Ante Mortem

by NEIWIS

AU. When Percy Jackson turned fourteen years old, he learned that the Greek Gods were real. And that they were dying. The gods have long abandoned Olympus, weakened and battered after a civil war born from a vow that was never to be taken. Percy is taken to a trainer of heroes and learns there are more like him, but they are scattered with no safe place to go. Full summary inside.

73. Act II Chapter XXX

Act II Chapter XXX: "What do we do about it?"

"I mean, we fell into this dark tunnel. We only moved forward a few feet," Percy said as he looked at the others. Chiron stood nearby and looked concerned. Dionysus had put down his cards down to pay attention to them. Lupa stood a little further back, and Terminus rested on her head.

"I thought it was an old bunker," Thalia said as she crossed her arms. Her gaze shot to Annabeth, who sat next to Reyna. Annabeth looked spooked, and Reyna looked like a ghost. Especially with the cobwebs covering her. One touched Annabeth, and she flinched. "Maybe one that a kid of Hephaestus made."

"Thalia said to leave and come back after we told you," Percy continued as he rubbed the back of his neck. "We didn't know anything was wrong until we stepped out, and they told us we had been gone for hours."

"I think it's the Labyrinth," Thalia voted.

"But, that was built in Greece," Annabeth began. Percy looked at her in confusion. "It was a great maze where the Minotaur was."

"He did not stay there."

"Obviously."

"We had always feared that the Labyrinth was alive," Chiron chimed in.

"The what was what now?" Percy asked as he turned to look at Chiron. Thalia was staring down with a small frown on her face.

"It's the same reason that Mount Olympus is above the Empire State Building. The power of the gods moved with civilization," Thalia said as she ran a hand down her face. "We figured that Labyrinth had moved as well. We just didn't know it was growing."

"I'm sorry," Percy said as he held up both of his hands. "The Labyrinth is the maze from the myths. That the Midas touch guy-"

"Minos," Annabeth corrected.

"That's what I said. He made this maze way back in the day, but you're telling me that this maze is alive AND growing?!," Percy questioned.

"It's not that odd," Luke chimed in. "With all that you have learned so far, does that really surprise you?"

"No," Percy admitted as his shoulders slumped. "What do we do about it?"

"Nothing," Chiron said quickly. "I don't want any of you entering the Labyrinth. It is a dangerous place meant to fool demigods and lead them to their demise."

"None of you are prepared to enter the maze," Lupa said in a low voice. A growl left her throat. "The entrance must not be left alone, though."

"Do you think a monster could use it to make it to our camp?" Annabeth questioned after a moment. Thalia nodded.

"I don't know," Chiron admitted. "I do not doubt that the maze contains monsters, but I do not know if it works with them or leads them to their demise as well."

"We need to guard the entrance then," Annabeth began. She looked at Luke. "We have weapons and armor that we found that can't be repurposed. Could we use that?"

"I'll ask Beckendorf," Luke said.

"Is that how your Romans ambushed Camp Half-Blood?" Thalia demanded. The group fell silent as Thalia turned an icy gaze toward Lupa. The wolf goddess stared at her for a moment before her eyes narrowed. "They used the Labyrinth to launch a surprise attack on Camp Half-Blood. Didn't they?"

The silence that filled the group made Percy squirm. Especially as Lupa put her full focus on Thalia. The demigod met her eyes. If a wolf could scowl, Lupa was, "Your lady is not here."

Lupa trailed off, and Percy felt his body tensing. He wanted to take a step back from the conversation. Chiron had moved slightly closer to Thalia. Annabeth did as well. Reyna took a step back.

"You could have stopped the Romans, but you didn't want to," Thalia accused. She stood and met Lupa's eyes, not backing down. From what Percy knew of the gods, you really weren't supposed to talk to them like this. Or challenge them. "Do you even care that the Romans died?

"How many Romans did you let die because you didn't interfere?" Thalia demanded. "Or did you want them to die? What is your game, Lupa? Why stay with Chiron and help him 'train' demigods? Are you trying to keep an eye on them to finish the job?"

Lupa stared at Thalia, and if eyes could kill, there would be no more daughter of Zeus. Then again, Lupa was a goddess. It was possible her eyes could kill. The wolf goddess slowly rose to her full height, dwarfing the demigod in front of her.

