"Can I please have the mirror back, now?" Mari asked Atalanta at the door.
Atalanta smirked. "No. It's mine, I won it."
Mari really hoped that Drew had meant the mirror as a permanent gift, not a loan. She hadn't meant it as a re-gift thing. She just wanted to live. Drew would understand, right?
"Do you have the photocopy maps?" Hippomenes asked. Mari nodded.
"Great! If you find anything interesting, do you think you could take notes and mail me-"
"Hippomenes! They're on a life-threatening quest. They may not have time to take notes."
"I know, I know, but if they do..." Hippomenes looked down.
Atalanta smiled and put a hand on his arm. "I'm sure they will if they can."
"We'll try to," Mari promised. She wasn't sure if she could keep it, but it wouldn't hurt, right?
Clarisse facepalmed next to her. "I'll try to."
Mari's stomach churned. What the Hades was Clarisse's problem? They were out of danger! Well, they were a little bit out of danger at least. Point was, Atalanta and Hippomenes weren't planning on murdering them, so why was Clarisse so pissy about it? Did she actually want to get murdered?
Atalanta handed Clarisse a business card. "You impressed me. This is my address, if you ever want some free training. Just tell the lady at the counter you're here for the class on Ancient exercise technique. I have three groups, at 12 o'clock, 4 o'clock, and one at 9 o'clock. You'll be on the list. Don't worry."
Clarisse's lip twitched. Mari hadn't known it was possible to be annoyed and smug at the same time, but somehow, Clarisse managed it. "Okay. Alright, yeah," she responded.
Atalanta nodded.
"Good, luck. I'm sorry there isn't more we can do for you." Atalanta put a hand on each of their shoulders. Mari pretended not to be bothered about the fact that Atalanta had to stoop to reach hers, or that Clarisse noticed and snickered.
"It's okay. You've done a lot." Mari smiled up at her.
Atalanta glanced at Hippomenes. "If the time titan wins, we all lose. Every one of us. And, children should have all they need to survive if we can give it to them."
"You sure the Yale is gone?" Clarisse asked, eyeing the door like the monster was going to jump out of it at any moment, to use them all as pet food.
"Yes. My husband has studied the labyrinth for years. The Yale barely ever goes up to this door. It mostly chases rats," Atalanta assured them both.
"Is there anything else you need?" Hippomenes asked.
Mari reluctantly shook her head. Truth be told, she didn't want to leave. Atalanta and Hippomenes had let them both stay the night, and the beds were warm, like at camp. There was good food. Really, really healthy food. Atalanta was a fan of green smoothies and lots of lettuce, apparently, but good food nonetheless. She didn't know when (or if) she'd be able to eat good food and sleep in a warm bed again.
"Hey. C'mon, we're leaving." Clarisse grabbed her arm. She must have been so lost in thought that she'd missed the rest of the conversation, because the door was open and they were all looking at her expectantly.
"Oh. Sorry." She hefted the backpack over her arm, squared her shoulders and marched in.
"Like we said before. Good luck." Atalanta smiled while Hippomenes gave a thumbs up. Then, Atalanta shut the door.
Then, they were both alone.
Clarisse took off almost instantly, only to pause and look over her shoulder. "What? You find a nickle on the ground or something?"
Mari frowned. "What the fuck is a nickle?"
Clarisse ignored the question. "Why are you just standing there?"
"Because we don't know which way to go and you can't just walk off in a random direction!" Mari frowned. Wasn't that the entire reason she was on this quest? "I can help."
Clarisse looked murderous. "Were you seriously..." she pinched the bridge of her nose "...not listening to a word Atalanta said?!"
Mari scuffed her foot on the ground. She'd listened to most of it...
Apparently her silence was more telling than talking was, because Clarisse grabbed her shoulders and practically threw her into the wall. "Do you think this is a joke, smartass?"
Mari shook her head in earnest. "No! No, I just got distracted!" Clarisse looked even madder. Distract her, distract her, before she explodes in rage or something, Mari thought. "Uh...What did Atalanta say?"
Clarisse sneered at her. "She said, 'don't worry about navigation, if you turn left in this corridor then it leads right to a fancy hotel door.' Apparently her husband is a nerd, studies the labyrinth as a hobby or something."
Mari frowned. "There's nothing wrong with being a nerd..."
Clarisse shook her head. "Well, if he knows this place so well, maybe I should have taken him with me instead of you."
