▬▬▬ CHAPTER TWENTY THREE ▬▬▬

Are people aware that this is book THREE??? I've gotten some concerning comments (from Wattpad at least, my Quotev readers are fine I think) that some readers actually weren't aware that there are previous books 😭😭😭 guys the book number is in the book covers, the book titles, the summary, and the foreword 😭😭😭😭 I think I should just put "THIS IS BOOK ______" at the very beginning of the foreword so it'll be the first thing ppl see cuz in Wattpad, I put that info at the end. I'll try to find a way to make it more obvious next time 😂

EDIT: I did it guys. If you go back to the Foreword of every book, I added 'BOOK ____' to the chapter in very big caps 👍 👍 👍

PERCY APPROACHED ESMERELDA AND NICO the next morning as everyone else got themselves ready to leave. Eurytion was somewhere outside tending to the cattle.

"I don't think it's safe for you to go back to the Labyrinth," Percy told her. "You should stay here with Nico."

She frowned. "I was already planning on it... Do you think I'm in danger or something? Because I remember back in Alcatraz Grover mentioning something about me 'still being alive'..."

He grimaced and scratched the back of his head. "Er, well, the prophecy... sort of mentioned you... possibly dying."

"What." She said flatly.

"What were the lines?!" Nico demanded angrily. He was starting to really hate prophecies right now. The last prophecy he heard gave the most vaguest of warnings about his sister dying and now this new one apparently decreed that the only person who didn't push him away at camp could possibly die too.

Percy cleared his throat and recited, "But the witch and the scarred one are ripe for the picking, and only one shall be spared from their destined killing. 'The witch' is most likely you. We don't really know who the 'scarred one' could be, but the prophecy pretty much states that either one of you is destined to be killed."

"Oh," she said shakily, her face turning to a sickly shade of white. She thought of her last moments with her uncle and wished she had given a more satisfying goodbye for him. Her mind then traveled over to her father and thought, hey, at least I'd be joining him in the Underworld soon!

Meanwhile, Nico was busy scanning Percy from head to toe, as if he was already looking for any scars to indicate that he could be the one to die instead.

"So... yeah," Percy said pathetically. "You should stay here. Stick together. Watch out for each other and stuff."

"We'll stay here," Esmerelda decided, then turned to Nico. "Right?"

He nodded in acceptance.

Their confirmations were enough to get Percy to relax. He let out a sigh of relief. "Good. Eurytion already said that he doesn't mind. Once we're done with the quest, we'll be back to pick you guys up."

"I'm not going to camp." Nico said automatically.

Percy winced, as if he had been expecting him to say that. "We'll... figure something out. One problem at a time, okay? In the meanwhile, you two stay safe."

"You guys as well," Esmerelda said when all Nico did was grunt in response.

When everyone was finished getting ready, Nico and Esmerelda watched as Eurytion led the quest group back to the cattle guard to return to the Labyrinth.

"I hope nothing happens to them," Esmerelda sighed.

Nico scowled. "You should worry more about yourself."

She bit the inside of her cheek. She didn't exactly need a reminder of her possible death.

His face fell and he gave her a regretful look. "I'm sorry," he said immediately. "I didn't mean to—"

She forced a smile and patted him on the head. "No worries. I, um, I need to go the bathroom." She didn't really need to but she figured she could use that chance to contact Sirius. Eurytion had been kind enough to throw out Geryon's stash of drachmas and didn't care what would happen to it, so she took some for herself.

"Oh Iris, goddess of the Rainbow, please accept my offering. Show me Sirius Black at Icarus Tower." She tossed the drachma into the mist she made and waited.

The shimmery image of her uncle appeared. He was on the hippo-shaped couch, miserably eating cookie dough ice cream straight from the tub.

"Hey, that's mine!" She couldn't help but exclaim.

Sirius let out a yelp of surprise. When he noticed her, he instantly tossed the tub of ice cream aside and nearly threw himself over the Jason Voorhees coffee table to reach her.

"Esmerelda! You're okay!" He gasped out.

"Esmerelda?" Another voice echoed, and Remus' face peeked in from the corner of the image. He looked relieved to see her, but also confused. "Hold on, what is this...?"

