──── chapter two

{ 🔮 } · alice in wonderland who? . ݁ ٬٬ ࣪

ONE THING ENDORA LEARNED throughout her life as a demigod is that she doesn't like having demigod dreams. She asked the gods, Aphrodite to be more specific, why do they have such dreams? It comes with being a half-blood, Aphrodite had said, We give you these dreams to help you solve problems you have. You know, my dear, we can't interfere with your lives much, so this is one of the way we can help.

That night, as she was sleeping, Endora had a dream about Nico di Angelo, a boy she searched up and down for.

She saw the dark shore of a river. Wisps of fog drifted across black water. The beach was strewn with jagged volcanic rock. A young boy squatted at the riverbank, tending a campfire. The flames burned an unnatural blue color. He was throwing pieces of paper into the fire ─ Mythomagic trading cards, part of the game he'd been obsessed with last winter.

Nico was only ten, or maybe eleven by now, but he looked older. His hair had grown longer. It was shaggy and almost touched his shoulders. His eyes were dark. His olive skin had turned paler. He wore ripped black jeans and a battered aviator's jacket that was several sizes too big, unzipped over a black shirt. His face was grimy, his eyes a little wild. He looked like a kid who'd been living on the streets. 

"Useless," he muttered. "I can't believe I ever liked this stuff."

"A childish game, master," another voice agreed. It seemed to come from near the fire, but Endora couldn't see who was talking.

Nico stared across the river. On the far shore was black beach shrouded in haze. Endora recognized it: the Underworld. Nico was camping at the edge of the River Styx.

"I've failed," he muttered. "There's no way to get her back."

The other voice kept silent.

Nico turned toward it doubtfully. "Is there? Speak."

Something shimmered. Endora thought it was just firelight. Then she realized it was the form of a man ─ a wisp of blue smoke, a shadow. If you looked at him head-on, he wasn't there. But if you looked out of the corner of your eye, you could make out his shape. A ghost.

"It has never been done," the ghost said. "But there may be a way."

"Tell me," Nico commanded. His eyes shined with a fierce light.

"An exchange," the ghost said. "A soul for a soul."

"I've offered!"

"Not yours," the ghost said. "You cannot offer your father a soul he will eventually collect anyway. Nor will he be anxious for the death of his son. I mean a soul that should have died already. Someone who has cheated death."

Nico's face darkened. "Not that again. You're talking about murder."

"I'm talking about justice," the ghost said. "Vengeance."

"Those are not the same thing."

The ghost laughed dryly. "You will learn differently as you get older."

Nico stared at the flames. "Why can't I at least summon her? I want to talk to her. She would. . . she would help me."

"I will help you," the ghost promised. "Have I not saved you many times? Did I not lead you through the maze and teach you to use your powers? Do you want revenge for your sister or not?"

Endora didn't like the ghost's tone of voice. He reminded her of an evil man who didn't want anything, but to help himself. Why was Nico in his company? And maze? Had the ghost made the young boy go though the maze? Alone?

Nico turned from the fire so the ghost couldn't see him, but the girl could. A tear traced its way down his face. "Very well. You have a plan?"

"Oh, yes," the ghost said, sounding quite pleased. "We have many dark roads to travel. We must start ─ "

Endora woke up with the gasp. Cabin eleven, even so crowded, was silent.

Nico di Angelo was alive and he was trying to bring his sister back from the dead.

Around three in the morning an Aethiopian drakon had been spotted at the borders of camp. Endora, having managed to get zero sleep after the dream about Nico, heard the monster, but she didn't have energy to go and help. The magical boundaries had kept the monster out, but it prowled the hills, looking for weak spots in their defenses, and it didn't seem anxious to go away until Lee Fletcher from Apollo's cabin led a couple of his siblings in pursuit. After a few dozen arrows lodged in the chinks of the drakon's armor, it got the message and withdrew.

"It's still out there," Lee warned them during announcements. "Twenty arrows in its hide, and we just made it mad. The thing was thirty feet long and bright green. Its eyes ─ " he shuddered.

"You did well, Lee." Chiron patted him on the shoulder. "Everyone stay alert, but stay calm. This has happened before."

"Aye," Quintus said from the head table. "And it will happen again. More and more frequently."

