The Labyrinth was seriously messing with Alex's vibes.

Was she tired or full of energy? Was she hungry or full? Was her sword heavy or light as ever? They could have left a day ago or an hour ago. They could have walked five miles or fifty miles. Her mind and body were in a constant fight of which was right. Her mind was exhausted; her body was fresh. When she zoned out she felt fine, but as soon as she focused on a part of her body, it screamed in protest.

Her father's words ran through her head.

Your body will know the difference.

Her father and her had been walking in a comfortable silence for a while, listening for shifts in the walls. So far, her father had not hesitated at a single junction.

"So," she piped up, "I know time works weird in the Labyrinth, but how?"

"Time is slower here. What feels like a day here might be ten days in the outside world. Don't ask me how; that's a question for your mom."

They turned left. The ground and walls around them were slowly becoming more modern, lavish. They were currently walking on a smooth stone path, the walls still somewhat deteriorated, like an abandoned tunnel under Greece.

Alex could tell they were getting close. She had an unprecedented feeling running through her veins, like everything in her body was telling her to run away. Even her body knew she was walking towards someone meant to oppose her. If her father wouldn't have been there, Alex cannot be certain she would still be walking towards Mesperyian.

No. Her family and friends were depending on her.

She would be walking.

They took a sudden left through a passageway that opened in front of them. The walls were polished stone. Alex could hear cheering in the distance.

Alex took a moment to recognize that she and her dad were walking straight into a deathtrap like they were going for a stroll through Central Park.

"Dad?"

Her father looked at her, slight concern in his eyes.

"Are we considering this a daddy-daughter date?"

He laughed, both surprised and not surprised by her humor in the tense situation. She was his daughter, after all.

"Come here." He slung an arm around her shoulders and hugged her tightly as they continued to walk. "I would be a terrible father if I let this be our first date in over a decade. When we get out of here, there was this really good Chinese place near your grandmother's your mom and I used to go to all the time. Hopefully, it's still open."

"Kenn's restaurant? Mom loves going there. Kenn passed away a few years back, but his daughter took over. It's still open and still really good." She looked up at her dad. "I don't know how we're going to explain your existence, though."

The chanting got louder and a brightly lit opening was ahead of them by only a couple hundred yards.

"We'll figure it out later. Time to focus."

They separated and pulled out their respective weapons, continuing forward. They stopped when they were just out of view from whoever was in the clearing. Despite this, the crowd cheered louder, as if they knew of their presence. Alex could feel the rumbling from the crowd's excitement under her feet.

Her dad turned to her. "Okay, this is the plan."

Alex already knew what he was going to say and she didn't like it.

Stay behind me.

She interrupted, "We work as a team and fight together."

He grimaced. "I have to keep you safe. I can take on the big guys and you-"

"What? Stand back and watch you get taken again? Last time you fought these guys, you disappeared for twelve years and that was with Uncle Able so maybe we shouldn't do that again?"

He tried to interrupt, but she was on a role.

"The prophecy specifically says that the blood of Poseidon needs to work together. Not one doing all of the work while the other eats popcorn in the back. I know you probably made some pact with mom to bring me back alive or whatever, but if you die then the chances of me surviving would probably not look too good. I know you want to protect me, but that will only get us killed and that does us no good. I swear to you on the River Styx, I'm ready for this!"

Her dad had a proud grin on his face. He pulled her into a hug, kissing her forehead.

"If you think you are ready, then I trust you. I'm so proud of you." He pulled back. "But if you get in any trouble, call my name and do not go after Mesperyian alone. She plays mind games you are not ready for." He sighed deeply. "I wasn't ready the last time so don't try and be some hero. Be smart."

The chanting in the stadium got louder.

"Blood of Poseidon! Approach my kingdom!" A female voice echoed through the cavern.

The venomous way she spat out the word "Poseidon" sent chills down Alex's back.

Alex looked at her dad. He simply nodded and they walked forward, coming into the view of an apparent crowd of spectators. As they came into view, the cheering became deafening.

They walked into the clearing, and for a second, the light blinded Alex. She blinked a few times and looked around, trying to swallow a lump of fear that suddenly arose in her throat.

