(A/N: Sorry that the last chapter was rushed and this one is late, I just wanted to give you guys something before the week ended. I'm also gonna alter this story arc a bit to make it slightly more original and junk. Anyway, enjoy this new chapter that's gonna have too many words in it bc my planning skills suck)

"Arina, would you mind joining us too?" Annabeth offered.

Annabeth had just come back from the Oracle with a prophecy that seemed just as bad as the Great Prophecy. Now, she was offering if I wanted to join in on her quest with Percy, Tyson, and Grover.

"Um... sure?" I wasn't exactly excited about going. I just had a really bad feeling that something's going to go wrong on this quest, like the-end-of-the-world bad.

The next day, we embarked on our quest. We all met at Zeus' Fist, getting a rushed send-off as the Hephaestus cabin set up traps and junk around the entrance of the Labyrinth just in case.

I had packed a simple bag with a flask of nectar, a pouch of ambrosia, a dagger, rope, flashlights with extra batteries, drachmas, and a notebook that had a pen. I had promised both my sister and Zoë that I would write about what's happening in the world above and the gods.

"What's taking them so long?" I inquired, gesturing towards Chiron and Percy, who were talking together intently.

"I'll go check," Annabeth offered, walking to them.

"How's the ocean?" I asked Tyson, who I discovered was working in the forges underwater.

"Good," he replied.

A moment later, Percy and Annabeth returned.

"Ready?" Percy asked us.

"Goodbye sunshine," Grover said anxiously.

"Hello rocks," Tyson stated.

Into the maze we went, uncertain about what was to come.


So far, we were lost. We found a skeleton of a milkman if that's anything. Then, we came across Janus, the god of beginnings and endings. Afterwards, Hera offered us lunch. Of course, gods always give cryptic answers so all we got was food and her telling us Percy already knew the answer to finding Daedalus.

"What kind of answer was that?" Annabeth exclaimed angrily.

"You shouldn't say that about the queen of the gods," I pointed out.

Before she could counter, we heard rumbling come from one of the tunnels Hera opened up for us. Naturally, we ran for our lives towards the other one.

Eventually, we came across a spot to rest for the night, which we did. The first to fall asleep were Grover and Tyson while we demigods stayed up.

"How do you feel?" I asked Annabeth, sitting down beside her.

"First day leading a quest? Okay..." she trailed off, seeming lost in thought.

"You're doing just fine," Percy reassured her.

"I just wished it made the sense," she stated.

"It's a quest, we don't find out what any of it means until the end." I tied my hair up into a ponytail as I said this.

"You'll figure something out, you always do," Percy said in encouragement, "like Circe's Island."

"You made a cute guinea pig," she pointed out.

"You should've sent me a picture," I said.

"Well, you weren't telling us about being off on a quest either."

"It wasn't really a quest, I didn't even get a prophecy."

"You might've if you asked."

"It was a mission, that's all."

There was a lull in the conversation then. I looked around the room we were in, sensing the monsters lurking far from there. Hellhounds, centaurs, the works.

Percy and Annabeth continued talking, I could've joined in if I had anything to offer. They were just talking about what Percy knew that we didn't.

Then Annabeth went to sleep after a seemingly depressing conclusion to their discussion. Percy had offered to take watch.

"It's fine, I'm not tired. You go-ahead," I told Percy when he turned to me.

"You sure?"

"You'll need it more than me," I replied before he curled up on his bedroll and fell asleep.

I didn't want to deal with any more demigod dreams for starters, and I had realized at that moment I forgot to pack a bedroll myself. Aren't I a genius?

I sat there, not waking up the others to switch watches. I wasn't sleepy or anything so I assumed it was fine. I only pretended that I slept once the others started waking up one by one, having a breakfast consisting of granola bars and juice boxes.

"Did you sleep at all last night?" Percy questioned me as we delved further into the Labyrinth.

"Um... yeah, did you?"

Percy looked shaken up the moment he woke up and up until that point.

"Yes..."

"Demigod dreams?" I guessed.

"I rather not talk about it," he answered before we entered a cavern with a large pit in the centre.

"Smells like the Underworld," Grover commented, "no offence, Arina."

"None taken," I replied before looking into the grave.

Inside the grave were this bubbly brown liquid and a half-eaten hamburger. I instantly knew what it was, and only one other person could've been capable of this.

"My brother was here," I said before breaking into a run, Percy mimicking me.

"Guys!" Annabeth called out before she and the others chased after us.

I could sense my brother just by the dark aura he gave off. I haven't seen him since we told him his sister was dead and Bianca and I were worried. I knew he wasn't dead, I would've sensed it otherwise.

We eventually came up to the light, a bright red cow mooing at us from the other side of a grate. The others were talking about it before Tyson opened it by pushing against it, startling the cow behind it.

"Sorry cow!" Tyson yelled to it before we all crawled out of the Labyrinth, being blinded by the sunlight.

We looked around, discovering we ended up at some ranch. It was quite large, rolling hills and barbed wire everywhere. I felt an odd feeling grow in my stomach like something bad was going to happen. Unfortunately, this feeling was later on confirmed by the cowherd and the two-headed dog.

"I'm gonna say this once, you demigods better get back into that maze before it's too late," Eurytion advised us, the demigod cowherd.

"No, we need to see this other demigod," Annabeth pleaded with him.

Eurytion shook his head. "Guess that means I'll have to take you to my boss."

The cowherd led us through the paths passed all the fields, which had exotic creatures of all sorts. There were fire-breathing horses and even weirder creatures, like half horse and half rooster.

"Don't break the rules," Eurytion advised us, "no fighting, no weapons, and don't talk about the boss' appearance."

"What does he look like?" Percy inquired.

A second later, his question was answered by the three-chested creature that greeted us. Believe me, when I said this, it was an interesting sight, to say the least. I'm not sure even how it was possible like he had one head, one torso, but three chests with a different shirt. They were connected by the arms and- it was weird, okay.

"Say hi to Mr. Geryon." Eurytion nudged Percy, who responded with equal amazement and confusion to me.

"Hi, nice chests- I mean ranch you have."

Oh gods, Percy, are you trying to make this guy mad?

Much to my surprise, before Geryon could respond, Nico came out of the ranch building.

"Geryon, I'm done waiting and-" His eyes widened when he saw us, either out of anger or fear. I believe it was anger because he pulled out his Stygian iron sword, glaring at us.

"Put that away, I don't want my guest killing each other, Mr. di Angelo," Geryon ordered my brother.

"What? No hug for your sister?" I asked sarcastically.

"You let her die," Nico spat, still having his weapon out.

"Mr. di Angelo," Geryon warned.

"But they-"

"Perseus Jackson, Annabeth Chase, Arina Morales, and two monster friends, I'm quite aware," Geryon interrupted him.

"My sister died because of them!" Nico argued.

"Bianca died an honourable death! She sacrificed herself for us!" I yelled at him, a minor earthquake erupting suddenly.

"Miss Morales, I recommend you keep your powers in check," Geryon ordered me.

I stopped the earthquake as quickly as it came, glaring at him while he turned to Annabeth, who questioned him about knowing who we were. He simply said he just part of the job knowing who goes through the ranch before threatening my brother.

"If you get near me, Jackson, I won't need my helpers to take you down." Nico glared at my friend while threatening him.

"Oh, I believe you," Percy replied.

