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chapter twenty-two.
(  the battle of the labyrinth  )
❝ the god complex! ❞

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     The sandwiches tasted great, which was to be expected since they were conjured up by the literal queen of the heavens. Hera poured our glasses of lemonade, watching us with kind eyes that made me squirm uncomfortably in my seat. There was something about the kindness in her eyes that seemed artificial.

     "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."

     Hera's eyes fell on Cain, and the kindness disappeared for a second. Cain went red, as if realising he had the same effect on the gods as he did on everyone else. It made me seriously wonder: who was his father? Who was this god that sired someone so powerful he even made gods see their fears. It also made me wonder what Hera's fear was.

     Noticing the look on Hera's face, Annabeth quickly spoke, "Queen Hera..." immediately, the smile was back on her face when she turned to look back at Annabeth. "I can't believe it. What are you doing in the Labyrinth?"

     Her smile brightened. She flicked one finger and Annabeth's hair combed itself. All the dirt and grime had disappeared. My hand went up to my hair, upset that Hera hadn't done the same to mine. "I came to see you, naturally."

     Nervous looks were exchanged. Usually, when gods came looking for you, it was never out of the goodness of their hearts. They wanted something from you. Either way, however, I was hungry, and so I ate my sandwiches. (And, like, Hera was the Queen of Olympus, I don't want to upset her).

     "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?" I said with a mouthful of roast lamb. "Like, you made him kill his wife and son—"

      Hera waved her hand dismissively. "Water under the bridge, my dears. 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. It was a mistake. As soon as he said her name, Hera's eyes turned towards him, her warm brown eyes turning cold with frost.

     "Percy Jackson, isn't it? One of Poseidon's ... children." I have a feeling she was thinking of another word besides 'children'. "As I recall, I voted to let you live at the winter solstice. I hope I voted correctly."

     Cain gave Percy an eeesh look from behind Hera's back as she returned her attention back to Annabeth. "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 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 frowned. It then hit him. "Oh ... right..."

     "We must watch the minor gods," Hera said. "Janus. Hecate. Morpheus. Phobos. 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. "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 keeping believing. You have to always keep your goals in mind."

      "What are your goals?" Annabeth asked.

     Hera 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 glanced at Percy. "Percy knows."

    He blinked, "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."

     Thunder rumbled up above, and the room shook. 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. "Annabeth, I have postponed your day of choice. I have not prevented it. Soon, as Janus said, you will have to make a decision. And one final thing," she turned to me. "Daughter of Apollo, Claire Moore."

      "Yes?" I hated how awkward I sounded.

      "This is where you separate from your friends."

      "What?" Percy spoke the question I wanted to ask myself. However, he sounded a lot more angry at the idea than I would've been. "Why?"

      Her eyes glared again, but Percy—despite how stupid it was—didn't seem scared by them.

      "It is apart of her own quest," replied Hera. "In finding what she seeks, isn't that right, Claire?"

      I didn't like how people were watching me, confused. "I-I don't know. What do you mean, Lady Hera?"

      "You know what I mean, Claire Moore," she smiled. She waved her hand, and another door appeared on the opposite side of the room. "I must warn you, however, that you need to be weary of who you trust and who you listen to. Beware the traitor in the maze."

       This caught my attention. I stepped forward, ignoring Percy's frown. "You know the prophecy?"

       She scoffed, rolling her eyes, "My dear girl, everyone knows the prophecy! Now, go on your way! I cannot stay here much longer."

       "She's not going anywhere," Percy stepped forward. I held my hand out in front of his chest, scared he would do something he'd later regret.

       "Percy," I whispered to him. "Remember what I told you, why I'm here?"

      "Yes, but I thought we would be doing this together," he whispered back, and the others watched us with frowns. "Not you just going off on yourself."

       I crossed my arms. "I can handle it."

       "I'm not saying you can't," he said. "I just don't want anything to happen to you."

      I usually can't tell when I blush. I can't feel the heat anymore. But it seemed, around Percy, I felt all the heat in the world. And so I stumbled on my words. "Oh—um—well—thanks—like—um—"

       "Just let me come with you," he said, red himself as if just realising what he had said. "We're all in this together—"

       "Don't quote High School Musical on me."

       He frowned, "What? No, just—"

      "Percy," I stepped closer, ignoring everyone around us. "You need to stay here and help Annabeth. She needs you on this quest. I won't be gone for long. I'll find my way back."

       He pursed his lips. "I promise," I added, hoping that would make him feel better, but it didn't seem to be working. So I grabbed his hand. "Look, I'll be back. I'll meet up with you guys soon, and maybe I'll be able to shine light to help us get through here."

