Want to play a game?
Itโs easy. You take a guess. Then you burn to death.
This part of the maze had no elevators, wandering government employees, or signs reminding us to honk before turning corners.
We reached the bottom of the stairs and found a vertical shaft in the floor. Grover, being part goat, had no difficulty climbing down. After he called up that no monsters or fallen bears were waiting for us, Meg grew a thick swathe of wisteria down the side of the pit, which allowed us some handholds and also smelled lovely.
We dropped into a small square chamber with four tunnels radiating outward, one from each wall. The air was hot and dry as if the fires of Helios had recently swept through. Sweat beaded on my skin. In my quiver, arrow shafts creaked and fletching hissed.
Grover peered forlornly at the tiny bit of sunlight seeping down from above.
โWeโll get back to the upper world,โ I promised him. โI was just wondering if Piper got my message.โ
Meg looked at him over her blue-taped glasses. โWhat message?โ
โI ran into a cloud nymph when I was picking up the Mercedes,โ he said, as if running into cloud nymphs often happened when he was borrowing automobiles. โI asked her to take a message to Mellie, tell her what we were up to โ assuming, you know, the nymph makes it there safely.โ
I considered this, wondering why Grover hadnโt mentioned it earlier. โWere you hoping Piper might meet us here?โ
โNot really โฆโ His expression said, Yes, please, gods, we could use the help. โI just thought she should know what we were doing in case โฆโ His
expression said, in case we combust into flames and are never heard from again.
I disliked Groverโs expressions. โTime for the shoes,โ Meg said.
I realized she was looking at me. โWhat?โ
โThe shoes.โ She pointed at the sandals hanging from my belt.
โOh, right.โ I tugged them from my belt. โI donโt suppose, er, either of you want to try them on?โ
โNuh-uh,โ said Meg.
Grover shuddered. โIโve had bad experiences with enchanted footwear.โ
I was not excited to wear an evil emperorโs sandals. I feared they might turn me into a power-hungry maniac. Also, they didnโt go with my arctic camouflage. Nevertheless, I sat on the floor and laced up the caligae. It made me appreciate just how much more of the world the Roman Empire might have conquered if theyโd had access to Velcro straps.
I stood up and tried a few steps. The sandals dug into my ankles and pinched at the sides. In the plus column, I felt no more sociopathic than usual. Hopefully I had not been infected with Caligulitis.
โOkay,โ I said. โShoes, lead us to the Erythraean Sibyl!โ
The shoes did nothing. I thrust a toe in one direction, then another, wondering if they needed a kick start. I checked the soles for buttons or battery compartments. Nothing.
โWhat do we do now?โ I asked no one in particular.
The chamber brightened with a faint gold light, as if someone had turned up a dimmer switch.
โGuys.โ Grover pointed at our feet. On the rough cement floor, the faint gold outline of a five-foot square had appeared. If it had been a trapdoor, we wouldโve all dropped straight through. Identical connected squares branched off down each of the corridors like the spaces of a board game. The trails were not of equal length. One extended only three spaces into the hallway.
Another was five spaces long. Another was seven. Another six.
Against the chamber wall on my right, a glowing golden inscription appeared in Ancient Greek: Python-slayer, golden-lyred, armed with arrows of dread.
โWhatโs going on?โ Meg asked. โWhatโs that say?โ โYou canโt read Ancient Greek?โ I asked.
โAnd you canโt tell a strawberry from a yam,โ she retorted. โWhatโs it say?โ I gave her the translation.
Grover stroked his goatee. โThat sounds like Apollo. I mean, you. When you used to be โฆ good.โ
I swallowed my hurt feelings. โOf course itโs Apollo. I mean, me.โ โSo, is the maze, like โฆ welcoming you?โ Meg asked.
That would have been nice. Iโd always wanted a voice-activated virtual assistant for my palace on Olympus, but Hephaestus hadnโt been able to get the technology quite right. The one time he tried, the assistant had been named Alexasiriastrophona. Sheโd been very picky about having her name pronounced perfectly, and at the same time had an annoying habit of getting my requests wrong. Iโd say, Alexasiriastrophona, send a plague arrow to destroy Corinth, please. And she would reply, I think you said: Men blame rows of soy and corn fleas.
Here in the Burning Maze, I doubted a virtual assistant had been installed. If it had been, it would probably only ask at which temperature I preferred to be cooked.
โThis is a word puzzle,โ I decided. โLike an acrostic or a crossword. The Sibyl is trying to guide us to her.โ
Meg frowned at the different hallways. โIf sheโs trying to help, why canโt she just make it easy and give us a single direction?โ
โThis is how Herophile operates,โ I said. โItโs the only way she can help us.
I believe we have to, er, fill in the correct answer in the correct number of spaces.โ
Grover scratched his head. โDoes anyone have a giant golden pen? I wish Percy were here.โ
โI donโt think we need that,โ I said. โWe just need to walk in the right direction to spell out my name. Apollo, six letters. Only one of these corridors has six spaces.โ
โAre you counting the space weโre standing in?โ Meg asked.
โUh, no,โ I said. โLetโs assume this is the start space.โ Her question made me doubt myself, though.
โWhat if the answer is Lester?โ she said. โThat has six spaces, too.โ
The idea made my throat itch. โWill you please stop asking good questions?