The campers murmured among themselves. Everyone knew the rumors: Luke and his army of monsters were planning an invasion of the camp. Most of the campers expected it to happen this summer, but no one knew how or when. It didn't help that the attendance was down. The camp only had about eighty campers. Lower then ever. There had been hundred once. Some had died. Some had joined Luke. Some had just disappeared.

Some betrayed you.

Endora didn't like that voice.

"This is a good reason for new war games," Quintus continued, a glint in his eyes. "We'll see how you all do with that tonight."

"Yes. . ." Chiron said. "Well, enough announcements. Let us bless this meal and eat." he raised his goblet. "To the gods!"

Everyone raised their glasses and repeated the blessing. The Hermes Cabin took their plates to the bronze brazier and scraped a portion of food into the flames. While everyone else ate around her, their plates covered with food, Endora's butter croissant and black coffee with almond milk that was supposed to wake her up were untouched. She had no desire to eat whatsoever.

Some betrayed you.

Her head was pounding against her skull. The headaches she experience were painful more then anytime before, making it harder to sleep or stay awake; that was even a challenge sometimes. Her voice harsh in whisper rang in her mind, a reminder that she was always there and never going away. She was there to torture the young witch until her dying days, until she lets her guard down and lets the power over.

Never.

Of course, she didn't tell anyone about them. The girl didn't want to worry anyone about her problem.

Endora must have dozed off for a brief second because one moment she was sitting at the Hermes table and the other, she found herself sitting next to Percy at Poseidon table.

"I'll tell you what it's about." Annabeth said, "The Labyrinth."

Now, that was something that sparked Endora's interest. That and she noticed that Annabeth had dragged Fredrick and Madeline over to the table too.

"You're not supposed to be here," Percy said. He glanced at Endora and then quickly moved his eyes away when he noticed that she was looking at him.

"Do we look like we're following rules?" Fredrick asked stealing some toast from Percy's plate.

"We need to talk," Annabeth insisted.

"But the rules. . ." Percy

Everyone knew that campers weren't allowed to switch tables. Satyrs were different. They weren't really demigods. But the half-bloods had to sit with their cabins. Endora wasn't even sure what the punishment was for switching tables. She'd never seen it happen. If Mr. D had been here, he probably would've strangled the three demigods ( he wouldn't do anything to his son, obviously ) with magical grapevines or something, but Mr. D wasn't here. Chiron had already left the pavilion. Quintus looked over and raised an eyebrow, but he didn't say anything.

"Will y'all let me speak?" Annabeth hissed. Everyone fell silent, "Thank you. Grover is in trouble. There's only one way we can figure to help him. It's the Labyrinth. That's what we've been investigating."

"We just helped a bit." Fredrick muttered, "Don't think my father would like this."

"Oh, no," Endora said, starting to get up, "No, no, no."

"Sit back down." Annabeth pulled her back to the seat.

"You mean the maze where they kept the Minotaur, back in the old days?" Percy asked.

"Unfortunately," Endora said.

"So. . . it's not under the king's palace in Crete anymore," Percy guessed. "The Labyrinth is under some building in America."

Madeline laughed, "Under a building? Please, Percy, the Labyrinth is huge. It wouldn't fit under a single city, much less a single building."

"So. . . is the Labyrinth part of the Underworld?"

"No." Annabeth frowned. "Well, there may be passages from the Labyrinth down into the Underworld. I'm not sure. But the Underworld is way, way down. The Labyrinth is right under the surface of the mortal world, kind of like a second skin. It's been growing for thousands of years, lacing its way under Western cities, connecting everything together underground. You can get anywhere through the Labyrinth."

"If you don't get lost," Grover muttered. "And die a horrible death."

"Grover, there has to be a way," Annabeth said.

"Clarisse lived." Fredrick pointed out.

"Barely!" Grover said. "And the other guy ─ "

"He was driven insane. He didn't die." Fredrick stated, his eyes growing darker.

"Oh, joy." Grover's lower lip quivered. "That makes me feel much better."

"Whoa," Percy said. "Back up. What's this about Clarisse and a crazy guy?"

Annabeth glanced over toward the Ares table. Clarisse was watching them like she knew what they were talking about, but then she fixed her eyes on her breakfast plate.

"Last year," Annabeth said, lowering her voice, "Clarisse went on a mission for Chiron."

