Capítulo 914: 22
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It burned.
Skin everywhere felt like it was peeling off. The River Styx was unforgiving to lifeforms of the living, so it was trying to scorch away the mortal layer of my body.
The pain was beyond anything I could've imagined.
Ithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurts-
Faces and memories blurred in my eyes, both a mix of my previous and current lives. If I couldn't find something to tie me down soon, the river would char me into ashes.
FOCUS
The sacred water choked out the screams as I tried to scramble for a semblance of control. The lack of air built up pressure in my chest, threatening to explode. White noise filled my head, overloading my senses. The water burned with an icy hot feeling, sapping my strength, turning me into jelly.
I thought that the thing tying me to the living would be something related to my second life.
Yuri Park - my mother, one of the few good things of this life. It should be her, she loves me and I love her-
"You have my blessing, Jade. I love you," her voice sounded far away. I could see her kind brown eyes so clearly, it was clear she loved me so much. It has to be her, she was the one who had been with me from the very beginning in this world, the one who knew me best. She took care of me and she did an amazing job of it.
A thin, feeble thread trailed down from her visage.
Her face faded, my own birth mother wasn't holding me down-
The string disappeared.
No, come back, I have nothing else-
Scenery of Camp Half-Blood didn't last either, and neither did Luke, Annabeth, and not even Percy's special existence tethered me.
None of them held that heavy weight in my heart, the weight that made me want to stay living.
What holds you to the living-
I began panicking, suffocating and flailing in the river. I thought maybe I had nothing to rely on, that I'd have to choose myself to survive the river, when my past life memories emerged.
A simpler life.
A simpler time, of normal friends, normal school, and normal summers. No constant dangers, no fear of the supernatural, no worries of fighting.
My first family. The first people I've ever loved.
Their faces were fuzzy, but it was them moving in a small photo hanging on the wall of a familiar kitchen. Something told me that it was a picture taken during a holiday, I think it might have been Thanksgiving. Soft tan walls created a warm environment, the smell of salty ocean breeze through the window livened the air, and sunlight slowly filtered through curtains. I heard a distant bark of laughter coming down the hallway, maybe my siblings?
I think I sobbed at the faint image, reaching up with a desperate hand.
It was an old, old memory. The voices were indistinct and the faces were so hazy. It was hard to actually see it clearly, but I knew it was them.
The pain grew bearable.
The memory floated in front of me, dropping a sliver of a gold cord that attached to the edge of my right shoulder blade. The connection solidified as the river continued to burn the mortality out of my flesh, bubbles surrounding my body. Focusing on my first family helped me fight through agony.
My family called out. I couldn't hear their voices since I'd forgotten what they sounded like. I was sure that it would've been a mix of exasperation and affection, just like how I used to talk. It hurt to think that I'd never hear them again, but I knew what they were saying.
"What do you mean you can't do it? Of course you can do it-"
"It'll be okay-"
"You're doing great-"
"You know we love you-"
The string pulled me up and out the water.
The second I surfaced, I gasped, starved for air. I began clawing my way out of the river and onto the black soil, arms trembling the entire time. Sharp little rocks pressed underneath my hands and I welcomed the feeling because it was proof that I was out of the damn water. My muscles were weak, barely responding, but I managed to get away from the riverbank. The Styx water was quickly evaporating from my skin and clothes, giving off steam. My skin felt sensitive, like they were sunburned, but the cold Underworld air hit me like a brick wall, cooling me down.
Hard relief washed over me at the sensation.
Flopping on my back, I stared wide-eyed at the black caverns above me, breathing as much as I could. It felt good to breathe again. A distressed Nico fussed over me at my side, barraging me with questions, asking me if I was okay, if I was still in pain. A sudden lurch of nausea rolled through my body, making me flip over and push Nico away as I vomited.
I spit out the acidic aftertaste and gratefully accepted the shot bottle of nectar from Nico. The sweet taste of watermelon filled my mouth, giving me a bit of strength to sit up.
"How long did it take?" My voice came out gravelly.
Nico shakily helped me up, putting an arm over his shoulder to support my weight. "Ten m-minutes, I-I think," he stammered.
We staggered when my weak legs abruptly buckled, but Nico managed to hold us up.
"Let's get out of here," I muttered.
Nico agreed, quickly navigating us away from the river and back to the Labyrinth entrance we'd come from. There were a few close calls in which Nico killed a few ghosts and undead creatures with my katana. I absentmindedly noted how he needed a good sword to compensate for his growing skills; a regular Celestial bronze blade wouldn't bring out the best use of his powers as a child of the Big Three.
We climbed out of Zeus' Fist quietly to avoid disturbing the chimera guarding the exit. I mustered a bit of energy to lull it into a deep slumber so it wouldn't detect us sidestepping it. Nico was carrying me at this point and he shuffled our way out of the forest. Once we were clear, Nico paused at the edge of a glade, glancing back with a worried look.
