Hanora Maeve Xanthus and the Battle of the Labyrinth

We did our summons after dark, at a twenty-foot-long pit in front of the septic tank. The tank was bright yellow, with a smiley face and red words painted on the side: HAPPY FLUSH DISPOSAL CO. It didn’t quite go with the mood of summoning the dead.

 The moon was full. Silver clouds drifted across the sky.

 “Minos should be here by now,” Nico said, frowning. “It’s full dark.”

 “Maybe he got lost,” I said hopefully.

“Maybe he phased out of reality,” Hanora mumbled for only me to hear. She seemed to dislike Minos as much as I did, actually she probably hated him a lot more.

 Nico poured root beer and tossed barbecue into the pit, then began chanting in Ancient Greek. Immediately the bugs in the woods stopped chirping. In my pocket, the Stygian ice dog whistle started to grow colder, freezing against the side of my leg.

 “Make him stop,” Tyson whispered to me.

 Part of me agreed. This was unnatural. The night air felt cold and menacing. But before I could say anything, the first spirits appeared. Sulfurous mist seeped out of the ground. Shadows thickened into human forms. One blue shade drifted to the edge of the pit and knelt to drink.

 “Stop him!” Nico said, momentarily breaking his chant. “Only Bianca may drink!”

 I drew Riptide at the same time Hanora drew Aigéan on Nico’s other side. The ghosts retreated with a collective hiss at the sight of our celestial bronze blades. But it was too late to stop the first spirit. He had already solidified into the shape of a bearded man in white robes. A circlet of gold wreathed his head, and even in death his eyes were alive with malice.

 “Minos!” Nico said. “What are you doing?”

 “My apologies, master,” the ghost said, though he didn’t sound very sorry. “The sacrifice smelled so good; I couldn’t resist.” He examined his own hands and smiled. “It is good to see myself again. Almost in solid form—”

 “You are disrupting the ritual!” Nico protested. “Get—”

 The spirits of the dead began shimmering dangerously bright, and Nico had to take up the chant again to keep them at bay.

 “Yes, quite right, master,” Minos said with amusement. “You keep chanting. I’ve only come to protect you from these liars who would deceive you.”

 He turned to me as if I were some kind of cockroach. “Percy Jackson…my, my.  The sons of Poseidon haven’t improved over the centuries, have they?”

 I wanted to punch him, but I figured my fist would go right through his face. “We’re looking for Bianca di Angelo,” I said. “Get lost.”

 The ghost chuckled. “I understand you once killed my Minotaur with your bare hands. But worse things await you in the maze. Do you really believe Daedalus will help you?”

Hanora grunted as she slashed a particularly persistent spirit. “Gods, did death take away your ability to hear? Get lost asshole.” 

 The other spirits stirred in agitation. Annabeth drew her knife and helped us keep them away from the pit. Grover got so nervous he clung to Tyson’s shoulder.

 “Daedalus cares nothing for you, half-bloods,” Minos warned. “You can’t trust him. He is old beyond counting, and crafty. He is bitter from the guilt of murder and is cursed by the gods.”

 “The guilt of murder?” I asked. “Who did he kill?”

 “Do not change the subject!” the ghost growled. “You are hindering Nico. You try to persuade him to give up on his goal. I would make him a lord!”

 “Enough, Minos,” Nico commanded.

 The ghost sneered. “Master, these are your enemies. You must not listen to them! Let me protect you. I will turn their minds to madness, as I did the others.”

 “The others?” Annabeth gasped. “You mean Chris Rodriguez? That was you?”

 “The maze is my property,” the ghost said, “not Daedalus’s ! Those who intrude deserve madness.”

“I stand by my original assessment. Asshole.” Hanora snipped.

 “Be gone, Minos!” Nico demanded. “I want to see my sister!”

 The ghost bit back his rage. “As you wish, master. But I warn you. You cannot trust these heroes.” With that, he faded into mist.

 Other spirits rushed forward, but Annabeth, Hanora, and I kept them back.

 “Bianca, appear!” Nico intoned. He started chanting faster, and the spirits shifted restlessly.

 “Any time now,” Grover muttered.

 Then a silvery light flickered in the trees—a spirit that seemed brighter and stronger than the others. It came closer, and something told me to let it pass. It knelt to drink at the pit. When it arose, it was the ghostly form of Bianca di Angelo.

 Nico’s chanting faltered. I lowered my sword. The other spirits started to crowd forward, but Bianca raised her arms, and they retreated into the woods.

