When I got up there I shivered remembering how creepy the thing is. I approached the oracle and didn't even have to ask anything before green mist came out of its mouth and surrounded me, before saying in the voice of Zoe Nightshade,

The children of the eldest gods and a hunter delve in the darkness of the endless maze

The banished, the traitor, and the two sisters raise

You shall rise or fall by the ghost king's hand

The child of Athena's final stand

Destroy with a hero's final breath

And lose a love to worse than death


I cursed the oracle after hearing that. I sighed before going back down. Chiron looked at me expectantly, but I only said, "You might as well bring Nico and Zoe here as this will pertain to them as well" I said. He looked shocked at this, but had them brought here. Once they arrived I told them all the prophecy, making them pale.

"So, the quest will be Zoe, Nico, Percy, and myself?" Thalia asked. "Aren't quests usually three people though?" she finished.

"They usually are my dear, but special occasions call for more or less sometimes, and it clearly states four people in the prophecy." Chiron said sadly.

"Well, it is clear that the prophecy is referring to the four of us, so we should all pack our bags and be ready to go, first thing in the morning." I said solemnly.

They all nodded before getting up, presumably to get ready for the quest and go to bed.

"Zoe, stay back for a sec, I want to talk to you about something" I said. The others looked at me with questioning looks, but grudgingly left to do what I said.

When it was just the two of us left, I relaxed a little. When she gave me a questioning look, the only thing I did was put my hand in my pocket. I grabbed something and brought it out of my pocket, showing her. At seeing what it was, her eyes went wide. She was laying her eyes on her life string, the same one I took from the Fates many months ago.

She gasped, "You still have that Perseus?" She asked shocked. I nodded, "I didn't know what you would have wanted me to do with it and I never had the chance to tell you about it, so I just kept it with me." I explained.

She nodded with a smile, "I often wondered what happened to it, but I just thought the Fates must have just reclaimed it." She said.

I shook my head at that, "I wouldn't let those hags have your life string again, now that you know about it, what do you want to do with it?" I asked.

This made her smile even more, "Thank you so much Perseus, I think I have a perfect spot to keep it" She said mischievously.

I nodded, "alright, I'll give it to you, if you agree to call me Percy instead of Perseus." I said. She looked at me incredulously, "are you blackmailing me?" she asked. I only shrugged in response.

"Fine, I agree to your terms" she responded. I smiled and tossed her the string to her life. "So, let's see this perfect spot for it" I said. She only winked in response as she put her hand in her shirt and put it in her bra. I blushed at this, "Wow, that uhhhh, yeah, wow that's a good spot to keep it" I stuttered out.

She smirked at me, "I'll see you tomorrow Percy" she said, giving me one last wink before heading out. All I could do is shake my head. Real smooth, I thought to myself, as I disappeared in a flash of flames.

I reappeared in my cabin and walked out onto the deck by the lake. I just put my feet in the water and relaxed for a few minutes. Doing this always made me feel closer to my father. After just sitting there deep in thought, I splashed some water on my face to clear some of the thoughts I had, as I needed to be completely focused for tomorrow.

I got up and started getting my bag ready. I packed extra food and water, just in case Hestia's powers wouldn't work in the Labyrinth. I then grabbed some cash, and some drachmas', and then I grabbed a couple flashlights. I put a couple changes of clothes in my backpack, and then thought about what else I might need. I figured I had everything I needed as I zipped up my backpack, and decided to go to bed.

Line Break

I awoke with a start. I looked at my clock and noticed it was still early. I decided I would go for a jog, and then take a swim in the lake before meeting the others by Zeus' fist.

As I was nearing the lake I realized that Zoe must have had a similar idea, as she was taking a dip in the pool as well. I decided I would try to scare her as I disappeared in a flash of flames.

I reappeared underwater, where I could see her in her bathing suit, which left little to the imagination. I blushed as I swam towards her, grabbed her ankle and yanked her down into the water.

I saw her eyes widen as she fought for what she thought was her survival as she kicked me relentlessly. I eventually had enough of her kicks, as I let go of her foot, and let her swim towards the surface for air.

After she caught her breath and noticed it was me, she punched me right in the face. I winced as I rubbed my now black eye, I looked at her in disbelief, "Did you really have to punch me?" I asked.

She scoffed at that, "Where did you come from, and how did you know I was here? Were you just stalking me?" She asked in disbelief.

I scowled at that, "If that's what you really think about me then I'll just leave now" I said angrily, before mist traveling away, making her eyes widen.

