CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

₊˚࿐࿔ 𖥧‧₊⚘ ❀༉. 𓏲｡

At least Sylvie got a good night's sleep before the quest, right?

Wrong.

That night in Sylvie's dreams, she was in the stateroom of the Princess Andromeda. The windows were open on a moonlit sea. Cold wind rustled the velvet drapes.

Luke kneeled on a Persian rug in front of the golden sarcophagus of Kronos. In the moonlight, Luke's blonde hair looked pure white. He wore an ancient Greek chiton and a white himation, a kind of cape that flowed down his shoulders. The white clothes made him look timeless and a little unreal, like one of the minor gods on Mount Olympus. The last time Sylvie had seen him, he'd been broken and unconscious after a nasty fall from Mount Tam. Now he looked perfectly fine. Almost too healthy.

"Our spies report success, my lord," he said. "Camp Half-Blood is sending a quest, as you predicted. Our side of the bargain is almost complete."

Excellent. The voice of Kronos didn't so much speak as pierce Sylvie's mind like a dagger. It was freezing with cruelty. Once we have the means to navigate, I will lead the vanguard through myself.

Luke closed his eyes as if collecting his thoughts. "My lord, perhaps it is too soon. Perhaps Krios and Hyperion should lead—"

No. The voice was quiet but absolutely firm. I will lead. One more heart shall join our cause, and that will be sufficient. At last I shall rise fully from Tartarus.

"But the form, my lord..." Luke's voice started shaking.

Show me your sword, Luke Castellan.

Luke drew his sword. Backbiter's double edge glowed wickedly—half steel, half celestial bronze. It was an evil weapon, able to kill both mortals and monsters.

You pledged yourself to me, Kronos reminded him. You took this sword as proof of your oath.

"Yes, my lord. It's just—"

You wanted power. I gave you that. You are now beyond harm. Soon you will rule the world of the gods and mortals. Do you not wish to avenge yourself? To see Olympus destroyed?

A shiver ran through Luke's body. "Yes."

The coffin glowed, golden light filling the room. Then make ready the strike force. As soon as the bargain is done, we shall move forward. First, Camp Half-Blood will be reduced to ashes. Once those bothersome heroes are eliminated, we will march on Olympus.

There was a knock on the stateroom doors. The light of the coffin faded. Luke rose. He sheathed his sword, adjusted his white clothes, and took a deep breath.

"Come in."

The doors opened. Two dracanae slithered in—snake women with double serpent trunks instead of legs. Between them was the last person Sylvie ever wanted to see again. Eurydice Arandel, her curly hair tamed perfectly and adorned in a red dress. Luke's shoulders relaxed a barely noticeable amount. Eurydice did the opposite, reading the look on Luke's face like a book.

"Luke, what—"

"I told you not to disturb me right now," Luke interrupted, voice cold.

Eurydice tensed almost instantly. Luke didn't seem to care.

"Don't be an asshole," she managed through gritted teeth, voice shaky. Her fists were clenched. Sylvie knew the telltale signs of Eurydice's instability.

Luke stepped back. "Well, I'm busy right now, so if you have something to report, just say it. Otherwise leave!"

"Screw you!" Eurydice spat. And without caring that the dracanae were there, without caring that Kronos's coffin was in the room, she sneered, "The next time you need to fucking sob like a baby in the middle of the night, you can do it alone, Luke!"

Luke tried to mask his reaction. Tried to show no weakness. He stiffened, but he pushed his shoulders back, straightened up, and got past it.

"I don't have time for another one of your temper tantrums," he said cooly. "Now report or get out."

Eurydice's knuckles had turned white at this point. She was shaking with anger, or maybe that was sadness. "Fine," she forced the same tone of forced-nonchalance. "The advance team is ready, as you requested, Your Fucking Highness. We can leave—" She frowned.

"What is it?" Luke asked.

"I know that presence," Eurydice said. "Your senses are getting dull, Castellan. We're being watched."

She scanned the stateroom. Her eyes focused right on Sylvie, like they were back on Mount Tam all those months ago. She lashed out her sword and lunged.

Sylvie woke with a start, her heart pounding. She could've sworn Eurydice's blade was an inch from her throat.

The rest of her siblings were still asleep in the other bunks, and Florian's snores even reverberated throughout the cabin. The sound calmed her down a little. Sylvie had to listen for the little things after nightmares, desperate for some semblance of comfort these days.

She didn't know how Eurydice could sense her in a dream, but Sylvie had heard more than she wanted to know. An army was ready. Kronos would lead it personally. All they needed was a way to navigate the Labyrinth so they could invade and destroy Camp Half-Blood, and Luke apparently thought that was going to happen very soon.

Sylvie was tempted to go wake up Percy and tell him, middle of the night or not. Then she suddenly hard sharp gasps coming from somewhere else in the room. Before Sylvie knew it, someone else in Cabin 4 was shooting awake from a haunting nightmare.

"Shit," Cedar's broken voice rasped. He was heaving in and out, scrambling back in his bed. Sylvie noticed these signs all too well. "Shit. Shit."

