I ignore a few laws (Annabeth pov)
Chiron had insisted we talk about it in the morning, which was not good for demigod sleep routines. In a way it was like sending us off into fitful sleeps with the heavy weight of the unknown instead of the known. It was really not all that different in the grand scheme of things.
It was hard to fall asleep, but when I finally did, I dreamed of a dark prison.
A boy no more than 20 sat huddled around a smaller person obscured from my vision. His short blonde hair was dirty and matted across his forehead, he was dressed in rags that looked even worse. He had brown leather braces on his forearms, but his feet were bare and blackened with soot, a stark contrast to his ghostly pale skin. A gold chain laid around his neck but the way he was positioned I could only see the bit on the back of his neck glittering in the darkness. His deep chocolate brown eyes scanned the darkness in defiance.
“Don’t worry sis, he’s going to be fine. He always is.” He mumbled to the person cradled in his arms.
His sister mumbled something back that I could not hear.
“Come on now, V has got all of the grace and power of a tidal wave. Those monsters don’t stand a chance.”
His sister let out a whimper and burrowed deeper into her brother’s chest. Just then I heard someone coming down the hall. With a loud clang two men dressed in ancient Roman armor stood in front of the now open jail cell.
They both had the kind of mean face that you would expect of a high school bully or guards all too happy to exert violence for their dictator of a leader.
The boy curled his arm protectively around his sister as he sat up a little straighter, fire gleaming in his eyes.
“You are safe for another day,” The guard on the left said.
Then he stepped to the side and pushed someone that had been standing behind him roughly into the cell. The new person dropped in a heap as the guards quickly locked the door and left while laughing jovially.
The new person must have been the one the blonde boy had been giving praise for his fighting ability, because this new boy looked like he had been in a terrible fight. He was in a similar set of dirty rags and leather braces, but his clothes were not only filthy but caked in blood and monster ash. His dark brown hair looked singed and possibly still smoking a bit at the tips as it hung loosely around his face.
“V!” The blonde boy yelled as he moved to help him, still holding his sister close to his side.
V tried to push himself up, but he needed the blonde boy’s help otherwise he would have face planted again. His blue eyes opened, and he just looked so tired, he had none of the fight swimming in him that the other boy still possessed. The blonde boy leaned V against his shoulder pulling his brown hair from his eyes. The young girl sat up a bit and plastered herself in the space between them clutching their rags in her small fists.
“Tor, they’ve brought out more. They are never ending.” V said breathlessly. “I don’t know how much longer I can hold out.”
Tor clutched V closer to him and gripped his sister closer as well.
“You can, we can. Together we can do it. The three of us are unstoppable, right?” He tried to rally the other two,” Just like dad always said.”
He clutched at his gold chain placing the pendant I hadn’t seen before in between his thumb and his index finger. “Steadfast.” He said.
V mimicked the gesture sluggishly, “Yeah,” He bit back a hiss of pain, “Steadfast.”
Tor nudged the lump that was their sister but before she could sit up the scene faded, and I woke up in a cold sweat.
***
I was still feeling shaky the next morning when Chiron called a war council. We met in the sword arena, which was not where we normally discussed things, but Quintus preferred to stay in areas where Mrs. O’Leary would be comfortable. Which was only a little annoying trying to discuss the fate of the camp while Mrs. O’Leary chewed on a life-size squeaky pink rubber yak, but we made do.
Chiron and Quintus stood at the front by the weapon racks. Clarisse and I sat next to each other and led the briefing. Tyson and Grover sat as far away from each other as possible. Also present around the table: Percy, Hanora, Juniper the tree nymph, Silena Beauregard, Travis and Connor Stoll, Beckendorf, Lee Fletcher, even Argus, our hundred-eyed security chief. That’s how I knew it was serious. Argus hardly ever shows up unless something really major is going on. The whole time I spoke, I could see that his hundred blue eyes trained on me so hard his whole body turned bloodshot.
“Luke must have known about the Labyrinth entrance,” I said. “He knew everything about camp.”
I caught Percy’s eye for a second and a look of disapproval flashed in his eyes. I elected to ignore it.
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.”