I reappeared in my cabin before grabbing my bag for the quest, and heading towards the arena. I grabbed a couple of the robotic automatons before heading out to the woods by Zeus' fist. I was going to get some practice in with my bow while I waited for my quest mates.

I fired arrow after arrow, each one meeting its mark, before eventually running out of targets to fire at. I heard a twig snap, and instinctively turned around and let loose an arrow.

I heard a gasp as an arrow flew right by the face of Zoe and embedded into the tree next to her.

"I wouldn't sneak up on me like that again, I could've killed you" I said as I sat down on the rock formation.

She sighed before sitting down next to me. We sat like that together in silence for a while, before she finally looked over at me, "Percy, you know I didn't mean it like that. I was just wondering how you knew I was there" She said.

I looked up at that, "I was doing my morning jog, when I neared the lake, and decided to go for a swim. That's when I noticed you, and decided to do that little prank" I said, "by the way, sorry about that" I added.

"It's okay, it just startled me" She said. I nodded in understanding. "Why were you taking a swim this morning?" I asked curiously.

She sighed before saying, "my mother was the sea goddess Pleione, but those powers were taken from me when I got disowned from my sisters. I do still feel at home in water though, which is why I was out there" she said.

I looked over at her in shock having no idea, "I'll get you your water powers back someday" I told her seriously.

She just nodded, knowing if I truly wanted something done, I'd get it done. We heard someone approaching and I knew it'd be Thalia, considering Nico was probably still in bed. I was right, as Thalia came into view and joined us on the rocks.

We sat around making small talk until Nico finally joined us.

"Nice of you to get out of bed Nicky" I said with a smirk. Zoe and Thalia cracked up at his look of absolute loathing.

"Whatever, where's this entrance supposed to be?" he snapped. I pointed between the two rocks and he went to search for the delta symbol. We all followed his lead.

I saw a little blue light in front of me, and noticed Nico disappear. I followed him and landed crouched on one knee, as Thalia and Zoe landed gracefully on their feet. We then noticed Nico face down on the floor, and burst into laughter.

He eventually made it to his feet, and threw each of us a glare. This just made us laugh louder though. We calmed down and I put a hand on his shoulder, "relax Nico, it's all in good fun" I said.

I started leading us down the passageway, not really bothering to navigate or anything, since it was just a straight shot at the moment. I turned back and noticed Zoe glaring daggers at Nico. I sighed, "Nico why don't you come up front with me" I said, making it more of a command, than a question. He nodded, and came up beside me without a word.

It continued like that for what could've been hours. We just kept walking straight, or taking a right or a left if we were met with one. Eventually I suggested that we break for lunch.

I didn't know if our powers from Hestia would work down here, so I figured I might as well just give it a shot. I thought about having pizza and clapped. A slice of pizza materialized in front of me. I grabbed it with a grin asking what Nico wanted, as Thalia conjured up food for herself and Zoe.

We sat like that for a little while, just resting up for the long quest ahead of us.

I got up, and gestured for them to follow my lead. We could sit around longer, but it wouldn't do any of us any good. We continued down the passageway for about an hour or so, before it led into a room that had two doors that appeared to be locked.

I walked up to the two doors, but jumped back and pulled out tidal wave and clicked it into sword form, as Thalia did the same with her spear. The others looked at us like we were crazy, but I just rolled my eyes at them as a being materialized in front of the doors. I didn't recognize the being, but figured it must have been a minor god.

I willed my sword on fire and stepped forward, "who are you?" I asked cautiously. The god only smiled before saying, "I am Janus, the god of doorways, and I am here with a proposition." He said, looking towards Zoe as he finished.

"Miss Nightshade, I am here to offer you a key to one of these doorways. One of them could lead you to revenge, but with that comes almost certain death. The other will lead you further away from finding Ariadne's string. Choose wisely" he said grinning.

She looked nervous before looking at all of us. Nico, and Thalia both looked unsure, but I knew what had to be done, so I gave her a nod of encouragement.

Steeling her nerves, she said, "I choose the key to the right door, the path of revenge, and" she gulped, "almost certain death" she stuttered out.

Janus laughed maniacally, "you fool, you have all but sealed you're fates" he said with a smirk. He snapped his fingers and the locks on the right door disappeared and the door opened up into a passageway identical to the one we had come from.

I growled at that, I hated when immortals thought they knew everything, "funny thing about fate" I said launching a fireball at him. He barely ducked in time, but still let out a girlish yelp as I finished, "it's meant to be defied."

I clicked tidal wave into pen form and summoned my spear. I then took a step forward before launching it at the god with unbelievable speed. He barely flashed away in time before it skewered him in the heart.