"What's wrong?"
Nico scanned our surroundings. "I thought I felt someone watching us," he said in a low tone.
I grimaced at that.
I really hoped no one saw us.
Annabeth POV
Annabeth disliked a lot of things, one of them being illogical presumptions, but she was always open to the facts. An issue that was currently weighing on her mind now was one that involved a friend of many years: Jade.
Jade had been at camp for nearly as long as Annabeth, a stable presence. She was someone who rarely acted out of the ordinary other than her strange quips, but every demigod had their own brand of weird, so that wasn't strange. Annabeth thought it was a pity that Jade wasn't claimed, not that they didn't have clues as to who her godly father was. Jade never stuck out in camp, blending in the crowded Cabin Eleven among numerous unclaimed demigods, nor did she push herself in camp activities. Her work was mostly to the minimum and it was only when she was in the mood for it that she'd give her full effort. Besides physical ability, the daughter of Athena knew that Jade's better strength was foresight as she was constantly dreaming of the past, present, and future, yet Jade rarely spoke of what she knew.
Always so easygoing and level headed, Annabeth counted on Jade to keep the mood stable when she was overwhelmed. There was never a reason to doubt Jade's loyalty, even when Luke betrayed camp, but there were a series of details that Annabeth couldn't overlook.
The first was the fact that Jade always withheld information and in almost every situation, that piece of information was important. A part of why she didn't say what she knew was because it usually involved prophecies and those weren't to be messed with. A few years ago, before Percy joined Camp Half-Blood, this would have been tolerable, however as Percy grew older and closer to the age of sixteen, Annabeth was becoming impatient. She just knew that Jade was hiding something and it hurt to think that Jade wouldn't share. Jade was one of the few people Annabeth trusted to the point of death. Did Jade not feel the same way to Annabeth? Didn't she care about Percy's fate? What the Great Prophecy implied? How their precious camp would be affected? Even though it might seem as if Jade wasn't thinking of the weight of the world, Annabeth knew that something else was weighing on her friend's mind that was equally grave. Jade always had a bigger picture in mind whereas Annabeth would sometimes get caught up in the details.
Secondly, Chiron had been giving Jade his undivided attention. When she needed to speak with their camp director, Chiron would oftentimes reserve a spot in his busy day just for her. A normal guess would be that Jade had a personal problem and required Chiron's help, but Annabeth could see how the 'problem' wasn't a normal one. It was one that both Jade and Chiron were invested in.
The third incident disturbed Annabeth and Percy. Even though Annabeth hated to talk about the red-haired girl at Percy's orientation, Percy had confided what Rachel had told him. It was a warning, that Jade was someone to be wary of, that she would be a danger to Percy. Annabeth's first reactive instinct was to dismiss the girl's words because how could a mere mortal, despite being clear sighted, act like a psychic and say something so outrageous about Jade, of all people?
Fantastic, she thought grouchily. The only comfort was that Chiron seemed to be aware of whatever Jade was up to, so if Chiron was a part of it, then Annabeth could relax a bit. However, she couldn't deny that she wanted to know what was going on.
Annabeth surmised that she'll probably figure it out soon. She always did.
A few days after the ruined afternoon with Percy and Jade, Annabeth went to Cabin Eleven to track down her sleepy friend. Lately, it'd been strangely difficult to catch Jade. It's not uncommon for her to skip a few cabin scheduled activities, but Jade was missing a lot more than usual. Her behavior wasn't as predictable as it used to be. Annabeth wanted to talk to her before the Chiron called the war council for today later in the afternoon.
Instead of finding the person in question at her bunk, she saw the Stoll brothers sitting on the floor and constructing tiny little glitter bombs with a standard paintball gun next to them. She pointedly ignored the ongoing prank production; responsibility of stopping them would befall upon her if she acknowledged its creation.
"Hey, where's Jade?"
Travis and Connor exchanged glances before simultaneously shrugging.
"She is most definitely somewhere in camp," Connor said.
Annabeth frowned. "That's a useless answer. What about Percy? Your cabin just had archery with him."
"No clue," Travis chirped. "But just like Jade, he is most definitely, positively, somewhere in camp'."
Exasperated at the unobservant nature of her fellow campers, Annabeth sighed. "That's no help, either."
Travis didn't take his eyes off their work, intoning, "What can we do, we're useless."
Annabeth made a face. The Stoll brothers had a knack of turning your words against you. It was both one of the most amusing and irritating things about them.
"You can let go of the comment."
"No," they chorused.
"We are the Useless Stoll brothers!" Connor abruptly declared, adopting a salesman's voice.
Travis copied his brother's impersonation, adding, "Ask us questions and we shall give you the most bland, useless answers!"
"Well then, we now have our third question: is Annabeth annoyed with us?"