What a great family reunion, if you ask me.

From there, we were forced to sit in those trolley things they have at zoos for tours. My friends and I sat in the middle car while Nico and Eurytion sat in the back, Geryon driving of course with the two-headed dog, Orthus in the front.

Geryon was boasting about his ranch and all the creatures he had, which I didn't really care about. Therefore, I chose to tread on thin ice and shadow travel to my brother's car.

"What do you want?" my younger brother spat at me.

"I've talked to her, y'know," I stated.

Nico's eyes lit up for a second before narrowing. It was an expression I wasn't used to seeing on my once cheerful sibling. He was so full of life and joy before. Now he's this pale, skinny, emo kid.

"You're lying."

"Says who?"

"I've been trying to contact her-"

"She doesn't want-"

"You're lying, she's my sister. My REAL sister, not you."

I felt hurt by his words, glaring at him before shadow travelling back to my original car, scaring my friends, especially Grover.

"Where did you go?"

"Talked to my brother," I answered, crossing my arms and slumping back in my seat.

Geryon and my friends continued to talk as I observed the scenery around us, the smell of the stables hitting me first.

The stables' smell was horrifying, I didn't understand how I didn't pass out from the strength of the smell. Oh gods, it was the worst smell in the whole damn world! How could anyone live with this smell out of their backdoor?

Geryon exited the vehicle and seemed to be enjoying the view before my brother marched up to him, demanding some sort of deal.

"He said you could help us find the soul." Nico seemed annoyed by this monster not giving him a direct answer.

"Wait, I thought I was the soul you wanted." Percy looked confused, his statement confusing me further.

Does he know who Nico is talking about? What soul exchange? What could he- oh Hades no. He can't be thinking about bringing Bianca back to life with an exchange of a soul! That's stupid, idiotic, it's also very dangerous!

"I'm sure Minos likes to disappear when things get difficult," Geryon speculated when he questioned Nico about where the ghost that was helping him was.

"You're receiving help from that fool?" I exclaimed.

I've lived in the Underworld long enough to interact with most of the major beings there. Therefore, I understand how much of a- pardon my language- dickhead Minos is. He's obsessed with getting revenge against Daedalus, whose soul has yet to enter the Underworld.

"Shut up, I'm not taking advice from you!"

"Oh, watch your move, geezer." I rolled up my sleeves, ready to tackle my brother in any second if it weren't for Percy and Annabeth grabbing me.

"What did you mean by, when things get difficult?" Nico looked at Geryon.

Geryon began explaining how Luke, and I mean the evil guy working for Kronos, had promised lots of gold for powerful demigods like Nico. He would let us pass, apparently, someone paid for our passage, but he wanted Nico because he was a 'powerful demigod'.

Then, Percy started bargaining with him about setting us all free. He promised to clean the man-eating horses' stable before sunset, which was where the wretched smell was emitting from. Of course, Geryon loved the challenge, accepting before hauling the rest of us back to the ranch house.

"You better know what your doing, Barnacle Boy," I said to him before I slipped back into the vehicle.

The ride back to the ranch house was awkward and silent, besides the weird small talk Geryon was producing. Once we got back, however, they tied us up.

Believe me, we did put up a fight, but once they got a knife to Annabeth's throat, we stopped so they could gag and bound our ankles.

Geryon started cooking hamburgers while we were tied up in the corner. He seemed to be enjoying himself, flipping patties and wearing three aprons for each of his bodies.

Well, he was happy until Percy came back. Once Percy announced he cleaned the stables without damaging the river and poisoning the naiad there, Geryon broke the promise. Apparently nothings binding unless you swear on the Styx, which I find stupid, but a good note.

Then, of course, a fight occurred. Percy versus Geryon, while the rest of us just watched. The thing I found interesting about that was the fact Eurytion didn't even want to fight, which I found odd for a kid of Ares.

"Coward! Come back here and die!" Geryon cried out to Percy, who for some reason, ran back towards the house.

All I could hear from outside were yells, but they were all silenced by three distinct thumping noises.

I knew what had happened. Percy had killed that monster with an arrow. An arrow straight through the three bodies, hitting each heart that blasted monster had. One thing I didn't understand was, how did he do it? He's almost a bad a shot as I am.

Soon Percy came out again, untying us and throwing the barbecue into a fire Geryon had nearby, which answered my question about him being able to shoot.

"How long does it take for him to reform?" I asked Eurytion, rubbing my sore wrists.

"A long time, he's not one of those fast reformers, thank gods. I ought to thank you for that." Eurytion shrugged, seeming to care very little for his boss.

"You've been his servant this whole time? Is that what you meant by dying for him?" Percy inquired.

"I started as a half-blood like you guys, but I accepted immortality from my father. Worst mistake I ever made. Now I'm stuck here, tending to the cattle and fighting his fights."

"Maybe you can change that," I suggested.

"How?"

"Take care of the animals, stop selling their meat. Maybe once he reforms, you'll be the boss this time," Percy stated.

Eurytion smiled. "Maybe you're right, kid."

"You won't stop us from leaving?"

"Go ahead."

Annabeth still seemed suspicious, questioning about someone paying for our passage. He claimed he didn't know, he thought maybe Geryon might've just said that.

"Did you Iris-Message the Titans about Neeks?" I gestured to my fuming little brother, who glared at me for calling him that.

"Nope, Geryon was waiting for after the barbecue to do that. But, they know about you for sure. They said they'll pay Geryon a lot of money for you."

That response sent a shiver down my spine.

The Titans, Luke, the whole army probably knows who I am. They know I'm the daughter of Hades, one of the Big Three. Someone that could turn the tide of the impending war. I didn't like that.

"You can stay here while we continue on our quest," Percy suggested to my brother, "it'll be safer here."

"Why do you care if I'm safe?" Nico questioned with spite, "My sister's dead because of you!"

"Nico, that wasn't Percy's fault. Geryon was right about them wanting to capture you, they even want your sister-" Annabeth began.

"Arina isn't my real sister!" Nico yelled.

I felt hurt by his words again. Technically we were siblings because of our dad, but there wasn't any DNA.

Gods had no DNA, that's how demigods between cabins could date each other. Of course, dating someone in your cabin would be straight-up wrong.

"If you cared about my real sister, you'll help me bring her back!" Nico exclaimed.

"A soul for a soul?" Percy guessed to my surprise.

"It won't work," I stated coldly, crossing my arms.

"You don't know anything!" my brother shouted.

"Bianca wouldn't want to be brought back, you know that." Percy tried reasoning with my emotional and irrational little brother.

"You didn't know her!"

The sky darkened as something seemed to pass-through Percy's mind. I had an aching feeling it related to the prophecy.

"Let's ask her," Percy said.

"She won't respond." Nico seemed frustrated by us.

"She will," Percy replied, causing me to raise my eyebrows.

"Why?"

"Because she's been sending me Iris-Messages of you."

With that statement, I turned to Eurytion, who was watching us with a bored and somewhat interested expression.

"Do you have a pit or a grave?" I asked, "And we need food and drinks."

"There's a hole for the septic tank out back. Cyclops, get the icebox in the house," Eurytion ordered, "hope the dead like root beer."


It was nightfall when we did the summoning. We gather together in front of a twenty-foot pit beside a septic tank with a smiley face on it. It seemed unfitting for the occasion.

Nico threw barbecue and the root beer into the pit, looking ready to begin the summon if it weren't for me stopping him.

