Chapter 145:

Your Secondary School Physics Teacher, Ms. DELETED

"Who's there?" Nyx shouted. Two night black daggers manifested in her hands, she warily studied around the empty hallways and abandoned classroom.

"What the fuck is happening?" Rachel asked. "You know what's going on right?"
"Uhm," I said as I drew Riptide and readied the Shield of Winter. Of course I tried to draw Riptide but instead, I got a rusty old bow in my hand.

Great.

This caused Rachel to blink.

"And you have a sword?"

I looked at the bow. It still looked more like a piece of firewood, than anything else. Did she see a sword?

"I don't know what's going on," I admitted, "this isn't exactly how I thought it would be going."

My first guess was that there was some heavy mist manipulation around the school. Something, or someone, that faked all the students and teachers for us, to lure us in like a trap.

"Nyx, can you shadow travel us out of here?"

Nyx pouted. "I can't!" She motioned at the shadows to come closer to her as she had done so many times before. But the shadows didn't budge. They remained shadows.

"How?!" I asked.

A deep laughter echoed through the hallways like a breath of rotten air. I could feel a presence all around us. From the darkness at the end of the hallway I could see something move. Something large.

"Run." I said.

Without waiting I grabbed Rachels hand and ran down the stairs, skipping 2 steps at a time.

'What do you mean you can not shadow travel?' I asked Nyx.

'These shadows aren't mine!' Nyx yelled back. 'Something, or someone is blocking them from me.'

At the end of the stairway, down the main hall I could see the exit. A set of big open wide doors.

"Whoah!" Rachel yelled.

I'm sorry, that's the wrong direction. The voice suddenly said.

Just as we reached the doors the hallway suddenly changed. All of a sudden the long winded hallway had disappeared and we were standing in an empty classroom.

All the chairs and furniture were present. There was even a whiteboard, as if this was a normal school day but then power suddenly died.

Figures were shimmering in the seats. Flickering images of people, students, sitting at their tables, waiting for class to start.

But they didn't look like people, not anymore. Instead they looked like they had died a long time ago and were left in this empty classroom. Their faces twisted and warped. Hollow eye sockets looked at us from behind the seats.

Rachel let out a yelp.

The bodies began to move, spasming towards us, pushing aside the screeching tables as they got up from their seats. Moving as if held by invisible strings.

Immediately two black daggers flew from Nyx towards two of these apparitions. But they flew through them as if they were made of mere light.

I summoned Frostsilver and lunged forward to the closest ghost.

The sword of ice shredded through the ghost, as if it was a mere illusion.

For a moment the ghost disappeared but that only lasted for a second. He appeared again, my sword still stuck between his ghostly clothes.

His empty eyes peered into mine. He opened his mouth and a toothless black hole.

His claw reached forward and I took a few steps back.

"Bad news." I mumbled. The ghosts began to move, creeping towards us.

Nyx flung a new pair of daggers but the ghosts didn't even acknowledge them.

"Uhm, they can't hurt us, right?" Rachel asked nervously.

"Let's not test that." I said. Nyx and I shared a look. We didn't even have to communicate our plans.

I put away The Shield of Winter and held Frostsilver with both hands. Without allowing the ghosts to come closer I made a straight line for the ghost. Cutting down all of them and splitting the sea of ghosts in two. The ghost I struck didn't stay gone for too long but Nyx already chased after me, dragging Rachel along.

We reached the end of the classroom. I didn't waste a second and pulled the door open.

Nyx and Rachel flew through the door. A second later I slammed the door shut.

I wasn't sure whether the ghost could pass through the door but again, I wasn't too keen on finding it out.

The hallway was extremely dark, to the point where I had trouble seeing what was ahead of us.

Thus far it seemed like a generic school hallway. I did notice how the patterns on the wall were slightly off. Different from what I recalled. But then again, this entire day had been like that.

"We need to find a way out." Nyx told me. "If there are any more ghosts in here I'm not sure you'll two make it."

"Us two?" Rachel asked.

"Look, this will all make sense," I promised the young Oracle.

She gave me a skeptical look.

Nyx gave me a skeptical look.

Sense? The voice echoed through the hallway. If you are waiting for things to make sense you'll be stuck here for a long time.

"Who are you?" I yelled.

The fact you haven't figured it out yet is concerning .
I located the voice. It came from the dark hallway at the end.

With one fell motion I spun around and threw my ice sword down the hall. It disappeared into the darkness.

I heard it shatter as it hit something. Probably a wall.

As the sound of my sword shattering faded cracks started to form on the floor. As if the solid floor was made of glass.