Chiron stepped forward and opened his mouth. A low growl left Lupa, and she turned with enough force that a gust of wind knocked Percy's hair into his face. Lupa stormed away. Thalia looked taken aback by the reaction, but it didn't take long for the hatred to grow in her eyes. She bit her bottom lip hard enough to draw blood.

"Thalia," Chiron began as he turned toward Thalia.

"I should take my leave," Thalia said stiffly. She nodded to Chiron and turned toward her left. Thalia hugged Annabeth and gave the rest of them a nod. She turned and left without another word.

A silence fell over the demigods. Annabeth looked shocked, and Luke was shaking his head. Reyna had turned her attention to where Lupa stormed off. Percy shifted his weight from foot to foot awkwardly.

"I would have disintegrated her on the spot," Dionysus commented as he took a sip of his soda. "Good on Lupa for the self-control."

"We still have the issue of what we saw," Annabeth began. She didn't look happy, and her gaze moved back to Thalia's vanishing figure.

"We found these," Reyna said after a few moments. She placed what looked like a pile of junk on the table that Dionysus sat by. Chiron stared down at it, and his eyes widened. "There was a tree with a huge hole that I was able to climb into. I found a skeleton of something or something inside. They had a bag full of these."

"Could have been a poacher on the battlefield," Clarisse commented from a few feet behind them. She motioned with her head. "What was that about?"

"Lunch and a show," Dionysus answered. Reyna looked at Clarisse and mouthed something to her. Clarisse nodded.

"Can you show me this tree?" Chiron questioned.

"Yeah," Reyna muttered as she focused on the table. Her shoulders drooped on her.

"We saw something when we grabbed them," Annabeth began. "A vision of the past. Just like a war flash."

"The spirits must be restless here," Chiron whispered. He took a deep breath. "What did you see?"

"I saw through the eyes of a Greek: a messenger. He was visiting the Romans under a white flag. He tried to tell them that the Greeks were being wrongly accused, but the augur didn't want to hear. Another person came in behind. The praetor," Annabeth explained. She shivered. "And stabbed a sword through the messenger's neck, but it felt like mine."

"Dear," Chiron said in a gentle voice. His hand reached out to grab Annabeth's arm in reassurance. He looked at Reyna. "Did you see this too?"

"Yeah," Reyna muttered. She ran her hand down her face.

"I need to speak with Lupa," Chiron said as he looked around the camp. "But first, we should take a look at this entrance and find this tree along the way."

"Still would have disintegrated her," Dionysus commented as he stood from the table and walked away. "Treat a god with disrespect like that. Back in my day, you would have been a dolphin out to sea. I..."

Dionysus' loud voice trailed off as he walked further away. Percy looked at his friends, unsure of how to react. He couldn't believe that Thalia talked to a goddess like that. And then made her exit. Percy rubbed the back of his neck not sure what to say.

"There's her famous temper," Luke commented. He sighed. "I'll get Beckendorf and catch you along the way."

Annabeth looked between all of them. Percy made eye contact and shuffled his way over. He spoke softly, "You okay? You looked shaken."

"It's just what I saw," Annabeth said. "And Thalia..."

"At least Lupa didn't try to vaporize her on the spot," Percy commented. Annabeth nodded her agreement. "And I'm sorry you had to see that vision. It must have been terrifying."

"It was, but we need to focus. Let's get to the tree," Annabeth said. She took off without warning. Chiron followed behind. Percy followed, but he looked back to see Reyna still standing there, staring ahead.

"You okay?" Percy asked Reyna. When Reyna didn't respond, Clarisse threw a gentle arm around her. That snapped the other girl out of her fog.

"Lead the way," Clarisse ordered. She started to lead Reyna away. Percy took up the rear and looked around again. Most of the demigods had stopped to listen in on the conversation, but they had gone back to what they were doing. Probably when Lupa stormed off.

Percy figured that no one expected the visit to go this way, but Thalia did hate Romans. It would make sense for her to be mad at a Roman goddess. Hopefully, Lupa would come back soon. And maybe before that, they could figure out what to do about this Labyrinth.