AN: Hello everybody! I'm back with the third installment in the Elizabeth Jackson series! I am so excited to be bringing you guys this one. Okay, let me back up. For those of you who don't know me, hi. The name's bfalt1, and I write Percy Jackson stuff. Mainly I've been focusing on this Elizabeth Jackson series. This is book 3. If you want to read this one, you should go read the previous two first. Book 1 is called Elizabeth Jackson and the Stolen Goddess and book 2 is called Elizabeth Jackson and the Missing Prophecy. So to avoid spoilers, go read those first. Also, I have a short one-shot collection based on Elizabeth Jackson characters called Elizabeth Jackson One-Shots (super original title). You don't have to read those to understand this book, but I encourage you to go check them out.

If you're still here, then you've read the previous two books, so welcome back! Before we get any further, here's the full summary for this book.

Things have never been more difficult for Elizabeth. War has truly broken out between the camps and Gaius's army, yet trivial squabbles seem to plague the demigods' war effort. The demititans themselves continue to be elusive, most often using monsters to carry out their dirty work. Meanwhile, Elizabeth has to deal with personal issues, too, such as an increase in the arguing between herself and her boyfriend and handling the panic attacks she's started getting since the end of last summer. In the midst of all of this, Nico di Angelo arrives and delivers Elizabeth some news. Gaius is heading into the New Labyrinth, the maze that Pasiphae created in Epirus, the House of Hades. It has spread out under the world, and Pasiphae is still alive deep within the maze. Nico believes that Gaius may be seeking the sorceress's help with a mysterious and unknown piece of magic. He wants Elizabeth to go into the Labyrinth and take out Pasiphae before Gaius can get to her. If she succeeds, it could give the demigods an important edge in the war against Gaius. But can Elizabeth succeed with her sanity and, more importantly, her life intact, especially since the Oracle's prophecy seems to predict she'll fail?

Exciting stuff!

Also, make sure you post any questions you have in reviews, because I will answer them in the next chapter - even if my answer is just "spoilers." I may also address other reviews at the start of each chapter. So before we keep going, I'll address a couple of reviews from book 2 that I haven't gotten the chance to respond to yet.

From DarkAngelofHeavens: "I look forward to the 3rd book. Perhaps I'm even more anxious to read how Elizabeth will change. I imagine you're trying to write this story as real as possible. And since no one remains the same after going trough something as traumatizing as losing an arm, I imagine she will become a little more "dark". Tougher. Sharper. Maybe even more powerful. Am I wrong?"
A: Elizabeth's character will definitely change as a result of what happened at the end of last book, but telling you exactly how would be a spoiler.

Also from DarkAngelofHeavens: "By the way, have I mentioned that I love the fact that you made all of your stories take part in the same world? Smart girl. (Wait. You are a girl, right? Because I've always had the impression that you were... Talk about awkward.)"
A: Thanks for the compliment. I really like having a unified canon for all my stories. As for whether or not I'm a girl... sorry, I don't really want to answer that. I enjoy operating under pretty much complete anonymity. I know telling you whether I'm a guy or a girl wouldn't REALLY tell you much of anything at all, but knowing myself, even sharing something that small would lead to me telling you guys all sorts of other things about me.

From The Amazing Alto: "I have a feeling that Jake likes Theo and possibly vice-versa. In theory their ship name could be Jaeo or Theake but I personally like Jaeo better."
A: I like Jaeo better, too.

From an anonymous guest: "so, have you read The Fault in Our Stars? Because there are two characters, Hazel Grace and Augustus Waters, I think, and it struck me as funny. Just a question though."
A: I have read TFIOS, and I absolutely love that book. The book is part of the reason I gave Augustus his name, among some other reasons.

Wow. That is way too much from me. At any rate, I hope you all had a lovely holiday season, and now, finally, on with the show. DFTBA!

Disclaimer for story: I am not Rick Riordan (duh) and thus do not own PJO or HOO (also duh).

Disclaimer for cover: The original art was from a couple different places. The background was just a google image search of "Percy Jackson Labyrinth," and I picked one I liked. The figures were from a piece of art by Viria which I recolored and edited onto the new background.