They were in a massive arena, colosseum style but modernized two-thousand years. There were JumboTrons that showed them walking into the stadium. Drones and other camera equipment flew overhead, following their every move. Stage lights and lasers were moving around the arena like a gameshow, making Alex slightly dizzy. She could smell the popcorn and cheap hot dogs. A paper Pepsi cup landed somewhere on her right from an already-dissatisfied spectator.

Straight ahead of them, Alex could see the master booth that overlooked the stadium. It had large columns on either side, about one hundred feet apart, extending from the ground to the top of the stadium, which was well over four hundred feet. The booth was about halfway up the height of the columns. Directly below the booth was a large set of doors. Above the booth was an apparent scoreboard, stretching the entire length between the columns.

They were almost at the center of the arena. Alex quickly scanned for an exit, but the passageway they walked through and the massive set of doors ahead of them were the only ways of fleeing.

The ground suddenly shook below her and the sound of breaking rocks came from behind her. She turned in time to see the passageway collapsing in on itself, effectively trapping them.

Walking straight into a death trap. Cool.

They reached the center, and Alex had never felt so small. The diameter of the circular arena was easily one hundred yards. The deafening sounds around her made it hard to focus.

She looked up at the master booth. Despite being filled with monsters, Alex could make out two figures who seemed to stand above the rest. They had yet to step forward so they were cast in shadows.

"PERSEUS AND ALEXANDRA JACKSON!" the female voice boomed.

The crowd immediately settled, everyone's eyes drawn to the master booth. The two figures stepped forward into the spotlight and Alex felt her stomach twist sharply.

The speaker, who Alex assumed was Mesperyian, was donned in a white dress, almost like a wedding gown. Her arms were bare and her face covered in a veil. Her arms were covered in blisters and third-degree burns. The redness of her burnt skin stuck out against the cleanliness of her dress. She pushed back the veil to reveal her face, which was in no better condition. Alex could see the boils from her position in the arena. She had bald spots all over her head, her hair sticking out in clumps.

To her right was an older gentleman, dressed simply in a black sweatshirt and jeans. His hair and beard were white, with wrinkles all over his face from a lifetime of being in the sun. His eyes, a dark grey that was almost black, were alert and young. She knew it was Eupalinos.

He made piercing eye contact with Alex and she shivered, unable to imagine how she was related to this man.

"Hello, Mesperyian," her father said calmly. "Eupalinos." He nodded in greeting. His voice sounded from the speaker system.

Alex just settled for glaring at them.

"Perseus Jackson," Mesperyian said, her voice loud enough that it was like she was standing right next to them. "I have been waiting for your return. I've missed your company."

"Yeah, can't really say the same," her dad replied.

"And look who you brought with you!" she said excitedly. It sounded like nails on a chalkboard. "The untouchable Alexandra Jackson." Her voice suddenly got quiet, like she was whispering directly into Alex's ear. "I've been looking for you."

Alex jumped against her will.

Mesperyian smiled evilly. She held her hands up and gestured to the crowd. "We have been looking for you!"

The crowd cheered at the sudden inclusion, pounding their feet against the stands.

Alex tilted her head in faux confusion. "You couldn't find me for twelve years? I wasn't like I was exactly hiding."

Mesperyian smiled again. A blister on the corner of her mouth tore open from the movement, causing blood to trickle down her chin. She didn't seem to notice. "You see, granddaughter of Poseidon, the timing just wasn't right. When your father was here last time, you were just a small child. Poseidon's blood was barely flowing through your veins, making you hard to sense. Able Lincaster foolishly revealed your bloodline to us and we knew we had to wait. So, we kept your father because he was much stronger than that Able boy. We let Able go, knowing he was going to stay close to you. If we could sense him, we could find you as well."

The blood dripped from her chin onto the white dress.

"Once we were able to sense you, we killed Able Lincaster because he had no use for us anymore and he was not a threat. Your father, the chosen son of Poseidon, and his daughter, the child of the most powerful demigod lineage of the millennia, were all we needed."