Something in Mari snapped. She didn't expect Clarisse to want to be best friends or anything, but couldn't she at least be fucking nice?! "Okay, what the Hades is your problem?!"
Clarisse scoffed. "What's my problem? What's yours?"
"My problem," Mari began. "Is that you have been an arse ever since Argus dropped us off at the statue of Liberty! I don't know why you're so against me being here but I'm just trying to help!"
Clarisse narrowed her eyes. "You think I'm being an arse? What kind of insult is that, anyway?!"
"Arse is a perfectly good insult! I used it on Circe once. She hated it!" Mari spat. (She didn't actually spit, that would be really really gross.)
Clarisse's breath caught in her throat. She backed away from Mari, her hands shaking. Her eyes were as wide as little moons. "You... did you just compare me to Circe?"
Mari blanched. That hadn't been what she'd meant at all. "No, I- that wasn't what I was referring to. I swear!"
Clarisse nodded to herself. "I am nothing like Circe. Nothing. You get that into your head, alright?"
Mari nodded. "I don't need to, it's already there. I really didn't mean it like that, Clarisse. I'm sorry! I just didn't want you to keep acting like I was a waste of space. I'm sorry you can't keep all the glory for yourself now, but I'm just trying to help. That's... that's the entire reason I volunteered to go on this quest."
Clarisse shook her head. "You can't help me with this, Marion. And I don't give a crap about the 'glory'. Trust me, I learnt that the hard way last summer."
Suddenly, Mari felt really really stupid. Of course Clarisse wouldn't just want her off the quest so that she'd look better. Mari had been there. Where did she get off, thinking about Clarisse like that?
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
Clarisse sighed. "I'm sorry too. You're not the reason I'm so mad."
Mari frowned. "Then what is?"
Clarisse didn't say anything for a couple minutes. She didn't really move, either. It got to the point where Mari genuinely considered stomping on her foot to make sure she wasn't under some kind of godly influence or something.
Finally, Clarisse spoke. "You remember the prophecy? The one for the quest last summer?"
Mari nodded. "Yeah, word for word."
Clarisse side-eyed her. Mari shrugged her shoulders. "What? Prophecies are important."
Clarisse snorted a laugh. "Yeah, well, the last lines were to fly home to atone. You know what atone means?"
Mari shook her head. "Can I guess?" she asked.
"No," Clarisse said.
Damn. She'd had some really good guesses, too. She didn't think some kind of rock formation was far off, since 'atone' did rhyme with stone.
"Atone means making up for something," Clarisse continued. "And I... had something big to make up for." Clarisse scratched the back of her head as she spoke. Oh. So, she'd been really off with the rock formation thing.
"What did you have to make up for?" Mari asked.
Clarisse closed her eyes and leaned against the wall, sinking to a curled up position on the floor. "About two years before those two idiots" - Clarisse was probably talking about Annabeth and Percy, but somehow her voice sounded fond - "rescued you, I made a really big mistake. Do you, uh, do you know how I dunk campers heads in toilet bowels?"
"Bleh." Mari fake gagged. "Let's pretend I did know that and move on."
Clarisse nodded. "Well, there used to be a girl at camp who I was... very awful to. One day, she poisoned my food with some kind of toxin from a dryad. Gave me horrible stomach pains. I wanted to get her back but I went way too far."
"What did you do?" Mari asked.
"Stole her clothes whilst she was in the shower." Clarisse refused to look at Mari when she spoke.
Mari's breath caught. "Clarisse, that's..."
"I know, okay?! Gods, I know." Clarisse snapped.
Both of them knew how bad that was. It didn't take a genius to figure out that stealing someone's clothes was really, really bad.
"I was just young and, and stupid, and I didn't think it through. She ran out of the shower crying in just a towel and the next morning, she and her little friend stole a trireme and ran away from camp. Nobody heard from them again, so they were probably eaten by monsters. And it was all my fault."
Mari shook her head. "That part wasn't your fault. You're not a monster."
If that made Clarisse feel any better, she didn't show it. "I didn't mess with anyone for a long time after that. Well, apart from Percy."
"Why Percy?" Mari asked.
Clarisse scowled. "I was in a bad mood, okay? And I didn't do anything worse than try and dunk his face in a toilet bowl. And attack him with my siblings during capture the flag." Clarisse squeezed her eyes shut. "He pissed me off, okay?"
