Book 4 - The Battle of the Labyrinth
Ayden hadn't run into any more monsters since she left the section where she'd come across Ki and Luke. They'd run off or she'd killed them. She didn't know which.
"Ayden!" She paused.
"Stop yelling you idiot." She recognized Annabeth's voice.
"Percy?!" Ayden called. The butterflies disappeared around her leaving her in the dark.
"Ayden! Ayden is that you!" She ran toward the sound.
"Percy!" She could hear the sound of their footfalls as they ran toward her as well. She came around the corner and saw Percy. His hair was a mess and he had a scratch on his cheek. There were others behind him with flashlights so she couldn't see who it was.
"Percy," She smiled as their bodies collided. Percy let out a long breath as he held her close.
"You found us." He smiled.
"I promised you." They leaned back. Ayden kissed him before she could stop herself. He'd kissed her first so she thought it was her turn. She liked kissing him. A lot.
"We need to agree to stop splitting up," She ran her fingers through his curls as he chuckled. Her hands moved to his arms as she touched his scars. "You have burn scars?"
"Mhm." He stared at her as she inspected his injuries. "I'm so glad I found you." She blushed and then saw a redhead behind him. Ayden gripped Percy's hand as she stared at the girl. "That's Rachel," Percy explained. "Rachel Dare from my school, remember?"
"Yeah, uh," Ayden looked at Annabeth. "She just looked like, you know."
"Yeah," Grover looked at the floor. "We know."
"Grover," Ayden smiled as he came forward hugging her. Tyson stepped forward wrapping his big arms around both of them.
"Glad you alive," He ruffled up her dirty hair.
"You too Ty, I was worried for you guys," She leaned around him seeing Grover again. "Did you see Pan?" His expression fell.
"Yeah, uh, it was his time to pass on. He said it was up to us now, hold on," He pointed at her. "How did you know Pan was down here? Did you know the whole time?"
"Grover," She smiled. "No, he brought me to him when we were separated." She explained. "I wanted to make sure you saw him and he gave you some kind of evidence for when we reappear at camp."
"You met Pan and you were making sure he saved me?" Grover asked. Ayden nodded as he leaned forward hugging her. "I do not deserve you."
"How are you guys navigating your way down here?" Ayden asked as she looked around. The flashlights went to Rachel as she put her hands over her eyes.
"Wow, way to blind your only seer," She joked. Several sorry's went across the group as the flashlights went to her feet instead.
"Oh yeah, you can see through the mist, so you can see through the maze. Who realized this?" Ayden looked at Annabeth and Percy.
"For once it wasn't me," Annabeth held her hands up in surrender. Ayden smiled at Percy at he nodded.
"Yeah, well I needed to make sure if you wouldn't find your way home, I would find my way to you."
"I love that we're all reuniting, but we have to get back," Annabeth explained.
"They're still going to attack." Ayden looked at each of them.
"Yeah, why?" She shook her head too embarrassed to explain she had them in her grasp.
"Do you all just normally fight?" Rachel asked.
"Most of the time, but nothing this big," Ayden explained as they started walking down the tunnels. Ayden turned around seeing a glow from the other hall. When she looked down the tunnel there was another butterfly. She wasn't where she was supposed to be.
"Ayden, come on!" Percy jogged back over to her seeing the butterfly. "What is that?"
"I can't go up there yet," Ayden whispered as he gripped her hand.
"Ayden-."
"Ayden, we need you for this," Annabeth walked back to the pair. "People are going to die." Another butterfly appeared by Tyson.
"Pretty?" Tyson swatted at it, but Grover pulled his hands down.
"You all have to go back up, but I'm not allowed to return just yet, I promise I will get there before the battle starts," Ayden promised Annabeth. "I promise I won't miss it." She hoped.
"They'll get to you before they get to the camp," Annabeth added. "We can't risk that, we need you on the surface." The butterfly flew from Tyson back to Ayden and down the tunnel joining the other one. She didn't understand, if Pan was gone where were the butterflies taking her? Who was spawning them?
"I can't go up there yet, you have Clarisse and the others. They are as ready as they can be." Ayden told both of them. She could see it in their faces they couldn't understand, she couldn't either. "I've got a feeling okay, just trust me. I'll be there."
"Fine, let's go," Annabeth turned away from her jogging back to the others. Rachel came forward.
"I'm glad we found you," She smiled. "Percy wouldn't leave me alone til we found you." Ayden blushed slightly as she looked at him. He just shook his head.
"I'll come with you."
"No," She cupped his face. "They need you up there Jackson. You are the son of Poseidon. A hero of Olympus. You have to be up there for the start. I will join you, just I need to do this first." She looked past him at the butterflies as they seemed to move farther and farther.
"Weren't you the one that just tried to say we need to stop splitting up," Percy gripped her arm. "Ayden where is that even leading you."
"It led me back to you," She breathed. "Just trust me. Get back to camp. I'll make it in time with help hopefully."
"We don't have much time," Grover encouraged.
"Ayden, please," Percy shook his head. She smiled and kissed him. "You promise."
"I'll always find my way back to you, now go." She jogged after the butterflies as she pulled her knife free slipping around the corner.
"You're girlfriends awesome," Rachel smiled as they watched her disappear into the tunnels. "I mean she's navigating the tunnels on her own. None of you could do that."
"She is the best," Tyson nodded.
"Let's go."
***
Ayden prayed to the gods, which she never did, that the butterflies were leading her somewhere helpful. Either back to Ki and Luke where she would do what she had to or to something else. She didn't know what else she would need to do in the tunnels until she came upon a monstrous creature.
