𝑲𝑰𝑵𝑫𝑹𝑬𝑫 • 𝑃𝐸𝑅𝐶𝑌 𝐽𝐴𝐶𝐾𝑆𝑂𝑁 [2]

XIII

Elaine and Annabeth followed Hephaestus's spider through the maze for what felt like an hour until they reached Zeus's Fist.

It was almost insulting, the ease they had navigating the maze, when before, the journey would've undoubtedly taken days.

When they emerged, Elaine had to announce their arrival to her siblings and Ares cabin, who had set up defenses around the clearing.

"We're friendlies! Don't fire!" She called.

"It's Annabeth and Elaine!" She heard someone yell.

As she squeezed out of the boulders, she was met with the night sky. Still, it was much brighter than the pitch black halls in the Labyrinth. She took a full breath and hummed. She'd missed the fresh air.

Lee ran to her with his quiver slung over his shoulder and a look of concern.

"Is everything alright? It's been weeks since we heard from you." He said. He knelt down to inspect her.

"We're fine, Lee. We need to speak to Chiron, though. Where is he?"

Lee led Elaine and Annabeth to the Big House and sent for one of the Stoll brothers to bring them something to snack on from the camp store since they'd missed dinner. Elaine could tell the people holding the perimeter around the clearing wanted to know what no one was asking: where the rest of their posse was.

The trek through the woods was disorienting. It might not have felt like too long ago that Elaine followed her friends into the world beneath their feet, but having fresh air breeze past her face and the cool of the summer air meeting her skin after running for miles felt like too good a welcome for a girl who'd returned from a quest empty-handed.

Chiron shooed away the welcome party, much to Lee's annoyance. "I'll tell you everything in the morning." She had to promise to get him to go back to his station.

The Big House was silent apart from the sound of the ceiling fan's slight hum. For a moment, Elaine wondered if Chris Rodriguez was still in the basement, but if he was, he must have been sleeping, because Chiron didn't seem to mind having a private conversation.

She and Annabeth sat comfortably on an old couch across from Chiron in his wheelchair. For a moment, the only thing that could be heard was the intermintent crunch of cookies shared between the friends and clanking of china cups filled with warm tea Chiron had placed in front of them on the coffee table.

"Tell me what happened. Where is the rest of the group?" He asked.

"Well," Elaine began, leaning down to place her cup on the table. "The short version is that we were all together up until we left Hephaestus's workshop. Grover and Tyson smelled something Grover thought would lead to Pan. We kept going without them but got ... separated from Percy at Mount St. Helens after an attack by telekhines. Hephaestus sent us back to camp."