#trinity mia

hey ! i'm trinity, i started out as a writer on wattpad, but i decided to start branching out a little and cross-post my stories here on tumblr. this decision mostly comes from the fact that wattpad deleted my old account after i'd already garnered like 100k reads on one of my stories. which was, uh, devastating to say the least

anyways, it took a while, but i'm finally back to posting after a ( very long ) break ! i'm glad to be back, as i really do enjoy writing. i will say, however, that i am in college, so updates can be a little irregular. i work two jobs in addition to being a full-time student, so once all of my backups dry up... it's gonna get a little iffy

i have so many ideas for stories and so many thoughts in my head, so i'm going to try to find all of the time i can

that said, here's the main / most important links. i figure once more and more chapters are posted here, it's going to get a little crowded. i'm a little new to posting on tumblr, so there's going to have to be a little trial and error, but i'm sure it'll be fine

— main masterlist

— tip jar

— carrd ( has my ao3, wattpad, and everything else you may need to know ! )

if you have any questions or want to make any comments, feel free to send an ask ! i'll figure out how they work and all lmao

also ! once i start up in between the tides again, feel free to send in any plot requests you might have. in fact, it might be beneficial if there were any ideas you wanted to see, because it might give me inspiration to write more than a few paragraphs lol

i think that's all for now ! if i'm forgetting anything big, i'll come back and add it

anyways, i love you guys ! eat and sleep well, and drink lots of water !

1.9 If I Had a Nickel for Every Time Dionysus Did Something Nice Just Out of the Kindness of His Heart I'd Have, Like, Maybe Four Nickels, Which Isn't a Lot, but I'm Suspicious Every Time It Happens

The amount of good-byes we were forced to say that day made me feel guilty.  

That night was the first time I actually saw camp burial shrouds used on bodies, and I decided then and there that I would have done anything to never have to see it again. 

Among the dead, Lee Fletcher from the Apollo cabin had been downed by a giant's club. He was wrapped in a golden shroud without any decoration. The son of Dionysus who'd gone down fighting an enemy half-blood was wrapped in a deep purple shroud embroidered with grapevines. His name was Castor. I was ashamed that I'd seen him around camp for three years and never even bothered to learn his name. He'd been seventeen years old. His twin brother, Pollux, tried to say a few words, but he choked up and just took the torch. He lit the funeral pyre in the middle of the amphitheater, and within seconds the row of shrouds was engulfed in fire, sending smoke and sparks up to the stars. 

We spent the next day treating the wounded, which felt like it was everyone at Camp. The satyrs and dryads worked to repair the damage to the woods. 

At noon, the Council of Cloven Elders held an emergency meeting in their sacred grove. The three senior satyrs were there, along with Chiron, who was in wheelchair form. His broken horse leg was still mending, so he would be confined to the chair for a few months, until the leg was strong enough to take his weight. It was obvious he wasn’t super happy with this turn of events, but he also didn’t have much of a choice. 

The grove was filled with satyrs and dryads and naiads up from the water— hundreds of them, anxious to hear what would happen. This was like the trial of the century. Everyone had heard Grover’s re-telling of Pan’s death, but as much as they didn’t want to believe it, they also heard what he’d done during the battle. Juniper, Luke, and I stood by Grover's side. 

Silenus wanted to exile Grover immediately, but Chiron persuaded him to at least hear evidence first, so we told everyone what had happened in the crystal cavern, and what Pan had said. Then several eyewitnesses from the battle described the weird sound Grover had made, which drove the Titan's army back underground. 

"It was panic," Juniper implored. "Grover summoned the power of the wild god." 

My eyebrows furrowed. "Panic?" I asked. 

"Allie," Chiron explained patiently, "during the first war of the gods and the Titans, Lord Pan let forth a horrible cry that scared away the enemy armies. It is— it was his greatest power— a massive wave of fear that helped the gods win the day. The word panic is named after Pan, you see. And Grover used that power, calling it forth from within himself." 

"Preposterous!" Silenus bellowed. "Sacrilege! Perhaps the wild god favored us with a blessing. Or perhaps Grover's music was so awful it scared the enemy away!" 

"That wasn't it, sir," Grover said. To his credit, he was keeping his composure a lot better than I would have if I’d been insulted to my face like that. "He let his spirit pass into all of us. We must act. Each of us must work to renew the wild, to protect what's left of it. We must spread the word. Pan is dead. There is no one but us." 

"After two thousand years of searching, this is what you would have us believe?" Silenus cried. "Never! We must continue the search! Exile the traitor!" 

Some of the older satyrs muttered assent. 

"A vote!" Silenus demanded. "Who would believe this ridiculous young satyr, anyway?" 

"I would," said a familiar voice. 

Everyone turned. Striding into the grove was Dionysus. He wore a formal black suit, so I almost didn't recognize him, a deep purple tie and violet dress shirt, his curly dark hair carefully combed. His eyes were bloodshot as usual, and his pudgy face was flushed, but he looked like he was suffering from grief more than the cold-turkey wine-withdrawal. 

The satyrs all stood respectfully and bowed as he approached. Dionysus waved his hand, and a new chair grew out of the ground next to Silenus's— a throne made of grapevines. 

Dionysus sat down and crossed his legs. He snapped his fingers and satyr hurried forward with a plate of cheese and crackers and a Diet Coke. 

The god of wine looked around at the assembled crowd. "Miss me?" 

The satyrs fell over themselves nodding and bowing. "Oh, yes, very much, sire!" 

"Well, I did not miss this place!" Dionysus snapped. "I bear bad news, my friends. Evil news. The minor gods are changing sides. Morpheus has gone over to the enemy. Hecate, Janus, and Nemesis, as well. Zeus knows how many more." 

Thunder rumbled in the distance. 

"Strike that," Dionysus corrected himself. "Even Zeus doesn't know. Now, I want to hear Grover's story. Again, from the top." 

"But, my lord," Silenus protested. "It's just nonsense!" 

 Dionysus's eyes flared with purple fire. "I have just learned that my son Castor is dead, Silenus. I am not in a good mood. You would do well to humor me." 

Silenus gulped and waved at Grover to start again. I couldn’t lie— as much as Dionysus pissed me off 99% of the time, the 1% he was useful really was enjoyable. 

When Grover was done, Mr. D nodded. "It sounds like just the sort of thing Pan would do. Grover is right. The search is tiresome. You must start thinking for yourselves." He turned to a satyr. "Bring me some peeled grapes, right away!" 

"Yes, sire!" The satyr scampered off. 

"We must exile the traitor!" Silenus insisted. 

"I say no," Dionysus countered. "That is my vote." 

"I vote no as well," Chiron put in. 

Silenus set his jaw stubbornly. "All in favor of exile?" 

He and the two other old satyrs raised their hands. 

"Three to two," Silenus said. 

"Ah, yes," Dionysus simpered. "But unfortunately for you, a god's vote counts twice. And as I voted against, we are tied." 

Silenus stood, indignant. "This is an outrage! The council cannot stand at an impasse." 

Mr. D sighed dramatically. "Then let it be dissolved!" he said impatiently. "I don't care." 

Silenus bowed stiffly, along with his two friends, and they left the grove. About twenty satyrs went with them. The rest stood around murmuring uncomfortably. 

"Don't worry," Grover told them. "We don't need the council to tell us what to do. We can— we will— figure it out ourselves." 

He told them again the words of Pan— how they must save the wild a little at a time. He started dividing the satyrs into groups— which ones would go to the national parks, which ones would search out the last wild places, which ones would defend the parks in the big cities. 

"Well," Luke said to me, "Grover seems to be growing up." 

*** 

Later that afternoon I found Tyson at the beach, talking to Briares. Briares was building a sandcastle with about fifty of his hands. He wasn't really paying attention to it, but his hands had constructed a three-story compound with fortified walls, a moat, and a drawbridge. 

Tyson was drawing a map in the sand. 

 "Go left at the reef," he told Briares. "Straight down when you see the sunken ship. Then about one mile east, past the mermaid graveyard, you will start to see fires burning." 

I tilted my head as I joined them. "You're giving him directions to the forges?" I asked. 

Tyson nodded. "Briares wants to help. He will teach Cyclopes ways we have forgotten, how to make better weapons and armor." 

"I want to see Cyclopes," Briares agreed, and it looked like he had his hopeful face on. "I don't want to be lonely anymore." 

"I doubt you'll be lonely down there," I told him, though I could truly only speak from what Tyson had told me since I’d never actually seen Poseidon’s Kingdom. "They're going to keep you really busy." 

Briares's face morphed to a happy expression. "Busy sounds good! I only wish Tyson could go, too." 

Tyson blushed. "I need to stay here with my sister. You will do fine, Briares. Thank you." 

The Hundred-Handed One shook my hand about a hundred times. "We will meet again, Allie. I know it!" 

Then he gave Tyson a big octopus hug and waded out into the ocean. We watched until his enormous head disappeared under the waves. 

I clapped Tyson on the back. "I’m so proud of you, you know? He was your hero, but I think you’re his hero now." 

If it was possible, Tyson got even more bashful. "I only talked to him." 

"You believed in him,” I corrected him. “Without Briares, we never would've taken down Kampê. And he never would have come back if you hadn’t convinced him he was worth saving." 

Tyson grinned. "He throws good rocks!" 

I laughed. "Yeah. He throws really good rocks. Come on, big guy. Let's have dinner." 

*** 

Despite the trials of the day— the week, the whole damn lifetime— having a regular dinner at Camp lifted a weight off of my shoulders. Tyson sat with me at the Poseidon table. The sunset over Long Island Sound was beautiful. Things weren't back to normal— not by a long shot, but when I went up to the brazier and scraped part of my meal into the flames as an offering to Poseidon, I felt like I really did have a lot to be grateful for. My friends and I were alive. The camp was safe. Kronos had suffered a setback, at least for a while. 

The only thing that bothered me was Nico, hanging in the shadows at the edge of the pavilion. He'd been offered a place at the Hermes table, and even at the head table with Chiron, but he had refused. 

 After dinner, the campers headed toward the amphitheater, where Apollo's cabin promised an awesome sing-along to pick up our spirits, where they definitely were going to try to convince me to join in on for a live performance of sports car (I’d gotten an unimaginable amount of shit about how horny the song was ever since it came out, but I loved the song so I dealt with it), but Nico turned and disappeared into the woods. I decided I'd better follow him and they could complain to me later. 

As I passed under the shadows of the trees, I realized how dark it was getting. I'd never been scared in the forest before, though I knew there were plenty of monsters. Still, as I thought about the battle from the day before, I realized the memories of all of the death and destruction would frighten me more than any monster would ever be able to. 

I couldn't see Nico, but after a few minutes of walking, I saw a glow up ahead. At first, I thought Nico had lit a torch, or grabbed a flashlight, but as I got closer, I realized the glow was a ghost. The shimmering form of Bianca di Angelo stood in the clearing, smiling at her brother. She said something to him and touched his face— or tried to. Then her image faded. 

Nico turned and saw me, but he didn't look mad. 

There were still tears in his eyes as he looked at me. "Saying good-bye," he said hoarsely. 

I placed a hand on his shoulder. "We missed you at dinner," I said gently. "You could've sat with me." 

"No." 

"Nico, you can't miss every meal. If you don't want to stay with Hermes, maybe they can make an exception and put you in the Big House. They've got plenty of rooms." 

He looked down at his shoes. "I'm not staying, Allie." 

"But... you can't just leave. With Kronos risen in a physical form now, it’s too dangerous to be out on your own. You need to be trained, at least." 

"I train with the dead," he said flatly. "This camp isn't for me. There's a reason they didn't put a cabin to Hades here, Allie. He's not welcome here. No more than he’s welcome on Olympus. I don't belong. I have to go." 

As much as I wanted to argue, I knew he wouldn’t be swayed. And a part of me knew that he was right. Nico had found his own way thus far, even if a lot of it was guided by a manipulative, murderous ghost king. I remembered in Pan's cave, how the wild god had addressed each one of us individually... except Nico. It made me sad, but if he wanted to go, I wouldn't stop him. 

"When will you go?" I asked. 

"Right away,” he answered, and then his expression shifted to something other than the blank mask he’d been wearing. Something a little closer to the child-like nature I’d seen during the winter. “I've got tons of questions. Like who was my mother? Who paid for Bianca and me to go to school? Who was that lawyer guy who got us out of the Lotus Hotel? I know nothing about my past. I need to find out." 

"Makes sense," I admitted. "But I hope we don't have to be enemies." 

He lowered his gaze. "I'm sorry I was a brat. I should've listened to you about Bianca. Your side…" he gestured to where my DIY'd cut camp shirt cropped and showed my worst physical injury yet. "I should've... She told me exactly what happened. I'm sorry for giving you a hard time. I know that scar still bothers you."

I shook my head. “You’re still young, Nico,” I told him, though it wasn’t meant to be degrading. “The only person you’d ever known left with me and didn’t come back. I understand. Grief makes things… Well, I’m not mad at you for hating me.” 

I paused. I wasn’t sure if I’d actually wanted to give it to him, but since it was Bianca’s parting gift, I deemed it necessary to give it to him. 

"By the way..." I fished something out of my pocket. "Tyson found this while we were cleaning our cabin. Thought you might want it." 

I held out a lead figurine of Hades— the little Mythomagic statue Nico had abandoned when he fled camp last winter. 

Nico hesitated. "I don't play that game anymore. It's for kids." 

"It's got four thousand attack power," I coaxed. 

"Five thousand," Nico corrected. "But only if your opponent attacks first." 

I smiled and ruffled his hair, ignoring the annoyed glare he shot me. "You are still a kid. And maybe that’s okay sometimes. The way things are going... you're gonna need it. And you'll thank me later for telling you that. When you grow up in Hollywood, you grow up in about five minutes. Nothing is ever normal and I can probably count on one hand the times I remember feeling like a kid. Make the most of your years, Nico." I tossed him the statue. 

Nico studied it in his palm for a few seconds, then slipped it into his pocket. "Thanks." 

I put out my hand. He shook reluctantly. His hand was as cold as ice. 

"I've got a lot of things to investigate," he told me. "Some of them... Well, if I learn anything useful, I'll let you know." 

I wasn't sure what he meant, but I nodded. "Keep in touch, Nico." 

He turned and trudged off into the woods. The shadows seemed to bend toward him as he walked, like they were reaching out for his attention. 

A voice right behind me said, "There goes a very troubled young man." 

I turned and found Dionysus standing there, still in his black suit. 

"Walk with me," he said. 

"Where to?" I asked suspiciously. 

"Just to the campfire," he said simply. "I was beginning to feel better, so I thought I would talk with you a bit. You always manage to annoy me." 

I remembered what he’d done for Grover and what he’d said about his son, even what he’d done last winter in San Francisco. Maybe I understood Dionysus’ nature a little more than I originally thought. 

“Only because I talk back to you,” I replied. 

He rolled his eyes. “And there you go, proving my point.”

After that, we walked through the woods in silence. I noticed that Dionysus was treading on air, his polished black shoes hovering an inch off the ground. I guess he didn't want to get dirty. 

"We have had many betrayals," he finally said. "Things are not looking good for Olympus. Yet you and Luke saved this camp. I'm not sure I should thank you for that." 

"It was a group effort." I didn’t even call him on his use of Luke’s actual name rather than a fake he made up.

He shrugged. "Regardless, I suppose it was mildly competent, what you two did. I thought you should know— it wasn't a total loss." 

We reached the amphitheater, and Dionysus pointed toward the campfire. Clarisse was sitting shoulder to shoulder with a big Hispanic kid who was telling her a joke. It was Chris Rodriguez, the half-blood who'd gone insane in the Labyrinth. 

My jaw dropped. I turned to Dionysus. "You cured him?" 

I couldn’t read the look on his face, half hidden by the shadows, but I could tell he was pleased with my surprise. "Madness is my specialty. It was quite simple." 

 "But... you did something nice. Why?" 

He raised an eyebrow. "I am nice! I simply ooze niceness, Angie Johansson. Haven't you noticed?" 

"Uh—" 

For just a moment, I saw Dionysus’ shoulders slump. "Perhaps I felt grieved by my son's death. Perhaps I thought this Chris boy deserved a second chance. At any rate, it seems to have improved Clarisse's mood." 

I tilted my head at him. "Why are you telling me this?" 

The wine god sighed, like he wasn’t even sure of the answer himself. "Oh, Hades if I know. But remember, girl, that a kind act can sometimes be as powerful as a sword. As a mortal, I was never a great fighter or athlete or poet. I only made wine. The people in my village laughed at me. They said I would never amount to anything. Look at me now. Sometimes small things can become very large indeed." 

He left me alone to think about that. I’d never thought of Mr. D as a supremely complex being with multitudes, but it seemed my annoyance with him had blinded me, just a little. 

I stood there for a moment, watching Clarisse and Chris singing some stupid campfire song together and holding hands in the darkness, where they thought nobody could see them.

Despite the horror of the last few weeks and even more coming on the horizon, I couldn’t stop the smile spreading across my face. Maybe I could go sing a song or two.

*    *    *

previous | next

1.7 The Only Salvation You Must Make Yourself

We ran until we were exhausted and even further after that. Tate and Rachel steered us away from traps, but we had no destination in mind— only away from that dark mountain and the roar of Kronos. 

We stopped in a tunnel of wet white rock, like part of a natural cave. I couldn't hear anything behind us, but I didn't feel any safer. I could still remember those unnatural golden eyes staring out of Cody's face, and the feeling that my limbs were slowly turning to stone. My hands trembled as I leaned against the wall. 

"I can't go any farther," Rachel gasped, hugging her chest. Tate, Luke, and I shared a look that each said we could go further, but we decided against it. Rachel and Nico definitely weren't as athletic as the three of us and there was no way they'd be able to last much longer if we kept up like we had been. 

Nico came to sit next to me after I slid down the wall. He dropped his sword next to Riptide and took a shaky breath. 

"That sucked," he said, which I thought might have been a bit of an understatement. 

"That was a good move back there," I praised. 

Nico wiped the dust off his face. "Blame the boys and Rachel for dragging me along. That's the only thing they could agree on. We needed to help you or you'd definitely pull a stupid stunt." 

"I suppose I may have lied, just a little." I shined my flashlight across the cavern. Water dripped from the stalactites like a slow-motion rain. "But uh... You did give yourself away." 

"What do you mean?" 

"That wall of black stone? That was a pretty good party trick. If Kronos didn't know who you were before, he does now— a child of the Underworld." 

Nico frowned. "Big deal." 

"It is to him," I said, then let it drop. I figured he was just trying to hide how scared he was, and I couldn't blame him. 

I rubbed at the knot on the back of my head. Luke, though he looked like he was on the verge of a mental breakdown, moved my hand and took a look at the injury. 

“Gods, Angel,” he admonished. “Look at me, I need to see if you have a concussion.” 

“I can already tell you that I definitely do,” I replied, but I looked up at him as he shined his flashlight in my eyes and tried not to flinch away. 

He pulled his backpack off and grabbed a square of ambrosia from the pack he had. I took it gratefully and in moments felt like the fog in my brain was retreating. 

I turned my attention to Tate, looking at him over Luke’s shoulder. "You hit the Lord of the Titans in the eye with a blue plastic hairbrush." 

He looked embarrassed. "It was the only thing I had. Well, Rach had it, but he was practically on top of you and I wasn't about to let you die. Especially like that. I'm just glad it worked." 

I still couldn't comprehend what I'd seen. Kronos was alive. He was armed. And the end of the world was probably close at hand. My stomach turned. What if that had been my only chance to stop him? In a physical body… I wasn’t sure I liked thinking about what he might be able to do. 

With a sigh, I told them what I’d seen.

“That’s…” Luke starts, disbelief in his eyes. “I don’t even know. I didn’t think…” 

A tense silence followed

"We have to keep moving," Nico said. "He'll send monsters after us." 

Nobody was really in any shape to run, but Nico was right. I hauled myself up and helped Rachel to her feet. 

"You did good back there," I told Tate. "I owe you one." 

He managed a weak smile, his face pale. “You really weren’t kidding about always being on the verge of death, huh?” 

I grimaced. “Not even a little bit,” I replied. 

We started straggling back through the Labyrinth again. 

"Back to New York," I said. "Rachel, Tate, can you—" I froze. A few feet in front of us, my flashlight beam fixed on a trampled clump of red fabric lying on the ground. It was a Rasta cap: the one Grover always wore. 

My hands trembled as I picked up the cap. It looked like it had been stepped on by a huge muddy boot. My day was already going terribly. I didn’t think I would be able to stomach finding out that something terrible might’ve happened to Grover and Tyson, too.

Then I noticed something else. The cave floor was mushy and wet from the water dripping off the stalactites. There were large footprints like Tyson's, and smaller ones— goat hooves— leading off to the left. 

