[ Sadie Sink as Rachel Elizabeth Dare ]

I 033. I

𝑪𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑪𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒐𝒓𝒔

❝ guide ❞

   ARIADNE HAD ANOTHER DREAM THAT NIGHT. But it wasn't about her love life, but rather about a king and his three daughters.

She was in a king's courtroom—a big white chamber with marble columns and a wooden throne. Sitting on it was a plump guy with curly red hair and a crown of laurels. At his side stood three girls who looked like his daughters. They all had his red hair and were dressed in blue robes.

The doors freaked opened and a herald announced, "Minos, King of Crete!"

Ariadne tensed, but t he man on the throne just smiled at his daughters. "I can't wait to see the expression on his face."

Minos, the royal creep himself, swept into the room. He was so tall and serious he made the other king look silly. Minos's pointed beard had gone gray. He looked thinner than the last time she'd dreamed of him, and his sandals were splattered with mud, but the same cruel light shined in his eyes.

He bowed sticky to the man on the throne. "King Cocalus. I understand you have solved my little riddle."

Cocalus smiled. "Hardly little, Minos. Especially when you advertise across the world that you were willing to pay a thousand gold talents to the one who can solve it. Is the offer genuine?"

Minos clapped his hands. Two buff guards walked in, struggling with a big wooden crate. They set it at Cocalus's feet and opened it. Stacks of gold bars glittered. It had to be worth a lot of money.

Cocalus whistled appreciatively. "You must have bankrupted your kingdom for such a reward, my friend."

"That is not your concern."

Cocalus shrugged. "The riddle was quiet simple, really. One of my retainers solved it."

"Father," one of the girls warmed. She looked the oldest—a little taller than her sisters.

Cocalus ignored her. He took a spiral seashell from the folds of his robe. A silver string had been threaded through it: so it hung like a huge bead on a necklace.

Minos stepped forward and took the shell. "One of your retainers, you say? How did he thread the string through without breaking the shell?"

"He used an ant, of you can believe it. Tired a silk string to the little creature and coaxed it through the shell by putting honey at the fat end."

"Ingenious man," Minos said.

"Oh, indeed. My daughter's tutor. They are quite fond of him."

Minos's eyes turned cold. "I would be careful of that."

Ariadne wanted to warn Cocalus: Don't trust him! Throw him in the dungeon with something that could kill him! But the red headed king just chuckled. "Not to worry, Minos. My daughters are wise behind their years. Now, about my god—"

"Yes," Minos said. "But you see the gold is for the man who solved the riddle. And there can be only one such man. You harboring Daedalus."

Cocalus shifted uncomfortably on his throne. "How is that you know his name?"

"He is a thief," Minos said. "He once worked in my court, Cocalus. He turned my own daughter against me. He helped a usurper make a fool of me in my own palace. And then he escaped justice. I have been pursuing him for ten years."

"I knew nothing of this. But I have offered the man my protection. He has been a most useful—"

"I offer you a choice," Minos said. "Turn over the fugitive to me, and this gold is yours. Or sick making me your enemy. You do not want Crete as your enemy."

Cocalus paled. If she had been ruler, she would've killed Minos on the spot, or told him to back off and leave, no matter how much gold there was. She wouldn't put up with it. But Cocalus just sat there sweating on his throne.

"Father," his oldest daughter said," you can't—"

"Silence, Aelia." Cocalus twisted his beard. He looked again at the glittering gold. "This pains me, Minos. The gods do not love a man who breaks his path of hospitality."

"The gods do not love those who harbor criminals, either."

Cocalus nodded. "Very well. You shall have your man in chains."

"Father!" Aelia said again. Then she caught herself, and changed her voice to a sweeter tone. "At—at least let us feast our guest first. After his long journey, he should be treated to a hot bath, new clothes, and a decent meal. I would be honored to draw the bath myself."

She smiled prettily at Minos, and the old king grunted. "I suppose a bath would not be amiss." He looked at Cocalus. "I will see you at dinner, my lord. With the prisoner."

"This way, Your Majesty," said Aelia. She and her sisters led Minos out of the chamber.

Ariadne followed them into a bath chamber decorated with mosaic tiles. Steam filled the air. A running water faucet poured hot water into a tub. Aelia and her sisters filled it with rose petals and something that was the Ancient Greek equivalent of Mr. bubble, because soon the water was covered with multicolored foam.

The girls turned aside as Minos dropped his robes and slipped into the bath (Ariadne had made sure not to see anything, she didn't want night mares ).

