When they reached Geryon's ranch, he ordered them to step onto the porch.
"Eurytion," he said lazily. "Tie the hostages up."
Eurytion sighed boredly, a look of sympathy crossed him as his eyes met Lilia's.
Their wrists and ankles were bound and they were left to sit on the porch.
"Well this is turning out to be a brilliant day." Lilia quipped to the others, who didn't seem to appreciate her comment at that moment.
Annabeth gave her an annoyed look, Nico rolled his eyes and Grover looked around anxiously. Tyson seemed to be in his own work watching a butterfly.
"Silence demigods, I'm trying to cook." He said gesturing to the barbecue. He was wearing a KISS THE CHEF apron, which he must of put on while they were being kidnapped.
"Percy better have a good plan." She grumbled to herself, trying to swing her legs, but finding very difficult.
"Didn't I tell you to shut up?" Geryon said with a look of annoyance.
"Well maybe I'd be a bit nicer if you weren't holding us hostage?" Lilia said glaring him down.
He waved his hands in a shushhh motion, "Eurytion, gag them, she is getting on my nerves!" He said pointing a spatula at her accusingly.
Eurytion, who looked as though he was trying to nap, rolled his eyes. He got up and gagged them all. Annabeth grumbled something at Lilia, she wasn't quite sure what she said, but it sounded insulting.
➳
After what felt like hours, Lilia saw Percy running toward them.
"Let them go!" Percy yelled, out of breath from running up the steps. "I cleaned the stables!"
Geryon turned. "Did you, now? How'd you manage it?"
Percy told him the entire story of how the naiad had assisted him. He spoke quickly and sounded quite impatient.
He nodded appreciatively. "Very ingenious. It would've been better if you'd poisoned that pesky naiad, but no matter."
"Let my friends go," Percy said. "We had a deal."
"Ah, I've been thinking about that. The problem is, if I let them go, I don't get paid."
"You promised!"
Geryon made a tsk-tsk noise. "But did you make me swear on the River Styx? No you didn't. So it's not binding. When you're conducting business, sonny, you should always get a binding oath."
Percy drew his sword. Orthus growled. One head leaned down next to Grover's ear and bared its fangs.
"Eurytion," Geryon said, "the boy is starting to annoy me. Kill him." Eurytion studied him. Lilia trusted Percy, but she didn't like his odds against him and that huge club.
"Kill him yourself," Eurytion said.
Geryon raised his eyebrows. "Excuse me?"
"You heard me," Eurytion grumbled. "You keep sending me out to do your dirty work. You pick fights for no good reason, and I'm getting tired of dying for you. You want to fight the kid, do it yourself."
It was the most un-Ares like thing Lilia had ever heard a son of Ares say.
Geryon threw down his spatula. "You dare defy me? I should fire you right now!"
"And who'd take care of your cattle? Orthus, heel."
The dog immediately stopped growling at Grover and came to sit by the cowherd's feet.
"Fine!" Geryon snarled. "I'll deal with you later, after the boy is dead!" He picked up two carving knives and threw them at Percy. He deflected one with his sword. The other impaled itself in the picnic table an inch from Eurytion's hand.
Percy went on the attack. Geryon parried his first strike with a pair of red-hot tongs and lunged at his face with a barbecue fork. Percy got inside his next thrust and stabbed him right through the middle chest.
"Aghhh!" He crumpled to his knees. They waited for him to disintegrate, the way monsters usually do. But instead he just grimaced and started to stand up. The wound in his chef's apron started to heal.
"Nice try, sonny," he said. "Thing is, I have three hearts. The perfect backup system."
He tipped over the barbecue, and coals spilled everywhere. One landed next to Annabeth's face, and she let out a muffled scream. Tyson strained against his bonds, but even his strength wasn't enough to break them.
He jabbed Geryon in the left chest, but he only laughed. Percy stuck him in the right stomach. No good. He might as well have been sticking a sword in a teddy bear for all the reaction he showed.
Three hearts. The perfect backup system. Stabbing one at a time was no good... Percy ran into the house.
"Coward!" he cried. "Come back and die right!"
Lilia heard muffled movements, things getting thrown around, from inside the house.
"Your head's gonna go right there, Jackson! Next to the grizzly bear!"
Geryon's laugh was muffled. "You fool! One arrow is no better than one sword."
THUMP, THUMP, THUMP,
"You can't shoot. They told me you couldn't..."
