𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑 𝐆𝐈𝐑𝐋 || 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙘𝙮 𝙟𝙖𝙘𝙠𝙨𝙤𝙣¹

035

(chapter xxxv — identity crisis)

"C'MON, THIS WAY!" Rachel took the lead — gesturing them towards her as she sped up.

"Why should we follow you!?" Annabeth protested, "Last time we listened to you, we almost died!"

"It was the way we needed to go —"

"Yeah, right —"

"— and so is this. Now come on!" Rachel ignored Annabeth's scowl as she turned a corner. The daughter of Athena looked like she wanted to argue, but just sighed in defeat as she followed her friends.

Selene was really, truly exhausted, but the adrenaline, (and Percy), helped keep her going. It must've been slowing him down, supporting her as well as himself, but if it did, he didn't let on.

Rachel seemed to know exactly what to do. She turned corners without second thought, didn't hesitate at all the twists, turns, and crossroads. At one point, she yelled, "Duck!", and Selene's reflexes luckily kicked in and listened to her command. They all dodged a literal axe that swung at them and continued forward without stopping.

At this point, Percy was practically carrying her. Selene's heart started to slow, and the whole thing honestly felt like a fever dream. She wasn't able to keep track of how much they turned anymore, and for the millionth time since they've been in this labyrinth, she felt like she needed to throw up.

They finally seemed to stop in a room as big as the training grounds at camp — about the size of a gym at a school, probably. Selene could tell Percy didn't relax properly however until he made sure that Luke and his army had lost them in the maze.

Selene removed her arm from around Percy's shoulders, and put her back against the wall — sliding down and collapsing as she let out a sigh. Everything seemed to hurt right now.

Ethan seemed to have gotten a similar idea. He fell to the floor right next to her, (which made Percy a little miffed), and shook his head — an incredulous look in his eyes. "You....people are.." He panted — shutting his eyes as he took of his helmet, ".....Crazy." He then glanced at Selene, "By the way — you got me good.  In the arena."

"You did too." Selene weakly offered her fist to him for a fist-bump. Ethan accepted, and she made a little booooom motion with her hands before shutting her eyes slightly as well.

Percy kneeled down next to her. "You alright?" He asked — his eyes trailing down her body, looking for injuries. Other than the scar Kelli left on her face, it seemed to just be minor cuts and bruises. Still, he frowned. "You need to be more careful."

"I? I need to be more careful?" Selene asked in disbelief. "Please tell me you — of all people — didn't just say that."

"What —?"

Annabeth gasped — cutting their conversation short as she stared at Ethan in realization. "I remember you...you were one of the undetermined kids in the Hermes cabin, years ago."

Ethan opened his eyes and glared at her — as if she interrupted his nap. "Yeah — there's a lot of those, aren't there?"

Annabeth winced as she avoided his gaze. "What — what happened to your eye?" She managed to ask.

Ethan's face darkened. Selene had a feeling that's not something he maybe did not want to talk about.