"Like I was saying earlier, I'm really sorry about all this." Hippomenes was sitting beside Mari on a bench.
Atalanta had taken Clarisse off somewhere, probably to change into something more appropriate for a race, and Hippomenes led Mari to an actual arena to watch. She didn't know if she was more shocked that Atalanta and Hippomenes had a perfectly-preserved Greek race-track in a building off to the side of their gym (even though it had required fingerprint ID to access) or that Hippomenes was being really... chill about the whole murder thing. He'd even made her a snack, which seemed a little odd for someone who was about to watch his wife race a teenager to the death. Mari hoped this wasn't a regular occurrence.
And it was a race to the death. Atalanta had made that very clear when she set her sword against the wall and called it a 'consolation prize' before leading Clarisse away. Mari thought she was entirely missing the point of consolation prizes.
"Sorry doesn't really cut it." Mari scowled at him, taking a bite of the jam sandwich he'd made her, which she had to admit was delicious.
Hippomenes nodded. "Yes, I suppose you're right. It's just that we moved here because of the door. Partly to protect mortals from accidentally going through it and partly because I study the Labyrinth. I suppose you could say I'm a bit of a nerd. I've got heat motion detectors monitoring every angle of that door, but this is the first time we've ever seen any activity in years. Not since a demigod broke in and tried to kill us to please Aphrodite, anyway. So you can see, I hope, that Atalanta is just being cautious."
Mari frowned. "Why would killing you and Atalanta please Aphrodite?"
Hippomenes shrugged. "Water under the bridge, but most people don't know it. She helped me win Atalanta's hand in marriage using three golden apples. We each ate one and they gave us immortality."
Mari scooted slightly away from Hippomenes, who held up his hands in a non-threatening manner. "Oh, no, we're not gods! More like... immortal mortals. We don't age or get sick, but we can be killed by other means."
Mari nodded but didn't scoot back.
Hippomenes continued, "The problem was, we forgot to thank Aphrodite and she got, perhaps you might say, a little miffed. Well, more than a little miffed. Not that it wasn't all justified of course!" He yelled that last part as loud as he could. "She tricked us into being... you know... intimate in a temple of Artemis. For that, Artemis turned us both into lions. Uh, this next part happened about a thousand years ago, give or take, so it's not really written down, but we'd hidden the last apple in a box and buried it so that nobody else could find it and attempt to claim immortality for themselves. And since we were still immortal as animals, we had a while to plan. We snuck back to our old home and dug up the box, then we burnt the final apple as an offering to Aphrodite and the goddess forgave us. She asked Artemis to transform us back and we've lived the rest of our lives together ever since. But since most people don't actually know that Aphrodite forgave us, if they want to win her favour and find out we're alive, they tend to try to kill us first and ask questions later."
"Why don't you just tell them Aphrodite forgave you?" Mari asked.
Hippomenes shook his head, and flashed her a smile, which would have looked happy if not for the fact that his hand was shaking. "We tried. The first few groups who tried to kill us thought we were lying to save our skins. So, we added the death arena as an extension of our gym."
"Your gym?" Mari frowned. She didn't see any gym.
Hippomenes smiled for real this time and pointed. "Of course! Didn't you see the sign?"
Mari followed his finger with her eyes, to just above the participants' entrance of the arena. A plaque made of blue tiles was hanging over it, with bronze lettering. Mari frowned, her eyes squinting, and it wasn't because of the sun. She never had to squint at the sun. It had been such a long time since she'd had to read in English, and her dyslexia certainly wasn't helping... She tried to form the word in her mouth. "Alatnata's gym and lib...rary." She guessed. At least she could recognise the more familiar words.
Hippomenes pulled out a remote control from his pocket. "Oh, sorry about that. I have the entrance set to mortal mode." He pressed two buttons on the remote, and the tiles above the entrance flipped over, to reveal a new sign, in Ancient Greek.
"Atalanta's gym and Library." Mari read.
Hippomenes nodded. "It actually says Atalanta on the other side, but most of the customers think it's a typo for Atlanta. It was an accident but it makes for a really convenient cover. We're somewhere under Georgia, you know."
Mari frowned, getting back to her original point. "And how does a race solve anything?"
Hippomenes shrugged. "I think it calms her nerves."
Mari gaped. "This calms her nerves?"
Hippomenes shrugged again.
"Hey! If you two are done chatting, can we please get this over with?!" Clarisse yelled.