They sat waiting, the house went quiet, then Percy ran back out a slight grin on his face. He untied them all, then went over to the barbecue and threw some food in.
"Thanks guys, I owe you one." He looked up at the sky as lightning grumbled in the distance.
"Yay for Percy!" Tyson said.
"Can we tie up the cowherd now?" Nico asked rubbing his wrists where they'd been tied.
Lilia looked over at Eurytion, who was still sat relaxed, he wasn't going to stop them.
"How long will it take Geryon to re-form?" Percy asked.
"Hundred years? He's not one of those fast re-formers. Thank the Gods, you've done me a favour."
"You said you'd died for him before," Lilia remembered. "How?"
"I've worked for that creep for thousands of years. Started as a regular half-blood, but I chose immortality when my dad offered it. Worst mistake I ever made. Now I'm stuck here at this ranch. I can't leave. I can't quit. I just tend the cows and fight Geryon's fights. We're kinda tied together."
"Maybe you can change things," she said.
Eurytion narrowed his eyes. "How?"
"Be nice to the animals. Take care of them. Stop selling them for food. And stop dealing with the Titans."
Eurytion thought about that. "That'd be all right."
"Get the animals on your side, and they'll help you. Once Geryon gets back, maybe he'll be working for you this time." She shrugged.
Eurytion grinned. "Now, that I could live with."
"You won't try to stop us leaving?" Percy asked sceptically
"Shoot, no."
Annabeth rubbed her bruised wrists. She was still looking at Eurytion suspiciously. "Your boss said somebody paid for our safe passage. Who?"
The cowherd shrugged. "Maybe he was just saying that to fool you."
"What about the Titans?" Percy asked. "Did you Iris-message them about Nico yet?"
"Nope. Geryon was waiting until after the barbecue. They don't know about him."
Nico was glaring at him. Lilia doubted he would agree to come with them. But on the other hand, she knew Percy would never just let him roam around on his own.
"You could stay here until we're done with our quest," Percy told him. "It would be safe."
"Safe?" Nico said. "What do you care if I'm safe? You got my sister killed!"
"Nico," Lilia said, "that wasn't Percy's fault. And Geryon wasn't lying about Kronos wanting to capture you. If he knew who you were, he'd do anything to get you on his side."
"I'm not on anyone's side. And I'm not afraid." Nico grumbled.
"You should be," Annabeth said. "Your sister wouldn't want—"
"If you cared for my sister, you'd help me bring her back!"
"A soul for a soul?" Percy said.
"But if you didn't want my soul—"
"I'm not explaining anything to you!" He blinked tears out of his eyes. "And I will bring her back."
"Bianca wouldn't want to be brought back," Percy said. "Not like that."
"You didn't know her!" he shouted. "How do you know what she'd want?"
"Let's ask Bianca." Lilia gave him a wary look, but he just stared back with determination, giving her a reassuring look.
The sky seemed to grow darker all of a sudden.
"I've tried," Nico said miserably. "She won't answer."
"Try again. I've got a feeling she'll answer with me here."
"Why would she?"
"Because she's been sending me Iris-messages," he said, a sure look of realisation on his face.
"She's been trying to warn me what you're up to, so I can protect you."
Nico shook his head. "That's impossible."
"One way to find out. You said you're not afraid." He turned to Eurytion.
"We're going to need a pit, like a grave. And food and drinks."
"Percy," Annabeth warned. "I don't think this is a good"
"All right," Nico said. "I'll try?"
Eurytion scratched his beard. "There's a hole dug out back for a septic tank. We could use that. Cyclops boy, fetch my ice chest from the kitchen. I hope the dead like root beer."
➳
They did the summons after dark, (which Lilia wasn't to happy about), at a twenty-foot-long pit in front of the septic tank. The tank was bright yellow, with a smiley face and red words painted on the side: HAPPY FLUSH DISPOSAL CO. It didn't quite go with the mood of summoning the dead.
The moon was full. Silver clouds drifted across the sky.
"Minos should be here by now," Nico said, frowning. "It's full dark."
"Maybe he got lost," Lilia said hopefully.
Nico poured root beer and tossed barbecue into the pit, then began chanting in Ancient Greek.
Immediately the bugs in the woods stopped chirping. In my pocket, the Stygian ice dog whistle started to grow colder, freezing against the side of my leg.
"Make him stop," Tyson whispered to Percy.