The eavesdropping onlookers giggled when Travis made a show of puffing out his chest proudly.
"I'd say she is most definitely, positively, undoubtedly-"
At this point, they were just clowning her. Annabeth had the strongest feeling that if Jade were here, she'd automatically slide in with the Stoll brothers' antics, adding her own commentary and playing along. Annabeth pinched the bridge of her nose and decided that she should resume her search for Percy and Jade alone. Walking out of the Hermes cabin, she could hear Travis and Connor still continuing their 'salesman' bit, causing nearby campers to laugh as the questions and answers grew more outrageous. Not for the first time, Annabeth was relieved that Jade wasn't a child of Hermes. She couldn't imagine what sort of chaos would erupt if the Stoll duo were to turn into a trio.
Though she wasn't expecting much, Annabeth edged towards the forest to see if Jade was taking a stroll. She found Juniper moping near her tree, still upset about the pressure that Grover was facing to find Pan in less than a week.
Feeling apologetic for brushing over the matter of Grover, Annabeth asked, "Have you seen Jade around here?"
The dryad jolted at the question. "Actually, I have," Juniper sniffed, brushing away her tears. "She went in the Labyrinth entrance with a camper and came out."
Annabeth listened to the tree nymph's story and some semblance of anger mounted inside her by the time Juniper finished. Based on the description of the other camper, Annabeth deduced that it must have been Nico di Angelo.
"When did you see her?" She gritted out.
Juniper bit her lip, apprehensive of Annabeth's quiet fury. "Oh, you know dryads, we're bad with time, uh, I think it was recently? Around the same time I saw Quintus poking the rocks."
At that, the daughter of Athena marched off with clenched fists, fuming at the thought of Jade entering the Labyrinth with Nico. Jade knew that Annabeth had been thinking about entering the Labyrinth for a while ever since Clarisse brough Chris Rodriguez to camp. How could Jade not talk to her about it? Annabeth had so many questions and she felt that it was high time that she at least asked.
And for once, she wasn't going to let Jade evade answers.
So tired.
The restless nights were taking a profoundly heavy toll on me. Towards the last couple of days, headaches and hallucinations were beginning to plague my head and I had to fight it all off with caffeine pills and painkillers. It made me thoroughly believe that children of Hypnos were created to sleep and they mustn't go more than three days without it.
Right now, I just wanted to sleep somewhere peaceful. Somewhere nice and soothing.
Someone shouted something inside the cabin and I had to resist the urge to throw a knife at them. The sound of living humans wouldn't have bothered me in other circumstances, but I was so cranky from the lack of sleep that even the sound of clothes rustling was beginning to grate on my nerves. The racket didn't stop, so I resigned myself to leaving my bunk bed. I pulled on an oversized hoodie over my head roughly, gathering my hair into a loose low tail stuffed under the hood and feeling generally overly-sensitive at every little sound. I wanted to slam the cabin door behind me, but I held back, knowing my strength was different with the curse.
The Stoll brothers watched me stalk out the cabin door with wary eyes, most likely sensing that I was in a bad mood. As I passed by the Hephaestus Cabin, I couldn't help but note that their tinkering shack was raising a louder ruckus that usual. Every minute or so, a miniature explosion puffed out grey smoke from the multiple smokestacks on the roof. I hoped it was because of what Chiron had assigned them with the River Styx water. The irritation didn't settle as I walked through the camp grounds because there was noise everywhere: the rumbling lava walls, satyrs yelling in the volleyball sand pit, campers chattering at the dining pavilion, dryads and water nymphs laughing in the grass fields.
I wanted peace and quiet.
Desperately hoping for some solitude, I went to my favorite spot under the twisted tree next to the lake. Disappointment filled my chest when I found someone already occupying the space.
Well, maybe she'll go away.
"Silena?"
The Aphrodite head counselor turned and smiled. "Jade! What's up?"
The returned smile felt forced on my face. "Nothing much. What're you doing?"
Silena held up a tattered book that had a lot of pictures depicting magic circles. "I'm reading this old journal of one of Circe's followers centuries ago."
Vaguely interested, I sat next to her and took a quick glance at the pages. "This looks complicated."
Silena shrugged, happily flipping through the book. "It can be a bit dense, but it's a good read."
"What's that?" I pointed at one diagram that sparkled with a faint blue ink on the yellow pages.
Silena began answering my question, going off into tangents in order to explain the various components that made up the spell's design, and I tried my hardest to stay awake while she talked. Her voice was so soothing, it was easy to hear her speak about a subject she was obviously well-versed in. I was regretful that I couldn't gather the energy to listen to her with my full attention because I was sure I would have enjoyed hearing it all.
WIthout meaning to, I leaned into Silena and found myself relaxing unconsciously. The older girl's perfume, a tasteful whiff of rosemary, eased my senses and I breathed in deeply.
The daughter of Aphrodite giggled when she saw me relax.
