𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟓: 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐔𝐍𝐆𝐎𝐃𝐋𝐘 𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐀𝐈𝐋
"Great things are ahead of you, Essence Lewis. The UnGodly Hour must prevail."
THEY ONLY MADE IT A COUPLE OF FEET INSIDE BEFORE THEY GOT LOST.
It looked nothing like the tunnel Eris remembered before. Now it was round like a sewer, constructed of red brick with iron-barred portholes every ten feet.
She kept her flashlight on as they walked through the tunnels, Tyson holding onto her other hand. She followed Annabeth with the others more eager than ever to find Nico.
The faster she found Nico the faster she could get him home. She didn't care if she had to drag him by the kicking and screaming. He was going home. End of story.
Annabeth came up with the idea they should stick to following 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.
As expected every turn lead them into a different tunnel. It was a nonstop puzzle.
"Left walls are mean," Tyson said. "Which way now?"
Annabeth swept her flashlight beam over the archways of the eight tunnels. "That way," she said.
"How do you know?" Percy asked.
"Deductive reasoning."
"So...you're guessing."
"Just come on," she said.
The tunnel she'd chosen narrowed quickly. The walls turned to gray 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!"
"You need to lower your voice," Eris said sternly but gently. "Remember Luke's still trying to get down here, we don't know where they are. The last thing we need is a surprise attack."
Grover swallowed and shakily nodded.
As they kept moving forward a chill couldn't help but run up Eris's spine. The labyrinth reminded her of Tartarus in some ways. Every moment was filled with endless silence and if you turned a corner you never knew what awaited you. She shook her head. Think something different.
They kept shuffling forward. The tunnel opened into a large room. Moving to stand in front of Tyson, Eris moved her flashlight to shine on the walls.
Percy's jaw dropped, "Whoa."
The whole room was covered in mosaic tiles. The pictures were grimy and faded, frieze showed the Olympian gods at a feast. There was Poseidon with his trident, holding out grapes for Dionysus to turn into wine. Zeus was partying with satyrs, and Hermes was flying through the air on his winged sandals. The pictures were beautiful, but they weren't very accurate. Dionysus was not that handsome, and Hermes's nose wasn't that big. In the middle of the room was a three-tiered fountain. It looked like it hadn't held water in a long time.
"What is this place?" Percy muttered. "It looks—"
"Roman," Annabeth said. "Those mosaics areas bout two thousand years old."
"Roman?" Eris questioned.
"The Labyrinth is a patchwork," Annabeth told her. it's always expanding, adding pieces. It's the only work of architecture that grows by itself."
"You make it sound like it's alive," Percy said. A groaning noise echoed from the tunnel in front of them making Eris grip her necklace, an arm braced in front of Tyson.
"Let's not talk about it being alive," Grover whimpered. "Please?"
"All right," Annabeth said. "Forward."
"Down the hall with the bad sounds?" Tyson said. Even he looked nervous, his hand gripping Eris's tightly. Eris squeezed his hand, trying to provide comfort.
"Yeah," Annabeth said. "The architecture is getting older. That's a good sign. Daedalus's workshop would be in the oldest part."
Her reasoning made sense but the maze was soon changing again and they went fifty
feet ahead and the tunnel turned back to cement, with brass pipes running down the sides. The walls were spray-painted with graffiti. A neon tagger sign read MOZ RULZ.
"I'm thinking this is not Roman," Percy said helpfully.
"It's fine," Eris breathed. "It's all fine.' She wasn't sure if she was trying to reassure herself or her friends.
Every few feet the tunnels twisted and turned and branched off. The floor beneath them changed from cement to mud to bricks and back again. There was no sense to any of it. They stumbled into a wince cellar—a bunch of dusty bottles in wooden racks—like we were walking through somebody's basement, only there was no exit above them, just more tunnels leading on.
A chill ran down her spine when Eris could hear voices above them and footsteps. Maybe it was reassuring to know they weren't alone but the only thing in her mind was it was probably Luke and his army.