"So that's why you let my dad escape? All a part of your master plan?" Alex retorted.

Mesperyian narrowed her eyes at her. "Perseus Jackson escaping was a slight bump in the road. But, in the end, we knew you would end up here, where you truly belong." She raised her arms again and the crowd exploded into applause.

"Poseidon turned me into the monster you see before me." Her voice boomed louder than the crowd. "The Furies gave me a second chance to gain revenge on Poseidon by killing his bloodline." Another blister popped on her face. The veins in her head and face were bulging. Her voice became louder. "You, Perseus and Alexandra Jackson, are my second chance. Killing you will allow me to be released from this curse!" Her words echoed over the sound of the chanting crowd.

The spectators were really starting to get on Alex's nerves. She swore she got hit with a french fry.

The ground beneath their feet started to shake. Dirt rained down from the ceiling.

The large wooden doors ahead of them shook dangerously.

"But-" she started again, her voice again close to Alex's ear. "-this time, it's not just going to be the bloodline of Poseidon."

Alex was hit with a sudden wave of vertigo, her ears ringing. She could barely hear the noise around her. She stumbled backward so she was facing the collapsed passageway.

"Thanks to your father's sudden escape, we know exactly where your little camp is," her voice hissed loudly in her ears, overwhelming her senses. "We have already sent forces to burn it to the ground and execute anything that moves."

A scream echoed in Alex's head that made her heart and stomach twist painfully.

Sierra.

Alex felt her heart skip a beat.

"Look at the crowd around you," the voice pressed.

Alex's eyes scanned the crowd against her will.

"This crowd alone would destroy your camp. Imagine what we have already sent-"

A hand roughly grabbed Alex's arm and jerked her back to face the master booth.

"Focus, Alex. She's in your head," her dad warned.

Alex looked up at Mesperyian angrily, her heart pounding.

The witch was smiling greedily at her, the neckline of her dress now stained red. She pouted in faux sympathy. "Oh, I'm sorry, granddaughter of Poseidon. Feel a headache coming on?"

She shrugged off her dad's hand.

Mesperyian couldn't be beaten with mind games. They were going to have to use brute force with her.

Eupalinos, on the other hand.

Alex shifted her attention to the old man.

"You are really going to let this witch speak for you, Eupalinos?" she called.

His eyes widened slightly, surprised that he was being addressed directly.

Alex grinned to herself.

Eupalinos composed himself and stepped forward. "Mesperyian is a bright and driven goddess. Once she sets her sights on a desired goal, there is nothing that can stop her," he said calmly. "Besides," he spat, "Poseidon and his offspring can rot."

Son of Athena. Right.

Alex almost forgot about her grandparents' millennia-year-old feud.

How silly of her.

"You're a smart guy, Eupa." Her dad scratched his head. "Can I still call you Eupa? Makes me all warm and fuzzy inside."

Their tactic was working.

Mesperyian was right. There was an army moving towards camp via a tunnel system created by Eupalinos. Alex could feel it and she was sure her father could too. When distracting Eupalinos, she could feel the tunnel system slow its course.

Eupalinos was new to the whole "evil mastermind immortal" bit, and it showed. His powers were weak if he didn't put his entire focus on it.

They had to stop the Son of Athena.

"You're a Son of Athena," Alex said incredulously. "You are seriously going to take orders from this crazy lady in a wedding dress? She looks ridiculous!" She gestured at the witch wildly with her hand. "She obviously has no plans past destroying camp. Every real child of Athena I know has a five, ten, and fifteen-year plan to set them up on the right track for the future. Mesperyian has, what, two weeks? Max?"

Eupalinos frowned.

Alex could feel a tunnel branch collapse, meaning dead monsters.

"Well, we haven't negotiated that part of our deal yet-"

"You're going to try and negotiate with her?" her father exclaimed. "She's crazy, man! She'll get inside your head so you won't know what you want. She's going to manipulate you!"

Mesperyian bared her teeth at them.

"Eupalinos is my trusted associate of whom I would never disrespect! Right, Eupalinos?" she said, turning to him.

He hesitated.

