Once they were in the air, Percy asked Leo to head for New York. He was incapable of hiding the note of panic in his voice as he made his request and Leo made no attempt to argue. The son of Hephaestus crossed the deck to the sound of silence, bags strewn around at their feet as nobody wanted to be the one to start making jokes about room arrangements.
"Are we going to discuss that new Prophecy or not?" Jason asked, effectively labelling the elephant in the room and breaking the quiet. "I don't know about everyone else, but I'm thinking that it's pretty obvious we're going to have to head for the Maze."
"That's what, two Prophecies that have mentioned it now? Thalia raised an eyebrow, her eyes stormy. "I'm pretty sure we should be heading underground and not into the sky, as much as it pains me to say it."
"I'm slightly more concerned about the missing god," Percy snarked, not in the mood to argue. There was a ball of anxiety writhing in his chest, a deep concern that stemmed from the two Prophecies that had been issued in as many days. He didn't know if they were intertwined and he wasn't sure if he wanted to find out. "Which is why I want to take a trip up to Olympus before we head down to the Labyrinth."
"Why bother?" Hazel asked. "You heard that his disappearance wasn't noticed."
"Just because it wasn't noticed whenever it happened, doesn't mean that it will remain unnoticed," Percy sighed. He wanted to look to Apollo for assistance but knew that the god was likely silent for a reason, running through possibilities and scenarios in his head. "The sooner the gods know that one of their number is missing, the sooner they figure out who."
"Dionysus was at Camp, surely he would have gone straight to Olympus to alert them?" Jason pointed out.
"I'm aware of that." Percy took a deep breath. "I just need to see the Council myself and make sure that they're taking this seriously. I know that they will, but I just need to double-check for my own peace of mind."
"I get that, but isn't it a little counterproductive?" Annabeth asked. "We're already more than twenty-four hours behind Nathan and Octavian and not even the gods know where they are right now."
"We've left Camp and the closest entrance to the Labyrinth that we're aware of," Jason sounded slightly exasperated. "Going to Olympus would be nothing but a waste of time. There's nowhere in New York we can safely land this boat so we can head for the elevator up to Olympus and flying there would be a death wish."
"Which is why I asked Bellerophon to send a few Pegasi after us." Percy informed him, letting out an ear-piercing whistle that he had used often after gaining custody of Mrs. O'Leary. He could only hope that they'd managed to catch up with them.
"Give us a warning next time you plan to do that, Blue, it was nearly as bad as Will-" Nico stopped speaking, looking surprised at himself.
Three Pegasi emerging from the clouds behind them distracted anyone from making a comment, Blackjack and two other pure white Pegasi putting on a last burst of speed so they could land easily on the deck.
'Hi, Bossman! Heard you needed a lift?' Blackjack trotted over to him, headbutting him playfully until he started to scratch the spot behind the Pegasus's right ear that he knew he secretly loved.
"Thank you for coming," Percy said aloud for the benefit of those around them, trying to ignore the stunned look on Annabeth's face as she saw Blackjack happily interacting with a 'complete stranger'.
"You're going to fly to Olympus on Pegasi?" Jason frowned. "Isn't that a little... dangerous?"
Percy had to refrain from laughing; he knew full well that Jason was using the word 'dangerous' instead of asking about the likelihood of Zeus deciding to strike them from the sky on approach.
"No." Percy assured him. "Blackjack and his companions can fly us as close to the Empire State Building as possible, deposit us on a nice rooftop or somewhere and then wait while we make a run up to Olympus."
"Let me guess, you're taking Luke and Nico?" Thalia quirked an eyebrow.
"Solis and Nico," Percy corrected. It was the only way he would be able to separate Apollo from the group without causing suspicion and he was taking full advantage.
"Blue, you know how Pegasi feel about me." Nico looked uneasy, eyeing the trio as if he couldn't envision anything worse.