Mari hadn't even realised that Clarisse and Atalanta had entered the arena.
"Sorry, 'Lanta! We're watching!" Hippomenes called, grinning at his wife.
There wasn't really any build-up to the race part. Atalanta nodded at Clarisse and then walked over to the opposite side of the track. Then, Hippomenes blew a whistle and both of them started running.
Clarisse was fast, that couldn't be denied. She wasn't as fast as Travis or Connor, but she could still probably outpace half the camp. She pumped her muscles over and over again and somehow kept up a steady speed. It wasn't enough. It was nowhere near enough.
Hippomenes had said that whoever circled the Arena three times won. Atalanta was already starting her second round when Clarisse reached the halfway point of her first. A selfish part of Mari was really glad it wasn't her up there...
Clarisse reached the end of her first circle, and Atalanta slowed down slightly. She didn't look out of breath at all. In fact, it seemed like she was mocking Clarisse. Mari knew Clarisse wouldn't take that well.
The daughter of Ares roared like an actual lion, and her speed increased slightly. It didn't look like much more in the grand scheme of things, but Clarisse had already been pushing herself to the limit. Mari wasn't sure if going beyond that was even possible. She wondered if children of Ares also ran on anger.
Atalanta sped up again, passing the line and starting her final run as Clarisse was halfway through her second.
This wasn't going to go well. Mari didn't need to rely on her instincts to see what the outcome would be. Clarisse was putting up a better fight than Mari would ever manage, but she was still going to lose.
"You know, this reminds me of the good old days. Back when I was in your friend's place. Of course, I was running the race for Atalanta's hand in marriage, and I also used the golden apples to distract her so that I could win..." He trailed off, smiling fondly at what Mari assumed were happy memories of nearly dying.
Wait, he distracted Atalanta with shiny gold apples, right? Maybe Mari could try that too. Atalanta was probably smart enough not to fall for the same trick twice, but at least it was better than doing nothing.
Problem was, Mari didn't have any golden apples. She also didn't have the ability to give Aphrodite a quick call and ask for a favour, either. She doubted even Drew or her siblings could.
Hold on, Drew! Drew gave her a compact mirror, right? That was shiny. It was silver and not gold, and she only had one but it would have to work.
She slung her backpack onto the bench next to her and dug out the compact mirror.
"Hey, you're blocking my view," Hippomenes complained.
"You'll get over it," Mari told him, standing up on the bench and opening it so that the mirror inside was facing the race track.
"HEY!" Mari yelled as loud as she could. "IT SURE WOULD BE A SHAME IF SOMEONE WERE TO COME AND STEAL THIS BEAUTIFUL, SHINY MIRROR, GIVEN TO ME BY NONE OTHER THAN A DAUGHTER OF APHRODITE HERSELF!"
Atalanta paused for a second, and kept running. Mari's heart sank.
About three seconds later, she glanced back at the mirror and Mari nearly fell off the bench. She had Atalanta's attention. All she could do now was keep going.
"I CAN'T IMAGINE A MIRROR SHINIER THAN THIS ONE. IT JUST CATCHES THE LIGHT PERFECTLY. I REALLY HOPE I NEVER LOSE IT. THAT WOULD BE SUCH A TRAGEDY!"
Atalanta turned on her heel, running right at Mari.
"Oh, shit!" Mari exclaimed.
She dashed along the benches, jumping from each as she went and accidentally stepping in the hot dog that Hippomenes had brought with him.
It still took less than ten seconds for her to hear footsteps gaining on her. "Go, 'Lanta!" Hippomenes yelled in the background.
Clarisse was starting her last round now, which meant that she was turned to face her. Her eyes widened in shock as she saw Atalanta, chasing behind Mari instead of at the finishing line.
"CATCH!" Mari screamed, lobbing the mirror at Clarisse.
The older girl stumbled, but somehow caught it and kept running. Mari ducked and threw her hands over her head as Atalanta soared over her, chasing Clarisse again. Only this time, Atalanta wasn't running for the finish line but going in the opposite direction, sprinting for the mirror.
Atalanta was three-quarters of the way towards Clarisse, was halfway through her last lap, on the way to the finish-line when she lobbed the mirror back at Mari.
Oh gods, she thought, it could take my eye out if I'm not careful enough.
Mari swallowed, and jumped, imagining the mirror was just another basketball tossed at her by Lee when they used to have games during the summer. She managed to catch it mid-air, and started running from Atalanta the second her feet touched the ground. If they both survived this, she would make a point of telling Clarisse how terrible her aim was.
