Chapter 7

Trapped

"Can anybody hear me? What's going on?"

Jim struggled and tried to get out of the ropes, but they only seemed to tighten around him the more he moved. He glanced around the small room to see if there was something that could help him, anything with a sharp edge, but no; just bare walls with four dim lamps attached to them. There weren't even any doors or windows. He was all alone, locked up in a room with no way out and he would either suffocate to death or die from starvation and dehydration.

He let his head fall back on the floor and closed his eyes. He took a few deep breaths, reminding himself that this wasn't the first time he had been in a situation like this. He would make it through this, just like the last dozen times. A hysterical outburst of laughter escaped his mouth. Somehow he always managed to get himself into situations like this. It wasn't even his fault this time, really. He had thought he would stop getting into trouble after he had quit being a rebellious young teenager and become a military cadet, but the trouble always seemed to find him no matter what.

"I'm not going to let an unfair god take my life away so easily!" Jim muttered. He rolled onto his other side to get a better view of the room. If the lamps were a bit brighter it would be easier to… The lamps!

He wormed himself closer to one of the lamps, and it looked just low enough to be within his reach. He settled himself so that he was lying on his back on the floor legs up against the wall, and he started giving strong kicks to the lamp above him. The glass didn't give up easily, but after persistent hammering it finally shattered. His mouth stretched into a big grin as the pieces of the glass rained on him and on the floor.

Jim tried to move as carefully as he could, but he still got cuts on his back and cheek from the shards, making him grit his teeth. He reached out as far behind as he could with ropes tied around his wrists and arms, and soon his hand met with a shard that felt big enough to cut ropes with. Sweat started to form on his forehead as he sawed the rope, and he grunted when he accidentally cut the palm of his hand.

"Yes!" Jim cheered as he felt the rope around his wrists snap. "Two more left to go."

It was easier to cut the ropes around his arms and legs, and he finally got to rub the painful bruises and pick out the shards that had dug into his skin. Sweat trickled down his back as he got up, and he wiped away the hair that had stuck to his face. When had it gotten so hot? It wasn't like he had done that much exercise while trying to break free either. Jim decided to worry about it later – maybe it would cool down after a while. His number one priority was to find a way out.

He patted carefully each wall through, trying to find a mechanism of some sort. He checked every corner, every little inch that might have a way to freedom. He jumped on the floor and pushed the ceiling, and he even tried magic words like 'open sesame'. Then he started hitting the walls with his fists.

The earlier feeling of relief started to fade, and a pounding heart and shaking hands started creeping up on him instead. The hot air felt suffocating and burned his throat, and Jim had to sit down. There really was no way out. He rubbed his temples, trying to remember all of the instructions on building a solar surfer.

"Attach the metal pieces together with bolts… Next comes the engine…"

Halfway down the instructions he felt calm enough to start thinking logically again. He wasn't alone here; Sinbad, Kida and Milo were probably looking for him right now. They wouldn't leave him here since he was one of the few on this planet who knew how to use the map and was familiar with space. He would just have to wait.

Sinbad ran into another dead end. How big was this labyrinth? He didn't have time to run around like a headless chicken! He didn't even know if he would find Jim. He could be in Kida's part of the labyrinth, and that would make his running worth nothing.

"Just let him be okay," Sinbad pleaded with one of the stone walls. He started hurrying down the path again, looking for any signs that would guide him to the right direction. There were scratches and cracks in the walls from time to time like someone had hit them with something heavy or tried to climb up, but he ran past them without a second thought. He only stopped when he felt something crack under his feet.

"What the hell?" The slimy, grime lightning shining on the labyrinth didn't give him that much light, but when he moved his foot he could clearly make out a shape of a broken bone. He looked around him and was shocked to see more bones scattered around here and there. Two meters ahead of him was a bashed human skull.

Sinbad reached for his sword, listening intensively if anyone – or anything – was near him. The silent eeriness and the endless corners and possibilities of something dashing towards him kept him on his toes as he moved painfully slowly forward, eyeing anything that looked suspicious. Hades hadn't said anything about human-eating monsters being down here with him, but on the other hand, wasn't that just like him? Sinbad snorted with annoyance. He reminded himself for a hundredth time to find a way to kill the god after all of this was over.

Something moved somewhere near him, and Sinbad pressed himself flat against a wall. It was cold against his skin, making a shiver ran through him. A drop of sweat rolled down his face as he heard slow, heavy steps thumping against the ground, followed with a metal clank.

