Percy Jackson: Night In The Land Beyond The Gods

"Nico always rants"

Annabeth's POV

When we entered the North Mountains, I was expecting doom, gloom and darkness. And I was right.

The walls were tall and wide, some form of liquid – and I hoped it was water – dripped steadily from them. As my flashlight flickered over them, I wondered how sharp the rocks' edges were, how easy it could be to turn the passage into a trap for the monsters that resided here. Beneath our feet, the dirt floor crunched and mud clung to my boots, squelching with each footstep. The intensity of the sound we were making made me cringe, we wouldn't be able to form a sneak attack on any aimless monsters if we couldn't keep quiet.

"Up ahead there's a fork in the road," I could hear Percy addressing the group, his voice casual as if we weren't about to walk into some form of a trap. "We take a left at the split and stay straight until we hear growling and hissing."

"Then what?" from Nico's tone I could guess he was offended by the 'straight' comment.

"We walk towards it if they sound friendly or are speaking a tongue we – or I, most likely – understand. If they don't then we sneak past the 'til we reach the Doma."

"Doma?"

"Er... I'll tell you when we get there." Percy's voice was nervous, almost reluctant to make that promise.

My mind spun with possibilities. Could the Doma be some form of a trap, where the monsters could slowly devour us? An arena where we'd have to fight to the death like back in the Labyrinth? Or... a council place?

I shuddered as my mind filled me with dread. Monsters were unintelligent, barbaric creatures with no brain capacity for diplomacy – and I'd do well to remember that... so would Percy.

I scowled, my eyes narrowed, and clenched my fists. Percy could easily be classed as a traitor because of what he had done – healing monsters and classing them as 'friends'. It was entirely possible he was betraying us, leading us into the belly of the beast and a trap.

A trap.

I grabbed Piper's wrist and squeezed, jolting her to attention. She yelped in surprise, "Hey! What was — Mm! Rgmm!!"

I slapped a hand over her mouth and hissed, "Shut up! I need to tell you something!"

Around us, we were gaining some odd looks, so I supplied an answer with a simple shrug, "I thought I heard something. My mistake."

After a few more seconds, Piper stopped glaring at me but the accusatory tone didn't leave as she spoke. "What?"

"This is a trap. I mean, we all know this was never going to go as planned anyway – we're walking into a monster's nest, for Hermes' sake! But this is a death trap, it has to be."

"Mm," Piper looked serious for a second but then cracked a smile. "Hermes?"

"Shut up," I felt my face burn, "Nico always rants at me whenever I use his father's name offensively."