LOU ELLEN I

Lou Ellen had never been on a quest before. Sure she had fought in a few battles over the years, the one with Gaea and her monsters being the most recent, but a quest was different. There were only a couple with you watching your back, not an entire camp or at least group of cabin mates by your side. There was also the fact that she was familiar with camp. The labyrinth of all places was terrifying, no feelings of home at all. No doubt Cecil and Will were scared too, for neither of them had ever been called for a quest either, but she knew they were keeping their feelings hidden just like she was. Nico was probably scared too though he'd never admit it.

As the group turned left sharply, she skidded and belted forward just as the monster chasing them roared past. Her heart skipped a beat. If she had been two seconds slower she would've been monster food.

"There's a room just to the right here!" Daedalus shouted as he rounded a corner. The demigods followed him, sweat beginning to form of their brows from their monster-fleeing workout.

Just when they stepped into the light of the room they'd been left to, spacing out and raising their weapons in preparation to take on the monster about to reach them, a voice called out from behind them.

"It seems I have visitors! A child of Hades, Hecate, Hermes, Apollo and— what's this? Is that the ghost of my dear enemy Daedalus? The fates have really blessed me today. It's about time."

"Pasiphaë," the ghost growled. "What were you thinking, recreating the maze with your insufferable magic?"

The titan sat on a throne made of metal scraps, her black, jewel-laden dress the same as the one she was wearing when she fought Hazel. Her dark hair was down this time though, and anger bubbled in her gaze. Lou Ellen noticed how she toyed with the maze-shaped necklace that hung on her neck as if she had been waiting for them.

"I was thinking that I would improve the maze by filling it with even more monsters than ever before, if you must know. On the other hand, because of this boy's wretched sister," she sneered at Nico, "it seems I cannot call upon any of my beautiful creatures. Besides my son and his relatives," she added as the Minotaur, half human half bull, entered the room. The beast snorted, but its rusty nose ring made it sneeze a second later. Very terrifying.

"I remember when Percy killed that thing twice," Will breathed as his eyes went back and forth between the monster and its mother.

The titan merely nodded, a pout rising to her face. "Yes, that son of Poseidon indeed killed him years ago when he first found out he was a half-blood and a second time during that skirmish with Kronos. Not like I paid much notice. Unfortunately, he is one of the few I had to call on to chase you here. Lucky for me you were mostly headed through here anyway. The time for revenge is now, since even if you did manage to get to Greece there is no way my father would allow Apollo to come back."

"Your father? Do you mean Helios?" The Sun's kin… was it referring to the titan originally born to be the sun?

"He's the only father I have," she scoffed. "He will not help you on your quest even if I didn't kill you."

"You can try," Nico taunted.

She stood, a glare on her face that rivalled Nico's piercing Daedalus, Nico, and Lou Ellen. "I cannot kill you since you are already dead, tinkerer, but the children of Hades and Hecate shall pay. It was your kin that trapped me here. Prepare to die!"

The Minotaur howled, his eyes glowing red as he readied himself to charge at Lou Ellen. The girl took off running. Cecil flanked her protectively, sword at his side while Will knocked an arrow from where he stood next to the son of Hades. Nico raised his own sword, about to strike the beast as it charged past him, but a voice a few dozen feet away spoke that caused him to lower his weapon.

"Nico?"

He spun, eyes widening when he saw a long, dark-haired Italian girl his age looking at him with shock and concern. She wore a green knit cap, which was askew on her head for some reason. The bull charged right past Nico as he gazed at the girl longingly.

"Bianca?" His voice was filled with emotion. "Is that you? What are you doing here alive? You chose to be reincarnated; you can't be here."

She gave him a small smile, shaking her head. "Father didn't want that. He said I deserved to live again as myself, as your sister. I've been back for a while now but got stuck in her because Pasiphaë caught me as I came into being."

While she was talking, Lou Ellen and Cecil were desperately holding off the Minotaur. The monster had thrown Cecil in the air, a bruise already forming on his right arm and shoulder, while Lou Ellen only had a scraped knee and hand from where she rolled to evade the monster's head. The Minotaur only suffered from a few slashes, the demigods not being able to deal any big blows.