"It's an Iris Message, I'll explain it later," Sirius said dismissively. "I contacted your friends from camp—they told me that you went into the Labyrinth?! I looked it up on that... what was it called? Goggles? Google? Yes, that! I looked it up on Google and there's all kinds of horrible things there! Why on earth would you enter it?"

"I didn't mean to!" She protested. "It was an accident! One of the joggers at the park turned out to be a monster and attacked me! When I killed it, a bunch of mortals freaked out and called the cops on me! They chased me around until I fell in a hole and it turned out to be one of the entrances of the Labyrinth. I couldn't really find a way out, so I just kept going. I was trying to find one of my friends since I had a... warning about him."

"Are you in the Labyrinth right now?" Remus asked curiously. "Because it looks to me that you're in a bathroom."

"I'm staying at a ranch house in Texas," she answered sheepishly. "The Labyrinth's really weird. It spans all over the world, but it doesn't feel like it since the distance between certain locations are short. Time also moves weirdly. I've only been in that maze for several hours but when I came out a week had already passed..."

Just then she heard footsteps, but not on her end of the Iris Message. "Who's voice is that?"

It was Andromeda. She walked into the living room and nearly dropped her wand upon seeing her.

She smiled, "Hi, auntie."

"Thank goodness, you're alive," the elegant woman breathed out, approaching her. "You've given us quite the scare. Sirius owled me and Remus about you going missing, we came here as soon as possible."

It kind of warmed her heart to hear that she would be missed should she die. Of course, she knew that Lou Ellen and her friends at camp would grieve, but it was nice knowing she had other people—other family—who cared about her. It also fueled her desire to live, because she did not want to leave these people behind.

"You also have the police looking out for you. Not for good reasons though," Remus grimaced. "They, ah, want to arrest you for 'attacking' a jogger back at Central Park. And for apparently wrecking Alcatraz Island..."

Sirius beamed at that part. "The next time you decide to cause mass destruction to a prison island, may I suggest Azkaban?"

"Take this seriously!" Andromeda admonished. "Esmerelda, do you have any idea how much trouble you and your friends are in with the authorities?!"

She groaned. "I'll deal with them later," she said exhaustively. "I just called to tell you that I'm fine." For now, she mentally added. She wasn't going to tell them about the prophecy. There was no need to give them even more to worry about.

"When will you come back?" Andromeda inquired.

She frowned. "I'd Mist travel back right now, but... I already promised to stay put with Nico."

"Nico?" Sirius inquired, brows raised suspiciously at the mention of a male name.

"The friend that I was looking for," she explained shortly. "Percy, Annabeth, Tyson, and Grover found us, and they told us to stay here until they come back. But don't worry, we'll be back soon—or well, maybe not, since time moves differently in the Labyrinth..."

They did not look very reassured with that.

"We'll be fine." She gave them a winning smile.

After talking with them for a few more minutes until the IM ended, she was about to leave the bathroom until a thought occurred to her. She had one more drachma left. Maybe she could use it to contact her dad? But would that even work? She had never tried it before, and she wasn't even sure if Iris Messages worked in the Underworld...

Well, if Bianca could give Percy a collect Iris Message, then maybe she could contact her dad from the Underworld too...

She took out her last drachma and created another misty rainbow. "Oh Iris, goddess of the rainbow, please accept my offering. Show me Regulus Black in... the Fields of Punishment."

It took a while for anything to happen. Or maybe that was just her thinking things. Her shoulders slumped when a minute passed and nothing happened, but then an image appeared. It was dark, which was no surprise, but she immediately recognized it.

Her father was lounging around a beanbag chair that she had given him with a book shoved at his face. It was a thick book, with a fancy cursive titled that she just barely managed to make out: So You Think You're A Sociopath.

Sirius was right, Regulus was a nerd.

She cleared her throat.

He peered over his book and furrowed his brows. He set his book aside and peered closer to the misty image. "Esmerelda? How are you doing this...?"

She gave him a brief rundown about how Iris Messages work before getting to the point: "I'm sorry I haven't been visiting. I was stuck in the Labyrinth, and well, time moves differently in there. I didn't realize I've been gone for so long."

"Did you say the Labyrinth?" He echoed. "The extremely dangerous maze where hundreds of people have died?"

"I see you've done your research..." She smiled tightly.

