𝑪𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑪𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒐𝒓𝒔－ 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐲 𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬𝐨𝐧

𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒓𝒕𝒚 𝑺𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏

[ Brandon T. Jackson as Pan ]

I 037. I

𝑪𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑪𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒐𝒓𝒔

❝ pan ❞

THEY RAN UNTIL THEY WERE EXHAUSTED. Rachel steered them away from traps, but they had no destination in mind—only away from that dark mountain and the roar of Kronos.

They stopped in a tunnel a wet white rock, like part of a natural cave. Ariadne cojín the hear anything behind them, but she didn't feel any safer. She could still remember those unnatural  golden eyes staring out of Luke's face, and the familiar scar that they shared.

"I can't go any farther," Rachel gasped, hugging her chest.

Annabeth had been crying the entire time they'd been running. Now she collapsed and put her head between her knees. Her sons echoed in the tunnel. Ariadne kneeled next to the girl, hands rubbing circles on her back as a sad look crossed her face.

Nico and Percy sat next to each other. Both of them dropped their swords and took shaky breaths.

"That sucked," Nico said.

"You saved our lives," Percy said.

Nico wiped the dust off his face. "Blame the girls for dragging me along. That's the only thing they could agree on. We needed to help you or you'd mess things up."

"Nic that they trust me so much." Percy shined his flashlight across the cavern. Water dripped from the stalactites like a slow-motion rain. "Nico... you, uh, kind of have yourself away."

"What do you mean?"

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

Nico frowned. "Big deal."

Ariadne felt Annabeth's sobs quiet down. She kept a soothing hand on her back in case they began again, and the brunette sat next to her sister.

She didn't want to cry, and frankly, she didn't have any tears left. It hurt her greatly seeing Luke that way, in Kronos's hand, but the Luke they knew was gone. And no matter how much Ariadne wanted to believe he was there, he wasn't, and that was the sad truth.

Annabeth lifted her head. Her eyes were red from crying. "What... what was wrong with Luke? What did they do to him?"

Percy told them what he'd seen in the coffin, the way the last piece of Kronos's spirit had entered Luke's body when Ethan Nakamura pledged his service.

"No," Annabeth said. "That can't be true. He couldn't—"

"He gave himself over to Kronos," Percy said. "I'm sorry, Annabeth. But Luke is gone."