"We have to follow them," I said immediately. "They went that way. It must have been recently." 

"What about Camp Half-Blood?" Nico said. "There's no time." 

Luke stepped up next to me and grabbed one of my hands to stop it from shaking. "We have to find them," he insisted. "They're our friends." 

He forged ahead, not waiting on further argument. 

I followed, bracing myself for the worst. I didn’t want to hold my breath for anything good coming our way. The tunnel was treacherous. It sloped at weird angles and was slimy with moisture. Half the time we were slipping and sliding rather than walking. The concussion I was still recovering from definitely wasn’t helping. 

Finally, we got to the bottom of a slope and found ourselves in a large cave with huge stalagmite columns. Through the center of the room ran an underground river, and Tyson was sitting by the banks, cradling Grover in his lap. Grover's eyes were closed. He wasn't moving. 

"Tyson!" I yelled. 

"Allie! Come quick!" 

We ran over to him. Grover wasn't dead, thank the gods, but his whole body trembled like he was freezing to death. 

"What happened?" I asked, frantic with worry. 

"So many things," Tyson murmured. "Large snake. Large dogs. Men with swords. But then... we got close to here. Grover was excited. He ran. Then we reached this room, and he fell. Like this." 

"Did he say anything?" I questioned. 

"He said, 'We're close.' Then hit his head on rocks." 

I knelt next to him. The only other time I'd seen Grover pass out was New Mexico, when he'd felt the presence of Pan. 

I shined my flashlight around the cavern. The rocks glittered. At the far end was the entrance to another cave, flanked by gigantic columns of crystal that looked like diamonds. And beyond that entrance... 

"Grover," I called. "Wake up." 

"Uhhhhhhhh."

Luke knelt next to him and splashed icy cold river water in his face. 

"Splurg!" His eyelids fluttered. "Allie? Luke? Where..." 

 "It's okay," I said, resting a hand on his shoulder. "You passed out. The presence was too much for you." 

"I— I remember. Pan." 

"Yeah," I agreed. "Something powerful is just beyond that doorway." 

I made quick introductions, since Tyson and Grover had never met Rachel and Tate. They were both pretty easy-going while meeting my Cyclops half-brother and satyr best friend. 

"Anyway," I said. "Come on, Grover. Lean on me." 

Luke and I helped him up, and together we waded across the underground river. The current was strong and I did what I could to weaken the force of it for everyone else. The water came up to our waists. I willed myself to stay dry, my favorite, handy little ability, but unfortunately I couldn’t extend it to anyone else. And it also did nothing for the frigid nature of the water. 

"I think we're in Carlsbad Caverns," I said, my teeth chattering. "Maybe an unexplored section." 

"How do you know?" Tate asked. 

"Carlsbad is in New Mexico," I said, like it was obvious. "That would explain last winter." 

Grover's swooning episode had happened when we passed through New Mexico. That's where he'd felt closest to the power of Pan. Which, now that I thought about it, Tate would have no idea of, but I was too cold to explain further. 

We got out of the water and kept walking. As the crystal pillars loomed larger, I started to feel the power emanating from the next room. I'd been in the presence of gods before, but this was different. My skin tingled with living energy. My weariness fell away, as if I'd just gotten a good night's sleep. I could feel myself growing stronger, like one of those plants in a time-lapse video. The fuzziness in my head faded entirely. And the scent coming from the cave was nothing like the dark wet underground. It smelled of trees and flowers and a warm summer day. 

Grover whimpered with excitement. I was too stunned to talk. Even Nico seemed speechless. We stepped into the cave, and Rachel said, "Oh, wow." 

The walls glittered with crystals— red, green, and blue. In the strange light, beautiful plants grew— giant orchids, star-shaped flowers, vines bursting with orange and purple berries that crept among the crystals. The cave floor was covered with green moss. Overhead, the ceiling was higher than a cathedral, sparkling like a galaxy of stars. In the center of the cave stood a Roman-style bed, gilded wood shaped like a curly U, with velvet cushions. Animals lounged around it— but they were animals that shouldn't have been alive. There was a dodo bird, something that looked like a cross between a wolf and a tiger, a huge rodent like the mother of all guinea pigs, and roaming behind the bed, picking berries with its trunk, was a wooly mammoth. 

On the bed lay an old satyr. He watched us as we approached, his eyes as blue as the sky. His curly hair was white and so was his pointed beard. Even the goat fur on his legs was frosted with gray. His horns were enormous— glossy brown and curved. There was no way he could've hidden those under a hat the way Grover did. Around his neck hung a set of reed pipes. 

Grover fell to his knees in front of the bed. "Lord Pan!" 

The god smiled kindly, but there was sadness in his eyes. "Grover, my dear, brave satyr. I have waited a very long time for you." 

"I… got lost," Grover apologized, hanging his head. 

Pan laughed. It was a wonderful sound, like the first breeze of springtime, filling the whole cavern with hope. The tiger-wolf sighed and rested his head on the god's knee. The dodo bird pecked affectionately at the god's hooves, making a strange sound in the back of its bill. I could swear it was humming "It's a Small World."

Still, Pan looked tired. His whole form shimmered as if he were made of Mist. 

I noticed my other friends were kneeling. They had awed looks on their faces. I got to my knees. 

"You have a humming dodo bird," Luke said bluntly. 

The god's eyes twinkled. "Yes, that's Dede. My little actress." 

Dede the dodo looked offended. She pecked at Pan's knee and hummed something that sounded like a funeral dirge. 

"This is the most beautiful place!" I said, awed. "Better than anything I've ever seen, by far."

"I am glad you like it, dear," Pan said. "It is one of the last wild places. My realm above is gone, I'm afraid. Only pockets remain. Tiny pieces of life. This one shall stay undisturbed... for a little longer." 

"My lord," Grover said, "please, you must come back with me! The Elders will never believe it! They'll be overjoyed! You can save the wild!" 

Pan placed his hand on Grover's head and ruffled his curly hair. "You are so young, Grover. So good and true. I think I chose well." 

"Chose?" Grover echoed, his face contorting in confusion. "I— I don't understand." 

Pan's image flickered, momentarily turning to smoke. The giant guinea pig scuttled under the bed with a terrified squeal. I was momentarily reminded of the time Luke and I got stuck on Circe's island... I fought down a chuckle. The wooly mammoth grunted nervously. Dede stuck her head under her wing. Then Pan re-formed. 

 "I have slept many eons," the god said forlornly. "My dreams have been dark. I wake fitfully, and each time my waking is shorter. Now we are near the end." 

"What?" Grover cried. "But no! You're right here!" 

"My dear satyr," Pan said. "I tried to tell the world, two thousand years ago. I announced it to Lysas, a satyr very much like you. He lived in Ephesos, and he tried to spread the word." 

My eyes widened. "The old story. A sailor passing by the coast of Ephesos heard a voice crying from the shore, 'Tell them the great god Pan is dead.'" 

"But that wasn't true!" Grover cried, his whole body shaking. 

"Your kind never believed it," Pan said affectionately. "You sweet, stubborn satyrs refused to accept my passing. And I love you for that, but you only delayed the inevitable. You only prolonged my long, painful passing, my dark twilight sleep. It must end." 

It was difficult to swallow, but I could feel it. Even in this room where Pan’s power shone the brightest, it felt like it was declining. Pan himself seemed lethargic, like he was trying hard to keep his eyes open. 

"No!" Grover's voice trembled. 

"Dear Grover," Pan said. "You must accept the truth. Your companion, Nico, he understands." 

Nico nodded slowly. "He's dying. He should have died long ago. This… This is more like a memory." 

"But gods can't die," Grover argued stubbornly. 

"They can fade," Pan said gently, "when everything they stood for is gone. When they cease to have power, and their sacred places disappear. The wild, my dear Grover, is so small now, so shattered, that no god can save it. My realm is gone. That is why I need you to carry a message. You must go back to the council. You must tell the satyrs, and the dryads, and the other spirits of nature, that the great god Pan is dead. Tell them of my passing. Because they must stop waiting for me to save them. I cannot. The only salvation you must make yourself. Each of you must—" 

He stopped and frowned at the dodo bird, who had started humming again. 

"Dede, what are you doing?" Pan demanded. "Are you singing Kumbaya again?" 

Dede looked up innocently and blinked her yellow eyes. 

Pan sighed. "Everybody's a cynic. But as I was saying, my dear Grover, each of you must take up my calling." 

"But... No! I can’t!" Grover whimpered. 

"Be strong," Pan said. "You have found me. And now you must release me. You must carry on my spirit. It can no longer be carried by a god. It must be taken up by all of you." 

 Pan looked straight at me with his clear blue eyes, and I realized he wasn't just talking about satyrs. He meant half-bloods, too, and humans. Everyone.

"Allie Jackson," the god said. "I know what you have seen today. I know your doubts. But I give you this news: when the time comes, you will not be ruled by fear as you have been forced to do your whole life. Your next year will be your hardest and you will know your place with time." 

He turned to Luke. "Son of Hermes, your time is coming. You will play a great role, though it may not be the role you imagined." 

Then he looked at Tyson. "Master Cyclops, do not despair. Heroes rarely live up to our expectations. But you, Tyson— your name shall live among the Cyclopes for generations. And Miss Rachel Dare and Mister Tate Dare..." 

Rachel flinched when he said her name, but Tate only stared back guiltily. Pan only smiled. He raised his hand in a blessing. "I know you believe you cannot make amends," he said. "But you both are just as important as your father." 

"I—" Rachel faltered. A tear traced her cheek. 

"I know you don't believe this now," Pan said. "But look for opportunities. They will come." 

Finally, he turned back toward Grover. "My dear satyr," Pan said kindly, "will you carry my message?" 

"I— I can't." 

"You can," Pan said. "You are the strongest and the bravest. Your heart is true. You have believed in me more than anyone ever has, which is why you must bring the message, and why you must be the first to release me." 

Grover shook his head, tears streaming down his face. "I don't want to." 

"I know," the god said. "But my name, Pan... originally it meant rustic. Did you know that? But over the years it has come to mean all. The spirit of the wild must pass to all of you now. You must tell each one you meet: if you would find Pan, take up Pan's spirit. Remake the wild, a little at a time, each in your own corner of the world. You cannot wait for anyone else, even a god, to do that for you." 

Grover wiped his eyes. Then slowly he stood. "I've spent my whole life looking for you. Now... I release you." 

Pan smiled. "Thank you, dear satyr. My final blessing." 

He closed his eyes, and the god dissolved. White mist divided into wisps of energy, but this kind of energy wasn't scary. It was nothing like the blue power I'd seen from Kronos. It filled the room. A curl of smoke went straight into my mouth, and Grover's and the others. But I think a little more of it went into Grover. The crystals dimmed. The animals gave us a sad look. Dede the dodo sighed. Then they all turned gray and crumbled to dust. The vines withered. And we were alone in a dark cave, with an empty bed. 

I switched on my flashlight. 

Grover took a deep breath. 

"Are... Are you okay?" I asked him. 

He looked older and sadder. He didn’t move for a moment and I worried he’d gone catatonic. He took his cap from Luke, brushed off the mud, and stuck it firmly on his curly head. 

"We should go now," he said, "and tell them. The great god Pan is dead."

*    *    *

previous | next

1.6 Did You Know That the Full Phrase Is Actually 'An Eye for an Eye Makes the Whole World Blind'?

Jumping out of a window five hundred feet above ground was not usually my idea of fun. Actually, that's kind of a lie, because I went skydiving not once, but twice— mostly because Zeus pissed me off and I wanted to piss him off in return, but still. I had instructors tied to me then. 

And now I was wearing bronze wings and had to actively try to keep myself in the air.

Rachel plummeted toward the valley and the red rocks below. I was pretty sure she was going to become a grease spot in the Garden of the Gods, as I yelled above her, "Spread your arms! Keep them extended."

Apparently, the one part of her brain that wasn't engulfed in panic seemed to hear me and she did as I said. I returned to my own thoughts when I saw that she was fine. 

I didn't go too extreme, but I wanted to experiment and see just how much I could do with these puppies before I either a) fell out of the sky, or b) Zeus struck me out of the sky. 

After a few flips and twirls, I stopped because I was pretty sure I was giving Luke and Tate an aneurysm. 

"Land!" Luke yelled. "These wings won't last forever." 

"How long?" Rachel asked. 

"I don't want to find out!" Luke said. 

We swooped down toward the Garden of the Gods. We did a complete circle around one of the rock spires and freaked out a couple of climbers. Then, the five of us soared across the valley, over a road, and landed on the terrace of the visitor center. It was late afternoon and the place looked pretty empty, but we ripped off our wings as quickly as we could. Looking at them, I could see Luke was right. The self-adhesive seals that bound the wings to our backs were already melting, and we were shedding bronze feathers. It seemed a shame, but we couldn't fix them, and couldn't leave them around for the mortals, so we stuffed the wings in trash bins outside the cafeteria.

I used the tourist binocular camera to look up at the hill where Daedalus's workshop had been, but it had vanished. No more smoke. No broken windows. Just the side of a hill. 

"The workshop moved," Luke guessed. "There's no telling where." 

"So what do we do now?" I asked. "How do we get back in the maze?" 

Luke gazed at the summit of Pikes Peak in the distance. "Maybe we can't. If Daedalus died...  he said his life force was tied into the Labyrinth. The whole thing might've been destroyed. Maybe that will stop Cody's invasion." 

I thought about Grover and Tyson, still down there somewhere. And Daedalus... even though he'd done some terrible things and put everybody I cared about at risk, it seemed like a pretty horrible way to die. 

"No," Nico said. "He isn't dead." 

"How can you be sure?" Luke asked. 

"I know when people die. It's this feeling I get, like a buzzing in my ears." 

"What about Tyson and Grover?" I asked. 

Nico shook his head. "That's harder. They're not humans or half-bloods. They don't have mortal souls." 

"We have to get into town," Luke decided. "Our chances will be better off finding an entrance to the Labyrinth. We have to make it back to camp before Cody and his army." 

"We could just take a plane," Rachel said. 

I shook my head. "I don't fly unless I have to for acting or modeling." 

"But you just did." 

"That was low flying," I said, "and even that's risky. Flying up really high— that's Zeus's territory. I can't do it unless it's for my job. Quests aren't included in that access pass. Besides, we don't even have time for a flight. The labyrinth is the quickest way back." 

I didn't want to say it, but I was also hoping that maybe, just maybe, we would find Grover and Tyson along the way. 

"So we need a car to take us into the city," Luke said. 

I don't know if he meant to or not, but he glanced hopefully at me. His gaze was pleading and I didn't need him to tell me in order to know what he wanted me to do.  

"I have that covered," I said. Rachel gave me an odd look.

"How?" She asked. 

I shrugged. “I’m a world famous actress and singer. I've got it covered." 

She looked uneasy, but nodded. 

"Okay, I'm going to buy a prism in the gift shop, try to make a rainbow, and send an Iris-message to Camp," Luke told me.

"I'll go with you," Nico said. "I'm hungry." 

"Rachel, Tate, you two should go with them," I said. "Meet you guys in the parking lot."

"Actually, I was wondering if I could go with you? If something happens and we need to get back into the Labyrinth separately, you'll be able to have a guide and so will they," Tate said, moving to stand next to me, ignoring Luke's suspicious glare. 

"I... Okay. That's reasonable, I guess. This won't take long."

I gave Luke a couple of bills as we split and Tate and I headed toward a big black car parked at the edge of the lot. It was a chauffeured Lexus, like the kind I always used when filming outside of New York. The driver was out front, reading a newspaper. He wore a dark suit and tie.

"What are you going to do?" Tate asked me.

"Just wait here," I said, suddenly miserable, hating myself and what I was going to have to do. "Please."

I marched straight up to the driver, ready to talk to him, faux confidence dripping from my lips. 

"Excuse me?" I started. “My driver’s car broke down and I called and they told me you were the only driver in the area. Would you be able to drive me and my friends around? I can give you cash.”

He frowned, not looking at me. “Sorry, chick, I’ve already got a reservation in an hour. Can’t pick up other jobs in the meantime.”

I didn't want to pull the card, but I was desperate. I noticed the emblem of the car rental company on the dashboard. I knew the owner.

"C'mon, man, when I called they told me you’d be able to,” I whined, trying not to cringe at myself. “I'm Allie Jackson. I have Jeffery Blight's number on speed dial. Do you really want me to call your boss and embarrass you?"

It took a moment, but the threat seemed to go through when he looked at my face. He turned pale and hastily folded up his magazine. He nodded and fumbled for his cell phone. After a brief call, he opened the back door of the car for me to get in. 

"Hold on. I have a few more friends coming." I pointed back in Tate's direction, and the driver bobbed his head some more. 

"Yes, ma'am. Whatever you want."

"You'll have to wait a bit. They are taking care of something." Another head bob. 

I walked over to get Tate just as Nico, Rachel, and Luke appeared from the gift shop.

"I talked to Chiron," Luke said. "They're doing their best to prepare for battle, but he still wants us back. They're going to need every hero they can get. Did we find a ride?"

"The driver's ready when we are," I answered. 

The chauffeur was now talking to another guy in khakis and a polo shirt, probably his client who'd rented the car. The client was complaining, but I could hear the driver saying, "I'm sorry, sir. Emergency. I've ordered another car for you." I felt bad, but this really was an emergency.

"Come on," I said. I led them to the car and got in without even looking at the flustered guy who'd rented it. A minute later we were cruising down the road. The seats were leather. There was plenty of legroom. The backseat had flat-panel TVs built into the headrests and a mini-fridge stocked with bottled water, sodas, and snacks. Luke and I shared a look before he loaded up his backpack and the others started stuffing themselves. 

"Where to, Miss Jackson?" the driver asked.

"I'm not sure yet, Robert," I replied. "We just need to drive through town and, uh, look around."

"Whatever you say, miss." 

Nico looked at me. "Do you know this guy?"

"No."

"But he dropped everything to help you. Why?"

"Just keep your eyes peeled," I replied. "Help me look."

Which didn't exactly answer his question, I knew. 

We drove through Colorado Springs for about half an hour and saw nothing that Rachel or Tate considered a possible Labyrinth entrance.

After about an hour we decided to head north toward Denver, thinking that maybe a bigger city would be more likely to have a Labyrinth entrance, but we were all getting nervous. We were losing time. 

Then right as we were leaving Colorado Springs, Rachel sat bolt upright and pointed. I knew what she was thinking, so I spoke for her. "Get off the highway!"

The driver glanced back. "Miss?"

"I saw something, I think. Get off here." 

The driver swerved across traffic and took the exit.

"What did you see?" I asked, because we were pretty much out of the city now. There wasn't anything around except hills, grassland, and some scattered farm buildings. Rachel had the driver turn down this unpromising dirt road. We drove by a sign too fast for me to read it, but Rachel said, "Western Museum of Mining & Industry." 

For a museum, it didn't look like much— a little house like an old-fashioned railroad station, some drills and pumps and old steam shovels on display outside.

"There." Rachel pointed to a hole in the side of a nearby hill— a tunnel that was boarded up and chained. "An old mine entrance."

"A door to the Labyrinth?" Luke asked. "How can you be sure?"

"Well, look at it!" Rachel said. "I mean... I can see it, okay?"

I thanked the driver and we all got out. He didn't ask for money or anything, but I slipped $200 through the partition separating the back and front. "Are you sure you'll be all right, Miss Jackson? I'd be happy to call—"

"No!" I said immediately. "No, really. Thanks, Robert. But we're fine."

The museum seemed to be closed, so nobody bothered us as we climbed the hill to the mine shaft. When we got to the entrance, I saw the mark of Daedalus engraved on the padlock, though how Rachel had seen something so tiny all the way from the highway, I had no idea. I touched the padlock and the chains fell away. We kicked down a few boards and walked inside. For better or worse, we were back in the Labyrinth.

*** 

The dirt tunnels turned to stone. They wound around and split off and basically tried to confuse us, but Rachel and Tate had no trouble guiding us. We told them we needed to get back to New York, and they hardly even paused when the tunnels offered a choice.

To my surprise, Tate and Luke started up a conversation as we walked. Luke asked him more about his background, but Tate was evasive, so they started talking about college. Tate was more than happy to talk about his football career and personal interest in environmental protection, so they were happily talking along while Rachel took the lead, keeping to her own thoughts. I hung back and walked next to Nico in uncomfortable silence.

"Thanks for coming after us," I told him at last.

Nico's eyes narrowed. He didn't seem as angry as he used to— just suspicious, careful. "I owed you for the ranch, Allie. Plus... I wanted to see Daedalus for myself. Minos was right, in a way. Daedalus should die. Nobody should be able to avoid death that long. It's not natural."