 “Hello, Percy,” she said.

 She looked the same as she had in life: a green cap set sideways on her thick black hair, dark eyes and olive skin like her brother. She wore jeans and a silvery jacket, the outfit of a Hunter of Artemis. A bow was slung over her shoulder. She smiled faintly, and her whole form flickered.

 “Bianca,” I said. My voice was thick. I’d felt guilty about her death for a long time but seeing her in front of me was five times as bad, like her death was fresh and new. I remembered searching through the wreckage of the giant bronze warrior she’d sacrificed her life to defeat and not finding any sign of her.

 “I’m so sorry,” I said. Hanora had moved around to my side and gripped my shoulder.

 “You have nothing to apologize for, Percy. I made my own choice. I don’t regret it.”

She looked to Hanora behind me and said something in Italian that made Hanora sniffle a bit. The two had a few more hushed words before Nico shook himself from his daze.

 “Bianca!” Nico stumbled forward.

 She turned toward her brother. Her expression was sad, as if she’d been dreading this moment. “Hello, Nico. You’ve gotten so tall.”

 “Why didn’t you answer me sooner?” he cried. “I’ve been trying for months!”

 “I was hoping you would give up.”

 “Give up?” He sounded heartbroken. “How can you say that? I’m trying to save you!”

 “You can’t, Nico. Don’t do this. Percy is right.”

 “No! He let you die! He’s not your friend.”

 Bianca stretched out a hand as if to touch her brother’s face, but she was made of mist. Her hand evaporated as it got close to living skin.

 “You must listen to me,” she said. “Holding a grudge is dangerous for a child of Hades. It is our fatal flaw. You have to forgive. You have to promise me this.”

 “I can’t. Never.”

 “Percy has been worried about you, Nico. He can help. I let him see what you were up to, hoping he would find you.”

 “So, it was you,” I said. “You sent those Iris-messages.”

 Bianca nodded. “I knew that you would help with a bit of guidance,” she glanced at Hanora.” While Hanora needed a little help to not go running into the maze on her own.”

Hanora let out a sheepish laugh and rubbed at the back of her head, “guilty.”

 “Why are you helping him and not me?” Nico screamed more focused on me than anything. “It’s not fair!”

 “You are close to the truth now,” Bianca told him. “It’s not Percy you’re mad at, Nico. It’s me.”

 “No.”

 “You’re mad because I left you to become a Hunter of Artemis. You’re mad because I died and left you alone. I’m sorry for that, Nico. I truly am. But you must overcome the anger. And stop blaming Percy for my choices. It will be your doom.”

 “She’s right,” Annabeth broke in. “Kronos is rising, Nico. He’ll twist anyone he can to his cause.”

 “I don’t care about Kronos,” Nico said. “I just want my sister back.”

 “You can’t have that, Nico,” Bianca told him gently.

 “I’m the son of Hades! I can.”

 “Don’t try,” she said. “If you love me, don’t…”

 Her voice trailed off. Spirits had started to gather around us again, and they seemed agitated. Their shadows shifted. Their voices whispered, Danger!

 “Tartarus stirs,” Bianca said. “Your power draws the attention of Kronos and his kin. The dead must return to the Underworld. It is not safe for us to remain.”

 “Wait,” Nico said. “Please—”

 “Good-bye, Nico,” Bianca said. “I love you. Remember what I said.”

 Her form shivered and the ghosts disappeared, leaving us alone with a pit, a Happy Flush septic tank, and a cold full moon.

 ***

 None of us were anxious to travel that night, so we decided to wait until morning. Grover and I crashed on the leather couches in Geryon’s living room, which was a lot more comfortable than a bedroll in the maze; but it didn’t make my nightmares any better.

 I dreamed I was with Luke, walking through the dark palace on top of Mount Tam. It was a real building now—not some half-finished illusion like I’d seen last winter. Green fires burned in braziers along the walls. The floor was polished black marble. A cold wind blew down the hallway, and above us through the open ceiling, the sky swirled with gray storm clouds.

 Luke was dressed for battle. He wore camouflage pants, a white T-shirt, and a bronze breastplate, but his sword, Backbiter, wasn’t at his side—only and empty scabbard. We walked into a large courtyard where dozens of warriors and dracaenae were preparing for war. When they saw him, the demigods rose to attention. They beat their swords against their shields.

 “ Issss it time, my lord?” a dracaena asked.

 “Soon,” Luke promised. “Continue your work.”

