It had taken a great deal of effort to get Percy to calm down long enough for Annabeth to shove him back into his cabin. Before that, he had insisted hotly on staying with Kia in the Big House and wait until she was back to normal. If Kia knew Percy at all, she knew that Percy's little promises about 'actually getting sleep' were full of shit. She wasn't about to have Percy losing sleep because of her.

Annabeth had made sure she was tucked in assuringly and took the towel off her forehead, running it under the water and wringing it, placing back on her forehead. After that, Grover, Percy, Tyson and her left.

She was back in her room in the Big House, staring at her ceiling wondering why she had suddenly gotten so sick. Revisiting her short time in the Labyrinth, she felt the chilly after-effects of what she felt down there.

It felt as if the walls of the corridor were whispering to her, telling her to go right while another said left—even though there was no path in either direction. The smell of it was old and ancient, like the ruins of a prehistoric battleground. The Greek blood in her veins felt as if they were lit aflame, the chants of her ancestors and her godly heritage ringing loudly in her head. The old stories of the Labyrinth were drenched to the waist in violence and deception, as all stories were, and the Labyrinth had a talent of embracing it and soaking it into its walls, exuding just the slightest bit consistently, driving one to the point of madness.

Chris, the boy Clarisse had found down there on her expedition, had been driven to the height of insanity. To Kia, it was more terrifying to have escaped this way than to have died in the Labyrinth. Percy didn't have such fears; all he knew was that people were unsafe and he could do something about it. Kia wondered what it must be like, to be so free of human-like restraints like paralysing fear. Percy always looked so fearless, so brave, that Kia couldn't help but think that maybe he didn't feel fear at all. It was stupid, of course, to even think that. He was human after all; no amount of godly blood would swallow the things that made him human.

Still, Kia sometimes wondered if she would ever be as great as Percy. He was a year younger than her, and had already done things many could not dream to. He was already more of a hero than she could ever be.

Kia shook her head, trying to get rid of these dark thoughts. Percy was her friend, an ally, one that she was grateful to have made so quickly and formed a bond with so intensely. She shouldn't be thinking such things.

The tiredness hit her rather suddenly. The weight of things like insecurity, fear and dread on her mind was more depleting than it had ever been before. It hit her full force, physically forcing her down onto her bed. Her mind was struggling to stay conscious, but her eyes refused to close. Kia could feel her eyes growing drier and drier, the entire world turning white in front of her eyes. The careful inversion of the colours around her were a sign of just how long her eyes had stayed open, unblinking. No matter how much she told herself to close her eyes, blink, narrow—anything, they just wouldn't. Her eyes remained peeled open, fixated creepily on the brown ceiling that had turned ghostly white.

She must've stayed like that for hours, because that was what it felt like. Kia didn't know when she had finally fallen asleep. She almost forgot how terrible her dreams were.

In her father's realm, she saw Luke. He wore a Greek tunic, skin red like it had been scrubbed by purifying rocks. His eyes looked fractured, like they were covered by a sheet of broken glass—the most frightening shade of gold. His eyes looked ancient, evil and powerful. The gaze was concentrated, burning with the heat of an ire he hadn't looked at even Kia with.

He was holding the point of his dual-coloured sword, Backstabber, Kia had come to learn the name of, at a boy's throat. The boy had shaggy raven hair an impossible hue of black, with vibrant, almost artificial-looking sea-green eyes. His tanned skin was littered with jagged white scars and his palms were bloody with the pressure applied on the rocks beneath them. His clothes were in tatters, like he had gone through a tornado with blades.

The boy was Percy.

He was looking at Kia with such fear, such hopelessness, such a stark contrast to just earlier how calm he had been and how well he handled a potentially threatening situation where their weaknesses were whispered into the dips of their collarbones. His face was bloodied and sweaty, a fresh purple bruise on his jaw. Kia couldn't do anything other than stare, feeling frustrated for being useless again.

Luke looked up, the tip of Backstabber not faltering the slightest with the precision of one only a master swordsman could have. His fractured lens locked into Kia right away, and his face mirrored the demented grin he had back at Mount Tam, the one that made Kia feel dirty, as if they were sharing some fucked up joke.

"See, Kia?" said Luke, his voice thin but just as malicious. "This is your precious 'fearless' little friend. Isn't this nice? Now there won't be anything holding you back from joining us."

A scream tore out of Kia's throat, her heart flowing out with it as well as Luke changed the direction of his sword, swiping it against Percy's neck. In one swift movement, Percy's head was barely attached the rest of his body anymore.

Kia took his body into her lap, the blood bleeding onto her thighs and clothes. Percy was gurgling trying to get out words, the blood from his body flooding his mouth. Kia pressed her palm onto his neck, uselessly trying to stop the flow of blood. With her other hand, she cradled his neck.

"Why?" Percy got out, more of the blood spraying onto Kia's shirt.

There was blood. So much blood. The blood was pooling around them. Percy's blood. They were lying in a pool of Percy's blood. All of it. Percy's blood. Kia's fault.

"Did you want me dead that bad?"

Kia shook her head, crying hysterically. "No, no, no! I don't want you dead! I never have! Please, don't die!"

"Why are you crying? I'm the one that's dying." He said it blankly, like it was a fact not even the universe could deny.

"No, don't die! Please! I–I want you alive!"

"Is that all you think about? What you want?" Percy made a noise behind the blood in his mouth. It sounded like a bitter laugh. "You're really amazing, Kia."

Kia shook her head, the tears mixing with the blood around them, diluting it. The air smelt of iron and salt. She kept shaking her head as Percy said more and more things.

