I honestly don't know where to start. First of all, I remember hating Spellcheck after this chapter. Second, I can't remember if I wrote this before or after I had read about Gaea in the series, so I don't know if Helena's "earthly" aura has anything to do with that; not quite sure what I was thinking while writing this. Third, ugh. I love this story because it was one of my first. But I hate it because that's not how I would write it now. There's so many things I want to change, but I want to keep the original story. You can pretty much tell it was written by a younger kid. Fourth, there's some more of the book's plot told from another perspective. Yay. Fifth, I repeat, I honestly have no idea what was going on in my younger self's brain while I was planning and writing all of this. I just...I can't even.

Suddenly, there was a rustle of leaves from behind me. I spun around, drawing my sword in the same fluid motion. "Whoa there." Nico was standing in front of me, his hands up near his face. "Hey, is that real?" He tentatively reached out his hand to touch the blade. Call me harsh, but I thrust the blade toward him 'til it was only inches from his face.

"You bet it's real. Real enough to cut you to smithereens."

He just grinned in reply, as if I hadn't just threatened to chop him up into a million pieces. He has obviously not got a lot of death threats in his short life. "What's a Labyrinth? And why does it need an entrance?"

I sheathed my blade. "A labyrinth is another word for maze. But the Labyrinth with a capital L is a gigantic underground maze that stretches all the way across the US. And I have just found an entrance to it."

He craned his neck, searching for something. "Where?"

I pointed to the place where I found the doorway to the Labyrinth. "There. Somewhere in that big pile of rocks."

The boy looked confused. "But wouldn't it be caved in? I mean, a giant hole in the ground wouldn't last very long if someone put a huge pile of rocks on it."

Suddenly, I understood his confusion. "The door isn't a giant hole in the ground."

"Well, what is it then?"

"It's probably like a regular old doorway. Just hidden somewhere. Here, let me show you." I stepped toward the mound of boulders. Then, I started to circle it slowly, looking for a big enough crack. Finally, I found it.

It was just big enough for me to squeeze through. I stepped into it…and onto emptiness.

I tumbled through the air for about two seconds. Then, the ground came up to meet me. Hard.

A sudden pain in my left arm exploded. I groaned as the pain started spreading throughout my body. Just then, a mass hit me from above, adding more to the pain.

The mass scrambled off my stomach. "I'm so sorry, Helena." Nico. He must have followed me through the entrance. "I didn't mean to fall on you. I didn't know where you went; you just disappeared in the rock. Then, I tried to find you, and I fell into the hole in the ground." He tone showed a hint of smugness as he said, "See. I told you it was a hole in the ground."

I didn't answer, just sat up. We were in total darkness. No light showed from any direction, not even from above, where the hole was supposed to be. But, for some reason, I didn't feel scared. I felt almost…safer.

"So, this is the Labyrinth, huh? It's darker than I thought," Nico said as he helped me to my feet. "How do we get out?" His voice was unusually calm, like he couldn't care less about the darkness, the underground, and the fact we were trapped here, at least for now.

"Um… Well, first I think we need some light." All of sudden, a bright light flared before us.

"Cool! How'd you do that?" The light illuminated his curious, eager face.

"Uh, well…" I couldn't think of a very good excuse for that, so I decided it was time to come clean. "I…I'm not really who you think I am. My dad wasn't really Marcellus Day, the neuroscientist. He's really Daedalus, the famous Greek inventor."

Was it just my imagination, or did the light burn a bit brighter as I said my father's name? Before Nico could react to my stunning revolution, something barreled it's way between us, knocking us both to the ground and extinguishing the light.

"Light," I commanded once I had gotten up again. I looked around, but Nico wasn't anywhere. "Nico?" I called out. No reply. "Nico?"

"Help!" came the reply. "Help!" I raced down the tunnel in the direction of Nico's voice. I turned one last corner, sword drawn, and came across a dead end. The walls had changed from earth to stone and back to earth while I was running, but I pretty much forgot the fact considering the scene before me.

Nico was backed up against the far wall, his assailant standing before him. The hellhound was about standard size for its kind. But it was doing something that was definitely not normal.