"You're like a cat," she chuckled, her hands threading through the ends of my loose ponytail. "Sleepy?"
Dang, that feels good. I resisted the urge to rub my face into her shirt. Feeling the gentle breeze and hearing the lakeshore wash softly onto the sand helped further loosen the tightness in my shoulders. I was so comfortable.
"Am I bothering you?" I asked quietly.
"No, you're fine, I was planning to read for another hour," Silena assured me and patted my head. "Feel free to sleep on me, I'll wake you when we get called for the war council."
"Thanks," I murmured gratefully and stifled a huge yawn. The large hoodie covered my eyes well enough that it blocked the light.
The second I closed my eyes, sleep dropped on me like a sack of bricks. Unfortunately, the sleep was nice for only a short time when it eventually turned into a nightmare.
This again, I grumbled. I'll go crazy at this rate.
The swirling mass of darkness was bigger than before, creeping onto the edges of every surface, consuming all light like a black hole. Its force could drag in any living thing, and it craved to devour all of life.
Its hunger reached me.
A flicker of red flashed at the center.
Its constant badgering was wearing down my mental strength. Each nightmare tried to suck me into the black vortex, coaxing me to let go, to make things easier for me. If I went away, I would cease to exist and the stress, the worries, the pressure would stop. It'd be such a simple thing to just slip down the dark hole.
Somewhere behind me, a faint whisper hissed. Heretic.
I should wake up, I groggily thought to myself. I shouldn't stay in this nightmare since it's trying to convince me to give up. But if I wake up, I won't get the sleep my body needs. I won't get Clovis' help until tomorrow, so I have to hold out until then.
You, the heretic, the voice whispered again.
Someone was calling for me and I didn't think it was an ally.
So tired. I could feel my fatigue through my sleep. I really wanted to stay sleeping, but I couldn't fight off the nightmares the entire time.
Heretic, come here-
The nightmare morphed, the darkness warping into long corridors and shadows that stretched as far as the eye could see. The dream swept me down the narrow passageways until I arrived in front of a thick, stone wall that reminded me of ancient architecture strongly similar to Greek styles. Looking at the designs and paintings more closely, it wasn't purely Greek drawings, but I could tell the civilisation that had created this mural was one that lived in a similar time. Shadows flickered across the lines depicting a sprawling maze covering the wall, swirling around four particular figures that were shifting through the mural painting like they were alive.
Two of them were holding hands, a girl with dark ringlets dressed in fine robes and a boy with a sword. They both didn't look much older than me and they seemed to be in a hurry, picking up after a special string that guided them through the winding walls of the maze. They were headed towards the center, where a restless drawing of a half-man half-bull monstrosity sat surrounded by dozens of human skulls and skeletons. The faster the girl and boy moved, the more distance they put between themselves and the last figure that was of a man who looked like a king. He had soldiers with him, but instead of being inside the maze, he was waiting outside of one opening.
With a jolt, I recognized the king. It was King Minos. And this was the Labyrinth with the Minotaur in the very middle. Theseus and Princess Ariadne.
The figure of King Minos at first seemed fixated on the Labyrinth in front of him, but then he suddenly turned away from the maze as if something else caught his attention. He began chasing down a fifth fuzzy figure in the opposite direction. The person running away was an old man, yet as he hobbled away, the painting peeled away from his form off the stone wall and revealed a new, younger person. This happened four more times, each time the painting dissolving and showing a new body, but I knew it was the same person. He was simply taking on a new body for himself, prolonging his life so that he could keep fleeing King Minos who continued the hunt. King Minos was now a ghost, one that had never come close to capturing the man.
The shadows covered the wall, closing in on the runaway man, who I now realize was Daedalus. The image of Daedalus fought off the shadow tendrils, dodging its grasps.
A sinister voice whispered in my dream, "Yes, you know of him."
I looked away from the wall. "King Minos?"
A shadow struggled to form, but I could tell it was the stiff judge of the Judgement Pavilion in the Underworld when his cruel, glittering eyes peeked through the ghostly shrouds.
"You, the heretic," he greeted me unkindly. "You know your burden, but I will grant mercy should you lead me to the soul I seek."
In another time, I would've been intimidated by his presence. He was one of the more powerful ghosts among the dead, and he obviously could wreak havoc if he really wished.
"No," I rejected his offer. "You might be a ghost with authority, but you can't change the Fates. You were one of the three to sentence me to this role."
"Circumstances change, foolish child," the ghost spat. "I've sought vengeance for more than a millenia, and as the Titan Lord rises to power, it's now time I have it. Serve me, and I shall return the favor."
My voice was hard when I rebuffed his proposal one more time. "You're a bitter ghost blinded by decades worth of grudges, you're not sane. Go, before I open a hole to Tartarus and hurtle you down there."
