Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Threat of an incoming, potentially world-ending event aside, Yujin was having the time of her life right now. She never envisioned the past year going the way it did. From discovering she and her two best friends were children of Greek gods (and not just any Greek gods, the big three–Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades), going to the literal underworld where the undead were, and most recently, sailing through the mythical Sea of Monsters in search for a magical piece of sheepskin, it felt like Yujin's world had turned upside down.

Still, despite all of those mind-melting events to wrap her head around, the one thing that happened that Yujin had the hardest time believing in was that she was dating the prettiest girl in the world, Jang Wonyoung. She was a child of Aphrodite she met when she and her friends first arrived at Camp Half-Blood over a year ago. At first, they would argue with each other like a cat and dog, but over time, Yujin had grown a soft spot for her. Evidently, the usually snobbish rich girl did too.

Yujin still remembered the day of their first kiss like it was yesterday–it was at the stroke of midnight on New Year's. They've been the camp's unofficial power couple ever since. They may have had a lot of difference, but in a way, that's what made their relationship strong. They kept filling in each other's weaknesses and introducing each other to new interests. Now, Wonyoung still acted like a brat sometimes, but she was Yujin's brat (though she would never say that out loud in fear of being charmspoken into jumping inside the central hearth).

Even with the winter break ending and Yujin having to go back to college, Wonyoung would visit as much as she could. Some students around her even joked that the younger girl was basically a student at SeoulArts University already, something Wonyoung had actually started to consider in talks with Yujin.

"My dad is an actor. How hard could it be? I already have the face," she had said with a confident grin.

Six months have now passed since they became a couple, which meant summer break was starting soon and Yujin could come back to camp to spend as much time as she could with Wonyoung.

"Enjoy your break, honey! Don't fool around with your girlfriend too much, okay?" her mother teased as she got out of the car.

"Mom!" Yujin replied in embarrassment. The older woman still gloated about how she knew her daughter liked Wonyoung from the very beginning. Yujin supposed it was maternal instinct.

After her mother had driven off, the child of Poseidon began the near ten-minute trek towards Half-Blood Hill. Why they couldn't have built an easier way to get to camp from the road was beyond her. The least Mr. D could've done was clear a path, so she wouldn't have her clothing snag on the dense thicket.

Eventually, Yujin managed to get to the top of the hill. Looking past it from where she stood, the view was just a green valley, but once she stepped over the camp's magical border, the truth was revealed. Below her was a bustling society of Greek demigods. Cabins for each godly parent dotted the center of an open clearing. In the distance, Yujin could also spot the stables, the rock-climbing wall over lava, some multi-sport courts, and of course, the Big House where all their important meetings were held.

The sight of Camp still left Yujin in awe, just a pocket of civilization hidden from society. She glanced to her right where a small drakon was gazing at her curiously.

"Nice to see you too, Aeson," Yujin said with a smile. When she'd first heard of drakons, she didn't know the difference between them and dragons. The former were actually much more ancient than their winged successors. If anything, these creatures were probably closer to large serpents. Right now, Aeson was maybe as long as Yujin's height, but from what Seunggi had explained, he would somehow grow to be five times that by next year. The idea of a thirty-foot long guard dog for the Camp was certainly something Yujin could get behind.

As for the reason Seunggi acquired Aeson in the first place, it was to protect the golden piece of wool that was wrapped around one of a neighboring tree's branches. The Golden Fleece was a magical item Yujin and her friends took from the cyclops Polyphemus' island last winter to serve as a protector for the Camp. Its aura radiated warmth towards the valley below and blocked monsters from getting inside. Yujin didn't know how exactly it did that, but that was probably a question better suited for Sakura and the Hecate cabin.

As Yujin made her way down to the base of the hill, she saw someone was already waiting for her.

"Welcome back, Kelp Brain," the child of Aphrodite greeted with a loving smile.

"Still gonna keep calling me that?" Yujin chuckled.

"It's cute though! Much more endearing and creative than 'Wonnie'," Wonyoung whined back.

"Really? And what am I supposed to call you, hm? Angel? Baby?"

Wonyoung giggled and playfully smacked Yujin's chest. "You are so funny, Yuj."

The sound of someone clearing their throat finally notified Yujin that her girlfriend was not alone right now. Standing next to her was a girl with long brown hair and a pretty face wearing the same orange Camp Half-Blood shirt Wonyoung had on.

"Unnie, can you save your sweet talk for when you're alone in the Poseidon cabin?"

"Ah, sorry about that, Hyunseo. Didn't realize you came along," Yujin apologized with a cheeky grin.

"Aish, what are you apologizing for, Yujin? A child of Aphrodite needs to know what love is like!" Wonyoung chided while pinching Hyunseo's cheek, earning a sigh in return.

Yujin remembered when they first met the younger girl last winter on Circe's island. Hyunseo had just been one of the sorceress' spa attendants before helping them escape her trap. Yujin had originally offered for the younger girl to come with them, but she had refused, saying their journey would be too dangerous (she was right). Instead, she asked Yujin to ask her father for safe passage through the Sea of Monsters.

About a month after they'd returned from their quest, Yujin got word from Wonyoung that a demigod had washed up on the Camp's shore, and it ended up being Hyunseo. Wonyoung had brought her along one time to Yujin's campus to show her the outside world, but aside from that, Yujin hadn't seen much of her.

"How's camp life?" she asked as if the younger girl hadn't been living here longer than her already.

"Hmm, it'd be much better if a certain unnie didn't stop following me around like a mom," Hyunseo replied while raising an eyebrow at Wonyoung who was trying to feign innocence.

"What? Is it wrong for me to act like an older sister?" the tall girl then complained.

"Heh, maybe you two can hash it out over lunch," Yujin jumped in before the two could begin arguing. Once Wonyoung started talking, there was usually no end to it, which is at least one thing they had in common.

~~~~

Finding alone time with Wonyoung proved to be difficult for Yujin. Given her popularity, there would always be people around her whether it was her siblings or campers from other cabins asking for favors, beauty tips, and romantic advice. Eventually though, the Aphrodite cabin's head counselor pushed everyone away by saying it was 'Yujin time'.

The child of Poseidon's cheeks reddened a lot from the declaration as all of the campers turned their heads towards her. Before anyone could tease her though, Wonyoung walked up to her, grabbed her hand, and led her to a place where they could finally have some peace and quiet–the forest.

"So, where are Yena-unnie and Chaewon-unnie?" she asked as they walked around, passing by streams and trees all inhabited by nymphs and dryads respectively.

"Hmm, I know Yena-unnie is at her place with Yuri-unnie. As for Chaewon-unnie, she has a final project to submit, so she's at the university. They'll probably arrive by tomorrow if I had to guess."

Honestly, it still felt weird for Yujin that the three of them had separate lives now. For years, they were joined at the hip, but ever since the prophecy about Kronos they heard last winter, an invisible barrier seemed to grow between them. They still hung out and ate together, but every time they did, Yujin could feel the weight on their shoulders. Yujin had actually asked the two if they wanted to come to camp together this summer before being told they had prior commitments.

Likely sensing Yujin's slightly disappointed tone when responding, Wonyoung decided to change topics.

"I actually submitted my application to SIA the other day," she said. "Which means we'll probably be able to see each other a lot more next school year."

"That's great news! You're going to take acting, right?" Yujin asked back, her spirits lifted.

"Mhm, it's still funny to think about sometimes though–going to school."

This statement caught Yujin a bit off guard.

"What do you mean?"

The younger girl hummed to herself before replying. "We're demigods after all. We're not like everyone else. We already have to worry about monster attacks every time we step out of camp, but now we have to worry about studies and jobs too? It just feels like a waste sometimes."

"Heh, well not all of us can afford to live life without one, Wonyo. There are so many stories of demigods working in important fields after growing up. I'm actually planning to take a minor degree in marine biology next semester."

"Woah, you're really committing to being a Kelp Brain, I love it!" Wonyoung said energetically.

"I told you to stop calling me that," Yujin joked as she wrapped her arm around Wonyoung and peppered her with kisses on the cheek.

This was the life; Moments like these are what made Yujin so happy recently. For a second, she felt like the luckiest girl in the world.

As per usual, the universe chose that moment to remind her not to be so cocky.

The two girls stumbled around together, not knowing how far they were into the forest, until Yujin tripped on a branch, taking Wonyoung down with her. At first, they laughed about it. The younger girl was sitting on top of her looking at her with a mischievous smirk, but before anything else could happen, Wonyoung's expression shifted.

"Yujin, what's that behind you?" she asked, pointing at something on the ground.

Yujin got up and turned to see a strange symbol protruding from the dirt. She'd never seen anything like it before.

Wonyoung reached over and tried to dust it off, the action causing it to glow a faint shade of blue. Yujin didn't know how, but she recognized the symbol now: ∆, the Ancient Greek Delta.

Suddenly, the ground began to shake. Wonyoung looked at Yujin worriedly.

"What's happening?"

Before Yujin could reply though, the ground opened up abruptly, the two girls plummeting down a dark hole.

Chapter Text

The last thing Chaewon wanted was to be on campus when everyone was already going on summer break. She blamed her ADHD for losing track of time on her final English Literature class project. It was supposed to be a character analysis on this book called Imperfect Love, a pretty solid story, but it was always difficult for demigods to keep their attention focused on those things. Their minds were just hardwired for quick reactions in battle.

Luckily, her professor had been kind enough to give her a three-day extension to finish her report. Unfortunately, that meant that instead of returning to Camp Half-Blood today, she had to wait until tomorrow morning. It was always safer to travel during the day.

The one positive Chaewon could take from today’s delay was that Minju was coming to visit again. Now, the last time the child of Athena had come to campus, she was kidnapped by a manticore disguised as a history professor. Still, if they had to worry about monster attacks every time they left camp, they’d just become paranoid. Wonyoung visited Yujin all the time these days and nothing ever happened. What’s the worst that could happen today?

Chaewon had just arrived at the entrance of the West Wing building where the Literature department was when she noticed two tall guards standing by the entrance. It wasn’t anything of the ordinary per se. It was just that Chaewon had never seen these two before.

What got her internal demigod warning system alerted though was when she was stopped at the door.

“ID please,” the guard on the left demanded. He was intimidating for sure, standing over six feet with hairy, muscular arms. Chaewon didn’t want any trouble, so she handed her ID over as requested.

“Kim Chaewon,” the guard said in a low tone. He looked at his buddy with a weird expression, almost as if they were expecting her. Chaewon’s hand subconsciously wandered to her back pocket where she kept her stygian iron sword. Unlike her friend Yena’s weapon that functioned as a pen and Yujin’s that doubled as a stylish necklace, Chaewon’s didn’t have a magic shroud; Not like she needed it to. Because of the Mist, most people figured she was just carrying around a large paintbrush all the time.

Before Chaewon could pull it out in defense, the other guard gave a dissatisfied grunt.

“You can go in,” guard one then said.

As Chaewon walked through the hall, she couldn’t help but glance back to the entrance. Something was wrong.

~~~~

Thankfully, Chaewon’s professor accepted her submission without any further questions. Hopefully, she would get a good score, but she wasn’t counting on it.

Looking at the wall clock on her way out of the office, she had just enough time to make it to the campus' front entrance where Minju told her she would be waiting. They were supposed to go to a cafe for an afternoon snack.

All she needed to do was get past those strange guards… who weren’t at the entrance anymore. At the same time, Chaewon felt a presence beginning to creep up behind her. Her instincts took over from there as she grabbed her sword and turned to swing… towards a girl with orange hair.

“Oh my god!” she yelped. “Who let you bring a sword on campus???”

“W-What?” Chaewon was confused. Her sword had gone straight through the girl, meaning she was mortal, but why could she see the weapon?

“Well???” the girl asked in disbelief.

“You’re a mortal…”

“Huh? Of course I’m mortal!”

Chaewon’s mind was racing to think of an explanation that wouldn’t get her reported to the authorities, but before she could reply, another voice spoke.

“Bringing deadly weapons into the university? You’re going to have to come with us,” a deep voice tutted. This time, when Chaewon turned, she was faced once again by the two burly guards who she’d seen at the entrance.

“U-Uhm… I don’t suppose you see the two w-werewolves in front of us, right?” the mystery girl stuttered.

Werewolves?

Chaewon focused harder and finally began to see through the Mist. The forms of the two guards began to shift. They still stood on two legs, but from their torsos up, they were dark and covered with fur. Their faces were even scarier, wolf-like with sharp teeth and red glowing eyes.

“A mortal who can see us?” one of the monsters mused. “You’ll do well for a snack.”

Chaewon brandished her sword and took a defensive stance.

“I’ve fought worse!” she yelled.

“Really? Then why don’t you take a stab at me?” the first werewolf taunted.

Seeing as there were no better options, Chaewon obliged, but just like with the girl, her sword passed right through him.

“T-This can’t be…” Chaewon muttered as she took a step backwards.

“Kronos will be very pleased when he hears of your capture,” the werewolf said with a wicked grin.

Before the two monsters could pounce though, the orange-haired girl jumped forward with what appeared to be pepper spray and blasted it right in their faces.

“Come on!” she yelled as she grabbed Chaewon’s hand and pulled her away.

~~~~

The two eventually found a hiding spot in one of the building’s AV rooms where students could rent out required media to watch for their classes.

Chaewon was still shell-shocked from what had just happened. She gingerly ran her finger across her sword’s blade just to make sure it was still working before looking up at the orange-haired girl who was staring at her with a mystified expression.

“Who are you?” Chaewon asked.

“I should be asking you the same thing.” the student questioned back.

“Chaewon… Kim Chaewon. I’m a Dance major.”

“Alright, progress. My name is Huh Yunjin-Media Arts major. Now, care to explain what just happened back there? You could see those things too?”

“I’m more surprised that you could see them. I thought only half-bloods could see through the Mist,” Chaewon replied.

“What do those words even mean? The Mist? Half-Bloods? I mean, I am Korean American, but that can’t be what you’re talking about.”

“The Mist is like a veil that hides what the world really looks like. Most mortals are oblivious to it. As for half-bloods…” Chaewon’s voice trailed off. How could she explain any of this without sounding crazy?

“Please, you have to tell me. All the things I’ve been seeing, they’re real, aren’t they?” Yunjin’s expression was desperate, and Chaewon couldn’t blame her. If trying to grasp the concept of the Greek world was difficult for her, what more for a regular mortal?

“Okay, this is going to sound weird, but have you ever heard of those Greek myths?”

“Like Hercules? I watched the movie. I’ve also heard of monsters like Cyclopes and the Minotaur.”

“Yeah, well, all of those monsters are real. So are the Greek gods.”

“I KNEW IT!” Yunjin yelled a little too loudly for Chaewon’s liking. She would’ve honestly preferred if she called her out for lying instead.

“All these years… I couldn’t say anything because people would think I was crazy. I even asked my parents to move me back to Korea for college in hopes of getting away from it all, but those monsters were here too.”

“Unfortunately, they exist all around us.”

“Wait, what are you then? I can see that you aren’t a monster, but you mentioned half-bloods.”

Chaewon took a deep breath. Outside of her mother, she’d never disclosed her true identity to a mortal.

“Well, as the name implies, I’m half human…”

“And half what?”

Before Chaewon could complete her sentence though, the sound of the doorknob shaking caught her attention.

“We know you’re in there, child of Hades. Stop rejecting your destiny and come with us. Maybe we’ll spare your friend and leave you alive long enough to see your precious camp fall,” the werewolf growled.

“Your destiny?” Yunjin asked confusedly.

“Not important! We need to figure out a way to beat those guys,” Chaewon said quickly. Her sword didn’t seem to work on them, but maybe there was something else they could use.

“Aren’t werewolves weak to silver? I’ve read stories about them before.”

Chaewon turned on the lights and looked around in vain. “Fresh out of silver.”

A moment later, the door finally burst open, the two werewolves making their way into the room. Their fur was still a bit stained from Yunjin’s pepper spray, but it only seemed to make them angrier. The first wolfman lunged with his claws ready, and Chaewon barely managed to dodge it.

“Come on, godling. It’s useless. Celestial bronze doesn’t work on us,” the second werewolf said as he bared his fangs.

“Looks like there’s no way around this. Stay behind me, Yunjin!” Chaewon yelled.

“Not like I have a choice!” the orange-haired girl replied.

Chaewon then focused her energy into the ground and pulled a dozen skeletons to the surface. They weren’t exactly battle ready, but in a small room like they were in right now, they’d make for a good distraction.

“WHAT ARE THOSE???” Yunjin shrieked in terror as the skeletons attacked. The werewolves flicked them aside rather easily, but a problem arose when one of them tossed a skeleton right into the room's electrical box. The wires sparked and a fire began to burn.

“That might be our queue to leave…” Chaewon said.

They made a beeline for the exit. The werewolves tried to follow, but the skeletons were persistent, grabbing their legs while the fire spread.

All Chaewon could hear as they ran were angry howls.

~~~~

Eventually, Chaewon reached the building’s exit and ran straight into Minju.

“There you are! You were running a bit late, so I figured I should check on you,” the child of Athena said with a laugh. In that moment, Chaewon felt like everything was okay. Minju seemed to be in a good mood, wearing jeans, an orange camp T-shirt, and her necklace with two clay beads representing how many years she’d been at camp. Her brown hair cascaded down her shoulders, and her gray eyes were sparkling. She looked ready for a fun afternoon together at the cafe.

The next moment though, reality set back in as Huh Yunjin burst out of the building. “Yah, Chaewon, wait up!”

Minju’s smile melted, replaced by an expression Chaewon had never seen the younger girl have. She looked at Yunjin, then at the building they’d just come out of. For the first time, she seemed to notice the black smoke billowing out from windows and the fire alarms sounding off.

“Who is this? And what did you do?” she asked in a disappointed tone.

“Yunjin, this is Minju. Minju, this is Yunjin. She’s…” Chaewon scrambled for the words. They weren’t friends, heck, they met maybe ten minutes ago. But, given the situation they’d just come out from, they weren’t exactly strangers.

“I’m an SIA student. Nice to meet you,” Yunjin said before turning to Chaewon. “Now, you still owe me an explanation, Chae!

At this, Minju raised an eyebrow, the sounds of fire truck sirens ringing in the distance.

“Come on, it wasn’t that bad,” Chaewon tried to say just before a small explosion boomed from behind them. That was definitely coming out of her scholarship allowance.

“Unnie, we should go,” Minju said coldly.

“Wait, come on,” Yunjin pestered. “I want to know about half-bloods and those Greek gods!”

Minju’s eyes widened in surprise at the sudden declaration.

“Fine, if you really have to go, just give me a call. You owe me that,” the orange-haired girl said before grabbing Chaewon’s arm, taking out a permanent marker, and scribbling a number on her palm.

“Huh??? What about-”

“I’ll make up a story. Don’t worry about the police. Just go!” Yunjin then turned and ran back towards the school.

~~~~

“You told a mortal about half-bloods?” Minju asked immediately after they were alone.

“She could see through the Mist! She saw the werewolves before I did!” Chaewon tried to explain.

Minju scoffed. “You mean, lycanthropes? So what? You told her the truth?”

“I didn’t have much of a choice!”

“She’s pretty though,”

“I-I never thought of that!”

Minju refused to look at her as she walked towards the bus stop. “I guess our plans are off… again. Now that the authorities will be looking for you, we should get back to camp.”

The lycanthrope’s words suddenly came back to her.

Maybe we’ll spare your friend and leave you alive long enough to see your precious camp fall.

“Yeah, something’s going to happen. We need to get back to Camp Half-Blood as soon as possible.”

Chapter Text

“So nice of you to join us for dinner, Yuri!” Yena’s mother said as she set food on the table.

“Ah, it’s nothing, ma’am. Everything looks delicious,” Yuri replied.

“Come to think of it, I haven’t seen you in a while. What have you been up to?”

“It’s because she was on a trip, mom. Demigod stuff,” Yena interjected before her mother could ask anything else. The child of Zeus felt like it was better if she didn’t know what Yuri had been up to all this time–working with Seoyoung and eventually coming back to their side.

“Well, anyway, I brought that up because it always seemed like Yena was looking for you. She’s mentioned you on so many-”

“Alright, mom, I think that’s enough,” Yena cut in again with forced laughter. “Yuri and I have something important to discuss.”

The older woman chuckled. “Okay, okay. I’ll be in the other room. Just call me if you need anything. There’s dessert in the fridge too.”

Yena and Yuri nodded as she walked away.

“What did she mean by you mentioning me a lot?” Yuri asked with an arched eyebrow.

Yena blushed, remembering how often she’d come home drunk asking where the child of Apollo was. “It’s nothing. Let’s just go to the matter at hand. You said you wanted to do some more digging into Seoyoung and her army, right?”

With the second semester starting up, Yena didn’t have the time to investigate the next phase of Kronos’ plan. The end of the world could wait. Her mother would kill her for not focusing on her education.

Fortunately, nothing huge happened during the past few months. School actually went well, the only inconveniences being the hours she had to spend studying for exams. Now that it was summer again, Yuri had called wanting to meet up and talk about information she’d found during her free time, which she had a lot of considering she was a year-rounder at camp.

“Mhm, we used to have several base camps around the city,” Yuri confirmed. “I snuck around and noticed a few had been emptied out. I was hoping we could look for clues there on what their next move is going to be.”

“Wait, you’ve been doing that on your own?” Yena asked in surprise. “What if you got captured?”

“But I didn’t,” Yuri deadpanned.

“Ugh, still. You could’ve at least told me. That or asking someone at camp to go with you.”

At this, Yuri’s face turned serious. “That’s part of the problem. I think there’s another spy at camp.”

Yena’s eyes widened. “Huh? What do you mean?”

“I’m not one hundred percent sure, but I’ve been getting the feeling I’m being watched. The first time I mentioned the old bases at a meeting, Seunggi agreed to send a team. When we got there though, I could tell it had been cleared out in a rush.”

Yena considered the younger girl’s words. Since Kronos had made his return known last summer, there have been more and more reports of demigods going rogue. They actually fought a few of them back during their quest for the Golden Fleece. Seoyoung having someone at camp doing reconnaissance wouldn’t be that surprising.

She then shuddered as she thought about the prophecy that she and her friends, Yujin and Chaewon, had heard last winter. 

One turns their back from the ones they know.

“It’s hard to tell who to trust these days,” Yuri continued. “People already don’t like me because of what happened last year. It’s hard to believe they’d side with me if I brought up the idea of a traitor.” 

“You have a point. So what’s the play now? Head back to camp and try to flush the spy out?”

“We can do that tomorrow morning. Tonight, I wanted to check one more spot.”

At this, Yena was surprised to feel a smile growing on her face. As exciting as school was, the itch of a possible adventure just seemed to resonate with her demigod DNA.

“We can head out after dinner.”

