.
"A three-panel glass door." The lady said.
The left face pouted, "French doors are nice," the left face mused. "Lots of natural light."
"Shut up!" the right face wailed. "Not you, milady! Of course, I'll leave. I was just having a bit of fun. Doing my job. Offering choices."
"Causing indecision," the woman corrected. "Now be gone!"
The left face muttered, "Party power," then he raised his silver key, inserted it into the air, and disappeared.
The woman turned toward them, her eyes shining with power. Then the woman smiled.
"You must be hungry," she said. "Sit with me and talk."
She waved her hand, and the old Roman fountain began to flow. Jets of clear water sprayed into the air. A marble table appeared, laden with platters of sandwiches and pitchers of lemonade.
"Who...who are you?" Percy asked.
"I am Hera." The woman smiled. "Queen of Heaven."
She served them sandwiches and poured lemonade.
"Grover, dear," she said, "use your napkin. Don't eat it."
"Yes, ma'am," Grover said.
"Tyson, you're wasting away. Would you like another peanut butter sandwich?"
Tyson stifled a belch. "Yes, nice lady."
"Queen Hera," Annabeth said. "I can't believe it. What are you doing in the Labyrinth?"
Hera smiled. She flicked one finger and Annabeth's hair combed itself. All the dirt and grime disappeared from her face.
"I came to see you, naturally," the goddess said.
Tyson was inhaling one peanut butter sandwich after another, and Grover was loving the lemonade, crunching the Styrofoam cup like an ice-cream cone.
Hector was happily eating his cheese sandwiches.
Percy who was chowing down on his turkey-and-Swiss sandwiches choked on his lemonade.
"Why?" He asked.
"Yeah, I didn't think-" Annabeth faltered. "Well, I didn't think you liked heroes."
Hera smiled indulgently. "Because of that little spat, I had with Hercules? Honestly, I got so much bad press because of one disagreement."
"Didn't you try to kill him, like, a lot of times?" Hector asked.
Hera waved her hand dismissively. "Water under the bridge, my dear. Besides, he was one of my loving husband's children by another woman. My patience wore thin, I'll admit it. But Zeus and I have had some excellent marriage counseling sessions since then. We've aired our feelings and come to an understanding-especially after that last little incident."
"You mean when he sired Thalia?" Hector guessed but immediately regretted it. As soon as he said the name of the daughter of Zeus, Hera's eyes turned toward him frostily.
"Hector Babington, isn't it? One of Poseidon's...children." She said, saying the word Children with difficulty."As I recall, I voted to let you live at the winter solstice. I hope I voted correctly."
She turned back to Annabeth with a sunny smile. "At any rate, I certainly bear you no ill will, my girl. I appreciate the difficulty of your quest. Especially when you have troublemakers like Janus to deal with."
Annabeth lowered her gaze. "Why was he here? He was driving me crazy."
"Trying to," Hera agreed. "You must understand, the minor gods like Janus have always been frustrated by the small parts they play in the universe. Some, I fear, have little love for Olympus, and could easily be swayed to support the rise of my father."
"Your father?" Hector said. "Oh, right."
"We must watch the minor gods," Hera said. "Janus. Hecate. Morpheus. They give lip service to Olympus, and yet-"
"That's where Dionysus went," Percy said. "He was checking on the minor gods."
"Indeed." Hera stared at the fading mosaics of the Olympians. "You see, in times of trouble, even gods can lose faith. They start putting their trust in the wrong things. They stop looking at the big picture and start being selfish. But I'm the goddess of marriage, you see. I'm used to perseverance. You have to rise above the squabbling and chaos and keep believing. You have to always keep your goals in mind."
"What are your goals?" Annabeth asked.
She smiled. "To keep my family, the Olympians, together, of course. At the moment, the best way I can do that is by helping you. Zeus does not allow me to interfere much, I am afraid. But once every century or so, for a quest I care deeply about, he allows me to grant a wish."
