CHAPTER ONE: THE GREENIE GETS HIS ASS KICKED

Layla sat patiently as she waited for Percy's return. The two had been speaking only moments ago, the ocean touching their toes as they sat on a towel, taking a lazy day on their last day at camp.

Nico's eyes were glued to the screen, a frown appearing on his face as he stared at his sister that he had too little pictures of. Will took one of his hands in silence, while Hazel took the other.

He promised he'd be back in only a second, wanting to get his girlfriend Annabeth so that the three of them could all hang out. Layla immediately said it was a great idea—she loved hanging out with Percy and Annabeth, despite their excessive PDA.

     Annabeth and Percy blushed in embarrassment, despite their worries for Layla at the current moment. A few chuckles went around the room.

     Nico, however, found that he was struggling not to cry. He wasn't sure why tears were pricking at his eyes—he didn't want to cry in front of everyone else, so why was it so hard not to?

When Layla noticed the tips of her fingers beginning to create a swirl of shadows, she frowned. She wasn't trying to. And as a daughter of Hades, the shadows didn't bother her, but she had learned control months ago. Why was she losing it now?

Despite her efforts, the shadows grew. Layla watched, wide eyed, as darkness filled her vision. When the darkness finally cleared... Layla was gone.

     The demigods stared in silence, shocked at what had just happened. Reyna was the first to speak, turning to Nico. "Did she know how to shadow travel properly?" She asked.

     Nico nodded slowly, "yeah. She was even better at it than I am." Was all he could say, and that was enough. But it left the demigods questioning why Layla had vanished then, despite having full control.

Percy returned with Annabeth only moments later. His smile faltered upon finding the beach towel empty, Layla nowhere to be seen. Annabeth looked around, "where's Layla? I thought you said she was here."

Percy began to frown, "she was." He replied, "she said she'd wait."

     Percy frowned at the screen.

So, the two demigods began to search for their friend. At first, they weren't too concerned. They figured she had run off to play a joke, and would return any second to yell out, 'boo!' before laughing uncontrollably as Percy screams like a girl. (It had happened before.)

Percy's jaw dropped, "that was between us!" He whisper-shouted to Annabeth. "Now everyone knows!"

"Tough luck, Seaweed Brain." Annabeth snickered.

Despite how long they searched, Layla could not be found. It was like she had vanished into thin air.

     They searched for a year, and Layla had shown no signs of returning. Nico tried to hide it, but he was clearly distraught. Layla was the only family that he had left... and she was gone—but he never gave up hope. Layla wasn't dead, she couldn't be. Nico would've known if she died.

     Nico looked to Hazel, glad he had her—but it didn't change the fact that two of his sisters were gone. He held onto the hope that he would see Layla at the end of the third book.

That's why he never stopped looking. He knew that she was out there somewhere. He knew better than anyone.

But what he didn't know was that Layla had fallen through the darkness, slowly losing herself as she was left in a void. She couldn't tell how long she had spent in the void, but when she finally got out, she was somewhere else.

     The demigods had already been briefed on where Layla was, but they didn't expect the reason for her being in another universe to be shadow travel.

Conner interrupted Frank's reading, and the movie screen above paused, freezing on Layla as she examined the new world around her. There was nothing but sand.

"So," Conner started, "you mean to tell me... that Layla shadow travelled... to a different universe? How is that even possible?"

Travis looked ready to argue with his brother, but Reyna spoke first. "Let's let Frank continue reading so we can find out." She raised a brow at the boy, who was too intimidated to argue.

Frank began to read once more.

Layla was stuck in a world that wasn't her own—a world that had been scorched by the sun, leaving a deadly virus to attack the minds of the people living on it. She was taken by a group of soldiers, and brought to a building full of scientists and children much like herself.

She was tested, and found to be immune to the virus, known as the Flare. Then, they started their experiments. Months had passed, feeling endless in the labs she spent most of her time in. She was briefly introduced to a group of kids, and given a number much like they were. She was now known as Subject A14, a name she would not let herself believe was hers.

Nico glared harshly at the scientists on the screen. The sadness he had once felt was replaced by rage. He couldn't believe that those people did tests on children without any guilt, just because they wanted to save themselves.

Just when the labs were getting to be too much for her, Layla forgot everything. The procedure had gone perfectly, and the daughter of Hades was sent up in the box to finally enter the Glade.

