The Chosen One (Earth 7)

LVI) "Gaia!"

We got a suspiciously convenient ride from a limo driver and rode to a hotel.

Rach was freshly changed out of her gold outfit but there were still specks of gold in her hair. She tried brushing them out with a blue plastic brush but some of it still clung to her hair.

In an attempt to keep myself from boredom, I helped her remove the remaining specks, which she appreciated, unlike Annabeth.

I still didn't get why they didn't like each other but it was only growing stronger by the heated glare Annabeth shot her way.

"Does Magnus know about all this?" She asked, not bothered to turn away from me.

"No." Annabeth replied coldly, "And he shouldn't, it's too dangerous."

"What about your brothers?"

"They do." I answered for her, unable to keep the smile off my face, "Matthew's probably jumping out of his skin, ready to meet Luna."

The corners of Annabeth's lips tugged upwards, "Yeah." She said, "Did he ask her out yet?"

"Nope. But he will." I said, "I'm gonna make sure of it."

Rachel chuckled, "How will you do that?"

"Blackmail." I grinned at her, "It's insane how much he talks in his sleep."

"What did he say?"

"The basic, 'Percy, you're so handsome.'" I said trying my best to sound like Matthew.

"Facts, though." She said ruffling my hair.

"Is Rachel complimenting me?" I asked no one in particular. "I'm blushing."

I was sandwiched in between the two since the last thing I wanted was for them to start attacking each other.

"Is your hair always this messy?" She asked, her eyebrows furrowed in concentration as she flattened the mess.

"Yeah, pretty much." I shrugged, "Still looks good though." I turned to Annabeth, "Handsome, right?"

"How would I know? I'm just a pillow." She muttered, her arms crossed, her lips slightly pouted.

My mind went back to the kiss. I had hoped that it wasn't just a figment of my imagination, but with how distant and annoyed she had been acting, my hope slowly shrank.

We made it to the basement where Rachel showed us the delta symbol.

"So.. do we just..?" I said while tapping it.

It glowed bright blue, the metal doors cracked open, revealing a staircase.

"Umm, who goes first?" Rachel asked, seeming slightly hesitant to go first.

"You're the guide." Annabeth said in mock politeness, "Lead the way."

Rachel took out her wand, something that I had left at camp since it was too big to stuff into my pocket.

"Lumos Maxima." She said and her wand lit up the area.

She immediately jumped back, bumping into me.

In the hall, there was a skeleton bound in chains by each limb. It has only one eye socket in the middle of it's head so it was definitely a Cyclops. Judging on how old it looked, it wasn't Tyson.

"You okay?" I asked, making sure she could stand by herself before letting go of her shoulders.

She nodded but still seemed shaken up.

We carefully walked past the skeleton and trudged on.

"Th- this way." She muttered.

Though Annabeth seemed skeptical the whole time, she didn't say anything.