"I remember," Percy said. "It was secret."

Annabeth nodded. "It was secret, because she found Chris Rodriguez."

"The guy from the Hermes cabin?"

"Last summer he just appeared in Phoenix, Arizona, near Clarisse's mom's house." Endora said.

"Wait," Percy said, "What do you mean he just appeared?"

"He was wandering around the desert, in a hundred and twenty degrees, in full Greek armor, babbling about string."

"String,"

"He'd been driven completely insane." Fredrick sighed, "Clarisse brought him back to her mom's house so the mortals wouldn't institutionalize him. She tried to nurse him back to health. Chiron came out and interviewed him, but it wasn't much good. The only thing they got out of him: Luke's men have been exploring the Labyrinth."

"Okay," Percy asked. "Why were they exploring the Labyrinth?"

"We weren't sure," Annabeth said. "That's why Clarisse went on a scouting expedition. Chiron kept things hushed up because he didn't want anyone panicking. He got me involved because . . . well, the Labyrinth has always been one of my favorite subjects. The architecture involved ─ " her expression turned a little dreamy. "The builder, Daedalus, was a genius."

"Beth," Madeline interrupted her.

"Right, sorry, the point is, the Labyrinth has entrances everywhere. If Luke could figure out how to navigate it, he could move his army around with incredible speed."

"Except it's a maze, right?"

"Full of horrible traps," Grover agreed. "Dead ends. Illusions. Psychotic goat-killing monsters."

"But not if you had Ariadne's string," Endora said. "In the old days, Ariadne's string guided Theseus out of the maze. It was a navigation instrument of some kind, invented by Daedalus. And Chris Rodriguez was mumbling about string."

"So Luke is trying to find Ariadne's string," Percy said. "Why? What's he planning?"

Annabeth shook her head. "I don't know. I thought maybe he wanted to invade camp through the maze, but that doesn't make any sense. The closest entrance Clarisse found were in Manhattan, which wouldn't help Luke get past our borders. Clarisse explored a little way into the tunnels, but. . . it was very dangerous. She had some close calls. I researched everything I could find about Daedalus. I'm afraid it didn't help much. I don't understand exactly what Luke's planning, but I do know this: the Labyrinth might be the key to Grover's problem."

"You think Pan is underground?"

"It would explain why he's been impossible to find." Grover shuddered. "Satyrs hate going underground. No searcher would ever try going in that place. No flowers. No sunshine. No coffee shops!"

"But," Fredrick said, "the Labyrinth can lead you almost anywhere. Bethy told me it can read your thoughts. It was designed to fool you, to trick you and kill you; but if you can make the Labyrinth work for you ─ "

"It could lead you to the wild god," Percy said.

"I can't do it." Grover hugged his stomach. "Just thinking about it makes me want to throw up my silverware."

"Grover, it may be your last chance," Annabeth said. "The council is serious. One week or you learn to tap dance!"

Over at the head table, Quintus cleared his throat.

"We'll talk later." Annabeth squeezed Percy's arm and grabbed Fredrick's hand, getting him up with her, "Convince him, will you?"

She returned to the Athena table, ignoring all the people who were staring at her.

"Shit! Archery lessons!" Madeline said and got up from the table, "Beach later?"

"Yes, ma'am," Endora saluted her.

Daughter of Apollo disappeared from her sight.

Endora sighed and slowly rose from her spot beside Percy. However, before she could move more, the son of Poseidon grabbed her hand. She could feel everyone staring at them, "You okay? You seem tired?"

"Fine," Endora said and shrugged his hand off, "Nothing you need to worry about."

"But ─ "

"I'll see you around," Endora said, interrupting whatever he was going to say and walking back to her table, having everyone's eye on herself.

That night after dinner, Quintus had the Camp suit up in combat armor like they were getting ready for capture the flag, but the mood among the campers was a lot more serious. Sometime during the day the crates in the arena had disappeared, and Endora had a feeling whatever was in them had been emptied into the woods. 

"Right," Quintus said, standing on the head dining table. "Gather' round."

He was dressed in black leather and bronze. In the torchlight, his gray hair made him look like a ghost. Mrs. O'Leary bounded happily around him, foraging for dinner scraps.

"You will be in teams of two," Quintus announced. When everybody started talking and trying to grab their friends, he yelled: "Which have already been chosen!"

