𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

chapter seventy-five. ☄︎. *. ⋆

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JUMPING OUT OF A WINDOW five hundred feet aboveground is not usually my idea of fun. Especially when I'm wearing bronze wings and flapping my arms like a duck.

     I plummeted toward the valley and the red rocks below. I was pretty sure I was going to become a grease spot in the Garden of the Gods, but Nico yelled from somewhere above me, "Spread your arms! Keep them extended."

     The small part of my brain that wasn't engulfed in panic heard him, and my arms responded. As soon as I spread them out, the wings stiffened, caught the wind, and my descent slowed. I soared downward, but at a controlled angle, like a kite in a dive. Experimentally, I flapped my arms once. I arced into the sky, the wind whistling in my ears.

     The feeling was unbelievable. After getting the hang of it, I felt like the wings were part of my body. I could soar and swoop and dive anywhere I wanted to.

     I turned and saw my friends—Rachel, Percy, and Nico—spiraling above me, glinting in the sunlight. Behind them, smoke billowed from the windows of Daedalus's workshop.

     "Land!" I yelled up to them. "These wings won't last forever."

     "How long?" Rachel cried.

     "I don't want to find out!" I replied.

     We swooped down toward the Garden of the Gods. I did a complete circle around one of the rock spires and freaked out a couple of climbers. Then the four of us soared across the valley, over a road, and landed on the terrace of the visitor center. It was late afternoon and the place looked pretty empty, but we ripped off our wings as quickly as we could. Looking at them, I figured I'd called it in the nick of time. The self-adhesive seals that bound the wings to our backs were already melting, and we were shedding bronze feathers. It seemed a shame, but we couldn't fix them, and couldn't leave them around for the mortals, so we stashed the wings in the trash bin outside the cafeteria.

     I used the tourist binocular camera to look up at the hill where Daedalus's workshop had been, but it had vanished. No more smoke. No broken windows. Just the side of a hill. "The workshop moved," I figured. "There's no telling where."

     "So what do we do now?" Percy asked. "How do we get back in the maze?"

     I gazed at the summit of Pikes Peak in the distance. "Maybe we can't. If Daedalus died... he said his life force was tied to the Labyrinth. The whole thing could have been destroyed. Maybe that will stop Luke's invasion."

     But I knew it was a slim chance.

     I thought about Grover and Tyson, still down there somewhere. And Daedalus... even though he'd done some terrible things and put everybody I cared about at risk, it still seemed like a pretty horrible way to die.

     "No," Nico said. "He isn't dead."

     "How can you be sure?" Percy asked.

     "I know when people die. It's this feeling I get, like a buzzing in my ears."

     I felt a jolt of hope. "What about Tyson and Grover, then?"

     Nico shook his head. "That's harder. They're not humans or half-bloods. They don't have mortal souls."

     "We have to get into town," Percy decided. "Our chances will be better of finding an entrance to the Labyrinth. We have to make it back to camp before Luke and his army."

     "We could just take a plane," Rachel said.

     Percy shuddered. "I don't fly."

     "But you just did."

     "That was low flying," I said, "and even that's risky. Flying up really high—that's Zeus's territory. Percy can't really do it. Besides, we don't even have time for a flight. The Labyrinth is the quickest way back."

     "So we need to find a way back into the city," Percy said. "To find another entrance."

     "Or we don't," Rachel said, narrowing her eyes on a point in the distance. "Look."

     She pointed to a rickety wooden sign that read "Western Museum of Miming Industry." But when I looked closer to the building behind it, I thought maybe the big cave in the mountain was a hint that I'd read the sign wrong. Sure enough, when I looked again, it was the museum of Mining and Industry.

     "I don't get it," I said. "It's an entrance to the Labyrinth?"

     "Look at it," Rachel said. "I mean... I can see it, okay?"

The museum seemed to be closed, so nobody bothered us as we climbed the hill to the mine shaft. When we got to the entrance, I saw the mark of Daedalus engraved on the padlock, though how Rachel had seen something so tiny from such a distance I had no idea. I touched the padlock and the chains fell away. We kicked down a few boards and walked inside. For better or worse, we were back in the Labyrinth.

The dirt tunnels turned to stone. They wound around and split off and basically tried to confuse us, but Rachel had no trouble guiding us. We told her we needed to get back to New York, and she hardly even paused when the tunnels offered a choice.

Percy and Rachel walked together at the front, which came as no surprise to me. But I didn't feel as jealous as I had before, for some reason—somehow, I knew Rachel had no romantic interest in Percy. I hung back and walked next to Nico in uncomfortable silence.