"Well, I mean, you have been stealing my lunch from the communal refrigerator for the past couple of years," he said, not making eye contact with her.

Mesperyian rolled her eyes. "I told you, that was not me! It was Jerry, the telekhine from Logistics!"

"You killed Jerry in a battle over six years ago."

"Not that Jerry, the other one!"

"That Jerry was crushed by a crane last year."

During their argument, Alex said to her dad, "You feel the caves too?"

The caves had stopped moving entirely. He nodded.

"If we stop Eupalinos-"

"We stop the movement towards camp," Alex finished for him.

"Enough!" Mesperyian huffed. "We will discuss this later." She turned back to the duo. She glared at Alex. "I underestimated the strength of Athena in your blood, grandchild of Poseidon. You are more clever than you appear."

Alex tilted her head. "Thanks?"

The witch sighed bored. "Unfortunately, we have run out of time so I will have to cut my monologue short. Eupalinos, bring him in." She sat on her throne and waved her hand above her head.

The scoreboard came to life. On one side read "BLOOD OF POSEIDON" with a score of "0" right below it. The other side was labeled "CHAMPION" with a score of "1729."

The doors began to shake again and Alex could hear roaring coming from behind them.

"Blood of Poseidon, please welcome my undefeated champion!"

Alex and her dad looked nervously at each other.

Eupalinos stood and raised an open hand. "Farewell, blood of Poseidon," he said.

Just as he was about to close his hand, her father yelled out, "WAIT!"

The ground shook beneath them, but it wasn't Eupalinos' doing.

"Mesperyian," Percy called out, taking a step forward. "If you're so powerful, why let another monster do your dirty work? If you want me, you can have me! I was here for twelve years and never once did you step in this ring with me. Think you can't beat a son of Poseidon?"

Alex could hear the witch's growl from their position in the center of the ring.

"You, a child of Poseidon, dare think that I can't defeat you?" her voice echoed across the arena. "I never fought you because I wanted you alive for entertainment." She paused like she was thinking. "But, alas, I do not need you anymore, and my ratings have been very good lately. I guess it is finally my chance for some fun!"

She snapped her fingers and suddenly a column of earth rose her in the air and started to carry her down to the floor of the arena. Eupalinos leaned against the railing of their overlook, looking bored. As Mesperyian came down, the scoreboard behind her flickered. Another section had added itself to the board. It read "MESPERYIAN" with a score of "12204949394" below it.

"Uh, dad, you sure that was a good idea?" Alex asked, her heart rate rising as the imminence of battle came upon her.

Her dad staring confusedly at Mesperyian's approaching figure. "I… I honestly didn't think that would work. I guess we'll find out."

She landed gracefully in front of them, about twenty yards away. She turned to the crowd and when she spoke, her voice was once again echoing throughout the arena. "My lovely followers! What shall we start with? Fire?"

The crowd moaned.

"Spikes?"

There were a few cheers. Alex booed herself at the lame suggestion.

"Poison?"

The crowd erupted.

Mesperyian turned back to them with a wicked grin. Her face was no longer bleeding, but her dress appeared darker, almost a gray color.

"My people have spoken! You shall meet your end with poison!"

As Mesperyian described her plan to kill them to the crowd like a sports announcer analyzing a play, her dad stepped close to Alex.

"Alex, I never wanted you to find out about this ability, but we're going to need it right now," he said hesitantly.

Alex looked at him confused.

"We can control poison, but don't tell Mesperyian."

Alex's eyes widened at the confession. Out of all of the abilities she imagined it could be, that wasn't even on the list.

"We can do what?"

"I found it out when I was a kid, okay? Poison has water in it so we can control the water in the poison. I haven't done it since then so Mesperyian doesn't know we can do that. Use that to our advantage."

Her stomach twisted painfully. Despite the messed-up world they lived in, Alex still had a pretty high moral code. Controlling poison, even against monsters, was teetering on that line. To her, some things just weren't meant to be controlled.

He noticed the uncomfortable look on her face. "You don't actually have to use it. Just know that you can, as a last resort, okay?"