"A wish?"
"Before you ask it, let me give you some advice, which I can do for free. I know you have to see Daedalus. His Labyrinth is as much a mystery to me as it is to you. But if you want to know his fate, I would visit my son Hephaestus at his forge. Daedalus was a great inventor, a mortal after Hephaestus's heart. There has never been a mortal Hephaestus admired more. If anyone would have kept up with Daedalus and could tell you his fate, it is Hephaestus."
"But how do we get there?" Annabeth asked. "That's my wish. I want a way to navigate the Labyrinth."
Hera looked disappointed. "So be it. You wish for something, however, that you have already been given."
"I don't understand."
"The means is already within your grasp." She looked at Percy. "Perseus knows the answer."
"I do?"
"But that's not fair," Annabeth said. "You're not telling me what it is!"
Hera shook her head. "Getting something and having the wits to use it...those are two different things. I'm sure your mother Athena would agree."
The room rumbled like distant thunder. Hera stood. "That would be my cue. My husband is growing impatient. Think about what I have said, Annabeth. Seek out Hephaestus. You will have to pass through the ranch, I imagine. But keep going. And use all the means at your disposal, however common they may seem."
She pointed toward the two doors and they melted away, revealing twin corridors, open and dark. "One last thing, Annabeth. I have postponed your day of choice; I have not prevented it. Soon, as Janus said, you will have to make a decision. Farewell!"
She waved a hand and turned into white smoke. So did the food, just as Tyson chomped down on a sandwich that turned to mist in his mouth. The fountain trickled to a stop. The mosaic walls dimmed and turned grungy and faded again.
Annabeth stamped her foot. "What sort of help was that? 'Here, have a sandwich. Make a wish. Oops, I can't help you!' Poof!"
"Poof," Tyson agreed sadly, looking at his empty plate.
"Well," Grover sighed, "she said Percy knows the answer. That's something."
They all looked at the son of Hades, who had a 'surprised Pikachu face' on.
"But I don't," Percy said. "I don't know what she was talking about."
Annabeth sighed. "All right. Then we'll just keep going."
"Which way?" Hector asked.
Just then, Grover and Tyson both tensed. They stood up together as if they'd rehearsed it. "Left," they both said.
Annabeth frowned. "How can you be sure?"
"Because something is coming from the right," Grover said.
"Something big," Tyson agreed. "In a hurry."
"Left is sounding pretty good," Hector decided, and they all ran to the left corridor.
But a big wall rose from the ground, right after Tyson and Grover crossed, sealing Annabeth, Hector, and Percy out.
"What just happened!?" Percy shouted.
"I don't know, but we need to keep going," Annabeth said.
"But what about Tyson and Grover?" Hector asked.
"Don't worry about them, they are strong enough to do everything on their own," Annabeth said, already moving towards the right corridor.
"Alright, wait!" Percy said, making Annabeth and Hector turn around. "Let me get some help first,"
Percy clapped his hands together, and the ground cracked apart, and a skeleton dog came out.
"You can create skeleton animals?" When they came to a stop, Annabeth asked, as Hector was petting the animal, and Percy was looking around.
"Yeah, if I can summon human skeletons, why can't I summon animals?" Percy said.
"That's great," Hector said.
"Anyway, where are we now? What is this place?" Annabeth said, walking forward.
They had come to a big interior of a building, at least, that's what it seemed like. It looked normal, other than the fact that the whole place had red shades, mimicking the look of blood. There were spiderwebs here and there, and more dead milkmen, lying on the floor, clawing at their throats.
"This is a two-story dorm, right?" Hector asked.
"Nope, it's a maisonette," Annabeth said.
"No, it's not… it's a deployment of an—" Percy said, then gasped, "Where's the exit!?"
"Huh?" Hector said.
"The door's gone!" Annabeth exclaimed.
"How? We just came through there, didn't we?" Hector asked.
"Don't worry, it'll be fine, Bobby remembers the scent of the door," Percy said as he turned to the skeleton.
