the winner takes it all

FIVE

A new face at the base might have some insights into who he is. Also, Percy finds a super cool estuary.

He leaves the rest of them shortly after that, Grover calling after him to be in the dining pavilion in a couple of hours for dinner. He does the math as he walks down the halls, figuring he must have been unconscious for at least a full day. When he walks towards the entrance hall, the two people on inner patrol raise their eyebrows at him. Both are wearing leather armor, one holding a sword and the other a spear.

"Hey, where are you going? Aren't you new?" One of them, a teenage girl, asks+, stepping to intercept him.

Percy shrugs easily, letting his shoulders and spine loosen in a posture of relaxation. "Look I was told to get familiar with the inner rings so I can start patrol soon."

The boy looks satisfied by this, but his partner is still hesitant. She adjusts her stance and presses, "Shouldn't you have a companion, though? You could get lost."

He raises his hands in a display of innocence. "I mean, I was told only the few inner rings, so that should be fine, right? I'd go get Annabeth to repeat her instructions to you, but I don't want her to kill me for using her like a walkie talky."

The girl nods then, very much in agreement about not wanting to bother Annabeth. "Alright, but my shift ends in two hours, so I'd suggest you come back before then." She steps aside, letting him pass. He can't believe this—they seriously need better guards if he's able to trick them so easily. He mentally flags this.

Percy nods at her casually, throwing a curious expression on his face, which isn't even a ruse if he's being honest. He turns out of the hall and heads down one of the side halls he'd drawn water from. The corridor is dark, the only light coming from the entrance hall around the corner. He draws his sword, the light from Riptide glowing just enough to guide his way. As he walks, the stone floor shifts, looking older and older, even the style of the walls' construction seemed different. The dismantled booby traps that Will had mentioned become pretty apparent very quickly. Ever dozen feet or so, it feels like another death trap. He can see where gears in the wall to launch knives have been jammed, where a trip wire has been cut, and a piece of wood laid across what looks to be a long, deadly drop below.

He feels a shift in the air and comes to a stop. The scent changes from old and musty, and there's still that, but it's also crisp and fresh and salty. He focuses, and there's that tug in his gut telling him there's water nearby. It feels like the lakes, but there's also something else. Something older and ancient that he feels not just connected to, but it's in his blood. Abandoning his mental tracking of directions, Percy just follows that sense. Maybe it's stupid and dangerous to just wander on a gut feeling in the Labyrinth, but Lupa said to follow his instincts and that's what he's doing. It takes him through a strange, complex combination or turns and he's got to be at least fifteen minutes away from their base and definitely not in the inner ring anymore. He finally reaches this dip in the wall where the feeling is strong, some light streaming in from the corner. He runs his hand over it, the brick fading into sandstone, and discovers a gap in the rock. Taking a step into the dip, he discovers the light is coming from a gap in the rock, big enough for a person. Like a mini tunnel, Percy sticks his foot on the wall below and pushes up, pulling his body into the space. It's actually a pretty decent size, and even though he's not a small guy anymore, he can fit through with a problem.

He hops out, landing on his feet after a five-foot drop. He's standing on grass, but it crumbles into a sandy shore not too far away. The cavern opening is at the top of a sand dune, he notices, but he can't see anything else of the Labyrinth from outside other than the Delta mark by the sandstone entrance.