"Okay, Sinbad, take it easy," he muttered to himself, "the thing hasn't noticed you yet. Maybe you can stay in the shadows until it's gone."

The steps came closer to him, and then they stopped. Sinbad waited and listened, holding his breath. It seemed to be just behind the wall he was pressed against. The steps continued away from him, and Sinbad exhaled.

"I'm so not going to stay here and wait until it finds me." Sinbad peeked around the corner he had been hiding behind, sprinting towards the opposite direction of where the creature – or whatever it was; Sinbad didn't want to find out – had gone. He saw more broken skeletons lying on the ground, and some of their arms and legs were missing. Sinbad tried not to think about the horrible death that would probably await for him if he got caught.

"I wonder if these people came here looking for something too."

Sinbad continued on his way, glancing behind his shoulder every once in a while just in case. He couldn't be too careful. The last thing he needed was a monster slowing him down by chasing him or ripping him apart.

He turned left in the next intersection and saw light shining ahead of him. His steps fastened and soon he was running, desperate to get to the source of the light as fast as he could. The light was coming out of a round-shaped room, and a wave disappointment washed over Sinbad when he saw that the room was empty.

"Fuck!" Sinbad punched the nearest wall. "Where could Hades have hidden him?"

He started walking back to the path, trying to think of all the possible places to hide a human. It was then that he heard muffled banging coming from the room he had been in, which made him do a 180 degree turn and rush back there. The banging stopped when he stepped in, but this time he would make sure he didn't miss anything.

"Hello? Jim?" he called, eyeing the room. A short yelp came from underneath him, and he dropped his gaze down with confusion. He hadn't noticed it before, but there was a stony trapdoor on the floor, blending in with the rest of the tiles so good it was easy to not see it.

"Sinbad?" a muffled voice said back. Sinbad dropped down onto his knees to get closer to the voice, trying to pry the trapdoor open. It didn't even budge. There was a small keyhole on it, and Sinbad cursed himself for not examining his surroundings on his way earlier when he had come here. The key could be anywhere.

"It's me! Are you alright? Are you hurt?" Sinbad went through his pockets to find something to pick the lock with, and luckily he found two pieces of thick wire.

Jim went silent for a while, and horrible images of him passing out from the heat went through Sinbad's head until he answered: "I'm fine." Another moment of silence. "I never thought I would say this, but I'm glad to hear your voice."

"Oh, yeah?" Sinbad inserted the pieces of wire into the lock, twisting and turning them to find the right angle. One of them got stuck, and when he tried to pull it out, it snapped in half. "Shit!"

"What now?" Jim sounded worried.

"I tried to pick the lock on this trapdoor but the other one of my wires broke. I have to get the key somewhere."

"There's a trapdoor? I can't see it from here. Where even am I?"

Sinbad dug up the broken piece of wire from the lock, throwing it away. He would have to find better tools for lock-picking later. "You're underground inside a labyrinth. And there's also a human-eating monster walking around here somewhere."

"Of course there is. Hades couldn't pass up the chance to fuck-up people's lives even more, could he?"

"I suppose not," Sinbad chuckled, but then his voice got serious. "Will you be okay? I don't want to leave you alone here, but I have to go and search for the key."

"Don't worry about me," Jim reassured. "Just… try to hurry up, okay? It's kind of warm in here."

"I promise I'll be back soon."

Sinbad got up and glanced towards the trapdoor one more time before he started running again. He had no time to waste. He was relieved that Jim was still alive, but for how long? He had been down there for at least an hour, so the room being 'warm' was probably a big understatement.

Sinbad's eyes stayed on the ground the whole time as he ran. He stopped to check the skeletons on his way, and none of them seemed to have anything. He furrowed his brows.

"If they don't have any of their stuff with them anymore, something must have taken them. And that something could also have the key somewhere."

He took a moment to gather himself together, and then he followed the path which he remembered the creature had gone.

Kida led the way with Milo trailing behind her, still carrying some of his stuff (he had had to leave almost everything back to the cave before entering the Underworld, but he had wanted to keep at least one bag). Neither was in the mood for talking, but it didn't take long for Milo to open his mouth.

"I'm- I'm sorry for this." His gaze dropped on the ground.

Kida looked behind her with confusion written all over her face. "Sorry for what?"