Lilia agreed. This was unnatural. The night air felt cold and menacing. But before she could say anything, the first spirits appeared.
Sulfurous mist seeped out of the ground. Shadows thickened into human forms. One blue shade drifted to the edge of the pit and knelt to drink.
"Stop him!" Nico said, momentarily breaking his chant. "Only Bianca may drink!"
Percy drew Riptide. The ghosts retreated with a collective hiss at the sight of his celestial bronze blade. But it was too late to stop the first spirit. He had already solidified into the shape of a bearded man in white robes. A circlet of gold wreathed his head, and even in death his eyes were alive with malice.
"Minos!" Nico said. "What are you doing?"
"My apologies, master," the ghost said, though he didn't sound very sorry.
"The sacrifice smelled so good, I couldn't resist." He examined his own hands and smiled. "It is good to see myself again. Almost in solid form"
"You are disrupting the ritual!" Nico protested.
"Get—"
The spirits of the dead began shimmering dangerously bright, and Nico had to take up the chant again to keep them at bay.
"Yes, quite right, master," Minos said with amusement. "You keep chanting I've only come to protect you from these liars who would deceive you."
He turned to Percy as if he were some kind of cockroach. "Percy Jackson, my, my. The sons of Poseidon haven't improved over the centuries, have they?" Lilia frowned trying to see what Minos saw when he looked at Percy.
"We're looking for Bianca di Angelo," Percy said. "Get lost."
The ghost chuckled. "I understand you once killed my Minotaur with your bare hands. But worse things await you in the maze. Do you really believe Daedalus will help you?"
The other spirits stirred in agitation. Annabeth drew her knife, Lilia rose whisperer and helped him keep them away from the pit. They seemed intensely cautious of Lilia's imperial gold bow. Grover got so nervous he clung to Tyson's shoulder.
"Daedalus cares nothing for you, half-bloods," Minos warned. "You can't trust him. He is old beyond counting, and crafty. He is bitter from the guilt of murder and is cursed by the gods."
"The guilt of murder?" Percy asked. "Who did he kill?"
"Do not changed the subject!" the ghost growled. "You are hindering Nico. You try to persuade him to give up on his goal. I would make him a lord!"
"Enough, Minos," Nico commanded.
The ghost sneered. "Master, these are your enemies. You must not listen to them! Let me protect you. i will turn their minds to madness, as I did the others."
"The others?" Annabeth gasped. "You mean Chris Rodriguez? That was You?"
"The maze is my property," the ghost said, "not Daedalus's! Those who intrude deserve madness."
"Be gone, Minos!" Nico demanded. "I want to see my sister!"
The ghost bit back his rage. "As you wish, master. But I warn you. You cannot trust these heroes."
With that, he faded into mist.
Other spirits rushed forward, but the three demigods kept them back.
"Bianca, appear!" Nico intoned. He started chanting faster, and the spirits shifted restlessly.
"Any time now," Grover muttered.
Then a silvery light flickered in the trees a spirit that seemed brighter and stronger than the others. It came closer, and something told Lilia to let it
pass. It knelt to drink at the pit. When it arose, it was the ghostly form of Bianca di Angelo.
Nico's chanting faltered. Lilia lowered her bow. The other spirits started to crowd forward, but Bianca raised her arms and they retreated into the woods.
"Hello, Percy, Lili." she said.
She looked the same as she had in life: a green cap set sideways on her thick black hair, dark eyes and olive skin like her brother. She wore jeans and a silvery jacket, the outfit of a Hunter of Artemis. A bow was slung over her shoulder. She smiled faintly, and her whole form flickered.
"Bianca," Percy said. His voice was thick. He'd felt guilty about her death for a long time, Lilia knew she hadn't helped that, she'd blamed him, but seeing her in front of them was five times as bad, like her death was fresh and new. She remembered searching through the wreckage of the giant bronze warrior she'd sacrificed her life to defeat, and not finding any sign of her.
"I'm so sorry," He said.
"You have nothing to apologize for, Percy. I made my own choice. I don't regret it."
"Bianca!" Nico stumbled forward like he was just coming out of a daze.
She turned toward her brother. Her expression was sad, as if she'd been dreading this moment. "Hello, Nico. You've gotten so tall."
"Why didn't you answer me sooner?" he cried. "I've been trying for months!"
"I was hoping you would give up."
"Give up?" He sounded heartbroken. "How can you say that? I'm trying to save you!"
