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chapter thirty.
( battle of the labyrinth )
❝ back under! ❞

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    I honestly thought there'd be nothing more about Rachel that could annoy me, I was wrong. A meeting was arranged in Times Square, and we found Rachel Elizabeth Dare in front of the Marriot Marquis, completely painted gold. (Ugh, she was one of those people). She was standing like a statue with five other kids all painted metallic━copper, bronze, silver. They were frozen in different poses while tourists hustled past or stopped to star. Some passers-by threw money at the tarp on the sidewalk.

    The sign at Rachel's feet said, URBAN ART FOR KIDS, donations appreciated.

   (Ugh, she's so good she raises money).

    Annabeth, Percy and I stood there for five minutes━but with my ADHD it felt more like five hours. I was getting impatient, and I crossed my arms, hovering beside Percy to mutter, "Can I push her off? Will she pay attention to us then?"

    Percy gave me a look that said, no. I scoffed and rolled my eyes. He then did something I wasn't expecting. He gently touched my elbow as if to tell me, it's okay, and I stiffened and went bright red. He touched my elbow! Oh, my gods he touched my elbow! Oh, my gods, oh, my gods, oh, my gods━

    After another few minutes, a kid in silver walked up from the hotel taxi stand, where he'd been taking a break. He took a pose like he was lecturing the crowd, right next to Rachel. She unfroze and stepped off the tarp.

    "Hey, Percy," she grinned. I arched a brow, hoping that I'd scare her off. So far, it wasn't working. Rachel Elizabeth Dare wasn't intimidated by me. (Ugh, I hate her so much!) "Good timing! Let's get some coffee."

    We walked down to a place called the Java Moose on West 43rd. Rachel ordered an Espresso Extreme, the kind of stuff Grover would like. Annabeth got herself a banana smoothie, while Percy and I had accidentally gotten the same mango one. Both of us were red as we sat down next to each other with matching smoothies. I sipped at mine, trying to ignore how close he had chosen to sit next to me. I could feel his leg against mine. Part of me wanted to move because Rachel and Annabeth were here, but I didn't.

    "So," Rachel took a sip, looking me up and down. "It's Annabeth and ... Clary, right?"

    "Claire," I corrected her stiffly. Percy's gaze flickered back and forth between Rachel and I, as if sensing the tense air. "Do you always dress in gold? Or do you actually have some dignity?"

    Annabeth rolled her eyes, placing her forehead into her hand from where she sat beside Rachel. She didn't dislike her like I did (which I don't get. Come on, what is there to like about her? She's perfect with perfect red hair, a talented soul and raises money for causes. She's disgusting).

    Rachel ignored my quip, "Not usually," she said. "We're raising money for our group. We do volunteer art projects for elementary kids 'cause they're cutting art from teh schools, you know? We do this once a month, take in about five hundred dollars on a good weekend. But I'm guessing you don't want to talk about that. You's half-bloods, too?"

    "Shhh!" I told her, looking around. "Sure, just go ahead and announce it to the world, will you?"

    "Okay," Rachel stood up and said, really loud, "Hey, everybody! These three aren't human! They're half Greek god!"

    Annabeth pulled her back down, now annoyed. I smirked, happy my best friend didn't like her anymore, too. Nobody even looked over. Rachel shrugged, "They don't seem to care."

    "Is this all a joke to you?" I scoffed, setting my drink aside. "Oh, wait, of course it is, mortal girl."

    At this Percy held his hands up, "Okay, hold it, you two," he said. "Just calm down."

    "I'm calm," Rachel insisted. "Every time I'm around you, some monster attacks us. What's to be nervous about?"

    "Look," said Percy, "I'm sorry about the band room. I hope they didn't kick you out or anything."

    "Nah. They asked me a lot of questions about you. I played dumb."

    "Oh, was it hard?" I asked, smiling sweetly.

    "Okay, stop!" Percy interviened, giving me a pointed glare. I scoffed. "Rachel, we've got a problem and we need your help."

     Rachel narrowed her eyes at me, "You need my help?"

    "I don't need your help," I said roughly.

    Annabeth shushed me and I glared at her. She turned to Rachel and said very stiffly, her pride getting the best of her. "Well ... uh ... yes, maybe ..."

    Percy told Rachel about the Labyrinth, and how we needed to find Daedalus. He told her what happened the last few times we'd gone in. Rachel arched a brow, "So, you want me to guide you," she said slowly, "through a place I've never been ..."

     "You can see through the Mist," said Percy. "Just like Ariadne. I'm betting you can see the right path. The Labyrinth won't be able to fool you as easily."

    "And if you're wrong?"

    "Then we'll get lost. Either way, it'll be dangerous. Very, very dangerous."

    "I could die?"

    "Yeah."

    "I thought you said monsters don't care about mortals. That sword of yours━"

    "Yeah," said Percy. "Celestial bronze doesn't hurt mortals. Most monsters would ignore you. But Luke ... he doesn't care. He'll use mortals, demigods, monsters, whateer. And he'll kill anyone who gets in his way."

    "Nice guy," murmured Rachel.

