Despite being in a room with more space, Finley was still sickly pale. Of course, she was thankful for the cavernous room rather than the tunnels, but she still felt that panic. She still felt like she was back in the basement of her mother's house. She still felt like curling in on herself, crying until the fear went away.

But she didn't.

She's on this quest to help Annabeth. To help stop Kronos. To help stop Luke.

She needed to be strong. She needed to stop herself from crying. She needed to be alright...or at least pretend to be.

She was so caught up in trying to lower her pulse, to keep her fear under control, she didn't realize the man with two faces. She didn't realize the god. She didn't take notice to how each face went against the other, constantly fighting.

Both faces of the god jutted out from the side of his head, staring over his shoulders, making his head wider than the average human. It was, in a way, like a hammerhead shark, but nothing to that extreme. His torse was decorated by a long black overcoat. Shiny shoes were upon his feet as a black top-hat was on his head.

"Well, Annabeth?" the left face began. "Hurry up!"

"Don't mind him," the right face countered. "He's terribly rude. Right this way, miss."

Annabeth's jaw dropped. "Uh...I don't..."

Tyson frowned. "That funny man has two faces."

"The funny man has ears, you know!" the left face scolded. "Now come along, miss."

Finley and Percy shared a glance. They were both too shocked to react. Sure they've met tons of gods and goddesses, but they didn't generally have two faces.

"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 the group's 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 stood the doorway they'd come through. Or at least it was supposed to be there. Now it was gone.

"The exits are closed," Annabeth stated.

"Really?" Finley said faintly with a sarcastic tone. "I haven't noticed!"

"Where do they lead?" Annabeth asked, ignoring Finley's comment.

"One probably leads the way you wish to go," the right face said encouragingly. "The other leads to certain death."

"I know who you are," she declared.

"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?" the curly blonde 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."

Finley, at first thought, believed it was just a decision between two doors. However, unlike Percy, she knew there was more. She assumed it had something to do with Luke. It almost always did nowadays.

"No...I don't-" Annabeth stammered, becoming a deathly pale.

"Leave her alone," Percy declared "Who are you anyway?"

"I'm your best friend!" the right face said.

"I'm your worst enemy," the left face stated.

"I'm-"

Finley cut the god (or gods, she was generally confused) off.

"Janus," she stated, hoping her voice sounded stronger than she felt. "God of doorways, beginnings, endings, and choices."

"I was wondering when we'd run into you, Finley!" the right face grinned.

"Shut up!" his left face hissed. "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!"

That's when Finley remembered the line from the prophecy: the child of Athena's final stand.

"Don't do it," Percy stated, coming to the same conclusion as Finley.

"I'll see you soon enough, Perseus Jackson," the right face declared with great glee. "However, now is not your time! It's Annabeth's choice now!"

Annabeth bit the inside of her cheeks before moving to respond.

"No. Don't answer," Finley countered.

The left face appeared to be greatly annoyed with her. His next words were intended to do harm.

"Tell me, Finley Jones," he began. "Which face do your friends perceive you as? Which face do you show your foes? Your mother? Or perhaps your father?"

"I do not hide behind a mask-" Finley lied. She knew she always masked her emotions.

"Everyone has different faces," his right face giggled.

"So tell us, which one are we seeing now?" the left taunted.

Finley balled her fists.

"Leave her alone!" Percy hissed, noticing her discomfort.

"The powerful daughter of Apollo? The outcasted sibling? The bubbly child?" The left smirked. "The angsty teenager? The abused child? The emotionless warrior? The one working night and day to keep camp safe? The small defenseless child afraid of the dark-"

Before he could continue, 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 dark chocolate braided in plaits with gold ribbons. She wore a simple white dress, but when she moved, the fabric shimmered with colors like oil on water.

Hera, Queen of Heaven.

Finley had seen her before in her vision. It was safe to say future Finley hated Hera more than anything on this planet.

"Janus," Hera said. "are we causing trouble again?"

"N-no, milady!" Janus's right face stammered.

"Yes!" the left face grinned wickedly.

"Shut up!" the right face hissed.

"Excuse me?" Hera interrupted calmly.

"Not you, milady! I was talking to myself."

"Talk about mental disorders..." Finley murmured under her breath. "Although...I do that too..."

"I see," Hera said, not paying attention to Finley. "You know very well your visit is premature. The girl's time has not yet come. So I give you a choice: leave the heroes to me, or I shall turn you into a door and break you down."

"Oo!" Finley interrupted gleefully. "Could I break the door down? I've always wanted to try that."

"It would appear that I'll turn you into a door, and Finley will break it down," Hera said with a soft smiling playing upon her lips.

"What kind of door?" the left face asked.

"Shut up!" The right hissed.

"Because French doors are nice," the left face mused. "Lots of natural light."

"Shut up!" wailed the right. "Not you, milady! Of course, I'll leave. I was just having a bit of fun. Doing my job. Offering choices."

"Causing indecision," Hera 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 the group. Her eyes shined with power. Leave these heroes to me. That didn't sound good. For a second, Percy almost wished they could've taken their chances with Janus. 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 the group sandwiches and poured them lemonade.

"Grover, dear," she said softly. "use your napkin. Don't eat it."

"Yes, ma'am," Grover nodded.

"Tyson, you're wasting away. Would you like another peanut butter sandwich?"

Tyson stifled a belch. "Yes, nice lady."

"Queen Hera," Annabeth began. "I can't believe it. What are you doing in the Labyrinth?"

Hera smiled and snapped her fingers. Annabeth was devoid of all dirt and grim. Her long blonde curls were perfectly combed.

"I came to see you, naturally," the goddess stated.

Finley, who had tentatively been eating her sandwich, spoke up after swallowing her bite.

"Why? I thought you didn't like heroes."

She saw Percy and Grover exchange a glance, knowing it wasn't good when a god wished to see you. They've learned that countless times.

Nonetheless, they all ate the food and drank the lemonade provided.

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?" Finley asked, raising a brow.

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, but immediately wished he hadn't. As soon as he said the name of their friend, the half-blood daughter of Zeus, Hera's eyes turned toward him frostily.

"Percy Jackson, isn't it? One of Poseidon's...children."

Finley knew she wished to say something other than 'children'. There might be a reason future Finley hates Hera and not like she hates cereal: for no reason.
"As I recall, I voted to let you live at the winter solstice. I hope I voted correctly."

She turned back to Finley 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."

"Your father?" Percy said. "Oh, right."

He'd forgotten that Kronos was Hera's dad, too, along with being the father to Zeus, Poseidon, and all the eldest Olympians.

"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."

Finley recalled Hera throwing her son off of a cliff in legends. Yet, she spoke so highly of him now.

"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 me. "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."

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 sort of help was that? 'Here, have a sandwich. Make a wish. Oops, I can't help you!' Poof!"

"And they wonder why hundreds of demigods are switching to Kronos's side," Finley kicked a pebble with frustration.

"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 him.

"But I don't," Percy said. "I don't know what she was talking about."

Annabeth sighed. "All right. Then we'll just keep going."

"Which way?" Finley 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.