Elizabeth woke on cold stone. For a long moment, she didn't move, her cheek pressed to the ground, one arm pinned awkwardly under her ribs. Her vision was blurry, and an aching sting pulsed at the back of her head, the first time in a long while she'd felt this way. Usually, with her physique, a small fall wouldn't hurt this badly. But now wasn't the time to dwell on that.
Her sight steadied. She pushed herself up onto her knees, freeing her arm from beneath her. Her palm came away scraped raw where it met the stone, but she didn't bother brushing off the grit. The slight sting helped center her mind.
When she stood, boots scuffing the floor, she checked her surroundings. The corridor ahead stretched on, with narrow walls of pale stone lined with old roots and moss, and a ceiling that vanished into shadows far above.
She hated this place already. She couldn't say why, only that she instinctively felt a deep disgust for wherever she was.
Elizabeth turned a slow circle, squinting into the gloom. The last thing she remembered was falling into darkness and the sudden sensation of the ground rising to meet her, then darkness again. She was lucky Lucas wasn't here to make fun of her appearance for-
Her breath caught on that thought.
Lucas.
She spun, scanning the corridor, looking for any trace of him. Nothing.
A knot of anxiety gathered tight in her chest, panic scratching at the edges of her thoughts until she shook her head once, sharply, forcing it away.
Such feelings wouldn't help, and especially unbecoming of her status as an empousa. There were only two paths, meaning Lucas must have chosen one of them, and while she didn't know why he hadn't left any marks behind for her, she chose the one in front of her, hoping it was the correct one, and if it wasn't, she could always double back and go the other way.
She followed it, hand tracing the mossy wall on her side.
Soon, a break in the endless stone came from ahead. Beyond lay a chamber with an endless pit that separated the two sides of the chamber, but fortunately for her, a bridge of roots had grown across, allowing her to cross in safety and reach the other end.
Light pulsed faintly beyond, pale and wavering, but compared to the darkness of her surroundings, it was glaring.
She could almost taste the world beyond. Fresh air and wet soil, mixed with freedom. If she stepped through, she could leave this uncomfortable place; the longer she spent here, the worse that feeling grew.
She stopped at the threshold.
She hesitated and traced the symbol that was on the wall near her, a delta mark. A small part of her laughed. No wonder this place disgusted her; it was the labyrinth, a place that was hostile to all life. No wonder she felt the need to leave immediately, especially since it was used as a prison for some monsters.
But at that moment, she saw him again. Not standing beside her, just the memory. Lucas with his sharp eyes, his knowing grin, his endless questions and curiosity, hidden only by the caution he had learned the hard way. Lucas, who looked at her and saw Elizabeth, not Hecate's tool, not a monster, just her.
It would be so easy to walk through. She could be free of this place. Not only that, she could contact Hecate, surely she could be more helpful in searching for Lucas in the Labyrinth, if he was even still in there in the first place. It was the only smart and logical thing to do.
And yet.
Her boots didn't move.
The thought struck her in a single, biting line: He's my only friend. She didn't say it aloud; it was too embarrassing for a monster to befriend a demigod. In truth, she wanted to help Lucas alone. Everyone else could help him in other ways, such as contributing their abilities to the creation of his vision, but she herself? She was just there, and she was feeling empty knowing she couldn't help him in any meaningful way. This was a chance, albeit a selfish one, but one she couldn't refuse.
Her feet turned her before her mind could finish arguing. Away from the exit. Back into the dark. The breeze behind her faded, the scent of the open world swallowed by the staleness and the rocks. The exit sealed behind her, and the feeling she had felt in the labyrinth gradually turned to dread and ominousness. It seemed the maze had only been kind to her to allow her to leave, but now that she rejected that offer, it showed its true colors.
She kept walking. Each step pressed her deeper into the Labyrinth's grip. A root snagged her sleeve. She tore free without breaking stride. The walls seemed to shift as she moved; corridors tightening and widening again, stone walls glinting as they grew spikes. Traps, more traps, and even dangerous chambers filled with traps, all kinds of torment were thrown at her.
Lucas was somewhere ahead. He had to be.
Minutes, maybe hours, slipped by, swallowed by the constant companion of stale air, darkness, and stone. Her boots left faint tracks in the grit. Once, she thought she felt the Labyrinth hesitate; the air shifted, and a corridor branched out to the left, lit by a golden-green glow before the light vanished, leaving only the dark corridor waiting for her to travel through.
She walked it, not worried about any tricks the Labyrinth may pull.
She stood in an archway, staring at the pool at the centre of a rotunda. Roots hung from the cracked ceiling overhead, trailing pale fingers into the water. The marble slab by the pond looked almost like an altar, too clean in comparison to the dust that gathered on the walls and floor.
And on the marble slab was Lucas.
He lay on his side, eyes closed, the collar of his shirt scorched by a mark she didn't yet understand. But he was breathing; she saw the soft rise and fall of his chest.
Elizabeth didn't rush to him. She stepped forward slowly, boots silent on the cracked stone. She stopped at his side.
For a long time, she didn't speak. Just looked at him, at the boy who was her first and only true friend.
She let her silent fear and worry, which she had been suppressing, vanish, and instead smirked.
She recalled reading Sleeping Beauty in one of the books Lucas had offered her to read when she was young. And seeing Lucas in a similar position filled her with amusement at the irony, especially since that meant she could start calling Lucas princess from here on out.
She leaned over him, coming face to face with Lucas.
"Princess"
And shouted.
"WAKE UP!"