𝐈𝐈𝐈. 𝐀𝐆𝐎𝐑𝐀 | 𝐏𝐉𝐎 𝐗 𝐇𝐏

𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐮𝐞, 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗽

BACK TO CAMP, WE GO

"The guy from the Hermes cabin?" Percy remembered him from two years ago. They'd eavesdropped on Chris Rodriguez aboard Luke's ship, the Princess Andromeda. Chris was one of the half-bloods who'd abandoned camp and joined the Titan Army. He was the one who had held Lilith.

"Yeah," Annabeth said. "Last summer he just appeared in Phoenix, Arizona, near Clarisse's mom's house."

"What do you mean he just appeared?"

"He was wandering around the desert, in a hundred and twenty degrees, in full Greek armor, babbling about string."

"String," Percy said.

"He'd been driven completely insane. Clarisse brought him back to her mom's house so the mortals wouldn't institutionalize him. She tried to nurse him back to health. Chiron came out and interviewed him, but it wasn't much good. The only thing they got out of him: Luke's men have been exploring the Labyrinth."

He shivered, though he wasn't exactly sure why. Poor Chris...he hadn't been a bad guy. What could've driven him mad? Percy looked at Grover, who was chewing up the rest of his fork.

"Okay," He asked. "Why were they exploring the Labyrinth?"

"We weren't sure," Annabeth said. "That's why Clarisse went on a scouting expedition. Chiron kept things hushed up because he didn't want anyone panicking. He got me involved because...well, the Labyrinth has always been one of my favorite subjects. The architecture involved—" Her expression turned a little dreamy.

"The builder, Daedalus, was a genius. But the point is, the Labyrinth has entrances everywhere. If Luke could figure out how to navigate it, he could move his army around with incredible speed."

"-And also a wanted man in the Underworld." a soft voice joined them. The trio turned around to see Lilith standing beside them.

"Lilith, You're back!" Percy greeted happily, standing up and pulling her into a hug.

"Hiya, Percy." She smiled, hugging him before pulling away, "Annabeth, Grover."

The two stood up as well, bringing the girl into a hug. "How was school, Li?" Annabeth questioned.

"I killed a Basilisk." said the girl casually.

Grover nearly choked on his fork as he sputtered out, "There's a Basilisk in your school?"

"Under." She corrected.

"What's a creature like that doing under a magic school?" Annabeth questioned in concern, "Are you even sure it's safe?"

"Yeah." Lilith waved her off, "There are a few problems here and there, but nothing like the ones we face everyday." She offered a small smile.

"Anyways, about the Labyrinth. You said Luke's trying to figure it out?"

Annabeth nodded in reply,

"Except it's a maze, right?"

"Full of horrible traps," Grover agreed. "Dead ends. Illusions. Psychotic goat-killing monsters."

"But not if you had Ariadne's string," Annabeth said. "In the old days, Ariadne's string guided Theseus out of the maze. It was a navigation instrument of some kind, invented by Daedalus. And Chris Rodriguez was mumbling about string."

"So Luke is trying to find Ariadne's string," Percy said. "Why? What's he planning?"

Annabeth shook her head. "I don't know. I thought maybe he wanted to invade camp through the maze, but that doesn't make any sense. The closest entrances Clarisse found were in Manhattan, which wouldn't help Luke get past our borders. Clarisse explored a little way into the tunnels, but...it was very dangerous. She had some close calls. I researched everything I could find about Daedalus. I'm afraid it didn't help much. I don't understand exactly what Luke's planning, but I do know this: the Labyrinth might be the key to Grover's problem."