Alex nodded her head.

Finally finishing up her monologue, Mesperyian turned back to the duo. Her dress had faded to a pitch-black color.

"Blood of Poseidon, meeting your end with a liquid. How ironic!"

Percy and Alex looked at each other before rushing the witch.

/

Alex quickly realized that Mesperyian was not going to be an issue. The witch captured victims and tortured them, but she didn't fight them in battle. While she could hold her own, she wasn't a match for two demigods who have training for the majority of their lives. She also kept going on about how she couldn't kill them too quickly because she had to introduce her new sponsor at the end of her time slot so she needed to keep her watchers' attention until the very end. Sometime about a new monster soap brand?

Her poison was also not much of a problem. It would materialize in her hands where she could control it, similar to how Alex and Percy could control water. But, it would dissipate somewhat quickly once it left her control when she would shoot it at them. All they had to do was dodge and roll before the next attack. Again, her powers were not meant to be sustainable for an entire battle. The constant fumes from the disappearing poison were starting to make Alex slightly woozy, though, but that was the most of Mesperyrian's powers.

However, Mesperyian and Eupalinos were an almost unstoppable combo. She was untouchable as any time either Percy or Alex got close enough to attack, Eupalinos would scoop her up in a hand of earth and away from the battle. He would open up cracks in the ground that threatened to swallow them with one wrong step. The ground beneath them would suddenly shift, so when Alex looked up she would suddenly be on the other side of the arena.

They were really fighting against Eupalinos the entire time. If they kept up their current plan of defense, they would only tire themselves out which could give Mesperyian an opening.

Eupalinos was still standing in the overlook, lazily moving his hands as he manipulated the dirt.

Alex had to get to him.

She dove to the left to avoid another shot of poison. As she stood, she analyzed the stadium.

The quickest way for her to get to the overlook was through the stands, but they were full of cheering, hot dog-eating monsters, which would make it difficult for Alex to run through them without a sword in her back. She would also need a boost from the first level of stands to the second since it was at the same height as the overlook booth. From Alex's estimates, it was about a fifty-foot jump. Once she got onto that level, she would have to jump the thirty-foot gap between the end of the stands and the overlook. All of this would have to be done without being attacked and also ensuring her father wasn't being overrun by monsters.

Piece of cake.

Alex's eyes were drawn to the JumboTron, only to see a giant, digital version of herself staring right back at her. She was covered in a layer of dirt and her ponytail was everywhere, but otherwise, she was fine. The crowd suddenly cheered and she realized too late why.

Mesperyian's dark form materialized behind her, a growing darkness in her hands. The witch thrust her hands forward and the black liquid rushed at Alex's back.

She heard a yell as she dove, but before she could process the words, the poison hit her arm and voices exploded in her head.

The voices sounded like standing next to a jet engine at take-off, speakers at a metal band concert, a handgun firing, and a volcano erupting, all at once and directly in her ears. Her senses shut down momentarily as the sounds overwhelmed her. She could feel herself fall to the ground, her hands clutching her head, her mouth open in a scream that she couldn't hear.

The voices were mainly indistinguishable, but even in her incapacitated state, she could pick up on a few words.

Poseidon, failure, weak, revenge, kill.

Her ears felt like they had been stabbed fifty times and then ripped straight from her head. She couldn't see. She could barely breathe.

The voices continued to hiss at her.

Poseidon, failure, weak, revenge, kill.

Her chest suddenly became tight and she felt like she was choking. Was she breathing? She couldn't remember how to breathe. What was her name? Where was she? Was she dead? What was this pain?

Poseidon, failure, weak, revenge, kill.

Her mouth opened in a scream again but she felt like she was drowning, the poison entering her lungs and asphyxiating her. In her panic, she could hear her heartbeat, almost louder than the voices.

She was dying. She had to be.

And then, the voices were gone. She gasped for breath as her brain remembered how to function. Her vision came back for her to see her father engaged in hand to hand combat with Mesperyian, distracting her from torturing Alex.