Rating: T for violence, language, and some suggestive themes.

Elizabeth Jackson and the Magician's Maze

Chapter 1: My Favorite Jacket Gets Singed

My day was turning out like the start to a bad joke. Did you hear the one about the Laistrygonian, the Hyperborean, and the Earthborn? No? You haven't heard that one? Well trust me, it's no good.

I went flying, smashing through the front door of the worn down warehouse in Brooklyn the three unlikely roommates called home and tumbled to the street. I groaned as I climbed to my feet. That was really going to hurt in the morning. I brandished my celestial bronze knife – my third one in as many years – as the ugly six armed Earthborn came stomping into the street. He was so ugly, not even his momma could possible love that face. There was also the stench. His long hair was matted and unwashed, with bits of garbage in it. That combined with the fact that he had six armpits, and I was pretty sure he could scare off an entire stadium of diehard Yankees fans in the middle of a Yankees-Sox game.

"Hey big guy," I said, trying my best to breathe through my mouth. "What say we call this whole fight thing off, eh? Let bygones be bygones?"

The Earthborn responded by roaring at me, then scooping six huge chunks out of the sidewalk like they were made of mud. What few mortals were out and about on this particular side street ran off screaming. As usual, I vaguely wondered what they saw through the Mist. Maybe they saw a burly guy with pies. That had happened before.

The monster threw his rocks at me, one at a time. Stupid really, since that gave me time to dodge them. I rolled, ducked, and dived out of the way of the first five, but unfortunately, my last roll brought me right into the path of the sixth boulder. There was no way to dodge it. So I did the first thing that came to mind. I dropped my knife and held my gloved right fist out in front of me. The chunk of cement shattered against my hand, ripping up the glove, and spraying me and the pavement with dust and tiny chunks of cement.

"Son of a bitch!" I swore loudly, temporarily blinded by the pain of smashing the chunk of sidewalk.

The monster used my distraction to his advantage and lifted me up in all six hands, squeezing me like a vice. And, of course, I'd just dropped my knife a few seconds before. The Earthborn laughed stupidly. I had only a few moments before he literally squeezed the life out of me, at which point I could only assume he'd use me for jam, since that was about the consistency my corpse would be. Luckily, my right hand, whilst in unbelievable pain, was loose.

I pulled off the damaged leather glove with my teeth, revealing my celestial bronze right hand. I cocked back the metal fist and punched the Earthborn hard in the face. He burst apart into mud, and I dropped to the ground, gasping for air.

"Why," I panted, looking accusingly at my metal hand, "in the name – of Poseidon's – sweaty underpants – did Jake make – you able – to feel pain?" It didn't respond. I flexed my fingers to make sure they were still working, then scooped up my knife.

I turned back towards the warehouse. "Now where are the other two roommates?" I wondered aloud.

My question was answered as a flaming bronze cannonball rocketed out of one of the boarded up windows. I rolled away just in time, the flaming sphere missing me by inches. I felt the heat searing on my back. Had I not been wearing the jacket, my back probably would've ended up with so many blisters that I'd look like someone with skin cancer.

The wall to the abandoned building burst apart as the third roommate, the Hyperborean giant, exited onto the street, the temperature dropping about twenty degrees all around him. Following close behind was the Laistrygonian.

I looked at my knife. Of course I'd brought my knife. I'd wanted to be inconspicuous. Now I was cursing that decision. Gods, I wished I had my sword.

The Hyperborean breathed out a stream of icy mist at me. I rolled forward under the ice, narrowly avoiding getting turned into an Elizabeth-flavored Popsicle. I came to my feet and ran forward, trying to get close enough to the thirty foot giant to stab him with my comparatively puny knife. Unfortunately, the Hyperborean's Laistrygonian roommate defended his friend by chucking another flaming cannonball at me. I was forced to abandon my attack by diving to the side. The cannonball exploded against a storefront across the street, leaving a massive crater in the building. I winced. Luckily, the mortals had already abandoned the area, but I seriously doubted their insurance covered monster attacks.

