The Alexander Chronicles

Part IV: Operation: Obliterate!

Chapter IV: We Meet my Wicked Step-Mother

I was on my way to meet with Annabeth and the others, when I ran into Javier. "Hey, Javier! Welcome back. How'd your quest go?"

"Not well."

"So Letus is on Sat-err, Kronos' side?"

"No, he's staying out of it. He said 'Death doesn't choose sides.' But I met someone else."

"Who?"

"My half-sister, Nemesis. She's joined Kronos, and even tried to get me to join. She said she was going to bring glory to the minor gods by bringing the Big Twelve down."

"Ouch. You're right, that isn't good news. Invidia isn't someone that you want to get on the bad side of." Then I noticed that we walking in the same direction. "Hey, why are you going to Zeus' Fist?"

"Chiron wants me to guard the entrances, just in case Kronos attacks while you're gone. What, I can't go just because I want to?"

"No, I never said that. I was just curious."

A few hours later, the five of us were in the Labyrinth, and completely lost. Just as we thought we had a way to navigate the Labyrinth, it changed to make that hope useless. Then we hit something that had a mosaic of the Olympians, with a Latin label. "Roman. This room is definitely Roman. The Labyrinth's been busy."

"How did you know that, Nygma? You're right, but how?"

"Simple, Wise Girl. The note says "Gods celebrating the defeat of Saturn," or as you know him, Kronos."

"How did you know that? I didn't know that!"

"Well, let's just say that I've been given a good reason to brush up on my Roman mythology. Besides, my Greek hasn't improved since my first summer, yet I have always been able to read Latin as easily as Julius Caesar."

"Hmm, interesting. But not important right now. We need to keep going." We kept going down that corridor, but it soon became something approaching modern, so Annabeth had us turn around, back to the Roman room. But this time, there was someone waiting for us. A man with two faces.

"Hello, Janus. What are you doing here?" I asked.

"My job," one face said

"Offering choices," the other said. "Well, Annabeth? Hurry up."

"Don't mind him. He's extremely rude. This way, miss."

Tyson frowned, trying to understand him. "The funny man has two faces."

"The funny man has ears, you know! Now come along, missy."

"No, no. This way miss. Talk to me, please."

That's when we noticed that the door we came in through was gone, replaced by two wooden doors with huge iron locks. And Janus was holding the key. "The exits are closed. Where do they go?"

"One leads to where you want to go, probably."

"The other leads to certain death!"

"Why are you trying to confuse me?"

"Simple, Wise Girl. That's what he does. He says he offers choices, but all he does is create indecision. He's your best friend, and worst enemy. Beginning and ending, that's Janus all over," I explained.

"Your turn is coming soon, sons of Poseidon and Jupiter. But right now, it's Annabeth's turn. Such fun!"

"Shut up! This is serious. One bad choice can ruin your life. It can kill you and all your friends. But no pressure, Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena. We are who we choose to be, now choose!"

But before she could make her choice, a flash of light appeared, and an old hag stepped forth. This time, as soon as I recognized her, I let myself see her through the Mist, just to see what it was like. This time, I saw a tall, graceful woman with long, chocolate hair, braided in gold. She was fairly attractive, and wore a white silk dress that shimmered like oil on water. "As much as I hate to say it, I agree with my step-son. Janus, the girl's time has not come yet. So, I give you a choice: leave these heroes to me, or I'll turn you into a door!" Janus convinced himself it was in his best interest, and left as quickly as she had shown up. "You must be hungry. Sit with me and talk."

"You swear on the Styx not to poison my food, my dear step-mother?"

She glared at me. "Very well, Alexander. I, Juno, swear on the Styx not to try to kill you until you've met my swords and my priest," she swore in Latin

Percy finally spoke up. "Who . . . who are you?"

The venom in my voice when I introduced her was as obvious as the Kraken. "Percy, Annabeth, this is my beloved," I stressed the sarcasm on that word, "step-mother, Juno, aka Hera, Queen of Olympus." The wicked witch then made a large number of sandwiches, bags of chips, and a large pitcher of lemonade appear, and we sat down to eat. When I reached for some sandwiches, she always made them ham. Yuck. I made do with a handful of ambrosia.

"Queen Hera. I can't believe it! What are you doing in the Labyrinth?"

She flicked her finger, and cleaned Annabeth's hair. "I came to see you, naturally." When I heard that, I suddenly became extremely nervous, and glad I'd made her swear not to kill me. It wasn't a good thing when a god looked you up, especially when that god/goddess has a major temper issue and doesn't like demigods. And believe me, Juno does have a short fuse, and it was dangerous to be around her if she lost it.

