Chapter 1

Annabeth

The sun streamed through the windows of my room, the glass splitting the light into prisms, casting rainbows over the carpet. I sat sulking on my bed, anger fueling up inside of me at the thought of my mother, Athena. For a goddess of wisdom, she certainly wasn't very bright when it came to her own children. As if sending me into the Labyrinth could make me happy.

Let me back up a bit.

I walked into the grand room of my mother's temple. I lived fairly close, just next door, being a daughter of Athena, my mom wanted me close to her ever since the love of her life, my father, died. My mother sat upon her throne, the very picture of royalty, looking as regal as a mortal queen. "Yes mother?" I asked. I wondered why she had called on me especially. I came here every day to train for monster attacks, but it was incredibly unusual for Athena to call on her children at all, let alone when they were in her temple. My mother straightened up more, if that

was even possible.

"Annabeth," she said, "I have a task for you. When I heard of it, I thought you were the perfect candidate to see this quest through to its completion."

My ears perked up at this. Even at 17 years, Athena children were still desperate to impress their mother. "Of course, Mother! What do you need me to do?" Athena frowned, "It is unwise to accept a quest without knowing what it is. Are you sure?"

"Yes!" I said. I needed this, no matter how dangerous this quest was. I was getting tired of being cooped up at home all day, only staying in Athens. I wanted to get out there.

"Very well. As you know, being half-mortal, demigods can do things gods cannot. Traversing the Labyrinth without causing a big ordeal is one of them."

"What?" I said, sure I had heard her wrong.

"I need one of my children to go and vanquish monsters in the depths of the Labyrinth. I cannot do this on my own, the other gods would take too much notice."

"So let me get this straight. You want me to go into the Labyrinth, the most feared place in all of Greece, to kill a monster that you can't because you're afraid of some bad publicity?!"

"This is not that Annabeth! Do not take that tone with me!" Athena snapped. "This is not just any group of monsters! It is a group of the most feared monsters in all of Greece. Two massive drakons, two Chimeras, and a King Hydra. If these monsters escape the Labyrinth, they will lay waste to all of Greece. You must do this to protect Greece!"

"You don't want me to do this for myself. You just want me to do this so you have something to brag about to the other gods!" I screamed. I knew it was true, judging by the look on Athena's face.

"Annabeth! You are by far the qualified, talented, intelligent child of mine!. If anyone can pull this off, it's you."

"And you expect me to do this by myself?" I asked incredulously.

"Of course not! You may take a few companions along with you, and you must work together to save Greece. The whole country is depending on you, so choose wisely."

"And what makes you think that I'm just going to go along with this?" I said.

Athena stiffened, then spoke and said, "If you succeed, I will let you leave Athens." This I heard. I have always wanted to leave this city, but Athena would never let me. Going on this quest would finally give me my chance to get away from Athena, and go kill monsters in the real world, like I have always wanted. "That's not all," Athena said. "You shall receive praise like no other hero, not even Hercules, has seen. Your name shall be known throughout all of Greece, living on in history forever."

I barely heard the last part, too excited at the prospect of leaving Athens. "Ok," I said, "I shall accept the quest. But don't think I'm not still furious," I said to Athena.

She nodded. "Now, who are you going to choose for to accompany you on this noble quest? You must trust these people with your life."

"I don't know, Mother. I need some time to go over this. When do I start?"

"Wise decision, my daughter. You must start tomorrow. You will enter through this room. There is a spot where I can put you through."

"Tomorrow? That soon?" I questioned.

"Yes, my child. The fate of Greece is at the mercy of these monsters. You must defeat them as soon as possible." "Fine."

I exited the throne room, to occupied to wait for a dismissal. But one question still remained.

Who put those monsters in the labyrinth? They couldn't have got there by themselves, could they?

I shook it off and walked by towards my house. As I entered the house, a million things to do were swirling around in my head. I'm in my room, back where I started.

There. I told you why I was mad. Shall we continue?

I paced in my room, working out a plan for my quest. First things first, I needed to choose my companions. My number one choice was Thalia, a Hunter of Artemis. The Hunters of Artemis were a group of girls who went around with the goddess Artemis throughout Greece, killing nasty monsters. They were blessed by Artemis and had immortality, and they did not age. Thalia had just been accepted as their lieutenant, and she was only a year older than me. I have known Thalia for my whole life, her being a daughter of the sky god, Zeus. She and I have been best friends since we met. I trust her with my life, and I have no doubt she will be a great asset and keep laughing the whole time. She is an amazing archer, and I know her bow will keep us from harm.

My next companion was Piper, my other best friend. I had only met Piper five years ago, but she and I quickly became fast friends. Although Piper is a daughter of Aphrodite, she is has a disdain for makeup and fancy clothes. I mentioned it once to her and I learned enough not to ever mention it again. Ironic it is though, because the lack of makeup and fancy things only make her look more beautiful. She is one of the toughest, fiercest girls I have ever met, and with her charmspeaking, this should be much easier.

"Who next?" I muttered. This was harder than I thought.

My third companion was Hazel. Hazel is probably the sweetest of all of us, but she can fight. Being a daughter of Pluto, she has control over the Earth and precious metals. Despite knowing her for only a short amount of time. Hazel is one of the most powerful demigods on our team, and having her will strengthen our team more. Her horse, Arion, is the fastest horse ever, and he only trusts Hazel.