"It's my fault for telling you about how to get here. I thought I was helping you but instead I got all of us in danger and now Jim is – "

"Stop right there," Kida turned around, holding her hand up. She put both of her hands on Milo's shoulder, staring deep into his eyes. "If this is anyone's fault, it's mine. I was the one who decided to come here. I'm the one responsible, so don't you dare to blame yourself, okay?"

Milo sighed. "I just… I don't want anyone to get hurt. We should hurry."

Kida nodded, starting to walk beside Milo this time. She looked at him from the corner of her eye, wondering how he could have remained so sweet and soft after all these years. He had lost his parents before he even knew them properly and was raised by his grandfather, who Kida had become very close friends with, too, before his death. They both had been a part of her family.

"I'm sorry for leaving you alone all those years ago," Kida apologized. "I wanted to get away from the small town and the mundane life I lived. I always wondered after that how you would manage on your own without anyone being there to protect you, but seems like I was worried for nothing."

"No, it's… I… understand. I wish I had had the same courage as you," Milo laughed, scratching his nose. "But I'm just a regular guy who only knows how to translate books and draw maps. Maybe adventures aren't for me." His shoulders slumped.

"You're wrong, Milo James Thatch!" Milo's eyes widened at Kida's sudden outburst. "I've always admired your knowledge. You're strong, and kind, and smart. If you hadn't been there for me when my father died… Who knows what I would have done." Kida took Milo's hand in hers, squeezing it encouragingly. "We're going to get out of here alive. All of us."

Milo smiled genuinely for the first time in a long time, and he nodded at his friend's words. He understood why the pirates had chosen Kida as their captain.

"Did you hear that?" Kida changed the subject. Milo tried to listen to his surroundings, but nothing drew his attention, so he shook his head. The female captain's mouth turned slightly downwards as she concentrated.

"What did you hear?" Milo asked.

"I'm not sure. It was like thudding or something. I don't hear it anymore so maybe it was nothing." She didn't believe her own words, but she didn't want Milo to feel uneasy by thinking about it too much. "Let's just keep moving."

Kida kept her eyes open for anything unusual. If there was something there with them, she could probably fight it, but protecting another person besides herself was a completely different thing.

"Are you sure it was nothing? You seem, uh, tense. And your grip is, er, kind of… crushing…"

Kida realized she had been squeezing Milo's hand a little bit too hard, and she let it quickly go. "Oh no, I'm sorry!"

Milo brushed it off with a short laugh, but he looked somewhat worried.

They were both startled when the thudding started again, and this time Milo could hear it too. It was fast and sounded like a giant elephant running towards them. A low roar made them jump out of their skin, and Kida pushed Milo back down the path to one of the dead ends. The shadows would hopefully provide enough cover for them to go unnoticed by whatever the thing was.

Kida stood in front of Milo, facing the opening and being ready to fight if the thing noticed them. The ground shook as the heavy steps came closer, slowing down but not stopping. Milo gulped, pushing his glasses up with a trembling hand.

The creature walked past the opening. It was nothing like they had ever seen; half human and half bull with sharp, long horns. It carried a big metal axe which was stained with something that looked suspiciously like blood, and its back was hunched from the weight of it. It didn't seem to notice them, and it continued on its way.

"What was that?" Kida whispered, still not believing what she had seen.

"I- I've seen mentions of it in books, but I never thought… God. It's the Minotaur."

"The what?"

"The Minotaur! It's rumored to have been locked up in a labyrinth for centuries, and supposedly people used to sacrifice humans to it every year… But I thought it was just a legend, and now it's here, with us!" Milo whispered fiercely.

"You're right about that." Milo and Kida's heads snapped towards Megara, who had appeared next to them.

"Meg!" Kida didn't know if she was more angry or surprised, so she crossed her arms. "What are you doing here?"

Meg walked to the corner and checked if the Minotaur was still somewhere near them, and when it wasn't, she spun around. "I came here to see how you were doing."

Kida didn't buy any of that. "Did you know what Hades was going to do to Jim? Did you know about the map?"

Meg sighed and rubbed her temples. "Yes and yes."

"So you lied!"

"Kinda comes with the job description. But I'm not here because of that. I want to help you," Meg said, walking closer to Kida and Milo as she talked.

"Wait a minute. Do you really think we'll trust you after this?" Milo stepped into the conversation. It could be another one of Hades' traps.