A part of me wanted to do it regardless if he listened to my threat, but I couldn't. As spiteful, evil, and mean as he was, King Minos was someone appointed by Lord Hades as an important judge of the Underworld. He wasn't someone I could smite without consequences. Only someone like Nico, the son of the ruler of the Underworld, could do so.
King Minos' shadows rose up and rained down on me in a fitful of anger, frustrated at my refusals. The black tendrils clawed at my skin and clothes.
"You will tell me, heretic, you will heed," he howled.
Just as a wall of solid black was about to overtake me, I ripped myself out of the nightmare to escape.
Cracking open a tentative eye, I squinted hard at the cruel world that wouldn't let me have a moment of rest. The tint of yellow sunlight scattered across the bright blue sky while the refracted light hit every surface. I braced for the inevitable piercing headache that arose everytime I separated myself from a nightmare. Not wanting to make noise, I forced down a whimper at the pain and made a mental note to eat a painkiller pill after dinner today.
There were two voices talking above me, and it didn't seem like they were having a pleasant conversation judging by the tense atmosphere.
"Connor told me that she hasn't been sleeping well lately," Silena said in a matter-of-fact tone. "You can talk to her another time, just let her sleep."
"I need to talk to her now."
The other person was Annabeth and I didn't like how she sounded impatient.
"It can't be so urgent that you have to wake her up," the Aphrodite head counselor objected in a low hiss. "Have you seen her skin? It's gotten so rough, she needs the beauty sleep, not to mention the eyebags, she practically looks like a raccoon-"
Thanks, Silena, I thought dryly, but I had to admit that she wasn't wrong. I was beginning to have dark circles around my eyes that rivalled Nico's during his worst bouts of insomnia. The lack of quality rest definitely showed the physical tolls on my face.
"Jade does kind of look like a raccoon," a third voice whispered in agreement. "Maybe another time would be better."
Thanks, Percy-boy.
Annabeth apparently was undeterred by my need for 'beauty sleep' because she stayed unwavering at her insistence.
"Jade, I know you're awake."
I rolled over and yanked my hood further down my face. "It's too early for this," I muttered under my breath.
Percy did an awkward cough. "...it's almost three o'clock."
A new voice entered our vicinity. "What's going on here?"
Turning over to face reality, I saw Clarisse march down to where we were by the lake with a raised brow, looking at the mishmash of gathered individuals. Like Annabeth, the burly daughter of Ares had the similar air of impatience, but her usual scowl lessened when she laid her beady eyes on me, her expression turning into one of cautious concern.
"You alright there, droopy-eyes?" she said to me.
"Clarisse," I yawned. Annabeth and Silena stifled their yawns while Percy and Clarisse succumbed to the influence.
"Why're you here?"
Clarisse flitted her eyes away from me and to the three bystanders. "Need the usual help. Y'know, for rest."
The tiny sound of desperation leaking in her tone confused me for a second when understanding dawned on me. I struggled to my feet and Percy stuck out a hand to level my balance when my body tilted precariously forward against my control. Feeling a bit heartened by the gesture of support, I gratefully patted Percy's hand on my shoulder before removing it. I flapped a weak hand to wave off everyone's outspoken worries, saying that I was feeling perfectly fine -I was not- and that I wasn't going to topple over any second -maybe I will-
I leaned a hand against the tree, breathing deeply to clear my aching headache. The breathing didn't help, so I plastered on a pain-free mask.
"Alright, let's go."
As expected, Annabeth opened her mouth to protest, but Clarisse quelled the attempt with a heavy glare. I think Annabeth knew why Clarisse asked for my help, but it seemed like she was definitely pressed to push aside her agenda as if she couldn't hold it off any longer.
"Just follow us, Annabeth," I sighed tiredly. "I'll deal with you after Clarisse. Silena, thanks for letting me nap."
Silena sniffed disapprovingly, out of care for me, and stayed at the lakeshore while the four of us went to the Big House basement. Clarisse didn't look happy that Annabeth, much less Percy, followed us, but she didn't argue which showed the extent of her distress.
The basement had always been a juxtaposed counterpart to the Big House attic since the latter was full of cobwebs, dusty, and dark with no natural light coming through its wooden walls and ceiling. In contrast, the basement was routinely kept tidy with stacked benches and folded tables at the far side and a neat shelf with rows of preserved strawberry products in glass mason jars on the opposite end of the dugout. The floor was noticeably cleaner, like it was recently swept, and some spider webs were torn down. It was a subtle difference even though I'd come down here only two times previously, but it was enough to show that someone had put in effort to make the place bearable.
Clarisse must have kept the space tidy for Chris, I assumed as we went down the creaky steps to where one older demigod teenager laid. We heard his muffled cries before seeing him down below. Multiple sturdy black buckle straps tied his wrists, forearms, ankles, calves, and chest down to a cushioned bench to prevent him from escaping. It looked overkill to use as many as twenty of the industrial buckle straps, but Chris Rodriguez had proved multiple times that a person's strength increased exponentially when they were delirious. He had fought and wrestled with things that kept him tied down before, so Clarisse had to resort to this.