 “My lord,” a voice said behind him. Kelli the empousa  was smiling at him. She wore a blue dress tonight and looked wickedly beautiful. Her eyes flickered—sometimes dark brown, sometimes pure red. Her hair was braided down her back and seemed to catch the light of the torches, as if it were anxious to turn back into pure flame.

 My heart was pounding. I waited for Kelli to see me, to chase me out of the dream as she did before, but this time she didn’t seem to notice me.

 “You have a visitor,” she told Luke. She stepped aside, and even Luke seemed stunned by what he saw.

 The monster Kampê  towered above him. Her snakes hissed around her legs. Animal heads growled at her waist. Her swords were drawn, shimmering with poison, and with her bat wings extended, she took up the entire corridor.

 “You.” Luke’s voice sounded a little shaky. “I told you to stay on Alcatraz.”

 Kampê’s eyelids blinked sideways like a reptile’s. She spoke in that weird rumbling language, but this time I understood, somewhere in the back of my mind: I come to serve. Give me revenge.

 “You’re a jailor,” Luke said. “Your job—”

 I will have them dead. No one escapes me.

 Luke hesitated. A line of sweat trickled down the side of his face. “Very well,” he said. “You will go with us. You may carry Ariadne’s string. It is a position of great honor.”

 Kampê hissed at the stars. She sheathed her swords and turned, pounding down the hallway on her enormous dragon legs.

 “We should have left that one in Tartarus,” Luke mumbled. “She is too chaotic. Too powerful.”

 Kelli laughed softly. “You should not fear power, Luke. Use it!”

 “The sooner we leave, the better,” Luke said. “I want this over with.”

 “Aww,” Kelli sympathized, running a finger down his arm. “You find it unpleasant to destroy your old camp?”

 “I didn’t say that.”

 “You’re not having second thoughts about your own, ah, special part?”

 Luke’s face turned stony. “I know my duty.”

 “That is good,” the demon said. “Is our strike force sufficient, do you think? Or will I need to call Mother Hecate for help?”

 “We have more than enough,” Luke said grimly. “The deal is almost complete, and as long as Mnemosyne and her sisters come through, we shall be ready. All I need now is to negotiate safe passage through the arena.”

 “Mmm,” Kelli said. “That should be interesting. I would hate to see your handsome head on a spike if you fail.”

 “I will not fail. And you, demon, don’t you have other matters to attend to?”

 “Oh, yes.” Kelli smiled. “I am bringing despair to your eavesdropping enemies. I am doing that right now.”

 She turned her eyes directly on me, exposed her talons, and ripped through my dream.

 Suddenly I was in a different place.

I watched as an older Daedalus spoke with his nephew Perdix, a budding engineer in his own right. They spoke of Automatons with human souls and the use of magic to allow the union between soul and machine. Daedalus scoffed at the idea and then grew increasingly more angry watching the boy. He said that he was ‘smarter than his uncle’ and asked about his cousin’s death as he got closer and closer to the edge of the cliff. With a final decision brought about by Janus, Daedalus tossed a bag of trinkets to the boy and told him to ‘catch’. Perdix was too slow and fell off the cliff into the ocean.

Athena spoke to the inventor enraged by his actions. Not only did he kill the boy, but he planned on using his ideas in the scrolls he left behind.

 You do not understand, Athena said coldly. You will pay now and forever.

 Suddenly Daedalus collapsed in agony. I felt what he felt. A searing pain closed around my neck like a molten-hot collar—cutting off my breath, making everything go black.

However, my dreams were not done with me.

I came too sitting on the floor of what looked like a forge. There were tools of all kinds, none of which I knew the names of, scattered on every surface and propped up against walls. It was chaotic in a way that would make neat freaks like Annabeth lose their minds. But I knew instantly that Hanora would love this place.

“Come now spit fire, I know that you can figure this out.” A gruff voice fondly said from around the corner.

“Ugggh, but Fessie I already tried adding a coolant and an absorbent. And I made air vents, several of them. Why won’t it work without bursting into flames?!” said another voice, which sounded like a young girl’s but also strangely familiar.

I rounded the corner and found a large man bent over a workbench. He had dark hair and a beard which looked to be smoldering. I recognized him despite the added ash and oil stains he was sporting as Hephestus, god of the forges. This time he was mortal sized instead of his giant god form.

Beside him sat his frustrated companion. She was leaned over a metal creature of some sort. She had on large goggles that wrapped around like a headband helping keep her strawberry blonde hair out of her face. She was in a dark red jumpsuit that was covered in oil and ash smudges. Her sleeves were pulled up revealing clear pale skin.