"Oh My!" Hector said, running to the dog and petting it, "Who's a good boy, who's a good boy? You are, yes you are!"
Percy and Annabeth rolled their eyes.
"Let's keep moving now," Annabeth said, and they went forward.
While they were walking, they stumbled on a dead body, the entire lower half of his body was separated from the upper half, like he had been cut cleanly through the middle.
"Huh, a dead body?" Hector said.
"It's fresh, not rotten yet, the flesh is still intact, seems like he died only a few days back," Annabeth said.
"But, that's not at all reassuring, the fact that he died in such a way means that this wasn't natural, no one dies cleaved in half, he was killed by a monster," Percy said.
"And you think that monster is still here?" Hector asked.
"Must be, otherwise, what was that, that Tyson and Grover sensed?" Percy said.
"Ok," Hector said, nervously, and uncapped Riptide.
Annabeth brought out her dagger and kept it at ready.
Suddenly, a big, unseen force pushed them all back, Percy and Hector hit the wall, and Annabeth hit the floor.
"What was that!?" Percy asked.
"Shouldn't Bobby have sensed the monster and informed us?" Hector said.
"He should've, but—" Percy said, turning around to see Bobby, decapitated, its mouth was in an open position.
"Hector, Annabeth!" Percy said, his eyes wide as he turned around, "We're running!"
Suddenly, everyone's spider-sense tingled and their eyes widened.
A 12-foot-tall hideous monster stood in front of them with 6 eyes in total and a black mouth. Its hairs were tangled and braided with weapons and shields. Its skin was light blue, and it had four arms wearing nothing except a skirt tied around its waist to its knees.
It laughed, which was a screeching noise, mixed with the laughing mouth.
"Wh-wh-what?" Annabeth managed.
They all were stuck in their positions unable to move.
The monster took in a huge breath, and then spit out fire.
Percy and Hector dodged it, and Annabeth dived to the side.
"What the hell? Which monster is this!?" Hector asked looking at the guy in front of them laughing maniacally.
"I don't know, Chiron never told us about a monster like this," Annabeth said.
"Hector," Percy said. "Hector!"
The son of Poseidon looked at him, startled.
"Take Annabeth out of here!" Percy said as Annabeth shook her head. "I'll hold it down until you guys leave."
"We aren't going to leave you alone!" Annabeth said and Hector nodded in agreement.
"No, I won't let it kill you, even if I die, you will be able to survive and continue the quest, if all of us die, then Tyson and Grover will be alone in this Labyrinth, so go… Please." Percy said. "Just give me signals so that I know where to find you."
"It's impossible for you to win!" Annabeth exclaimed.
"Look closely," Percy said, gesturing to the laughing monster. "It's enjoying it. It's underestimating us. Go, I'll distract it."
Hector just looked at him with pleading eyes but he responded with a single order, "Go!" and Hector took Annabeth's hand and they ran to the exit.
He stood up, as the monster tore off its skirt, revealing a black loincloth around his nethers.
Percy just smirked. "Huh, are you showing me that you can move around really well in your undergarments or are you just showing me your beautiful legs?"
But the monster was not amused. It swept its hand upwards, and a huge fire explosion sent Percy flying backward.
He hit the wall and groaned, blood dripping from his nose as he looked forward and gasped.
The monster had not wasted any time and another explosion pushed Percy through the wall as he hit several of them, crashing through the last one and falling on the ground, like a ragdoll.
The son of Hades groaned as he tried to get up and fell again, wincing as he felt his broken ribs. He really had to stop getting slammed into walls.
He looked at the monster put its hands together, as lightning started to crackle around it, and then it pushed it forward.
The lightning beam was surging forward, but this time Percy was ready, as he spat out blood and he raised one hand, in a stop motion.
The blast occurred just a few centimeters away from his face, the whole thing hitting something invisible that wasn't there before.
