𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐗𝐈𝐑, 𝐏𝐉

𝟎𝟏𝟐.𝟒

Rachel swallowed. "You have a friend who's a Cyclops?" 

"Tyson," Percy said. "My half brother."

"Your half brother."

"Hopefully we'll find him down here," Augusts said. "And Grover. He's a satyr." 

"Oh." Her voice was small. "Well then, we'd better keep moving."

She stepped under the skeleton's left arm and kept walking. Annabeth and Juliet exchanged looks. Annabeth shrugged. They followed Rachel deeper into the maze.

After fifty feet they came to a crossroads. Ahead, the brick tunnel continued. To the right, the walls were made of ancient marble slabs. To the left, the tunnel was dirt and tree roots. Percy pointed left. "That looks like the tunnel Tyson and Grover took."

Annabeth frowned. "Yeah, but the architecture to the right—those old stones—that's more likely to lead to an ancient part of the maze, toward Daedalus's workshop."

"We need to go straight," Rachel said.

Annabeth and Percy both looked at her. Juliet's ears rung loudly, okayyy, something fucked up was about to happen.

"That's the least likely choice," Annabeth said.

"You don't see it?" Rachel asked. "Look at the floor."

Juliet was too busy moving her head side to side to get rid of the ringing. Augustus gave her a 'wtf' look and she flipped him back in reply.

"There's a brightness there," Rachel insisted. "Very faint. But forward is the correct way. To the left, farther down the tunnel, those tree roots are moving like feelers. I don't like that. To the right, there's a trap about twenty feet down. Holes in the walls, maybe for spikes. I don't think we should risk it."

Percy didn't see anything like she was describing, but he nodded. "Okay. Forward."

"You believe her?" Annabeth asked.

"Yeah," Percy said. "Don't you?"

Annabeth looked like she wanted to argue, but instead she turned back to Juliet and Augustus to get their majority only to see Augustus slamming his hands repeatedly over Juliet's ears, "What the hell are you two doing?"

That made Percy look back too, and as soon as he spotted Augustus sort of holding Juliet's face he reached forward and yanked her towards him, "What the fuck?"

"Stop," Juliet gave him a soothing look, "My ears were ringing pretty badly."

"This just proves we shouldn't go straight!" Annabeth exclaimed but it only added to Juliet's sensory overload making her frown, Percy stared at her concerned, "We are going straight. End of discussion."

Annabeth huffed in irritation but listened to Percy. Together they kept walking down the brick corridor. It twisted and turned, but there were no more side tunnels. They seemed to be angling down, heading deeper underground.

"No traps?" Juliet asked anxiously, the ringing was still there, she clutched Percy's hand in slight fear.

"Nothing." Rachel knit her eyebrows. "Should it be this easy?"

"I don't know," Percy said. "It never was before."

"So, Rachel," Annabeth said, "where are you from, exactly?"

"Brooklyn," she said.

"Aren't your parents going to be worried if you're out late?"

Rachel exhaled. "Not likely. I could be gone a week and they'd never notice."