'I don't mind the Death Boy, Bossman, I took him looking for you a few times. It's not his fault he smells funny. He's nice otherwise. Buys me doughnuts.' Blackjack informed him. 'Either you ride Trixie or Shadowfax and di Angelo rides me, or I carry both of you and you bring four people.'
"Blackjack will either take both of us or you." Percy relayed the information to Nico. "He likes you, apparently."
"If you're sure," Nico responded, looking unsure himself.
"I'm sure." Percy nodded. "We should go now so we get back sooner."
"Be as quick as possible," Luke requested. "And stay safe. I don't want you getting killed in the time it takes you to get from a rooftop to Olympus."
"Stop your worrying, we'll be fine." Percy rolled his eyes. "Can you help sort rooms out and go through anything I may have missed with Icarus?"
"Of course," Luke agreed. "Now go."
"This feels totally unnatural!" Nico screamed from where he was clinging onto Blackjack for dear life.
'The boy misses his Sunshine,' Shadowfax, Percy's new friend, commented. 'Darkness follows him like a cloud without the boy he used to visit the stables with.'
'Hopefully, we'll be bringing Will home with us when we return to Camp,' Percy responded, his hope sincere.
'They used to hide in the bales of hay when they were avoiding Camp events and wanted to steal a moment alone, Nico reasoning that nobody would look for them there when they knew that he didn't mix well with us,' the Pegasus provided another anecdote. 'He stopped coming to the stables after his boyfriend passed and we missed them in a sense.'
'I missed them too,' Percy confessed.
"Land there!" Apollo yelled, interrupting before Percy could say anything more. The god was gesturing at the nearest building that probably wouldn't be visible from the boat. "I can transport us to Olympus!"
A few moments later, Nico was dismounting as quickly as he could without falling on the floor. He gave Blackjack an awkward pat before fleeing to join Percy and Apollo.
"I know you're saying he likes me, but does he really like me?" Nico asked, gesturing to Blackjack.
'He buys me doughnuts, which is more than you do, Bossman!' Blackjack teased.
"You buy him doughnuts, he adores you," Percy snorted. "Apparently it's more than I've done for a few years so he probably loves you more than me."
"As much as I would love to stand around discussing your love affair with Percy's Pegasus, I'm the one you should be showing so love right now." Apollo pouted and held out his hands for them to take. "Come on Seashell, hold me."
"You're so weird." Nico rolled his eyes before grabbing Apollo's left hand.
"Don't leave me hanging here, Seashell." Apollo wiggled his fingers and Percy sighed, grabbing Apollo's hand.
A flash of sunlight later and they found themselves at the doors of the throne room. Nico dropped Apollo's hand as if it was burning him but Apollo kept tight hold of Percy's, dragging him through the doors and bursting into the middle of a frantic argument between the Council.
"Brother!" Artemis cried out, silencing the bickering. She sank slightly in her throne, a look of relief on her face when she saw that Apollo was smiling and well.
"Have you told them the Prophecy?" Apollo aimed at Dionysus, sparing a quick smile at his sister.
"The lines of it I could remember." Dionysus shrugged, leafing through pages of a wine catalogue with a deliberate air of boredom. Some things never changed. "Prophecy recall is your area of expertise."
"Seriously?" Apollo huffed. He looked as if he was about to rip the magazine from Dionysus' hands and hurl it from the edge of Olympus. Percy probably wouldn't stop him.
"Seriously." Dionysus nodded.
"Deep within Daedalus' Maze,
A god is trapped, bound and drained,
Disappearance unnoticed, long gone from a lover's gaze.
His strength diminishes the longer he is chained.
The one with Wings of Wax will lead the way; rescue him or face dismay." Apollo uttered, reciting the entire thing off the top of his head. "It's five lines, Dionysus, how could you get any of that wrong?"
"I don't like all the little rhymes and threats to our existence," Dionysus waved a hand. "I particularly didn't like the one about Perry Johansson. Though it could have been about Chico de Angler, I suppose."
