SEN
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That night after dinner, Quintus had everyone suit up in combat armor like they were getting ready for capture the flag, but the mood among the campers was a lot more serious. Sometime during the day the crates in the arena had disappeared, and Sen had a feeling whatever was in them had been emptied into the woods.
"Right." Quintus said, standing on the big table. "Gather 'round."
He was dressed in black leather and bronze. In the torchlight, his gray hair made him look like a ghost. Mrs. O'Leary bounded happily around him, foraging for dinner scraps. Rafael was, too, though he also had a chew toy and seemed to be trying to get Mrs. O'leary to play with him.
"You will be in teams of two." Quintus announced. When everybody started talking and trying to grab their friends, he yelled: "Which have already been chosen!"
"AWWWWW!" Everybody complained.
Sen looked down. She hoped she wasn't with someone she didn't like, such as Sugar Kline, or Mark.
She glanced around. She hoped the got partnered up with Percy. He glanced at her and smiled, and Sen smiled back before looking away.
EW! WHY ARE YOU BLUSHING?!
"Your goal is simple: collect the gold laurels without dying. The wreath is wrapped in a silk package, tied to the back of one of the monsters. There are six monsters. Each has a silk package. Only one holds the laurels. You must find the wreath before the other teams. And, of course... you will have to slay the monster to get it, and stay alive."
The crowd started murmuring excitedly. The task sounded pretty straightforward. Hey, they'd all slain monsters before. That's what they trained for.
"I will now announce your partners." Quintus said. "There will be no trading. No switching. No complaining."
"Aroooof!" Mrs. O'Leary and Rafael began playing a very intense game of wrestle.
Quintus produced a big scroll and started reading off names. Beckendorf would be with Silena Beauregard, which Beckendorf looked pretty happy about. The Stoll brothers, Travis and Connor, would be together. No surprise. They did everything together. Clarisse was with Lee Fletcher from the Apollo cabin- melee and ranged combat combined, they would be a tough combo to beat. Sen was already thinking of their weaknesses when Quintus announced, "Percy Jackson with Sen Hoa."
Sen pumped her fist as Percy said, "Sweet!"
She walked over to him, and gave him a high-five. Last time they'd done a war game together, they accidentally ended up tag-teaming Thalia. As Sen started fixing the straps of Percy's armor, several campers started whispering about how hard it'd be to beat them.
"We're unstoppable." Percy grinned.
"Hell yeah." Sen gleamed.
"Annabeth Chase with Malcolm Pace. Grover Underwood," Quintus said. "with Tyson."
Grover just about jumped out of his goat fur. "What? B-but-"
"No, no." Tyson whimpered. "Must be a mistake. Goat boy-"
"No complaining!" Quintus ordered. "Get with your partner. You have two minutes to prepare!"
Tyson and Grover both looked at Sen and Percy pleadingly. They tried to give them an encouraging nod, and gestured that they should move together. Tyson sneezed. Grover started chewing nervously on his wooden club.
Percy sighed, and Sen put a hand on his shoulder. "C'mon. They'll be okay. We need to figure out how to destroy Annabeth."
"Fuck you guys." Annabeth remarked as she walked past with her brother, Malcolm.
Sen rolled her eyes and looked up at Percy. "See? We gotta destroy her."
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It was still light when Sen and Percy got into the woods, but the shadows from the trees made it feel like midnight. It was cold, too, even in summer. Percy and Sen found tracks almost immediately- scuttling marks made by something with a lot of legs. They began to follow the trail.
They jumped a creek and heard some twigs snapping nearby. The demigods crouched behind a boulder, but it was only the Stoll brothers tripping through the woods and cursing. Their dad was the god of thieves, but they were about as stealthy as buffaloes.
"Ugh, stop being such a dumbass and learn how tree roots work, Travis!"
SLAP!
"Fuck you, Connor! You didn't even know what poison ivy looked like!"
SLAP!
Once the Stolls had passed, Sen and Percy forged deeper into the west woods where the monsters were wilder. They were standing on a ledge overlooking a marshy pond when Percy tensed. "This is where we stopped looking."
