chapter 34: maze again

"I can't go any further," Rachel gasped.

When Hoa returned to consciousness, they had stopped at a tunnel full of wet white rock, like part of a natural cave. She observed everyone around her. Percy noticed she was awake, so he set her down, putting her head in Nico's lap while he sat right next to the two of them. Nico looked physically and mentally exhausted, but he seemed as okay as he could be.

Annabeth looked the worst, though. She had tear tracks on her cheeks, and she collapsed, placing her head between her knees. Her sobs echoed in the tunnel.

Hoa's heart felt like it was being crumbled. Although Hoa hated Luke personally, she knew how much Luke meant to Annabeth as her first mentor and her brotherly figure. Luke was the one who gave her the Celestial bronze dagger that she still wielded today and taught her how to fight, survive on her own, and to be a demigod. To see him gone... that was terrible for Annabeth.

Hoa sat up but remained in Nico's lap, cuddling into him. He wrapped an arm around her as he set his sword down next to Riptide, Percy's blade. "That sucked," he said.

"You saved our lives," Percy said.

Nico wiped the dust off of his and Hoa's face, his hand gently rubbing the sleeve over her soft skin. "Blame your 'daughter' for dragging me along. She's the only reason that I'm here."

"That's a lie," Hoa muttered. "You still care about them."

Nico sighed. "Fine."

Percy shined his flashlight across the cavern. Water dripped from the stalactites like a slow-motion rain. "Nico... you, uh, kind of gave yourself away."

"What do you mean?"

"The wall of stone? That was pretty impressive. If Kronos didn't know who you were before, he does now—a child of the Underworld."

Nico frowned. "Big deal."

"Yeah, it kind of is," Hoa muttered.

Annabeth finally lifted her head. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying. "What... what was wrong with Luke? What did they do to him?"

Percy explained what he saw in the coffin, the way the last piece of Kronos's spirit had entered Luke's body after Ethan Nakamura pledged his service.

"No," Annabeth said. "That can't be true. He couldn't—"

"He gave himself over to Kronos," Percy said. "I'm sorry, Annabeth. But Luke is gone."

Hoa winced. Harsh.

"No!" she insisted. "You saw when Rachel hit him."

Percy nodded, looking at Rachel with respect. "You hit the Lord of the Titans in the eye with a blue plastic hairbrush."

Rachel looked embarrassed. "It was the only thing I had."

"But you saw," Annabeth insisted. "When it hit him, just for a second, he became dazed. He came back to his senses."

"So maybe Kronos didn't fully settle in the body, or whatever," Percy said. "It doesn't mean Luke was in control."

Very harsh.

"You want him to be evil, is that it?" Annabeth yelled. "You didn't know him before, Percy. I did!"

Percy finally snapped. "What is it with you?" he said back. "Why do you keep defending him?"

Hoa cuddled into Nico's arms, trying to block out the sounds of the argument as Rachel tried to break it up. "Whoa, you two," she said. "Knock it off."

Nico's arms wrapped around her tighter in response to her cuddling.

"Stay out of it, mortal girl! If it wasn't for you..."

Annabeth's voice broke. She put her head down again and sobbed miserably. Percy looked like he desperately wanted to comfort her, but he didn't know how.

"We have to keep moving," Nico mumbled. "He'll send monsters after us."

Nobody was in any shape to run, but Nico was right. Percy and Nico got up, hauling up Rachel and Hoa, respectively.

"Hey," Nico said quietly. "We need to go, Flower. Come on."

Hoa shakily got up, Nico providing her with the support necessary. He hugged her side, pressing his lips to her ear and whispering encouragement. "You're so strong, Flower. We'll be there soon, don't worry."

"Let's go back to New York," Percy said. He had just gotten up after kneeling in front of Annabeth and apologizing. "Rachel, can you—"

He stopped, staring at the ground in front of them. Percy's flashlight beam fixed on a trampled clump of red fabric. It was a Rasta cap, the one Grover always wore.

Grover. Tyson.

Hoa's heart rate picked up as she tugged on her hoodie sleeves, feeling anxious. Gods, when was the last time that she had seen them?

"We have to follow them," Percy said. "They went that way. It must have been recently."

She noticed something else. The cave floor was mushy and wet from the water dripping off the stalactites. There were large footprints like Tyson's, and smaller ones—goat hooves—leading off to the left.

"What about Camp Half-Blood?" Nico asked. "There's no time."

"We have to find them," Annabeth insisted. "They're our friends."

"Agreed," Hoa muttered tiredly.

They turned to Hoa in concern. "Hoa," Annie asked, "are you alright? You seem exhausted."

"I'll be fine," Hoa said. "Let's go find our favorite satyr and cyclops."

"Okay." With that, she picked up Grover's smashed cap and forged ahead.

The tunnel was an absolute nightmare, a disorienting and claustrophobic place with awkward slopes that made steady traversal nearly impossible. The walls glistened with a thick, unpleasant layer of moisture, creating some sort of slimy, wet texture on the wall. Half of the time, they were slipping and sliding.

Finally, they reached the bottom and found themselves in a large cave with huge stalagmite columns. Through the center of the room ran an underground river, and Tyson was sitting by the banks, cradling Grover in his lap. Grover's eyes were closed. He wasn't moving.

"Tyson!" Percy yelled.

"Percy! Come quick!"

They ran over to him. Grover wasn't dead (thank the gods), but his whole body trembled like he was going to freeze his way there.

"What happened?" Percy asked.

"So many things," Tyson muttered. "Large snake. Large dogs. Men with swords. But then... we got here. Grover was excited. He ran. Then we reached this room, and he fell. Like this."

"Did he say anything?" Percy asked.

"He said, 'We're close.' Then he hit his head on the rocks."

Percy knelt next to him. He shined his flashlight around the cavern. The rocks glittered. At the far end was the entrance to another cave, flanked by gigantic columns of crystal that looked like diamonds. And beyond that entrance...

"Grover," Percy said. "Wake up."

"Uh..."

Annabeth knelt next to him and placed icy cold river water in his face.

"Splurg!" His eyelids fluttered. "Percy? Annabeth? Hoa? Where..."

"It's okay," Percy said. "You passed out. The presence was too much for you."

"I-I remember. Pan."

"Yeah," Percy said. "Something powerful is just beyond that doorway."

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hi im madi, your loyal author ♥️

hey!! what do you think about the last bit? :))

this chapter is unedited

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anyways again

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anyways, tysm for reading this crappy book! 😃