𝐁𝐄𝐋𝐀𝐌𝐎𝐔𝐑 ∣ 𝗉𝗃𝗈

30

"Enough!" Hera hollered, effectively shutting both the young demigoddess and her immature husband. Penelope wanted to laugh or at least snort at how distressed the Goddess was. Hera was sighing and if they were not in the ceremony, she would probably slouch against her throne. Penelope shrugged. It was fun while lasted. Annoying the king of the gods, that was.

Well, sorry not sorry.

It seemed like nobody knew how to break the ice as the silence prolonged. Talk about awkward. Penelope was about to talk when she felt a nudge from next to her. Cocking her brow, she turned to find Perseus, her twin brother, was already looking at her.

"What?" Penelope muttered, too quiet that she doubted he would hear it, but he did.

"Why do our scores too far apart? How did you manage to score a few thousand hundred?" He asked. There was no malice, she noticed. Just pure curiosity. Thinking back, the girl did not really elaborate her days in the labyrinth, did she? The campers only asked about where she disappeared and assumed about her relationship with Percy. Well, what better time than talking in the quiet room in front of the angry yet amused Gods and Goddesses while waiting for your awards to be presented, correct?

"You know that I was trapped inside a labyrinth in the forest, right?" The girl began. Without waiting for a response, she continued, "To put it simply, the labyrinth consisted of ten levels and each level had countless monsters that I needed to kill to survive. You, on the other hand, were only in the camp where there's a protective barrier and where the monsters didn't come in hoards, no? While I finished off fifteen, you would probably only manage to find one."

Percy hummed, a look of realization crossing his face. However, Penelope continued, in case he did not really understand, "To put it even easier, you played a hunting game where you needed to find a wandering monster to gain points while I played a survival game where I became the wandering monster. If I didn't kill all of the monsters inside the labyrinth, I'd die. Besides, you were in a group, I was alone. Of course, my score will be multiple times than yours."

"Wow, you must have a hard time." The twin brother commented. Penelope shrugged, it was true, she did have a hard time. Though, hard was an understatement.

"Are you curious about the labyrinth? Do you want to try it?" Penelope asked, smirking. She continued, "I mean, at the end of each level, there's an area where you will get back your full energy, so you won't die... probably."

"Do you think I'm crazy? Why would I want to go to a death trap willingly?" He snorted. The twins laughed then, completely forgetting the fact that they were in a ceremony and there were other people around them who probably could kill them with a snap of their fingers. But, did they care? No.

"So, you're not even a little bit curious?" Penelope baited. From all she knew from conversing with Percy–not the one who was written in the book, but her twin brother–the girl found that he was more than willing to go on an adventure. So, why not challenge the labyrinth while he was at it? He would gain even more benefit if he were to step inside the cursed labyrinth, like Penelope. He could train with his power and maybe enhance his already trained sword skills. Though, if he were to fail, he would be dead.

"A tad bit, to be honest." The boy finally confessed. Penelope nodded her head, already expecting the answer.

"Then, you can probably go with a bunch of friends, no? The objective will be training, though." Penelope offered, "Well, not that I'm forcing you. But, if you ever want to go there, let me know."

"Thanks." He grinned, looking forward, ending their conversation.

Penelope turned her head as well and almost facepalmed as soon as she noticed that all of the people, the Gods, and even the campers, were staring at her. Penelope tried to play it cool, though it came a little rude, she tilted her head and asked, "Find anything interesting? Or have you finally decided what my awards will be?"