Walk With the Shadows [ Percy Jackson OC ]

THIRTY-THREE | Ophelia

IF OPHELIA HAD A NICKLE FOR EVERY SECRET UNDERGROUND TUNNEL SYSTEM she'd been in, she'd have two nickels. Two nickels too many, as far as she was concerned.

Concrete walls and small blue metal lockers met them at the bottom of Stairwell 25. Channeling every ounce of control over the Mist that she could, Ophelia transformed them into cast members wearing navy shorts and light blue shirts. To any mortal they looked inconspicuous.

But these Utilidors held more than just mortals going about their business. She could feel it. The cold weight that settled in her stomach, the gnawing darkness, antagonism that clawed at her chest. She'd felt it before. The Labyrinth. It lived, even as Daedalus lay dead.

You need not be afraid, Ophelia.

She tried not to focus on Eris's voice. She needed to focus on the task at hand. Ignore the fear, the hate. One step at a time. Kitty hadn't seen the Lyre in the Labyrinth. The Labyrinth didn't have office rooms.

They couldn't fail. Nothing could stand between her and saving the children who served Kronos.

The Utilidors didn't have the same malice that she remembered from the Labyrinth. Ophelia looked around. Most of the walls were grey, smoothed over concrete with the bottom half in a periwinkle color. Ophelia watched Alex stand in the center of the large tunnel, not moving, eyes closed.

He'd always been good at navigating. But the last time they'd been in a tunnel system, in that gods foresaken Labyrinth, he'd been useless. They'd relied on her, on Ophelia's ability to see through the Mist, to guide them. It had worked. Mostly.

They'd found bodies in the Maze. Two among the skeletons that they recognized. One they didn't. She remembered the moment they stumbled on Kiara, the tall, strong teenage daughter of Nemesis who had insisted on entering the Maze for Kronos. Alex had tripped over her arm. Rocks had smashed her. Ophelia still saw her unseeing eyes at night.

You must save them.

Ophelia could hear the screams beyond the living world. Darkness felt so close here. Surrounded by smiles and laughter, joy and excitement, she could feel them. Ghosts, memories, permeating the overworld.

The barrier is thin here.

They'd found Tyrone with an arrow in his neck in a large chamber of the Labyrinth. He lay beside the other child, also a boy of about thirteen, in a purple shirt. Tyrone's sword lay in his chest. Ophelia closed her eyes. The screaming intensified. They were everywhere, crying for her.

They need you.

"O, we need to move."

She concentrated on Alex's voice. Filtering through Eris and the voices of the Underworld took effort. But they needed her. She saw Kitty running her hand along the periwinkle colored wall, a smile on her face. How could Kitty smile?