Chapter Seven: The Labyrinth

Ben didn't really know what was happening. For the last few days he had felt like the awkward third wheel to his mom and sister, both of whom apparently had powers. Or at least could affect the situation they were in.

His mom had wicked intelligence and obviously knew what was going on, and his sister was definitely the cause of that storm. He wasn't stupid.

Also, she was the one who could see Sophie as she truly was. Their mom lifted the Mist, or whatever, and they could see the hoard of monsters, but to Ben it felt like it had just immediately settled back over his eyes, while Cass' were still open to see the ghoul.

Not even mentioning Ilana, who had just turned up and now they were travelling an underground tunnel from their kitchen with her.

It felt to him like he was just attached to the three of them by a string and was being tugged along behind them with no input on the destination or what was happening.

What he did know was that he would never be normal again.

He looked over. Cass looked faintly terrified. He shot her what he hoped was a reassuring look.

"Mom, can you explain please," he said, plucking up courage. "Do you mean, the Labyrinth, Labyrinth, or just some labyrinth we haven't heard of."

"The Labyrinth, Labyrinth," she answered. "Well, Labyrinth 2.0. 3.0, if you count—. Actually, more than that if you count every time the gods moved—."

She suddenly turned to them, as if sensing their fear, and softened at their scared looks. "Come here."

She bent down and pulled them into a hug, one in each arm, wondering a little if she was this small when she was twelve, and she and Percy travelled alone with Grover to the Underworld.

"Listen," she said, pulling them back, but still holding one hand of each. "There's a lot to explain. You'll be scared, okay, I won't lie, and there will be life-and-death situations, almost on a regular, until we get to Camp.

"But I want you to know, okay, we will protect you with our lives. I promise I'll explain everything, soon, maybe even as we're walking, but our first priority is to get as far as possible towards our destination."

She pulled them in for a hug. "I love you."

They wrapped their arms around her too.

"We love you mom."

She nodded and stood up, expression hardening. "Alright." She pulled a length of string out of her bag.

"No."

She looked over at Ben.

He looked back and forth between her and it. "That's...not...Ariadne's string? The one she gave to Theseus...that helped him navigate the labyrinth?"

"Heh, I wish," she said. "No-one's been able to find it in years. To my knowledge at least. This is just to stop us getting separated."

She tied one end firmly around Ilana's wrist and the other around Ben's, just below his charm bracelet. She cut it with her knife and then repeated, wrapping it just above the one already on Ilana and the other around Cass'. Lastly she did it with herself and placed the excess in her bag.

"Do you see it?" She asked Ilana.

Ilana nodded, looking nervous. "Yeah. Yeah I do."

"Good, because I do not know what I would do if you couldn't see it."

"See what?" Cass asked.

"It's green," Ilana answered. "A green trail of mist leading down the corridor. You won't be able to see it."

She trotted off, presumably following the mist. The others followed behind. The string was long enough to all walk comfortably and still have enough elbow room.

Ben jogged awkwardly up beside his mom. "Umm, where exactly are we going?"

She walked a few paces and casually said. "Canada."

"Canada!" Cass exclaimed. "That's hundreds of miles away, you expect us to walk?"

"Space and time," she replied. "Aren't really the same in the labyrinth. I remember when I was a kid me and your dad fell down an opening into the labyrinth — the old one, I don't even know if it's still active — and we thought we were gone for minutes, but it was hours. We went from Long Island to Texas to Mount St Helen in days. Well, it felt like days. Above ground it was weeks."

"I'm sorry, while you were kids?" Cass asked incredulously.

She smiled. "We were slightly older than you, fourteen maybe? It was ages ago. Then again, for demigods age isn't really a good measurement of skill."

Ben felt light-headed, and judging from his sister's expression she felt the same way.

"Isn't it the morning?" She said off-handedly. "I distinctly remember waking up barely an hour ago."

Ilana chuckled, shifting awkwardly on her feet like she had a limp. "Yeah, you'll get a lot of those moments from now on."

Ben frowned as she started to drag her feet a bit. "Are you okay?"

"Just my shoes rubbing," she said. "It's nothing."

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Just take them off."

"The floor is stone," Ben said slowly. "Won't that be painful?"

"Not for her," Annabeth said, tugging at the string so that they came to a halt.

Giving in, Ilana kicked off her shoes. They looked like they were full of something, like hard foam with a hole in the heel. For her...hoof. She had hooves.

"Oh man."

"Yeah," Ilana agreed, looking embarrassed, and ran a hand through her hair, smoothing it down enough to make the small horns visible. Her...hooves skipped nervously, shaking loose her pant leg and revealing closely clipped brown fur.

She threw the shoes in her bag and quickly continued walking, pulling the others along with her, seemingly keen to keep moving and not talk about it.

"Ilana is a satyr," Annabeth explained, since she obviously didn't want to. "Her job is to find demigods and protect them."

"Demigods," Ben said. "Like you."

Their mom nodded. "And you."

"No," Cass replied. "We must be...quarter-gods. You're half god, so we're a quarter god. That's how it works."

