The rise of Tartarus

Chapter 12

The Labyrinth was never the same place twice. One moment, it was a long corridor lined with cracked stone; the next, a spiraling tunnel that twisted into darkness. As I led the group deeper into the maze, the walls seemed to pulse with a life of their own, shifting and rearranging in response to our movements.

"We need to stay close," I said, my voice tight with concentration. I held my bronze knife out in front of me, hoping it could ward off the maze's sinister influence. "The Labyrinth thrives on confusion. If we split up or lose focus, it'll twist us around until we don't know which way is up."

Piper glanced around nervously, her knuckles white as she gripped her dagger. "And what if it's already doing that?"

Jason tried to keep his voice steady. "We'll figure it out. We've got a plan, right?"

I nodded, though the look in my eyes was far from confident. "Just keep an eye on the walls. They change more when we're not looking directly at them."

We pressed on, each step taking us deeper into the maze's twisted heart. The air grew colder, more oppressive, as if the Labyrinth itself was trying to squeeze the life out of us. The walls seemed to breathe, expanding and contracting in a rhythm that didn't match our own.

It wasn't long before the path we'd been following suddenly split into three separate tunnels, each one as dark and foreboding as the last.

"This wasn't here before," I muttered, scanning the tunnels. My mind raced, trying to recall any detail that might guide us. But the Labyrinth was a living thing, changing with every heartbeat.

Percy stepped up beside me, his eyes narrowing as he studied the options. "Left, right, or straight?"

Jason's unease was palpable. "We could try marking the walls, see if it helps us keep track of where we've been."

I shook my head. "The Labyrinth's magic will erase any marks we make. We're on its terms now."

Piper shivered, looking down each of the tunnels. "So what do we do? Just pick one and hope for the best?"

Before I could respond, the ground beneath us rumbled, and the walls began to shift, the tunnels growing narrower and more claustrophobic by the second.

"No time to think—move!" Jason shouted, grabbing Piper's hand as they plunged into the middle tunnel. Percy and I followed close behind, but the walls were closing in fast, the other two tunnels sealing shut behind us with a deafening crash.

The tunnel we chose twisted and turned, the air growing colder and more stifling with each step. The darkness pressed in on us, broken only by the faint glow of our weapons.

"Do you think this was the right way?" Piper asked, her voice trembling slightly.

I didn't have an answer. I had no idea if we were going in the right direction or if the Labyrinth was leading us deeper into a trap. The unease gnawed at the edges of my confidence, but I forced myself to keep moving.

"Just keep going," I urged, though I could hear the strain in my voice. "We can't afford to stop."

But it wasn't long before the tunnel abruptly ended in a dead end, the path forward blocked by a solid wall of stone.

"No, no, no," Percy muttered, running his hands along the wall, searching for any sign of a hidden door or passage. "This can't be it."

Jason's frustration boiled over. He slammed his fist against the wall, the sound echoing through the tunnel. "We're being toyed with," he said, his voice low. "The Labyrinth is playing games with us."

I traced the contours of the wall, trying to find some clue, some way out. "There has to be a way out. The Labyrinth wouldn't lead us here just to trap us—it wants something from us."

"But what?" Piper asked, her eyes darting around the tunnel as if expecting the walls to close in on us at any moment.

Before anyone could answer, the ground beneath us trembled again, more violently this time. The walls groaned, and the tunnel behind us began to close, the stone folding in on itself like a maw ready to swallow us whole.

"We're out of time!" Jason shouted, pushing Piper forward. "Move, now!"

We scrambled back the way we came, the tunnel narrowing with each passing second. I could hear the grinding of stone behind us, the sound of the Labyrinth sealing off our escape.

Panic surged in my chest as the walls closed in, the air growing thinner, harder to breathe. We were running out of space, out of options.

"Annabeth!" Percy called, desperation creeping into his voice. "Any ideas?"

"There!" I shouted, pointing to a narrow crack in the wall just ahead. "Through there—go!"

It wasn't much of an opening, barely wide enough for a person to squeeze through, but it was our only chance. One by one, we shoved ourselves through the crack, scraping our arms and legs against the jagged stone.

Jason was the last to push through, the tunnel collapsing just as he pulled his foot free. He landed hard on the other side, gasping for breath as the noise of the collapsing tunnel echoed in our ears.

We were in a new part of the Labyrinth now, the walls covered in strange, glowing symbols that pulsed with a faint, eerie light. The air was heavy with the scent of moss and damp earth, and the ground was uneven, as if we were walking on the remnants of ancient ruins.

I was the first to stand, my eyes scanning the walls as if trying to make sense of the symbols. "We're deeper than before," I said, my voice barely above a whisper. "The Labyrinth is trying to confuse us, break us down."

Percy nodded, his jaw clenched. "We have to keep moving. No more dead ends."

But even as we pressed on, I couldn't shake the feeling that the Labyrinth was watching us, waiting for the right moment to strike again. The maze was alive, and it wasn't going to let us go without a fight.