"I'm doing it."

"What? No, I need to-"

"Doesn't mean I'll let you do the summoning. It takes a fair bit of energy and Bianca will kill me if she knew I didn't do it for you." I stared him down, daring him to argue.

He gave in.

I began chanting in Ancient Greek, the mist thickening around us. All the noise disappeared from the air, the only thing remaining was my chanting and the quiet breaths of my friends.

Soon spirits began appearing, but I was too focussed on chanting that I couldn't tell who it was. However, judging from the way Nico and Percy responded to them, it wasn't Bianca.

"Ah... Arina, Kronos will be glad to know his sources were right."

I turned and saw a ghostly figure I recognized as Minos, the cruel judge of the Underworld. Honestly, couldn't my father choose someone more fit for that title?

"Shut up, and you knew who I was. I lived in the Underworld since Christmas," I spat at him as the spirits started growing restless.

I resumed chanting, glaring at him while he talked to my friends, disappearing a few moments later as a new spirit appeared.

The new spirit had a much brighter aura, and I knew who it was before they drank from the pit. It was Bianca.

"Hello, Percy," she greeted softly.

I saw Percy's face sink, the memory of her death still clear in his mind. I remembered how he went through the wreckage of the automaton, searching for her body while I stood aside, knowing she was long gone.

"Bianca!" Nico came forward, staring at his sister.

"Nico, you've grown so tall."

"Why didn't you come sooner? Why now?" Nico cried.

"I was hoping you would give up. Of course, now you have Arina calling me instead." She turned to me with a gratified smile. "Thanks for not letting him summon this time."

"No problem," I replied, breaking from my chant momentarily.

Nico and Bianca continued to converse as the spirits starting growing more restless. I knew I couldn't control it any longer without us being noticed.

"Goodbye, Nico, I love you." With that, Bianca disappeared, taking the rest of the spirits with her as well.

We all stood there in the dark, alone. The only thing accompanying us was the cold full moon and the junk food pit.

We went inside after that, none of us wanting to travel through the maze at night. We split up inside the house, Percy and Grover in the living room, Annabeth and I in one of the spare rooms, and I had no clue when Tyson and Nico went.

I was munching on some ambrosia while Annabeth read over something, scribbling some stuff out before writing something else.

"Whatcha doing?"

"Planning," was her response.

"A plan worthy of Athena, I presume?"

She looked up at me, staring at me before shaking her head and resuming her planning.

Eventually, she fell asleep, but I still couldn't sleep. Should I be worried that I haven't slept for like two nights? Maybe. Well, considering we found out we've been in the maze for a week, I guess it's not as bad.

I decided it was too boring in my shared room, so I crept out. I walked down the hall until I heard sniffling coming from one of the rooms. I walked closer to it and pushed the door gently, trying to get a peek on what was inside.

What I saw inside broke my heart. Nico was sitting on the ground, crying. He seemed to be hugging something in his hands, but before I could get a good glimpse of it, he ripped it into pieces.

I wanted to comfort him, but I knew if he saw me, he'll be furious at me for spying on him. He'll hate me more than he already did.

I stepped away from the door reluctantly, taking a deep breath to compose myself before venturing further into the house.

Two people were talking faintly as I neared the stairs, and I heard the distinct crunch of plastic that led to me to the conclusion it was Percy and Grover, the latter stress eating once more.

I stood outside the door, unsure if I should go in or not when someone spoke from behind me, scaring me.

"Eavesdropping isn't a good habit."

I jumped, turning and seeing Eurytion behind me with his club still in hand. It looked like he was planning to either attack any intruders or club me instead.

"I was going to go inside."

Eurytion stood there, sizing me up I presume before saying something confused and annoyed me. "You like that kid, Percy, right?"

"What? No!" I felt my cheeks flush red in the dark.

"Hm... well, if you don't, try not to be too keen towards him then."

"What do you mean? I'm not interested in him at all!" I tried keeping my voice quiet, but it was quite hard considering the topic we were discussing.

"If you don't, then leave him for your other friend, Annabeth, isn't it?"

"What?" I was more puzzled by him now.

He took a deep breath, shaking his head before mumbling something that sounded like, "Kids these days" before continuing. "She likes him, I can tell. If you don't like him, let your friend have him."

"Why are you telling me this?"

He sighed, adjusting his hat. "I knew a girl a long time ago who lost her chance with a guy. She had these two sisters who she thought were friends, but they weren't. They ruined her chances with the guy, and she paid dearly. I don't want that to happen to any more innocent kids," he elaborated.

"Oh..." I was surprised by his worry and story. "Thanks for the advice."

He nodded before disappearing behind another door.

I looked back at the living room door, contemplating going in or not. I'm just talking to him, it's not like I'll make out with him or something like that. He's my friend, nothing more. I guess I thought he was cute before but now that I've got to know him, he's just a friend to me... right?

"Arina?"

I jumped, again, shocked to see Percy at the door with a puzzled look on his face.

"What are you doing outside here?"

"Um... couldn't sleep, was wandering." It was the truth, right?

"Oh..."

I looked over his shoulder and saw the tv running while Grover snored on the couch.

"You wanna hang out with me then? I can't sleep either."

"Uh, sure," I replied, stepping into the living room.

This is not a betrayal towards Annabeth, right? Ugh... Eurytion got in my head now. I'm pretty sure she'll understand, I'll just explain and apologize. Yeah, good plan.

Percy flopped onto the couch, I followed in pursuit.

"Why can't you sleep?" I turned towards him.

"Demigod dreams, Kelli keeps on sending me... stuff.'

I tilted my head. "Who's Kelli?"

"Oh right, you weren't there. It's this empousa who tried killing me in school."

"Oh, reminds me how I nearly died. They attacked me during a field trip," I responded.

"When?"

"When I was like twelve, that's how I found out I was a demigod, remember?" I could've sworn we discussed this, but I could be wrong.

"Oh... right..."

Silence followed that.

"It was cool how you summoned those ghosts."

"Thanks... I haven't done it before though," I admitted.

"Wait, then how did you do it?" He turned to me, confused.

"Just winged it, heard enough about it from my dad and my dead siblings." I shrugged casually, turning sideways and lying on half of the couch.

"You have more dead siblings?" he gasped in shock.

"Um... yeah, we all do. Like you have Theseus, Orion, and probably more cyclopes like Tyson," I listed off the few that I knew were dead.

"Um... okay, that's uh... good to know."

Yep, I definitely freaked him out. Well, I guess I don't worry about Annabeth now if he's slightly scared of me, right? I guess it's a win.

"How's New York anyway?" I pushed myself into a sitting position when I asked the question.

"Since you left? I guess pretty much the same." He shrugged in response.

"How's high school there?"

"I had freshmen orientation, nearly died, I met Rachel again though."

"Who?" That name seemed familiar, but I couldn't place where I've heard it before.

"She's that girl we met in Hoover Dam," Percy answered.

"Oh..." I recalled how I didn't like her, but I don't remember in the slightest why. "How'd you meet her again?"

"She was gonna go to the same high school as me," he elaborated.

"Oh... I heard from Annabeth you set something on fire? What did I say about setting fire without me?" I inquired with a smile.

Percy rolled his eyes. "Okay, I won't burn anything unless we're together."

"Ha, ha, deal," I replied, leaning back in my spot.