Her head still pounded, her vision was foggy, and the world tilted dangerously as she got an episode of bad vertigo. She sat up from her fetal position and immediately regretted it, her stomach twisting. She fell onto all fours as she retched, her head and stomach on completely different pages.

The poison was the voices. It was a part of Mesperyian's torture.

Alex tried to stand and stumbled as she wiped her mouth, managing to stay on her feet. Her head was slowly clearing as she scooped up her knife unsteadily. She noticed blood dripping from her head, coming from her ears. Her upper arm also burned, likely from where the poison hit her.

Her father was still fighting Mesperyian, but the ground wasn't moving to protect her. Alex looked up to see Eupalinos constantly getting knocked down by jets of water, her father's doing.

Water.

Water could get her to the booth.

She could feel water around her, but it wasn't beneath her.

Suddenly the ground under her dad's feet shot up, knocking him away from Mesperyian. The witch immediately turned back to Alex, her eyes boring into her. She smiled, a thin line of blood falling down her chin.

Ah shit.

Her head exploded into the voices again. The sudden intrusion caused her knees to buckle and she fell to the floor again. The pain wasn't as bad as before, but that wasn't saying much. She could at least remember to breathe this time.

What was she thinking about before? It was important.

Poseidon, failure, weak, revenge, kill.

Her dad? He was fighting Mesperyian. He was beating her.

Poseidon, failure, weak, revenge, kill.

He didn't beat her, though, because he got knocked backward. What knocked him over?

Poseidon, failure, weak, revenge, kill.

Dirt. He got knocked over by dirt. Eupalinos moved the ground. He was in the overlook.

Poseidon, failure, weak, revenge, kill.

She had to get to Eupalinos to stop him. How was she going to get to him?

Poseidon, failure, weak, revenge, kill.

Water. She needed water.

Her head felt like it was being ripped apart from the ears. Her hands and feet were starting to go numb.

Water. She needed water.

Her stomach clenched painfully, but in a familiar way. Then it went away like she didn't have the strength to call the water.

Kill, kill, kill.

The pain in her head increased tenfold and Alex lost all sense of herself for a second. She swore she must have died for a second because there was nothing. No feeling, no sight, no thoughts, no pain. Just nothing.

Then she thought of the ocean, furiously bashing against a shore during a storm. Her stomach started to tighten. She thought of an earthquake shaking the Earth, causing a mass tsunami that would come crashing down on all of her enemies.

She screamed, still unable to hear it, but she felt her voice crack from the power behind it. Her stomach cramped and the voices were suddenly gone again. Her senses returned. Her nose was bleeding along with her ears. She rolled onto her back, to see the destruction she had caused.

The stands were in chaos. Apparently she had found the water, but it had been around the circumference of the stadium and under the stands. As a result, there were geysers of water shooting out from cracks at dangerous speeds in the stands, sending monsters running out of the stadium in a panic. Pepsi cups and popcorn rained down into the arena. Various cracks in the infrastructure of the stadium also told her she might have caused a mild earthquake.

Whoops.

Her havoc had caused Eupalinos to turn his attention to saving the structure of the arena. He was trying to fill in gaps and cracks that continued to appear as the pressure from the geysers continued to increase.

This left Mesperyian vulnerable.

Her father wasted no time, looking like an Olympic gymnast with the way he was dodging the bolts of poison the witch was sending at him. The fear of her face showed as she knew she was losing.

It was not going to last if Eupalinos got back into the battle.

Alex pinpointed a geyser that had erupted right in front of the stands, to the left of the overlook. There was another one towards the top of the first level of stands that could boost her to the second.

She stood and took off towards the stands, picking up her knife on the way, still slightly off-balance from the torture she had undergone. She focused on the water and let her body be naturally drawn towards it. Reaching the geyser, she leaped into it, letting the water shove her thirty feet into the air and into the stands.

The water instantly began to work its magic on healing her. Her head cleared and she felt a new wave of energy course through her limbs.

Running up the stairs, she slashed through any monsters that dared to try and stop her. As she did, she could see in her peripheral the scoreboard for BLOOD OF POSEIDON ticking up with each kill. One monster came to attack and realized it only had a fork in defense before quickly running away. Alex was peppered with various food items, but it did little to stop her progress.

