Percy Jackson Meet The Underland

Quest

Percy POV

Maybe you didn't actually have to have sleep. Maybe it was something people got used to having, and thought they needed, but could get by without. Percy hoped so, because, despite his complete state of exhaustion, he'd just spent the night without a wink of it.

Percy remembered when he was standing in his parents' apartment, barely over three days ago, and how his biggest worry had been how he and Nico were going to survive. Nothing like another prophecy to put your whole world in perspective.

He shifted his chin to his other hand and tried to focus on the babble of voices around the stone table. Vikus had called a council meeting to discuss his journey to find what was causing the sky to turn gray. The council was a group of older Underlandians and following creatures who would govern Regalia by committee when Luxa needed help.

The only thing the members agreed on was that Percy needed to get moving as soon as possible. Since the mythological world knew that Percy and Nico were in the Underland now, they would surely take extra measures to conceal the secret of who will become the immortals.  For we are looking for an ancient being of the Underland.  Someone who has been here since the beginning.  His name the Underlanders will hopefully tell me during this meeting.

Regalian spies also had brand-new information and had just locked in on an area where they thought the man was hiding. Although none of them had personally seen the man, their sources indicated it was in a place called the Labyrinth. I just was angry.  The labyrinth was supposed to be gone.  Annabeth and her puzzle mind flashed before his eyes.  Though Rachel would be so much better than he would at finding her way around a maze. Thinking of Annabeth made my heart hurt.  Thinking of them makes me cry on the inside.  

"Yeah, let's get going. The sooner the better!" Percy said, and everyone looked at him in surprise since it was the first thing he'd said all morning and the council was currently talking about which way to travel to the Labyrinth.  Like they would be able to without a clear-sighted mortal.

Although they examined several options, every route that went through the web of Underland tunnels was judged too dangerous. While the humans controlled a much wider range of the Underland than they had before the war, the Labyrinth was situated in a remote corner of the rats' land. So remote that most rats never even went there. But if they had the guy there, it was sure to be guarded.

"That leaves the Waterway," Vikus said with a frown. "It is not ideal, but it is the least treacherous."

"What of the serpents? Their mating season is nigh," said Howard.  

"A good point," agreed Vikus. "And yet another reason to begin the journey at once. Perhaps the party can slip by before the serpents awaken."

"Yippee, serpents," Percy thought, and he remembered a twenty-foot spiked tail he'd seen flipping out of the Waterway when the bats were flying them home. He wondered what was attached to the tail.

"Now, Percy, there is something we need to address," said Vikus. "It is the opinion of the council that Nico should remain under guard in Regalia while you pursue the guy."

Gregor had anticipated this coming up. It would be dangerous taking Nico on another prophetic trip. But how could he leave him here when he had seen Ripred and Doner get into the arena so easily? Sure, Ripred was extra smart, but none of the rats seemed dumb. He and Nico would stay together like his mom always told them to do.

"He's coming with me or I don't go. End of discussion," said Gregor. He knew this sounded uppity, but at this point, he was too tired to care.

There was a pause in which everyone glanced around, acknowledging that this had been out of line. But what were they going to do?

Vikus sent him off to prepare for the journey. He went to the museum to look for some light sources. The museum was full of stuff that had fallen from the Overland world. There were a lot of cool, really old things, like a wheel from a horse-drawn carriage, an actual quiver still filled with arrows, a silver mug, a cuckoo clock, a top hat. More recent items, like wallets, jewelry, and watches, were neatly laid out in rows. There were lots of good flashlights, probably because anyone who had been in the tunnels below New York City would have needed one. Percy selected four and dug out a lot of batteries.

He saw a couple of life jackets, but he wouldn't need those.  Having power over water and all.  He added to his supplies a roll of duct tape and a couple of candy bars that didn't seem too stale.

As he was leaving, he saw their regular clothes folded in two neat stacks by the door. Vikus must've said it was okay to keep them. Percy didn't care what they smelled like; he was wearing his boots.

When he went by where they had eaten to collect Nico, he was told that Dodre had already taken him down to the river. That was to be their departure point.