Sylvie got out of her bunk and hastily tip-toed over to his. In the dark of the night, she could just barely make out Cedar's silhouette. It was weird to be the person on the other side of this interaction, but the instinct to help Cedar came easily to her.

"Cedar," Sylvie whispered quietly, making her presence know. "Hey, Cedar."

"They—They were dead, Sylv," Cedar cried. "They—I couldn't—I was—"

"Hey," Sylvie crawled onto the space in Cedar's bed that he'd abandoned. "It was just a dream."

Cedar shook his head rapidly, arms wrapped around himself. "No, it was... a memory. The—The past."

The sound of this song was far too familiar for Sylvie.

"You're not alone," she said, because it was what she'd want to hear. Sylvie delicately grabbed him with both hands. "I'm right here, Cedar. You're not alone. Not anymore."

Cedar crumbled, his poorly built walls coming down in an instant. He wrapped his arms around Sylvie, because the desire to be comforted by her was too overwhelming. Sylvie pulled Cedar in, arms closing around her little brother. He was so small like this, curled up and shaking.

"You're not alone," Sylvie repeated, hands smoothing up and down. "You're not, Cedar. You never will be again."

Cedar pressed further into Sylvie's hold, crying into her chest and hands fisting her shirt. He looked up to Sylvie so much that it broke Sylvie's heart—it reminded her just like how Sylvie used to look up to Eurydice. Every day she feared she would let Cedar down just as hard, and every day that made her so afraid to get closer to him. But Cedar needed her. She couldn't let fear stop her from providing Cedar with assurance like this. So she did not think, did not wonder, did not ask herself if there was any point to any of this. Sylvie simply tightened her grip and allowed Cedar to lean into her.

"I'm gonna tell you a story, alright?" Sylvie whispered. Cedar couldn't verbally respond, but she did feel him not into her.

Now, don't be fooled. Sylvie couldn't stand to even speak of Orpheus and Eurydice's story ever again. She hadn't even let herself think of the tragedy since December. But she didn't know how else to help Cedar—She'd only ever calmed down from nightmares with a story, and she figured maybe the same could work with Cedar.

So, instead, Sylvie would tell him a different story that also only ever had one ending. She would tell Cedar of another Greek tragedy that she herself knew was real, where the proof of their love wasn't in turning around—it was in Sylvie's existence. The story of Conan Duvall and Demeter.

"I'm gonna tell you the story of an ordinary boy and an extraordinary girl. A true story."

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Just after dawn, the quest group met at Zeus's fist. Florian had surprised Sylvie by packing her knapsack—thermos with nectar, bag of ambrosia, bedroll, rope, clothes, brush, pads, ponytails, deodorant, other toiletries, flashlights, and lots of extra batteries. She had Halcyon on her hand. Cereal was on her golden armband.

It was a clear morning. The fog had burned off and the sky was blue. The sun had climbed higher into the sky, painting everything in gold. Through the gaps in the ivy, the warm light shone on Sylvie's skin, warming her from the inside out. She imagined the light seeping into her skin, into her bones, into the cracks of her soul until she could be made whole again—a child of sunlight, like the Apollo kids. She wanted the sun to burn away the tiredness, the sadness, the thoughts. She wanted the sun to burn Eurydice, too, with her harsh words made harsher by their truth.

Sylvie took a shaky breath, letting the fresh air in and trapping it in her lungs for as long as she could. Then she let it out.

Campers would be having their lessons today, flying pegasi and practicing archery and scaling the lava wall. Meanwhile, the quest team would be heading underground.

Sylvie didn't like the idea of the dark—not that she was afraid of it. Actually, the dark was one of the few things she wasn't afraid of. But monsters lurking in the darkness was actually a very real possibility for demigods. To try and give herself a chance for as much light as possible, Sylvie grew firefly flowers and braided them into a crown. She wore it atop her head, planning to use it as another light source in the Labyrinth. Then Annabeth asked what the hell she was wearing, Sylvie told her, and the Athena girl actually thought it was a good idea. So now the two girls were wearing matching flower crowns.

Juniper and Grover stood apart from the group. Juniper had been crying again, but she was trying to keep it together for Grover's sake. She kept fussing with his clothes, straightening his rasta cap, and brushing goat fur off his shirt. Since they had no idea what they would encounter, he was dressed as a human, with the cap to hide his horns, and jeans, fake feet, and sneakers to hide his goat legs.

Chiron, Quintus, and Mrs. O'Leary stood with the other campers who'd come to wish them well, but there was too much activity for it to feel like a happy send-off. A couple of tents had been set up by the rocks for guard duty. Beckendorf and his siblings were working on a line of defensive spikes and trenches. Chiron had decided they needed to guard the Labyrinth exit at all times, just in case.

Annabeth was doing one last check on her supply pack. Sylvie kept assuring her that she had everything they needed, but Annabeth was so nervous that she couldn't stay still. Sylvie understood this, so she backed off.

When Percy and Tyson came over, Sylvie frowned. "Perce, you look terrible."