I didn’t disagree. What the old inventor had done to his nephew still haunted me every time I thought about it. The guilt in his eyes had been real, yes, but that didn’t erase what he’d done to an innocent boy. 

"That's what you were after all along," I assumed. "Trading Daedalus's soul for your sister's."

Nico walked for another fifty yards before answering. "It hasn't been easy, you know. Having only the dead for company. Knowing that I'll never be accepted by the living. Only the dead respect me, and they only do that out of fear."

"You could be accepted," I insisted. "You could have friends at camp." 

He stared at me. "Do you really believe that, Allie?" 

I didn't hesitate. "Yes. I honestly do. You didn't give people the chance. Which I can’t entirely fault you for— I probably would have reacted just as badly, given the circumstances."

Before he could figure out how to reply, I ran into Tate, who'd stopped in front of me, who'd stopped behind Rachel. We'd come to a crossroads. The tunnel continued straight ahead, but a side tunnel T'd off to the right— a circular shaft carved from volcanic rock.

"What is it?" I asked. 

Rachel stared down the dark tunnel. In the dim flashlight beam, her face looked like one of Nico's specters. Tate walked up next to her and they shared a look. 

"Is it that way?" Luke asked.

"No," Rachel said nervously. "Not at all."

"Why are we stopping then?" I asked. 

"Listen," Nico said.

I heard wind coming down the tunnel, as if the exit were close. And I smelled something vaguely familiar— something that brought back bad memories.

"Eucalyptus trees," I said. "California, specifically. I can smell the air pollution from here. Like on…"

Last winter, when we'd faced Cody, Annabeth, and the Titan Atlas on top of Mount Tamalpais, the air had smelled like that. It reminded me so suddenly of Zoë and Brylie that I had to close my eyes to will the tears away. 

"There's something evil down that tunnel," Tate said, apprehension in his tone. "Something very powerful."

"And the smell of death," Nico added, which didn’t help. 

Luke and I exchanged glances.

"Cody's entrance," he guessed. "The one to Mount Othrys— the Titans' palace."

I steeled my shoulders. "I have to check it out," I said.

Luke grabbed my wrist immediately, as though I were about to bolt. "Allie, no."

He only ever used my real name when he was mad or serious. He tightened his grip on my wrist, the look in his navy eyes worried and… There was something else there that I couldn’t quite read. 

"Cody could be right here," I pointed out. "Or— Or Kronos. Something Kelli said… I have to find out what's going on."

Luke hesitated. "Then we'll all go."

"No," I argued. "It's too dangerous. If they got hold of Nico, or Rachel and Tate for that matter, Kronos could use them. You stay here and guard them."

What I didn't say: I was also worried about Luke. I didn't trust what he would do if he saw Cody and Annabeth again, not held back by a giant. This was where Brylie was killed, along with Zoë. He’d held up the sky and then endured an insane amount of mental and physical abuse. They brought back bad memories for me, especially with everything that happened on that quest, but he definitely pulled the short end of the stick last winter. 

"Allie, don't," Tate implored. "Don't go up there alone."

"I'll be quick," I promised. "I won't do anything stupid, and I’ll be back before you know it."

"Angel, please be careful," Luke said with a defeated sigh. Our eyes met and I was reminded of our kiss back at Mount St. Helens. This time, I simply nodded and made my way down the darkstone tunnel alone.

*** 

Before I even got to the exit I heard voices: the growling, barking sounds of sea-demon smiths, the telekhines. My stomach turned. Just under my skin, it almost felt like my blood was boiling again. 

"At least we salvaged the blade," one said. "The master will still reward us."

"Yes! Yes!" a second shrieked. "Rewards beyond measure!"

Another voice, this one more human, said: "Um, yeah, well that's great. Now, if you're done with me—"

"No, half-blood!" a telekhine shrieked. "You must help us make the presentation. It is a great honor!"

"Gee, thanks," the half-blood said, and I realized it was Ethan Nakamura, the guy who'd run away like a coward after I'd saved his sorry ass in the arena. I bit my lip. I wouldn’t have ever killed him, but I supposed this is what that got me. 

I crept toward the end of the tunnel. I had to remind myself I wasn't invisible. They could find me if I made it easy.

I shivered as a blast of cold air hit me as I emerged. I was standing near the top of Mount Tam. The Pacific Ocean spread out below, gray under a cloudy sky. About twenty feet downhill, two telekhines were placing something on a big rock— something long and thin and wrapped in a black cloth. Ethan was helping them open it.

"Careful, fool," the telekhine scolded. "One touch, and the blade will sever your soul from your body."

Ethan swallowed nervously. "Maybe I'll let you unwrap it, then."

I glanced up at the mountain's peak, where a black marble fortress loomed, just like I'd seen in my dreams. It reminded me of an oversized mausoleum, with walls fifty feet high. I had no idea how mortals could miss the fact that it was here, but then again, everything below the summit seemed fuzzy to me, as if there were a thick veil between me and the lower half of the mountain. There was magic being practiced here— something that made the Mist even more powerful. Above me, the sky swirled into a huge funnel cloud. I couldn't see Atlas, but I could hear him groaning in the distance, still laboring under the weight of the sky, just beyond the fortress. I knew how he felt, but I wasn't about to pull a sympathy card for him.

"There!" the telekhine said. Reverently, he lifted the weapon, and—

Ice ran down my spine. Just looking at it made me feel like my blood was slowing in my veins. 

It was a scythe— a six-foot-long blade curved like a crescent moon, with a wooden handle wrapped in leather. The blade glinted two different colors— steel and bronze. It was the weapon of Kronos, the one he'd used to slice up his father, Ouranos, before the gods had taken it away from him and cut Kronos to pieces, casting him into Tartarus. Now the weapon was re-forged. That was the weapon the telekhines had been talking about on Mount St. Helens. My stomach turned. 

"We must sanctify it in blood," the telekhine said. "Then you, half-blood, shall help present it when the lord awakes." 

I ran toward the fortress trying to keep my footsteps as silent as possible, my pulse pounding in my ears. I didn't want to get anywhere close to that horrible black mausoleum, but I knew what I had to do. I had to stop Kronos from rising. This might be my only chance.

I dashed through a dark foyer and into the main hall. The floor shined like a mahogany piano— pure black and yet full of light. Black marble statues lined the walls. I didn't recognize the faces, but I knew I was looking at images of the Titans who'd ruled before the gods. At the end of the room, between two bronze braziers, was a dais. And on the dais, the golden sarcophagus.

The room was silent except for the crackle of the fires. Cody wasn't here, nor Annabeth. No guards. Nothing.

It was too easy, but I approached the dais silently.

The sarcophagus was just like I remembered— about ten feet long, much too big for a human. It was carved with elaborate scenes of death and destruction, pictures of the gods being trodden under chariots, temples and famous world landmarks being smashed and burned. The whole coffin gave off an aura of extreme cold, like I was walking into a freezer. My breath began to create a fog in front of me.

I considered drawing Riptide or Shaker, but I figured it would draw even more attention than I already had been. I pulled a small dagger from my belt and held it in front of me. I never liked small blades, they were never my strong suit, but something was better than nothing. 

Whenever I'd approached Kronos before, his evil voice had spoken in my mind. Why was he silent now? He'd been shredded into a thousand pieces, cut with his own scythe. What would I find if I opened that lid? How could they make a new body for him?

I wasn’t sure, and that made the breath stutter in my chest. The only thing I was sure of was that this could be my only chance to strike. I needed a way to stop him— to make sure he couldn’t get a hold of that scythe. 

I stood over the coffin. The lid was decorated even more intricately than the sides— with scenes of carnage and power. In the middle was an inscription carved in letters even older than Greek, a language of magic. I couldn't read it, exactly, but I knew what it said: KRONOS, LORD OF TIME.

My hand touched the lid. My fingertips turned blue. Frost gathered on the point of my dagger.

Then I heard noises behind me— voices approaching. It was now or never. I would be discovered anyway, I didn’t have time to bother with keeping quiet. I pushed back the golden lid and it fell to the floor with a huge WHOOOOM!

I lifted my dagger, ready to strike. But when I looked inside, I didn't comprehend what I was seeing. Mortal legs, dressed in gray pants. A white T-shirt, hands folded over his stomach. One piece of his chest was missing— a clean black hole about the size of a bullet wound, right where his heart should've been. His eyes were closed. His skin was pale. He had that creepy scowl he always wore whenever he thought people weren't looking.

The body in the coffin was Cody's.

*** 

I should have stabbed him right then. I should've brought the point of my dagger down with all my strength. Or maybe I should've said 'fuck it' and pulled out Riptide, doing the aforementioned stabbing.

But I was too stunned. My movements stuttered. I didn't understand. As much as I hated Cody, as much as he had betrayed me, betrayed Camp, I just didn't get why he was in the coffin, and why he looked so very, very dead. 

Then the voices of the telekhines were right behind me. I stumbled away from the dias and hid behind a column just before they appeared. 

"What has happened!" one of the demons screamed when he saw the lid.

"Careful!" the other demon warned. "Perhaps he stirs. We must present the gifts now. Immediately!"

The two telekhines shuffled forward and knelt, holding up the scythe on its wrapping cloth. "My Lord," one said. "Your symbol of power is remade."

Silence. Nothing happened in the coffin.

"You fool," the other telekhine muttered. "He requires the half-blood first."

Ethan stepped back, his good eye widening. "Whoa, what do you mean, he requires me?"

"Don't be a coward!" the first telekhine hissed. "He does not require your death. Only your allegiance. Pledge him your service. Renounce the gods. That is all."

"No!" I yelled. It was a stupid thing to do, but I charged out from behind the column and alerted them of my presence. "Ethan, don't!"

"Trespasser!" The telekhines bared their seal teeth. "The master will deal with you soon enough. Hurry, boy!"

"Ethan," I pleaded, "don't listen to them. Please, help me destroy it."

Ethan turned toward me, his eye patch blending in with the shadows on his face. His expression was something like pity. "I told you not to spare me, Allie. 'An eye for an eye.' You ever hear that saying? I learned what it means the hard way— when I discovered my godly parent. I'm the child of Nemesis, Goddess of Revenge. And this is what I was made to do."

He turned toward the dais, a look of contempt covering his face. "I renounce the gods! What have they ever done for me? I will see them destroyed. I will serve Kronos." 

The building rumbled. A wisp of blue light rose from the floor at Ethan Nakamura's feet. It drifted toward the coffin and began to shimmer, like a cloud of pure energy. Then it descended on the sarcophagus.

Cody sat bolt upright. His eyes opened, and they were no longer blue. They were golden, the same color as the coffin. The hole in his chest was gone. He was complete. He leaped out of the coffin with ease, and where his feet touched the floor, the marble froze like craters of ice.

He looked at Ethan and the telekhines with those horrible golden eyes, as if he were a newborn baby, not sure what he was seeing. Then he looked at me, and a smile of recognition crept across his mouth.

"This body has been well prepared." His voice was like a razor blade running over my skin. It was Cody's, but not. Underneath his voice was another, more horrible sound— an ancient, cold sound like metal scraping against rock. "Don't you think so, Astraea Jackson?"

I couldn't move. I couldn't answer. I could only stare at him, wide-eyed and horrified. 

Kronos threw back his head and laughed. "Cody feared you," the Titan's voice taunted. "His jealousy and hatred have been powerful tools. It has kept him obedient. For that I thank you. One might think you too small to be a threat, but he feared otherwise. Your beauty is a facade."

Ethan collapsed in terror. He covered his face with his hands. The telekhines trembled, holding up the scythe.

Finally, I found my nerve. I lunged at the thing that used to be Cody, summoning Riptide as I did, and thrusting my blade straight at his chest. But his skin deflected the blow like he was made of pure steel. He looked at me with amusement. Then he flicked his hand, and I flew across the room.

I slammed against the same column I'd hidden behind. I was sure my head hitting a hard object twice in the span of what couldn’t have been more than a few hours was not going to be good for my health. I struggled to my feet, blinking the stars out of my eyes, but Kronos had already grasped the handle of his scythe.

"Ah… much better," he crooned. "Backbiter, Cody called it. An appropriate name. Now that it is re-forged completely, it shall indeed bite back."

"What have you done to Cody?" I groaned. 

Kronos raised his scythe. "He serves me with his whole being, as I require. The difference is, he feared you, Astraea Jackson. I do not. He may have had good judgment in trying to find me a bride, but there will be others who share your beauty, I'm sure."

That's when I ran. There wasn't even any thought to it. No debate in my mind about— gee, should I stand up to him and try to fight again? Nope, I simply ran. I was stupidly suicidal most of the time, but not then.

But my feet felt like lead. For a moment, I thought it might have just been the concussion that was likely forming in my head, but no. Time literally slowed down around me, like the seconds were being stretched into minutes. I'd had this feeling once before, and I knew it was the power of Kronos. His presence was so strong it could bend time itself.

"Run, little beauty," he laughed. "Run!" 

I glanced back and saw him approaching leisurely, swinging his scythe as if he were enjoying the feel of having it in his hands again. No weapon in the world could stop him. No amount of Celestial Bronze. No amount of strength.

He was ten feet away when I heard, "ALLIE!"

Tate's voice.

Something flew past me, and a blue plastic hairbrush hit Kronos in the eye.

"Ow!" he yelled. For a moment it was only Cody's voice, full of surprise and pain. My limbs were freed and I ran straight into Rachel, Tate, Nico, and Luke, who were standing in the entry hall, their expressions showing varying degrees of horror, dismay, and confusion.

"Cody?" Luke said, his voice filled with alarm. "What—"

I couldn’t find the words to respond with. I grabbed him by the shirt and hauled him after me. I ran as fast as I'd ever run, head injury be damned, straight out of the fortress. We were almost back to the Labyrinth entrance when I heard the loudest bellow in the world— the voice of Kronos, coming back into control. "AFTER THEM!"

"No!" Nico yelled. He clapped his hands together, and a jagged spire of rock the size of an eighteen-wheeler erupted from the ground right in front of the fortress. The tremor it caused was so powerful the front columns of the building came crashing down. I heard muffled screams from the telekhines inside. Dust billowed everywhere.

For extra measure, I threw my free hand backward, blindly creating an earthquake that rumbled behind us. More rocks fell and even more yelps were heard. We didn't stop. 

We plunged into the Labyrinth and kept running, the howl of the Titan Lord and my earthquake shaking the entire world behind us.

*    *    *

previous | next

1.5 The Dumbest Smart Person I Think I Have Ever Met

"This way!" Rachel yelled, finally finding her voice, somehow. 

"Why should we follow you?" Luke demanded. "You led us straight into that death trap!" 

"It was the way you needed to go," Tate said, defending his little sister. "And so is this. Come on!" 

Luke didn't look happy about it, but he ran along with the rest of us. Rachel and Tate seemed to know exactly where they were going. They whipped around corners and didn't even hesitate at crossroads. Once Rachel said, "Duck!" and we all crouched as a huge ax swung over our heads. Then we kept going as if nothing had happened.

I lost track of how many turns we made. We didn't stop to rest until we came to a room the size of a gymnasium with old marble columns holding up the roof. I stood at the doorway, listening for sounds of pursuit, but I heard nothing. Apparently, we'd lost Cody and his minions in the maze. 

Then I realized something else: Mrs. O'Leary was gone. I didn't know when she'd disappeared. I didn't know if she'd gotten lost or been overrun by monsters or what. My heart felt like it was being ripped out of my chest. She'd saved our lives, and I hadn't even waited to make sure she was following us. How could I have let that happen to her? 

Ethan collapsed on the floor. "You people are crazy," he gasped as he pulled off his helmet. His face gleamed with sweat. 

Luke gasped. "I remember you! You were one of the undetermined kids in the Hermes cabin with me, years ago." 

Ethan glared at him. "Yeah, and you're Luke. I remember." 

"What— what happened to your eye?" 

Ethan looked away, and I got the feeling that was one subject he would not discuss. 

Realization hit me. "You must be the half-blood from my dream," I said. "The one Cody's people cornered. But that means Nico is still down here, alone." 

"Who's Nico?" 

"Never mind," Luke said quickly, keeping the son of Hades as far from our conversation as possible. "Why were you trying to join up with the wrong side?"

Ethan sneered. "There's no right side. The gods never cared about us. Why shouldn't I—" 

"Sign up with an army that makes you fight to the death for entertainment?" Luke said sarcastically. "Gee, I wonder." 

Ethan struggled to his feet. "I'm not going to argue with you. Thanks for the help, but I'm out of here." 

"We're going after Daedalus," I said, desperate for a reason to keep him from going off alone. "Come with us. Once we get through, you'd be welcome back at camp." 

"You really are crazy if you think Daedalus will help you." 

"He has to," Luke said, his shoulders squared with determination. "We'll make him listen." 

Ethan snorted. "Yeah, well. Good luck with that." 

I grabbed his arm. "You're just going to head off alone into the maze? That's suicide." 

He looked at me with barely controlled anger. His eye patch was frayed around the edges and the black cloth was faded, like he'd been wearing it a long, long time. "Not everyone wants to follow the lead of a soon-to-be-dead out-of-touch celebrity,” he snapped at me. “You shouldn't have spared me, Jackson. Mercy has no place in this war. A smarter decision would be to become Kronos' queen. That's the only reality that ends with you surviving." 

Then he ran off into the darkness, back the way we'd come

*** 

Luke, Tate, Rachel, and I were so exhausted we made camp right there in the huge room. I found some scrap wood and we started a fire. Shadows danced off the columns rising around us like trees. 

“Did you notice Annabeth?” Luke asked me quietly. 

I grimaced. “You mean how sickly she looked? Yeah.” I paused. “When I saw her in my dream last night, she looked bad, but… I don’t know.” 

He didn’t respond for a minute. “And Cody,” he said, even quieter. “Did you see the way he was acting?” 

"I was a little busy fighting to the death," I replied bitterly. "I didn’t bother looking at the psycho." 

Luke heaved a sigh. “He looked… nervous. He kept tapping his armrests and tapping his foot like he was about to bolt.”  

"Would’ve made our lives much easier if he had,” I shot back with a roll of my eyes.  

"You're impossible," Luke grumbled. He sheathed his knife and looked at Rachel and Tate. "So which way now, Lewis and Clark?" 

They didn't respond right away. Rachel had become quieter since the arena. Now, whenever Luke made a sarcastic comment, Rachel hardly bothered to answer and Tate had to stand up for her. She'd burned the tip of a stick in the fire and was using it to draw ash figures on the floor, images of the monsters we'd seen. With a few strokes, she caught the likeness of a dracaena perfectly. 

"We'll follow the path," she said simply. "The brightness on the floor." 

"The brightness that led us straight into a trap?" Luke asked. 

"Lay off her, Luke," I said. "She's doing the best she can. And Tate is, too" 

Luke rolled his eyes at my mention of Tate and he stood. "The fire's getting low. I'll go look for some more scraps. Why don’t you form a think tank and make us a strategy?" And he marched off into the shadows. 

Rachel drew another figure with her stick— an ashy Antaeus dangling from his chains. 

"Luke's usually not like this," I told them, crossing my arms over my knees and resting my head on them. "I don't know what the hell his problem is." 

Rachel raised her eyebrows. "Are you sure you don't know?" 

"What do you mean?" 

"Wow," she muttered. "You are way too pretty to be that oblivious." 

"Hey,” I admonished her. “Look, I'm sorry I got you two involved in this." 

"No, you were right," Tate said. "We can see the path. I can't explain it, but it's really clear." He pointed toward the other end of the room, into the darkness. "The workshop is that way. The heart of the maze. We're very close now. I don't know why the path led through that arena. I— I'm sorry about that. I thought you were going to die." 

He sounded really guilty. 

I shrugged. "Hey, I'm usually about to die," I promised. "Don't feel bad." 

He studied my face, and I picked my hand up to cover the cut on my cheek— no longer bleeding, but every time my expression shifted it prickled with pain. "So you do this every summer? Fight monsters? Save the world? Be a world famous actress and singer outside of that? Do you ever have the time to do, like, normal stuff?"

I actually thought about it. My life had never exactly been normal; my career choice was a big factor that pushed that. I'd gone on expensive and lavish vacations and owned more cars than I should, but I supposed those were normal spoiled, privileged, white girl things.

I supposed the cheerleading I did was normal. A lot of people did it, at least. I’d had to stop trying out for my college team after my freshman year simply because I didn’t have time to spare for it anymore, but I had still done it for years. My demigod life had always influenced everything I did, even when I didn't know I was one. Weird, I know, but it's true. I finally came to the conclusion that I'd never had a normal life. 

"Half-bloods get used to it, I guess. Or maybe not used to it, but..." I shifted uncomfortably. "What about you? What do you do normally?" 

