𝑨𝑺𝑯𝑬𝑺 • 𝑃𝐸𝑅𝐶𝑌 𝐽𝐴𝐶𝐾𝑆𝑂𝑁 ²

EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
—dumb empousa

🗡🗡🗡

  —EVERYONE woke up decently well-rested ( as much as one could sleeping on cement ). Percy had gotten some much needed rest, Annabeth seemed in better spirits, Rachel was ... well, she was Rachel, Judith assumed. Peppy, disheveled, and still infuriatingly present.

  But the urge to trip her, push her, or send her off a cliff were dulled down to irritated indifference. A change she wasn't quite sure she liked. But as she politely handed a granola bar to the redhead in a small act of civility, she decided she was okay with it. And it wasn't because Percy gave her a grateful smile for her efforts. It wasn't.

  After their swift gorge on granola and trail mix, the group resumed their trek, blindly following the instincts of Rachel Elizabeth Dare. The girl had claimed she could see this shiny thread of light guiding the way. Judith wanted to call BS; the Labyrinth was nothing but dark and the thought of any type of light seemed out of the question.
 
  And when they started to move from cement to tile and then finally metal paneling, Annabeth began to agree with her. "You're sure we're going the right way?" She asked for the third time as they sidestepped an advanced booby trap.

  The stainless steel hallway echoed each and every sound they emitted, absorbing nothing. So when Rachel hissed, "I know what I'm doing," all the pent up frustration and stress of this new world wasn't amiss.

  "Sheesh," Judith whistled, though she had to admit, walking these hallways in the harsh fluorescent light was a lot more comforting than concrete and darkness.

  "This way," Rachel said, beginning to run. "We're close!"

  "This is so wrong!" Annabeth tried again, but she followed. "The workshop should be in the oldest section of the maze. This can't — "

  She faltered, because right ahead of them was a set of metal double doors. Inscribed in the steel, at an adult's eye level, was a large blue Greek Δ. This one was larger than all the others and practically screamed, 'Touch me!'

  "We're here," Rachel announced assuredly. "Daedalus's workshop."

  They all glanced at each other in preparation, Judith trying not to linger on Percy nor Rachel, afraid that she'd see some sort of 'I-told-you-so' look on their faces. Annabeth, though scowling, was the first to move and pressed the symbol on the doors, stepping back cautiously as they hissed open.

  "So much for ancient architecture," Percy said, pointing out the pressurized sliding doors as they disappeared into the walls.

  Judith blanched at the onslaught of natural daylight that entered through a far-off window. It was strange to be traveling deeper and deeper into a cavern only to arrive on the surface. The workshop was like an artist's studio, with thirty-foot ceilings and industrial lighting, polished stone floors, and workbenches along with windows. A spiral staircase led up to a second-story loft. Half a dozen easels displayed hand-drawn diagrams for buildings and machines that looked like Leonardo da Vinci sketches. Several laptop computers were scattered around on the tables. Glass jars of green oil — definitely Greek fire, Judith thought — lined one shelf.

  The actual machines that went along with the sketches were different from the kinds in Hephaestus' workshop. There was the bronze metals, but there was also glass and wood and silver. Though, the silver was only used on wings, Judith noticed, looking at the far wall where several big sets were strung up.