So far, they had come up with a few rules for navigating the labyrinth (they had managed to break at least half of them, but Mari thought that it was the intention that counted). She'd written them down on her arm at the command of Clarisse, who'd generously shoved a pen in her hand. After a couple days, the writing was very smudged but Mari still remembered all of them.

1) Do not split up.

Mari had learnt this one the hard way. The lesson came when Clarisse stepped through a door and it started to close before Mari could follow. Clarisse had dislocated her shoulder to grab Mari and yank her through just in a nick of time.

2) Do not follow strange sounds.

As it turned out, the best method for trying to survive the labyrinth was awfully similar to the rules characters in horror movies seemed to have a lot of trouble following. It was a rule that had served Mari and Clarisse pretty well so far though, since when they heard a very low-pitched growl coming from a tiled corridor, they simply went in the opposite bloody direction. Mari came to think of this as a very under-utilised tactic known as the ancient art of common sense. They were both still alive, which was good.

3) Do not make strange sounds, either.

This one was pretty simple. Some monsters had good hearing.

4) Don't sleep at the same time.

This was partly bred from Mari's fear of snakes, since she couldn't be sure if the labyrinth was one of those places where snakes couldn't find her, like Camp and Circe's island, but she didn't want to find out. But the need for this final rule was brought home when Mari was supposed to be watching for monsters while Clarisse slept, but fell asleep on the job only to wake to the sound of loud footsteps. Those footsteps turned out to be an empousa, and both of them had to gather their things at top speed and high-tail it the fuck out of there. The good news was that they got way with zero confrontation. The bad news was that Mari accidentally left her packet of salted pecans behind, and it was not fair that the empousa got to eat them instead.

Having all those rules was good. And extremely helpful. But they still had one major problem.

Neither of them actually knew how to find Ariadne's string.

Clarisse thought it was probably just in a corner of the labyrinth somewhere, but Mari was less sure. If it was just lying around, surely some random monster would have snatched it up? It wasn't as if Mari and Clarisse agreed on much, though. It was like the older girl was intentionally searching for reasons to be mad at her. Mari wasn't sure why. Clarisse obviously wasn't the friendliest person in the world, but when Mari first met her on Polypemus's island, she hadn't been outright hostile. Now, whenever Mari even suggested that they should try and figure out something else, Clarisse rolled her eyes at best, and insulted her at worst. Mari couldn't figure out if she'd accidentally offended Clarisse, or if she was just in a bad mood because of the labyrinth. Whatever the reason, Mari was getting pretty sick of it.

"We should stop here." Mari gestured to the glass door in the middle of the corridor.

"Why?!" Clarisse crossed her arms.

Mari wanted to say, 'Oh, sure, let's rip open my chest and find wherever my instincts live, Circe seemed to enjoy it. Then we can ask them to explain it.' But that probably would not have helped the situation. Instead she said, "Just because," then sat cross-legged on the floor, fiddling with the hem of her shirt.

Clarisse huffed and sat beside her. "I'll take first watch then."

Mari frowned. "Why? You took it last-"

"Shut up and go to sleep! If we have to camp next to a door I'm not letting you kill us both by dozing off again. For all we know, something will use me as a chow-toy and then swallow you whole so you don't even wake up."

Mari gulped. "Okay."

She took out the sleeping bag Drew had given her, which, as it turned out, was actually silk, and laid it on the floor. She put her backpack under the head part and used it as a very lumpy pillow, but it was still comfy enough to sleep in, especially given how tired she was. If she were this tired, she wondered how Clarisse felt. "Are you sure you don't want to-"

"I said shut up and go to sleep, Marion!"

Mari wondered if Clarisse was just angry at the world. Maybe it was her default setting, like some people were naturally happy or calm. Clarisse was just angry, as a general rule. But she hadn't been that mean before Mari agreed to join the quest. In fact, she'd even helped Mari smuggle make-up into camp, albeit because Mari kind of sort of blackmailed her. Just a little bit. Mari realised that Clarisse could have ditched her at the airport and gotten away with it. It wasn't as if Mr. D would care. But Clarisse had still made sure she got safely back to camp.

