•as the world caves in•

•we meet two gods•

After a horrible night of tossing and turning, I stood at Zeus's Fist right after the sun rose. I had my bag on my back after I triple-checked it that morning. I looked over as Percy joined up. "You look horrible, Percy."

He shook his head. "I couldn't sleep at all, I feel horrible."

I nodded. "Yeah, me too. Let's just get this thing started."

I took one final look at camp, at Silena and Charlie, the former looking like she was about to die of sadness. I couldn't believe I was leaving her again.

•.•.•.•

We are hopelessly lost. We were stuck in a room with eight tunnels and had no idea which one led back to camp and which way we should even go.

Annabeth pointed at one with her flashlight. "That way. Don't ask how I know, just go."

The tunnel turned narrow quick and the ceiling go so low I was hunched over and Tyson had to crawl to follow us. The tunnel opened into a wide room with colored tiles, a picture of the gods at a feast. It was hthe most accurate piece of art, but one thing stuck out.

"This looks Roman." I frowned. "This place is supposed to be Greek. This place is so rich with history, I could get lost here forever."

Everyone looked at me, and Grover belated. "Let's not talk about getting lost."

I sighed before we kept on walking, it felt like minutes, but it had to have been hours, just like how Percy and I thought it wasn't that long.

We passed by a dead milkman, which was strange, but his skeleton kept clawing at the brick walls, as though he was still trying to escape.

The next room we entered had a fountain, and there was, again, another person in here. But he was different.

He had two faces, looking like a hammerhead shark mixed with a human.

"Well, Annabeth, hurry up!" The left side said.

"Don't mind him, he's terribly rude, right this way." The right said.

Behind him were two exits, a right and left. I turned to Percy. "That's Janus, god of doorways."

"And choices!" The faces said in unison. "God of doorways and choices."

The right side winked at Percy. "I'll see you soon Perseus Jackson, but for now it's Annabeth's turn!"

Before Annabeth could choose, a blinding light flashed before us and a beautiful woman was before us. Long hair with gold braided in, a white dress that shimmered like oil in the sun. It was so simple but elegant.

She lectured Janus, who argued with himself and offended her all the same. When he left, she turned to us. "You must be hungry, come sit and talk."

She waved her hand and water came from the fountain and a table appeared with an array of food. I sat down and eagerly ate the sandwiches before us.

"Goodness, Coriane, you're hungry." She noted, smiling lightly, with a quick snap she made all the dirt disappear from me and made my braids perfect. "That's better."

"Who are you?" Percy asked.

"I am Hera. Queen of Heaven. I have come to see you."

"I thought you didn't like heroes." Annabeth said.

Hera waved her hand. "Because of that small disagreement with Hercules? Honestly, everyone thinks I'm horrible for one thing."

"You tried to kill him multiple times." I said between bites.

"He was one of my husbands children by another woman. My patient was wore thin, I admit it. But Zeus and I have come to better terms, especially after that one accident."

"You mean Thalia?" Percy asked.

"Percy Jackson, isn't it? I voted to let you live. I hope I don't regret it."

Hera turned back to Annabeth and I. "Coriane, I honor the difficulty of your quest. I'm sorry about Janus, Annabeth, of course he would target the smart one. Oh! You're perfectly smart, Coriane, but, you know, she's a child of Athena."

I smiled. "Yeah, I understand."

"Well, some of the minor gods could be easily swayed, so we must keep eyes on them. Janus, Hecate, Morpheus."

"Nemesis?" I asked.

She nodded slowly. "In times of trouble, even gods can lose faith. They start putting trust in the wrong things, petty things. They stop looking at the big picture and only look for themselves. But I'm the goddess of marriage, I'm used to perseverance. You have to keep your goals in mind."

"What are your goals?" Annabeth asked.

"To keep my family, the Olympians, together. At the moment, I can best do that is by helping you. Zeus doesn't allow me to interfere much, but once every century, for a quest I care deeply for, he allows me to grant a wish."

"I want a way to navigate the Labyrinth. That's my wish." I said quickly.

Hera looked disappointed. "You wish for something, however, that you have already been given."

"What? What is it?"

"You've already wished, my dear. However, Percy knows that answer."

"I must go. Think on what I've said. Seek out Hephaestus. Keep going, use all means at your disposal."

Before I could protest, before any of us could, she stood and disappeared, taking the food with.

"Well," Grover sighed, "she said Percy knows the answer. That's something."

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

I groaned. "Okay, let's just keep going. Which way?"

Annabeth looked at the doors. "Um..."

"Left!" Grover and Tyson urged. Grover grabbed his stuff quickly. "From the right, something big!"

That was all it took for us to run into the dark corridor.