Nico stared at the screen, "forgot everything?" He repeated. "What does that mean?" He turned to Will, "forgot everything?" He found himself repeating it again during his shock. Will could only frown—he didn't like where this was going.

A title flashed across the screen as Frank read: The Maze Runner.

     The demigods quickly began chatting amongst themselves, trying to figure out what it meant.

The title faded, being replaced by a new sentence in bold white letters over a black screen.

     ONE YEAR LATER.

     The demigods stared in silence.

Layla's lungs burned as she made her way back to the Glade, finding nothing new in the Maze this time. After a year of running it, you'd think she'd find something. That wasn't exactly the case. Sure, they began to explore the outer sections around the time she became a Runner, but after that, things went more slowly.

So, as usual, she kept her eyes looking straight ahead as she followed Minho down their usual route, Ben jogging behind her. Layla couldn't remember her past, just like everyone else in the Maze, but she had an inkling that she did a lot of running before she was sent up into the Glade. Running came natural to her, so she was quickly deemed 'Runner material' by Minho.

     "She..." Nico stuttered pathetically—silently scolding himself for not holding back his emotions, "can't remember?" His voice was too soft for anyone to hear, but the confirmation that Layla didn't know who he was was world-shaking.

     "Do you think the Maze is like the Labyrinth?" A demigod called out.

     "No." Annabeth said as calmly as she could, failing to hide her worry. "The Labyrinth isn't like this. I'm more concerned about why she can't remember her past."

     Nico had gone silent, his mind spiralling as he thought about his past with Layla—a past she couldn't remember.

She did get quite a few protests from it, or shocked looks. No one outright said anything to her face, but Layla knew it was because she was a girl. She was the only girl in the Glade, in fact, which caused a problem or two. Her friends had always been nice to her, however, and never doubted her. So, despite their worries, Newt, Fry and Ben had no complaints for her to start running the Maze everyday.

Due to her being a Runner, she unfortunately didn't spend much time with Fry or Newt anymore. Minho, Ben and her were a tight-knit group, and could trust each other with anything, but she missed the others, too.

     The demigods close to Layla felt relief at knowing that she wasn't completely alone, and had a friend group.

Finally, the Glade came into view, and Layla felt relief. She loved running in the Maze—she felt more herself when she was running, like a piece of her that was missing returned every time she stepped out into the intricate weaving of the Maze walls—but she felt safe in the Glade. It was her home through and through.

Today was also the day a new Greenie would be coming up in the box, and to Layla's surprise, she could make out the shape of a new Greenie standing next to Chuck, somewhat close to the Maze entrance.

     "Glade? Greenie?" Leo called out. "Look, I know I'm weird, but who makes up new words like that?"

     Piper rolled her eyes in slight amusement, "shut up and watch the movie."

His brows were pulled close together, and he wore a dirtied blue button up shirt, with brown pants to match. His hair was damp with sweat and he watched with curiosity as Minho, Ben and Layla exited the Maze.

Ben smiled at Chuck as he ran past, "hey, Chuck." He greeted, "new Greenie, huh? How's it feel to be promoted?"

Chuck smiled widely, "feels great, Ben." He said, sending him a thumbs up.

     Piper smiled, "he's so cute." She cooed.

Layla smiled to herself, having a soft spot for the young boy. He was always kind to everyone, and tried giving everyone a chance. It made sense for him to be hanging out with this month's Greenie—he was a people person. He got along well with everyone.

A few demigods smiled at Chuck, who smiled brightly as the 'Runners' ran past him on screen. Annabeth, being Annabeth, quickly pointed something out. "This month's Greenie?" She quoted, "does that mean they send up someone new once a month?"

A random demigod shouted from the back, "I still don't get the whole 'Greenie' thing?" He shouted. "What does that mean?"

Someone else responded by saying, "maybe that's what they call themselves?"

The demigods went silent after that, going back to listening to Frank read while watching the movie screen.

Layla and the boys continued jogging until they had made it to the Map Room. She took out a paper and pencil and began to write down what she memorized, being a little slower than the other boys. She didn't know why it was, but sometimes she had a hard time memorizing specific turns. She always had Minho look over what she had done before she put her paper with the others, which were kept in small cases specified for each day. There were eight cases overall, signifying the eight sections of the Maze.