I walked closer to them as they spoke in hushed tones over what looked like a metal cat. The girl huffed in frustration and blew a tuft of hair out of her face. 

Hanora.

She could have been about nine or maybe ten years old, and here she was being taught how to build by the god of the forges himself. They worked a little longer using phrases I could never hope to understand, or maybe they were fully switching into a new language, and I just could not tell the difference.

“I have been thinking-”

“Oh? that is never a good sign.” Hanora interrupted with a sly smile.

Hephestus laughed a true deep laugh that he could have passed for Santa Claus. If Santa Claus looked like he had been thrown into traffic. “Perhaps you are right, but little flame I have been thinking about…well making you a permanent fixture here. If- if you’d want that.”

Hanora set down her tools and fully faced him. “Do, wait, do you mean you’d want me to stay?” Her eyes were glistening with unshed tears.

Hephestus started to fidget in his seat, “well. Yes, I mean only if you want to, but I do enjoy having you around and your inventions are truly inspired. There is- no one else I’d rather work with.”

Hanora’s eyes lit up and my stomach dropped, “Fessie, I-”

Before she could finish the doors to the room flew open with a bang. I looked back around the corner to see a shadow of a tall woman, and I mean literally a shadow. If I stared at her harder, I could see her features shifting, she must be Aphrodite. When I had met the goddess last winter her appearance would shift between anything and everything you found attractive, but since I was in Hanora’s memory I must have been seeing the goddess the way she had at the time.

“Husband!” Aphrodite yelled as she all but ran up to their work bench.

“Wife? What is it?” 

“Your mother, she is here!” Both immortals shared a concerned look while Hanora looked between them, confused. “Ares is distracting her for now, but she knows the child is here.”

Hephestus put an arm around Hanora and pulled her closer. "She has no right to be here.”

“Well husband, why don’t you try telling her that. Ares and I tried to delay her as much as possible, but she just barreled straight through. And she is furious.”

“Fessie?” Hanora asked in concern

“Worry not child, I shall handle this.” He picked her up off of the bench and gently placed her feet back on the ground. He knelt in front of her and placed a hand on her shoulder, “come now. Just like we practiced.” 

She nodded and sent a worried look to Aphrodite before running off to a tool closet and hiding inside. The two gods had a quick conversation in ancient Greek, but it was too fast for me to catch what they were saying. Finally, Hephestus shooed Aphrodite off and sat back at the workbench pretending to fiddle with the mechanical cat. As soon as Aphrodite disappeared the doors to the forge swung open again with more anger as opposed to Aphrodite's frantic approach earlier.

This time Hera, queen of Olympus stormed in. Her long dress shimmered with the colors of peacock feathers, and her silver hair was braided and pinned with gold strands around her head like a crown. Her eyes were the same chocolate brown they had been in the labyrinth, except now they sparked with silver in her rage.

“Hephestus!” She yelled as she stormed into the room.

The god slowly stood from his seat and despite the annoyance in his eyes gave a slight bow, “Mother. To what do I owe the pleasure?” 

“Boy, you know what I am here for. That mongrel abomination survived, and I know it is here.”

Hephestus raised an eyebrow. “Mother did it not die several eras ago? Last I checked, mortals do not live that long.”

Hera pointed aggressively at him and strode over to him. She started what I could only assume was berating him in ancient Greek. Hephestus just stood and let her rant without showing a single crack in his bored expression. By the time Ares appeared in the open door looking like he had just strong-armed himself through New York rush hour traffic, Hera was screaming in his brother’s face so loud she could have caused avalanches on every mountain in the world. My ears were ringing, and I could not even tell what she was saying.

“Mother please I have told you no one is here. Cease this ruckus.” Ares said, covering his own ears. Normally I would hate to see the god of war, but in this moment, I was glad Hephestus would have some backup.

Hera paused in her tirade only for a second to make a ‘shooing’ gesture at Ares which literally made him fly back out the door and slammed it shut. So much for back up.

“Hephestus, the fates and gods agreed that the child would never live past eighteen. The time was prime in only half the time and yet somehow the strings of fate are stirring once again. It is alive and I know you were there that day. Your bleeding heart is showing.”

“Or perhaps your frozen one is?”

I heard it before I saw it. Lightning quick the queen of Olympus slapped her son straight across his face. Some of his bumps started to spill golden ichor and puss. He looked up more surprised than hurt and touched the side of his face. “Was that necessary?” 

