The Battle of the Labyrinth: Apollo's Daughter

The Sun Comes to the Rescue

Skyler's POV

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

"So much for ancient architecture," I joked. Annabeth scowled at the remark and together we all walked inside.

The first thing that struck me was the daylight. Blazing warm sun coming through giant windows. Not the kind of thing you expect in the heart of a dungeon... but it was greatly welcomed. 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.

It'd be a lie to say I hadn't wanted to inspect them.

Glass jars of green oil, Greek fire, lined one shelf. There were inventions, too... weird metal machines I couldn't make sense of. 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," Annabeth muttered. She ran to the nearest easel and looked at the sketch. "He's a genius. Look at the curves on this building!"

I inspected one of the sets of silver wings, the craftsmanship of the feathers was incredible and piqued the interest of my love for the arts.

"These wings are amazing!" Rachel said, coming to stand next to me and I nodded at her excitement.

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.

Percy walked to the window and I followed him, placing a hand gently on his forearm. The view outside was amazing. I recognized the Rocky Mountains in the distance. I'd visited them once with my mother before I had run away and met Luke... 

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.

"Where are we?" Percy wondered.

"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," I hissed, quickly pulling the charm and Ilios formed in my right hand. 

"What have you done with Daedalus?" Annabeth asked, drawing her dagger.

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

"Look, Mr. Traitor," she growled, "I didn't fight a dragon woman and a three-bodied man and a psychotic Sphinx to see you. 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.

"You think I'm an agent of Kronos," he said. "That I work for Luke."

"Well, duh," said Annabeth.

"You're an intelligent girl," he said, his gaze wandering to me. "But you're wrong. I work only for myself."

"Luke mentioned you," I said. "Geryon knew about you, too. You've been to his ranch."

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

He walked past me and Percy like we were no threat at all 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."

"You've been here before," Percy said.

"Oh, yes."

"That's an illusion out there?" Percy asked.