THE RISE OF THE VETERES

FIRST DAY IN THE MAZE

Hades and Persephone accompanied us as we walked towards one of the tunnels. Helen hugged my father. "I'll see you before long," Hades smiled. "Know that I will be beside you, no matter where you are. I've given you three my blessing."

Persephone embraced me. "Yes, I will be by your side as well," she announced. "But, remember our promise. Do not ever use Hades again. And don't widdle out excuses. Whether it's Kronos's will or your importance to our cause, it will not exempt you. I'll have Styx punish you especially harshly," she whispered in my ear. She let go and faked a smile. "Honey, we've been keeping them here too long."

Hades nodded. "Yes. They ought to go." And so, we said our goodbyes and ventured off into the labyrinth.

There was less light down underground. I'm not sure how, but the Underworld always had adequate lighting. I could only attribute it to magic because it was hard to see down here. It would have been impossible had Persephone not given us a magical lamp, the one Elena was holding.

With just a little bit of anima, we could see everything a meter away. For traveling in a dangerous maze, that was too tiny. We thought six meters would be better. It cost more anima but Elena assured me she could still keep the lamp lit for hours.

After an hour of walking, Helen shrieked. Elena stepped forward, and we saw what frightened her. Piles of skeletons collecting dust on the ground. There was no way to tell whether these poor souls were recently deceased or from the ancient past. King Minos of Crete had the labyrinth built to contain the Minotaur and sent young men and women into it to sate the beast's hunger. And it wasn't inconceivable if a modern-day human got lost here.

We kept on walking. Thankfully, the scenery returned to its initial dullness, and so none of us received a second shock. Finally, we arrived at three crossroads.

We had no clues to help us except one. A growl could be heard coming from one of the paths, and it was unanimously decided we avoided it. As for the other two, we may have well flipped a coin. Helen chose to play "Diggy Diggy Diamond," and all I could do was hope Persephone hadn't convinced Hades to let us die here.

Helen pointed to the road ahead of her. "That one." I nodded and followed, Elena behind me.

"What was she doing?" Elena asked. "Was that some technique that allowed her to deduce which path was best to take?"

I rolled my eyes. Naturally, Elena wouldn't know what Helen did. Ugh, there was so much I would have to teach her before she went to college. "Sadly, no. She merely picked at random. There is no way to know which way is safest unless you're a god. It's...it's a poem kids say these days when they play games like tag."

"Oh...what's tag?"

I sighed and gave her a basic rundown. I thought I made so much progress in a year, but clearly, I lied. I managed to salvage a high-school-level education(close enough) for her, but there was so much more she needed to learn. When we got back to the surface, I would focus heavily on culture.

If I didn't die, that is.

Even though I couldn't see it, I felt something in the air. It was hurling towards me. Helen and I enclosed the three of us in a shadow bubble. Elena poured more anima into the lamp until we understood our situation. We were in an entire room filled with traps. Some spikes would have impaled us had we walked a bit more. And the thing in the air? There was a giant ax coming towards us.

We get hit, and our barrier shatters. In particular, I get a gruesome cut on my chest. If I wasn't wearing plate mail, it would have been over. Elena froze the ax in place, and Helen shot an arrow, splintering it into thousands of pieces. The two then immediately rushed to help me.