Tate shrugged and I noticed Rachel get up and start pacing, just out of earshot of our conversation. "I read a lot. Football, too, but that's more of a have-to-do thing." 

Okay, I thought. So far, we are scoring a zero on the similarities chart. 

Tate and I had never really run in the same circles, even when we went to school together. Even though I cheered, I tried to stay pretty disconnected from the football team and the brainless jocks that only wanted to sleep with the famed ‘Allie Jackson’, like I was some sort of prize to be won for bragging rights. 

I decided not to go there. "What about your family?"

I could sense his mental shields going up, like this was not a safe subject."Oh... they're just, you know, family." 

I understood what that meant. Most of the kids who went to our high school had absent parents who sent them off to get them out of their hair. "You said they wouldn't notice if you and Rachel were gone." 

He fiddled with the strings on his hoodie. "Wow, I'm really tired. I may sleep for a while, okay?" 

I’d pushed just an avenue too far. "Oh, sure. Sorry if..." 

He patted my shoulder twice before turning on his side and using his backpack as a pillow. He closed his eyes and laid still, but I kind of knew he wasn't really asleep. After a few seconds, Rachel stopped her pacing and laid down a few feet away from us, doing the same thing her brother had done. 

Luke came back right on time. I'd pulled out a notebook and started writing song lyrics in a vain attempt to stay awake. I knew there was no shot he’d wandered off too far, but I didn’t want to fall asleep until I knew he’d made his way back over.  

"I'll take first watch," he volunteered, though I suspected he was still a little moody. "You look tired."

"You don't have to act like that." 

"Like what?" 

"Like..." I sighed. "Never mind." I laid down, feeling miserable. 

I was so mentally and physically exhausted, I fell asleep as soon as my eyes closed, even if I was worried about dreams.

*** 

Turns out, I had good reasons to be worried. 

As I dreamed, I heard laughter. Cold, harsh laughter, like knives being sharpened. 

I was standing at the edge of a pit in the depths of Tartarus. Below me, the darkness seethed and tensed, as if ready to strangle me. 

"So close to your own destruction, beautiful, little hero," the voice of Kronos chided. "And still, you are blind." 

The voice was different than it had been before. It seemed almost physical now, as if it were speaking from a real body instead of... whatever he'd been in his chopped-up condition. That couldn’t have meant anything good. 

"I have much to thank you for," Kronos said, an air of victory in his tone. "You have assured my rise. You can still be my queen, Astraea Jackson." 

The shadows in the cavern became deeper and heavier. I tried to back away from the edge of the pit, but it was like swimming through oil. Time slowed down. My breathing almost stopped. It felt like there was a force, brushing against my cheek in a mocking manner. 

"A favor," Kronos said. "The Titan lord always pays his debts. Perhaps a glimpse of the friends you abandoned..." 

The darkness rippled around me, and I was in a different cave. 

"Hurry!" Tyson said. He came barreling into the room. Grover stumbled along behind him. There was a rumbling in the corridor they'd come from, and the head of an enormous snake burst into the cave. I mean, this thing was so big its body barely fit through the tunnel. Its scales were coppery. Its head was diamond-shaped like a rattler, and its yellow eyes glowed with hatred. When it opened its mouth, its fangs were as tall as Tyson.

It lashed at Grover, but Grover scampered out of the way. The snake got a mouthful of dirt. Tyson picked up a boulder and threw it at the monster, smacking it between the eyes, but the snake just recoiled and hissed. 

"It's going to eat you!" Grover yelled at Tyson.

"How do you know?" 

"It just told me! Run!" 

Tyson darted to one side, but the snake used its head like a club and knocked him off his feet. 

"No!" Grover yelled. But before Tyson could regain his balance, the snake wrapped around him and started to squeeze. 

Tyson strained, pushing with all his immense strength, but the snake squeezed tighter. Grover frantically hit the snake with his reed pipes, but he might as well have been banging on a stone wall. 

The whole room shook as the snake flexed its muscles, shuddering to overcome Tyson's strength. 

Grover began to play with pipes, and stalactites rained down from the ceiling. The whole cave seemed about to collapse...

I woke to Luke shaking my shoulder. "Allie, wake up!" 

"Tyson— Tyson's in trouble!" I said, before I’d even realized I was conscious again. "We have to help him! We have to go! " 

"First things first," he said, panicked. "Earthquake!" 

Sure enough, the room was rumbling.

Did I start this?

"Tate! Rachel!" I yelled. 

Their eyes opened instantly. They grabbed their packs, and the four of us ran. We were almost to the far tunnel when a column next to us groaned and buckled. We kept going as a hundred tons of marble crashed down behind us. Even though he was likely still angry with me, Luke stepped in front of me, blocking the debris from hitting me. 

We made it to the corridor and turned just in time to see the other columns toppling. A cloud of white dust billowed over us, and we kept running. 

"You know what?" Luke said, forced calmness in his voice. "I think I’m alright with this way." 

It wasn't long before we saw light up ahead— like regular electric lighting. 

"There," Rachel said. 

We followed her into a stainless steel hallway, like I imagined they'd have on a space station or something. Fluorescent lights glowed from the ceiling. The floor was a metal grate. 

I was so used to being in the darkness that I had to squint. Luke, Tate, and Rachel all looked pale in the harsh illumination. 

"This way," Tate said, beginning to run. "We're close!" 

"This looks too modern,” Luke argued. “There’s no way—  what the fuck?" 

He faltered, because we'd arrived at a set of metal double doors. Inscribed in the steel, at eye level, was a large blue Greek ∆.

"We're here," Rachel announced. "Daedalus's workshop." 

I pressed the symbol on the doors and they hissed open. 

"Do we think he designed this to piss everyone off, or just because it’s the closest and therefore gets the best advancements?" I asked rhetorically, and I saw Luke biting his cheeks to keep from smiling, which I considered a win. 

The first thing that struck me was the daylight— blazing sun coming through giant windows. Not the kind of thing you expect in the heart of a dungeon. The workshop was like an artist's studio, with thirty-foot ceilings and industrial lighting, polished stone floors, and workbenches along with windows. A spiral staircase led up to a second-story loft. Half a dozen easels displayed hand-drawn diagrams for buildings and machines that looked like Leonardo da Vinci sketches. Several laptop computers were scattered around on the tables. Glass jars of green oil— Greek fire— lined one shelf. 

There were inventions, too— weird metal machines that didn’t make a single bit of sense to me. One was a bronze chair with a bunch of electrical wires attached to it, like some kind of torture device. In another corner stood a giant metal egg about the size of a man. There was a grandfather clock that appeared to be made entirely of glass, so you could see all the gears turning. And hanging on the wall were several sets of bronze and silver wings. 

"Di immortals," Luke muttered. He ran to the nearest easel and looked at the sketch. "This place is… insane." 

"He’s an artist," Rachel said, her tone awed as she looked around. "These wings are amazing!" 

The wings looked more advanced than the ones I'd seen in my dreams. The feathers were more tightly interwoven. Instead of wax seals, self-adhesive strips ran down the sides. It seemed Daedalus had perfected the design. I was sure thousands of years of agonizing over his son’s death had been the catalyst.

I kept my hand on Riptide. Apparently, Daedalus was not at home, but the workshop looked like it had been recently used. The laptops were running their screen savers. A half-eaten blueberry muffin and a coffee cup sat on a workbench, still steaming faintly.

I walked to the window. The view outside was amazing. I recognized the Rocky Mountains in the distance. We were high up in the foothills, at least five hundred feet, and down below a valley spread out, filled with a tumbled collection of red mesas and boulders and spires of stone. It looked like some huge kid had been building a toy city with skyscraper-sized blocks, and then decided to knock it over. I couldn’t understand how it was possible. It felt like we were constantly going downhill before arriving at the workshop. 

"Where are we?" I wondered. "I mean, it's Colorado, a little south of Denver, most likely. I just—"

"Colorado Springs," a voice said behind us. "The Garden of the Gods."

Standing on the spiral staircase above us, with his weapon drawn, was our missing sword master, Quintus.

"You," Luke said. "What have you done with Daedalus?" 

Quintus smiled faintly. "Trust me, my boy. You don't want to meet him." 

"Look, traitor," he growled, "This entire quest has been one big fuck you after another. I don’t have the patience for any more. Now where is DAEDALUS?" 

Quintus came down the stairs, holding his sword at his side. He was dressed in jeans and boots and his counselor's T-shirt from Camp Half-Blood, which seemed like an insult now that we knew he was a spy. When we’d sparred back at Camp, I’d been able to hold my own against him, but I wasn’t sure if he’d been going easy on me. If I had to fight him now… I wasn’t sure I’d be able to win. 

Quintus shifted his gaze toward me. "You think I'm an agent of Kronos," he said. "That I work for Cody." 

"Well, duh," I replied cynically. “You haven’t given me any reason to think otherwise.”

He gave me a sympathetic grin. "You're an intelligent girl, Allie. More than you give yourself credit for," he said. "But you're wrong. I work only for myself." 

"Do you honestly think I’d believe that? Cody mentioned you," I shot back. "Geryon knew about you, too. You've been to his ranch." 

"Of course," he agreed simply. "I've been almost everywhere. Even here." 

He walked past me like I was no threat at all (Which might've offended me if I was worried about it at the time) and stood by the window. "The view changes from day to day," he mused. "It's always someplace high up. Yesterday it was from a skyscraper overlooking Manhattan. The day before that, there was a beautiful view of Lake Michigan. But it keeps coming back to the Garden of the Gods. I think the Labyrinth likes it here. A fitting name, I suppose." 

I wasn’t sure I liked where this conversation was going. Something in the pit of my stomach made me feel like I was missing something obvious— something staring me right in my face. 

"You've been here before?" I asked. 

"Oh, yes. But you have, too."

"I've been to my fair share of places, as well."

Quintus regarded Rachel and Tate after studying me for a moment. "You both have clear vision, don't you? You, girl, remind me of another mortal girl I once knew. Another princess who came to grief." 

"Enough games," Luke said, stepping forward. "What have you done with Daedalus?" 

Quintus stared at me. "My boy, you need lessons from your friend on seeing clearly. I am Daedalus."

There were a lot of responses that were on the tip of my tongue, from "I knew that," to "LIAR!" to "Yeah right, and I'm the actual goddess Astraea!" 

The only thing I could articulate well enough was, "What the fuck?" 

He laughed. "I can be many things, my dear, not just a swordsman who wanted to start over, although I am one. And an architect. And a scholar. I also play basketball pretty well for a guy who didn't start until he was two thousand years old. A real artist must be good at many things." 

"That's true," Rachel said. "Like I can paint with my feet as well as my hands." 

"You see?" Quintus said. "A girl of many talents." 

"Alright, yeah, I get that, I can fake a pretty damn good smile and change my clothes in ten seconds or less for a quick change when I need to. But you don't even look like Daedalus," I protested. "I saw him in a dream, and..." Suddenly a horrible thought dawned on me. "You..."

The look on his face told me I’d hit right on the money. "Yes," Quintus said. "You've finally guessed the truth." 

I let out a breath of disbelief, a sickening feeling twisting in my stomach. "You're an automaton. You made yourself a new body with the idea your nephew designed." 

"Allie," Luke said, shifting uneasily, "that's not possible. That— that can't be an automaton." 

Quintus chuckled. "Do you know what Quintus means, my boy? I know Chiron taught the girl." 

"The fifth, in Latin. But—" 

"This is my fifth body." The swordsman held out his forearm. He pressed his elbow and part of his wrist popped open— a rectangular hatch in his skin. Underneath, bronze gears whirred. Wires glowed. 

"That's amazing!" Rachel said, astonished. 

"That's… unnatural," I opposed.

"You found a way to transfer your animus into a machine?" Luke said. "That's... freaky." 

"Oh, I assure you, my boy, it's still me. I'm still very much Daedalus. My mother, Athena, makes sure I never forget that." He tugged back the collar of his shirt. At the base of his neck was the mark I'd seen before— the dark shape of a bird grafted to his skin. 

"A murderer's brand," Luke said. 

"For your nephew, Perdix," I guessed. "The boy you pushed off the tower.”

Quintus's face darkened. "I did not push him. I simply—" 

"Made him lose his balance," I said shakily, glaring. "And then let him die. I saw." 

Quintus gazed out the windows at the purple mountains. "You must understand me. I regret what I did, Allie. I was angry and bitter. But I cannot take it back, and Athena never lets me forget. As Perdix died, she turned him into a small bird— a partridge. She branded the bird's shape on my neck as a reminder. No matter what body I take, the brand appears on my skin." 

I looked into his eyes, and I realized he was the same man I'd seen in my dreams. His face might be totally different, but the same soul was in there— the same intelligence and all the sadness and guilt. 

"You really are Daedalus," I decided. "But then why did you come to Camp? What purpose did spying on us serve?" 

"To see if your camp was worth saving. Cody had given me one story. I preferred to come to my own conclusions." 

"So you have talked to Cody." 

"Oh, yes. Several times. He is quite persuasive. And quite adamant on either killing you or making you Kronos' queen." 

"But now you've seen the camp!" Luke persisted, ignoring the last part. "So you know we need your help. You can't let Cody through the maze!" 

Daedalus set his sword on the workbench. I didn’t like the look on his face. "The maze is no longer mine to control, Luke. I created it, yes. In fact, it is tied to my life force. But I have allowed it to live and grow on its own. That is the price I paid for privacy." 

"Privacy from what?" 

"The gods," he answered vaguely. "And death. I have been alive for two millennia, my boy, hiding from death." 

"But how can you hide from Hades?" I asked. "I mean... Hades has the Furies." 

"They do not know everything," he said. "Or see everything. You have encountered them, Allie. You know this is true. A clever man can hide quite a long time, and I have buried myself very deep. Only my greatest enemy has kept after me, and even him I have thwarted." 

"You mean Minos," I said.

Daedalus nodded, his face darkening again. "He hunts for me relentlessly. Now that he is a judge of the dead, he would like nothing better than for me to come before him so he can punish me for my crimes. After the daughters of Cocalus killed him, Minos's ghost began torturing me in my dreams. He promised that he would hunt me down. I did the only thing I could. I retreated from the world completely. I descended into my Labyrinth. I decided this would be my ultimate accomplishment: I would cheat death." 

"And you did," Luke marveled, "for two thousand years." For as grudgingly impressed his tone was, the disgust showed on his face.

Just then a loud bark echoed from the corridor. I heard the ba-BUMP, ba-BUMP, ba-BUMP of huge paws, and Mrs. O'Leary bounded into the workshop. She licked my face once, then almost knocked Daedalus over with an enthusiastic leap. I felt my shoulders slump in relief at the knowledge that she was alright. 

"There is my old friend!" Daedalus said, scratching Mrs. O'Leary behind the ears. "My only companion all these long lonely years." 

"You let her save me," I said, furrowing my eyebrows at him. "That whistle actually worked." 

Daedalus nodded. "Of course it did, Allie. Rightfully suspicious though you were, I can see you have a good heart. Mrs. O’Leary liked you immediately, and I wanted to help you. Perhaps I— I felt guilty, as well." 

My heart dropped. "Guilty about what?" I asked, though the look on his face told me I already knew the answer. 

"That your quest would be in vain." 

"What?" Luke said. "But you can still help us. You have to! Give us Ariadne's string so Cody can't get it." 

"Yes... the string. I told Cody that the eyes of a clear-sighted mortal are the best guide, but he did not trust me. He was so focused on the idea of a magic item. And the string works. It's not as accurate as your mortal friends here, perhaps. But good enough. Good enough." 

"Where is it?" Luke said.

"With Cody," Daedalus and I said at the same time, my tone accusing and his tone guilty. 

"I'm sorry, my boy," he said, "but you are several hours too late." 

With a chill, I realized why Cody had been in such a good mood in the arena. He'd already gotten the string from Daedalus. His only obstacle had been the arena master, and, like an idiot, I'd taken care of that problem for him by killing Antaeus. 

"Kronos promised me freedom," Quintus said, his voice still guilty but he sounded like he needed us to understand. "Once Hades is overthrown, he will set me over the Underworld. I will reclaim my son Icarus. I will make things right with poor young Perdix. I will see Minos's soul cast into Tartarus, where it cannot bother me again. And I will no longer have to run from death."

"That's your brilliant idea?" Luke yelled. "You're going to let Cody destroy Camp, kill hundreds of demigods, and then attack Olympus? You're going to bring down the entire world so you can get what you want?" 

"Your cause is doomed, my boy. I saw that as soon as I began to work at your camp. There is no way you can hold back the might of Kronos." 

"That's not true!" he cried. 

"I am doing what I must, my boy. The offer was too sweet to refuse. I'm sorry." 

He turned to me like he thought I’d understand. But I didn’t. I couldn’t. My entire opinion had been soured of him throughout the entire quest, but this… This was unforgivable. 

“For a renowned genius, you’re the stupidest fucking dude I’ve ever met,” I said coldly. Ignoring his wince, I continued, “You really think Kronos, the Crooked One, will keep his word? You think you’ll truly get what you want after all this time? That it will all be worth it?” 

Instead of getting mad, Daedalus hung his head. "You should go warn your camp. Now that Cody has the string—" 

Suddenly, Mrs. O'Leary pricked up her ears. 

"Someone's coming!" Tate warned. 

The doors of the workshop burst open, and Nico was pushed inside, his hands in chains. Then Kelli and two Laistrygonians marched in behind him, followed by the ghost of Minos. He looked almost solid now— a pale bearded king with cold eyes and tendrils of Mist coiling off his robes. 

He fixed his gaze on Daedalus. "There you are, my old friend." 

Daedalus's jaw clenched. He looked at Kelli. "What is the meaning of this?" 

"Cody sends his compliments," Kelli said. "He thought you might like to see your old employer Minos." 

"This was not part of our agreement," Daedalus said. 

"No indeed," Kelli said, the glee on her face unmistakable. "But we already have what we want from you, and we have other agreements to honor. Minos required something else from us, in order to turn over this fine young demigod." She ran a clawed finger under Nico's chin. "He'll be quite useful. And all Minos asked in return was your head, old man." 

Daedalus paled. "Treachery." 

"Get used to it," Kelli giggled. 

"Nico," I said, my only concern now being him. "Are you okay?" 

He nodded morosely. "I— I'm sorry, Allie. Minos told me you were in danger. He convinced me to go back into the maze." 

"You were trying to help us?"

"I was tricked," he said, hanging his head. "He tricked all of us. I’m sorry, Allie." 

My heart hurt for him. I promised myself I’d get him out of there no matter what. I glared at Kelli. "Where's Cody? Why isn't he here?" 

The she-demon smiled like we were sharing an inside joke. "Cody is... Well, he’s a little preoccupied with other matters. He is preparing for the assault. But don't worry. We have more friends on the way. And in the meantime, I think I'll have a wonderful snack!" Her hands changed into claws. Her hair burst into flame and her legs turned to their true form— one donkey leg, one bronze. 

"Allie," Rachel whispered, "the wings. Do you think—" 

"Get them," I ordered quietly. "I'll try to buy you and Tate some time." 

And with that, all Hades broke loose. Luke and I charged at Kelli. The giants came right at Daedalus, but Mrs. O'Leary leaped to his defense.

Nico got pushed to the ground and struggled with his chains while the spirit of Minos wailed, "Kill the inventor! Kill him!" 

Rachel and Tate grabbed the wings off the wall. Nobody paid them any attention. Kelli slashed at Luke. I tried to get to her, but the demon was quick and deadly. She turned over tables, smashed inventions, and wouldn't let us get close. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Mrs. O'Leary chomp her fangs into a giant's arm. He wailed in pain and flung her around, trying to shake her. 

Daedalus grabbed for his sword, but the second giant smashed the workbench with his fist, and the sword went flying. A clay jar of Greek fire broke on the floor and began to burn, green flames spreading quickly. 

"To me!" Minos cried. "Spirits of the dead!" He raised his ghostly hands and the air began to hum. 

"No!" Nico cried. He was on his feet now. He'd somehow managed to remove his shackles. 

"You do not control me, young fool," Minos sneered. "All this time, I have been controlling you! A soul for a soul, yes. But it is not your sister who will return from the dead. It is I, as soon as I slay the inventor!" 

If I hadn’t already known the ghost had been a manipulative cunt, the revelation might have surprised me. Despite the fight going on, Minos had a look of victory shining on his face, like he’d already won. It made me sick. 

Spirits began to appear around Minos— shimmering forms that slowly multiplied, solidifying into Cretan soldiers. 

"I am the Son of Hades," Nico asserted. 

"Be gone!" Minos laughed. "You have no power over me. I am the lord of spirits! The ghost king!" 

"No." Nico drew his sword, a look of determination lining his face. "I am." 

