"Hey, you've been awfully quiet so far," Seungcheol broke the pregnant silence and glanced at the girl in the passenger seat. The two in the back were fast asleep, whereas the two in the front were wide awake - thanks to the caffeine in their system.. Hyejeong's head snapped toward the driver, pulling her eyes away from the passing trees and cars. Her already pounding heart picked up a faster pace once hearing his low, husky voice. She cleared , "Sorry, I was thinking..." Her mind had been clouded with worries. What if I'm not ready yet? Maybe I'm just a burden to them, she had frequently asked herself ever since they left the Camp. "Mind sharing your thoughts with me?" A genuine smile played on his lips as his eyes were focused on the freeway. Hyejeong fiddled with her slender fingers in her lap "To be honest, I am scared," she confessed in a quiet voice and averted her eyes from his attractive profile to the green landscape, feeling embarrassed and her stomach churning because of nervousness. Seungcheol's right hand let go of the wheel and wandered to her bare knee, giving it a light squeeze and making her heart skip a beat. "No need to be scared, Hyejeong. We all know that you're capable of accomplishing a mission, that's why I persuaded Carystus. I wouldn't have done this and he wouldn't have allowed this if we weren't two hundreds percent sure. Plus, you have the elites with you," he tells her soothingly. Hyejeong turned around in her seat, peeking at Jiho and Jihoon only to find their heads resting against the window, their eyes tightly shut. A low chuckle escaped her lips and she turned back to her previous position. Indeed, the elites were with her so no need to worry. 

"If this eases you, Hoshi used to start flying in his seat and bump his head against the ceiling of the car because of his nervousness," Seungcheol told her, unable to hold his own laughter in upon recalling the memory. The poor boy was hyper as such already, but the nervousness on his first mission had been too much for him to handle, causing him to inadvertently using his gifted ability - one that was conceded to heirs of Hermes only. Not even the seatbelt could hold him back and prevent him from ascending straight into the ceiling with his head first, the black belt trying to pull his torso down without success. 

As the road trip went on and they were stuck in one or two traffic jams, Seungcheol revealed more amusing stories about themselves and even the two in the back joined him later after slowly waking up one by one. All in one the drive lasted four hours, they took a break halfway through at a gas station and finally arrived at their destination; a motel in the south of the city. 

The receptionist had only one eye, the kind of big one placed right in the middle - and simply not human. None of the guests seemed to see it nor mind except for the small group walking up to the desk, at least Hyejeong since the other three showed no visible reaction. Her eyes widened in shock and halted in her movements, falling behind her friends. Hyejeong watched as Seungcheol casually leaned against the desk and drew four thin gold coins and a phial containing a suspicious pearl aqua blue glowing liquid from his backpack, sliding them towards the one-eyed creature on the other side of the desk. The receptionist picked up one of those, eyeing them closely before shoving them somewhere under the desk and grabbing two keys from the shelve behind. Her wild dirty blonde locks bounced in her face as she turned around to hand them the old-fashioned keys and briefly explained where to find their rooms. 

The motel itself was moderate, neither fancy nor shabby. The building was shaped like the letter L - the reception was in the short part - and had only one floor, its walls were painted gray with a hint of blue contrasting the bold green neon sign on top of the roof. There were maybe twenty rooms in total, uneven numbers on the left and even numbers on the right. The interior decoration was kept in dark colors; indigo walls and bordeaux carpet leading the way to their rooms and giving it that certain mystical vibe. Only two dim lamps illuminated the hallway and Hyejeong couldn't tell whether it was day or night anymore. They passed several mahogany doors until they found their own which happened to be the last two. Seungcheol handed Jiho the key to room number 20 while he and Jihoon took the room across them. "After you unpacked your things, come over to our room so we can contrive a plan," the leader commised the two girls before disappearing with the short male in their room.

