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chapter seventy-six. ☄︎. *. ⋆
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WE RAN UNTIL we literally could not run anymore. I was thriving off of two broken ribs, a shattered wrist, and a broken ankle, but pure adrenaline is what kept me going. I'd like to extend a thank-you to the practicalities of the human body, because if it hadn't been producing enough energy to kill a toddler, I might've died from the pain.
We stopped in a tunnel of wet white rock, like part of a natural cave. I couldn't hear anything behind us, but I didn't feel any safer. I could still remember those unnatural golden eyes staring out of Luke's face, and the feeling that my limbs were slowly turning to stone.
"I can't go any farther," Rachel gasped, hugging her chest.
Nico and Percy collapsed next to each other, dropping their swords out of exhaustion. I was on the ground faster than I could say "Ouch," laying flat on my back in the worst internal pain I'd ever felt in my entire life.
"That sucked," Nico said, which I thought summed things up pretty well.
"You saved our lives," I said, reaching for the ambrosia and nectar Percy was holding out for me.
Nico wiped the dust off his face. "Blame Percy and Rachel for dragging me along. That's the only thing they could agree on. We needed to help you or you'd mess things up."
"Thanks for trusting me so much," I said. I sat up with a great effort, already feeling the effects of the ambrosia taking place across my body. I glanced at Nico uneasily. "You kinda gave yourself away back there."
"What do you mean?"
"That wall of black stone? That was pretty impressive. If Kronos didn't know who you were before, he does now—a child of the Underworld."
Nico frowned. "Big deal."
I let it drop. I figured he was just trying to hide how scared he was, and I couldn't blame him.
Percy lifted his head. "What was wrong with Luke? What the hell happened to him?"
I told him what I'd seen in the coffin, the way the last piece of Kronos's spirit had entered Luke's body when Ethan pledged his service.
Percy took the news in silence. After a moment, he nodded. "Annabeth's going to be heartbroken. But Luke is no more. Mostly, at least—some part of him's still there. You saw when Rachel hit him."
I nodded, looking at Rachel, amused. "You hit the Lord of the Titans in the eye with a blue plastic hairbrush."
Rachel looked embarrassed. "It was the only thing I had."