The monster's eyes widened and its mouth opened in shock, while Percy just laughed, showing his bloody teeth.
"Surprised?"
The son of Hades didn't wait for an answer and rushed forward, grabbing the monster's head, and then slammed it into the concrete ground.
The monster groaned as it lay sprawled on the floor.
"What's the matter? Done already?" Percy said mockingly as he drooped down to its face.
The beast struggled and growled to get up.
"That's it, keep trying!" Percy said and stomped on the monster's head, breaking the ground below them as they fell on the first floor.
As they were falling, the monster grabbed Percy's leg.
"Huh?" He said as the beast twirled him around, but Percy grabbed his arm, and pulled, ripping it right off his body.
"You might be a cunning and wicked monster, but still, you lost your limb?" He said, holding the arm up.
Percy laughed at the monster's expression as they fell into the water below.
Soon, the liquid got absorbed into the ground as the monster lay on the ground, its left arm a bloody stump as it groaned, but Percy waited for him to get up.
By this time, Hector and Annabeth had reached a safe haven where the son of Poseidon used the functioning water fountain and threw a drachma in.
"What are you doing?" Annabeth whispered to him, gasping from the long run.
Hector didn't bother to answer and just said, "Show me, Percy Jackson, please."
The mist shimmered and an image of the son of Hades and the monster came in front of them, and they both gasped.
Percy, who had a constant silver glow around him, and the monster were having a hand-to-hand fistfight, punches flying in all directions as smoke and water rose. The atmosphere had darkened comparatively and skeletal hands rose from the ground.
Explosions.
Lightning.
Thunder.
Fire.
Rain.
That was all the demigods could see.
Percy and the monster were moving too fast for their eyes to comprehend as the half-blood grabbed the leg of the beast and threw it into the air as he surged forward punching it straight into the ground.
Water was rising around him as skeletal hands rose to grab the monster, immobilizing him, as shadows covered the Nomu completely.
The demigod descended to the ground and hunched over in pain, his hand on his chest as he coughed up blood.
Hector gasped as he saw a bloody rib poking out of his chest and the silver glow fading.
Groaning the demigod stood up and launched himself forward to the monster, who had freed itself from the skeletal cage, grabbing its head as he jumped into the air, twirling around and throwing the monster to the ground with enough force to cause the walls on the side to collapse.
Annabeth was in awe analyzing the whole situation. The two were evenly matched even though it seemed impossible at first. But she knew this couldn't keep going on. His attacks had been slowing down and the constant silver glow around him had also reduced considerably.
Percy smirked, his bloody teeth creeping the demigods out.
"You know, this has been fun," He said as he spat out blood from his mouth as the monster got up, dazed. "But, my friends are waiting for me, so…"
He left the sentence unfinished and just made a hand gesture, a slice, and the monster separated into eight pieces.
"I was planning to originally cut you into four slices, but it seems like you, underneath all that fire and lightning, are actually just really, really weak."
The monster shrieked as the parts of its body started turning to golden dust and Hector gasped audibly, making Percy turn around.
But before he could do that, Annabeth brought out her dagger and slashed the mist, so the son of Hades was met with just air.
He sighed thinking that his exhaustion was making him hear things as he crumpled to the floor, the fight's proceedings catching up to him, something that happened every time he exceeded his prescribed limit.
-TIME-SKIP-
There was no morning in the maze, but they kept traveling once everyone woke up and had a fabulous breakfast of granola bars and juice boxes.
Percy had been briefed about what had happened the day before. How Hector and Annabeth and met up with Grover and Tyson, how they had met the hundred-handed-one and how Percy suddenly dropped out of nowhere in their makeshift camp.
Now, they were still walking forward after Annabeth had changed Percy's bandages.
The old stone tunnels changed to dirt with cedar beams, like a gold mine or something. Annabeth started getting agitated.
"This isn't right," she said. "It should still be stone."
They came to a cave where stalactites hung low from the ceiling. A rectangular pit, like a grave, was in the center of the dirt floor.