Eris didn't know how she'd react when she saw him. Would she say nothing and attack, going in for the kill? Stay there silent in anger, waiting for the right moment? Would she...back out last minute in fear? She hoped it was the first option.
But Luke also meant Jeremiah was here. She bit her lip. Almost as if sensing her fear, Annabeth reached over and squeezed Eris's arm.
After a couple more steps they finally found their first skeleton. He was dressed in white clothes, like some kind of uniform. A wooden crate of glass bottles sat next to him.
Maybe the sight should have made Eris feel sick but being in the Underworld for so long, going through Tartarus, allowed her to see more than her fair share of dead bodies. She barely blinked when she saw it but she did power through the most painful hold Tyson had on her arm as he slightly cowered again her.
"A milkman," Annabeth said.
"What?" Percy asked.
"They used to deliver milk."
"Yeah, I know what they are, but...that was when my mom was little, like a million years ago. What's he doing here?"
"An accident," Eris said. She didn't know how but her mind just knew how and why he died. "He came down here by mistake. Never got out, lack of food and water got him. There are a lot of lost souls down here," she said the last part out loud by accident and ignored the horrified look Grover gave her.
"L-Lost souls?"
"Some people wander in by mistake," Annabeth said. "Some come
exploring on purpose and never make it back. A long time ago, the Cretans sent people in here as human sacrifices."
Grover gulped. "He's been down here a long time." He pointed to the skeleton's bottles, which were coated with white dust. The skeleton's fingers were clawing at the brick wall like he had died trying to get out.
"Only bones," Tyson said. "Don't worry, goat boy. The milkman is dead."
"The milkman doesn't bother me," Grover said. "It's the smell. Monsters. Can't you smell it?"
Tyson nodded. "Lots of monsters. But underground smells like that. Monsters and dead milk people."
"Oh, good," Grover whimpered. "I thought maybe I was wrong."
"We have to get deeper into the maze," Annabeth said. "There has to be a way to the center."
She led them to the right, then the left, through a corridor of stainless steel like some kind of air shaft, and they arrived back in the Roman tile room with the fountain.
This time, they weren't alone.
Eris had to take a step back when she first saw them. There were two faces, they jutted out from either side of his head, staring over his shoulders, so his head was much wider than it should've been, kind of like a hammerhead shark's looking straight at him, two overlapping ears and mirror-image sideburns.
He was dressed like a New York City doorman: a long black overcoat, shiny shoes, and a black top hat that somehow managed to stay on his double-wide head.
"Well, Annabeth?" said his left face. "Hurry up!"
"Don't mind him," said the right face. "He's rude. Right this way, miss."
Annabeth's jaw dropped. "Uh...I don't..."
Tyson frowned. "That funnyman has two faces."
Eris nudged him, "Tyson."
"The funny man has ears, you know!" the left face scolded. "Now come along, miss."
"No, no," the right face said. "This way, miss. Talk to me, please."
The two-faced man regarded Annabeth as best he could out of the corners of his eyes. It was impossible to look at him straight on without focusing on one side or the other.
Behind him were two exits, blocked by wooden doors with huge iron locks. They hadn't been there our first time through the room. The two-faced doorman held a silver key, which he kept passing from his left hand to his right hand.
Behind them, the doorway they'd come through had disappeared, replaced by more mosaics. There was no going back now.
"The exits are closed," Annabeth said.
"Duh!" the man's left face said.
"Where do they lead?" she asked.
"One probably leads the way you wish to go," the right face said encouragingly. "The other leads to certain death."
"I—I know who you are," Annabeth said.
"Oh, you're a smart one!" The left face sneered. "But do you know which
way to choose? I don't have all day."
"Why are you trying to confuse me?" Annabeth asked.
The right face smiled. "You're in charge now, my dear. All the decisions are on your shoulders. That's what you wanted, isn't it?"
"I—"
"We know you, Annabeth," the left face said. "We know what you wrestle with every day. We know your indecision. You will have to make your choice sooner or later. And the choice may kill you."