Silena Beauregard frowned. “You knew about the Labyrinth entrance, and you didn’t say anything?”
Juniper’s face turned green. “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…well, it was Luke.” She blushed a little greener.
Grover huffed. “Forget what I said about good taste.”
“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 added. “We know because…because we found one.”
“Chris Rodriguez,” Chiron said. He gave Quintus a meaningful look.
“Ah,” Quintus said. “The one in the…Yes, I understand.”
“The one in the what?” Percy asked.
Clarisse glared at him. “The point is, Luke has been looking for a way to navigate the maze. He’s searching for Daedalus’s workshop.”
“The guy who created the maze.”
“Yes,” I said, a little impressed that Percy actually made the connection. “The greatest architect, the greatest inventor of all time. If 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.”
The arena was silent except for Mrs. O’Leary’s toy yak getting disemboweled: SQUEAK! SQUEAK!
Finally Beckendorf put his huge 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, don’t 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 there.”
For a moment the image of the two boys in my dream flashed in my mind, something about the story of Daedalus’s story of imprisonment with his son brought me back to it. The fight that the one boy had in contrast to the other who was beaten down and tired, it sounded like the dynamic Daedalus and Icarus had. My thoughts must have bled out into my expression a bit because Hanora caught my eye with concern swimming in her green eyes. I nodded subtly at her to let her know that I was fine before rallying myself back to the present.
“We need to go in,” I announced. “We have to find the workshop before Luke does. If
Daedalus is alive, we convince him to help us, not Luke. If Ariadne’s string still exists, we make sure it never falls into Luke’s hands.”
“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!”
“It’s not so easy, stupid,” Clarisse growled. “We tried that at the entrance we found in Phoenix. It didn’t go well.”
I nodded at the memory. “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 needed to keep everyone hopeful, determined even. Just like Tor did.
“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, forcing confidence into my voice. “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?”
I realized everyone was watching Percy and me like a tennis match. Mrs. O’Leary’s squeaky yak went EEK! As she ripped off its pink rubber head. Hanora tried to hide the way she jumped at the sound.
Chiron cleared his throat. “First things first. We need a quest. Someone must enter the Labyrinth, find the workshop of Daedalus, and prevent Luke from using the maze to invade this camp.”
“We all know who should lead this,” Clarisse said. “Annabeth.”
There was a murmur of agreement. Now you would think that after waiting for years to get my own quest to lead that I would be happier with this outcome. But for the first time I felt nothing but dread. I tried not to show it, but I knew from the way Percy was eyeing me and Hanora looked like she was going to say something to counter Clarisse, that I was not doing a good enough job.
“You’ve done as much as I have, Clarisse,” I said, trying to take the spotlight off of me. “You should go, too.”
Clarisse shook her head. “I’m not going back in there.”
Travis Stoll laughed. “Don’t tell me you’re scared. Clarisse, chicken?”
Clarisse got to her feet, I thought she was going to pulverize Travis, but she said in a shaky voice: “You don’t understand anything, punk. I’m never going in there again. Never!”
She stormed out of the arena.
Travis looked around sheepishly. “I didn’t mean to—”
Chiron raised his hand. “The poor girl has had a difficult year. Now, do we have agreement that Annabeth should lead the quest?”
We all nodded except Quintus. He folded his arms and stared at the table, but I wasn’t sure anyone else noticed.
“Very well,” Chiron turned to me. “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.”
***
I hesitantly climbed up to the attic through the infamous trap door. It was not the first time I had gone up there, but it was the first time that I had gone up alone.
The place was a dusty museum of quest trophies of the past. There were shields with monster bites out of them, and swords bent in the shapes of daemon heads, and a bunch of taxidermy, like a stuffed harpy and a bright orange python.
There were still armor stands covered in cobwebs; once-bright shields pitted with rust; old leather steamer trunks plastered with stickers saying ITHAKA, CIRCE'S ISLE, and LAND
OF THE AMAZONS. I shivered at the name ‘Circe’ last time I had seen her had been on her island where she had turned Percy into a guinea pig and tried to convince Hanora and I to be a part of her girls only utopia.