"Thanks for coming after us," I told him at last.

Nico's eyes narrowed. He didn't seem as angry as he used to—just suspicious, careful. "I owed you for the ranch. Plus.... I wanted to see Daedalus for myself. Minos was right, in a way. Daedalus should die. Nobody should be able to avoid death that long. It's not natural."

"That's what you were after all along," I figured. "Trading Daedalus's soul for your sister's."

We walked for another fifty yards before he answered. "It hasn't been easy, you know. Having only the dead for company. Knowing that I'll never be accepted by the living. Only the dead respect me, and they only do that out of fear."

"You could be accepted," I said. "You could have friends at camp, y'know."

He stared at me. "Do you really believe that, Theodosia?"

I bit my lip. "Call me Theo, Nico. It's weird having a kid calling my by my full name." I kicked a rock in my path, shrugging. "But... truth is, I don't know. You've always been off to the side of things. I think you're a good kid, and you would be accepted at camp, sooner or later. I just think you need to make more of an effort, okay? Like... not summoning skeleton warriors on other campers, for example."

To my surprise, that brought an almost-smile to his lips. But he still didn't say anything, so I just shrugged and continued, "Just think about it."

Before he could get the chance to say something, I ran into Rachel, who'd stopped in front of me without warning. We'd come to a crossroads. The tunnel continued straight ahead, but a side tunnel T'd off to the right—a circular shaft carved from black volcanic rock.

"What is it?" I asked.

Rachel stared down the dark tunnel. In the dim flashlight beam, her face looked like one of Nico's specters.

"Is that the way?" Percy asked.

"No," Rachel said nervously. "Not at all."

"Why are we stopping then?" I asked.

"Listen," Nico said.

I heard wind coming down the tunnel, as if the exit were close. And I smelled something vaguely familiar— something that brought back bad memories.

"Eucalyptus trees," I said. "Like in California."

"There's something evil down that tunnel," Rachel said. "Something very powerful."

"And the smell of death," Nico added, which made me feel a whole lot better.

Percy and I exchanged glances.

"Luke's entrance," he guessed. "The one to that mountain from last winter—the Titans' palace."

"Mount Othrys," I confirmed. "I have to check it out."

"Theo, no."

"Luke could be right there," I said. "Or... or Kronos. I have to find out what's going on."

Percy hesitated. "Then we'll all go."

"No," I said. "It's too dangerous. If they got hold of Nico, or Rachel for that matter, Kronos could use them. You stay here and guard them."

What I didn't say: I was also worried about Percy. He was in much more danger than he probably realized. If he kept up his act of throwing himself into fatal situations, one of these days he wouldn't make it out unscathed.

"Theo, don't," Rachel said. "Don't go up there alone."

"I'll be quick," I promised. "I'll try not to do anything stupid."

Percy stared at me like he wanted to punch me. I wasn't sure if he was angry I'd taken the chance to play hero before he could volunteer himself, or if maybe he was upset on the off-chance he was worried about me. Either way, I figured he would try to tell me not to go again. But to my surprise, he just shook his head in disbelief, then grabbed me by the hand to pull me into his body and planted a kiss on my lips. Right in front of Rachel and Nico.

     Even though I was a seventeen-year-old girl that was probably on the verge of death (again), my tummy filled with butterflies and my cheeks burned with a furious flush.

"Not doing anything stupid would be good," Percy agreed, once we'd broken away from the kiss. "Don't die out there, Scott."

"Same to you, Jackson." I nodded to Rachel and Nico. I wondered if they could hear my heart pounding against my chest. When I spoke, my voice wavered. "Rachel. Nico. Catch you on the flip side."

And I engaged in Invisi-Theo mode. Rachel and Nico were both flabbergasted, but I didn't have time to dwell on whether it was over my sudden invisibility or Percy and I's even more sudden kiss. I rushed down the tunnel towards imminent doom.

Before I even got to the exit I heard voices: the growling, barking sounds of sea-demon smiths, the telekhines.

"At least we salvaged the blade," one said. "The master will still reward us."

"Yes! Yes!" a second shrieked. "Rewards beyond measure!"

Another voice, this one more human, said: "Um, yeah, well that's great. Now, if you're done with me—"

"No, half-blood!" a telekhine said. "You must help us make the presentation. It is a great honor!"

"Gee, thanks," the half-blood said, and I realized it was Ethan Nakamura, the guy who'd run away after I'd saved his sorry life in the arena. That motherfucker had turned around and run right back to Luke.

