Percy and Noelle continued their cuddling for the third night in a row. Noelle laid her head and most her upper body on Percy's torso, the rest of her body in between his legs, their legs tangled together. Their arms were wrapped around each other, making it easy to fall asleep.
But Noelle didn't stay asleep.
Being a bigger fan of the night than the day, thanks to her mom, Noelle had trouble sleeping when there was light. So it didn't help that the fountain in Percy's bathroom was practically blinding her.
She pried herself from his arms, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. She began to shake Percy's shoulders, trying to wake him. It took a while, but eventually he shot straight up, eyes wide with fear.
"Hey, it's okay," Noelle said. "Bad dream?"
Percy nodded. "I'll tell you later. Why're you up?"
"It seems your fountain has a message." Noelle jerked her head towards the source of the light. "I was trying to wake you before I checked it out."
She got up from the bed, Percy following behind her. They walked into the bathroom and approached. The brightness of the fountain seemed so urgent, and it was almost like the water was humming.
No voice spoke out of the water this time, asking for a deposit. They got the feeling the fountain was waiting for them to make the first move.
They probably should've gone back to bed. Instead Noelle thought about what they'd seen last night—the weird image of Nico at the banks of the River Styx.
"It's trying to tell us something," Noelle said.
No response from the fountain.
"All right," she said. "Show me Nico di Angelo."
She didn't even throw a coin in, but this time it didn't matter. It was like some other force had control of the water besides Iris the messenger goddess. The water shimmered. Nico appeared, but he was no longer in the Underworld. He was standing in a graveyard under a starry sky. Giant willow trees loomed all around him.
He was watching some gravediggers at work. They heard shovels and saw dirt flying out of a hole. Nico was dressed in a black cloak. The night was foggy. It was warm and humid, and frogs were croaking. A large Wal-Mart bag sat next to Nico's feet.
"Is it deep enough yet?" Nico asked. He sounded irritated.
"Nearly, my lord." It was the same ghost they'd seen Nico with before, the faint shimmering image of a man. "But, my lord, I tell you, this is unnecessary. You already have me for advice."
"I want a second opinion!" Nico snapped his fingers, and the digging stopped. Two figures climbed out of the hole. They weren't people. They were skeletons in ragged clothes.
"You are dismissed," Nico said. "Thank you."
The skeletons collapsed into piles of bones.
"You might as well thank the shovels," the ghost complained. "They have as much sense."
Nico ignored him. He reached into his Wal-Mart bag and pulled out a twelve-pack of Coke. He popped open a can. Instead of drinking it, he poured it into the grave.
"Let the dead taste again," he murmured. "Let them rise and take this offering. Let them remember."
He dropped the rest of the Cokes into the grave and pulled out a whitepaper bag decorated with cartoons. She hadn't seen one in years, but Noelle recognized it—a McDonald's Happy Meal.
He turned it upside down and shook the fries and hamburger into the grave.
"In my day, we used animal blood," the ghost mumbled. "It's perfectly good enough. They can't taste the difference."
"I will treat them with respect," Nico said.
"At least let me keep the toy," the ghost said.
"Be quiet!" Nico ordered. He emptied another twelve-pack of soda and three more Happy Meals into the grave, then began chanting in Ancient Greek. They only caught some of the words—a lot about the dead and memories and returning from the grave. Real happy stuff.
The grave started to bubble. Frothy brown liquid rose to the top like the whole thing was filling with soda. The fog thickened. The frogs stopped croaking. Dozens of figures began to appear among the gravestones: bluish, vaguely human shapes. Nico had summoned the dead with Coke and cheeseburgers.
"There are too many," the ghost said nervously. "You don't know your own powers."
"I've got it under control," Nico said, though his voice sounded fragile. He drew his sword—a short blade made of solid black metal. The couple had never seen anything like it. It wasn't celestial bronze or steel. Iron, maybe? The crowd of shades retreated at the sight of it.
"One at a time," Nico commanded.
A single figure floated forward and knelt at the pool.
It made slurping sounds as it drank. Its ghostly hands scooped french fries out of the pool. When it stood again, they could see it much more clearly—a teenage guy in Greek armor. He had curly hair and green eyes, a clasp shaped like a seashell on his cloak.
"Who are you?" Nico said. "Speak."
The young man frowned as if trying to remember. Then he spoke in a voice like dry, crumpling paper: "I am Theseus."
No way, Percy thought. This couldn't be the Theseus. He was just a kid. Percy had grown up hearing stories about him fighting the Minotaur and stuff, but he'd always pictured him as this huge, buff guy. The ghost they was looking at wasn't strong or tall. And he wasn't any older than they were.
"How can I retrieve my sister?" Nico asked.
Theseus's eyes were lifeless as glass. "Do not try. It is madness."
"Just tell me!"
"My stepfather died," Theseus remembered. "He threw himself into the sea because he thought I was dead in the Labyrinth. I wanted to bring him back, but I could not."
Nico's ghost hissed, "My lord, the soul exchange! Ask him about that!"
Theseus scowled. "That voice. I know that voice."
"No you don't, fool!" the ghost said. "Answer the lord's questions and nothing more!"
"I know you," Theseus insisted, as if struggling to recall.