He stabbed his black blade into the floor, and it cleaved through the stone like butter. 

"Never!" Minos's form rippled. "I will not—"

The ground rumbled. The windows cracked and shattered to pieces, letting in a blast of fresh air. A fissure opened in the stone floor of the workshop, and Minos and all his spirits were sucked into the void with a horrible wail. 

The bad news: the fight was still going on all around us, and I let myself get distracted. Kelli pounced on me so fast I had no time to defend myself. My swords skittered away and I hit my head hard on a worktable as I fell. My eyesight went fuzzy. I couldn't raise my arms. 

Kelli laughed. "You will taste wonderful!" She bared her fangs. Then suddenly her body went rigid. Her red eyes widened. She gasped, "No... I want... autograph..." 

And Luke took his sword out of the empousa's back. With an awful screech, Kelli dissolved into yellow vapor.

Luke helped me up, and kept me standing by grabbing around my waist. I still felt dizzy and my eyesight was blurry, but we had no time to lose. Mrs. O'Leary and Daedalus were still locked in combat with the giants, and I could hear shouting in the tunnel. More monsters were coming toward the workshop. 

"We have to help Daedalus!" I yelled. 

"No time," Tate said, trying very hard to get me to comply. "Too many coming!" 

He and Rachel had already fitted themselves with wings and were working on Nico, who looked pale and sweaty from his struggle with Minos. The wings grafted instantly to his back and arms. 

"Now you!" Tate told me. 

Luke guided me over to him, and the two helped fit the wings around me as I tried to clear my vision. In seconds, Nico, Luke, Rachel, Tate, and I had fitted ourselves with coppery wings. Already I could feel myself being lifted by the wind coming through the window. Greek fire was burning the tables and furniture, spreading up the circular stairs. 

I blinked hard and the workshop re-entered my sight. "Daedalus!" I yelled. "Come on!" 

He was cut in a hundred places— but he was bleeding golden oil instead of blood. He'd found his sword and was using part of a smashed table as a shield against the giants. "I won't leave Mrs. O'Leary!" he said. "Go!" 

There was no time to argue. Even if we stayed, I wasn't sure we could help. He’d done the unforgivable, but I couldn’t blame him for wanting to stay with his dog. 

"None of us know how to fly!" Nico protested. 

"Well, now would be a great time to learn," I replied. “Close your eyes and pray to a god of your choosing!” 

And together, the five of us jumped out the window into the open sky.

*    *    *

previous | next

1.4 I Commit Fratricide, Except Does it Really Count if Said Brother is a Monster and, Uh, a Dick?

The metal door was half-hidden behind a laundry bin full of dirty hotel towels. At first, I didn't see anything strange about it, but Rachel showed me where to look, and I recognized the faint blue symbol etched in the metal.

"It hasn't been used in a long time," Luke observed.

"I tried to open it once," Rachel told us, "just out of curiosity. It's rusted shut though."

"No." Luke stepped forward. "It just needs the touch of a half-blood."

"Gods, I've been in this hotel almost too many times. I can't believe I've never come down here. Probably would've helped a lot more," I commented, walking behind Luke. 

The moment Luke put his hand on the mark, it glowed blue. The metal door unsealed and creaked open, revealing a dark staircase leading down.

"Wow." Rachel and Tate both looked calm, but I couldn't tell if they were pretending or not. Rachel had changed into a ratty Museum of Modern Art T-shirt and her regular marker-colored jeans, her blue plastic hairbrush sticking out of her pocket. Her red hair was tied back, but she still had flecks of gold in it, and there were traces of the gold glitter on her face. Tate didn't care as much and threw on a Penn State football hoodie and a pair of jeans, not bothering with the extra gold. 

"So... after you?" Tate asked. 

"You both are our guides," Luke said, trying (and mostly failing) to sound polite. "Lead on." 

I raised an eyebrow at him and he looked back at me innocently. 

The stairs led down to a large brick tunnel. It was so dark I couldn't see two feet in front of us, but Luke and I had restocked on flashlights. As soon as we switched them on, Rachel yelped.

A skeleton was grinning at us. It obviously wasn't human. It was huge, for one thing—  at least ten feet tall. It had been strung up, chained by its wrists and ankles so it made a kind of giant X over the tunnel. But what really sent shivers down my spine was the single black eye socket in the center of its skull.

My hand shot up to cover my mouth in horror. 

"A Cyclops," Luke said. "It's old, Angel. It's not... anybody we know."

It wasn't Tyson, he meant. But that didn't make me feel much better. I still felt like it had been put there as a warning. Whatever could kill a grown Cyclops, I didn't want to meet. Not only kill, but chain up and have only the bones remain… It felt like my blood was turning to ice. 

Rachel swallowed, unable to look at the skeleton. "You have a friend who's a Cyclops?"

I nodded. "Tyson," I said. "He’s my half-brother. I don’t have any demigod half-siblings who are alive, but Poseidon is the Father of Monsters. You learn not to ask a lot of questions."

"Your half-brother."

"Hopefully we'll find him down here," I said, biting my lip. "And Grover. He's a satyr."

"Oh." Her voice was small. 

"Well then," Tate said, trying to raise team morale. "We'd better keep moving."

He stepped under the skeleton's left arm and kept walking. Luke and I exchanged looks. I shrugged, and we followed him deeper into the maze, Rachel running beside me. At least there was one of us entirely unconcerned with how dangerous this was. I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not. 

After fifty feet we came to a crossroads. Ahead, the brick tunnel continued. To the right, the walls were made of ancient marble slabs. To the left, the tunnel was dirt and tree roots.

I pointed left. "That looks like the tunnel Tyson and Grover took."

Luke frowned. "Yeah, but look at how weathered the right tunnel looks. Those stones look like they’re more likely to lead to an ancient part of the maze, toward Daedalus' workshop. That seems like the more logical route to take."

"We need to go straight," Rachel told us.

Luke and I both looked at her.

"Straight?" I echoed. "The option we didn’t mention. Why?"

"You don't see it?" Tate asked. "Look at the floor."

I had no clue what she was talking about. The only thing on the floor was well-worn bricks and mud that was moulding to the bottom of my faux-leather Prada combat boots. 

"There's brightness there," Rachel insisted. "Very faint. But forward is the correct way. To the left, farther down the tunnel, those tree roots are moving like feelers. I don't like that. To the right, there's a trap about twenty feet down. Holes in the walls, maybe for spikes. I don't think we should risk it."

I didn't see anything like she was describing— the tunnels were far too dark, even with our flashlights shining down them— but I nodded. "Okay. Forward it is, then."

"You believe her?" Luke asked, looking at me with a raised eyebrow.

I shrugged. "Yeah," I said simply. "What else would we have brought them down here for?”  

He still looked like he wanted to argue, but he gave in and waved at Tate and Rachel to lead on. Together we kept walking down the brick corridor. It twisted and turned, but there were no more side tunnels. We seemed to be angling down, heading deeper underground.

I couldn’t help but feel anxious, eyes constantly scanning our surroundings. "No traps?" I asked, tugging at the end of my braid, but wishing I had my heirloom ring on my pointer finger to spin. I really needed to cave and start wearing a different ring.

"Nothing." Rachel knit her eyebrows. "Should it be this easy?"

I bit the inside of my cheek. "I don't know," I replied. "We didn’t exactly know what we were getting ourselves into, but it never was before."

"So, Rachel, Tate," Luke said casually, "where are you from, exactly?"

He said it like, what planet are you from? But they didn't look offended.

"Brooklyn," Tate answered.

"Aren't your parents going to be worried if you're out late?"

Rachel exhaled, an unreadable look on her face. "Not likely. We could be gone a week and they'd never notice."

"Why not?" This time Luke didn't sound as sarcastic. A troubled homelife was something he could relate to. 

Before Rachel or Tate could answer, there was a creaking noise in front of us, like huge doors opening.

My shoulders tensed. "What was that?" I asked, hands reaching for my swords.

"I don't know," Rachel said with a nonchalant shrug to her shoulders. "Metal hinges."

Luke rolled his eyes beside me. “Thanks, Captain Obvious,” he griped. “I’m sure she got that part, but what is it?” 

Then I heard heavy footsteps shaking the corridor— coming straight toward us.

"Run?" I asked.

"Run," Tate agreed.

We turned and fled the way we'd come, but we didn't make it twenty feet before we ran straight into some old friends. Two dracaenae leveled their javelins at our chests. Standing between them was Kelli, the empousa fan.

"Well, well," Kelli said, a smirk on her face.

You missed a 'well', I thought scornfully. 

I summoned Riptide and Shaker, and Luke unsheathed his sword; but before my swords were even out of jewelry form, Kelli pounced on Rachel. Her hand turned into a claw and she spun Rachel around, holding her tight with her talons at Rachel's neck. Tate looked like he was about to lunge for his sister— incredibly stupid for a guy with no weapon, but I supposed I couldn’t give him grief for his impulse— but then a sword point dug into his back. Not enough to make any damage, but enough for him to feel it and know he shouldn't move. 

"Taking your little mortal pets for a walk?" Kelli asked me. "They're such fragile things. So easy to break!"

Behind us, the footsteps came closer. A huge form appeared out of the gloom— an eight-foot-tall Laistrygonian giant with red eyes and fangs.

The giant licked his lips when he saw us. "Can I eat them?"

"No," Kelli snapped. "Your master will want these. They will provide a great deal of entertainment." She smiled at me. "Now march, half-bloods. Or you all die here, starting with the mortals."

*** 

It was 100% something out of one of my nightmares. I felt like I'd jinxed it somehow, that claiming our steady going was easier than before made the Labyrinth decide I needed a healthy dose of reality check. We were marched down the tunnel, flanked by dracaenae, with Kelli and the giant in back, just in case we tried to run for it. Nobody seemed to worry about us running forward. That was the direction they wanted us to go, after all. 

Up ahead I could see bronze doors. They were about ten feet tall, emblazoned with a pair of crossed swords. Behind them came a noise I was acutely familiar with— the muffled roar of a crowd who was anticipating something to come. It was normally a noise I loved. When the crowd realized a show was about to start as you waited backstage was one of the most exhilarating feelings on Earth. 

I didn’t get a similar feeling coming from this crowd. 

"Oh, yessss," said the snake woman on my left. "You'll be very popular with our hosssst."

I'd never gotten to look at a dracaena this close before, and I wasn't exactly thrilled to have the opportunity. She would've had a beautiful face, except her tongue was forked and her eyes were yellow with black slits for pupils. She wore bronze armor that stopped at her waist. Below that, where her legs should've been, were two massive snake trunks, one bronze and one green. She moved by a combination of slithering and walking, as if she were on living skis.

"Who's your host?" I demanded.

She hissed, which might have been a laugh. "Oh, you'll sssee. You'll get along furiousssly. He'ssss your brother, after all."

"My what?" Immediately I thought of Tyson, but that was impossible. Which brother was she talking about? I wasn’t sure I was going to enjoy finding out either way. Tyson had been the only brother of mine that hadn’t really tried to kill me upon meeting me. 

The giant pushed past us and opened the doors. He picked up Luke by his shirt and ordered, "You stay here."

"Watch it!" he protested, but the guy was twice his size and he'd already confiscated our swords. And with Riptide and Shaker being held, I didn't know how long it'd take them to return to my neck and wrist.

Kelli laughed. She still had her claws at Rachel's neck. "Go on, Allie. You’re the celebrity here. Entertain us. We'll wait here with your friends to make sure you behave."

“Oh, go fuck yourself," I snapped, rolling my eyes before I looked at Rachel and Tate. "I'm sorry. I promise that I'll get you both out of this."

Rachel nodded as much as she could with a demon at her throat. "That would be nice."

The dracaenae prodded me toward the doorway at javelin-point, and I walked out onto the floor of an arena. Tate caught my eye last minute. The other dracaenae still had a sword pointing at his spine. From what I could decipher, which wasn't much— he and I didn't exactly have the same disposition that Luke and I did— all he could say was win. 

*** 

I could say with utmost confidence that the arena truly wasn’t all that overwhelming considering I’d performed in some of the world’s biggest stadiums, although it did seem pretty spacious considering the whole place was underground. The dirt floor was circular, just big enough that you could drive a car around the rim if you pulled it really tight. In the center of the arena, a fight was going on between a giant and a centaur. The centaur looked panicked. He was galloping around his enemy, using sword and shield, while the giant swing a javelin the size of a telephone pole and the crowd cheered

The first tier of seats was twelve feet above the arena floor. Plain stone benches wrapped all the way around, and every seat was full. There were giants, dracaenae, demigods, telekhines, and stranger things: bat-winged demons and creatures that seemed half-human and half-you-name-it— bird, reptile, insect, mammal.

But the creepiest things were the skulls. The arena was full of them. They ringed the edge of the railing. Three-foot-high piles of them decorated the steps between the benches. They grinned from pikes at the back of the stands and hung on chains from the ceiling like horrible chandeliers. Some of them looked very old— nothing but bleached-white bone. Others looked a lot fresher. I'm not going to describe them. Believe me, you don't want me to. 

In the middle of all this, proudly displayed on the side of the spectator's wall, was something that made my stomach turn— a green banner with the trident of Poseidon in the center. What was that doing in a horrible place like this? But then I remembered. Their host— my brother.  

Above the banner, sitting in a seat of honor, was an old enemy. 

"Cody," I said. 

I wasn’t sure he could hear me over the roar of the crowd, but he smiled coldly. He was wearing camouflage pants, a white T-shirt, and bronze breastplate, similar to what I’d seen Annabeth wearing in my dream. He still wasn't wearing his sword, which I thought was strange. Next to him sat the largest giant I'd ever seen, much larger than the one on the floor fighting the centaur. It must've been fifteen feet tall, easy, and so wide he took up three seats. He wore only a loincloth, like a sumo wrestler. His skin was dark red and tattooed with blue wave designs. I figured he must be Cody's new bodyguard or something. 

I looked closer. Annabeth was nowhere to be found. I furrowed my eyebrows. That seemed odd, too. The last time I’d seen her had been in my dream the night before, but before that… Hm. I wasn’t sure. Now that I thought about it, she seemed a little rundown and overly frustrated in that dream. I filed the information away to think about later, when I got my friends and myself out of immediate danger. 

There was a cry from the arena floor, and I jumped back as the centaur crashed to the dirt beside me. 

He met my eyes pleadingly. "Help!" 

I reached for my swords, but they had been taken from me and hadn't reappeared on my neck or wrist yet. 

The centaur struggled to get up as the giant approached, his javelin ready. Fuck it. No swords be damned, I wanted to do something. I shifted my stance, ready to jump and kick the giant away—

A taloned hand gripped my shoulder, digging in and drawing blood. "If you value your friendsss' livesss," my dracaena guard said, "you won't interfere. This isssn't your fight. Wait your turn."

The centaur couldn't get up. One of his legs was broken. The giant put his huge foot on the horseman's chest and raised the javelin. He looked up at Cody. The crowd cheered, "DEATH! DEATH!"

Cody didn't do anything, but the tattooed sumo dude sitting next to him arose. He smiled down at the centaur, who was whimpering, "Please! No!" 

Then the sumo dude held out his hand and gave the thumbs down sign. 

I closed my eyes as the gladiator giant thrust his javelin. When I looked again, the centaur was gone, disintegrated to ashes. All that was left was a single hoof, which the giant took up as a trophy and showed the crowd. They roared their approval. 

A gate opened at the opposite end of the stadium and the giant marched out in triumph. 

In the stands, the sumo dude raised his hands for silence. 

"Good entertainment!" he bellowed. "But nothing I haven't seen before. What else do you have, Cody, Son of Hermes?" 

Cody's jaw tightened. I could tell he didn't like being called Son of Hermes. He hated his father. But he rose calmly to his feet. His eyes glittered. In fact, he seemed to be in a pretty good mood. 

"Lord Antaeus," Cody said, loud enough for the crowd to hear. "You have been an excellent host! We would be happy to amuse you, to repay the favor of passing through your territory." 

"A favor I have not yet granted," Antaeus growled. "I want entertainment!"

Cody bowed. "I believe I have something better than centaurs to fight in your arena now. I have a sister of yours." He gestured toward me. "Astraea Jackson, daughter of Poseidon." 

The crowd began jeering at me and throwing stones, most of which I dodged, but one caught me on the cheek and made a good-sized cut. 

Antaeus's eyes lit up. "The Daughter of Poseidon? His first mortal girl? Then she should fight well! Or die well!" 

"If her death pleases you," Cody said, "will you let our armies cross your territory?" 

"Perhaps!" Antaeus said. 

Cody didn't look too pleased about the "perhaps." He glared down at me, as if warning me that I'd better die in a really spectacular way or I'd be in big trouble. Annabeth joined his side, looking sicklier and more exhausted than the last time I saw her. There was a look in her eyes that, despite my hatred of her, I didn’t like. It looked… haunted in a way that unsettled me.

"Annabeth!" Luke yelled. "Stop this. Let us go!" 

Annabeth jolted, as if she hadn’t seen him before she’d walked out. Her eyes looked a little hazy before they focused on him. "Luke?" she said, her voice a little lethargic.

"No interruptions," Antaeus interrupted. "First, Astraea Jackson, what weapons will you choose?" 

The dracaenae pushed me into the middle of the arena.

I stared up at Antaeus, feeling a drop of blood trailing down my cheek from the cut caused by the stray stone. "How can you be a Son of Poseidon?" 

"I am his favorite son, nay his child!" Antaeus boomed. "Behold, my temple to the Earthshaker, built from the skulls of all those I've killed in his name! Your skull shall join them!" 

I stared in horror at all the skulls— hundreds of them— and the banner of Poseidon. How could this be a temple for my dad? It made me sick to look at them. Sure he was the Father of Monsters, but this seemed a little extreme. 

"Angel!" Luke yelled at me. "His mother is Gaea! Gae—" 

His Laistrygonian captor clamped his hand over his mouth. His mother is Gaea. The earth goddess. Luke was trying to tell me that was important, but I didn't know why. I tried to think. I’d heard of Antaeus before, I was sure of that, but I couldn’t remember anything that would’ve been useful. I really should’ve done more than skim through those Ancient Greek Mythology books Chiron had gotten me instead of just letting them collect dust on my bookshelves.

"You're crazy, Antaeus," I said. "If you think this is a good tribute, you know nothing about Poseidon." 

The crowd screamed insults at me, but Antaeus raised his hand for silence. 

"Weapons," he insisted. "And then we will see how you die. Will you have axes? Shields? Nets? Flamethrowers?" 

"Just my swords," I said with a shrug. 

Laughter erupted from the monsters, but immediately Riptide and Shaker appeared in my hands, and some of the voices in the crowd turned nervous. The bronze and steel blades glowed with a faint light. 

"Round one!" Antaeus announced. The gates opened, and a dracaena slithered out. She had a trident in one hand and a weighted net in the other— classic gladiator style. I'd trained against those weapons at Camp for years. 

She jabbed at me experimentally. I stepped away. She threw her net, hoping to tangle my right sword hand, but I sidestepped easily, sliced her spear in half, and stabbed Riptide through a chink in her armor. With a painful wail, she vaporized into nothing, and the cheering of the crowd died.

"No!" Antaeus bellowed. "Too fast! You must wait for the kill. Only I give that order!" 

I glanced over at Luke, Tate, and Rachel. I wouldn’t be able to keep this going forever. I didn’t like playing with my food, but in an arena like this, that is what was expected of me. I had to find a way to get them free, maybe distract their guards before I did something wrong and got us all killed. 

"Nice job, Allie." Cody smiled cruelly. "You've gotten better with the sword. I'll grant you that. That does make you an even better bachelorette." 

I rolled my eyes in disgust, but held my tongue. If I pissed him off, he could just kill Luke, Tate, and Rachel. I needed to keep myself in check. 

"Round two!" Antaeus yelled. "And slower this time! More entertainment! Wait for my call before killing anybody. OR ELSE!" 

The gates opened again, and this time a young warrior came out. He was a little younger than me, about sixteen. He had glossy black hair, and his left eye was covered with an eye patch. He was thin and wiry so his Greek armor hung on him loosely. He stabbed his sword into the dirt, adjusted his shield straps, and pulled on his horsehair helmet. 

"Who are you?" I asked. 

"Ethan Nakamura," he said. "I have to kill you." 

"Why are you doing this?" 

"Hey!" a monster jeered from the stands. "Stop talking and fight already!" 

The others took up the call. 

"I have to prove myself," Ethan told me. "Only way to join up." 

And with that, he charged. Our swords met in midair and the crowd roared. It didn't seem right. I didn't want to fight to entertain a bunch of monsters, but Ethan Nakamura wasn't giving me much choice. 