Grover shivered. "It smells like the Underworld in here."
Something glinted at the edge of the pit- a foil wrapper.
"What's that?" Hector asked, and Percy pointed his flashlight into the hole and saw a half-chewed cheeseburger floating in brown carbonated muck.
"It's a happy meal," Percy said.
"Nico," Hector said. "He was summoning the dead again."
"Nico has been raising the dead?" Percy asked.
Hector nodded.
Tyson whimpered. "Ghosts were here. I don't like ghosts."
"We've got to find him," Percy said and started to run.
"Percy!" Annabeth called but it was too late as he had ducked into a tunnel. Annabeth, Tyson, Hector, and Grover had no choice but to follow him.
They were under a steel grate made out of metal pipes, through which the daylight seeped in, Percy could also see trees and a blue sky.
"Where are we?" Hector wondered.
Then a shadow fell across the grate and a cow stared down at them. It looked like a normal cow except it was a weird color-bright red, like a cherry.
The cow mooed, put one hoof tentatively on the bars, then backed away.
"It's a cattle guard," Grover said.
"A what?" Percy asked.
"They put them at the gates of ranches so cows can't get out. They can't walk on them."
"How do you know that?"
Grover huffed indignantly. "Believe me, if you had hooves, you'd know about cattle guards. They're annoying!"
Percy turned to Annabeth. "Didn't Hera say something about a ranch? We need to check it out. Nico might be there."
She hesitated. "All right. But how do we get out?"
Tyson solved that problem by hitting the cattle guard with both hands. It popped off and went flying out of sight. They heard a CLANG! and a startled Moo!
Tyson blushed, "Sorry, cow!" he called, and then he gave the demigods a boost out of the tunnel.
They were on a ranch. Percy could see rolling hills stretching to the horizon, dotted with oak trees and cacti and boulders. A barbed-wire fence ran from the gate in either direction. Cherry-colored cows roamed around, grazing on clumps of grass. Red-colored foxes were running after each other.
"Red cattle," Annabeth said. "The cattle of the sun."
"What?" Hector asked.
"They're sacred to Apollo."
"Holy cows?"
"Exactly. But what are they doing-"
"Wait," Grover said. "Listen."
At first, everything seemed quiet...but then the distant baying of dogs. The sound got louder. Then the underbrush rustled, and two dogs broke through. Except it wasn't two dogs. It was one dog with two heads. It looked like a greyhound, long and snaky and sleek brown, but its neck V'd into two heads, both of them snapping and snarling.
"Bad Janus dog!" Tyson cried.
"Arf!" Grover told it and raised a hand in greeting.
The two-headed dog bared its teeth. Then its master lumbered out of the woods, a huge guy with stark white hair, a straw cowboy hat, and a braided white beard- kind of like Father Time, if Father Time went redneck and got jacked. He was wearing jeans, a DON'T MESS WITH TEXAS T-shirt, and a denim jacket with the sleeves ripped off so you could see his muscles. On his right bicep was a crossed-swords tattoo. He held a wooden club about the size of a nuclear warhead, with six-inch spikes bristling at the business end.
"Heel, Orthus," he told the dog.
The dog growled at them once more, just to make his feelings clear, then circled back to his master's feet. The man looked us up and down, keeping his club-ready.
"What've we got here?" he asked. "Cattle rustlers?"
"Just travelers," Annabeth said. "We're on a quest."
The man's eye twitched. "Half-bloods, eh?"
Hector started to say, "How did you know-"
Annabeth put her hand on his arm. "I'm Annabeth, daughter of Athena. This is Percy, son of Hades, that's Hector, son of Poseidon. Grover the satyr. Tyson the-"
"Cyclops," the man finished. "Yes, I can see that. And I know half-bloods because I am one, sonny. I'm Eurytion, the cowherd for this here ranch. Son of Ares. You came through the Labyrinth like the other one, I reckon."