"More like three-quarter gods, actually," she said. "Or maybe just half-bloods. Your dad is a god. But he might not have been fully a god at the time. It's all very complicated."

"I see," Cass said, blinking hard. "And do you just happen to have a dagger?"

"It was a gift," Annabeth said, eyes lingering on their bracelets. "Because I lost my old one.

They kept walking for another ten minutes as the information sank in to Ben and Cass. They fell into their own thoughts so deeply that when Ilana abruptly stopped, they walked straight into her back.

The twins awkwardly stepped around her and looked out. They had entered into an enormous high-ceilinged room. Either side was lined with pens, and inside the pens were hundreds of enormous bulls, chained down by their necks, horns and feet. Their eyes were closed, and they were breathing gently.

"I don't remember Daedalus putting bulls in the labyrinth," Ben said. "Except the Minotaur of course." He paled. "Oh god we're not gonna have to fight the Minotaur are we?"

"This isn't Daedalus's labyrinth," Ilana answered, shifting nervously and sniffing the air. "I don't like this."

"Daedalus's labyrinth was destroyed years ago," Annabeth continued. "When he died, it collapsed. At least that's what we thought. It may still be active in some way, but we don't want to risk it."

"The mist goes straight through the pens," Ilana said, obviously scared.

Cass held up her hands. "Wait, hold up. If the labyrinth is destroyed, what are we currently in?"

"Well," Annabeth said, starting to walk through the pens, eying the bulls nervously. "Alaska is known as the land beyond the gods. When the gods moved to America the labyrinth spread under the entire country, including Alaska. Because Alaska is the land beyond the gods, it was never controlled, so when Gaia and the giants rose it was easy for them to poison it for their own needs. That's why the symbol is gamma instead of delta. Only monsters can access it."

"Then why could Ilana get in?"

A bull huffed and shook its enormous horns dangerously close to them, causing Ilana to back away.

"Well, apparently a satyr counts as a monster," she said, laughing nervously. "Or we wouldn't have been able to get in."

She stepped nervously forward, hoofs thumping on the dirt floor, causing little plumes of dust to fan around her ankles. Every time a bull raised it's head or huffed, she shied away, but kept going.

"Ilana?" Ben asked, coming up behind her. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she answered, smiling a small, timid smile.

And wow, she seemed so much younger than she'd ever looked before. It occurred to Ben that she must barely be older than them. And already she was used to seeing monsters and the supernatural.

She must have seen his expression change, because she quickly clarified.

"Satyrs can smell monsters," she said. "Underground, and especially in Alaska, the smell is everywhere. And most monsters enjoy eating satyrs."

"That is messed up," Cass said. "Isn't that cannibalism? If you technically count as a monster too because you were able to get in here?"

Ilana shrugged. "Well, technically your father is your grandmother's cousin, but we don't look too hard at things that are uncomfortable."

The siblings looked at their mother with twin expressions of horror.

"Gods don't have genes!" Their mother said defensively. "So technically we're not related."

Cass shook her head. "Have I said how much I hate this?"

The pens started to become sparser. They came to a large sand ring. Ilana led them around it. Only a few meters after skirting the ring, they came to a stop at a wall.

Ilana led them up to the wall and pressed her head sideways against it, looking at something that must be running perpendicular. "The mist goes straight through this wall," she said, frowning.

"Must be a fake then," Annabeth answered, as if it were the easiest solution in the world.

She stepped up to the wall, ducking under tangled pieces of string, and started tapping rhythmically.

"Try a bit right," Ilana suggested. "That's like, the centre of the trail."

She moved further right, gently probing the cracks and lumps with her fingertips.

She pulled away with a gasp, looking down. The symbol gamma was glowing green on her fingertip, a mirroring symbol just fading from the wall.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" A voice asked.

They turned around. A woman was sauntering between the bull pens. Behind her was another woman, who was dreamily petting one of the bulls, expertly avoiding the horns. A third woman, the speaker, was sitting on a fence, piercing them with a curious gaze.

They were all wearing light coloured dresses, brown hair pulled up and fixed in place with gold pins. Each was wearing a different pastel colour: pink, blue and yellow, and possessed an otherworldly air about them.

At least, that's what Ben thought. The only thing his sister could think was how on earth they were wearing such thin dresses this far underground. It was freezing.

"My name is Annabeth Chase," their mom said confidently. "I ask only that you allow us through your domain safely, and we will not return or cause you any harm."

The one petting the bulls didn't even look up as she scoffed. "Heard that one before."

The bull shook it's head and cowered away.

"Odd group," the one standing up said, placing her hands on her hips. "I thought demigod quests usually only had three members."

"Two of them are obviously twins," the one on the fence commented. "So maybe they are being counted as one?"

"Or maybe the satyr doesn't count."

"Maybe they picked one up along the way."

"Ladies!" Annabeth interrupted. "Perhaps you could introduce yourselves."

"Of course," the one still standing between the rows said. "How rude. My name is Aerope. These are my sisters Clymene and Apemosyne."