He pressed forward. He was good. He'd never been at Camp Half-Blood, as far as I could remember (And I didn't remember someone who looked like a pirate without the dated clothes), but he'd certainly been trained. He parried my strike and almost slammed me with his shield, but I jumped back. He slashed. I rolled to one side. We exchanged thrusts and parries, getting a feel for each other's fighting style. I tried to keep on Ethan's blindside, but it didn't help much. He'd apparently been fighting with only one eye for a long time, because he was excellent at guarding his left. 

"Blood!" the monsters cried. 

My opponent glanced up at the stands. That was his weakness, I realized. He needed to impress them, but this wasn’t a crowd I cared about entertaining. 

He yelled an angry battle cry and charged me, but I parried his blade and backed away, letting him come after me. 

"Boo!" Antaeus said. "Stand and fight!" 

Ethan pressed me, but I had no trouble defending, even without a shield. He was dressed for defense-heavy armor and shield— which made it very tiring to play offense. I was a softer target, but I also was lighter and faster. The crowd went nuts, yelling complaints and throwing rocks. We'd been fighting for almost five minutes and there was no blood. 

Finally, Ethan made his mistake. He tried to jab at my stomach, and I locked his sword hilt in mine and twisted. His sword dropped into the dirt. Before he could recover, I slammed the butt of my other sword into his helmet and kicked him down with my right foot. His heavy armor helped me more than him. He fell on his back, dazed and tired. I put the tip of my sword on his chest and allowed the other to fall to my side. 

"Get it over with," Ethan groaned. 

I looked up at Antaeus. His red face was stony with displeasure, but he held up his hand and put it thumbs down. 

But that was never an option. I wouldn’t kill another half-blood for the entertainment of Titan sympathizers, even if my opponent was one himself. I had to be better— I was better. 

"Forget it." I sheathed my sword. 

"Don't be a fool," Ethan groaned. "They'll just kill us both." 

I offered him my hand. Reluctantly, he took it. I helped him up. 

"No one dishonors the games!" Antaeus bellowed. "Your heads shall both be tributes to Poseidon!" 

I looked at Ethan and squeezed his arm, tugging him closer to me. "When you see your chance, you run," I mumbled quietly, unheard over the complaints of the crowd. Then I turned back to Antaeus, but still making sure Ethan was in my peripherals. "Why don't you fight me yourself? If you've got Dad's favor, come down here and prove it!" 

The monsters grumbled in the stands. Antaeus looked around, and apparently realized the corner I had so easily backed him into. He shouldn’t have to lower himself to fight in his own games, but he couldn't say no without looking like a coward. 

"I am the greatest wrestler in the world, girl," he warned. "I have been wrestling since the first pankration!" 

"Pankration?" I asked. “The fuck is that?”

"He means fighting to the death," Ethan said. "No rules. No holds barred. It used to be an Olympic sport." 

"Thanks for the tip," I said. 

"Don't mention it." 

Tate was watching me with wide eyes with Rachel's head buried into his shoulder. Luke shook his head emphatically, the Laistrygonian's hand still clamped over his mouth. 

Unfortunately, I was going to have to disappoint him. I pointed Riptide at Antaeus. "Winner takes all! I win, we all go free. You win, we die. Swear upon the River Styx." 

Antaeus laughed gleefully. "This shouldn't take long. I swear to your terms!" 

I didn't hear it, but I assumed thunder had rolled. 

He leaped off the railing, into the arena. 

"Good luck," Ethan told me. "You'll need it." Then he backed up quickly. 

Antaeus cracked his knuckles. He grinned, and I saw that even his teeth were etched in wave patterns, which must've made brushing after meals a real pain.

"Weapons?" he asked. 

"I'll stick with my swords. You?" 

He held up his huge hands and wiggled his fingers. "I don't need anything else! Master Cody, you will referee this one." 

Cody smiled down at me. "With pleasure." 

Antaeus lunged. I rolled under his legs and stabbed him in the back of the thigh. 

"Argggh!" he yelled. But where blood should've come out, there was a spout of sand, like I'd busted the side of an hourglass. It spilled into the dirt floor, and the dirt collected around his leg, almost like a cast. When the dirt fell away, the wound was gone

He charged again. Fortunately, I'd had some experience fighting giants. I dodged sideways this time and stabbed him under the arm. Shaker and Riptide's blades were buried to the hilt in his ribs. That was the good news. The bad news was that they were wrenched out of my hand when the giant turned, and I was thrown across the arena, weaponless. 

Antaeus bellowed in pain. I waited for him to disintegrate. No monster— aside from Geryon who had three hearts— had ever withstood a direct hit from my swords like that. The Celestial Bronze blade had to be destroying his essence, especially with the steel of Shaker doing its fair share. But Antaeus groped for the hilts, pulled out the swords, and tossed them behind him. More sand poured from the wound, but again the earth rose up to cover him. Dirt coated his body all the way to his shoulders. As soon as the dirt spilled away, Antaeus was fine. 

"Now you see why I never lose, demigod!" Antaeus gloated. "Come here and let me crush you. I'll make it quick!" 

Antaeus stood between me and my swords. Desperately, I glanced to either side, and I caught Luke's eye. 

The earth, I thought. What had Luke been trying to tell me? Antaeus's mother was Gaea the earth mother, the most ancient goddess of all. Antaeus's father might have been Poseidon, but Gaea was keeping him alive. I couldn't hurt him as long as he was touching the ground. 

I tried to skirt around him, but Antaeus anticipated my move. He blocked my path, chuckling. He was just toying with me now. He had me cornered. 

I looked up at the chains hanging from the ceiling, dangling the skulls of his enemies on hooks. Suddenly, I had an idea. 

I feinted to the other side. Antaeus blocked me. The crowd jeered and screamed at Antaeus to finish me off, but he was having too much fun. 

"Puny girl," he said. "Not a worthy Daughter of the Sea God!" 

I felt my necklace and bracelet return to my neck and wrist, but Antaeus wouldn't know about that. He would think Riptide and Shaker were still in the dirt behind him. He would think my goal was to get my swords. It wasn't much of an advantage, but it was all I had. 

I charged straight ahead, crouching low so he would think I was going to roll between his legs again. While he was stooping, ready to catch me like a grounder, I jumped for all I was worth— kicking off his forearm, scrambling up his shoulder like it was a ladder, placing my shoe on his head. He did the natural thing. He straightened up indignantly and yelled "HEY!" I pushed off, using his force to catapult me toward the ceiling. I caught the top of a chain, and the skulls and hooks jangled beneath me. I wrapped my legs around the chain, just like I used to do at the ropes course in my cheer gym and at Camp. I drew Riptide and sawed off the chain next to me.

"Come down here, coward!" Antaeus bellowed. He tried to grab me, but I was just out of reach. 

Hanging on for dear life, I yelled, "Come up and get me! Or are you too slow?" 

He howled and made another grab for me. He caught a chain and tried to pull himself up. While he was struggling, I lowered my sawed-off chain, hook first. It took me two tries, but finally, I snagged Antaeus's loincloth. 

"WAAA!" he yelled. Quickly I slipped the free chain through the fastening link on my own chain, pulled it taut, and secured it the best I could. Antaeus tried to slip back to the ground, but he stayed suspended by his loincloth. He had to hold on to the other chains with both hands to avoid getting flipped upside down. I prayed the loincloth and the chain would hold up for a few more seconds. 

While Antaeus cursed and flailed, I scrambled around the chains, swinging and cutting like I did while learning to be an acrobat for a movie. I made loops with hooks and metal links. I almost did it without thinking, but I was desperate to save my friends. Every move I made was born of complete instinct. 

Anyway, within a couple of minutes the giant was suspended above the ground, hopelessly snarled in chains and hooks. I finally got to a sturdy chain and held on with my legs. My hands were raw from climbing. I was eternally grateful for my years of cheerleading and for that movie, no matter how much it hurt. I'd have never been able to pull that off, otherwise.

"Get me down!" Antaeus demanded. 

"Free him!" Cody ordered. "He is our host!" 

I pulled out Riptide. "Oh, I'll free him alright." 

And I stabbed the giant in the back. He bellowed, and sand poured out, but he was too far up to touch the earth, and the dirt did not rise to help him. Antaeus just dissolved, pouring out bit by bit, until there was nothing left but empty swinging chains, a really big loincloth on a hook, and a bunch of grinning skulls dancing beside me, like they had finally had something to smile about. I easily slipped back down to the ground, doing a forward roll to lessen the force of the ground and standing immediately after. 

"Jackson!" Cody yelled. "I should have killed you long ago!" 

"Well, you did try," I taunted. "Let us go, Cody. We had a sworn agreement with Antaeus. I'm the winner." 

He did just what I expected. His expression shifted as he said, "Antaeus is dead. His oath dies with him. But since I'm feeling merciful today, I'll have you killed quickly." 

Annabeth pointed at Luke. Her hands were trembling, like her blood sugar was low. "Spare the boy." Her voice quavered just a little. "I would speak to him before— before our great triumph." 

Every monster in the audience drew a weapon or extended its claws. We were trapped. Hopelessly outnumbered.  

Then I felt something in my pocket— a freezing sensation, growing colder and colder. The dog whistle. My fingers closed around it. For days I'd avoided using Quintus's gift. I’d been millimeters from death, at the heart of a volcano, miles from water and still didn’t call for her. It had to be a trap. But now... I had no choice. I was desperate. I took it out of my pocket and blew. It made no audible sound as I shattered into shards of ice, melting in my hand. 

Cody laughed. "What was that supposed to do?" 

From behind me came a surprised yelp. The Laistrygonian giant who'd been guarding Luke flew past me and smashed into the wall. 

"AROOOOF!" 

Kelli the empousa screamed as a five-hundred-pound black mastiff picked her up like a chew toy and tossed her through the air, straight into Cody’s lap. Mrs. O'Leary snarled, and the two dracaenae guards backed away. For a moment, the monsters in the audience were caught completely by surprise. 

"Come on! Run!" I yelled at my friends. "Heel, Mrs. O'Leary!" 

"The far exit!" Tate cried. "That's the right way!" 

Ethan Nakamura took his cue. Together we raced across the arena and out the far exit, Mrs. O'Leary right behind us. As we ran, I could hear the disorganized sounds of an entire army trying to jump out of the stands and follow us.

*    *    *

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1.3 How Close to Rock Bottom is 'Crashing Your Own Funeral' on a Scale From 'Once Famed Actor Stars in Barely-Funded-Cheesy-Horror-Movie' to 'Trying to Sell "Vintage" Forever 21 for $50 on Depop'?

Apollo was right— I opened my eyes once the light faded and there I was, sitting on the beach of Camp Half-Blood. I looked out at the ocean, but found it wasn't like it normally was. My father had to have been in a bad mood because the waves were large and dangerous-looking and it was so dark it was almost black. The calm waters I was used to weren't there anymore.

In a moment of stupidity, I scrambled to my feet and rushed towards the water. My feet were fully covered before I finally stopped and my brain caught up with the rest of me. But it hadn’t even mattered; the moment I touched the water, the waves became calm. The water turned blue again. I wasn't sure what was happening, but I didn't have time to think about it. I wanted to see home. 

I found the camp deserted. It was late afternoon, but the archery range was empty. The climbing wall poured lava and rumbled all by itself. Pavilion: nothing. Cabins: all vacant. Then I noticed smoke rising from the amphitheater. Too early for a campfire, and I didn't figure they were roasting marshmallows. I ran toward it.

Before I even got there I heard Chiron making an announcement. When I realized what he was saying, I stopped dead in my tracks (Oh, damn, bad word choice).

"—assume that she is dead," Chiron was saying. "After so long a silence, it is unlikely that our prayers will be answered. I have asked her best surviving friend to do the final honors."

I came up to the back of the amphitheater. Nobody noticed me. They were all looking forward, watching as Luke took a long green silk burial cloth, embroidered with a trident, and set it on the flames. They were burning my shroud.

Luke turned to face the audience. He looked terrible. His eyes were puffy from crying and his face pale and drawn with grief, but he managed to say, "She was the bravest, most gorgeous soul I’ve ever known. She—" I took a step forward and he saw me. His blue eyes went wide. "She's right there!"

Heads turned. People gasped.

I took a few hazardous steps toward them. "You guys were so convinced I was dead that you threw me a funeral? Wow, ye of little faith."

It took a moment for it to settle in that I was actually standing in front of everyone, fine and well. A sudden roar of cheers erupted from the campers, and I had maybe half a second to prepare myself before I was tackled in a group hug by what seemed like everyone at Camp. I had so many people talking to me and asking questions, I couldn’t help but feel a little overwhelmed. 

"Allie!" Danny and Silena said in unison. Danny looked worse than Silena, in that, he wasn't a child of Aphrodite. When she cried, she still managed to look pretty, but Danny was one of those really loud, ugly criers and had caused more than a few memes. They both looked like they'd been crying non-stop and hugged me with so much relief. 

I almost shed a few tears, too, but I kept it in. Nessa, oh my gods, Nessa looked so happy to see me. All of my friends were there first: Katie, Will, Malcolm, Beckendorf, Travis, Connor. It felt like another premiere, giving out hugs to fans, but better. These were people I trusted. The only people missing were...

"Well," Chiron sighed with obvious relief as he clopped up to me. "I don't believe I've ever been happier to see a camper return. But you must tell me—"

"WHERE THE FUCK HAVE YOU BEEN?" Luke demanded, shoving aside the other campers. At first, I thought he was going to punch me, but then he pulled me towards him and hugged me so fiercely, it felt like he was close to breaking my ribs. The other campers fell silent.

Luke seemed to realize he was making a scene, but didn't look like he cared all that much because he only stepped away and didn't loosen his grip on my shoulders.

"I, uh... It's— well, it's kinda hard to explain," I replied, trying not to make Luke angrier than he already was. 

"Well, make it easy," he snapped disapprovingly. "I thought you were dead!"

"I'm sorry," I said, grabbing at his wrists. "I just... it's hard to explain."

"Two weeks," Luke said in a disbelieving voice. "You were gone for two weeks, Angel. Do you know—"

"That's enough, Luke. Perhaps we should talk about this privately, in the Big House? Everyone else, back to your normal activities!"

Without allowing us a chance to protest, he picked up Luke and me as easily as if we were kittens, slung us both on his back, and galloped off toward the Big House.

***

I told them the whole story. I explained how I'd caused the explosion at Mount St. Helens and gotten blasted out of the volcano. I’d wanted to lie and say I couldn’t remember to save them the grief of knowing how close I was to death, but I knew Luke would be using his Hermes-given powers to tune into my story to make sure I was telling the truth. And then I told them how I was found soaring through the air by Apollo, who had taken me to the infirmary on Olympus, where I stayed unconscious for a few days before I got better and was medically discharged. 

"Angel, you've been gone for two weeks." Luke's voice now sounded empty and shredded, like it hadn’t been used in days. "When I heard the explosion, I thought…"

"I know," I said. I reached out and took his hand in my own, rubbing my guitar-calloused thumb over the tiny scrapes that littered his scarred knuckles. "And I'm sorry. But I figured out how to get through the Labyrinth. I talked to Hephaestus."

"He told you the answer?"

"Well, he sort of told me that I already knew. And I do. I understand now."

I told them my idea.

Luke's jaw dropped. "That explosion really threw you over the edge of insanity, didn't it?"

Chiron sat back in his wheelchair and stroked his beard. "There is a precedent, however. Theseus had the help of Ariadne. Harriet Tubman, daughter of Hermes, used many mortals on her Underground Railroad for just this reason."

"There are so many things wrong with that," Luke admonished. "For one, they won't be able to defend themselves. We were barely able to defend ourselves, how will we be able to take two untrained mortals? and second, I'm the one who's supposed to be leading this quest—"

I squeezed his hand. "I know that. But we don't have much of an option. This is the best plan we've got and we don't have much time. We need the help."

He sighed and ran a hand over his face. "Mortals can't handle our world. I... trust you, Allie. You better be right about this." He didn't give me a chance to answer as he got up and left the room. 

I could understand his trepidation. Mortals tended to deal with learning of our world very terribly. His mother had lost her mind, and he’d never been able to return. That alone would have given him enough reason to not agree with my plan, but I knew we didn’t have any other choices. 

My own mother had been a special case. She devoted so much of her life to raising me and allowing me a wonderful life, that she didn’t allow herself to be dragged under by the weight of it all. Looking back, though, I could see the massive toll it had taken on her. The constant looking over her shoulders that I thought had only been for paparazzi. Still, I had the feeling that Tate and Rachel could be exceptions to the rule, just like Mom had been.

"They handled themselves just fine at that ice cream shop a few weeks ago," I told Chiron. "And the skeletons back in December. They can help us, I know they can."

Chiron gave me a sympathetic smile. "I know, my girl. Luke will come around to the idea. For now, he is... well, he is jealous and perhaps a little possessive," he said. 

"’Jealous and possessive?’ Why the hell—"

"You've been gone for two weeks on Olympus, your only company being the playboy god who took an interest in you last winter. Now, you wish for another male with an interest in you to go on a quest. He has his reasons. Has he not confided in you his fatal flaw?"

I frowned. "No."

It seemed shocking. Luke and I shared practically everything with each other. To think he hadn’t told me about his fatal flaw… it made an odd feeling settle in my chest. 

"Most children of Hermes have it. They take, but don't like it when others do the same to them. Anyway, he will come around. Give him some time. He has been frantic with worry for you. And I’m sure it will take some time for it to sink in that you are truly alright." 

I nodded in acknowledgment. "I know. But we need their help. I have a terrible feeling we’re almost out of time. I needed the space to recover, but being on Olympus for so long…"

"We won't dwell on the past," Chiron told me firmly. "You came back. That is what matters. In the morning, Argus will take the two of you into Manhattan."

I bit my lip so hard I started to taste blood. "Chiron," I said quietly, "what about Grover and Tyson? Do you think—"

"I don't know, my girl." Chiron gazed into the empty fireplace. "Juniper is quite distressed. All her branches are turning yellow. The Council of Cloven Elders had revoked Grover's searcher license in absentia. Assuming he comes back alive, they will force him into a shameful exile." He sighed. "Grover and Tyson are very resourceful, however. We can still hope."

"I shouldn't have agreed to us splitting up."

"Grover has his own destiny, and Tyson was brave to follow him. You would know if Grover was in mortal danger, don't you think?"

"I suppose. The empathy link. But—"

"There is something else I should tell you, Allie," he informed me. "Actually, two unpleasant things."

"Wonderful." I should have known better than to think I could come back to good news. But this was what I signed up for, allowing the others to look up to me as a leader. "Give me the worst one first, please."

"Chris Rodriguez, our guest..."

My heart dropped, fearing the worst. "Is he dead?"

"Not yet," Chiron said grimly. "But he's much worse. He's in the infirmary now, too weak to move. I had to order Clarisse back to her regular schedule, because she was at his bedside constantly. He doesn't respond to anything. He won't take food or drink. None of my medicines help. He has simply lost the will to live."

I shuddered. I felt horrible for Clarisse. She'd done so much to try and help him. And now that I'd been in the Labyrinth, I could understand why it had been so easy for the ghost of Minos to drive Chris mad. The reminder of the ghost king enraged me to the point I had to dig my nails into my palms. 

"I'm sorry to say," Chiron continued, "the other news is just as unpleasant. Quintus has disappeared."

"Disappeared? How?"

"Three nights ago he slipped into the Labyrinth. Juniper watched him go. It appears you may have been right about him."

"One thing I didn’t want to be right about. But I do think he’s probably a spy for the Titans." I told Chiron about the Triple G Ranch— how Quintus had bought his scorpions there and Geryon had been supplying Kronos' army. "It can't be a coincidence."

Chiron sighed heavily. "So many betrayals. I had hoped Quintus would prove a friend. It seems that my judgment was bad."

"What about Mrs. O'Leary?" I asked.

"The hellhound is still in the arena. It won't let anyone approach. I did not have the heart to force it into a cage... or destroy it."

Despite assuming he was a spy, the information still surprised me. He’d been so protective over her. What kind of person left their dog behind when leaving the place they were living? 

My eyebrows knit. "Quintus wouldn't just leave her."

"As I said, Allie, we seem to have been wrong about him. Now, you should prepare yourself for the morning. You and Luke still have much to do. You will need to contact your mortal friends, as well."

I nodded and stood to leave. 

“And, Allie?”

I turned. “Yeah, Chiron?”

His face formed a ghost of a smile. “I’m glad that you found your way back to us. Truly.” 

I nodded, a few tears gathering in my eyes that I had to blink away, then left him in his wheelchair, staring sadly into the fireplace. I wondered how many times he'd sat there, waiting for heroes that never came back.

*** 

Before dinner I stopped by the sword arena. Sure enough, Mrs. O'Leary was curled up in an enormous black furry mound in the middle of the stadium, chewing half-heartedly on the head of a warrior dummy and whimpering sadly.