One long table was stacked with glass jars filled with pickled things —severed hairy claws, huge yellow eyes, various other parts of monsters. A dusty mounted trophy on the wall looked like a giant snake's head, but with horns and a full set of shark's teeth. The plaque read, HYDRA HEAD #1, WOODSTOCK, N.Y., 1969.
I shook my head and forced myself to look at the wrinkled old hippie oracle corpse. All of the memorabilia were only good for distracting me from my task. I needed to face this, the fate of camp depended on me. I squared my shoulders and strode over to the oracle.
“Oh great oracle, grant me a prophecy for this quest.” I said, forcing the shakiness from my voice.
Green smoke billowed out of the oracle’s mouth like a ghostly snake. It swirled around me twice before settling back around the mummy’s neck. It raised itself up and spoke.
You shall delve in the darkness of the endless maze,
The dead, the traitor, and the lost one raise.
You shall rise or fall by the ghost king’s hand,
The child of Athena’s final stand.
Destroy with a hero’s final breath,
And lose a love to worse than death.
Then the snake slithered back into the mouth of the mummy leaving the attic in darkness once more. I stared out into the dim light of the attic watching the dust particle float around the room. My final stand? A hero’s final breath? Neither sounded particularly great, in fact the whole thing sounded pretty awful.
But the last line was what troubled me the most. I was to lose a love to a fate worse than death. What was considered worse than death? And who would be considered my ‘love’? Heat creeped up to my cheeks as I thought of dark hair and green eyes. Percy and I had been hanging out more, things had changed since the winter solstice. But after the incident at his school with that mortal girl, I wasn’t so sure anymore. But he was the child of another prophecy, he needed to make it to sixteen, it could not possibly be him that the prophecy spoke of.
In the darkness the ring on my finger glowed faintly, despite myself I smiled. Hanora always had my back.
The last son of the dragon shall fall.
She and Percy had told me of the prophecy that the titaness Phoebe had delivered to Hanora in a dream last winter. Percy was particularly concerned by the son of the dragon line because Hanora was convinced that it referred to her specifically. Maybe the two were connected, Hanora had made it clear last summer that the word ‘love’ was not something to be taken lightly. She nearly had a panic attack every time it was mentioned, let alone the time Percy and I almost said it to her. Despite me promising her that I would not ‘jinx it’, the feeling was still there regardless of its true implication.
I realized standing in that attic that not only did I love Percy Jackson, but I loved Hanora Xanthus too.
And I was going to lose a love to a fate worse than death.
***
“My dear,” Chiron said. “You made it.”
I couldn’t help my eyes landing on Percy first and then to Hanora just off his shoulder. After what I had just heard I felt like this quest could be their death sentence, but I could not imagine going without them. I forced myself to look away and to focused on Quintus. “I got the prophecy. I will lead the quest to find Daedalus’s workshop.”
Nobody cheered. Quests were usually something to be proud of, to celebrate, but this one seemed insanely dangerous. And after what had happened to Chris Rodriguez, I didn’t even want to think about what could happen to me down there.
Chiron scraped a hoof on the dirt floor. “What did the prophecy say exactly, my dear? The wording is important.”
I took a deep breath. “I, ah…well, it said, you shall delve in the darkness of the endless
maze ...The dead, the traitor, and the lost one raise.”
Grover perked up. “The lost one! That must mean Pan! That’s great!”
“With the dead and the traitor,” Percy added. “Not so great.”
“And?” Chiron asked. “What is the rest?”
“You shall rise or fall by the ghost king’s hand, the child of Athena’s final stand.”
Everyone looked around uncomfortably. I was a daughter of Athena, and they all probably came to the same depressing conclusion I had.
“Hey…we shouldn’t jump to conclusions,” Silena said. “Annabeth isn’t the only child of Athena, right?”
“But who’s this ghost king?” Beckendorf asked.
No one answered. I had no idea what it could mean in all honesty, I was not as concerned with that line as opposed to the other more dire ones.
“Are there more lines?” Chiron asked. “The prophecy does not sound complete.”
I hesitated; I was not too sure that I really wanted to make the rest of the prophecy public. People may change their minds or do something to try and circumvent fate or maybe even stop the quest all together. “I don’t remember exactly.”