"Ahh." He smiled. "An excellent bath. Thank you, my dears. The journey has been long indeed."

"You have been chasing your prey ten years, my lord?" Aelia  asked, batting her eyelashes. "You must be very determined."

"I never forget a debt." Minos grinned. "Your father was wise to agree to my demands."

"Oh, indeed, my lord!" Aelia said. She thought she was laying on the flattery pretty thick, but the old guy was eating it up. Aelia's sisters trickled scented oil over the king's head.

"You know, my lord," Aelia  said, "Daedalus thought you would come. He thought the riddle might be a trap, but he couldn't resist solving it."

Minos frowned. "Daedalus spoke to you about me?"

"Yes, my lord."

"He is a bad man, princess. My own daughter fell under his spell. Do not listen to him."

"He is a genius," Aelia  said. "And he believes a woman is just as smart as a man. He was the first to ever teach us as if we had minds of our own. Perhaps your daughter felt the same way."

Minos tried to sit up, but Aelia's sisters pushed him back into the water. Aelia  came up behind him. She held three tiny orbs in her palm. At first Ariadne thought they were bath beads. But she threw them in the water and the beads sprouted bronze threads that began wrapping around the king, tying him up at the ankles, binding his wrists to his sides, circling his neck. Even though Ariadne hated Minos, it was pretty horrible to watch. He thrashed and cried out, but the girls were much stronger. Soon he was helpless, lying in the bath with his chin just above the water. The bronze strands were still wrapping around him like a cocoon, tightening across his body.

"What do you want?" Minos demanded. "Why do you do this?"

Aeliasmiled. "Daedalus has been kind to us, Your Majesty. And I do not like you threatening our father."

"You tell Daedalus," Minos growled. "You tell him I will hound him even after death! If there is any justice in the Underworld, my soul will haunt him for eternity!"

"Brave words, Your Majesty," Aelia  said. "I wish you luck finding your justice in the Underworld."

And with that, the bronze threads wrapped around Minos's face, making him a bronze mummy.

The door of the bathhouse opened. Daedalus stepped in, carrying a traveler's bag.

He'd trimmed his hair short. His beard was pure white. He looked frail and sad, but he reached down and touched the mummy's forehead. The threads unraveled and sank to the bottom of the tub. There was nothing inside them. It was as if King Minos had just dissolved.

"A painless death," Daedalus mused. "More than he deserved. Thank you, my princesses."

Aelia hugged him. "You cannot stay here, teacher. When our father finds out—"

"Yes," Daedalus said. "I fear I have brought you trouble."

"Oh, do not worry for us. Father will be happy enough taking that old man's gold. And Crete is a very long way away. But he will blame you for Minos's death. You must flee to somewhere safe."

"Somewhere safe," the old man repeated. "For years I have fled from kingdom to kingdom, looking for somewhere safe. I fear Minos told the truth. Death will not stop him from hounding me. There is no place under the sun that will harbor me, once word of this crime gets out."

"Then where will you go?"Aelia  said.

"A place I swore never to enter again," Daedalus said. "My prison may be my only sanctuary."

"I do not understand," Aelia  said.

"It's best you did not."

"But what of the Underworld?" one of her sisters asked. "Terrible judgment will await you! Every man must die."

"Perhaps," Daedalus said. Then he brought a scroll from his traveling bag—the same scroll Ariadne'd seen in her last dream, with his nephews notes. "Or perhaps not."

He patted Aelia's shoulder, then  blessed her and her sisters. He looked down once more at the coppery threads glinting in the bottom of the bath. "Find me if you dare, king of the ghosts."

He turned toward the mosaic wall and touched a tile. A glowing mark appeared—a Greek Δ—and the wall slid aside. The princesses gasped.

"You never told us of secret passages!"Aelia  said. "You have been busy."

"The Labyrinth  has been busy," Daedalus corrected. "Do not try to follow me, my dears, if you value your sanity."

***

ARIADNE'S DREAM SHIFTED. She was underground in a stone chamber. Luke and another half-blood warrior were studying a map by flashlight.

Luke cursed. "It should've been the last turn." He crumpled up the map and tossed it aside.

"Sir!" his companion protested.

"Maps are useless here," Luke said. "Don't worry. I'll find it."

"Sir, is it true that the larger the group—"

"The more likely you get lost? Yes, that's true. Why do you think we sent out solo explorers to begin with? But don't worry. As soon we have the thread, we can lead the vanguard through."

