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Chapter 43
Kronos Rises
Volume 4: The Battle of
the Labyrinth
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The dirt tunnels turned to stone. They wound around and split off and tried to confuse them in every way, but Rachel had no trouble guiding them. She knew they needed to get back to New York, and she never paused when the tunnels offered a choice.
As they walked, Rachel and Annabeth started up a conversation. Annabeth asked her more about her background, but Rachel was evasive so they started talking about architecture. It turned out that Rachel knew something about it from studying art. They talked about different facades on buildings around New York and other things that Pallas had listened to Annabeth talk about a hundred times.
Percy hung in the back with Nico, a surely awkward conversation brewing there. At the end of the day, however, it couldn't be more awkward than the energy between Pat and him as they trudged forward.
Pallas could see Pat visibly struggling, tugging at the end of his shorts and the string of his bracelet, nervously trying to think of a way to break the silence. He was overthinking—skittish. It was a bit usual for Pat, who always seemed confident, even if Pallas knew he couldn't constantly be so headstrong. Pat had never let it show before though.
Pallas wanted to do something. Maybe not speak, but something to offer some reassurance for the anxiety spinning in Pat's head. However, nothing seemed genuine enough. Pallas didn't want to tell Pat that everything was okay when he knew it wasn't—Grover and Tyson could be dead, Kronos was going to attack his home, and Pat said someone was going to die. That was all without mentioning that Pat and Pallas had unresolved tension from the arena events despite their attempt to talk it out at the Garden of the Gods. No, it wasn't okay, and Pallas didn't want to lie to Pat; he hated lying after all.
He also wanted to grab his hand, squeeze it, be an anchor for Pat like Pat always was for him—but the last thing he wanted was for Pat to think he was making a move of some sort in times like these.
He also wanted to scream, just to let it all out.
Nothing was a good option.
Ahead of them, Rachel had stopped. The boys slowed, and Pallas glanced over her to see the problem. They had come to a crossroads; their tunnel continued straight ahead, but a side tunnel T'd off to the right – a circular shaft carved from black volcanic rock.
"What is it?" Pat asked. He stuck out his hand and felt across the rock. His fingers fired green sparks and he yanked his hand away.
Annabeth seemed to take Pat and Rachel's reactions as a good sign. "Is this the way?" She asked.
"No," Rachel said nervously. Her face looked ghostly, her expression blank as she stared down the tunnel with her flashlight, "Not at all."
"Why are we stopping, then?" Percy asked.
"Listen," Nico said. Wind rushed throughout the tunnel, the sound of a close exit perhaps.
"Don't just listen," Pat touched the tunnel again, his fingers sparking as his brows furrowed. "Do you smell the Eucalyptus?"
Percy muttered, "Like in California."
"There's something evil down that tunnel," Rachel said. "Something very powerful."
YOU ARE READING
Prophesied Powder, PJO
Fanfiction(Atropos cuts the threads of Human Fate.) Pat was destined for something great. Apollo himself had said it. The only issue is, no one knows what he's meant to do or how he's involved in the so-called Great Prophecy. Percy is the only son of Posideon...
