ACHILLES ( annabeth chase )

eleven | PERCY THINKS HE'S SMARTER THAN ANNABETH

VAL WAS PRETTY SURPRISED WHEN the next morning she was told by Travis and Connor that she would be required at the war council. She was an undetermined, untrustworthy, random kid from the Hermes cabin. But she had been in the Labyrinth last night, so she supposed she had probably been expecting this anyways. It made her feel very important.

They met in the sword arena, which was an interesting choice for a council. Val had much experience with the Roman council and court, and they were the most sophisticated places she'd ever been. Val had already decided she liked the Greeks way of doing things. She also liked how most of them didn't want her beheaded, but that was beside the point.

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. Val sat next to Percy, the only person she'd talked to besides Connor and Travis. Also present around the table: Juniper the tree nymph, Silena Beauregard, Beckendorf, Lee Fletcher, even Argus, the hundred-eyed security chief. 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."

Percy's expression hardened when Annabeth talked about Luke. Val noticed he tended to do that.

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 Beauregard frowned. "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."

Val smiled to herself. This was fun. She liked these council things.

"Interesting," Quintus polished his sword as he spoke. "And you believe this young man, Luke, would dare use the Labyrinth as an invasion route?"

"Definitely," Clarisse said. "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. 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."

"The one in the what?" Percy asked.

Chris Rodriguez, Val thought. Where have I heard that name before?

Clarisse glared at Percy. Once again, after being glared at by Reyna for years, all these powerful women's glares were not as intimidating as they were obviously intended to be. "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 after a moment's hesitation.

"Yes," Annabeth said.

"Go, Percy," Val said. This time, Annabeth glared at her, which was slightly more intimidating than Clarisse.

"The greatest architect, the greatest inventor of all time," Annabeth continued. "If the legends are true, his workshop is in the centre 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."