“Should you remain so obstinate perhaps you should spend some time around your grandmother’s kin. Even that kind of heat may prove too much for you.”

The two immortals had a vicious stare off for a few moments, the tension was about as bad as it had been between my father and Zeus my first time on Olympus. And back then they were on the verge of war. 

“I should have left you at the bottom of Olympus, you failure of a son.” Hera hissed and raised her hands which were glowing red hot.

“Nooo!” I turned to see Hanora flying out of the cupboard and putting herself in front of Hephestus with her arms up in a defensive block of her face.

Hera caught her by the forearms, and you could hear the high-pitched sizzle of the heat burning though her skin. I wanted to scream or cry out for it to stop, but Hera gripped her tighter and lifted Hanora off the ground.

“There you are, you filthy little worm.”

Hanora did not scream or cry. She looked at the goddess with angry defiance and pulled herself up with the kind of bicep power that was impressive for such a small kid. They were face to face, green meeting brown as sparks of silver flew between them as steam sizzled off of where hand met forearm.

“I am a Xanthus dragon, and the only failure I see is this piss poor mother who calls herself queen.” And then in true Hanora fashion she spit in the Queen of the gods face.

Hera threw her across the room into a pile of metal staffs with a sickening crash. When Hephestus and a dazed Ares tried to go to her, Hera froze both in place.

“You have defied the crown one too many times, tomorrow I shall return and if that thing is still here.” She looked at Hanora crawling out of the pile with hate in her eyes. “I shall not only smite it, but I shall destroy this whole place along with it.”

Then she poofed away in a plume of green smoke, and both men fell out of their frozen states running to Hanora’s side.

Hephestus pulled Hanora into his arms while Ares gathered ambrosia and gauze from the medical kit. Together they dressed her burns and forced her to take the healing food of the gods.

“Brother, what are we to do?” Ares asked, sounding lost and very unlike himself.

The two rattled off a few ideas but none of them seemed to make either of them sound any more confident than before.

Hanora hissed as Ares wrapped her arm. “She cannot destroy the forge.” She said defiantly.

Hephestus “But littl-”

“She will not, I shall see to it.” She sat up and looked at them both. “ Fessie, if you truly meant what you said earlier than our parting will not last forever.” 

Both gods fixed her with sad looks.

“You have taught me well in the ways of battle both on the field and off. I can survive on my own for a time.”

“A half blood on your own like that will not last long no matter how strong you are.” Ares tried to reason.

“Especially with the power surge you give off, monsters will flock to you the moment you step out of the forge.” Hephestus said as he smoothed out her tousled hair.

“Then perhaps it is time she go to camp.” All three turned to see Aphrodite holding a backpack in her hand. "It is the only place she can hide where the rest of Olympus will be unable to chase her.”

“Love, do you really think that is the best idea?” Ares asked.

“It is the only chance she has.” Aphrodite kneeled in front of Hanora and placed the bag in front of her. “Your future is uncertain, but I can feel that they will need you.” 

Hanora winced as she pushed herself up and grabbed the bag. “Is it far?”

“I suppose it depends, should you stay on foot you should arrive in a month's time.”

Ares and Aphrodite helped her pack the bag with everything she might need for the journey while Hephestus went rummaging in a chest. He pulled out two very familiar bracelets and brought them over to Hanora.

“I believe these belong to you, your design for them was one of my favorite weapons to create since, oh perhaps the Middle Ages.” 

He placed the bronze bracelet on her right wrist, and the gold one onto her left wrist He gripped both wrists careful to avoid the bandages, with tears in his eyes he regarded Hanora as if it may have been the last time he would see her.

He placed a kiss on her forehead before she pulled him into a hug.

“I shall see you again, I swear it.” Hanora choked out, “take care of Tiny for me.”

Hephestus let out a wet laugh, “Of course.”

Just as they pulled apart the scene faded to black

 ***

 I woke in the dark, my arms burning like the skin was about to melt off.

 “Percy?” Grover called from the other sofa. “Are you okay?”

 I steadied my breathing. I wasn’t sure how to answer. I’d just witnessed an ancient murder and then watched one of my best friends get burned by a goddess, who had tried to make us believe that she wanted to help us. How could I be okay? The television was going. Blue light flickered through the room.

 “What—what time is it?” I croaked.

 “Two in the morning,” Grover said. “I couldn’t sleep. I was watching the Nature Channel.” He sniffled.