He gave her a dry look. "I've done all my researching the second I found out I was about to have a demigod daughter. Were you really hoping to downplay the dangers of the Labyrinth?"

Yes.

"No," she lied.

He gave her the look.

She sighed. "I'm sorry. I didn't want to worry you. I'm not in the Labyrinth right now, though. I'm all the way in Texas with a friend, Nico. My other friends went back to the Labyrinth, but we promised that we'd stay here and wait for them."

Regulus looked somewhat comforted by that. "Alright... as long as you stay away from that Labyrinth. Who is it that's staying with you?"

"Nico di Angelo. He's a son of Hades." She supplied.

"Do you trust him?"

"Of course!"

He pursed his lips, as if he didn't quite trust her judge of character (and to be honest, who could blame him?). "Promise me this, Esmerelda..."

She leaned forward. "Yeah?"

"Stay alive," he told her firmly. "Self preservation is important for you dear, being a demigod and all. Do whatever you have to do in order to stay alive."

She frowned. "What are you—"

"—Do not let anyone get in your way of survival, Esmerelda." He cut her off.

She found herself getting slightly unnerved by his chilling stare. She wasn't naive to what he was suggesting, and her father was being absolutely serious with her here. He wanted her to survive, even if that meant abandoning her friends. She wondered, for a beat, if he knew about the prophecy Percy had warned her of.

"I..." She swallowed thickly. "I'll... try..."

"And you'll stay away from the Labyrinth."

"I will."

Another timid reply, and Regulus allowed himself to nod in satisfaction.

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It only took her about several hours to break her promise to her father. Eurytion allowed her and Nico to take Geryon's old bedroom for the night. At around two o'clock in the morning, she woke up to the sound of footsteps on the creaky floorboards.

Rubbing her eyes, she slowly sat up the bed and looked around. The space beside her was empty.

Nico's gone, she thought with alarm, and her senses now fully alert. Quietly, she dressed herself and hurried out of the room.

Nico was just about to leave the house until a stern voice made him freeze.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Slowly, he turned around to face her, looking very much like a child getting caught sneaking out by his mom. "Um..."

She crossed her arms and waited for him to answer her.

"I was... going out..." He finally admitted, looking guilty.

"You were sneaking out," she corrected, placing her hands on her hips.

He nodded. "Yeah, but I have to. Minos told me—"

"—You can't trust Minos!" She hissed.

"But he told me that Percy's in danger!" He argued.

She stared at him in shock. "...What?"

"Percy's in danger. Minos said that he was heading towards a trap or—or something. I have to save him, Essie!" He said desperately.

She stared at him in pure confusion. Before, he had been so hellbent on hating Percy Jackson and wishing for his death, but now he suddenly seemed to care. Unless it was never 'sudden' to begin with. Were his feelings in regards to Percy a lot more complex than she initially thought?

"What did he tell you exactly?" Esmerelda asked cautiously. She didn't trust Minos at all and this could possibly be a trick...

"He told me that they split up, and Percy's following a path that would lead him to a bunch of telekhines." He explained hurriedly.

Telekhines were sea demons who acted as the blacksmiths of the Titans, and they were the ones who crafted Kronos' scythe. They were deadly creatures, basically.

"He could be lying, Nico," she told him gently.

"But what if he isn't?" He stressed out.

Her father's words kept echoing in her head.

"Do not let anyone get in your way of survival, Esmerelda. And you'll stay away from the Labyrinth."

She had promised him that she would try... but that honestly seemed like such a cruel thing to do. While she was all for keeping herself safe (especially after hearing the grim prophecy), she couldn't do it at the expense of her loved ones.

She gnawed on her lip and made the mistake of meeting Nico's pleading gaze. Finally, she let out a defeated sigh. "Alright fine... We'll go."

He sighed in relief, before he stiffened all over again. "Whoa, wait, what? No, you can't come with me."

She rose a challenging brow. "I am not letting you go into the Labyrinth all on your own. Besides, Percy said that we have to stick together."

"Yeah, and he also said that you could possibly die!" He hissed. "You can't come with me!"

"Well, I'm not letting you out there alone! The Labyrinth's dangerous, Nico, and something about Minos just doesn't sit right with me," she frowned. "Please, Nico. I don't want to leave you by yourself."