The children of Athena nodded in approval, agreeing with their methods. If it was a Maze, there was surely a way out. With a Maze on such a big scale, it was wise to map out what you ran.

After Minho had looked over her paper, and made a small correction on her map, he put it in the proper case. Layla was aware that it was pointless by now—as Minho had shown her the entirety of the Maze built out of small sticks, which Minho had used himself while using out maps as a reference—and she knew fully well that there was nothing else to map in the Maze, but as a way to not cause panic, the Runners continued to do their job every day.

Jason frowned, "pointless?" He repeated. "There's gotta be a way out, right?"

Nico was growing worried at the thought of his sister being trapped there, constantly having to remind himself that he would be seeing her soon.

"I mean..." Hazel shrugged, "the Fates said they were... studying them to see how they reacted to being in a giant maze. That doesn't necessarily mean there's a way out." She frowned. She didn't want to make things any harder for Nico, but she supposed that they should try to figure out what was going on while they were there.

Besides, Layla wasn't much good at anything else in the Glade. She had tried taking care of the plants in the gardens, but the small section she worked on had quickly died, leaving Newt stumped.

     A few demigods chuckled at the screen, showing flashbacks of Layla pointing to the dead plants before panning to Newt, showing the baffled look on his face.

     She tried being a Slicer as well, but the animals had always been scared of her, so she could never do much there. She also wasn't very fond of killing the animals, despite it being necessary, so she was immediately not very comfortable with it.

Being a Med-Jack never quite fit her either. She found that she was terrible at helping the wounded, despite having a gut feeling that she had to deal with it a lot before being sent up into the Glade.

     Every person in the room immediately knew what the gut feeling was. On quests, it wasn't uncommon for a demigod or otherwise to be injured, so everyone had to be briefed on how to heal wounds with ambrosia and nectar, or learn to wrap them. Layla had never been the greatest at it, but she always did her best.

Pretty much any other job had never fit her right, but Layla was a great Runner. She was happy to keep mapping the Maze every day, even if it was a false hope.

Suddenly, the entire world seems to shake as the all too familiar sound of the Maze doors closing boomed across the Glade.

     Even Frank stopped reading, jumping at the sound of the screen behind him. He glanced up, seeing the screen showing giant stone walls pushing closer together. Layla had been there only minutes ago.

     Percy's jaw dropped, "how is that even possible?"

Layla stepped out of the Map Room, taking note of the small crowd around the Greenie, who watched in complete shock at the doors that seemed as if they could never move, did.

A final gust of wind slipped through the doors as they connected, slamming shut with a deep crunching sound. Layla knew that, despite the sun being out, another day in the Glade had come to a close. All she could do now was wait for the bonfire.

     Annabeth began muttering to herself, "so the Glade is what's inside the Maze."

     By the time the sky had grown dark enough, and the sun was no longer visible, the Gladers were buzzing with excitement. The bonfire had begun, in a way to congratulate the new Greenie, but also to celebrate another month alive in the Glade.

     "Oh," Percy drawled, "they call themselves Gladers, but the new Gladers are called Greenies."

     The other demigods hummed in understanding, glad to have some clarity on that.

Layla stood next to Minho, as multiple Gladers held torches, wide smiles on their faces. Alby held his up, and finally said, "light em' up!" Before throwing his torch into the fire pit. The entire thing went ablaze as multiple Gladers threw in their torches, and cheers were heard.

As usual, Layla could see some Gladers drinking Gally's secret recipe (which was definitely alcohol), while many other Gladers were chatting happily and dancing around as a few boys played the drums on flipped plastic buckets.

     Dakota perked up at the mention of alcohol, pulling his Kool-Aid away from his mouth like it was nothing in comparison.

Gally already had a fighting circle going. A group of boys surrounded him as he and some other poor kid fought each other, and whoever was pushed out of the circle usually lost. Layla had even decided to give it a try once, and much to everyone's surprise (and hers), she managed to push him out. Fighting, for whatever reason, seemed to come natural to her.

     Nico and Layla's friends all smiled at that. She was a demigod, of course she won.

Minho and Layla had found a spot to sit, and were then conversing with the other runners. Layla typically split half her her night with the Runners, and the other half with her other friends whenever there was a bonfire.

