Exams are over. I'm done. I'm free. I can sleep and I never have to answer another question about property dualism or research methods or anything a-level-related again and I am so so happy. Also, I don't know when the next chapter will be out because I'm taking a week to rest and there's a high chance I will spend that week playing sims instead of writing fanfiction, but at most the wait will be a week longer.
- Meadow
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Mari kicked the wall as she walked. "Stupid labyrinth. Stupid Sphinx," she muttered.
She wasn't entirely sure if the labyrinth a sentient or not, but she'd spent the last however many days (halfheartedly) trying not to piss it off just in case. She probably hadn't succeeded, though, since if the labyrinth was sentient it seemed to be peeved by the mere idea of its inhabitants not being dead, and Mari was very much not dead. Yet.
It didn't amount to a whole lot now, anyway. She was lost beyond belief and completely alone.
Wait a minute.
She was completely, entirely alone. Which meant she could say whatever she wanted without putting anyone in danger.
A shit-eating grin spread across Mari's face. "Hey, Labyrinth," Mari whispered. "Fuck youuu."
"Fuck you! Ha! You hear me, you constipated little tunnel of doom?! I hate you! Ha!" Mari ran through the corridor, banging her hands on the walls as she went and shrieking. Even when her hands got red and started stinging, she kept going.
And elated feeling started forming in her chest. Maybe it was out of place, given that she was probably going to die. But she couldn't help it. And elation was much better than crippling fear.
A broken light dangled from above. Given the low ceilings, it was just within reach, so Mari jumped up and clutched the wire, swinging like a toddler in a playground. "I'm messing up your stupid light, labyrinth! How do you like that?!" she yelled.
The cord snapped in half, crashing Mari to the floor in a mess of limbs and wire.
Mari groaned, untangling herself and kicking the debris away. She rubbed her back and winced. It wasn't bad enough to bruise and the pain was already starting to fade. Really, she'd only been swinging about twenty centimetres from the ground anyway. Didn't hurt. She stretched her arms and gasped. Okay, so it hurt a bit.
Mari looked up. The plaster had split to reveal very old-looking stone, with rows and rows of tally marks scratched along it. She wondered who had made them, and how they'd been covered up. Didn't matter, anyway. Whoever it was, they were probably long dead by now.
"Hey, Circe. Fuck you too. You twisted wanker." Mari whispered this into the void. She didn't insult any other gods. That was as far as she was willing to go. She hoped it gave Circe a headache or something.
Sighing, she got up and trudged along the corridor. Her previous energy had disappeared, and now she just felt tired. Tired and scared.
"Where are you, Clarisse?" she asked aloud. Nobody answered. Unsurprising. Clarisse was probably on the other side of the country by now. That was if she even managed to beat the Sphinx.
Okay. That did it. Mari needed to get the Hades out of the labyrinth, now. She still had a golden drachma left. She could easily IM Clarisse or Chiron when she got out, but IMing didn't seem to work in the labyrinth. Then she could form some kind of plan. Either wait until both her and Clarisse were out, then meet up and try again. Or get Chiron to send Argus to pick her up and hope a monster didn't kill her whilst she was waiting.
YOU ARE READING
Kalliope (PJO)
Fanfiction𝔹𝕆𝕆𝕂 𝟙 Mari should have read the terms and conditions. Seriously. She should have noped out the second that Oak started talking about gods and monsters. But she wasn't very good at making sensible life choices, and that wasn't going to change a...
