The war council assembled for me was big. That made me feel important, and my Athena kid pride switched on immediately. All the camp councilors were there, along with Chiron and Quintus at the head of the table, Tyson and Grover, juniper, silena and beckendorf, the stoll brothers, Lee fletcher and surprisingly, Argus, the hundred eyed body guard of camp. He hardly showed up unless it was something really serious, which the labyrinth was. Clarisse stood next to me. We were the leaders of the meeting. The era councilors.
My head ached with pride.
When I started explaining the situation and the things we needed to do, I sent the occasional glance at Percy, who was obviously not paying attention. He looked a bit shaken and I wondered if anything had happened that he needed to tell me about.
“Luke must’ve known about the labyrinth entrance,” I continued. “He knew everything about camp.”
Percy looked up at my words. It almost looked like he was halting, but I must’ve imagined it because the glare faded as soon as it was there.
Juniper cleared her throat. “That’s what I was trying to tell you last night. The cave entrance has been there a long time. Luke used to use it.”
Of course! I should’ve known to ask juniper about anything suspicious before. She lived right by the entrance!
Silena frowned. “You knew about the labyrinth entrance, and you didn’t say anything?@
I was about to object. Juniper wouldn’t do that on purpose, but juniper turned green and said, “I didn’t know it was important. Just a cave. I don’t like yucky old caves.”
“She has good taste,” Grover said.
“I wouldn’t have paid any attention except…” she shot an apologetic glance at Grover and blushed a little greener, “well, it was Luke.”
Grover huffed. “Forget what I said about good taste.”
My brain screamed at juniper, agreeing wholeheartedly, before being reminded that Luke was evil and I couldn’t like him.
“Interesting.” Quintus polished his sword as he spoke. “And you believe this young man, Luke, 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.”
“He’s been sending scouts into the maze,” I said. I’m sorry for talking this way, Luke. “We know because…because we found one.”
People gasped. They knew something was up, but not quite what, and now they would be told.
“Chris Rodriguez,” Chiron said. He gave Quintus a look.
“Ah,” Quintus said, his eyebrows furrowing. “The one in the..yes. I understand.”
“The one in the what?” Percy asked.
Clarisse and I glared at him. Shut up Percy.
“The point is,” Clarisse said, “Luke has been looking for a way to navigate the maze. He’s searching for Daedalus’s workshop.”
Percy took a sharp intake of breath. “The guy who created the maze.”
“Yes,” I said, getting worried now. If he didn’t know who Daedalus was last night and he did this morning, then he must’ve had a dream. I made a mental note to ask him later. “The greatest architect, the greatest inventor of all time. If all the legends are true, his workshop is in the center of the labyrinth. He’s the only one who knew how to navigate the maze perfectly. If Luke managed to find the workshop and convince Daedalus to help him, Luke wouldn’t have to fumble around searching for paths, or risk losing his army in the maze’s traps. He could navigate anywhere he wanted—quickly and safely. First to camp half blood to wipe us out. Then…to Olympus.”
Dead silence.
I looked at Quintus. He had a knowing glint in his eyes that I didn’t trust. Thoughts flooded my mind. Where had Quintus come from? Who was he? Why did Chiron trust him? He looked my way and I averted my eyes, looking at Percy intently instead, wondering what his dream was.
Beckendorf put his hands on the table. “Back up a sec. Annabeth, you said ‘convince Daedalus’? Isn’t Daedalus dead?”
Quintus grunted. "I would hope so. He lived, what, three thousand years ago? And even if he were alive, dont the old stories say he fled from the Labyrinth?"
Chiron clopped restlessly on his hooves. "That's the Problem, my dear Quintus. No one knows. There are rumors... well, there are many disturbing rumors about Daedalus, but one is that he disappeared back into the Labyrinth toward the end of his life. He might still be down there."
I looked at Quintus again, things flooding my head faster than draining a sink. But I dismissed all of them. My Athena brain worked overtime, and half of that time all its thoughts were useless. Especially considering I was a girl and they thought much more than the average human being.