       Percy nodded. He still seemed unsure, so I sighed. "I'll take Cain with me—" he tensed up, and went to say something, but I squeezed his hand. "I'll be fine," I said, more sternly this time. "He isn't going to do anything. You gotta learn to trust him."

"I know, I just..."

"What?"

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Hera roll her eyes. "She will be fine, Son of Poseidon. But you must leave now. I cannot stay any longer."

I nodded, and gave Percy one last smile. I then turned to Cain, "You coming?"

He shrugged, "Do I have a choice?"

I tilted my head, "I mean..."

Cain spun his short sword in his hand, "Whatever, guess there are more dangerous things than splitting up in the most dangerous maze in the universe."

"So it is settled then?" Hera smiles. "Wonderful! Good luck, and on your way!" She waved her hand, and disappeared in a shower of white. The sandwiches and lemonade went with her, as well as the water from the Roman fountain. It was back to being chipped and dead.

Annabeth frowned, before she turned back to me, "Are you guys sure about this? We can find another way, somehow go all together—"

"No," I shook my head. "We have to split up. How about we'll meet you guys at the ranch. Yeah?"

Annabeth pursed her lips. "Fine. Just, look after yourselves."

I gave her grin and a one-finger salute. "Sure thing, Captain."

She smiled. I went to lead Cain the other way to the door behind us, but Percy stopped me. I rolled my eyes.

"Stop being cliche," I told him.

"If you're not at the ranch," he said, "I'll come to get you. I promise."

I pursed my lips, "Let's hope you don't have to."

And with that, Cain and I walked away from the others and through the door. It closed off behind us, leaving us in pitch darkness once again.

° ° °

"So," Cain shone his torch out in front of us. "Do we know where we're going?"

To be honest, I hadn't thought about that. "Um ... yes?"

He just gave me a look, and I sighed. "No... But I know what we're looking for."

Cain shone the torch at me, and I shielded my eyes from the light. "Do you?"

"Yes!" I said, then backtracked. "Well, kind of ... maybe ... probably not," I sighed, defeated.

"Great," he said.

"Hey!" I shone my own light at him too. "I wasn't given much. I was given one line of a prophecy to do with this maze, a dream that told me nothing except that this is the place I'm meant to look for it, and stupid messages those stupid cercopes decided to give us."

"Why didn't you ask Hera?" Cain then asked me.

I hadn't thought of that either... "Well—she wouldn't have said anything useful! She's Hera."

Cain sighed, "Whatever," his torch shone back on the path in front of us. "There's only one way to go. Let's just hope it's the right one."

We walked for what seemed like three hours down this long, dark winding tunnel. It dripped water above us, and smelt like the Big House Attic after a rainstorm in the winter. Musty, wet, cold ... It seemed weird that the path to me finding my powers again was cold, but maybe that was the point. We hadn't encountered anything yet. There was another skeleton; a cat skeleton, and the stone floor underneath our feet turned to wooden planks and back, but apart from that, it was nothing like the small adventure we had with Annabeth. There was no multiple doorways to pick, no Roman gods and definitely no Hera.

Seeing the maze shift around me made me wonder what part Annabeth, Percy and the others were walking through. I hoped they weren't in danger. I didn't say anything to Percy, but if he wasn't at the ranch either, there was nothing stopping me from going back down and looking for him too.

By the third hour, we were tired. I don't know how long we've actually been walking, for time down here was different than the time above. If Percy and I were only in there for what seemed like fifteen minutes, and it was an hour for everyone else ... no, that included math, I can't be bothered to do that. It's just been a while, okay?

We decided to set up camp. Cain grabbed out some crackers he had packed and we snacked on them, just staring at the fire we had lit in the cold, damp corridor. Even with the fire, it was pitch black on either side of us. Anything could creep up on us unannounced. I knew it would be a rough sleep tonight.

"So," Cain broke his cracker in half. "You said you had a dream about getting your powers back in here?"

I nodded. "It wasn't much. I woke up back in the same spot Percy and I fell into. It was pitch black. I was scared, fumbling around for the Mark Daedalus when like suddenly, light just appeared. I just made it happen like I had never died and lost them."

Cain frowned. He placed one half of his cracker in his mouth. He chewed. "So," he said in a full mouth, "we just got to go back to the place where we started?"

"Not exactly," I told him. "The place we entered was completely different to the one where Percy and I fell into. And just because I happened to be there in my dream doesn't mean that's exactly where I'll find it."

He sighed, "Well, that's just great."

I hung my head, "I'm sorry I don't know much. I really should have thought about this before I left and dragged you along."

Cain shrugged. "It's cool." He threw the other cracker half in his mouth. "You didn't have much time to think. Hera just kind of waved her hand and was like 'you must do this'."

I couldn't help but smile. "Hera won't like you mocking her like that."

Cain grinned. "She won't do anything, she's scared."