Hyejeong was greeted by the midday sun which shone brightly through the window as she entered their motel room, confirming it was still daytime. In contrast to the hallway, it was more contemporary and lighter. Cream white walls surrounded them. A simple nightstand separated the pair of single beds on the left, facing a small old fashioned TV, a round table and two simple chairs. The door next to it lead into the bathroom which was hidden behind the wall with the television. Jiho dropped her bag on the first bed, "Do you mind if I take this one?" The other girl shook her head and occupied the bed that was closer to the window, starting to put her clothes in the dresser. "No, it's alright. I'm fine with this bed." Either way she would have preferred that bed anyway, secretly anticipating the view of the night sky.

The boy's motel room was a perfect reflection of the girl's, only the view from their window was the past-going freeway leading to the city. The table being too small for all four of them, they decided to sit down on the floor, a city map of Cheonan spread in the middle of the close circle. "These are the locations where the victims were found," Seungcheol draw several red Xs which were distributed all over the city, "And as you can see, there is no pattern observable." He was right, it almost even seemed distributed randomly. "Hm, usually the monsters leave clear trails, but this..." Jihoon mumbled, fiddling with his fingers. "In addition to that, it has killed most of his victims within one night. Monsters usually need days, if not weeks," Seungcheol explained further. Then Jiho draw a small notebook that she had brought with her, flipping through pages until she found the one she looked for. Her eyes scanned the page briefly while speaking up, "So we know that monsters never lose their habits when they return from the Underworld, and since our human-eating friend here used to live in a maze, our best and only clue right now is a place constructed like a maze."

Silence. Each of them deliberated.

An idea popped in Hyejeong's mind, telling her to turn the map over. On the other side was an illustration of the subway network, connecting single neighborhoods. "How about this?", she asked the others, Jiho in particular. Her eyes flickered to the map under Hyejeong's index finger, slightly nodding in approval. "Yeah, that's a good approach," Jiho took the map in her hands, holding  the sheet up and turning it around. Hyejeong suppressed the urge to smile, feeling not all too futile. However the urge vanished as a frown crept its way to Jiho's face. "The subway stations and the places where the corpses were found don't match," announced the girl, "but I'll take a closer look just to feel certain." With that being said, she stood up and sat behind the table, opening the laptop.

"Alright, we'll look for a strategy for eliminating the Minotaur in the meantime," Seungcheol proposed then leaned forwards to reach out for the leathern notebook next to Hyejeong. The other two scooted closer to him, breaking the circle and forming a curvy line. They watched as the oldest laid his palms flat against the paper. The dried ink started to melt on the page traveled across it, creating new patterns of words just like the enchanted map. Seungcheol retreated his hands, revealing a detailed anatomy of the Minotaur. "It's a present by Athena for Jiho's family," his eyes locked with Hyejeong's curios ones, "basically it gathers every available information about what you need to know." 

"Wow." She tore her gaze away and looked at the small book, feeling her cheeks slightly heat up. "That's something I need for school." The other three heirs laughed at her joke.

Almost two hours later Jiho proclaimed that she had found construction plans not only of the subway, but even better: of the sewerage. Apparently she had not been hacking into official servers for a while now, so it took Jiho longer than usual. Otherwise she would have finished the job sooner without 'key logging instead of doing the security exploit from the beginning, oh well'.

"Well, some of the subway stations do lead to the places but not all of them. The remaining are way too far away from the corpses and we know those monsters never depart from their habitat." The heir of Athena then opened a new window, the screen showing an architecturally complex construction plan of the sewerage. It was many times greater and more networked than the former; it was a real maze. Hyejeong would not be marveled if they spend days - or even weeks - to find the Minotaur in that maze which could have been designed by Daedalus himself. Probably this was the reason why the monster arose there.

Jiho pressed some keys causing a new window to pop up only to morph with the city map to one. "See, here are the accesses to the sewerage," she zoomed in, revealing the details, "and here are the crime scenes." Her finger pointed at spots in the sewerage and then to the red Xs. Seungcheol stood behind her with the other two heirs on both sides, crossing his arms whereas the shorter boy nodded throughout her explanation. "It's more or less confirmed the Minotaur hides in and moves through the sewerage," Seungcheol stated. "Exactly."