When she saw me, she barked and came bounding toward me. I thought I was dead meat. I just had time to say, "Whoa!" before she bowled me over and started licking my face. Now usually, being the daughter of Poseidon and all, I only get wet if I want to, but my powers apparently did not extend to dog saliva, because I got a pretty good (bad) bath.

"Whoa, girl!" I yelled. "Can't breathe. Lemme up!"

Eventually, I managed to get her off me. I scratched her ears and found her an extra-gigantic dog biscuit.

"Where's your master?" I asked her with a pout on my face as I petted her gently. "How could he just leave you, huh?"

She whimpered like she wanted to know the answer, too. I’d expected Quintus to be an enemy— figured he was, in fact. But leaving Mrs. O’Leary behind… If there was one thing I was certain of, it was that he loved his dog. If he was working for the Titans, having her come with shouldn’t have been a big deal. Most of their fighting force was monsters. I couldn’t imagine a world where leaving her behind was a choice he made willingly. 

I was thinking about that and toweling the dog spit off my face when a girl's voice said, "You're lucky she didn't bite your head off."

I looked up. Clarisse was standing at the other end of the arena with her sword and shield. "Came here to practice yesterday," she grumbled. "Dog tried to chew me up."

"She’s just…” I grimaced. “Her owner left her behind and she doesn’t understand why. I’m sure she’s hurting.” 

She scoffed and walked toward us without answering. Mrs. O'Leary growled, but I patted her on the head and calmed her down.

"Stupid hellhound," Clarisse murmured under her breath. "Not going to keep me from practicing."

"I heard about Chris," I told her. "I'm sorry."

It had been a shock to hear him on the Princess Andromeda, but at the same time, this was something I expected. The Titans weren’t any better than the gods when it came to using demigods. It was naive to hope otherwise, but I supposed I could see where the appeal came from. At least, it didn’t seem like the gods were going to do anything to change the status quo, so if there was a possibility for change, most would jump at the opportunity. But the Titans weren’t different. We were just pawns to them the same way we were to the gods. Before he’d been forced to go into the Labyrinth alone, I was sure Chris felt like he’d made the right choice. 

Clarisse paced a circle around the arena. When she came to the nearest dummy, she attacked viciously, chopping its head off with a single blow and driving her sword through its guts. She pulled the sword out and kept walking.

"Yeah, well. Sometimes things go wrong." Her voice was shaky in a way I’d never heard before. "Heroes get hurt. They… They die, and the monsters just keep coming back."

She picked up a javelin and threw it across the arena. It nailed a dummy straight between the eyeholes of its helmet.

I bit my lip. "Chris was brave," I said. "I hope he gets better."

She glared at me as if I were her next target. Mrs. O'Leary growled, her face appearing over my shoulder as her ruby eyes bore into Clarisse.

"Allie, you're one of my closest friends. I’m… I’m so unbelievably happy that you came back and are alright. But please take it to heart when I ask you to do me a favor," Clarisse told me.

I nodded immediately. "Whatever you need." 

"If you find Daedalus, don't trust him. Don't ask him for help. Just kill him."

Except… Though I tried my damndest to forget about it, I had killed a mortal before, exactly once. My step-father after he killed my mother when I’d come home after my first quest to find Zeus’ lightning bolt. Despite the evil that he was, it haunted me daily. I never wanted to be put in that position again, but given the war on the horizon, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to escape the possibility so easily. "Clarisse—"

"Because anybody who can make something like the Labyrinth, Allie? That person is evil. Plain evil. Don't think morals, we don't have time for them anymore. The only thing we can think about is survival and any threats to that must be eliminated."

For a second she reminded me of Eurytion the cowherd, her much older half-brother. She had the same hard look in her eyes, as if she'd been used for the past two thousand years and was getting tired of it. She sheathed her sword. "Practice time is over. From now on, it's for real."

*** 

That night, I couldn’t sleep. I was alone in my cabin, and I’d had no dreams for my entire time on Olympus. I was certain Apollo had something to do with it, but now he couldn’t help me. 

I stared at the stars Tyson had put up on the ceiling, convinced I wouldn’t be getting any sleep when I heard footsteps outside of my cabin. 

I sat up, ready to see who it was, when the lock clicked and Luke’s silhouette appeared against the moonlight. 

I opened my mouth, not truly knowing what to say. 

Thankfully, he decided for me. He sighed. “I’m still upset… but I can’t sleep unless I know you’re here and alright, Angel.”

I didn’t know what to say. Against my wishes, tears gathered in my eyes. “Luke…” I whimpered. 

Within a few seconds, he’d closed and locked the door and made his way over to me, settling in beside me and pulling me to his chest. For a while, we just laid there, basking in the feeling of being together again. 

Finally, the need to say something overwhelmed me. “Luke… I’m so—”

He shushed me gently. “Later, Angel,” he whispered. “Let’s just… forget about it for tonight. We’ll talk later, okay?” 

I nodded and curled closer into him. I pressed a peck against the racing pulse in his neck and eventually succumbed to sleep.

I opened my eyes to a king's courtroom— a big white chamber with marble columns and a wooden throne. Sitting on it was a plump guy with curly red hair and a crown of laurels. At his side stood three girls who looked like his daughters. They all had his red hair and were dressed in blue robes.

The doors creaked open and a herald announced, "Minos, King of Crete!"

My shoulders stiffened, but the man on the throne just smiled at his daughters. "I can't wait to see the expression on his face."

Minos, the royal creep himself, swept into the room. He was so tall and serious he made the other king look silly. Minos' pointed beard had gone grey. He looked thinner than the last time I'd dreamed of him, and his sandals were splattered with mud, but the same cruel light shined in his eyes.

He bowed stiffly to the man on the throne. "King Cocalus. I understand you have solved my little riddle?"

Cocalus smiled. "Hardly little, Minos. Especially when you advertise across the world that you are willing to pay a thousand gold talents to the one who can solve it. Is the offer genuine?"

Minos clapped his hands. Two buff guards walked in, struggling with a big wooden crate. They set it at Cocalus' feet and opened it. Stacks of gold bars glittered. It had to be worth millions of dollars.

Cocalus whistled appreciatively. "You must have bankrupted your kingdom for such a reward, my friend."

Minos’ expression was completely blank. "That is not your concern."

Cocalus shrugged casually. "The riddle was quite simple, really. One of my retainers solved it."

"Father," one of the girls warned. She looked like the oldest— a little taller than her sisters.

Cocalus ignored her. He took a spiral seashell from the folds of his robe. A silver string had been threaded through it, so it hung like a huge bead on a necklace.

Minos stepped forward and took the shell. "One of your retainers, you say? How did he thread the string without breaking the shell?"

"He used an ant, if you can believe it. Tied a silk string to the little creature and coaxed it through the shell by putting honey at the far end."

"Ingenious man," Minos replied, something dark in his voice that echoed in his eyes.

"Oh, indeed. My daughters' tutor. They are quite fond of him."

Minos' eyes turned cold. "I would be careful of that."

I wanted to warn Cocalus: Don't trust this guy! Leave the money and tell him to leave! But the redheaded king seemed not to realize how much danger he’d just put his kingdom into and just chuckled. "Not to worry, Minos. My daughters are wise beyond their years. Now, about my gold—"

"Yes," Minos said stiffly. "But you see the gold is for the man who solved the riddle. And there can be only one such man. You are harboring Daedalus."

Cocalus shifted uncomfortably on his throne. "How is it that you know his name?"

"He is a thief," Minos replied coldly. "He once worked in my court, Cocalus. He turned my own daughter against me. He helped a usurper make a fool of me in my own palace. And then he escaped justice. I have been pursuing him for ten years." 

Of course, leaving out the crucial detail that he’d tortured Daedalus and inadvertently caused the death of Icarus after imprisoning them for years, but I supposed Kings weren’t known to be very truthful. 

"I knew nothing of this. But I have offered the man my protection. He has been a most useful—"

"I offer you a choice," Minos cut him off. "Turn over the fugitive to me, and this gold is yours. Or risk making me your enemy. You do not want Crete as your enemy."

Cocalus paled. I thought it was stupid for him to look so scared in the middle of his own throne room. He should've summoned his army or something. Minos only had two guards. But Cocalus just sat there sweating on his throne.

"Father," his oldest daughter plead, "you can't—"

"Silence, Aelia." Cocalus twisted his beard. He looked again at the glittering gold. "This pains me, Minos. The gods do not love a man who breaks his oath of hospitality."

"The gods do not love those who harbor criminals, either."

Cocalus nodded. "Very well. You shall have your man in chains."

"Father!" Aelia cried. Then she caught herself, and changed her voice to a sweeter tone and I realized she was like me— an actress willing to do whatever it took to get what she wanted. "At— at least let us feast our guest first. After his long journey, he should be treated to a hot bath, new clothes, and a decent meal. I would be honored to draw the bath myself."

She smiled prettily at Minos, and the old king grunted. "I suppose a bath would not be amiss." He looked at Cocalus. "I will see you at dinner, My Lord. With the prisoner."

"This way, Your Majesty," Aelia simpered. She and her sisters led Minos out of the chamber.

I followed them into a bath chamber decorated with mosaic tiles. Steam filled the air. A running-water faucet poured hot water into the tub. Aelia and her sisters filled it with rose petals and something that must've been Ancient Greek Mr. Bubble, because soon the water was covered with multicolored foam. The girls and I turned aside as Minos dropped his robes and slipped into the bath.

"Ahh." He smiled. "An excellent bath. Thank you, my dears. The journey has been long indeed."

"You have been chasing your prey for ten years, my lord?" Aelia asked, batting her eyelashes. "You must be very determined."

"I never forget a debt." Minos grinned snidely. "Your father was wise to agree to my demands."

"Oh, indeed, my lord!" Aelia cried, laying on just enough flattery to have the old king eating out of the palm of her hand without him getting suspicious. Aelia's sisters trickled scented oil over the king's head.

"You know, my lord," Aelia said lightly, a light twinkling in her eyes. "Daedalus thought you would come. He thought the riddle might be a trap, but he couldn't resist solving it."

Minos frowned. "Daedalus spoke to you about me?"

"Yes, My Lord."

"He is a bad man, Princess. My own daughter fell under his spell. Do not listen to him." 

"He is a genius," Aelia countered, her hands balling into fists. "And he believes a woman is just as smart as a man. He was the first to ever teach us as if we had minds of our own. Perhaps your daughter felt the same way."

Minos tried to sit up, but Aelia's sisters pushed him back into the water. Aelia came up behind him. She held three tiny orbs in her palm. At first, I thought they were bath beads. But she threw them in the water and the beads sprouted bronze threads that began wrapping around the king, tying him up at the ankles, binding his wrists to his sides, circling his neck. Even though I hated Minos, it was pretty horrible to watch. He thrashed and cried out, but the girls were much stronger. Soon he was helpless, lying in the bath with his chin just above the water. The bronze strands were still wrapping around him like a cocoon, tightening across his body.

"What do you want?" Minos demanded. "Why do you do this?"

Aelia smiled. "Daedalus has been kind to us, Your Majesty. And I do not like you threatening our father."

The political turmoil that was about to come from killing a King aside, I couldn’t help but cheer Aelia on as she took matters into her own hands. Whatever it took. A true actress. 

"You tell Daedalus," Minos growled. "You tell him I will hound him even after death! If there is any justice in the Underworld, my soul will haunt him for eternity!"

"Brave words, Your Majesty," Aelia said simply. "I wish you luck finding your justice in the Underworld."

And with that, the bronze threads wrapped around Minos' face, making him a bronze mummy.

The door of the bathhouse opened. Daedalus stepped in, carrying a traveler's bag.

He'd trimmed his hair short. His beard was pure white. He looked frail and sad, but he reached down and touched the mummy's forehead. The threads unraveled and sank to the bottom of the tub. There was nothing inside them. It was as if King Minos had just dissolved.

"A painless death," Daedalus mused. "More than he deserved. Thank you, my princesses."

Aelia hugged him. "You cannot stay here, teacher. When our father finds out—"

"Yes," Daedalus agreed. "I fear I have brought you trouble."

"Oh, do not worry for us. Father will be happy enough taking that old man's gold. And Crete is a very long way away. But he will blame you for Minos' death. You must flee to somewhere safe."

"Somewhere safe," the old man repeated, a faraway look in his eyes. "For years I have fled from kingdom to kingdom, looking for somewhere safe. I fear Minos told the truth. Death will not stop him from hounding me. There is no place under the sun that will harbor me, once word of this crime gets out."

"Then where will you go?" Aelia asked, worry coating her face.

"A place I swore never to enter again," Daedalus replied, sighing in acceptance. "My prison may be my only sanctuary."

"I do not understand," Aelia told him.

"It's best you do not."

"But what of the Underworld?" one of her sisters asked. "Terrible judgment will await you! Every man must die."

"Perhaps," Daedalus said. Then he brought a scroll from his traveling bag— the same scroll I'd seen in my last dream, with his nephew's notes. "Or perhaps not."

He patted Aelia's shoulder, then blessed her and her sisters. He looked down once more at the coppery threads glinting at the bottom of the bath. "Find me if you dare, King of the Ghosts."

He turned toward the mosaic wall and touched a tile. A glowing mark appeared— a Greek Δ— and the wall slid aside. The princesses gasped.

"You never told us of secret passages!" Aelia cried. "You have been busy."

"The Labyrinth has been busy," Daedalus corrected. "Do not try to follow me, my dears, if you value your sanity."

My dream shifted. I was underground in a stone chamber. Annabeth and another half-blood warrior were studying a map by flashlight.

Annabeth cursed. "It should've been the last turn." She crumpled up the map and tossed it aside.

"Ma'am!" her companion protested.

"Maps are useless here," Annabeth snapped, her eyebrows furrowing. "Don't worry. My intelligence will get us through more than any map."

"Ma'am, is it true that the larger the group—"

"The more likely you get lost? Yes, that's true. Why do you think we sent out solo explorers to begin with? But don't worry. As soon as we have the thread, we can lead the vanguard through."

"But how will we get the thread?"

Annabeth stood, flexing her fingers. "Oh, Quintus will come through. All we have to do is reach the arena, and it's at the juncture. Impossible to get anywhere without passing it. That's why we must have a truce with its master. We just have to stay alive until—"

"Ma'am!" a new voice came from the corridor. Another guy in Greek armour ran forward, carrying a torch. "The dracaenae found a half-blood!"

Annabeth scowled. "Alone? Wandering the maze?"

"Yes, ma'am! You'd better come quick. They're in the next chamber. Lord Cody has got him cornered."

"Who is it?"

"No one I've ever seen before, ma'am."

Annabeth nodded. "A blessing from Kronos. We may be able to use this half-blood. Come!"

They ran down the corridor, and I woke with a start, staring into the dark. A lone half-blood, wandering in the maze. Nico. 

Could he have entered the Labyrinth again? Eurytion had said he’d let Nico stay for as long as he needed, but what if he’d already decided to go back in? My breathing picked up.

Luke furrowed his eyebrows in his sleep and moved closer. He looked calm like this, younger. Knowing me had aged him. 

It was a long time before I got to sleep again.

The next morning, Luke had already left. I made sure that Mrs. O'Leary had enough dog biscuits and asked Beckendorf to keep an eye on her, which he didn't seem too happy about, though he'd agreed anyway. I supposed he’d gotten used to entertaining my odd friends over the years. 

Once I figured all of my affairs were in order, I hiked over Half-Blood Hill and met Luke and Argus on the road.

Luke and I didn't talk much in the van. He’d said the night before that he was still mad, but I wondered if a night of sleep had changed his mind. I looked out the window, trying to make sense of my dreams. I wished I'd been driving my Kawasaki, but wishing wouldn't have done me any good.

Luke looked drawn, with dark shadows under his eyes. It looked as if he'd slept even worse than me. I hadn’t noticed when he’d left my cabin, but given how he looked, it must not’ve been too long after I’d had my dream.

"Bad dreams?" I asked at last.

He shook his head. "An Iris-message from Eurytion."

My blood ran cold. "Eurytion! Is something wrong with Nico?"

"He left the ranch last night, heading back into the maze."

My heart felt like it was going to beat out of my chest, the dream I’d had the night before flashing in front of my eyes. “No.”

Luke nodded grimly. "Nico was gone before he woke up. Orthus tracked his scent as far as the cattle guard. Eurytion said he'd been hearing Nico talk to himself the last few nights. Only now he thinks Nico was talking with the ghost again, Minos."

"He's in danger," I said.

"No kidding. Minos is one of the judges of the dead, but he's got a vicious streak a mile wide. I don't know what he wants with Nico, but—"

"No, that’s not what I meant," I cut him off. "I had this dream last night..." I told him about Annabeth, how she'd mentioned Quintus, and how Cody and their troops had found a half-blood alone in the maze.

Luke's jaw clenched. "That's very, very bad."

"So what do we do?"

"What we always do, I suppose,” he answered. “Besides, you have a plan to get us through this, remember?"

I'd called Tate last night, and we'd arranged a meeting in Times Square. After I put on my usual disguise and hopped out of the Camp van, Luke and I found him and his sister in front of the Marriott Marquis, and they were completely painted gold.

And when I say completely, I really mean it. Their face, their hair, their clothes— everything. They looked like they'd been touched by King Midas. They were standing like a statue with five other kids all painted metallic— copper, bronze, silver. They were frozen in different poses while tourists hustled past or stopped to stare. Some passerby threw money at the tarp on the sidewalk.

The sign at Rachel's feet said, URBAN ART FOR KIDS, DONATIONS APPRECIATED.

Luke and I stood there for like five minutes, staring at Tate and Rachel, but if they noticed us they didn't let on. They didn't move or even blink that I could see. Being ADHD and a monster magnet, I could never have done that. Standing still that long would've driven me crazy and by the time I’d get myself settled, I’d probably have already attracted the borough’s monsters. It was weird to see Tate and Rachel in gold, too. They looked like a statue of somebody famous, actors or something. Only their eyes were normal green. Speaking of which, I pulled a few hundreds out of my wallet and tossed them onto the tarp. 

"Should we push them over?” Luke asked, raising an eyebrow at me. 

I nudged him in the ribs. “Don’t be mean,” I griped. 

He raised his hands in surrender, but didn’t say anything else. 

After another few minutes, two kids in silver walked up from the hotel taxi stand, where they'd been taking a break. They took a pose like they were arguing, right next to Rachel. Rachel and Tate unfroze and stepped off the tarp grinning at us.

"Hey, Allie," Tate grinned. "Good timing! Let's get some coffee."

"Thanks for the hundos, Allie," Rachel said and hid them in a cash register on the other side of the tarp, away from any mugging hands. 

We walked down to a place called the Java Moose on West 43rd. Rachel and Tate both ordered an Espresso Extreme, the kind of stuff Grover would like. Luke got a fruit smoothie, while I got an iced caramel macchiato, and we sat at a table right under the stuffed moose. Nobody even looked twice at Rachel and Tate in their golden outfit.

“So,” Tate started. “It’s Liam, right?” 

I cringed as Luke furrowed his eyebrows and answered, “Luke. Do you always dress in gold?"

"Not usually," Rachel told him. "We're raising money for our group. We do volunteer art projects for elementary kids 'cause they're cutting art from the schools, you know? We do this once a month, take in about five hundred dollars on a good weekend. As for this weekend, Allie just gave us like a thousand, so we're doing pretty well-off tonight. What about you two? What do half-gods do in their free time?"

"Shhh!" Luke ordered, looking around like someone was going to jump us. "Someone could hear you!"

Rachel opened her mouth to reply, but sensing this was about to turn into a bit of a catfight, I interjected. "Okay, let's all just stay calm and quiet, alright? Luke, it's New York. Absolutely no one cares. But all the same, I'm me and any attention right now is… unwanted."

"We're calm," Tate insisted. "Every time I'm around you, some monster attacks us. What's to be nervous about?"

I winced at that. "Look, I'm really sorry about the ice cream shop. I hope you didn't get in trouble or anything."

"Nah. No one said anything. That director was pretty mad you didn't come back, though."

I sighed and rolled my eyes. “He’ll get over it.” I waved him off. "But… Okay, we have a problem. And we need your help.” 

Tate narrowed his eyes at the two of us. "You need our help?"

Luke stirred his straw in his smoothie. "Yeah," he said suddenly. "Maybe."

Rachel and Tate shared a look. “What with?” Rachel asked skeptically. 

I bit my lip. I remembered the rumors from when Tate and I were in school together, that he’d only done football because his father forced him to. He’d torn his ACL in his freshman year at Penn State, and from what the sports commentators on ESPN said, he hadn’t been the same. Rachel, I knew, was more of an artist. If things went sideways… I hated asking this of them, but we were out of time and options. 

