The Labyrinth // pjo

Chapter Thirteen // I Am Given Some Guidance

 By the time we stopped, I was coughing up blood enough that I was starting to get dizzy.

I'm not sure how I ran as long as I did, but I think it was the fact that Annabeth had been sobbing the whole time we had been running, and Nico looked like a corpse on his brother's back.

Finally, when Rachel came to an abrupt stop, hugging her chest and wheezing, "I-I can't go any farther."

I fell against the wall as Annabeth dropped to the ground, putting her head between her knees as she wept.

Gods–I really wish I had a drop of liking for Luke, but I didn't.

Part of me wanted to shout at Annabeth to stop crying over the murderous traitor who had become the host body of Kronos. Still, as she cried, I couldn't help but imagine myself in Annabeth's shoes.

While she had had what could be called a crush on Luke–he was also something akin to her brother in my eyes. And as I thought about it, I couldn't help but feel sick as I imagined Percy pulling what Luke did and doing all of this to me.

And that is what made the sympathy fill me.

My breathing was wet with gunky blood as I dropped beside her, wrapping my arms around her and letting her cry into my shirt as I tried not to cough up blood all over her.

I need some ambrosia squares or nectar.

Did I have any more?

Ric had put his brother down against the wall opposite me and Annabeth–and I stared at the young boy worriedly as he dropped his sword and sighed, "That sucked."

Ric looked sick with worry as he squeezed his brother's shoulder, "Yeah, but you did good."

Nico smiled tiredly at his brother, "Thanks for the lessons."

"Anytime, Neeks."

Nico flinched a little bit, but he kept smiling and closed his eyes before they popped open when Percy–who had dropped on his free sigh said, "You saved our lives."

I watched as Nico seemed to perk up a little bit as he wiped the dust off his face, "Blame the girls and Ric for dragging me along. That's the only thing they could agree on after Sally took off like a Fury out of the Underworld. We needed to help you guys, or you'd mess things up."

I scoffed gently–sending myself into a coughing fit as Percy lifted his flashlight to the water dripping from the stalactites above us and said, "Nice that they trust me so much..." Then his face paled. He looked at the di Angelo brothers, "Nico...you, uh, kind of gave yourself away."

"What do you mean?" Nico furrowed his dark brows at him.

"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." Then he looked at Ric, "Both of you. It's not a secret that you guys are brothers–and you guys look pretty similar."

Ric nodded, his voice low, "I know..."

Nico frowned at the older bows before shrugging, "Big deal."

Me, Percy, and Ric shared a look before dropping the subject.

I lifted my eyes back to the ceiling and the water dropping through the air.

I could feel my broken ribs under Annabeth's head as she cried softly in my arms, and I could feel the blood rising up my throat again.

Poseidon, have mercy.

I called to the water in the air, and it answered me.

A small orb of water started to appear in my shaking hands–tiny droplets soaring toward me. They all glittered in the dim flashlight beams around us, and I could feel my friends and brother–except for Annabeth–watching me perform this trick.