"He killed the water fountain last night," Tyson confided.

"What?" 

Before Percy could explain, Chiron trotted over. "Well, it appears you are ready!"

He tried to sound upbeat, but Sylvie could tell he was anxious. Sylvie didn't want to freak him out any more, but she thought about last night's dream, and before she could change her mind, she said, "Hey, uh, Chiron, can I ask you a favor while I'm gone?"

"Of course, my dear."

"Be right back, y'all." Sylvie nodded toward the woods.

Chiron raised an eyebrow, but he followed her out of earshot.

"Last night," she said, "I dreamed about Luke, Kronos, and Eurydice." Sylvie told him the details. The news seemed to weigh on his shoulders.

"I feared this," Chiron said. "Against my father, Kronos, we would stand no chance in a fight."

Chiron rarely called Kronos his father. Well, they all knew it was true. Every creature in the Greek world—god, monster, or Titan—was related to one another somehow. But it wasn't exactly something Chiron liked to brag about. Oh, my dad is the all-powerful evil Titan lord who wants to destroy Western Civilization. I want to be just like him when I grow up!

"Do you know what he meant about a bargain?" Sylvie asked.

"I am not sure, but I fear they seek to make a deal with Daedalus. If the old inventor is truly alive, if he has not been driven insane by millennia in the Labyrinth... well, Kronos can find ways to twist anyone to his will."

"Not anyone," Sylvie promised.

Chiron managed a smile. "No. Perhaps not anyone. But, Sylvie, you must beware. I have worried for some time that Kronos may be looking for Daedalus for a different reason, not just passage through the maze."

"What else would he want?"

"Something Annabeth and I were discussing. Do you remember what you all told me about your first trip to the Princess Andromeda, the first time you saw the golden coffin?"

Sylvie nodded. "Luke was talking about raising Kronos, little pieces of him appearing in the coffin every time someone new joined his cause."

"And what did Luke say they would do when Kronos had risen completely?"

A chill went down Sylvie's spine. "He said they would make Kronos a new body, worthy of the forges of Hephaestus."

"Indeed," Chiron said. "Daedalus was the world's greatest inventor. He created the Labyrinth, but much more. Automatons, thinking machines... What if Kronos wishes Daedalus to make him a new form?"

That was a real pleasant thought.

"We've got to get to Daedalus first," Sylvie said, "and convince him not to. I guess."

Chiron stared off into the trees. "One other thing I do not understand... this talk of a last soul joining their cause. That does not bode well."

Sylvie kept her mouth shut, but she felt guilty. She'd gone along with Percy's decision not to tell Chiron about Nico being a son of Hades. The mention of souls, though—What if Kronos knew about Nico? What if he managed to turn him evil? Sylvie had to find Nico. She had to explain things to him, make him listen.

"I dunno," she said at last. "But, uh, something Juniper said, maybe you should hear." Sylvie told him how the tree nymph had seen Quintus poking around the rocks.

Chiron's jaw tightened. "That does not surprise me."

"It doesn't sur—You mean you knew?"

"Sylvie, when Quintus showed up at camp offering his services... well, I would have to be a fool not to be suspicious."

"Then why did you let him in?"

"Because sometimes it is better to have someone you mistrust close to you, so that you can keep an eye on him. He may be just what he says: a half-blood in search of a home. Certainly he has done nothing openly that would make me question his loyalty. But believe me, I will keep an eye—"

Percy trudged over, probably curious why they were taking so long.

"Applejack, you ready?"

Sylvie nodded. She looked over and saw Quintus watching her carefully. He raised his hand in farewell.

Our spies report success, Luke had said. The same day they decided to send a quest, Luke had known about it.

"Take care," Chiron told them. "And good hunting."

"You too," Sylvie said.

They walked over to the rocks, where Annabeth, Tyson, and Grover were waiting. Sylvie stared at the crack between the boulders—the entrance that was about to swallow them.

"Well," Grover said nervously, "good-bye sunshine."

"Hello rocks," Tyson agreed.

And together, the five of them descended into darkness.

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BAILEY YAPS...

Backbiter more like back shots gayass WHAT WHO SAID THAT

An angel dies every time someone points out Sylvie is becoming what Eurydice used to be... An angel dies every time someone points out that Cedar and Sylvie are what Sylvie wished she and Eurydice were...

Gave y'all SylvTheo (hi via) crumbs with "She imagined the light seeping into her skin, into her bones, into the cracks of her soul until she could be made whole again—a child of sunlight, like the Apollo kids. She wanted the sun to burn away the tiredness, the sadness, the thoughts." !!! Like!!!!

Firefly flowers are not fucking real i made it up cause i wanted to put sylvie in a flower crown. Sue me. It's not a Sylvie quest if she's not wearing a staple item (uggs, cargo pants)

Anyways so in my mind the flowers are like an eggshell white but in the dark they glow the color of a firefly!!! And Sylviebeth are wearing them!!! Because they are the princesses ever!!!

Anyone want me to make a second book of this following HOO be honest