Chapter 14
Thousand-halled prison
O-O-O-O-O
In an endless prison where the dead walk free
A beast of burden holds the key
The Angel's revenge, the father's curse
An ancient grudge's final verse
A traitor beloved, chained at last,
To the King of Gods from an age long past.
An unsettled silence fell over the campers seated on the benches in the arena as Annabeth finished reciting the prophecy delivered to her by the Oracle. With a proper prophecy for a quest into the Labyrinth, their war council could begin in earnest.
"Sooooo…" Travis Stoll, the Hermes cabin counselor began, breaking the silence. "Endless prison, huh? Seems like a fitting analogy for the Labyrinth. But 'where the dead walk free'? That sounds a bit concerning. Is it just talking about ghosts and ghouls, or something… else?"
"It could be both," Annabeth suggested. "It would make sense that by virtue of being closer to the Underworld, the Labyrinth would have a higher concentration of returned spirits and undead creatures. An escapee from Hades wouldn't be out of the question."
"But what about the line that follows it? 'A beast of burden holds the key'? We already know what the key to the Labyrinth is, it's Ariadne's string. Doesn't that mean that someone already has it? A monster?" Eyes turned towards Percy. "I mean, I'm no stranger to tracking down MacGuffin monsters for quests, but if something already has Ariadne's string, then that means it isn't in Daedalus' workshop anymore."
"But tracking down a monster, in the Labyrinth no less, is practically impossible without a lead." the sword instructor, Quintus, mused. "The workshop still sounds like a good starting point. Best to clear out any dangerous blueprints within before the enemy can find them, at least."
The Athena and Hephaestus cabins grimaced slightly at the idea of ransacking a legendary inventor's workshop just to prevent its priceless secrets from falling into enemy hands. It brought back sour memories of what happened to Archimedes.
"Back on track," Chiron brought their attention back to the matter at hand. "The next two lines give us far less to work with. 'Angel's revenge, the father's curse' and 'An ancient grudge's final verse' are quite vague and do not give that much to go off of. Greek mythology is rife with the curses of fathers, and any grudge formed back then could be considered 'ancient' by our standards." He paused and pondered. "There are spirits known as Karpoi that resemble angelic cherubs, and gods such as the Cardinal Winds and Eros take on forms reminiscent of Angels. It would not be pleasant to be on the receiving end of whatever revenge they have in mind."
"But if we take those lines and consider their relation to the Labyrinth, we could narrow down their possible meanings." Annabeth pointed out. "Think about it. What fathers are involved in the legend of the Labyrinth that would have a reason to place a curse, or hold a grudge? Off the top of my head, Theseus' father King Aegeus, could be holding a grudge against the Labyrinth itself for claiming the lives of his people and eventually leading to his suicide. Daedalus, the maze's actual creator, was imprisoned and lost his son thanks to the maze's failure to kill Theseus. And the King of Crete, Minos, lost his daughter to Theseus. In fact, the Labyrinth itself could be considered a curse Minos placed on his stepson, the Mi- on Asterios."
The campers still hadn't adjusted to calling the Bull of the Labyrinth by his proper name. They had grown up on stories about the savagery of the man-eating Minotaur slain by Theseus and had heard the story about how it had been defeated again by Percy the night he arrived at Camp Half-Blood. Then, when he and Annabeth returned from the quest last winter, they had told stories about their alliance with the monster and referred to him by his birth name, Asterios.
The Hephaestus cabin counselor Beckendorf spoke up. "...And if we take one of those three, we could relate it back to the first line. Maybe one of them could have returned from the dead and is wandering the maze. Maybe Daedalus really is still alive. Or alive again, at least."
"Yeah! And the father's curse; suppose the 'father' is Minos, his curse could be what, um, you know…" Beckendorf's girlfriend, the Aphrodite cabin counselor Silena trailed off. Everyone knew what she meant to say. That the curse of Minos could be what drove Chris Rodriguez to insanity.
A long silence fell over the war council. They did not want to bring up the sensitive topic of Chris again, nor did they want to discuss the final two lines of the prophecy.
A traitor beloved, chained at last
To the King of Gods from an age long past
It was hard to not know what those final lines were in reference to. While there had been many Demigods that had turned their backs on the Camp, none of them were as recognized and beloved by the other campers before their betrayal as Luke Castellan. Luke Castellan, who was now bound in service to Kronos, the King of Gods in the age before the Olympians.