Not when you've been alone for so long, she thought painfully.

"...Okay," he let out a shaky breath. "You... you can come with me, then. But we have to stick together."

She nodded, and briefly wondered if she had been cruel to make him decide. She could tell that he was scared for her, scared that she'd die like his sister had, but she was scared too. Despite the short time she had known him, she knew she would be devastated should anything happen to him. Bianca's death felt like a stab to the heart, and if Nico were to die too it would be like someone had taken that knife and twisted it around.

She barely knew them, but they had such a huge effect on her and she didn't know why.

Right now wasn't the best time to try and figure it out though. After packing up her things as quickly as possible, she and Nico headed straight towards the Labyrinth. As they descended down the cattle guard, her father's words echoed in her head again for the second time.

She wondered if she was making a mistake.

╞═════𖠁𐂃𖠁═════╡

"So," Esmerelda tried to break the hour-long silence between them. "Is this where you've been the entire time? You've been staying in... the Labyrinth?"

He shook his head. "No. I kinda just went anywhere I could. I also camped around the Underworld for a while. That was when Minos found me."

She nearly tripped over a rock. "Hold on, you were in the Underworld?! So was I! How come I never saw you?"

"Sorry," he mumbled. "I wanted to go to you, but Minos said it was better that I stay hidden. Why are you working there anyways? Don't you think that place is... creepy?"

"I accidentally Mist traveled to the throne room. And I didn't find it creepy per se... I was more unsettled from being around Lord Hades and Lady Persephone," she admitted. "Lady Persephone doesn't seem to like me while Lord Hades is... I don't really know how describe it. He's nice enough though. He was the one who offered me a job."

Nico's mind went reeling back to Minos' words about his father wanting to keep Esmerelda in the Underworld. He suppressed a shudder.

"Oh. That's... nice of him," he managed to say.

"Anyways," she began. "You seemed quite concerned for Percy back there. I thought you didn't like him?"

The color drained from his face. He shook his head. "Just forget about it."

Esmerelda wasn't going to pry, especially since he looked deeply troubled by her question. Instead, she nodded her head and changed the subject.

They ended up talking about what their favorite cat breeds were for nearly twenty minutes straight when Minos' ghostly form appeared, with three Laistrygonian giants flanking him.

Uh oh, she thought.

Good news: she was right and Minos set them up for a trap.

Bad news: she was right and Minos set them up for a trap.

At least her father wasn't here to say 'I told you so'.

"Minos," Nico said tensely, glancing at his three 'friends' wearily. She couldn't blame him. Both monsters were about eight feet tall with evil red eyes and fangs sharp enough to tear through flesh (which was to be expected since they were cannibals after all). "What are you doing here? Take me to where Percy is!"

"I'm afraid I can't, young master," Minos simpered, faking a regretful look.

"You tricked him," Esmerelda glared.

"Hello, Esmerelda, dear," he greeted her pleasantly, as if they were spending a decent lunch break together. "And no, I would never trick our master! Poseidon's spawn really is heading towards a den of Telekhines, but I didn't tell the master that so he could save him. Heavens no! I said that so he would go back to the maze and fall into my trap!"

Nico angrily unsheathed his sword. "You've been manipulating me the entire time!"

"Yes, I have," he said shamelessly. "But don't worry, I never aimed to kill you. Instead, I just need your help to murder a certain inventor. Don't mind these three here, I only brought them along as an extra incentive."

The three Laistrygonians took a step forward. Nico and Esmerelda took a step back.

She glanced at the shorter boy. "Would now be a bad time to say 'I told you so'?"

"Yes," he grumbled.

"Should've listened to Esmerelda, young master," Minos clicked his tongue. "You know how the saying goes. They know best*."

But neither of the kids were paying attention to him anymore. They had already sprinted away. Annoyed, he motioned for the three giants to run after them.

"Where are we even going?!" Nico asked as they ran down several corridors.

"I have no idea!" She exclaimed. "I was planning to take us back to the ranch, but I forgot which way it was! You?"

"I got nothing," he huffed as they darted right. "What are those things anyways?"