Somehow, I managed to fall asleep. When? Around five am, according to Percy, who didn't end up going back to sleep after me.

Once everyone was ready and junk, we went outside to bid farewell to Eurytion and thanked him.

"You could come with us, Nico," Percy suggested to my red-eyed, pale brother.

Nico shook his head before walking back towards the ranch house. He was probably still fuming over last night when Bianca came to him when Percy was with us. I would be mad too if my only sister wouldn't show up whenever I summoned her.

"I'm assuming you'll be heading to Daedalus' workshop?" Eurytion presumed.

"Yeah, any advice on how to find it?" Percy inquired hopefully.

Eurytion stood there, scratching his beard. "No, but I bet Hephaestus will."

"That's what Hera said! But how do we find him?" Annabeth exclaimed, not appearing to have slept well either.

Turns out, Eurytion had something that could help us. He pulled out this metal disk that had a button in the centre. According to him, Hephaestus gave it to him if he ever needed anything because of a favour.

Unfortunately, it transformed into a mechanical spider the moment the button was pressed by Annabeth, who was holding it and dropped it out of fear.

The spider scurried into the cattle guard, not bothering to wait for us at all. In a matter of moments, we might not ever find it again.

Once we said our goodbyes, Tyson pulled the cattle guard off and we delved into the Labyrinth once more.

When travelling through the maze, I noticed a weird glowing line on the ground. I'm not surprised I didn't notice it before, it was very faint but still very clear. It was running everywhere, multiple lines merging into the same one. I had a feeling the line was somewhat important, but I pushed the thought to the back of my mind just as I was about to fall into a pit.

"They're like monkey bars," Annabeth stated before swinging across the bars above us in pursuit of the spider, which was swinging across.

Percy and I followed after, with much less confidence than her. Lastly was Tyson, who had Grover on his back the whole time.

Once we all crossed, we kept on walking, running into more skeletons. The further we got, the more skeletons appeared, and some fresher than others. The cause of this was answered once we ran into the giant Sphinx.

It stood proudly on a dais, spotlights dancing around her menacing figure.

"Welcome new contestants!" she announced with the most artificial grin I ever saw, "Get ready to play... GUESS THAT RIDDLE!"

I watched the spider crawl through her paws as bars came down, blocking the exit and only entrance into the room.

Annabeth volunteered then to answer the riddle, which I later realize wasn't the best idea, but it could've been worse. She answered the first three 'riddles', slightly confused but the answers were correct. However, she began questioning the whole contest.

I had a small feeling of why she questioned the monster threatening to kill us all. Her fatal flaw is pride, and this test was definitely hindering her pride.

Of course, because of her refusal to cooperate, the Sphinx chose to eat us. That's when the rest of us sprung into action.

Tyson tackled her while Percy and I drew our blades, the first ordering Annabeth to turn invisible. Naturally, the monster didn't like that and started attacking us. We managed to get a couple of jabs in before Tyson threw her grading machine at her, somehow triggering the bars to come up. Then, we all escaped through them just as they closed once more.

Once we were far enough away, I started yelling at Annabeth.

"Why couldn't you just answer the dang questions?" I exclaimed, stopping all of us.

"They were an insult to my intelligence!" Annabeth replied.

"Yes, cause we can't hurt your stupid pride. It's more important to just die!" I retorted sarcastically.

"Well, at least I don't run from my problems like you!"

"Oh really? You think you're great and all? Says the girl who ran away from home, like what, twelve times?" I knew I struck a nerve by the expression on her face.

"Guys, just calm down. We need to follow the spider before we lose it." Percy got between us, attempting to calm us down.

We both begrudgingly agreed before continuing, eventually finding the spider again due to the fact Grover and Tyson had excellent super hearing.

Eventually, we came to a door with a Greek Êta on a plaque. The spider banged its body against the door, which led us to the conclusion we had arrived.

"Ready to meet Hephaestus?" Grover inquired.

"Ready as we'll ever be," I replied.

Tyson, the most excited of us, spun the wheel on the door and pushed it open.

Once inside, I could tell just by the looks of it that it belonged to the god of blacksmiths and metalworking. The room was every mechanics dream by the looks of it. The place was filled to the brim with tons of metalworking junk and unfinished projects.

Soon enough, the god was alerted of our presence by the spider, which crawled underneath a car and caught his attention. He crawled out of the belly of the car and tinkered with the spider before addressing us with mild distaste.

"We've met, sir," Percy said to him.

Hephaestus eyed my friend. "Well, if I didn't kill you then, I suppose I shouldn't kill you now."

Wow, this guy is just a ray of happiness.

"This one's sarcastic, I can tell," he said, turning to me.

"Um... sorry for any disrespect, sir," I replied.

He stared at me a second longer before turning to the rest of us, distinguishing us individually. He seemed to harbour some mild resentment towards the majority of us, sans Tyson. Reason? I think it's because he was a cyclops, and those guys worked for Hephaestus.

Annabeth began explaining to him why we needed to talk to him, which the god did not take well. I guess he might've had a disagreement with Daedalus or something by the way he talked about him.

He then explained how some people can't be trusted because of your past together, like him and his mother.

Afterwards, he said he needed a favour, which Annabeth accepted immediately without a second thought. He explained how he a forge that we needed to check on because someone was using it and whenever he went to see who, they disappeared.

Another interesting fact about that forge: it was located in Mount St. Helens. A great nature spot and the resting place of the worst monster in Greek mythology. Typhoon, the only monster the gods were truly afraid of.

Great place for a forge, am I right?

"Okay, how do we get there?" Annabeth asked after he finished explaining what needed to be done.

He summoned the spider, which swung down from above and in front of Annabeth, scaring her.

"Follow that and you'll find my forge. It isn't that far away," Hephaestus stated to us.

The spider began scurrying back outside, causing us to follow it in pursuit. However, just as I was about to exit the workshop, he called me back.

"Arina, isn't it? Hades' kid?"

"Yes," I stated, turning to face him.

"Watch your flirting with my son," he warned before waving me off, leaving me confused.

I returned to my friends, mulling over the thing he said in bewilderment. When have I ever flirted with a Hephaestus kid? The only two I talk to are Beckendorf and Harley, who's this cute seven-year-old that just came to camp. For one, I respected Silena too much to flirt with Beckendorf, and two, Harley is seven, I'm not creepy. I don't date someone that much younger than me! Or flirt, for that matter.

"What did Hephaestus want?" Percy questioned as we chased after the spider.

"Well, it's rather embarrassing on my part," I admitted in reply.

"C'mon, can't be that bad."

"Okay... he said I should stop flirting with his son."

Silence followed that until Percy erupted into laughter, causing me to punch him in the shoulder. Still, he remained laughing.

"Okay, who's your crush then? Or is a boyfriend we're not aware of?" Percy joked with a smirk.

"Gods! I don't like any of his kids that way! I only talk to two of them anyway!" I exclaimed, feeling blood rush to my face as I tried to hide my embarrassment.

"Sure Arina, suuuure," he rolled his eyes, resulting in me tripping him as we ran.

"I swear, I'm gonna end up getting revenge against you, then you'll regret making fun of me," I warned him with a glare.


It was a mistake to split up.

Once we hit tree roots at a fork, Grover sensed Pan. He wanted to go down the tunnel filled with roots, but Annabeth said we needed to continue with the quest. Percy then suggested we split up: Grover and Tyson chase after Pan, the rest of us follow the steadily disappearing spider.

