For some reason, this part of the story is harder to mess with but I will be trying.
I am not sure why...
Just after dawn, the quest group met at Zeus's Fist. Aaron packed his magical knapsack—thermos with a powerful healing potions, baggies of magical creams, a bunch of spelled objects, bedroll, rope, clothes, flashlights, and lots of extra batteries. His bow and quiver were sealed via tattoo on his wrist and his sword and shield were on his bracelets. A new magical hoodie was on his body, masking it from harm. He was ready to enter the Labryinth.
Juniper and Grover stood apart from the group. Juniper had been crying again, but she was trying to keep it together for Grover's sake. She kept fussing with his clothes, straightening his rasta cap and brushing goat fur off his shirt. Since they had no idea what we would encounter, he was dressed as a human, with the cap to hide his horns, and jeans, fake feet, and sneakers to hide his goat legs.
Chiron and Metis stood with the other campers who'd come to wish them well, but there was too much activity for it to feel like a happy send-off. A couple of tents had been set up by the rocks for guard duty. Beckendorf and his siblings and Meggy were working on a line of defensive spikes and trenches, Meggy was going to add all sorts of nasty enchantments to the defensive features. Chiron had decided they needed to guard the Labyrinth exit at all times, just in case.
Annabeth was doing one last check on her supply pack. When Tyson and percy came over, she frowned. "Percy, you look terrible."
"He killed the water fountain last night," Tyson confided.
"What?" she asked.
Before He could explain, Chiron trotted over. "Well, it appears you are ready!"
He tried to sound upbeat, but Aaron could tell he was anxious. Percy suddenly said., "Hey, uh, Chiron, can I ask you a favor while I'm gone?"
"Of course, my boy."
"Be right back, guys." Percy nodded towards the woods and Chiron followed him out of earshot.
Aaron did not ask what he was talking about, instead, he turned to Metis. "How are you holding up?"
She smiled with a warmth only a parent could manage. "I am well, taking care of these youth has helped me greatly. Do not worry about me I will make a full recovery."
"I hope we make it this time... This could be dangerous on a very different scale."
They shared a look, one of pain. "Well, we are better trained since I came here, you made sure the children of Aphrodite are actually well trained. We can do this."
"I only hope we can."
Soon enough, Chiron and Percy returned to them.
"Take care," Chiron told them. "And good hunting."
"You too," Percy said.
They walked over to the rocks, where Tyson and Grover were waiting. Aaron saw the crack between the boulders—the entrance that was about to swallow them.
"Well," Grover said nervously, "good-bye sunshine."
"Hello rocks," Tyson agreed.
And together, the four of them descended into darkness
They made it a hundred feet before they were hopelessly lost. The tunnel was round like a sewer, constructed of red brick with iron barred portholes ever ten feet. Percy shined a light through one of the portholes out of curiosity, but they couldn't see anything. It opened into infinite darkness.
Annabeth tried her best to guide them. She had this idea thatthey should stick to the left wall.
"If we keep one hand on the left wall and follow it," she said, "we should be able to find our way out again by reversing course." Unfortunately, as soon as she said that, the left wall disappeared. They found themselves in the middle of a circular chamber with eight tunnels leading out, and no idea how they'd gotten there.
"Um, which way did we come in?" Grover said nervously.
"Just turn around," Annabeth said.
They each turned toward a different tunnel. It was ridiculous. None of them could decide which way led back to camp.
"Left walls are mean," Tyson said. "Which way now?"
Annabeth swept her flashlight beam over the archways of the eight tunnels. As far as Aaron could tell, they were identical. "That way," she said.
"How do you know?" Percy asked.
"Deductive reasoning."
"So…you're guessing."
"Just come on," she said.
Aaron frowned. "I can see a faint gold light on the floor." They turned to him. "It's very faint but it is there, on the floor in that tunnel... I know that a clear sighted mortal can lead through the maze, wonder if I count even if I learned to see through and wasn't born with the gift?"
Annabeth frowned. "I am a learned sorceress, would that count, I can see through the Mist better than other Demigods?"
"Can you see the Gold Light?"
She turned and frowned, then her eyes lit up. "Faintly, but yeah, it's like an afterimage when you look at light too long! This was indeed!"
The tunnel she'd chosen narrowed quickly. The walls turned to gray cement, and the ceiling got so low that pretty soon they were hunching over.
Tyson was forced to crawl.
Grover's hyperventilating was the loudest noise in the maze. "I can't stand it anymore," he whispered. "Are we there yet?"
"We've been down here maybe five minutes," Annabeth told him.
"It's been longer than that," Grover insisted. "And why would Pan be down here? This is the opposite of the wild!"