“I miss Juniper.”

 I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. “Yeah, well…you’ll see her again soon.”

 Grover shook his head sadly. “Do you know what day it is, Percy? I just saw it on TV. It’s June thirteenth. Seven days since we left camp.”

 “What?” I said. “That can’t be right.”

 “Time is faster in the Labyrinth,” Grover reminded me. “The first time you and Annabeth went down there, you thought you were only gone a few minutes, right? But it was an hour.”

 “Oh,” I said. “Right.”  Then it dawned on me what he was saying, and my throat felt searing hot like it had in my dream again.

“Your deadline with the Council of Cloven Elders.”

 Grover put the TV remote in his mouth and crunched off the end of it. “I’m out of time,” he said with a mouthful of plastic. “As soon as I go back, they’ll take away my searcher’s license. I’ll never be allowed to go out again.”

 “We’ll talk to them,” I promised. “Make them give you more time.”

 Grover swallowed. “They’ll never go for it. The world is dying, Percy. What you did today—saving the ranch animals from Geryon—that was amazing. I—I wish I could be more like you.”

 “Hey,” I said. “Don’t say that. You’re just as much a hero—”

 “No, I’m not. I keep trying, but…” He sighed. “Percy, I can’t go back to camp without finding Pan. I just can’t. You understand that don’t you? I can’t face Juniper if I fail. I can’t even face myself.”

 His voice was so unhappy it hurt to hear. We’d been through a lot together, but I’d never heard him sound this down.

 “We’ll figure out something,” I said. “You haven’t failed. You’re the champion goat boy, all right? Juniper knows that. So do I.”

 Grover closed his eyes. “Champion goat boy,” he muttered dejectedly.

 A long time after he dozed off, I was still awake, watching the blue light of the Nature Channel wash over the stuffed trophy heads on Geryon’s walls.

 *** 

 The next morning, we walked down to the cattle guard and said our good-byes.

 “Nico, you could come with us,” I blurted out. I guess I was thinking about my dream, and how much the young boy Perdix reminded me of Nico. Or maybe I saw a bit of the defiant kid that stood up to a goddess despite the pain she was in.

 He shook his head. I don’t think any of us had slept well in the demon ranch house, but Nico looked worse than anybody else. His eyes were red and his face chalky. He was wrapped in a black robe that must’ve belonged to Geryon, because it was three sizes too big even for a grown man.

 “I need time to think.” His eyes wouldn’t meet mine, but I could tell from his tone he was still angry. The fact that his sister had come out of the Underworld for me and not for him didn’t seem to sit well with him.

 “Nico,” Annabeth said. “Bianca just wants you to be okay.”

 She put her hand on his shoulder, but he pulled away and trudged up the road toward the ranch house. Maybe it was my imagination, but the morning mist seemed to cling to him as he walked. Hanora gave us a little nod and ran after him almost tackling the kid in a tight hug.

 “I’m worried about him,” Annabeth told me. “If he starts talking to Minos’s ghost again—”

 “He’ll be alright,” Eurytion promised. The cowherd had cleaned up nicely. He was wearing new jeans and a clean Western shirt, and he’d even trimmed his beard. He’d put on Geryon’s boots. “The boy can stay here and gather his thoughts as long as he wants. He’ll be safe, I promise.”

 “What about you?” I asked.

 Eurytion scratched Orthus behind one chin, then the other. “Things are going to be run a little different on this ranch from now on. No more sacred cattle meat. I’m thinking about soybean patties. And I’m going to befriend those flesh-eating horses. Might just sign up for the next rodeo.”

 The idea made me shudder. “Well, good luck.”

 “Yep.” Eurytion spit into the grass. “I reckon you’ll be looking for Daedalus’s workshop now?”

 Annabeth’s eyes lit up. “Can you help us?”

 Eurytion studied the cattle guard, and I got the feeling the subject of Daedalus’s workshop made him uncomfortable. “Don’t know where it is. But Hephaestus probably would.”

I couldn’t help but look back to Hanora at the mention of the god. She was ruffling Nico’s hair and surprisingly he did not push her away.

 “That’s what Hera said,” Annabeth agreed. “But how do we find Hephaestus?”

 Eurytion pulled something from under the collar of his shirt. It was a necklace—a smooth silver disk on a silver chain. The disk had a depression on the middle, like a thumbprint. He handed it to Annabeth.

