𝑳𝑶𝑵𝑮 𝑳𝑰𝑽𝑬 || 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒚 𝒋𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒙 𝒐𝒄

rest in spaghetti never forgetti

They ran until they were all exhausted. Rachel and James steered them away from traps, but they had no destination in mind—only away from that dark mountain and the roar of Kronos.

The six kids stopped in a tunnel of wet white rock, like part of a natural cave. They couldn't hear anything behind them, but it didn't necessarily feel safe.

"I can't go any farther," Rachel gasped, putting her hands on her knees and panting for breath.

Maisie had refused to be the one to stop first, not wanting to slow everyone down. But she was so relieved when everyone was finally just as tired as she was.

But she had one more thing to do before she could collapse. She walked in front of Rachel and waited for her to pick her head so she could look her in the eyes when she said, "Thank you."

Rachel seemed a little confused for a second until Maisie continued, feeling pressure build up behind her eyes as she said again, "Seriously, Thank you. I don't what would have happened if you hadn't...I wasn't fast enough to...that was seriously so brave," she settled on saying. "Thank you. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to pass out really quickly."

She clutched her hand over her chest and staggered to the wall before lowering herself to the ground and sprawling out in the dirt.

Annabeth had been crying the entire time they'd been running. Now she collapsed and put her head between her knees. Her sobs echoed in the tunnel, but Maisie was too busy trying to remember how to breath to crawl over and comfort her.

The three boys came over and sat against the wall on either side of Maisie. "Well," James said, still catching his breath, "That was enough physical activity to last me the rest of my life."

Nico dropped his sword next to Percy's and took a shaky breath. "That sucked," he said, which summed things up pretty well.

"You saved our lives," Percy said, "But Nico...you, uh, kind of gave yourself away."

"What do you mean?"

"That wall of black stone? That was pretty impressive. If Kronos didn't know who you were before, he does now—a child of the Underworld."

Nico frowned. "Big deal."

The older boy let it drop, figuring Nico was just trying to hide how scared he was, and nobody could blame him.

"You okay?" Percy asked Maisie as she laid down with her eyes closed.

"Like no," she answered, clutching her heart and commanding it to chill out. After a few more seconds, she held out her arm. "Help me up."

"Wow," Percy said grabbing her hand and pulling her up, "You admitting you're not okay, and asking for my help? Something must be seriously wrong. Do you have a fever or something?" He pulled her up closer and laid the back of his other hand against her forehead. Her skin was hot to the touch.