ROSE WAS STILL FEELING SHAKY the next morning when Chiron called a war council.
They met in the sword arena, which she thought was pretty strange— trying to discuss the fate of the camp while Mrs. O'Leary chewed on a life-size squeaky pink rubber yak.
Chiron and Quintus stood at the front by the weapon racks. Clarisse and Annabeth sat next to each other and led the briefing. Tyson and Grover sat as far away from each other as possible. Also present around the table: Juniper the tree nymph, Silena Beauregard, Travis and Connor Stoll, Beckendorf, Lee Fletcher, and Rose, who had been dragged along by Silena. Even Argus, their hundred-eyed security chief was there. That's how Rose knew it was serious. Argus hardly ever showed up unless something really major is going on. The whole time Annabeth spoke, he kept his hundred blue eyes trained on her so hard his whole body turned bloodshot.
"Luke must have known about the Labyrinth entrance," Annabeth said. "He knew everything about camp."
Rose thought she heard a little pride in her voice, like she still respected Luke, evil as he was. She rolled her eyes.
Juniper cleared her throat. "That's what I was trying to tell you last night. The cave entrance has been there a long time. Luke used to use it."
Silena shared a look with Rose before saying, "You knew about the Labyrinth entrance, and you didn't say anything?"
Juniper's face turned green. "I didn't know it was important. Just a cave. I don't like yucky old caves."
"She has good taste," Grover said.
"I wouldn't have paid any attention except... well, it was Luke." She blushed a little greener.
Grover huffed. "Forget what I said about good taste."
"Interesting," Quintus polished his sword as he spoke. "And you believe this young man, Luke, would dare use the Labyrinth as an invasion route?"
"Absolutely," Rose said.
"I don't like him," Silena whispered to her. "He has bad energy."
"I know," Rose whispered back. "He's so annoying."
"If he could get an army of monsters inside Camp Half-Blood, just pop up in the middle of the woods without having to worry about our magical boundaries, we wouldn't stand a chance." Clarisse fiddled with a ring as she talked. "He could wipe us out easy. He must've been planning this for months."
"He's been sending scouts into the maze," Annabeth said. "We know because... because we found one."
"Chris Rodriguez," Chiron said. He gave Quintus a meaningful look.
"Ah," Quintus said. "The one in the... yes, I understand."
Rose and Percy shared a look.
"The one in the what?" Percy asked.
Clarisse glared at him. "The point is, Luke has been looking for a way to navigate the maze. He's searching for Daedalus's workshop."
"The guy who created the maze," Percy said.
"Yes," Annabeth said. "The greatest architect, the greatest inventor of all time. If the legends are true, his workshop is in the center of the Labyrinth. He's the only one who knew how to navigate the maze perfectly. If Luke managed to find the workshop and convince Daedalus to help him, Luke wouldn't have to fumble around searching for paths, or risk losing his army in the maze's traps. He could navigate anywhere he wanted—quickly and safely. First to Camp Half-Blood to wipe us out. Then... to Olympus."
The arena was silent except for Mrs. O'Leary's toy yak getting disemboweled: SQUEAK! SQUEAK!
Finally Beckendorf leaned back and said, "Back up a sec, Annabeth, you said 'convince Daedalus'? Isn't Daedalus dead?"
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Fanfiction- in which the son of poseidon and daughter of aphrodite fall for each other. (ttc-tlo) - copyright 2021 kurtkunkles - wattys 2022 contestant - undergoing editing RANKINGS- #9 in apollo #14 in greek #45 in annabeth #4 in greekmythology #17 in percy...