𝕚𝕧𝕪; annabeth chase

x.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

the whispers that seemed to follow them throughout the labyrinth were nothing in comparison to the guilty thoughts that circled in maddie's head. she had been given the golden opportunity to share her problems, the voice in her head and the constant nosebleeds, and yet she had chosen to dodge it like a bullet.

when the words were about to be spilt, she had suddenly felt like her throat had closed over, making her incapable of speaking. so instead, she made up some halfhearted lie about why she had run off that morning, and insisted they continue on on their quest.

percy had narrowed his eyes suspiciously at her, but had thankfully remained silent. grover and tyson had taken her words for what they were and didn't object. annabeth had remained silent, which maddie had found odd, but had pressed a water bottle and granola bar into her hand before disappearing to take the lead in the group.

as soon as they resumed their journey, maddie had felt the eyes of her brother staring holes into her back, and she knew that he was coming closer and closer to realizing that maddie was hiding something from him.

the blessing from ariadne had not yet taken it's affect; maddie feels only a little different from when she had woken up that morning. the labyrinth seems as confusing as ever, with it's endless twists and turns. maddie tries not to feel frustrated as she wonders if the blessing had any effect on her at all.

she wasn't the only one with a problem. annabeth was beginning to grow extremely irritated, as according to her the passages weren't what they should be. as the old stone began to change into dirt with cedar beams, the blonde started to express her anger out loud.

"this isn't right," she said. "it should still be stone."

when they came across a dirt room with stalactites hanging from the ceiling, and a huge rectangular pit in the middle, grover shuddered. 

"it smells like the underworld in here."

maddie stiffened, her thoughts immediately going to nico.

a nudge from her brother made maddie look at him, and she saw that percy's eyes were set upon something at the edge of the pit. he shone his flashlight into the hole, and maddie peered over to see a half-chewed cheeseburger floating around in brown carbonated water.

"nico. he was summoning the dead again."

maddie swore under her breath. 

tyson whimpered loudly. "ghosts were here. i don't like ghosts."

"we've got to find him." the urgent tone in percy's voice made maddie look at him. she knew how much nico's safety meant to him, and maddie felt the same, but she knew that percy's guilt went deeper. he had talked to the boy shortly before he had snuck away from camp to join maddie on the quest last winter, and nico had made him promise that bianca would remain safe. 

maddie knew that after bianca had died, percy felt the survivor's guilt run deep into his heart, even more so when he had told nico and the boy had blamed percy.  

percy's eyes didn't meet maddie's, indicating that he was either hiding something, or he was still mad at her. maddie wasn't happy with either option, but chose to go with the latter. 

suddenly, percy took off, running past the others. before maddie could stop him, he had ducked into a tunnel and out of sight. maddie didn't even wait for anyone else before running after him.

she found him standing below a ray of light, staring at the bars above. coming to a stop, maddie looked up as well to see a steel grate made of pipes, and above that, the sky shining a divine blue. trees peaked in her view also, indicating that they were nowhere near a city.