Mari was smart enough to not say it out loud, but if she'd thought Clarisse had anger issues before, she was 90% sure she did now.
Mari remembered something. "Wait, how does that relate to the prophecy?" she asked.
"I'm getting to that part!" Clarisse glared, but there wasn't any real anger behind it. "I got two kids killed leaving camp, because I was a stupid little... when I heard the last line of the prophecy, I just thought that maybe if I got at least one kid back to camp, alive, it would half-make up for it. Atone, whatever."
Mari slid down next to Clarisse, stunned. Was that why Clarisse had been so determined to get her on the plane? Nobody but Clarisse had seemed to understand what the whole 'atone' thing meant (Mari still wasn't sure the definition made complete sense).
"You did make up for it. I mean, I think you did. I'm biased." Mari tried to comfort her, but Clarisse snorted.
When she turned to Mari, her eyes were glassy. "What is the point in me making up for it just for you to go off and get yourself killed less than half a year later, huh?"
Oh.
That was why Clarisse was so mad.
"I might not die, you know," Mari said.
Clarisse didn't respond.
"And, even if I do die, it doesn't make a difference!" Mari realised how that sounded. Gods, she really was bloody awful at this whole 'comforting people' thing, wasn't she? "No, no. Not like that. I meant that even if I do die - which I would really prefer to not happen - it doesn't change the fact that you did save me."
"Yeah? You still going to think that in the underworld, smartass?" Clarisse snarked.
No, probably not. But Mari didn't say that, since it wouldn't help. What she did say was, "Circe never, ever gave me any choice. She was in control of everything on that island. I never got to choose. But now I do. And I choose to help you on this quest because I don't want you to die and two people are better than one. Let's be honest, we're both fucked if we end up separated in this death-trap."
Clarisse frowned. "So you would choose to follow me on a death quest."
Mari shrugged. "I didn't say I made sensible choices. Don't put words in my mouth." She thought of something. "Hey... that kid you pranked and her friend. What were their names?"
"Huh? Oh. Amelia and Blaze." Clarisse answered.
Mari froze. Amelia and Blaze. Blaze and Amelia.
Oh my gods.
"Hey! Don't make me kick you awake." Clarisse clapped in Mari's face, and she jumped, banging her head on the wall.
"I met them," Mari whispered.
"You what?"
"Blaze Morrigan and Amelia Barnes. I met them." Mari repeated.
"What?! What happened?!" Clarisse grabbed Mari by the shoulders and shook her, and Mari didn't resist. Her head flopped back and forth.
Blaze was dead. Worse than dead. And it was Amelia's fault. How could Mari tell all of this to Clarisse, who gave her one last shake, then let go so abruptly Mari nearly fell over.
The older girl appeared visibly shaken. Her hair had slipped out of the ponytail, and her pupils were dilated. "Is that a door?" Clarisse gulped.
Mari snapped her head around and stared. A door with a Misty glass window in the middle stood out like a sore thumb against the walls, blowing away the chance to continue their conversation. That definitely hadn't been there before.
"Do we go though?" Mari asked.
"Not sure we have a choice." Clarisse pulled it open.
It was a cupboard of school books.
Clarisse glared at them, as if they were personally offensive. "What the Hades is this meant to be?"
Mari shrugged. "It's some kind of storage closet. But... all these books are weird. Why is every one in that pile covered with the American flag?"
Clarisse raised frowned at her, like it made perfect sense or something. "Uh, maybe because they're American history textbooks?"
"American history? You have an entire subject dedicated to just your country? That's stupid," Mari said.
She'd never been to secondary school (she'd left with Oak in year six), but she was pretty's rue they just had regular history, low-key the rest of the world. Was it normal to just teach about the history of your own country?
Clarisse frowned, picking up one of the books to examine it. "What do you mean? Do you not learn about the revolutionary war?"
"Uh, which one?" Mari asked.
"The American revolution, obviously!" Clarisse threw her hands up in the air.
Mari shook her head. "Uh, no. Didn't you guys, like, throw all your tea in a lake or something?" She'd heard something like that from a tv talk show host once. "Seems like a waste of tea, to me, not going to lie. I don't really know the details though."
"Well, details are, you guys lost," Clarisse huffed.