It took Sen a second to realize what he meant. Last winter, when they'd given up hope of finding him, Grover, Annabeth, Sen, and Percy had stood on this rock, and Percy and Sen convinced them not to tell Chiron the truth: that Nico was a son of Hades. At the time it seemed the right thing to do. They wanted to protect his identity. They wanted to be the one to find him and make things right for what had happened to his sister. Now, six months later, the others hadn't even come close to finding him.
But Sen had. She'd been writing him letters all along, sending him money and trinkets, making sure he was surviving, even visiting him. She felt terrible for keeping that from her best friends, but she felt like it was necessary.
She only hoped Percy didn't ask what she knew while she was still cursed.
"I saw him last night." Percy blurted out.
Sen felt a chill run down her spine. "Wh-What?"
Percy told her about the Iris-message. Sen had to look away, terrified of what it meant. "He's- He's summoning the dead?"
"Yeah." Percy nodded.
"That isn't good, Percy."
"The ghost was giving him bad advice." Percy said. "Telling him to take revenge."
"Yeah... spirits are never good advisers, since they've got their own agendas. Old grudges. And they resent the living." Sen explained.
"He's going to come after me." Percy said. "The spirit mentioned a maze."
Sen barely held herself together. "Mayb- Maybe not, Percy. I mean... I made a promise to him, too, didn't I?"
"Yeah." Percy gulped. "Except he considered asking you for help."
Sen stared at him. "What?"
"I think because you guys were so much closer." Percy said. "He said he wanted to ask you for help."
Sen shook her head. "No. That..." She stopped herself. "Whatever. But now, we have to figure out the Labyrinth."
"Maybe." Percy said. He shifted uncomfortably. "But who sent the Iris-message? If Nico didn't know I was there-"
A branch snapped in the woods. Dry leaves rustled. Something large was moving in the trees, just beyond the ridge. Sen and Percy dropped down.
"That's not the Stoll's." Sen whispered.
Percy drew his sword. Sen drew her fans. With a single nod, they rose, and marched deeper into the woods.
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They got to Zeus's Fist. It was a natural landmark where campers often rendezvoused on hunting expeditions (or to secretly make out/hook up), but now there was nobody around.
"Over there." Sen whispered.
"No, behind us." Percy replied.
It was weird. Scuttling noises seemed to be coming from several different directions. The demigods were circling the boulders, their weapons drawn, when someone right behind them said, "Hi."
The demigods whirled around, and the tree nymph Juniper yelped.
"Put those down!" She protested. "Dryads don't like sharp blades, okay?"
"Juniper." Sen exhaled, placing a hand on her armored chest. "What are you doing here?"
"I live here."
Percy lowered his sword and squinted. "In the boulders?"
She pointed toward the edge of the clearing. "In the juniper. Duh."
Percy went red and looked down like he was embarrassed.
"Are you guys busy?" Juniper asked.
"Well," Percy said. "we're in the middle of this game against a bunch of monsters and we're trying not to die."
"We're not busy." Sen said as she sent a dirty look to Percy. "Juniper, is everything alright? Do you need me to bring you some more compost?"
Junper sniffled and shook her head. She wiped her silky sleeve under her eyes. "It's Grover. He seems so distraught. All year he's been out looking for Pan. And every time he comes back, its worse. I thought maybe, at first, he was seeing another tree."
"Absolutely not." Sen said as she put an arm around Juniper. "He would never do that."
"He had a crush on a blueberry bush once." Juniper said miserably.
"Juniper," Sen said softly. "Grover would never even look at another tree. He's just stressed out about his searcher's license."
"He can't go underground!" Juniper protested. "You can't let him."
Sen looked down. "Juniper, it might be the only way. We just don't know where to start."
"Ah." Juniper wiped a green tear off her cheek. "About that..."
Another rustle in the woods, and Juniper yelled, "Hide!"
Before the demigods could ask why, she went poof into green mist.
Sen and Percy turned. Coming out of the woods was a glistening amber insect, ten feet long, with jagged pincers, an armored tail, and a stinger as long as my sword. A scorpion. Tied to its back was a red silk package.
"Oh shit." Sen breathed. She couldn't attack this thing head-on. However fast she was, the scorpion would be faster. And that venom was deadly. "One of us gets behind it." Sen said, as the thing clattered toward her and Percy. "Cuts off its tail while the other distracts it in front."
