I am in serious mourning. Why, I hear you ask? Because the two best shows on British television have ended, and I have nothing to watch.

It was bad enough when the Apprentice ended half a month ago – but this week saw both Heroes and Doctor Who come to a shocking end. Damn you, British Broadcasting Corporation! Now Nathan Petrelli has been shot, Niki's burnt to death and there's no Dr Who for another two bleeping years!

Yes, I'm angry. Almost as angry as Adam Monroe was when they buried him alive. Loser!

But at least we're getting it in roughly 2 months on 25th September...

Disclaimer – Percy Jackson ist nicht Grube…obwohl alle Abgaben so bald wie möglich geschickt werden können mir. That's a hint, by the way, about the chapter below…which is in Annabeth's POV.

Chapter 16 – J'examine mes capacités linguistiques

"Silena!"

"Beauregard! Get your butt out here!"

"Silena, where are you?"

Our voices didn't even echo. I took a few more steps forward and sighed bitterly. The others soon caught up, breathing heavily. We all stood motionless, but there was no sound whatsoever. Connor scuffed his trainer up against the wall – we all jumped.

We'd been looking for hours, and we were pretty sure it was now night time, but we couldn't be sure. We'd searched everywhere, but in a place like the labyrinth, it wasn't exactly easy to retrace your footsteps when rooms changed places more often than the staircases at Hogwarts. The place was really starting to freak me out.

"We can keep looking…" I said, the hope drifting from the sentence. Beckendorf shrugged soundlessly. He looked about as optimistic as the rest of us.

"I don't think it'll do much good," Nikos said, his brown eyes surveying the setting before his gaze met mine. "The labyrinth is designed to trick you. It's been known to take people out of time and space, into different dimensions of the universe. She might still be here, of course, but the labyrinth can take away your senses. It can twist everything – people's voices, what you see – until it finally drives you insane." He saw all of our worried faces and said quickly, "But I'm sure she's fine."

Everyone stood silently, as if they were trying to believe Nikos' final words, but in their hearts didn't believe them anymore than Nikos' himself did.

I straightened my shoulders and tried to look as if I was fine, that we hadn't just lost one of her friends to an unknown and probably unfortunate fate and that we had at least some idea as to where we were going. "Come on, guys. Let's, uh…take a break. We can rest up, eat some food, and then we'll keep looking. Okay?"

Connor and Nikos nodded glumly and Beckendorf shrugged. I sighed, cursing the fact that teenage boys were completely monosyllabic, and heaved my backpack higher up on my shoulders. Beckendorf walked slowly over to the nearest room. We followed, slow and miserable.

The room was like any other room in the labyrinth – sand-stone, dust, unmarked by any spectacular architecture or even a little furniture. It was quite long and spacious – but still, not particularly hospitable. As I walked, I noticed Beckendorf had stopped and was staring intently at the floor. We gathered around him.

"Why have we stopped?" Connor asked with a frown, surveying the room. "Come on, I'm in the mood for chicken…bacon…a little lettuce…some mayo…"

"The footprints," Beckendorf said simply, his eyes never leaving the dust covered floor. I leant in a little closer, and then it clicked.

There was dust, just like in every other room we'd passed over the last day, but here the dust was scattered oddly and was marked, like people had moved over it. There were finger prints on the sandy walls, and there was a small, opened bag of a golden material spilling out onto the floor – nectar. I caught my breath as my eyes fell down to the floor. And there they were – unmistakable markings in the dust, firm and defined, of someone's – or rather several people's – footprints.

I wearily approached the nearest one, trying hard to remember to breath. The first was a huge foot – a size twelve or thirteen at the least, like a huge walking boot someone had stretched. Tyson, I thought to myself, a lump forming in my throat.

Nearby was a different print – it was smaller, like it had metal plating around the top. There was a miniature skull imprinted into the fine sand, glaring at me from the floor. The lump seemed to get bigger as I realised who it was. Thalia.

A few metres away was a round print – like an oval shape, smooth and neat. It was a hoof, undeniably – quite small and defined. Nearby, the dust was scattered in ragged formations, like fur had been dragged across the surface. My fingertips hovered above the print. Grover.

"I'm confused." I heard Connor say, somewhere behind me. "I see the hoof, the thing that looks like Godzilla trod in the dust, the goth boot – but there's a smaller foot here, like a girls' sneaker or something… Who was that?"

"There's a heeled shoe here." Beckendorf said in his low voice, about a metre away. I heard scuffling noises as the other two boys joined him, and then cheers and cat calls erupted as Connor and Nikos started to celebrate.

I was happy. I knew I was happy. Silena was safe, thank the gods, after hours of dreading the worst. I knew I should be even happier, in a self-indulgent kind of way, knowing that I hadn't failed as a quest leader to keep my group safe. But right at that moment, I forgot all about being happy. I forgot about my quest and where I was. Whatever elation I should have been filling my heart right then was lost as my eyes fell upon a dusty footprint on the floor.