~~~~

“Not exactly the most subtle hiding spot,” Yena commented as they stood outside the front entrance of Lotte World.

“That’s the point. No one would expect a base under an amusement park,” Yuri replied before leading her inside.

The last time Yena had been here was a kid. She vividly remembered trying to convince her mom to let her ride the rollercoaster even if she was obviously under the height limit. Walking by the rides and carnival games now with Yuri by her side, she wondered what it would be like if they were just two regular mortals that didn’t have to worry about monsters on a daily basis. Yena could almost imagine this being a romantic date.

Yena immediately shook her head at the thought. There were more important matters right now, and she had to focus.

After weaving through crowds of people and sneaking by security, Yuri stopped in front of what appeared to be a supply room. The child of Apollo pushed in a passcode, the sound of something shifting behind the door following shortly after.

“Looks like they haven’t changed the lock,” Yuri said as she carefully opened the door and peeked in. “Alright, be very quiet.”

When Yena stepped through the entrance, she saw a pathway that had been revealed beneath the floorboards leading downwards. The two girls descended for a few minutes, the only light coming from torches on the wall, until they reached the bottom where a large marble room opened up. Looking around, there were weapons lined along the walls, torn up beanbags flat on the ground, and a horrible stench that was definitely monster droppings.

“This place is still active,” Yuri noted as she began investigating the place.

“What exactly are we looking for?” asked Yena.

“Something like… this.” the younger girl said as she picked up what appeared to be a map inscribed on thick brown canvas paper.

“Why are there so many paths?”

“And all these red markings…”

Before either of them could give any guesses, the sound of chatter from above caught their attention. Yena met Yuri’s eyes, the same realization passing through them–someone was here.

Yena scanned the room until she saw a locker sitting in the corner. She immediately pulled Yuri towards it and closed themselves in.

“Do we really have to go back down there, Agrius?” a loud voice bellowed.

Through the gap of the locker, Yena saw two eight-foot tall figures walk into the room, wearing only blue jeans. Their upper bodies were covered in shaggy fur and on top of their broad shoulders was a bear head.

“Of course, Oreius! Don’t tell me you’re scared now!” the other bear-man who Yena guessed was Agrius replied harshly.

“I’m not! I just don’t want to go out like we did when we worked with that child of Hermes years ago!” Oreius growled back.

“Argh, never mind that. Grab the map, so we can go!” Agrius ordered.

At this, Yena turned to Yuri who was giving a similar alarmed expression.

“I don’t see it…” Oreius grumbled after heading over to the table they had been at earlier.

“What do you mean ‘you don’t see it’?” Agrius asked confusedly before lumbering over and shoving Oreius out of the way. When he came to the same conclusion that the map was missing, he grabbed Oreius’ head and smacked it into the table.

“Idiot! We’ve worked months on that!” he roared.

“It wasn’t me, brother!” Oreius yelped.

“So they’re brothers,” Yena noted.

Agrius was about to yell something else when he suddenly paused and lifted his nose into the air.

“Wait… I smell something. Smells like… demigods.”

Yena had to stop herself from letting out a gasp.

“It could just be one of Seoyoung’s men,” Oreius suggested while rubbing his sore nose.

“No, they’re all out in the maze right now…” Agrius said in a low tone, his eyes drifting towards the locker.

Uh oh…

The bear-man began to approach, and Yena’s mind raced to think of a plan. Fortunately, it appeared Yuri had thought a few steps ahead. Just as Agrius was about to open the locker, she kicked it open first, the metal smashing into the monster’s face.

“Come on, unnie!” Yuri yelled as she hopped over Agrius and made her way towards the stairs. Yena didn’t need to be told twice.

~~~~

The two girls burst back into the amusement park and were immediately met with security.

“This is a restricted area, state your business?” one of the guards asked. Something about the way he spoke seemed off though, as if he wasn’t all there.

“We were just looking for the bathroom!” Yena said in an unconvincing tone.

The guards looked at each other then back at them, slowly bringing out their batons. Not that Yena wanted to hurt them, but their celestial bronze wouldn’t have an effect anyway since they were mortal.

Behind them, Yena could hear the sound of Agrius and Oreius rumbling up the steps. They needed to move. Now.

Yena looked up at the sky, an idea hitting her.

“We’re going to need you to come with us,” the head officer said just before Yena raised her hands and called a lightning strike from above–the world’s most effective flashbang.

Now it was the child of Zeus’ turn to grab Yuri’s hand and pull her away into the bustling crowd of park-goers.

“What were those things back there?” Yena asked as they ran.

“Probably Thorn’s replacement,” Yuri replied, referring to the manticore that had posed as Yena’s history professor last winter. “As for those guards, I think Seoyoung hypnotized them.”

“Great, now we have to deal with monsters and police.”

Eventually, they reached the exit only to see security already blocking the way.

“We have to find another way out,” Yuri said while they hid behind an ice cream parlor.

“You two demigods aren’t going anywhere,” a voice suddenly replied.

When Yena turned, they were face to face with Agrius and Oreius. The only thing that made them distinguishable right now was a red welt that had formed on Agrius’ forehead as a result of their escape earlier.

Yena took out a pen from her pocket, the item expanding into a golden sword–Lightbreaker– after clicking a button.

Meanwhile, Yuri unslung her guitar from her shoulder. It had the ability to shift into a bow or a sword, but right now, she had decided to keep it in instrument mode.

“Do you really think you can beat us on your own?” Agrius taunted as he pounded his fists together.

“Heh, I should be asking you the same question!” Yena yelled back.

The bear-man growled and lunged for her with unexpected speed. Yena barely managed to spin away from his sharp claws. When she tried to swing her blade, Agrius sidestepped it easily and grabbed Yena’s wrist.

“Amateur…” he bellowed as he squeezed hard. Yena yelled in pain, her sword falling out of her hand.

“Now, Oreius! Get the traitor! Seoyoung will want to see her die in front of her.”

Fortunately, the other bear-man seemed to be just a little bit less nimble than his brother. Yuri slid down and used her guitar to trip him.

Agrius winced in annoyance. “Ugh, I have to do everything for us. Listen up, traitor! If you don’t stand down, I’ll rip your friend’s head off!”

Yena’s eyes widened at the threat. She was not looking forward to being a monster snack on the first day of summer.

At the same time, the guards that had been guarding the exit had made their way over to the commotion, and it didn’t look like they were on their side.

Yuri slung her guitar back on her shoulder and raised her hands.

“Yah, Yuri! Don’t worry about me and run!” Yena yelled. She would’ve called another thunderbolt, but she was still recharging from the one she used earlier.

Instead of heeding her advice, Yuri smirked. “Sorry in advance, unnie.”

Agrius seemed to realize what she was about to do, but it was too late. The child of Apollo brought her hand down to her guitar and strummed a high-pitched screech, causing everyone in range to drop what they were holding and grab at their ears.

Yena’s own ears were buzzing as she was dropped to the ground. She stared at Yuri who was urging her to get up while she played her guitar. Yena nodded and slowly stood, her ears ringing the whole time.

“LET’S GO!” Yuri mouthed before playing her last note. The noise stopped, but everyone was already dazed.

This time, they managed to get away.

~~~~

They didn’t stop running until they reached the train station.

When they took their seats, she noticed Yuri let out a laugh. At least, she thought she was laughing. Yena’s ears hadn’t completely readjusted yet.

“Sorry again,” she mouthed.

Yena chuckled. “I’m starting to think you only know how to play your guitar badly.”

At this, Yuri pouted cutely before taking out an ambrosia square and stuffing it in Yena's mouth, causing the pain in her wrist to fade away. The younger girl said something else, but Yena couldn’t decipher it.

As they waited for their stop near her place, Yena thought back to what they’d heard in the base. Something about a maze and the map Yuri was clutching in her hands.

Seems like the next phase has begun…

Chapter Text

“Yujin-ah, Yujin-ah, are you okay???” the voice of Wonyoung shook Yujin awake. The last thing she remembered was falling down a dark hole.

“Ugh, where are we?” she groaned aloud. Her back was a bit sore, but aside from that, she felt fine. Across from her, Wonyoung looked okay as well.

“I-I don’t know, Yuj,” the child of Aphrodite said with a scared expression.

It was then that Yujin looked around for the first time. They were in a long dimly lit hallway. Above them, there was only darkness, the opening they’d fallen through nowhere in sight. The walls were made of mossy stone and towered over them.

Suddenly, the sound of a loud roar echoed through the air, catching both girls’ attention.

“Well, wherever we are, we need to find a way back to camp.”

~~~~

The two made it about a hundred feet before becoming lost and all it took was one turn. The stone walls had suddenly shifted to dirt somewhere along the way, and when they tried to backtrack, there were now three forks in the road instead of two.

“What? How is this possible?” Yujin muttered in disbelief. It didn’t make any sense; all they did was turn once.

“Maybe we should try sending an Iris message?” Wonyoung suggested.

Yujin shook her head. “We could if we found some water, but we’re fresh out of that right now. There has to be a way out of here…”

The child of Poseidon placed her hand on the wall, feeling for a soft spot she could cut through, but what happened next surprised her even more. Her hand had landed on something that felt like a button, which immediately began to flash a bright blue in the same Ancient Greek symbol they’d seen earlier.

A new doorway appeared, the bright lights coming from inside illuminating the hallway they were in.

Yujin looked at Wonyoung who gave her a reassuring nod, a signal that she trusted wherever Yujin decided to go.

She took hold of her girlfriend’s hand and carefully stepped into the room.

~~~~

The doorway closed the moment they entered.

“This place has to have magical properties,” Wonyoung said as they took note of the new room they’d found themselves in.

This one was made of white and gold marble with expensive looking paintings and decorations spread out. At the center was a silver statue of a man with a sword at his side. Upon closer inspection, Yujin saw a plaque at its base.

“Daedalus, son of Athena, builder of the Labyrinth,” she read.

“Oh my gods, that’s it! Ugh, why didn’t I realize this earlier?” Wonyoung said.

“What? Isn’t labyrinth just another word for maze?” Yujin asked.

“Do you just not read any Greek history?” the child of Aphrodite replied. “We’re not talking about any maze. We’re in the maze!”

Yujin thought hard, trying to think of the story, but she was coming up with blanks. As much as she wanted to dive into the Greek lore, she just never had the time.

“The Labyrinth is the maze to end all mazes,” Wonyoung continued. “It’s an endless structure that, once you enter, doesn’t let you out. There will be traps and monsters everywhere, things that will try to kill us!”

“Alright… point taken. Big maze is bad for our life expectancy,” Yujin summarized.

“We gotta be careful, Yuj. We don’t know what this place is going to throw at us,” Wonyoung warned.

“Well, it looks like we’re safe in this room for now, right Daedalus?” Yujin said jokingly while clapping the silver statue’s shoulder. What was done in an effort to uplift her girlfriend’s spirit though immediately backfired as the statue’s eyes suddenly opened, revealing two red orbs.

When its gaze landed on Yujin, it pulled out its sword and swung on her. If Yujin had just been a second slower, her head would’ve been on the ground.

“An automaton!” Wonyoung shrieked, also jumping back in response.

“An automa-what?” Yujin asked while unclasping her necklace to reveal her two white scimitars.

“Just hold it off while I try to get us out of here!” the younger girl yelled before scrambling towards the edge of the room, likely looking for another one of those glowing buttons.

She didn’t have much time to think about it though as the statue attacked. It was surprisingly nimble for being made of silver. Yujin could barely dodge its attacks, and its defense on her counters was really good. She wondered for a moment if Daedalus had built this machine himself, which would’ve been both very impressive and very narcissistic.

The two kept going at it, neither side giving up an inch, but unlike the statue which didn’t run out of stamina, Yujin was running out of gas. It was only a matter of time before she’d have a misstep and be sliced to pieces..

“Any luck???” she asked aloud while parrying another attack. Then, in the corner of Yujin’s eye, she saw Wonyoung throw aside a painting, revealing a secret pathway.

“Yeah! Hurry up over here!” Wonyoung yelled.

Yujin nodded and ducked down, sweeping her legs to trip the automaton. Now, did shin to metal contact good? No, but it managed to buy her enough time to limp towards her girlfriend who covered the path as soon as they were both through.

Fortunately, they weren’t followed. Yujin groaned in pain as Wonyoung sat her down and checked her condition.

“Not good, please tell me you have some ambrosia,” she said after seeing the dark bruise forming on leg.

Yujin shook her head. She hadn’t exactly been planning on entering a killer maze when she entered the forest with Wonyoung earlier.

“We need to keep moving,” Yujin managed to say after taking a deep huff and standing on her own power. She tested her leg, and though it was very sore, she felt like she had enough strength to power through it. Wonyoung was obviously worried but nodded in response.

“Just lean on me, unnie…” she said while offering her shoulder for Yujin to cling onto.

“Heh, you never call me that anymore,” the older girl chuckled. Since they’d become a couple, Wonyoung had become very informal with her.

“Ugh, just save your breath and stick close to me,” Wonyoung muttered as they began trudging through the hallway, which was made of solid granite. It looked like a straight line from here, but knowing where they were now, that could change quickly.

“Now would be a good time to come to the rescue, girls…” Yujin thought to herself.

~~~~

It was a long and awkward taxi ride back to camp for Chaewon and Minju. As much as Chaewon tried to talk to her, the child of Athena refused to give her direct answers. Was she that upset at their meetup being ruined again? She’d never seen Minju act this way before.

Chaewon then glanced at her palm where the phone number of Huh Yunjin had been written. It was such a strange encounter that for a moment, Chaewon thought that she might’ve hallucinated the whole ordeal. She wondered if they would ever cross paths again? It’s not like she could call her. As demigods, using things like cellphones and computers was a big no-no. Chaewon didn’t quite understand how, but from what she’d been told, it was like sending up a signal flare telling every monster in the area “free-snack here!”. She’d already learned that the hard way last year.

As they sat there in traffic, Chaewon noticed something strange outside of their vehicle. Next to the highway was an old-fashioned fruit stand. Manning it were three old women sitting in rocking chairs, and when she said old, she meant it. All three had stark white hair and were so thin that it felt like their bones were showing. The ones on the left and right were knitting what appeared to be socks while the one in the middle held a ball of yellow yarn. Chaewon had never seen that fruit stand during all her times going to camp, and she didn’t think those three women alone could bring their produce all the way out here on their own.

There was something eerie about them, and it only intensified when all of the old ladies looked directly at her. The one in the middle proceeded to take out a large pair of scissors, its blades colored silver and gold, and snipped the thread. Despite being so far away, Chaewon felt like she could hear the cut over the traffic and honking going on around them.

“Unnie, what’s going on?” Minju suddenly asked while tapping her shoulder, the cold demeanor she had earlier gone.

“I-It’s-” When Chaewon turned to point at the fruit stand, she realized it was gone.

“It’s nothing…” she then said, her heart still pounding from whatever she’d seen.

Minju started to look worried, but before she could ask another question, the car behind them honked, causing their taxi driver to move forward.

~~~~

Eventually, she and Minju arrived at Half-Blood Hill, and after another long trek, reached the campgrounds where there seemed to be a lot of commotion.

“What’s going on?” Chaewon asked Minju, but she seemed just as surprised.

“Everything was normal when I left this morning,” she replied just as someone called their attention.

“There you two are! Where are Yuri and Yena?”

It was Eunbi, a child of Hephaestus.

“They won’t be here until tomorrow. Why? Is something wrong?” Chaewon answered.

The older girl’s next words froze her in place.

“Yujin and Wonyoung have gone missing…”

“What do you mean they’ve gone missing? I saw them both at lunch time,” Minju said confusedly.

“It was a bit after that. Some campers saw them heading into the woods, but they haven’t returned yet. It’s been hours!” Eunbi said worriedly.

“Have you tried Iris messaging?” Chaewon then asked. It was one of their ways to find out where someone is, like a magic facetime call.

Eunbi shook her head. “We did, but all we got was static.”

Chaewon had a flashback to last winter when the camp was attacked. From her knowledge, the only reasons an Iris message could fail is if there’s magical interference or the receiver wasn’t conscious. She would much rather it be the former.

“I found something!” a new voice suddenly shouted from a distance.

This time, it was a child of Demeter–Honda Hitomi, looking tired as if she’d just come running from a marathon.

“I-I was talking to the dryads. One of them said they saw Yujin and Wonyoung,” she reported. “It looked like they were on a date, but suddenly the dryads heard a scream. When they looked back, the two of them were gone.”

“Can you lead us to the place they were talking about?” Minju asked.

Hitomi nodded before turning and making her way back towards the forest.

~~~~

“It was right about here…” Hitomi said when they reached a small clearing.

Nothing looked amiss, but at the same time, it’s not like the two girls could just disappear into thin air. Chaewon had met a lot of monsters and mythical creatures but even an alien abduction seemed a bit too farfetched.

That’s when she felt it. A small tug in her gut led Chaewon to a small pile of fallen branches. Something didn’t feel right. After sifting through, her hand landed on something cold that definitely wasn’t dirt.

“What is it, Chaewon?” Eunbi asked when she noticed the child of Hades’ shift in behavior.

“It feels like a button…” Chaewon pressed her hand on the ground, a Greek symbol flashing blue as a result. She had a feeling she knew what was going to happen next. “Everybody move!”

The other girls jumped out of the way just in time for a medium-sized hole in the ground to open up. Chaewon tried to peer down, but the darkness seemed to go on forever.

“Oh my gods…” Minju muttered when she saw the glowing symbol. “It’s a pathway to the Labyrinth.”

“What? No way,” Eunbi tried to deny. Chaewon racked her brain to remember the term and landed on a memory from one of the Greek myth books she’d read in her free time.

“The Labyrinth… as in, the maze?”

Minju nodded her head grimly. “If they fell down there…”

“Yah, don’t think negatively, Minju. All we have to do is go down there and find them,” Eunbi cut in.

“Unnie, you know the legend and who built this place. We need a more solid plan than just jumping down. That would only lead to more people getting lost.”

Chaewon was stunned. At this point, she should’ve been used to these fairytale-like stories being real, but there was just something very ominous about this one in particular.

Somewhere down there were Yujin and Wonyoung, and if they didn’t think of a way to find them soon, who knows what would happen to them.

Chapter Text

After an eventful evening including giant bear-men and hypnotized soldiers in an amusement park of all places, Yena decided it was for the best that she and Yuri rest at her place first before heading to camp the next day.

“Still nothing?” she asked as Yuri fruitlessly tossed golden drachmas into a humidifier that was specifically placed in her for emergency Iris messages. See, because demigods weren’t allowed to be normal and use phones, they had to rely on this magical method. All they needed was a payment and something to create mist and a rainbow. Right now though, for whatever reason, it wasn’t working. All they were getting was static.

“It’s no good,” Yuri said while shaking her head. “Something is wrong.”

“Gee, thanks Captain Obvious,” Yena joked to lighten the mood. She was just glad her hearing had begun to return.

Yuri chuckled before sitting down on Yena’s bed. With the moonlight shining on her side profile right now, Yena couldn’t help but think of how beautiful the child of Apollo was.

“What’re you staring at?” Yuri suddenly asked.

Yena snapped herself out of her daze. “N-Nothing. You can sleep here for the night. I’ll take the couch.”

“You sure? I don’t mind being outside. This is your room after all,” Yuri replied.

“Exactly, I get to sleep here every day. I can handle one night on the couch.” Yena argued.

Yuri gave her a small smile and nodded. “Alright, let’s head to camp at daybreak.”

As Yena laid down in the living room, she suddenly thought about the prophecy that was given to her, Chaewon, and Yujin last winter.

The Sky, Ocean, and Underworld battle for the earth.

Against a returning force seeking the world’s rebirth.

One turns their back from the ones they know.

Another fights off an incursion from below.

The third will carry the world on their shoulders.

In the end, a sacrifice is needed to bring order.

Ever since she’d heard it, Yena felt uneasy. Everything started to look like a sign of the upcoming apocalypse. She also hated to admit it, but this short set of words had also begun building a wall between her and her best friends. One of them was supposedly going to be a traitor and another would be sacrificed. It wasn’t something any of them felt comfortable talking about, and Yena blamed herself being the eldest and not opening that conversation.

Come to think of it, Yujin and Chaewon were probably at camp by now. As Yena’s eyes began to droop, she wondered how they were doing.

~~~~

Of course, with every sleep came the risk of a vivid dream, and Yena appeared to hit the lottery for strange visions tonight.

She found herself in an open air prison, the night sky a blanket of darkness above her. Around her were a bunch of workbenches, tools, and wooden crates. Sitting in the corner was a young boy in a tattered Greek tunic. He looked starved and afraid, shivering from the cold.

Then, behind Yena, she heard the sound of metal bars being lifted up. Two guards in bronze armor stepped into the room, dragging a scraggly old man with them.

“Father!” the boy shrieked before turning to the guards, anger burning in his eyes.

“I’ll make you all pay!”

“Boy, you know nothing of what your father has done,” a new voice cut in. The guards stepped aside to reveal a tall man in lavish white robes. On his head was a gold crown. His beard was as pointed as a blade and his eyes were cold as ice. Yena assumed he was royalty. “You’re lucky we’re letting him live in the first place.”

He then looked down at the old man distastefully. “Daedalus, you helped that demigod kill my Minotaur. You even turned my own daughter against me in the process!”

The old man let out a soft chuckle. “You did that to yourself, your Majesty.”

At the remark, the king kicked him in the stomach. “Insolent whelp. Know to respect who you’re talking to.”

“Stop!” the boy yelled but was restrained by the guards.

“You love your maze so much, Daedalus, so I’ve decided you get to stay here forever. Continue to build wonders to amuse me, and you will live.”

“I’ve lived long enough,” the old man croaked.

“Really, and what of your son?” the king said with a sinister glint in his eyes. “The next time you disobey me, the guards will punish him instead!”

And without another word, the king stormed out of the prison, his guards behind him.

“What do we do, father? They’ll kill you…” the boy cried when they were alone.

“Stay strong, Icarus.” Daedalus stared up at the stars. “I will find a way for us to escape.”

The metal bars then clanged back down on the ground behind them, causing Yena to wake up in a cold sweat.

~~~~

“You don’t look so good,” Yuri noted when she saw Yena eating her breakfast quietly. Usually she was the more energetic one, but that dream from last night had shaken her. She didn’t even know where to start.

“Yuri, have you ever heard of a man named Daedalus?” she asked the younger girl.

Yuri nodded as she took a bite of the bibimbap that Yena’s mother had prepared for them.

“He’s a legendary demigod, and not because of his heroics.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Daedalus… he was the creator of the Labyrinth, an endless maze built to kill anyone who was dumb or unlucky enough to enter. Why do you ask?”

Yena went on to explain her dream, which seemed to get Yuri a bit anxious.

“That’s what they were looking for…” she muttered before taking out the map they’d stolen last night and tracing her finger along the paper.

Yena seemed to understand what Yuri was getting at. “Isn’t that place from ancient history though? What would they even want with it?”

“Yena, you know how important Greek monuments don’t completely disappear? They simply move to wherever the center of power in the world is. The Labyrinth is no exception. In the legends, there were entrances everywhere. Being able to navigate it could lead you anywhere you desire.”

“Like camp…”

The realization causes both girls to look at each other with the same thought.

We need to get back. Now.

