Annabeth Chase and the Battle of the Labyrinth

Chapter 46 - Dionysus hijacks the council

Nico did not look good. He was lying face down, his sword abandoned by his side. Smoke curled off his black clothing like his soul was trying to leave. His fingers were curled up tight and the grass around him was dead, like it has been burned. 

Percy gently rolled him over and laid a hand on his chest. The scared look on his face lessened slightly, but not completely. "Get some nectar!" he yelled. 

A hobbling Ares kid brought a canteen over and Percy dribbled some of it into Nico's mouth. A lot of it spilled out, but he got enough of it in for Nico to wake, coughing and spluttering. He looked shocked to see us all crouched above him. 

"Nico, what happened?" Percy asked. "Can you talk?"

The young demigod nodded weakly. "Never tried to summon so many before. I - I'll be fine."

I helped him sit up while Percy gave him more nectar. He recovered quickly, his eyes sliding past us to someone who was approaching quietly behind us. "Daedalus."

The old inventor stopped in front of us, his face mournful. "Yes, my boy. I made a very bad mistake. I came to correct it."

He looked better than the rest of us, even with the two recent battles he'd fought. As I watched, one of the cuts on his arm slowly began to heal until all that remained was the golden oil that had spilled instead of blood. 

Behind him hovered Mrs O'Leary, who looked slightly uneasy to be around so many demigods with swords. She licked Daedalus's hair to comfort herself, causing his short grey locks to stick upright. 

Bringing up the rear was Briares, although he wasn't making much progress with all the demigods and satyrs that were swarming him, asking for autographs. While he looked bashful, he didn't say no, his multiple hands able to sign several pieces of armour, shields and swords at once. 

"I found the Hundred-handed One as I came through the maze," Daedalus explained. "It seems he had the same idea, to come and help, but he was lost. And so we fell in together. We both came to make amends."

"Yay!" Tyson said, clapping his hands. "Briares! I knew you would come!"

"I did not know," Briares said. "But you reminded me who I am, Cyclops. You are the hero."

Tyson blushed. Percy patted him on the back, looking proud. "I knew that a long time ago. But Daedalus . . . the Titan army is still down there. Even without the string, they'll be back. They'll find another way sooner or later, with Kronos leading them."

Daedalus sheathed his sword, a soft look on his face. "You are right. As long as the Labyrinth is here, your enemies can use it. Which is why the Labyrinth cannot continue."

I stared at him. Was there another way to destroy it? "But you said the Labyrinth is tied to your life force! As long as you're alive -"

"Yes, my young architect. When I die, the Labyrinth will as well. And so I have a present for you."

He slung a satchel off his back, and pulled a sleek silver computer out of it. It had the mark of Daedalus on its lid. I recognised it as one of the laptops I saw in the workshop. 

"My work is here," he said. "It's all I managed to save from the fire. Notes on projects I never started. Some of my favourite designs. I couldn't develop these over the last few millennia. I did not dare reveal my work to the mortal world. But perhaps you will find them interesting."

To my surprise, he handed the laptop to me, a smile on his face as he saw the shock on my face. I felt like I was I'd been given the key to a treasure chest. 

"You're giving this to me?" I breathed. "But this is priceless! This is worth . . . I don't even know how much!"

"Small compensation for the way I have acted," he said. "You were right, Annabeth, about children of Athena. We should be wise, and I was not. Someday you will be a greater architect than I ever was. Take my ideas and improve them. It is the least I can do before I pass on."