“We need to go in,” I decided. “We have to find the workshop … before Luke does. If Daedalus is alive, we convince him to help us, not Luke. If Ariadne’s strong still exists, we make sure it never falls into Luke’s hands.”
I apologized to Luke in my head again. I needed repentance for if he ever saw reason. If I ever made him see reason…
“Wait a second,” Percy said. If we’re worried about an attack, why not just blow up the entrance? Seal the tunnel?”
“Great idea!” Grover said. “I’ll get the dynamite!”
You know, sometimes I just want to surgically remove those two’s brains and give them smarter ones. Ah, daydreams…
“It’s not so easy, stupid,” Clarisse said aggressively. “We tried that at the entrance we found in phoenix. It didn’t go well.”
I nodded, very tempted to roll my eyes. “The labyrinth is magical architecture, Percy. It would take huge power to seal even one of its entrances. In phoenix, Clarisse demolished a whole building with a wrecking ball, and the maze entrance just shifted a few feet. The best we can do is prevent Luke from learning to navigate the labyrinth.”
"We could fight," Lee. Fletcher said. "We know where the entrance is now. We can set up a defensive line and wait for them. If an army tries to come through, they'll find us waiting with our bows."
"We will certainly set up defenses," Chiron agreed. "But I fear Clarisse is right. The magical borders have kept this camp safe for hundreds of years. If Luke manages to get a large army of monsters into the center of camp, bypassing our boundaries... we may not have the strength to defeat them."
Nobody looked real happy about that news. Chiron usually tried to be upbeat and optimistic. If he was predicting we couldn't hold off an attack, that wasn't good. I knew him too well, and the fear in his voice was unmistakable. My heart squeezed with sympathy.
“We have to get to Daedalus’s workshop first,” I insisted. “Find Ariadne’s string and prevent Luke from using it.”
"But if nobody can navigate in there," percy said, "what chance do we have?"
"I’ve been studying architecture for years," i said. “I know Daedalus's Labyrinth better than anybody!."
"From reading about it."
"Well, yes."
"That's not enough."
"It has to be!"
"It isn't!"
"Are you going to help me or not?"
The words sting in my throat. Percy and I fought all the time, but why wasn’t he on my side this time? He knew I always wanted a quest and never got one. The labyrinth would be perfect for me!
Everyone was watching us. My face turned red.
Chiron cleared his throat. “First things first. We need a quest.”
My brain lit up.
“Someone must enter the labyrinth,” Chiron continued. “Find the workshop of Daedalus. Prevent Luke from using the maze to invade this camp.”
“We all know who should lead this,” Clarisse interrupted. “Annabeth.”
Suddenly everything seemed sharper, more in color. My heart lit up with hope. My first quest!!
“You’ve done as much as I have, Clarisse,” I said sheepishly. “You should go too.”
Clarisse shook her head. “I’m not going back there.”
Dang. I should’ve known better than to ask, or even mention it.
Travis Stoll laughed. “Don’t tell me you’re scared. Clarisse, chicken?”
Clarisse got to her feet. I glared at Travis. I thought Clarisse was going to beat him up, but her voice sounded broken when she said, “You don’t understand anything, punk. I’m never going in there again. Never!”
She stormed out.
Travis looked at everybody apologetically. “I didn’t mean to—“
Chiron raised his hand. “The poor girl has qahad a difficult year. Now, do we have agreement that annabeth should lead the quest?”
I’m pretty sure my whole face lit up when everyone raised their hands. My whole body did at least. On the inside. I forgave Clarisse for everything she ever did to me.
“Very well,” Chiron said, beaming at me, despite the seriousness of the situation. “My dear, it’s your time to visit the oracle. Assuming you return to us in one piece, we shall discuss what to do next.”
Right. The oracle.
I looked at him in fear.
