Andy Jackson: Child of Land & Sea

Nowhere To Nowhere

Act IV — To Stop The Tide

Part III — We don't have to say it 'cause we both know it's true: I wouldn't have nothing if I didn't have you.

There was a boy in a Greek tunic and sandals crouching alone in a massive stone room. The ceiling was open to the night sky, but the walls were twenty feet high and polished marble. The boy huddled in the corner, shivering from cold, or maybe fear. He was spattered in mud.

The double oak doors moaned open. Two guards in bronze armor marched in, holding an old man between them. They flung him to the floor in a battered heap.

"Father!" the boy ran to him. The man's robes were in tatters. His hair was streaked with gray, and his beard was long and curly. There was blood on his face. "What did they do to you?" the boy cried. "I'll kill you!" he yelled at the guards.

"There will be no killing today," a voice said. The guards moved aside. Behind them was a tall man in white robes. His eyes glittered cruelly. "You helped the Athenian kill my Minotaur, Daedalus. You turned my own daughter against me."

"You did that yourself, Your Majesty," the old man croaked.

"You love your maze so much," the king said, "I have decided to let you stay here. This will be your workshop. Make me new wonders. Amuse me. Every maze needs a monster. You shall be mine."

"I don't fear you," the old man groaned.

The king smiled coldly. "But a man cares about his son, eh? Displease me, old man, and the next time my guards inflict a punishment, it will be on him!" And he swept out of the room with his guards.

The boy and his father were left alone in the darkness.

"What will we do?" the boy moaned. "Father, they will kill you!"

The old man swallowed with difficulty. "Take heart, my son," he tried to smile. "I will find a way."

A bar lowered across the doors with a fatal BOOM, and Andy woke in a cold sweat.

***

Chiron had decided to call the war council in the morning. They met in the sword arena to discuss the fate of the camp while Mrs. O'Leary chewed on a toy. Chiron and Quintus stood at the front. Clarisse and Anthony sat next to each other and led the briefing. Tyson and Grover sat as far away from each other as possible; the two of them didn't really get along. Also present around the table were Juniper, Silena Beauregard, Travis and Connor Stoll, Beckendorf, Lee Fletcher and even Argus.

"Luke must have known about the Labyrinth entrance," Anthony was saying. "He knew everything about camp."

Juniper cleared her throat. "The cave entrance has been there a long time. Luke used to use it."

Silena frowned. "You knew about the entrance and you didn't say anything?"

Juniper's face turned green. "I did say something. Yesterday. I didn't know it was important, okay? It was just a cave. I wouldn't have paid any attention except... well, it was Luke," she blushed a little greener.

"I know, right?" said Andy. "Everytime I see him it's like damn boy, you know?"

Silena agreed with a giggle. Anthony tightened his lips. He really had no sense of humor.

"Interesting," said Quintus. "And you believe this young man would dare use the Labyrinth as an invasion route?"

"Definitely," Clarisse said. "If he could get an army of monsters inside Camp Half-Blood, just pop up in the middle of the woods without having to worry about our magical boundaries, we wouldn't stand a chance. He could wipe us out easy. He must've been planning this for months."