After we split up and went down our path, the walls started getting hotter, signifying we were getting closer to the volcano.

Along the way, Percy started questioning how Annabeth was born, which isn't as gross as I originally thought. Of course, I can't say the same for the rest of demigod births.

When we finally got the forge, I was soaked in sweat from the heat. There was lava bubbling below us as we stood near the entrance, hopefully, hidden. There was a mixture of metal and rocks that created the floor and bridge across. Honestly, I didn't think that was a good combination considering that metal heats up quite quickly.

While Annabeth and Percy were talking, something hit me. This weird, salty scent. It was like a monster scent, but more watery. I didn't know any, nor have I met any, sea monsters, but this is the smell they emit.

"Shut up," I whispered to them both, creeping along to get a better view.

There were these creatures, I wasn't sure what the names were, but they seemed to be a hybrid of a dog and some sort of sea creature judging from the flippers.

"Hold up, I'll go up there," I whispered to them, blending into the shadows and climbing up the platform.

As I predicted, the metal riggings were hot, like really hot. I'm not sure how I managed not to cry out in pain from the heat.

Once on the platform, I focussed all my energy on my body to morph into the shadows as I crept along, trying to figure out what these monsters were doing there in Hephaestus' forge. The sooner I found out what and who they are, the sooner we can get this quest over with.

I like quests, to an extent. I sort of don't wanna die, which should be understandable. From what I heard, most campers die on quests, and I'm pretty sure our prophecy refers to death in some way.

From what Annabeth told us, the prophecy went like this,

'You shall delve in the darkness of the endless maze,

The dead, the traitor, and the lost one 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.'

The prophecy seems normal, right? Well, for starters, usually every line rhymes with something else. However, this prophecy has two lines that rhyme, and one that doesn't. What does that mean? It means Annabeth is hiding something from us, the last line of the prophecy. I have a theory it ends in death, that could be a reason why she's withholding the information.

I peered over the edge of the cauldron then, trying to see what the monsters were making. What I saw terrified me.

"Arina!"

I whipped my blades out, nearly impaling Percy in the throat.

"What are you doing?" I whispered/yelled at him.

How the Hades did he find me? I'm invisible for gods' sake... right?

"I caught the attention of a class of telekhines and they're after us!" he explained quickly, Annabeth appearing behind him.

"You couldn't keep him out of trouble any longer?" I inquired, exasperated.

"He's a Seaweed Brain," Annabeth replied with an eye roll.

I crossed my arms before showing them what the monsters were making. A look of fear and realization crossed Annabeth's face while Percy's was scrunched up, thinking still.

"It shall be sharper than before!" one of the telekhines exclaimed to his four comrades down below us.

"What-"

"The scythe, the greatest weapon of the Titans." I stepped back from the cauldron, avoiding being seen.

"We need to get-"

A blast interrupted her, a door on the side burst forth with smaller telekhines tripping over each other. They all ran out, looking around frantically.

"Guys, turn invisible!" Percy ordered Annabeth and I, "Get out!"

"We're not leaving you," she and I said in unison.

"Please, I have a plan! Just get out and tell Hephaestus what we found!"

"You'll die!" I argued.

"You need our help!" Annabeth agreed.

"I'll be fine, there's no other choice."

I reluctantly agreed while Annabeth glared at him. Her next action surprised and excited me. She grabbed him and kissed him, pushing him away before grabbing my wrist.

"Good luck, Seaweed Brain." She put on her cap.

"You're gonna need it," I added before melting into the shadows and running hand-in-hand with Annabeth out of the chamber.

We ran out for, following the mechanical spider for a while before I heard a faint buzzing in my ears, making me freeze as the ground shook. The revelation hit me a second later, making me collapse against the wall to catch my breath and thoughts.

"Arina? Are you okay?"

I took a deep, shaky breath. "Remember when my s-sister died? How I knew she was dead long before the rest of you?"

A look of dread appeared on my friend's face. "Y-yes..."

"I think Percy's dead."

She had the same reaction as me, slumping against the wall before covering her face in her hands.

We sat there, I wasn't sure for how long, but eventually she pulled herself together before I could. She grabbed my hand, helping me up, and continued to run in search of the spider.

We ran in silence until we found the spider again, which was banging its body against Hephaestus' door again. I don't know how we found it, probably just by luck, maybe I was even following that line on the ground subconsciously as I tried to distract myself from the fact Percy could, and possibly is, dead.

"S-sir," I stuttered, alerting the god of our presence.

He slid out from under the car and looked at us, still maintaining his grumpy expression. He hobbled over to us, grabbing the mechanical spider and disassembling it before putting it back together.

"What happened to the other kid?"

Our silence seemed like enough of an answer as he nodded, grabbing a remote off a table and pointing it a tv I didn't notice before, turning it on.

Broadcasting on the screen was an eruption at Mount St Helens. There weren't any details yet as it just happened two days- wait, what? It's already been two days?

"The pact was meant for stuff like this not to happen..." he grumbled before shutting it off once more.

"How do we find the workshop then?" I inquired, "We did your stupid quest, there were telekhines in the forge rebuilding Kronos' scythe." I was sick and tired of seeing friends die now for gods. First my sister, then Zoë, and now Percy? Gods! I hate them so much-

"Don't think things you'll regret," Hephaestus cautioned, interrupting my internal rant.

"Well, where is the workshop, sir?" Annabeth asked, her expression stoic while her voice cracked.

"Hm... I think it's best if you two head back to your camp. I have, um, something to check on. I'll tell you later."

I fought the urge to glare at the god and yell some rather choice words. Instead, I grabbed Annabeth's wrist before dragging her outside.

Fortunately enough, Hephaestus let us use the spider again to get back to camp, which took a lot less time than I anticipated considering he said we were close to Washington.

Once back at the camp, we regretfully inform Chiron of what happened. He also revealed the eruption happened nearly two weeks ago, according to the news.

We soon had to prepare a funeral. None of Percy's cabin members, um, I mean member was with us so Annabeth and I created the burial shrouds ourselves.

Another concerning bit of information we uncovered was that Grover and Tyson were still missing, but I had a feeling they were fine judging from the fact I didn't hear anymore buzzing.

After preparing the burial shrouds, which had seashells and seaweed coloured blue, we had the funeral. It was a sombre event, well, despite the fact most of the Ares' campers seemed excited.

Everything was going according to plan until we had a funeral crasher. Who was it? It was the dead man himself, Perseus Jackson.


"WHERE THE HADES HAVE YOU BEEN?" I screamed at him, tackling him with Annabeth after he showed up to HIS damn funeral!

"We thought you were dead!"

"It's been two weeks!"

At that moment, she and I realized our awkward position and both stood up, blushing slightly.

"Sorry, I got lost." He rubbed the back of his neck, pushing himself into a sitting position after we got off.

"LOST?" Annabeth and I exclaimed, "IT'S BEEN TWO WEEKS!"

"Girls, calm down, perhaps we should discuss this in private?" Chiron suggested, "Everyone else, return to your activities!" he announced to the rest of the camp.

Then, much to our surprise, he picked up Annabeth, Percy, and I, carrying us back to the Big House. Really, couldn't he have just asked us to follow him? Did he think we were a bit too hysterical to do anything?

