12.

We begin our journey

and I subsequently take a plunge.

Returning to those woods during the daytime didn't at all seem to improve the feeling of eeriness that lingered around it. The trees gave me the creeps as we passed them by and I had the strange sense that they were somehow watching us. Even the slightest whistle of the wind or the simplest rustle of the undergrowth sent my heart hammering in my chest. The distant chatter of the other campers from the pavilion was the only comforting noise.

Regina had it a lot worse.

I forgot that the last time she had been here; she had almost been overrun by giant ants intending to take her into their nest. I glanced at her and I could see her eyes darting all around us. Her hand gripped the spear tightly, like she was preparing to use it if something went awry.

As we followed Jaci through the woods, I put a hand on her shoulder and gave a smile that I hoped look reassuring. I guess it worked because I eventually felt her relax.

"How much further is the entrance?" she asked Jaci and I lowered my hand once I knew she was okay again.

Well, as okay as you could be in woodland such as this. It felt even creepier than before when it had been night time, but that didn't make a lot of sense. It was almost as if the rays of the moon had given me reassurance, had made me feel secure in a place that was plagued with monsters such as the myrmekes.

Now that it was gone, however, that sense of security had gone with it.

"Not far," Jaci informed us, her lips tugged into a frown. "It's just by Zeus' Fist, between two boulders so it's difficult to spot at first."

"Wait a minute," I said. "How do you know about it?"

The daughter of Nike rolled her eyes. "Because I stayed at this camp before I became a Hunter," she replied. "Everyone knows about it now, it's even used for the Three-Legged Death Race."

"Sounds fun," I shook my head. "Let me guess, you won every time?"

"I can't help it," she said bitterly. "It's just in my blood. Nike is the goddess of victory, remember. I have to win everything. That's my nature."

"What happens if you lose?" Regina asked.

"I don't lose." Jaci replied darkly and I suddenly felt uneasy.

What lengths would this girl go to just to win something? She hadn't gone to help Regina when it was needed during capture the flag and she was even prepared to injure me just to win.

We remained silent until Jaci held out her arm to stop us. She then gestured to a narrow gap between two rocks near Zeus' Fist. "It's a tight squeeze," she told us, though I had already figured that out just by looking at it. "I'll go first, then you two follow behind. Remember we have to stick close together or we'll end up losing each other."

And with that note of confidence, Jaci disappeared into the gap.

I gestured for Regina to go in front of me. She grabbed my hand and then tugged me behind her until we both dropped onto a cold, bumpy floor. Gale let out an alarmed screech from my shoulder as I barely managed to keep myself upright. From up above, the entrance sealed shut.

I blindly rummaged through my pockets until my hand grasped around a miniature flashlight and with a soft click it had lit up the place around us.

On either side of where we stood, tall mossy walls seemed to box us in if it wasn't for the endless corridor that looked like it stretched for miles in both directions. Jaci took out her own flashlight and moved it around the walls. It was the same on either side, save for the faint Δ symbol engraved on one side. She pointed towards it. "That's how we get back to the camp. Remember that symbol."

That's if we make it back to camp, I thought morbidly to myself and then shook it off.

It was then I realised that I was still holding Regina's hand. The girl herself hadn't noticed, too invested in staring at the high rise walls around us. "What way do we go now? Please tell me you do actually know where you're going," I said.

"Of course I do," Jaci sounded offended. "Just keep close to me."

She began heading right down the corridor and I felt my hand slip from Regina's as well followed her. All around me I could hear some sort of groaning sound or at least the noise of something moving. It came from every direction and no matter how far we moved, it just kept on going. I didn't like it, it unsettled me.

Regina asked the question before I did. "What's that noise? It's creeping me out."

Jaci glanced behind her at us. "That's the sound of the Labyrinth moving. It's shifting constantly, that's why it's always been difficult to navigate."

I shivered. "Who in their right mind would want to bring back a place like this?"

"That would be Pasiphaë, an immortal sorceress. She's the mother of the Minotaur and Circe's sister...on the paternal side of course," she quickly added. "She's not another daughter of Hecate."

"Oh thank the gods."

"But this is her domain now," Jaci said grimly. "So that's something else to watch out for."

"Fantastic."

