Annabeth
I left the classroom with the knowledge that I had actually just learned something useful ( f(g(x))' = f'(g(x))*g'(x) ). On my way to my room, I heard the sound of a creaking door behind me, so I turned around. The door looked like a regular classroom door, behind it was a small corridor with a brick wall, but something seemed off. When I came closer to inspect, I noticed that the bricks were arranged facing in different directions, forming a fascinating pattern. I took a step inside to take a look at the ceiling. Just a fraction of a second later, the door was slammed shut and a voice that sounded far too old for a school (or a human in general) whispered "Enjoy the labyrinth"
I tried to sort my thoughts. The labyrinth had been destroyed years ago, destroyed with a heroes final breath, but Pasiphae had been able to create a mist illusion of it three months ago. Apparently, it hadn't just been an illusion. When I turned around, I saw that this side of the door had no handle. Of course it didn't, that would have been far too easy. I got out my dagger to get a better look at it. I noticed a small gap between the door and the frame, just large enough for my dagger. I tried to wedge it in between door and frame, searching for the bolt. Finally, my blade seemed to find something. Suddenly, something entered my field of view. It was a long, spindly leg. And then another one came, followed by an abdomen. The thing floating in front of me was a spider and it was big.
Now, I could tell you that I killed the spider with my dagger. I could tell you that I convinced it to leave me alone. But that would be a lie. Here's the truth: I panicked. I turned around and ran until I could be sure I was not being followed by this creature. I considered my options. Given how many turns I had made, finding my way to the door was essentially hopeless, but what choice did I have? I looked around, trying to figure out where I was? At least I could say that, I was in a round room with four identical exits, but I had no idea which one I had come from. I decided to go through the survival list. The light of my dagger barely illuminated the room, so I couldn't make out any threats. Next step: what did I have with me? I opened my backpack and checked its contents.
A few school books, folders and exercise books, a pencil case, a full water bottle, my Yankees cap and a bit of food. Not much, but it was better than nothing. Since I had nothing better to do, I tried to find the right corridor. One had beautiful mosaics on the walls. Even in the hurry I'd been in, I would have surely noticed that, so it couldn't be this one. Another one had a floor made from metal which gave off a sound I definitely would have noticed, so it couldn't be this one either. That left two tunnels, both made from bricks. I randomly picked the one the left and went inside.
After a few meters, I began to see a bronze glow. Whatever the source of it was, it probably wanted to kill demigods, so I turned myself invisible before continuing. Eventually, I reached a corner. Whatever was making the light was right behind it. I slowly peeked around the corner.
I didn't know what I'd been expecting, an empousa, someone with a lantern, perhaps even a being made of fire. What I did not expect was my boyfriend. Dagger in my hand, I slowly took off my cap. Percy made no attempt to attack. "Annabeth" He said. "Percy" I responded before giving him a hug which he of course gave back. "What are you doing here?" I asked. Percy told me about his school's secret basement and the collapsed door, ending his explanation by returning the question" "Not as interesting for me. I noticed an open door and looked through it. Some ancient being shut it behind me. I wanted to open the door, but a spider scared me and I ran away. At least we have each other now"
Percy
"We have each other" I confirmed. "We might be trapped in this infinite maze, but we have each other" In that moment, Annabeth broke down. She slid down on the wall and began to cry. "Hug?" I suggested. Annabeth just nodded. The fact that she was sitting on the floor made hugging difficult, but I could at least lean against her. She turned her head in my direction and soon, I could feel her tears soaking through my shirt. "How's it going?" I asked. Obviously, it wasn't going very well, but the question would prompt Annabeth to elaborate while sounding less bad than 'what's wrong'. "To be honest, pretty schist. The last month of the war… it pushed me to my limit and beyond. I thought now I'd finally get the time to… recover. Everything seemed to be over. But now… Percy, if we have to go through another war, I don't think I could take that" "Annabeth, listen, this is not gonna be another war. This will be a quick thing, we'll be out in a day at most" 'hopefully' I added in my mind. "I can manage that" When I took Annabeth's hand, she grabbed it with such force that her ring cut into my hand. "Didn't Nico give your ring some enchantments for your birthday? Maybe that can help" "He gave it the power to shadow travel an object to me and another one away. They swap places.
He told me it would work only once but… what choice do we have?" "Wait, if we can send something out, we should probably send a message" "You're right" She got out a paper, I gave her riptide. She probably had pens with her, but riptide's ink stood out more. She began to write.
We're stuck in Daedalus' labyrinth. Piper, if this message reaches you, the entrance is three doors to the right from the bathroom with the cracked mirror. Don't search for us unless you know what you're doing. We are probably not in immediate danger
Percy & Annabeth
Annabeth touched the paper to her ring and twisted it in a specific pattern. A bag pack appeared on the ground in front of us and the paper disappeared. "Let's see what we have here" Annabeth said as she opened it up. "Sleeping bags with integrated air mattresses and dock ability, a few protein bars, water bottles (though we still have to fill them), a tarp, duct tape, rope and a spare dagger. I wish I also had my sword, but that's still in my dorm room" "At least we have mine, if you give it to me" "Oh, right sorry" Annabeth gave riptide back and I returned it to sword form. "So, where is the paper now?" "Probably somewhere at the foot of my bed" "Not very noticeable" "They'll find it once they realize the back pack is gone. Like I said, the two objects are swapped" "They'll find and save us" I assured her. "If we don't save ourselves first" Suddenly, Annabeth's voice was filled with determination. "If we don't get going, we'll never find an exit" "Shouldn't we stay as close to our starting point as possible?" "This is the labyrinth, alive and ever changing. As soon as you turn a corner, all concept of how far you'be traveled becomes meaningless, so anything's better than staying" "You probably know more than I do, so I'll just have to take your word for it" I picked up the back pack and be began walking.