I crept toward the end of the tunnel. I had to hold myself back from unleashing my full power on Ethan to reverse the debt of his life he owed me.

A blast of cold air hit me as I emerged. I was standing near the top of Mount Tam. The Pacific Ocean spread out below, gray under a cloudy sky. About twenty feet downhill, two telekhines were placing something on a big rock— something long and thin and wrapped in black cloth. Ethan was helping them open it.

"Careful, fool," the telekhine scolded. "One touch, and the blade will sever your soul from your body."

Ethan swallowed nervously. "Maybe I'll let you unwrap it, then."

I glanced up at the mountain's peak, where a black marble fortress loomed, just like I'd seen in my dreams. It reminded me of an oversized mausoleum, with walls fifty feet high. I had no idea how mortals could miss the fact that it was here. But then again, mortals aren't exactly the most noticing. I looked down, and everything below the summit seemed fuzzy to me, as if there were a thick veil between me and the lower half of the mountain. There was magic going on here—really powerful Mist. Above me, the sky swirled into a huge funnel cloud. I couldn't see Atlas, but I could hear him groaning in the distance, still laboring under the weight of the sky, just beyond the fortress.

"There!" the telekhine said. Reverently, he lifted the weapon, and my blood turned to ice.

It was a scythe—a six-foot-long blade curved like a crescent moon, with a wooden handle wrapped in leather. The blade glinted two different colors—steel and bronze. It was the weapon of Kronos, the one he'd used to slice up his father, Ouranos, before the gods had taken it away from him and cut Kronos to pieces, casting him into Tartarus. Now the weapon was re-forged.

"We must sanctify it in blood," the telekhine said. "Then you, half-blood, shall help present it when the lord awakes."

I ran toward the fortress, my pulse pounding in my ears. I didn't want to get anywhere close to that horrible black mausoleum, but I knew what I had to do. I had to stop Kronos from rising. This might be my only chance.

I dashed through a dark foyer and into the main hall. The floor shined like a mahogany piano—pure black and yet full of light. Black marble statues lined the walls. I didn't recognize the faces, but I knew I was looking at images of the Titans who'd ruled before the gods. At the end of the room, between two bronze braziers, was a dais. And on the dais, the golden sarcophagus.
The room was silent except for the crackle of the fires. Luke wasn't here. No guards. Nothing.

It was too easy, but I approached the dais.

The sarcophagus was just like I remembered—about ten feet long, much too big for a human. It was carved with elaborate scenes of death and destruction, pictures of the gods being trodden under chariots, temples and famous world landmarks being smashed and burned. The whole coffin gave off an aura of extreme cold, like I was walking into a freezer. My breath began to steam.

I drew my bow and took a little comfort from the familiar weight of the weapon in my hand.

Whenever I'd approached Kronos before, his evil voice had spoken in my mind. Why was he silent now? He'd been shred into a thousand pieces, cut with his own scythe. What would I find if I opened that lid? How could they make a new body for him?

I had no answers. I just knew that if he was about rise, I had to strike him down before he got his scythe. I had to figure out a way to stop him.

I stood over the coffin. The lid was decorated even more intricately than the sides—with scenes of carnage and power. In the middle was an inscription carved in letters even older than Greek, a language of magic. I couldn't read it, exactly, but I knew what it said: KRONOS, LORD OF TIME.

My hand touched the lid. My fingertips turned blue. Frost gathered on my pads of my fingers.

Then I heard noises behind me—voices approaching. It was now or never. I pushed back the golden lid and it fell to the floor with a huge crash.

I lifted my bow, ready to shoot. But when I looked inside, I didn't comprehend what I was seeing. Mortal legs, dressed in gray pants. A white T-shirt, hands folded over his stomach. One piece of his chest was missing—a clean black hole about the size of a bullet wound, right where his heart should've been. His eyes were closed. His skin was pale. Blond hair... and a scar running along the left side of his face.

The body in the coffin was Luke's.

I should have shot him right then. I should've even ditched my bow and brought my dagger down with all my strength.

But I was too stunned. I didn't understand. As much as I hated Luke, as much as he had betrayed me, I just didn't get why he was in the coffin, and why he looked so very, very dead.

Then the voices of the telekhines were right behind me.

"What has happened!" one of the demons screamed when he saw the lid. I stumbled away from the dais, forgetting that I was invisible, and hid behind a column as they approached.

"Careful!" the other demon warned. "Perhaps he stirs. We must present the gifts now. Immediately!"

The two telekhines shuffled forward and knelt, holding up the scythe on its wrapping cloth. "My lord," one said. "Your symbol of power is remade."