"A hundred hands," Ayden muttered. It turned around facing her. "Are you Briares?"
"That is me, and you?" He asked all his hands pointing back at her.
"That's Ayden Rivera, child of Ares. A conduit of prophecy." Briares moved to the side showing Quintus. She held her knife up at him.
"Who are you?" Ayden asked.
"Have you lost your mind already?" Quintus laughed. "I'm from the camp-."
"I know where you came from, Quintus, but it doesn't make sense. How were you able to go through the wall, why didn't you bleed real blood? Why was I lead here, to you?"
"I won't let you suffer since you aren't a child of Athena," He chuckled as he walked toward her. Briares just followed behind him. To Ayden, he was kind of scary with all his appendages. "My name is Quintus, do you know what that means?"
"I'm not in the mood for a lesson, Quintus. Either just tell me or I kill you. I don't have time for this. I've gotta get to the camp. It means five by the way." She gave him a mocking smirk as she rolled up her sleeve.
"Calm yourself," he smiled. "My real name, my first name was Daedalus. Quintus is five. This is my fifth body, this isn't a human structure, it's synthetic that's why I don't bleed blood. If you looked closer you would have seen oil."
"Wait," Ayden rubbed her forehead. "So this entire time, you've been at our camp?! You've been with us, you've trained us, gotten to know them and you still let them get the string!" Ayden moved closer. Briares tried to grab her, but she shoved him back.
"Yes, I thought it would be fun at first, but I realized I'd made a mistake. Despite all odds somehow you still have your sanity, mostly," He chuckled as she stuck the dagger to his neck. "But you should probably put that down if you want to make it to camp in time." A loud roar went through the tunnels as they rumbled. "That would be the herd breaking through the entrance to the camp." Daedalus chuckled. He pushed the knife away from his throat.
"We have to go." Aydens stepped back. "We have to save them."
"Well you could have," Daedalus stared at her.
"Are you going to help or not?"
"I want to help, I want to help." Briares waved his hundred hands at her. "Me. I will help you. I'm brave now."
"Now that you've found us Ayden, I will lead the way or do you want to since you apparently know how to navigate my Labyrinth." Daedalus waved for her to lead.
"We have to get there quickly so you lead," She pointed forward with her dagger making him laugh.
"You've gotta major trust issues."
"I wonder why, it's not like you are hiding under a secret identity when you could've been helping my friends this entire time," Ayden muttered as she followed after him. She could feel Briares behind her and it made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.
"Ayden, I had a lot of hope for you," Daedalus spoke as he walked.
"You've gotta pick up the pace number five, you are going to slow." She clenched her hands at her sides as he moved a little faster.
"I thought if anyone would be cutthroat it would be you the prophesized murder child, but no. You wasted your opportunity because what, you thought you could talk with Kronos?" He mocked her. "I thought a child of Ares was supposed to be stronger than that. It's said that you have blood lust that will blind you to everything else. I thought that would make it easy for you to kill that husk of a monster, but no. You looked into the face of your friend and backed down."
"If you are trying to make me want to kill you it's working," Ayden pulled her other dagger free. She was trying to keep her limbs close to her side so she didn't accidentally stab him in the back. She had places to get to, she couldn't attack him now.
"Trust me, kid-."
"I don't trust you, are we close to the entrance?"
"Can we all please calm down, it's getting to my nerves," Briares said from behind her. Ayden was being overcome with emotions. She was trapped in a tunnel being told she messed up. She failed her friends. She didn't know if she was going to make it. They were both getting on her nerves. If Ayden had time to cry she probably would. She'd break down in this tunnel and never leave. She'd let the Labyrinth finally have her, but she couldn't.
"Daedalus how much farther until eh entrance?" Ayden asked. They'd only been walking for five minutes, but that was five minutes of fighting the camp had to endure without her support. She used the dagger to cut her sleeves so all of her markings were visible and accessible.
"Ooo," Briares touched one of them but stopped when he saw Ayden glaring at him.
"Sorry, sorry." All his hands went up as he paused letting her move a foot away from him.
"You ready for a fight now?" Daedalus asked as he turned a corner. Ayden hurried to stay close to him in case he changed his mind and left them there.
"Yeah, and you better pray that we get there soon or you're starting to look like an easy target." Ayden joked, slightly.
"Well don't stab me yet kid, look ahead," He pointed to a light. It was the exit of the tunnel. There were a few monsters still trying to feed out. Ayden cut her arm again feeling the warm blood trip down as she let the chaos radiate from her body. She protected Daedalus and Braires as the monsters ahead of them scrambled for the exit. They didn't get out in time as their bodies incinerated.
"Woah!" Briares laughed.
"And you still didn't kill me." Daedalus stared at her. She looked up at him and he finally realized why Ayden caused so much trouble with the gods. She didn't care who you were or how strong you were, she would fight you if she felt like it. Her eyes said it all. There was hate embedded deep in her heart.
"You fight with us and I might just spare you after this. This Labyrinth is too dangerous to keep alive and I know since you're its creator it's tied to your life. You've lived long enough Daedalus make this last battle count." She encouraged as she ran from the exit climbing out. She couldn't see for a few seconds as her eyes struggled to adjust. She heard Briares come from the Labyrinth and a sword being drawn.
"Well Ayden, what happened to fighting?" He laughed at her as he ran toward the crowds of monsters. Once everything started to gain color again she teleported around slashing and releasing as much chaos as she could.