𝕚𝕧𝕪; annabeth chase

xvi.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

up until now, maddie didn't know skeletons could grin.

she stared at the ten foot tall figure, strung up by it's hands and feet, drawing an x in the air with it's body. she swallowed, the cookies from earlier churning uncomfortably in her stomach. weirdly enough, even though it was hanging in the air, the skeleton appeared to be grinning down at them.

"a cyclops," annabeth said. "it's very old. it's not . . . anyone we know."

maddie could sense the message within her words. it's not tyson. but maddie couldn't shake the feeling that the skeleton was a warning sign, a foreshadowing of what was to come. 

rachel looked pale, and maddie was impressed that she had managed to stay down here for so long. they had only been down in the maze for two minutes, but still. "you have a friend who's a cyclops?"

"our half-brother," maddie said.

"half-brother."

"please don't ask me to elaborate."

"wasn't planning on it."

"hopefully we find him down here," percy said, looking around. "and grover. he's a satyr."

"oh." her voice was small. "well then, we'd better keep moving."

she continued ahead. the three exchanged a look between them, and maddie knew the other two were thinking the exact same thing as her. if that's how rachel reacted to a skeleton, maybe this wasn't the best idea. still, none of them said a word as they followed the redhead.

after about fifty feet, they came to their first crossroad, a fork in the path. to the right, the walls were made of ancient marble slabs. to the left, the tunnel was dirt and tree roots. 

percy pointed to the left tunnel. "that looks like the one tyson and grover followed."

annabeth placed her hands on her hips. "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."

maddie looked both ways, trying to find some sort of feeling in her that would guide her to the right path. nothing seemed to respond.

"we need to go straight."

maddie looked sharply at rachel. 

"that's the least likely choice," annabeth stated, her tone sounding like she was telling rachel that two plus two equals four.

"you don't see it? look at the floor," rachel said.

maddie squinted. and saw nothing. 

"there's a brightness there," rachel insisted. "very faint. but forward is the correct way. to the left, farther down the tunnel, those tree roots are moving like feelers. i don't like that. to the right, there's a trap about twenty feet down. holes in the walls, maybe for spikes. i don't think we should risk it." 

maddie stared at rachel for a beat, taken aback at how straightforward she was. percy looked at her, and maddie shrugged, happy to go with whatever.

"what's there to lose?"

"a lot of things," annabeth replied, an eyebrow raised. "do you really believe her?"

"yeah," percy said. "don't you?"

annabeth looked like she wanted to make a snide remark, but surprisingly kept her mouth shut. she gestured for rachel to lead the way and took up a stride next to maddie. they ventured further into the brick tunnel, with no side passages for them to stop and consider. the ground slowly began to slope, and maddie could feel the shift of gravity as they walked downwards.