Chris was currently straining against the binds, spewing words that only came out strangled out of his wheezing throat. Spit was flying everywhere, dribbling down the edge of his mouth. Clarisse rushed to Chris' side, grabbing a spare cloth to wipe away the saliva from his face and where it sprayed.
Horrified, Percy choked on his words. "Is that Chris Rodriguez? What happened to him?"
"He was already like this when Clarisse found him near where she lived in Phoenix, Arizona," Annabeth explained grimly. "We think he was in the Labyrinth and driven mad by it."
"Jade, please," Clarisse begged me in a low tone. It was pretty depressing to hear someone like Clarisse sound so demoralized.
Ignoring the throbbing pressure behind my forehead, I flicked my hood off my head and bent over Chris, paying no attention to his spit that flecked my cheeks and forehead. His dilated pupils met mine and it struggled to hold my gaze, attempting to fight back the lull of sleep.
"Sleep," I told him, but Chris suddenly bolted upright. His forehead cracked painfully against my own and I let out a hurt cry, stumbling backwards. Percy caught my shoulders while Annabeth and Clarisse surged forward. They pushed Chris back down and tightened the buckles all over his body.
"Let me go!" Chris cried out.
Clarisse spoke impossibly softly as she kept him restrained. "Shh, it's okay, Chris, it's okay."
To me, she growled, "Any moment now, droopy-eyes."
I let out a pained sigh when my headache thudded. "Yeah, yeah," I mumbled and shook Percy off me, going for a second attempt. Laying a hand on his forehead, I used the Mist to conjure up comforting images and sensations that would calm him like warm sunlight, green trees, birds chirping and a blue sky. I tried to think of things that were the opposite of the Labyrinth: dark, cold, silence. I pushed these illusions into his mind with hypnosis and its effect worked. Chris stopped thrashing as his flighty eyes drank in whatever comforting things the Mist showed him.
"A regular 'sleep' command isn't going to work this time. I have to sing, so cover your ears," I instructed the three watching. Heeding my words, Clarisse, Annabeth, and Percy clapped firm hands over their ears right away.
Clearing my throat, I started singing.
"A dream is a wish your heart makes, when you're fast asleep-"
Chris' eyes were already drooping although I could detect the madness trying its hardest to not let its guard down. Chris was so used to being on alert with every nerve in his body when he had been down in the Labyrinth, so I could imagine that it was incredibly difficult to relax naturally.
"In dreams you will lose your heartaches, whatever you wish for, you keep-"
Just one more nudge and he'd succumb to the lullaby. I had confidence that Chris would fall asleep because I had yet to meet someone who resisted my singing. It was one of my greatest strengths among my godly powers, but it did take a toll and currently, I wasn't in the best condition. I finished with one more verse.
"Have faith in your dreams and someday, your rainbow will come smiling through-
No matter how your heart is grieving, if you keep on believing, the dream that you wish will come true."
With the last part of the song, Chris's stiff face finally slackened and his body eased, settling down. Clarisse hurried over to his side, checking his complexion and pulse, with a look of reassurance washing over her as she monitored him. I stepped away and fell to the ground, clutching my forehead with one hand as the persistent headache rocked my brain.
"Jade?!" Percy hovered over me, sounding alarmed.
"Nectar. Or ambrosia, I need one of those two," I breathed aloud through the pain hammering in my skull. "And painkillers."
"Get her to the infirmary beds, I'll get painkillers and ambrosia," Annabeth hurriedly told Percy. "The lullaby took a lot out of her."
Percy slid a sturdy arm around my torso and hefted me up. "Come on, Jade. Let's go somewhere you can lie down."
I think Clarisse said something behind me, maybe a thanks, but I couldn't hear her clearly. The headache buzzed a white noise in my ears, blocking my sensations. I could hardly concentrate on what was happening in front of me, so I had to rely solely on Percy to get me out of the basement and up the stairs into the Big House. Moving felt like such a burdensome action, but Percy got me to keep going until we reached the white beds inside.
I nearly sighed in pure relief when I rested my head on the soft pillow. I closed my eyes, trying very hard to relax and ease my mind away from the thrumming pain. Annabeth came quickly with a small bite of ambrosia, a bottle of pills, a water bottle, and a warm wet towel. I gratefully took the towel and wiped my face clean, gently rubbing my skin, and ate the ambrosia. It tasted like the sweet red bean bun Yuri used to bake during the winter months. Cracking open a water bottle, I took two painkillers and swallowed them down with a swig of water.
Leaning back onto the fluffy pillows feeling a bit better, I maintained a perfectly neutral face as I observed the visible concern in Annabeth and Percy's eyes.