The campers tried their best not to let their eyes drift to Annabeth, who had been the closest to Luke out of everyone present. But there wasn't a trace of the expected anguish on her face. It was stony and resolute, accepting of what she had to do.
"I think we know what to do now." Annabeth broke the silence. "We go into the maze, find Daedalus' workshop and the beast that holds Ariadne's string. Then we get out and build a gods' damned fortress over Zeus' fist. We aren't letting Kronos and his goons just waltz into our home carefree and trample it to nothing. Are you all with me?"
Her words seemed to reinvigorate the sullen campers, returning hope to their spirits. She was right. This was their home, and it was time they took a stand to protect it.
Satisfied by their responses, Annabeth continued. "Obviously, I'll be participating in this quest. Percy. Grover. Tyson. If you're willing, I would be glad to have you as my quest mates."
Percy grinned. "Was there ever any question?" He stood. "I'm in."
"Yeah!" Tyson cried enthusiastically as he stood up alongside his brother. "Let's go blow things up!"
Grover hesitated a little but conceded. "A-alright. I'll do it." He said, putting aside his fear of the underground to join his friends. It could be a good opportunity to seek out Pan.
"Hey." The four questers and the war council ceased their chatter as a voice piped up from the edge of the stadium. As they turned to look, they saw Clarisse marching towards them.
The daughter of Ares was uncharacteristically quiet, though, in light of recent events, people understood why. Her eyes were red, as though she had been crying, and dark circles were forming beneath them indicating a lack of sleep. Her face was halfway pulled into the trademark scowl she wore when she was ticked off but it seemed as though she had given up midway, as though making an angry face was more effort than she cared to put in right now.
The reason for her obvious stress was her return from the Labyrinth, where she had been on a mission from Camp to scout out and collect information on the agents of Kronos lurking within, trying to seek a way into Camp Half-Blood. Aside from the horrors she encountered while within the maze's depths, she had also found Chris Rodriguez, a former camper turned agent of Kronos. The Demigod had gone insane from some lingering curse in the Labyrinth, and Clarisse had been caring for him ever since. There were lulls between his states of madness, and it seems like she had taken one of the few breaks she could to join the war council as they wrapped up.
"Oh! Clarisse, you made it. I… didn't think you wanted to participate in this quest." Annabeth said in surprise.
"I don't," Clarisse growled. After the things she had seen down there, not even the tough, aggressive daughter of the War God wanted to return to the Labyrinth's depths. "But I'm not just going to let you little runts run off down that hellhole without help. I know a guy, and I'm going to give him a call. Once you're down there, he'll meet up with you soon to lend a hand in navigating that place."
"Clarisse, is that really wise?" Chiron questioned with a look of concern. "Calling in outside help for a quest… there's no way that can end well."
"Tch. There's no point in not calling him. He'd probably just get swept up in our business eventually anyway. I'm surprised you don't know who I'm talking about."
"Well, who are you talking about?" Percy asked. "And how in Hades is he going to track us down while we're in the Labyrinth?"
Clarisse rolled her eyes. "Whatever. You'll find out later. Just go get your rear in gear Prissy, I've got Iris-messages to make."
With that, the war council was dismissed and everyone returned to their camp activities. The questing party was leaving the arena when Clarisse stopped them.
"Clarisse? Is there something else you wanted to say?" Annabeth asked.
Clarisse's face seemed to have deepened its scowl from before. She almost seemed… angry. "Yeah." Clarisse cleared her throat slightly before continuing. "Listen, there's… well you guys said there was a chance that Daedalus came back to life."
"It could be Minos." Annabeth reminded.
"Yeah, same thing." Clarisse dismissed. "The point is, you're going to end up finding one of the fuckers responsible for building the damn Labyrinth down there. And when you do…" Her face twisted into a snarl. "...Kill that son of a bitch. Make sure he doesn't escape alive."
Percy and Annabeth were taken aback by Clarisse's bloodlust. It was normal for children of Ares to be aggressive, but… this wasn't aggression. This was hatred.
"Clarisse…" Annabeth began cautiously. "If Daedalus is alive, he could- he could be holding onto countless secrets. Innovations in science and magic that have been lost to time! Killing him would-"
"You won't be able to use any of it." Clarisse interrupted. "Listen, Annabeth. That maze- that thing is pure evil. Its sole purpose is to bring ruin and misery to any living creature that sets foot inside of it. It's malice incarnate, and only someone just as evil as it is could build it. You do not want the knowledge of whoever made that hellhole."