"Now let's put a plan together, shall we?" He clasped his hands and looked at the others.

Day one:

They decided to drive through the city on the same day to look for accesses which were more likely hidden where little to no one would voluntary walk past. A total of three were spotted, all of them ere either hidden in a lonely alleyway or in construction areas. After agreeing on the first access they would use the next day, the group returned to the motel in the evening.

Day two:

The next day they went to the rather abandoned district which was in the western peripheral area of the city, about fifteen minutes away from the motel. Since it was a day off for the workers there, the area resembled a ghost town. The large, empty building shielded the bright summer rays from coming through, throwing a dark shadow on the entrance to the sewerage. All four of them stood around the large manhole cover with their bags resting on their backs. Seungcheol gyrated his hands in slow circuits above the cover, imitating a tornado. The sound of clamoring wind and the trembling manhole cover alerted the others to step back and watch the metal wheel clashing against the hard cement. One after one, they climbed down the ladder and stomped on the cold ground. with a flashlight each, the four of them ascertained the area. They spent hours of running through the sewer system without finding a single trace of the monster - even when invading a new area. Thus, there was no other choice than to returning to the motel in defeat.

Day three:

Following the failure, Jiho suggested to seek in the last spot, which was on the other side of the city, they had discovered on the first day. It was located behind an old diner, closer to the downtown area. The small diner was rather dilapidated. A great crack graced the windowpane and flickering signs might be an eye-catcher, however they did not seem to be very welcome. Unlike the previous day, the group waited until afternoon to begin with their search. They walked through the alley past the containers to the empty backyard where the manhole cover was located right in the middle. Once again, Seungcheol used his powers to open the access and gestured them to enter the subterranean tunnels. Even though the temperature was only a few degrees warmer than the previous days, the difference down there was quite noticeable. The heat flooded the underground with stifling air, giving Hyejeong a hard time to adjust her breathing. It was as if the hot air was crushing her, almost like an invisible force. "You alright?" Seungcheol asked as he put his hand on the girl who fanned herself. She turned her head, looking straight into his dark orbs, "It's just a little suffocating here." Meanwhile the other two already walked ahead and called for them, noticing they were not right behind them. Thus, Hyejeong and Seungcheol hurried down the tunnel to catch up with them. As they walked further into the tunnels, Hyejeong noticed a strange whiff. A faint metallic scent accompanied by something rotten lingered in her nostrils. "Guys, do you smell that, too?" All of them were brought to a halt upon hearing the girl's question. They furrowed their eyebrows while inhaling the air around them, "No. What smell?" 

"I could swear it smells like blood here. It's just faint, though," Hyejeong tried to explain, scratching her head and looking at the cement ground. "Never mind, let's keep going." Then she tried to push the thought back and ignore the metallic scent, however, as they kept walking towards the center, the scent became more and more intense, penetrating her nostrils. Now, the others took notice of the horrid smell as well and tried to block it by pressing their nose in the crook of their arm. "Alright, now I smell it, too." Jiho exclaimed as she coughed. Even though they all could guess where - or from what - that smell came from, Hyejeong was terrified of the thought which sent a chill down her spine. On the other hand it was an indication they were close to the Minotaur's lair, so Seungcheol encouraged them to keep walking and took the lead. Soon the group had passed the tunnel and entered what seemed to be the center with four passages leading to every direction. The first thing that caught Hyejeong's eyes was the large bloodstain and probably a half-eaten organ on the ground, she could not really tell by the feeble light seeping through the gullies. "It must be still close," Jiho stated in a low voice, turning off her flashlight and drawing her sword. The others followed her example and activated their weapons as well. Hyejeong's right hand wandered to the delicate silver ring on her left right ring finger, pulling the amber gemstone. The ring turned into a ball of light, strands of silver and gold danced with each other and parted into polar directions until they consolidated to a medium bow in the one hand and a tubular quiver hanging down from the other. After eyeing the arrows whose golden fletchings stuck out of the quiver, Hyejeong slung it across her upper body. Looking back and forth between the remaining untrodden passages, Jiho suggested to split the team and take a passage each in the hope that the Goddesses of Destiny were with them and the monster "wasn't doing a postprandial stroll through the third passage". Before the two teams entered the tunnel, the had stipulated to call the other via Iris pearls if they find the Minotaur.

