2504 words

One hundred feet. It only took one hundred feet before everyone was completely lost. The tunnel we were in was cylindrical, assembled from red bricks with iron-barred portholes every ten feet. I sniffed the air, hoping to find something. A hundred divergent aromas rushed into my nostrils, and I stumbled backward into Raiden.

"Woah." She grabbed my shoulders. "You okay?"

"Yes." I shook my head to clear it, and a chill breeze rustled my hair. "I'm fine."

"Let's stay to the left," Annabeth advised. "We should be able to retrace our steps if we put a hand on the left wall and follow it."

This isn't going to work, I thought. Not with my luck.

Sure enough, the left wall ended. We arrived in a circular room with eight tunnels branching in different directions.

"Uh....which tunnel did we come from?" Grover asked anxiously.

"Just reverse," Annabeth answered.

We all chose different tunnels, trying to find the route back to camp. I narrowed my eyes and concentrated. My vision zoomed forward, zipping down innumerable passages and corridors. My heart pounded as I registered the numerous shadowy twists and turns. The darkness was going to find me. Then I realized how hopeless our quest truly was.

There were countless directions we could journey in to find Daedulus's workshop. On top of that, our method of finding the workshop (at least according to Annabeth—following the oldest architecture—was hindered by the fact that the Labyrinth was constantly shifting.

Yep. We were off to a really promising start.

"You couldn't use your tracking skills," Percy asked hopefully, "could you, Ainsley?"

I shook my head. "I would if I could, Percy. Unfortunately, I can track only people and animals, not places, if that makes sense."

"Not really. But then again, not much does down here."

"Well, I know one thing that makes sense." Annabeth stood up, her flashlight pointing at the arches of the tunnels.

"What's that?" Raiden asked.

Annabeth pointed down the tunnel to my immediate left. "The tunnel we need to follow."

"How are you so sure?" Percy asked.

"Logical deduction."

"Translation: you're guessing?"

"Just move, Seaweed Brain."

Annabeth pushed Percy forward into her chosen tunnel, and again, I was left wondering why the pair weren't dating here.

Her chosen passage narrowed swiftly. The walls shifted to smoky concrete, and the ceiling lowered so far that we had to stoop. Tyson, and Raiden, being 6'10 were forced to crawl.

Grover's hyperventilating echoed through the maze. "I can't do this. Are we almost there?"

"You can do this," Percy assured.

"How long have we been down here, anyway?"

"Ten minutes, twenty-five seconds, and nine nanoseconds," Raiden answered automatically.

When everyone stared at her, she shrugged. "What? I know time stuff automatically."

"That's helpful," Percy muttered. "Now we can know how long we've been down here without going insane."

"Optimistic one, aren't you?" Raiden grinned. "Gods of Olympus, this crawling is killing my knees."

"Yep, that's me: Mr. Optimisitc."

Soon enough, just when the tunnel was so narrow that we had to shuffle sideways, the passage widened into a massive room, adorned with grimy and faded green, blue, gold, and red mosaic tiles. I could see my mother, standing proudly, wearing a silver tunic and wielding her silver bow. Apollo stood beside him, flashing his blinding smile, his golden bow over his shoulder. There was something off about the pictures. Apollo's eyes seemed more neon yellow than golden, and Artemis's auburn hair was a shade too dark. In the center of the space was a three-tiered fountain, cracked and extremely dry.

"What kind of place is this?" Percy muttered.

"It's Roman," Annabeth answered. "These mosaics are roughly two thousand years old."

"Bet your grandparents would like this place," Raiden muttered in my ear.

I shot her a warning look. Dad had been very clear not to speak of where his parents were living to anyone. If anyone asked, he'd told me to tell the inquirer that they lived in California.

"How are they Roman, though?" Percy frowned. "The Roman Empire never made it to Long Island."

"Thank you for your amazing history knowledge," Annabeth said. "But the answer to your question is that this maze is a patchwork. I told you already that It grows by itself, constantly shifting, expanding, and adding new pieces. It's basically alive."

Grover shuddered as a groan resounded from a tunnel in front of us. "Please don't talk about it being alive."

"Fine," Annabeth said. "Move forward."

"Into the tunnel with scary sounds?" Tyson asked.

"Yep. The architecture is growing older. It's a promising sign. Daedalus's workshop would be in the most ancient section."

We continued, but of course, the maze began playing tricks on us. Fifty feet later, the walls transformed back to concrete with bras pipes running along the walls. The walls were covered in graffiti. One neon tagger sign said MOZ RULZ.