Mari rolled her eyes. "I know that," she told Clarisse. "But, you know what we haven't lost? Free healthcare. Yet. Pretty sure you guys don't have free healthcare, which is really fucking dumb."
"Yeah, I know it's dumb. Most of us agree with you, smartass," Clarisse grumbled.
Mari thought back to the middle of summer, when Will had gone on an hour long rant about the price of c-sections. Usually, Mari didn't understand her brother's various medical rants, because he got side-tracked a lot and she had no idea what half of the long words meant (or how the Hades Will could possibly pronounce them), so she just listened as best she could. She'd payed close attention to Will's complaints about the healthcare system, though. And he was absolutely right. Why did it cost fifteen-thousand pounds for a C-section?! Back home, that was free! And it was free in most of the world. Gods, why was America like this?
Mari remembered the little bracelet that Drew had made for her, with a wooden charm saying Gods bless the NHS. It was currently stuffed in the bottom of her drawers in cabin 7, buried under a few sketches of the amphitheatre and a spare scrunchie, also from Drew.
Mari patted Clarisse's shoulder. "Look, I'm sorry. And for the record, I'm not sure exactly how it worked but I'm, like, super glad you got your independence and stuff."
Clarisse huffed. "You don't sound very glad."
"I am! I am, I swear! Look, it made a really good musical, okay? Also, I'm, like, 90% sure that Hamilton was directed by either my brother, or my... nephew? Oh, gods, what if I have a nephew..." Mari trailed off, her eyes going wide.
Clarisse shook her head. "Focus! We need to keep going... wherever we're going." Clarisse pocketed the book she was still holding.
"What are you taking that for?" Mari asked.
"You live in America. Might as well learn something."
Mari scowled.
"Come on, let's keep walking." Clarisse pulled Mari out of the door.
"What the-" Mari stared, but Clarisse slapped a hand over her mouth.
The corridor wasn't a corridor anymore.
It was a very creepy, run-down looking classroom...
"Marion, go back the other way. Now. Come on," Clarisse whispered. She was staring at something on the other side of the room, but she was also blocking Mari's view, so she couldn't actually see what.
"Okay." Mari turned around and began to move -
"Stop right there!" a nasally voice called. Mari and Clarisse froze and glanced at each other. Clarisse looked like a kid who'd been caught sneaking out, but worse. She was mouthing something to herself, Mari couldn't tell what. Probably something bad. Both of them turned around.
A monster sat on a glittery podium, smiling at them.
"Is that-"
Clarisse nodded. "It's the sphinx."
She had light bronze fur and brown hair, tied back in a knot. She didn't use a hairband, which Mari thought was dumb because she must have the worst tangles, but she was a monster so hair care was probably the least of her worries. She wore very red lipstick, which kind of made her look like a vampire, especially in contrast to her pale-as-paper face. Mari hoped it was lipstick. She had a badge with blue ribbons pinned on her chest, which looked painful because she wasn't wearing a shirt, and it looked like it was pinned to her actual skin... it took Mari a minute to read what it said.
THIS MONSTER HAS BEEN RATED EXEMPLARY.
This was not good. Mari tried to remember Chiron's lectures. She was pretty sure that the sphinx guarded the gates outside of Thebes, and asked everyone who tried to enter a very specific riddle. What was it again? Something about legs, definitely. Legs, legs, legs... what was it about legs? She should probably try a little harder to recall the details, since she remembered Chiron saying that if someone couldn't get the answer, the sphinx would strangle and devour them.
"Uh, hi. We took a wrong turn, so we're just going to go back the other way now. No hard feelings. Thankyou for understanding!" Mari jumped at a sudden SLAMMING sound.
Bars shut over the door they'd walked through, blocking it off as an exit.
"None of that escaping, please. Now, welcome, students! For this class, we will be playing... ANSWER THAT RIDDLE!" the sphinx roared.
Spotlights fell on Mari and Clarisse. Like, actual spotlights. Mari was able to look at the light directly, but Clarisse had to squint. After focusing on both of them for a few seconds, the spotlights panned around the room onto the sphinx, illuminating something on the ground as they went. It took Mari a second to realise what it was, but when she did she nearly threw up. It was a skeleton. Of a person. And the more Mari looked, the more of them she saw. These were the bones of what used to be living, breathing, walking, talking people. One even still had... it looked a little fresher.
Something sprayed in Mari's face, and landed in her mouth. Confetti? She coughed and spat paper onto the floor. It was green.