וןםפוןםפוןפֶֶםון time skip וןםפוןםפוןפֶֶםון
Walking up to the attic fifteen minutes later might’ve been the scariest thing I’ve ever done.
I’d been to the attic a few times before, I can’t remember when, as I was so young, but I remember coming. After all, I was more terrified than being chased by a million monsters to Half Blood Hill.
The stairs were creaky, and each step felt like it was going to fall and let me go down to whatever was below.
I made a mental note to ask Chiron to replace them.
When I reached the top, my hand hovered over the doorknob. Once I turned it, there was no more turning back. If I went back down the creaky stairs now, I could escape this. Just kidding! I don’t want the quest! Percy can take it!
But in my heart, I knew I couldn’t deny the quest. Something told me that once I stepped into the attic, it would probably change my destiny.
I thought about Luke, coming over and begging me to run away from him.
I thought about how angry he had left that visit. He cared about me. He always did. If I turned down this quest, I might never get the chance to see him again, unless he invaded camp. He wouldn’t want me to turn down my fate.
I turned the doorknob and stepped into the attic.
I quickly closed the door behind me to ensure I wasn’t turning back, but I immediately regretted it, because the moment I looked at my surroundings I was willing to sprint down those stairs.
It was full of old furniture and cobwebs, random junk strung up around the room. It was all cluttered together, like someone had come in, cleared a path, and shoved all the rest into a corner. Everything was rotting and it reeked of mold.
And she sat in the back of the room. I couldn’t see her through the maze of grandmother belongings, but I knew she was there. It felt like she was watching me. Waiting.
I shivered.
Each step felt like stone as I slowly made my way to where she sat. My foot would hit the floor again and again, each sounding like an intruder to the silence that occupied the attic.
Then I saw her.
An old shriveled mummy, covered in hippie beads and dressed like the eighties. I’m pretty sure I would have nightmares filled with tie dye and rainbows after that.
I nearly passed out. I swear, my head got all sweaty and my vision blurred like crazy. My knees buckled and next moment, I was sitting on the floor, taking deep breaths and trying to convince myself that confronting the mummy was worth it.
I wasn’t very good at that.
I closed my eyes, and several faces flashed before them. Luke. Chiron. Percy.
Percy. Luke. Chiron.
Percy. Luke.
I opened my eyes, stared the mummy down, and stood up shakily. Still shaking quite a bit, I stepped forward.
“Hi—iii. Hi,” I said, probably embarrassing myself. “My n—name is Anna—annabeth. Chase. I’m here to…to g—get a —“
The mummy moved and I jumped. I almost considered sprinting out of the room, but the mummy’s head popped straight up, looking at me.
“Ah!”I said, stepping back a millimeter. “Oh—um… can I maybe go now—I’ll be right back, I’m just gonna—“
If hissed, and the sound pierced my ears like a needle, filling the room and coming into my head. I covered my ears, crying out. Green smoke came from her mouth and swirled around me, distorting my vision green.
My eyes rolled into the back of my head, and I fell to the ground. Colors immediately filled my head.
It was all black at first, the dream. Complete darkness. A small part of me knew I had passed out and it was a dream, but the other fearful part of me whispered that this was hell on earth.
Then the green mist entered the dream, swirling and grabbing everything in its grasp, which was the darkness. Then I saw her. Not the mummy. My mummy. My mother, Athena. At least it looked like her. Her face kept shifting into different ones, with the same imprint of her original face.
Her eyes were green, and when I stepped forward, she took my face in her hands. For a moment it was sweet, the gesture. Then her hands became hard and it felt more like a headlock instead of a hug. I yelled out, but my mother started speaking.
“You shall delve in the darkness of the endless maze,” she said, her face shifting into different versions of bricks and mazes. “The dead, the traitor, and the lost one raise.” This time the shifts were into faces I didn’t recognize.
“You shall rise or fall by the ghost kings hand, the child of Athena’s final stand.”
I shivered, praying to the gods that that line didn’t mean me.