~~~~

About an hour and a half later, Yena and Yuri found themselves at the top of Half-Blood Hill. Everything looked pretty normal from afar, but they both knew appearances could be deceiving.

They immediately made their way towards the Big House where a meeting seemed to be ongoing.

“Knock-knock…” Yena whispered as she peeked her head through the door.

All eyes turned to her and Yuri in surprise.

“Thank gods you two are here,” Eunbi said. Next to her were Chaewon and Minju, but there was no sign of Yujin or Wonyoung. Maybe they were busy?

“What’s going on?” Yuri asked.

“Really, shouldn’t we be asking you the same question? You’ve been running around away from camp for the past few months without telling anyone after all,” Nako replied accusingly.

Before it could turn into a shouting match, Yena stepped in front of her friend. “Listen, I don’t know what this is about, but Yuri and I have something important to say.”

“You’re dating?” Hyunjin of the Aphrodite cabin guessed.

Yena paused. “What? No–I mean. Ugh, we found one of Seoyoung’s old bases last night.”

The child of Zeus proceeded to explain the events at Lotte World, Yuri jumping with important facts in between. By the time they got to the part about the maze, everyone seemed to shift uncomfortably.

“So Seoyoung is planning to use the Labyrinth to get into camp…” Minju said.

“Wait, there’s an entrance somewhere in the camp?” Yena asked, her worst fear being realized.

Now it was Chaewon’s turn to tell their side of the story. Apparently, Yujin and Wonyoung had disappeared somewhere in the forest before they arrived, and when they got to the spot the dryads had pointed them to, Chaewon found a button that opened a path into the Labyrinth.

“So Yujin and Wonyoung…” Yuri began to say.

“...probably fell down there,” Minju completed the thought.

“Why haven’t you gone down and looked for them yet?” Yena asked, full of worry for her friends.

“Yena, we can’t just go in there without a plan. The Labyrinth is a death trap designed to kill. That’s why we’re here right now–to talk about it,” Eunbi said calmly. The older girl just had a way with words to keep everyone’s emotions in check.

“Maybe this will help,” Yena offered the map she had stolen from Seoyoung’s base, but the child of Hephaestus shook her head.

“It’s not that simple,” Minju cut in. “The maze is constantly shifting. Relying on a map would only get us lost. In the legends, the only way to traverse the Labyrinth was Ariadne’s string. It was a fail safe invented by Daedalus that was used by Theseus.”

“Okay, so where do we find it?” Yena asked.

At this, Minju sighed. “Legend says it’s somewhere in the maze.”

“Ugh, this isn’t getting us anywhere. We should just block the entrance to stop Seoyoung’s army from infiltrating Camp,” Nako said.

“And leave Yujin and Wonyoung in there?” Yena replied in disbelief.

“There’s bound to be another entrance somewhere in Seoul. Our priority should be protecting Camp,” the short girl continued to argue.

“Yah, how could you say that about our friends?” Chaewon suddenly butt in.

“Okay everyone, enough,” the sound of Seunggi’s voice cut through the room. The old satyr had just been observing the discussion thus far before finally speaking up.

“I believe we should organize a quest first. Whoever wants to take the lead can determine our next course of action based on the Oracle’s prophecy.”

“Ssaem, don’t we have enough prophecies to think about right now?” Yena said.

“If you don’t want to be the point person this time around, you don’t have to,” Seunggi replied in a steely tone, his eyes moving from demigod to demigod in the room for a possible volunteer. No one seemed to be interested though, likely knowing the gravity of the task awaiting them. Even Nako avoided the satyr’s gaze.

“I’ll do it…”

Everyone turned to the one who had spoken and gasped–Kim Minju.

“What? Are you sure?” Chaewon asked, everyone else seeming to have the same question.

The child of Athena nodded. “The Labyrinth was created by one of my ancient siblings, and it’s my friends who are lost down there. I can do it.”

Yena wanted to intervene, but Minju looked her dead in the eye with determination. She wasn’t backing down.

Seunggi looked around, not seeing anyone else objecting to Minju's declaration.

“So it is decided. Minju, this may not be your first quest, but it will be your first time visiting the Oracle. Should you return to us in one piece, we can continue our discussions on the way forward.

~~~~

After the meeting had adjourned. Yena wanted to have a direct chat with Minju, but it appeared Chaewon had already beaten her to it, pulling the younger girl aside and towards her cabin.

“You’re going, right?” Yuri asked from behind her.

“Of course, we can’t just leave them down there.”

“Well then I’m going to. Beats being stuck here.”

“You didn’t mention the spy,” Yena suddenly remembered.

Yuri scoffed. “And give away that we’re on to them? We still don’t have any leads. If they were really in that room with us, we’ll see something about Seoyoung’s approach change.”

“Alright, I’ll follow your gut on this one.”

Yena glanced at the ground below their feet and sighed.

“I really hope Yujin and Wonyoung are okay…”

Chapter Text

“You are not doing this,” Chaewon said once she and Minju exited the Big House.

“Why not? I’ve been on a couple quests now. Do you not think I can take the lead on one?” the child of Athena replied.

“It’s not about that, it’s the-”

“The Oracle. I know.”

Chaewon sighed as they arrived in front of her cabin. “I went up there with Yena and Yujin, but I still almost went crazy from the visions. You saw what Nako was like during her quest too. The knowledge you get from the Oracle can be dangerous.”

Minju put a hand on her shoulder. “Unnie, like I said earlier, the Labyrinth was built by Daedalus, another child of Athena. If there’s anyone fit to lead a quest into that place, it’s me. I promise I can handle it.”

“Minju, I can tell you have another reason. You can tell me what it is. I’m not going to judge.”

The brunette thought for a few moments before letting out a sigh. “I just want to do more, unnie. It feels like I’ve been more of a burden than an aid during our past two journeys.”

“Yah, that’s not true. You always have the answer when we can’t think of anything,” Chaewon said.

Minju scoffed. “Any child of Athena could do that.”

“How about when you faced Polyphemus by yourself?”

“Well, to even get to that point, I was kidnapped and brought aboard Seoyoung’s ship.”

“Aish, there’s no other child of Athena I’d rather have by my side than you. I’m sure the others feel the same.”

“Then let me lead this quest. I know it’s selfish, but let me prove to myself that I can carry this responsibility.”

Chaewon still didn’t like it, but Minju was persistent and determined. Her gray eyes looked like they had storm clouds thundering within them. It was another new side of the younger girl that she was only just seeing.

“Fine, just know that I’m coming with you down to the maze no matter what.”

“Heh, whether you offered or not, I would’ve asked you to come,” Minju said, a smile finally forming on her face.

~~~~

Chaewon watched Minju go back into the Big House after lunch. It was nerve-wracking, even with Yena and Yuri next to her trying to calm her down.

“Yah, don’t worry, Chae. Your girlfriend will be out in no time,” Yena said.

“She’s n-not my girlfriend…” Chaewon denied.

“I’m so sure. You’re telling me you don’t have feelings at all? I haven’t seen you act the way you do around her with anyone else, and that includes me and Yujin.”

“I’m just worried. That’s all,” the child of Hades said with a bit more conviction this time. Yena was right with those observations, but she refused to give her the satisfaction. Whatever Chaewon felt for Minju wasn’t important right now. What mattered was saving Yujin and Wonyoung.

Suddenly, a green light began to shine from the Big House’s attic. Just the sight of it made Chaewon squeamish. Something about the Oracle just felt so… unnatural.

A few minutes later, the light receded. Chaewon immediately rushed for the door and climbed up the stairs. By the time she reached the second floor, Minju was already walking down from the attic. She didn’t look so good. Just like Nako had been a few months ago, Minju was surrounded by green wisps of smoke.

“Unnie…” she mumbled before stumbling into Chaewon’s arms.

“Minju-Minju, stay with me. It’s going to be okay,” Chaewon said as she carried her to an infirmary bed to her left. She then ran to the cabinet to grab some ambrosia squares. Chaewon wanted to give Minju more, but she knew too much of the godly snack would burn her body up.

“Chaewon, what happened?” she heard Yena ask from behind her.

“Whatever the Oracle told her must’ve been heavy…” Yuri guessed.

“Ugh, this is exactly what I was worried about,” Chaewon muttered.

“She knows what she’s doing, Chae. You gotta trust her,” Yena said reassuringly. “As much as I would’ve liked to be the one to take the quest, Minju did have a point from the meeting earlier.”

“Just because I understand doesn’t mean I have to like it,” Chaewon huffed, not mentioning the other reason Minju wanted to take up the quest.

“Well…while we wait for her to wake up, do you mind showing us to the Labyrinth entrance, so we can scout it out?” asked Yuri.

Noticing Chaewon’s surprised expression, Yena chuckled. “What? Do you think we’d let you two have all the fun? We’re coming with you whether you like it or not.”

Chaewon glanced back at Minju who was now sleeping soundly and sighed. “Sure, let’s go.”

~~~~

“Here we are,” the child of Hades announced when they reached the clearing. Seunggi had already ordered for the area to be secured, so that no one else would accidentally fall down there. Campers were to guard it on rotation just like they did with the Fleece at Half-Blood Hill, and right now, it appeared to be the Aphrodite cabin’s shift.

It was pretty obvious they didn’t want to be there. Many of them were complaining about getting mosquito bites and their clothes muddy. Still, they stuck around likely because Wonyoung had fallen down there. As superficial as Aphrodite kids appeared, they had good hearts.

“Oh, it’s you girls,” one of them said when she noticed them arrive. Chaewon remembered her as Karina, the demigod Yujin and Wonyoung had saved from being recruited to Seoyoung’s army back in December.

“We just wanted to take a look around,” Yuri said to which the child of Aphrodite raised an eyebrow.

“So you three are going to be the ones heading down there?” Karina asked curiously.

“Nah, Minju’s coming too. We just went to check the gate in advance,” Chaewon answered.

Karina turned to look at the patch of grass that had been highlighted by the Eunbi and the Hephaestus cabin. Nothing says ‘avoid’ more than a bunch of red warning signs.

“It’s nothing much. Just a patch of dirt,” she said.

“And you’re sure that’s the only entrance?” Yena queried.

This time, it was Chaewon who answered. “As far as I know, yes. I did a sweep of the area last night.”

She then went on to explain the new power she’d discovered yesterday. Since her father was the god of the underworld, Chaewon apparently had the ability to navigate and sense paths and objects below the surface.

“Aw what? Why do you and Yujin get those cool powers,” Yena complained to which Chaewon scoffed.

“Says the one that can fly.”

“Okay, you’re right, but yours is a more convenient power to have for this mission.”

“If I may ask, when are you four going in?” Karina suddenly cut in. “We’re really worried about Yujin and Wonyoung.”

From behind her, another Aphrodite kid laughed. “Didn’t Yujin already dump you?”

“C’mon, Hyunjin. You’re slow on the news. Karina-unnie likes Winter-unnie now!” Another sibling said.

“Not the point, guys…” Karina mumbled.

“It’ll ultimately depend on Minju. She’s the quest leader after all,” Yena eventually answered.

“Speaking of which, why don’t we check on her!” Yuri suddenly said before ushering her and Chaewon away.

“What was that about, Yuri?” Chaewon asked confusedly.

“I just think we should limit the information we share with the others at camp for the time being,” the child of Apollo answered.

“Yah, Yuri, there’s no way the spy is in the Aphrodite cabin,” Yena dismissed.

“A spy?” Chaewon wondered.

“Yeah, we’ll fill you in on the way.”

~~~~

By the time they got back to the infirmary, Minju was already up and going through a book.

“Yah, shouldn’t you be resting?” Chaewon said worriedly.

“I’m just trying to get myself in the right headspace,” the younger girl replied before showing what she was reading, a book aptly titled, “Greek Heroes”.

“And what did you find?” Yuri asked.

At this Minju gave a forced laugh. “Nothing I don’t already know. Anyway, Yena-unnie, you think you can be ready to leave by tonight. I was planning on asking Eunbi-unnie to come as well.”

Chaewon raised an eyebrow, but it was Yuri who spoke first. “Wait a minute, what about me and Chaewon-unnie?”

Minju’s expression suddenly darkened, her eyes trying to avoid their gazes. “I just thought it wouldn’t be wise to put all our eggs in one basket. Someone should be guarding the camp while we’re gone.”

“Minju, what exactly did the Oracle tell you?” Chaewon asked in a calm tone. Something was definitely up. Before she went up to the attic, it felt like the team going into the Labyrinth was already set. Now, the child of Athena was backtracking.

“I-I don’t remember exactly. Talking about it now when I’m not sure wouldn’t be a good idea,” she replied cryptically.

“Minju, we can solve it better together,” Chaewon answered.

What could the Oracle have told her?

Minju shook her head. “It’s better this way. More heads just means more room for misinterpretation and distractions.”

“Why does it matter if you already don’t want Chaewon and I on the-”

“Can’t you girls just trust me on this???” Minju cut Yuri off. Her eyes looked panicked, as if she’d been backed into a corner.

Now, it was Yena’s turn to cut in. “Listen, Minju. I know you Athena kids are master strategists, but I just don’t think it’s a good idea to go without Chaewon and Yuri. Chaewon has those underground navigating powers and Yuri knows how Seoyoung’s army moves.”

The child of Zeus then took a step closer and basically put her foot down.

“We’re a team. Either tell us what the Oracle said that’s making you think this way or bring us all along with you.”

The infirmary was quiet for a while before Minju took a deep breath.

“F-Fine. Meet me at the gate at sunset,” she then stood up and walked away.

Chaewon went to follow her, but Yena stopped her.

“Give her some more time to process it.”

She didn’t like it, but Chaewon followed her friend’s advice.

~~~~

Given they were going to travel at night, Chaewon figured taking a nap to charge herself up wouldn’t hurt. It had been a while since she had a bad dream after all. Unfortunately, today did not end up being one of those days. She should’ve realized by now that dreams were a lot more vivid at camp.

When she opened her eyes, she found herself in the middle of a long dark corridor.

“This must be the Labyrinth,” she thought

Then, she heard a familiar voice scream.

“Hurry, Wonyoung!”

It was Yujin.

Chaewon hurried over to the end of the corridor where the voice was coming from and saw the child of Poseidon with her scimitars out. Wonyoung appeared out of the darkness soon after, her leg bleeding pretty badly. In fact, neither girl looked okay right now. Both of them had cuts showing through their tattered clothes and grime covering their faces.

Behind them, a loud chorus of hisses reverberated through the maze. Chaewon wanted to help, but when she tried to grab hold of Wonyoung, her hands simply went through.

She watched as the duo tried to limp their way to safety, a horde of blue and green snakes eventually emerging from the shadows in pursuit. Compared to regular snakes though, these ones had strange frills and just so happened to be able to spit fireballs.

Chaewon went to follow, but as if the maze had shifted, she ended up face to face with another familiar, less friendly person–Seoyoung. With her was a small group of demigods and monsters, far from the army Chaewon knew she had at her disposal.

“Are we getting any closer to the center?” the child of Hecate asked.

“Unsure, ma’am. It’s hard to tell,” a tall figure, who looked like a cross between a bear and a man, replied. Chaewon realized he was the monster Yena and Yuri described from Lotte World.

Immediately, Seoyoung turned and kicked the bear-man in the groin, which was impressive given the height difference.

“You don’t think I know that, Agrius? Maybe if you and your dimwitted brother hadn’t lost the map to the half-bloods, we wouldn’t be in this situation!” she growled before facing the rest of the group.

“It appears we’re going to have to send a few more scouts ahead,” she announced, which had many of them shifting uncomfortably.

A foreign looking girl with wavy black hair then stepped forward to speak. “B-But, Seoyoung… we don’t have many left to spare. We’ve already lost contact with five–”

“That wasn’t a question, Kazuha. It was an order. The sooner we find the thread, the sooner we can lead the army through to Camp Half-Blood. All you have to do is stay alive. How hard can that be?”

Kazuha grimaced and took a step back. “Yes, of course, commander.”

“Listen up, everyone! It’s too late to get cold feet now. You know what you signed up for. Now, go!”

~~~~

Chaewon was awoken by the sound of someone knocking on her door. She took a look at the wall clock which said it was a little past five in the afternoon.

“Chaewon! Hurry up or Minju might leave us behind!” Yena called.

The child of Hades rubbed her eyes, the dream she just had still on her mind. Yujin and Wonyoung weren’t doing too well, and Seoyoung was somewhere down there too. If they found their friends before they did…

“Chaewon!” Yena called again

“Y-Yeah! I’ll be out in a second.”

When she finally opened the door, the child of Zeus’ expression shifted to worry. “You had a bad dream, didn’t you?”

Chaewon nodded. “I’ll fill you all in when we get to the others.”

~~~~

Like Minju had said, she was waiting by the gate in forest clearing. Aside from her usual camp attire, the child of Athena had a backpack slung on her shoulder and her magical Lotte Giants’ ball cap clipped on the hem of her jeans. Yuri was also already there, likely to keep Minju from going in without them.

“Girls, Chaewon had a dream about the Labyrinth. You need to hear her out,” Yena said after they arrived.

Minju’s expression was unreadable as she went on to explain the situation of Yujin and Wonyoung as well as the presence of Seoyoung’s team in the Labyrinth.

“So they’ve been sending demigods out alone to map the maze? That’s suicide!” Yuri said after Chaewon finished.

“What thread was Seoyoung referring to? It sounded like a way to navigate the maze,” Yena asked.

“Yes, it’s called Ariadne’s string,” Minju answered. “If what Seoyoung said was true, it’ll be somewhere at the center.”

Chaewon nodded. “Well, first things first, we have to find Yujin and Wonyoung. They seem to be in big trouble.”

“Looks like everyone is ready to go,” the voice of Seunggi suddenly said.

The satyr walked past them and placed a hand on the Labyrinth gate button. Much to everyone’s surprise though, nothing happened. “Symbols like these will be all over the maze if you need a quick getaway. Monsters won’t be able to chase you through as they can only be opened by the touch of a demigod.”

Seunggi then looked at Minju. “Good luck. Remember, the prophecy you hear from the Oracle isn’t always what it seems.”

Before Chaewon could ask what that meant, Minju took over. “Alright, girls. Let’s do this…”

“So, how does this work…?” Yena wondered as they all stood around the gate.

“Just take a deep breath,” Minju said before stepping on the button, causing it to shine a light blue.

A couple seconds later, the ground started to rumble.

“I don’t like this-” Yuri began to say just as the earth opened up and swallowed them.

Chapter Text

“Okay, I think we’re safe,” Yujin whispered after checking around a corner and not seeing any more of those fire breathing snakes–basilisks, Wonyoung had called them.

“Yujin… I’m scared. What if the others don’t find us in time?” Wonyoung said in a frail tone. Looking at her girlfriend now, Yujin’s heart couldn’t help but sink. The cuts on her clothes revealed scratch marks from a group of dracaenae that had ambushed them earlier. Yujin had tried to cover Wonyoung’s wounds as best as she could, but without any ambrosia, she knew they didn’t have much time. Still, at a time like this, she needed to keep her resolve.

Yujin knelt down and tilted the child of Aphrodite’s chin up so their eyes could meet. “Just breathe, Wonyoung. I’ll find a way out if it’s the last thing I do.”

“B-But you’re in worse shape than me right now,” Wonyoung answered. “I’m sorry that you have to carry dead weight like me around. I can’t fight as well as the others…”

“Yah, don’t say that. I would’ve gone crazy by now without you next to me. Let’s just rest up for a few minutes before–”

The sound of a wolf howling suddenly cut through the dark air.

Yujin grimaced. “Okay, never mind. We have to move again.”

She then pulled Wonyoung up and the two girls stumbled forward into the dark maze.

~~~~

“Everyone, okay?” Yena groaned as she got up. She’d managed to use the wind to help break their fall, but the impact still left a sore spot on her behind. Above them, the entrance had already closed, leaving the rest of the maze very dim, the only sources of light coming from small alcoves lined along the wall where small candles sat.

“Yeah, I’m good,” Chaewon said after dusting herself off. Minju and Yuri looked fine as well. “How exactly are we going to get back up there when we need to leave?”

Minju approached one of the walls and placed her hand on it, moving it around until she stopped on a camouflaged button. When she pressed it, the gate above them opened again.

“Alright, we have our escape route. We should start moving quickly,” she said as the ceiling closed up again.

To think, Yujin and Wonyoung’s way out was right where they landed, and they didn’t even know.

“Wait, shouldn’t we leave a trail or something, so we can keep track of where we came from?” Yuri suggested, bringing out a bag of trail mix that she’d packed in her bag.

The child of Athena gave her a doubtful look. “It’s not like it’ll work. The maze is constantly shifting.”

“It wouldn’t hurt to give it a shot though, right?” Chaewon said.

Yena observed the two girls have a silent staring competition until Minju relented and agreed. It was honestly very strange. Yena had never seen Minju act the way she has since she got the prophecy from the Oracle. Since she wouldn’t tell them what it was though, they couldn’t step in to help.

Yena looked down both ends of the corridor they were in. Neither side looked like the right way to go; though, she realized a place like this wouldn’t exactly have bright signs posted saying ‘This way to Ariadne’s String’.

In an effort to raise the mood a bit, she took out a golden drachma. “So… heads for north and tails for south?”

~~~~

It didn’t take long for them to get hopelessly lost.

Minju’s initial idea had been to keep their hands on the left wall, so that they could make their way back in reverse, but as soon as she said that, they ended up walking into a circular room with more branching tunnels that they could count. Yuri turned around to drop a piece of trail mix only to realize the path they’d come from had disappeared.

“Okay… that’s not good.”

Minju pointed her finger at each of the tunnels until she landed on one she liked. As far as Yena was concerned though, they all looked alike.

“That one,” she said.

“What makes you so sure?” Chaewon asked.

“Deductive reasoning.”

“So, you’re guessing?” Yuri said.

Minju groaned. “Do you have any better ideas?”

When no one replied, the child of Athena began walking towards the tunnel she’d chosen.

“She’s been so prickly lately…” Yuri mumbled before following.

Yena and Chaewon shared a silent look, both coming to the understanding they couldn’t be kept in the dark for much longer.

~~~~

As they walked through the tunnel, Yena could feel her sense of space and time being challenged. She was starting to lose track of how long they’d been walking. Had it been five minutes or five hours? It didn’t help that the tunnel was constantly changing in size. Some moments it got so narrow, they had to resort to crawling, and in others, the path would open up widely, making it feel like they were ants moving through a giant pipe.

