THE BATTLE OF THE LABYRINTH Percy Jackson ... - No one's invited.

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Afterward, I could never describe what happened.An explosion, a tidal wave, a whirlwind of power
simultaneously catching me up and blasting me downward into the lava. Fire and water collided,
superheated steam, and I shot upward from the heart of the volcano in a huge explosion, just one piece
of flotsam thrown free by a million pounds of pressure. The last thing I remember before losing conscious
was flying, flying so high Zeus would never have forgiven me, and then beginning to fall, smoke and fire
and water streaming from me. I was a comet hurtling toward the earth.
TWELVE
I TAKE A PERMANENT VACATION
Iwoke up feeling like I was still on fire. My skin stung. My throat felt as dry as sand.
I saw blue sky and trees above me. I heard a fountain gurgling, and smelled juniper and cedar and a
bunch of other sweet-scented plants. I heard waves, too, gently lapping on a rocky shore. I wondered if
I was dead, but I knew better. I’d been to the Land of the Dead, and there was no blue sky.
I tried to sit up. My muscles felt like they were melting.
“Stay still,” a girl’s voice said. “You’re too weak to rise.”
She laid a cool cloth across my forehead. A bronze spoon hovered over me and liquid was dribbled into
my mouth. The drink soothed my throat and left a warm chocolaty aftertaste.Nectar of the gods. Then
the girl’s face appeared above me.
She had almond eyes and caramel-color hair braided over one shoulder. She was…fifteen?Sixteen? It
was hard to tell. She had one of those faces that just seemed timeless. She began singing, and my pain
dissolved. She was working magic. I could feel her music sinking into my skin, healing and repairing my
brain.
“Who?”I croaked.
“Shhh, brave one,” she said. “Rest and heal. No harm will come to you here. I am Calypso.”
***
The next time I woke I was in a cave, but as far as caves go, I’d been in a lot worse. The ceiling
glittered with different-color crystal formations— white and purple and green, like I was inside one of
those cut geodes you see in souvenir shops. I was lying on a comfortable bed with feather pillows and
cotton sheets. The cave was divided into sections by white silk curtains.Against one wall stood a large
loom and a harp. Against the other wall were shelves neatly stacked with jars of fruit preserves. Dried
herbs hung from the ceiling: rosemary, thyme, and a bunch of other stuff. My mother could’ve named
them all.
There was a fireplace built into the cave wall, and a pot bubbling over the flames. It smelled great, like
beef stew.