Percy.

My heart seemed to hollow; all the emotion that I'd kept locked away inside became tears, blurring my vision and slipping away down my cheek. My hand reached out, almost shaking, and hovered above the footprint tentatively. It was breaking my heart to think that this was all I had left – that, and a handful of memories I'd sacrificed for a mother who not only didn't care about me, but was totally incapable of accepting mortal emotions that were coursing through me.

"Annabeth?" I felt a hand touch my shoulder, but it felt a million miles away. "Annabeth, are you okay?"

It was Nikos – of course. I nodded, tears rolling down my cheeks at an alarming rate. I raised my hands to my face and shakily pressed my palm against my skin, trying to stop myself from anymore tears falling. A year ago, I couldn't cry if someone had snapped my ribs and forced me to sit through Titanic with Eric Clapton's Tears in Heaven playing in my ears. But now? A footprint in the dust and my world was crashing down around me.

"Annabeth?" Connor said, his voice oddly shakily. Momentarily I wondered if he'd burst into tears too, until I reminded myself that I was the only person present who turned on the waterworks at a pile of sand on the floor.

I drew a deep breath, my eyes never leaving the footprints even as I turned back around and said, "Uh-huh?"

There were distinct sounds of someone – or something – moving outside of this room, though we couldn't see anything. My mind automatically turned on the military mode as the last of my tears fell, my eyes narrowing. I saw Nikos' hand dart for his bow. Beckendorf fingered his huge axe, his shoulders broadening for battle. Connor pulled out his sword and tentatively walked towards the door.

There was nothing in the actual corridor, but the noise seemed to be coming from a nearby room. I caught Nikos' eye, and he nodded. We each grasped our weapons tightly, slowly approaching the door's entrance, until we burst into the room and charged at whatever was inside.

What we saw, however, was not what I had expected, and if I hadn't still been torn in two emotionally and brandishing a lethal weapon I would have rolled on the floor laughing.

Right before my eyes was a Sphinx – unmistakably. It had wings sculpted like an eagle that shone, bright white and majestic. Its lion's body was muscular and mighty, poised ready for an attack. The tail of the serpent that spiralled outwards from behind bore a huge spike, hovering above its head as it glared at us from an angry, taut face. But there was something rather odd about this particular sphinx – a feature that reached new heights in the small matter of oddities I'd been forced to endure -

"Er, Annabeth?" I heard Connor say tersely in my ear, "Why is the sphinx barely ten centimetres tall?"

I shrugged, trying desperately not to smile as I looked down at the creature, wondering if standing on it would do any good. The sphinx scowled up at me – barely halfway up my calf. Its miniature feet pounded the ground frustratedly.

"I heard that," the Sphinx said grumpily, glaring at Connor, who looked as if he was going to explode in the not-so-distant future as he tried so hard not to laugh, "And I don't see my height as a problem, thanks very much. For behold, you are in the presence of the glorious and most feared monster in all the land!"

I frowned, looking over my shoulder. "Nope. I'm not seeing any glorious monster right now. Are we expecting someone?"

The sphinx growled angrily at me and shuffled towards me. "You would do well to respect me, little half blood. For I could end your life whenever I wish – for I am mightier and stronger than you could have ever imagined!"

"Oh yes, Annabeth," Nikos said sarcastically, "Watch out. He's going to take a running leap – if he's lucky, he might just be able to reach your knee cap!"

I bit my lip to stop myself from laughing. The sphinx now rounded on Nikos, who looked down at it bemusedly. The sphinx glowered at him a little longer, before turning back and walking into an open space.

"There is only one way to beat me," it said, looking around menacingly.

"What?" I said, feeling daring and difficult and rebellious, "Apart from with a fly swat?"

The sphinx now decided to ignore me and began to pace what little space it had, "I am sure you have all heard the stories about my dangerous tales. I have only ever been beaten once, and that is not likely to happen again. I am the Riddler –"

Connor perked up, "You were in Batman? Awesome!"

"- the master of puzzles, the leader of logic, the wisest of all wonders," the Sphinx continued, determined not be undermined, "And it is your fate to best my riddles, if you wish to survive. Answer them all correctly, and I shall let you pass. Make but one mistake, and…" The Sphinx licked its lips evilly as it let its message sink in.

I sighed. "Go on, then. Riddle away. I'm in the mood for a good mental challenge." I do love complicated logistical distractions, I thought to myself.

The sphinx drew itself up to full height (which still didn't pass ten centimetres) and struck a theatrical pose. We all watched carefully as the Sphinx coughed once, then announced in a booming voice –

"No sooner spoken than broken. What am I?"

