(A/N: Thank you guys for 5000 reads! And this is the first chapter of the Battle of the Labyrinth. Hope you enjoy. XxD)
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"Whoa! Someone's eager to see me if you're out early," Cressida laughed as Percy ran into her on East 81st Street, near the school where Percy was having his orientation. It was the first day of summer break and Percy had promised Cressida a whole day of normal teenage things after his orientation at his mom's boyfriend's school. "Watch where you're going, Fish Face."
And for a second, she was happy and in a good mood and it was all because she saw him. She was in casual clothes for once which was interesting because a camp t-shirt was her uniform unless she was on a quest. She was dressed in dark purple leggings with black combat boots and a cropped t-shirt with a band stamped on it - Green Day, a gift from Thalia to the only person with musical taste. Her raven hair was out and flowing in the wind, her grey streaked hair on display along with her clay bead camp necklace and her charm bracelet. Her indigo eyes were his favourite though, the way they sparkled with excitement in the sunlight. She looked amazing. Despite the photos she sent him constantly, she looked even better in person as he saw the changes in her from last year.
And then Rachel Elizabeth Dare came charging out of the alley, covered in monster dust as she yelled, "Percy, wait up!"
And as fast as Cressida's smile was there, it vanished. First, it was because of all the reasons her brain came up with why Percy was in that alley with that girl, but then she saw the burning school, only now registering the black smoke and the ringing fire alarms.
She seemed frustrated as she put her hands on her hips and fixed her eyes on him. "Really, Barnacle Butt? Today of all days?! What the hell did you do now? And who in Hades is this?"
"Oh, Rachel - Cressida. Cressida - Rachel. Um, she's a friend. I guess."
Percy wasn't sure what else to call Rachel - a girl he barely knew, but apparently, it was the wrong answer because he saw Cressida's eyes darken but her face remained blank.
"Hi," Rachel said before she turned to Percy. "You are in so much trouble. And you still ow me an explanation!"
Police sirens wailed on FDR Drive as Cressida crossed her hands over her chest.
"Oh, he's going to be in trouble alright."
"I want to know more about half-bloods," Rachel insisted. "And monsters. And this stuff about the gods," the redhead insisted before she grabbed Percy's hand and wrote a series of numbers on his palm with a permanent marker. "You're going to call me and explain, okay? You owe me that. Now get going."
"But -"
"'I'll make up some story,' Rachel said. "I'll tell them it wasn't your fault. Just go!"
She ran back towards the school, leaving Cressida and Percy in the street. And the daughter of Dionysus just stared at her friend for a second before she whirled and took off.
"Hey!" Percy called as he jogged after her. "There were these two empousai," he tried to explain. "They were cheerleaders, see, and they said camp was going to burn, and –"
"You told a mortal girl about half-bloods?!" she spat as they walked, Percy trying to keep up with her hurried pace.
"She can see through the Mist. She saw the monsters before I did."
"So you told her the truth."
"She recognized me from Hoover Dam, so –"
"What?!"
Oh, he'd screwed up. Something he realised long before she cut him off and long before he crashed into her back as she stopped walking and long before she turned to glare at him. He realised it the minute the words came out of his mouth.
And even though he'd only just realised that he was now a few inches taller than her, it definitely didn't feel like it, especially when her purple eyes pinned him down.
"You met her before?"
"Um, last winter. But seriously, I barely know her," he insisted, and Cressida raised a brow.
"She's kind of cute."
"I-I never thought about it."
"But you still found a reason not to tell me about her? I thought we tell each other everything?"
"We do!"
"Ok, then tell me this. Did Rachel have anything to do with this?" she asked as she held up her bracelet to reveal the Hoover Dam charm he gave her at the end of last winter and Percy cringed, unable to lie anymore.
"Maybe a little."
"A little?!"
And Cressida kept walking towards York Avenue.
"Why are you so angry about Rachel?" Percy asked as he chased after her again.
"I don't give a damn about her - pun not intended- what I give a damn about is the fact that I have abandonment and trust issues and one of my best friends is lying to me."
"I didn't lie! I just didn't tell you about her. It didn't seem important," Percy tried to reason but he was fighting a losing battle as they weaved through the crowd on the sidewalk.
"Oh. My. Gods," she breathed heavily. "Don't even try and play that card, Percy Jackass! How on earth is a mortal who you spilled all our secrets to, not important?!"
"I'll fix it," he promised, desperate for her to even look at him but it wasn't happening. "I'll deal with the school. Honest, it'll be fine."
"So much for a normal teenage afternoon. Try a normal demigod afternoon," she sighed, mostly talking to herself. "We should get to camp. The police will be looking for you... again."
"You're right," he said, his heart sinking at the memory of the threat Kelli had made and Cressida raised a brow, wondering if agreeing with her was a ploy to try and get her to forgive him. "We have to get to Camp Half-Blood. Now."
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Percy didn't hear a word out of Cressida the entire taxi ride back to camp, a trip paid for by a magical Olympus Express card her father gave her if she insisted to go out in the mortal world. And when Cressida had made herself comfortable inside the taxi, she put the card back into her combat boot and pulled out her iPod from the other boot, sticking the headphones in a clear message that she didn't want to talk.
All Percy knew about her year was that she spent it at Camp. Their letters mostly consisted of what he was doing, or things about her, it was only now that he realised how little he knew about what she did this year.
"Any word on Luke?" he asked after a time, knowing that even though she had music on, she had to have it soft enough to listen for any potential threats.
"Nothing good," she said abruptly. "Books said Mount Tam is overrun with monsters. He's not there though."
The vagueness of her answer made him even more uneasy. "What about Grover?"
"He's been at camp for a while. You'll see him today. Books should already be there."
"Did he have any luck? I mean, with the search for Pan?"
Cressida rolled her eyes as she slouched in her seat and turned up her volume. "You'll see."
Oh, he liked that answer even less.
Percy then used the cab driver's phone to call his mom, promising an extra tip for the favour. She didn't answer but he left a message on his home voicemail, though Cressida didn't think a voicemail could account for all the damage she'd seen.
When the driver stopped at Farm Road 3.141 at the base of Half-Blood Hill, he frowned. "There ain't nothing here, miss. You sure you want out?"
"Definitely," Cressida said as she reached over to the counter and added an extra hundred dollars to the charge on the magic card she had. "Enjoy the tip," she smirked before climbing out of the cab and Percy followed after her as they hiked the crest of the hill.
"Hi Peleus," Cressida greeted as the scratched the dragon's chin, steam hissing out of his nostrils as his eyes became cross-eyed with pleasure. "I assume you're keeping everything as safe as when I left?"
Percy was surprised at how big the dragon had gotten since he'd seen him last winter. He was even more surprised that the dragon seemed to be talking to her.
"She's anxious already, huh?"
More steam.
"Alright," she sighed as she kissed the dragon's forehead. "Guess I should go see Clarisse, hmm?"
"What for? And since when are you two friends?" Percy asked and again, he'd said the wrong thing because Cressida's dark eyes lifted up to him as her lips were set in a hard line.
"I could ask you the same thing about Rachel, but I doubt I'd get an honest answer out of you."
And she pushed past him as she began walking down the hill.
"Cress-"
"I'll tell Chiron you're here. He and Annie will probably want to talk to you before the hearing."
"What hearing?"
"Once again, you've been away too long," she returned before jogging down the path towards the archery field without looking back.
"Yeah," Percy muttered to no one. "Great talking with you too."