"The other one?" Percy asked. "You mean Nico di Angelo?"
"We get a load of visitors from the Labyrinth," Eurytion said darkly. "Not many ever leave."
"Wow, I feel welcome."
The cowherd glanced behind him like someone was watching. Then he lowered his voice. "I'm only going to say this once, demigods. Get back in the maze now. Before it's too late."
"We're not leaving," Annabeth insisted. "Not until we see this other demigod. Please."
Eurytion grunted. "Then you leave me no choice, missy. I've got to take you to the boss."
Eurytion walked alongside them with his club across his shoulder. Orthus the two-headed dog growled a lot and sniffed at Grover's legs and shot into the bushes once in a while to chase animals, but Eurytion kept him more or less under control.
They walked down a dirt path that seemed to go on forever. It must've been close to a hundred degrees, which was a shock after San Francisco. Heat shimmered off the ground. Insects buzzed in the trees. Everyone was sweating like crazy. Flies swarmed them. Once they passed a corral where the fence was coated in asbestos. Inside, a herd of fire-breathing horses milled around. The hay in their feeding trough was on fire. The ground smoked around their feet, but the horses seemed tame enough.
"What are they for?" Percy asked.
Eurytion scowled. "We raise animals for lots of clients. Apollo, Diomedes, and...others."
"Like who?"
"No more questions."
Finally, they came out of the woods. Perched on a hill above was a big ranch house-all white stone and wood and big windows.
"It looks like a Frank Lloyd Wright!" Annabeth said.
"Hey Eurytion, I had a question, I noticed that you have foxes, right… so what does the fox say?" Percy asked.
"Oh my god." Annabeth face palmed herself.
Eurytion stayed silent as they walked up the steps to the front porch. "No fighting. No drawing weapons. And don't make any comments about the boss's appearance."
"Why?" Hector asked. "What does he look like?"
Before Eurytion could reply, a new voice said, "Welcome to the Triple G Ranch."
The man on the porch had a normal head, weathered and brown from years in the sun. He had slick black hair and a black pencil mustache like villains have in old movies. He smiled, but the smile wasn't friendly; more amused.
He had three bodies, his neck connected to the middle chest like normal, but he had two more chests, one to either side, connected at the shoulders, with a few inches between. His left arm grew out of his left chest, and the same on the right, so he had two arms, but four armpits. The chests all connected into one enormous torso, with two regular but very beefy legs, and he wore the most oversized pair of Levi's. Each chest wore a different color Western shirt-green, yellow, red, like a stoplight.
The cowherd Eurytion nudged the demigods. "Say Hello to Mr. Geryon."
"Hi," Hector said. "Nice chests-uh, ranch! A nice ranch you have here."
Before the three-bodied man could respond, Nico di Angelo came out of the glass doors onto the porch. "Geryon, I won't wait for -"
He froze when he saw them.
"Percy?" He asked.
"Nico? What are you doing here?" Percy asked.
"Now, now… what Mr. Di Angelo is doing here is his business, now tell me why you are here?"
Nico looked thinner and paler than before. His black clothes were dusty from traveling in the Labyrinth.
Geryon had a trolley thing-like one of those kiddie trains that take you around zoos. It was painted black and white in a cowhide pattern. The driver's car had a set of longhorns stuck to the hood, and the horn sounded like a cowbell. He embarrassed them to death riding around in the moo-mobile.
Nico sat in the very back, with Eurytion crawled in next to him with his spiked club. He pulled his cowboy hat over his eyes like he was going to take a nap. Orthus jumped in the front seat next to Geryon and began barking happily in two-part harmony.
Annabeth, Tyson, Grover, Hector, and Percy took the middle two cars.
"We have a huge operation!" Geryon boasted as the moo-mobile lurched forward. "Horses and cattle mostly, but all sorts of exotic varieties, too."
We came over a hill, and Annabeth gasped. "Hippalektryons? I thought they were extinct!"