Maybe Clarisse just wanted the glory of the quest to herself. Mari had gotten the feeling from Annabeth and Percy, whenever they had brought up Clarisse in the sea of monsters, that she was a bit touchy when it came to glory, and didn't like it being taken from her. It would make sense now, given how she was acting. Yeah, that must be it. Not to mention the fact she was a child of Ares.

These thoughts made Mari really pissed off. She didn't have to join this stupid quest! She could have been asleep in her cabin right now, or if it was daytime outside of the labyrinth, she could have been at the Archery range, or IMing Will. But she was here, because even though Clarisse was probably more than capable of surviving and finding the string on her own, this was the labyrinth. And Mari thought she could help, and that Clarisse might even appreciate it. At the very least, Clarisse could be a little nicer. She could have all the glory if she wanted. Mari didn't care for it. She decided to get this thought out in the open.

"You know, if you're mad that you have to share the fame or whatever, even if we pull this off, you could always just push me into a corridor with a hellhound or something whilst I slept. If I'm that useless."

Mari didn't actually mean that. Or, at least, she didn't think she did. She was just mad that she was there. She hadn't gone half a year out of danger before she was back into the inferno all over again. The worst part was, she didn't even have anyone to blame because nobody had forced her to go on the quest. She'd chosen to herself.

"Just go to bed, Marion," Clarisse said. She wasn't growling anymore. Her voice was quieter, too. For a moment, Mari thought she was actually considering the whole 'throw her into a pit of monsters whilst she slept' idea and panicked. But it wasn't the kind of silence someone makes when they're plotting. Mari felt something in her chest. Shame. Maybe she should have been kinder, and not assumed the worst of Clarisse. If Clarisse was angry, maybe it wasn't actually at her.

"Ow!" Mari was woken by Clarisse slapping her around the head.

"What did I do?" she asked, rubbing her eyes.

"Shut up! Something is coming!" Clarisse yanked Mari out of her sleeping bag and shoved it at her. "Go, go."

Shaking her head to dispel the sleepiness, Mari ran after Clarisse while somehow managing to shove the sleeping bag into her backpack and sling it over her shoulder as she moved. Clarisse was right. There were several loud clip clops sounding from somewhere in the corridor around the corner.

Clarisse took up a fighting stance slightly in front of Mari. "There's just one. We can probably take it."

Mari swallowed. Her chest started pounding again and she had another horrible feeling. She really hated those. "I don't know if that's a good idea-"

The thing came around the corridor and Clarisse gasped. Then she cursed.

"Of all the monsters!" She sheathed her spear and started backing away.

Mari gaped. "What the Hades are you doing?!" she asked.

The monster kind of looked like an Antelope, but it had one horn pointing up and one pointing to the side. As it turned towards them, the horns followed and pointed directly at Clarisse and Mari. Clarisse started backing up faster now. "That's a Yale. We can't kill it. It's endangered."

Mari frowned. "Endangered?!" How the fuck was that a bloody priority right now?

Clarisse pushed them both against the door. "As monsters fade from the human consciousness, they start coming back from Tartarus less and less. If their numbers get too low, they're watched over by Artemis and if we kill one, she'll curse us, or worse. We're not allowed to hurt it."

Mari scoffed. "So, what are we supposed to do? Let it kill us?"

Clarisse shook her head. "I don't know! Nobody has ever encountered one in the Labyrinth before!"

Mari leant her head against the glass door. They were dead.

Wait.

The door.

"Clarisse, we have to open the door and go through!" Mari yelled.

The Yale was halfway down the hall now, and picking up speed.

"Are you serious? Last time I ended up nearly falling through the sky to my death!" Clarisse hissed.

"Well, would you rather be ground up by that thing?" Mari asked.

"Don't ask stupid questions!" Clarisse roared.

The Yale was closer, barely ten metres away. They probably had about five more seconds to live.

"Well, I'm sorry, but they're the only questions I can ask right now!" Mari responded.