"Clarisse, is this about Chris?" Percy stepped in. "Do you want revenge on Daedalus because of what he did to him?"
If looks could kill, the son of Poseidon would be dead on the spot. It seemed that even in the modern day, daughters of Ares and sons of Poseidon still could never reconcile their differences.
Clarisse inhaled deeply, trying her hardest to hold back from punching Percy's head off his shoulders. "This isn't about revenge- this is about what's right and what's wrong." A growl that built in her throat finally released in a roar. "-Because who the hell builds a deathtrap like that to imprison a child?!"
Shortly after the events of The Titan's Curse
Clarisse uttered every curse in the English and Greek languages she knew as she hobbled down the dark corridors as fast as she could with another person hanging over her shoulder. Leaning off of her was Chris, who had wandered back into the maze of the Labyrinth.
"Damn it," She thought. "This is all my fault." She had thought that Chris was too exhausted to wander anywhere far on his own, at least not far enough for her to lose him. But she had underestimated the curse of madness that had taken control of his mind. It compelled him, forcing him to move and fall back into the depths of the maze. It would never let him go now that he was under its spell. Not until he had become part of the maze itself. Not until he had become what their pursuers were.
Behind the two Demigods, death followed. A horde of undead creatures, ranging from skeletal beasts to shambling zombies and howling wraiths. Souls and bodies corrupted by the dark magic lingering in the Labyrinth, seeking to add the fleeing pair to their ranks. Fortunately, they were slow. Skeletons would fall apart and put themselves back together constantly, and undead corpses could only move as fast as their rotten muscles would allow them. Even the spirits seemed slowed, caught up in the mass of evil magic that animated the dead bodies that they were forced to remain stuck in the crowd like a car in a traffic jam.
But with the moaning, hallucinating Demigod hanging off her shoulder, Clarisse could only marginally keep ahead of them. If she were to drop him, she could flee at a leisurely pace, but…
No. She refused to leave Chris behind. He had only turned his back on the gods because no one was there for him to begin with! If she could give him this second chance- If she could save him, she could prove that he was a good person at heart all along. Like the Chris she knew before…
Clarisse was starting to feel the exhaustion of running while carrying a person. If she had to keep this up, the undead mob behind her would eventually get them. But unfortunately, it seemed like it wouldn't even come to that. Looming before Clarisse as she turned a corner in the dark halls of the Labyrinth was a dead end.
Clarisse stared at the wall in silence, as though hoping she could wither it away by glaring at it hard enough. As the groans and howls of the undead grew louder behind her, she stashed those hopes away. Crouching down, she laid Chris upright against the dead end gently, all while the boy murmured nonsensical words and gibberish. Assuring that he wouldn't fall and hit his head when left on his own, Clarisse drew her enchanted spear, Maimer, and turned to face the approaching wave of ghouls.
The horde tumbled around the corner, unleashing a hellish shriek as they caught sight of their prey. Clarisse responded with a roar of her own, the blood of Ares rousing within her and pumping through her veins as she made her last stand. Just like Leonidas I at the battle of Thermopylae, she faced the advancing army with nothing but a spear and her own courage. Now was the time to lay down her life and show these rotting puppets what a child of Ares was capable of!
The monsters had barely entered her range when she flicked Maimer out like a chameleon's tongue, its bronze point tearing through the ghostly body of a wraith. Although the evil spirit was incorporeal, the magical nature of celestial bronze and the enchantment of electricity allowed the spear to strike true nonetheless, the ghost letting out a wrathful final hiss as its form dispersed.
Once more, Clarisse thrust Maimer out, impaling a zombie. Though most of the creature's body was obsolete and would not suffer at all from a spear wound, the electricity discharged from the spear's enchantment coursed through the corpse, forcing the dark magics animating it out and rendering the ghoul into a charred, unmoving cadaver.
Clarisse stabbed at the mob again and again, becoming a storm of spear thrusts as her enchanted weapon felled monster after monster. But for each one she slew, three more only filled the gap they left. The horde approached closer and closer, only slowed slightly by the furious assault of the Demigod.