"But how will we get the thread?"

Luke stood, flexing his fingers. "Oh, Quintus will come through. All we have to do is reach the arena, and it's at the juncture. Impossible to get anywhere without passing it. That's why we must have a truce with its master. We just have to stay alive until—"

"Sir!" a new voice came from the corridor. Another guy in Greek armor ran forward, carrying a torch.

"The dracaenae found a half-blood!"

Luke scowled. "Alone? Wandering the maze?"

"Yes, sir! You'd better come quick . They're in the next chamber. They've got him cornered."

"Who is it?"

"No one I've ever seen before, sir."

Luke nodded. "A blessing from Kronos.  We may be able to use this half-blood. Come!"

They ran down the corridor, and Ariadne awoke with a start, staring into the dark. A lone half-blood, wandering the maze. It was a long time before she got to sleep again. And it would've been quicker if she only wore that damn blue hoodie, but part of her knew that if she did, she may as well have forgiven him.

And Ariadne was short forgiveness for Percy Jackson.

***

     SHE CHECKED OVER HER PACK BEFORE LEAVING. It was the next morning, and Ariadne hadn't slept since her dream, and that was around three. She would've fallen asleep if her dislike for Percy wasn't so prominent in her mind.

The girl ate breakfast with her brothers and gave them tight hugs, promising to return home safe. Zoe hadn't wanted to part with her, but a quick promise of treats and cuddles was enough to satisfy the tiger, and a fu al growl at Percy who still couldn't relax around her.

Percy only realized how much Zoe the tiger was like their late hunter friend—neither liked him.

Her brothers had worried looks on their faces as she piled into the van with her group. They knew something bad was going to happen, and their only hope was that they all made it out alive.

No one talked much in the van. Argus never spoke, probably because he had eyes all over his body, including—she had seen it—at the tip of his tongue, and he didn't like to show that off.

Annabeth looked queasy, as if she'd slept worse than the other two. But it may have always been how awkward she felt sitting between Ariadne and Percy who couldn't even glance at the other without looking heartbroken.

"Are you okay?" Ariadne asked her sister.

She shook her head. "An Iris-message from Eurytion."

"Eurytion! Is something wrong with Nico?"

"He left the ranch last night, heading into the maze. Nico was gone before he woke up. Orthus tracked his scent as far as the cattle guard. Eurytion said he'd been hearing Nico talk to himself the last few nights. Only now he thinks Nico was talking with the ghost again, Minos."

"He's in danger," Percy said.

"No kidding," Annabeth said. "Minos is one of the judges of the dead, but he's got a vicious streak a mile wide. I don't know what he wants with Nico, but—"

"That's not what I meant," Percy said. "I had this dream last night..." He told them about Luke, how he'd mentioned Quintus, and how his men had found a half-blood alone in the maze. He had the same dreams Ariadne had.

The brunette only looked at Annabeth and ignored the boy, who was desperately trying to grab her attention.

Annabeth's jaw clenched. "That's very, very bad."

"So what do we do?"

Ariadne raised an eyebrow at him. "Well, it's a good thing you have a plan to guide us, huh?"

She didn't notice the heartbroken look Percy gave her, but Annabeth had, and that made the quest all the more infuriating.

***

     SHE HADN'T BEEN THERE IN A WHILE. It was Saturday morning, and traffic was heavy going into the city. They arrived at Percy's mom's apartment around noon. When Sally answered the door, she gave Percy a hug that was close to one Clarisse gave her in an attempt to break her ribs a few years ago.

Long story.

I told them you were all right," Sally said, but she sounded like the weight of the sky had just been lifted off her shoulders—and believe her, Ariadne knew firsthand how that feels.

She sat them down at the kitchen table Ariadne had sat so many times before. From doing homework with Percy, or eating dinner, the brunette was happy to see Sally Jackson. Sally insisted on feeding them her special blue chocolate chip cookies while they caught her up on the quest.

As usual, Percy tried to water down the frightening parts ( which was pretty much everything ), but somehow that just made it sound more dangerous.

When he got to the part about Geryon and the stables, Sally pretended like she was going to strangle him. "I can't get him to clean his room, but he'll clean a hundred tons of horse manure out of some monster's stables?"

Ariadne and Annabeth laughed. It was the first time Percy had heard the brunette laugh in a long time, and it was nice to hear.

The girl gave Sally a smile as she finished her cookie.