Silence. Nothing happened in the coffin.

"You fool," the other telekhine muttered. "He requires the half-blood first."

Ethan stepped back. "Whoa, what do you mean, he requires me?"

"Don't be a coward!" the first telekhine hissed. "He does not require your death. Only your allegiance. Pledge him your service. Renounce the gods. That is all."

"No!" I yelled. It was a stupid thing to do, but I charged into the room and willed myself to become visible. "Ethan, don't do it!"

"Trespasser!" The telekhines bared their seal teeth. "The master will deal with you soon enough. Hurry, boy!"

"Ethan," I pleaded, "don't listen to them. Help me destroy it. You owe me, remember?"

     Ethan turned toward me, his eye patch blending in with the shadows on his face. His expression was something like pity. "I told you not to spare me, Scott. 'An eye for an eye.' You ever hear that saying? I learned what it means the hard way—when I discovered my godly parent. I'm the child of Nemesis, Goddess of Revenge. And this is what I was made to do."

He turned toward the dais. "I renounce the gods! What have they ever done for me? I will see them destroyed. I will serve Kronos."

"Ethan, no—!"

The building rumbled. A wisp of blue light rose from the floor at Ethan Nakamura's feet. It drifted toward the coffin and began to shimmer, like a cloud of pure energy. Then it descended into the sarcophagus.

Luke sat bolt upright. His eyes opened, and they were no longer blue. They were golden, the same color as the coffin. The hole in his chest was gone. He was complete. He leaped out of the coffin with ease, and where his feet touched the floor, the marble froze like craters of ice.

He looked at Ethan and the telekhines with those horrible golden eyes, as if he were a newborn baby, not sure what he was seeing. Then he looked at me, and a smile of recognition crept across his mouth.

"This body has been well prepared." His voice was like a razor blade running over my skin. It was Luke's, but not Luke's. Underneath his voice was another, more horrible sound—an ancient, cold sound like metal scraping against rock. "Don't you think so, Theodosia Scott?"

I couldn't move. I couldn't answer.

Kronos threw back his head and laughed. The scar on his face rippled. "Luke feared you," the Titan's voice said. "His jealousy and unease have been powerful tools. It has kept him obedient. For that I thank you."

Ethan collapsed in terror. He covered his face with his hands. The telekhines trembled, holding up the scythe.

Finally I found my nerve. I shot an arrow with as much might as I could, but his skin deflected the tip of the arrow like he was made of pure steel. He looked at me with amusement. Then he flicked his hand, and I flew across the room.

I slammed against a pillar. I struggled to my feet, blinking the stars out of my eyes, but Kronos had already grasped the handle of his scythe.

"Ah... much better," he said. "Backbiter, Luke called it. An appropriate name. Now that it is re-forged completely, it shall indeed bite back."

"What have you done to Luke?" I groaned, holding my side.

Kronos raised his scythe. "He serves me with his whole being, as I require. The difference is, he respected you, Theodosia Scott. I do not."

That's when I ran. There wasn't even any thought to it. No debate in my mind about—gee, should I stand up to him and try to fight again? Nope. I simply ran.

But my feet felt like lead. Time slowed down around me, like the world was turning to Jell-O. I'd had this feeling once before, and I knew it was the power of Kronos. His presence was so strong it could bend time itself.

"Run, little hero," he laughed. "Run!"

I glanced back and saw him approaching leisurely, swinging his scythe as if he were enjoying the feel of having it in his hands again. No weapon in the world could stop him. No amount of celestial bronze.

He was ten feet away when I heard, "THEO!"

Rachel's voice.

Something flew past me, and a blue plastic hairbrush hit Kronos in the eye.

"Ow!" he yelled. For a moment it was only Luke's voice, full of surprise and pain. My limbs were freed and I ran straight into Rachel, Nico, and Percy, who were standing in the entry hall, their eyes wide with dismay.

"Luke?" Percy shouted. "What in the fuck—"

I grabbed him by the shirt and hauled him after me. I ran as fast as I've ever run, straight out of the fortress. We were almost back to the Labyrinth entrance when I heard the loudest bellow in the world—the voice of Kronos, coming back into control. "AFTER THEM!"

"No!" Nico yelled. He clapped his hands together, and a jagged spire of rock the size of an eighteen-wheeler erupted from the ground right in front of the fortress. The tremor it caused was so powerful the front columns of the building came crashing down. I heard muffled screams from the telekhines inside. Dust billowed everywhere.

We plunged into the Labyrinth and kept running, the howl of the Titan lord shaking the entire world behind us.