“Destroy with a hero’s final breath.”
My heart dropped. That sounded scarily like the Great Prophecy. I thought about Percy, and Luke. Always those two were the hero’s, at least in my story.
“And a love to lose to worse than death.”
I stared my mother down. A love to lose to worse than death. Percy.
No.
No way. I couldn’t lose him now. Not after all we’d been through.
My mother groaned and let go of me, clutching her stomach and disintegrating like a monster would. Then everything faded out, leaving only darkness.
I woken up, sitting straight up and panting.
Tears stained my face, even though I didn’t remember crying. I looked at my hands, they were sweaty and pale.
I glanced around at my surroundings. The mummy sat exactly as she was before, no signs of human torture at all. The green smoke was gone.
I stood up right away and ran out of there, sprinting down the stairs like a madman.
ח ר ף ף time skip ף ף ר ח
"My dear," Chiron said as I stepped into arena. "You made it."
I wanted to say, "Barely," but the words wouldn't come out of my mouth. My whole body felt numb, and I doubted I would be able to explain the prophecy to them. I sat down on a stone and stared at the floor, my breath shaky.
"Well?" Quintus asked.
I looked at Percy, the oracle's words flipping through my head. A love to lose to worse than death.
I looked at quintus. "I got the prophecy. I will lead the quest to find Daedelus's workshop."
Everyone looked grave. I had wanted a quest since I had showed up here at age seven. But this was seriously dangerous. And the prophecy clearly stated that multiple people were destined to die. A love, a child of Athena, and maybe everyone, as it says rise or fall multiple times as well.
Chiron scraped a hoof on the dirt floor. "What did the prophecy say exactly , my dear? The wording is important."
I'd been dreading this question. I inhaled. "I, ah... well, it said, you shall delve in the darkness of the endless maze...the dead, the traitor, and the lost one raise."
"The lost one!" Grover said excitedly. "That must mean Pan! Thats great!"
"With the dead and the traitor," Percy commented, starting at the ground, before his eyes shifted to mine. "Not so great."
"And?" Chiron asked. "What is the rest?"
I figured I could probably get away with stopping the prophecy at the line about my possible death, instead of facing a love to lose to worse than death. "You shall rise or fall by the ghost king's hand, the child of Athena's final stand."
Everyone looked uncomfortable at that line. I was a child of Athena, and my final stand didn't sound too good.
"Hey," Silena said cheerfully, "we shouldn't jump to conclusions. Annabeth isn't the only child of Athena, right?"
That was true, but my gut told me that this line needed to be unpacked more.
"But who's this ghost king?" Beckendorf asked.
Silence.
"Are there more lines?" Chiron asked. My heart sunk. "The prophecy does not sound complete."
"I don't...remember exactly." It wasn't the most believable lie, but it was the best I had.
Chiron raised and eyebrow. He knew me too well. "Something about... 'Destroy with a hero's final breath."
"And?"
I stood. "Look, the pint is, I have to go in. I'll find the workshop and stop Luke. And...I need help." A love to lose to word than death. I needed Percy, but what would happen if he died? I turned to him as my brain worked something out. "Will you come?"
"I'm in," Percy said immediately. His loyalty made my heart flutter and I smiled.
"Grover, you too? The wild god is waiting."
Alive with his excitement at the "lost one" line, Grover forgot all about his fear of the underground. "I'll pack extra recyclables for snacks!"
"And Tyson," I said. I knew the risks, but I needed all of them. I just knew it. "I'll need you too."
"Yay! Blow things up time!" I almost smiled, but the graveness caught up fader than my laugh could.
"Wait, Annabeth," Chiron said gravely. "This goes against the ancient laws. A hero is allowed only two companions."
"I need them all," I insisted. "Chiron, it's important."
"Annabeth." Chiron flicked his tail nervously. "Consider well. You would be breaking the ancient laws, and there are always consequences. Last winter, five went on a quest to save Artemis. Only three came back. Think on that. Three is a sacred number. There are three Fates, three Furies, three Olympian sons of Kronos. It is a good strong number that stands against many dangers. Four ... this is risky."