Atalanta was gaining on Mari at speeds a modern Olympian athlete would have been jealous of. She glanced over at Clarisse, who only had a quarter of the track left to go...
She was tackled to the ground.
"Give it to me!" Atalanta demanded. For some strange reason, she looked almost proud.
"NO!" Mari shrieked, locking her fingers around the mirror in a vice-like grip.
Atalanta struggled for it with her for a few seconds until Hippomenes yelled something at his wife. In the scuffle, Mari couldn't quite hear what it was, but Atalanta did.
"You think that would work?" Atalanta shouted back at her husband.
"Worth a try!" came his response.
"You think what would- AHAHAH!" Mari shrieked as Atalanta raised the arm Mari was clutching the mirror in and started tickling her underarm with no mercy.
"NO! STOP IT, THIS IS- HAHAHA-CHEATING!" Mari tried to keep a hold on the mirror, but it slipped out of her hand and into Atalanta's lap.
"Thanks for that." The woman grinned and literally flipped in mid-air over the benches, leaving Mari crumpled on the ground.
"I'M SORRY, CLARISSE! RUN!" she called.
Clarisse was less than twenty metres from the finishing line now, but mirror-in-hand, Atalanta was closing the gap. Mari didn't have the slightest clue who would win...
The gap closed...
Both of them crossed the finish line, at the same time.
"And, it's a draw!" Hippomenes grinned from the stands, blowing his whistle to signal that the race was over.
Clarisse collapsed onto the floor instantly, and Mari sprinted as fast as she could over to her.
Clarisse had tears running down her cheeks. Mari wasn't sure if it was from exertion, fear, or both. "I-think-ankle-broken-"
Mari dug some water out of her backpack and handed it to Clarisse, who downed all of it in one. Clarisse's ankle was swollen to three times the size it should be, and was blue and black all over.
Atalanta winced. "That looks nasty." She took a steady sip of water from a nearby stand.
Mari dug out a square of ambrosia from Clarisse's backpack but didn't hand it over immediately.
"What the Hades are you doing? Gimme!" Clarisse glared.
"I have to make sure the bones are aligned first. If I don't it could set wrong!" Mari explained.
Clarisse scoffed. "Since when are you a medical expert?"
Mari shook her head. "I'm not. I just pay attention to my brother's rants."
"Do you even know how?" Clarisse panted.
Mari shook her head. "No..."
Hands pushed hers out of the way. "Move. I'll do it," Atalanta said.
"What? No way!" Mari protested.
Atalanta put a hand on Mari's shoulder. "Kid. You do not go on a hunt for a monster created by an angry goddess of the hunt without knowing at least a little about how to heal injuries. Trust me, I've got this."
"I do not trust you," Mari told her.
Atalanta nodded. "I don't trust you either, so I suppose that's fair."
Before Mari could move, Atalanta jerked Clarisse's foot to the left. Clarisse cried out and wrenched her foot away, but Atalanta was done. "Give her the ambrosia."
Without a word, Mari handed it over.
The swelling went down almost instantly, and less than ten seconds later Clarisse was back to normal.
"When did you even break your foot?" Mari asked.
Clarisse glared at her. "I tripped catching your stupid mirror, remember?"
"Well, I'm sorry for trying to help-" Mari began, only to be rudely interrupted.
Hippomenes was clapping. And Atalanta was laughing.
"Oh! That was amazing, I haven't had an actual challenge in, how long has it been, Hippomenes?" Atalanta turned to her husband.
Hippomenes dug a notebook from his back pocket. "Hm. 1992, that daughter of Nike. She nearly beat you."
Atalanta gasped. "No, she did not!"
Hippomenes grinned. "Ah, but you just said she was a challenge-"
"You have got to be joking! How can you race me to the death and then stand there like nothing happened. Are you too scared? Fight me, you cowards!" Clarisse didn't have her spear but she brandished a water bottle at Atalanta like it was a dagger. Mari wondered if it would help to mention that last time she'd tried that, Atalanta had beat her and she'd ended up racing anyway. Probably not.
Atalanta and Hippomenes stared blankly at Clarisse.
"What are you talking about?" Hippomenes asked.
Clarisse glared. "Stop playing dumb! Mari and I are leaving, and you can either let us or fight me! Take your pick, but make it quick!"
Mari did not point out that Clarisse's words rhymed.