They ended up splitting the group in the girls team and boys team. While the boys chose the northern tunnel, the girls decided to go through the eastern. Neither were they hurrying nor slacking off when proceeding in the passageway, they took cautious but firm steps with the weak light which roughly outlined the two junctions in front of them. A sigh escaped Hyejeong's mouth. Great, there was 50-50 chance which of the two paths could possibly lead to the Minotaur.

Hyejeong's ears perked up once the sound of tiny feet running on the ground reached her.

Peep! A high-pitched squeak reverberated with the thick walls as the small body of a rat stopped right in front of Hyejeong. The latter crouched down, feeling the fear of the animal that seemed to seek comfort from her. "H-Hey, little one. Why are you so scared? What's wrong?" The heir of Artemis tried to talk to the frightened animal, unsure whether it would work or not. "I can't believe I am talking to a rat right now..." Hyejeong mumbled towards the other girl. "No, no. Keep doing it," Jiho responded, "it's working." Hyejeong looked back down to see that the rat had stopped squeaking and breathing frantically, now staring with his black orbs at her. 
"Now please tell me, were you running away from the Minotaur?" As if they were speaking the same language, the rat nodded his head 'yes' and squeaked. "And would you show us which path we have to take to find the Minotaur?" She had barely finished talking when the animal turned around and ran back to the left passage from where it came from. Hyejeong grabbed her golden bow from the ground and followed the rat whereas Jiho pulled out an Iris pearl from her bag, being right behind them. She whispered Seungcheol and Jihoon's names into the rainbow colored pearl in her fist, then squeezed it until it dissolved into a cloud of mist following her steps. 
"Meet us as soon as possible, we almost have the monster," the heir of Athena told them straight away. "Alright, according to the map, there is another tunnel ahead that leads to you," Jihoon informed the girls. Then Seungcheol's demanding voice superseded the former's, "Wait for us there and do not take on the Minotaur on your own." That being said, Jiho gave the boys a swift nod before her hand scudded through the small cloud of mist causing it to vaporize into thin air.
The girl almost crashed into Hyejeong when the latter came to an abrupt stop. Hyejeong's mouth went dry, her heart skipped a beat when she saw the dark, looming body just a few meters ahead of the duo. The monster looked exactly like it was described in old sagas; two deadly horns flaunted on the bull head, its chestnut brown fur morphed into its muscular and dirty chest and arms. Where one would expect human legs were now thick furry bull thighs and hooves that could probably trample any creature to death. It sat on the ground with its left side towards the girls, tearing off the flesh of a limb which used to belong to a human body and devoured it without munching properly. Hyejeong did not dare to move, frightened the monster might lunge at them and have them as dessert. However, the Goddesses of Destiny were not on their side as the beast dropped the bloody bone to the ground, whipped its head towards the girls and got onto its black hooves. Standing at its tallest, it was at least two meters tall. Its nostrils were flaring furiously while its upper body heaved up and down with every breath it took, its tail sweeping violently the ground. Hyejeong could swear she saw smoke coming out of its nostrils, wishing they would have found the Minotaur when it was asleep or in any other situation, and not interrupting its meal. The said Minotaur lowered its head, red eyes glaring right into Hyejeong's, and started horning its right hoof into the ground. 

"," the curse word left Jiho's mouth, turning her bracelet into a golden shield. Hyejeong on the other hand, pulled out an arrow from her quiver and draw the string back, targeting the spot between the Minotaur's eyes. Releasing its last champ with rage, the beast dashed forwards.

Ω Any thoughts about Athena's cool present or the big bad Minotaur?

Having a book that gives any knowledge you need would be pretty nice, don't you think?

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