The Son Of Asclepius, Doctor of Divinity

Even More New Friends

Following an exciting night, the time came to leave camp once more and journey back into the labyrinth. He kissed goodbye his love, prescribed a few more tablets to Clarisse for Chris and hopped into a van with Percy and Annabeth that was driven by Argus. He hadn't talked to Chiron about leaving, but the was sure his uncle would know he'd make such a decision. Besides, he had a new goal in mind; bringing Minos to justice.

The van was quiet as they drove. From what Percy had told him, they were headed to a mortal's residence for aid. He presumed that was why Annabeth was so quiet, she hated working with mortals and others stealing her credit. Most of all though, he could tell she felt sick. Not with illness, but with a state of mind. Her blood pressure was high along with cortisol levels.

"Bad dreams? Percy asked out of the blue.

She shook her head. "An Iris-message from Eurytion." 

"Eurytion! Is there something wrong with Nico?" (Y/N) jumped to ask.

"He left the ranch last night, heading back into the maze." 

"Nico was gone before he woke up. Orthus tracked his scent as far as the cattle guard. Eurytion said he'd been hearing Nico talk to himself the last few nights. Only now he thinks Nico was talking with the ghost again,Minos." 

"He's in danger," Percy said. 

"No kidding. Minos is one of the judges of the dead, but he's got a vicious streak a mile wide. I don't know what he wants with Nico, but—" 

"That's not what I meant," Percy said. "I had this dream last night. Luke found a stray half-blood in the labyrinth tunnels, alone and dazed. He also mentioned Quintus. I'm pretty sure he was a spy, and we've just let him gather information and leave without any issues."

Annabeth's jaw clenched. "That's very, very bad." 

"So what do we do?" 

She raised an eyebrow. "Well, it's a good thing you have a plan to guide us, huh?

Since it was a Saturday, traffic in the city was exceedingly heavy. They arrived at the apartment of Percy's mum around noon-ish. He looked forward to meeting the great Sally Jackson. As they were walking up the stairs to the apartment, the son of Asclepius realised they were missing a couple people. He was slightly ashamed he had realised so late.

"Does anyone know what happened to Grover and Tyson?"

Percy shook his head.

"They never came back to camp according to Chiron, and neither Elara nor Annabeth saw them when coming back. Time travels differently down there, so I hope they haven't been looking for Pan for too long."

Soon enough, they reached the apartment door. Jackson knocked and his mother answered. The first thing he noticed were the sparkling blue eyes and natural beauty. It made sense why Poseidon was attracted to her, he loved blue. Her hair was long and brown with grey streaks, but her age was concealed well, without the use of products too. Even from a slight distance, he caught the smell of candy and chocolates. He knew she worked at a candy store, but the smell was overpowering.

"I told them you were all alright," she said, bringing in her son for a mighty hug. "And who is this?" she asked Percy, gesturing to (Y/N).

"(Y/N), son of Asclepius. It's a pleasure to meet you Miss Jackson, I help teach your son at Camp Half-Blood. Chiron deals with the mortal side of things, so it's wonderful to meet the parent of one of my students."

She firmly shook his hand.

"Well, lovely to meet you too. Come in, come in."

She took them in, and (Y/N) just about made it under the door frame. He was growing at an exponential rate. The apartment was small but cosy, and they sat down at the kitchen table. Blue chocolate chip cookies were served, and the son of Asclepius had to admit they were unnaturally delicious. Whilst they ate, he let Percy tell his mother of his quest and the current situation. He watered it down, but if anything caused his mother more stress. When he got to the part about Geryon and the stables, his mum looked like she was going to strangle him.