Home of the Labyrinth

There's No Eye In Team

After a bit more driving, we made it to what I assumed was the closest Monster Donut™, and Sam ran in while I waited with Gen. Sure I probably would have been welcome there, drachma is drachma is drachma is drachma, but I felt better staying with Gen while Sam handled the sensitive stuff. Looking in the front window, I could see Sam talking to someone I couldn't quite make out from here, but Sam seemed anxious, maybe she knew more than she was telling me.

Waiting at the van for Sam reminded me of when my mom would run into the gas station to pay while I waited in the car... It was a bittersweet memory. One that brought joy, immediately followed by sorrow and dread; It was her murder I was accused of committing, after all.

Staying with the car and letting Sam handle things, no longer made me feel better.

After a few more large gestures and a little bit of crying, The Figure made his way to the back of the shop, and Sam came to collect Gen and me, which derailed my depressing memory train, though I was unsure as to how we were going to get Gen inside. Before I had a chance to even question Sam about what happened inside, The Figure reappeared.

I was now able to clearly see that The Figure was substantially taller than Sam or myself, roughly the same size as Gen. Even with The Figure standing right in front of me, I couldn't clearly see his face, it was like he was wearing a Mist mask. I would look at his face, my head would get fuzzy, and then when I'd look away I wouldn't remember what I had just seen. What was really interesting is that I'd never been effected by the Mist before, so this guy must have been really good at manipulating It, and was deliberately hiding his face.

I was so distracted by The Figure, that I didn't even realize he had brought a massive, and I mean massive, gurney with him, easily large enough for a young hydra, making it more than large enough for Gen. It was honestly impressive how I managed to completely miss this hulking rollerbed, and I probably would have spent longer staring at it in amazed silence, had The Figure not cleared his throat and suggest we get to it.

Not only could I never remember his face, but I also couldn't describe his voice. It was both young an old, gruff and smooth, loud and soft, excited and bored. I promised myself then that if I got the chance, I would ask him about the Mist and how he is so good at using it.

With The Figure there to help, it was much easier to move Gen, he was incredibly strong, and I, it seemed, was stronger than I thought I was. As surprised as I was with my strength, Sam was more so.

"You... you shouldn't be able to life her... I didn't think about it before, but how did you even get her in the van? She weighs hundreds of pounds," she said, almost to herself, like I was a puzzle she was trying to solve.

"I mean, it wasn't easy! This Guy here is making it a lot easier now, but getting Gen into the milkmobile was a massive struggle!"

The Figure cut in with the only thing I can clearly remember him saying, "Bull."

"No, I swear!"

"No, _________ means bull, as in the bull, the minotaur," she said his name, but even that I couldn't remember, this guy is incredible. 

"What does my father have to do with any of this? I've never met him, he's never been around."

"Your father... Oh Tartarus... Gen, why didn't you tell me..." great, she had started muttering to herself again. Seriously, how could my father matter?

Before I could ask any more questions, The Figure said something to me, and I blacked out.

*        *        *

When I woke up, I found myself in a hospital room. It didn't seem as large as the ones I'd been in before, nor as sterile. There was something almost... cozy, about this medical suite. I got up from the bed, and tried the door. Locked. I started panicking and sat back down on the bed to try and calm down before it got too bad. It took me another minute to fully snap out of it, and remember what had happened before waking up here. Everything was a little fuzzy, but one thing I remembered clearly was that it was my father's fault I ended up locked in this room.

Getting angry wasn't going to do me any good, not right now. So I, again, tried to calm myself down. 

I decided the best way to do that was to go over the details of the last few days in my head. You may think me crazy for doing so, but I also decided to recount these events to you, someone who doesn't actually exist, and that's exactly where we are now. You're all caught up. I am still sitting in this room, waiting to see what happens next, just like you.

I decide, since I have nothing left to do, that I'm going to walk around the room and investigate, maybe see if there's anything I can keep on me as a weapon. I start with the nearest cabinet and find nothing but size XXXXXXL gloves, easily large enough for me to use as a shower cap. The next cabinet contains only face masks and oral swabs, nothing that I can use to fight.

I start checking drawers now, too, but still all I find are miscellaneous medical supplies, nothing I can use to defend myself. What am I supposed to do? I'm well aware that I can hold my own in a fight against normal humans, and some weaker monsters, but I've never fought anything stronger. The Figure would probably not go down easily, if it came to that, which basically means I'm screwed. 

I decide I may as well give into the Fates. They obviously want me helpless in here, there's nothing I can do to change that right now. I've never liked the idea of the Fates, but learning that your father is a man-bull that used to spend his time in an underground corn maze, you just learn to accept certain things.

Suddenly there's a knock at the door, and The Figure walked in before I could respond or react, typical doctor. Sam comes in after him, and the door is shut. Sam quickly starts rattling off information about what's going on with Gen, which I'm thankful for.

"Gen's going to be fine. She has some really bad burns, looks like fire from the Phlegathon River in Tartarus. She needs some time to recuperate, but she's healing quickly, she shouldn't need more than a week or so. We don't know who would've targeted Gen, or if Gen was even the target, but Phlegathon fire is incredibly dangerous when not used carefully. We should leave Gen here for a little bit while we move onto our next chore." All of that. Every word, was just said off of one breath.

"Leave Gen? I thought she was part of the team? We can't just leave her!"

"Enny, we have to check in with your father. He hired Gen to get you, which means w-"

"I don't care if Zeus or Kronos himself hired Gen! She saved me, and I won't abandon her," Using names is dangerous, everyone knows that, but I meant it.

"I'm not talking about abandoning her, just finding an entrance to The Labyrinth so we can meet up with your father when Gen is better," did she just say...

"The... The Labyrinth...?"

"Yeah, The Labyrinth has started to reform already, and enough of it reformed that it pulled your father back in. So the only way we can talk to him is by finding him."

"In The Labyrinth... Well wouldn't Gen have known a way in? As part of her plan?"

"She didn't have a chance, she was hired last minute, we were going to find a way in once we met back up but...."

"Alright fine. We find a way in, but we do NOT leave without her. And while we're at it, you can explain to me why I'm locked in here, and what all that was about outside."