𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐔𝐒──𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘺 𝘫𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘴𝘰𝘯

[ VI. styx ]

Zehra's sword reappeared in her pocket.

Yeah, great timing. Now she could attack the walls all she wanted. Her cell had no bars, no windows, not even a door. And worse, Zehra was trapped in there with none other than Percy Jackson. The skeletal guards shoved the pair of half-bloods straight through a wall, and it became solid behind them. She wasn't sure if the room was airtight. Probably. Hades's dungeon was meant for dead people, and they don't breathe. So forget fifty or sixty years. Zehra would be dead in fifty or sixty minutes. Meanwhile, if Hades wasn't lying, some big trap was going to be sprung in New York by the end of the day, and there was absolutely nothing she or Percy could do about it.

Zehra leaned against the cold stone wall, feeling miserable. "You do it over and over, Jackson."

Percy looked over from his sitting position on the ground. "Do what?"

"Screw everything up!" Zehra exclaimed as if it was obvious. "Wherever you go, you drag trouble with you."

Percy's jaw clenched. "Ok, yeah. That's very fair, Zehra," he grumbled. "I just exist and monsters and evil gods try to murder me. That's totally all on me. My bad."

But Zehra couldn't control the red hot frustration that was brewing in her belly. "You don't even realize how ridiculous you are!" She yelled. "You always spring into your stupid plans without even waiting to see what other people think. Maybe if you had used a little bit more common sense, you would've noticed that listening to the emo twelve-year-old was not the best idea!" Zehra was too fired up to think. She chucked her gold pen at the son of Poseidon as hard as she could, aiming it squarely at his chest.

There was a bare moment of silence after the pen bounced off of Percy's chest and clanged to the floor. Zehra stared at him, chest heaving from the heavy breaths that racked her lungs. Percy stared right back, eyes narrowed. And then he was right on top of her.

Percy had lunged forward so fast Zehra didn't even have time to flinch. His calloused hands had grabbed both of her wrists and yanked them above her head so hard that a dull ache blossomed across her arms. Percy's face was only centimeters from her own. Zehra couldn't help but notice the precise shade of his eyes; a turbulent sea-green nearly identical to her favorite color.

Percy panted angrily in front of her, their bodies pressed chest to chest. Zehra was too stunned to speak.

"I told you it was your choice. No one asked you to come with me," Percy seethed. "You are such a brat. Everyone can't be perfect all the time, Zehra. I'm just trying to do my best to stop Kronos. You're the one that's always going on about how we're all in this together. So just shut up and help me, damn it."

Percy let go of the girl's wrists at the same time Zehra kicked his shin. The air around them was charged with rage, and Zehra was trying very hard to not strangle the boy in front of her. She opened her mouth to swear at him when the air next to them shimmered and both demi-gods scrambled back. Nico suddenly materialized in the cell and Percy lunged at him, pinning Nico to the floor of the cell with the edge of Riptide at his throat.

"Want . . . to . . . rescue," Nico choked.

"Oh, yeah? And why should I trust you?"

"No . . . choice?" he gagged.

Zehra wished he hadn't said something logical like that. Percy let him go. Nico curled into a ball and made retching sounds while his throat recovered. Finally, he got to his feet, eyeing Percy's sword warily. His own blade was sheathed. Zehra still didn't trust him.

"We have to get out of here," he said.

"Why?" Percy said. "Does your dad want to talk to me again?"