"Laistrygonians! They're basically giant cannibals—" Her explanation was cut short by a sudden WHOOSH-ing sound she heard from behind them. They didn't turn around. Instead, they ducked their heads just in time to avoid whatever flaming projectile had been thrown at them.

"Ohhhhhhh gods, we're screwed," Esmerelda fretted.

They rounded another corner and managed to avoid another projectile. They kept running straight until they spotted another path heading right. That turned out to be a dead end, but Esmerelda quickly spotted something on the tunnel wall.

"Wait!" She hissed, dragging Nico back to the dead end.

"Wha—Essie, this is a dead end!" Nico protested.

"No, look," she said, kneeling down to face a vent. It was large enough for them to crawl in. She had no idea what an air vent was doing here, but right now she didn't care. Quickly, she magically unscrewed it and popped open the lid. "Hurry and get in!"

Nico didn't hesitate to crawl inside. Esmerelda followed after him and quickly screwed the lid back on and hid it with the Mist.

"I wonder where this is gonna take us," Nico mumbled as he crawled forward. Suddenly, he stopped.

"What? What is it?" She asked, unable to see ahead.

"There's another vent in front of me," he said. "Hold on. Let me try and push it open." There was a grunt, and suddenly the vent popped open and Nico was falling out.

"Nico!" She cried out, grabbing his ankle just in time. Except, all it did was drag her down with him. They fell from the ceiling and crashed onto a cold, hard surface.

Esmerelda let out a moan of pain that mimicked Nico's. Above her, she could see the blurry image of the ceiling vent she and Nico had just fallen from when something obscured her vision. Her eyesight cleared out, and she was now staring up at the face of a man. He reminded her of Peter Pettigrew; portly, balding, and with small facial features that didn't quite match up with the size of his head.

"Hmmm," she heard him say. "Yes, this will do."

Then she saw him raise up a marble bust over his head. The last thing she saw before she blacked out was the stone face of Mariah Carey being violently brought down on her.

╞═════𖠁𐂃𖠁═════╡

Esmerelda was aware of three things when she started to regain consciousness. One, she was laying on a really soft bed. Two, she was pretty much shackled to said soft bed, which ruined any sort of relaxation she was feeling. And three, there was a couple arguing right in front of her.

"—your sick fantasies any longer—"

"—Hush, Galatea, I am busy!" There was a loud, repetitive CLACK! CLACK! CLACK! sound as if someone was hammering away at stone.

The woman's voice rose in order to be heard. "PYGMALION!" She roared. "I—WANT—A—DIVORCE!"

Oh geez, are they seriously having a couple's spat now while I'm literally shackled to a bed? Esmerelda inwardly sighed. Did she really have to listen to this? And where was Nico?

"Then go ahead and leave!" Pygmalion's voice was laced with irritation. "Can't you see I'm busy here?"

Ouch, she thought.

"Busy with what?" Galatea scoffed. "Making statues of sleeping little girls? Could you fall any lower?"

Wait, what? He was making statues of her while she was knocked out?! She dared to peek, and cracked open one eye. Unfortunately, she couldn't risk turning her head to look around, but she was pretty sure she was in some sort of massive art studio. She spotted at least twenty marble statues and busts in the background, but something was weird about them.

They didn't look like the tradition marble statues you would usually see in museums. They looked like a bunch Instagram models and other famous celebrities instead. She even saw a marbleized Kim Kardashian and hey! There was that Mariah Carey bust that he used to knock her out. She could even see her blood still splattered over the famous singer's face.

Her eyes then zeroed in on the man. Pygmalion was too enraptured with his work to notice her looking and Galatea was too busy trying to argue with him.

Her green eye scanned the piece Pygmalion was working on. There was a gigantic chunk of marble before him, and he was chipping away at it so fast that her face had already been made. Then her neck, then her shoulders. He was now working on the folds of her shirt.

His artwork was scarily accurate, but she was more creeped out than flattered.

"She's the perfect masterpiece," Pygmalion muttered, chipping away at the marble.

"You've had hundreds of 'perfect masterpieces'!" Galatea cried out. "And I was your very first one, remember? You were disgusted by every woman you saw, so you created me; devoid of all the flaws you hated to see."

"Well, yes, but times have changed," he shrugged. "More importantly, the women have changed. Or, well, their bodies have. Sure their personalities are no better than the prostitutes I met eons ago, but at least they look nicer. Sorry, dear, but your looks don't quite cut it anymore."

