The Animal Within

Chapter 25 - Titans Lie

The last time Luke had been in the Labyrinth, he had never left. The son of Hermes had entered, and Kronos had strode out. But Luke still remembered the twists and sudden turns in the maze, how the walls had constantly changed and altered the layout of the Labyrinth. Initial forays into the structure had driven half-bloods insane and only a handful returned to Othrys, but without news to please the Titan Lord. Instead, disappointment after disappointment returned and each and every one refused to renter the maze.

The presence of a clear-sighted guide, or Ariadne's string, made the maze far more traversable, but even then they were liable to make mistakes.

Immortals were not prone to mistakes.

Kronos' presence wasn't obvious, even to Luke. He only knew the Titan was still in his head from the golden trail along the floor, scattered like the remains of some giant snake monster that encompassed the dark corridors.

"This is creepy," Piper said. "Everything is so... dark."

"It's worse than it was before," Luke admitted to Piper. "The death of Daedalus collapsed most of the structure. But like everything else in the world of Greek mythology, the maze just reformed itself. Only now without Daedalus to temper it." He brushed a hand over the wall, feeling a warmth from the walls that was unnatural. "Some of the demigods whom entered came out babbling nonsense about it being sentient. But I don't think that's too far from the truth anymore."

"Have you talked to Chris recently?" Annabeth questioned.

Luke shrugged. "No. He's been avoiding me. And now all this Gaea business has started... something tells me I won't get a chance."

Before Annabeth or Piper could respond, the corridor opened out into a large cavern. Kronos' trail extended straight across to an exit the other side. Luke peered into the darkness edging the room, just in case Kronos had decided to lead them into a monster's den – which honestly wouldn't surprise Luke – but there were no demigod skeletons or scattered piles of golden dust, so Luke started across the room.

Under his feet, something cracked.

Luke froze.

"What was that?" Annabeth asked sharply.

Luke peered down at his feet. It was dark, almost too dark to see anything, but he could still make out the webbed cracks extending out from his feet. "The floor's not stable," he said, not moving an inch as he spoke. He cursed Kronos under his breath.

Annabeth pressed her lips together. "Can you step back over here?"

Luke slid his foot back along the floor, causing more cracks to extend out, but he managed to grab hold of Annabeth's hand and was soon back in the corridor. Luke scowled at the golden trail, which still told him to cross the cavern.

"It looks like... ice," Annabeth said.

"But I don't hear water underneath," Piper murmured. "And it's not cold enough for there to be ice down here."

"Hey, Annie," Luke said, "there's a rock by your feet. Would you mind passing it here?"

Understanding what Luke wanted to do, Annabeth picked up the rock and threw it onto the ice. It bounced once, twice, and then thrice before sliding to a stop.

Luke glanced at the cracks cutting through the ice near his feet. Something about this whole situation was ringing alarm bells in his head. Something he'd heard before, something that Kronos had told him. It wasn't nearly cold enough for ice to form, and yet here was a solid sheet of dark ice stretched over a lake in the Labyrinth.

"Kronos?" Luke murmured. "A little help here?"

"Luke?" Piper questioned, raising an eyebrow.

The Titan was suspiciously silent.