 “Hephaestus comes here from time to time,” Eurytion said. “Studies the animals and such so he can make bronze automaton copies.  Last time, I— uh—did him a favor. A little trick he wanted to play on my dad, Ares, and Aphrodite. He gave me that chain in gratitude. Said if I ever needed to find him, the disk would lead me to his forges. But only once.”

It was funny to think of all the tricks Hephestus played on the pair considering how they had all worked together like a well-oiled machine in my dream. It definitely made a lot more sense now as to why Ares did not evaporate Hanora when she hit him with a sass bomb on our last quest. I was certain that as long as Hanora was around, we at least had three gods on our side.

 “And you’re giving it to me?” Annabeth asked.

 Eurytion blushed. “I don’t need to see the forges, miss. Got enough to do here. Just press the button and you’ll be on your way.”

 Annabeth pressed the button, and the disk sprang to life. It grew eight metallic legs. Annabeth shrieked and dropped it, much to Eurytion’s confusion.

 “Spider!” she screamed.

 “She’s, um, a little scared of spiders,” Grover explained. “That old grudge between Athena and Arachne.”

 “Oh.” Eurytion looked a little embarrassed. “Sorry, miss.”

 The spider scrambled to the cattle guard and disappeared between the bars.

 “Hurry, Hanora lets go!” I said. “That thing’s not going to wait for us.”

 Annabeth wasn’t anxious to follow, but we didn’t have much choice. Hanora gave Nico one last hug before running back to us, a big smile plastered on her face and her eyes practically glowing. We said our good-byes to Eurytion, Tyson pulled the cattle guard off the hole, and we dropped back into the maze.

 *** 

 I wish I could’ve put the mechanical spider on a leash. It scuttled along the tunnels so fast, most of the time I couldn’t even see it. If it hadn’t been for Tyson’s and Grover’s excellent hearing, we never would’ve known which way it was going.

 We ran down a marble tunnel, then dashed to the left and almost fell into an abyss. Tyson grabbed me and hauled me back before I could fall. The tunnel continued in front of us, but there was no floor for about a hundred feet, just gaping darkness and a series of iron rungs in the ceiling. The mechanical spider was about halfway across, swinging from bar to bar by shooting out metal web fiber.

 “Monkey bars,” Annabeth said. “I’m great at these.”

 She leaped onto the first rung and started swinging her way across. She was scared of tiny spiders, but not of plummeting to her death from a set of monkey bars. Go figure.

 Annabeth got to the opposite side and ran after the spider. Hanora hopped on, hot on Annabeth’s heels and I followed. When I got across, I looked back and saw Tyson giving Grover a piggyback ride (or was it a goatyback ride?). the big guy made it across in three swings, which was a good thing since, just as he landed, the last iron bar ripped free under his weight.

 We kept moving and passed a skeleton crumpled in the tunnel. It wore the remains of a dress shirt, slacks, and a tie. The spider didn’t slow down. I slipped on a pile of wood scraps, but Hanora grabbed me before I ate dirt. When I shined a light on them, I realized they were pencils—hundreds of them, all broken in half. The tunnel opened up onto a large room. A blazing light hit us. Once my eyes adjusted, the first thing I noticed were the skeletons. Dozens littered the floor around us. Some were old and bleached white.

Others were more recent and a lot grosser. They didn’t smell quite as bad as Geryon’s stables, but almost.

 Then I 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, so she kind of reminded me of my third-grade choir teacher. She had a blue-ribbon badge pinned to her chest that took me a moment to read: THIS MONSTER HAS BEEN RATED EXEMPLARY!

 Tyson whimpered. “Sphinx.”

 I knew exactly why he was scared. When he was small, Tyson 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 us and in front.

 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?”

“Oh, goodie more threats of violence,” Hanora snarked.

 Annabeth grabbed my arm. “I’ve got this,” she whispered. “I know what she’s going to ask.”

 I didn’t argue too hard. I didn’t want Annabeth getting devoured by a monster, but I figured if the Sphinx was going to ask riddles, Annabeth was the best one of us 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 me nervously. I gave her an encouraging nod.

Hanora gave a thumbs up, “you got this Brainy!”

 “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. For a terrible moment, I thought she was stumped.

 “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.”

 “What?” Annabeth looked mystified. Then a test booklet appeared on the podium in front of her, along with a sharpened pencil.

 “Make sure you bubble each answer clearly and stay inside the circle,” the Sphinx said. “If you have to erase, erase completely or the machine will not be able to read your answers.”

