SAFE . . . reyna ramirez-arellano

93 - no thoughts. head empty.

BRIAR KNEW FEAR, but this was different.

Waves of terror crashed over her. Her joints turned to jelly. Her heart refused to beat.

Her worst memories crowded her mind – Reyna tied up and beaten on Mount Diablo, her conversations with her father, her battle with Koios, herself standing alone against Khione and the Boreads. Worst of all, she relived her conversation with her mother about what was to come.

Paralyzed, she watched as the giant raised his sledgehammer to smash them flat. At the last moment, she leaped to one side, tackling Annabeth.

The hammer cracked the floor, peppering Briar's back with stone shrapnel. Damn her for wearing an open back shirt.

The giant chuckled. "Oh, that wasn't fair!" He hefted his sledgehammer again.

"Annabeth, get up!" Briar helped her to her feet. She pulled her towards the far end of the room, but Annabeth moved sluggishly, her eyes wide and unfocused.

Briar understood why. The temple was amplifying their personal fears. Briar had seen some horrible things, but it was nothing compared to what Annabeth had experienced. If she was having flashbacks of Tartarus, enhanced and compounded with all her other bad memories, her mind wouldn't be able to cope. She might literally go insane.

"I'm here," Briar promised, filling her voice with reassurance. "We will get out of this."

The giant laughed. "A child of Venus leading a child of Athena! Now I've seen everything. How would you defeat me, girl? With makeup and fashion tips?"

Yes, please, Briar thought. The giant lumbered towards them. Fortunately, he was slow and carrying a heavy hammer.

"Annabeth, trust me," Briar said.

"A – a plan," she stammered. "I go left. You go right. If we –"

"Annabeth, no plans."

"W-what?"

"No plans. Just follow me!"

The giant swung his hammer, but they dodged it easily. Briar threw her knife, and it slashed across the back of the giant's knee. As the giant bellowed in outrage, she caught her knife when it came back to her and pulled Annabeth into the nearest tunnel. Immediately they were engulfed in total darkness.

"Fools!" the giant roared somewhere behind them. "That is the wrong way!"

"Keep moving." Briar held tight to Annabeth's hand. "It's fine, everything's fine. Come on."

She couldn't see anything. Even the glow of her knife was snuffed out. She barrelled ahead anyway, trusting her emotions. From the echo of their footfalls, the space around them must have been a vast cavern, but she couldn't be sure. She simply went in the direction that made her fear the sharpest.

"Briar, it's like the House of Night," Annabeth said. "We should close our eyes."

"No!" Briar said. "Keep them open. We can't try to hide."

The giant's voice came from somewhere in front of them. "Lost forever. Swallowed by the darkness."

Annabeth froze, forcing Briar to stop, too.

"Why did we just plunge in?" Annabeth demanded. "We're lost. We did what he wanted us to! We should have bided our time, talked to the enemy, figured out a plan. That always works!"

"Annabeth, I never ignore your advice." Briar kept her voice soothing. "But this time I have to. We can't defeat this place with reason. You can't think your way out of your emotions."