They kept shuffling forward. Just when they was sure the tunnel would get so narrow it would squish us, it opened into a huge room. Percy shined his light around the walls and said, "Whoa." The whole room was covered in mosaic tiles. The pictures were grimy and faded, but one could still make out the colors—red, blue, green, gold. The frieze showed the Olympian gods at a feast. There was Poseidon, with his trident, holding out grapes for Dionysus to turn into wine. Zeus was partying with satyrs, and Hermes was flying through the air on his winged sandals. The pictures were beautiful, but they weren't very accurate.
In the middle of the room was a three-tiered fountain. It looked like it hadn't held water in a long time.
"What is this place?" I muttered. "It looks—"
"Roman," Annabeth said. "Those mosaics area bout two thousand years old."
"But how can they be Roman?" I wasn't that great on ancient history, but I was pretty sure the Roman Empire never made it as far as Long Island.
"The Labyrinth is a patchwork," Annabeth said. "I told you, it's always expanding, adding pieces. It's the only work of architecture that grows by itself."
"You make it sound like it's alive."
"It is, in the literal sense Percy." Aaron said.
A groaning noise echoed from the tunnel in front of the,
"Let's not talk about it being alive," Grover whimpered. "Please?"
"All right," Annabeth said. "Forward."
"Down the hall with the bad sounds?" Tyson said. Even he looked nervous.
"Yeah," Annabeth said. "The architecture is getting older. That's a good sign. Daedalus's workshop would be in the oldest part."
Aaron frowned. "Annabeth, who's to say it will be in one motion, remember follow the light, that is our best clue." Then he froze. "I sense a strong presence coming towards us... a Godly presence. There!" They all turned just in time to see a ripple in the air and a man from that ripple.
What Aaron noticed first were his faces. Both of them. They jutted out from either side of his head, staring over his shoulders, so his head was much wider than it should've been, kind of like a hammerhead shark's looking straight at him, all Aaron saw were two overlapping ears and mirror-image sideburns.
He was dressed like a New York City doorman: a long black overcoat, shiny shoes, and a black top-hat that somehow managed to stay on his double-wide head.
"Well, Annabeth?" said his left face. "Hurry up!"
"Don't mind him," said the right face. "He's terribly rude. Right this way, miss."
Annabeth's jaw dropped. "Uh…I don't…"
Tyson frowned. "That funny man has two faces."
"The funnyman has ears, you know!" the left face scolded. "Now come along, miss."
"No, no," the right face said. "This way, miss. Talk to me, please."
Aaron was already done with him. " Janus, enough." The room went quiet and the God glared at Aaron. "I am a student of magic, much like Hecate, I know there is far more than two choices. You are here to cause indecision. Leave, whatever her choice is, it is not up to you to force her to make it now. You cannot force her into it any more than Aphrodite can force one to choose between two lovers. It is a break of divine laws."
"And who are you to tell us that!" Janus said, snarling. "You sorcerers, always mocking my paths! Life is black and white, right and wrong, none of this mamby pamby wishy washy bullshit!" He growled at them, a boring sound. "You cannot stop me here, no matter how powerful you are, sorcerer!"
Aaron stepped closer. "Wanna try me?" He snarled back.
As if to make a point, a brilliant light flooded the room. Janus raised his hands to either side of his head to cover his eyes. When the light died, a woman was standing at the fountain. She was tall and graceful with long hair the color of chocolate, braided in plaits with gold ribbons. She wore a simple white dress, but when she moved, the fabric shimmered with colors like oil on water.
"Janus," she said, "are we causing trouble again?"
"N-no, milady!" Janus's right face stammered.
"Yes!" the left face said.
"Shut up!" the right face said.
"Excuse me?" the woman asked.
"Not you, milady! I was talking to myself."
"I see," the lady said. "You know very well your visit is premature. The Girl's time has not yet come. So I give you a choice: leave these heroes to me, or I shall turn you into a door and break you down."
"What kind of door?" the left face asked.
"Shut up!" the right face said.
"Because French doors are nice," the left face mused. "Lots of natural light."
"Shut up!" the right face wailed. "Not you, milady! Of course I'll leave. I was just having a bit of fun. Doing my job. Offering choices."
"Causing indecision," the woman corrected. "Now be gone!"
The left face muttered, "Party power," then he raised his silver key, inserted it into the air, and disappeared.
The woman turned toward them and Aaron smiled. "HERA!" He hugged her close, and she giggled.
"You ruined my entrance!" She sighed, turning to everyone. "You must be hungry," she said. "Sit with me and talk." She waved her hand, and the old Roman fountain began to flow. Jets of clear water sprayed into the air. A marble table appeared, laden with platters of sandwiches and pitchers of lemonade.
They all quickly started to eat, and Aaron felt that just maybe this quest was not entirely doomed.
Chapter end, tell me what you think in the reviews.
This was a lot of fun. I like the idea of Aaron and Annabeth leading the Maze... it makes sense given their training.
Love, your Ninja Overlord,
Mika.