𝐌𝐚𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐌𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐝𝐲; 𝖺𝗇𝗇𝖺𝖻𝖾𝗍𝗁 𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗌𝖾

Plot twist. Kind of

"Okay, I'm lost." Ivy said as soon as she saw him.

"You," Annabeth said. "What have you done with Daedalus?"

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?"

Ivy would've laughed at her anger if she hadn't been way too confused to do so.

Quintus came down the stairs, sword at his side and dressed in jeans and his counselor's T-shirt from Camp Half-
Blood.

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

"Well, duh," said Annabeth as Ivy said. "No shit, Sherlock".

"You're intelligent girls," He said. "But you're wrong. I work only for myself."

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

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

"Cryptic much?"

He ignored her and walked past them like they were no threat at all, going to stand by the window.

"The view changes from day to day," He mused. "It's always some place 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" Ivy said.

"Oh, yes."

"That's an illusion out there?" Percy asked. "A projection or something?"

"No," Rachel murmured. "It's real. We're really in Colorado."

Quintus regarded her. "You have clear vision, don't you? you remind me of another mortal girl I once knew. Another princess who came to grief."

"Enough games," Percy said. "What have you done with Daedalus?"

Quintus stared at him. "My boy, you need lessons from your friend on seeing clearly. I am Daedalus."

Ivy wished he was playing with them, but she knew he wasn't.

Being daughter of the god of dramatics came with a few perks. Being such a good liar and actress, it always came pretty easy to tell when someone was lying.

Ivy could've said a lot of things, but she decided on "What a plot twist."

Then Percy talked just as confused as her. "But you're not an inventor! You're a swordsman!"

"I am both," Quintus said. "And an architect. And a scholar. I also play
basketball pretty well for a guy who didn't start until he was two thousand
years old. A real artist must be good at many things."

"That's true," Rachel said. "Like I can paint with my feet as well as my
hands." Ivy looked at her weirdly.

"You see?" Quintus said. "A girl of many talents."

"But you don't even look like Daedalus," Percy protested. "I saw him in a dream, and..."

"Yes," Quintus said. "You've finally guessed the truth."

"You're an automaton. You made yourself a new body."

"Percy," Annabeth said uneasily, "that's not possible. That-that can't be an automaton."

Quintus chuckled. "Do you know what Quintus means, my dear?"

"The fifth, in Latin. But-"

"This is my fifth body." The swordsman held out his forearm. He pressed
his elbow and part of his wrist popped open-a rectangular hatch in his skin.
Underneath, bronze gears whirred. Wires glowed.