The Vines of Fate (Percy Jackson fanfic)

I Vent And Call Him A Seaweed Brain

"You really are crazy if you think Daedalus will help you."

"He has to." Annabeth said. "We'll make him listen."

"Yeah, well." Ethan snorted. I narrowed my eyes at him. He knew something. "Good luck with that."

"What do you know?" I inquired, wincing when I moved my wrist the wrong way.

"You're just going to head off alone into the maze?" Percy grabbed his arm. "That's suicide."

"You shouldn't have spared me, Jackson." Ethan looked at Percy with barely restrained anger. "Mercy has no place in this war."

Ethan then shrugged Percy off. He ran into the darkness in the direction we had come from.

🍇

Thankfully, we made camp where we were at. We were too exhausted to find another area. Percy found some scrap wood and we started a fire. Shadows danced off the columns rising around us like trees. We sat around the fire, Percy right beside me. Every now and then he would touch his pinky against mine before drawing it away.

"Something was wrong with Luke." Annabeth muttered from beside me. She poked at the fire with her knife. "Did you notice the way he was acting?"

"He seemed kind of nervous." I nodded, making Annabeth look up at me.

"He looked pretty pleased to me." Percy said, momentarily glancing at me. "Like he'd spent a nice day torturing heroes."

"That's not true! There was something wrong with him. Ivy's right, he looked...nervous." Annabeth noted. "He told his monsters to spare me. He wanted to tell me something."

I nodded in agreement. My wrist was cradled in my lap. Now that I was able to look at it, it was swollen. I'd have to look in my bag for some ambrosia. Maybe something to wrap it as well.

"Probably, 'Hi, Annabeth! Sit here with me and watch while I tear your friends apart. It'll be fun!'"

"You're impossible." Annabeth grumbled. I gave Percy an incredulous look and jabbed my elbow into his ribs. He winced and gave me a confused look. Annabeth sheathed her dagger and looked at Rachel. "So which way now, Sacagawea?"

Rachel didn't respond right away. She'd become quieter since the arena. Rachel burned the tip of a stick in the fire and was using it to draw ash figures on the floor, images of the monsters we'd seen. With a few strokes she caught the like was of a dracanae perfectly. Her artistic skills were good.

"We'll follow the path." She said. "The brightness on the floor."

"The brightness that led us straight into a trap?" Annabeth asked.

"Lay off her, Annabeth." Percy scolded. My stomach knotted and my jaw clenched at how quick he was to defend the red head. "She's doing the best she can."

I scoffed and scowled at the fire. Percy gave me an exasperated look, not knowing what he was doing wrong. Rachel studied the both of us. She saw how close Percy and I were sitting next to each other. How Percy would keep glancing at me while I scowled at the fire. Her brow raised as she caught on.

"The fires getting low." Annabeth stood. "I'll go look for some more scraps while you guys talk strategy. Coming, Ives?"

I nodded and stood up. Percy furrowed his brows as he saw us march into the shadows. Once we were at a far enough distance, I vented.

"I can't believe him!" I threw my hands up in frustration. Pain flared in my left wrist. I winced and cradled my wrist again. "Ugh, he gets on my nerves with how he's so attentive to her."