The wail of sirens approached quickly. My mind whirled around. I knew I had to finish off these monsters fast. Not only would these monsters prove a threat to the mortal police, but also I really didn't feel like having to answer tricky questions like What are you doing here? Why are there huge craters in the road and buildings? Why is your right hand so shiny? And I really wasn't in the mood for any of that.

The trouble was, my two monstrous opponents made surprisingly good teammates. Each time I got close enough to stab Mr. Freeze, I could expect a flaming cannonball coming right at me. If I went for the hot stuff, I could expect a sudden snowstorm in the middle of the early June day.

This is getting me nowhere, I thought, surprising even myself by launching into a backflip to avoid a cannonball. From the sounds of the sirens, the emergency workers were a block away, at most. I needed to buy myself time, and there was only one way to do that.

"Hey assholes!" I yelled at the monsters. "The décor in your house sucked!" The most clever thing I'd ever said? No. But the Hyperborean and the Laistrygonian had about as much brains between them as a potato.

The monsters roared and charged me. I turned and ran off down the street, drawing the monsters away from the sirens. Unfortunately, that only solved one problem. True, I was keeping away from the cops for at least a little longer, but on the other hand I had still had two monsters trying to kill me. Worse, I had two monsters trying to kill me because I'd insulted their décor.

What I really needed was some kind of projectile weapon. I could hit the monsters from a distance without worrying about their double-team protection. Unfortunately, a) I had no projectile weapon and b) I was a pretty terrible shot. My friend Theo, son of Apollo, was good with a bow. My other friend, Jocelyn, daughter of Hermes, was good with a pistol. The only thing I could shoot was hoops. Unless you counted the bursts of energy I could blast from my trident, which I didn't have with me, and which hardly counted because the weapon was magical. The thing probably helped me aim without me even realizing it.

Then again, a piece of me argued, there are people who throw knives. That was true, but did I really want to throw away my blade again? And even if I did, what chance did I have of actually hitting my mark?

Maybe if I prayed really hard to whatever god oversaw knife throwing. But which god was that? I decided to shoot Hermes a prayer. The guy was a jack of all trades. If there wasn't a specific god for a thing, it was a safe bet that Hermes was the god of it. Hey, Hermes, I thought as I skidded around a corner into a narrow alley. I know we've never really spoken, but my dad always liked you and I'm best friends with your daughter, so if you could help me with this knife throw, I'd be real grateful.

I came to a halt and turned. The Hyperborean stood at the mouth to the alley. I tossed my knife. Either Hermes had answered my prayer or I was just incredibly lucky in that moment, because the knife embedded itself in the Hyperborean's stomach. The giant looked down at the tiny blade. "Uh oh," he said stupidly, then he burst apart into a bunch of icicles. That was the good news. The bad news was my knife also froze and shattered.

"You've got to be kidding me! Again?!"

The Laistrygonian appeared at the end of the alley and roared. The sirens were catching up again. I had no weapon. The Laistrygonian had a flaming bronze sphere in each hand, and a satchel containing more of the projectiles slung over his back. So at that point I did what any sane person would do. I continued to run.

I came to the end of the alley and emerged onto a busy street – a sign informed me that it was Old Fulton Street – that apparently hadn't gotten the memo about whatever dangerous thing the mortals thought was going on.

"What's all that racket coming from down there?" a passerby asked.

"Run!" I said, trying to look frightened, which wasn't very hard. "There's a lunatic with a grenade launcher and he's coming this way!"

Helpfully, one of the Laistrygonian's cannonballs came flying out from the alley, just narrowly missed a bus, and then blew a hole in the sidewalk across the street. My suggestion took. People screamed and ran, yelling about a lunatic with a grenade launcher. People abandoned their cars, leaving the street packed. I sprinted off through the chaos, weaving between the panicked pedestrians, heading towards the East River. If I could lure the monster close enough to the water, I could use my powers to beat him.

The Laistrygonian emerged from the alley and looked around, confused. I yelled from the other side of the street, "This way you big moron!"