 “What machine?” Annabeth asked.

 The Sphinx pointed with her paw. Over by the spotlight was a bronze box with a bunch of gears and levers and a big Greek letter Êta on the side, the mark of Hephaestus.

 “Now,” said the Sphinx, “next question—”

 “Wait a second,” Annabeth protested. “What about ‘What walks on four legs in the morning’?”

 “I beg your pardon?” the Sphinx said, clearly annoyed now.

 “The riddle about the man. He walks on four legs in the morning, like a baby, two legs in the afternoon, like an adult, and three legs in the evening, as an old man with a cane. That’s the riddle you used to ask.”

 “Exactly why we changed the test!” the Sphinx exclaimed. “You already knew the answer. Now second question, what is the square root of sixteen?”

 “Four,” Annabeth said, “but—”

 “Correct! Which U.S. president signed the Emancipation Proclamation?”

 “Abraham Lincoln, but—”

 “Correct! Riddle number four. How much—”

 “Hold up!” Annabeth shouted.

 I wanted to tell her to stop complaining. She was doing great! She should just answer the questions so we could leave.

 “These aren’t riddles,” Annabeth said.

 “What do you mean?” the sphinx snapped. “Of course they are. This test material is specially designed—”

 “It’s just a bunch of dumb, random facts,” Annabeth insisted. “Riddles are supposed to make you think.”

 “Think?” The Sphinx frowned. “How am I supposed to test whether you can think? That’s ridiculous! Now, how much force is required—”

 “Stop!”Annabeth insisted. “This is a stupid test.”

 “Um, Annabeth,” Grover cut in nervously. “Maybe you should just, you know, finish first and complain later?”

 “I’m a child of Athena,” she insisted. “And this is an insult to my intelligence. I won’t answer these questions.”

Hanora mumbled “Gods, that child of Athena pride is going to get us killed.”

I nodded in agreement, despite how impressed I was about Annabeth standing up for herself. Hanora was right, we were about to get into some serious trouble.

  The spotlights glared. The Sphinx’s eyes glittered pure black.

 “Why then, my dear,” the monster said calmly. “If you won’t pass, you fail. And since we can’t allow any children to be held back, you’ll be EATEN!”

 The Sphinx bared her claws, which gleamed like stainless steel. She pounced at the podium.

 “No!” Tyson charged. He hates it when people threaten Annabeth, but I couldn’t believe he was being so brave, especially since he’d had such a bad experience with a Sphinx before.

 He tackled the Sphinx in midair and they crashed sideways into a pile of bones. This gave Annabeth just enough time to gather her wits and draw her knife. Tyson got up, his shirt clawed to shreds. The Sphinx growled, looking for an opening.

Hanora activated Aigèan twirling into her defensive stance as I drew Riptide and stepped in front of Annabeth.

 “Turn invisible,” I told Annabeth.

 “I can fight!”

 “No!” I yelled. “The Sphinx is after you!  Let us get it.”

 As if to prove my point, the Sphinx knocked Tyson aside and tried to charge past me. Grover poked her in the eye with somebody’s leg bone. She screeched in pain as Hanora swiped her blade into her back ankles. Annabeth put on her cap and vanished.

The Sphinx pounced right where she’d been standing, but came up with empty paws.

 “No fair!” the Sphinx wailed.“Cheater!”

 With Annabeth no longer in sight, the Sphinx turned on me. I raised my sword, but before I could strike, Tyson ripped the monster’s grading machine out of the floor and threw it at the Sphinx’s head, ruining her hair bun. It landed in pieces all around her.

 “My grading machine!” she cried. “I can’t be exemplary without my test scores!”

 The bars lifted from the exits. We all dashed for the far tunnel. I could only hope Annabeth was doing the same.

 The Sphinx started to follow, but Grover raised his reed pipes and began to play. Suddenly the pencils remembered they used to be parts of trees. They collected around the Sphinx’s paws, grew roots and branches, and began wrapping around the monster’s legs. The Sphinx ripped through them, but it brought us just enough time.

 Tyson pulled Grover into the tunnel, and the bars slammed shut behind us.

 “Annabeth!” I yelled.

 “Here!” she said, right next to me. “Keep moving!”

“Maybe next time, and this is just a thought. Answer the damn sphinx’s questions before you start berating her on her grading qualifications.” Hanora grumbled turning her blade back into a bracelet.

 We ran through the dark tunnels, listening to the roar of the Sphinx behind us as she complained about all the tests she would have to grade by hand.