Flowergirl, Percy Jackson

005. Two Faces, Three Paths

005───────ஐ〰ฺ･:*:･✿two faces, three paths

  LILA IS IMPRESSED BY ANNABETH'S SENSE OF DIRECTION. She managed to lead them a hundred feet before they were lost. Better than Lila and Percy could manage, but not great.  

  The tunnel they are in reminds Lila slightly of a sewer ( not that she has seen many ) with red bricks and portholes every few feet. There is no smell, mercifully, but she can't shake the permanent feeling of a layer of dirt. It is the same feeling as when you go a week without a shower; you don't look dirty, but you feel it. 

  "Why don't we drop breadcrumbs or something?" She suggests, looking around, after coming to the conclusion that Annabeth's strategy of walking around aimlessly (but confidently) is not working. Grover looks confused, while Tyson is paying no attention. "You know, like Hansel and Gretel."

  "Didn't they almost get eaten by the witch?" Grover mumbles nervously, looking behind himself as if he will find a trail of breadcrumbs leading straight to their position. He seems jittery now, his previous confidence long-gone. Being underground seems to be draining the energy from him like a very low-energy battery — Lila is the opposite. Every inch of her is pumped with energy as if she has been electrocuted with a thousand Volts of non-deadly static electricity.

  "Only almost," Lila mutters, looking at Annabeth for reassurance (Annabeth knows everything, right?)

  Annabeth is chewing her lip, her face pallid. She looks nervous; more nervous than Lila has ever seen her. "We shouldn't leave a trail behind us." Fair enough. Lila can see how that would practically be inviting the monsters to come find them. Though, she can't shake the feeling that they're bound to run into something soon anyway. "If we keep one hand on the left wall and follow it," she puts her left hand on the wall to demonstrate; Lila follows suit. "We should be able to find our way out by reversing course."

  The left wall disappears; Lila stumbles, almost falling from surprise. Before she can hit the ground, a firm hand grasps her wrist. Percy stares down at her as if surprised by how close she is to him now — but he's the one who pulled her closer. 

  "Uh..." Percy says after moment of silence so thick he could probably slice through it with Riptide. Lila's never been so close to him. He has a few freckles just under his left eye; they're very pretty. She loves freckles; they look like stars. Sometimes she wonders if every freckle pattern is just a constellation, and every constellation just reflects the freckles on someone's cheeks. "Sorry."

  He drops her hand, and she steps back, blushing. Looking around, she realises that they're in a circular chamber, with eight tunnels leading out. The chamber itself is clean and pretty enough, somehow naturally light, but with no windows.  They aren't in sewers anymore, that much is clear. "Um, which way did we come in?" Grover asks, shifting on his hooves.

  "Just turn around," Annabeth instructs. They turn; each toward a different tunnel. Lila is sure she turned toward the wrong one. 

  "Left walls are mean." Tyson isn't wrong. Perhaps they should try the right wall instead. "Which way now?"

  Annabeth narrows her eyes, ashy steel staring at the doors as if they have personally offended her (the last time Annabeth looked at something in this way was just before she obliterated a dracaena to dust with her dagger. Lila fears for the doors.)  "That way," she points at the one third from the right; the one Tyson turned toward. 

  "How do you know?" Percy asks.

  "Deductive reasoning."

  "So...you're guessing."