"You can't, Nico. Don't do this. Percy is right."
"No! He let you die! He's not your friend."
Bianca stretched out a hand as if to touch her brother's face, but she was made of mist. Her hand evaporated as it got close to living skin.
"You must listen to me," she said. "Holding a grudge is dangerous for a child of Hades. It is our fatal flaw. You have to forgive. You have to promise me this."
"I can't. Never."
"Percy has been worried about you, Nico. He can help. I let him see what you were up to, hoping he would find you."
"So it was you," Percy said. "You sent those Iris-messages."
Bianca nodded.
"Why are you helping him and not me?" Nico screamed. "It's not fair!"
Lilia stared at him, her heart breaking slightly, she'd almost been fooled by the angry shield he'd built around himself. But now, watching him break down, she remembered he was just a kid.
"You are close to the truth now," Bianca told him. "It's not Percy you're mad at, Nico. It's me."
"No."
"You're mad because I left you to become a Hunter of Artemis. You're mad because I died and left you alone. I'm sorry for that, Nico. I truly am. But you must overcome the anger. And stop blaming Percy for my choices. It will be your doom."
"She's right," Annabeth broke in. "Kronos is rising, Nico. He'll twist anyone he can to his cause."
"I don't care about Kronos," Nico said. "I just want my sister back."
"You can't have that, Nico," Bianca told him gently.
"I'm the son of Hades! I can."
"Don't try," she said. "If you love me, don't..."
Her voice trailed off. Spirits had started to gather around them again, and they seemed agitated. Their shadows shifted. Their voices whispered, Danger!
"Tartarus stirs," Bianca said. "Your power draws the attention of Kronos. The dead must return to the Underworld. It is not safe for us to remain."
"Wait," Nico said. "Please—"
"Good-bye, Nico," Bianca said. "I love you. Remember what I said." Her form shivered and the ghosts disappeared, leaving them alone with a pit,
a Happy Flush septic tank, and a cold full moon.
➳
None of them were anxious to travel that night, so they decided to wait until morning. Lilia and Annabeth set themselves down on the couches in the living room, which were a lot more comfortable than a bedroll in the maze; but it didn't make her dreams make any more sense.
She dreamt of Apollo again, the same strange flickering Apollo. He was sat at the lake, the sun was beginning to set, and the water was reflecting all these different shades of pink.
"Hello Goldie locks!" He said waving her over. "Come sit."
She walked over and sat beside the God. He grinned at her, the same grin he always gave her, like he knew something she didn't.
"Why do you keep calling me that?" She asked curiously. "Like you know me, but as far as I'm concerned I've only met you a few times."
"We go way back Goldie." He said, watching the water sway under the breeze.
"You keep saying things like that, things I don't understand." She sighed frustrated.
"Well I'm not technically supposed to be here, I'm under strict orders not to tell you too much, but I've got to help my family out from time to time." He grinned.
"You help a lot of demigods then?" She asked slightly confused.
"Not exactly." He tilted his head. "I've got to show you something." He held out his hand and a small glow appeared in his palm.
"What am I supposed to be looking at?" She asked.
He gently grasped her wrist, she flinched slightly as he held the bruise from the rope. However, as he wrapped his glowing palm around the bruise, she felt the pain leave.
She looked up at him, her eyebrows furrowed. "You took the pain." She said quietly, thinking back to how she's held Zoë's hand and she'd felt a sharp pain, in her stomach. "Is that what I did..?" She asked.
He nodded, "like I said, I'm not supposed to tell you anything, but you're powerful Goldie locks, don't forget what you're capable of."
She stared out onto the lake, unsure what to think of any of this, she wasn't sure why she could do these things but there had to be a reason.
Apollo sighed, "I've got to go now, hopefully this helped."
"I don't understand why—" she turned to look at him but he was gone. The lake and sky began to blur and she was pulled into a pit of darkness, seemingly falling endlessly. Then her eyes opened.
She was lying on the sofa staring at the ceiling, expecting to be in complete darkness, but there was a soft light and quiet talking.
She sat up to see Grover watching the nature channel on TV.
"Grover?" She furrowed her eyebrows. "What time is it?"
"Two in the morning." I couldn't sleep. "I miss Juniper."
Lilia got up and sat beside the Saytr. "You'll see her soon." She said laying her head on his shoulder.