Minju remained undeterred, continuing to march forward. Just when Yena was about to suggest they take a break, the tunnel finally opened up into a large room covered in colorful mosaic tiles depicting what appeared to be a large city in the clouds, likely Olympus. Faded paintings of the gods hung on the walls, but Yena could just make some of them out. She saw her father, Zeus, standing proudly over a fallen foe with a large lightning bolt in his hand. There was another whose elements hinted to Yena that it was Dionysus, but after seeing the god of wine in person, she felt like this one was a bit inaccurate. He wasn't that handsome. 

At the center was an intricate looking fountain with golden accents. It appeared to not have held water for a long time though.

“What is this place?” Yena asked.

“It’s Roman,” Minju replied after scanning their surroundings. “These designs look thousands of years old.”

“Huh, but I thought the Labyrinth was a Greek creation,” Chaewon said.

“The Labyrinth isn’t just a maze,” Minju replied. “From my research, it’s slowly been expanding beneath the earth. Along the way, it picks up whatever architecture is there at the time. I wouldn’t call it magical, but Daedalus had designed this place to grow on its own.”

Yena scoffed. “You talk like the Labyrinth is alive.”

Minju looked back at her with a dead serious expression. She wasn’t kidding.

“Come on, the older the architecture, the closer we get to the center.”

“Is that another guess?” Yuri questioned.

This time, Minju forged forward without a reply.

~~~~

Minju’s theory was squashed about fifty meters later when the Roman bricks were replaced with cement and brass pipes, as if they were in a sewer. After a couple minutes, the ground became dirt, then wooden planks, then back to solid granite.

If the Labyrinth truly was alive, it had an annoying sense of humor. All around them, the sound of whispers and monstrous roars echoed, keeping the group on their toes. After a few more minutes, they found their first skeleton.

He was dressed in a dusty but expensive looking suit; a briefcase was also held tightly in his now bony hand.

“How in the world did a bank employee get lost down here?” Yena asked after deciphering the company logo pinned to his blazer.

“Some people just wander in by mistake. Even back then, the city of Crete would send sacrifices inside to try and navigate the place,” Minju explained.

“Just like what Seoyoung was doing in your dreams, unnie,” Yuri mentioned.

“But I thought only demigods could access the maze,” Chaewon wondered.

“Not all entrances require those buttons. Some paths can bleed into existing tunnels and caves. Wandering down the wrong path at night could be fatal for mortals,” said Minju.

“Poor guy…” Yena mumbled as the group continued to move forward.

~~~~

Minju continued to lead them down corridors and tunnels, but somehow, they eventually ended up right back in the Roman room from earlier, except this time, they weren’t alone. Sitting at the base of the fountain was a man wearing a black overcoat, shiny shoes and a white top hat.

What caught Yena’s attention immediately was the fact that he had two faces jutting out from both sides of his head. It was like those mirrors at the carnival that would split your face in the reflection except this person was very real, his ears and facial hair overlapping in an unnatural way.

“Well, glad you could finally join us, Minju. So, what’ll it be–left or right?” the left face asked.

“W-What, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Minju stammered. Yena and the other girls began motioning their hands towards their weapons, an action that hadn’t gone unnoticed.

“Ah-Ah, you won’t be able to get to your destination using brute force, demigods,” the right face tutted. “Just make a decision, and we’ll let you on your way.”

Yena was confused until she noticed what was behind the fountain–two wooden doors that definitely hadn’t been there the last time they were here, silver locks keeping them closed. In the man’s hand was a key which he casually tossed from one hand to another. Everything about the room was the same from the mosaic tiles to the inaccurate painting of Mr. D.

“Where do those exits lead?” Chaewon asked.

“One might lead you to where you want to go,” the right face said.

“And one will lead you to certain death,” continued the left face.

“Wait, I know who you are…” Minju suddenly said.

The right face chuckled. “Most children of Athena do. That doesn’t mean you’ll make the correct choice. Take all the time that you need, it’s a big decision after all.”

“What’re they talking about? Who is that?” Yena whispered to Yuri, but this time, the left face managed to catch her.

“You demigods don’t do enough of your homework. Nothing has changed in the last decade,” he said disappointedly. “I am your worst enemy.”

“And I am your best friend,” the right face said.

“I am Janus,” they both then said in unison. “God of decision-making and doorways.”

“We don’t care who you are. Just tell us how we can get to the center of the Labyrinth,” Chaewon said while stepping in front of Minju with her Stygian iron sword.

“Impatient demigods,” the left face sighed. “Do not worry, child of Hades. Your big decision will come soon enough.”

“Now, Kim Minju. What will it be?” the right face asked.

“I don’t know…” she mumbled.

At those words, both faces laughed. “A child of Athena that doesn’t know the answer?”

“Have you no pride?” the left face then said. “You asked for this, didn’t you? To have the weight of a quest on your shoulders.”

“Yah, that’s no way to talk–” Chaewon looked ready to charge at the god, but before they could see if that was a good or bad idea, Minju spoke up again.

“No, you’re right. I do have pride,” she said with more conviction.

“Really?” both faces mused. “Then what will it be?”

“Left?”

“Or right?”

Minju gulped and stepped forward.

“Before I answer, you have to answer my question first.”

“Heh, there’s the arrogance of an Athena child.” the left face sneered. “How hard is it to choose between two directions?”

“No, let’s hear her out at least. This could be interesting,” the right face interjected.

“Who do you serve right now?”

“Why, Olympus, of course. Who else would we give our loyalty too,” the right face answered with a confused expression.

“Are you sure? Lefty over there doesn’t seem convinced,” Minju said, pointing out how the left face was giving his best attempt at a side-eye to his right hand side.

“You think just because you’re the child of a major god that you can talk down to us?” he replied angrily.

“That’s not what she meant,” the right face clarified before turning to face them. “Okay, in the last war, we were just undecided on which side to join.”

“The god of decision making suddenly feeling undecided?” Minju questioned with a raised eyebrow.

“Yah, what do you mean undecided? We were on Kronos’ side but came back over when we heard that Jackson kid struck a deal with the council. Pft, lot of good that’s done so far,” the left face answered.

“Alright, thanks for that. We’ll be taking the left path,” Minju finally said.

Everyone in the room, including Janus, looked stunned by the sudden declaration.

“That was the deal, wasn’t it?” Minju asked the right face. “‘Just make a decision, and we’ll let you on your way’?”

Janus cleared his throat (or throats? Yena wasn’t sure how that worked), and handed the key over.

“Well done, Minju. Let’s see how long that streak of wisdom goes.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Yuri asked as Minju unlocked the left door.

“It means that this isn’t going to be the last trial we face here,” she said with a tired sigh.

The door opened to reveal another long corridor made out of stone bricks. It didn’t look like a death trap, but they couldn’t be too relaxed. It could just be waiting for them down the road. Behind them, Janus was already gone.

“What made you pick this path? The left face was antagonizing you the whole time,” Yena wondered.

At this, Minju chuckled. “Yes, but of the two, he was the one that was more sure of what he was saying. The right face was kinder but filled with doubt. It was a test.”

~~~~

“Yujin, it’s a dead end!” Wonyoung yelled just as the child of Poseidon turned a corner. In the distance, the monster cries only grew louder. They’d been running for what felt like hours, and it looked like their luck had finally run out.

“No… No, no, no!” Yujin said as she slammed her fist into the wall in frustration. This couldn’t be the end of their road.

Then, like a miracle, one of the bricks she’d punched lit up with a blue glow, the same symbol they've been seeing all over the Labyrinth. The wall shuddered before sliding open. The duo didn’t have time to question where it led as the horde of monsters had finally found them.

The duo jumped through, the gate closing just before a basilisk fireball could fry them.

Both girls breathed heavily as they took note of their surroundings. It looked like a basement, cardboard boxes and luggage bags stacked around them.

“Hello? Is anyone there?” a high-pitched voice suddenly called out, followed by the sound of wooden stairs creaking.

Yujin instinctively drew her scimitars while Wonyoung held out her bronze dagger.

What ended up coming around from the corner though shocked them both.

It was a little girl, American from the looks of it.

She tilted her head confusedly. “Demigods?”

Yujin and Wonyoung looked at each other, equally confused.

“Who are you…?” Yujin asked in her best attempt at English.

“My name is Estelle Blofis.”

Chapter Text

“You must be demigods like my brother,” the girl said nonchalantly, as if this were the most normal interaction of her day.

“Like your brother? So are you a demigod too?” Wonyoung asked, slowly putting her dagger away.

Estelle shook her head. “Nope. Technically, Percy’s my stepbrother. My parents are both mortal.”

Yujin was scrambling to translate the words in her head. Thankfully, she’d taken a few English lessons growing up. The word that stood out though was the name the girl had mentioned–Percy. It sounded familiar.

“Where are we?” Yujin decided to ask first, wanting to gather more information about where they were.

“In my family’s basement, obviously,” Estelle giggled, but when they didn’t react, she gave a more serious answer. “Okay, we’re in the New York suburbs.”

It felt like the whole world slowed down at those words.

“New York? As in the American city?” Wonyoung followed up, in equal disbelief.

“Yup. What other New York could there be?”

“T-This doesn’t make sense. You’re telling me we went from South Korea to the USA using the Labyrinth?” Yujin mumbled to herself.

Estelle tilted her head curiously. “Hm, I’m not exactly sure what you’re talking about, but it seems like you could use some help. Let’s head up.”

~~~~

“Mom! I brought guests!” Estelle called as soon as she emerged from the basement.

From the kitchen, a woman with brown hair mixed with gray streaks, likely from age, appeared. What caught Yujin’s attention though was the tray of blue cookies in her hands.

“Really? But I don’t remember you mentioning it earlier–” the woman paused when she noticed Yujin and Wonyoung. “Oh, you mean those kinds of guests.”

Just like Estelle, the woman didn’t seem that surprised to see them either. Part of Yujin wondered if this was some elaborate trap, an illusion cast by a witch like Circe, who they met on their last journey.

“Dear, can you go get Percy? I’ll keep these two company in the meantime,” she advised her daughter.

Estelle nodded and bounded out the front door. The woman then turned her attention back to Yujin and Wonyoung. “Care for a cookie?”

Wonyoung was about to reach over, but Yujin stopped her.

“Thank you for the offer, but we’re not that hungry,” she said despite her stomach saying otherwise.

The woman nodded in understanding. “We’re not monsters, if that’s what you’re thinking. I know these cookies look strange, but my son just adores blue food.”

That didn’t exactly quell Yujin’s doubt. For all she knew, this ‘son’ could be some giant serpent with a sweet tooth. “Look, we don’t want any trouble. We just want a way back home. To South Korea.”

“Okay, why don’t we just wait for Percy? He’ll be able to help you more than I can.”

Yujin’s anxiety got the better of her as she brought out her scimitars defensively. “You’re not going to trick us that easily.”

The woman calmly put down her tray and spread her arms. “If you really don’t believe I’m mortal, try to hit me right now. It’ll go right through.”

Yujin’s weapons shook in her hands. The woman didn’t look scared at all. She then felt a hand land on her shoulder.

“Yuj, why don’t we hear her out?” Wonyoung suggested. “I think she’s telling the truth.”

The child of Poseidon took a few deep breaths before putting her weapons away. If Wonyoung trusted them, that was a good sign.

The child of Aphrodite turned back to the woman and bowed apologetically. “Apologies for our intrusion, ma’am. We’ll explain what we can.”

The woman, who had introduced herself as Sally Jackson, showed them to a simple dining table where they sat around. Wonyoung did most of the talking, and it was honestly impressive how much better her English was than Yujin’s. Spending part of her youth in the States must’ve helped.

By the time she finished explaining, Yujin wondered if Miss Jackson would call them crazy and report them to the police. Most people probably would. Instead, she nodded along like this was something she’d experienced before.

“So you’re saying there’s a Labyrinth entrance in our basement? No wonder we got the place for so cheap,” she eventually said.

“We’re being serious,” Yujin said.

Miss Jackson scoffed. “And so was I. Because of everything Percy went through growing up, I learned to be a lot more open-minded. He once went down there as well.”

At the repeated mention of that name, Percy, it felt like a light bulb had finally turned on in Yujin’s brain. The stories she’d heard back at camp came back to her. Percy Jackson…

The sound of someone knocking on the door caught the room’s attention. Estelle then entered followed by a man who looked like he was in his early thirties. He had messy black hair with sea green eyes that seemed to pierce through her. He was very well built, and on his left arm was a tattoo of a trident over the letters ‘SQPR’.

“Hey, mom. Estelle told me you had some demigods over, and I assume that means you two,” he said as he closed the distance between them and extended his hand. “Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon. Nice to meet you.”

Wonyoung seemed to finally realize who this man was as well, her eyes widening in shock.

“Jang Wonyoung, daughter of Aphrodite,” she said while shaking his hand.

Percy’s gaze then shifted to Yujin who also stood up to greet him. “A-An Yujin… daughter of Poseidon.”

At this, Percy’s expression faltered. “You’re kidding. Okay, you’re obviously not kidding. Oh my gods…”

“Alright, it seems you three have a lot to discuss,” Miss Jackson said after clearing her throat. “Estelle, let’s go get some groceries.”

The younger girl looked displeased, probably wanting to listen in to the meeting, but she ultimately nodded and left the room with her.

~~~~

“Those dreams I’ve been having… they were right…” Percy muttered to himself after they were left alone. Seemingly out of habit, he grabbed a blue cookie and began nibbling on it.

“What dreams?” Yujin asked.

“He’s back, isn’t he? Kronos.”

“H-How did you know?” Wonyoung replied in surprise.

“Over the past couple of months, I’ve been hearing whispers in my dreams. He was taunting me… saying I wouldn’t be standing in his way this time. I also remember a prophecy my friend, Rachel, had spoken a few years ago, about three children of the big three gods having another battle. I thought at the time it was going to be about me, Thalia, and Nico, but seeing you here right now, I must’ve been wrong.”

“Thalia? We’ve met her before,” Yujin mentioned, which only furthered Percy’s surprise.

“Okay, tell me everything you know, and I’ll try to help as best as I can. Me and Kronos… we have a complicated history.”

The two Korean demigods proceeded to explain everything that had happened starting last year–how Yujin, Yena, and Chaewon were forbidden children sent to the underworld to clear Olympus’ name, how they went into the Sea of Monsters last winter for the Golden Fleece, the Great Prophecy predicting Kronos’ return, and now, how the two of them had gotten stuck down the Labyrinth.

“So that’s what Blackjack meant when he said I owed him for the special guests he had to escort. That is certainly a lot to unpack. I wish Annabeth were here to help make sense of it all, but she’s visiting her dad in California,” Percy said with a long sigh.

“Who’s Annabeth?” Wonyoung asked.

Percy lips curled into a proud smile. “She’s my wife and a daughter of Athena.”

“That’s besides the point though,” he then said with a serious expression. Yujin now began to notice tiny scars on his face, signs of previous battles. “You girls really have a sticky situation on your hands. To think that Kronos would crawl all the way back after so many years.”

“Right now, we just want a way back to camp. They must be looking for us everywhere and Iris messages aren’t working,” Yujin said.

“You’re right. They haven’t been working here for a couple days either. We’re still working with the Iris cabin to figure out what’s happening. We also can’t just send you back on a plane. Zeus would shoot you out of the sky,” Percy said the last bit while giving a slight glare towards the ceiling.

“How about the sea? Those hippocampi from last winter were pretty fast,” Wonyoung suggested, but both Percy and Yujin shook their heads.

“While that’s true, it could still take a few days given the distance. Also, hippocampi don’t like swimming out of their territories for long periods of time. No, the fastest way back would be through the Labyrinth itself,” Percy said.

“You mean the maze that has been trying to kill us since we entered?” Wonyoung replied incredulously.

Percy raised his hands in defeat. “Okay, that’s true. Speaking from experience, that place is a death trap. I thought it had finally collapsed when Apollo went through it, but I guess not. The only way to navigate it safely is with a clear-sighted mortal.”

“What do you mean?” Yujin asked.

“Someone who can see through the Mist. My mom is like that, and so is that friend I mentioned earlier, Rachel. In the past, Ariadne helped Theseus get through. Yeah, maybe going down there alone isn’t a good idea.”

“It doesn’t look like we have any other options though. Maybe if we had Chaewon-unnie, we could shadow travel,” Wonyoung huffed.

“Wait, that’s it!” Percy cut back in. “Shadow travel. Mrs. O’Leary can take you.”

“Who?”

“She’s a friend of mine. Back then, she would get tired from going across the country, but she’s gotten way better as the years have gone on. As you know, shadow travel isn’t the most pleasant experience, but it’s saved Annabeth and I a lot of money for trips. Just make sure to feed her after you arrive.”

Yujin was a bit confused, but Percy already seemed set on the idea.

“Sure, how long will it take for her to get here?”

At this, her older brother smirked. “Not long.”

He then took out a silver whistle and blew on it. Oddly enough, no sound came out.

Just when Yujin was about to question Percy’s sanity, a large black shadow materialized outside the window followed by a loud bark.

“Told you. Come on, I'll introduce you. You’ll love her.”

~~~~

Now, when Yujin had first heard the name ‘Mrs. O’Leary’, she’d expected someone like a kind grandmother with magical powers. Instead, what greeted them when Percy opened the door was a large black mastiff the size of a tank. Mrs. O’Leary was a hellhound.

Yujin instinctively reached for her necklace, but Percy stopped her.

“Hey, girl! This is Yujin and Wonyoung. They want to go to South Korea. Can you do that for them?” he said while reaching up to scratch her chin.

At this, the hellhound barked energetically and approached the two girls to give them a sniff.

“Heh, she likes you already,” Percy said just as they heard the sound of a car pulling up to the house. Percy’s mother and sister finished grocery shopping.

“Mrs. O’Leary!” Estelle cheered as she got out of the car and ran up to the dog for a hug, which Yujin had to admit was super cute.

“Seems like you girls have your ticket back home,” Sally Jackson commented while carrying two paper bags. “You should at least stay for dinner though. Our treat.”

Yujin and Wonyoung looked at each other and nodded. “Sure, we’d love to.”

~~~~

As it turned out, Percy’s mom was a great chef. She prepared a plate of roast beef with veggies on the side as well as rice, knowing it was a popular side dish in Asia. For refreshments, she made blue lemonade while the blue cookies were heated up for dessert.

“You must really like the color blue,” Wonyoung observed.

Percy shrugged and drank his blue lemonade. “It’s my favorite color. Also, it’s the color of the sea, dad’s realm.”

As they ate, Percy shared stories of his adventures when he was in his teens. Yujin was shocked to hear he saved the world twice before turning twenty. Beneath this nonchalant and joking man was a hardened warrior who had basically seen it all.

Some time during dinner, another man arrived who Yujin assumed was Estelle’s father, and therefore, Percy’s stepdad. With Wonyoung chatting away with Estelle and Sally Jackson talking to her husband, Yujin was left to chat it up more with Percy.

“What’s life like for demigods as they get older?” she asked.

“Aside from trying not to die from a random monster attack every day?” Percy replied jokingly before giving a more serious answer. “We may be part god, but I think the part that keeps us grounded to reality is the human part. As cliche as it sounds, the only thing we can do as we get older is live life to the fullest. Find a job you like doing, settle down with someone special if you’re lucky.”

Yujin’s eyes slowly drifted towards Wonyoung, who was having fun playing around with Estelle. She suddenly wondered what their future would be like. “If only it were that easy…”

“I get you, Yujin. Both as a former Great Prophecy kid and a child of Poseidon. It’s never going to be easy for demigods like us. At the end of the day though, we have a responsibility given to us, a task to protect the people we care about. And in return for the loyalty you give to others, those people will have your back when you need it the most.”

“Do you have any tips to beat Kronos? What the prophecy might mean?”

Percy thought for a bit before replying. “Those two questions are intertwined, just like they were when I had to fight him back then. I’m sure you know by now; you can’t force a prophecy. Your roles are more fluid than you think. Don’t try to get boxed into one of those three lines. Though I will say, I have a feeling the Labyrinth has something to do with that ‘attack from below’.”

Yujin nodded. If Yena and Chaewon hadn’t figured it out already, they needed to warn the others about this breach at camp. “How about that sacrifice? Is there any way around it?”

“Again, I wouldn’t focus on that too much. With the way prophecies work, that sacrifice might not even end up being someone’s life. Just keep doing the right thing, and I believe everything will have a better chance of working out.”

“So be overly optimistic. Got it,” Yujin chuckled.

Percy gave a lopsided smile. “That’s the demigod spirit.”

~~~~

After dinner was done, everyone gathered outside to see Yujin and Wonyoung off.

“Stay safe, you two,” Sally Jackson said.

“Heh, we should say the same to you guys, what with the Labyrinth entrance in your basement and all,” Wonyoung replied.

“Ah, don’t worry about us. Only a demigod can open it anyway,” she said with a laugh. Once again, for a mortal, Miss Jackson was very unbothered by the wider world she’s found herself to be living in.

“We should really go visit dad together sometime. We have so much more to talk about,” Percy grinned as he clapped Yujin’s shoulder.

“If we can get out of this predicament alive, I’ll send you an Iris message,” Yujin answered before getting on Mrs. O’Leary’s back.

“That’s a promise. Good luck again, Yujin, Wonyoung. I’ll relay to you any important information I can.”

With the two girls now in position, Mrs. O’Leary stood up and began channeling energy. All around her, dark shadows began bubbling from the ground.

Just like Percy had advised, Yujin leaned towards the hellhound’s ear and told her their destination. “Camp Half-Blood in South Korea.”

Mrs. O’Leary barked in acknowledgement, and before they knew it, they had slipped into the shadows.

Chapter Text

Ever since they entered the Labyrinth, Chaewon felt like they were being watched. Something was following them that disappeared every time she turned back. At first, she’d thought it was a ghost, but she could at least hear them. As they walked through the corridors, voices would whisper to them–people who had met their demise within these walls.

No, whatever else she was feeling was something else. Before she could bring it up to the others though, Minju suddenly shrieked.

“Oh my gods, get it off! Get it off!” she screamed as her hand scrambled to rip something off of her face. From what Chaewon could see though, nothing appeared out of the ordinary.

“Minju, calm down. What is it?” she said after getting closer and grabbing hold of the child of Athena’s shoulders.

“S-SPIDERWEB!” Minju continued to panic and it was then that Chaewon finally noticed the faint white silk that had gotten caught on her face.

Chaewon carefully picked it off, spotting a tiny spider on one of the threads.

“Get it away from me!”

“Woah, Minju, chill out. It’s just a spider,” Yena said, not getting what the big deal was.