"Amazing rewards!" The sphinx held a very, very sharp claw out, gesturing towards the one exit to the room, which was, of course, right behind her podium. "Pass the test, and you get to move forward through the maze! Fail, and I get to eat you! It's a win-win! Now, who will be our lucky contestant?"
She looked towards Mari and Clarisse, like she was expecting one of them to volunteer. Clarisse leaned down to whisper in her ear. "On the count of three, we run-"
Confetti blasted in Clarisse's face with a force that sent her crashing to the floor.
"Now, none of that! I do not tolerate cheaters in my classroom. How do you expect to nourish your mind? No, no, a suitable punishment will have to do."
Clarisse paled, glancing up at Mari. Run, you idiot she mouthed. Mari shook her head.
Was the Sphinx just going to eat Clarisse with no riddle first? Was she going to make Mari watch? Was she-
The sphinx took out what Mari guessed was some kind of tv remote, and pressed a button. A cage dropped from the ceiling, trapping Clarisse. A banner was draped over the front, reading what Mari was pretty sure said 'Cheaters never prosper'.
"Your punishment is a timeout! For the next five minutes you will sit in silence. Every time you speak, a minute is added to your sentence." The sphinx turned away from Clarisse to smile at Mari, then stepped down from her podium, gesturing for Marian to take her place. "Come, come," the sphinx said, licking her red lips. "We, at least, have our first contestant already picked out for us. Welcome, Marion Carter!"
Mari frowned. She hadn't told the sphinx her name. Once more, the sphinx gestured towards the podium. What choice did Mari have? A bead of sweat trickled down the back of her neck. She felt like the skeletons lining the room were judging her as she walked.
"Now, to pass the game and live, you must show ability in all twenty of my questions. After question thirteen, the test changes to paper. Stationary will be provided for you, and if you need to erase anything be sure to do it clearly, or the machine will not understand your answer and you'll automatically lose. Do you understand?"
Mari nodded. Just answer the first riddle, then go from there, right? She could work with it. She had to.
"Now." The sphinx's eyes glittered, whether with hunger or excitement Mari couldn't tell. "What is the capitol of Bulgaria?"
What?! Mari had absolutely no idea what the capitol of Bulgaria was! She didn't even know where Bulgaria was. Maybe she should have listened when her primary school teacher said that the classes would be the cornerstone of their educational lives or whatever the teacher said. She hadn't been listening.
"Well? I am waiting, Marion. There is a time limit for each question, you have thirty seconds left." The sphinx looked even more excited.
"Can I- Can I please have an extension?" Mari asked. She was starting to tremble, and her heart was pounding. Oh, gods, she was going to die. She was going to die down here, and she was going to die taking a school test. And Clarisse was going to die too.
"I'm afraid I can't give you extra time. After all, it would be an unfair advantage. Now, time's up!"
The sphinx charged her, and Mari screamed, vaulting off the podium and rolling onto the ground.
"Hey!" Clarisse yelled, shaking the bars. "Leave her alone!"
The sphinx let out a shriek-y laugh. "You, Marion Carter, have failed! And children who fail are EATEN!"
The sphinx flapped her wings, grabbing Mari's hair with her claws and yanking. Mari was dragged across the room, back to the podium.
"Wait! Please, I don't want to die! Please, wait!" Mari begged.
The sphinx shook her head. "Children who fail are children who die! That is how the system works!"
Mari's vision blurred, and for just a second, her fear was replaced with burning anger. "Well, the system is broken!" she yelled. "And you're not even a real teacher!"
The sphinx froze. "What did you just say?"
Mari swallowed. "O-Only that you're not a teacher."
The sphinx glared at her, her nostrils flaring. "I have been verified by the standards of the US department of education. I have tested passers-by for centuries. My pass ratios are at 1% because my tests only accept the best!"
Mari pursed her lips. "Well, I'm British! And both education systems are bullshit!"
The sphinx didn't move for a few seconds, blinking. It seemed as if she'd never questioned her own ability to 'educate' her students, which seemed incredibly idiotic, since her 'classroom' was literally stacked with skeletons of her unwilling 'students'.
"You think that I'm... unqualified?"