Atalanta and Hippomenes just looked even more confused. "There is no need to fight. I don't plan on hurting either of you, and I mean no offence to my husband but I don't think he would be able to if he tried."
Hippomenes nodded. "She's right. I couldn't. I tripped over the door on the way here."
Clarisse didn't relax. Well, she looked less worried, but she switched her stance to focus solely on Atalanta. Mari kept hers trained on Hippomenes, just in case he was bluffing. She really didn't think he was bluffing, though.
"Why would we ever believe you? You tried to race me to the death." Clarisse spat.
Atalanta looked offended as she answered. "I did not! My gods, Why would you think that?!"
What? Mari exchanged looks with Clarisse. This was a trick, right? Atalanta was luring them into a false sense of security and then she was going to murder them in their sleep or something.
"You said if she lost you'd kill her with your sword! I was there. Don't play dumb!" Mari accused.
Atalanta paused, looking between Mari and Clarisse. Then her eyes caught sight of her sword, still propped against the arena entrance and her mouth formed a wide O. "No. No, I understand. I think there's been a severe miscommunication here. We would not hurt children. Especially not children of the gods-"
"Then why were you threatening me with the sword?!" Clarisse spat.
Atalanta crossed her arms. "I meant that if you lost I'd have a sword fight and you could earn my respect by winning that, instead. If you lost the sword fight we'd just make you pay a fine for trespassing. This is private property, you know."
Mari's hand slipped from her bracelet in shock. Was Atalanta serious? Or was she trying to bluff her out because she was regretting the race after Clarisse almost beat her?
Hippomenes walked slowly towards them. "Sorry, we should have said something sooner. But most of the time when demigods arrive here they want an adventure, so we try to provide. The benefit for us is that people are less likely to try and kill us if they think we'll make them run a death race. Nobody's ever come from the labyrinth before, though. I guess your nerves must be a little frayed." Hippomenes jumped as Clarisse growled at him. Like she actually growled. "Not that that's your fault! I don't know much about whatever quest you've been on, but it can't be all that relaxing."
Mari frowned. Did the quest make them hyper-vigilant? Annabeth had told her that word meant over-aware of dangers, right? Maybe they were a little too jumpy... but then again, Atalanta did become famous partially for racing her suitors to their deaths.
"Why wouldn't you kill us? You've raced people to death in the past." Mari voiced her thoughts.
Atalanta shook her head. "I killed those men because they wouldn't leave me alone. Regardless, I gave them all a choice to leave in peace but they were too arrogant to even entertain the idea that they would lose. I took no joy in the killing but I would do it again if it meant I got to live my life according to me and not some... aftoaporrofimenoi ilithioi."
Mari gulped. She didn't like the idea of killing. Back at camp, she'd had a few sleepless nights wondering if Circe had been building up to teaching her using the more 'disposable' guests when she escaped. But the way Atalanta put it... she hated to admit it, but it sounded fair. If she had that many people who wouldn't take no for an answer, she didn't know how she'd react. And, Atalanta gave them an out anyway.
Mari relaxed. "I believe you."
Clarisse huffed and lowered her water bottle. Maybe she knew it wouldn't be at all effective anyway. "You could have just said all that in the first place," she muttered.
Atalanta nodded. "Yes. I'm sorry, I got a little... caught up in the theatrics of it all. The gods like to tune into my races sometimes, and they prefer to be entertained."
Mari gaped. "The gods are watching?"
Atalanta glanced at a camera Mari hadn't realised was there. "Hephaestus installed Hephaestus TV about thirty years ago, but they're only watching if the light is green. It was during the race, but now it's red again so they've changed the channel."
Mari nodded. The gods had seen them, in the race. Her father might have seen the race, too. She'd never met him, obviously, but that didn't stop her from wondering what he was like. It was a little different when she found out he was the immortal god of the sun, but sometimes the thought still popped into her head. If he had been watching... she wondered if he was proud of her.
She tuned back in and realised she'd missed some of the conversation.
Atalanta jerked her head towards the arena exit. "Come on. Let's go get changed. It's not good practice to stay in sweaty clothes after a run. And you need to do some cooldown exercises to get your heart back to normal." She turned to Mari. "Will you be okay with just my husband? He's a bit of a nerd."
"Hey!" Hippomenes protested, but his voice was light.
Mari nodded.
Atalanta walked towards the arena exit, but Clarisse paused before following, glancing at Mari. She mouthed something, but Mari couldn't make out what she was actually saying.