Biting out a silent curse as she shifted a step back, Clarisse cautioned a glance over her shoulder. Chris, still unconscious, had stopped muttering to himself. In this state, he seemed… peaceful. Untroubled by his curse or the loneliness and bitterness that had driven him away from Camp Half-Blood. If Clarisse fell here… He would never know the peace he was feeling right now. His last moments would be spent in a deep slumber, never knowing what it would be like to be cared for and loved by family and friends.
With a snarl of defiance, the daughter of Ares renewed her assault on the enemy, slashing and stabbing like a hurricane. Lightning crackled and illuminated the dark halls, Maimer pulsing with power as if responding to her desperation. Spirits were scattered, bones cracked and broke, limbs went flying, and flesh charred as Clarisse LaRue tore through the horde with fury. But even with her second wind, it was not enough. Every second she spent fighting, more monsters would be drawn to her position. There was no way out, not as the endless tides of the undead surged towards her.
But, alongside the ghouls that converged onto her final stand in hopes of a fresh kill, something else had taken notice of the struggle and was advancing towards the source of the commotion.
Something big.
The halls began to shake slightly as that big something made its way to the Demigod through the passages of the labyrinth. The ghosts and ghouls that were also advancing to the half-blood's position paid no mind to the sound even as it approached directly behind them. It didn't smell like a Demigod, after all. Not even human.
And for their ignorance, those ghosts and ghouls were trampled underfoot as the creature lumbered over them. Before the great beast, undead were squashed flat or smacked into the walls as it brushed aside anything that stood in its way. The closer it got to the location of the Demigod's final stand, the thicker the crowds of corpses grew, cramming themselves into the halls of the Labyrinth to take a piece out of the daughter of Ares. The crowds had gotten so thick, in fact, that it would have been impossible for the great beast to smack them aside or step on them.
No matter.
In a flash, zombies and skeletons tumbled into body parts and ghosts vanished into thin air as a pair of blades ripped through them like an explorer's machete through the foliage of a jungle. The blades swung back and forth methodically, pulping corpses and clearing the way for the beast to advance.
Eventually, the beast reached the bend in the tunnels that led to the dead end the Demigod currently fought in. The hordes of undead had grown so thick that they squished themselves up against the sealing, with flashes of blue light from Clarisse's electricity filtering through the tiniest of gaps in the mass of writhing limbs.
On her side of the wall of death, Clarisse was finally reaching her limit. She didn't know how long she had been fighting for, but she knew that there was no way she was going to beat the endless tide of bodies that crammed the hallway shut in front of her. Her grip on Maimer tightened as she let loose one final warcry from her sore throat and lunged at the wall of corpses-
-Only for it to explode and send limbs and bones scattering around her. A hiss permeated the Labyrinth as the masses of the dead were returned to the Underworld. As the final cry of the spirits faded, only the crackle of Maimer's lightning and the distant whistling of the wind in the tunnels could be heard. Slowly, ever so slowly, Clarisse lifted her spear upwards, the glow of celestial bronze and the sparks of electricity illuminating the silhouette of the colossal figure that stood before her silently. As she gazed into the abyss, the abyss stared back with eyes of burning red.
"Hi," Asterios said, looking down at the Demigod. "Do you need help?"
O
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The peculiar trio settled around a makeshift campfire in the halls of the Labyrinth with little conversation. Despite their initial confrontation, Clarisse had been quite trusting of Asterios.
Well, she did try stabbing him when they first met. But she apologized for that!
Asterios, Clarisse, and the still-maddened Chris had been wandering the maze for… Well, it almost seemed like a day. Maybe more. "Time moves differently down here." Asterios had said. Right now, it was time to rest. As urgent as leaving the maze was, Clarisse did not have his monstrous endurance and needed to check up on her delirious companion every now and then. Gathering material for a campfire had been a matter of salvaging broken wooden scraps and spent torches and sweeping them into a pile while using whatever splinters and cobwebs he could as firestarters. Clarisse had used a match to light the debris pile.
While he was gathering wood salvage, Asterios had also happened upon an unruly Pit Scorpion, who he crushed and brought back to where the Demigods rested. With the fire lit, he held the crushed monster's carapace over the flames, hoping to grill the meat within. Clarisse glanced at the strange monster who had offered to guide her out of the maze as he narrowly avoided splattering the scorpion's… juices over the fire.
"I didn't think you could eat those." She grunted. Out of her backpack, she removed a can of ravioli and set to prying it open with a dagger.
