Melpomene (PJO)

20. A brush with death

Then, Rachel stopped in her tracks, body freezing like she'd got an electric shock and pointed off to the side.

"There," she said.

It took Mari a second to see what Rachel was on about, mainly because it was pretty dark and her Dad was the god of sunlight - night vision was decidedly not her thing. But she squinted and was just able to make out a hole in the wall. The corridor split off to the side, into a tunnel of what looked like shadow-black marble. Something about the material was familiar to Mari in a way that put her on edge. She shivered as a chilling breeze blew from the new passage, goosebumps prickling her skin.

Then her chest started buzzing like a swarm of angry, stinging bees - a very bad feeling.

"What is it?" asked Percy.

Rachel didn't answer. She just stared down the tunnel in the eerie silence.

"Is that the way?" Annabeth asked.

"No." Mari and Rachel spoke at the exact same time, turning to look at each other in shock.

"It isn't the way," Mari said.

"Not at all," Rachel agreed.

"Why are we stopping, then?" Percy asked. "Wait. Do you guys smell that?"

A familiar scent filled the air. It was medicinal - sharp and stinging, like pollen pressed into her nose on a hot summer day. Mari tried not to sneeze.

"Eucalyptus trees," Percy said. "Like in California."

"Like, Mount Tam in San Francisco, California?" Mari asked, heart pounding at the bad memories. "That California?"

"You know of any other Californias?" Annabeth asked.

"There's something evil down that tunnel," Rachel whispered. "Something very powerful."

"And the smell of death," Nico added.

"What does 'death' smell like?" Mari asked.

Nico tilted his head the side, frowning. "Tofu," he said.

Mari couldn't tell if he was joking or not.

"It must be Luke's entrance," Annabeth said. "The one on Mount Othrys - the Titan's palace."

Great! Mari thought. Let's avoid it.

"I have to check it out," Percy said.

"That's not funny," Mari told Percy.

"Good, because I wasn't joking."

"Percy, no." Annabeth shook her head.

"Luke could be right there!" Percy pointed through the entrance, which echoed with another gust of wind, like it was saying 'Come explore – instant death awaits!'.

"Or... or Kronos," Percy continued. "I have to find out what's going on."

"Then we'll all go." Annabeth's eyes glinted in determination.

"No." Percy shook his head. "It's too dangerous. If they got hold of Nico, Mari or Rachel for that matter, they could use them. You stay here and guard them."

A part of Mari wanted to protest - she didn't need guarding. Next to her, Nico looked positively indignant but he didn't speak up. A bigger part of Mari understood why. Much as she hated to admit it, she was scared. Last time she'd been on Mount Tam, it... hadn't gone well. She'd been forced to hold the sky, and Mason had shoved those gods-awful memories into her head. That still gave her nightmares. Mari couldn't imagine how anything worse could happen on that stupid mountain, but she definitely didn't want to experience it.