I tried to deflect, but I knew no one would really believe me. My memory was too good. Chiron raised an eyebrow.
I shifted uncomfortably on the bench; all eyes were on me. I had to think of something to say, just not the truth or maybe not the whole truth. “Something about… Destroy with a hero’s final breath.”
“And?” Chiron asked.
I stood up abruptly, No one needed to know the last line. “Look, the point is, I have to go in. I’ll find the workshop and stop Luke. And…I need help.” I turned to Percy and Hanora. “Will you come?”
Without skipping a beat both of them nodded eyes trained on me but clearly still Insync with one another. “We’re in.”
I couldn’t help the smile spreading across my face. I knew that there was no way I could fail with the two of them in my corner, but I would need more than just the three of us. “Grover, you too? The wild god is waiting.”
Grover seemed to forget how much he hated the underground. The line about the “lost one” had completely energized him. “I’ll pack extra recyclables for snacks!”
“And Tyson,” I said. “I’ll need you too.”
“Yay! Blow-things-up time!” Tyson clapped so hard he woke up Mrs. O’Leary, who was dozing in the corner.
“Wait, Annabeth,” Chiron said. “This goes against the ancient laws. A hero is allowed only two companions.”
“I need them all,” I insisted. “Chiron, it’s important.”
In all honesty I did not know why I needed all four of them, but in my gut, I knew that I would fail without them. Grover needed to be there to find Pan, and Tyson’s reappearance at camp could not have been a coincidence. Percy and Hanora both had several quests under their belts now and were powerhouses on the battlefield regardless of the situation, their creativity was only matched by one another and together they were a force to be reckoned with. I could not have put together a stronger team.
“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 could tell Chiron didn’t like it. Quintus was studying us, like he was trying to decide which of us would come back alive. If I had anything to say about it we would all be returning to camp in mostly one piece.
Chiron sighed. “Very well. Let us adjourn. The members of the quest must prepare themselves. Tomorrow at dawn, we send you into the Labyrinth.”
***
The Athena cabin was a silvery building, nothing fancy, with plain white curtains and a carved stone owl over the doorway. The owl’s onyx eyes seemed to follow you as you walk closer. The place was a workshop for the best and brightest. The bunks were all pushed against one wall as if sleeping didn’t matter very much. Most of the room was filled with workbenches and tables and sets of tools and weapons. The back of the room was a huge library crammed with old scrolls and leather-bound books and paperbacks. There was an architect’s drafting table with a bunch of rulers and protractors, and some 3-D models of buildings. Huge old war maps were plastered to the ceiling. Sets of armor hung under the windows, their bronze plates glinting in the sun.
I loved the place; it had been my home for a very long time. It had everything a child of Athena could ever dream of wanting. I started rifling through the scrolls in the back of the cabin to look for anything and everything I could about the maze. There were so many legends about the place and yet none of them could agree on anything about it aside from it being an architectural marvel. Oh, how I would love to pick Daedalus’s brain, if Hanora could see me now, she’d call me a sick nerd and pelt me with some paper scraps. Actually, wait a minute.
I sat up as I felt something soft bump into the back of my head.
“Hello, earth to Chase. Are you in there at all or is it just autopilot?”
I snapped my head around to see Hanora sitting on the table cross legged. Her sleeves were pulled up past her elbows as she leaned them on her knees looking down at me with a mischievous smirk. After seeing her burn scars last summer in the sea of monsters I had slowly gotten used to them enough that I barely noticed them. Recently my eyes tended to be drawn in straight to her pale green eyes that glittered with silver specs in the light. Or sometimes, especially in the early morning light, my eyes would be drawn to the way her hair now glitters silver mixed in with the familiar strawberry blonde. The large streak of silver that hung around her face I knew was from holding the sky last winter, but the rest of it had been there before that and no one would tell me how it happened.
“So, are you just going to stare at me or are you going to answer my question?”
I shook myself from my thoughts, “I’m sorry, you asked me something? I wasn’t listening.”
She huffed in annoyance and muttered something that sounded suspiciously like ‘typical’. She readjusted her glasses and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Why do I put up with you again?”