"So," his mom said when he was done with the story, "you wrecked Alcatraz Island, made Mount St. Helens explore, and displaced half a million people, but at least you're safe." That was Sally, always looking on the bright side.

"Yep," Percy agreed. "That pretty much covers it."

"I wish Paul were here," she said, half to herself. "He wanted to talk to you."

"Oh, right. The school."

Ariadne's brows furrowed. She didn't recall Annabeth or Percy telling her what happened at his school and why they hadn't gone to the movies that day.

"What did you tell him?" Percy asked.

Sally shook her head. "What could I say? He knows something is different about you, Percy. He's a smart man. He believes that you're not a bad person. He doesn't know what's going on, but the school is pressuring him. After all, he got you admitted there. He needs to convince them the fire wasn't your fault. And since you ran away, that looks bad."

Ariadne studied through boy. She knew the difficulties of being a half-blood in the mortal world, and school always became a big sign for monsters when you were like them. But she still had no clue what fire he had started.

"I'll talk to him," Percy promised. "After we're done with the quest. I'll even tell him the truth if you want."

Sally out her hand on his shoulder. "You would do that?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, he'll think we're crazy."

"He already thinks that."

"Then there's nothing to lose."

"Thank you, Percy. I'll tell him you'll be home..." She frowned. "When? What happens now?"

Annabeth broke her cookie in half. "Percy has this plan..."

Reluctantly he told his mom.

She nodded slowly. "It sounds very dangerous. But it might work."

"You have the same abilities, don't you?" Percy asked. "You can see through the Mist."

Sally sighed. "Not so much now. When I was younger it was easier. But yes, I've always been able to see more than was good for me. It's one of the things that caught your father's attention, when we first met. Just be careful. Promise me you'll be safe."

"We'll try, Sally," Ariadne said. "Keeping your son safe is a big job, though." She glared at the two rings on her finger. She hadn't taken the amethyst one off. Percy picked at his napkin and tried not to say anything.

Sally frowned. "What's going on with you two? Have you been fighting?"

Neither of them said anything.

"I see," Sally said. "Well, remember, Grover and Tyson are counting on you three."

"I know," Ariadne and Percy said at the same time, which caused her to glare harder. Annabeth shifted with her arms crossed.

Sally smiled. "Percy, you'd better use the phone in the hall. Good luck."

And before they left, Sally gave the brunette girl a sweet smile, as if she had understood what her son had done without even asking.

***

THEY ARRANGED A MEETING IN TIMES SQUARE. They found Rachel Elizabeth Dare in the front of the Marriott Marquis, and she was completely painted gold.

Ariadne meant, her face, her hair, her clothes—everything. She looked like she'd been touched by King Midas. She was standing like a statue with five other kids all painted metallic—copper, bronze, silver. They were frozen in different poses while tourists hustled past or stopped to stare. Some passerby threw money at the tarp on the sidewalk.

Ariadne wasn't a fan already.

The sign at Rachel's feet said, URBAN ART FIR KIDS, DONATIONS APPRECIATED.

The trio stood there for like, five minutes, staring at Rachel, but if she noticed them she didn't let on.

She didn't even move or blink that Ariadne could see. Being ADHD and all, she could not have done that. Standing still that long would've driven her crazy. And based on how gold she looked, Ariadne could only assume that wasn't how she usually looked.

"Maybe if we push her over," Ariadne suggested.

Percy gave her a side glance and Annabeth smirked. The brunette narrowed her eyes at the gold girl and felt a scowl crossing her face

Rachel didn't respond. After another few minutes, a kid in silver walked up from the hotel taxi stand, where he'd been taking a break. He took a pose like he was lecturing the crowd, right next to Rachel. Rachel I froze and stepped off the tarp.

"Hey, Percy." She grinned. "Good timing! Let's get some coffee."

They walked down to a place called the Java Moose on the West 43rd. Rachel ordered an Espresso Extreme, the kind of stuff Grover would like. Annabeth and Percy got fruit smoothies, and Ariadne got a large cup of hot chocolate and they sat at a table right under the stuffed moose. Nobody even looked twice at Rachel in her golden outfit.

"So, she said, "it's Annabell, right?" Her green eyes turned to the brunette who could care less about the girl. "And you're Audrey, right? I remember you from the news a few years ago."

"Ariadne," she grumbled into her drink.

"Annabeth," Annabeth corrected. "Do you always dress in gold?"

