Ivy Pittaluga had always made a solemn vow to keep her distance from Percy Jackson, determined to keep her world separate from the camp hero.
However, she realizes that fate has a mischievous plan in store for her. Suddenly thrown together as unlik...
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We followed the spider through the maze in a hurry. It scuttled along the tunnels so fast, most of the time I couldn't even see it. If it hadn't been for Tyson's and Grover's excellent hearing, we never would've known which way it was going.
We ran down a marble tunnel, then dashed to the left and Percy almost fell into an abyss. Tyson grabbed him and hauled him back before he could fall. The tunnel continued in front of us, but there was no floor for about a hundred feet, just gaping darkness and a series of iron runs in the ceiling. The mechanical spider was about halfway across, swinging from bar to bar by shooting out metal fiber.
"Monkey bars." Annabeth said. "I'm great at these."
She leaped into the first rung and started swinging her way across. Annabeth got to the opposite side and ran after the spider. Percy made sure I went next, stating so he could make sure I was safe. With a blush on my cheeks, I followed after Annabeth with Percy right behind me. Once I touched the ground, I quickly went to catch up with Annabeth.
We kept moving and passed a skeleton crumpled in the tunnel. It wore remains of a dress shirt, slacks, and a tie. Percy slipped on a pile of wood scraps. He reached out to steady himself, grabbing my hand. Once he was steady, he shined a light on them to reveal hundreds of broken pencils.
The tunnel opened up into a large room. A blazing light hit us. I brought my hand up to shield my eyes and adjust my vision it the brightness. There were more skeletons varying from age. There was a certain stench to the room, but thankfully didn't compare to the one from the ranch.
A monster stood on a glittery dais on the opposite side of the room. She had the body of a huge lion and the head of a woman. With her hair in a right bun and way too much makeup, she wore her blue badge proudly. It took me a while to read the words on the badge: THIS MONSTER HAS BEEN RATED EXEMPLARY!
"Sphinx." Tyson whimpered.
I quickly scanned for the exit.
Good news: I found the exit tunnel.
Bad news: there was only one and it was behind the sphinx.
More bad news: the mechanical spider went underneath the Sphinx's paws and disappeared.
Annabeth started forward, but the Sphinx roared, showing her fangs. Bars came down on both tunnel exits, behind us and in front.
"Welcome, lucky contestants!" She announced. "Get ready to play...ANSWER THAT RIDDLE!"
Canned applause blasted from the ceiling, as if there were invisible loudspeakers. Spotlights swept across the room and reflected off the dais, throwing disco glitter over the skeletons on the floor.
"I swear I had a nightmare similar to this." I mumbled.
"Fabulous prizes!" The Sphinx said. "Pass the test, and you get to advance! Fail, and I get to eat you! Who will be our contestant?"
