Last Shadow || Deception Book III

Chapter 14 Pt. I

Clarianna

"Nico, please." I gave him a long look, silently asking what I couldn't say aloud. Find Percy. Help him. For me.

Nico sighed. "Fine, Clari. I'll go look for him. I'm only doing this because you asked," he added. "The gods can go to hell as far as I care."

"Thanks bro," I said and reached over to ruffle his hair.

He scowled. "I'm not your bro."

A pang flashed through me. His reaction was the exact same as Alex's. Alex, who's position in relation to the army and myself I was still uncertain about. Alex, who could as easily come to camp as he could stay with my other brother with Kronos. I pushed the thought out of my mind. There was no point thinking about it. I'd just have to ask him later, when I inevitably left. It would be safer for me to take him with me, as who knew what Luke–no, Kronos, I reminded myself painfully–would do once he found out that I was a spy for the Olympians. My siblings would be safer with me than without. My thoughts flashed, once again, back to Luke, who was still sleeping on the Andromeda. It had been barely even dawn when I'd woken up, the sky still dark, and traipsed back into the maze to find the son of Hades. Luke face had been blissfully still as he'd slept, the magic I'd woven into the room providing him the last full night of dreamless sleep he could afford. The last night together that we could afford. We were heading into the labyrinth today, and even though the point of no return had long since passed, I couldn't help thinking that maybe today was the real one. The one that, once it happened, we'd never be able to ever walk out of until death.

"Hey, it's going to be alright," Nico cut in, his dark gaze almost sympathetic as he sheathed his sword. "Clari, you've got this, okay?"

"Okay," I whispered. He was right. I'd get through this, as I got through everything else. I forced myself to put Luke out of my mind, even as the sorrow threatened to drown me under its relentless tide. War was fast approaching, battle preparations both at Camp Half-Blood and on the ship were well under way, and I could not afford any distractions. I took a deep breath, calling on the stillness that Athena had drilled into me so long ago on Olympus, the blank, calm quiet of a pond undisturbed by even the slightest feather that landed on its surface. A still, glossy blank disc that hid the roiling currents underneath.

No distractions.

"I'll see you at camp?" I offered a grim smile finding its way to my lips as Nico started off towards the darkening tunnel to my left.

He nodded without looking back. "And it better be the entrance of the century, Clari."

I laughed. "You've got yourself a deal."

***

No distractions. No distractions. Somehow, I'd kept the distractions out of my head when Luke found me at the edge of the ship that morning. When we'd had the most subdued breakfast of my life together. When I'd felt Nicole's silent, simmering rage at our entire situation. I'd kept the distractions out of my head as we readied the army and headed into the labyrinth.

And, for the first few hours, I'd kept the distractions at bay as I'd led myself and Luke through the labyrinth in circles, trying to delay us as much as possible without him noticing that I was doing it on purpose. However, the stifling darkness and unbearable silence could only be held at bay for so long, and it was hard not to be distracted. Especially when he'd asked me to take care of everyone after he left.

It was fucking hard to not break down and cry, and the only way I could do it was to slip back into that mold I'd created for myself. To pretend that everything was going to be okay. Lie after lie after lie. It was ironic as hell, me being a spy, because there was no one who told more lies than I did to myself.

Yet, here we were, and here I was.

Somehow, against all odds, I managed to keep myself straight through the rest of the journey through the maze. Most of the journey was spent in comfortable silence, even as I knew both of us could feel the undercurrent of desperation running through the air. We did a remarkable job of pretending that tomorrow didn't exist, him making snide remarks about certain structures we saw, me joking about the monsters or traps that we met in the tunnels. Laughing at each other, both of us in delusion about the blue sky even as the grey clouds drew ever nearer. Somehow, for those few hours, I could forget. It was just me and Luke, once again, battling our way through the labyrinth like we were video game characters going on a dungeon raid.

Until I could delay no longer, and the tunnel curved to lead to a set of bronze doors, with a giant symbol of crossed swords emblazoned on them. I paused, took a deep breath, pushed them open, and walked into the arena and the bright lights of the wide stage that welcomed us in a terrible, mocking laugh.

"Gods above," I heard Nicole mutter from behind us, and turned around to see her and Alabaster, Ariadne's string in hand, staring over my shoulder at the arena. "I wouldn't even choose this for interior decor, and my mother's the goddess of ghosts."

She handed the ball of yarn to Luke silently, who took it gingerly and tucked it into his pocket as if it was a coiled up viper. I fought the urge to burn the string with my shadows, sticking my hands into my jacket before my fingers could clench around the ball of yarn that heralded the looming destruction of both the camp, and my place here with my friends.

"You're right," I agreed as Nicole stepped up to me, forcing a wry smile on my face. "The skulls on spikes doesn't really do much for aesthetics."

Alabaster snorted. "Damnit, I really thought we'd get here before you with the string. Late by a mere few seconds."

"Same," Nicole sighed. "Oh well. What are we going to do about the giant?" she added after a beat of silence.

"Convince him to let us through," Alabaster muttered. "Preferably with as few casualties as possible. Or we just kill him, I don't know."

"Option two sounds great," I muttered. "Option one sounds like we'll be stuck here for a while."

"I think being stuck for a while, even if it's in a miniature version of the coliseum with spiked heads as decor, sounds a hell lot better," Luke said quietly. "We have time."

We're out of time and I want to prolong this as much as possible, was what he truly said. And from the looks on Nicole's and Alabaster's faces, they both knew it as well.

"Option one it is, then," I said. "And I'll do the talking. We all know Luke's horrible at diplomacy."

"You're right," Alabaster agreed, trying to maintain the illusion of the four of us just joking around even as the picture crumbled beneath us like sand. "Rianna, you do the talking or we might just have to go with option 2."

I offered my brother a grateful smile and patted him on the shoulder before taking a deep breath and stepped out from the shadows of the tunnel into the open floor of the arena. As I stepped into the light, my surroundings became clearer. In the tunnels, I'd only seen the first row of seats, twelve feet above the floor, and the rings of skulls that had lined the railing. Now, illuminated on the sandy floor of the arena, there were even more skulls: piles of them lining the steps between the stone benches that ran around the arena, even more spiked skulls on pikes at the back of the stands, even hanging from the thick chains in the ceiling like crystal teardrops in the rain. I tore my gaze away from the closest skull to me, one that shined as white as a pearl in the dim light. I did my best to ignore the telltale signs that some of the others had of being freshly removed from dead bodies and blocked out the thoughts that the flaps of skin and blood clinging to bone had once been a part of a whole body.

No distractions, I reminded myself.

"Antaeus?" I called out, my voice echoing through the empty amphitheatre. I fought down the shiver that ran down my spine as my voice bounced off the walls of the amphitheatre. There was a beat of silence, the only sound the shifting of feet from behind me, and then I heard the rustling of cloth from the dark shadows of a large tunnel directly across from me. I forced myself to appear completely relaxed and fought the urge to unfurl my whips as the loud thudding of footsteps sounded and the giant emerged from the shadows of the tunnel. My eyes briefly skimmed over him, an unconscious reflex of sizing up the enemy, and noted how he only wore a loincloth, his hands loose and empty of weapons at his sides with an easy confidence that only a giant on his home territory could have. Dark red skin, with whorls of blue waves inked on like a bloody tapestry of tribute to his father, Poseidon.