He spotted me. "Demigod! You will pay for insulting my décor and killing my friends!"

"I'm not a demi – oh never mind," I grumbled, resigning myself to the fact that monsters would never learn the difference between demigods and legacies.

I continued running, trying to lead the monster towards Brooklyn Bridge Park. I weaved between the abandoned cars as I made my way up Old Fulton Street. News about a maniac with a grenade launcher had travelled quickly. It had been maybe a minute, yet this entire area of Brooklyn had turned into a ghost town. Also, the abandoned cars were delaying the police, keeping them out of the way, so that was good. Although it was only a matter of time before the police helicopters got scrambled.

A car just to my right crumpled as one of the flaming cannonballs hit it. I dove away, but I didn't get far enough before the car exploded. I went flying and slammed into the side of a building, my leather jacket on fire.

I ripped the jacket off and cursed. That had been my favorite jacket. Now my entire right arm was exposed. The upper part of my arm was normal, but just above my elbow there was a silver ring. Beyond that ring, the rest of the arm was made out of celestial bronze, layered in a bunch of small plates.

I continued to dash down the street, ignoring the ringing in my ears or the blood oozing from my left temple where my head had hit the building. More cars exploded behind me, but none close enough to send me flying like a rag doll. Still, the ground shook, and I was sure that a lot of people were going to be unhappy when they found out their cars were blackened husks. Plus their insurance is gonna skyrocket.

Insurance jokes? Is that my new thing now?

Finally, I reached the end of Old Fulton Street and made it into Brooklyn Bridge Park. The famous bridge loomed on the right. Towards the back of the park was a playground, and just beyond that was the East River. I skidded to a stop and turned, my back to the river. The Laistrygonian, seeing me apparently trapped (because no one in their right mind would swim in the filthy East River; even on threat of death), approached slowly, laughing. He knocked aside the swing set with a single hand as he moved towards me. "You fought well!" he said. "It will be a true honor to eat such a worthy adversary!"

"Oh good," I said. "I've always wanted to honor someone by being their meal."

The Laistrygonian cocked back his arm, ready to throw one last cannonball at me. I felt a tug in my gut as I prepared to call up the water behind me. Unfortunately, neither of us got to do what we wanted. There was a sudden gust of wind. Then, out of nowhere, a fifteen year old boy dropped out of the sky, landing on the Laistrygonian's face and driving a sword straight through the monster's forehead. He exploded into dust.

I cursed. Great, just great. "What do you think you're doing?" I yelled.

The boy stood up and sheathed his sword. He was incredibly good looking, with messy brown hair, sky blue eyes, and perpetually tan skin due to his one-quarter Cherokee blood. He was quite tall, and was built like a quarterback; muscular, but not hulking.

It was Augustus Grace, my boyfriend. And it didn't matter how good looking he was. He was in trouble.

Gus looked completely perplexed. "What do you mean? You looked like you were in trouble, so I helped you out."

"I can handle myself," I snapped. "I had the situation under control. Why do you think I led the Laistrygonian over to the river?"

"I know you can handle yourself," Gus said defensively, but forcefully. "But that doesn't mean you don't need help with monsters when you're in a tight spot. And it looked like you were in a tight spot."

"How did you even know where I was?" I asked. "Have you been following me? Making sure poor broken Elizabeth doesn't get hurt again?"

"No, of course not!" Gus said, his voice rising. "I was flying over the area and saw what was going on. Decided to stop and help."

I scoffed. "Likely story. You know, ever since I lost my arm you've been way overprotective of me, and I'm sick of it."

"This isn't about your hand," Gus insisted.

I rolled my eyes. "Of course it isn't," I muttered sarcastically.

Gus groaned in exasperation. "Look, I'm sorry about taking your kill. I didn't realize that monster was so important to you."

"It's more the principle of the matter." We stood across from each other, standing in tense silence. I waited for Gus to respond, for the argument to keep going.

Instead, he said, "Do you want a lift home?"

I almost said that I'd rather take the subway, but I didn't. Gus was trying to make a gesture, put our argument behind us. Even if I was still angry, I still felt like I should recognize the gesture. "Sure, thanks," I mumbled.