It started licking Nico, its tongue rolling up and down the boy's whole body. Soon, he was covered entirely in hellhound dribble. "Yuck." He made a face. "What is this stuff? Hellhound saliva or dehydrated slug slime?"

I laughed, both at his words and at his predicament. "Why's it doing that? I thought those things were meant to attack and kill."

"Apparently not this one," he stated while shaking spittle off his arms.

Suddenly, an idea struck me. "Do you think it could possibly be you that's making it do this?"

"No. And even if it was, it probably hasn't seen a person in days, maybe even weeks. It's probably just lonely."

I wanted to argue that it had picked him instead of me, so that had to mean something. But I kept my mouth shut. Nico had made it clear that the subject was closed.

Without warning, the dog woofed and turned around, as if called by something. It scampered off into the darkness.

After that, we found our way back up to the surface. It was already nighttime. As curious as Nico was, I expected him to bombard me with questions. But he didn't, for some reason. We walked back to the cabins in silence.

Just before we reached the semicircle of cabins, though, he did ask me one question. "Is there something going on between you and that Marcus?"

"No," I replied way too quickly. "Why?" I asked, trying to cover up my slip.

"Just asking. Good night." He walked toward the Hermes cabin.

"Good night," I called just as he reached the front door. He turned and smiled, but there was a strange look on his face.

I spun around and headed back to the Athena cabin. Tomorrow, I would figure out what the odd look meant and why I had replied much faster than necessary to his question. But right now, I needed to sleep.

Ever since my punishment from the gods, my dreams had been getting worse and worse. But that night's took the prize.

It was less like a dream and more like a memory. Well, two memories actually. One was mine; the other…well, you'll find out soon enough.

I was back in the Labyrinth, though in a whole different section of it. There was a door before me with a Greek Delta Δ on it. I pressed my fingers against it, and it lit up. The door swung open on silent hinges. Inside was a workshop. But not just any workshop. It was Daedalus's workshop, the home of my father and me.

There were dozens of types of tools, some laptops, easels, diagrams, jars of Greek fire, workbenches, several pairs of life-size wings, and of course, tons of inventions. A spiral staircase wound up to a second story. But what really caught my attention was the person standing in the middle of the room.

He looked to be in his mid-fifties, but I knew that he was really in his mid-two thousands. He looked pretty fit for someone his age, with graying hair and beard, a sword at his side, and an athletic figure. He was my father, Daedalus.

You'd think I would be proud to call the world's greatest inventor my father, right? Wrong. Though I loved my father more than anything, some of the things I heard that he had done made me think otherwise, sometimes even scared me a little. For example, he had let his own nephew fall out of a window into the sea, he had fled to his Labyrinth to escape death, and he had used the same nephew's ideas to trap his soul, his animus, in an automaton so that he could live longer. Five times.

But enough of this blathering. Back to the dream.

So, I raced into my father's arms and squeezed him tight. "Whoa there. That's a little too much, Helena. You're suffocating me." I let go and looked up at him. "What's wrong? You look like something's bothering you."

I didn't say anything. He kneeled down next to me, trying to look into my averted eyes. "Is there something wrong? Helena, tell me," he told me solidly but kindly.

"Father, it's just…I've done something horrible. And…and I may not see you again anytime soon."

Before he could reply, a clap of thunder rang over our heads. "Helena, daughter of Daedalus and granddaughter of Athena," a booming voice said, "you have committed an unforgivable crime and are hereby banned from seeing your father ever again."

Suddenly, a glittering light shimmered around me, and I started to lift off the ground. "Helena!" my father shouted. "Helena, I'll find you. I swear it!" Then, I disappeared in a flash of golden light.

The dream changed. I was suddenly in a different place.

I was back at camp; it was late in the night, almost dawn. I heard footsteps crunching on snow and turned to see Percy Jackson walking alongside me. Or was I walking alongside him?

We climbed up the steps to the pavilion together. What was he doing up so late? I searched his face for an answer; he was staring at something intently. Then, I saw what he was looking at.

Nico di Angelo was peering at something from behind a column. The Hunters, I realized. He was spying on the Hunters. And I knew that there was one in particular that he would be watching.