"That's really not the point right now," Apollo sighed. "We thought popping in would be a waste of time, but it seems like it was a good thing so we could actually tell you the full Prophecy. How much did he get wrong?"
"He said maimed instead of drained and missed out the whole line about how the disappearance was unnoticed," Athena informed them, looking fascinated by the corrected edition. "The version you just gave us makes a lot more sense now."
"How could we not have noticed a god going missing?" Hermes asked. "I thought we were keeping better track of each other after what happened last time."
"The fact that we can say 'last time' is quite frankly, ridiculous," Poseidon commented. "Hades, when was the last time you saw Thanatos?"
"Ten minutes before you called me here for an emergency meeting," Hades deadpanned. "So unless he has managed to get himself kidnapped from the Underworld within the hour, I don't think he's the one missing this time."
"Unnoticed though, that is important," Athena pointed out. "It could be anyone we don't see regularly, someone who is removed from our purview, who we wouldn't notice that they were missing until it was too late."
"Hades, are there any Underworld gods that you don't see regularly who may be missing?" Zeus asked.
"We don't exactly meet up regularly for slumber parties to braid each other's hair," Hades snapped. "It could be anyone, not just one of the gods who fall under my domain. We need to spread the word amongst the minor gods, ask them and warn them."
"I only ask." Zeus held his hands up in an attempt to placate. "We do not need Death to stop again."
"We were planning to keep out of the Maze as much as possible," Percy spoke up. "But it seems like we're going to have to delve down into it."
"Are you certain you will be safe with only Apollo aiding you?" Poseidon asked, clear concern on his face.
"Ten demigods, one Legacy and one god are going to attract enough attention, we don't need to add to that." Percy grimaced.
"A Legacy?" Zeus arched an eyebrow. "I thought you were taking the Satyr?"
"I took an unexpected trip with Chaos to see the other half of my team this morning," Percy explained reluctantly. Knowing that both Achilles and Icarus were wandering around introducing themselves with no qualms was useful to Percy in the sense that admitting who he had with him would not be breaking the Oaths of Secrecy he had sworn. "I came back with two of them, though I only went for one. Bringing Achilles back was a spur of the moment decision because I knew it would make Patroclus happy. I went with the intention of only bringing back the one who could potentially guide us in the Labyrinth, Icarus."
"How is my grandson?" Athena asked. "I presume the Prophecy refers to him when it references the one with 'Wings of Wax'?"
"He's good," Percy answered simply, not wanting to discuss the implications of Icarus being directly referenced in the Prophecy.
"We probably shouldn't stick around for too much longer," Nico spoke up, glancing at his watch. "We're taking up time that you could be spending trying to figure out who is missing and we're taking up time that we could be spending trying to find whoever is missing."
"Nico is right," Percy declared.
"Indeed he is." Hades nodded. "Poseidon and I should take our leave and head to our realms to check our numbers before reconvening here."
"Apollo, I understand that you will be leaving with Percy and Nico, but I ask that you visit back where you can so we can keep you updated," Zeus requested. "It will be a shame to lose your assistance with your social network of friends, but finding this unidentified god and the missing demigod duo are more important."
"Time is hard to track in the Labyrinth," Percy warned. "So don't expect his visits to be regular."
"Understood," Zeus rumbled. "Stay safe."
Before Apollo could reach out and take their hands again, Nico zeroed in on his father. "Do you know of any entrances to the Labyrinth in New York?"
Percy thanked the gods that Nico was using his brain.
"In Central Park, near to the Underworld entrance that Mr Jackson and you acquainted yourselves with, there is a hollow tree. You'll find a trapdoor that leads down into the Labyrinth there," Hades explained. "Failing that, there is one located in the basement of the Marriott Hotel a few blocks from here."
"Thanks dad," Nico smiled at him before reluctantly offering his hand out to Apollo. "We had best get going before Jason has an aneurysm."
"Stay safe!" Poseidon's parting words were the last they heard as Apollo grabbed Percy's hand again and took them back to the rooftop so they could return to the boat via Pegasus Express.