"Pig," she sneered.

"At least I don't look like one." He sneered back.

"You disgust me!" Poor Galatea looked close to tears at that point.

"And so do you." He smiled sweetly. "Now can you move aside, Galatea? You're in the way and I'd like to get started on making her chest now."

Angry muffled shouts followed his statement, and Pygmalion rolled his eyes. "And can you shut that boy up, already? After this, I'm planning on using his blood. I've conveniently run out of red paint."

Nico! She realized. She couldn't quite see him, but at least she knew he was nearby and alive (for now).

Galatea walked off with a huff. Esmerelda couldn't see it, but judging from the loud door slam she heard, Galatea most likely left the room.

"Finally," Pygmalion muttered under his breath before turning his attention to her. She closed her eye immediately and feigned unconsciousness. Pygmalion didn't speak nor did he resume his work. Then, she heard him approach her and refrained the urge to gulp.

She was now very much aware that his face was inches away from hers.

"Did you... move?" He asked suspiciously.

Esmerelda tried not to twitch.

He started to reach out to touch her, but the angry muffled shouts returned. Pygmalion grunted in annoyance and turned around to bark, "Keep your mouth shut, or I'll slit your throat!"

Esmerelda used this chance to magically undo her bindings and sat up. Quickly, she wrapped the chains around his neck yanked him closer, ready to strangle him to death.

"Ack—! Ghhgh!" He choked, hands flailing.

Esmerelda glared down at him and tightened the chains. She looked up when she heard Nico's panicked cry.

She hadn't been able to see it when she was laying down, but Nico was being restrained by a pair of moving statues. And now those two statues had their blades drawn and placed under his neck.

Esmerelda froze.

Pygmalion let out a low laugh. The statues surrounding the art studio came to life and were now staring at her. Slowly, she released him.

"Nice try," he complimented. "But all the art I make are under my command. If you don't do as I say, then the boy becomes a good source of red paint for me."

"Tell them to stand down," she ordered, using her Charmspeak.

He shook his head and smirked. "You've got a good voice, but it's not as strong as Aphrodite's. Now get back to bed, and no one has to get hurt."

Esmerelda's eyes darted around. In her left, she spotted a glass door leading towards a nicely tended garden, but there were statues there too. They were motionless, but she doubted they'd stay that way for long. Still, she'd have to take her chance. The garden was large and spacious, a good place to use that spell.

"Expelliarmus!" She shot the spell over Pygmalion's shoulder, and the two statues restraining Nico were suddenly unarmed. She shoved the artist to the side and grabbed Nico before the two statues could and dragged him over to the glass door, crashing right through it.

"Where are we going?!" Nico shouted once he removed the gag.

"Nowhere! We just need to make some distance between us and the statues!"

"Why?"

"Because I'm gonna blow them up."

Once they reached the farthest edge of the garden, she whirled around. The statues were flooding out of the studio and chasing after them. She couldn't spot Pygmalion amongst them, but she was sure she could take him down once his minions were done with.

Once enough statues congregated together, she raised her hand and shouted, "Bombarda!"

It was just as explosive as last time. The spell struck down the incoming statues and suddenly rubble and granite limbs were flying everywhere. Mounds of earth were ripped out as well, and Nico and Esmerelda had to duck down for cover.

When the blast died out, the two of them slowly rose to their feet to survey the damages. No statue came out from the explosion intact. She could see rubble and detached body parts scattered throughout the garden; a piece of a jaw on a bush, a high-heeled foot embedded to a tree, and some Instagram model's head squishing some unfortunate plant. At the very center of the disaster was a huge crater from where the explosion took place. It looked like a meteor had struck down.

Gods, I love this spell, she thought with a crazed smile.

"Whoa," even Nico was amazed.

The only one who didn't seem to appreciate it was Pygmalion.

"My art!" He cried out in horror as he stumbled into the garden. "My girls... my beautiful creations...! What have you done?!"

"Sorry," she called out, not feeling sorry at all.

"You!" He shrieked, pointing an accusing finger. "You're a witch! Gah, I should've known from the eyes! I ought to kill you for what you did! Do you know what you've just done?! I spent centuries making those girls!"