Once in the Big House, Percy began explaining where he had been the past two weeks. As well as what Hephaestus' advice was, which Annabeth protested against.

I was fine having a mortal guide us through the maze, but there was one thing bothering me. I had a feeling Percy wasn't telling the truth when he said he was stuck on some random island. Just the way he said it, and his palms were sweating like crazy. However, I decided not to voice my opinion for his sake. Wherever he was, there was probably a good reason why he didn't tell us.

"You're the single most annoying person I ever met!" Annabeth yelled, glaring at Percy before storming out of the room after their little dispute over having a mortal helping us.

"Y-you're okay with it, right?" He turned to me in worry.

"Yeah, it's not like we're exposing the Greek world to her, she's clearsighted anyway." I shrugged, not caring really.

Percy looked at the doorway, sighing. "So much for being the bravest friend she ever knew."

"She'll calm down, she's just jealous," I reassured him.

"I agree, just give her some time," Chiron agreed, nodding.

"That's stupid though, it's not like... we're not..." Percy trailed off, a look of confusion on his face.

Gods, this boy is so dense!

Chiron seemed amused by Percy's obliviousness as well. "She is very protective of her friends if you didn't know. She was the most worried out of all of us. Now that you're back, I have a feeling she knows where you were gone."

Percy looked at us both, hopefully realizing what we were implying.

Chiron began explaining our next plan of action. Tomorrow, we will head to Manhattan with Argus driving us. Along the way, we would stop by Percy's apartment to see his mother because she thought he was dead after I Iris Messaged her.

"What about Grover and Tyson?" Percy inquired.

I sighed, shaking my head. "They still haven't come back. All of Juniper's branches are wilting because of it. As well, the Cloven of Elders has revoked his searcher's license."

"I shouldn't have let them run off..."

"They're alive, I know it. I trust them, they'll make it back in no time," I reassured him.

"You also have the empathy link so you'll know if he's in mortal danger," Chiron pointed out.

Unless he's in godly danger, I added mentally.

"I also have two other pieces of unfortunate news." Chiron started explaining how Chris Rodriguez, the demigod Clarisse retrieved from the Labyrinth, was dying.

I could actually feel a veil of death wrapped around him.

The other bad news was that Quintus had disappeared roughly three nights ago, the day Annabeth and I got back. According to Juniper, she saw him slip into the maze and has yet to return. As a result, the rest of us thinks he was a spy for Kronos.

"What about Mrs. O'Leary?" Percy questioned.

"It's in the arena still," Chiron responded, "and it won't let anyone but Arina approach. That's likely due to the fact hellhounds like her."

I shrugged nonchalantly. "What I gotta say? Beasts from the Underworld like me, well, besides that drakon out there."

"Quintus wouldn't just leave her," Percy argued.

"Like as said, we were wrong about him. You should get some rest and prepare for tomorrow," Chiron advised us.

I motioned Percy to follow me out of the Big House.

"You were on Calypso's island, weren't you?" I guessed as we walked towards his cabin.

He avoided eye contact with me, opting to gaze at a group of younger campers making arts and crafts instead.

"Don't worry about Annie, she'll get over it."

"I get that she's protective," he began, "but it's just a mortal girl! And nothing happened between me and Calypso!"

"Yeah, but she doesn't know that," I pointed out.

"But-"

"Okay, see it from her perspective." We stopped walking before I could continue. "Your best friend, who I have to point out, you kissed in an almost erupting volcano, dies. You go through grief and stuff, then go to their funeral. Surprise, they show up to their funeral.

"Then they tell you that you need someone else's help when your fatal flaw is, in fact, pride. Afterwards, they don't provide evidence to where they actually were, leading you to the conclusion it was Calypso's island. How would you feel after all that?"

He looked down, sighing. "Pretty crummy..."

"See, that's how Annie feels. She was upset over your presumed death, then you come back saying we can't solve the quest without some mortals help. You know she's prideful, that was clearly demonstrated when she was in the Sphinx's contest."

"Yeah, I see what you mean now," he admitted.

We stopped in front of his cabin, but there was something I didn't understand. How was Percy alive? I felt him die, well, I heard the buzzing. Therefore, I decided to test something out.

I poked him in the neck, causing him to jerk away from me and give me an odd look.

"What was that for?"

"I don't know how you're alive still, I felt you die two weeks ago."

"What?"

I sighed, shaking my head at his ignorance. "I can sense when people die, daughter of Hades, remember?"

"Oh... well, I'm not sure. Maybe Calypso brought me back?"

I looked at him, walking around him as well to get a better viewpoint. "Well, I didn't feel you enter the Underworld like Bianca, so maybe that's something."

"Maybe you can sense when someone's like, extremely close to death," he suggested instead.

"Oh, possibly," I agreed.

I recalled how two years ago when he was stung by a scorpion, I heard buzzing in my ears. He didn't die then, and he isn't dead now.

"You're smarter than I thought, Barnacle Boy." I swung my arm around his neck, pulling him down because of my shorter height.

"Hey!" he exclaimed, pushing away from me. "I'm not that dumb!"

"Dude, all of your nicknames call you stupid," I pointed out.

"Like?"

"Seaweed Brain, Kelp Head, Barnacle Boy," I listed off the three I knew. I wasn't sure if he had any other ones.

"Ugh... that means nothing!" He sighed in exasperation.

I stood there laughing while he shook his head. To be honest, it was pretty funny all his nicknames mock him in one way or another.

"Gods... you're so annoying," he groaned, rolling his eyes.

"You still like me though, who else can beat you in a sword fight?" I questioned, crossing my arms with a smirk.

"What? Since when can you beat me?"

"Okay, let's go to the arena and fight then," I challenged, "unless you're scared of losing?"

"Oh, you're on. Race you there!" he yelled before running down the hill towards the arena.

"Hey!" I yelled back to him.


Percy and I were still joking around with each other the next morning as we walked up to Half-Blood Hill to meet Argus and Annabeth.

"I beat you fair and square," I protested.

"No, I tripped you when you swung at me, so I'm the better swordsman."

"Well, I'm the best swordswoman in that case."

He rolled his eyes before we came to a stop at the top of the hill.

I knew Annabeth was still mad at Percy judging by the way I was the only one maintaining a conversation with Argus during the van ride to Manhattan. Of course, the downside is that he isn't much of a talker either.

"So... how'd you sleep? You look pretty tired," I asked Annabeth after my many failed attempts at starting up a conversation.

"Well, I got an Iris Message from Eurytion," she replied, looking uneasy.

Instantly, that got me worried. "Is Nico okay? Did Kronos find him? Does he know we're-"

"Arina, calm down, it's probably not that bad," Percy said in an attempt to calm me down.

"Well, it's kinda bad," Annabeth stated.

"What happened?"

"Nico went missing from the ranch. Eurytion said he woke up and he was gone. Orthus tracked his scent to the cattle guard."

"What?" He couldn't have gone back into the maze, right? He's not that stupid!

"Apparently, he's been talking to himself, but Eurytion thinks it might be Minos."

Now I was more worried. "Doesn't Nico know not to trust him? Minos probably just wants Nico to bring him back to life so he can kill Daedalus!"

"This is why I didn't want to tell you, you would get all worked up and worried." She shook her head, staring down at her lap.

"Well, once I find my brother, I'll yell at him more than we did at Percy yesterday," I vowed to myself, "and there isn't a spot on the whole damn world he can hide from me."