"There's an entrance to the Labyrinth in Central Park," Percy informed their companions as he clambered down from Trixie's back, Apollo having commandeered Shadowfax after learning his name. He'd called it the one opportunity for Legolas to steal Gandalf's horse and Percy had acquiesced with little argument.
"Awesome!" Leo was already moving to his controls.
"Learn anything else?" Jason asked.
"Yeah, Dionysus can't remember a five-line Prophecy to save his life," Apollo huffed. "He got half of the rhymes wrong and forgot a full line of it!"
"Solis gets very passionate about Prophecies," Percy informed them.
"It wasn't even a hard one to remember!" Apollo sounded indignant. "Oh, and it's not like it was important or anything."
'Head back to Camp.' Percy took the opportunity to go and scratch Blackjack's head while Apollo had a mini-meltdown. 'Thank you for coming and thank you for taking Nico. I really owe you doughnuts big time now.'
'Yeah, you do.' Blackjack headbutted him gently. 'Stay safe Bossman, don't go disappearing on us again.'
Percy watched as the trio flew away, wishing that it could be as simple as just three of them using the Pegasi to chase Nathan and Octavian and bring them back to Camp. Instead, he now had two Prophecies to contend with, twelve lives – including his own – to worry about, and a missing god to top it all off. He didn't even want to think about the consequences if Nathan's intel proved to be wrong and they couldn't bring back Will. The prospect left a sour taste in his mouth. He knew he shouldn't expect the worst, but he couldn't help being pessimistic, despite how dearly he wanted the information to be accurate. The idea of Nico's grief in such a situation was almost unbearable to think about.
"Central Park!" Leo crowed delightedly, forcing him out of his thoughts.
"It will be easier if just a few of us go down and find the entrance," Percy suggested, though he knew the reaction would be irritation. He held a hand up to stop complaints before they started. "Twelve of us traipsing around is just going to act as a signal to all the monsters in the area. It'll be easier if a few of us go and then when we've found it, we won't be wandering around for too long."
"He's right," Annabeth agreed unexpectedly.
Which apparently settled the matter, because nobody argued after that.
"Who's going then?" Jason asked sullenly. He was obviously expecting Percy to pick from his own team again, unhappy about being left out.
"Do you want to?" Percy offered an olive branch, hoping that it would appease Jason's desire to feel as though he was truly part of the Quest.
"It would be nice to be included," Jason responded, a slightly petulant edge to his voice.
"Alright, me and you it is," Percy decided to ignore commenting on it, not wanting to increase any friction that may potentially be growing. "Anyone else have a burning desire to come and find a dead tree?"
"Sounds riveting," Thalia snorted. "I'll pass though, I've had enough experience with dead trees."
"Oh, Neeks, I'll need you," Percy realised. "I'm afraid I can't really remember the appearance of the rock your dad was talking about."
"I can Shadow Travel the three of us down there easy peasy if you just want to stick to a small number?" Nico offered.
Percy could just tell that Apollo was about to make some sort of comment about the use of Shadow Travel so he nodded swiftly. "Three of us will be fine."
"What are we looking for?" Jason asked once they had stepped out of the shadows, mere inches away from the rock that hid an entrance to the Underworld.
Now that he was faced with it, Percy felt like he actually recognised it... Though it could have also been the other rock that was sitting a few metres away. Or the other one he could see.
"A hollow tree," Nico informed Jason. "It'll be big enough to fit a person in for sure, my dad said that the trap door leading into the Labyrinth was inside it."
"Are you going to start bickering over hotel prices like the other two?" A female voice made the three of them swiftly draw weapons. Percy took the cap off Riptide, Jason flipped his coin, and Nico rolled his eyes at their transforming weapons and simply drew his sword from where it hung at his side. They all spun to face a very surprised looking dryad, who shrieked when she saw three swords. "Sorry!" She yelped. "I made you jump, didn't I?"