At the bottom of the hill was a fenced-in pasture with a dozen of the weirdest animals. Each had the front half of a horse and the back half of a rooster. Their rear feet were huge yellow claws. They had feathery tails and red wings.
"Rooster ponies," Tyson said in amazement. "Do they lay eggs?"
"Once a year!" Geryon grinned in the rearview mirror. "Very much in demand for omelets!"
"That's horrible!" Annabeth said. "They must be an endangered species!"
Geryon waved his hand. "Gold is gold, darling. And you haven't tasted the omelets."
"That's not right," Grover murmured, but Geryon just kept narrating the tour.
"Now, over here," he said, "we have our fire-breathing horses, which you may have seen on your way in. They're bred for war, naturally."
"What war?" Percy asked.
Geryon grinned slyly. "Oh, whichever one comes along. And over yonder, of course, are our prize red cows."
Hundreds of cherry-colored cattle were grazing the side of the hill.
"So many," Grover said.
"Yes, well, Apollo is too busy to see them," Geryon explained, "so he subcontracts to us. We breed them vigorously because there's such a demand."
"For what?" I asked.
Geryon raised an eyebrow. "Meat, of course! Armies have to eat."
"You kill the sacred cows of the sun god for hamburger meat?" Grover said. "That's against ancient laws!"
"Oh, don't get so worked up, satyr. They're just animals."
"Just animals!"
"Yes, and if Apollo cared, I'm sure he would tell us."
"If he knew," Grover muttered.
Nico sat forward. "I don't care about any of this, Geryon. We had business to discuss, and this wasn't it!"
"All in good time, Mr. di Angelo. Look over here; some of my exotic game."
The next field was ringed in barbed wire. The whole area was crawling with giant scorpions.
"Triple G Ranch," Hector said, suddenly remembering. "Your mark was on the crates at camp. Quintus got his scorpions from you."
"Quintus..." Geryon mused. "Short gray hair, muscular, swordsman?"
"Yeah."
"Never heard of him," Geryon said. "Now, over here are my prize stables! You must see them."
Near the banks of a green river was a horse corral the size of a football field. Stables lined one side of it. About a hundred horses were milling around in horse poop. It was the most disgusting thing like a poop blizzard had come through and dumped four feet of the stuff overnight. The horses were gross from wading through it, and the stables were just as bad. It reeked like you would not believe, worse than the garbage boats on the East River.
Even Nico gagged. "What is that?"
"My stables!" Geryon said. "Well, actually they belong to Aegas, but we watch over them for a small monthly fee. Aren't they lovely?"
"They're disgusting!" Annabeth said.
"Lots of poop," Tyson observed.
"How can you keep animals like that?" Grover cried.
"Y'all getting' on my nerves," Geryon said. "These are flesh-eating horses, see? They like these conditions."
"Plus, you're too cheap to have them cleaned," Eurytion mumbled from under his hat.
"Quiet!" Geryon snapped. "All right, perhaps the stables are a bit challenging to clean. Perhaps they do make me nauseous when the wind blows the wrong way. But so what? My clients still pay me well."
"What clients?" Percy demanded.
"Oh, you'd be surprised how many people will pay for a flesh-eating horse. They make great garbage disposals. A wonderful way to terrify your enemies. Great at birthday parties! We rent them out all the time."
"You're a monster," Annabeth decided.
Geryon stopped the moo-mobile and turned to look at her.
"What gave it away? Was it the three bodies?"
"You have to let these animals go," Grover said. "It's not right!"
"And the clients you keep talking about," Annabeth said. "You work for Kronos, don't you? You're supplying his army with horses, food, whatever they need."
Geryon shrugged, which was weird since he had three sets of shoulders. It looked like he was doing the wave all by himself. "I work for anyone with gold, young lady. I'm a businessman. And I sell them anything I have to offer."
He climbed out of the moo-mobile and strolled toward the stables as if enjoying the fresh air. It would've been a nice view, with the river and the trees and hills and all, except for the quagmire of horse muck.