Luckily, Annabeth seemed to have recovered from her breakdown, or maybe she was just bottling her emotions up so they wouldn't interfere with the mission. "Annabeth, are you okay?" "For the moment yes, might cry a bit later. But I got my psychological first aid. Let's keep moving"
It seemed like the labyrinth had gotten a lot tamer since it had been killed and brought back. It took us hours until we encountered anything other than interesting wall designs. We walked around a corner and were hit with the stench of sulphur. We entered a room with a large chasm in the middle that seemed to be tugging at us. "Let's stay very far away from that" Annabeth suggested. "Agreed. One time was enough" We ran away before the labyrinth could decide to, I don't know, tilt and turn the corridor into a slide. After having been down there once, we really weren't gonna take any chances. Once we were sure we'd left the pit far behind, we stopped running to catch our breath. "That was unnecessarily scary due to past trauma" Annabeth said. I confirmed. "That was not a fun time back then" "Well, I don't remember it, but you're probably right" "I wish I couldn't remember it" "Don't say that. The worst part of remembering are the flashbacks, and as you might have noticed countless times, I still get those. In addition, I have no idea what will trigger me because I don't know what topics relate to my trauma and which ones don't" "Maybe remembering isn't so bad" "You out of all people should know that" "I did remember the important things. You" "Aww. Yes, I'll always have that reaction, no matter how many times you tell me about it" Our conversation was interrupted by a hissing sound, followed by a jet of flame coming around the corner. "Dragon?" I asked. "I'd say chimera" "I've dealt with her before" "You ran away and jumped into the river" "Right, that's what happened. But there's gotta be a way to kill her, right?" "Do you have any lead with you?" "Unfortunately not" "Then we have no definite way to kill her" "So it's time to run again" "We've not yet been spotted, so walking away should be enough"
And so, we continued our way through the labyrinth. After a while, we came along a skeleton. "Look at what he's wearing" Annabeth said. "How do you know he's a he" "The shape of the pelvic bone. If this were a girl, the opening would be wider, though this could of course be a trans girl." Only now did I recognize what he was wearing: A camp half-blood shirt. "I wonder how long he's been here" "About thirteen years" "And how do you know what?" "Annabeth pointed to a bead on his necklace. "I arrived nine years ago. At that point, the old head counselor had five beads. This one was his oldest. Whoever this is hasn't spent the summer at camp in thirteen years. Considering he has his camp shirt on, it's probably not been very long since he was last at camp, which puts the date of death at some point between the last day of summer in '96, thirteen years ago and that same day the following year, plus maybe a few days, though considering his light clothes, I'd say it was towards the end of said time frame, so twelve years and a few weeks ago" "Okay then miss pathologist" "That was basic reasoning, seaweed brain" "Anyways, we can at least be sure that whatever killed him is no longer nearby" "You could also tell that by the fact he's a skeleton. Though it could have been a monster that eats its victims down to the bone. Assuming this even was a monster kill, he might have just as well died from starvation, which honestly isn't any less frightening" "Let's just hope neither happens to us" I said in an attempt to improve the mood. I had a feeling it wasn't working very well. We continued walking. What other choice did we really have? Just put one foot on the ground and then the next. I continued this pattern for gods know how long. Left foot on the ground, right foot on the ground. Left foot on the ground, right foot on the air.
When I stepped into the air in front of me, I was in free fall for a fraction of a second, then something pulled back at my shirt. I was now standing on the edge with just one foot, leaned forward way too far to save myself. A moment later I felt a tug on my shoulder and then I was standing on solid ground again. "You just saved my life" I told Annabeth. "I know. I catch people on time" "You had a few hundred kilos of spider monster dragging you down" "Fair" "All jokes aside, thank you" I turned around to give Annabeth a hug "Thanks. I needed that" "When do you ever not?" "You're right" "So, are we going back?" I asked. As if on command, a block of stone about thirty meters from us fell down from the ceiling, blocking the way out. "I guess not" I answered my own question. Time to inspect that hole.
Right in front of me, the labyrinth expanded into a circular room, about fifteen meters in diameter. Apart from a ledge that was maybe ten centimeters wide, there was no floor, only a hole leading down into the darkness. Wait, it wasn't completely dark, way down I could make out an orange glow. "I'm gonna have a closer look at that" I said. "Hold onto my feet" I laid down on the floor such that everything above my waist was hanging freely above the chasm. I summoned some water and used it as a lens, giving me a clearer view of the bottom. "Okay, the bottom seems to consist of lava or something equally hot and liquid, but it's a very long way down." I turned around. "I can't see a ceiling, but no sky either. Make of that what you want, because I have no plan" When I stood back up, Annabeth had put on her thinking face. I could practically see the gears in her head turning as she tried to come up with something. After a few minutes, she seemed to have an idea. "Percy, what exactly did you do at mount Saint Helens?" "I summoned the ocean and then Boom" "Sounds like a plan" Annabeth explained what exactly she intended for me to do. We began by getting a large tarp from Annabeth's backpack and adding handled made from duct tape to it. We then carried it out of the tunnel and onto the ledge (I went to the left, Annabeth to the right) before lifting it up vertically. I summoned a lot of water and dropped them down the hole. As soon as we heard sizzling, Annabeth and I jumped forward and rotated the tarp into a horizontal position.