Next to her, Yuri shook her head. “Something you probably don’t know about children of Athena is that they’re mortally afraid of spiders.”

Hearing this, Chaewon brought the arachnid away and gently set it down on the ground.

“Okay, Minju, all gone,” she said, showing her empty hands.

Minju’s hyperventilating finally began to taper off. “S-Sorry about that…”

Chaewon crouched down to meet her friend at eye level. “It’s fine, Minju. Everyone has something they’re afraid of. Let’s just keep moving.”

Minju nodded slowly and let herself be pulled up to her feet.

“Heh, to think we fight so many monsters, and the thing that sets you off is a bug the size of my finger nail,” Yena joked only to get ribbed by Yuri.

“Spiders aren’t bugs. They’re arachnids,” she corrected while giving Minju a supportive look.

~~~~

Unfortunately, Minju’s screams had attracted some unwanted attention. It started off as a light rumble in the distance behind them, but eventually, the sound evolved into loud, heavy footsteps. This was different from the other presence she'd been sensing earlier.

Something big was coming down the hall, and Chaewon wasn’t looking forward to meeting it.

The group started to pick up the pace only to have their path blocked by a giant boulder. Just their luck that the one path that had no forks in the road would end up being blocked.

“It’s too heavy!” Yena grunted as she tried to shove the rock in vain. Chaewon and the others tried to help out, but even with their demigod strength, the boulder wouldn’t budge.

“I think we’re gonna have to fight,” Yuri said as the footsteps kept getting closer. With each stomp, the corridor would shake, pebbles on the ground being displaced.

Then, Chaewon felt something, like a pull in her gut. She looked towards the left wall where she could just see the faint outline of a Greek Delta. She didn’t know what was on the other side, but she decided to take her chances.

“Girls, over here!” she said as she placed her hand on the symbol, causing it to light up and open a door.

Everyone immediately jumped through, the entrance closing soon after. A couple seconds later, they felt something large thumping on the wall, trying to break through. When it wouldn’t budge though, the creature on the other side let out a low growl before leaving, its heavy footsteps slowly receding.

Chaewon sighed with relief, a moment of calm quickly shattered by Yena tapping her shoulder to get her attention.

“Uhm, was this meant to hold demigods?” she asked, referring to the large concrete jail cell they’d found themselves in.

“Where in the world are we?” Yuri mumbled. The prison bars were wide enough that a regularly sized human could squeeze through.

“Wait… I hear something,” Minju then said.

Chaewon focused her hearing until she could hear it too–distant howls of pain in the distance.

“We should investigate,” Yuri suggested.

“And if we get caught?” Yena replied. “This is our only way out and whatever monster was there could just be waiting for us. We should be going away from the scary noises and looking for a way to escape.”

Chaewon looked at Minju who seemed to be weighing both options.

“I-I think we should listen to Yuri. Whoever that sounds hurt. We should try to help.”

“But what if it’s a trap?” Yena questioned again.

“Then we figure it out. Like we always do,” Chaewon said while giving her friend a reassuring nod.

“Alright, but at the first sign of trouble, we bolt.”

~~~~

After making their way out of the cell, the group realized they were on an elevated canopy. Below them was a dark concrete floor and above them, there was no roof, the afternoon sun beaming down on them.

The place was relatively empty, which made sneaking around easier. The sounds of screams and groans only became louder as they approached.

Eventually, they reached the source of the noise–a courtyard where an eight-foot tall European man with a scruffy beard was chained to a concrete slab. What ended up catching everyone’s attention though was the monster standing in front of him.

Chaewon didn’t even know if what she was seeing was correct. The monster had a human torso, but that’s where the sense of normalcy stopped. It had a female head with snakes for hair like Medusa’s. Then, there was her bottom half. It was like the horse part of a centaur, except with a dragon body swapped in–almost twenty feet of dark reptilian scales ending with a barbed scorpion tail, the tip dripping poison. She still had legs, at least, Chaewon thought they were regular legs until she noticed even more snakes poking out trying to bite the air.

The most incomprehensible part though had to be the monster’s middle section, where the human body met the dragon segment. Its skin was quite literally bubbling, morphing to form heads of large predators like bears, wolves, lions, and tigers.

Chaewon knew that nothing about the monsters she’d seen in her life was natural, but this was really pushing the limits of her human mind. This monster would probably be in her nightmares for a while.

“Kampe…” Minju muttered. “She was one of the first monsters, Kronos’ prison sentry. Even the gods were afraid of her.”

Another loud groan echoed throughout the prison.

In Kampe’s clawed hands was a fiery whip that she slung towards the chained man. His whole body was marked with cuts and wounds, golden blood dripping onto the ground.

“Wait, that being is immortal,” Yuri whispered.

“What? How do you know?” Yena asked.

“The blood–golden ichor. It’s the thing that runs through all immortal beings’ bodies,” Minju explained.

“So like, a god?” Chaewon guessed.

“Usually, but in this case…” the child of Athena then turned back to the scene and pointed at the man’s gut which was carved open for them to see. It was absolutely disgusting, and not something Chaewon cared to describe in detail.

“I’d like my vulture back,” he then said with a grimace as he was whipped again.

Yuri’s eyes lit up. “No way… Prometheus?”

The name rung a bell to Chaewon, not a god, but a Titan, like Kronos. He was the one who gifted fire to the mortal world.

“You will submit, traitor. Kronos is giving you a chance to redeem yourself, and the longer you try to ride the fence, the more this will happen,” Kampe said as she hit him again.

“Traitor is such a strong word. I prefer to call what I did, hedging my bets.”

“Insolent fool!” Kampe sneered. “ Know your place, Titan. I’ve dealt with more powerful beings than you.”

“And yet you were defeated by a lesser one. Why don’t you just run back to Kronos and tell him my stance,” the man taunted before glancing at them for just a second. It was so fast that Chaewon would’ve missed it if she blinked; he had just winked at them.

“Look around, Prometheus. These jail cells will soon be filled by many more of our enemies. You still have time to decide which side you are on,” Kampe growled and turned around, appearing to walk away, but not before stinging her scorpion tail right into Prometheus’ chest.

When Kampe had finally left the room, Prometheus looked up at them again, with more intent.

“Well don’t just stand there. A little help?” he said in a pained voice.

~~~~

The group eventually found a staircase and carefully descended until they were on the ground floor, face to face with Prometheus.

“What are you doing here?” Minju asked with a raised eyebrow.

The Titan scoffed. “Well, obviously not for vacation. By the way, if you were trying to stay undetected, maybe don’t mention a deity’s name out loud. Names have power after all.”

Yuri then took out her bow and aimed an arrow right at Prometheus’ face.

“We’re not here to play games. Didn’t you fight for Kronos in the war of Manhattan?”

“Well, yes, but I never killed anyone. I was just his messenger most of the time, trying to get Jackson and his friends to surrender. Clearly, not listening proved to be the right decision,” he replied and Chaewon thought if he wasn’t chained right now, he would’ve tried for a shrug.

“So what? You expect us to think you’ll suddenly help us if we let you go? You’re immortal. It’s not like you’ll die from this,” Minju argued.

“Well the thing about eternal life is we can also experience eternal pain. Listen, I was just trying to lay low for a few centuries when Kampe reformed and hunted me down. I expected my brother, Kronos, to have a backup plan if Manhattan failed, but I didn’t think it’d come to fruition this soon.”

“And why don’t we just call the gods and tell them you’re hiding here? You did say you wanted your vulture back,” Yuri replied, her arrow still aimed at him.

At this, Prometheus laughed. “You really think the gods care that much about where I am? If they did, they would’ve found me by now. No, they’re only going to look for me if I make a mess again. That’s the thing about the Olympians, they’re always reactive.

“So, let’s say you leave me here for Kampe to torture until I get converted to their side. Wouldn’t you demigods be partially responsible for that?”

Chaewon and Yena gave each other a knowing look. This guy was good with words. He was like that in the myths as well, someone who would manipulate people to reach his end goals.

At the same time though, they didn’t have many options, and they had to make a decision before Kampe returned.

“Sure, we’ll let you go,” Chaewon eventually said, shocking Yuri and Minju.

“What? Unnie, you can’t trust him!” Minju said.

“But you can trust me, right?” the child of Hades replied.

Minju looked like she wanted to say something else but held back, allowing Chaewon to step forward.

“In exchange for us letting you go, you must promise on the River Styx that you’ll help us against Kronos.”

At this, Prometheus chuckled. “What makes you think I’ll fight for Olympus? The only side I am on is that of humanity, one that neither your gods nor Kronos particularly care about.”

This time, Yena stepped forward. “Well, if you don’t like the deal, we could always leave you. Even if you join Kronos’ side, we can still defeat you and get you punished by Zeus and the other gods.”

Now, the Titan’s confident expression faltered. In fact, for a brief moment, he almost looked worried. Maybe he wasn’t bluffing about not wanting to deal with eternal pain.

“So what’s it going to be?” Yena continued to push.

“Fine. I swear on the River Styx that I will help you in your fight against Kronos,” Prometheus finally grumbled.

Chaewon looked at the others who gave her a nod of confirmation. She then took out her stygian iron sword and sliced through the Titan’s chains as if they were made out of butter.

Prometheus stretched and checked his wrists, which were red and bloody.

“That feels much better,” he said just as a loud roar echoed throughout the compound. Chaewon and the others turned around to see Kampe standing about a hundred meters away, and she didn’t look happy.

“Well, do you have any idea on how to beat this thing?” Yena asked Prometheus.

At this, the Titan tilted his head. “Oh, you made me swear to help you beat Kronos. You’re on your own when it comes to Kampe.”

Chaewon’s eyes widened as Prometheus’ form began to shimmer, the telltale sign for them to look away or be disintegrated by his true immortal form. When the light died down, the four girls were left alone with one angry Kampe.

Usually, this would be the part where the girls would take out their weapons and fight. After all, it was four versus one.

However, as Kampe began to grow wings on her back and take out her whip, a pang of fear began to grow in Chaewon. This was no ordinary monster.

It seemed like everyone else had the same thought go through their minds as well.

“Run,” Yena said first.

~~~~

The four girls ran through the concrete maze of prison cells and hallways as Kampe gave chase.

“Where do we go??” Chaewon asked.

“Back into the maze,” Minju replied.

“Yah, are you crazy?” Yuri cut in.

“Not like we have a choice!” Yena said as they turned another corner.

Despite her size, Kampe was making up ground on them quickly. It was only a matter of time before someone had a misstep. There was only one stairwell that they knew of that could lead them back to the Labyrinth gate, and Kampe had chased them away from it.

“I have an idea, but you’re not going to like it!” the child of Zeus suddenly suggested.

Yuri’s eyes widened. “No, don’t even think about it!”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be back in a flash. I’m just going to distract her.”

Chaewon then realized what Yena meant, but before she could stop her, the older girl had already lifted up into the skies and called a lightning bolt on Kampe.

“Child of Zeus! I will make your death most painful!” Kampe screamed as she followed her up into the sky, unaffected by the electrical strike.

“YENA!” Yuri called, but Minju quickly grabbed onto her and pulled her away.

“We need to go!”

~~~~

The trio eventually found their way back to the central plaza where Prometheus had been held and headed up the staircase. In the distance, they could hear the echoes of Yena’s battle with Kampe.

“We have to help her!” Yuri pleaded, fumbling through her quiver to take aim at the ancient monster.

“We can’t let Kampe know where we’re going until we get there or else she’ll cut us off!” Minju argued.

“Then you girls go ahead! I’ll stay here!” Yuri said as she shook off Minju’s hand.

With both girls now at a face off, Chaewon was left to be the voice of reason.

“Let’s trust them, Min, we all know where the gate is anyway. We need to make sure the other side is clear too.”

Minju clearly didn’t like the idea of dividing even more, but Chaewon was already tugging her along while Yuri began firing arrows into the sky.

~~~~

A few blocks later, they finally made it to the cell they’d marked by slicing off one of the bars. Chaewon and Minju quickly ran to the back wall and felt around until one of their hands landed on a button, revealing the mark of Daedalus.

The gate slowly groaned open, the light of the room illuminating the dark hallway inside. It definitely wasn’t the same place they’d come from earlier, but right now, anywhere was better than here.

Chaewon ran back over to the canopy to call Yena and Yuri over.

“Girls, come on!” she screamed while waving her hands.

In the sky, Yena nodded and dove straight down to Yuri to pick her up.

“You won’t get away!” Kampe roared as she followed.

When they got back to the cell, Minju was already standing by the gate, urging them to hurry up.

Chaewon got through with her first and slammed the button, so their escape route could close in time. All they needed was for Yuri and Yena, who weren’t far off, to follow through. Much to Chaewon’s horror though, the unthinkable happened. Yena suddenly screamed in pain as Kampe had managed to catch her leg with her whip, pulling her and Yuri away from the gate.

“NO!” Chaewon wanted to help, but Yuri yelled back to stop her.

“We’ll manage! Just go!”

Both Chaewon and Minju were frozen, unable to do as they were told while Yena continued to struggle against the tightening whip whose fire was starting to sear through her socks and into her skin.

With the gate becoming smaller and smaller, Yuri played her trump card. With a defiant yell, she took out a white arrow and launched it back towards where Kampe was, an intense bright light blinding everyone.

When it cleared, Chaewon and Minju were back in the darkness, their friends nowhere to be seen.

“Oh my gods…” the child of Athena muttered.

Chaewon tried to open the gate again, but the button was gone. She couldn’t feel it anymore.

They’d come into the Labyrinth as four looking for their two lost friends, and now… they were split up even more.

Chapter Text

Yena dreamt that she was back in Daedalus’ prison. It seemed a considerable amount of time had passed since the space looked a bit more like a workshop now; more work benches lined walls and in the corner, there was even a small forge burning. Next to it was a boy stoking the flames, an older version of Icarus, Yena assumed.

Above the prison was a bright blue sky, something Yena had to adjust her eyes to since most of the Labyrinth they’d seen so far had been enclosed and dark. Somehow, this juxtaposition made the place feel more heartless–escape appearing so close just to be out of reach.

Daedalus himself didn’t look very good, leaning on one of the workbenches. His frame was even bonier than the last time, his hands and wrists red and scarred likely from all the work he’s had to do for years. He had patches of stark white hair, and his tunic looked like it hadn’t been washed in a long time.

“It’s finally done…” he said as he lifted up his latest project.

Yena was in awe at its beauty, metal wings made out of thousands of interlocking bronze feathers, likely scraps of metal that Daedalus stockpiled while the guards weren’t looking. At the other end of the table, there was another set.

“They’re trying to escape,” Yena realized.

Daedalus stretched the frame he had in his hands, the item expanding into two-foot wide wings. Given the era they were in, something like this was incredibly impressive, but Yena also had a feeling that this would be too heavy to actually fly, much less lift off the ground.

“Father, you’re a genius!” Icarus said as he bounded towards his father who chuckled.

“Tell me something I don’t know, Icarus. Now hurry. We must attach the wings before the guards return.”

For the next hour and a half, the two helped each other with the harnesses that ran from their wrists to their waists. Then, they fastened their wings together with hot glue.

“The wax will hold for a few hours at most,” Daedalus reminded. “We must let them set first though or the elements will cause them to loosen. Too close to the ocean would wet the seals–”

“And too close to the sun would melt them,” Icarus finished. “You’ve told me this many times, father. I have faith in your inventions. They have never failed.”

The old man’s eyes were filled with adoration for his son, but his expression quickly shifted when he heard a knock at the workshop doors that he had reinforced over the years.

“No, they weren’t supposed to be due until sundown,” he muttered.

“We must go now, father! Help me with the manhole cov–”

A loud boom caused both men to crouch for cover as a battering ram burst through the doors’ hinges.

King Minos, with his golden crown and pointy beard, waltzed into the room flanked with two armed guards.

“Oh, were we interrupting something?” he mocked as he took in the scene.

Daedalus stood up and glared at the king.

“We’re leaving, Minos,”

This didn’t seem to intimidate Minos though given how he simply laughed.

“I’m sorry, I can’t take you seriously with that outfit on. You both look like metal chickens.”

The guards laughed along, not noticing Icarus on the ground fiddling with the manhole cover’s bolts.

“You know, I was wondering how far you’d get with this little project, and I must say, I’m impressed. But don’t think I didn’t notice. It’s time to drop the charade. I’ve been lenient for too long,” Minos then said coldly. “After everything you’ve done to me, you think I’d just let you escape? You let my daughter escape, drove my wife to insanity, and made me the laughing stock of the Mediterranean.”

“My lord, the boy!” one of the guards finally realized, but it was too late.

“Father, now!” Icarus yelled as he finally lifted the manhole cover up, a burst of hot air from below propelling him and Daedalus upwards.

Minos’ screams quickly became echoes in the distance, the father and son rising above the Labyrinth’s walls and past the king’s palace. Crete was soon a blip in the distance.

“We did it, father! We’re free!” Icarus laughed, the boy fully extending his winds and soaring with the wind.

“Wait, son! Be careful!” Daedalus called.

But Icarus was already out of earshot. Too consumed with his newfound freedom, the boy soared into the sky like an eagle and dove towards the sea to let his sandals skim the waves.

The old man tried to follow, but he was not as nimble as his son. They were probably in the middle of the Aegean sea when Icarus finally looked back and saw his father’s worried expression.

“There’s nothing to worry about, father! If it’s your handiwork, I have no reason to fear–”

That’s when the first bronze feather flew off into the distance. Then another, and another. Icarus was quickly losing speed and began to panic.

“Son! Extend your arms into a glide!” Daedalus cried, but it was no use. Icarus continued to flap his arms in an effort to reassert control, not realizing that his actions were only shedding his feathers faster.

Then, the ocean wind finally ripped one of his wings away. Icarus began to nosedive into the ocean, crying for his father, but all Daedalus could do was watch, his greatest love, falling to his death.

~~~~

Yena jolted awake, feeling like she was falling. She found herself in a wooden room, like one you’d normally find in western movies.

Was this another dream?

She felt very groggy, and when she tried to move, her leg flared up in pain.

“Okay… not a dream,” she grumbled as the sound of a door creaking open caught her attention.

“Oh my gods, you’re alright,” Yuri said with relief as she rushed over to check on her.

“W-Where are we?” Yena asked.

She remembered being caught in Kampe’s grasp, and when she lifted the bed covers, she saw a heavy burn mark around her ankle. That had definitely happened, so how did they get here?

“That would be the Triple G Ranch, missy,” a man with hair as white as Daedalus’, covered with a cowboy hat, said as he walked in. Unlike the builder though, this man was very muscular and well-built. He was wearing jeans, a DON’T MESS WITH TEXAS t-shirt, and a denim jacket with the sleeves ripped out to show off his muscles. On his right bicep was a crossed-sword tattoo that felt oddly familiar. He was leaning on a cartoonishly large baseball bat covered with metal spikes. If this was going to be a fight, they’d be in trouble.

Fortunately, it didn’t appear it was going to go that way.

“Yena, this is Eurytion. Eurytion, this is Yena,” Yuri said before going on to explain what had happened.

After the Labyrinth door had closed, a dark shadow suddenly engulfed the room, transporting them here to the Triple G Ranch. Yena was passed out when Eurytion found them and offered them a place to rest. Apparently, he was an immortal son of Ares, which explained the tattoo; Yena had seen it above Nako’s cabin entrance.

“So what was the shadow?” Yena wondered.

Yuri shook her head. “I don’t know. It honestly felt like shadow travel. Maybe Chaewon?”

While that would’ve been impressive, Yena doubted it. Chaewon was still trying to master that ability after all. When she looked over at Eurytion, she noticed a glint in his eyes.

“You know who it was, don’t you?”

The child of Ares grunted. “You got a good intuition, but I’m not at liberty to tell you. Just know that the person who saved you two owes me now.”

“We really appreciate it,” Yuri said. “Maybe you could also give us some advice for our quest? Since you're immortal, I’m sure you’ve probably seen a lot of stuff.”

“Heh, demigods like you girls pop up at the ranch all the time. We can discuss it over dinner. Meet me in the front yard in an hour. Catch your breaths first,” he said before leaving them be.

“Do we trust him?” Yena asked once he was gone.

“Well, he didn’t kill us on sight,” Yuri replied.

“Ugh, still. I find it hard to believe that we’d have some good luck on this quest. He doesn’t exactly look like a nice guy.”

“Unnie, looks can be deceiving. And besides, he’s a demigod like us. If he has some information, we should try to get along until he gives it.”

Yena wanted to argue more, but the child of Apollo had taken out an ambrosia square and stuffed it in her mouth.

“Thanks for sticking by me,” she said after swallowing the snack. Once again, she felt reenergized by the taste of her mother’s kimbap.

Yuri scoffed. “As if I’d leave you behind. Maybe you should stop getting yourself into trouble.”

“I only do it because I know you have my back,” Yena answered with a smile.

The child of Apollo’s brows then furrowed together. “You were out a while. Did you have any dreams?”

Yena’s smile wavered, suddenly remembering the image of Icarus plummeting to his death. It gave her chills, but right now, it didn’t seem like something worth sharing.

“N-No, just a lot of darkness, that’s all.”

“That’s good to hear. I really hope Minju and Chaewon are okay,” Yuri then said.

Of course. Yena now remembered that the two girls were probably somewhere down in the Labyrinth alone now. They now needed to find them in addition to their original goal of finding Yujin and Wonyoung.

Yena let out a frustrated sigh.

“Hopefully this Eurytion guy knows something that can help us.”

~~~~

When they stepped out onto the front porch an hour later, they saw that Eurytion had prepared a barbecue dinner. Next to him was a strange looking dog; it was like a greyhound, but with two heads. It barked at them immediately when it saw them.

“Ah you’re here. Don’t mind Orthus. He just gets excited whenever we have guests,” Eurytion said as he flipped two chunks of meat perfectly into their waiting jaws.

“This smells delicious,” Yuri commented as she whiffed the burger patties being grilled.

“Soybean patties, our new number one export,” the child of Ares replied as he handed a plate to them.

Yena still felt a bit wary, but Yuri immediately dug in. She must have been starving.

“So, what exactly do you do here?” Yena asked.

“Well, we call this the Triple G Ranch after its previous owner, Geryon, but he’s chosen to stay in the underworld after losing a battle to a demigod named Percy Jackson a while back. Now, if you met him, you probably would’ve been sold off to the highest bidder.”

That comment didn’t exactly instill confidence in Yena, and it seemed that Eurytion noticed.

“Ah, but you don’t have to worry about that, missy. Ever since I took over, I changed the business of the place. We still have our fire-breathing horses for event rentals, but we don’t sell any sacred cattle meat anymore.”

“Sacred cattle meat?” Yuri stopped midbite and looked out into the prairie for the first time, noticing a large herd of red cows grazing.

