WINGED ₁

58

THE METAL DOOR WAS HALF-HIDDEN BEHIND A LAUNDRY BIN FULL OF DIRTY HOTEL TOWELS. Madeleine didn't see anything Greek about it until Rachel showed them where to look. Sure enough, a faint blue triangle was etched into the metal.

"It hasn't been used in a long time," Annabeth noticed.

"I tried to open it once," Rachel said, "just out of curiosity. It's rusted shut."

"No." Annabeth stepped forward, squaring her shoulders. "It just needs the touch of a half-blood."

She put her hand on the mark, and it glowed blue. The metal door unsealed and creaked open, revealing a dark staircase leading down.

"Wow." Rachel looked calm, but Madeleine could see her fidgeting with her fingers, an indication of anxiety. She'd changed into a short-sleeved Museum of Modern Art shirt, pocked with holes and old stains. She had on blue jeans covered in multicolored blotches from paints and markers. Her blue plastic hairbrush stuck out of the pocket. Her auburn hair was tied back, but she still had flecks of gold in it, and traces of the gold glitter on her face, giving her a slightly magical effect. "So... after you?"

"You're the guide," Annabeth said with mock politeness. "Lead on."

Rachel stepped forward without further hesitation, and Madeleine fell into step behind her, leaving Percy and Annabeth to bring up the rear. She fidgeted with her rings, ready for an attack, praying for Tyson and Grover and Ethan and Nico to be down here, alive.

The stairs led down to a large brick tunnel. It was so dark that Madeleine could hardly see her own hand in front of her face, but she, Percy, and Annabeth had restocked on flashlights. As soon as they switched them on, Rachel yelped.

A skeleton was grinned at them, its mouth stretched into an ancient smile. It was clearly not human, because for one thing, it was very large, at least ten feet tall. The second thing, it didn't have two eye sockets. It had one, a single black eye socket in the center of its skull. It had been strung up, chained by its wrists and ankles so it made a sort of X over the tunnel. 

"A Cyclops," Annabeth observed. "It's very old. It's not... anybody we know."

It's not Tyson, was what she meant. Madeleine cleared her throat. "I thought Cyclopes were like other monsters. I thought they just dissolved when they died."

Annabeth studied the skeleton for a long time before speaking. "There are worse things than death."

Rachel swallowed loudly. "Sorry, but you guys have a friend who's a Cyclops?"

"Tyson," Percy said helpfully. "My half-brother."

"Your half-brother?"

"Hopefully we'll find him down here," Percy said. "And Grover. He's a satyr."

"Oh." Her voice was small.

"And Ethan and Nico," Madeleine added.

Rachel looked at her. "Let me guess: they're gryphons?"

Madeleine smiled. "No. They're like us. Half-god." She jerked her chin forward, past the dead Cyclops. "Lead on."

Rachel nodded. She stepped under the skeleton's left arm and kept walking. The rest of them followed.

Not long later, they reached a crossroads. Ahead, the brick tunnel continued. To the right, the walls were made of ancient marble slabs. To the left, the tunnel was dirt and tree roots.

Percy pointed left. "That looks like the tunnel Tyson and Grover took."

Annabeth frowned. "Yeah, but the architecture to the right―those old stones―that's more likely to lead to an ancient part of the maze, toward Daedalus's workshop."