So they sailed away to Crete. Theseus promised to come back, telling his father that he would fly white sails on his return trip instead of the usual black sails, so that the Athenians would know that he was alive.

When they arrived in Crete, the fourteen hostages were placed in dungeon cells until the morning, when they would be forced to wander in the Labyrinth, a complex maze from which most people never emerged. In the maze, they would be easy prey for the Minotaur, who would kill them and feast on their remains.

But King Minos had another child - a beautiful daughter named Ariadne, who fell in love with Theseus the moment she saw him. During the night, she visited Theseus in his cell and brought him a long golden thread and a sword. "Go into the maze now, while the monster is sleeping," she said. "Tie this thread to the entrance of the maze as you enter it, and unwind it behind you. Then go in and kill the Minotaur, and follow the thread back out. You will survive." She made Theseus promise to take her with him back to Athens - she knew that her father would kill her if he realized what she had done.

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