The Truths Spoken In The Sea Of Lies

Janus The Two-Faced God, and Rhea's new Poem

A two-faced god lurks near,

Rhea's little foresight,

Hera's voice, was an ugly jeer.

***

They made it a hundred feet before they were hopelessly lost.

The tunnel looked nothing like the one Annabeth and Rhea had stumbled into before. Now it was round like a sewer, constructed of red brick with iron-barred portholes every ten feet.

Rhea shined a light through one of the portholes she couldn't see anything. It opened into infinite darkness. She heard voices on the other side.

Annabeth tried her best to guide them. She had this idea that they should stick to the left wall.

"If we keep one hand on the left wall and follow it," she said, "we should be able to find our way out again by reversing course."

Unfortunately, as soon as she said that the left wall disappeared. They found themselves in the middle of a circular chamber with eight tunnels leading out, and no idea how they'd gotten there.

"Um, which way did we come in?" Grover said nervously.

"Just turn around," Annabeth said.

They each turned toward a different tunnel. It was ridiculous. None of them could decide which way led back to camp.

"I can feel the Netherworld from that tunnel," Aidoneus said, she could feel him stare at the tunnel she was looking at. "...Hmm it changed positions."

Poseidonas turned to look at the tunnel Tyson was looking at.

"I will take a guess and say that there's an entrance to the sea from that tunnel."

The blond did not say anything before he closed his eyes. "It changed positions."

"Left walls are mean," Tyson said. "Which way now?"

Annabeth swept her flashlight beam over the archways of the eight tunnels. They were identical. "That way," she said.

"The two-faced whispers, choose you must,

Yet the choice remains shrouded in dust,

He seeks to deceive, breed doubt and fear,

But the peacock shall chase, make his intentions clear.

A wish she bestows, though its answer is sown,

In mysteries profound, it is already known." Rhea said.

Grover gave Rhea the side eye. "Those are getting creepy."

"Just come on," Annabeth said.

The tunnel she'd chosen narrowed quickly. The walls turned to grey cement, and the ceiling got so low that pretty soon they were hunching over. Tyson was forced to crawl.

Grover's hyperventilating was the loudest noise in the maze. "I can't stand it anymore," he whispered. "Are we there yet?"

"We've been down here maybe five minutes," Annabeth told him.

"It's been longer than that," Grover insisted. "And why would Pan be down here? This is the opposite of the wild!"

"We can agree on that." Rhea felt so contained and stuck. "The sea is not meant to be contained, it's so closed off in here it makes me sick and uncomfortable."