𝑨𝑺𝑯𝑬𝑺 • 𝑃𝐸𝑅𝐶𝑌 𝐽𝐴𝐶𝐾𝑆𝑂𝑁 ²

TWENTY

"Whoa, you two," Rachel said. "Knock it off!"

Judith turned on her. "Stay out of it, Dare! You have no idea what we're even talking about!" She spat.

With the daughter of Ares' attention turning away from Annabeth, pulling out her daggers of rage, the blonde collapsed in fatigue on the ground, the fight literally leaving her body. Percy ran over and propped her up as she started breathing heavily. She put her head down and sobbed miserably, anger replaced by anguish. Judith wanted to rip her hair out, but now Rachel was on the opposing end of the anger and was ready to test her.

"I don't, I know I don't! But fighting about it is not helping anything," the redhead yelled right back.

Judith went to scream her head off, but Percy was up from his spot beside Annabeth and his arms encircled the raging girl. Her fury didn't want to die down, not at all, it wanted to thrash against him and push him away. But he was clear headed and knew not to let go of her even as she clawed at him.

"She's right, you need to calm down," Percy said quietly. Of course, he'd agree with Rachel. It wasn't fair. "I'm sorry about your ax, I really am. But we have to stay levelheaded right now, more than ever."

  The daughter of Ares resisted against the douse of cold water he tried to stick her in. But as the harsh fire in her veins touched his streams of frigid ocean, steam fogged her senses, covering and seeping into her chest and head.

Judith's breaths were ragged as she let her body settle down in his hold. He slowly unwound his arms, letting her stand on her own. "I'm fine," she spat. But if Percy knew anything, it was that when she said she was fine, she was definitely not. But he couldn't press her.

He kept a hand on her shoulder. "I know. I know you're okay."

"We have to keep moving," Nico said, disturbing the odd tension that had settled. "He'll send monsters after us."

Nobody was in any shape to run, but Nico was right. Rachel helped Annabeth up, consoling her as she quickly cleared her eyes up. They started to straggle back through the Labyrinth again, Annabeth refusing to be next to Judith and Judith refusing to be next to Rachel. The daughter of Ares shuffled along beside Nico, a safe bet for her pounding heart. He just offered a look that expressed his apologies for her own loss.

"Back to New York," Percy said. "Rachel, can you — "

But they all froze. A few feet in front of them, their flashlight beams fixed on a trampled clump of red fabric lying on the ground. It was a Rasta cap: the one Grover always wore. Percy's hands shook as he picked up the cap. It looked like it had been stepped on by a huge muddy boot. The cave floor was mushy and wet from the water dripping off the stalactites. There were large footprints like Tyson's, and smaller ones — goat hooves — leading off to the left.

"We have to follow them," Percy determined. "They went that way. It must have been recently."

"What about Camp Half-Blood?" Nico said. "There's no time."

"We have to find them," Annabeth insisted. "They're our friends." She picked up Grover's smashed cap and forged ahead.

They all followed, bracing themselves for the worst. Judith could only fist the sleeves of her leather jacket, feeling so, so empty handed. The tunnel was treacherous. It sloped at weird angles and was slimy with moisture. Half the time they were slipping and sliding rather than walking.