Grian stared at the bone and arrow that were all that remained of the skeleton.

He sighed. He no longer knew the way to the exit. But that didn't matter.

He picked up the Fleece and slung it back over his shoulder.

What was he doing again?

Right. Getting the Fleece back to camp. And then retreating back to Hermitcraft where he could live in his happy little rocks and pull pranks and ignore his problems.

He wandered for what felt like hours, but it was hard to know. He did not find an exit to the cave system. He did, however, find several traps. And a room with a giant blender that was strangely terrifying. He decided to steer clear of the blender.

Left, right, straight, backward, upside down, in circles. He lost track of how far he walked. He swore the walls were shifting, but maybe he was just imagining things due to exhaustion and fear. Mostly, he was hoping Bdubs wouldn't tell the other Hermits about him and the Fleece. Not yet, anyway.

Finally, he saw a light up ahead. With new energy, he ran forward. Food? Water? Somewhere safe to sleep?

He wanted it to be an exit so badly. But he didn't want to get his hopes up.

Stone turned to dirty, cracked tile, and Grian entered what looked like the basement of some sort of facility. Cabinets and cubby holes lined the walls, filled with envelopes, papers, and brown cardboard boxes, all labeled with a Hermes Express logo.

A mail sorting room.

An underground, godly mail sorting room possibly owned by his father.

Grian took out his dagger. Anything could be a trap.

"Hey," a voice said cheerfully.

Grian jumped and nearly stabbed a mailman in the chest.

"Whoa," the guy said. "Calm down."

Don't tell him to calm down! A smaller voice chided, but it sounded like it was in Grian's head, rather than his ears. Give the poor boy a break. He's still on edge from that Watcher.

Grian tensed and decided to ignore the mention of the Watcher.

The man had blonde hair and a crooked smile, dressed in a blue uniform. There was something familiar about him.

"Who are you?"

The man bowed with a dramatic flourish. "Aw. You don't recognize your dear ol' dad?"

Grian supposed he should have expected that. "Hermes?"

Hermes became serious. "...Yeah. That's me. Hey, Grian."

"Why haven't you claimed me yet?" Grian demanded.

Hermes coughed awkwardly. "I knew you'd ask that."

Grian folded his arms, waiting for an answer. 

Hermes hesitated. "I... don't know, honestly," he admitted. "I try to claim all my kids pretty soon after they enter camp. But there's always a few that I just... overlook."

Overlook?

"Wow," Grian said. "What a great parent you are."

Hermes winced. "I don't expect you to forgive me. Parenting is hard. Parenting as a god is harder. How else do you think Ares turned out the way he did?"

He means to say he's sorry, the little voice piped in again.

Grian realized there were two snakes sticking their heads out of Hermes' pocket.

"You have snakes in your pocket," Grian pointed out.

You gonna introduce us? Another little voice asked.

Hermes brightened. "Oh! So sorry. These are George and Martha." Grian knew enough about mortal technology in this world to recognize the cell phone in his hand, but he was pretty sure cell phones didn't typically have tiny snakes coiled around them. "George. Martha." he tapped each snake on the head as he mentioned their names. "George, Martha, this is Grian."

Hello, Martha said. She was the first voice. I do apologize, dear. His mood swings are akin to those of a teenage girl.

Hermes gasped, offended.

I want a rat, George, the second voice, mumbled.

"Sorry, I don't have a rat," Grian told George, before turning back to Hermes. "Why do you have snakes on your phone?"

“It’s my caduceus!” Hermes answered. “Well, it’s in cell phone form at the moment. But it can be a caduceus.”

And a laser, George said excitedly, and Martha hissed in agreement.

“Anyway,” Hermes said. “Back to why I led you here. So, that Fleece you stole - great stealing job, by the way! I was impressed. But it needs to go back to camp.”

“I know,” Grian said.

Hermes opened his mouth as if to prove his point, then closed it. “What?”

“It hasn’t done anything for me,” Grian shrugged, touching the glittering sheep skin on his shoulder. “It didn’t have the use I wanted it to. I’m trying to get back to camp now.”

Hermes looked relieved. “Oh, thank Zeus. Once you get back, I’m going to claim you officially. I know you don’t plan to stay long, but I owe you that much, at least. Just - be careful, once you get back to Hermitcraft. Those Watchers know where you are now.”

Grian nodded. “How’d they get to this world at all? Luke was threatening me with them, but they’re Minecraft people.”

They’re like the gods of Minecraft, Martha said darkly. I would assume the same way Hermes got to Hermitcraft.

Hermes shrugged. “They have their ways. But this Labyrinth - it’s more dangerous than most places. It has a mind of its own, I swear- monsters and gods and Watchers are quite common here. It sort of exists beyond the mortal comprehension of time and space. But I’m the god of travel, and you’re my son, so I trust you’ll figure it out soon enough.”

“Labyrinth? Like Daedalus and the Minotaur?”

“Exactly.” Hermes did not elaborate further. “Well! I think that’s all I had, so… I should be off now. A lot of stuff to deliver. Goodbye, Grian.”

Grian shifted. “Oh, so you’re leaving, just like that?”

Hermes hesitated. “I’m not supposed to interfere. This is about as much as I can do without Zeus shoving a lightning bolt up my a-… er, nose.”

“Okay, well,” Grian said, amused. “Bye. I mean, if you don’t want to get lightning bolts you could always just steal it. Blame it on Ares.”

Hermes chuckled nervously. “Glad to see you’re making sarcastic remarks again. But don’t say that to Zeus.”

Goodbye, Grian! Martha chirped.

Bring me a rat next time! George added.

Grian waved at the snakes. He liked them better than their human companion.

Hermes winked. “Hopefully the next time we meet won’t be under these circumstances.”

And then the tiles opened up under Grian and swallowed him whole.

~~~

So ye there we go I hope it was better than my last attempt at this chapter-

- Indigo