    I pursed my lips and looked down at my drink. I played with the straw. I had to let go. Luke and Jay aren't coming back. Next time I see them, I won't hesitate, no matter how much it hurt. But Annabeth, she gritted her teeth and snapped at Rachel with a quick, "He's under the influence of a Titan. He's been deceived."

    Rachel looked back and forth between us. "Okay," she said. "I'm in."

    I blinked at her, surprised. To be honest, I thought that she'd be━well, you know━a coward because she's a mortal and I wanted to hold something over her that makes me better and Percy would like me better, but she also seems brave and Percy's type━ "Are you sure?" I asked her, narrowing my gaze again. "You could die. Luke might kill you. Or my brother. He could blind you."

     The mortal tilted her head at me, "You have an evil brother? Wow ... nasty ..."

    Percy gave her a quick look with a shake of his head. I took a deep breath, setting my jaw. I want to punch her. But I won't, for Percy. Rachel sighed, and then shrugged. "Hey, my summer was going to be boring. This is the best offer I've had yet. So, what do I look for?"

     "We have to find an entrance to the Labyrinth," said Annabeth. "There's an entrance at Camp Half-Blood━"

     "But you can't go there," I added quickly, leaning back in the booth. "It's off-limits to mortals."

     Rachel knew I had done my best to insult her. It angered me that it didn't bother her. She just nodded. "Okay. What does an entrance to the Labyrinth look like?"

    "It could be anything," said Annabeth. "A section of a wall. A boulder. A doorway. A sewer entrance. But it would have the mark of Daedalus on it. A Greek Delta, glowing in blue."

    "Like this?" Rachel drew the symbol in the water on our table.

    "That's it," Annabeth frowned. "You know Greek?"

    "No," said Rachel. She pulled a big blue plastic hairbrush from her pocket and started brushing the gold out of her hair. "Let me get changed. You'd better come with me to the Marriott."

     "Why?" I asked.

     "Because there's an entrance like that in the hotel basement, where we store our costumes. It's got the mark of Daedalus."

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    The metal door was half hidden behind a laundry bin full of dirty hotel towels. There wasn't anything strange about it until Rachel showed us where to look, and I recognised the faint blue symbol etched into the metal.

    "It hasn't been opened in a long time," Annabeth murmured.

    "I tried to open it once," said Rachel, "just out of curiosity. It's rusted shut."

   "No," I stepped past her and towards the symbol. "It just needs the touch of a half-blood."

   As soon as I put my hand on the mark, it glowed blue. The metal door unsealed and creaked open, revealing a dark staircase leading down. I gave Rachel look that said, take that. I'm better. Percy likes me. I don't have pretty red curly hair, nor do I raise money for elementry kids to do art, but I can do this━I flicked my wrist, and a ball of light appeared, lighting up the dark stairwell below us.

    "Wow," Rachel looked calm. I frowned, annoyed she wasn't more surprised. She had changed into a ratty Museum of Modern Art T-shirt and some marker-coloured jeans, her plastic blue hairbrush sticking out of her pocket. Her red hair was tied back, but she still had flecks of gold in it, and traces of gold glitter on her fce. "So ... after you?"

    "You're the guide," I said with mock politeness, "Lead on. The light will follow you."

     (And I'll try not to blind you while I'm at it).

    The stairs led down to a large brick tunnel. It was so dark, it was good I had my little ball of light leading the way Rachel walked. But even then, we needed our flashlights. As soon as we switched them on, Rachel yelped.

    A skeleton was grinning at us. It wasn't human. For one thing, it was huge━at least two and a half metres tall. It had been strung up, chained by it's wrists and ankles so it made of a kind of an X over the tunnel. I knew what it was by the single black eye socket in the centre of its skull.

    "A Cyclops," said Annabeth. "It's very old. It's not ... anybody we know."

    Seeing Percy stiff beside me, staring at the dead Cyclops with a pale face, I hesitantly reached out and took his hand. I linked out fingers together and gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. "They're okay," I whispered. "They're strong."

    Rachel swallowed hard. "You have a friend who's a Cyclops?"

    "Tyson," said Percy. "My half-brother."

    "Your half-brother?"

    "Hopefully we'll find him down here," Percy continued. "And Grover━he's a satyr━and Cain," he gave me a glance and I nodded.

    "Oh," Rachel's voice was small. "Well then, we'd better keep moving."

    She stepped under the skeleton's left arm and kept walking. Annabeth followed right behind her, eyeing the light that danced around Rachel's red hair. Percy and I exchanged looks. I went to pull my hand away, but he clung on. I was glad it was dark, because I was seriously blushing right now. Together, we followed the others deeper into the maze.

    A little bit back from Rachel and Annabeth who were discussing amongst each other (I frowned at that, why can't Annabeth see how annoying she is? She stole her quest from her, literally), Percy squeezed my hand so I'd look up at him. "Can we talk?" he asked me.

    I pursed my lips. Can we talk, is never a good thing. "Yeah, why? What's up?"

