The Unknown (A Percy Jackson Fanfiction)

23. A New New Rome

Hi! Another fabulously late update! *cheering*

Enjoy! It's quite a long chapter this time.

Annabeth (unedited)

The darkness was thick.

Annabeth couldn't see anything in front of her apart from the glint of Will's hair as he walked gingerly in front of her. Nico was the only one who seemed to be comfortable in the complete blackness-as far as Annabeth could tell with the little sight she had.

She ran her hand against the wall on her left. It crumbled slightly underneath her fingertips and she coughed as plaster trickled to the floor, sending up a tiny cloud of dust.

There was a huff from behind her. "Does anyone happen to have a torch?" Thalia demanded, her breathing slightly laboured.

"Well, it's not exactly a torch," Will began, "But it's bright." Suddenly, two golden lights erupted from the palms of his hands in smooth, perfect orbs, illuminating the whole passageway in a warm glow.

Annabeth sucked in a small breath. "Wow," Was all she managed, her throat closing up. The light seemed to radiate her happiest memories; the feeling of Percy's arm curling round her waist and his beautiful green eyes as they brightened with laughter, his mouth forming an easy grin. "I love you, Wise Girl." He had said, pressing his lips against hers.

She was broke out of her trance by Will clearing his throat. She realised that everyone apart from Will had gone into a similar spell and now were all furiously blinking.

"How can you do that?" Thalia asked, almost seeming offended by the fact that she couldn't do that.

Will shrugged a shoulder, looking slightly uncomfortable under everyone's gaze. "Son of Apollo, people."

Annabeth glimpsed the twitch of a smile from Nico, who eyed Will with pride in his dark eyes.

She glanced away and looked at her surroundings with more detail. The walls were of old, crumbling white limestone that once had intricate designs and words engraved but had faded over time so it was impossible to read. The passageway went from right to left, each side leading into darkness despite the glow from Will's hands.

Grover gulped comically. "This better not be the Labyrinth."

Nico shook his head. "It isn't. This place is different, somehow friendlier."

Annabeth disagreed. The camp itself-especially now it was merely ruin-send chills down her spine. She felt like an outsider here-a stranger on stranger ground. Or underground, to be precise.

"Let's go left." Annabeth decided aloud and the others agreed silently, beginning to follow her.

However, after several steps forward, a voice echoed from the other end of the passageway;

"Who goes there?" A male voice demanded, sounding more scared than intimidating.

The group froze. Annabeth inhaled sharply; they weren't alone. There was still hope. "We're demigods." She said, simply. Grover shot her a look like, hello?

There was brief silence, then, "Are you guys Greek?"

Annabeth winced. The Roman's and the Greek's were mostly friendly with each other but there was still some tension. Fights between them and the campers had been known to break out every so often, though it was usually over something stupid. "Yes. Is...is Reyna here somewhere?"

The person stepped forward into the light from Will's hands and Annabeth stifled a scream. His mouth was stained red with looked like—

"'Bout time." Dakota said, shifting uncomfortably under his armour as he grinned at the Greek demigods. "Reyna has been expecting you guys for ages. Cool light by the way."