63. Merry Happy News From The Oracle

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Chiron insisted they talk about it in the morning, which was kind of like, Hey, your life's in mortal danger. Sleep tight! It was hard to fall asleep, but when she did, Annabeth only found the dark, endless void of dreamless nights.

The next morning Chiron called a war council. They met in the sword arena, which was pretty strange—trying to discuss the fate of the camp while Mrs. O'Leary chewed on a life-size squeaky pink rubber yak.

Annabeth led the briefing with Clarisse, who sat next to her. Chiron and Quintus stood at the front by the weapon racks. Ethan, Percy, Grover and Tyson sat together. Also present around the table: Juniper the tree nymph, Silena Beauregard, Travis and Connor Stoll, Beckendorf, Lee Fletcher, even Argus, their hundred-eyed security chief. That's how you knew it was serious. Argus hardly ever showed up unless something really major was going on. The whole time she spoke, Annabeth could feel his hundred blue eyes trained on her so hard his whole body had turned bloodshot.

"Luke must have known about the Labyrinth entrance," Annabeth said, trying not to mind about Argus. "He knew everything about camp." However much you hated him, you couldn't take that from him.

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." Juniper 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?"

"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.

Annabeth thought about Chris Rodriguez, who was in the basement of the Big House. But that wasn't what mattered now.

Clarisse glared at Percy. "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 put his huge hands on the table. "Back up a sec. Annabeth, you said 'convince Daedalus'? Isn't Daedalus dead?"

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