    Percy glanced over at Rachel. "Look━um━maybe you should be a bit nicer to Rachel. She's not that bad."

    "Oh," my tone immediately turned bitter. I looked away, feeling that boil in the pit of my stomach again. "So, you're on her side."

     "There's no sides," he told me, and I narrowed my eyes at the floor. "Rachel hasn't done anything to you, and she's risking her life to help us."

    "It's not that," I mumbled. "She's great. That's the thing. She's so great, and brave, and funny and pretty and she definitely has a fat crush on you."

     Percy sighed. He closed his eyes, a little exasperated. "Claire, didn't we like talk about this?"

     "Yeah, I know," I said quickly. "But she's━just━she likes you. What if something happens? What if she does something━"

     "Don't you trust me━?"

    "Of course, I trust you," I snapped. "I just don't trust her."

     "Yeah, well," Percy frowned. "I don't want to spend the entire time we're━well, whatever we're are━having to convince you that every girl I see isn't some sort of contestant in this competition you've made up. I want to spend that time with you, not with us arguing over someone else."

     He was right, and I hated it. I didn't say anything else, however. I just let go of his hand and we caught up, not wanting to fall back too far in the Labyrinth (unless we wanted to get separated and die, or something).

     After fifteen metres we came to a crossroads. Ahead, the brick tunnel ocntinued. To the right, the walls were made of ancient marble slabs. To the left, the tunel was earth and tree roots. Percy pointed towards it, "That looks like the tunnel Tyson, Grover and Cain took."

    Annabeth frowned. "Yeah, but the architecture to the right━those old stones━that's more likely to lead to an ancient part of the maze, towards Daedalus's workshop."

    "We need to go straight," said Rachel.

    Annabeth, Percy and I turned to look at her.

    "That's the least likely choice," Annabeth said.

    "You don't see it?" Rachel frowned. "Look at the floor."

    There was nothing except well-worn bricks and mud.

    "There's a brightness there," Rachel insisted. Very faint, but forward is the correct way. To the left further down the tunnel, those tree roots are moving like feelers. I don't like that. To the right, there's a trap about seven metres down. Holes in the walls, maybe for spikes. I don't think we should risk it."

     I wasn't seeing any of this. I was about to say she's acting dumb, but Percy nodded. "Okay. Forward."

    I arched a brow at him, "You believe her?"

    "Yeah," he said. "Don't you?"

    I went to argue, but Annabeth waved for Rachel to lead on. Together, we kept walking down the brick corridor. It twisted and turned, but there were no more side tunnels. We seemed to be angling down, heading deeper and deeper underground.

    "No traps?" Percy asked anxiously.

   Rachel knitted her brows, "Nothing," she said. "Should it be this easy?"

    "I don't know. It never was before."

    "So, Rachel," I spoke up, crossing my arms. Annabeth shared an annoyed look with Percy, but I paid them no mind. "Where are you from, exactly?"

    Rachel didn't look offended and I gritted my teeth. "Brooklyn," she said.

   "Fancy ... and aren't your parents going to be worried if you're out late?"

    She sighed, "Not likely. I could be gone a week and they'd never notice."

    I faltered. Those words bubbled along with the jealously pit, making it settle down for a second as I found a sad punch to my chest with what she said. I knew what it was like ... to have someone who was meant to love you not care (and instead just leave you to die). "Why not?" I asked, the sharp tone away from my voice.

    Before Rachel could answer, there was a creaking noise in front of us, like huge doors opening.

    "What was that?" Annabeth asked.

    "I don't know," Rachel murmured. "Metal hinges?"

    "Thanks, Captain Obvious," I rolled my eyes. "She means, what is it?"

    Following the creak, were heavy footsteps shaking the corridor━coming towards us.

    "Run?" Percy asked.

    Rachel nodded, agreeing. "Run."

    We turned and fled the way we'd come, but we didn't make it even six metres before we ran into two dracaenae━snake women in Greek armour. They levelled their javelins at our chests. Standing between them was an empousa, strangely dressed up like a cheerleader. (I've seen weirder things).

    "Well, well," she smirked.

    Percy uncapped Riptide, Annabeth pulled out her knife and I took off my necklace. But before I could even spin it around, the empousa pounced on Rachel. Her hand turned into a claw and she spun Rachel around, holding her tight with her talons at her neck.

    "Taking your little mortal pet for a walk?" the monster asked Percy, chuckling. "They're such fragile things. So easy to break!"

    Behind us, the footsteps came closer. A huge form appeared out of the dark━a three-metre-tall Lastrygonian giant with red eyes and fangs. My light flickered out, realising we were surrounded.

    The giant licked his lips when he saw us, "Can I eat them?"

    "No," the cheerleader empousa said. "Your master will want these. They will proivide a great deal of entertainent," she smiled at Percy. "Now march, half-bloods. Or you all die here, starting with the mortal girl."

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    a/n: here i am updating this again cos like why not? i've prewritten like past halfway thru the last olympian, i'm feeling good, i love petty claire and i love rachel so here we are. 

    also feel free to comment some percy and claire headcannons, i'm curious what y'all come up.