The color drained out of Annabeth's face. "No...I don't—"
"Okay, can you just stop?" Eris asked uneasily. "You're confusing us, you're confusing her. It's not helping." She purposely, took a step in front of Annabeth, using her body almost as a block.
Both faces perked up, "Oh, Essence Lewis," the right side said. "You're here!"
The left face frowned, "Oh, Essence Lewis? I've been looking for her. Thought she'd be dead by now."
"We're still trying to decide your end," Right face said. "I've been protesting for a happy ending."
"I'm leaning more gruesome," Left face added. "Either her or the Jeremiah boy, one must have a gruesome ending. It's in the prophecy."
Right face rubbed his chin, "An ending is boring without some angst. We will have to take that into consideration. After all-"
"The UnGodly Hour must prevail," the two faces said in sync.
A cold chill ran up her spine.
"My ending?" Eris questioned, her eyes widening. Her confident demeanor was now gone. "W-What do you mean? What...what about Jeremiah?"
"Whose Jeremiah?" Percy questioned.
Eris flushed, "He's just...he's a friend."
"A deadly friend," Right said. "Very deadly."
"Leave her the hell alone, okay?" Percy snapped. "Who are you, anyway?"
"I'm your best friend," the right face said.
"I'm your worst enemy," the left face said.
"I'm Janus," both faces said in harmony. "God of Doorways. Beginnings. Endings. Choices."
"I'll see you soon enough, Perseus Jackson," said the right face. "But for now it's Annabeth's turn. And soon it will be Essence Lewis's" He laughed giddily. "Such fun!"
"Shut up!" his left face said. "This is serious. One bad choice can ruin your whole life. It can kill you and all of your friends. But no pressure, Annabeth. Choose!"
"Don't do it," Percy said.
"I'm afraid she has to," the right face said cheerfully.
Eris swallowed, "Why are you doing this?"
"It must be done, oh, this will be so much fun!"
Annabeth moistened her lips. "I—I chose—"
Before she could point to a door, a brilliant light flooded the room. Janus raised his hands to either side of his head to cover his eyes. When the light died, a woman was standing at the fountain.
She was tall and graceful with long hair the color of chocolate, braided in
plaits with gold ribbons. She had tanned skin and an angled nose with long flowing brown hair. She wore a simple white dress, but when she moved, the fabric shimmered with colors like oil on water.
"Janus," she said, "are we causing trouble again?"
"N-no, milady!" Janus's right face stammered. "Yes!" the left face said.
"Shut up!" the right face said.
"Excuse me?" the woman asked.
"Not you, milady! I was talking to myself."
"I see," the lady said. "You know very well your visit is premature. The girl's time has not yet come. So I give you a choice: leave these heroes to me, or I shall turn you into a door and break you down."
"What kind of door?" the left face asked.
"Shut up!" the right face said.
"Because French doors are nice," the left face mused. "Lots of natural light."
"Shut up!" the right face wailed. "Not you, milady! Of course, I'll leave. I was just having a bit of fun. Doing my job. Offering choices."
"Causing indecision," the woman corrected. "Now be gone!"
The left face muttered, "Party power," then he raised his silver key, inserted it into the air, and disappeared.
The woman turned toward them, her eyes were too strong as she stared at them. Her eyes were bright and brown but held so much power it made Eris's hands shake slightly. But then the woman smiled.
"You must be hungry," she said. "Sit with me and talk."
She waved her hand, and the old Roman fountain began to flow. Jets of clear water sprayed into the air. A marble table appeared, laden with platters of sandwiches and pitchers of lemonade.
"Who...who are you?" Percy asked.
"I am Hera." The woman smiled. "Queen of Heaven." She served them sandwiches and poured lemonade.
If she was being honest, Eris didn't have many opinions on Hera. She was never a god she was viewed highly. She didn't know what the goddess of marriage was supposed to do. Did she force people to get married? When she was in a bad mood did she randomly decide to divorce a couple?
