𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐗𝐈𝐑, 𝐏𝐉

𝟎𝟎𝟗.𝟒

"You are disrupting the ritual!" Nico protested. "Get—"

The spirits of the dead began shimmering dangerously bright, and Nico had to take up the chant again to keep them at bay. Juliet clutched onto her stomach, it was aching like hell.

"Yes, quite right, master," Minos said with amusement. "You keep chanting. I've only come to protect you from these liars who would deceive you."

He turned to Percy as if he were some kind of cockroach. "Percy Jackson...my, my. The sons of Poseidon haven't improved over the centuries, have they? One of them now even carries the soul of Achilles? You must remember it was I who judged you into Elysium, pity you couldn't live without that disappointment and had to be reborn again."

Percy surged forward but Annabeth stopped him, there wasn't much you could do to a ghost, Minos turned his eyes to Juliet, who was leaning slightly on Grover while clutching her stomach, "Patroclus didn't quite make the cut after you didn't give him the ancient rites."

Percy growled raising Riptide up again to slash when Juliet held onto his hand and gasped, "Percy..."

Percy wanted to punch him, but his priorities were different, he hauled the bent over Juliet and held her in his arms while glaring at Minos. "We're looking for Bianca di Angelo," he said. "Get lost before I hand you over to Hades myself."

The ghost chuckled. "I understand you once killed my Minotaur with your bare hands. But worse things await you in the maze. Do you really believe Daedalus will help you?"

The other spirits stirred in agitation. Annabeth drew her knife, Augustus pulled out his spear and helped keep them away from the pit. Grover got so nervous he clung to Tyson's shoulder. Percy was busy checking Juliet over for any wounds, there weren't any but she looked as if she was in extreme pain.

"Daedalus cares nothing for you, half-bloods," Minos warned. "You can't trust him. He is old beyond counting, and crafty. He is bitter from the guilt of murder and is cursed by the gods."

"So like you?" Augustus snarked back, getting cut off by Annabeth.

"The guilt of murder?" she asked. "Who did he kill?"

"Do not changed the subject!" the ghost growled. "You lot are hindering Nico. You try to persuade him to give up on his goal. I would make him a lord!"

"Enough, Mions," Nico commanded.

The ghost sneered. "Master, these are your enemies. You must not listen to them! Let me protect you. i will turn their minds to madness, as I did the others."

"The others?" Juliet gasped. "You mean Chris Rodriguez? That was you?"

After Ethan and Chris's little betrayal back last winter, Luke had taken them off service put them on his list of lab rats. They were getting punished for doing the right thing meanwhile Luke was out there playing boss for being an asshole.

"The maze is my property," the ghost said, "not Daedalus's! Those who intrude deserve madness."

"Be gone, Minos!" Nico demanded. "I want to see my sister!"

The ghost bit back his rage. "As you wish, master. But I warn you. You cannot trust these heroes."

With that, he faded into mist. Juliet's ache eased a little making her standup straight again. She still felt the lingering presence of a spear quite literally inside her.

Other spirits rushed forward, but Annabeth and Augustus kept them back. "Bianca, appear!" Nico intoned. He started chanting faster, and the spirits shifted restlessly.

"Any time now," Grover muttered.

Then a silvery light flickered in the trees—a spirit that seemed brighter and stronger than the others. It came closer, and something told them to let it pass. It knelt to drink at the pit. When it arose, it was the ghostly form of Bianca di Angelo.