He had two faces. Literally.
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. 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 terribly rude. Right this way, miss."
Annabeth's jaw dropped. "Uh... I don't..."
Tyson frowned. "That funny man has two faces."
"Uh, Books?" Cressida nervously, her hand reaching for her bracelet, but Annabeth was still stunned.
"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. He wanted her to choose between the two exits behind him that were blocked with wooden doors with huge iron locks. The keys to the locks were passed from the left hand to the right hand as they noted that the door behind them, the way they came, had completely disappeared.
"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."
"That's it!" Cressida bellowed as she drew her thyrsus, banging the blunt end on the floor as the sound echoed and she stood protectively in front of Annabeth, whose face had drained of colour. "Back off, Janus."
"Oh. Oh. If it isn't the purple demigod," the right face said. "You're smarter than you look."
"I like to read. And if you know who I am, then you know what I'm capable of. So leave my friend alone."
The doors behind him change. Instead of being plain wooden doors, they became ornate marble, etched with carvings.
"Perhaps you would like to choose then?" the right face said. "But where Annabeth's choice was between places..."
"Yours is between people," the left finished.
Her chest rose and fell for a single moment before she cried out as she struck and Janus disappeared from her path. "Show yourself, you two-faced snake!" she spat.
But he reappeared behind her as she flinched away and Percy was the one who held her back.
"Leave them alone!" Percy said as he pushed her behind him. Who are you anyway?" he questioned, the name Janus not ringing any bells.
"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." He laughed giddily. "Such fun!"
And the doors melted back to their wooden appearance.
"Shut up!" his left face said. "This is serious. One bad choice can ruin your whole life. It can kill you and all your friends. But no pressure, Annabeth. Choose!"
"Don't do it!" Percy exclaimed, remembering the line of the prophecy about the child of Athena's final stand.
"I'm afraid she has to," the right face said cheerfully.
Annabeth moistened her lips. "I – I choose –"
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 colour of chocolate, braided in plaits with gold ribbons. She wore a simple white dress, but when she moved, the fabric shimmered with colours 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 girls' 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 begone!"
The left face muttered, "Party pooper," then he raised his silver key, inserted it into the air and disappeared.
The woman then turned on them, her eyes shining with power before she 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."
This definitely couldn't be good.
******************************************************************
Hera seemed nothing like the regal queen that they'd seen up on Olympus - then again she'd been seven feet tall before - now, she seemed more like a mother, which was on par for the goddess of fertility and marriage.
But she was literally serving sandwiches and pouring lemonade. "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."
"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 combed itself. All the dirt and grime disappeared from her face. And then she did the same for Cressida.
"I came to see you, naturally," she answered and everyone became nervous. No god came looking for you without wanting something - except for maybe Cressida's father, not that Percy would ever admit it.
However, their nerves didn't stop them from eating every crumb of food from that table, not realising how hungry they were and realising how it would probably be a while before they ate like this again.
Tyson was inhaling one peanut butter sandwich after another, and Grover was loving the lemonade, crunching the Styrofoam cup like an ice cream cone.
"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.
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 counselling 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 said stupidly and Hera's gaze became frosty.
"Percy Jackson, isn't it? One of Poseidon's... children." But the way she said 'children' made them think that she was definitely thinking of another word. "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. Me and Cress," Annabeth said and Percy's eyes widened at the use of the nickname that was usually limited to her brothers and in recent days, him, but probably not as much anymore.
"Trying to," Hera agreed. "You must understand, the minor gods like Janus have always been frustrated by their small parts to play in the universe. Some, I fear, have little love for Olympus, and could easily be swayed to support the rise of my father."
"Your father?" Percy said. "Oh. Right." He finally remembered that Kronos fathered almost all of the Olympians, making the Titan Lord his grandfather and Cressida's great grandfather which also meant that they were related since his father was her father's uncle - and that thought thoroughly disgusted him. He was just grateful that the godly side of things didn't count because they technically didn't have DNA or whatever.
"We must watch the minor gods," Hera said. "Janus. Hecate. Morpheus. They give lip service to Olympus, and yet –"
The sound of the god of dreams' name from Hera's lips made Cressida insanely anxious. He was the only thing preventing her from having nightmares. Hypnos was the god of sleep but Morpheus was the god of dreams.
"That was Papa's mission," Cressida spoke up, her eyes down on her plate. "Checking up 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, petty 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."
You could see the conflict in Cressida's eyes at Hera's words. Cressida knew that Hera wasn't all she chalked herself up to be. Taking Greek History class every week for the last eight years as well as talking with her father as often as she did, she knew the real versions of a lot of stories.
Take Hephaestus for example. Most people thought that Zeus was the one to throw him off Olympus for being a cripple. It was actually Hera. Hera who had him all by herself to try and get back at Zeus for having children with other women. And here she was talking about stopping being selfish and rising above squabbling and chaos.
And Cressida didn't like it or believe it one bit.
"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 seek 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."
"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?" he asked, the same time as Cressida said,
"He does?" with her mouth full of sandwich.
"But that's not fair!" Annabeth said. "You're not telling us what it is!"
"What else is new?" Cressida mumbled under her breath, before downing the rest of her lemonade.
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." The room rumbled like distant thunder. Hera stood. "That would be my cue. Zeus grows impatient. Think on 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 towards 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. As for you, Cressida," the goddess said, getting the girl's attention instantly. "Your choice, the Fates have already decided. 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 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."
"But I don't!" he insisted. "I don't know what she was talking about."
Cressida was leaning back against the mural, right under her father's visage. "And we're supposed to believe you after the Queen of Olympus journeyed all the way down here to tell us otherwise? Sounds a bit far-fetched to me," she remarked, flipping her switchblade open and closed.
"Would you give it a rest?! I'm not lying! And -"
"Alright, enough!" Annabeth snapped. "I have no interest in playing peacemaker between you two the entire quest. So whatever issues you have, fix them! For now, we'll just keep going. "
"Which way?" Percy sighed, wanting to know what Hera had meant about the choices the two of them had to make. However, he was stopped when Grover and Tyson both tensed as they stood up together as if 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."
"I like left," Cressida said as Tyson helped her to her feet.
"Yeah, left is sounding pretty good," Percy agreed before they plunged into the dark corridor.