We continued through the maze, taking several twists and turns in which I hope was leading us towards the direction of National City. I don't know how long we had been walking for until the once narrow passageway opened up into a brightly lit room. The sight made Jaci pause like she hadn't expected this to happen.

Regina blinked to the sudden brightness. "Where are we?"

When my eyes finally adjusted to the light, I looked around. It seemed to be a small, square-shaped room made entirely out of gleaming marble. Dotted around the edges of the room there seemed to be several Greek statues in various poses. Their blank eyes all turned to face the middle of the room where we stood.

"Um," Jaci said, sounding worryingly confused. "I'm not sure...I didn't think we would come across something like this."

"What are those statues? They all look like different people."

"I think they're all minor gods and goddesses," Jaci guessed and then pointed to one of the statues in the corner. "You can tell by certain symbols. I'm pretty sure that one's my mother."

The statue depicted a young woman wearing a long dress that flowed elegantly over her body. She held up what looked to be a wreath and a pair of large, feathered-covered angel wings seemed to protrude outwards from her back. Another wreath sat on-top of the woman's head like a crown.

"Is that what she really looks like?" I asked curiously.

Jaci shrugged. "No idea. Never met her."

"What about that one?" I pointed to the one next to Nike.

Jaci narrowed her eyes at it and then she gave a small smile. "That would be your mother."

The Hecate statue looked to be in the same pose as Nike, except instead of a wreath she held a long torch that stretched towards the ceiling. In the other hand she clutched a dagger. She wore a similar dress too but a cloak was draped over the goddess' head and nearly reached the floor. On either side of her, two dogs seemed to shyly peek out from behind her legs and a creature that looked very similar to Gale was sat up straight on her shoulder.

I turned and looked at where Gale currently sat on my own shoulder. "Is that true?" I asked. "Is that really Hecate, Gale?"

Gale stared at the statue for awhile and then chirped in what I took as a confirmation.

"This place seems pretty weird," Regina commented and I knew what she meant. "I know I don't know much about this world but why would this be here in a Labyrinth?"

"I don't know," Jaci said, biting her lip. "Could be newly formed. It happens."

"Why just minor gods I wonder. Why not the Olympians as well?"

Jaci seemed to have no reasonable explanation but we had no time to think about it because an older woman walked in from the other side of the room.

The lady looked surprisingly optimistic despite the fact she was in a death trap like the Labyrinth. She wore a simple white blouse and an ordinary pair of beige khaki trousers. On her head was a cap with the words 'World's Best Tour Guide' stitched in red at the top. Her black hair that had strands of grey was tied up into a simple ponytail. When she looked at us, her eyes were an odd onyx colour and were so dark you could hardly see her pupils.

She beamed at us and held out her arms like she was about to initiate a group hug.

"Greetings travellers," she exclaimed. "I shall be your tour guide for this evening. But don't you worry, its totes free of charge."

"What?" Jaci knitted her brows. "The Labyrinth doesn't have tour guides."

"It does now," the woman explained in that same cheery voice. "Due to the extraordinary amount of deaths that have occurred within the Labyrinth's complex premises, it was decided that a tour guide must accompany every person who walks within these walls in order to prevent anymore...well, unfortunate incidents. We do hope you understand."

"I came in here not long ago with the Hunters of Artemis," Jaci replied. "We didn't have a 'tour guide' come looking for us then."

"It's a newly passed rule I'm afraid," the woman waved dismissively before Jaci could ask any more questions about the matter. "I'm just here to take you where you seek. So chop-chop, on we go. You can go ahead first, young lady."

She shuffled me into the corridor she had just walked out of and I could hear Jaci and Regina's footsteps echo behind ours. As we walked, my instincts were screaming at me to run and yet I didn't know why. The woman seemed harmless and surely Jaci would've made a move if she suspected something malevolent so I decided to go along and see what would happen.

All throughout the walk, the woman seemed to comment on everything.

"On this side we have some magnificently crafted walls and on the other side we have...well some more walls," she said. "I must say, although the Labyrinth doesn't have many exciting aspects, it is quite thrilling isn't it? Not knowing where you're going to end up."

"It's scary," I heard Regina say. "You could get lost in here forever."

The woman's eyes gleamed. "Wouldn't that be nice?"