Me cheerful.
What the fuck was that supposed to mean? Mari just shrugged, which didn't seem to make Clarisse feel any better. She huffed and followed Atalanta.
Hippomenes nudged Mari's shoulder. "I have something to show you. Come with me."
Mari followed Hippomenes out of the arena, and into the open air.
The arena had been warmed up by braziers of fire in between each row of benches. That made it pretty toasty. But there were no braziers outside and apparently Atlanta was a pretty cold place in the winter. A gust of wind blew Mari's hair all around her face and she shivered. She'd always hated cold. Why the Hades would anybody choose to live here?
"There's heating inside, don't worry. It's not a long walk," Hippomenes assured her.
The gym itself was, indeed, warm. The walls were made of thick glass, with frosted decorations in the shape of a Laurel wreath around an apple. Mari wondered if that was an inside joke.
"Where are we going?" Mari asked.
Hippomenes grinned. "The best room in the entire gym. If 'Lanta asked, you didn't hear me say that." He grinned as they reached a huge set of double doors off to the side, with an ID scanner on the left door. Hippomenes dug around in his pocket again, and pulled out a shiny bronze card with another imprint of the apple and Laurel wreath. "Here we go." He placed the card in front of the scanner, which beeped green. The doors swung open on their own and Mari followed Hippomenes inside.
The 'library' didn't actually contain many books with covers. Instead it was just shelves and shelves of papyrus scrolls, all lined up the way wine was stored in those crate thingies Jean used to use. There were two book-cases in the corner, but the second one was only half-full.
Hippomenes walked over to a shelf of scrolls at the back of the room, which was covered in dust. "You probably won't be used to using scrolls, but they're so much better than books. Maybe that's just because I'm biased, though. Easier to sort, too... which brings me to this!" He pulled out three scrolls and brought them over into a table in the middle of the room.
Mari followed him, sitting in a chair. "What are these?" she asked.
Hippomenes spread the oldest-looking scroll out along the centre of the table. "Whilst you were both tied up, Clarisse explained why you were in the Labyrinth in the first place. Well, we tricked her into explaining by pretending to threaten her-"
"Wait," Mari interrupted, "You managed to threaten Clarisse? I didn't think she was scared of anything. What the Hades did you do?"
Hippomenes frowned. "I'm not sure she'd want me to say what we threatened her with." He then pointed to the scroll. "Back to my point. Clarisse said you were journeying the Labyrinth to try to find Ariadne's string before Kronos's forces do, right?"
Mari nodded.
Hippomenes continued. "She also said neither of you have any idea on what you're actually doing."
Mari rubbed her arm. "That is also true."
Hippomenes snorted. "Then you're lucky you're alive. Even with your 'instincts', and yes, Clarisse told us about those too."
Mari scowled. Just what did Atalanta and Hippomenes threaten her with?!
Hippomenes tapped the scroll with his finger, drawing Mari's eyes to it again. Thankfully, it was written in Ancient Greek. "Daedalus." Mari read aloud. "Wait, isn't he very dead? And what does he have to do with the quest?"
"Did you do no research? Daedalus created the labyrinth. Tell me you at least know that."
Mari nodded. It was a lie. Most of what she knew revolved around stories in the books that Reyna had snuck to her back on Circe's island, before she stopped talking to her. There were Chiron's lessons, but he'd never held one on the labyrinth.
Hippomenes didn't look very convinced. "Okay. Fine. In all honesty, Daedalus could be dead. But nobody actually knows. There are tons of theories but the most popular one is that Daedalus is hiding somewhere, in the Labyrinth. And if he is, the only way he could navigate it and survive this long is by using Ariadne's string.
Mari frowned. "Wait, who is making these theories? Is there some kind of Labyrinth club?"
Hippomenes grinned. "Oh, yeah. A whole community. We're on Reddit. Search for R/mazeofdoom. Actually, you probably shouldn't do that, seeing as you can't really use a phone without dying... yeah, that's a bad idea." He continued, "Anyway, it seems to me that if you want to find Ariadne's string, finding Daedalus is your best bet."
"Why? This is all based on the assumption that he's even alive, and that's a pretty hefty assumption," Mari pointed out.
Hippomenes nodded. "You have a point. But it's a better strategy than stumbling around the labyrinth hoping it's in a hidden passageway. Aren't you a legacy of Athena? I thought you would have been a little more diligent about the planning."