Grover shook his head sadly. "Do you know what day it is Lili? I just saw it on TV. June thirteenth, seven days since we left camp."
"What?" She looked up rubbing her eyes. "That can't be... oh, time is different down there." She sighed. "Your deadline with the council of Cloven Elders..."
He nodded. "I'm out of time, as soon as I get back to camp, they'll take my searchers license away. They'll never let me leave again."
"We'll talk to them," she insisted. "Make them give you more time." If worst comes to worst she was sure she'd be able to charmspeak them long enough for Grover to run.
"They'll never go for it, the world is dying Lili, what Percy did today... I wish I was more like him." He took a bite of the remote a chewed it sadly.
"Hey," she said. "Don't say that. You're just as much a hero—"
"No I'm not. I keep trying, but.." He sighed. "Lili, I can't go back to camp without finding Pan. I just can't. You understand that, don't you? I can't face Juniper if I fail. I can't even face myself."
His voice was so unhappy it hurt to hear. They'd been through a lot together, but she'd never heard him sound this down.
"We'll figure out something," Lilia said. "You haven't failed. You're a champion goat boy, all right? Juniper knows that. So do I."
Grover closed his eyes. "Champion," he muttered dejectedly.
A long time after he dozed off, Lilia was still awake, watching the blue light of the Nature Channel wash over the stuffed trophy heads on Geryon's walls.
➳
The next morning we walked down to the cattle guard and said our good-byes.
"Nico, you could come with us," Percy blurted out.
He shook his head. Now of them had slept well in the demon ranch house, but Nico looked worse than anybody else. His eyes were red and his face chalky. He was wrapped in a black robe that must've belonged to Geryon, because it was three sizes too big even for a grown man.
"I need time to think." His eyes wouldn't meet any of theirs, but Lilia could tell from his tone he was still angry. The fact that his sister had come out of the Underworld for Percy and not for him didn't seem to sit well with him.
"Nico," Lilia said. "Bianca just wants you to be okay."
She put her hand on his shoulder, but he pulled away and trudged up the road toward the ranch house. Maybe it was just her imagination, but the morning mist seemed to cling to him as he walked.
"I'm worried about him," Annabeth told them. "If he starts talking to Minos's ghost again"
"He'll be al right," Eurytion promised. The cowherd had cleaned up nicely. He was wearing new jeans and a clean Western shirt and he'd even trimmed his beard. He'd put on Geryon's boots. "The boy can stay here and gather his thoughts as long as he wants. He'll be safe, I promise."
"What about you?" Percy asked.
Eurytion scratched Orthus behind one chin, then the other. "Things are going to be run a little different on this ranch from now on. No more sacred cattle meat. I'm thinking about soybean patties. And I'm going to befriend those flesh-eating horses. Might just sign up for the next rodeo." The idea made her shudder. "Well, good luck."
"Yep." Eurytion spit into the grass. "I reckon you'll be looking for Daedalus's workshop now?"
Annabeth's eyes lit up. "Can you help us?"
Eurytion studied the cattle guard, Lilia got the feeling the subject of Daedalus's workshop made him uncomfortable. "Don't know where it is.
But Hephaestus probably would."
"That's what Hera said," Annabeth agreed. "But how do we find Hephaestus?"
Eurytion pulled something from under the collar of his shirt. It was a necklace a smooth silver disk on a silver chain. The disk had a depression on the middle, like a thumbprint. He handed it to Annabeth.
"Hephaestus comes here from time to time,"
Eurytion said. "Studies the animals and such so he can make bronze automaton copies. Last time, I—uh did him a favor. A little trick he wanted to play on my dad, Ares, and Aphrodite. He gave me that chain in gratitude. Said if I ever needed to find him, the disk would lead me to his forges. But only once."
"And you're giving it to me?" Annabeth asked.
Eurytion blushed. "I don't need to see the forges, miss. Got enough to do here. Just press the button and you'll be on your way."
Annabeth pressed the button and the disk sprang to life. It grew eight metallic legs. Annabeth shrieked and dropped it, much to Eurytion's confusion.
"Spider!" she screamed.
"She's, um, a little scared of spiders," Lilia explained. "That old grudge between Athena and Arachne."
"Oh." Eurytion looked a little embarrassed. "Sorry, miss."
The spider scrambled to the cattle guard and disappeared between the bars.
"Hurry," Percy said. "That thing's not going to wait for us."