"It's weird." He admitted. "Usually they crumble to dust when you kill them, but whenever I kill another monster when I'm hungry, they stay behind. Kind of like when heroes claim trophies."
"No, not that." With a bit of frustration, she managed to cut a jagged opening into one end of the can. "It's a scorpion. A monster scorpion. That thing has to be poisonous, right?"
Asterios shrugged. "That's why I'm cooking it." Sticking a finger into the mushy flesh of his prey, he gave it a taste. Not bad. "I used to eat nothing but rats and dead bodies down here, but they weren't poisonous. Ever since I died I guess a bunch of monsters moved in. And now there's a bunch of new entrances everywhere."
Clarisse grimaced at the mention of the Minotaur eating bodies. "Dead bodies, huh?" She wanted to avoid antagonizing what could be her only ticket out of this hellhole, but she couldn't leave that alone.
"Hm," Asterios answered in a much quieter voice. "When I was little, they never gave me food. So I started hunting the rats and eating whatever bugs I could find. But when I got bigger… I was always so hungry. I can't remember when, but eventually, other people started being put in this maze. I could hear their voices, always crying out for help and begging someone to save them. I called out too, even if I couldn't say a word. I never managed to find any of them… well, not until it was too late at least."
Asterios gave the scorpion meat another taste. Deeming it done, he removed it from over the fire and tucked in. He was a messy eater, like a little kid whose parents never taught him table manners being given their favorite cake. Clarisse hadn't exactly grown up in a model home environment either, so she empathized a little… but that didn't stop it from being a little bit uncomfortable. Did he really have to be so loud when he ate?
Her unsettled gaze was noticed by Asterios. Looking down at his food and back to her, he stopped eating. "Do you want some?" He offered, holding out the carapace like a bowl.
"Ah, uh, no thanks."
"Are you sure?" He asked, gesturing to the can Clarisse held. "That doesn't look like a lot between the two of you."
It wasn't. The can she held and a bottle of water were all they had in terms of rations. She hadn't expected she'd be wandering back into the Labyrinth and hadn't stocked up her backpack with the supplies necessary to keep her alive while she found the exit. And with Chris to take care of as well…
"We just need to get out of here quickly. You can help us with that, right?" She asked in return.
His eyes lit up. "Yeah! I can help. You can count on me!" He responded with determination, and what seemed like eagerness. "We'll rest for a bit longer so you and your friend can eat. Then we'll set out. The closest exit is a bit far from here, but I can get you there no problem!"
Clarisse almost raised an eyebrow. He seemed like a kid excited to be sent off on his first errand, a mental image that starkly contrasted his hulking frame. The black and red eyes that would normally seem sinister and monstrous oozed the sort of sincerity one would find in a dog, which of course helped her ease into the idea of trusting the gods-damned Minotaur to lead her out of the Labyrinth. Well, whether it was the man-eating monster depicted in legends or the gentle giant sitting before her, neither of them really gave off the vibe of a scheming backstabber anyhow.
Finishing their food and feeding as much of it to the delirious Chris as he could eat, the trio set out into the dark tunnels once more. Asterios offered to carry Chris, telling her it would be a burden off her shoulders. Clarisse declined, arguing that he couldn't afford to be distracted since he was their navigator. She didn't completely trust him, not yet. It wasn't exactly easy to forget that the hulking creature leading her around had a taste for human flesh after all, dead or not.
But she was glad to have a guide nonetheless. The maze itself was maddening, the air growing thin and stale in some places, with corridors abruptly leading to dead ends or pitfalls. Clarisse could have sworn that they had reached a specific crossroads several times already, but Asterios just shook his head.
"It does that sometimes," he explained. "Takes parts from somewhere else and crams them into the tunnels in front of you, to make you second-guess yourself. It wants you to think that you can't trust your own judgment."
Clarisse's brow crinkled. "Then how the hell do you find your way out?" she asked.
Asterios' gaze hardened. "You don't." Seeing Clarisse tense up behind him, he elaborated. "You're not meant to leave this place, but it's not impossible to escape. Underneath big landmarks and cities, there are more big chambers and exits and points where the Labyrinth melds with the sewers. Big chambers aren't likely to be moved around, so they stay in the same place and can work as checkpoints. But here?" Asterios said, gesturing to the hall around them. "Inbetween the big cities and towns, it's just tunnels. They all look the same, and it's easier to get lost. Never enter the Labyrinth through an entrance in the woods or countryside, or you'll be stuck forever."
