𝐌𝐚𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐌𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐝𝐲; 𝖺𝗇𝗇𝖺𝖻𝖾𝗍𝗁 𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗌𝖾

Definitely not a country person

They finally stopped running when they came into a room full of waterfalls.

If they weren't in the labyrinth and about to possibly die every 5 minutes, she would have wanted to stay there and relax in the water. She even would've used the room as inspiration for a new painting.

Though that thought vanished when her gaze lowered to where the water fell. A chill crept up her spine just by looking at the dark bottomless pit.

Briares' slumped against a wall, looking at the hole. "This pit goes straight to Tartarus, I should jump in and save you 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 stand tall
as mountains! We can take you to them."

Briares's expression morphed even sadder."They are no more. They faded."

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

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

Grover explained. "Percy, even immortality has limits. Sometimes... sometimes monsters get forgotten and they lose their will to stay immortal."

Ivy knew he meant more than only monsters.

Percy and Tyson kept trying to convince Briares, but Ivy tuned them out as she approached the blonde girl.

"Hey" She nudged her with her shoulder. "You okay?"

Annabeth tore her eyes away from the pit to look at Ivy. "Yeah don't worry, the pit is just making me uneasy."

Ivy was about to tell her something to lift her mood, but Annabeth continued. "By the way, that thing you did with the vines was awesome. Kampê would've probably killed us if you hadn't done it."

Ivy smiled at her, making Annabeth smile too. "I know, I'm the best."

She turned more serious. "But don't downplay yourself, Annie. You've been a great leader so far."

Annabeth scoffed lightly and looked away. "Yeah, that's why we've almost died like five times already."

Ivy nudged her to make her look at her again. "Well, yeah, but it's not a quest if we don't almost die a few 20 times." Annabeth smiled at that. "Seriously, you are doing great, we'll find Daedalus."

Annabeth sighed and rested her head on Ivy's shoulder. "I hope so."

They stayed in a comfortable silence until Percy came back without Briares.

Annabeth lifted her head from her shoulder and told them it was better if they found a place to camp for the night.

They finally stopped walking and settled on a Greek-tomb style marble room.

"We must be close to Daedalus's workshop," The Athena girl said at the old aspect of the room. "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 argue any further and was snoring on the ground in no time.

Percy went to talk with a sad Tyson while Annabeth and Ivy sat together on a spot against a wall.

They took out their bedrolls and placed them one beside the other.