The Battle of The Labyrinth [Book Four]

Fear.

It only took me about an hour of looking for Daedalus' Mark to really start missing Annabeth. She was like the center of our group of friends. She knew what to do, where to go, and I felt lost without her here. We ended up not finding anything within the city, but fortunately for us the car had a small television hooked up along with a mini fridge filled with drinks and snacks for us to eat on the ride. On the way, Percy was poking at Rachel to give the reason why the driver was in such a rush to give her a ride and leave behind the last client, but she was as evasive as ever and looking out the window attentively.

"I think I saw something," Rachel interrupts. "Robert, stop here," she calls to him. "Get off on the next exit and drop us off there."

"Yes, Ms. Dare," the driver responds over his shoulder politely.

There's this museum about the mines in the area, already closed for the day. So we had no problem climbing this hill to a mine shaft at the top.

But I'm squinting skeptically. "Is there really a mark up here?" I ask, glancing over my shoulder and noting how far from the road we are.

"Oh, I am," the mortal says confidently, pointing to a glowing blue mark upon a wooden plank that blocked the entrance to the mine.

Percy steps forward and touches the sign, and the boards fall to the ground at our feet. Then he steps over and walks inside, turning his flashlight on to light their path, and all I can feel is trepidation as we are once again in the Labyrinth. I'm sick and tired of this place, and I feel like it's constantly taking stuff from me. Grover and Tyson are gone, now Annabeth. What would it claim next? But as darkness engulfs all of us again, part of me hopes that we'll run into Annabeth and Daedalus while down here. Rachel Elizabeth Dare leads us without pause through different corridors and halls. No traps go off, and we don't encounter Kronos or his army of monsters at all, and that's probably because they're off trying to get to camp to attack it. We stop at a crossroads, and Rachel shudders while looking down one way.

"Definitely not that way."

I frown. "Why?"

She hugs herself and frowns. "Something...." She trails off in consideration, nervously. "Something evil."

My eyebrows knit together, though I get what she means. The air is cold to the point that I keep thinking that my breaths will be seen in white puffs. I stare down the direction she's talking about and purse my lips.

"We're in San Francisco," Percy says slowly.

I tilt my head back a little and sniff, my nose coiling at the faint smell of eucalyptus leaves. I think of Luke.

"I'm gonna go check it out."

My feet carry me in that direction, ignoring my friend's protests as I pick up the pace and jog down the corridor. I hope there aren't any traps, she didn't mention any traps-

I slow down to a stop, panting through my nose as I reach the end of the corridor. I'm in Mount Othrys, the throne room of the Titans. Tall black pillars stretch down the throne room, and at the end is a golden sarcophagus that is too wide to belong to anything mortal.

"Is that...." I jump in surprise at the sound of Percy's voice approaching from behind, and look over at his inquiring expression. "Is that Kronos' coffin?"

I nod, my expression void of any emotion. "Yeah, that's it. I remember seeing it on the Princess Andromeda."

The room is eerily cold, and we take several hesitant steps into the throne room to make sure we were alone before walking to the golden coffin. As we get closer to it, I take note of the the carvings on it's side, scenes depicting violence and death. Back on the ship, I had seen these images before, but now for some reason they sent shivers down my spine.