The Yale roared, clearly excited about its next meal, and Mari wondered just how bad a curse from Artemis might be. Then she remembered Aktaeon and decided that a curse by Artemis would not be worth it.

The door swung open behind them.

Since Clarisse was kind of leaning on Mari, who was nowhere near strong enough to support the weight of a teenage daughter of Ares, both of them fell through.

They were in a room with wooden floors. Mari knew that because she could feel the gap between a wood panel beneath her fingers. But she couldn't see much else, because it was pitch dark. The only light was coming from the door, leading back into the labyrinth. And the Yale.

The monster in question roared, and began to leap towards them in a last ditch effort to obtain a meal, but the door - Mari realised all it once it was made of clear glass - was already closed. Had Clarisse shut it? Mari could see and hear the smash of the Yale's head against the glass, and the yowl of pain. She winced, expecting the glass to shatter and rain down on them, but it didn't even shake. Maybe it was monster-reinforced as well as self-shutting. Or maybe it was yet another magical labyrinth door, whose properties could never be predicted.

The Yale growled pitifully and Mari fought the urge to go comfort it. NO, it's a monster. It wants to eat you! Mari inwardly yelled at herself. It was true, but there was something heart-breaking about the monster curled up against the door and whining. Who knew how much food it got in this place? It was too big to escape through the doors. How the Hades did it get into the labyrinth in the first place, anyway? Was it just unlucky enough to reform there? And it was an endangered species...

"What's going-"

Clarisse's voice was cut off at the same time as a banging noise rang through the room. Mari vaguely noticed that wherever they were, the acoustics were amazing. Then she realised that the bang coincided with the fact that Clarisse had gone limp. Mari began to scramble up.

There was a painful crunch on the side of her head, and she was out like a light.

"...her. Please, she's just a stupid little kid." That was Clarisse's voice.

What? Mari groaned and tried to lift her head from where it was lolled to the side.

"I don't think either of you are in much of a position to make demands," a voice said.

Mari snapped her eyes open and glanced around the room. It was still dark, the only light now coming from an open fridge on one of the walls. Mari was sitting on a barstool, though one with arms and a back. Clarisse was to her left. There was a kitchen island in front of her, but that was all she could see. She could hear the sound of some kind of generator, probably plumbing. So they were in a house. Maybe a kitchen.

"Where are we?" Clarisse asked.

Mari registered that her hands were tied to the side so the chair with some kind of sports headbands looped around her wrists twice. She could probably work her wrists free if she really tried, since whoever had wrapped the headbands had only done it twice. That either meant that their captors didn't want to hurt them that badly, or they were new to the whole kidnapping people thing. Either way, the headbands were slightly loose.

Then she realised that there was a kitchen knife a few inches form her forehead, held by someone who was standing behind her, and decided that it was a good idea to not try to escape just yet.

"How can we trust you with our location?" The woman speaking was wearing an identical headband to the ones Mari and Clarisse were tied up with, only hers had training instructor written across the front in Ancient Greek. "Last time someone came to visit us, not only were we horrifically undercharged, but they tried to kill me thinking it would earn them the respect of Aphrodite! They were a similar age to you, demigoddess."

Mari examined the woman more carefully. She had dark skin and darker hair, in braids that were pulled into a ponytail. She was wearing sports clothes, with a little golden apple symbol on the front.

"What's going on?" Mari decided to make her consciousness known.

"Ah, you're awake too. That makes this much easier to choose." Mari frowned. Choose what?

"Choose what?" Clarisse asked.

Mari frowned even more. She'd wanted to say that...

The woman smiled. "I am glad you asked. We don't get many... visitors from the labyrinth door. And quite frankly, we don't trust you. Well, I don't trust you."

"'Lanta, they look innocent enough." The voice was a man's, and as its owner stepped out from behind Mari the knife moved away from her forehead and she saw that his hands were shaking.

"We can't know that, there are demigods from his army in the labyrinth already searching for the string," the woman countered.

"Wait, by 'his', do you mean Kronos? Because we think that Kronos sucks." Mari tried to placate them.

Atalanta scowled. "And how do we know you're not lying?"