Nico got out of the back car and stormed over to Geryon. The cowherd Eurytion wasn't as sleepy as he looked. He hefted his club and walked after Nico.
"I came here for business, Geryon," Nico said. "And you haven't answered me."
"Mmm." Geryon examined a cactus. His left arm reached over and scratched his middle chest. "Yes, you'll get a deal, all right."
"My ghost told me you could help. He said you could guide us to the soul we need."
"Oh, I imagine I could," the rancher said. "Your ghost friend, by the way, where is he?"
Nico looked uneasy. "He can't form in broad daylight. It's hard for him. But he's around somewhere."
Geryon smiled. "I'm sure. Minos likes to disappear when things get...difficult."
"Minos?" Hector said. "You mean that evil king? That's the ghost who's been giving you advice?"
"It's none of your business, Hector!" Nico turned back to Geryon. "And what do you mean about things getting difficult?"
The three-bodied man sighed. "Well, you see, Nico-can I call you Nico?"
"No."
"You see, Nico, Luke Castellan is offering very good money for half-bloods. Especially powerful half-bloods. And I'm sure when he learns your little secret, who you are, he'll pay very, very well indeed,"
Nico drew his sword, but Eurytion knocked it out of his hand.
Before Hector could get up, Orthus pounced on his chest and growled.
"I would stay in the car, all of you," Geryon warned. "Or Orthus will tear Mr. Babington's throat out. Now, Eurytion, if you would be so kind, secure Nico."
The cowherd spat into the grass. "Do I have to?"
"Yes, you fool!"
Eurytion looked bored, but he wrapped one huge arm around Nico and lifted him like a wrestler.
"Pick up the sword, too," Geryon said with distaste. "There's nothing I hate worse than Stygian Iron."
Eurytion picked up the sword, careful not to touch the blade.
"Now," Geryon said cheerfully, "we've had the tour. Let's go back to the lodge, have some lunch, and send an Iris message to our friends in the Titan army."
"You fiend!" Annabeth cried.
Geryon smiled at her. "Don't worry, my dear. Once I've delivered Mr. di Angelo, you and your party can go. I don't interfere with quests. Besides, I've been paid well to give you safe passage, which does not, I'm afraid, include Mr. di Angelo.
"Paid by whom?" Annabeth said. "What do you mean?"
"Never you mind, darlin'. Let's be off, shall we?"
"Wait!" Percy said, and Orthus growled at him. "Geryon, you said you're a businessman. Make me a deal."
Geryon narrowed his eyes. "What sort of deal? Do you have gold?"
"I've got something better. Barter."
"But Mr. Jackson, you've got nothing."
"I'll clean the stables," Percy said. "If I fail, you get all of us. Trade us all to Luke for gold."
"Assuming the horses don't eat you," Geryon observed.
"Either way, you get my friends," He said. "But if I succeed, you've got to let all of us go, including Nico."
"No!" Nico screamed. "Don't do me any favors, Percy. I don't want your help!"
Geryon chuckled. "Perseus, 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?"
The rancher hesitated. "All right, I'll accept your offer, but you have to get it done by sunset. If you fail, your friends get sold, and I get rich."
"Deal."
He nodded. "I'm going to take your friends with me, back to the lodge. We'll wait for you there."
Percy got out of the car and locked eyes with Hector and Annabeth.
"Just come back alive," Annabeth mouthed.
Percy nodded.
Geryon got behind the driver's wheel. Eurytion hauled Nico into the backseat.
"Sunset," Geryon reminded. "No later." He laughed, sounded his cowbell horn, and the moo-mobile rumbled off down the trail.
A/N:- So, how did you like it? I hope you enjoyed it! Also… what about the little fight between Percy and the monster? Again, hoping you enjoyed it, I just want to remind you to leave reviews down below so that I can read them and get motivated for more long chapters! Have a nice day! Bye!