"She's the Queen of the Gods, Cain," I laughed. "She is not scared of you."

"Yeah, she is," he said. "And Percy. And Annabeth. And you. I could feel it, see it. She's scared of something that could happen in the future."

I pursed my lips, "Well, let's just hope she doesn't show her fear by blowing you out of existence."

Cain just grinned. "I would welcome it!" I was surprised by the confidence in his voice. He shouted out into the maze. "Come and get me, Hera! I'm right here!" I slapped his arm to shush him, but Cain just laughed. When nothing happened, he just grinned right back at me. "See? I told you!"

"You're worse than Percy."

"And you'd know wouldn't you?"

I gaped at him, and he laughed. "Since when did you become so confident?!"

He faltered, and frowned, as if just realising this himself. "Um ... I don't know. I just—this is weird, but ... I feel at ease here. Like, I sense all the fear in this place and all the darkness and anger and just fear and ... it feels like home. You guys are all scared of going through the maze; scared of ending up like Chris Rodriguez. This place is Clarisse's biggest fear, and yet ... I'm not scared, for once..."

I frowned at that. "That's ... kind of depressing."

Cain pursed his lips. "Yeah, well ... I don't know." He sighed. "I just ... it's just how it is. Any place that screams out fear for others, I just ... I relish in it. It's kind of scary."

When I didn't say anything, and just frowned at him. Cain went red. "Yeah ... um ... how about I do look out first up? I'll wake you."

I went to protest, but by the look on his face, I knew he wanted to be by himself. So, with a sigh, I placed my head down on my bag and closed my eyes. I didn't expect to fall asleep as fast as I did.

But I know exactly how it happened, because when I woke up, I was in the Underworld. Or more precisely, Hades' throne room.

He sat on his throne of bone, staring me down in his robes of screaming souls. I gave an awkward wave.

"Hello."

"Just because I gave your bow a makeover Claire Moore doesn't mean I want to kill you any less," said the Lord of the Underworld, and I shrunk.

"Oh..." I muttered.

"I'm the King of Grudges," Hades growled. "And you killed my daughter."

"I'm sorry—"

He held his hand up, "Say sorry one more time and I will kill you."

"If you hate me so much," I felt a little braver, "why did you give me a new bow? Why are you talking to me? Why haven't you killed me?"

Hades left hand gripped the arm of his throne tighter. "It is best not to question the Gods, Claire Moore. I was being generous. I will not be second-guessed."

"It's because He told you not to, wasn't it?"

Hades stood up, standing full god-height above me. I didn't flinch. He glared down at me, his eyes—completely empty, soulless—burst with a strange, dead fire. "I am trying to help you, half-blood," he spat. "Have some gratitude."

I stayed silent, and an inhumane growl came from Hades's throat. I knew he wanted to kill me, but he couldn't. Or wouldn't. I don't know.

In the end, he sat back down. The ground shook, but I didn't remove my gaze. I will not seem weak to him.

"What are you doing in the maze?" he then asked.

"We're looking for Daedalus's workshop."

"No, do not lie to me, half-blood. Why are you in the maze?"

I pursed my lips. "I had a dream. It showed me that I can get my powers back in the Maze."

Hades's laughter boomed throughout the throne room, resonating with the black stone. "How many times do I have to tell you, Claire Moore? How many times?"

"Tell me what?"

"How amusing," he clicked his tongue. "You still haven't realised? How long has it been, Claire Moore? A year? More than a year? And you have still not realised."

"What are you talking about?!"

"Did you not listen to the prophecy?" asked Hades, grinning in the devilish light.

"Yes, yes I did!"

He chuckled. "Then listen again, Child of Light."

I threw my hands up. "Why?! What am I missing! What am I supposed to know?"

"Stop this search for your abilities, Claire Moore," then said Hades, leaning forward. "It will bring you no fortune, and no answers. It will bring you nothing but despair."

"What?"

"You have been warned," Hades leaned back. "And I shall not warn again."

He then waved his hand, and I woke up.

I jumped up, and Cain leapt back. "Whoa! I was just about to wake you up. I found something."

I frowned at him. Something shone on his face, lighting up his brown eyes. "What? What did you find?"

He nodded behind me. It is then, that I felt a strange warmth. I glanced back, and then gasped.

A shining ball of bright, golden light hovered over me. I immediately looked down at my hands, but they weren't tingling. There was no warmth. I was still cold all over except from where the light shone on my face.

"Did you do this?" Cain asked me. I shook my head.

"No, I didn't."

The light suddenly zoomed up and brightened up the corridor. It hovered there for a second, and I felt a familiar feeling. I don't know why, but I felt like it wanted us to follow it.

"Pack up," I told Cain.

"Why?"

I grinned. "We have our guide."