Layla laughed loudly at something that Ben said, shoving him playfully and laughing harder as he nearly spilled his drink. "Careful, Layla!" He called, but he was too drunk to really care and broke out into a fit of giggles.

     A few demigods broke out in laughter. It was safe to say that they liked Ben so far.

Layla laughed even harder at her friend, clutching a hand on her stomach as it began to ache from all her laughing.

     Nico smiled softly, his eyes glistening with tears. It had been so long since he'd seen Layla smile. He hadn't realized how much he missed her laugh until he heard it on the screen above.

When Layla finally looked up after her laughter began to cease, her eyes met Newt's. He was near the edge of the small area that the bonfire had been set up in, where the light was far more dim, and he had the Greenie by his side. Layla could only assume that Newt was explaining the works of the Glade, and possibly the Maze. She smiled slightly at the Greenie, happy that he was talking to Newt. He was a good friend to have—some of the boys in the Glade weren't so nice, but Newt's loyalty never faltered.

     Nico decided then that he liked Newt.

When Newt and the Greenie began to stand up, Layla turned to Minho. She nudged him, causing him to turn to face her. "Hey, I'm gonna go hang out with them. Is that all right?" She asked.

Minho waved her off, "go ahead." He nodded, to which Layla smiled. She then got to her feet and began to make her way to the two boys.

Newt didn't notice her walking over, as he continued to explain the works of the Glade, and each job that was available. "...And then we got two Med-Jacks, Clint and Jeff." The Med-Jacks sent him a small wave, as Newt nodded while explaining that they typically spent their time bandaging up the Slicers.

     Then his eyes landed on Layla, and he smiled. "And this is Layla. I don't believe you two have properly met, have you?" Newt nodded to me.

     The Greenie shook his head awkwardly, trying to process everything he was being told before looking to Layla. "No, uh... no, not yet."

     Layla smiled at him, despite his awkwardness, and held out a hand. "I'm Layla." She said, "nice to meet you, Greenie."

     The boy looked ready to introduce himself, but upon the realization that he still didn't know who he was, he closed his mouth and frowned. Layla's smile faltered, but she tried not to feel sympathetic. "It's all right." She comforted him, "you'll remember soon enough."

     Hazel turned to Nico and said, "you're right." She muttered, "I think we would get along."

     Nico beamed at Hazel. He was glad that after everything he's told her, and even after barely reading the first book sent by the Fates, Hazel knew that they would get along. Nico couldn't wait for them to meet.

     The Greenie nodded, his eyes scanning around the Glade. They landed on Minho, before going to Layla, then back to Newt. There was a gleam in his eyes as he asked, "what if I wanna be a Runner?"

     Layla frowned, "a Runner?"

     Newt let out a breathy laugh, "have you listened to a word I've just said? No one wants to be a Runner. And, besides, you gotta get chosen."

     The Greenie knit his brows together, "chosen by who?" He turned to Layla, "how did you become a Runner."

     Reyna raised a brow, "well, he's persistent."

Before Layla could give an answer, one of the Builders was pushed into him. It was done by Gally, of course, who looked proud of himself for winning another round in the fighting circle. He raised his brows as the Greenie tripped, nearly losing his balance. "Whoa!" He finally got himself standing upright, his eyes immediately finding Gally.

"What do you say, Greenie?" Gally turned to him with a challenging look. "Wanna see what you're made of?"

The Greenie looked uncomfortable, so the Gladers began to chant, slowly breaking out into cheers. "Greenie! Greenie! Greenie!"

     Hazel frowned, "they shouldn't peer pressure him."

     A few of the Ares and Mars kids, however, leaned forwards in their seats, ready for some action.

Gally held his hands up to silence everyone as the Greenie took a hesitant step forward, "okay. All right." He said, walking around the circle. "The rules are simple, Greenie. I try to push you out the circle... you try to last more than five seconds."

A chorus of laughs erupted throughout the crowd, as Layla nervously chewed on her bottom lip. She wasn't very keen on Gally picking on the Greenies, which he had done a lot in the year that Layla had been in the Glade. He tried picking on her for a short time as well, but she didn't let it last very long and now the two were (more or less) on good terms.

     Layla's friends felt a sense of pride—they were glad that she didn't let people push her around.