"I didn't think-well, I didn't think you liked heroes."

"Oh, Annabeth, she likes heroes well enough, don't you? She just doesn't like demigod heroes, especially me and my siblings."

"Quite right, Alexander. I was the patron goddess of Jason, when he went looking for the Golden Fleece. But I don't mind demigod heroes. Seriously, I got so much bad press about that one spat with Heracles."

"Didn't you try to kill him lots of times though?"

"Water under the bridge, my dear. Besides, he was my husband's son with another woman. My patience wore thin, I'll admit it. But Zeus and I have had some excellent marriage counseling since then. We've aired our feelings and come to an understanding-especially after that last little incident."

"Which incident, Jason or me? Besides, from what I've heard, you've actually had a mortal before either of us were born." Okay, so I was stupid, provoking her like that. But, I didn't like the fact that she was being a hypocrite now, considering she had two demigods at the Roman camp.

"Jason? My children? How did you . . . Never mind. At any rate, I don't bear most of you any ill will, my girl. I appreciate the difficulty of your quest, especially when you have troublemakers like Janus to deal with."

"Why was he here? He was driving me crazy!"

"Trying to. You must understand, the minor gods like Janus have always been frustrated by the small parts they play on Earth. Some, I fear, have little love for Olympus, and could easily be swayed to support the rise of my father."

"Invidia has already declared. Her allegiance lies with Saturn."

She stared at me. "How did you know that? Dionysus hasn't returned from his trip checking on them."

"I have a demigod friend, Javier Vargas, he's a son of Nyx. The wine dude hired him to check on Letus, and Invidia tried to win him over to Saturn." That got me thinking. If the minor gods were won over to Saturn, then that would include Morpheus, god of sleep. They shall see the world in endless sleep.

"I see. That does sound like Dionysus. You see, in times of trouble, even gods can lose faith. They start putting their trust in the wrong things, petty things. They stop seeing the big picture and start being selfish." Start being selfish? Since when did they stop? "But I'm the goddess of marriage, you see. I'm used to perseverance. You have to rise above the squabbling and chaos, and keep believing. You have to always keep your goals in mind."

Percy asked, "And what are your goals?"

"Why, to keep my family, the Olympians together, of course." Humph, she didn't do so well a job at that, considering me meeting Jason was the first contact between our camps in who knows how long. "At the moment, the best way I can do that is by helping you. Zeus does not allow me to interfere much, I'm afraid. But once every century or so, for a quest I care deeply about, he allows me to grant a wish."

"A wish?" I couldn't blame Percy for not believing that. I'd never known her to be nice to any demigod, let alone grant a wish.

"Before you ask it, let me give you some advice, which I can do for free. I know you seek Daedalus. His Labyrinth is as much a mystery to me as it is to you. But if you want to know his fate, visit my son, Hephaestus at his forge. Daedalus was a great inventor, a mortal after Hephaestus' own heart. There has never been a mortal Hephaestus admired more. If anyone would have kept up with Daedalus and knows his fate, it's Hephaestus."

"But how do we get there?" Annabeth asked. "That is my wish. I want a way to navigate the Labyrinth."

I couldn't believe it, but she actually looked disappointed. "So be it. You wish for something, however, that you have already been given."

"I don't understand."

"The means is already within your grasp. Percy knows the answer." Huh? Percy? Percy knows how to navigate the Labyrinth? She couldn't have shocked me more if she hugged me and treated me like a god.

Percy looked just as shocked. "I do?"

"But that's not fair. You're not telling us what it is!"

"Getting something and having the wits to use it . . . those are two different things. I'm sure your mother, Athena would agree. Besides, hasn't anyone told you, life isn't fair. Think on what I said, Annabeth. Seek out Hephaestus. You will have to pass through the ranch, I imagine. But keep going. And use any means at you disposal, no matter how common they may be. One last thing. I have postponed your day of choice. I have not prevented it. Soon, as Janus said, you will have to make choice. Farewell."

"Well, she sure wasn't much help, not that I expected different," I said in disgust.

For once, Grover was optimistic. "Well, she said Percy knew the answer. That's something."

"So, which way now?"

Tyson, Grover and I tensed up at the same time. Then, almost as we had rehearsed it, we rose as one and said, "Left."

"What makes you so sure?"

"Monster to the right. A big one, and it's in a hurry." Grover and Tyson agreed. So we ran to the left, right into a dead end Luckily, Tyson was able to break a hole into a new room, and we sealed the monster behind us.

"What the Hades?" We turned around, and found ourselves in a twenty-foot-square cell, that looked vaguely familiar. Then I looked out the window. "Guys, we're back in California. We're in Alcatraz Prison."