She leaped into the second geyser, which shot her up into the second layer of stands. There were few monsters in this section, and they simply turned their backs on her and ran. Sprinting towards the thirty-foot gap that separated her from Eupalinos, she felt for any remaining reservoirs of water that could assist her.

Right before she jumped for the gap, she yelled again, and a cannon of water burst from the wall to her left. She landed on top of it and slid across it on her feet like she was wearing water skis. Using one last bit of energy, she had the water launch her like a trampoline towards the overlook.

Eupalinos turned just in time to be tackled to the ground by the teenager. His eyes widened comically right as Alex tumbled into him. His head cracked against one of the thrones as they fell, knocking him out.

Alex groaned from the rough landing, pulling herself to her feet and dragging herself to the railing to check on her father.

He had Mesperyian's throat at the edge of his sword, his other hand clenching onto one of her wrists to prevent the formation of poison. All that was left of her other hand was a bloody stump from where it had been cut off.

"You took me for twelve years," he hissed at her. His voice still boomed across the arena through the loudspeakers. "You should've killed me when you had the chance."

Mesperyian grinned wickedly. "But then your daughter never would have gotten to see you die, which is the best torture of all."

The black cloud formed behind her father and time seemed to slow down. She could see Mesperyian's handless arm somewhat raised, summoning the poison. Her dad had a confused look on his face before his eyes widened in fear. Alex could see the poison surging towards him.

"NO!"

She threw her hands out, not sure of what she was trying to do.

Her dad had said it was like controlling water.

He couldn't have been further from the truth. It was like saying raising a pet fish was similar to raising a child, like riding a bike was similar to driving a tractor-trailer. As soon as she felt a small bit of control over the poison, her stomach felt like it had bent, a second away from snapping. She knew once it snapped, there was no going back.

But her father's life was on the line. Fuck moral codes.

With a grunt, she grabbed hold of the poison, stopping it in its tracks. She gasped as the thing in her stomach snapped clean in half. It took her breath away, but she felt more powerful than ever. She felt like she could stop a drakon with her bare hands.

Her dad's head snapped to look at her with an expression of both pride and sadness like he wished she would never have to use this power but proud she had the strength to do so.

Taking a deep breath, she threw her hands apart like she was ripping a piece of paper. The poison dissipated.

Mesperyian looked at her in surprise and fear.

"Oh, yeah," her dad said, "I forgot to mention we could do that."

She snarled.

"You can't kill me! I am a goddess, you ignorant-"

The witch was cut off by a loud roar, coming from directly below Alex. The arena shook, one of the support columns next to the overlook starting to crumble.

Time to go.

Alex called on the water one last time to carry her to the relative safety of the ground. She ran to her dad, who was still holding onto Mesperyian. She didn't have any fight left in her, as she simply stared in horror at the large doors in front of them.

Percy said, "I might not be able to kill you-" the monster roared again, "-but that might be able to."

He shoved her to her knees in front of them, but she didn't seem to notice.

"No, no, my TV ratings, no," she muttered to herself, almost hysterical. She started to rock herself.

"We should go," Percy said to his daughter, unable to take his eyes away from the doors that were now violently shaking. The overlook and columns were starting to collapse.

They ran to the edge of the arena, where they came from. Their original passageway had been collapsed by Eupalinos so Alex didn't see the point until her dad put a hand on the rubble.

"He only blocked the entrance but not the tunnel. I think I can get through," he said, stepping back. Alex followed his lead.

He closed his eyes and concentrated. The ground started to shake.

"You're going to take down the doors," Alex warned.

"Then get ready to run."

A small crack opened under the rubble. It continued to get wider, causing the collapsed rocks and dirt to fall away into it. It opened to show a clear passageway behind it.

"It's working!" Alex exclaimed.

Her dad was so cool.

Finally, the passageway was almost cleared, enough for them to pass through. The crack slowly started to close, giving them enough space to walk around.

"Not bad, right?" her dad joked, a tired smile on his face. He was slightly pale.

BOOM!