"Let's go" I said, not wanting to be in this room any longer. They all nodded and we hurried out the door.

We carried on like that for a while, just walking down the passageway. This quest so far had just been walking, and a conversation with a pesky minor god. I saw that the passageway curved to the right up ahead and figured that it was as good a time as any to rest for the night.

"Set up camp here, Thalia come with me to scout ahead and make sure we're all good. You two behave" I said pointedly looking at Zoe and Nico making them scowl.

Me and Thalia walked up ahead, and when we got to the curve in the passage I put up my hand, gesturing for her to stop. I summoned my spear and peeked around the corner. I cursed and turned back to Thalia.

"Well, now I know what that no good god meant about getting revenge" I said. Thalia looked at me curiously, but I just told her it's not my story to tell.

"It's Heracles" I said. "Here's the plan, he is currently guarding a couple of separate passageways. The two of us are going to go up there and try to reason with him and if that doesn't work, then we are going to attack him and let Zoe get her 'revenge', you up for that?" I asked, finishing with a smirk.

She got a wicked looking smirk on her face before nodding. We made our way towards him and I got furious thinking about what he did to Zoe. I almost hoped he denied us passage so we could teach him a lesson.

We walked right up to him, and he didn't even acknowledge us, so I cleared my throat loudly making him look up at us.

"What do you kids want" he said sneering at us. Thalia laughed, "Well brother dear, we need you to allow us and the rest of our quest mates passage through one of these ways" she said, saying brother like it was the biggest insult you could give someone.

He perked up at this, not noticing her condescending tone, "a daughter of Zeus huh, perfect. I'll allow your quest passage, but first I need you guys to complete a little task for me" he said smiling, as if it was the highest honor to have the great Heracles ask you to do something.

I growled, I wasn't going to be his little quest bitch, "hmm well, we're not going to be able to do that. Sorry Herc" I said, as if we were old friends or something.

He looked over at me, "you dare defy a god boy?" he asked me, trying to sound threatening. This caused me to burst into laughter. When my laughter finally died down I noticed that he was looking at me confused.

"You shouldn't have even been made into a god, since you cheated on your labors. Remember the golden apples. Do you even remember her name?" I asked getting angry.

He smirked, "She was just a silly hesperide, it was easy to get her to help" he said laughing. I threw a small ball of fire in his face. After he finally swatted it out he glared at me, "you got a death wish or something kid?" he asked me.

I laughed at that, "haha, it wouldn't be the first time, and look, I'm still going strong. What ever happened to that hesperide's sword that you took?" I asked. At this he brought it out, and I was shocked. It was an absolutely beautiful sword.

"I'll tell you what Herc, how about we fight, and if we win, you give us the sword, and if you win, which is highly unlikely, you can kill us" I said. He looked at me like I was a complete idiot.

"Alright, it's your funeral" he said taking out a huge club.

I pulled both the charms on my bracelet, as my shield spiraled out, and my spear materialized in my hand. Thalia clicked her pen transforming it into a spear. I smirked this would be fun.

I gave a few experimental jabs, but he blocked them all with his club.

He turned to Thalia, so I took advantage by running to him and throwing a hard punch into the side of his head.

This brought him to the ground, and as he struggled to his feet he looked at me shocked at the power behind the strike. I tried to stab him with the spear, but he blocked. That threw me off balance and before I could react he swung his club at me. I ducked behind my shield right in time, and right when it hit me I went flying. I crashed into the wall, and got back up to my feet quickly, sighing at having no visible injuries from that.

I looked over just in time to see Hercules knock Thalia's spear away and for his club to connect with her and send her flying into the wall, much like what happened to me, but she was unmoving. I sighed, she should've been using her shield.

I growled this wasn't working, I threw my spear as hard as I could and saw it embed in Heracles shoulder making his eyes widen. Then I threw my shield like a Frisbee at him, catching him in the gut and making him double over clutching his stomach. I launched a huge fireball at him, hitting him in the face and bringing him to the ground finally.

After that little combo, I took out tidal wave and clicked it into sword form. I then lit it on fire and tried to think of a plan as I knew I had bought myself some time.

I noticed there was some metal chains hanging on the wall and that gave me an idea as I ran over there. I then put my plan into action.

I grabbed the metal chain, noticing it didn't have too much length, so I'd have to lure him over. I got an idea, "Heracles, now I know why you were only made into a minor god, instead of a major god, since you're so weak" I said taunting him.

This did the trick as he started running towards me, I ran towards him as well, but dropped to the floor in a baseball slide. This tripped him up, sending him tumbling to the floor hard, as I went by. I quickly tied the chain to his ankle before he could get back to his feet. I backed up until I was out of his reach and threw a fireball onto his ankle, where it melted the metal into his skin, effectively trapping him for the time being.