Two of the Hunters, Bianca and Zoë Nightshade, were talking. Next to me, Percy put on a blue cap, and I suddenly couldn't see him. "A cap of invisibility," I mouthed in awe. I'd never seen one before. Pun not intended.

I didn't hear all of their words. Just enough to understand what was going on. Apparently, the other Hunter who was supposed to be going on the quest, the one whom I could never remember the name to, had been injured and couldn't go on the quest. I glanced over at Percy to see his reaction, then remembered that he was invisible.

Suddenly, the conversation stopped, and the two girls started down the stairs. Nico scooted out of the way just in time. I didn't think anything would happen to me since this was a dream, but I was wrong.

Zoë's hand brushed against mine, and she stopped, glaring at the spot next to me. Only later did I discover that that was the exact place Percy Jackson was standing. Then, Bianca warned her about the lights in the Big House being on, and they scrammed.

Nico seemed about to go after them when Percy took off his cap and became visible again. They struck up a conversation about invisibility and quests. I only half-listened; I had other things on my mind. But it got my full attention when Percy promised that he would go on the quest to look after Nico's sister. Though, I knew there was another reason he was going.

All of a sudden, Percy ran straight through me, and I dissipated into a million tiny pieces of mists.

I woke with a start. The only sound in the Athena cabin was of my own labored breathing. I sat up straight and looked around, trying to calm my racing heart. To my surprise, one of the computers was on its screensaver. I glanced out the window just to be sure. The sun was just peaking over the horizon. Why would someone be in my cabin this early using a computer? Why would someone be in my cabin at all? There was no one here except me usually. Who would want to be here in the middle of the night?

There was a sudden knock at the door. Now, who would want to be at my door at six a.m. in the morning? "Just a second," I called. I quickly threw my orange camp T-shirt and some jeans on and opened the door. "Percy?"

The son of Poseidon's eyes lit up a bit as he saw me. "Uh…" He seemed at a loss of words. "I…um."

I felt exasperated for some reason. "Look, Percy, I know I look like that girl you like, Annabeth, but I'm not her." He blushed at that and started to protest, but I stopped him with a wave of my hand. "So, whatever you're going to say, say it without stuttering or bumbling or any of that garbage."

He seemed again at a loss of words, so I started over. "What is it, Percy?"

"I, uh…" He cleared his throat. "I wanted to know if there was anything of Annabeth's here. And if there was, if I could, perhaps, borrow it."

He still looked extremely uncomfortable. So, I flashed him a smile and a wink. "I'll go look." I turned around and asked, "Are you coming with me? I never knew her, so I wouldn't know what to look for."

"Oh, oh yes." He stepped over the threshold, looking around in wonder. Obviously he hasn't been in the Athena cabin before.

"Well, c'mon. You don't have all day. You do, after all, have a quest to go on."

He whirled around so fast I thought he might have got a bit of whiplash. "How did you know that?"

I gave him a mischievous smile. "I had a dream last night."

He still looked suspicious but didn't say anything else. After searching the whole cabin, he announced, "There's nothing here. Sorry to disturb you."

I gave him another smile and wink. "No problem."

He walked out the door. I closed the door behind him, then collapsed against it, feeling exhausted. Feeling almost as if every word I had just said was a lie. Feeling as if every second I had spent with Perseus Jackson had drained me of my energy. Feeling as if I had just consorted with the enemy.

"Where're you going?" Nico asked as he and Mark walked up to me.

"Nowhere." I glanced at Mark. "So, you two are officially best friends now?" I asked him.

"No. I mean, we're really good friends, but you and I are still best friends."

I smiled at him, but as I turned, I could see Nico's knowing smile. "What?"

"Oh, nothing."

I stopped. "Spill it, di Angelo."

He grinned at my commanding tone. "It's just…I was thinking of how you two aren't best friends."

"But I just said–" Mark protested.

"I meant," the boy interrupted, "that you two are more than just best friends."

I saw Mark's face go red; I probably wasn't much better. "We're not–" we started in unison.

Nico smiled at us. "Never mind. So, where are you going?"

