𝐕𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐁𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐲.

Do Not Panic. Make Your Way to the Nearest Exit

The next morning there was a lot of excitement at breakfast.

Around three in the morning an Aethiopian drakon had been spotted at the borders of camp.

The magical boundaries had kept the monster out, but it prowled the hills, looking for weak spots in the defenses, and it didn't seem anxious to go away until Lee Fletcher from Apollo's cabin led a couple of his siblings in pursuit, unfortunately for Lilia, she was dragged along. After a few dozen arrows lodged in the chinks of the drakon's armor, it got the message and withdrew.

"It's still out there," Lee warned them during announcements. "Twenty arrows in its hide, and we just made it mad. The thing was thirty feet long and bright green. It's eyes" he shuddered.

"You did well, Lee," Chiron patted him on the shoulder. "Everyone stay alert, but stay calm. This has happened before."

"Aye," Quintus said from the head table. "And it will happen again. More and more frequently."
The campers murmured among themselves.

Everyone knew the rumors: Luke and his army of monsters were planning an invasion of the camp.

Most expected it to happen this summer, but no one knew how or when. It didn't help that their attendance was down. They only had about eighty campers. Four years ago, before Lilia had vanished, there had been more than a hundred. Some had died. Some had joined Luke. Some had just disappeared.

"This is a good reason for new war games," Quintus continued, a glint in his eyes. "We'll see how you all do with that tonight."

"Yes..." Chiron said. "Well, enough announcements. Let us bless this meal and eat." He raised his goblet. "To the gods." They all raised their glasses and repeated the blessing.

"Aphrodite." Lilia whispered, "help us defeat Luke and find out where I went." She sighed chucking some fruit into the fire.

Lilia made her way back to her table and sat quietly nudging her food around her plate tiredly. She caught Annabeth's eyes, she was looking between Lilia and the Poseidon table, where Percy and Grover sat gloomily. Lilia shook her head, but Annabeth gave her a look that meant no arguments.

Lilia huffed, slowly standing up, her siblings gave her a few odd looks along with others on different tables. She ignored them and made her way to Percy.

She stood behind them for a second.

"What was that about?" Percy asked giving Chiron an odd look.

"He wants you to  convince me." Grover mumbled.

Lilia sighed sliding in next to Percy. She didn't notice how close she was to him.

"I'll tell you what it's about." She said. "The Labyrinth."

Percy glanced around, his cheeks flushing, everyone was watching them closely, whispering amogst themselves.

"You're not supposed to be here." He whispered.

"That was harsh." She rolled her eyes. "We need to talk."

"But the rules..." campers weren't supposed to switch tables, it was different for saytrs. Annabeth slid in opposite Lilia. Now this was really breaking the rules. If Mr D were there, he'd probably have straggled the two girls with grapevines, but he wasn't here and Chiron had already left. Quintus raised an eyebrow, but he didn't say anything.

"Look," Annabeth said, "Grover is in trouble. There's only one way we can figure to help him. It's the Labyrinth. That's what been investigating with Clarisse."

"You mean the maze where they kept the Minotaur, back in the old days?" Percy asked.

"Exactly," Annabeth said.