I walked over to him and allowed him to wrap his arms around me, pulling me into a tight hug, the best way to keep me stable while he flew. "Ready?" Gus asked.

"Mmm," I mumbled into his chest, refusing to look up at his face for fear that he might try to kiss me. I was not in the mood for a kiss.

Around us the winds gathered and we took off. I tried to crane my head around to get a good view of the City skyline. I loved the view from up high. I rarely got to be flying through the air. As a descendant of Poseidon, Zeus would surely knock me out of the sky if I ventured too high. The only times I ventured into the air were with Gus or on the backs of pegasi back at Camp Half-Blood. Unfortunately, the way I was positioned made it difficult for me to see much of anything.

After a short flight, we touched down on the balcony of my family's penthouse apartment. I stepped away from Augustus. "Thanks for the lift," I said flatly.

"You're welcome," Gus said. He leaned in to kiss me, but I stopped him with a finger to his lips.

"Not in the mood," I said.

Gus frowned. "Um, okay. Well, I guess I'll see you at camp tomorrow." Tomorrow the summer session at Camp Half-Blood would begin, and despite the war we were now embroiled in, I was really excited to get back. But I was still mad at Gus.

"Bye," I said shortly.

Gus took off, looking disappointed, and flew away towards his own apartment, only a block away. I sighed, a feeling of guilt coming over me. Now that my temper had died down, I realized how unfair I'd been to Augustus. About two years ago, just after my first quest, Athena, my grandmother, had warned me that impulsivity was my fatal flaw, especially when it was paired with my admittedly quick temper. I knew the fatal bit in fatal flaw meant that it could very well cost me my life someday, but I didn't know it meant it would make my love life so difficult.

I'll make it up to him when I see him tomorrow, I thought.

I turned around to enter my family's apartment. I pushed open the glass doors. I expected to find my dad home alone, maybe playing video games, since Mom would still be at work, so I was surprised to hear raised voices. Or rather, one voice was raised. The other was calm. I made my way around the corner to see two people at the dining room table. One was my dad, Percy Jackson. His messy black hair was sticking up, like he'd run his hands through it in frustration. He was facing away from me, but based on his tense body language, I was pretty sure his sea green eyes were narrowed at the man sitting across from him.

The other man was Nico di Angelo, who looked much calmer. His shaggy hair, also black, had grown out a bit. His skin was very pale as usual, but that didn't mean he was distressed. Since he was the son of Hades, his skin was always pale. He wore a black leather jacket over a Dia de los Muertos t-shirt, and I felt a stab of sadness at losing my own jacket earlier. I mean, I had another one, but I didn't like it quite as much.

Neither of them had noticed me yet.

"Absolutely not!" yelled Dad.

"It's not up to you, Percy," Nico replied evenly. "The choice is not yours to make."

"You know what she'll say," Dad snapped back. "She's become obsessed with proving herself recently. I don't want you giving her that option." My skin tingled. They were arguing about me?

I decided it was time to announce my presence. "Give who what option?" I asked innocently.

My father jumped and looked over at me, a slightly guilty look on his face. "Oh hey, honey. You're home early. I didn't hear you come in."

"Gus gave me a lift so I didn't have to take the Subway," I explained impatiently. "What were you guys talking about?"

"Oh, nothing," Dad said. I felt a stab of anger and annoyance. I'd heard them arguing. Did he really think I was that stupid?

Before I could start an argument with my father, and subsequently get myself in trouble, Nico said sternly, "Percy, you know that telling her is the right thing to do."

Dad sighed. He slumped in defeat. I felt my eye twitch. "Tell me what?" I asked, annoyed.

"It's about the Labyrinth," Nico said. He glanced me over, taking in my dirty clothes, my exposed metal hand, and the dried blood on the side of my face. "Why don't you go clean yourself up. Then we'll talk."

AN: I hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter of the Magician's Maze! As with my last two books, I will be trying to maintain a twice-a-week upload schedule, so I will see you guys on either Friday or Saturday with chapter 2!