When he noticed what happened he exploded, "GET ME OUT OF HERE NOW PUNY DEMIGOD" he seethed. I laughed, "no, I don't think so. I will take that sword now though" I said walking away.

I Picked up the sword, and it turned into a hairpin at my touch. I put it in my hair thinking that would garner a laugh from the huntress.

I went over to Thalia and checked on her. She was fine, just unconscious. I picked her up bridal style and headed back towards the others.

Upon seeing us Zoe rushed over, "what happened Percy?" she asked. I set Thalia down and covered her with a blanket, before I turned back towards Zoe and gestured to my hair. She gasped, "h..h..how" she stuttered out.

I smiled at her handing it back to her, "Heracles was blocking the passageways, so we gave him a chance to let us go by, but he refused, so we fought. He knocked Thalia out, and then I trapped him and grabbed anaklusmos and came back here" I said out of breath.

I saw her look and added, "Don't worry he's still there, so let's go pay him a visit, we can make camp over there as well" This seemed to spark something in her as I saw a look of absolute glee in her eyes.

I told Nico to wait for Thalia to awaken, then pack up and join us. He nodded and I led Zoe over. Heracles was right where I left him, trying to pull his ankle free from the chain that was melted into his skin, causing him immense pain. When Zoe realized how I trapped him she smirked.

"Hey Heracles I'm back, and I brought a friend" I said gesturing to Zoe. "Long time no see Heracles" she said happily.

I pulled on my necklace as a bow appeared on my back. I saw that Heracles was just standing against the wall, so I fired two flaming arrows at him. They both connected effectively taking his arms out of the equation. He had an arrow in each hand now, as not even with his godly strength could he pull his hands free.

"Watch out for his legs, but otherwise have fun" I said throwing her a wink. She smirked and grabbed her hairpin as it elongated into a sword.

The first thing she did was flip it around in her hand and swing it with all her might. It connected with Heracles skull, knocking him out.

She then pulled out her hunting knives and made a couple dozen deep cuts on his stomach before walking over to me. "Heat the blade up please" she said. I did as I was told, and then she walked back over and pressed the flat of the blade to Heracles chest for a couple seconds. I could hear his skin sizzling from all the way over here. I walked over to see her handiwork. On his stomach read, "ZOE'S BITCH" and on his chest, "anaklusmos" was seared into his skin.

I chuckled at that. I turned to her, and she just launched herself at me, pulling me into a deep hug, and thanked me over and over. "Oooh what did I miss?" Thalia asked raising an eyebrow.

I smirked at her, "haha not much, just enjoying some time with Heracles" I said. "Anyway, set up camp here, I'll take first watch" I said. They all nodded, as they began setting up their beds. I decided to take my bow off my back and give Heracles another gift as I shot two flaming arrows into his family jewels. I winced, not even wanting to think about that anymore.

I looked around noticing they were all sleeping now. I sighed, taking a seat against the wall, knowing it was going to be a long night.

Line Break

I decided that they had slept enough, so I woke them all up. "Why didn't you wake one of us up to take watch so you could sleep?" Thalia asked.

I shrugged, "I wasn't tired, besides, it looked like you guys needed sleep more than I did" I said. She looked a little upset at this, "Percy, you can't always protect all of us, and we don't need you to. We are all on this quest, you don't have to take the brunt of everything all the time" She said.

I sighed, "I know, and you're right. Which is why we're splitting up from here" I said shocking everyone here. "I figured me and Zoe would go down the right passage, while you and Nico go down the left passage. We have no idea where Ariadne's string is, and it would be best to split up. I'll go with Zoe, as she's older and it'll be tougher for her to keep up so I'll help her out" I said, finishing with a smirk.

They nodded at that cracking a smile at the end. I gave Thalia a hug, and Nico a fist bump, before they disappeared down the left passage. I turned to Zoe and gulped. "I told you to stop talking about my age" she said glaring at me.

I nodded, "sorry, it's just too good to pass up on sometimes" I said smirking. I then jogged ahead down the right passage to put a little distance between us. I eventually let her catch up, and we walked steadily like that for about an hour.

All of a sudden we saw two dark haired girls turn the corner and start walking towards us.

A.N. There's the next chapter. I won't be following the plot of the books as much as I did for the titans curse. I think I'm just going to follow Percy and Zoe on the quest but I'm not sure yet. Anyway, I bet none of you know who those girls are that they are about to run into. Review and let me know what you thought of the chapter.