CHOICE

The Labyrinth.

A self-aware, self-expanding maze with a malevolent consciousness.

A malignant pest that had expanded all over the planet, honeycombing beneath the earth's skin, unbeknownst to mortals and half-bloods alike.

A place where time and space themselves are warped. Where minutes can last hours, and days last months. Where a step can be a meter, and a meter a mile.

A murderous, deadly, trap-filled, insanity-inducing, suffocating place that seeks to tear anyone who enters limb from limb.

A conscious, homicidal disease.

That was what the blue Delta symbol signified. The greatest and at the same time, the worst thing Daedalus, the greek inventor, had ever created, and the place Athos had to enter.

He took a deep breath and placed his hand on the tree's bark. The delta symbol flickered and expanded into a large, pitch-black hole which he could comfortably enter.

He heard a large 'Whoosh!", and he looked behind him to see the bronze angels flying off into the distance, their large bodies briefly covering the full moon, the white glow outlining their large wings. They truly looked majestic, but once Chump opened his mouth, that impression was removed quite quickly.

He turned back and faced the large hole in the tree's trunk, whose edges were slightly swirling and giving off strange energy, as though beckoning him. Coaxing him to walk to his death. To be eaten alive.

His features hardened. He was walking into a death trap and he needed to be ready for anything and everything. Usually, stepping into the Labyrinth would be suicide for anyone but a clearsighted mortal, but he had help.

He pulled out the bronze medal and pressed the depression in the middle once again, and this time the disk grew eight legs and two large silver dots, along with six other smaller ones flickered on at the front. Probably the spider's eyes.

"Hey, Bob! Nice to finally see you. I hope you know that dropping you was an accident. I was surprised, you know. I hope you can accept my apologies", Athos solemnly said, staring at the spider. He hoped that Chump wasn't fucking with him by telling him that the spider was sentient, for he would look really stupid otherwise.

The spider's eye's blinked as it swayed from side to side, before doing a happy flip on his palm. Looking at Bob's acrobatics, Athos assumed that he was forgiven. He wouldn't get sawed in half, intentionally at the very least.

He steeled his heart and looked back to the swirling black hole that looked more like a portal than anything.

"All right Bob, lead the way", He whispered, his eyes glinting with excitement. He hadn't had a good fight in a day, and a day was way too long.

***

After a few moments of stepping into the Labyrinth, he opened his eyes, slowly taking in his surroundings. He seemed to be in a dark, muddy tunnel that was lit by the faintest of torches that extended out in a row, far into the distance.

Bob gave out a chirp and jumped off his hand, to the ground, scuttling forward at a fairly quick pace. Seeing that, Athos adjusted his backpack and promptly followed, not wanting to lose sight of the automaton.

A few minutes passed with nothing out of the ordinary happening. Athos' feet made squelching noises as he ran on the mud, and Bob happily scuttled along the straight tunnel, but the malevolent aura of the Labyrinth kept getting stronger, as though it was not happy with having a visitor.

Suddenly, Bob halted and gave out a loud chirp as though giving out a warning. Athos immediately skidded to a stop to find a large bronze metal ball the size of half his body, swinging straight for his head.

He snorted and curled his fingers into a ball. He pivoted his back foot, turned his knee, and at the same time used the movement to twist his hips and chest toward the incoming ball, letting loose a fluid punch that made the wind whistle.

*BOOM*

His fist met the ball with immense force and with a loud crack, the projectile shattered into two halves which harmlessly flew past him. Such petty tricks wouldn't work on a son of Herakles. While most demigods would have to be quick on their feet to survive, he just needed his fists.

The labyrinth rumbled slightly as though annoyed at the fact that the demigod had shrugged off its trap so easily. Sure enough, the tunnel wall beside Athos opened up, and a large crossbow bolt shot out, barrelling toward his head, but he merely caught the bolt with his right hand and snapped it in two, rendering it useless.

Yet another trap activated, and two stone walls dropped down from the ceiling, one in front of him and one in the back. With a slight shake, the walls started to close in on him from both sides, wanting to squish him to mush, but with two powerful front kicks, the walls were smashed into oblivion.

Perhaps the Labyrinth wasn't as deadly as it seemed.

Athos scanned the tunnel for any more traps, but all he saw was the debris on the ground turning into mist. They were magical all right. Did the Labyrinth give up? Surely not.

He was about to continue walking forward but he was interrupted by the sound of someone clapping. His eye's sharpened as he looked around for the origin, but the tunnel was still empty, the clapping sounds echoing in the dark space.

"Where are you!", Athos mumbled, getting into a fighting stance, ready to summon Leviathan. He could not voluntarily punch something that he couldn't see after all.

The torches on the walls flickered, and a tall being stepped out of the darkness, appearing in front of Athos as though he'd always been there. He wore a black overcoat, with similar black shoes and had shoulders so wide that he could put his dad to shame. The enormous shoulders could be explained by the fact that the man had two faces that looked over either side, which lead to him having a slightly disturbing figure.

"Well Done, Athos! You truly live up to your Godly parent. You are mighty indeed!", said the left face.

"Pah! Flatterer! Herakles was stronger! More Valient! More handsome! You're a wimp, Athos!", said the right.

"Janus", Athos said through clenched teeth. He did not like where this was going. This particular God was a nuisance. He had only one appearance in the books, and he'd almost given Annabeth a mental Breakdown.

"See, He's perfect. He knows us too!", the left face grinned.

"Hmph! How many other Gods have two faces? You're laying the praise a little too thick", the right face sneered.

"Oh! Will you just shut up! We need to give him the options already"

"Yeah! Yeah! Get on with it"

Janus brushed off the wrinkles on his coat and the left face spoke, "Let me introduce myself, I'm your best friend"

"I'm your worst enemy", the right face added.

"I'm Janus", the faces spoke in harmony, "God of Doorways, Beginnings, Endings, Choices."

The tunnel behind Janus morphed into a large wall with two doors, one red and another blue, and the God lifted both his hands, displaying two keys on his palms with similar colours.

"Now make a choice", Janus said, both his faces blurring into one with a malicious grin.

"And make it quick"