𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐗𝐈𝐑, 𝐏𝐉

𝟎𝟏𝟎.𝟒

Then she saw the monster. She stood on a glittery dais on the opposite side of the room. She had the body of a huge lion and the head of a woman. She would've been pretty, but her hair was tied back in a tight bun and she wore too much makeup with her contour all wrong and foundation too shades darker, so she kind of reminded Juliet of a gone wrong makeup influencer. She had a blue ribbon badge pinned to her chest that took her a moment to read: THIS MONSTER HAS BEEN RATED EXEMPLARY!

Tyson whimpered. "Sphinx."

Juliet knew exactly why he was scared, Percy had told her the story before. When Tyson was small, he had been attacked by a Sphinx's paws and disappeared.

Annabeth started forward, but the Sphinx roared, showing fangs in her otherwise human face. Bars came down on both tunnel exits, behind them and in front.

"Feeling Welcomed," Augustus quipped from the side while staring at the bars.

Immediately the monster's snarl turned into a brilliant smile.

"Welcome, lucky contestants!" she announced. "Get ready to play...ANSWER THAT RIDDLE!"

Canned applause blasted from the ceiling, as if there were invisible loudspeakers. Spotlights swept across the room and reflected off the dais, throwing disco glitter over the skeletons on the floor.

"Fabulous prizes!" the Sphinx said. "Pass the test, and you get to advance! Fail, and I get to eat you! Who will be our contestant?"

"I don't think that's how game shows work though?" Juliet spoke, Augustus nodding with her while Percy and Annabeth gave them a 'stop' look.

Annabeth grabbed Augustus arm, Juliet and Percy exchanged glances at that. "I've got this," she whispered. "I know what she's going to ask."

They didn't argue too hard. Juliet didn't want Annabeth getting devoured by a monster, but she figured if the Sphinx was going to ask riddles, Annabeth was the best one of them to try.

She stepped forward to the contestant's podium, which had a skeleton in a school uniform hunched over it. She pushed the skeleton out of the way, and it clattered to the floor.

"Sorry," Annabeth told it.

"Welcome, Annabeth Chase!" the monster cried, though Annabeth hadn't said her name. "Are you ready for your test?"

"Yes," she said. "Ask your riddle."

"Twenty riddles, actually!" the Sphinx said gleefully.

"What? But back in the old days—"

"Oh, we've raised our standards! To pass, you must show proficiency in all twenty. Isn't that great?"

Applause switched on and off like somebody turning a faucet.

Annabeth glanced at them nervously. Juliet gave her an encouraging nod. "Okay," she told the Sphinx. "I'm ready."

A drumroll sounded from above. The Sphinx's eyes glittered with excitement. "What...is the capital of Bulgaria?"

Annabeth frowned and so did Juliet and Augustus, Percy looked at them in confusion, "Sofia," she said, "but—"

"Correct!" More canned applause. The Sphinx smiled so widely her fangs showed. "Please be sure to mark your answer clearly on your test sheet with a number 2 pencil."

"Oh my god," Augustus exclaimed, realisation dawning on his and Juliet's face, "It's the Princeton Review Pop Quiz,"

"What?" Annabeth looked mystified and so did Percy. Then a test booklet appeared on the podium in front of her, along with a sharpened pencil.