Alex turned to see the doors on the ground behind them, a great plume of dust obscuring the monster behind it.

Mesperyian stood and wailed, "My champion, please, spare me!"

Its eyes materialized in the dust. They were bright red, with white pupils. The eyes got bigger as it slithered from its prison. The dust cleared, revealing the drakon in all of its might. It was as big as four tractor-trailers end-to-end. It made the drakon that injured Sierra look like a baby. Its scales were rust-colored, each scale ending in a sharp point that shined dangerously in the light.

It came right up to Mesperyian. She reached up and touched its nose, and for a second Alex thought they were absolutely screwed. The monster almost seemed to lean into her touch.

"My champion," Mesperyian whispered.

The drakon hissed and with a flash of its jaws, Mesperyian was gone.

The scoreboard, somehow still intact, flashed. The "CHAMPION" score ticked up to "1730."

Alex cursed in shock before quickly shutting her mouth.

The drakon's eyes focused on her. She felt like she couldn't move, not because its eyes were paralyzing her, but because it was really terrifying to look at it in the eyes.

"Move!" her dad called, grabbing her arm and pulling her towards the passageway.

Alex collected herself and allowed herself to be pulled, taking off behind him. She could hear the monster roar and start to follow them, but she refused to look back to check.

They ran through the immediate entrance and continued fifty yards into the tunnel before her dad stopped. She stopped with him.

"We have to close it," he said.

Alex nodded.

The drakon was quickly approaching.

"On three-," she said.

"Just make everything shake," he finished.

Alex closed her eyes and tried to block out the sound of the absolutely petrifying monster trying to chase them and viciously kill them.

"Three!" her dad said.

Alex gasped and closed her fist, pulled at the earth in front of them. She stumbled as the ground violently shook with their combined powers. The structure of the entranceway was already weak from being collapsed once so it didn't take much to collapse it again. Twenty yards worth of rock and dirt filled the passageway in front of them, effectively blocking the path of the drakon.

The last thing Alex saw from the arena was the drakon's red eyes staring murderously at her before the cavern was completely filled.

The ground stilled and they took a moment to catch their breaths. Her dad was pale and sweating.

"I'm fine," he said in response to her concerned look. "I'm just old, okay?"

Alex chuckled despite their situation. Her dad seemed to have that effect.

"Is Eupalinos still alive?" he asked as they started to jog their way through the tunnel.

"I think so. He hit his head pretty good, but I don't think he's dead."

"So we only bought some time. He'll send that drakon to camp as soon as he's back on his feet. I think the other army's tunnel system collapsed during the battle because I can't sense it anymore, but that doesn't mean he won't more. We probably only have a few hours, at most."

Alex followed her dad as they took a right.

"How do you know where we're going now?" she asked.

"Eupalinos has controlled this part of the Labyrinth for a while, which means it doesn't naturally change any more. With him down, it hasn't changed since we left so we're going backward."

"But once Eupalinos is awake again…"

"He'll have full control of the Labyrinth without Mesperyian to stop him. We'd be lucky if he didn't just collapse the whole section on top of us."

"So we should probably hurry?"

"Yeah, we should probably hurry."

They quickened their pace to a sprint as they went to warn their family and friends of the imminent battle.

/

How about this nice, long, battle-filled bad boy for y'all?

I decided to treat y'all and post this all at once instead of breaking it up. So much happens in a single second of battle, and I wanted to describe everything so that's why it's long. Hope y'all don't mind.

So there's only one chapter left in this story? Pretty wack if you ask me. The idea that this story has been EIGHT YEARS in the making and is almost over is wack. I was literally in middle school when I first started writing this on my iPod Touch 4.

Also, I think I'm noticing a trend with drakons. AKA I can't come up with a monster scarier than a drakon that I can describe in detail and still be somewhat accurate to Greek mythology.

I posted two new compilations that will house my one-shots from now on. One is random ideas and the other is what-ifs from the actual book series. I only have one chapter for each right now but that will hopefully change soon! Check them out! Let me know what you thought about this chapter!

Sorry for any errors, blah blah blah. See y'all soon.