❝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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None of us were anxious to travel that night, so we decided to wait until morning. Grover and Percy crashed on the leather couches in Geryon's living room, which was a lot more comfortable than a bedroll in the maze; but it didn't seem to make Percy's nightmares any better.
Caelan, Nico and I took one of the guest rooms while Annabeth took the other.
Nico had passed out almost immediately, exhausted from summoning our sister. Neither Caelan and I could sleep so we decided to go take a swim in the nearby river. The naiad, Lily, was a dear. We stayed in the river with her for hours, talking and getting to know her. We explained to her what we were doing here and I won't admit it to anyone, not even Caelan, Lily and I talked about Percy while Caelan was farther down the river.
At around 2 in the morning, we decided we should head back inside and dry off before anyone woke up. We said our goodbyes with Lily and made a promise to come say bye before we left.
"Where do you and Nico plan on going after this?" I asked my brother as we started our trek up to the large house.
"Does that mean you're going with Percy and the others?" He deflected and I caught him narrowing his eyes at me through the dark.
"Yes. But don't change the subject! Where are you two gonna go?" I rung my hair out using a towel, while the other was wrapped around my body, wet clothes sticking to my skin.
"Nico seems to think we need to go back into the Labyrinth. He's bent on doing what Minos says. He thinks we need to find Daedalus and trade his soul for Bianca's."
"Why haven't you forbidden Minos from coming near Nico?"
He rolled his eyes as we stepped on the porch. "Because he was summoning him without telling me. He did it while we were IMing and refused to let Minos anywhere near me."
"What?" Percy said as we entered the house and I stopped in the doorframe. "That can't be right."
"Time is faster in the Labyrinth," Grover reminded him and I slowly stepped back, bumping into Caelan on the way out. "The first time you and Annabeth went down there, you thought you were only gone a few minutes, right? But it was an hour."
"Nova, walk in the house like a normal human being," Caelan hissed and the boy's heads snapped towards us as he stumbled back. I spun and caught his wrist before he fell and pulled him inside.
"Hi, sorry for interrupting." I smiled, glaring at my twin brother as the TV flickered blue.
"You're not interrupting." Percy responded, scooting over and patting the spot on the couch next to him. I took the seat and Caelan sat in front of me, his head resting on the side of my leg. Percy glanced at the towel wrapped around my body, the clothes clinging to my skin, and my wet hair. "Were you guys swimming?"
"We didn't have any swimsuits so we just swam in our clothes." Caelan said, a blush spreading across his face as he realized what Percy had been asking.