"This can't be real right?" I asked Nyx as the floor underneath us began to tilt slightly.

She gave me an uncertain look.

The cracks started to spread. Like a cobweb they grew.

"Run!"

This time I took Rachel's hand. Nyx spear headed into the dark hallway.

She waved her hands. The shadows slightly pulled themselves back, but it was far from her normal control over them.

However, I could see the end of the hallway at least.

The ground underneath me began to feel unstable. My feet sunk away into an abyss when the floor shattered. I quickly found another spot to stand on and began to hurry.

The hallway behind us started collapsing.

I avoided looking at the endless abyss behind us and focused instead on the things in front of us.

We passed several doors that most likely led to other classrooms. But all of the doors had been boarded up. Some with wooden planks while others had been welded shut with iron plates and heavy bolts.

At the end of the hallway was another door. This one looked like a regular door but it wasn't at least closed off.

Nyx pulled the door open and beckoned us to run faster.

Are you really headed the right way? Or are you just walking into yet another trap?

The voice was starting to piss me off.

Rachel and I passed through the door just as the floor caved in completely.

When I finally felt myself standing on a solid white floor I let out a sigh in relief.

Rachel on the other hand was gasping and struggling for air. Poor girl.

Outside the door, the hallway we

I turned around to take a look at the hallway we just came across but the door that led to it had vanished. Instead a chrome colored wall was in its place.

I backed away, feeling a sense of nausea pass over me.

When I turned around to look at the place. I saw we found ourselves inside a big restroom.

The entire room was lit by one loose hanging light bulb that had trouble even lighting itself but what I saw confirmed enough.

Big cubicles, a shiny mirror, bleach coloured tiles and the stench of piss. This was definitely the kind of restroom you'd find in a highschool.

Off to a great start.

All of a sudden, there came a loud knocking noise from one of the toilet stalls. The sound bounced through the restroom, causing the lightbulb to swing and to flicker.

Nyx raised her daggers in front of her and walked towards the toilet stall.

The knocking increased in loudness and it became more frantic. As if someone was locked inside.

"Don't open it!" Rachel warned but Nyx didn't have any of that.

With one quick move she swung open the door.

The knocking immediately stopped.

I don't know what I expected but what I found was far stranger than I could imagine.

On the other side of the door was the classroom we had just escaped. Ghost and all.

It shouldn't have been possible. But there it was.

Nyx slammed the door shut as screams came from the door.

The sound of knocking started again. This time from another locker. But then it was joined by a second knock. And a third knock.

Soon, every door in the restroom was rattling in its hinges. Begging to be opened. A rhythmic melody of nails, fists and claws hammering against doors.

Just by test I carefully opened one of the doors.

On the other side of the door I found the main lobby of the school. With the exit and all, doors wide open.

But the thing was, the room was flipped upside down.

"But how?" I asked.

I had seen a lot of strange stuff in my life but it always had been constrained to the supernatural world of the Gods. But this was just my highschool. Not a single trace of magic should be here.

But there it was. The world gone upside down.

I closed the door and opened another door.

This one led to another classroom. This one was stuffed with handwork tools. All of them were recently used. This one we had not been in before. But instead of ghosts this room was filled with bright green fire that was eating away at the insides.

I shut the door.

Nyx opened another door but immediately shut it. She refused to look at me and moved to the next door.

And here you are. The brave hero trapped in a Labyrinth with no exit The voice chided. A maze with no price. Don't you see it?

"Shut up." I groaned as I headed for another door. This time the toilet stall was indeed just that, an empty toilet.

A stream of water ejected from the toilet and sprayed up like a fountain.

I backed off and closed the door but this time it had no effect. The water spread from under the door.
"Percy!" Nyx yelled as her feet were getting soaked by the rapidly spreading liquid.

I tried to say it wasn't my fault but the water was pulling at my ankles.

It had risen impossible fast.

I tried to control the water, to stop the spread. But this water felt not right at all. It barely felt like water, instead it felt more organic. Like it had a will of its own.

I don't need to kill you The voice murmured. I can have you instead just running around in circles, trying to find an exit, always seeming so near. Yet somehow out of reach.

My mind went to the room filled with the fire. If I opened that locker maybe the fire would be quenched and it could make for our next escape.

Rachel started to help Nyx. Randomly pulling open doors and shutting them.

But keep trying to survive my hero, The voice whispered. I tried to locate her but I couldn't. She was coming from all around me.

The water had now reached my knees. If you want, I can have you wander around forever.

"I found an exit!" Nyx yelled.

She had opened another stall, this one was at the end of the room.