"Yes, I do! Listen: Hades never intended to let you get away from here, even if you managed to survive the Minotaur. He's going to take your souls, and there's nothing you can do about it. The Space boy is going to die because that's how Hades planned it!"

"What?" Kida's hands dropped to her sides, and she was staring at Meg, unable to form any words. She had known they couldn't trust the god of the Underworld, but this was just horrible. How could she have been so stupid?

"I wouldn't tell you this if I wasn't going to help you. You have to trust me." Meg looked at both of them with eyebrows drawn up as if she was desperate to get their trust. She took a step forward, almost reaching out for Kida's hand but stopping mid-way like she had realized what she was doing and yanking her hand back to herself.

Kida noticed it too, and she bit her lip, trying to decide whether it was wise to trust the woman or not. Milo made eye-contact with her and nodded.

"Okay. What should we do?" the female captain finally said, and Meg broke into a relieved smile.

"I'll take you to the place where the map is hidden." Meg touched their shoulders lightly and did the same thing as Hades had done, and in the blink of an eye they were standing in a dark chamber surrounded by rows and rows of old dirty clothes, belts, swords, glasses, gold, and other similar things that had most likely belonged to the people who had been sacrificed to the Minotaur. The strong and musty, metallic smell filled their nostrils, making them put their hands in front of their noses.

"How can you move from one place to another like that?" Kida asked through his hand. "I thought you were a human."

The half of the sphere was laying on top of a pile of coins, and Kida grabbed it quickly as if it would disappear if they waited too long. She examined it shortly before putting it in her handbag and looking at Meg again.

"I am a human. Hades has given me some of his abilities to make it easier for me to run his errands," Meg explained, adding: "Although I'm immortal until I've paid off my debts. If I… When I become free, I'll turn into a mortal again." Her eyes were full of pain and hatred when she mentioned Hades, but then they became sad, and she turned her back to them. "Your Space boy is still in danger. Give this to the other guy when you see him. He'll be here soon."

Kida received a small silver key from her. She wanted to thank her, but instead a question came out of her mouth: "Are you coming back?"

"No. Otherwise Hades will realize what I'm doing. I've set the exit of the labyrinth so that it will take you back to the temple when you cross the border, but it will only last 10 seconds after it's activated."

"But… Why are you doing this? Why are you helping us?" This time it was Milo who asked it. He had been quiet until now, letting his friend talk. He still didn't understand why the woman would help them now. Wasn't she on Hades' side?

Meg thought about his question, and even she herself wasn't sure of the answer. "I guess I just don't want to earn my freedom by taking someone else's away." And with that she vanished into thin air.

Sinbad had no idea where the creature had gone, but when he saw an entrance to a chamber, he took his chances and ran straight inside it. He almost collided into two figures standing there, and he was dumbfounded to see they were Milo and Kida.

"Whata..re you… doinhere?" he panted, having difficulties to form words so suddenly after an exhausting running trip. He leaned to his knees as he tried to steady his breathing back to normal.

"Meg brought us here," Milo said when Kida didn't answer. "We got the map, and she told us to give this to you."

"Meg?" Sinbad straightened his back, taking the key from Milo and realizing it was for the trapdoor. "Why was she… here?"

"She said she wanted to help us," Milo explained. He glanced at Kida, wondering why she didn't say anything, and she seemed to be deep in thought. Milo let her be because he didn't want to disturb her; not when she was looking so serious.

"Really," Sinbad stated, raising his eyebrow. "Tell me everything on the way back."

Sinbad's lungs were burning from running so much, but he endured it. Milo's running pace was slightly better than Sinbad had even dared to hope, which he was silently glad for, and Kida ran behind them, still not saying a word. It made Sinbad wonder what had happened. Milo had explained everything as best as he could, and somehow Meg being so helpful all of a sudden after lying to them didn't make any sense to him. They would have to wait and see if Meg had told the truth this time either.

They arrived to the room Jim was in, and Sinbad hurried to the trapdoor.

"Hey, I came back with the key. Kida and Milo are here too, and they have the map!" Sinbad told Jim through the trapdoor, but he got no answer. His hands were shaking as he tried to insert the key to the hole, taking away important seconds from him.

He finally got the trapdoor open, and a hot flame of air hit his face, making everyone take a step back. Jim was lying on his stomach on the floor, and even with a dim light source Sinbad could see that his skin was all red and he wasn't breathing.

