Sorry for this being too short. It was kinda last minute.

Ch 17: Into the Labyrinth we go!

"Before we start moving, everyone, hold each others hand," Willow ordered as we stood in darkness. I swallowed, thinking about the donut I had eaten and that mental beatdown Willow gave to me. That girl can speak.

I reached around, and I found a sweaty hand. It was probably Willow.

I tugged on it. "Willow?"

"No," an irritated voice snapped. "Bob."

"Okay then," I muttered. I groped around, and found a cold, thin, body. It was so bony, I felt around.

"Who am I touching right now?" I demanded.

"Uh, no one...I think," Willow replied. "Hold up. I packed a bag before we stupidly entered the Labyrinth with no supplies."

"Who knew the Athena kid would mess up?" Thalia snorted, and Luke snickered. A light shined in my face, and I flinched.

I saw Willow's slight outline. She shined it on the person I touched, and she screamed. I scampered away from the skeleton and ran into Thalia.

"HEY!" Thalia shouted.

"Everyone, stay still!" Luke ordered. "Ow, that was my ribs!"

I helped Thalia up, grabbing her hand. I reached around, and found Luke's. I squeezed once, and he squeezed back.

I sighed in relief when I realized it wasn't a skeleton.

"Luke, that's not my hand," Willow snapped. "It's my nose."

"Oops," Luke said, and I heard shifting.

"Willow, did you grab Bob's hand?" I asked.

"Uh, I can't find him," Willow muttered.

"Shit," I muttered. "Shine the light on the floor. He could've fainted."

I saw the light, and I stifled a shriek when I saw Bob's ashen face.

"W-willow," I stammered. "He's on the floor. I think he fainted."

"I forgot he has claustrophobia," Willow cursed. "We need to make camp here. On the floor, everyone."

"How come I didn't see your bag before?" Thalia asked.

"Bob gave me a magical bag for my birthday," Willow admitted. "It can hold anything, and be any size."

"I hope you packed well for this," Luke grumbled. "I only have my sword, some bacon, and some...what is this, batteries?"

Thalia snickered. "Who did your laundry?"

"Ha ha," Luke said sarcastically.

"Why do you have bacon?" I demanded.

"Uh..." Luke trailed off.

"I knew I was missing some pieces," I grumbled.

"What about you, Thals?" I asked.

"Mm, three dollars, a really thick jacket, shield, and my dagger," Thalia replied.

"I-" I dug in my pockets. "-have...a spring, a lighter, a toe-nail clipper, and...a pore cleanser...?!"

"Insecure much?" Willow teased.

"I'm rolling my eyes," I said.

"Someone search Bob," Willow said, and I heard Thalia shift. "I have dozens of granola bars, fifteen bottles of water, a pack of batteries, a few flashlights, some caffiene, blankets, some clothes, baby wipes, a notebook, some moldy food, a few books, cups, plates, all-healthy cereal, rope, and a few Ziploc."

"Bob has a map of Europe,a pen, notepad, and...uh, that's it," Thalia reported.

"Okay," Willow said, assessing the situation. "Luke, can I have the bacon?"

I heard a shift.

"Percy, I need your lighter, clipper, and pore cleanser," Willow requested. I reached around for her, and felt her hair and tossed it to her.

"Okay, I'm going to pour some water on Bob so he can wake up," Willow said. "He's the one who can lead us."

I heard a splash, and a yelp.

"HEY!" Bob shouted. "What was that for?"

"Your welcome, for saving your life and not leaving you here to rot," Willow said icily. "Get up, nerd-a-lac."

Bob grumbled, rubbing his wet hair. "You guys realize I am the only hope in the labyrinth?"

"That's why we woke you up," Thalia retorted.

"Sheesh," Bob muttered. "C'mon, let's get going."

After a few minutes of bumping and complaing, we all were tied to each other. Bob was in the lead, with his sword in hand, and Willow, was behind him, shining the light sometime.

We trudged through the maze for ages. My legs, but I kept going, swallowing the pain down.

It was about thirty minutes when Bob began to scream. Willow immediately shone the light, and went forward to help Bob.

Thalia, Luke, and I staggered forward. I heard a bang, clang, and a manly scream. I felt helpless, not being able to help.

"Who are you and what's your business?" Willow snarled.

"Demigods?" the man mused. "Ow, sweetie, I wouldn't point that there."

I pulled out the flashlight Willow gave me, just in case. I glanced back, making sure I didn't see any enemies.

"Who. Are. You?" Willow said bitingly. Aughta girl.

"They call me Quintus," the man said. "Can I get up now?"

"Why are you in here?" Thalia snapped.

"Wow there, how many demigods are there? Unless you're a monster with a really attractive front," Quintus smirked. "Oh, and that boy too."

Thalia couldn't help but let out a snicker.

"Why are you here?" Willow demanded, pride seeping into her voice.

"I'm scouting," Quintus replied. "Trying to figure out the maze."

"Good luck with that, bud," Luke muttered. I thought I saw Quintus smirk.

"Why are you guys here?" Quintus asked.

"We ask the questions," I said gruffly.

"And I answer," Quintus said, "Obviously. Now it's your turn."

"We're here to scout too," Willow replied. "For different reasons."

"Who sent you?" Quintus asked.

"We sent ourselves," Thalia said shortly. "From our camp."