A silence followed the words as my brain set to work. I was generally rather good at riddles, and I could see my fellow questors deep in thought. Spoken…broken…speaking words…speaking words then breaking…breaking silence…speaking words that shouldn't be spoken….

"I know it!" I said, looking up and breathing a small sigh of relief. "I've got it. The answer is a secret. You speak it and the secret is broken; it's no longer a secret. I'm positive."

The sphinx sniffed, clearly disappointed it did not yet have anything for dinner. "Fine," it spat, glaring at me like it couldn't believe I wasn't yet dead, "That is the right answer. But do not get complacent, half blood. You have two more yet to face." It sounded like the last part was more of a reassurance to itself – it was going to get its food, somehow.

"Your next riddle is more difficult," the sphinx continued, dragging its tail along the ground as it continued to pace from left to right, "Are you ready?"

Without waiting for an answer, it began to recite:

"I'm where yesterday follows today, and tomorrow's in the middle. What am I?"

My mind set to work immediately, not even waiting for the sphinx to resume its pacing. Yesterday, today, tomorrow… that was the order, but if yesterday followed today, and tomorrow is in the middle, that would come out as today, tomorrow, yesterday… today, tomorrow, yesterday… t – t – y… the alphabet – alphabetically in order…where is alphabetical ordering used? Or rather, in what?"

"I've got it!" I announced excitedly, blushing in spite of myself. "I really know it! The answer is the dictionary – the order the riddle tells us about is alphabetical, and everything in the dictionary is alphabetical – so of course yesterday goes at the end, and then –"

"Yes, yes, alright," the sphinx said bitterly, cutting off my explanation with a disgusted face. It was almost trembling with rage, but it didn't stop me mentally patting myself on the back. Beckendorf gave me a thumbs-up, and Connor grinned widely. Nikos caught my eye and nodded approvingly. I smiled back at them, but then the sphinx spoke.

"Now, your final riddle…" the sphinx paused theatrically, casting its gaze over each and everyone of us as if we each carried swine flu. "This will be more of a challenge, I think."

"Oh yeah?" said Connor, looking rather pleased with himself, "Yeah right. Annabeth, knock it dead."

I gave a small smile, and turned back in time to hear the riddle.

"Je suis mère et père, mais jamais naissance ou infirmière. Je suis toujours rarement, mais je n'erre jamais. Quel suis-je?"

We each in turn gawped at the sphinx, who once again coughed before meeting our eyes, a scheming look developing on its miniature face.

"What?" it said, trying its best to sound innocent, although it was impossible to ignore the smugness in its tone, "You thought, simply because I am small, I could not possibly be more intelligent than a daughter of Athena? I have travelled the world, young half bloods, and I have seen. I am wise beyond words, and I intend to test you to your limits."

I swallowed. "But I don't speak French!" I hissed, "That's not part of what you do! You come from Thebes, anyway, and they never spoke French!"

The sphinx grinned evilly, clearly enjoying our anger. "That is true. Which is why I managed to beat every one of those little Greeks when I posed my riddle to them - only that pesky Oedipus boy beat me, simply because he'd been a bit adventurous in his choice of languages."

"What?" I said, outraged, "All the legends say of the wise sphinx beating the citizens of Thebes with its clever riddle – not by cheating and putting them in a different language! That's completely immoral!"

The sphinx shrugged. "Some see it as immoral. I, personally, see it as genius. And in the wise words of Renee Fuller: If we insist on looking at the rainbow of intelligence through a single filter, many minds will erroneously seem devoid of light."

"That is not a justification! That's just you trying to get away with murder – literally!" I protested, folding my arms across my chest. How I wished Percy was here to fight this battle with me…

"That is a justification – just because you are too blind to see ways of outsmarting the masses doesn't mean – "

"It's a tree."

We all turned around to look at Nikos, who was stood, casually leaning on one leg. He caught my eye and gave me a sincere look before looking ahead to the sphinx, who was gawping at him.

"The answer is tree," Nikos repeated, shifting his weight from one leg to the other, "The riddle roughly translates as "I am mother and father, but never birth or nurse. I am rarely still, but I never wander. What am I?" Trees don't move, but they father or mother many young trees by their seeds. They don't give birth and they are incapable of healing their young after they have become attached."

"Nikos," I whispered, in awe, "You are a genius!"

He blushed, and mumbled something inaudible.

"You insufferable children!" the sphinx wailed, pummelling the floor with its fists, "I hate you all! Damn the American education system! Damn stupid intelligence! Damn you all!" And with that, the sphinx punched the floor for the final time before it suddenly burst into flames – huge red flames, reaching the ceiling, engulfing its entire body in a loud wail before leaving a pile of dust in the floor.

"Well," Connor said after a pause, "That was…interesting."

I grinned round at my fellow questors and turned to each of them in turn, "Excellent, guys. First monster down!"