"I want to hear about my sister," Nico said. "Will this quest into the Labyrinth help me win her back?"
Theseus was looking for the ghost, but apparently couldn't see him. Slowly he turned his eyes back on Nico. "The Labyrinth is treacherous. There is only one thing that saw me through: the love of a mortal girl. The string was only part of the answer. It was the princess who guided me."
"We don't need any of that," the ghost said. "I will guide you, my lord. Ask him if it is true about an exchange of souls. He will tell you."
"A soul for a soul," Nico asked. "Is it true?"
"I—I must say yes. But the specter—"
"Just answer the questions, knave!" the ghost said.
Suddenly, around the edges of the pool, the other ghosts became restless. They stirred, whispering in nervous tones.
"I want to see my sister!" Nico demanded. "Where is she?"
"He is coming," Theseus said fearfully. "He has sensed your summons. He comes."
"Who?" Nico demanded.
"He comes to find the source of this power," Theseus said. "You must release us!"
The water in the fountain began to tremble, humming with power. Percy realized the whole cabin was shaking. The noise grew louder. The image of Nico in the graveyard started to glow until it was painful to watch, but Noelle couldn't look away, worried about the young boy.
"Stop," Percy said out loud. "Stop it!"
The fountain began to crack. Tyson muttered in his sleep and turned over. Purple light threw horrible, ghostly shadows on the cabin walls, as if the specters were escaping right out of the fountain.
In desperation Percy uncapped Riptide, pushed Noelle out of the way, and slashed at the fountain, cleaving it in two. Salt water spilled everywhere, and the great stone font crashed to the floor in pieces. Tyson snorted and muttered, but he kept sleeping.
"No!" Noelle cried. "Why did you do that?"
Percy turned to see the broken look on her face, her tear-filled eyes trained on the now broken fountain.
"I-I got scared," Percy said, dropping Riptide. "I'm sorry."
Noelle's flitted to his face, the anger inside her subsiding at the fear in his features. She stepped forward and hugged his shivering form, guiding them to the ground. "It's okay."
Tyson found them therein the morning, still embracing in front of the shattered remains of the saltwater fountain.
~
Just after dawn, the quest group met at Zeus's Fist. They'd packed their knapsacks—thermos with nectar, baggie of ambrosia, bedroll, rope, clothes, flashlights, and lots of extra batteries. Noelle had her hair clip tucked into her brunette locks. The hunting knife her mother had gifted her was tucked safely into her sheath.
It was a clear morning. The fog had burned off and the sky was blue. Campers would be having their lessons today, flying pegasi and practicing archery and scaling the lava wall. Meanwhile, they would be heading underground.
Juniper and Grover stood apart from the group. Juniper had been crying again, but she was trying to keep it together for Grover's sake. She kept fussing with his clothes, straightening his rasta cap and brushing goat fur off his shirt. Since they had no idea what they would encounter, he was dressed as a human, with the cap to hide his horns, and jeans, fake feet, and sneakers to hide his goat legs.
Chiron, Quintus, and Mrs. O'Leary stood with the other campers who'd come to wish them well, but there was too much activity for it to feel like a happy send-off. A couple of tents had been set up by the rocks for guard duty. Beckendorf and his siblings were working on a line of defensive spikes and trenches. Chiron had decided they needed to guard the Labyrinth exit at all times, just in case.
Annabeth was doing one last check on her supply pack. When Tyson, Noelle, and Percy came over, she frowned. "You two look terrible."
"They killed the water fountain last night," Tyson confided.
"What?" she asked.
Before they could explain, Chiron trotted over. "Well, it appears you are ready!"
He tried to sound upbeat, but they could tell he was anxious. Percy didn't want to freak him out any more, but he thought about last night's dream, and before he could change his mind, he said, "Hey, uh, Chiron, can I ask you a favor while I'm gone?"
"Of course, my boy."
"Be right back, guys." Percy nodded toward the woods. Chiron raised an eyebrow, but he followed him out of earshot.
"What's that about?" Annabeth asked.
"He had a dream. Probably something to do with that." Noelle shrugged. "He hasn't told me what it was about yet."
"Does that have anything to do with him killing the water fountain?"
Noelle sighed. "No, that's more of a Nico issue."
"Another Iris-message?" Annabeth asked.
"Something like that."
Noelle didn't say much more, not really wanting to talk about it. Her friends understood by now that Nico was a sore subject.
After a few more moments of silence, Noelle spoke again, "I'm gonna go get Percy and we'll meet you by the entrance."
Annabeth nodded and her and Tyson walked towards Zeus's Fist while Noelle trudge toward Chiron and Percy.
"Percy, you ready?"
He nodded. His hand slipped into his pocket, where he kept the ice whistle Quintus had given me. Percy looked over and saw Quintus watching him carefully. He raised his hand in farewell.
Our spies report success, Luke had said. The same day we decided to send a quest, Luke had known about it. "Take care," Chiron told them. "And good hunting."
"You too," Percy said. They walked over to the rocks, where Tyson, Annabeth, and Grover were waiting. They stared at the crack between the boulders— the entrance that was about to swallow them.
"Well," Grover said nervously, "good-bye sunshine."
"Hello rocks," Tyson agreed. And together, the five of them descended into darkness.