Everybody complained and let out protests. Endora felt someone poking her side with their elbow and she turned. Lee Fletcher stood next to her, his arms crossed and sly grin on his face. His blonde hair sat messy a top of his head, front pieces covering his forehead and eyes ( Endora wondered how he managed to see ). His ears were adored with many piercings and his green eyes looked down at the brunette.

"Your goal is simple: collect the gold laurels without dying. The wreath is wrapped in a silk package, tied to the back of one of the monsters. There are six monsters. Each has a silk package. Only one holds the laurels. You must find the wreath before the other teams. And, of course. . . you will have to slay the monster to get it, and stay alive."

The crowd started murmuring excitedly. The task sounded pretty straight forward. Nothing was that easy when you are a demigod, so Endora had a feeling something bad will happen.

"I will now announce your partners," Quintus said. "There will be no trading. No switching. No complaining."

"Aroooof!" Mrs. O'Leary buried her face in a plate of pizza. Quintus produced a big scroll and started reading off names. Beckendorf would be with Silena Beauregard, which Beckendorf looked pretty happy about. Travis and Connor would be together. Clarisse was with Lee Fletcher will be together.

The son of Apollo didn't seem to be that happy with this choice. He looked at Endora, "Maybe next time?"

Endora gave him a small smile and a nod. Lee walked over to where Clarisse stood, rolling her eyes at the boy approaching.

"Annabeth Chase and Fredrick Jeon," Quintus called out.

The pair looked at each other, grinning happily and moving to stand next to each other.

"Madeline You and Lou Ellen."

Madeline beamed at the black haired girl, bouncing towards her and high-fiving the daughter of Hecate's raised hand.

Quintus kept rattling off the names until he said, "Percy Jackson with Endora Prince."

"Nice." Percy grinned at the girl, walking towards her, standing on a spot Lee previously was.

"Your armor is crooked" was her only comment, and she redid the straps for him.

"Grover Underwood," Quintus said, "with Tyson."

Grover just about jumped out of his goat fur. "What? B-but ─ "

"No, no," Tyson whimpered. "Must be a mistake. Goat boy ─ "

"No complaining!" Quintus ordered. "Get with your partner. You have two minutes to prepare!" 

Tyson and Grover both looked at Percy pleadingly. The boy tried to give them an encouraging nod, and gestured that they should move together. Tyson sneezed. Grover started chewing nervously on his wooden club.

"They'll be fine," Endora said. "Come on. Let's worry about how we're going to stay alive."

It was still light when the pair got into the woods, but the shadows from the trees made it feel like midnight. It was cold, too, even in summer. Endora and Percy found tracks almost immediately ─ scuttling marks made by something with a lot of legs. They began to follow the trail. Jumping a creek, they heard some twigs snapping nearby. The pair crouched behind a boulder, but it was only the Stoll brothers tripping through the woods and cursing. Their dad was the god of thieves, but they were about as stealthy as water buffaloes.

Once the Stolls had passed, they forged deeper into the west woods where the monsters were wilder. The pair were standing on a ledge overlooking a marshy pond when Endora tensed. "This is where we stopped looking."

It took Percy a second to realize what she meant. Last winter, when they'd been searching for Nico di Angelo, this is where they'd given up hope of finding him. Endora, Fredrick, Grover, Annabeth, and Percy had stood on this rock, and Percy'd convinced them not to tell Chiron the truth: that Nico was a son of Hades. At the time it seemed the right thing to do. Percy wanted to protect his identity. He wanted to be the one to find him and make things right for what had happened to his sister. Now, six months later, he hadn't even come close to finding him. It left a bitter taste in my mouth.

"I saw him last night," Percy said.

"So did I," Endora sighed. "He's summoning the dead. That's not good."

"The ghost was giving him bad advice, telling him to take revenge."

Endora nodded gloomily, "Yeah. . . spirits are never good advisers. They've got their own agendas. Old grudges. And they resent the living. . . Don't ask."

"Wasn't planning on," Percy held up his hands, "He's going to come after me. . . But who sent the Iris-message? If Nico didn't know I was there ─ "

A branch snapped in the woods. Dry leaves rustled. Something large was moving in the trees, just beyond the ridge.

"That's not the Stoll brothers," Endora whispered.