Annabeth wasn't anxious to follow, but they didn't have much choice. They said our good-byes to Eurytion, Tyson pulled the cattle guard off the hole, and they dropped back into the maze.
➳
Lilia complained about how fast it was going, 'wishing they had a leash for the stupid thing'. It scuttled along the tunnels so fast, most of time She couldn't even see it. If it hadn't been for Tyson's and Grover's excellent hearing, they never would've known which way it was going.
They ran down a marble tunnel, then dashed to the left and almost fell into an abyss. Tyson grabbed Percy and hauled him back before he could fall.
The tunnel continued in front of them, but there was no floor for about a hundred feet, just gaping darkness and a series of iron rungs in the ceiling. The mechanical spider was about halfway across, swinging from bar to bar by shooting out metal web fiber.
"Monkey bars," Lilia smiled. "I'm great at these."
She leaped onto the first rung and started swinging her way across. She was scared of the dark, but not of plummeting to her death from a set of monkey bars. Go figure, Percy thought to himself.
Annabeth got to the opposite side and ran after Lili and the spider. Percy followed.
When he got across, he looked back and saw Tyson giving Grover a piggyback ride. The big guy made it across in three swings, which was a good thing since, just as he landed, the last iron bar ripped free under his weight.
They kept moving and passed a skeleton crumpled in the tunnel. It work the remains of a dress shirt, slacks, and a tie. The spider didn't slow down. Percy slipped on a pile of wood scraps, but when he shined a light on them he realized they were pencils hundreds of them, all broken in half.
The tunnel opened up onto a large room. A blazing light hit them. Once Lilia's eyes adjusted, the first thing she noticed were the skeletons. Dozens littered the floor around them. Some were old and bleached white. Others were more recent and a lot grosser. They didn't smell quite as bad as Geryon's stables, but almost, Lilia shivered, backing toward her friends.
Then she saw the monster. She stood on a glittery dais on the opposite side of the room. She had the body of a huge lion and the head of a woman. She would've been pretty, but her hair was tied back in a tight bun and she wore too much makeup. She had a blue ribbon badge pinned to her chest that took me a moment to read: THIS MONSTER HAS BEEN RATED EXEMPLARY!
Tyson whimpered. "Sphinx."
Annabeth started forward, but the Sphinx roared, showing fangs in her otherwise human face. Bars came down on both tunnel exits, behind them and in front. Immediately the monster's snarl turned into a brilliant smile.
"Welcome, lucky contestants!" she announced. "Get ready to play.ANSWER THAT RIDDLE!"
Canned applause blasted from the ceiling, as if there were invisible loudspeakers. Spotlights swept across the room and reflected off the dais, throwing disco glitter over the skeletons on the floor.
"Fabulous prizes!" the Sphinx said. "Pass the test, and you get to advance! Fail, and I get to eat you! Who will be our contestant?"
Annabeth grabbed my arm. "I've got this," she whispered. "I know what she's going to ask."
Lilia didn't argue too hard. She didn't want Annabeth getting devoured by a monster, but she figured if the Sphinx was going to ask riddles, Annabeth was the best one of them to try.
She stepped forward to the contestant's podium, which had a skeleton in a school uniform hunched over it. She pushed the skeleton out of the way, and it clattered to the floor.
"Sorry," Annabeth winced.
"Welcome, Annabeth Chase!" the monster cried, though Annabeth hadn't told the sphinx her name.
"Are you ready for your test?"
"Yes," she said. "Ask your riddle."
"Twenty riddles, actually!" the Sphinx said gleefully.
"What? But back in the old days—"
"Oh, we've raised our standards! To pass, you must show proficiency in all twenty. Isn't that great?"
Applause switched on and off like somebody turning a faucet.
Annabeth glanced at them nervously. Lilia gave her an encouraging nod.
"Okay," she told the Sphinx. "I'm ready?"
A drumroll sounded from above. The Sphinx's eyes glittered with excitement. "What...is the capital of Bulgaria?"
Annabeth frowned. For a terrible moment, they thought she was stumped. "Sofia," she said, "but-"
"Correct!" More canned applause. The Sphinx smiled so widely her fangs showed. "Please be sure to mark your answer clearly on your test sheet with a number 2 pencil."
"What?" Annabeth looked mystified. Then a test booklet appeared on the podium in front of her, along with a sharpened pencil.
"Make sure you bubble each answer clearly and stay inside the circle," the Sphinx said. "If you have to erase, erase completely or the machine will not be able to read your answers."