Will noticed their struggling from afar just as Nico stepped towards his sister.

"Stop!" He grabbed Nico's arm for good measure, the boy turning to him angrily. "Hazel said Pasiphaë uses her magic to deceive. She is obviously using her control of the mist to trick you. It's just as you said; your sister can't be here because she isn't."

Pain flittered across the son of Hades. The titan of magic was cruel using the image of his dead sister against him.

"Show yourself, you sorry excuse for a titan!" Nico screamed. "What? Are you too ugly to show your own face or are you just scared?"

Bianca's face suddenly morphed into a look of pure hatred before her form wavered and Pasiphaë took her place.

"Ugly? UGLY?" The woman screamed in rage. "You'll be ugly and dead when I'm finished with you, child!"

It was then the titan lunged at Nico, pushing him over before he could raise his sword.

"Get the necklace," Daedalus suddenly said as he floated next to Will. "It amplifies her power. If you take it from her and crush it she will be weakened."

Will nodded, the Minotaur roaring past him a few yards away as his friends continued fighting it.

While Pasiphaë attempted to slap Nico, his sword holding her upper body back as she reached for him, Will snuck up behind the titan and quickly ripped the necklace off. Its wearer gasped, jumping off Nico and staring at Will in horror as he threw it to the ground and stomped on it.

"My necklace!" She screeched, her eyes literally glowing red in rage. "That was one of a kind and my favorite! It's been with me since I first created the maze centuries ago! YOU SHALL PAY, CHILD OF APOLLO!"

With that she disappeared in a haze of mist. It wasn't until moments later, when screaming erupted from where Cecil and Lou Ellen had been fighting the Minotaur that the two boys realized what happened.

"Why did you destroy her necklace?" Nico asked as they ran towards their friends. "It only made her angrier!"

Will was about to respond when he gasped. Golden dust littered the floor in front of Cecil, Lou Ellen, and… Lou Ellen? The two were currently grappling with each other, trying to stab each other with their swords.

"She's not me!" One of them yelled. "It's Pasiphaë!"

"No, she's Pasiphaë!"

"Shut up you lying excuse for a magic-wielder!"

"You did not just call me that!"

"Whatever, titan scum. Get off of me already!"

The two sprang apart, everything about them looking identical. Even the injuries the real Lou Ellen had just suffered were on both of them. Nico, Will, and Cecil shared a look when the two began pointing at each other and telling them to stab the other.

"I'm your friend! How can you not tell it's me?"

"No, I'm Lou Ellen." The left Lou Ellen said as she pointed at the one beside her. "I'm going to put you in your place just like my mom did!"

"Liar! You're just trying to trick them."

"Why you little—"

"Stop!" Cecil had been getting tired of their yelling. "There's a simple way to find out who the real Lou Ellen is. We just cut both of you and the fake one will bleed gold."

Will sighed, stepping forward and placing a hand on his friend's shoulder before he could attack them. "Let's just ask a question only the real one can answer. What animal did you turn a few of the Romans into before the battle with Gaea?"

The one on the left opened her mouth to speak just as the other one answered. "Chickens!"

"You're correct!" Will grinned broadly as he approached the one on the right. For a moment Nico and Cecil were confused, until the two guessed what their friend was doing. "Come over here guys. Let's stand by our friend and then kill the imposter."

"W-what?" The real Lou Ellen gaped. "I turned them into pigs, not chickens!"

The three males shook their heads. "It's no use lying," Cecil pretended to be disappointed. Beside him Nico slowly raised his sword, preparing to kill the manipulative titan standing right in front of him. Just as he swung his sword down, however, the fake Lou Ellen rolled out of the way.

"I knew you were trying to trick me," the titan said as she revealed her true form once again. That was when she raised her hands, chains that could not possibly be there wrapping around the four demigods, trapping them completely. "I was going to begin my revenge with the spawn of Hades, but now…"

Will screamed as the chains around him suddenly heated up, glowing with heat burning his skin. An illusion shouldn't be able to do that, but Pasiphae's magic was strong. Breaking the necklace hadn't weakened her one bit.

"Burn, child of Apollo. Soon those chains will feel as hot as the sun!"