I took a deep breath. "I know. But we have to. Please."
I looked at him, silently communicating. I would have to tell him the test often prophecy later, I just knew it. Chiron had been like a father to me, and he deserved to know.
He sighed. "Very well. Let us adjourn. The members of the quest must prepare themselves. Tomorrow, at dawn, we send you into the labyrinth."
םרףף time skip ףףרם
Studying. Classic kid of Athena. Studying and pride. Our two weaknesses. Whenever I get scared, I study up on the thing I'm scared of. It makes me feel better about myself, giving me confidence to defeat or face the thing I'm scared of.
Studying on the labyrinth didn't help at all. I'm pretty sure it made my fear worse, especially considering the books didn't have anything on "a love to lose to worse than death."
The maps didn't help much either. They basically told me that if I were to go into the labyrinth, I was doomed. Yay me.
"Knock knock," a voice said from the back of the Athena cabin.
I turned with a start to find Percy standing, looking quite sympathetic. "Oh...hi. Didn't hear you."
"You okay?"
I frowned at the useless maps and scrolls in front of me. "Just trying to do some research. Daedelus's labyrinth is so huge. None of the stories agree about anything. The maps just lead from nowhere to nowhere."
I appreciated Percy for coming to check on me. At that moment in time, I really needed a friend.
Especially considering that friend might only have a few hours left.
"We'll figure it out," he promised. It's almost like he read my mind.
A pause.
"I've wanted to lead a quest since I was seven," I mentioned.
"You're going to do awesome."
I looked at him. I didn't want Percy to die! Maybe it was good that the prophecy said I might die as well. I don't think I could've beared the loneliness. But what about Tyson and Grover? "I'm worried, Percy. Maybe I should have asked you to do this. Or Tyson or Grover."
"Hey," Percy said. The look that he gave me made me want to tell him everything. "We're your friends. We wouldn't miss it."
"But..." I stopped myself. I couldn't tell him everything. Not now.
"What is it? The prophecy?"
A love to lose to WORSE than death. "I'm sure it's fine."
"What was the last line?"
Instincts. My instincts took over. I'm not much of a hugging person, but heck, this was Percy Jackson. I blinked back tears and opened my arms.
He looked surprised, but stepped forward into my arms.
"Hey," he said in a small voice. "It's ok."
I buried my face in his chest, feeling some of that safety I felt in the labyrinth, holding his hand. I held on.
"Chiron might be right," I said. "I'm breaking the rules. But I don't know what else to do. I need you three. It just feels right."
"Then don't worry about it. We've had plenty of problems before, and we solved them."
"This is different." It almost all came out. The last line of the prophecy. My fears. Every tiny emotion I had ever felt. I stopped myself. "I don't want anything happening to..." you. "...any of you."
Someone cleared their throat.
I jumped away from Percy to find Malcom, my half brother, face red as a tomato.
"Uh, sorry," he said. "Archery practice is starting, Annabeth. Chiron said to come find you.
" we were just looking at maps," Percy said stupidly. I rolled my eyes. Back to the old us.
"Ok."
"Tell Chiron I'll be right there," I said, desparately hoping my face wasn't as red as his.
Malcom ran out like a dog chasing a squirrel.
I rubbed my eyes, sighing. "You go ahead, Percy. Id better get ready for archery."
Percy nodded, looking solemn. "Annabeth? About your prophecy." I braced myself. "The line about a hero's last breath--"
"You're wondering which hero? I don't know."
"No. Something else." I braced myself for the second time. "I was thinking the last line usually rhymes with the one before it. Was it something about--did it end with the word death?"
He was right. So right. I wanted to tell him so badly. About everything.
But I didn't.
"You'd better go, Percy," I said quietly. "Get ready for the quest. I'll--I'll see you in the morning."