Their intense stares turned my throat dry, so I took another drink from the bottle. "So, what did you want to talk to me about?"
They both sat on stools at the left of the bed. Annabeth had been so impatient to speak to me all this time that I thought she'd blurt out whatever it was she needed to say, but now she seemed ambivalent.
Eventually, she asked, "Jade, when was the last time you slept? Like, actually slept with nothing bothering you?"
I crossed my arms and tilted my head in thought. "Hm, two nights ago. Why?"
"You don't look so good," Percy said. "Is that it, then? Two nights of bad sleep and you're down in the dumps like this?"
"No, that's not the issue, Percy," Annabeth corrected him. "Jade never had trouble with sleep, so it's unsettling that she can't sleep."
"So, you wanted to ask me about my sleep quality?"
Annabeth shook her head. "No, that's different. It's actually about what you've been up to with Nico. We know you've been in the Labyrinth, Jade."
I froze in the middle of taking a third sip of water. Percy began sputtering in complete disbelief at Annabeth's bold statement, so I surmised that she hadn't briefed him. Seeing as to how I've been backed into a corner, I considered my options as I swallowed a big gulp of water.
Lie? No, if Annabeth is saying this so confidently, then she knows it's a fact and it's been confirmed. Someone saw us, that person probably told her.
"How'd you know?"
Annabeth's grey eyes never faltered. "Juniper, Grover's girlfriend, told me. Her tree has a perfect view of Zeus' Fist."
Nico was right that he thought someone was watching us. Well, now what to tell her.
"Ah." I fiddled with the water bottle. "Dang, I was hoping no one saw."
"I need to know what you were doing down there, how you and Nico survived, and how you got out."
Percy's head swivelled between the two of us. "Jade, you're serious? You took Nico with you into the Labyrinth? For what?"
I decided to throw Chiron under the bus. If he covered for me before, then he should be willing to take the blame once more.
"Chiron had me do a secret mission," I said to their surprise. "He wanted us to go down to get something."
And just like that, all tension melted off of Annabeth's shoulders as she leaned back mulling over my answer.
"That...makes sense," she admitted, but she didn't seem fully convinced, like certain details weren't aligning with my short explanation.
I pulled up a shallow smile. "Are we done? I think it's about time the council meeting started."
Right on cue, a trumpet sounded to gather all campers into the sword arena. Only the cabin counselors knew that it was a war council, so the news of war hadn't reached the rest of the campers, but everyone had the sense that something bad was coming. Annabeth was immediately distracted by the sound, getting up to leave.
Percy looked like he wanted to say something, but I brushed him off.
"Let's go," I said as I ushered them out.
Campers were already milling outside the sword arena, slowly trickling through the entrance and taking seats among the rising wooden plank benches. I picked a spot at the edge and when Nico showed up, he happily shuffled right next to me.
Cute, I noted when his obsidian eyes sparkled up at me. I ruffled his messy hair absentmindedly.
A foldable table sat in the middle of the arena with the counselors taking their leadership spots there with Chiron and Quintus. Annabeth, Clarisse, Percy were joined by Silena, Travis and Stoll, Beckendorf, Lee Fletcher and ultimately, Juniper the tree nymph. The gravity of the atmosphere didn't match the huge hellhound chewing on a life-size pink rubber yak in the corner. Mr. D wasn't present, something that made the campers uneasy despite everyone's mutual dislike for the god because his absence wasn't a good sign. Another sign of unease was Argus, the hundred-eyed security chief. No one was uncomfortable with Argus, however his attendance showed that today's camp gathering indicated that it was one of great importance that involved danger.
Once everyone finally was accounted for, Clarisse and Annabeth led the opening of the war council's meeting and the briefing. Campers muttered between themselves at the official announcement of a 'war', but they quickly settled when they realized that none of the members on the war council were joking. Annabeth discussed the implications of having a Labyrinth entrance right in the middle of camp as well as including Juniper's testimony as witness of Luke's involvement. I spied Percy and Annabeth exchanging glances when the dryad recounted her memory, though she was spotty with the timelines.
The war council deduced that their main priority lied in disabling Kronos' Army from utilizing the Labyrinth in their plans of bringing down Olympus and camp. Therefore, they required a quest that would track down the hidden, possibly dead, inventor of the Labyrinth itself, Daedalus. The whole time, I watched Quintus' expression and body language behind another camper's back. The man was completely relaxed and acted normal, as if he wasn't the exact person they needed to find.
Scary, I mused.
We took a momentary break when the war council voted for Annabeth to retrieve a prophecy from the Oracle in the Big House attic. In the meantime, Quintus set to the labor of feeding his hellhound, a hundred pounds of ground beef and several dog biscuits the size of trash-can lids. Chiron called me over for quick discussion with Argus and Charlie Beckendorf about my River Styx idea. Nico did a pout when I shooed him away, telling him to stretch his legs.