"First monster down," Beckendorf agreed in his deep voice, and he winked at me. "Well done, Annabeth. And Nikos, of course."

Nikos nodded in thanks, and then smiled at me. I turned towards the door, and was about to walk towards it and off towards our next adventure (or hopefully, a good night's sleep) when I heard something above us.

"Ah, crap," Connor moaned, "Not another miniature Sphinx!"

"I don't think so…" I said, frowning as I looked upwards. From the looks on Beckendorf and Nikos' faces, they had little idea as to what it was either. I listened closer, trying to hear as closely as I could. Those were voices, unmistakably, but I didn't know who they belonged to, or why I could hear them. And then, moments later, they stopped.

There was a silence as we all waited for the voices to start again. They didn't.

I shrugged it off and dismissed the sounds, too tired and too weary to want to have to care about any more weird encounters in the next five minutes. "Come on guys," I said, trying not to show how weary and in desperate need for a few hours sleep I was, "Let's go hit the sack."

There were some murmurs of agreement as we trudged along the corridor and chose a room. Dumping our packs in the corner and pulling out our sleeping bags, we each began to settle down. I pulled out my ponytail and ran my hand through my hair wearily. Percy had always said he liked it when I had my hair down, and it was him I thought of now. I rested my head on my sleeping bag and let my thoughts wander to boys with sea green eyes…

"Annabeth?" I heard Nikos say my name, "Could I, uh… talk to you, please?"

I opened my eyes and nodded. "Sure." I stood and glanced quickly at Beckendorf and Connor, who were playing cards in the corner. I walked away from them, Nikos close behind, out into the corridor, where we weren't within ear shot of the others.

"What's up?" I asked, looking at Nikos. He was only a little taller than me – about five-nine, five-ten at the maximum. His blonde hair seemed to glow slightly, even when the lights were dimmed. He took a deep breath and then spoke, looking me straight in the eyes as he did.

"I just wanted to say…thanks."

"For what?"

"For asking me to come on this quest," He said - his voice was low and quiet, but I could hear every word he said distinctly in the silence of the labyrinth. "I've never…well, I've never done a quest before, and I… I really appreciate you asking me. And I know…" He grimaced, as if he knew he was approaching a dangerous topic, "I know I wasn't your first choice to go on the quest, and I know you're missing… him."

My heartbeat raced. I didn't understand what he was trying to say, but at the mention of Percy I suddenly became on the alert.

"I don't want to be his replacement, Annabeth," Nikos said quietly, his voice breaking the silence of the labyrinth like the drum of fingertips upon a window, "And I know you two are close. It's just… well, I just…I just wanted to tell you that… you're going to have to forget about him."

My breath caught in my throat. I wouldn't have believed he had said that if I hadn't seen his lips move. I didn't know what to say.

"Annabeth," he said, his voice now so quiet my ears strained to hear it. "He's too…dangerous, for you. His future is just too – too unpredictable. He'll let you down, somewhere along the line. You need someone more secure, someone you… have more in common with."

There was a pause, and I could feel myself getting angrier and angrier. Who did he think he was?

"You're wrong," I said coldly, glaring at him. "He will never let me down. You hear me? Never."

Nikos shook his head morosely, as if he were sorry. "Annabeth, I don't know what to tell you, but it's the truth. I know he will. My dad is the god of the prophecy, remember?" He paused, and then his hands was running down my cheek, like a caress, "Annabeth, Annabeth, Annabeth…" he said, his eyes searching my face with a look of understanding in his eyes. "You don't need him. Annabeth, I need you. You and I… we make so much more sense than you and he do, or will ever do."

My eyes met his, and then I froze. He frowned, but I had already seen what I had needed to see. Because briefly, in those eyes, I had seen the tiniest lapse of colour, of Nikos. A flash of grey – a flash of someone else. Or perhaps a flash of who Nikos had always been – but I hadn't seen it.

"Athena," I said, my voice trembling slightly. His – her – hand fell away from my face, and there was a deadly silence. His face was expressionless, but there was a look in his eye, like disappointment or shame. And then he was gone – upwards, in a swirl of white mist, leaving nothing behind. I gasped and fell back, tears sparkling in my eyes again as I watched the mist swirling above, with whispers and curses intertwining with the mist as the moment passed.

I was shaking, and my skin burnt where the hand had ran down my face.

"Annabeth?" Connor appeared at the doorway down the corridor, followed by Beckendorf. He frowned. "What's happened? Where's Nikos?"

"He's…gone." I whispered, looking upwards once more. But of course, that wasn't true. There was no Nikos. He didn't exist – only my mother and her schemes. She had invented him – of course. He had been another brick in her wall, trying to break me apart and control me. I shuddered, confused and disorientated. There was no Nikos. There never had been.

Had there?