“Mhm, see, we’re subcontracted by Apollo to take care of his cows. The boss back then tried to make a pretty penny under his nose by selling them, but I stopped that.”

“I’m sure my father would be happy to hear that,” Yuri said with a sigh of relief.

“Oh, you’re a child of Apollo?” Eurytion realized before turning to Yena. “And you?”

“Child of Zeus,” she answered.

“By gods, this quest really is important then, isn’t it?” he said in surprise.

Yuri nodded. “Kronos is back and he’s building an army. We were wondering if you knew any way to navigate through the Labyrinth before they invade our Camp.”

Eurytion hummed to himself for a while, almost burning one of his soybean patties. Even Orthus growled at the mention of the Titan’s name.

“Hmm, so that’s what that demigod meant when she asked me to join her side.”

Yena raised an eyebrow. “Another demigod?”

“Like I said, a lot of demigods pop up here from time to time. This woman showed up a few days before, child of Hecate. Tried to contract my animals for a big event, but I refused. Smelled like a bad deal,” Eurytion recounted.

“That must’ve been Seoyoung,” Yuri said.

“Can you tell us where she went?” Yena asked.

“Where else? Back into the Labyrinth. She was alone back then, so I didn’t think much of it.”

“You have to help us track her down. She’s Kronos’ second-in-command. If she gets her army to our Camp, she’ll destroy it.”

Eurytion’s expression was grim. “My answer is the same as what I told Jackson back then. If you want to navigate the maze, find Hephaestus. Unfortunately, I already gave them my way of getting to his forge. I don’t have a second one.”

“How about a way back to Camp Half-Blood without going through the Labyrinth?” Yena asked.

“You’re from South Korea, right? Unfortunately for y’all, we’re in the heart of Texas right now.”

Yena’s eyes widened at this.

“You mean we travelled across the world using the Labyrinth?”

“Well, technically, we got here through shadow travel,” Yuri cut in.

“Either way, the fastest mode of travel available to you right now is the maze. We have an entrance here at the edge of the ranch; that’s where most demigods show up from,” Eurytion said.

“Ugh, are we really going back down there without a plan?” Yena muttered.

“Well, come to think of it, there is something I can give to help, now that I know the Hecate girl works for Kronos.”

Eurytion felt around in his pocket until he fished out a business card. It was black with white lettering, but aside from Seoyoung’s name, there wasn’t anything else.

“It’s magical. The lady told me that if I wanted to change my mind, I could find her with this,” he explained as he handed the card to them.

“How does it work?” Yena asked.

The old demigod chuckled. “Now that’s something you two have to figure out on your own. For now, you should eat before you go.”

Yena only realized that she hadn’t actually taken a bite of her soybean patty until her stomach grumbled, and when she did, she had to admit, it did taste pretty good.

~~~~

After their meal, Eurytion led them to the forest where the Labyrinth gate was, passing by tons of different creatures from Apollo’s sacred red cows, pegasi, these half horse half rooster hybrids that Yuri explained were Hippalektryons, and the aforementioned fire-breathing horses who apparently also ate meat.

The gate itself wasn’t even one that required a button. It was a steel grate dropping down into a tunnel. It made Yena think about how many more Labyrinth entrances were hidden in plain sight.

“I wish you two the best of luck,” Eurytion said, followed by Orthus giving what Yena assumed was a supportive bark.

“And thank you for the hospitality. Please also let that friend of yours who saved us appreciate their help as well,” Yuri said with a bow.

With the help of Eurytion, the three pulled the grate open.

Last chance to turn back and become a rancher for life.

“Ready?” Yuri asked.

Yena took a deep breath. “Ready.”

And with that, the duo dropped right back into the maze.

Chapter Text

It was quiet as Chaewon and Minju slowly crept through a dark hallway. The latter hadn’t said much since they’d been separated from their friends.

“Minju, it’s not your fault,” Chaewon eventually said to try and reassure the child of Athena, but she only shook her head.

“I’m the quest leader. Anything that goes wrong is on me. I should’ve led you girls better,” she mumbled back.

“That’s not exactly fair to you. We’re a team.”

“Listen, I don’t even know where we’re going at this point, Chae. We haven’t made any real progress into the maze,” Minju said frustratedly.

“Why don’t we start with the prophecy? Can you at least tell me what it is?”

At the mention of the prophecy, Minju looked at Chaewon with a worried expression.

“I-I can’t…”

Chaewon put a hand on the child of Athena’s shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. “I promise I can handle it.”

“It’s not about whether you can handle it or not…” Minju replied cryptically.

“Fine, if you won’t tell me, I guess we’re not moving,” Chaewon decided, stopping in her tracks.

“Please, unnie. This isn’t the time.”

“And when will that be? Just give it to me straight, Min.”

Minju sighed. “Fine…”

She then proceeded to go over the Oracle’s prophecy.

“You shall take the plunge into the endless maze

The path forward lit up by true sight’s gaze

Beware of ghosts that lead you astray

Face the wrath of the sun god’s child

And witness the sacrifice of a mind gone wild”

“Wait, something’s off,” Chaewon said after Minju had finished. “The middle line doesn’t have anything to rhyme with.”

“T-That’s all it is. Maybe it’s some weird type of poem. Not all prophecies have to rhyme, you know…”

Chaewon doubted this was the case, but she decided not to press further, choosing to instead focus on the lines she was told.

“The part about the sun god, that’s why you didn’t want Yuri coming along, right? You thought she would betray us again?”

Minju hung her head, trying to avoid Chaewon’s gaze. “I just didn’t want that to become a potential issue. Yuri’s been going around on her own a lot over the past few months.”

“That’s because she suspected there was a spy at camp,” Chaewon replied, realizing they’d never mentioned it to Minju before. She then went on to explain what Yuri had told them before they went into the Labyrinth.

“Ugh, I was a fool to think Yuri would turn her back on us. She even put her life on the line to help us escape Kampe,” the child of Athena murmured.

“They’ll be fine, MIn. I’m sure of it.”

“And what makes you so sure?”

Chaewon was silent for a bit, her gaze drifting around the hallway they were walking through. The voices of the dead continued to whisper in her ears.

“It’s hard to explain… but I think I would’ve felt them. Like, if they’d become ghosts and gone to the underworld.”

This got Minju to scoff. “A little dark, but I guess you’re right.”

Chaewon smiled, relieved to have loosened her friend up a bit.

“Those other lines, have you made any sense of them yet?” she then asked.

“Obviously the first is about entering the Labyrinth. The second is a bit trickier. I’m not entirely sure what true sight could mean. As for the ghosts… that could mean anything too.”

“And the last one? It sounds pretty intense.”

Minju nodded. “I can only hope it isn’t referring to any of our friends.”

~~~~

A few minutes later, the tunnel shifted once again. From red bricks, their surroundings were replaced with gray walls that felt akin to the designs of their college’s hallways.

Another skeleton laid against the wall. This time, it had a uniform on, the school’s patch ripped away.

“How old could they have been when they got stuck down here?” Chaewon thought with a shudder.

The scene only became eerier when they came across a large pile of broken pencils scattered on the ground.

The two girls followed the trail until they entered a brightly lit room. Immediately a spotlight shined on them. After Chaewon’s eyes adjusted, she saw even more skeletons littered on the floor around them. She could hear voices screaming and begging for life.

Please, just give me one more chance!

I only misspelled one word! Don’t kill me!

I haven’t even covered that in college!

Chaewon was brought back to reality by Minju tapping her shoulder and pointing at the monster standing on a dais across from them. She had the body of a lion and the head of a woman wearing too much makeup. On her chest was a blue ribbon that read “THIS MONSTER HAS BEEN RATED EXEMPLARY”. Behind her, another entrance extended into the darkness.

“A Sphinx…” Minju muttered.

“What, aren’t those based in Egyptian mythology?”

“Right and wrong!” the monster’s voice suddenly boomed throughout the room, bars coming down on both exits.

No running then. Chaewon thought.

“While the original Sphinxes were from Egypt, several of us eventually migrated to Greece and formed our own history,” she said in the type of voice you’d expect a gameshow host to have–loud and full of energy.

“That was just a taste of what you’re in for tonight! Welcome, lucky contestants, to… ANSWER THAT RIDDLE!”

Canned applause began blasting through hidden speakers followed by a very corny gameshow jingle.

“We have a very wonderful prize lined up if you pass the test!” the Sphinx announced as a loud drumroll began to play. At the climax, all of the spotlights pointed to the barred gate behind her. “Your freedom!”

“And if you fail? Well, I get to eat you! Sounds fun, right? Now, who will be your team representative?”

Before Chaewon could volunteer herself, Minju stepped forward.

“I can do this, unnie. I know the question she’s going to ask,” she said while looking back at her.

Chaewon wanted to argue, but seeing as this was a test of brains, maybe Minju was right. She remembered last summer when the child of Athena mentioned a quiz bee her cabin won every year. These are the moments they probably lived for.

“I see we have our contestant–Kim Minju!” the Sphinx said despite Minju never mentioning her name. “Are you ready?”

Minju took a deep breath. “Yes, ask your riddle.”

“Twenty riddles, to be precise,” the monster corrected.

“Wait, what?”

“One riddle was just too easy, so we decided to raise our standards! To pass, you need to score 100%.”

“Isn’t it 75% in most schools?”

At this the Sphinx laughed. “Dear contestant, we’re trying to prove that you’re exemplary, not average.”

Minju glanced back at Chaewon nervously, and all the child of Hades could do was give a reassuring nod.

“Alright then, ask the first question.”

The Sphinx’s eyes widened in excitement. “What is the capital of the Philippines?”

Minju’s brows furrowed, and for a moment, Chaewon was afraid that she didn’t know the answer.

“It’s Manila, but–”

“Correct!” the monster announced, more canned laughter following. “Make sure to mark your answer clearly on the test booklet with a number 2 pencil.”

Minju was confused until a small podium rose up from the ground with said pencil and test booklet.

“Please double check that your answers are legible, so the machine can read it. If it can’t, it counts as a mistake,” the Sphinx explained.

“What machine?” Minju asked.

The Sphinx then dramatically pointed to the corner of the room where the spotlights now shone on a beat up bronze box that looked like it had been through several repairs. On its side were a bunch of gears and levers as well as a large Greek letter that Chaewon’s brain automatically recognized– Ȇta. What it meant though, she wasn’t sure.

“Now, to the next question–” the Sphinx began to say before Minju interrupted again.

“What happened to the riddle? In the legends, you asked one to Oedipus.”

“You Athena children and your pride,” the Sphinx replied, clearly annoyed. “Why ask something I know you already know? The riddle about the man has long been solved. Just like the amount of questions, we had to adjust to give more difficult ones. Now, second question! What is the square root of 289?”

“17,” Minju answered. “But–”

“Correct! Which sport has its name confused with the brand of a flying disc?”

“Ultimate, but–”

“Correct again! Now, what do you call the powerhouse of the cell?”

“Mitochondria. Wait, hold up!” Minju yelled.

Chaewon was confused why she wouldn’t just power through all these questions. She clearly knew the answers.

“If you were going to ask riddles, at least ask real riddles!” Minju complained.

This was a much different Minju from the one that had been down in the dumps just an hour earlier. Was the competitive mode of Athena kids that intense? The only other time Chaewon had seen it was during the chariot race last winter. She had been more upset about losing than the others knew.

“Riddles are supposed to make you think. What you’re giving me are fun facts and basic arithmetic.”

“FINE! You are just like that bratty Athena kid who showed up here years ago. If you want a riddle so badly, I’ll ask one,” the Sphinx finally said.

Minju looked triumphant, but the monster wasn’t done speaking.

“The catch? The one who will be answering it is your friend, Kim Chaewon.”

Chaewon froze at the mention of her name that she had also never disclosed.

Noticing the shift in Minju’s expression, the Sphinx laughed. “What? You don’t trust your friend to give the right answer? You asked for a riddle, and I am giving one.”

“I-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean–” Minju stammered.

“It’s fine, Min. I got this,” Chaewon said, trying to be confident, but with the spotlights now shining on her along with the Sphinx’s hungry gaze, it was difficult.

“Now, all or nothing. There exists a mother and a daughter, one gives birth to the other and she, in turn, gives birth to the first. Who are they?”

Chaewon was stumped. What kind of question was that?

She tried to glance back at Minju, but the Sphinx growled. “No cheating! You have one minute!”

Chaewon’s mind raced to think for an answer.

A mother and a daughter that give birth to each other…

It was both gross and impossible sounding.

“Thirty seconds!” the Sphinx announced.

Chaewon was just about to resign herself from giving an answer and pulling out her sword to fight when she felt something whizz by her ear and into one of the spotlights above.

The Sphinx’s side remained lit while theirs was now covered in darkness. Looking at how the room’s visibility was essentially halved now, Chaewon realized the answer to the question.

“Hey! Those lights are expensive! Don’t think that distraction is going to extend your time limit. Kim Chaewon, what is your answer?” the Sphinx demanded.

“Night and Day!” she answered loudly.

“That is… correct,” the Sphinx said in a much less enthusiastic tone compared to the loud applause being played on the speakers.

Chaewon looked around for Minju, but the child of Athena had somehow disappeared. Behind the Sphinx, the bars began to rise.

“No, NO! Your answer is technically wrong! You didn’t give the most accurate response!” the Sphinx said, her head fidgeting wildly. It was as if she couldn’t handle someone being right.

Chaewon took a step forward, still confused as to where Minju went, when the Sphinx growled, baring her sharp claws.

The child of Hades drew her weapon in defense. “You said I was right! You can’t just walk that back!”

“As the test master, I reserve the right to decide if a contestant should be held back!”

The Sphinx crouched low, a telltale sign that she was about to pounce, but before she could, a bronze dagger sprouted from her side.

“W-What…” she groaned in pain before falling off the dais.

A second later, Minju materialized in front of her, her magical Giants baseball cap at her side.

“Cheater…” the Sphinx mumbled before crumbling to dust.

“Nice move,” Chaewon said after making her way over.

“And good on you for answering the riddle. I didn’t doubt you for a second,” Minju replied with a smirk.

“Oh, I think you doubted me plenty,” Chaewon chuckled, pointing back up to the broken spotlight. On the ground below it was a femur bone that the child of Athena likely threw towards it.

Minju shrugged. “A little push never hurt anyone.”

“I need to ask though. What was the accurate answer the Sphinx was talking about?” Chaewon wondered.

The child of Athena smiled again. “In Greek myth, Nyx, the personification of night gave birth to Hemera, who represented the day. Now, come on. We should go before the exit closes.”

~~~~

Sure enough, the moment they stepped out of the room, the bars slammed down behind them.

The two girls continued their journey forward, not knowing what trial they would have to face next.

Chapter Text

Yujin thought that because she'd experienced shadow travel before that she would be more prepared this time, but she was sorely mistaken. Mrs. O'Leary bounded through the darkness at the speed of a jet plane, her two passengers holding on for dear life.

"Do not, under any circumstances, let go," Percy had told them during dinner. "If you do, your souls will be lost to the darkness, and Nico is going to have a very hard time finding you."

It was sound advice, but he'd said that in the tone of someone telling their little sister not to let go of the handlebars of a bike.

The other thing that stood out due to the prolonged journey was the cold. Yujin's hands were freezing over. The only thing keeping her from letting go was Wonyoung, who was trying her best to hold on next to her. At some point during the journey, their hands found each other, and Yujin focused on that tiny bit of warmth to keep herself conscious.

Yujin didn't know if it had been a few minutes or a few days, but eventually, the darkness was replaced by a burst of light. When her eyes adjusted, she could just make out the ring of cabins around them.

They'd arrived right in the middle of Camp Half-Blood in South Korea.

"Yujin? Wonyoung?" a familiar voice said, though from where, Yujin couldn't decipher as the fatigue had finally taken over, causing her to fall off Mrs. O'Leary and onto the ground.

~~~~

Several scenes flashed through Yujin's mind as she dreamed, things she could barely comprehend.

She saw Yuri and Yena in the middle of a ranch surrounded by red cows.

She also saw Chaewon and Minju playing a gameshow...?

Again, everything was flying by so fast that Yujin couldn't tell exactly what she was even seeing.

Finally though, one vision decided to play for longer than five seconds.

Yujin found herself in what she first thought was a hollow cave. In the distance, she saw what appeared to be a ray of light and decided to go towards it.

As she walked though, something she quickly noticed was the heat. This may have been a dream, but she could feel herself sweating from the temperature, a stark contrast from the freezing cold of the shadow realm they'd just traversed.

When she reached the end of the tunnel, she almost found out the cause of the heat the hard way, nearly stepping over the edge of a cliff.

It wasn't light from the sun that she had seen, it was the reddish glow of lava bubbling a hundred feet below her. Yujin was standing inside a volcano.

She looked around the ridge circling the cavern and noticed several metal bridges leading to a platform in the center covered with machines, cauldrons, and forges. She could just make out small dark figures working to build something.

Yujin steeled herself, reminding herself that this was just a dream and carefully made her way to one of the bridges.

The hot updrafts nearly sent her flying on several occasions, but she eventually reached the middle platform.

The figures she'd seen working were a new type Yujin had never seen before. They had the faces of dogs with black snouts, brown eyes, and pointy ears. Their bodies were sleek and dark like a seal, and they waddled around on stubby legs that appeared to be half-flipper, half-foot. It made Yujin wonder if back then during the primordial times, the creators of the universe just spun a wheel to mix and match different animal parts to make monsters.

"When will the weapon be ready?" asked the dog-seal who appeared to be the boss.

"We need more lava to set the pieces, sir. This forge isn't as strong as St. Helens. Hephaestus has put that one on lockdown since the last war," one of them replied.

"Then incite this volcano more! We chose Mt. Taal not for its size, but its potential. The lava has been building up for a long time."

The worker nodded and rushed off to another bridge that led downwards. These creatures must have been very heat-resistant for them to look this comfortable working in these conditions.

"Listen, everyone! Kronos has given us a second chance, so we must make an even stronger weapon than before! Do you want to be part of the new world or not?" the lead dog-seal then asked loudly, the other workers cheering back in response.

A stronger weapon?

Yujin's eyes drifted to the anvil at the center of the platform where large pieces of metal were laying for assembly.

At first, she thought it was a fancy pickaxe, but from the sharpness of the blades, she soon realized it was a dual sided scythe. The six-foot blades were crescent shaped, their material a mix between celestial bronze and tempered steel, just like the weapon she'd seen Seoyoung use in their battle on Jeju Island.

"Get a good look demigod... it will be the last thing you'll see before I cut you and your gods up into pieces," a chilling voice whispered in Yujin's ear.

She stumbled back in surprise, looking around for the source, but it was as if the voice was carried away by the wind.

"I need to warn the others about this place," Yujin muttered to herself before the cavern began to shake.

Looking over the edge, the lava was bubbling even more, like a carbonated drink that had been shaken too much.

Uh oh...

It happened so fast that Yujin couldn't even react. The lava shot up, engulfing the entire cavern.

~~~~

Yujin woke up with a start. She quickly felt her body, checking if she hadn't been burnt to a crisp.

"Oh my gods, you're finally up," a familiar voice said. When Yujin looked over, she saw it was Hayoung, head counselor of the Apollo cabin. They were in the infirmary at the Big House. On the bed next to her, Wonyoung was still asleep.

"Wonyoung... how is she?" Yujin asked immediately.

Hayoung looked over to the child of Aphrodite and replied. "She's fine. I checked both of your vitals and it was mostly fatigue. I've already bandaged up your injuries and given you ambrosia squares. I'd let Wonyoung rest a bit longer. It must've been hard running around down there for a week."

Yujin tilted her head at the last bit. "Wait, a week?"

That couldn't have been. They'd fallen into the Labyrinth a little bit past lunch and when they left the Jackson's, it had been evening. Given the time difference, they couldn't have been gone longer than a day.

Hayoung nodded and pointed at the calendar by the door.

June 15.

It was June 8 when they'd left.

"I heard stories of time moving differently in the Labyrinth," Hayoung explained. "Yena and the others went down there the day after you girls fell in, and we haven't heard from them since."

This made Yujin do another double take. "Yena-unnie went down there? With who?"

"Chaewon, Minju, and Yuri. They got a quest from the Oracle. We thought that since you two appeared that they'd resurface soon after, but we were wrong. That hellhound who brought you here is with Seunggi right now. She seemed nice enough."

"Y-Yeah, she's a friend of Percy Jackson," Yujin answered.

Hayoung's eyes widened. "As in from the New York camp? It looks like you have a lot to explain later at the meeting."

At that moment, Wonyoung began to stir next to them, likely from the sound of their conversation.

"I'll go tell the others you're up. Take some time to explain things to Wonyoung before they get here," Hayoung said before getting up and leaving.

Yujin looked over at her girlfriend worriedly. She was still trying to wrap her head around the dream she'd just had of the volcano, and now she had to catch Wonyoung up on the time jump and how their friends had willingly jumped into that death maze after them.

"Yujin? What's wrong? Where are we?" Wonyoung quietly asked after opening her eyes.

"Camp Half Blood. We made it back," Yujin replied, trying for a reassuring smile that the child of Aphrodite immediately saw through.

Her brows furrowed. "What's wrong?"

Yujin sighed. "Can't get anything by you..."

She then went on to explain everything she'd learned in the past ten minutes. Wonyoung's expression had shifted from surprise, worry, and fear by the time Yujin had finished.

"Oh gods, they went down there after us...?"

"Yeah, they probably don't even know that we made it out. I wouldn't try to worry about them too much though. I believe they'll make it out too."

"But still, they only went down there because we were careless," Wonyoung said quietly.

"No, Wonyoung. Don't think it was our fault. We couldn't have known there was a gate here at camp. If one of them had dropped down there, we would've done the same." Yujin replied. While she also felt the feeling of guilt Wonyoung had right now, she didn't want to show it. Instead, she grabbed her girlfriend's shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "They'll be back."

"I hope so..."

A bit later, Hayoung returned with Eunbi who helped escort them down to the rec room for the debriefing.

~~~~

"That is certainly a worrying vision, Yujin," Seunggi said after she had told everyone about her dream.

"Those creatures you described; they sound like telekhines," Eunbi commented. "They were the ones who crafted Kronos' first scythe that he used to cut up his father, Ouranos. They also created the Trident of Poseidon. Once Zeus found out they integrated dark magic into their creations though, he replaced them with cyclopes."

"They mentioned something... about this being their second chance from Kronos," Yujin recalled, the mention of how those creatures created her father's strongest weapon making her shift uncomfortably.

"Yes, because during the last war in Manhattan, they aligned themselves with the Titan," Seunggi explained. "That weapon you described, it could be more dangerous than his first scythe."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go over there and destroy it before it's finished," Nako suggested, casually spinning a dagger on her finger.