Clymene, sitting on the fence, didn't react, but Apemosyne stopped fussing over the bull and turned towards them. Her eyes were milky and unseeing.

Cass leaned over to Ilana. "Is she blind?" She whispered.

Apemosyne's head snapped over to Cass, though her eyes were unfocused. "I am not deaf either," she snapped. "And really, is that any way to speak to royalty. Besides, you can't exactly be blind if you're dead."

"Tell that to the Grey Ladies," Annabeth muttered. "I'm sorry, I haven't brushed up on my mythology for a while, you'll have to be more specific."

"We're the daughters of Catreus, son of Minos," Aerope said with disdain. "I believe you've met our uncle, the Minotaur."

Two disgusted looks once again turned to their mother.

"That's what we thought," Aerope said with good humour.

A loud crying noise carried out across the vast room. Aerope looked over. "Oh, Appy, what's wrong now?"

Apemosyne tilted her head, as if confused, or listening. Her floor-length skirt ruffled. From between her legs a small head poked out, shortly followed by a small, trembling body.

"Mulberry," the woman said gently, picking the snow-white calf up and bringing him to her chest. "Shh, shh, calm down, we have guests."

"Aww, cute," Cass said. "He's like a little, adorable—"

The calf sneezed and it's white coat faded into red.

"—snowflake. Huh."

It sneezed again, and black spots appeared.

Ben wondered if it was sick, but felt it rude to ask.

"My name is Annabeth Chase," their mom repeated. "This is Ilana, Ben and Cass. We mean you no harm"

"Pleasure to meet you. Please, come sit," Aerope invited, gesturing them to follow her to a small antechamber, four low couches arranged over two of the walls, and a large desk and bookcase over a third.

The three sisters draped themselves comfortably over a couch each. Ben, Cass, their mom and Ilana awkwardly squeezed themselves onto the last one.

"So you're trying to navigate the labyrinth," Clymene asked. "Why's that."

"We need to get to New York," Annabeth answered. "It's no longer safe here."

"It was never safe here," Clymene said. "If you were never bothered, it's because the monsters were too scared."

"Beaten into submission," Apemosyne commented sadly. "Gaia and Kronos scattered. The gods have won. Time to hide."

"I am curious how you're navigating though," Aerope said, ignoring her sister. "Even we can't navigate this blasted maze. When we escaped Asphodel and pulled Althy and father out of punishment, Gaia was quite happy to give us our own domain and allowed us freedom."

Clymene shuffled down more comfortably. "Of course she's gone so now we're stuck here."

The small calf lowed gently and buried it's head in Apemosyne's shoulder. It was almost entirely black now.

"Mulberry," Ben said off-handedly. "Like the fruit."

Aerope seemed impressed. "Indeed. Our grandfather did love his cattle. The Cretan Bull is our main breeding stud, and this little guy is blessed by the Oracle of Delphi."

"So are we allowed to pass through?" Annabeth asked.

"Hmm," Clymene hummed, unsatisfied. An idea seemed to come to her. She whispered it to her sister. Aerope's eyes lit up.

"We'd be happy to," she said. "For one favour."

"And that is?" Annabeth asked, resigned.

"One of our cattle escaped. He's really quite valuable to us, but we can't go find him because otherwise we'd get lost. And really it's better not to walk in on the drakons when they're sleeping."

"...Fine," Annabeth said, resigned. "We'll do it."

"Clymene will come with you. As protection."

"Fine."

"One more thing," she added. "Someone has to stay here. As insurance."

"I need to navigate, so not me," Ilana said. "Annabeth is most experienced, so she should probably come."

"I'll stay," Ben volunteered. "Cass is cleverer and can see through the mist. It's not that bad."

"Leave you alone to find bulls!?" Cass exclaimed. "An enormous prize bull. I'd rather stay here and safe, thank you very much, you can go find it."

"Absolutely not," their mom interrupted. "Both of you are staying. You will stick together, and neither of you will come and hunt this wild creature with me and Ilana, is that understood?"

"Yes, mom," they answered in unison.

"Oh! Is she your mother?" Aerope asked. "How cute. Don't worry, we'll take good care of them, won't we Appy."

Apemosyne had a strange look in her eye, but her sister either didn't notice, or ignored it.

"Oh! You guys can make your decisions. I'll go cook some dinner." She grinned like a shark. "It's steak."

Her sisters gracefully got up and followed her out the room, Mulberry tripping over as he too trailed after them.

Annabeth turned to her children. "Ben, Cass... Look after each other. I refuse to let you come with us. Stay safe."

She reached int her bag and pulled out a bronze knife, handing it to Cass, who held it awkwardly. Ben looked over her shoulder, and took it from her, to her relief.

"What's this for?" he asked.

"Just in case," Annabeth replied. She gave them another hug. "I love you."

"We love you too," Ben said.

Heya, sorry this took a while, hopefully the next chapter will come out relatively soon (I say relatively), thanks to everyone who reads this, and to everyone who reviewed, followed and favourited! You guys are the best!

With thanks,

Star xx