"That's not helpful," Percy remarked. "I don't think that's Roman."

Annabeth inhaled deeply, as though restraining herself from smacking her should-be-boyfriend upside the head, and pushed on.

Guess what happened next?

It grew even more confusing?

Correct!

Every two to three feet, the passages twisted and diverged. The ground shifted from concrete to mud to bricks repeatedly.It made all our heads spin, and let me tell you, when you have four teenagers with ADHD going in circles, it does not bode well.

"This makes zero sense!" Raiden exclaimed as we staggered into a wine cellar—loads of dusty bottles resting on wooden shelves. She fidgeted with her axe. "We're going in—oh."

We all followed to where she was staring. A skeleton in some sort of white uniform, with a wooden crate of glass bottles beside him.

A milkman! Agro barked. Dam, I haven't seen one since 63' when the Hunters were in Denver. She sniffed the skeleton. Oof! This guy's been dead for a while. Fifty years, maybe?

Since Percy, Annabeth, and Tyson didn't speak wolf, I translated. Everyone looked uncomfortable after that.

"Okay, so what's this guy doing down here, anyway?" Percy asked.

"Some people come in unintentionally," Annabeth explained. "Some come on purpose to explore, get lost, and never find their way out. Thousands of years ago, the Cretan would put people in here as human sacrifices."

Grover swallowed. "That's unsettling. I don't like the smell. Can you two smell it?"

My nostrils flared. "Monsters. A lot of monsters." What I didn't say was that the maze reeked of evil. I forced myself to remain composed.

"Yes," Tyson agreed. "Underground stinks of monsters and dead milk guys."

"I wouldn't know," I said. "I stay above ground."

"Yay," Grover whimpered. "I'm right."

"We need to move deeper into the maze," Annabeth said. "There must be a path to the center."

She guided us to the right, then left, through a passage resembling an air shaft, lined with stainless steel. And then, we were back in the Roman fountain room.

And surprise, surprise, someone awaited us.

***

I'd seen some pretty weird things in my life as a demigod. Once, I'd battled demon cows with anger and intestinal issues in Dallas while on an errand for my mother. (She'd needed me to go kill a drakon that was terrorizing the Houston area.) Another time, I'd encountered a mortal man in Times Square dressed in a neon-yellow suit, offering passers-by magical jalepaños that could grant you the power to taste lightbulbs.

But the guy awaiting us was a whole other level of weird.

He had a pair of protruding faces on opposite sides of his head, gazing over his shoulders. His head was unnaturally wide, like a hammerhead shark. When looking straight at him, I could see only two overlapping ears and identical mirroring sideburns. He donned a New City York City doorman outfit: a lengthy ebony coat, gleaming shoes, and a black top hat that defied gravity by remaining on his huge head.

Raiden rolled her eyes. "Not this guy again."

"I'm not here to see you, Raiden Kairos," the left face snapped. "Not this time, anyway. Don't worry, though, you will have to decide eventually."

"How about I decide to smack over the head with my axe, Janus?" Raiden growled.

Sweat erupted across both faces. With difficulty, the faces addressed Annabeth.

"Well, Annabeth?" the left face prompted. "What's it going to be?"

Annabeth's eyebrows shot up. "Uh...what am I..."

"Choose!" the right face urged. "Choose a path!"

I didn't understand what the faces were referring to until I glanced behind the god. Two exits, each obstructed by wooden doors secured with large iron locks, stood behind him. Those doors hadn't been there during our initial passage through the room. The god grasped a silver key and tossed it from hand to hand. Our original door had melted back into the wall, replaced by more mosaics.

"Hold on." Percy raised his hands. "Who's Janus, Raiden?"

"A minor Roman god," she growled. "But a massive annoyance. He's the god of endings, choices, doorways, and beginnings. Although by the time I'm through with him," she added, "he'll be the god of just endings."

"And how are you going to do that?" the left face jeered.

Raiden's eyes glittered dangerously. Her expression was frigid. All the alarm bells began clanging in my head.

"Raiden." I gripped her wrist.

She rounded on me, eyes flashing. "Let me go, Ainsley."

"No. I understand that his guy is annoying, but he's not worth your time to deal with."

"Oh! I'm not worth her time?" the right face repeated. "Bold words coming from you, Ainsley Theron."

I really wanted to punch this god, but I remained composed. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Your day of reckoning is approaching!" the left face said excitedly. "Your day of decisions. The Big Reveal!"

The Big Reveal? Sweat trickled down the back of my neck, and my heart hammered. That sounded like the line from Annabeth's prophecy: And the Hunter Queen's true emotions manifest.