"Sure, let's just book the first flight to the Philippines," Hitomi sarcastically remarked. "Mt. Taal isn't across the street, dummy."

"It is if we use the Labyrinth," Sakura cut in, the room silencing as a result.

No one seemed very eager for another expedition into the maze.

"If Minju and the others can find a way to navigate the Labyrinth, it could be possible. Until they return though, all we can do is continue guarding the camp border and the gate in the forest," Seunggi said.

"Okay, changing topics, what was it like meeting Percy Jackson?" Nagyung of the Aphrodite cabin suddenly asked. "Isn't he like, a legend?"

"I-I mean, he looked like a powerful demigod, but he was pretty down-to-earth," Yujin replied, surprised by the question.

"Did he offer to help?" Yeji of the Athena cabin followed up.

"He said he'd look into it. The US is really far from us after all and magical communications are still down."

"So, we're on our own," Nako summarized.

"Well, Mrs. O'Leary is here, the hellhound. She's Percy's friend."

"I'm so sure one hellhound is going to help us when Seoyoung's army comes out of that talent," the child of Ares quipped.

"Wait, Seoyoung? Is she down in the Labyrinth too?" Yujin asked confusedly.

Eunbi looked at Hayoung. "You didn't tell them?"

The Apollo head counselor shrugged. "There's already so much going on. I didn't want to overload them with information."

The child of Hephaestus sighed. "I'll get you up to speed on that later. What I can tell you right now is that finding you two wasn't their only objective for this quest."

Yujin's worry spiked even more. It was one thing for their friends to be down there looking for them without knowing they were already back. It was another to find out Seoyoung was down there too with her army.

She glanced over at Wonyoung, who was running a hand through her hair. She knew that habit. It meant that she was stressed and scared.

Just like earlier, Yujin tried to comfort her, sliding her hand under the table to take hold of Wonyoung's hand.

So much was happening right now, and the only thing that could get Yujin's racing mind to slow down was the sight of Wonyoung's worried expression.

"Calm down, Yuj. Take it one step at a time," she said to herself just before someone burst into the room.

It was Chaeyeon, who Yujin had just realized was missing from this meeting. Eunbi had mentioned the Hermes cabin taking guard duty in passing while they made their way to the rec room earlier.

"Guys, at the gate..." she began to say, tired and out of breath.

All eyes were on Chaeyeon now as she completed her sentence.

"Yena and Yuri are back and they're not alone."

"You mean Minju and Chaewon?" Yujin asked.

Chaeyeon shook her head.

"No, two new demigods."

Chapter Text

At first, Yena and Yuri weren’t sure how the magic business card worked. How exactly were they supposed to find Seoyoung’s location with a piece of paper that only had Park Seoyoung written on it?

As they navigated through the tunnels though, Yena started to feel it. The card would grow warmer when they walked in one direction then go cold in others. She and Yuri deduced that warmer meant they were getting closer to Seoyoung and colder meant they were moving away.

The two began following the card like a compass, passing through caves and jumping over small cracks that fell into the darkness. Yena wondered if the Labyrinth could lead them anywhere, would there also be an exit to the underworld?

She shook the thought out of her head when the card suddenly began heating up more.

“Aish, it’s burning now,” Yena grimaced, accidentally dropping the card on the ground.

“That must mean we’re close…” Yuri said as she leaned down to pick it up. Yena wanted to warn her of the temperature, but she held it just fine.

“My dad is literally the sun god. We’re used to handling hot things,” Yuri said with a soft laugh.

Before Yena could make a witty remark, the sound of people talking suddenly caught their attention.

The two girls crept towards a light from another path shining into their corridor.

“I’m just saying, Rei, the things we're doing are getting dangerous,” a female voice said.

“But it’s for a bigger purpose, isn’t it? Nothing good is ever easy to accomplish, Jiwon. We knew that when we signed up,” another girl replied.

“Stop it, both of you,” one more female replied. “I get both your points, but our first order of business should be finding the center without dying.”

Yuri and Yena peeked around the corner to see the three girls sitting around a makeshift campfire. One was blonde, another looked foreign with black hair tied pucca style, and the last had wolf cut. No one else was with them.

Yena suddenly remembered a dream Chaewon had shared with them about Seoyoung sending scouts into the Labyrinth. Were these girls part of her army?

“Gaeul-unnie, are you even sure you know where we’re going?” the girl who Yena guessed was Rei asked.

The short-haired girl heaved a big sigh. “Navigating is something children of Hermes are supposed to be good at, but down here, it’s a challenge even for us.”

“I really don’t like this, girls. You heard the way Seoyoung gave orders. She’s sending her troops out into this maze like we’re expendable. We already lost Minhee and Yeoreum. We could be next,” Jiwon, Yena had determined, said in a scared tone.

“Think about everything Seoyoung has done for us though,” Rei argued. “We were running and hiding from monsters until she showed up. Our godly parents left us for dead!”

“We could’ve held out though. Maybe we would’ve found that camp–”

“I told you girls to stop arguing. I’ve been here longer than the two of you, and all I can say is that Seoyoung is a results-oriented person. If you two want to stick around, you have to be willing to do things you may disagree with,” Gaeul cut in again. “We should get ready to move. The longer we stay in one spot, the more time the Labyrinth has to send trouble our way.”

“They don’t seem to be on the same page,” Yena whispered.

Yuri could only shake her head. “What that girl said earlier, that’s how Seoyoung’s numbers grew. She’d target demigods before a satyr protector could find them and fill their heads with propaganda.”

“Maybe we can talk to them,” Yena offered. “We could try to get them on our side.”

Yena tried to make a move, but Yuri grabbed her arm. “Yah, are you crazy? Our focus should be finding Seoyoung. We can’t afford to tip her off that we’re looking for her.”

“Still, I think we could convince them, let’s just try-” Yena poked her head around the corner again only to be met with a celestial bronze sword.

“Who are you?” Gaeul demanded, Jiwon and Rei holding out their weapons behind her.

Yena raised her arms. “We don’t want any trouble.”

“Yeah, I definitely believe you,” Gaeul sneered, pressing her sword a little bit closer to Yena’s neck. Then, she noticed the presence of Yuri who was holding her bow out defensively. “Wait, I know you… you’re the traitor–Seoyoung’s former lieutenant.”

“If you know me, then you should stand down before things get messy,” Yuri answered in a steely tone.

Yena tentatively took a step back, Gaeul’s sword following her. She needed to grab onto Lightbreaker to have a fighting chance.

“If we turn them in, maybe Seoyoung will put us back on overworld duty,” Jiwon suggested.

“Really? That’s what you’re worried about right now?” Rei asked.

“Seoyoung is tricking you all,” Yena risked saying. “She doesn’t care how many demigods die to raise Kronos. If you help us, we can assure you a place at Camp Half-Blood. People there are way nicer.”

“Liar! We know that you’ll just have us executed once we get there!” Rei shouted. Gaeul, though, reacted differently, her sword suddenly shaking in her hand.

“I swear on the River Styx that I’m not! All Seoyoung has done is treat you girls like pawns. The world she and Kronos envision isn’t what you think it is,” Yena tried to convince them again, but this time, Gaeul’s grip became firmer.

“We’ll see about that. Tell your traitor friend that if she doesn’t drop the bow, I’m skewering you,” she threatened.

Yena glanced back at Yuri whose bow was still trained right at Gaeul’s face.

“Yuri… stand down…” the child of Zeus eventually said.

“What?” Unnie, we can’t-”

“Just do it!”

The child of Apollo sighed and dropped her weapon. Rei and Jiwon immediately went to her side and grabbed her.

When their eyes met again, Yena mouthed one word.

Seoyoung.

Yuri’s eyes widened, realizing the older girl’s plan.

These girls could lead them right to the child of Hecate.

~~~~

Turns out Gaeul had one of Seoyoung’s business cards too. The short-haired girl held it out as they went through different corridors. It made sense actually. What good would sending out scouts be if they couldn’t find their way back to make reports.

“So, care to tell us what you three were doing down here?” Yena asked aloud to try and build some rapport with their captors.

“Isn’t that a question we should be asking you?” Rei replied.

“Oh, us? We were just looking for the center of the Labyrinth,” Yena said nonchalantly.

“You too?” Jiwon commented before being shushed by Rei.

Yena could sense it. This Jiwon girl was the most doubtful of Seoyoung. If they could get her on their side…

“Of course. We need to find it before Seoyoung does or else we’ll have an army knocking on our doorstep ready to kill us all.”

“Another lie,” Gaeul scoffed. “The demigods who join our cause will be spared.”

“As if that makes things better?” Yuri muttered before speaking louder. “Do you know why I left? Because I saw what Seoyoung was like up close. She is a ruthless killer who will stop at nothing to get what she wants.”

“Quiet now! Both of you!” Rei said as they pushed them along.

Eventually, Gaeul stopped a set of tall bronze doors.

“Figures they’re still here,” Jiwon complained.

“That’s why we were sent out to find alternative routes,” Gaeul reminded.

“I just don’t like this place…”

“How come?” Yena asked.

“Heh, you’ll see when you meet our host,” Rei said before pushing the doors open.

~~~~

They found themselves in a wide cavern with a dirt covered floor enclosed by twelve foot tall concrete walls that had rows of empty seats above them filled with monsters. It felt like an arena for one of those monster truck rallies she used to see on TV except littering the floor were countless skulls and bones. At the center, there was a battle ongoing between a dracanae and a blemmyae. The snake woman slithered around poking at the stocky monster with a javelin.

Yena’s gaze fixated on a large green banner with a trident on it, hanging below a separate balcony overlooking the arena. Watching the action with a grin on his face was a fifteen foot tall giant with red skin and blue wave tattoos. He was only wearing a loincloth, making him look a bit like a big sumo wrestler. Before she could wrap her head around the absurdity of that thought, she saw the woman standing next to him–Seoyoung wearing a black shirt and military cargo pants.

Suddenly a high-pitched shriek caught Yena’s attention. Back at the center of the arena, the blemmyae had turned the tables and managed to steal the dracanae’s javelin. The snake woman’s tail had been impaled by her own weapon, keeping her in place for the blemmyae to throw a big punch that knocked her to the ground. The giant above them laughed and gave a thumbs down sign.

The blemmyae grinned and Yena closed her eyes just in time before he finished the job. All that was left of the dracanae was monster dust.

The giant stood up and cheered.

“That was a fun fight, but nothing too special. What more do you have to offer, child of Hecate?”

Seoyoung gave a tight-lipped smile and stood up as well.

“Lord Antaeus,” she said loud enough for them to hear even on the ground. “You have been a very gracious host, and we are glad to have provided you with entertainment in exchange for passage through your domain,”

“A privilege I have yet to grant. Come on, I’ve seen better fights provided by that Hermes kid years ago,” he bellowed.

“Yes, you have been very kind with your time given how you have only recently reformed. As a parting gift, why don’t we show you our greatest offering yet–a child of Zeus!” Seoyoung’s eyes then locked with Yena’s. She must’ve seen them enter. “Choi Yena!”

Seoyoung’s crowd of monsters booed and began tossing whatever was close to them like rocks and empty seats.

“A child of Zeus? That is excellent! She should die well!” said Antaeus.

“Yah, Seoyoung! Why are you even here? Let us go!” Yuri demanded.

The child of Hecate smirked. “You had your chance to come back to us, Yuri. You will die after your girlfriend here.”

“And who will this child of Zeus be fighting?”

“One of our own, of course!” Seoyoung replied. “It’s always more interesting to see fellow demigods fight to the death. Kim Jiwon! You will fight this battle for a chance to show your allegiance to our cause!”

“W-What…” the blonde girl quivered. Gaeul and Rei looked equally surprised.

“Wait, commander! I volunteer to fight!” Rei offered.

“Heh, if your friend dies, you can have your shot too,” Seoyoung answered as two blemmyae suddenly dropped down next to them and grabbed Yena and Jiwon. “Fight well, child of Apollo! Maybe you can replace Yuri as lieutenant!”

The blemmyae dragged the two girls to the center and walked back to stop Yuri, Gaeul, and Rei from interfering.

Yena could see the fear in Jiwon’s eyes as she hastily adjusted her bronze chestplate and helmet.

“You don’t have to do this…:” Yena said calmly.

“I-I have to… to gain Seoyoung’s trust,” Jiwon replied, her sword shaking in her hand.

“And then what? Wait for the next time she needs to use you as a sacrifice?”

“Too much talking! Just fight already!” Antaeus growled.

“I’m sorry!” Jiwon shouted before charging Yena.

The child of Zeus stepped back just in time to dodge Jiwon’s first attack. She then took out Lightbreaker from her pocket, uncapping the pen to reveal her golden sword to block the next swing.

Yena had to give Jiwon credit. Despite her nervousness, she had obviously been trained on how to use a sword. Still, her technique was a bit sloppy, and after the two exchanged a few parries, Jiwon made a mistake. She swung her sword horizontally, giving Yena the opportunity to duck and hit her with a sweeping leg kick that knocked her off her feet. Jiwon’s sword clattered a few feet away. The child of Apollo wasn’t out of the fight yet though as she quickly brought out a bow and fired an arrow that grazed Yena’s shoulder. As expected, she was a good shot.

Yena ducked and rolled for the next minute, not being able to get closer, causing the crowd to boo.

“Boring! Where’s the bloodshed!” Antaeus demanded.

Jiwon looked up to the crowd, and Yena took advantage. She charged in and sliced Jiwon’s bow in half. She was now defenseless as Yena pointed her sword at her chest.

“J-Just get it over with,” Jiwon mumbled, not daring to look her in the eye.

Behind Yena, she could hear Rei screaming Jiwon’s name. When Yena looked up, she saw Antaeus begrudgingly giving a thumbs down.

Yena scoffed and sheathed her sword. “Yeah, not happening!”

“You dare defy me?” the giant questioned. “You will pay for your insolence!”

“Oh, so scary! Why not come down and say that to my face?” Yena taunted.

Antaeus growled and did just that, jumping down from the balcony, landing right in front of the child of Zeus.

Yena turned to Jiwon who was still cowering in fear.

“When I give the signal, run.” she said before facing Antaeus again.

“I will not make the same mistake I did with Percy Jackson years ago. I will kill you on the spot!” the giant yelled before charging in barehanded.

Yena skillfully dodged his first swing, giving Jiwon the chance to run away. When she was out of danger, Yena uncapped her sword again and sliced right through Antaeus’ gut. That should’ve been enough to disintegrate most normal monsters, but Antaeus only grinned. Instead of blood, sand began to pour out from the gash, and when it landed on the ground, dirt collected around it up until it reached the wound. The dirt then hardened and broke away, leaving no trace of a recent attack.

“Don’t be so cocky, demigod!” he bellowed.

Antaeus charged again, and this time, Yena wasn’t so lucky. Just as she was about to swing Lightbreaker, the giant reached his hand out and grabbed Yena’s wrist. Antaeus raised her up, but Yena was ready. She dropped Lightbreaker and grabbed it with her left hand to cut a gash down Antaeus’ arm.

He let go of her and groaned in pain, but just like before, the wound healed in a matter of seconds.

“Give it up! My mother, Gaea, protects me. Who protects you?”

That’s when it clicked. Gaea was literally mother earth. If she was protecting Antaeus, what would happen if he was injured off the ground?

Yena steeled herself, channeling her strength for one last gamble.

“Why would I need protection? Are you that scared of losing?” she taunted again, getting Antaeus to growl and charge. Yena took the challenge and charged as well.

At the very last second, Yena slid right between Antaeus’ legs, grabbing his ankle in the process. With a defiant yell, Yena pulled the giant into the air.

“LET ME GO!” Antaeus yelled while flailing like a freshly caught fish.

Yena wanted nothing more than to drop him–he was really heavy after all–but she needed to go higher.

She soared into the dark cavern ceiling, the only light being produced by her glowing sword. When Yena felt they were high enough, she looked down at Antaeus.

“You want me to let you go? Be my guest,” she said before releasing her grip.

As Antaeus fell, Yena flew after him, using her sword to slice and cut him all over. Sand poured out of him, but the dirt was too far out of reach. By the time Yena landed at the center of the arena, Antaeus was no more–the only thing left being a mound of sand.

“CHOI YENA!” Seoyoung yelled from the balcony. “All you do is interfere! Now, I will make sure you die!”

Yena looked around and saw all the monsters in the crowd getting ready to flood the arena.

“Unnie! Over here!” Yuri’s voice called.

When Yena turned around she saw the doors had been opened again with the help of… Gaeul? The blemmyae guards were already piles of dust next to them.

Yena flew over quickly, helping shut the door just before the monsters could get through.

“We need to hurry! That won’t hold them for long!” Gaeul advised. Next to her were Yuri and Jiwon.

“Wait, where’s your other friend?” Yena asked.

“S-She wanted to stay behind…” Jiwon replied.

Yena’s heart sank, but she had no time to think as the banging on the door became louder and louder.

The group of four ran for what felt like hours, cutting through corridors and tunnels until something caught Yuri’s eye.

“A gate marker!” she said, pointing at a glowing Greek Delta Yena almost ran past.

Yuri quickly placed her hand on the symbol, causing the hallway to shake until a gate had opened.

The four girls jumped through, the doorway closing behind them almost immediately.

Yena was in a daze, sunlight beaming right into her face as a familiar voice called.

“Yena? Is that you?”

“C-Chaeyeon…?” she mumbled before her world went black.

Chapter Text

When Minju had suggested taking a break, Chaewon wanted to refuse. There was nowhere in the Labyrinth that felt like a safe place to stop, and the room they had stopped at just now wasn't doing much to buck the trend. It was made of black polished marble with different symbols engraved on the wall that definitely weren't Greek. It felt like a tomb, and Chaewon didn't feel like taking a nap here.

Unfortunately, her body felt differently. At the mention of sleep, the child of Hades finally felt the weight of their excursion thus far fall on her shoulders. They had been running for who knows how long, facing multiple trials that expended a lot of energy. Looking at Minju, the child of Athena didn't look like she was doing too well. Her eyes had dark circles around them, her brown hair was a mess, and her exposed body parts were covered in cuts and grime. Chaewon had to imagine she looked the same or worse.

"Fine, but I'll take the first watch. I'm a Hades kid. I can stay up a few extra minutes," she said, even if it was a lie. Chaewon just wanted Minju to have a chance to rest and not think about the quest. It was obvious that beyond the physical exhaustion, Minju was still being affected by the prophecy that she wouldn't completely disclose.

"Alright, but if you sense anything, wake me up right away," Minju replied through a yawn.

Chaewon nodded and watched the brunette pull a bedroll out of her backpack to lay down on. She was out cold after a minute. It would've been amusing if she'd witnessed it under different circumstances. Staring down at her, Chaewon couldn't help but think about how peaceful Minju looked right now, like a sleeping goddess.

Without anyone to talk to now, though, the atmosphere became eerily quiet, the only sounds coming from deep within the corridors connecting to the room they were in. It was nerve-wracking, every little shift in the air causing Chaewon to tense up.

Thankfully, nothing ended up happening. She didn't know how much time had passed, but Minju eventually woke up and told her to take her turn sleeping.

She'd been hoping not to have any dreams, but with her luck, it was basically a given.

~~~~

Chaewon found herself in a gigantic palace that made Seoul Station look like a broom closet. She could hear the sound of loud voices arguing and followed it until she reached a door that was slightly ajar.

Inside were a set of giant thrones spread out in a U shape. Some were empty, but the ones that were occupied had 12-foot tall beings seated in them.

"The gods... this is Olympus," Chaewon realized.

"Can we really trust these demigods to do the job?" the man in the middle asked. He had a neatly trimmed beard and wore a blue pinstriped suit. He must have been Zeus.

"We trusted them before. What's so different from doing it again?" someone from his left mused. It was Mr. D. She'd recognize that leopard-spotted Hawaiian shirt anywhere.

"It's just that these heroes are new and we have just begun settling into this land," Zeus replied while scratching his beard.

"And whose idea was it to try it out here? Yours. Now that I find out you have another child, I'm starting to question your motives," the woman next to him chimed in. She wore a flowing white dress with a glowing cloak of peacock feathers over her shoulders. She was the one out of all the attendees who looked most like a Greek god, and from where she was positioned, Chaewon decided she must've been Hera.

Zeus' face dropped at his infidelity being called out, but eventually pressed on regardless.

"The point is, Kronos is coming back, meaning we have to prepare for another war. Minor gods and demigods are turning to his side just like before. What more could they want? We built them cabins and began claiming them faster just like what we promised to Jackson," he said frustratedly, slamming his fist into the side of his golden throne, which caused the entire room to shake.

"Okay... to be fair, faster is a relative term," a thin man in a postman's attire replied nonchalantly. Chaewon recognized him from their first quest–Hermes.

"Yeah, we're at a lot of places at once, you know? Hard to keep track of all of them," a man wearing a black biker jacket, Ares, added.

Zeus pinched the bridge of his nose. "Okay, that at least explains the demigods, but what of the minor gods? Are they really that ungrateful? This is driving me crazy. Ganymede! Refill my cup!"

In a flash, a young man in a Greek chiton and sandals appeared next to him with a pitcher of golden liquid–nectar–into Zeus' chalice. Chaewon didn't know if she was seeing things, but she could've sworn that Ganymede stared right at her with an expression that said "Can you believe this guy?" before disappearing just as quickly.

"While I believe we have given them cabins at the camps and bigger lots here on Olympus, I will point out one important request that hasn't been given them–respect," answered a woman sitting opposite from Hermes. She was dressed up like a professor with dark slacks and a buttoned up long sleeved shirt. She had brown hair and stormy gray eyes, which was a dead giveaway to Chaewon that this was Minju's mother, Athena.

Zeus scoffed. "Respect? There is a reason we have the distinction between major and minor gods. If they can't be content with the gifts we have given them, maybe we should remind them who is in charge."

"And give them more reason to join Kronos' forces? I'd rather not. I propose that for now, we see what the demigods can find out and prepare from there," Athena said, the room going silent after. She was the goddess of wisdom after all. Her word probably meant more in these situations than the other gods would like to admit.

"Very well. Better for them to put in the work before we have to step in," Zeus grumbled.

Something about that phrase irked Chaewon though.

"Put in the work?"

"If there is nothing else, before we adjourn, I will once again remind you to keep an eye on any minor gods looking to join Kronos' side. We cannot allow a repeat of New York. Understood?" Zeus said.

The other gods nodded and with that, Zeus grabbed a large solid lightning bolt from his side and slammed it into the ground, creating a bright light that shook Chaewon out of her dream.

~~~~

She sat up immediately, her eyes still slightly blinded by the white light. When her vision adjusted, she expected to see Minju staring at her. To her surprise and slight disappointment, she wasn't.

Chaewon's gaze darted around the room for any sign of the child of Athena and eventually found her a bit off to her left, appearing to be focused on some of the art on the wall.