Hippomenes didn't sound annoyed, more confused. Mari wanted to protest that Clarisse had kind of elected herself as leader of the quest, but that wasn't entirely true. She mostly let Mari choose which passageways they took, after all. Mari wasn't really a long-term planner, though.
"What else do you know about Daedalus?" Mari asked.
Hippomenes frowned. "Not much. He was cursed for the murder of his Nephew but I can't imagine how that would be relevant. Maybe you could try and heal his curse, in return for Ariadne's string? You have healing powers, right?"
Mari frowned. "Weak ones. Wait, you know I'm a legacy of Athena and that I have healing powers? Just how much did Clarisse tell you about me?"
"Only your godly relatives, your healing powers and from the description she gave, some kind of disjointed prophetic instincts which someone should really look into. She rambled a lot," Hippomenes finished.
Wait, that didn't make any sense. Why would Clarisse not mention the fact that Mari could physically manipulate the mist? That was pretty important information. Clarisse obviously didn't like her all that much, so it couldn't be to try and protect her, so what was it?
Mari shook her head to try and clear it. "Well, I can't heal Daedalus's curse anyway. That's not how it works. I can't do magic. And I don't want to make Athena angry."
Hippomenes scoffed. "Well, obviously. But if Daedalus is desperate enough he might just believe you can. Then you can take the string and incapacitate him."
Startled, Mari looked up from the papyrus sheet. "But that's a lie."
Hippomenes nodded. "Yeah. So?"
So, Daedalus hadn't done anything to hurt her, specifically. Mari had lied to Circe, and she'd lied to Polyphemus, but they deserved it. Then again, Daedalus was a murderer, right? Maybe he deserved it, too. But living that long with a curse... even if she didn't know what exactly the curse entailed, maybe he was already being punished enough. Mari didn't want to add to that. It felt wrong.
"I don't want to lie to get what I want and then leave him for dead. He'll die in the Labyrinth without the string."
Hippomenes gave Mari a weird look, which she could t quite decipher. "So have Clarisse tell the lie," he suggested.
Mari shook her head. That was just like passing the blame on to someone else. It was still wrong if she went along with it.
Hippomenes pinched the bridge of his nose. "Okay. Fine. You can think about it later. The point is, you're probably better off searching for Daedalus than wandering around the labyrinth with no plan. Do we at least agree on that?"
Mari nodded. "Can we take the scrolls with us?"
Hippomenes shook his head. "They're one-of-a-kind, and you're not the only person who needs them. One day, I want to travel the labyrinth myself. Not to mention, they're priceless relics."
Mari's shoulders slumped. She hadn't had a chance to read the scrolls, but one looked kind of map-like, and they seemed like they could be helpful...
Hippomenes gathered them up in his arms. "I can, however, scan and print them for you."
Mari frowned. "But you said they were priceless relics. Won't they break?"
Hippomenes grinned. "It's a special scanner."
He went through a door Mari hadn't noticed was there, to a conjoining room. Mari tried to follow but it shut behind him and locked. There were a few strange sounds Mari couldn't understand, at all, and then footsteps started heading towards the door again. Mari rushed back to her seat so Hippomenes wouldn't relalise she was listening in.
"You're not very subtle," he told her, closing the door behind him again. There was a loud BANG, as if an object had hit the door as it closed, and Hippomenes yelled something in a language Mari couldn't understand.
"Ignore that." Hippomenes dumped the contents of his arms onto the table again. There were the three original scrolls, but now there were what looked like three envelopes beside them. On closer inspection, they were actually those really compact folded maps that people used on hikes, except that when they were opened only one was a legit map. The other two were long paragraphs in Ancient Greek, with diagrams to match.
"This should help. The map is the whole of the labyrinth, as far as ancient cartographers could determine. I added what my Reddit thread had been able to figure out, that's the pink lines. The other two are everything I know about Daedalus and Ariadne's string, respectively. I could only make one copy of each, though. The... scanner was being unco-operative." Hippomenes scowled at the door again.
Mari was pretty sure that scanners weren't sentient, but she didn't bring it up. She got the feeling she should just leave it. She didn't know how it could be possible, but whatever Hippomenes was using as a 'scanner' was something else. Something she shouldn't be near, and something she certainly shouldn't touch. Or interact with.
"Okay. Thank you." She took the papers and put them away in her backpack. Whatever else happened, at least she and Clarisse had a solid plan now. Probably.