"Woah, chill," Percy said in an attempt to calm me down.

"Nope, I'm dead set on hunting him down. Then, he gets to spend the year in the Underworld with me so he can get lectured by me and Bianca." I had a solid plan now, and I'm gonna drag his sister into this too.

"Wait, you're going back to the Underworld after the summer's over?" he inquired, shocked.

"Yeah, it's my home."

"But, what about camp? I thought you were going to stay."

"Yeah... but there are too many complications between me and the majority of the camp. Most of their campers hate me because I'm the daughter of Hades."

"So? Who cares?" he questioned, "You once told me that it didn't matter what the other campers thought when everyone hated me, remember?"

"Yeah, but they eventually got used to you, sans the Ares cabin of course. And let's not forget like half of the Aphrodite cabin has a crush on you."

Percy's cheeks turned bright red. "W-what?"

"You're such a Seaweed Brain," Annabeth stated, rolling her eyes.

Soon after, we arrived at Percy's apartment, his mom greeting us and embracing her son enthusiastically.

"I knew you were alive, a mother's knowledge is much more powerful than the ability to sense death, no offence, Arina," Ms. Jackson said.

"None taken, Ms. Jackson," I replied as we all sat down in the dining room.

As Percy explained to her the situation, Annabeth and I munched on the strangely blue chocolate chip cookies his mother served us.

He tried making everything seem less terrifying than it was, but I'm sure he made it worse. I think there's no easy way to explain that you cleaned a stable full of man-eating horses, fought several monsters, then blew up a volcano without lying.

"I can get him to clean manure out of a stable, but not his room?" Ms. Jackson exclaimed in exasperation, causing Annabeth and I to laugh.

Then they began talking about Percy's school, which was when I promptly excused myself.

"May I use your bathroom?"

"Yes, it's down the hall," she replied before focussing on her son.

I walked down the hall, which was almost all clean except some stuff leaking out of a room. I knew it was wrong to snoop in someone else's house, so that's why I was quick to pop my head into the room.

The room was blue and had clothes and books strewn everywhere. Immediately, I knew it was Percy's, so I exited quickly to avoid any more invasions of his privacy.

Once I found the bathroom, I turned on the shower. I waited a second before a fine mist of water fell. Afterwards, I threw a drachma into the shower, praying to the goddess Iris.

"Show me Nico di Angelo in the Labyrinth," I whispered.

The mist shimmered before showing my brother huddled beside a fire, a ghostly figure talking to him.

"Minos, get away from my brother, now," I hissed at the ghost, who jumped at my sudden appearance.

"Master! Do not listen to her! She is trying to stop-"

"Shut up and leave us be," Nico ordered the ghost brashly before turning to me. "What do you want? How did you find me?"

"Eurytion told us you ran off," I stated, glaring at him through the mist, "do you understand how worried I've been?"

He slumped his shoulders, crossing his arms in a grumpy way. "Why would you care about me?"

"I'm your sis-"

"No, you're not. You keep on saying it, but you're not. Bianca was my only sister, and you let her die! How can I ever trust you again?"

"I'm worried about you, okay? You run off into the Labyrinth and listen to the advice of the cruellest spirit in the Underworld, how couldn't I be concerned?" I exclaimed, exasperated, "I may not be your blood relative, but we share the same father, and we share the same power."

He refused to make eye contact with me, opting to look at his fire instead, which infuriated me further.

"Nico di Angelo! I don't care how long it takes, but I will hunt you down and teach you a lesson about running away like this! And when I'm done with that, I'm gonna drag you, screaming, crying, whatever, to the Underworld to get yelled by your 'actual' sister!" I warned him.

Now, Nico looked slightly scared. He shifted uncomfortably, glancing at me apprehensively.

"Actually, I bet she already knows about you running off, and she'll be glad I brought you to her."

"Okay, okay... I get it," he seemed frightened of my tone, which made me calm down a bit before continuing.

"I'm gonna go down there soon, okay? Can we just talk this out in person? Please?" I tried to not sound like I was begging, but it was hard not to.

My brother sighed. "Fine, I won't do anything more stupid, I promise."

"Swear it, swear it on the Styx," I ordered firmly.

"F-fine... I swear on the River Styx I won't do anything stupid until you find me," he swore, thunder rumbling in the distance.

"Okay then, I'll see you soon, stay safe." With that, I swiped my hand through the image and turned off the shower.

I glanced in the mirror and saw something odd. At the top of my hair, I noticed my roots turning darker, almost black. Must be my imagination, I shook it off before opening the door and going out to the dining room.

Annabeth was getting up and Percy seemed to have just hung up the phone when I arrived, both of them and Ms. Jackson giving me an odd look.

"Um... I called my brother," I elaborated, rubbing the back of my neck.

"Okay then," Percy stated before hugging his mom goodbye before we all walked out of the apartment, saying our thanks to her as well.

Soon, we met up with Rachel, who was completely painted and dressed in gold, in Times Square. From there, we went to a coffee shop where she got a coffee while the rest of us got smoothies.

"So, Annabell, right?" she turned to Annabeth first.

"Annabeth, and do you usually dress in gold?"

Yep, Annabeth is definitely jealous of her. No doubt about it. Am I like the only one that sees it? It's pretty obvious.

"Not usually, we're raising money for our art program," she answered, "And you're... Arlene?" She turned to me this time.

"Arina," I corrected her.

"Almost bad as Mr. D is with names," Annabeth said under her breath.

"So, you're both half-bloods too?" Rachel inquired, which caused Annabeth to blow up about exposing us.

Okay, she hundred percent hates Rachel. I was right, there's no other reason why she hates everything that comes out of that girl's mouth.

"Guys, calm down," Percy said, trying in a vain attempt to stop a full argument. He then began explaining the situation to Rachel while Annabeth looked irritable the whole time.

"You can see through the Mist, which means you can navigate through the Labyrinth. The maze can't trick you," I explained to her.

"And if you're wrong?"

"Well, then we can all get trapped inside, stuck with Annabeth complaining about you until we die," I stated with a shrug.

"Arina!" Annabeth seemed embarrassed, punching me in the shoulder with a glare.

"Whatever," I replied with an eye roll.

Soon after explaining how Luke is willing to kill her, which begun with how monsters won't attack her and junk. Anyway, we told her what the entrance to the Labyrinth looked like, and much to our surprise, she knew where one of them was.

"It's in the basement," Rachel stated, brushing the gold out of her hair.

Then, we were off again.

We waited for her to change before heading down to the basement of some hotel, finding the symbol and activating entrance quickly. Once inside, we all got a scare when we saw a skeleton of fully grown cyclops draped over the hallway.

"Well, ain't that pleasant..." I grumbled before going forward, navigating purely in the darkness before the others stopped me.

"Um, remember not all of us can travel in the shadows," Annabeth reminded me, flicking on her flashlight and gesturing towards Rachel to guide us.

I saw Percy hang back, still staring at the cyclops with a look of dread on his face.

"It's not Tyson, it's way too big and way too old. I would've known if they died, same with you. You'll be in a coma if Grover died," I pointed out, grabbing his arm and dragging him further into the maze.

We twisted and turned in the corridors, Rachel leading us surprisingly well. Of course, Annabeth questioned her every move and actions despite the fact a literal god told us we needed a clearsighted mortal to help us.