I told them about the Labyrinth, and how we needed to find Daedalus. I told them what had happened the last few times we'd gone in.

"So you want us to guide you," Tate stated. "Through a place we've never been?"

"You can see through the Mist," I explained. "Just like Ariadne. I'm betting you both can see the right path. The Labyrinth won't be able to fool you as easily."

"And if you're wrong?"

I stirred my coffee. "Then we'll get lost. Either way, it'll be dangerous. Very, very dangerous."

"I could die?"

"Yeah."

"I thought you said monsters don't care about mortals. Your sword—"

"Yeah," I agreed. "Celestial Bronze doesn't hurt mortals. Most monsters would ignore you. But Annabeth and Cody…” I sighed. “They don't care. They'll use mortals, demigods, monsters, whatever. And they'll kill anyone who gets in their way."

"Nice guys," Tate commented sarcastically.

“Welcome to our world,” I responded. "Are you in or not?"

Rachel looked back and forth between us. "Okay," she agreed. "I'm in."

Tate nodded. "Me too."

I blinked. I hadn't figured it would be so easy. Maybe we hadn’t explained the gravity of the whole situation well enough, but I wasn’t going to say that. "Are you sure?" I asked. 

Rachel shrugged. "Hey, my summer was going to be boring. This is the best offer I've gotten yet. So what do we look for?"

"We have to find an entrance to the Labyrinth," Luke replied. "There's an entrance at Camp Half-Blood, but you can't go there. It's off-limits to mortals."

He said the word mortals like it was a poison he was trying to spit out, but Rachel just nodded. "Okay. What does an entrance to the Labyrinth look like?"

"It could be anything," I told her. "A section of wall. A boulder. A doorway. A sewer entrance. But it would have the mark of Daedalus on it. A Greek Δ, glowing in blue."

"Like this?" Rachel drew the symbol Delta in water on our table.

"That's it," I confirmed. "You know Greek?"

"No," Rachel shook her head. She pulled a big blue plastic hairbrush from her pocket and started brushing the gold out of her hair while Tate tried brushing his out with his fingers. "Let us get changed. You'd better come with us to the Marriott."

"Why?" Luke asked. 

"Because there's an entrance like that in the hotel basement, where we store our costumes. It's got the mark of Daedalus."

*    *    *

previous | next

1.2 The Lioness Does Not Concern Herself With the Entire Greek World Thinking She is Dead (Except She Really, Really, Really Does, Actually, Because Her Fatal Flaw is Loyalty)

I woke up feeling like I was still on fire. My skin stung. My throat felt as dry as sand.

I heard someone bustling around... wherever I was. He was talking all the while, sounding irritable and… worried?

"I mean seriously! Does she have no concern for her well being whatsoever? I don't think I've ever seen anything like it! Uncle P's having a field day. I can't even tell him his daughter's here because I don't even know if she's going to wake up..." He paused for a moment and let another person speak. "Not sure. She... It was pretty bad, what happened. She's been out for about five days, but it could be much longer. I can't be sure."

I finally found the strength to open my eyes and try to sit up. I got to my elbows before being shoved back down. I hadn’t even realized he’d walked over. 

"No! Don't sit up yet. You don't have the energy to spare and you'll probably be out for longer!" they said, keeping a hand on my shoulder to make sure I stayed down. 

"Apollo? Is she awake?" I took a double-take as the mention of the name finally made me realize I was back in Apollo's medical ward on Olympus. 

"Yeah. Wanna flash over? Hephaestus wanted to talk to her, too, so you might want to grab him when you come." 

"Give me a bit. Calls and such. I'll get over there when I can."

"The fuck?" I managed to say through my dry throat. 

"Let me get you some water," Apollo said, narrowing his eyes at me, something I noticed he did during the winter solstice to make sure there wasn't anything else wrong with me. "You'll probably have to sleep for a while longer, just to make sure you've fully restored your energy, but at least I'll know you'll wake up this time."

"Huh?" 

He gave me a weird look. "How much do you remember?"

I hesitated for a moment, really making sure I answered correctly. I realized long ago to never lie to any health care professional. It always just made things worse. "I remember everything," I confirmed. "But there was a possibility I wasn't going to wake up?"

"A possibility you weren't going to— of course there was a possibility! You were burning alive and then called on every bit of power you contained to save yourself. The amount of energy using your powers alone should have killed you. Not to mention the whole burning alive part." 

"Hm. And, uh. How did I get—" I gestured around. "— here?" 

He sighed and ran a hand through his golden hair. "You... Well, there I was, guiding the sun across the sky and all of a sudden I feel the world tilt on its axis—"

"That seems a bit dramatic."

"— And then wouldn’t you know it, I get a vision of you soaring through the sky like you’d learned to fly— Wait, that was kinda good—”

I rolled my eyes. “Apollo.”

“Sorry.” He didn’t sound sorry. “Where was I? Ah, and then, well, I just kind of plucked you out of the sky before Zeus could finish the job, and didn’t really know where else to bring you. And then I figured if there was any shot at you not being dead you would heal best here." He paused for a moment. "Did you know you talk when you sleep?"

I blushed. "So I've been told. How long have I been out? Did you say five days?"

"Uh, yeah. I'm honestly quite surprised you woke up this soon. Really shocked actually, considering what happened. How stubborn are you?"

"Luke constantly says I'm the most stubborn person he's ever met," I supplied, taking a sip of the water he’d brought me, something I never thought I'd see in any place on Olympus, seeing as they all only ate and drank ambrosia and nectar. 

"I can understand why."

The water almost immediately rejuvenated me, allowing me to sit up without any struggle. 

"Exhibit A, I see," Apollo commented before rolling his eyes at me. "Hermes and Hephaestus both want to talk to you, so whenever they get here, you'll have to deal with them, but otherwise, you'll have to stay here for a few days, just to make sure you're fine." 

"Woah, Woah, Woah. A few days? But the quest! What happened to Luke and Grover and Tyson?" 

I could tell just by his expression that he didn't want to stress me out, especially after coming within an inch of death, but he pursed his lips and tried not to lie to me. God of truth morals, I supposed. 

"Ask that question later and I'll be able to answer it better. Just relax for a while. The quicker you get your strength back the quicker you'll get back to your… Well, whatever it is that you usually do to end up in these situations." 

He saw me about to argue, so he pushed me back into a lying position and busied himself with reorganizing a cabinet of medical supplies that you didn't see in your everyday medical ward or hospital. 

*** 

I ended up falling asleep and woke up to Hermes, Apollo, and Hephaestus all talking. Their conversation was just barely quiet enough to where I couldn't hear what they were talking about, but they all seemed to be in various stages of stress, tenseness, and apprehension. 

I rolled to my side, alerting the three that I was awake.

"Allie! Wonderful. Which of you two wishes to speak with my patient first, if she's feeling up to it, of course," Apollo said, eyeing me suspiciously, daring me to lie to him. 

"I'm fine," I said, yawning and sitting up. Hephaestus walked over to me without saying anything. "Hephaestus, what's going on? Is Luke—"

"He's fine," he assured me. I felt a weight lift itself from my shoulders at the news. "Resourceful boy, that one. Found his way back, told me the whole story. He's worried sick, you know."

"You mean no one's told him I'm okay?" I demanded, looking at the three gods scattered around the large room. 

"Allie, no one even knows you're here. Chiron doesn't know you're here. Your father doesn't know you're here. Zeus doesn't even know you're here, and he's the reason no one else does. If he found out he'd throw a fit and it wouldn't end up being too good for anyone," Apollo said, clearly trying to keep me from exploding. 

"It's best your being here stays quiet," Hephaestus said. "Everyone thinks you're dead. We had to make sure you would actually wake up and would be able to function correctly before letting you loose."

"Well, I'm fine. Can I go?"

"Not yet," Hephaestus grumbled. He pulled out a metal disk the size of an iPod. He clicked a button and it expanded into a miniature bronze TV. On the screen was news footage of Mount St. Helens, a huge plume of fire and ash trailing into the sky.

"Still uncertain about further eruptions," the newscaster was saying. "Authorities have ordered the evacuation of almost half a million people as a precaution. Meanwhile, ash has fallen as far away as Lake Tahoe and Vancouver, and the entire Mount St. Helens area is closed to traffic within a hundred-mile radius. While no deaths have been reported, minor injuries and illnesses include—"

Hephaestus switched it off. "You caused quite an explosion."

I stared at the blank bronze screen. Half a million people evacuated? Injuries. Illness. What had I done? No deaths reported. I wasn't sure how, but I was thankful for it. I’d been so desperate to save myself, I hadn’t considered what causing an eruption of the volcano might do.

I felt sick. How could I do that? All of those people… My hand shot up to cover my mouth as tears gathered in my eyes. 

"The telekhines were scattered," the god told me. "Some vaporized. Some got away, no doubt. I don't think they'll be using my forge any time soon. On the other hand, neither will I. The explosion caused Typhon to stir in his sleep. We'll have to wait and see—"

"I couldn't release him, could I? I mean, I'm not that powerful," I said, my hands trembling. 

Unanimously, the three gods scoffed. "'Not that powerful,' eh? I think a lot of people would beg to differ, especially after that. Think about it," Hermes piped up from where he had been when I woke up. "You're Poseidon's first mortal daughter. You look exactly like him and you already have more powers than have been reported. You're officially the most powerful child of Poseidon. You don't know your own strength, Allie."

If I wasn’t so emotionally devastated, I would’ve glared at him. His son had so much more tact than Hermes did when it came to me, obviously. Maybe a little white lie from the god of liars would’ve been alright in this instance. With every bit of power I’d released on that volcano, here I was, almost completely fine. 

Now I found out that I'd nearly destroyed the Northwest US and almost woke the most horrible monster ever imprisoned by the gods. Maybe I was too dangerous. Maybe it was safer for my friends to think I was dead. Maybe I should’ve done the gods a favor and let myself be killed in the heart of Mount St. Helens. 

"What about Grover and Tyson?" I asked, my voice small.

Hephaestus shook his head. "No word, I'm afraid. I suppose that the Labyrinth has them."

"So what am I supposed to do?"

Hephaestus winced. "Don't ever ask an old cripple for advice, girl. But I'll tell you this. You've met my wife?"

"Aphrodite."

"That's her. She's a tricky one, girl. Be careful of love. It'll twist your brain around and leave you thinking up is down and right is wrong."

"You think I'm acting irrationally? I think I'm handling this better than most would, actually," I replied with raised eyebrows. 

"Possibly. Hard to say with you, now that we've seen what you can do— if that is even as far as you can go, though I doubt it. But once you're ready to leave, I promised you an answer to your quest. I promised you the way to Daedalus. Well now, here's the thing. It has nothing to do with Ariadne's string. Not really. Sure, the string works. That's what the Titan's army will be after. But the best way through the maze... Theseus had the princess's help. And the princess was a regular mortal. Not a drop of god blood in her. But she was clever, and she could see, lass. She could see very clearly. So what I'm saying is— I think you know how to navigate the maze. You even have two."

It finally sank in. I’d been an idiot. Hera had been right. The answer was there all the time. I wanted to kick myself for not seeing it before.

"Yeah," I said. "Yeah, I know."

"Good. Once Apollo clears you, you'll be on your way."

"Will Daedalus even help us?" I pondered aloud. "I mean, if he gives Annabeth and Cody a way to navigate the Labyrinth, we're dead. I saw dreams about... Daedalus killed his nephew. He turned bitter and angry and—"

"It isn't easy being a brilliant inventor," Hephaestus grumbled. "Always alone. Always misunderstood. Easy to turn bitter, make horrible mistakes. People are more difficult to work with than machines. And when you break a person, he can't be fixed."

It was such a lonely comment, it made my heart sink. 

He let that sink in before he continued, "Daedalus started well enough. He helped Princess Ariadne and Theseus because he felt sorry for them. He tried to do a good deed. And everything in his life went bad because of it. Was that fair?" The god shrugged. "I don't know if Daedalus will help you, lass, but don't judge someone until you've stood at his forge and worked with his hammer, eh?"

"I'll— I'll try."

Hephaestus stood. "Good-bye, lass. You did well, destroying the telekhines. I'll always remember you for that."

It sounded very final, that good-bye. Then he erupted into a column of flame and disappeared.

Hermes then decided it was his turn to kill me with confusion. 

"Thank you," he said. 

"Uh... you're welcome? What am I saying 'you're welcome' to?"

"You got Luke out of there and quite literally almost killed yourself in the process. You seem to do that a lot."

"He does the same for me. It's kind of our thing. I save him, he saves me, and we both almost die along the way."

"Yes, well... Thank you. And please don't think I’m angry at you for Brylie. She had a bright future and I'm devastated she didn't get to live it through. You did everything you could, though. I fear I will always be in your debt, Astraea Jackson."

"It's not as bad as it sounds, don't worry," I replied half-heartedly. 

He patted my shoulder and straightened out the jogging suit he was wearing. "Listen to yourself, Allie. You seem to be your own best voice of reason." And with that, he disappeared, just as Hephaestus did. 

Apollo walked over, checking me over once more, making sure I hadn't done anything to injure myself more somehow and then finally sighed again. 

"So, I was thinking about something earlier,” Apollo said. “I’m sure this is going to be a stressful next couple of days for you. I can do what I can to keep you comfortable and bring you things to solve the boredom… but I was also thinking… Calypso hasn’t had any company for a few decades, and I thought you might want another feminine presence for the next few days to keep you company, so I pulled a few strings and can get her on an Iris Message, if you want."

"Can you really?" I asked. 

He shrugged. "Sure I can, I’m Apollo. Any other questions?" 

I tilted my head. “Can I get a guitar and a recorder? I have an idea for a song. You should appreciate that.” 

He nodded. “I do, actually. You shine a particularly bright light on the world of music.” Then he paused and gave me a sparkly smile. “Whatever you’d like, Allie.” 

***

As it turned out, Calypso was insanely fun to be around. Despite not having much to do on her secluded island, she made herself busy and she constantly said how grateful she was to have me talking to her. 

When I wasn’t making new music, we played cards a lot, mostly because it was the main thing I could do, still bedridden and not wanting to do anything that would put Zeus on my radar. No matter how much my stubbornness spread, I couldn't get out of bed with the little strength I had. 

"You are too good at this game," she said after I'd beaten her again at poker, which had taken almost a full day to teach her. Apollo had done something to the Iris message, so we could pass chips and cards through it without cutting the connection off. 

"I've been told I have a good poker face. Luke is my biggest challenge, though. I'm sure the only times I've beaten him he went easy on me," I said as I smiled wistfully. 

"And... this Luke. You have feelings for him, no? Or are you together?" 

I blushed in spite of myself. "We aren't together, but yeah, I've got feelings for him. He's just... I don't know. He's like my better half. I don't know how to describe him. He's just... he's quite literally the best guy I've ever met. He calls me 'Angel.' That new song I was writing earlier? The Fate of Ophelia? It’s about him."

She chuckled at the love-struck look I probably had on my face. "I hope to have a love like yours one of these days. Alas, I am stuck here. It has been such a long time since I've had someone to talk to."

I frowned and sat up. After a week of talking to her, Calypso had quickly become one of my best friends. I loved talking to her, but sometimes I could see the sadness on her face and every time it would piss me off. 

"Calypso, I'm so sorry you have to stay there. As soon as I find a way, I swear on the Styx, I will get you off of that island." 

Her eyes widened. "Allie, you don't have to do that—"

"Technically I do, since I just swore on the Styx," I joked, then quickly turned my face serious. "But I wasn't kidding about what I said. I will get you off of Ogygia. I want you to be able to experience these things like I am." 

Her eyes geared up as she smiled at me. "You are one loyal demigoddess, Allie. Thank you." Then, wanting to change the subject, she said, "Tell me where you're from." 

I smiled. "I'm from Manhattan. It's this big city in New York. 'S got a ton of skyscrapers and people call it the 'City That Never Sleeps' because no matter what time it is there is always someone up." I giggled a little, realizing the extent of my homesickness. "There's a lot of air pollution, so most of the time you can't see the stars at night and Central Park is practically the only portion of greenery in the entire city, but it's home." I sighed happily. "I love it there." 

"Only greenery? There aren't any gardens?" she questioned, turning slightly to the vast amount of flowers and plants behind her. 

I shook my head. "The buildings take up all the room. Some people have mini flower boxes outside their windows, but there aren't many."

"Do you have one?" 

I nodded. "I do. Right outside my bedroom window, next to the fire escape. I don't have anything in it, though." 

She frowned and I was worried I'd offended her or something, but then she reached backward and picked up a small balled up cloth and then handed it to me through the Iris-message. The cloth smelled of cinnamon, like her, but the things inside, seeds I realized, smelled sweet. Like something I'd wear as a perfume. 

"Plant me a garden in Manhattan, Allie," she pleaded. "They're called moon lace. They're one of my favorites."

"I will," I promised. I stuffed the cloth in my shorts pocket and told myself not to forget them.  "Now, how about Russian Roulette? The card game, of course. I can see if I can get Apollo to play with us." 

She laughed. "Alright." 

"Apollo!" I yelled, trying to get the sun god to come as quickly as possible. It worked and in seconds he rushed in, already trying to check me over. 

"What happened? Did you hurt yourself? Are you hungry? Did—" 

"Woah there," I interrupted, trying not to burst out laughing with Calypso. "Wanna play Russian Roulette with us?" 

"Uh, isn't that a suicide game?" he asked. 

"Yeah, but I'm talking about the card game, dude." I picked up the cards in my hands and showed them to him. 

"Oh, that makes more sense. Sure. Want me to get Hermes?" 

"Not unless you want to lose every round," Calypso said. 

"Point taken," he replied, sitting next to me while I shuffled the cards. 

We ended up playing a crap ton of card games and board games throughout the day, and Hermes did eventually take about half an hour to play with us (which proved Calypso right, seeing as he did in fact win every round of cards he played, no matter the game). We played Monopoly, which I killed at, and Calypso was proven to be great at Battleship. Apollo had claimed himself the king of Bull Shit and then proceeded to kick our asses at it (it was probably not the best game to play with the god of truth who could always tell when Calypso or I were lying). 

I closed the night off by myself, kicking Apollo out so I could write without the music god giving his input. And, for just a moment, I enjoyed living in the limbo I was in and could almost forget the world I’d soon need to return to. 

*** 

The next few days I worked on getting my strength back and over the course of the week I'd been walking around and working on making sure I could still function. I worked on my powers a little, but not so much that Zeus would notice and trained as much as I could in the Olympus medical ward. 

Any previous skills I had hadn't suffered too much from my two-week break and I didn't feel too rusty, so that was good. 

Calypso and I grew closer and we talked about almost anything we could think of. She constantly asked about what the world was like now, but it never really got boring. 

I worked on some songs. With nothing better to do, my creativity was really flowing. 

Even though I was ready to get back home and finish the quest so Camp Half-Blood didn't get destroyed, there was a part of me that wanted to stay with Calypso or at least start trying to find ways for me to get her off of Ogygia. So when Apollo entered the medical ward on the fourteenth day I'd spent there, bearing news, I felt conflicted. 

"So, Allie, I am officially clearing you to go back to the mortal world. I think you're good enough to be able to handle yourself again, and you haven't been getting dizzy every so often like you were, so I think your head has healed. Just try not to over exert yourself. Try and start out as slow as you can. Don't use your powers more than you need to for a few weeks."

I nodded. "Gotcha. Anything else?" 

"Just keep in mind everyone thinks you've been dead for two weeks, so please don't just... I don't know. Don't be surprised if people are shocked to see you."

"I was already expecting that," I said. I turned to the Iris message of Calypso. "Don't forget I swore to get you off of that island as soon as I found a way. I don't intend to go back on that. I can't wait to see you again." 

"I'll be waiting. I'll miss you until that time comes, Allie." 

"I'll miss you, too. Once I get back to Manhattan I'll plant you that garden." 

"You better. Goodbye, Allie."

"Goodbye, Calypso." And the connection was cut. 

I turned to Apollo. "Thanks for keeping me alive. I really owe you. A lot, actually."

He shook his head. "I think this is repayment for saving my sister. Thank you, Allie. Just be careful from now on?"

"I can't make you any promises." 

He laughed. "Well at least try not to make it a habit."

"I'll try. Well, I don't usually try to get killed. Monsters just hate me."

"Yeah, yeah. You'll wake up in a few seconds on the beach of Camp Half-Blood.” He paused, and then said quieter, “Bye, Pretty Girl."

"Bye," I replied and closed my eyes, feeling anticipation and getting antsy to get home. 

Apollo kissed my forehead. I felt a strong wind blow and the medical ward erupted in a bright light.

*    *    *

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