Mari wondered if she'd wounded her ego. She hoped so. "Yes. Very, very unqualified. You shouldn't even be a teacher-"
"Stop! Please! Stop!" the sphinx wailed. She leapt away from Mari, covering her eyes. Mari didn't feel bad, especially since every second the sphinx was crying in the corner was a second when she wasn't attempting to eat Mari.
"Stop what? Telling the truth? You're an underqualified, incapable joke of a-"
"Stop! I can teach! I'm-I'm- I have been verified by every-" The sphinx snapped her head up to stare at Mari. "You." Her voice was different now, a monotone.
Mari glanced behind herself, hoping the sphinx was referring to the skeleton she'd fallen on. No such luck.
"You test me. I'll show you that I'm qualified. I can pass any question you could ever ask. I know every fact in the world! And I know if any answer I've ever given is right or wrong as soon as I've answered it. You test me, and I'll prove it. Then I can eat you! Yes, yes, this could work. I'm still qualified. I'm still exemplary." She kind of seemed like she was trying to reassure herself of that one.
Mari swallowed. Hope bubbled in her chest. "And if you fail... you'll let both of us go?"
The sphinx nodded. "Yes, yes, whatever. I'll pass! You'll see that! Go on, test me!"
Mari had an idea. Facts, right? Most of the questions she enjoyed trying to answer were technically facts... She nodded. "Okay."
The sphinx took a shaky breath, running a hand through her ponytail and adjusting her badge. "How many questions? Seventeen-hundred? Twenty-thousand?"
Mari didn't even think she knew that many questions. "Uh... how about we go with five?"
The sphinx nodded, looking even more reassured. "This will be easy. Let us begin."
Mari nodded. "Question one," she said. A mechanical clapping sound rang throughout the room, from some kind of old speaker. It was staticky, but the sphinx didn't seem to notice.
"How many times did Ross Geller get divorced, on Friends?"
The sphinx frowned. "I... what?"
"It's a question! Answer it! Now!" Mari pointed her finger at the sphinx, hoping she wouldn't get mad and try to bite it off.
"Um... once?"
"Ha! It was three times!" Mari felt like she was floating. The sphinx had failed, they could leave now...
"Wait! I never specified the parameters! If I get three out of five, I still pass!" The sphinx wailed. She sounded desperate.
"That's not how it works!" Mari protested.
"I could still eat you, Marion Carter!"
"Okay, okay, fine!"
Mari swallowed, racking her brains for something else she could ask. Then it came to her.
"Question two: Who was the actor to play a member of all three major alien races in Star Trek?" Mari asked. She thanked the gods that she had listened so attentively to her brother's many, many rants about those stupid movies.
"Um... Leonardo DiCaprio?" the sphinx guessed.
"It was Mark Lenard! That's two out of five wrong. One more and you lose!"
The Sphinx blanched, tearing at her hair in frustration.
Mari nearly jumped for joy. She and Clarisse might just make it out alive...
"Question three: What does the acronym smh stand for?" Mari asked.
"Shaking my head! It stands for shaking my head! I know this one!" the sphinx cried in glee.
Mari's heart dropped. This was bad.
"Yes! Next question, Marion Carter! Then another, and another, and then I eat you!" The sphinx licked her lips, ruining her sinister lipstick in the process.
She needed a better question. Something the sphinx couldn't possibly answer. Ever. An idea came to her, and she squeaked in relief. "Hey! Does your... machine thingy create anything?" Mari asked.
"Yes." The sphinx frowned. "Why?"
"Well, I think, in the spirit of making things fair, we should probably have a mixed variety of questions. So, I'm going to print one off for you."
The sphinx looked a little sceptical, but nodded slowly. "Alright... I suppose that makes sense..."
Mari darted towards the test producer, pressing the button to turn it one. "Is it intuitive?" she asked. The sphinx nodded. Mari wondered how many real teachers would benefit form something like this...
Come on, come on, do what I want, please. Mari prayed. The printer made a little bing! sound, before a roll of paper fell out, into Mari's waiting hands.
"Yes!" she exclaimed.
"Get on with it. I want to win!" the sphinx growled.
"Okay, okay. Question four." Mari took a deep breath, holding the paper up for the sphinx to see. "What colour does this photo show the dress to be?"
She had to phrase it just right, because she was pretty sure the dress was actually blue and black. If the sphinx was to guess that colour and get it right... the photo itself showed two colours. This way, no matter what the Sphinx said she would always be wrong. But it was a question that could be answered, so it counted, right?