She chuckled and stood up to approach her, but as she got closer, Chaewon's smile began to fade. She sensed something wrong. A voice was whispering that wasn't Minju's.

"Yah, Minju, what're you doing over there?" she tentatively called out.

At this, the brunette turned to face her with a tired expression.

"O-Oh, unnie, you're up," she mumbled. "I was just... admiring the hieroglyphics."

Chaewon nodded but remained skeptical. "Are you okay?"

Minju straightened up and cleared her throat. "Yeah, of course. If you're ready, we can start moving. We don't know how much time we lost."

She then went back over to grab the bedroll before Chaewon could speak again.

Something was going on...

~~~~

"Left here," Minju said when they approached a fork in the road. She seemed a lot more decisive than before, deciding their turns in less than a few seconds every time. Chaewon wanted to believe that it was because she'd finally gotten some rest, but the uneasiness she'd felt earlier hadn't left. With their pacs, she didn't get the chance to explain her dream either.

Eventually, they made a turn towards a tunnel made of black rock, accompanied by an increase in temperature. Chaewon suggested turning back, but the path they'd come from had already conveniently disappeared.

"There's light up ahead..." Minju said, noting the orange glow in the distance. "Could be a way out, let's go."

Chaewon didn't have a chance to rebut before the child of Athena forged onward.

~~~~

"Is this smoke?" Minju wondered, waving dark air out of her face. They were almost at the end of the tunnel

Chaewon coughed, not being able to see clearly anymore.

"I-I think so. Are you sure we can't turn bac–" Chaewon's words were cut short by her next footstep not landing on solid ground. She would've fallen to her doom if Minju hadn't caught her at the last second..

"CHAE!" Minju yelped as she grabbed Chaewon's shoulder and yanked her backwards. The smoke had hidden a cliff edge, and deep below was a pool of bubbling lava.

"A volcano..." Chaewon muttered as she gathered her bearings.

"Look at the middle, something's being built," Minju then pointed out.

Just like she'd said, at the center of the volcano's throat was a large platform held together by several metal bridges welded into the stone walls ringing the crater. That platform was where the smoke from earlier was coming from. It was littered with machines, cauldrons, and forges all being worked on by strange creatures. They looked like a cross between a dog, a seal, and a human.

"Telekhines," Minju realized. "They sided with Kronos in the last war with Kronos."

"So that means they're probably doing the same now. Let's try to get closer," Chaewon said. If these monsters were helping Kronos, they had to stop whatever operation they were running here.

"And how do you propose we get there without being seen?" Minju asked with crossed arms.

"I... haven't thought that far yet," Chaewon admitted.

"It's fine. I can scout it out. Just wait here," Minju gave a small smile before taking out her Giants' cap and disappearing before Chaewon could object.

The child of Hades sighed. She couldn't just sit around and wait, so against her better judgment, she decided to follow. Ignoring the hot lava boiling below her, Chaewon slowly crept along the ridge circling the pit, trying her best to keep a low profile. If any of those telekhines looked over, she'd be a sitting duck. Chaewon could only hope they didn't have any projectile weapons or powers.

The thing troubling her the most, though, wasn't the telekhines, but the scorching heat. Strong updrafts carried hot air up right into her face, stinging her eyes. Chaewon was drenched in sweat, and almost stumbled and fell several times.

Eventually, she ran into an obstacle–a large metal cart with a tarp covering it. The cart was blocking the way to the bridge connecting to the platform. She figured Minju must've just climbed over, but before she could do the same thing, she heard voices coming from the bridge. Two telekhines were in the middle of conversation and waddling towards the cart.

Chaewon quickly lifted the cart's tarp and dove into a pile of scrap metal. Luckily she'd gotten her anti-tetanus shot in the past because the cuts she'd just gotten couldn't have been good for her health.

"What was that?" one of the telekhines asked in Greek, which Chaewon automatically translated in her head.

"Probably just the sound of lava and machinery. You should be used to it by now, right?" his companion replied before grabbing the cart and trying to pull it. "Eh? Why's this so heavy?"

"It's celestial bronze. Shouldn't you be used to it by now?" the first telekhine mocked.

"Aish, just give me a hand so we can bring it in."

Chaewon then felt herself slowly being pulled along the metal bridge, listening to the two monsters' conversation for any clues of what was going on here.

"How's the progress on the weapon?"

"It's close. We just need to melt down a little more of this good stuff to help weld the parts together," the telekhine said, slapping the cart as he mentioned the "good stuff".

The noise outside was loud, but as the cart rumbled along, Chaewon heard the terrain change back to the one from the metal bridge.

Wait, melt down the good stuff...

Chaewon soon realized what was going to happen, and she was not about to allow herself to be thrown into a smelting pot.

When the cart stopped, Chaewon prepared her weapon and waited for the right moment to strike.

"This blade will be even stronger than the last. Kronos will reward us well."

"Oh, stop fantasizing and help me toss this celestial bronze into the forge," the other telekhine chided as he took the tarp off.

Chaewon immediately jumped out and cut one of the two monsters down. With one left, she felt confident, but that's when she heard growling from behind her. A cave full of 8-foot tall telekhines was staring at her in shock.

"A demigod!" one yelled.

Chaewon gulped. Two telekhines, she could handle, but ten?

The child of Hades glanced back and saw the cave exit. She quickly raised a couple skeletons and made a break for it, the telekhines not far behind.

~~~~

"Minju!" Chaewon called as she ran. "Minj–"

Chaewon suddenly felt an invisible hand clamp over her mouth and take her down to the ground.

"Yah, keep it down!" the voice of Minju replied. "Are you trying to get us caught???"

Chaewon reached over to where she felt the child of Athena's head was and grabbed her hat. Minju reappeared, her gray eyes piercing through her.

"I'm already one step ahead of you. We're going to have company very soon," Chaewon said before explaining what she'd heard in the smelting room earlier.

Minju nodded as she listened. "That's what I've been hearing from the other telekhines. They seem to be in the process of rebuilding Kronos' scythe. She then pulled Chaewon towards the platform and pointed an elevated stone slab at the center.

On it were large pieces of metal being melded together by molten lava. It was a scythe, all right, but this one had two edges, six-foot sharp blades protruding from both sides. It looked like it was near completion, the only parts not completely connected being the weapon head and the staff.

"Oh my gods... we're not going to let them finish that, are we?" Chaewon asked.

"We may not have a choice, watch out!" Minju warned just as a clump of fiery rock flew past Chaewon's ear.

The telekhines from earlier had burst out of their small cavern and were now crossing the metal bridge, balls of lava burning in their hands.

"We have to shadow travel out of here," Chaewon suggested, but before she could grab Minju's hand, the ground shook, causing both girls to stumble to the floor.

"Not one, but two demigods!" one of the telekhines mused. "The volcano is getting ready to release some energy. We telekhines are fire proof, but are you?"

Chaewon desperately tried to reach out to Minju again but the telekhines denied her, throwing molten rocks to isolate them from each other.

"What do we do, unnie?" Minju asked, dodging one projectile after the other. "We need to find a way out before it's too late!"

Another big rumble shook the cavern. Chaewon could feel the temperature rising even more.

"Minju, put your cap back on and go!" the child of Hades said.

"Are you serious???" Minju shrieked. "I'm not leaving you!"

"I have a plan! I'll distract them and meet you after!"

"But you might die!"

Chaewon's eyes met Minju's at that moment. She steeled herself as she said her next words. "I'll be fine. I promise on the River Styx."

Minju's gaze was unreadable. The telekhines were closing in, cornering each of them to a different edge of the platform.

"Be careful, Chae," she finally said before putting her Giants' cap on and disappearing.

With Minju suddenly gone, all the telekhines shifted their attention to Chaewon.

Her plan had been to shadow travel to Minju after she got away, but it immediately went out the window when she remembered that she could only use her ability to get to places. She wasn't sure which of the tunnels Minju would choose to run down, and she wasn't going to risk guessing.

"So, a child of Hades," an older telekhine said as he stepped in front of the crowd that had surrounded Chaewon. "I can smell death on you."

Chaewon unsheathed her stygian iron blade again to ward off anyone in the pack that was threatening to get close.

"It's futile, demigod. You're outnumbered. After the war, your father locked us all up in Tartarus as punishment. We will tear you to pieces and send you down to the underworld. Then, we will see your father sliced to pieces by our master's new weapon"

Chaewon needed to make a decision quickly, but the heat and shaking ground were making it difficult to focus.

"Let us see how quickly a child of Hades burns!" the lead telekhine snarled as he threw a lava rock at Chaewon, who was too disoriented to dodge it this time. Chaewon's leg exploded in pain, the sensation spreading up her body as fire began to consume her.

As she began to crumple on the ground, more lava being thrown at her, it was finally dawning on her that she could die here, far and away from all her friends and family. What would they do if they found out the news? What would happen to Minju in the Labyrinth alone?"

No.

Chaewon didn't know how, but she drew on whatever resolve she had left and stood.

"Stronger than I thought," the elder telekhine muttered. "Very well, the volcano will handle whatever is left of you."

The rumbling became even stronger, lava beginning to shoot up around the platform. Chaewon needed to move now.

She couldn't feel her body at this point because of the fire spreading across her. Her mind was racing for places to shadow travel to, but nothing could stick long enough for her to lock on to.

Chaewon was left with no other options. She silently prayed to her father.

Take me to a place that is safe.

Then, she let out a guttural scream just as the volcano erupted.

~~~~

Chaewon couldn't describe what happened next. She'd slipped into the shadows with no destination in mind and was in that void for longer than she could comprehend. It was icy and cold, voices of the dead whispering out to her, trying to pull her soul out her body.

Part of her wondered if this was the punishment for breaking a promise on the River Styx. She had lied about getting out of that situation fine after all.

The darkness continued for what felt like hours until suddenly, a flash of light illuminated her view causing her to lose consciousness.

Chapter Text

Yena woke up and found herself at camp Half-Blood... but not the one she knew. Notably, the demigods who were scrambling around weren't Korean. It looked like a big battle had just concluded, the land peppered with burn marks and piles of monster dust. Yena walked among the chaos until she reached a group of campers standing around a man that looked to be in his fifties.

"...as long as the Labyrinth is here, your enemies can use it. Which is why the Labyrinth can't continue," he said.

A blonde teenager suddenly spoke up. "But you said the Labyrinth is tied to your life force! As long as you're alive–"

"Yes, my young architect. When I die, the Labyrinth will die as well," the old man said, and it was at that moment that Yena realized the person talking must've been Daedalus.

She wondered how that was even possible given that it looked way past Greek times, but as he was laid to rest by a child of Hades, Yena saw his skin turn transparent, revealing bronze gears and wirings connected all throughout his body. In his chest was a glowing ball that eventually popped out and got absorbed by the Hades kid's sword.

Yena's eyes widened. Daedalus had stayed alive by transferring his soul into his automatons.

A few seconds later, a big earthquake rumbled beneath the ground, knocking everyone off balance and Yena back to consciousness.

~~~~

"Yah, do you know how long we've been waiting for you to wake up?" a familiar voice nagged as Yena's eyes fluttered open.

It was Yujin staring at her worriedly.

Wait, Yujin?

"You're back??" Yena said confusedly.

The child of Poseidon rolled her eyes. "Why do you sound disappointed? Sorry it couldn't be Yuri to greet you when you woke up. She's at the dining pavilion right now."

Yena shook her head to regain her bearings. "Wait, roll back a bit. How'd you escape the Labyrinth? Is Wonyoung okay too?"

"It's a long story," Yujin said with a dry laugh. "Seems like yours is too from what Yuri and your new friends have mentioned."

"How about Chaewon and Minju?"

This question caused Yujin to grimace. "Still no word from them. I think they're still down there. Before we start looking for them, we need to get our stories straight."

~~~~

When Yena entered the dining pavilion with Yujin, several heads turned to acknowledge her presence, but Yena was still a bit too overwhelmed to wave back. On top of her dream and the recent escape from Seoyoung's forces, she had also been told by Yujin that because of the time worked down in the Labyrinth, six days have passed since they first went down there.

As they walked, Yena saw Gaeul in a serious conversation with Chaeyeon and Chaeryeong at the Hermes table and Jiwon at the Apollo table next to Yuri, the latter catching Yena's gaze and giving a reassuring smile.

"Let's sit here," Yujin suggested when they arrived at the Poseidon table, surprising her.

"I thought it was against the rules," Yena replied.

"Seunggi won't mind and Mr. D is away on Olympus," the younger girl said as she pulled out a seat.

Yena shrugged and followed along. Soon, wood nymphs showed up with platters of food for them. They gave Yena a confused glance, but didn't say more.

"All right... so what happened?" Yena asked after they returned from offering a piece of their meals to the gods at the central brazier as per custom.

The child of Poseidon then went on to explain her journey through the Labyrinth with Wonyoung and how they ended up in New York at the household of Percy Jackson.

"How was it? Meeting your brother?" Yena questioned as she took a bite of her braised beef.

"Probably similar to how you felt meeting Thalia Grace," Yujin replied, poking at her food. "I know we have the same father, but it's just something really difficult to wrap my head around, especially with how famous he is in the demigod world."

Yena nodded along. Hearing about all of Thalia's adventures had been a bit overwhelming. How could she ever reach the heights that she did? At the same time though, knowing she had someone like that in her corner was reassuring. If there was anyone in the world who could understand what being a child of Zeus was like, it'd be Thalia.

"So, how about you girls? How did you end up getting separated from Chaewon and Minju? Yuri only mentioned what happened at the ranch onwards. Once we got to Gaeul and Jiwon's story, we kind of forgot to circle back to Yuri," Yujin said.

Yena had to let out a chuckle. Demigod ADHD was a very real thing. Apparently, it helped half-bloods be hyper focused during combat, but when it came to day-to-day conversation, it could lead to conversation tangents that go for too long. It was now her turn to explain things from the start–how Minju had gotten a quest but refused to share the details, how they met Janus, and finally, their daring escape from Kampe's prison.

"You girls really went through a lot to look for us. I'm really sorry about that," Yujin eventually mumbled, hanging her head low.

"Heh, come on, Yuj. You're my day one. Why wouldn't I dive into danger to save you?" Yena replied, clapping her friend on the shoulder. "I get that with the prophecy, we've all been a bit... distant over the past few months, but please never doubt the trust I have in you and Chaewon."

"That means a lot, unnie. I feel the same way," the child of Poseidon said with a small smile. "I really hope Chaewon and Minju are safe wherever they are..."

"Me too... I want to get back in there and look for them, but given how our first attempt went, I agree we should plan it out more. Ugh, this could be so much simpler if we'd found that magic string Minju mentioned."

"Wait, now I remember something Percy mentioned about the Labyrinth!" Yujin suddenly recalled. "He said that the only way to safely navigate the maze was with the help of a clear-sighted mortal."

"Eh? What does that mean?" Yena asked, tilting her head confusedly. "Like, 20-20 vision?"

"It means a mortal who can see through the Mist," the voice of Yuri cut in.

Yena turned to see her and Wonyoung staring at them.

"How long were you two going to continue your special meeting without us?" Wonyoung asked with crossed arms before turning to Yujin and crossing her arms. "People might think you two were the ones dating."

"W-What???" Yujin stammered.

"She just means that people were staring since it's against the rules to sit at another cabin's table," Yuri said and it was only then that Yena noticed it. People from all the other cabins had their eyes on them. Yena knew it was a rule, but she hadn't realized how serious the campers took it.

"If you really want to talk, we can go to the Big House," Yuri continued. "I can get Eunbi-unnie and the others for a big debrief. Some people are still a little wary of Gaeul and Liz after hearing they came from Seoyoung's army."

"Liz?" Yena asked.

"Ah, that's the name she gave when she found out there was already another Jiwon in the Nike cabin," Yuri explained.

"All right, but let's not bring too many people. The actual spy could be watching," Yena advised, which got a strange look from Yujin and Wonyoung.

"What spy?"

Yena turned to Yuri. "You didn't tell them?"

"Hey, a lot's happened over the past week. We can explain it later. Maybe Gaeul and Liz will even know who it is."

~~~~~

About half an hour later, the group gathered at the rec room in the Big House, which was starting to get a lot of use recently. The only people who Yuri had invited were Seunggi, Eunbi, and Chaeyeon. Yena was sure Nako would throw a fit once she found out, but it was their cabin on patrol duty right now anyway.

"Okay, let's start with you two. How did you end up joining Seoyoung's army?" Eunbi asked Gaeul and Liz.

The short-haired girl answered first. "I was an orphan, bouncing around from one settlement to another. About a year ago, Seoyoung showed up and picked a couple of us out. She said she sensed power in us and provided food and shelter. She went on about how we were children of gods, who had long abandoned us. She then told us that we could take our revenge if we joined her cause. So, I went along. It's not like I had anywhere to go. I wanted to see why my father, Hermes, chose to stay out of my life even when he knew my mother had left me at the orphanage at five years old."

"I'm really sorry to hear that..." Chaeyeon said, putting a hand on Gaeul's shoulder. "I'll make sure to give dad an earful the next time I see him."

"Heh, I'd like to tell him myself. Anyway, as time went on, Seoyoung's approach began to become more...extreme. She brought in a bunch of monsters to join the army and forced us to spar with them. We lost a few friends because of that, and lost more recently when we were told to go through the Labyrinth. I wanted to keep believing that she had our best interest in mind, but when she basically forced Liz into the arena to fight for her life... I couldn't sit by and let it happen."

"That other girl, Rei; she was with you and Yuri at the time. Why did she end up staying?" Yena asked.

"It's because her mother is Nemesis..." Liz suddenly spoke up.

"Nemesis? As in the goddess of revenge?" Eunbi clarified.

The child of Apollo nodded.

"Rei and I also met in an orphanage, just like Gaeul-unnie. Every day, we'd have to run around the city searching for food and spare clothing, all while being followed by strange people who we only later realized were monsters in disguise. One day, we were cornered by a group of blemmyae when Seoyoung cut through them all and offered us sanctuary. I honestly only went along because Rei insisted. I could never get behind Seoyoung's gospel, but Rei did, wholeheartedly. Maybe her mother being Nemesis filled her with a bigger desire to seek revenge on the gods. Her upbringing was also much more difficult than mine, as a Japanese girl abandoned in Korea."

"She said something before we left," Gaeul said. "She needed to see everything through. That's why she couldn't come with us."

"That idiot..." Liz muttered. "We need to find her again and bring her to our side."

"Our side?" Wonyoung mused. "So you're choosing to stay at Camp Half-Blood."

Both girls looked at each other and nodded.

"We're still both pretty upset with our parents... but what Seoyoung is doing isn't the way to go about things," Gaeul said. "I remember seeing the coffin once... nothing good could be that cold and unnerving."

"The coffin? You mean the one on the Queen Helen?" Yena asked, the memory of the inky blackness under the cover causing a chill to go down her spine.

"Yes, that one. Seoyoung said that every demigod that joined the cause would make Kronos' hold onto this plane stronger. It was just missing an anchor."

"A host. Just like in the first war," Eunbi realized.

"This is bad. We need to destroy that coffin before it's too late," Chaeyeon said.

"Unfortunately, it's not that simple," Yuri interjected. "Just like Gaeul mentioned, Kronos' strength is fueled by the anger of his army towards the gods. The only way to truly destroy his foothold on the mortal world would be turning all his followers back against him or..."

"Or what?" Yujin asked.

"Or letting him reform and defeating him ourselves."

"Are you sure? We have to at least try," Wonyoung argued.

"We don't even know where it is though," Eunbi pointed out.

"Actually, we do," Gaeul corrected. "It's being carried through the Labyrinth by Seoyoung's monsters."

"Oh, great. So I guess we can just find Seoyoung and ask politely?" Yujin remarked sarcastically.

Yena looked around the room, seeing everyone's worried expressions, before locking eyes with Seunggi. The old satyr hadn't given any input so far, but Yena could feel it was deliberate. It reminded her of the times back in their college classes where he would encourage them to figure out the classical dances on their own. Though it was difficult, it helped them grow doing it themselves.

"All right girls, let's take things one problem at a time," Yena said loudly, taking command of the room. "We can start with finding a way to navigate the Labyrinth. That will help us find Seoyoung as well as Chaewon and Minju. Yujin mentioned something about needing a clear-sighted mortal. Yuri, can you explain what exactly that is?"

Yuri seemed surprised at Yena's sudden assertiveness, but nodded. "As I mentioned earlier, it's a mortal–not a demigod–that can see through the Mist. They're special people that see the world for what it truly is. Actually, I feel like your mother might be one of those people."

Yena's eyes widened, suddenly remembering the notebook her mom would bring out to write about all the supernatural happenings she would describe to her growing up. Could she really see through the Mist?

"You are correct, Yuri," Seunggi suddenly said. It was his first time speaking since the meeting started. "Compared to Yujin and Chaewon's mothers, yours has the gift of true sight."

"Wait, so are you telling me we need to bring my mom down into the Labyrinth? Absolutely not!" Yena said defensively. They'd barely made it out of the maze themselves. Why would she risk bringing her down there?

"I don't think that's what he's saying, unnie," Yujin jumped in. "But if we can't find someone else with that ability, we might not have a choice."

"I'm going to have to agree with Yujin. It's a rare ability for mortals," Chaeyeon said. "It's not like someone with true sight is just going to magically appear out of nowhere."

Yena was about to launch another rebuttal, but before she could, the doors of the rec room burst open. It was Nako.

"Deja vu..." Wonyoung mumbled.

"Look, Nako, I'm sorry that we didn't invite you to the meeting, but we were in a rush and your cabin was on patrol–" Eunbi had tried to preemptively defuse the child of Ares' anger but was cut off.

"I don't give a damn about whatever this meeting is about. You're all going to need to come to the gate. Minju's here," the short girl said.

~~~~

Everyone rushed to the forest except Gaeul and Liz, who stayed back with Seunggi.

"What do you mean Chaewon isn't with her?" Yena asked as they ran.

"That's all she would say!" Nako replied, which only spiked the child of Zeus' worry more.

When they arrived, a big crowd had already formed. Yena and the others made their way through until they got to the front to see Minju sitting on the ground, a blanket over her shoulders. Saerom from the Athena cabin was crouched next to her, whispering something.

"Minju! What happened?" Yena called.

At this, Minju looked up at her with teary eyes.

"Where's Chaewon?" Yujin asked.

"S-She's gone..."

It felt like Yena's entire world stopped. She turned to Yujin to make sure she hadn't misheard, but she looked just as shocked.

"Minju... w-what do you mean..." Yena stuttered.

"We were in a volcano, and s-she told me to leave first... but by the time I got out... it erupted."

Yena fell to her knees.

"No... no, no no..."

The crowd was quiet, the weight of Minju's words starting to settle in.

Chaewon was dead?