"Zip it!" snapped the right face. "Well, what's it going to be Annabeth Chase? Left or right? One leads to certain death. The other leads to victory!"

"Decide, daughter of Athena," the left face said. "You may kill yourself and your friends, but no pressure! Decide, Annabeth!"

Annabeth swallowed. "I—"

Before she could finish, a blinding light engulfed the room. Everyone shielded their eyes, and when it faded, a woman stood before the fountain.

"Señora Peacock," Raiden muttered. "Wonderful. This is just peachy."

I snorted with laughter. The goddess ignored both of us and addressed the doorway, god. "Janus, are you stirring up trouble again?"

"N-no, my lady," the right face stuttered.

"Then be gone," the goddess commanded, "or I shall transform you into a door and dismantle you."

"Y-yes, milady," the left face stammered. "Party punch."

Janus lifted his silver key, turned it in midair, and vanished.

"You must be starving," the goddess said. "Come. Sit and chat with me."

The goddess waved her hand, and the ancient Roman fountain began to glow, sending jets of clear water into the air. A marble table materialized, adorned with lemonade pitchers and plates of sandwiches.

"Wait, who are you?" Percy asked.

"Señora Peacock," Raiden answered. "Her Cow Majesty. The most annoying goddess in Greek Mythology."

"Also known as Hera," I said.

***

Everyone hurried to sit down at the table, but Raiden, Agro, and I remained standing. Annabeth looked at us, mouthing: What the Hades are you doing? Get over here! She'll vaporize you!

"Oh, she won't vaporize us, Annabeth," Raiden said coldly. "She can't."

Hera turned her icy gaze onto us, and the three of us had a glaring contest.

"You would not dare to use your powers on me," the goddess said.

"Oh, yes, I would," Raiden snarled. "I don't think you get who I am, sister."

I'd forgotten that, as a daughter of Kronos, Raiden was half-sisters with the Six Elder Olympians, including Hera.

"You are an...incident, Raiden Kairos," Hera said. "A child of Kronos mothered by a mortal woman."

Raiden and I both whipped out our weapons. I nocked an arrow and aimed it at the goddess. Raiden grasped her axe with shaking hands. "Don't you talk about my mother that way! It wasn't her fault that she fell in love with...him. He manipulated her." Her golden eyes flashed. "And her prize for that was being killed by a lightning bolt from your husband."

"Oh, and Hera?" I remained composed, but my tone was icier than Hubbard Glacier. "You wanna what you are? You are a jealous menace. You sent a giant snake to terrorize my grandmother while she was pregnant and forced her to wait to give birth. You beat my mother with her own bow during the Trojan War!"

Hera's face reddened. "That was millennia ago. Artemis doesn't hold grudges and neither do I. You would do well to drop the subject, Ainsley Theron."

"Drop disrespect against my mother? Your head really must be in the clouds if you think I'm that stupid."

"One more word, Ainsley Theron, and I swear I will—"

"Enough." Raiden spoke the word in a tone of piercing venom, and my heart began to race. The temperature plummeted to freezing, and frost formed around her feet. She strode toward the goddess, leaving patches of ice in her wake. "If you dare to threaten my sister again, then I swear to Artemis I will send you to Tartarus myself." She glared into Hera's eyes a final time then retreated to my side. The frost slowly faded.

"Don't do that...that voice thing again, please," I said.

She looked at me. "Fine. I didn't mean to scare you. I'm sorry." She glanced at the table, where the goddess had initiated a conversation with Annabeth. "I just can't stand people like her."

While Annabeth completed her conversation, we devoured some of the antelope meat I'd brought. Thanks to Phoebe's salting, the meat would remain edible for a while. Once Hera had departed, the table and its contents vanished, and the fountain was dry once again.

"How'd she not vaporize you?" Percy stared at Raiden and I. "You called her out on a lot of things."

Raiden smiled wryly. "Because she's scared of me and so are most of the other Olympians." She looked at Annabeth."Did I hear something about Percy knowing how to get around this stupid maze?"

"Yeah," Annabeth said.

We looked at the son of Poseidon expectantly.

He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Sorry, I don't know. I really don't."

Raiden sighed. "That's fine. But we should probably go left regardless."

"Why?"

"'Cause there's something bigger than a tank at least coming from the right."

"Good idea. I don't want to become a demigod kebob."

"Wouldn't you be a fish kebob, though?" I realized that I was still grasping my bow, so I willed it to vanish.

"Shut up!" Percy said.

Together, we sprinted into the left tunnel.