"I thought your job was to take us to where we want to go," Jaci finally spoke after a while and I noticed her tone seemed slightly on edge now. "You should know where you're going."

"Oh I definitely know where you're going," she chirped. "Just be patient now, children. We're almost there."

I prayed this chick was genuine but knowing our luck, that probably wasn't the case. Our tour guide told me to take a left and then another right. We headed down I think what had to be the longest corridor we've encountered yet and after a few minutes of further silence, the woman spoke up again.

"You see I am such a great tour guide, you don't even need to tell me where you're going. I just know," she told us. "I think that's why they hired me, you know? And they gave me this super cute hat just to prove it."

"That's nice..." I drifted off. "Wait, what's this?"

We stepped onto the edges of a huge cavern but instead of where the floor should be, a gigantic hole took up most of the space. I glanced down and no matter how hard I tried, there appeared to be no bottom at all. Just an endless dark abyss that I wouldn't want to fall down.

"And finally," the woman sighed. "You've reached your destination, Clara Gilley. It was certainly a pleasure being of your assistance, daughter of Hecate. I'll make sure to give her my regards."

Uh oh, I thought.

I heard Jaci shout out a warning but it was too late. Two hands pushed themselves against my back and I screamed as I was sent toppling off the ledge and into the limitless void below.

*~PJ~*

Now, is it just me or do we Half-Bloods just seem to have the worst luck in the world?

This is of course doesn't apply to the children of Tyche, the goddess of luck. I'd imagine life would be a lot easier for them. Come to think of it, why couldn't she have been my godly parent? Luck was something I really needed. Like right now. Please and thank-you.

It was only when I apparently dropped down a few metres that my reflexes kick-started into gear. My right hand shot out and grasped onto a small hold in the rock whilst my left hand desperately reached down and wrapped itself around Gale's belly who had been a mere ten seconds away from being out of reach. The polecat squirmed and squealed as my own body slammed against the rough wall of the cavern.

Below me, the vast emptiness got a whole lot scarier. A breeze seemed to waft upwards from wherever the bottom was and I felt that whatever was down there, they weren't friendly to demigods.

I put Gale back on my shoulder so I could use both my hands to hold onto the little ledge that was literally the only thing keeping us from plummeting to certain death. "Hold on Gale," I mumbled to the polecat, trying to keep calm. "Don't squirm too much."

Above me I could hear the sounds of a scuffle, followed by an unnatural screeching sound that sent goosebumps rushing all over my body. There were shouts and screams coming from Jaci and Regina that seemed to fade until there was nothing but silence remaining.

Then a face appeared over the edge and stared down at me.

The face didn't belong to either Jaci or Regina like I hoped but rather the tour guide who had pushed me off the edge in the first place. Her cap had seemingly come off during the scuffle with my companions and even from down here I could see her eyes twinkle with mischief. My heart lurched and my palms started to sweat, making my grip on the ledge loosen. It was like something straight out of a nightmare.

"Oh Clara," the tour guide shook her head like she was disappointed I hadn't fell to my death like she had planned. "You had to make things difficult, didn't you?"

"Oh come on," I whimpered. "What did I do to you?"

The woman let out a harsh bellow or laughter. "You've done nothing to me my dear, I can assure you of that," she said. "But what my master wants, my master shall have and that's of course your death. No hard feelings. But do make it easy on yourself girl and just let go. Don't worry, if the fall doesn't kill you then the monsters surely will."

"No," I shouted and my voice wobbled. "I'm not letting go ugly, you're just going to have to come and get me."

She sighed. "So stubborn, as is the way with most of Hecate's spawn but very well..."

I watched as the nails on her fingers grew longer and begin to curl. Her onyx eyes began to glow terrifyingly just as her teeth sharpened and protruded until they were rows and rows of jagged fangs. The tour guide's body twitched as a pair of leathery wings tore themselves out of her back, the texture of them reminding me of a bat (except I imagine bats were a lot cuter).

The same, hair raising screech escaped from the creature's mouth and when she spoke, it resembled something like chalk scraping down a blackboard. "Any last words, demigod?"

"Yeah," I snapped. "Remind me to give you a bad review on TripAdvisor when I'm done with you."

She growled, her wings extending as she prepared to plunge. "So be it, Hecate spawn."