The Sphinx squinted at the paper, frowning. She took it from Mari and scanned over the dress, again and again.
Personally, for Mari it was gold and white. But she was pretty sure for most people it was blue and black (even thought she thought that those people were definitely wrong, there wasn't a right or wrong answer. But the test still saw it as factual knowledge. Hopefully).
The Sphinx paced back and fourth across the room, clutching the paper like it was a lifeline. Mari remembered something.
"Hey! The questions have a time limit! You have thirty seconds left before you fail!" She crossed her fingers behind her back.
Please fail, please fail...
"I have it!" The sphinx shoved the paper back at Mari's face triumphantly. "It's blue and black! It's a blue and black dress!"
"Are you sure?" Mari asked. Her heart was pounding in her ears. She couldn't think of a way things could go wrong, but that didn't mean they would absolutely go right, either.
"Yes!" The sphinx narrowed her eyes at Mari. "No, wait! Let me see it again, just to check!" She snatched the paper back, holding it over a flashlight.
"Ha! I see through your trick! It's white and gold! It was a valiant effort, trying to fool me, but you've failed! I am qualified!" The sphinx grinned in a very unhinged way.
"Is that your final answer?" Mari asked in a calm voice. Honestly, she wasn't sure how she was able to sound so uncaring about the answer. Maybe it was the adrenaline.
"Yes... wait! Let me check again, just one more time, to be sure!" The sphinx eyes the paper again.
"You have ten seconds left." Mari told her.
"Ugh! I was right the first time. It's blue and black. It's blue and black! I will not fail this test!" The Sphinx's eyes were very very wide, maybe in panic. A part of Mari felt smug at the fact that finally the sphinx was getting a taste of her own stale medicine. Maybe it would comfort the people the skeletons once belonged to, down in the underworld. The rest of Mari still felt like she was a breath away from meeting those people in person.
"Three seconds left," Mari told the monster. Her heart skipped. This couldn't really work, could it?
"Time's up! Please write your final answer."
With the look of an irritated teenager, the sphinx ran a claw over the paper, then grudgingly handed it to Mari, who fed it into the machine. It was only a matter of seconds before the machine spat the paper out again. Across the top, in bright red letters, was one word. FAIL.
"No! NOO, NOOOOO!" The sphinx wailed, weeping into her claws and hiding behind the test grading machine in the corner of the room.
"I passed, I passed, tell me I passed!" she begged Mari. Her eyes were wide like a zero on a test and she was shaking slightly. If she hadn't been covered in fur, Mari would guess that she was significantly paler.
"No. I can't tell you that, because you failed! You saw the graded test with your own eyes. Hiding won't change the result. A deal's a deal, so let us go!" Mari pressed Drys, brandishing Oak's sword at the monster.
"Hey!"
Mari was pushed out of the way, as Clarisse glared at the sphinx. Mari had honestly forgotten that Clarisse was even there, let alone that her 'time-out' period had ended, but apparently it had. And holy fuck, did Clarisse look angry.
"The deal was, she beats you and you let us leave. She won. You're going to let us leave. Now." Clarisse demanded.
The sphinx shook her head. "No! I can't, you don't understand. My reputation would be ruined!"
"Wait! I swear on the river Styx, I won't tell anyone about that fact you lost the test. Will you let us go now?" Mari asked.
The sphinx growled. "I'll let you go. She hasn't sworn an oath. She can't be allowed to slander my teaching credibility." For a supposed 'teacher', the sphinx sounded awfully like a petulant child.
"Fine. I swear on the river Styx I won't blabber to anyone about how pathetically you lost. Satisfied?"
The sphinx did not look satisfied, but nodded all the same. "Leave my classroom. The two of you are both expelled. I can't have such unruly behaviour influencing my future students. Without you two disrupting things, one of them might actually pass my class one day."
Mari wondered if the Sphinx had ever actually been to a school. Probably not.
"Let's go." Clarisse grabbed Mari's arm and started dragging her out of the classroom. Mari hadn't seen, but the door the sphinx had mentioned was indeed behind the podium.
"Good! Leave!" the sphinx trilled, "I will not have your bad attitude affecting the rest of my stude- STOP RIGHT THERE, YOU FILTHY THEIF!"
Mari and Clarisse both sprung out of the way, looking back over at the Sphinx.