"We need a week, minimum," Beckendorf reported. "The stuff is so volatile, it takes a long time time to prepare tools that can handle it in the first place. The good news is that we can do it, but the bad news is that we need Percy to fill up the reservoir."
"Yet, Annabeth will most certainly select Percy to go on the quest," Chiron finished the line of thinking.
Beckendorf crossed his arms. "Yeah. So, it's all for nothing if the Titan army reaches camp before they complete the quest. Also, we still haven't figured out how we're going to connect this branch to the main river."
Quintus joined our huddle after he was done feeding Mrs. O'Leary. "What's the problem?"
Chiron exchanged quick glances with me.
"We were discussing whether it's possible for Daedalus to prolong his life span in the Labyrinth," Chiron fibbed smoothly.
Beckendorf's heavy brow crinkled at the centaur's lie, but before he could say something, I lightly hit his bicep and nudged my chin towards Silena.
"Let's go see Silena, she might know something," I said vaguely while catching Chiron's grateful eye. I fought down the shiver when I felt Quintus' heavy gaze on my back as we walked away.
Once Silena and Charlie caught sight of each other, I immediately got punted to being a third wheel so it was easy to separate myself from them without drawing attention. I went outside to get a breath of fresh air when I caught Percy running towards me from the direction where the Big House was. He looked pale and slightly shaky, like he saw something he didn't want to see. Shortly after Percy, Annabeth followed in and she didn't look any better.
Everyone settled back into their seats as Chiron asked Annabeth the contents of her prophecy. The war council did all of the talking, picking apart the prophecy lines and implications, though there was a short pause when Annabeth hesitated saying the last parts. Not one to let people see her self-doubt, Annabeth glossed over that part and began picking members of her quest party.
"Will you come?" she asked Percy. Percy's wide smile split his face at her full trust in him.
He didn't even hesitate, saying, "I'm in."
Annabeth's return smile made Percy beam brighter. As I expected, the daughter of Athena picked out Grover and Tyson from the crowd, both of which were enthusiastic.
"To find the wild god, I'll have Grover. Tyson, I'll need you too," Annabeth said. "And last but not least, Jade."
I nearly fell out of my chair. What the hell?
The war council stuttered to a halt at the last choice. All of the head counselors looked bewildered at Annabeth's wildcard, including Percy.
"Annabeth, this goes against the ancient laws. A hero is allowed only two companions," Chiron warned.
"Not to mention, I'm not claimed," I called out from the bench, not even finding the dignity to be ashamed for repeating that statement constantly the last five years. Nico fisted my sweater sleeve, but I hardly felt it since I was too confused to concentrate on anything else.
"I need them all, and I know Jade is familiar with the Labyrinth," Annabeth insisted. "I want all the help I can get."
Chiron flicked his tail nervously. "Please, consider this deeply. You would be breaking the ancient laws, and there are always consequences. Last winter, five went on a quest to save Artemis. Only three came back, think on that. You know that three is a sacred number: three Fates, three Furies, three Olympian sons of Kronos. It is a good strong number, but five again? One of which being unclaimed?"
A loud screech of chairs cut off Annabeth and drew everyone's attention. The Stoll brothers stood, and both pointing at me with wide eyes and gaping mouths.
"Jade! Look at Jade!" Connor shouted.
Campers gasped, staring not straight at me but at something above. Someone pointed at my head.
I looked up and my blood ran cold.
Something silver glowed softly. A white tree branch with round triangular leaves hung above me. From the leaves' tips dripped tiny glittering beads of liquid.
"Wait for my sign," Hypnos had told me.
The projection evaporated into thin air, but the image seared itself in my eyes.
Was this his sign?
Lee Fletcher was the first to speak up. "What… was that?"
"A poplar tree," Annabeth answered in a dazed tone. "The symbol of Hypnos, the god of sleep."
Chiron was the first to face me and bow. "It has been determined. Hail, Jade, the daughter of Hypnos."
He sounded regretful, as if my claiming had done nothing to protect me from this quest. The wooden benches creaked when everyone got up to their feet and bent on one knee towards me. My hands curled into fists and I couldn't stand to look at anyone but my feet, too overwhelmed with what was happening.
Somewhere deep inside, Hypnos' acknowledgment filled that empty spot craving for recognition because this was what I wanted, wasn't it? His announcement that I was his daughter? But before the happiness, before the gratification, there was bitterness. A nasty, acidic bitterness that brought the taste of hate on my tongue.
I'd gone my entire second life without a claim. Even if I was claimed, which cabin would I have lived in? Would there have been a point if I were claimed? There was no cabin in honor of my father.
But now, Hypnos claimed me as his daughter only to grant me permission to leave camp.
It was a useless claiming.
I couldn't help but let out a sharp laugh that startled the people around me.
Oh, the irony.
x
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