"Grover, dear," she said, "use your napkin. Don't eat it."
"Yes, ma'am," Grover said.
"Tyson, you're wasting away. Would you like another peanut butter
sandwich?"
Tyson stifled a belch. "Yes, nice lady."
Eris eyed Hera uneasily. She was nice, too nice. It didn't make any sense. She acting...maternal. If she was being honest, part of it caused her to miss Lena and Katherine.
"Essence, honey," Hera said, "How would you like your sandwich?"
Eris crossed her stomach, "Uh...I'm fine."
Hera frowned, "There has to be something you like. Hot chocolate? Candy?"
Eris visibly perked up when she heard the word "candy." It had been a long time since she had refined sugars. She cut a majority of them out of her diet to build as much muscle as she could during her training. It was hard but it was proof that it worked.
Hera smiled, "Candy. Excellent."
"No, I-"
Hera waved her hand and in an instant, a large tray of skittles and snickers bars appeared in front of her. "Take as much as you'd like."
Eris hesitantly reached forward and shoved a candy bar in her mouth. Percy smiled.
"Queen Hera," Annabeth said. "I can't believe it. What are you doing in
the Labyrinth?"
Hera smiled. She flicked one finger and Annabeth's hair was combed. All the dirt and grime disappeared from her face.
"I came to see you, naturally," the goddess said.
If anything that sentence just made Eris more suspicious. If goddess came looking for you, it wasn't for good reasoning. It was for a favor, no, a demand, an order.
"I didn't think—" Annabeth faltered. "Well, I didn't think you liked heroes."
Hera smiled indulgently. "Because of that little spat, I had with Hercules? Honestly, I got so much bad press because of one disagreement."
"Didn't you try to kill him, like, a lot of times?" Annabeth asked.
After having to deal with Persephone for a year, Eris would never understand why stepmothers took their anger out on the child. It's not like it was Eris's fault that she was born. If they didn't like that their husbands cheated on them they should just leave especially when Eris knows if the roles were reversed and Hera cheated, Zeus wouldn't tolerate it.
Hera waved her hand dismissively. "Water under the bridge, my dear. Besides, he was one of my loving husband's children by another woman. My patience wore thin, I'll admit it. But Zeus and I have had some excellent marriage counseling sessions since then. We've aired our feelings and come to an understanding—especially after that last little incident."
"You mean when he sired Thalia?" Percy guessed. Eris pinched his arm. "Ow!"
Hera's eyes turned toward Percy frostily. "Percy Jackson, isn't it? One of Poseidon's...children. As I recall, I voted to let you live at the winter solstice. I hope I voted correctly."
She turned back to Annabeth with a sunny smile. "At any rate, I certainly bear you no ill will, my girl. I appreciate the difficulty of your quest. Especially when you have troublemakers like Janus to deal with."
Annabeth lowered her gaze. "Why was he here? He was driving me crazy."
"Trying to," Hera agreed. "You must understand, the minor gods like Janus have always been frustrated by the small parts they play in the universe. Some, I fear, have little love for Olympus, and could easily be swayed to support the rise of my father."
"We must watch the minor gods," Hera said. "Janus. Hecate. Morpheus. They give lip service to Olympus, and yet—"
"That's where Dionysus went," Percy remembered. "He was checking on the minor gods."
"Indeed." Hera stared at the fading mosaics of the Olympians. "You see, in times of trouble, even gods can lose faith. They start putting their trust in the wrong things. They stop looking at the big picture and start being selfish. But I'm the goddess of marriage, you see. I'm used to perseverance. You have to rise above the squabbling and chaos and keep believing. You have to always keep your goals in mind."
"What are your goals?" Annabeth asked.
She smiled. "To keep my family, the Olympians, together, of course. At the moment, the best way I can do that is by helping you. Zeus does not allow me to interfere much, I am afraid. But once every century or so, for a quest I care deeply about, he allows me to grant a wish."