My final companion was Calypso. Calypso was stranded on an island many years. where she could not age. After Calypso was rescued, she came here to Athens, and we became fast friends. We have only known each other for a year, but I know that she is to be trusted. Living on the island by herself has made her strong, and she is one of the best fighters out of all of us. She knows her plants and her singing can soothe anyone, so her voice and skills will be of major help to us.

A knock sounded at the door, interrupting me out of my revelry. My mother poked her head in, and says, "Annabeth, are you okay? I knocked three times before you realized."

"Yes Mother," I said. "Just choosing my companions." Athena comes in and sits on the corner of my bed.

"Well," she asked, "who have you chosen?"

"I have chosen Thalia, Piper, Hazel, and Calypso to help."

"All excellent choices," My mother said. With these girls you cannot fail." She then exits my room. I wonder why she came all the way from the temple to talk to me. Oh well.

I slipped my dagger into my sheath and headed out, ready to collect the girls and tell the about the task ahead of them. I hoped they'd all accept. I needed every single one of them to complete this task. Each of them is vital to the survival of each other.

I headed out into the agora, or main marketplace of Athens. It's the 21st century, you'd think they'd start calling a market, but no.

I searched around, finally spotting both Piper and Hazel. I waved at them to come over.

"Hey Annabeth," Piper said, "what's up?" "Yeah," Hazel said. "You looked kind of worried when you called us over."

"I'll explain back home guys. Just follow me. We need to find Thalia and Calypso." I see Piper and Hazel exchange worried looks about this, but I said nothing.

Heading to the archery range, I spotted Thalia giving Calypso a lesson. They walk over when they see us. "Come on guys," I say, "I need to talk to all over you at home."

The girls followed me, and even with my back turned to them, I sensed the worried looks on their faces and the tension in the air.

When we reached my room, I closed the door and locked it. I dropped down onto my bed. I don't know if I'm ready to ask this of the girls. Piper looked at me, a concerned look on her face, "Annabeth, what is it. Whatever it is, we can help you," she said.

I took a deep breathe, and then let it all out. "My mother asked me to go on this quest to kill these monsters, two drakons, two Chimeras, and a king Hydra. These monsters are stuck in the Labyrinth and Athena wants me to kill them before they escape and destroy Greece, She said I could bring a few companions and well... I chose you guys. I understand if you don't want to do it, I mean-" I'm cut off suddenly by Piper. "Annabeth, of course we'll help you! You had nothing to worry about." "Yeah," Calypso said, "anything to help out a friend." "Why would you worry? Hazel said.

"I don't know. I guess you don't want to loose you guys as my friends, because you have to know that you could die on this trip."

"Annabeth, we accepted that the day we accepted we were demigods," Hazel said.

"Thanks guys."

"Thalia, you haven't said anything yet." I'm worried. What if Thals hates me now?

"Annabeth, we are always going to support you, no matter what you do," she said. "you have nothing to worry about."

I gave Thalia a hug, then turned to hug the rest of the girls. "You guys are amazing."

"Enough with the lovey-dovey stuffy already," Thalia grumbled. "Let's go kick some monster butt!"

I laughed and escorted the girls out of my room. We went into the armor and weapons hall to pack what we needed, then went back to my room to get ready.

The girls had a few extra changes of clothes since you could get sent on a quest without any warning, so we were set to go.

I slid my dagger into my sheath, and made sure the other girls all had their weapons. Piper had her dagger, Katroptris, and Thalia had her bow and arrow. Hazel had her weapon, and Calypso doesn't carry one, but she took a dagger just in case.

...

After we had a good night's sleep in my house, we walked to Athena's temple. We entered the temple and quickly slid into the throne room.

Athena stood to the side, waiting for us. "Well, Annabeth, are you and your friends ready?"

"Yes, Mother."

"Very well." She said. "I shall test you beginning now. Find the entrance to the Labyrinth in this throne room and begin your quest." With those word she turned into a column of blazing light and disappeared.

"Just our luck," Thalia said. "She want us to find the entrance too?"

"Come on guys, we can do this!" Piper's speech snapped me out of my daze, and my mind started working.

The labyrinth entrance had to be fairly large to fit a regular sized human being like myself. It had to be hidden, or have a secret entrance. My eyes fell on the large tapestry on the wall. The way the Muses were both pointing to a certain pillar in the painting had to be the clue. I walked over and touched the pillar.

I heard a rumbling sound behind me. A pillar had slid over to the slide, revealing a hole in the ground where it had stood. It was a tight squeeze, but we could all fit. I shined my light into the hole, and realized that it was not very deep.

"Over here!" I called, then dropped into the hole.

"Annabeth!" they cried. "I'm fine guys. It's not very deep! Follow me!"

Piper, Thalia, Hazel, and Calypso tumbled in after me. I stretched my light out, and it revealed a long, dark corridor, to long to see to the end.

I looked at the girls, and they nodded their heads. Taking a deep breath, we charged into the darkness of the maze.

Hey guys! This is my first story on FFN, so I hope you like it! Please R&R!