"Not usually," Rachel said. "We're raising money for our group. We do volunteer art projects for elementary kids 'cause they're cutting art from the schools, you know? We do this once a month, take in about five hundred dollars in a good week and. But I'm guessing you don't want to talk about that. You guys are half-bloods, too?"

"Shhh!" Annabeth said, looking around. "Just announce it to the world, how about?"

"Okay." Rachel stood up and said really loud, "Hey, everybody! These two aren't human! They're half Greek god!"

Nobody even looked over. Rachel shrugged and sat down. "They don't seem to care."

"Not funny," Ariadne said. Her eyes glared at Rachel. "It isn't a joke."

"Hold it, you two," Percy said. "Just calm down."

"I'm calm," Rachel insisted. "Every time I'm around you, some monster attacks us. What's to be nervous about?"

"Look," Percy said. "I'm really sorry about the band room. I hope they didn't kick you out or anything."

"Nah. They asked me a lot of questions about you. I played dumb."

"Was it hard?" Annabeth asked.

Ariadne snorted and snickered behind her drink, giving Annabeth a hi-five under the table.

"Okay, stop!" Percy intervened. "Rachel, we've got a problem. and we need your help."

Rachel narrowed her eyes at the two girls. "You need my help?"

Annabeth stirred her straw in her smoothie. "Yeah," she said suddenly. "Maybe."

Percy told Rachel about the Labyrinth, and how they needed to find Daedalus. He told her what had happened the last few times they'd gone in.

"So you want me to guide you," she said. "Through a place I've never been."

"You can see through the Mist," Percy said. "Just like Ariadne. I'm betting you can see the right path. The Labyrinth won't be able to fool you easily."

"And if you're wrong?"

"Then we'll get lost. Either way, it'll be dangerous. Very, very dangerous."

"I could die?"

"Yeah."

"I thought you said monsters don't care about mortals. That sword of yours—"

"Yeah," Percy said. "Celestial bronze doesn't hurt mortals. Most monsters would ignore you. But Luke... he doesn't care. He'll use mortals, demigods, monsters, whatever. And he'll kill anyone who gets in his way."

"Nice guy," Rachel said.

"He's under the influence of a Titan," Annabeth said defensively. "He's been deceived."

Rachel looked back and forth between them. "Okay," she said. "I'm in."

Percy blinked, seemingly surprised at her easy answer. "Are you sure?"

"Hey, my summer was going to be boring. This is the best offer I've gotten yet. So what do I look for?"

"We have to find the entrance to the Labyrinth," Annabeth said. "There's an entrance at Camp Half-Blood, but you can't go there. It's off limits to mortals."

She said mortals like it was some sort of terrible condition. But Rachel just nodded. "Okay. What does an entrance to the Labyrinth look like?"

"It could be anything," Ariadne said. "A section of a wall. A boulder. A doorway. A sewer entrance. But it would have the mark of Daedalus on it. A Greek Δ, glowing in blue."

"Like this?" Rachel drew the symbol Delta in water in their table.

"That's it," Annabeth said. "You know Greek?"

"No," Rachel said. She pulled a big blue plastic hairbrush from her pocket and started brushing the gold out of her hair. "Let me get changed. You'd better come with me to the Marriott."

"Why?" Annabeth said.

"Because there's an entrance like that in the hotel basement, where we store our costumes. It's got the mark of Daedalus."

***

     THE METAL DOOR WAS HALF HIDDEN BEHIND A LAUNDRY BIN FULL OF DIRTY TOWELS. Ariadne didn't see anything strange about it, but Rachel showed them where to look, and she recognized the faint blue symbol etched into the metal.

"It hasn't been used in a long time," Annabeth said.

"I trued to open it once," Rachel said,just out of curiosity. It's rusted shut."

"No." Annabeth stepped forward. "It just needs the touch of a half-blood."

Sure enough, as soon as Annabeth out her hand on the mark, it flowed blue. The metal door unsealed and creaked open, revealing a dark staircase.

"Wow." Rachel looked calm, but Ariadne could tell she was pretending. She'd changed into a ratty Museum if Modern Art t-shirt and her regular marker colored jeans, her blue plastic hairbrush sticking out of her pocket. Her red hair was tied back, but she still had flecks of gold in it, and traces of gold glitter on her face. "So... after you."

"You're the guide," Annabeth said with mock politeness. "Lead in."

The stairs led down to a large brick tunnel. It was so dark Ariadne couldn't see two feet in front of them, but the trio had restocked on flashlights. As soon as they switched them on, Rachel yelped.