Unfortunately, nothing good ever lasts long. Soon, two dracaenae and an empousa stopped us in our tracks.

"Well, well," the leader of the trio, I presumed, stated with a wicked grin.

Before we could even draw our weapons, the empousa grabbed Rachel and held up her claws to her neck.

"Mortals are incredibly fragile, you know," she said in a threatening way.

Behind us, the footsteps that we were running from grew louder. Turns out, it was a Laistrygonian giant.

"Can I eat them?"

I glared at the monsters before the leader shook her head.

"No, they will provide excellent entertainment. Now go, half-bloods, unless you want this mortal hurt."

We begrudgingly followed the monsters as I tried thinking of a plan, however, that was Annabeth's thing so I couldn't think of anything.

Not long after our capture, we appeared at a large set of bronze doors. Once in front of it, they pushed us all back, except for Percy.

"Go ahead, entertain us, Percy. We'll stay here and watch your friends so you'll behave," the empousa said with a grin.

The rest of us couldn't do anything while they had our weapons and Rachel was at claw-point, so we just stood there and watched Percy go forward.

"I'll get you out of this," he promised Rachel before going forth through the doors.

We were sent in after, but we had guards surrounding us so we couldn't interfere even if we wanted to.

From what I could tell, it was an arena filled with monsters of all sorts and several demigods, much to my surprise. However, I soon realized what was happening judging from the skulls and the familiar blond guy sitting up in the stands.

Kronos' army was trying to get through, and the person who owns this territory wants them to fight their way through, a form of sick entertainment, if you will.

"Luke! Please stop! Let us through!" Annabeth yelled out.

The blond dude, who was, in fact, Luke, looked at her, shocked. "Annabeth?"

Soon after, this ugly giant started ordering Luke to provide better entertainment if they wanted to get through. Turns out, he was Percy's half-brother, so he enjoyed the fact his brother was going to fight to the death with some of Luke's soldiers.

The first that was sent out was a dracaenae who was easily slain by Percy. Of course, this upset the crowd and the giant, whose name was Antaeus.

"Wait for me to order the kill!" Antaeus screamed in outrage while Percy stood defiantly in the arena

The next opponent, however, stunned me. It may have been half a year, but I recognized the eye patch and dark hair immediately. It was the boy I met at the Olympian party, son of Nemesis.

"Who are you?" Percy asked, seeming just as bewildered as me at the sight of a demigod as his new opponent.

"Ethan Nakamura," the guy said, adjusting his armour, "I have to kill you."

"Why are you doing this?"

"It's the only way to join in," he responded before Antaeus ordered them to fight.

They were evenly matched as far as I could tell when they began. Whoever trained him did an excellent job. He managed to parry every strike Percy sent, but the same went for him.

After a bit, Percy began going on defence, angering the crowd as he blocked and dodged only. However, I could see the reason behind it. Ethan was dressed for defence in heavy armour, meaning he'll tire quickly.

Suddenly, Ethan made a poorly aimed jab and his sword was knocked the ground. Before he could react though, Percy hit the butt of his sword against Ethan's head, knocking him to the ground, dazed. Then, Percy put his sword at Ethan's chest.

Antaeus signalled for the killing blow, but instead, Percy helped Ethan up instead.

"No one dishonours the game! Poseidon shall have your heads!" Antaeus bellowed in rage.

"Why don't you fight me? If your Dad's favourite, it'll be easy!" Percy challenged the giant.

Before Antaeus could protest, the crowds grumbled their agreement. He looked around, realizing he couldn't back down in the fight without looking like a coward.

He began boasting about how powerful he was in an attempt to scare Percy, but it didn't work, as far as I could tell. Actually, it looked like it confused him more.

Percy began going over the terms of the fight, saying we all get to pass freely if he succeeds, but we all die if he loses. Then, Antaeus swore it on the Styx.

The giant jumped down as Ethan backed up.

Instead of watching the fight, I called out to him impulsively.

"Ethan!" I whispered/yelled.

He turned at his name, staring at me for a second before his eyes widened. He sidestepped closer, getting scolded by our guards but remaining at a good listening distance.

"You're trying to join Kronos' army?" I exclaimed.

"Yeah... what are you doing here with this lot?" he questioned in return, gesturing towards my friends.

"We're on a quest,"

"Oh... so you're from Camp Half-Blood, aren't you?" He seemed annoyed when he said this.

I raised my eyebrows at his tone. "Yeah, so? I'm a demigod, so are you."

"Hm, at least you finally answered my question. I've been wondering since that party who you were."

I blushed, turning away and seeing Annabeth make a teasing face at me. I mouthed 'shut up' in return.

"Well, whatever..."

"I didn't catch your name though," he pointed out.

"Arina," I replied.

"Got a last name to go with that?"

I rolled my eyes. "Morales," I answered.

However, before we could continue our conversation, yelling turned us back towards the fight unfolding between Percy and Antaeus.

Somehow, that Barnacle Boy got that giant stuck up in the chains above us. When Luke yelled to free him, Percy responded with stabbing the giant in the stomach, sand gushing out of it.

"We're free Luke, he swore it on the Styx," Percy stated.

"Well, his oath dies with him, and I order the rest of you to kill them!" Luke ordered, "Spare the girl though... I n-need to talk to her." He pointed at Annabeth, who was still being held by the giant.

Before anyone could do anything, Percy blew into a whistle that he had in his pocket, it melting the moment after he blew it. That, confused everyone.

Nonetheless, a second later, the giant holding Annabeth flew against the opposite wall and a familiar furry black creature appeared to our aid.

"Guys, let's go!" Percy yelled as Mrs. O'Leary scared off the rest of our guards and threw the empousa onto Luke's lap.

Rachel pointed at the tunnel up ahead. "That way!"

Without a second to lose, we all ran that way, dodging the weapons and rocks being throw at us along the way.

We ran for a while, listening to Rachel yell out orders and leading us through corridor after corridor. Later, we stopped in a large room, all panting and listening to see if we were followed.

"You guys are crazy," Ethan exclaimed, ripping off his helmet. Sweat glistened on his black hair, forcing me to turn away and focus on my rings that reappeared on my fingers.

"I remember you! You were one of the kids in the Hermes cabin a few years back!" Annabeth stated when she got a good luck at him.

"Yeah, and you're Annabeth."

"Why are you trying to join up with the wrong side?" she inquired.

"There's no right side or wrong side. The gods never cared-"

"And blah, blah, blah, we've heard the rant before," I said, stopping him from continuing.

"I'm surprised you're with these guys though," he admitted, staring at me.

"What's that suppose to mean?"

Ethan pushed himself back to a standing position. "I'm not gonna sit here and listen to you guys rant about how the gods and great. I'm leaving."

Percy then tried convincing him to join us, but he denied our request.

"You shouldn't have spared me, Jackson. There's no mercy in this war." With that, he ran back out into the Labyrinth.

(A/N: Okay, I need your guys opinion on something that will drastically change this story. I have a plot idea- no, two ideas. I call them 'Plan A' and 'Plan B', the same as the one I was referring to on my Instagram story. Please, please, PLEASE comment/review which one you want me to go with. I'm seriously stuck on which one and I will love if you suggest one of these two for me.

Please review/comment 'Plan A' or 'Plan B'. I won't say what's in either to not spoil the story. Thank you, and I'll give you a shoutout in my next chapter if you do.)