"Uh…" I was still in shock by Nico's statement. "You know, the place." I was talking about the doorway to the Labyrinth of course. Nico nodded like he knew what I was talking about.

"What place?" Mark questioned. "Do you two have some sort of secret hiding place you're not telling me about?"

"Well…kinda."

"Why? Are you jealous?" Nico asked.

"Why would you think that?" he said, suddenly defensive.

"Enough guys. Stop fighting. Okay, yes, we do have a special place that no one else knows about, at least I hope not. But it's not what you think!" I said hurriedly. "I found it by accident, and he had followed me there. But nothing happened." The first part was a lie, but he didn't need to know that.

Marcus still looked uncertain but just asked, "So, can I come to this secret hiding place of yours or would you two rather be alone?" The way he said it was cruel and judgmental and unfair, and it pained me to not be able to tell my best friend something, but I couldn't tell him about the Labyrinth without revealing my true identity.

"I'm sorry, but no." He looked disappointed and hurt, so I whispered in his ear, "If it makes you feel any better, I hadn't even intended for Nico to find it."

Apparently, it did because he brightened slightly. Of course, that's when the Furies decided to attack.

They converged on us unexpectedly, so I didn't even have time to draw my sword before we were lifted up into the air. I tried to kick and thrash, but each time I did, the Fury holding me pinched its talons even harder around my arms. They continued to lift us higher and higher until the Big House looked like a tiny blue dot in a field of green.

"Where are you taking us?" I shouted above the wind.

"That isssss none of your concern," the Fury hissed.

"Yes, it is. Since you have had us kidnapped, I believe it is of my concern."

"Mm…Thissss one hassss a mouth on her, doesssssn't ssssshe?" asked another Fury with a mocking tone.

Nico and Mark smirked like they were saying, "You just now figured that out?" I glared at them, but they didn't seem to notice.

"I sssssmell Earth on her. Who are you, girl of the Earth and underground?" the third Fury said.

"My name is Helena, and I ask you to put me down."

"I am afraid we cannot do that, Helena of the underground," the Fury holding me said.

"Stop calling me that! I have nothing to do with the underground."

"My ssssenssssessss tell me otherwissssse."

"Well, then your senses are wrong."

"Many ssssay that infuriating a Fury issss not wisssse. They ssssay that it ussssually endsssss in dire consssssequencessss."

That put a stop to our conversation. Manhattan flew by below us. "At least tell me where we're going," I finally requested.

The Fury holding me made a strange sound that could have been a sigh. "Fine. I think we owe you that much, daughter of the Earth." My eyes narrowed at that, but it continued before I could protest. "We are going to a very sssssspecial place. It isssss one that you will feel very much at home with."

I gritted my teeth in exasperation. "Would you stop it with the riddles? Just tell me where we're going."

The Fury smiled. Well, as much as a Fury could smile. "Ssssince you sssseeem sssso eager to know, I guessss I musssst tell you." The Fury's almost-smile grew wider. "We are going to the realm of Lord Hadesssss, the Underworld."

Why would we be taken to the Underworld? It made no sense. Suddenly, a thought flashed through my mind that made my blood chill. Was Hades going to try to get me to tell him about my father? My dad had cheated him multiple times, and I'm guessing that that wouldn't get him on Hades's good list.

I decided that I wouldn't tell him anything, if that was the case. I would not betray my father like that. No matter what the Lord of the Underworld put me through, I wouldn't tell him a single thing about my father.

We were rapidly descending now, heading straight toward a giant pile of rocks in Central Park. Once we were a few feet off the ground, the Furies dropped us. Then, they flapped over to the mound and settled down on top of it. "Musssssic. We need musssssic," they said at the same time. Creepy.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked; they didn't reply. I sighed. My guess was that we needed music to open the doorway in the rocks, like Orpheus did.

As if reading my thoughts, the Furies said in unison, "There are only two doorsssss to the Underworld. Thisssss entrance issss called the Doorway of Orpheusssss."

The three of us looked at each other. "So, who's going to sing? I can't; my voice would only cause an avalanche," Nico said.

Mark shook his head. I guess it would be me. I opened my mouth and sang.

