ATN 3: THE JAR IN THE MAZE

INFORMATION AND PAELLA

"How are you here, while the entire Olympus's safety is at stake?" I asked.

"I don't need to answer to you." Dionysus said, "But I am never rude to children. So, here. We feared that we might die after the end of this war. So, the two of us wanted to have a last fun vacation."

"You don't trust that we might even win?"

"Nope." Dionysus said, calmly, "But I am always there to help. Besides, winning it isn't easy. All the gods want to protect the Divine Source. That one mortal has inflicted fear on the minds of the gods."

"Talented." Ariadne said, "Anyway, I believe that fear will go away once Hope is released."

"We can only do that if we get your help." Tina said.

"Just say the word." Ariadne said.

"We need a way to navigate through the Labyrinth." Tina said.

"That's it? Listen. Get into the maze, from the side you last went in through, and walk straight. You will find a room with a lot of food. Don't eat any of it. It's all poisoned. My father built this to kill Daedalus if he ever tried escaping. Get out of that room, go right, and you will finally find Daedalus's workshop. There would be a switch somewhere. Press it to unlock a portal. Gather wings that must be there. Get through the portal to fly straight at Mount Etna. There, on top of it, is Hephaestus's forge. He has the string to navigate through the Labyrinth. He took it to modify it. He must have done it by now. Iris won't be able to take you there. This is the only way."

"So, we ask for the string?"

"Yep." Dionysus said, "Then, you will be all set."

"Thanks, Lord Dionysus, Lady Ariadne." I said, as we took leave. The two smiled at us and waved their hands. Then, Dionysus went back to eating grapes, and Ariadne put goggles on, and went back to sleep.

Gods needed sleep too. Shocked? So was I. Not sure if Ariadne was a goddess or just an immortal person, but whatever, she needed sleep too.

Anyway, we didn't have the string. We had the address of the string, and we had the way to get there. But I was feeling like my life could snap at the moment. I was hungry. And I needed some food. I looked at my phone's watch. It was about eleven thirty here, so twelve thirty in Greek time. I said to Tina, "Babe, I am starving."

"Stop calling me that." Tina said, "And yeah, I am starving too."

"I can't call you 'Babe'?"

"Nope. Too cheesy."

"Then, honey?"

"Better."

"Okay. So have a mini date now? Or..."

"Now, now. I want some Paella."

"Paella it is."

We entered a nearby restaurant, and ordered two seafood paellas. Ever since I had been learning Spanish, it was my dream to eat paella. I was so loving the dish, that I said to Tina, "It has a beautiful texture."

"Yeah." Tina said, "The rice, the chicken, the saffron, the prawns. What is this shell like thing?"

"Clams." I said.

"You are an expert in Spanish stuff, honey." She said. Her use of 'honey' made me smile. Here's a thing about Tina. Though she is like another normal girlfriend, who likes sneaking out to see the stars on the Atlantean sky, or snogging when alone, she hates the cheesy words that boyfriends call their ladies by, like 'babe', 'dear', and two more super cheesy Indian words starting with 'b' and 's'. 'Honey', on that note, was rare and cute. So, she is fine with it (Even now, that's the only word I am supposed to use).

Our paella party went on for about forty five minutes. It was superb, the paella, the ambience, everything. As soon as we were done, Tina contacted Iris for opening the portal for our return. Within a minute, the portal opened, and we jumped in.

We were asked by Urwa to go have lunch. We told her all about our paella party. Iris was delighted at it. She said, "Its a good thing. Who knows what comes for us in the next few weeks? Having a little party before everything ends isn't exactly a bad idea."

That evening, we discussed everything in front of the Amazons and Atlanteans. Iris felt sorry that she couldn't teleport us there, since no one was allowed to teleport to Catania, where Hephaestus's forge is, inside Mount Etna.

That night, I, Dadai and Abhro caught up with Actaeon. The guy had been pretty bummed lately, he and his pack hadn't hunted for a long time. "No animals here in the forest. We do get the steaks, but the fun in hunting, I miss that." He said.

"I know. But we will need to be here until all this is over." I said.

"Yeah, of course. Anything for Atlantis. That reminds me. Any news from the girls?" He asked, I looked at Dadai, who said, "Yeah. The three humiliated Ceto's army. They are still searching for Pontus. It isn't easy finding him. They keep going deeper and deeper into the sea."

"So, they are safe?" Actaeon asked.

"Yeah. All good."

"Good." Actaeon said, "Now, listen to me. My canid instincts tell me that the giants won't come alone. Given the way Jared has been preparing, he would send an army. Jay, you need to find your own. Twenty Amazons, eighteen Atlanteans, and six werewolves won't be enough. Though Iris is a goddess, she won't be able to take down so many all by herself."

"What do you suggest?" I asked.

"You are the son of Hecate. There is a group of creatures who would help you. Them and werewolves don't exactly go well with each other, but we don't hate each other. And they are huge in number."

"Who?" Abhro asked.

"The empousai. The Greek version of the vampires. The first empousai were created by Hecate herself. They are pretty powerful creatures. They do show themselves when needed by Hecate, or her blood."

"I will take care of that." I said, "If Jared builds an army, so do I. I will find the empousai."