Sea Princess

Chapter 28

Cassi:

I woke up with light streaming through the slits in the blinds. I blinked and glanced around realizing I wasn't in my bed. I was in the infirmary in the Big House. How in the name of Hades did I end up here? I glanced down to see my waist wrapped and remembered I had taken a stinger the other day. I groaned quietly not even realizing I had been out. I wondered how long I had been out. It couldn't have been too long, right? I took a deep breath and swung my legs over the side of the bed. A huge bolt of pain raced up through my side as I carefully sat up. I took a deep breath and swung myself to my feet. The pain wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Okay, that was a lie. It was as bad but being a demigod, you had to power through the pain. Or at least, that was what I was telling myself. That was what I was secretly hoping.

I carefully made it out of the infirmary and down the stairs because I knew if anyone saw me, they would stop me and put me back into my bed. I ducked behind a pillar as two kids came around the corner talking about some war council meeting that was starting in a few minutes. I had to get to that thing. I carefully snuck out of the Big House as I made my way to the sword arena. I was halfway there, and I wrapped an arm around my waist. My wound was throbbing painfully, but I had to make it to the meeting. I took a deep breath and stood there for half a minute. I could feel the sweat beading on my face from the effort it was taking me too just get to the top of the steps.

"Come on Cassi just another like couple minutes and you'll be there." I muttered to myself. I started walking again and I looked into the arena to see that they had already started their meeting already. They were all seated around a table except for Chiron and the new guy Quintus. They were both standing while Clarisse and Annabeth talked about what was going on.

"Interesting, and you believe this young man, Luke, would dare use the Labyrinth as an invasion route?" Quintus asked as he polished his sword. I smirked. Oh, so they were already on the subject of Luke. Well, if that wasn't a nice topic to walk in on, I don't know what was.

"Oh yeah. It's Luke. He would do anything to destroy this place and us." I commented. Everyone's heads jerked up. Blake stared at me in shock and so did Percy. I smiled and waved at them. I leaned against the pillar at the top hoping to not look as painful as I actually felt. I was ready to pass the hell out. 

"You shouldn't be up." Blake said standing up.

"I agree with Cassi. He would bring his army through, and we wouldn't stand a choice because he won't have to worry about the magical boundaries. He must have been planning this for months." She said. I nodded.

"I wouldn't put it past him. He probably has. I personally never heard him say anything about the labyrinth but it's a high probability he's planning to use it for something." I muttered as I took my steps down towards them carefully one at a time. I could see Blake and Percy holding their breaths hoping I wouldn't fall. When I was safely at the bottom Blake came over to me and looked down at me with a disappointed look.

"I heard about the meeting. I couldn't miss it." I smiled as I winked at him. He shook his head but grabbed my arm. He looped it around his neck, and I stared at him confused. He bent down and put an arm behind my knees before sweeping me off my feet. He sat me down in the chair next to him that was empty because that's where I usually sat.

"And you call me crazy." Percy said from the other side of my chair. I rolled my eyes.

"Like you wouldn't have done what I did." I said. He opened his mouth, and I tilted my head to the side and narrowed my eyes at him and he shut his mouth. I smiled at him and leaned back into my chair smiling.

"He's been sending scouts into the maze. We know because...because we found one." Annabeth said. I looked at her with raised eyebrows. I hadn't been told that. Why hadn't I been told that?

"Chris Rodriguez." Chiron said as I looked at him confused. That name sounded familiar and then I realized he had been in Ares's cabin. Well, that's...interesting. I didn't even realize that he had been gone let alone join Luke's crazy ass cause. 

"Ah, the one in the...yes. I understand." Quintus said. I looked at them confused. When had they found Christ Rodriguez? A shiver went down my back as I shifted in my chair slightly. I hated thinking of that stupid labyrinth. Nothing good ever came from that thing.

"The one in the what?" Percy asked. I glanced over at Percy before glancing over to Quintus. 

"The point is Luke has been looking for a way to navigate the maze. He's searching for Daedalus' workshop." Clarisse snapped. I frowned. 

"The guy who created the maze." Percy said. I glanced over at him impressed.

"Yes. 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 arm to 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." Annabeth said. Everyone went quiet except for Ms. O' Leary who was the camps new Hell-hound. She was chewing on something that squeaked and it was annoying the Hades out of me. I let out the first sigh and then glanced at everyone. 

"Then really we have no choice then to go into the maze and do it first." I said. Percy glanced over at me in shock at me suggesting that considering how I acted when they had first asked me about it. Blake grumbled unhappily beside me. 

"But wait isn't Daedalus dead though?" Beckendorf asked. I shrugged.

"I would hope so. He lived, what three thousand years ago? And even if he were alive, don't the old stories say he fled from the Labyrinth?" Quintus asked. 

"We all thought the Greek gods didn't exist or were 'dead' up until we met them or at least learned we were their children, right?" I asked as I put the quotations up around the word dead. Everyone went silent as I smirked. One point for Cassandra Chrysler!

"Well, and no one knows. They are rumors.... well, there are many disturbing rumors about Daedalus, but one is that he disappeared back into the Labyrinth toward the end of his life. He might still be down there." Clarisse said.

"So, I guess this means we have to go in and find the workshop and probably Daedalus, knowing our luck, and do it all before Luke has the chance." I said. Annabeth nodded and I sighed.

"And we have to make sure that Ariadne's string doesn't fall into the wrong hands if it still exists." Annabeth added as she nodded at me. A frown wiggled its way onto my face. I didn't want to go into the Labyrinth again.

"Wait a second. If we're worried about an attack, why not just blow up the entrance? Seal the tunnel?" Percy asked. It was a good idea, but the entrance of the tunnel would move somewhere else in camp. The tunnels and openings of the Labyrinth moved.

"Great idea! I'll get the dynamite!" Grover said. I shook my head.

"It's not so easy, stupid. We tried that at the entrance we found in Phoenix. It didn't go well." Clarisse said.

"The Labyrinth is magical architecture, Percy. It would take a huge power to seal even one of its entrances. In Phoenix, Clarisse demolished the whole building with a wrecking ball, the maze entrance just shifted a few feet. The best we can do is prevent Luke from learning to navigate the Labyrinth." Annabeth said.

"We could fight. We know where the entrance is now. We can set up a defensive line and wait for them. If an army tries to come through, they'll find us waiting with our bows." Lee Fletcher said. I chuckled and shook my head.

"What?" Lee asked. I looked up at him.

"We wouldn't stand a chance." I said.

"How?" He demanded. I stood up and put my hands against the table's surface, leaning forward looking him straight in the eyes.

"You don't know the monster power he has behind him. A lot of old powerful monsters are following behind Luke because of Kronos. The boarders around here won't keep them out if they come through that tunnel. We'll be sitting ducks and we will all die trying to fight them." I said. He stared at me.

"And how do you know that?" He asked leaning backwards staring at me. I just stared at him like he was dumb. 

"Lee." Chiron said in warning, but I was already on my rant.