𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐬'𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 • 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘺 𝘫𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘴𝘰𝘯

The Battle Of The Labyrinth

A/n: *sighs* I am so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so sorry.

TW: Character death

Y/n's Pov:

The distance was shorter in the Labyrinth. Still, by the time Rachel got us back to Times Square, I felt like we'd pretty much run all the way from New Mexico. We climbed out of the Marriott basement and stood on the pavement in the bright summer daylight, squinting at the traffic and crowds. 

I couldn't decide which seemed less real—New York or the crystal cave where I'd watched a god die.

Percy led us into an alleyway, where he whistled as loud as he could, five times.

A minute later, Rachel gasped. "They're beautiful!" 

A flock of pegasi descended from the sky, swooping between the skyscrapers. Blackjack was in the lead, followed by four of his white friends.

Blackjack neighed at Percy.

"Yeah," Percy told him. "I'm lucky that way. Listen, we need a ride to camp quick."

Blackjack neighed. Then he turned to Guido, neighing to him in question. The Pegasus Guido neighed, groaning and complaining, but eventually, he agreed to carry Tyson. Everybody started saddling up—except Rachel.

"Well," she told me, "I guess this is it."

I nodded uncomfortably. We both knew she couldn't go to camp. I glanced at Annabeth, who was pretending to be very busy with her Pegasus.

"Thanks, Rachel," I said. "We couldn't have done it without you."

"I wouldn't have missed it. I mean, except for almost dying, and Pan..." Her voice faltered.

"He said something about your father," I remembered. "What did he mean?"

Rachel twisted the strap on her backpack. "My dad...My dad's job. He's kind of a famous businessman."

"You mean...you're rich?"

"Well, yeah."

"So that's how you got the chauffeur to help us? You just said your dad's name and—"

"Yes," Rachel cut me off. "Y/n...my dad's a land developer. He flies all over the world, looking for tracts of undeveloped land." She took a shaky breath."The wild. He—he buys it up. I hate it, but he ploughs it down and builds ugly subdivisions and shopping centres. And now that I've seen Pan... Pan's death—"

"Hey, you can't blame yourself for that."

"You don't know the worst of it. I—I don't like to talk about my family. I didn't want you to know. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything."

"No," I said. "It's cool. Look, Rachel, you did awesomely. You led us through the maze. You were so brave. That's the only thing I'm going to judge you on. I don't care what your dad does."

Rachel looked at me gratefully. "Well...if you ever feel like hanging out with a mortal again...you could call me or something."

"Uh, yeah. Sure."

She knit her eyebrows. I guess I sounded unenthusiastic or something, but that's not how I meant it. I just wasn't sure what to say with all my friends standing around.

"I mean...I'd like that," I said.

"My number's not in the book," she said.

"I've got it," Percy said.

"Still on your hand? No way."

"No. I kinda...memorized it."

Her smile came back slowly, but a lot happier. "See you later, Y/n Hunter and Percy Jackson. Go save the world for me, okay?"