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The dirt tunnels turned to stone. They wound around and split off and basically tried to confuse the kids, but Rachel had no trouble guiding. Percy told her that they needed to get back to New York, and she hardly even paused when the tunnels offered a choice.
Rory, Rachel, and Annabeth walked ahead of the boys, conversing as they walked. The half-bloods tried to ask Rachel more about her background, but she was evasive, so they started talking about architecture. It turned out that Rachel knew something about it from studying art. Her and Annabeth talked about different facades on buildings around New York — "Have you seen this one," blah, blah, blah. Rory didn't have much to offer since all she knew was from Annabeth and her info dumps from the books she was reading. But it was just nice to walk beside them in an amicable state and listen to them bond over a shared interest.
Percy and Nico walked behind them, and Rory could hear them having a similar conversation to the one she and Nico had earlier. A part of her wanted to join, but she figured Percy deserved a moment alone with the son of Hades.
After a few minutes, they arrived at a crossroads, and — for the first time — Rachel stopped. Percy ended up running into her, which made Rory laugh at his expense. The tunnel continued straight ahead, but a side tunnel T'd off to the right — a circular shaft carved from volcanic rock.
"What is it?" Percy asked.
Rachel stared down the dark tunnel. In the dim flashlight beam, her face looked like one of Nico's specters.
"Is it that way?" Annabeth asked.
"No," Rachel said nervously. "Not at all."
"Then why are we stopped?" Rory asked.
"Listen," Nico said.
There was wind coming down the tunnel, as if the exit were close. But if she focused harder, her ears started to buzz. And two familiar yet conflicting smells emerged, too.
"Eucalyptus trees," Percy said. "Like in California."
Last winter, when they had faced Luke and the Titan Atlas on top of Mount Tamalpais, the air had smelled like that.
"There's something evil down that tunnel," Rachel said. "Something very powerful."
"And the smell of death," Rory added.
She, Annabeth, and Percy exchanged glances.
"Luke's entrance," Annabeth guessed. "The one to Mount Othrys — the Titans' palace."
"I have to check it out," Percy said.
Rory's eyes widened. "Uh, no."
"Luke could be right here," he said. "Or...or Kronos. I have to find out what's going on."
