❝In a fight, they're lethal. Around each other, they melt❞
"I'm fine." I said, trying to hide the frown and tears that threatened to spill.
Percy looked at me once.
"I'm not going anywhere, unless you tell me what's wrong," he declared and I would h...
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We finally stopped in a room full of waterfalls. The floor was one big pit, ringed by a slippery stone walkway. Around us, on all four walls, water tumbled from huge pipes. The water spilled down into the pit, and even when I shined a light, I couldn't see the bottom.
Briares slumped against the wall. He scooped up water in a dozen hands and washed his face. "This pit goes straight to Tartarus," he murmured. "I should jump in and save you trouble."
"Don't talk that way," Annabeth told him. "You can come back to camp with us. You can help us prepare. You know more about fighting Titans than anybody."
"I have nothing to offer," Briares said. "I have lost everything."
"What about your brothers?" Tyson asked and I desperately gestured for him to stop. "The other two must stand tall as mountains! We can take you to them."
Briares's expression morphed to something even sadder: his grieving face. "They are no more. They faded."
The waterfalls thundered. Tyson stared into the pit and blinked tears out of his eye.
"What exactly do you mean, they faded?" Percy asked. "I thought monsters were immortal, like the gods."
"Percy," Grover said weakly, "even immortality has limits. Sometimes... sometimes monsters get forgotten and they lose their will to stay immortal."
"I must go," Briares said.
"Kronos's army will invade camp," Tyson said. "We need help."
Briares hung his head. "I cannot, Cyclops."
"You are strong."
"Not anymore." Briares rose.
"Hey," Percy grabbed one of his arms and pulled him aside, where the roar of the water hid their words.
"Annabeth. Come here." I said, wrestling the daggers out of my ponytail. I set them and my bag on the ground before grabbing a ponytail from the bag. "I wanna try something."
She padded over and sat on the ground in front of me.
I tied her hair in a half up style, her princess curls flowing down her back. I gently maneuvered the dagger so it wouldn't fall out of her hair and handed her the other one. "Put this one in your shoe."
"Won't you need it?" She asked, touching her hair with a smile.
"I've got like four extras, not including the ones in my bag or my sword."
She nodded with wide eyes before putting it in her shoe as Tyson started crying. I caught Briares walking through the shadows before he left my vision.
"It's okay," Grover hesitantly patted his shoulder.
Tyson sneezed. "It's not okay, goat boy. He was my hero."
Finally Annabeth stood and shouldered her backpack. "Come on, guys. This pit is making me nervous. Let's find a better place to camp for the night."