"Just a little," Percy admitted, lowering Riptide. "Sorry, what did you say?"
"Oh!" The dryad beamed at him. "I just asked if you were going to argue about hotel prices like the other two because I heard you mentioning the Labyrinth entrance and figured you might know the two demigods that came out of it before."
"One of them tall, blonde and pale?" Percy asked. "The other one shorter than him, brown hair and a permanent scowl?"
"Yep!" She nodded.
"Can you tell us about them please..." Percy realised they didn't know her name.
"Ivy." Ivy informed him with a wink. "I'll tell you all about them if you tell me your names?"
"I'm Nico, he's Jason, and that's Blue." Nico gestured between them. "When did you see them? The other two demigods, I mean."
Ivy looked to the setting sun and frowned. "It was only about two hours ago," she nodded. "They came out of the Labyrinth and made such a racket, they were arguing like there was no tomorrow."
"What were they arguing about?" Percy asked.
"Why are you called Blue?" Ivy countered. "And what's with the masks?"
"Blue is a bit of a codename," Percy answered, knowing that she may decide to stop answering their questions if she felt like it. "And the mask is to protect my secret identity."
"Sounds weird, but okay." Ivy responded cheerfully. "The blonde one, Tavy I think the other one called him, was trying to persuade Nat – the brown-haired one – to go back into the Labyrinth and head for L.A but Nat wanted to get a hotel for the night and go tomorrow. Tavy was saying about how they had been down there for more than a day and had only covered from some Camp place to here and it was a miracle that they hadn't been found yet."
"Did they go back into the Labyrinth?" Jason asked.
"Nope!" Ivy shook her head. "Nat won the argument, said that he wanted a night in a hotel and a shopping trip tomorrow before he had to go back into, and I quote, 'that horrible, nasty Maze, baby'. Tavy seemed very annoyed with him at first."
"Thank you, Ivy." Percy smiled at her, delighted that they very clearly weren't as far behind Nathan and Octavian as he thought. "We're going to go and tell our friends about this but we'll be back in the morning. Could you possibly keep an eye on the entrance and tell us if you see them again?"
"Sure thing!" Ivy nodded. "You can count on me."
Back on the boat, their companions immediately crowded around them.
"Did you find it?" Annabeth asked. "You weren't gone for very long, did everything go alright?"
"We met a dryad called Ivy," Nico informed them. "She said that a blonde called Tavy and a brunette called Nat climbed out of the entrance about two hours ago and headed into the city to get a hotel."
"Seriously?" Thalia's jaw dropped.
"We figured we may as well get some rest tonight and try to intercept them in the morning. It's not worth trying to go through every hotel in New York City." Percy nodded. "Apparently Octavian tried to convince Nathan that they should have stayed in the Labyrinth and headed for L.A but Nathan won the argument about staying in a hotel and carrying on tomorrow."
"I hope they stay somewhere with lots of bedbugs," Thalia grumbled.
"Speaking of, did you sort out rooms before?" Percy asked Luke.
"Yep!" Luke answered cheerily. "You and Neeks, Icarus offered to share with Solis out of the goodness of his heart, Frank and Hazel, Piper and Jason, and the rest of us," he gestured at himself, Leo, Thalia, and Annabeth, "get our own rooms."
"I'm sure you gave yourself your own room out of the goodness of your heart?" Percy asked sarcastically.
"I knew you'd understand." Luke beamed.
Percy figured he'd get his revenge when Luke realised that the bag Percy had 'packed' for him only contained socks, underwear, and one pair of Hufflepuff pyjamas that clashed horribly with Luke's hair. Everything else was packed into the third bag Percy had lugged across camp, but Luke didn't need to know that minor detail.
"We should have some dinner and get some rest," Percy pretended to ignore Luke.
"Nico, my man, are you going to do us all a solid and Shadow Travel to the nearest McDonald's?" Leo asked. "I don't think this girl would fit through a Drive-Thru."