I waded through the water towards her.

The otherside of the toilet stall looked much brighter than anything on this side of the room. I could hear birds chirping and see sunlight shining through.

There it was. The exit.

But I froze in my tracks.

Something wasn't right. Besides all the other bullshit ofcourse. I needed to think.

Just as that thought came to me, the world around me froze.

I smiled. Thanks for the mind palace Athena.

In front of me my memories started playing like a video. From the moment I stepped into the building to the point Rachel spoke to me and everything changed.

I knew for a fact that the school layout was normally following the laws of physics. And it wasn't a magical place either, as far as I was concerned.

Something or someone was messing with female voice who had been taunting me.

What did she say?

In front of me words materialized.

If you want, I can have you wander around forever.

And here you are. The brave hero trapped in a Labyrinth with no exit

A maze with no price. Don't you see it?

running around in circles, trying to find an exit, always seeming so near.

What was I missing?

Why was I running around in circles?

Words lit up.

Maze

Labyrinth

I gasped.

How could I have missed it? The way the space seemed to bend around us, how nothing made sense and how every turn led to a more dangerous room.

I was inside the maze.

Except, the maze was normally underground. Not part of my highschool.

Who could be responsible for this?

Words began to float together. And the name of a woman I've only heard stories about appeared in front of me.

I frowned.

At least I knew I was inside the Maze. It might look like my highschool but it was anything but that. So, I had to escape.

However-

I tore through the words and the mind palace around me shattered.

The sound of watering crashing into the room returned. Rachel was about to step through the door but I reached her just in time and pulled her back.

"Percy?"

I slammed the door shut in front of the girls and stared at them.

Later I realized that I must have looked like a mad man but at the moment I really didn't have any time for that.

"You!" I pointed at Rachel. "You can get us out of here!"

"She?" Nyx asked.

"Me?" Rachel shouted.

I turned to Nyx. "We are inside the maze."

"How are-" Nyx began but mid sentence she stopped. "Ohh."

I fixated my eyes on Rachel. Now, knowing the way out I focused all my attention on my voice. Making sure my words came in clear and straight to the point. There was no time to waste.

"Rachel,"

She flinched when I suddenly called her name, guess we didn't really do a proper introduction.

"You've always seen things that aren't actually there. Things that no one else saw. They are all real. And right now, I need you to find us an exit."

Rachel tried to formulate an answer but I could also see she was on the brink of having a panic attack.

I put a little Soul Speak into my voice. "You want to leave this place right? Figure out what everything means. FIND US THE EXIT."

"Percy-"

"Please!" I begged her.
I had no clue how she did it. People like Hazel and Rachel could manipulate the maze, even Annabeth to a very small extent. To me it made very little sense. But I knew Rache should be able too.

"Percy!" Rachel screamed.

I realized that I hadn't introduced myself either.

She pointed at the door behind us.

I had checked that door before. It led to some kind of hallway where the walls were covered with goo.

"Cut down that door!" She ordered.

For once, I didn't hesitate.

The sword solidified inside my hands as I brought it down. Slashing vertically across the wood. The ice tore through it and the door fell to the floor.

But there was nothing behind the door. But absolutely nothing. A solid void was inside the stall.

I had seen something like it only once, down in Tartarus.

"Go through it." Rachel commanded.

I followed her command.

When I slipped through the door I expected to feel a shivering cold. But instead I felt a soft air current breeze past me.

I was on the other side of the door. The massive void was replaced by a big cafeteria. Probably where the kids had lunch.

Rachel and Nyx followed through and appeared with a pop.

"Now Nyx!" Rachel said, looking at the Primordial of the Night. "Pull away the shadows from that wall."

"Now?"
"Now!" I yelled.

Nyx shrugged and made a motion with her hand.

The shadows were pulled back, much easier than revealed a metal door. If you asked me it looked like it would lead to the janitors closet.

"There is the exit." Rachel spoke, her voice confident.

Nyx pulled open the door and stepped through.

Both Rachel and I followed.

The first thing I noticed was the presence of the sunlight. All that time in the dark, and now it felt like my eyes were being burned away. Then the sound of traffic. The background chorus of New York greeted me.

Nyx started laughing.

We finally found the exit.

I'll await your return. a voice whispered into my ears.

A/N And another chapter done. I wanted to tip my toes into some non-euclidean spaces and I hoped I did a good job. So, does anyone know who caused all of the school to go bizarre?

If you can guess it you'll win half a cookie (you'll have to share it)

Please leave reviews to support this story, it does help and keep me motivated to write.

-Moonhorse96