"That guy's real gross, Essie," Nico mumbled from beside her. "I saw him kiss one of the statues he made."

"Ew," she crinkled her nose in disgust. That guy had a serious problem.

Just then another figure entered the scene from behind Pygmalion. "What is going on here?" Galatea demanded.

"Galatea!" Pygmalion spun around to face her, looking relieved. "Where have you been?! Those two destroyed my works of art! You have to kill them!"

"They destroyed the statues?" She blinked and looked around, as if just now noticing the destruction. "Good riddance."

"Galatea, help me!" Pygmalion pleaded.

"Sure," she said, then Spartan kicked him down the crater. He fell down with a startled yelp.

She looked back up at the two kids who were watching the entire spat. "You kids can come over if you want, I've made cookies."

The promise of cookies was what sold them over. They walked around the crater as Pygmalion screeched at them from the bottom. They watched as he tried to climb up, only to slide back down.

"So, uh, you married him?" Esmerelda couldn't help but ask.

Galatea frowned. "You haven't heard of us?"

She blinked. "Oh, you guys are famous? Like... Brangelina famous, or...?"

Nico had no idea who she talking about.

Galatea scowled. "Don't bring up that Angelina woman in front of me. He spent almost a whole decade creating statues of her. I was so sick of it. And no, we were a famous 'love story'. You're demigods, aren't you? Haven't you heard of Galatea and Pygmalion? The artist who hated women, but fell in love with his own creation? Begged Aphrodite to bring her to life and married her when she did?"

Nico and Esmerelda stared. "No."

Galatea's shoulders slumped. "Oh. Well, that's us. Aphrodite loved our 'love story' so much that she granted us immortality so we could be together forever... Obviously, that didn't last very long. Pygmalion, that little pig, started getting obsessed with other women after a few centuries of us being together. He had such crazy beauty standards, he wanted thin girls with curves—as if that made any sense. You know, he once tried to recreate a statue of me but made me skinnier and gave me a bigger ass? Ohhh, I was so angry with him—"

"—I was just trying to improve you!" Pygmalion shouted from the bottom of the crater. "You ungrateful wench!"

Nico threw a detached foot at his face to shut him up.

"Why can't you just leave him?" Esmerelda asked.

"He's all I know," she sighed sadly. "Besides, if I killed him, he'd just come back."

Esmerelda looked back at the man rubbing the growing bump on his head and gained an idea after remembering all the pig comments about him. She could feel the magic around her buzzing in excitement, as if also agreeing with the idea. 

"Well, I know a way to make him suffer without killing him," she offered with an excited grin.

Galatea gave her a curious look.

"Hey Pygmalion!" She called out to him. "Gatalea's right. You really are a pig." And then, she snapped her fingers.

At first, nothing happened, but then Pygmalion started to transform. His human nose turned into a snout, his skin turned pink, and his body began to shrink as he fell on all fours. Galatea and Nico watched with widened eyes as Pygmalion turned into a pig. The only human thing left of him was the balding patch of hair on his pink head.

Esmerelda winced upon seeing it. "Whoops. I messed up... To be fair, this is my first time doing human transfiguration."

"He's a lot cuter as a pig," Galatea noted. "Which is just sad."

Pygmalion ran around the crater in a panic, his squeals and oinks echoing throughout the garden.

Nico turned away first. "So... about those cookies..."

— author's note —

* The saying Minos was referring to is... well, I'm sure you already know. If you don't, just fill in the blanks: "_____ knows best."

Regulus: I don't care if your friends die, but you better do your best to stay alive. Worry only about yourself AND STAY AWAY FROM THE LABYRINTH!

Essie: Yeah, you got it, dad 👍

Essie, several hours later: *cares about her friends, focuses on them instead of her, and goes back to the Labyrinth*

OR!!! A shorter version of Regulus and Essie's conversation:

Regulus: Here is a brain cell. Don't lose it.

Essie: Thanks! :D

Essie, not even a day later: *loses the brain cell* Oops

Anyways, Ethan's coming next chapter... 😈

Ethan + Nico = Essie's rising stress levels 📈 📈 📈

Ya'll better brace yourselves. Also, you'll finally find out what he overheard from the last book (tho I think some of you may already have figured it out)