Leaving the arena made Chris feel much safer. Somehow he doubted a lot of monsters hung out right near there, seeing as the odds of them getting captured and forced to fight for amusement were pretty good. He walked through a tunnel of blue-grey stone. He ran his finger lightly against the wall until the rough surface made his fingertips grow numb, enjoying the strange sensation. It helped relieve the boredom at least. I killed something. I won. Maybe I can be a hero after all. That thought made him feel warm inside.

He didn't even register anything about the tunnels he was walking through. It didn't matter that much anyways, just boring paths through dirt and stone that had to be filled with beings— monsters,gods, and men (not to mention heroes)— to become anything worth exploring. He was there (a man, or a hero) to find the workshop of Daedalus (a man). And I will overcome monsters and gods to get there.

His newfound self-confidence faded after a little bit. I was getting a little full of myself there. All that I can do anything talk is going to lead to me trying something that I can't actually do and dying horribly. I've seen enough movies to know that's true. It felt good, though, being confident. I just have to rein it in enough not to get killed over something stupid.

Even if he was certain that more interesting things would happen to him eventually, the walking around was incredibly unsatisfying. It would be great if life had a fast-forward button, more so than a rewind. With a rewind, all you can do is fix a small mistake and hope you don't cause weird consequences. With a fast forward, you can almost skip the things that cause tension and stress but still actually get them done. It would be great for school.

He pondered some of the problems with this idea as he headed deeper into the Labyrinth, exited by thoughts that were finally unrelated to his mortal peril.


Ethan spun around several times, looking for any possible exits, or things that could be hiding exits. He peeked under the seashell rug for a trapdoor, ran his fingers across the wall for hidden buttons, jumped up and down to see if there was a room underneath him or not. There was no trapdoor, the walls were normal, and the carpet swallowed the sounds of his jump so he couldn't come to a conclusion. The only thing in or out of the room was a small pipe, its opening exposed but the main body of it hidden by the wall. Maybe Mario is gonna come out of that and rescue me, Ethan thought jokingly.

What came out of the pipe instead was seawater. Not just the water either, but small fish and even a few tiny jellies. Instead of spreading itself across the floor, like it should, the water flowed into a shape. It was about halfway though this process that Ethan realized he was seeing the bottom of a dress, just as the more human-looking parts began to be formed. From her head, in addition to all the normal features, grew a pair of crab claws sticking up like horns. Once her face and hair finish being made, the water stopped flowing from the pipe. What resulted was a woman, decent-looking but not beautiful. She stared at him.

"I see another one has decided to join me."

"Who are you? What are you?"

"I am the sea. I am Thalassa."

"Can I get a better explanation than that?"

"You are sacrifice. You do not need to understand." Ethan was smart enough to know sacrifice was bad, and that he needed to escape.

"Please? I'd like to know who I'm being sacrificed to. So I know why I die."

"There are gods and there are Titans, who rule their domains. I am mine. I am the sea."

Ethan had never heard of anything like that before, but he figured it was probably true, considering how much time he spent actually paying attention to his lessons on Greek mythology. "Okay then. Why do I count as a sacrifice, if I'm not being offered up by anyone?"

"You are being offered by the Labyrinth. Long after my name has been forgotten, I have kept myself from fading by accepting its devotion."

"What if I promised to sacrifice to you every meal I eat for the rest of your life?"

"If I let you go, chances are you'd still die in the Labyrinth, probably before you've even eaten."

She's right. "You could take a risk?"

"No. I will not." Ethan resigned himself to an imminent death. Thalassa moved forward— but then the wall broke open, spilling more water throughout the room.

It too formed into a woman, who did nothing more than screech, "Thalassa!"


The tunnels Alabaster found himself in were dark and dank, tiny corridors made of concrete. He fit, but just barely. The sound of dripping water could ominously be heard in the background, and the dim, yellow-tinted light from his sword did not make the place seem any less creepy.

The note Ophion had given him was stuck in the center of his mind. What did he mean by that? I'm trying to make the right decisions, but how can I know which ones those are? The cramped tunnel was also causing Alabaster to feel trapped, even though there were plenty of opportunities to choose a new fork and the ceiling was far above his head. It's probably just an atmospheric thing. Yeah.

Eventually, he reached a door. Despite his recent bad luck with such mysterious devices, Alabaster opened it and found himself on some subway tracks. More interestingly, there was something else there with him. It was a mammal of some sort, though none Alabaster had ever seen before. It was big, with four legs tipped with sharp claws and jaws made to crush demigods whole. It was grooming itself with its tongue, like a cat, but as soon as it noticed Alabaster's presence it stopped, shifting its weight back as if it was about to pounce.

Instead, it roared. The ground cracked around them, tiny fissures erupting underneath the tracks. Alabaster's ears ached. The creature made a move like it was preparing to roar again.

Alabaster thought as fast as he could, and said,"Silentium."The creature tried to roar, but nothing came out of its throat. Alabaster smiled. He was a little early on that, though, because it decided to show him just how sharp those claws were.

Alabaster dodged the attacks with great difficulty, feeling the swipe of its claws against the air three times before going on his own offensive, slashing at its legs. It didn't even flinch, although it stopped trying to use its front paws to attack. Instead, it snapped at him with its teeth, coming so close that he could smell its breath. Alabaster lunged forward and slightly to the right, driving his sword into the side of the monster. He felt gold dust explode onto his face, and the spoils of war left over were just a collection of teeth.

"Hey!" shouted someone.