mastermind - percy jackson

viii. ranch

"I'd be a horrible person if I let someone else carry that burden"

They finally stopped in a room full of waterfalls. The floor was one giant pit, with a slippery stone walkway that circled around it. All around them from all four walls, water tumbled from huge pipes. It spilled down into the pit, and even when Percy shone a light down, they couldn't see the bottom.

Briares slumped against the wall. He scooped up water in a dozen hands and washed his face. "This pit goes straight to Tartarus" He murmured. "I should jump in and save you the trouble."

"Don't talk that way" Annabeth told him. "You can come back to camp with us. You can help us prepare. You know more about fighting Titans than anybody."

"I have nothing to offer" Briares said. "I have lost everything."

"What about your brothers?" Tyson asked. "The other two must still stand as tall as mountains! We can take you to them."

Briare's expression morphed into something even sadder: his grieving face. "They are no more. They faded."

The waterfalls thundered. Tyson stared into the pit and blinked tears out of his eye.

"What exactly do you mean, they faded?" Percy asked. "I though monsters were immortal, like the Gods."

"Percy" Cassandra said, "even immortality has limit. Sometimes monsters or gods get forgotten and they lose their will to stay immortal."

The group took a moment of silence, most likely remembering different cases where immortals had faded. They glanced toward Cassandra, their eyes filled with pity.

Immortality could be boring. A year seemed to pass every time she blinked. Loneliness ensued shortly after.

Her father died first, followed by the first Hunter to welcome her, Asteria. Countless others followed, until finally Bianca and Zoe passed.

"I must go" Briares said.

"Kronos's army will invade camp" Tyson said. "We need help."

Briares hung his head. "I cannot, Cyclops."

"You are strong."

"Not anymore." Briares rose.

Percy tried to talk him out of it, but the years had weighed on Briares. He turned and trudged off down the corridor, until he was lost in the shadows.

Tyson sobbed.

"It's okay." Grover hesitantly patted his shoulder, which must've taken all his courage.

Tyson sneezed. "It's not okay, goat boy. He was my hero."

Cassandra sighed. It was difficult to hear that sometimes your hero isn't always very heroic.

Finally, Annabeth shouldered her backpack. "Come on, guys. This pit is making me nervous. Let's find another place to camp for the night."

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They settled in a corridor make of huge marble blocks. It looked like it could've been part of a Greek tomb, with bronze torch holders fastened to the walls. It had to be an older part of the maze, and Annabeth decided it was a good sign.

"We must be close to Daedalus' workshop" She said. "Get some rest everybody. We'll keep going in the morning."

"How do we know when it's morning?" Grover asked.

"Just rest" She insisted.

Grover didn't need to be told twice. He pulled a heap of straw out of his pack, ate some of it, made a pillow out of the rest, and was snoring in no time. Tyson took longer getting to sleep. He tinkered with some metal scraps from his building kit for a while, but whatever he was making, he wasn't happy with it. He kept disassembling the pieces.