"So that's where you're taking us," Clarisse realized. "You're bringing us underneath a city."
Asterios nodded. "Yup. The closest and biggest one nearby should be New Or-leh, uh, or-lee-"
"New Orleans."
"...yeah. Sorry. I'm still getting used to names."
They continued their travel for a bit before Clarisse spoke again. "You said that a bunch of monsters started living here after you died. What's with that? Shouldn't we have seen some more by now?"
"Not really." Asterios shrugged. "They make their nests in the maze, it's their new habitat. So they usually stick to the big chambers where they can access exits and other prey easily. Out here in the tunnels, you're only likely to find a stray-"
Asterios froze solid. Every muscle in his body seemed to tense at once as he began to swing his head around wildly, searching for the source of a sound Clarisse couldn't hear.
"What is it? Why are you-" Before Clarisse could finish her sentence, she felt a wall of flesh slam into her as Asterios whisked her and Chris off their feet and bolted down another tunnel. With the wind knocked out of her, she couldn't even yell at the monster for grabbing her as he sprinted down the corridor and leaping down one of the pitfalls they passed. Holding the two Demigods in one arm, Asterios dug his fingers into the side of the pit, slowing their descent before they came to a crash at the bottom.
"What in Hades was that for?!" Clarisse hissed when they came to a stop. "Why did you-" A massive hand clamped down over her mouth before she could berate her guide. Asterios' eyes peered desperately into her own, the ominous crimson orbs wide with panic.
"Please." He whispered. "Quiet." He removed his hand from her mouth and the daughter of Ares obliged. All was silent in the pit before Clarisse could make out a very faint sound growing louder ever so slightly.
woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
The sound of something gliding through the air. Even as it approached, the sound barely got louder. Eventually, whatever it was passed over the pit they hid in, and the sound of its wings got quieter and quieter.
Clarisse and Asterios remained silent for a little while longer until the Demigod saw her monster companion's shoulders relax.
"What in Hades was that thing?" Clarisse whispered, still not raising her voice. Asterios looked back at her. He seemed almost ashamed of how scared he was of the gliding creature.
"...I don't know," he mumbled. "It isn't like any kind of monster I've heard of. It's a kind of monster that only seems to live in places like here. Places where no hero would wander to fight them. Or at least, where no hero would wander and come back alive."
"An unknown monster?" That idea didn't sound too ludicrous to Clarisse. Plenty of monsters were either too unimportant to be recognized or lived in places where no one would ever find them. But in the modern day, if a monster was that obscure and unrecognized, they would normally fade… and after that, the only place you would be able to find them would be in the pits of Tartarus itself.
"We have to go, now." Asterios hissed. "They are looking for us."
"Don't you mean looking for me? They wouldn't go after another monster if they could capture a couple of Demigods instead, right?"
Asterios shook his head urgently. "No. They are after me as well. Killing one wouldn't be an issue, but others will hear. If they're out here hunting us, they aren't withholding their numbers." Asterios gazed back up the pitfall. "Climb on my back and don't let go until I say so. I'm going to sprint for the nearest chamber."
Clarisse hoisted the unconscious Chris onto Asterios' back, tangling his hands and feet into the monster's bushy mane. She climbed on behind him, hoping to pin him between her own body and the bull-man's back to keep him steady. With both the Demigods on board, Asterios began to ascend the pitfall, digging his hands into the earth and stone, wincing with every sound that could draw the creatures to his location.
The bull and his passengers reached the top of the pitfall once more, and Asterios strained his hearing searching for a tunnel that did not have any enemies hiding in it. Clarisse could feel her heart beating in anticipation, and she couldn't tell whether the sound in her ears was the whoosh of a gliding monster or the blood pounding in her head.
"...Are you holding on tightly?" Asterios asked the Demigod on his back. Clarisse nodded silently. With a grunt of acknowledgment, the monster of the Labyrinth exploded down a tunnel, his feet stamping down on the stone beneath like the beating of a drum. Over the thumping of his feet, Clarisse could faintly hear the sounds of a creature- no, many creatures behind them. The soft whoosh of gliding was replaced by frantic flapping, and the skittering of countless tiny claws accompanied the screeching and braying that filled the corridors behind them.
