Percy and Nico have fallen victim to a devious trap in the Labyrinth. The two young heroes are now wrapped together, while mechanical hands tickle them without mercy.
Due to carelessness and a general lack of awareness surrounding the dangers of this particular quest, Percy managed to get himself separated from the rest of his friends. Percy was certain that his friends had been right behind him as he trekked deeper into the Labyrinth but, when Percy turned around, he realized he was all alone. To make matters worse, he was also lost.
Percy figured he'd get nowhere just by sitting around and waiting to be found. The young hero continued onwards deeper into the caverns with the intention of finding some sort of passage way out of here. Percy narrowly avoided one trap after another, almost finding himself crushed by falling stones or snared by nets that shot out of the walls. He was only able to dodge most of this by paying extra close attention to his surroundings.
Percy was beginning to grow hopeless that he would find another person down here in the Labyrinth after he'd spend hours wandering alone. He almost gave up hope when he just so happened to stumble across a face he wasn't expecting to see. It was a boy with dark brown hair, pale skin, and a sullen look on his face. Percy thought the boy was a ghost, until a sudden realization hit him.
"Nico!" Percy exclaimed.
"Oh, Percy." Nico responded, not sure what to say.
Percy ran over to Nico and grabbed him by the shoulders to confirm he was real. Nico jumped at the sudden physical contact, but didn't say anything in response. When Percy got over his shock, he continued down the tunnel with Nico now joining him.
"Nico, I'm so glad I found you. Do you have any idea how long I've been looking for you?"
"I'm not sure, but I'd probably guess a little over 3 hours."
"Wait, how did you know that?"
"Well... I've sort of been... following you for a while now."
"Following me? How?"
"In the shadows, behind you. Never let you out of my sight."
"B-but, if you've been with me this whole time... Why didn't you say anything?! I thought I was gonna go crazy being all alone like this!"
"Yeah, that was my bad. I guess I was just building up the courage to say something... I guess."
Percy didn't quite get what Nico meant and was a bit miffed that Nico never revealed himself sooner. Still, Percy was happy to have some company after so long. Traveling through the Labyrinth alone was a very taxing experience. The only thing that kept Percy's mind off the loneliness was dodging all the traps laid out through the caverns. Just as Percy had this thought, he realized he'd been neglecting something while he was talking to Nico.
"Crap! The traps!"
As if on que, the floor suddenly fell away beneath the feet of these two heroes. With a shout, both boys plummeted into the dark hole that stretched out before them. They didn't fall far, however, as Percy and Nico were suddenly caught by multiple mechanical hands that hovered in the air using some kind of magical energy.
The hands didn't remain still after catching the boys. The moment these two were in the hands' clutches, the hands began winding rope around their bodies. Their arms were bound, their legs were tied and their mouths were gagged by multiple, tightly wrapped layers of very sturdy material. The final touch to the handy-work of these hands was to remove each boy's shoes, leaving their feet completely bare. Once the shoes were gone, Percy and Nico were left hovering in the air, still bound together and suspended by magic.
To make matters worse, more floating appendages emerged from the darkness and made their way to the exposed parts of the boys' bodies. Using their surprisingly dexterous fingers, these mechanical hands tickled anything that was in reach, including each boys' feet. Being bound so tightly, neither Nico or Percy could escape the assault on their nervous system. All the two heroes could do was laugh and cry into their gags while struggling in their bindings, constantly rubbing into each other's bodies.
There was no way for Percy to confirm this, but he had a feeling that this trap was designed to hold only one person. The fact that Nico had fallen in at the same time as Percy was because Nico had been standing so close to him. It was terribly bad luck that both heroes had to endure being stuck in this cramp, tight, torturous machine with no one around to find and release them.
Hopefully someone will stumble across them soon. Given that this is the Labyrinth, they may have to wait a while.
