Annabeth Chase and the Battle of the Labyrinth

Chapter 16 - We have lunch with a goddess

You'd think I'd be used to beautiful, powerful women appearing out of nowhere, but it was still a shock every time. 

She was tall and graceful with a face as proud as it was beautiful. Long chocolate coloured hair plaited with gold ribbons twisted its way over one shoulder. Her dress hugged her slim figure and was as blindingly white as the flash, except when she moved. Then it revealed a multitude of colours, flashing in and out of colour. 

Her eyes roamed over the four of us at one end of the tunnel, the smile on her face not slipping, before it eventually settled on the two-headed man. 

"Janus," she said, her voice light and musical, but with an edge of steel. "Are we causing trouble again?"

"N-no, milady!" Janus's right face stammered. 

"Yes!" said the left face. 

"Shut up!"

"Excuse me?" the woman asked. 

"Not you, milady! I was talking to myself."

"I see," she mused. "You know very well your visit is premature. The girl's time has not yet come. So I give you a choice: leave these heroes to me, or I shall turn you into a door and break you down."

"What kind of door?" the left face asked. 

"Shut up!" demanded the right face.

"Because French doors are nice. Lots of natural light."

"Shut up!" screeched the right face. "Not you, milady! Of course I'll leave. I was just having a bit of fun. Doing my job. Offering choices."

"Causing indecision," the woman corrected. "Now begone!"

"Party pooper," the left face muttered as he raised his hand with the key in it. He inserted it in the air and Janus disappeared, leaving us alone with the woman. 

For the first time since she had arrived, she turned her full attention on to us, her lips still curled in that mysterious smile. It didn't exactly fill me with confidence. I had a horrible feeling that she might prove to be worse than Janus. 

"You must be hungry," she said, her dark eyes shining with power as she studied us closely. "Sit with me and talk."

She waved her hand and the old Roman fountain came to life, clean water flowing through and cleaning off the grime and dirt so that it looked brand new. The room illuminated so that we could see all the old mosaics more clearly, which also seemed to become brighter and whole. A marble table appeared before it, complete with platters of sandwiches and pitchers of lemonade. It looked like a scene out of a movie, which pretty much screamed trap to me. 

"Who . . . who are you?" Percy asked, obviously feeling the same. 

The woman's smile widened. "I am Hera. Queen of Heaven."

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It felt like I was having lunch with a friend's mom, sitting around that table while Hera served us sandwiches and poured lemonade. She made small talk, telling Tyson that he needed more food, that Grover needed politer table manners (he was eating his napkin like normal) and that Percy should stop eating like an animal (not in those specific words, but you get the gist). The boys seemed happy to dig in as the food didn't seem to stop coming. With every sandwich we picked up, another took its place. Every time the lemonade jug filled a glass, it would magically be topped up itself. 

Yet despite all the good food, I couldn't bring myself to eat much. I knew I was hungry - wandering around in the Labyrinth for what potentially could be days would do that to you - but meeting Janus and now Hera, well I was a bit rattled.