A skeleton was grinning at them. It wasn't human. It was huge, for one thing—at least ten feet tall. It had been strung up, chained by its wrists and ankles so it made a kind of giant X over the tunnel. But what really sent shivers down her spine was the single black eye socket in the center of its skull.

"A Cyclops," Annabeth said. "It's very old. It's not... anybody we know."

It wasn't Tyson, she meant. But that didn't make the brunette feel much better.

Rachel swallowed. "You have a friend who's a Cyclops?"

"Tyson," Percy said. "My half brother."

"Your half brother."

Hopefully we'll find him down here," Percy said. "And Grover. He's a satyr."

"Oh." Her voice was small. "Well then, we'd better keep moving."

She stepped under the skeleton's left arm and kept walking. Annabeth and Ariadne exchanged looks. Annabeth shrugged. They followed Rachel deeper into the maze.

After fifty feet they came to a crossroads. Ahead, the brick tunnel continued. To the right, the walls were made of ancient marble slabs. To the left, the tunnel was dirt and tree roots.

Ariadne pointed left. "That looks like the tunnel Tyson and Grover took."

Annabeth frowned. "Yeah, but the architecture to the right—those old stones—that's more likely to lead to an ancient part of the maze, toward Daedalus's workshop."

"We need to go straight," Rachel said.

The demigods looked at her.

"That's the least likely choice," Annabeth said.

"You don't see it?" Rachel asked. "Look at the floor."

Ariadne saw nothing except well-work bricks and mud.

"There's a brightness there," Rachel insisted. "Very faint. But forward is the correct way. To the left, farther down the tunnel, those tree roots are moving like feelers. I don't like that. To the right, there's a trap about twenty feet down. Holes in the walls, maybe piles. I don't think we should risk it."

The brunette's purple eyes were mixed with confusion and suspicion. How could the mortal see it but she couldn't?

Percy nodded. "Okay. Forward."

"You believe her?" Ariadne asked, facing him for the first time in a day.

"Yeah," Percy said. "Don't you?"

Annabeth looked like she wanted to argue, but she waved Rachel to lead on. Ariadne gave the boy a dirty look before aiming her glare at the back of Rachel's head.

Together they kept walking down the brick corridor. It twisted and turned, but there were no more side tunnels. They seemed to be angling down, heading deeper underground.

"No traps?" Percy asked anxiously.

"Nothing." Rachel knit her eyebrows. "Should it be this easy?"

"I don't know," Percy said. "It never was before."

"So, Rachel," Annabeth said, "where are you from, exactly?"

She said it like, What planet are you from? But Rachel didn't look offended.

"Brooklyn," she said.

"Aren't your parents going to be worried if you're out late?" Ariadne asked, gripping her bag tightly as a shiver ran down her spine.

Rachel exhaled. "Not likely. I could be gone a week and they'd never notice."

"Why not?" This time Annabeth didn't sound sarcastic. Ariadne's eyes had softened the slightest bit. Having trouble with parents was something they both understood.

Before Rachel could answer, there was a creaking noise in front of them, like huge doors opening.

"What was that?" Annabeth asked.

"I don't know," Rachel said. "Metal hinges."

"Oh, that's very helpful. I mean, what is it?"

Then Ariadne heard heavy footsteps shaking the corridor—coming toward them.

"Run?" Ariadne asked.

"Run," Rachel agreed.

They turned and fled the way they'd came, but they didn't make it twenty feet before they ran straight into some old friends. Two dracaenae—snake women in Greek armor—leveled their javelins at their chests.

Standing between them was Kelli, the empousa from her dreams.

"Well, well," Kelli said.

Percy uncapped Riptide while Ariadne pulled out Lunacy, and Annabeth pulled her knife; but before Ariadne's ring could even form into her good sword, Kelli pounced on Rachel. Her hand turned into a claw and she spun Rachel around, holding her tight with her talons at Rachel's neck.

A dracaenae pointed her spear directly at Ariadne's heart, another threat for the group.

"Take your mortal pet for a walk?" Kelli asked Percy. "They're such fragile things. So easy to break!"

Behind them, the footsteps came closer. A huge form appeared out of the gloom—an eight foot tall Laistrygonian giant with red eyes and fangs.

The giant licked his lips when he saw them. "Can I eat them?"

"No," Kelli said. "Your master will want these. They will provide a great deal of entertainment." She smiled at Ariadne and Percy. "Now March, half-bloods. Or you all die here, starting with the mortal girl."