It was glaring at Clarisse, which made its eyes look like they were their own individual burning coals. Mari glanced back at Clarisse, who had instantly slipped into a fighting stance. Her gut fizzed with anxiety when she realised what had fallen out from Clarisse's backpack.
The American History textbook...
"Shit!" Mari squeaked.
"First, you talk back and now you're stealing school property?! Never, in my entire exemplary career have I ever seen such disobedience! Naughty children must be punished!"
The Sphinx slid its leg back, and glared at Clarisse like it was about to lunge.
"Run!" Mari grabbed the back of Clarisse's shirt and tried to pull her along, but was met with resistance. She really wasn't sure why she expected anything less, given that she couldn't even punch the girl properly, but why was Clarisse choosing now, of all times, to-
Oh, fuck.
Why was Clarisse getting into a fighting stance like she was about to try and go toe to toe with the bloody thing? She wasn't that stupid, right?
"Clarisse, what are you doing?! Nobody has ever survived the Sphinx! C'mon, we gotta go!" Mari hissed.
"Stay back!" Clarisse didn't listen to her, pulling out her spear with her mouth set into a firm line.
"On three," she said, "We attack."
What?!
"No, on three we do not attack, we-"
"I WILL NOT BE IGNORED!" the Sphinx shrieked, darting forward and slashing at what would have been Clarisse's left cheek if the older girl hadn't pushed them both out of the danger zone in a nick of time.
"Please, you said you'd let us go! Clarisse didn't mean to steal, she wanted to learn! You love learning, right?!" Mari begged.
"Lies! All lies! You may leave, daughter of Apollo, but I will discipline naughty children. With death!"
"How the -" Mari stumbled as Clarisse pushed them back to avoid another slash "- fuck is she supposed to -" This time the Sphinx went for Clarisse's legs, and Mari had to side roll out of the way. She ended up slamming against the exit door, thoroughly exhausted, separated from Clarisse, and one hundred and twenty percent done with the entire situation. "-learn anything if she's five feet under?!"
They continued to ignore her. The Sphinx charged Clarisse again, who got in a hit with her spear. Mari thought for a second, a single, beautiful second, that Clarisse had actually managed to fend the Sphinx off, but then it roared and kicked its back legs at Clarisse, causing her to fall to the floor with a yell.
"Shit!" Without thinking, Mari materialised two phantom-like blades of the mist, one floating right next to each hand, her eyes locked on the back of the Sphinx's hind legs, knee-level. She was pretty sure there was an important tendon there, right? At least, there was in humans. She just hoped lions worked the same way...
She shot both of her hands forward, sending the shards of mist flying after them and watched as each of them hit the target with a bullseye.
The Sphinx shrieked, crashing to the ground, as golden dust fell from two seeping wounds in her legs. Clarisse sprang up, and Mari could make out a spreading red stain on both of her front calves. She couldn't tell how deep the wound was, but at least Clarisse seemed to be able to walk...
"You!"
The Sphinx had turned her attention to Mari.
"Ah! Uh, I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Mari squeaked, backing away until her back hit the door.
"Disobedient, misbehaving children are punished! Just like you!" The Sphinx had lost movement of her hind legs completely, but apparently that didn't deter it from being able to manoeuvre a weird half-lunge half crawl towards Mari, murder in its eyes. And gunk. Apparently it didn't wash its face often.
"Leave her alone!" Clarisse darted after it, spear raised above her head in the perfect position to impale the damn thing, right through the stomach.
Mari wasn't a scientist. But even if she had been, it would have not been related to the field of physics. So she really had no idea what happened, and definitely no clue how it happened, but somehow Clarisse ended up crashing into the Sphinx in a blur, sending both of them forward and into the wall next to Mari, the Sphinx groaning at the spear in its chest.
Its tail hit the exit door, causing it to open with a well-oiled silence.
Mari fell through.
She barely managed to get a glimpse of Clarisse's horrified expression, standing over the disintegrating corpse of the Sphinx, as the door closed again, then disappeared altogether, leaving Mari alone on the other side of where it had been only a few seconds before.
Mari was alone in the labyrinth. Three things occurred to her.
One, Clarisse was alone too and whatever else happened they had to find each other. Preferably before one of them went insane and/or died horribly.
Two, Clarisse had Hippomenes's maps and travel equipment, which meant that Mari was really fucked.
Three, she had been right about American History being the most dangerous subject in the world.