Indigo Eyes

Chapter 73

"So much for kicking your ass. Guess, I'll be saving it," Percy sighed and Cressida gave him an annoyed look.

"Shut up," she shot back. "I'm going to be the one dragging your dead weight around. And you know one day, we're actually going to do a tally of how many times we've saved each other and just like today, I'm going to win."

"Oh, but you forget, Grape Girl. We're on the same team, so if you win, I win."

"You're actually going to have to help if you plan on winning and since you can't even do up your shoelaces properly, I don't have high hopes for us."

Percy looked down at his feet and to his dismay, she was right, his laces had come undone.

"I hate you," Percy said bluntly as he bent down to tie it up tight.

"We both know that's a lie," Cressida retorted and for a split second, his stomach dropped at the terrifying thought that she knew what thoughts floated around in his head sometimes, but her lack of a follow-up made him believe that she didn't.

As he stood again, he listened to Grover and Tyson protest as they were paired with each other.

"No complaining!" Quintus ordered. "Get with your partner. You have two minutes to prepare!"

The two of them looked to Percy pleadingly who tried to give them an encouraging nod as they moved together and Cressida let a flame spark on her palm that she blew towards them. The purple fire washed over them as their demeanours changed, their bodies relaxing.

"What are you doing?!" Percy asked, worried for her.

"Relax. I was calming them down. And -"

"I know that but you can't be using your powers -"

"Let's get one thing straight," she cut in, the happy expression on her face from before falling. "I may be acting civil with you now but make no mistake, I'm still angry at you for lying to me about your mortal friend. And I don't need you to tell me how to handle my powers. So why don't you stop worrying about me and worry more about how the hell we're going to stay alive."

And she threw her braid over her shoulder, her streak of grey hair weaving through it before she marched off into the woods.

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It was still light as they weaved through the woods but the shadows of the trees made it feel like midnight. It was cold for summer too as the pair found tracks almost immediately – scuttling marks made by something with a lot of legs. And they followed it.

They jumped the creek, an unspoken competition between the two of who could jump further despite the tension that simmered between them. Cressida was still following the tracks when Percy yanked her down behind a boulder. His hand was covering her mouth as he alerted her to the sound of twigs snapping in the darkness. But there was no monster, it was just the Stoll brothers tripping through the woods and cursing. Their dad was the god of thieves, but they were about as stealthy as water buffaloes.

"You can let go of me now," Cressida had said when the Stolls had passed, Percy's body still pressed flush against her as her back pressed on the boulder, and he was grateful that the darkness hid his red cheeks as he muttered an apology and stood up.

They then foraged deeper into the west woods where the monsters were wilder, standing atop a ledge overlooking a marshy pond. He grew concerned when Cressida tensed.

"What's up?" he asked and her voice was soft.

"This is where we stopped looking."

It took him a second to realise what she meant, that this was where they'd given up hope of finding Nico last winter. Percy didn't know that she and her brothers had continued searching even after the others had stopped. Her brothers had been the ones to look out for him while Percy and Cressida went on their quest. They didn't care that he was the son of Hades, they just wanted to know that he was ok.

Six months later, they still had nothing.

"I saw him last night," Percy said and her eyes widened as they turned to him.

"What do you mean? Where?!"

And he told her all about the Iris message, adding in the fact that he wanted to tell her earlier but she wasn't alone and then she was asleep for most of the day.

"Summoning the dead... asides from the fact that it means he can control his powers, I don't think that's a good sign."

"The ghost was giving him bad advice," Percy said. "Telling him to take revenge."

Cressida had to ignore the fact that what he said meant Nico would be coming after Percy to take revenge. "Yeah," she replied. "Spirits are never good advisors. Most of them hold grudges and have their own agenda. And they always resent the living."

"He's going to come after me," Percy said, voicing her thoughts from before. "The spirit mentioned a maze."

She began fidgeting with her charm bracelet as she nodded, clearly anxious. "That settles it even more than before. I have to tell Books. We have to figure out the Labyrinth."

"Maybe," Percy said uncomfortably. "But who sent the Iris message? If Nico didn't know I was there -"

A branch snapped in the woods. Dry leaves rustled and Cressida drew her spear as something large was moving in the trees, just beyond the ridge.

"That's not the Stoll brothers," she whispered and Percy drew his sword.

Oh, how right she was.