Annabeth Chase and the Battle of the Labyrinth

Chapter 6 - A Dryad tries to bash up three goats

I don't even know why I keep making plans. I never get to do what I want to do anyway.

Chiron was easy to find. He was in the archery field, firing arrow after arrow at the row of targets set up, arms becoming almost a blur from how fast he could shoot. I knew I would find him here as it was his usual spot when he was feeling frustrated or needed time to think. He was spending a lot of time here nowadays.

I stopped a few metres behind him, watching him shoot. I was envious of how good he was. I wasn't a bad shot myself, but I was never going to reach the masterful level he was at. It was always that way with the children of Athena. Our mother's skill meant that we could become good at nearly everything we put our minds too, whether physical or mental, but we would never become the best. It was a hard pill to swallow sometimes, especially for people as ambitious as us.

After Chiron's quiver ran out and he prepared to go retrieve them, I called out, making him aware that I was there.

He spun around, looking surprised to see me as he trotted over to me. "Back so soon? What went wrong?"

I quickly described what had happened, especially the part about the empousai attacking Percy. I left out the part about Rachel though. I didn't particularly want to talk about her or her relationship with Percy. Besides, I didn't even know what to say about her. Percy had said that she could see through the Mist, if that was even possible. Either way, I decided that it would be better for Percy to tell Chiron about her.

When I was done, Chiron sighed heavily and rubbed his face into the palms of his hand, nearly poking his eye with the edge of his bow. "We just can't seem to get a break, now can we?" He muttered.

"Not really," I said, "I guess that's part of who we are though. The gods are never going to make our lives early."

"Not just the gods though," he grumbled. "Grover's hearing is starting in an hour."

"What?" I exclaimed. "It wasn't meant to be until tomorrow!"

"I know, but the Council decided to push it forward. Obviously they believe that Grover will have no case against them, regardless of the extra day. I need you and Clarisse to go and support him. Can you do that?"

"Of course," I said. "But what about Percy?"

"I'll get him. I need to talk to him before the meeting."

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Clarisse was attempting to shove a new demigod's head down the toilet when I found her, but when I told her what was happening, she let the kid go immediately and followed me to the woods. We made quick progress through the trees, both of us having been in the woods more times than we could count. Well, more than Clarisse could count, of course.

The council was meeting in a secluded spot that most campers didn't know about, but this wasn't the first council that I had attended. The first I has attended visible though.

I led Clarisse along, the bigger girl not even complaining for once about the distance we had to walk, or even that I was leading her. Sometimes, she seemed to realise that things were bigger than her own importance.

We walked into an open glade, a circle of wildflowers in the centre with three old, fat and frankly ugly satyrs sitting across the the glade from us in a semi-circle. They all had long graying beards, overly large muffin tops that were blindingly obvious with no shirts on, and long, admittedly impressive horns that were almost as sharp as Clarisse's spear that was strapped to her back.

Closer to us were Grover and his girlfriend Juniper, standing together just at the edge of the glade, Juniper whispering to Grover reassuringly while he quaked and tried to look hopeful. He wore a blue shirt that said "Got Hooves?" on it, obviously his best shirt, and had combed his hair slightly so that his little horns were more visible than usual as they poked out of his curls. Juniper had a little green dress on, her usual colour, and was offering Grover her handkerchief, even though she looked like she needed it as much as he did.