Percy drew out his sword, while Endora sparked up her fingers. They got to Zeus's Fist, a huge pile of boulders in the middle of the west woods. It was a natural landmark where campers often rendezvoused on hunting expeditions, but now there was nobody around.

"Over there," the girl whispered.

"No, wait," Percy said. "Behind us."

It was weird. Scuttling noises seemed to be coming from several different directions. They were circling the boulders, weapons drawn, when someone right behind them said, "Hi."

The pair whirled around, and the tree nymph Juniper yelped. "Put that down!" she protested. "Dryads don't like sharp blades, okay?"

"Juniper," Endora let her hands fall down her. "What are you doing here?"

"I live here."

Percy lowered his sword. "In the boulders?"

She pointed toward the edge of the clearing. "In the juniper. Duh. Are you guys busy?"

"Well," Percy said, "we're in the middle of this game against a bunch of monsters and we're trying not to die."

"We're not," Endora said and jabbed the boy in his ribs. He yelped, "What's wrong, Juniper?"

Juniper sniffled. She wiped her silky sleeve under her eyes. "It's Grover. He seems so distraught. All year he's been out looking for Pan. And every time he comes back, it's worse. I thought maybe, at first, he was seeing another tree."

"No," the brunette said, as Juniper started crying. "I'm sure that's not it. Grover would never do that. You guys are fine."

"He had a crush on a blueberry bush once," Juniper said miserably.

"Juniper," the girl said, "Grover would never even look at another tree. He's just stressed out about his searcher's license."

"He can't go underground!" she protested. "You can't let him."

"It might be the only way to help him; if we just knew where to start."

"Ah." Juniper wiped a green tear off her cheek. "About that. . ."

Another rustle in the woods, and Juniper yelled, "Hide!" she went poof into green mist.

Endora and Percy turned. Coming out of the woods was a glistening amber insect, ten feet long, with jagged pincers, an armored tail, and a stinger as long a sword. A scorpion. Tied to its back was a red silk package.

"One of us gets behind it," Endora said, as the thing clattered toward them. "Cuts off its tail while the other distracts it in front."

"I'll take point," Percy said. "You distract it with your magic."

She nodded. They'd fought together so many times last quest, they've learned each other's moves. They could do this, easy. But it all went wrong when the other two scorpions appeared from the woods. 

"Three?" Endora said. "That's not possible! The whole woods, and half the monsters come at us?"

The scorpions scurried toward them, whipping their barbed tails like they'd come here just to kill them. Endora and Percy put their backs against the nearest boulder.

"Climb?" Percy said.

"No time,"

The scorpions were already surrounding the pair. They were so close Endora could see their hideous mouths foaming, anticipating a nice juicy meal of demigods.

"Look out!" Endora parried away a stinger by creating a magic shield. Percy stabbed with Riptide, but the scorpion backed out of range. They clambered sideways along the boulders, but the scorpions followed them. Percy slashed at another one, but going on the offensive was too dangerous. If he went for the body, the tail stabbed downward. If he went for the tail, the thing's pincers came from either side and tried to grab him. Endora sent fire towards one, knocking it its legs, but the thing just got back up.

"In here," Percy said. 

Endora sent one scorpion up in the air and further away from the, "In there? It's too narrow."

"I'll cover you. Go!"

Endora ducked behind Percy and started squeezing between the two boulders. At some point she lost the ground under her feet and with a loud yelp, grabbed Percy's armor straps, and sent them both tumbling into a pit that hadn't been there a moment before. Endora could see the scorpions above them, the purple evening sky and the trees, and then the hole shut like the lens of a camera, and they were in complete darkness.

Their heavy breathing echoed against stone. It was wet and cold, and they were sitting on a bumpy floor that seemed to be made of bricks. Endora held her palm up, summoning blue fire into her hands, letting her see Percy's face and and the mossy stone walls on either side of they.

"Where are we?" Endora said.

"Safe from scorpions, anyway." Percy tried to sound calm, but he was freaking out. The crack between the boulders couldn't have led into a cave. Percy would've known if there was a cave here; he was sure of it. It was like the ground had opened up and swallowed them. All he could think of was the fissure in the dining room pavilion, where those skeletons had been consumed last summer. The boy wondered if the same thing had happened to them.

