Arimneste explores the Labyrinth.

The girl, no so brash now, stepped into the half light of the maze. She looked down, and noticed that ground was covered in basalt; a shining black rock from the base of volcanoes where they meet the Sea and spill their lava. Thick and thorny vines covered the ancient walls. She closed her eyes, and committed the scene to memory.

Arimneste's powerful mind began to trace the Labyrinth in perfect detail. Unlike brave Theseus, she needed no thread to find her way back as she walked. She turned a corner, and was shocked at the sudden silence that engulfed her. Curious, she turned back to be greeted by the sounds of birds echoing through the entrance; and of wind rustling. She advanced again, and all was silent as a crypt.

"Amazing engineering!" she thought. A battle could be going on in one hallway, while anyone in the next would never hear it. She wondered if the sound traveled through the structure or away from it. Regardless of her so-called mythological quest; she was glad to have seen the marvel of a more savage time. "Daedalus, why must we be so many years apart..." she whispered to the walls, stroking the stone. Her eyes narrowed. Small channels were carved in loops and swirls. Some dead-ended, others continued. She was sure that was how the sound was manipulated.

The first Gate appeared. Two torches stood on either side of this; rotting in place for a century or more. She read the ancient engraving carved in the basalt. "Beyond These Gates Lies The Minotaur. Take two Drachmae" and below that on one side, a bronze pot. She looked inside; and saw it was full of old Cretean coins. On the vase, the image of the Ferryman Charon was embossed. Arimneste rolled her eyes at the implication. All who enter; shall die.

She took two coins, and walked through the gate.

The sun was still high, casting its light down through the Labyrinth's walls. She examined the coins and didn't recognize them. "Must be quite old." she thought as she walked, turning as the path demanded. She suddenly heard a massive flock of birds, and a sudden gust of wind. Arimneste ducked and spun, her eyes wide; only to find herself surrounded by stones and vines.

Slowly, she stood. A smile parted her succulently plump lips. "Amazing that the grooves could carry a sound so deep! What terrors they must have wrought onto those who do not understand such things!" Arimneste made sure to remember this moment. It was the first evidence that some ancient engineer had designed this maze to terrify the unfortunate walker of it through science, and not magical beasts.

What she failed to see, were the lines that ran in the Basalt. The lines that carried sound deeper into the labyrinth...lines that had already sang a melody of tender, young flesh venturing deeper into the maze. Lines that centered on the massive central chamber; whispering into the ears of a massive, slumbering Beast...