"Ready?" Gally asked, and the Greenie nodded but was immediately pushed out of the circle, causing Layla to wince. A few boys caught him and pushed him back in, but he was shoved into the sand by Gally within seconds.

"Come on, Greenie." Gally taunted, "we're not done yet." The Greenie sighed, getting to his feet.

"Stop calling me Greenie." He mumbled as he adjusted his shirt.

"Stop calling you that?" Gally repeated. "What do you wanna be called? Shank?" Everyone laughed—it was just feeding into Gally's ego. "What do you think, boys? Does he look like a shank?" Everyone agreed with him that he did. Layla could only roll her eyes.

     Leo stared at the screen for a long moment. "I'm sorry, shank—?"

     "Leo, watch the movie." Piper and Jason scolded, smiling fondly at their friend.

The Greenie took this as his time to strike. Layla watched as he ran forwards to get Gally, but he ultimately ended up on the ground once again. "You know what?" Gally pursed his lips, "I think I'm settled on shank."

     Leo raised a brow in confusion at the name, but kept his mouth shut this time.

The Greenie ran at him once more in anger and annoyance, and for once, he managed to knock Gally down. Layla smiled softly with a nod of approval, "not bad for a Greenie, huh?" The Greenie huffed.

     Reyna shrugged, "not bad at all."

Gally's face contorted into anger as he swiped his leg under the Greenie's to knock him to the ground.

     "You spoke too soon." Leo muttered, looking to the ground with wide eyes, ignoring the look that Reyna sent him.

     Layla grimaced as his head smacked against the ground—it was surely going to leave a mark.

The Greenie's face changed from pain to realization in seconds as he mumbled something under his breath. "Thomas, hey!" He stood up, a gasp escaping his mouth, "Thomas! I remember my name. I'm Thomas!"

There was a long pause of silence, before everyone slowly began to smile. Layla grinned widely. Alby held a hand out towards Thomas, beaming, "Thomas!" He cheered. Everyone began to cheer and shout his name, Layla included.

     The demigods smiled at the scene. It was clear to see that the Gladers treated each other like family, despite their differences. They got along well enough.

Frypan clapped Thomas on the back with a smile, "welcome home, Thomas." He handed the dark haired boy one of Gally's drinks. Thomas scrunched up his face in disgust, causing Layla to laugh as she took the drink from his hand. He clearly wasn't a fan.

     Conner and Travis laughed at that.

     "Good job..." Gally took Thomas' hand and shook it, "Thomas."

     Hazel appreciated how Gally was nice enough to show Thomas that he was welcome, despite their fight only seconds ago.

     A loud screech from inside the Maze suddenly caught everyone's attention.

     Everyone in the room jumped at the sound, and Frank nearly dropped the book. He clearly wasn't liking the fact that he had to read while a movie screen showed visuals and sound behind him.

     Layla's smile immediately vanished, her lips pulling downwards as she glared at the Maze doors. Thomas frowned in confusion, "what the hell was that?"

     Gally huffed, "that, my friend, was a Griever." He licked his lips, "don't worry, you're safe here with us. Nothing gets through those walls."

     An understanding as to why the Maze doors closed at night passed through the demigods.

     There was a pause, and the energy seemed to be drained from each Glader as the reminder that they weren't alone set in once more. Alby nodded, "all right, guys. Let's tuck it in for the night. Come on. It was a good night."

     Layla immediately complied, helping the boys to pack everything up as she made small talk with the Runners. Once she had finished, she went to her small room in the homestead, and was out in an instant, pushing the monsters in the Maze out of her mind as she drifted off.

     Frank looked up from the book, flipping to the next page. "Do you want to take a break, or should we read another chapter?" He asked, meeting the eyes of his friends.

     Annabeth answered after a moment of thought, "we could read another." She shrugged, "I want some more answers."

     There was a silent agreement as Frank nodded and turned back to the book. It was obvious that everyone in the room was becoming invested with Layla's story, and her going to another world.

     After a small pause, Frank began to read again.

—————
lizzie speaks...

okayyyy here's chapter one, updates every wednesday <3

never done memes for every chapter before, but i think i'll give it a go. enjoy.

(some of the memes will be the same as the ones from Six Feet Under, but i'll occasionally do a pjo themed meme bc... duh)