Percy took Endora's arm and turned it around, letting the fire lighten the room, "It's a long room," he muttered.

Endora, with her other hand, gripped his arm. "It's not a room. It's a corridor."

She was right. The darkness felt. . . emptier in front of them. There was a warm breeze, like in subway tunnels, only it felt older, more dangerous somehow. 

Percy started forward, but Endora pulled him back by a tug at his arm. "Don't move," she warned. "We need to find the exit."

"Hey, it's okay," Percy promised. "It's right ─ " he looked up and realized that the ceiling was solid stone. The corridor seemed to stretch endlessly in both directions.

"Fuck," Endora muttered, "Why me? Why me of all people?"

Percy looked at her with confused expression, "What?"

"Two steps back," she advised. 

The pair stepped backward together like they were in a minefield.

"Okay," she said. "Help me examine the walls."

"What for?"

"The mark of Daedalus," she said, swiping her hand alongside the walls.

"Uh, okay. What kind of ─ "

"Got it!" she said with relief. Endora set her hand on the wall and pressed against a tiny fissure, which began to glow blue. A Greek symbol appeared; the Ancient Greek Delta.

The roof slid open and they saw night sky, stars blazing. It was a lot darker than it should've been. Metal ladder rungs appeared in the side of the wall, leading up, and they could hear people yelling our names.

"Percy! Dora!"

Tyson the Cyclops' voice bellowed the loudest, but the brunette could hear Lou Ellen, Basil, Annabeth and the rest of her friends calling in extreme panic too. Percy looked nervously at Endora. Then they began to climb. Once they made it up, the pair walked around the rocks and ran into Clarisse and a bunch of other campers carrying torches.

"Dora!" Lou Ellen said in relief, racing over and pulling Endora in a tight hug, followed by Basil wrapping his hands around his sisters. Endora thought she heard her older sister crying softly. "Don't ever do that," the black haired girl whispered, "Never."

"Where have you two been?" Clarisse demanded. "We've been looking forever."

"But we were only gone a few minutes," Percy said.

Chiron trotted up, followed by everyone else.

"Are you guys okay?" Annabeth asked, checking Endora for any wounds as her siblings let go of her.

"We're fine." the brunette assured her.

"Percy!" Tyson said. "You are okay?"

"We're fine," Percy said. "We fell in a hole."

The others looked at Percy skeptically, then at Endora. Her eyes widened, "No! No! Don't even think about that!" she heard Travis mumbled something about money until his mouth was covered by Connor's hand.

"Honest!" Percy said. "There were three scorpions after us, so we ran and hid the rocks. But we were only gone a minute."

"You've been missing for almost an hour," Madeline said, her eyebrows furrowed. "The game is over."

"Yeah," Grover muttered. "We would've won, but a Cyclops sat on me."

"Was an accident!" Tyson protested, and then he sneezed.

Clarisse was wearing the gold laurels, but she didn't even brag about winning them, which wasn't like her. "A hole?" she said suspiciously.

Endora looked towards her friends and they got the silent message. The brunette looked towards Chiron, "Chiron. . . maybe we should talk about this at the Big House."

Clarisse gasped. "You found it, didn't you?"

Endora bit her lip. "I ─ Yeah. Yeah, we did."

A bunch of campers started asking questions, looking about confused, but Chiron raised his hand for silence. "Tonight is not the right time, and this is not the right place." he stared at the boulders as if he'd just noticed how dangerous they were. "All of you, back to your cabins. Get some sleep. A game well played, but curfew is past!"

There was a lot of mumbling and complaints, but the campers drifted off, talking among themselves and giving Percy suspicious looks.

"This explains a lot," Clarisse said. "It explains what Luke is after."

"Wait a second," Percy said. "What do you mean? What did we find?"

Endora turned toward him, her earthen eyes dark with worry. "An entrance to the Labyrinth. An invasion route straight into the heart of the camp."

niki speaks!

got to read "hamlet" so i can't
write more tonight like i wanted to 😭
guess when i finish it.

yes, maddy and fred did help
about research for the labyrinth but i
didn't put them to go on this quest,
they'll be there to protect the camp
( honestly, don't think dionysus would
approve of his some going to the labyrinth )
and maddy just has already some shit
to deal with,
so yeah. . .
don't kill me please

have a nice day/night!
bye!