"Explain."

I glanced at Willow and shook my head.

"We're helping the Titans," Willow said, and I glared at her, "That's all we'll tell you."

"Can you get off now?" Quintus asked. Willow nodded, but motioned the group to slightly surround him.

Willow got off. I shined my light on him. He wore a pair of comfortable dress pants with a loose T-shirt. I thougth I saw a blob on his collarbone.

He had a sword on his belt.

Quintus wearily stared at us. "Be careful, kids. It's been seven hours."

He dove past us, leaving us dumbfounded. I felt him put something in my palm. I glanced at it, and it read: 7 hours, 3 minutes.

Willow stared at it, before grabbing the pen she had taken from Bob and grabbed the notebook in her bag. She jotted the time down.

"Let's rest," Willow said, and we collapsed. "I'll take first watch."

Luke and Thalia snuggled together on Thalia's thick fleece jacket, and Bob tucked himself on the wall with his jacket.

I was glad everyone had wore a coverup. Willow, looking exhuasted slumped on the wall. She wore long boyfriend jeans and a loose armor coverup.

It was strong enough to be armor, but not so bulky. I admired her fashion sense.

"Are you okay?" I asked softly. She looked so tired. I was glad she had taken the lead; Luke had enough on his back already.

"I'll be fine," Willow grinned tiredly. "I brought some caffiene. I'll just drink it with my water."

"You know, you're doing great," I smiled, one of those gushy-Percy-moments coming out. "You have natural leadership skills."

"I try," Willow whispered. "Go to sleep, Perseus. Before I knock you out." I could still hear the weary pride in her voice.

I grabbed my jacket and draped it over my body and felt sleep coming over me.

LINE BREAK OR ELSE.

"Get up guys," a voice exclaimed.

I rubbed my eyes groggily, and saw Willow glaring at me.

"UP AND AT 'EM!" Willow screeched.

Willow tossed me something plastic, and I thought I saw Dora, the Mexican explorer in my face. I bolted up, and saw a plastic Dora cup in my face.

"Dora?" I asked, still not fully awake.

"I grabbed the first things I saw," Willow said, grimacing slightly, "I used to babysit the young monsters."

There was a bottle of water in front of me, and Willow said, "Don't drink it all. Drink a fourth of it. Use the cup, no lips."

I poured the water into the "Dora cup" and Willow handed me half of a granola bar. I chowed it down, savoring every bite.

I tasted berries, oats, and grains. It was chewy and sticky, just what I needed for a healthy breakfast. Thalia was just waking up with Luke, and Bob was already awake.

"We need to keep our food supple safe," Willow barked, and I knew the caffiene had worked. "You guys slept for five hours. We need to move and find the camp. Look out for Dedalus marks in the walls."

"Who died and made you the leader?" Bob grumbled.

"Who lived and annoyed my butt off?" Willow retorted snarkily. Maybe the caffiene wasn't enough.

"Uh, guys," Luke said warningly.

"Let's just move," Thalia said firmly, as she took a bite from her granola bar.

We got up and began wandering through the maze.

"Hey," a voice whispered as we immediately stopped, "Over here!"

We whirled around to find a ghost, a spirit heading towards us. He wore old school robe that only kings wear and he had a crown.

"Who are you?" Thali asked defensively as we all took out our weapons.

"Put them down," he said, raising his eyebrows, "I am just here to talk."

He sighed when he saw the weapons still up.

"Fine, do as you wish," he replied, "I am Minos, king of Crete."

We narrowed our eyes.

"Relax, I am actually trying to help," he explained, "I am for Kronos and we have been talking and I may be of use. This labyrinth is acutally mine and I can help you guide through this maze for a price, although the price won't be large."

"We're listening," I said as I stepped forward.

"Ah, Kronos' host," Minos told me, "Kronos has told me a lot, I mean a lot about you. You don't look like much, but I guess you'll have to do."

I rolled my eyes. Why do people keep on sayint that?

"Anways, I jsut want the soul of that Quintus," Minos replied distastefully.

"Quintus? Why Quintus?" Thalia asked.

"He is my mortal enemy," Minos explained, "He is actually Daedalus. It's his fifth body. Bah."

"Alright," I said. "Deal."

"A soul for a soul. If I have Dedalus, I'll give you safe passage in the labyrinth. No one will get lost. No one will fall into madness, but the dangers of the labyrinth, it will be up to you to face and conquer," Minos said.

We nodded in agreement.

"Wow, we all agreed!" I stated the obvious, "Well, that's a first."

The rest nodded. I was happy that our teamwork was getting somewhere.

"Great, let me help you with my part of the deal," Minos told us as he snapped his fingers.

The labyrinth seemed to light up and I began to see the walls and all the writhing passages, stairways, and vacant black spaces.

"Hey thanks," I thanked, but Minos was nowhere to be found.

"That was interesting?" Luke said, but it came out as a question.

"Let's go," I grumbled as I stumbled upon a huge door, "I smell danger."

"Well then, let's go a different path," Willow replied.

I shook my head, "This is the correct path."

I swung open the door and I was met by a huge giant.

"Ah! Guests!" he exclaimed, "This will make my show more interesting! Step inside and prepare to fight each other to your deaths or I will break you myself!"

Thalia, Willow, Luke, and Bob glared at me while I gulped. What have I gotten myself into?