I had this all figured out!โ
โOr what if the answer is in Greek?โ Grover added. โThe question is in Greek. How many spaces would your name be then?โ
Another annoyingly logical point. My name in Greek was ฮฯฮฟฮปฮปฯฮฝ. โThat would be seven spaces,โ I admitted. โEven if transcribed in English,
Apollon.โ
โAsk the Arrow of Dodona?โ Grover suggested.
The scar in my chest tingled like a faulty electric outlet. โThatโs probably against the rules.โ
Meg snorted. โYou just donโt want to talk to the arrow. Why not try?โ
If I resisted, I imagined she would phrase it as an order, so I pulled forth the Arrow of Dodona.
BACKETH OFF, KNAVE! it buzzed in alarm. NEโER AGAIN SHALT THOU STICKEST ME IN THY LOATHSOME CHEST! NOR IN THE EYES
OF THY ENEMIES!
โRelax,โ I told it. โI just want some advice.โ
SO THOU SAYEST NOW, BUT I WARN THEE โ The arrow went deathly still. BUT SOOTH. IS THIS A CROSSWORD I SEE BEFORE ME? VERILY, I DOTH LOVE CROSSWORDS.
โOh, joy. Oh, happiness.โ I turned to my friends. โThe arrow loves crosswords.โ
I explained our predicament to the arrow, who insisted on getting a closer look at the floor squares and the hint written on the wall. A closer look โฆ with what eyes? I did not know.
The arrow hummed thoughtfully. METHINKS THE ANSWER SHALT BEEST IN THE COMMON TONGUE OF ENGLISH. โTWOULD BEEST THE NAME BY WHICH THOU ART MOST FAMILIAR IN THE PRESENT DAY.
โHe sayeth โโ I sighed. โHe says the answer will be in English. I hope he means modern English and not the strange Shakespearean lingo he speaks โโ
โTIS NOT STRANGE! the arrow objected.
โBecause we donโt have enough spaces to spell Apollonius beest thy answereth.โ
OH, HA-HA. A JEST AS WEAK AS THY MUSCLES.
โThanks for playing.โ I sheathed the arrow. โSo, friends, the tunnel with six squares. Apollo. Shall we?โ
โWhat if we choose wrong?โ Grover asked.
โWell,โ I said, โperhaps the magic sandals will help. Or perhaps the sandals only allow us to play this game in the first place, and if we stray from the right path, despite the Sibylโs efforts to assist us, we will open ourselves up to the fury of the maze โโ
โAnd we burn to death,โ Meg said.
โI love games,โ Grover said. โLead on.โ
โThe answer is Apollo!โ I said, just for the record.
As soon as I stepped to the next square, a large capital A appeared at my feet.
I took this as a good sign. I stepped again, and a P appeared. My two friends followed close behind.
At last we stepped off the sixth square, into a small chamber identical to the last. Looking back, the entire word APOLLO blazed in our wake. Before us, three more corridors with golden rows of squares led onward โ left, right and forward.
โThereโs another clue.โ Meg pointed to the wall. โWhy is this one in English?โ
โI donโt know,โ I said. Then I read aloud the glowing words: โHerald of new entrances, opener of the softly gliding year, Janus, of the double.โ
โOh, that guy. Roman god of doorways.โ Grover shuddered. โI met him once.โ He looked around suspiciously. โI hope he doesnโt pop up. He would love this place.โ
Meg traced her fingers across the golden lines. โKinda easy, isnโt it? His nameโs right there in the clue. Five letters, J-A-N-U-S, so itโs got to be that way.โ She pointed down the hallway on the right, which was the only one with five spaces.
I stared at the clue, then the squares. I was beginning to sense something even more unsettling than the heat, but I wasnโt sure what it was.
โJanus isnโt the answer,โ I decided. โThis is more of a fill-in-the-blanks situation, donโt you think? Janus of the double what?โ
โFaces,โ Grover said. โHe had two faces, neither of which I need to see again.โ
I announced aloud to the empty corridor: โThe correct answer is faces!โ
I received no response, but as we proceeded down the right-hand corridor the word FACES appeared. Reassuringly, we were not roasted alive by Titan fire.
In the next chamber, new corridors once again led in three directions. This time, the glowing clue on the wall was again in Ancient Greek.
A thrill went through me as I read the lines. โI know this! Itโs from a poem by Bacchylides.โ I translated for my friends: โBut the highest god, mighty with his thunderbolt, sent Hypnos and his twin from snowy Olympus to the fearless fighter Sarpedon.โ
Meg and Grover stared at me blankly. Honestly, just because I was wearing the Caligula shoes, did I have to do everything?
โSomething is altered in this line,โ I said. โI remember the scene. Sarpedon dies. Zeus has his body carried away from the battlefield. But the wording โโ
โHypnos is the god of sleep,โ Grover said. โThat cabin makes excellent milk and cookies. But whoโs his twin?โ
My heart ka-thumped. โThatโs whatโs different. In the actual line, it doesnโt say his twin. It names the twin: Thanatos. Or Death, in English.โ
I looked at the three tunnels. No corridor had eight squares for Thanatos.
One had ten spaces, one had four, and one had five โ just enough to fit DEATH.
โOh, no โฆโ I leaned against the nearest wall. I felt like one of Aloe Veraโs spikes was making its slimy way down my back.
โWhy do you look so scared?โ Meg asked. โYouโre doing great so far.โ โBecause, Meg,โ I said, โwe are not just solving random puzzles. We are
putting together a word-puzzle prophecy. And so far it says APOLLO FACES DEATH.โ
