Sea Green Eyes

Chapter 44

Percy was kinda glad that his girlfriend was claustrophobic because as they crawled through the drainpipe, it gave him something else to be worried about other than how sick he was of water - something he'd never admit aloud though.

Cressida's breathing was heavy as she crawled behind him, trying to keep a leash on the fact that she could barely move. Percy made her laugh though by saying that instead of being nervous, she should be appreciating the great view she had.

She simply pushed his butt that he'd been referring to as they kept going, feeling a little better after his comment.

After thirty feet, it opened into a wider tunnel, thankfully. To their left, somewhere in the distance, Percy heard rumbling and creaking, like a huge machine needed oiling. He had absolutely no desire to find out what was making that sound, so he figured that must be the way to go.

Several hundred feet later, they reached a turn in the tunnel. Percy held up his hand, signalling everyone to wait. He peeked around the corner, Cressida pressing herself against his body as she tried to see too and he rolled his eyes at her but made no move to push her back.

The corridor opened into a vast room with twenty-foot ceilings and rows of support columns. It looked like the same parking garage-type area Percy had seen in his dreams, but now much more crowded with stuff. The creaking and rumbling came from huge gears and pulley systems that raised and lowered sections of the floor for no apparent reason. Water flowed through open trenches powering waterwheels that turned some of the machines. Other machines were connected to huge hamster wheels with hellhounds inside. Suspended from the ceiling were cages of live animals—a lion, several zebras, a whole pack of hyenas, and even an eight-headed hydra. Ancient-looking bronze and leather conveyor belts trundled along with stacks of weapons and armour.

"What is it?" Piper whispered but neither of them were sure how to answer.

About twenty feet inside the doorway, a life-size wooden cut out of a gladiator popped up from the floor. It clicked and whirred along a conveyor belt, got hooked on a rope, and ascended through a slot in the roof.

Jason murmured, "What the heck?"

They stepped inside and scanned the room, their eyes scanning everything, their ADHD allowing them to be comfortable in the chaos. But once Cressida's eyes fixed on something, they didn't move after that. Because about a hundred yards away, she spotted a raised dais with two empty oversized praetor chairs. Standing between them was a bronze jar big enough to hold a person.

"Percy," she said as she reached for his arm.

"Guys. Look," Percy said as he pointed it out to Jason and Piper.

Piper frowned. "That's too easy."

"Obviously," Cressida said.

"Of course," Percy agreed.

"But we have no choice," Jason said. "We've got to save Nico."

"Damn you Cress," Percy sighed and the couple were confused before they saw the way she was already starting to move across the room and he followed, picking his way around conveyor belts and moving platforms.

Percy tried to watch out for traps, but everything here looked like a trap. He remembered how many times he'd almost died in the labyrinth a few years ago - how long ago that had been. He kind of wished he could be back there, dancing with Cressida in the maze. It was easier because he knew what would happen unlike now.

They jumped over a water trench and ducked under a row of caged wolves. They had made it about halfway to the bronze jar when the ceiling opened over them. A platform lowered. Standing on it like an actor, with one hand raised and his head high, was the purple-haired giant Ephialtes.