This Dark Night ― Percy Jackson & Annabeth Chase¹

―vii. a picnic with the queen of the gods

THEY MADE IT A HUNDRED FEET before they were hopelessly lost—which, all things considered, was probably an accomplishment.

The tunnel looked nothing like the one Naomi, Annabeth, and Percy had stumbled into before. Now it was round like a sewer, constructed of red brick with iron-barred portholes every ten feet.

Annabeth did her best to guide them. She had this idea that they could stick to the left wall.

"If we keep one hand on the left wall and follow it," she explained, "we should be able to find our way out again by reversing course."

The only problem with that: as soon as she said it, the left wall disappeared. They found themselves in the middle of a circular chamber with eight tunnels leading out, and no idea how they'd gotten there.

"Um, which way did we come in?" Grover said nervously.

"Just turn around," Annabeth said.

Everyone turned toward a different tunnel. It would have been funny if it wasn't terrifying.

"Left walls are mean," Tyson said. "Which way now?"

Annabeth swept her flashlight beam over the archways of the eight tunnels. As far as Naomi could tell, they were exactly the same. "That way," she said.

"How do you know?" Percy asked.

"Deductive reasoning."

"So... you're guessing."

"Just come on," she said.

The tunnel she'd chosen narrowed quickly. The walls turned to gray cement, and the ceiling got so low that pretty soon they were hunched over. Poor Tyson was forced to crawl.

They'd been walking (and crawling) for maybe a minute when Naomi heard it.

Komori.

It was a male's voice, clear as day. It sounded like the speaker was right next to her, but it didn't sound like anyone Naomi knew, and when she looked, there was only the shadow-covered wall beside her.

"What was that?" she asked.

"What was what?" Annabeth asked.

"That... that voice," Naomi said.

"All I hear is Grover's hyperventilating," Percy said.

"It was clear as day!" Naomi said. "Komori."

"Pretty," Tyson commented.

Naomi frowned. "No one else heard it?"

Naomi could practically feel Annabeth's anxiety from the front of the pack. "It's like the prophecy said—the flower hears the shadow's calls."

"But what's a komori?" Percy asked. "Is it a person? A warning?"

"Did the voice say anything else?" Annabeth asked.

Naomi shook her head. "Just komori."

"Maybe it's a warning," Grover said. "I think it's a warning. We should go."

"Grover, we've been down here maybe five minutes," Annabeth said.

"It's been longer than that," Grover insisted. "And why would Pan be down here? This is the opposite of the wild!"

They kept shuffling forward. Just when Naomi was sure the tunnel would get so narrow it would squish them, it opened into a huge room. Percy shone his light around the walls. "Whoa."

The whole room was covered in mosaic tiles. The pictures were covered with grime and faded with age, but she could still make out the colors—red, blue, green, gold. The frieze showed the Olympian gods at a feast. There was Poseidon with his trident, holding out grapes for Dionysus to turn into wine. Zeus was partying with satyrs, and Hermes was flying through the air on his winged sandals.