"I'll take the point." Percy offered, his eyes trained on the monster. "You can go invisible."
Sen nodded. They'd fought together so many times, they knew each other's moves. They knew what the other would do before it even happened. Sen knew they could take it down. But it all went wrong when the other two scorpions appeared from the woods
"Three?" Sen said. "That's not possible! The whole woods, and half the monsters come at us?"
The scorpions scurried toward the demigods, whipping their barbed tails like they'd come here just to kill Sen and Percy in particular. They put their backs against the nearest boulder.
"Climb?" Percy said.
"No time!" The scorpions were already surrounding them. The monsters were so close, Sen could see their hideous mouths foaming, anticipating an ice juicy meal of demigods.
"Look out!" Sen parried away a stinger with the flat of her fan. Percy stabbed with Riptide, but the scorpion backed out of range. The demigods clambered sideways along the boulders, but the scorpions followed them. Sen slashed at another one, but going on the offensive was too dangerous. If she went for the body, the tail stabbed downward. If she went for the tail, the thing's pincers came from either side and tried to grab her. All they could do was defend, and they wouldn't be able to keep that up for very long.
Sen was considering her options. She could fly up with Percy, but that might take too long. This kind of scorpion could jump like no other. If her ankle got caught in it's pincers or teeth, she'd be done for, and Percy too. She was just about to try and take off when Percy said, "In here."
Sen sliced a scorpion, then looked back. Percy was gesturing to a tiny little crack in Zeus's Fist. "Are you crazy? That's way too narrow!"
"I'll cover you." Percy vowed, his expression steely and determined. "Go!"
Sen didn't want to argue with him. She slid her way through the boulders, but the very ground beneath her opened up. She yelped as she began to fall through, and clawed around. Her hand wrapped around Percy's armor strap as she began to fall, and he came with her.
Sen fell onto stone flooring, and Percy landed on top of her. Sen groaned at the feeling. She heard a sound like sand being poured into a hole, and darkness encased the room.
"Sen!" Percy scrambled off of her and lifted her up. Their breathing echoed against stone. It was wet and cold, almost like a dungeon.
But Sen didn't care. Her chest started closing in as she realized where she was. Percy grabbed Riptide, and used the faint bronze light of the blade to light up the area. Sen stared at his eyes, which were filled with concern.
"Where are we?" Sen said softly, trying not to show her fear.
"Safe from the scorpions, anyway." Percy gulped. The crack between the boulders couldn't have led into a cave. Sen would've known if there was a cave here; she was sure of it. It was like the ground had opened up and swallowed her. All she could think of was the shadow-like memory of the ground in front of Clarisse suddenly opening into a brick hallway.
Percy stood up, though he held Sen's arm as he used his sword like a flashlight. "It's a long room..." He murmured.
Sen gripped his arm and shook her head. "No. It's a corridor."
The darkness felt... emptier in front of her. There was a warm breeze, like in subway tunnels, only it felt older, more dangerous somehow. It carried the scent of evil and death, curling around Sen's head in an inviting manner, like it wanted nothing more than to lure her into a trap and rip her apart. She could imagine her blood splattering the stone tiles, and a monster laughing at the fun of it all.
Percy stepped forward, but Sen pulled him back. "No, Percy. Don't take another step." She warned. "We need to find the exit."
She was trying not to do it, but it didn't matter. Her voice trembled. She was shaking, terrified.
Percy looked at her. "Sen, it's okay." He said calmly, though his eyes were abuzz with fear. "It's right-"
He looked up, and seemed to realize that the entrance they'd used had come shut. The ceiling was solid stone. The corridor seemed to stretch endlessly in both directions. All Sen could sense were monsters.
Her hand slipped into Percy's. She didn't have time to focus on her awkward feelings about him. Terror plunged her body as she heard the familiar cackle of Eris in her skull. She pressed closer to Percy, desperately needing a reminder that he wasn't gone.
She remembered what her and Annabeth had talked about. Weeks ago, they'd stayed up until nearly sunrise cracking down on everything they knew about the Labyrinth. Chiron even let them use an entire room in the big house for mapping, for study boards, for sketches. They'd been in there all day, using every bit of information from centuries worth of existence to understand as much as they could.