"A wish?"
"Before you ask it, let me give you some advice, which I can do for free. I know you see Daedalus. His Labyrinth is as much a mystery to me as it is to you. But if you want to know his fate, I would visit my son Hephaestus at his forge. Daedalus was a great inventor, a mortal after Hephaestus's heart. There has never been a mortal Hephaestus admired more. If anyone would have kept up with Daedalus and could tell you his fate, it is Hephaestus."
A wish? That sounded too easy, too simple. Something was off. It had to be. Gods didn't just give out wishes. There had to be something in it for Hera.
"But how do we get there?" Annabeth asked. "That's my wish. I want a way to navigate the Labyrinth."
Hera looked disappointed. "So be it. You wish for something, however, that you have already been given."
"I don't understand."
"The means is already within your grasp." She looked at Percy. "Percy knows the answer."
"I do?"
"But that's not fair," Annabeth said. "You're not telling me what it is!"
Hera shook her head. "Getting something and having the wits to use it...those are two different things. I'm sure your mother Athena would agree."
Eris swallowed, "Wait, what about Jeremiah? They, Janus, they mentioned him."
Percy couldn't help but notice that every time this mystery guy's name was said her face turned more and more red. A nasty feeling started to erupt from his stomach.
Hera smiled again, "Ah, young love-"
"Love?" Percy questioned a bit hotly, looking between the two of them.
"L-Love," Eris sputtered. "No love. Not at all. He's just a friend...kind of."
"I cannot tell you much about him as I am not allowed to but all will be revealed in due time," Hera answered.
"And...and the UnGodly Hour. What is that?"
Hera's lips formed into a firm line. "Ah. That is a tricky question to answer, my dear. The Gods are still...uneasy about the topic. It's not one can say much of. I can only give you my stance on if you should do it or not and in my opinion," she leaned forward and stared into Eris's eyes, "the UnGodly Hour must prevail."
The room rumbled like distant thunder. Hera stood. "That would be my cue. Zeus grows impatient. Think about what I have said, Annabeth. Seek out Hephaestus. You will have to pass through the ranch, I imagine. But keep going. And use all the means at your disposal, however common they may seem." She pointed toward the two doors and they melted away, revealing twin corridors, open and dark. "One last thing, Annabeth. I have postponed your day of choice, I have not prevented it. Soon, as Janus said, you will have to make a decision. Farewell!"
She waved a hand and turned into white smoke. So did the food, just as Tyson chomped down on a sandwich that turned to mist in his mouth. The fountain trickled to a stop. The mosaic walls dimmed and turned grungy and faded again. The room was no longer any place you'd want to have a picnic.
Annabeth stamped her foot. "What the hell? What sort of help was that? 'Here, have a sandwich. Make a wish. Oops, I can't help you!' Poof!"
"Poof," Tyson agreed sadly, looking at his empty plate.
"Well," Grover sighed, "she said Percy knows the answer. That's something."
They all looked at Percy.
"But I don't," Percy protested. "I don't know what she was talking about."
Annabeth sighed. "All right. Then we'll just keep going."
"Which way?" Percy asked.
Grove and Tyson both tensed. They stood up together like they'd rehearsed it.
"Left," they both said.
Annabeth frowned. "How can you be sure?"
"Because something is coming from the right," Grover said. "Something big,"
Tyson agreed. "In a hurry."
"Left is sounding pretty good," Percy decided. Together they plunged into the
dark corridor.
Thank you so much for reading! I'm going, to be honest, this chapter was boring but oh, well. It needed to be done.
PLEASE COMMENT IT HELPS ME UPDATE!
I have so much planned. I asked a while back what you wanted to see this part. I mainly saw people wanting Annabeth and Eris....and a jealous Percy. Guess what you get both.
I can't say much about the UnGodly Hour but...Jeremiah is a key...kinda.
What do you think about this chapter? What do you think will happen next? What do you want to see? What do you think of Jeremiah and Eris? Eris and Percy?
Thank you!