Sinbad jumped down to the room and crouched beside Jim. He rolled him onto his side, touching his burning face and shaking him slightly. "Jim, wake up. Come on, didn't you say you'd be alright? First you make me run my ass off trying to find you and then the key, and now you don't even…"

Silence.

"Jim?"

Nothing.

Sinbad swallowed the lump in his throat, lifting Jim off the floor and getting him up back to the surface. Kida's hand flew onto her mouth, and she quickly dug a bottle of from Milo's bag.

"Put him on the floor," she ordered, and Sinbad was too defeated to say anything back to her. She ripped a piece of fabric from her tunic, pouring water on it and wiping Jim's face to cool it down. Next she poured a small portion of water into Jim's mouth.

Jim started coughing all of a sudden, making Sinbad's eyes widen in surprise. He held Jim's head up to make it easier for him to swallow the water. Jim was still unconscious, but at least he was breathing now.

"We have to get help," Sinbad said, eyes full of determination. He lifted Jim up again, carrying him on his arms as he started jogging back to the exit with Kida and Milo following him. He wasn't sure if he would remember the path since he had got lost so many times, but luckily the fate was on his side this time, and they made it to the exit. It had a thin purple fog around it, and apparently Meg had told the truth because they could see the exit of the temple on the other side of it.

Sinbad ran through it, activating the transportation as he crossed the border. He was followed by Milo, who couldn't help but smile as they made it out of the Underworld. He looked around him for Kida to give her a hug, but she was nowhere to be seen.

"Kida?" Milo's eyes turned back to the exit, and he saw Kida standing still on the other side, looking at him with big, sad eyes. "Kida, what are you doing?"

"I'm sorry, Milo."

The purple fog faded and the exit closed, leaving Kida in the labyrinth.

Milo's confusion turned into shock, but he didn't have time to dwell on it because the next thing he heard was the sounds of people drawing their swords and telling them to 'give up the map and we won't hurt you' behind him.

"We know what you were looking for out there," one of them said, grinning madly. "Seems like it was worth the wait. Where's the map?"

Sinbad cursed silently. He couldn't even fight with Jim in this condition. They would just have to give up the map and steal it back later. "Okay, okay, we'll give what you want. Just let us go. My… friend is in a serious condition and needs a doctor. Milo?" He called behind his shoulder.

Milo walked next to him, a little bit paler than before. "Kida decided to stay in the labyrinth. She has the map."

"What?" Sinbad whispered, looking around him as if to make sure Milo wasn't lying. They were so fucked.

"What's takin' so long? Do I have to do everything myself?" a big man with mechanical body parts asked with irritated voice and pushed his way through the people to the front. He was a cyborg. Realization struck Sinbad. The cyborg.

"Apologies, Captain," the woman who had spoken to them earlier said to the cyborg. Then she turned her sharp eyes back to Sinbad and Milo. "The map. Now."

"We don't have it," Sinbad grunted.

"Then we'll slice your throats open!"

"Wait!" the cyborg raised his hand, stopping the woman. He zoomed closer in to the man in Sinbad's arms with his mechanical eye, trying to remember where he had seen him before. His mouth dropped open. "Jimbo?"

A/N: First of all, I'd like to thank everyone for their support and the amazing comments! They always make my day and give me motivation to keep writing this fic.

Secondly, this chapter took a looooong time to write, and I was mentally patting myself on the shoulder after finishing it. It's not quite what I had in mind when I started to write it, but the characters took a life of their own. I made it quite obvious who the cyborg at the end is, and I'm really looking forward to writing scenes between him and Jim in the following chapters (on the contrary, his accent has already given me nightmares). It's almost midnight in Finland when I'm publishing this and I'm dead tired, so please forgive me for all the errors and grammatical mistakes in the story.

Reviewer: Hello again! Thanks for pointing it out, I wouldn't have realized it myself. :D I looked up some examples of the "show, don't tell" rule, and I've tried to follow it, but it's actually quite hard. It's necessary for improving my writing, though, so I'll keep trying. Thanks for your comment!

kingleochuenchom16: I'm happy to hear that! I hope you liked this chapter.

kairi102: Thank you!

There were many comments from guests, and I'm not sure if they all were from the same person or not, so I'll answer to all of them at the same time: Thank you so much! It was really nice to get so many cheerful comments~ I updated the fic, so please don't die. :D