I had never sung before an audience before. Even my father had never heard me sing. I would hum occasionally while I wandered through the depths of the Labyrinth, which I would often do back then. But never while someone else was around.

I sang a simple tune I had heard from a wandering human one day. It had been pretty simple to learn, and I had thought that the lady singing it had a beautiful voice, so I stored it in my memory. I never thought it would come to use.

When I was done, I felt five pairs of eyes looking straight at me. The Furies faces were expressionless, like they usually were. But Mark and Nico were staring, mouths agape. "What?"

"It's just…your voice…that was…amazing!" Mark exclaimed. "I never knew you could sing like that."

My face burned. Since no one had ever heard me sing before, no one had told me how good or bad my voice was. I had always thought that it was fair, nothing like that lady's voice. But apparently, I was wrong.

Before I could reply, there was a rumbling noise as the stones broke apart and revealed a passageway. Using my underground senses, I confirmed that the tunnel went down deep into the depths of the Earth, probably all the way to the Underworld.

"Well, go on then. Move!" one of the Furies barked at us. We did as we were told like good little captives. Inside the hole, there was a ladder bolted to the side of the ground. Nico went first, then me, Mark, and the Furies. Then, the boulders moved back into place, and the Earth swallowed us whole.

As soon as the Earth covered us, my senses seemed to come alive. Even as I climbed down into the bowels of the Earth, I could feel the rust on the metal ladder beneath my fingers; could smell the pleasant earthy aroma; could taste little bits of dirt that had gotten between my lips; could see everything, even in the complete darkness; could sense the creatures within the dirt and soil surrounding me. I felt better than I had in weeks. Except, perhaps, the time we had entered the Labyrinth the other day. That day, the prospect of being underground actually healed my arm and the rest of my body, like the water healed Percy Jackson.

I could see that Mark was looking a bit pale and panicky; he must not like being underground. The Furies probably still had no expression, and I couldn't see Nico's face, but I couldn't feel any more than the usual excitement from him.

We continued to descend farther and farther into the ground. Suddenly, I halted. Mark bumped into me. "Why'd you stop?" he asked, his voice shaky.

I remained still as a statue. I had felt a very powerful surge of energy from all around me. That could only mean one thing: we were level with the Labyrinth.

I wanted to start digging around me, hoping to find the place where I could enter the Labyrinth, but one of the Furies hissed, "Well, get a move on will you?" And I had to keep going.

It felt like forever before Nico finally exclaimed, "I see a light!"

"You do?" Mark and I asked together.

"Yeah. It's not too bright, but it's there."

"That meanssss we are nearing the Underworld," another Fury said. That didn't make me feel any better.

We made it down the rest of the stairs. But as soon as my feet touched the ground, I collapsed. Luckily, Mark wasn't far behind me or I would have fallen flat on my face. "Whoa there. Are you okay?" His voice sounded distant.

All of my energy had suddenly been drained. I felt weak, powerless. Was it just my imagination or was I getting paler?

"What's happening?" Mark sounded alarmed.

"She's dying," Nico murmured, as if in a trance. "She shouldn't even be alive. Her existence does not go alongside the Fates' plan."

The Furies hissed in unison as Marcus asked, "What in the world is that supposed to mean?"

I struggled to stay awake. "There's something I've been keeping from you, Mark," I rasped. "My father is Daedalus, the Ancient Greek inventor."

Mark opened his mouth to speak, but it seemed as if he couldn't form the words. When he finally found his voice, he didn't talk about my dad. Instead he inquired, "What's happening to her?"

"Like I said, she's dying. Her body is fading away. It will continue until she's nothing more than another spirit in the Underworld," Nico informed him.

"But why?"

With the last of my strength, I answered his question. "My father, Daedalus, was supposed to have died two thousand years ago. He shouldn't exist now, therefore, neither should I."

"But that's not fair!" Mark exclaimed with so much intensity, even I was surprised. "Just because your father should be dead, that doesn't mean you should be too. Okay, I'll admit that it does make logical sense, but it doesn't mean it's any fairer. Or easier to bear," he added in a lower tone.

"The Fates can be cruel," I whispered. Then, everything went black. As black as the River Styx.