"What machine?" Annabeth asked.
The Sphinx pointed with her paw. Over by the spotlight was a bronze box with a bunch of gears and levers and a big Greek letter Êta on the side, the mark of Hephaestus.
"Now," said the Sphinx, "next question-"
"Wait a second," Annabeth protested. "What about 'What walks on four legs in the morning?"
"I beg your pardon?" the Sphinx said, clearly
annoyed now.
"The riddle about the man. He walks on four legs in the morning, like a baby, two legs in the afternoon, like an adult, and three legs in the evening, as an old man with a cane. That's the riddle you used to ask."
"Exactly why we changed the test!" the Sphinx exclaimed. "You already knew the answer. Now second question, what is the square root of sixteen?"
"Four," Annabeth said, "but—"
"Correct! Which U.S. president signed the Emancipation Proclamation?"
"Abraham Lincoln, but-"
"Correct! Riddle number four. How much-"
"Hold up!" Annabeth shouted.
"What is she doing?" Lilia said through gritted teeth, leaning toward Percy, he stared at Annabeth and shook his head.
"These aren't riddles," Annabeth said.
"What do you mean?" the sphinx snapped. "Of course they are. This test material is specially designed "
"It's just a bunch of dumb, random facts," Annabeth insisted. "Riddles are supposed to make you think."
"Think?" The Sphinx frowned. "How am I supposed to test whether you can think? That's ridiculous! Now, how much force is required-"
"Stop!" Annabeth insisted. "This is a stupid test."
"Um, Annabeth," Grover cut in nervously. "Maybe you should just, you know, finish first and complain later?"
"I'm a child of Athena," she insisted. "And this is an insult to my intelligence. I won't answer these questions."
Lilia couldn't tell if she was proud or annoyed, this girls pride was going to kill her.
The spotlights glared. The Sphinx's eyes glittered pure black.
"Why then, my dear," the monster said calmly. "If you won't pass, you fail. And since we can't allow any children to be held back, you'll be EATEN!"
The Sphinx bared her claws, which gleamed like stainless steel. She pounced at the podium.
"No!" Tyson charged. He hates it when people threaten his friends.
He tackled the Sphinx in midair and they crashed sideways into a pile of bones. This gave Annabeth just enough time to gather her wits and draw her knife. Tyson got up, his shirt clawed to shreds. The Sphinx growled, looking for an opening.
Percy drew Riptide and stepped forward Lilia followed his action, drawing whisperer.
"Turn invisible," Lili told her.
"I can fight!"
"No!" Lilia yelled. "The Sphinx is after you! Let us get it."
As if to prove her point, the Sphinx knocked Tyson aside and tried to charge past her. Grover poked her in the eye with somebody's leg bone. She screeched in pain. Annabeth put on her cap and vanished. The Sphinx pounced right where she'd been standing, but came up with empty paws.
"No fair!" the Sphinx wailed. "Cheater!"
With Annabeth no longer in sight, the Sphinx turned on Lilia. She raised her bow, but before she could shoot, Tyson ripped the monster's grading machine out of the floor and threw it at the Sphinx's head, ruining her hair bun. It landed in pieces all around her.
"My grading machine!" she cried. "I can't be exemplary without my test scores!"
The bars lifted from the exits. They all dashed for the far tunnel. Lilia could only hope Annabeth was doing the same.
The Sphinx started to follow, but Grover raised his reed pipes and began to play. Suddenly the pencils remembered they used to be parts of trees.
They collected around the Sphinx's paws, grew roots and branches, and began wrapping around the monster's legs. The Sphinx ripped through them, but it brought them just enough time.
Tyson pulled Grover into the tunnel, and the bars slammed shut behind them.
"Annabeth!" Lilia yelled.
"Here!" she said, right next to her. "Keep moving!"
They ran through the dark tunnels, listening to the roar of the Sphinx behind them as she complained about all the tests she would have to grade by hand.
➳
AN:
Ahhh, these chapters have been long, but you all know what's next! I for one can't wait.
I don't have much to say today, others than Nico is breaking my heart, he's just a babyyy. I hate when he hates Percy ☹️.
Anyways hope you've all had a good day and hopefully all enjoying the story, I've been quite quick with updates recently and I'm going to start the next chapter straight away, should be up with in the next few days if I have time x
Love you all, thankyou for reading, means a lot.
🤍