Clarisse's fists tightened into a death grip as Asterios took a sharp turn, nearly throwing her off and causing Chris to lurch beneath her. The cacophony was no longer just behind them, a new sound echoed from every tunnel around, adding to the maddening choir of demonic shrieks. Asterios turned and weaved through countless tunnels, and for each one they passed by, Clarisse swore she could see the faintest outline of some unnamed abomination as they blurred past.
But they were approaching the end. Clarisse noticed that they were on a slight incline, taking a tunnel leading upwards toward the surface. But even still, the shrieks were getting louder and louder.
At last, they broke into an open chamber. It looked like a dried-up sewer, mixing the architecture of an old Greek building and the dingy tunnel of an urban underground. Asterios' feet ground to a halt, and the bull-man plucked the two Demigods from his mane and set them down.
"You need to run, now." he said as he gently slung Chris' arm over Clarisse's shoulder. "There should be an exit down that hall at the end of the chamber. Don't come back down here. It will never be safe for you."
"What about you? Why are you staying?!"
"I'm going to fight." He answered, turning away from her. "I could win against them- I feel like I have a good chance. But I can't protect someone at the same time."
"Like hell!" Clarisse snarled. "I'm not some scared little kid who needs someone to stick up for her. I'm a daughter of Ares, damn it!"
Asterios shot a quick glance back at her. "But there's something more important than that, isn't there?" his eyes drifted to the slowly stirring Chris. "Go. This isn't your fight, but that is your friend. I'll be fine."
Clarisse hesitated. Her pride screamed at her to stand and fight, but the weight hanging off her shoulder told her to run.
"...Thank you." Clarisse finally spoke. "Minotaur- no, Asterios. A child of Ares will never forget their brothers-in-arms. I will remember this, and I'll remember you."
Asterios couldn't stop a smile from forming on his face as he readied Labrys. "Then I'll make sure there's someone for you to remember. Go!"
Clarisse turned and hobbled away, dragging her friend on her shoulder. She entered the tunnel and climbed the stairs within, leading up to the surface, and the end of this nightmarish maze. Behind her, she heard the cacophonous shrieks reach a crescendo as the monsters arrived, only for them to be drowned out by something far louder.
▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅!
"Goodbye. Thank you for everything, Asterios."
Present day
Asterios…
Wake up Asterios…
"Asterios, wake up."
The giant white hairball stirred as a familiar voice called its name. The monster-man unfurled from his sleeping position and stretched, rearing up to his colossal height and shaking off the last vestiges of sleep.
"Clarisse…?" Asterios' eyes brightened as he realized that the daughter of Ares was indeed Iris-messaging him. "Oh, Clarisse!" Like an excited puppy, he bounced up to face the shimmering screen that had appeared over him in the small chamber he had claimed for himself in the Labyrinth. "You haven't called in a while! How are you doing?" Just as quickly as his excitement came, it was replaced by worry. "Something bad didn't happen to Chris, right?"
A pained expression came over the Demigod's face. "...He hasn't gotten better."
Asterios was crestfallen. "I'm… so sorry to hear that. Is there anything I can do to help?"
"Actually, there might be." He perked up. "Listen to me closely, Asterios. I have a job for you…"
Cing Krimson's Qringe Korner: Happy early New Years' gift! Or happy late Christmas? Or late… everything…
Oh…
Okay, in my defense, everyone always says that the first year of University is the hardest. I can't be like those fanfic writers who upload on their wedding nights or immediately after giving birth, okay?!
…But, at the same time, six months is… pretty unforgivable. So I'd like to apologize for that. I had actually written the Camp Half-Blood portion of this chapter immediately after uploading the last chapter, but things happened and I got so sidetracked that I never got back to it. I wanted to finish and upload this chapter on December 7th, the 1-year anniversary of this fic (JESUS, 1 YEAR ALREADY?) but I… had a depressive period then? And I was studying for my exams. Not a good combination.
I can't make any promises on an upload schedule, I understand that now. But still, I love writing, and while my heart lies in original stories, fanfics are a wonderful way to train my writing skills that I never want to stop doing. So truly, thank you for all your feedback, be it a criticism or a simple compliment. It may be a while before the next chapter, or it may not. Who knows? One day, I hope I can put a pleasant surprise in your inbox.
Thank you, all of you, for reading The Bull of Heaven.