I bit back a smile,” pretty sure it's because you… Lo-”
Her eyes went wide, and she leaned forward like she was going to jump off the table.
“-your weird friendship standards.” I finished watching relief flood through her as she slumped back onto the table.
“That is not funny AB, not funny at all.”
But it was funny, very funny.
“Knock, knock?” Percy said as he walked into the room.
I turned with a start. “Oh…hi. Didn’t hear you.”
“You, okay?”
We sat in silence for a moment, I turned my eyes to look at the scroll in my hands.
Hanora made a strange noise; out of the corner of my eye I could see her rolling her eyes and fake gagging. I considered throwing my scroll at her, but if I did Percy might notice what she was doing and then he would get all weird, again.
I decided to stick to honesty instead, “Just trying to do some research. Daedalus’s Labyrinth is so huge. None of the stories agree about anything. The maps just lead from nowhere to nowhere.”
“We’ll figure it out,” Percy promised.
My hair had come loose and was hanging in a tangled blond curtain all around my face, I tucked it behind my ears. I should really fix it, but I really did not have the energy.
“I’ve wanted to lead a quest since I was seven,” I said looking at the pile of scrolls surrounding me.
“You’re going to do awesome.” He said with a kind of confidence I could not muster.
I looked up at him gratefully, but then I stared down at all the books and scrolls again.
“I’m worried. Maybe I shouldn’t have asked you guys to do this. Or Tyson or Grover.”
“Hey, we’re your friends. We wouldn’t miss it.” He insisted.
Hanora slid off the table and kneeled next to me, placing a hand on my shoulder. “We can do this together. I mean the three of us together are practically unstoppable, right?”
Were we unstoppable? Was I making the right choice? If I left them here and took a different group, would they be safer?
“But…” I cut myself off. No, they would just chase me down there anyway, prophecy or no prophecy.
“What is it?” Percy asked, sensing my unease. “The prophecy?”
“I’m sure it’s fine,” I said but my voice came out much smaller than I wanted.
“What was the last line?”
Then I did something that surprised me looking back at it. I blinked back tears and put out my arms beckoning him over. Percy stepped forward and hugged me. Hanora tried to get up, but I pulled her in too.
“Hey, it’s… it’s okay.” Percy patted my back.
I felt Hanora finally give in and wrap her arms tightly around the both of us.
“Chiron might be right,” I muttered. “I’m breaking the rules. But I don’t know what else to do. I need you four. It just feels right.”
“Then don’t even worry about it,” Hannora mumbled. “I trust your judgement, AB.”
“Yeah, we’ve had plenty of problems before, and we solved them.” Percy added, though his voice was a little strained.
“This is different. I don’t want anything happening to…any of you.”
Behind Percy, somebody cleared his throat.
It was my half-brother, Malcolm. His face was bright red. “Um, sorry,” he said. “Archery practice is starting, Annabeth. Chiron said to come find you.”
Percy wiggled out of the hug and stood up scratching the back of his head. “We were just looking at maps,” he said stupidly.
Malcolm stared at him. “Okay.”
Hanora was still knelt next to me with one arm wrapped around my back. She had a small smile creeping on to her face as she raised an eyebrow looking between Percy and I. I nudged her with my shoulder and turned back to Malcolm. “Tell Chiron I’ll be right there,” and then he left in a hurry.
I tried to rub the tears from my eyes. “You go ahead, guys. I’d better get ready for archery.”
Percy nodded, but I could see confusion written across his face. “Annabeth?” he said. “About your prophecy. The line about a hero’s last breath—”
“You’re wondering which hero? I don’t know.”
“No. Something else. I was thinking the last line usually rhymes with the one before it. Was it something about—did it end in the word death?”
Hanora tightened her hold on me and followed my gaze scanning the scrolls for the hundredth time. “AB?”
I sniffled and gently removed her arm from my shoulder. “You’d better go, Percy. Get ready for the quest.” I turned toward Hanora,” And Han I am sure that you have some new toys you want to pack to field test. I’ll—I’ll see you both in the morning.”
They both reluctantly left me in my pile of maps. I couldn’t shake the feeling that this was the beginning of the end as a single tear dropped onto the map in my hand.