"You don't! Not yet, anyway. But we can try to prove it to you. Look, 'Lanta, was it? I'm Clarisse, this gremlin is Marion."

"Hey!" Mari protested.

The woman pushed her spear closer to Clarisse. "Only my husband calls me 'Lanta. He has earned that right. You have earned nothing."

Mari swallowed. "You're right. She hasn't earned anything-"

"Hey!" Clarisse growled. Good. Now she knew how it felt.

"But," Mari said. "Is there a way we can try? If we 'earn your respect' and all that, will you let us go?"

The woman looked annoyed. "I was building up to that. Both of you, quiet until I am done."

Both Mari and Clarisse nodded, too afraid to speak.

"If one of you were to win in a race against me, I could be persuaded to let you go. But I'll leave the choice up to you." The woman crossed behind the two barstools, placing one arm on the side of each. Her husband shook his head and rolled his eyes at her, smiling.

"What's the other option?" Clarisse asked.

The woman pursed her lips and reached over her shoulder, drawing a sword. "This is the other option."

"We pick option one!" Mari told the woman, trying to keep her voice as even as possible.

The woman nodded. "I already knew that. The choice I was referring to is of a different nature."

"What 'nature'?" Clarisse glared.

The woman smiled. "The choice is which of you will race me for your freedom."

Race? Why would they race this woman? Where would they race this woman? Around the kitchen?

"I'll do it," Clarisse told the woman.

She raised her eyebrow. "What about the other one? Do you think she would agree with your decision? The choice is not just yours."

Clarisse scoffed. "Have you looked at her recently? She'd probably trip over at the first step. You want to race me."

"Do I? You seem incredibly overconfident for someone who has no idea who they're competing with. Perhaps your friend will be more cautious and prove a more challenging opponent."

Clarisse looked absolutely incredulous. "She's ten. And she's not my friend!"

"I am not ten!" Mari protested.

Clarisse glared at her.

The woman turned towards Mari. "Well, do you want to race me in your friend's place?"

Mari swallowed. The answer was no. She really didn't want to race this woman. The answer was a thousand times no. But did she want Clarisse to have to do it?

"What happens if both of us say yes?" Mari asked.

The woman smiled. "Then my husband gets to choose."

Her husband threw his arms up in exasperation. Thankfully he'd put down the knife. "Seriously, 'Lanta? Isn't this a bit much?"

The woman turned towards him and they had some kind of whispered conversation which ended in the man rolling his eyes and then nodding. Then the woman walked back over to Mari and Clarisse. "My husband will choose."

The man sighed and walked up behind his wife. He glanced at Mari and Clarisse and then shrugged. "Naturally, I think the older angry one should race you. The small one wouldn't stand a chance."

His wife nodded agreement. "Yes, I was thinking that as well."

Okay, obviously Mari didn't want to race the woman, but now she felt slightly insulted.

The woman nodded over at her husband, then at Mari, and he set about untying her whilst she untied Clarisse. "Sorry about all this," he told her as she rubbed her wrists.

Clarisse charged at the woman.

The man didn't move to help his wife, he simply slapped his hand to his forehead. It took Mari just a second to see why. Faster than an arrow, the woman had Clarisse's spear on the floor and Clarisse herself pinned by the neck against the kitchen counter. "Now, that is no way to treat someone you've just made a deal with. I would know, my father was a King. Deals were intrinsic to maintaining his kingdom. How do you think he would have fared if for every deal he made, he turned around and attacked his potential ally?"

The man raised his eyebrow. "He abandoned you to die and you were raised by bears!"

The woman sighed. "That is not the point, Hippomenes."

"Wait, Hippomenes?" Mari asked. She knew that name, where did she know that name? From Chiron's lessons. Something about golden apples and a boar, not in that order. She couldn't quite put her finger on it...

The woman grinned. It was the first time she'd smiled this whole conversation, and it was surprisingly... pretty. Mari felt the blood rush to her face.

"Yes. Hippomenes is my husband. I am Atalanta, slayer of the Kalydonian boar and five-times winner of Georgia's most successful personal trainer award."