Sen gulped. "Two steps back."
Percy and Sen stepped backward together like they were in a minefield.
"Okay." Sen breathed, glad for being a good friend and not tuning Annabeth out. "Now, help me examine the walls."
"Why?" Percy asked as Sen used her free hand to run her fingers along the walls.
"The mark of Daedalus." Sen said softly.
"Uh, what-"
"Got it!" Sen said with relief. She set her hand on the wall and pressed against a tiny fissure, which began to glow blue. A Greek symbol appeared: ∆, the Ancient Greek Delta.
The roof slid open and Sen saw the night sky, stars blazing. It was a lot darker than it should've been. Metal ladder rungs appeared in the side of the wall, leading up, and Sen could hear people yelling her and Percy's names.
"Percy! Annabeth!" Tyson's voice bellowed the loudest, but others were calling out too.
Sen looked at Percy. Slowly, he guided her to the ladder. She didn't know how he was being so calm, but she was grateful for it. She'd managed to hold off the impending panic attack the entire time. As Sen began to climb, she heard the voices growing louder and louder.
Her foot slipped on a rung. She nearly dropped back down, but yet again, Percy Jackson came to the rescue in the worst way possible.
His face turned red. "Oh gods- I didn't- This- Not agai- I really-"
Sen's face burned red, too, and she didn't even know why. "No, it's- Like, I don- It does-" She shook her head. "Dammit, let's just go."
"Yeah, cool."
The demigods made their way around the rocks and ran into Clarisse and a bunch of other campers carrying torches.
"Where have you been?" Clarisse demanded. "We've been looking forever."
"But, we've only been gone for a few minutes." Percy said.
Chiron trotted up, followed by Tyson and Grover.
"Percy!" Tyson said. "You are okay?"
"We're fine." Percy nodded. "We fell in a hole."
Everyone looked at Sen, then at Percy, then at Sen. They raised their eyebrows skeptically, and just at scanning a few minds, Sen frowned.
"Honest!" Percy said, though he was blushing. "There were three scorpions after us, so we ran and hid in the rocks. But we were only gone a minute."
In the distance, Travis and Connor were making kissy faces.
But she didn't care. She was still terrified at what she discovered. Her entire body started shaking again at what it meant, and everyone stared at her, concerned.
"You've been missing for almost an hour." Chiron said. "The game is over."
"Yeah." Grover muttered. "We would've won, but a Cyclops sat on me."
"Was an accident!" Tyson protested, then he sneezed.
Clarisse was wearing the gold laurels, but she didn't even brag about winning them, which wasn't like her. "A hole?" She said suspiciously.
Sen nodded, confirming their shared thoughts. She still felt terrified. All she could think about was that bloody pool Clarisse had to swim in to escape Sen. She felt disgusted- both with herself, and what might be in the Labyrinth. She remembered the incident in Philadelphia and she wanted to puke. "We- We need to talk."
Annabeth shot forward and gasped. "You found it, didn't you?"
Sen nodded. "Yeah, we- We did. But, but it-"
A bunch of campers started asking questions, looking about as confused as Percy did (he kept asking Sen what she meant), but Chiron raised his hand for silence. "Tonight is not the right time, and this is not the right place." He stared at boulders as if he'd just noticed how dangerous they were. "All of you, back to your cabins. Get some sleep. A game well played, but curfew is past!"
There was a lot of mumbling and complaints, but the campers drifted off, talking among themselves and giving Sen and Percy suspicious looks. Sen wanted to scream, WE DID NOT HOOK UP IN THE WOODS! WE FOUND THE MOST DANGEROUS THREAT EVER!
But she didn't think that'd make her look very good.
"This makes a lot of sense." Clarisse said, sticking around.
"We know what Luke was after." Annabeth murmured.
"Wait a second." Percy said. He took Sen's shoulders and steered her to look at him. "What? What did we find?"
Sen gulped. "An entrance to the Labyrinth. An invasion route straight into the heart of the camp."
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sen and percy: we fell in a hole where time flows differently!
all of chb: yall some sluts