"Why did I have to die for you to finally make a choice?"

"Did you want me dead just that bad?"

"I thought we were friends, Kia."

"Friends don't want each other dead."

Kia thought she was about to pass out; her eyes hurt so much from crying. The blood around them had long turned brown. It was ugly, muddy, disgusting mix of red and brown. It was smeared on Kia's chest, her lap, Percy's throat. It was everywhere. The blood was everywhere.

Percy stopped speaking. Kia remained hunched over his body, crying and in hysterics. From behind her, she felt a brush of cold air. "He's gone now."

She didn't say anything to Luke.

"Now you can join us in peace, Kia."

Still nothing.

Luke's voice multiplied each time she didn't answer. Eventually, his voice echoed in terrible sync all around her. His voice surrounded her, closing her in like the lid of a coffin. His voice sharpened increasingly. She didn't dare look up, fearing what she would find.

Just when she thought she was about to break from hearing his voice, just one of Luke's voices whispered beside her ear, just the one, "Join us."

With a heaving gasp, she sat up like an electrifying shock in her bed. Her hand flew to her chest, pressing down. She hadn't realised she was awake yet. Kia remembered what she had seen, and with a panicked light in her eye, she looked at the palm that had been on her chest. There was no blood. She looked over herself, and then her bed, and then beneath it. There was no blood.

It was a dream, she told herself. But she couldn't rest until she saw Percy for herself. Hastily, she shifted her messy bed to make it look like it was at least half-made.

Still in her sweatpants and hoodie, she marched out to Percy's cabin. When she barged in, a very small part of her was surprised to see that Percy was awake. He had his back against the headboard with his elbow resting on his propped up knee, staring at the wall opposite to him like it was a void.

Percy's head snapped in her direction when he saw her. Kia hesitated for a moment, wondering if it was okay to hug him after what she had seen in her dream. In the end, she was as selfish as ever when she jumped onto him, hugging him tightly.

Percy seemed to not know what to do, but he hugged back after a little bit anyway. He rubbed comforting circles on her back, and Kia closed her eyes, feeling pathetic as well as content with Percy right beside her.

"You're alive," Kia whispered into his neck, her voice thick.

Percy was confused. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Tears started soaking into his shirt, and he realised Kia was crying. Kia felt stupid. She was crying for thing millionth time, that being all she could do.

"Hey, hey," Percy murmured. He wasn't good at comforting people but he was willing to give it a shot for Kia. "I'll always be here. It'll take a lot more than whatever you saw to get me."

Kia pulled back. "How did you know I had a dream?"

Percy was looking at the tears lining her face, wiping them away gently with his fingers. "I figured."

Kia smiled at him. "I'm glad."

Percy smiled back kindly.

Suddenly, Tyson, who had been snoring up till now, got onto his feet. He ran at both of them, joining the semi-lump they had formed. "Hug pile!"

Kia and Percy laughed in delight. It wasn't actually a hug pile, more like a pile of tears and snot, but Tyson didn't need to know that. They hugged him back tightly, laughing and giggling together. At one point, though, they couldn't breathe.

"Uh, Tyson?" Percy said in a muffled voice. "Can you, uh—"

Tyson lifted his head, furrowing his eyebrows in visible confusion. "Not hug pile?"

"No, no, it is a hug pile," Kia said, "but, preferably, it is also a breathing pile."

Tyson made an 'ohh' sound, getting up and squeezing onto the bed along with both of them. He wrapped his burly arms around both and pulled them in. Percy and Kia laughed again, enjoying the cuddles from Tyson.

A little later, Katie from Demeter had knocked on the door, telling them that Chiron had summoned a war council. Pretty scary name for a meeting held around a ping-pong table that served cheez-wiz and crackers. This time, however, it was held in the sword arena, which led to a feeling of suspicion in both Percy and Kia.

Quintus, who they were still suspicious of, and Chiron stood at the front by the weapon racks authoritatively, backs straight and looking over everyone. Clarisse and Annabeth led the briefing calmly and with leader-like authority, which was off because they usually couldn't get off without at least one insult towards each other every sentence. Grover sat close by when they entered, and Tyson immediately circled the entire arena and sat on the other side to avoid him. A bunch of cabin-leaders sat around the table, namely Silena Beauregard from Aphrodite, Charles Beckendorf from Hephaestus, Connor and Travis, Lee Fletcher from Apollo and Katie Gardner. Another was Argus, the hundred-eyes security guard who had driven Kia and her friends 'west' last winter.

"Luke must have known about the Labyrinth entrance," Annabeth said. "He knew everything about camp."

Juniper cleared her throat, looking to have something to say. "That's what I was trying to tell Percy and Kia last night. The cave entrance has been there a long time. Luke used to use it."

Silena Beauregard cast a frown at her. "You knew about the Labyrinth entrance, and you didn't say anything?"

"I didn't know it was important. Just a cave. I don't like yucky old caves."

"She has good taste," Grover said dreamily in a lovesick voice.

"I wouldn't have paid any attention except... well, it was Luke." She blushed a little greener.

Grover huffed, looking away with all signs of interest gone. "Forget what I said about good taste."

"Interesting." Quintus polished his sword as he spoke. Kia wasn't sure why; the thing looked spotless anyway. "And you believe this young man, Luke, would dare use the Labyrinth as an invasion route?"

"Definitely," Clarisse said confidently. "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," Annabeth said. "We know because..." She looked at Clarisse uneasily. Clarisse stubbornly kept her eyes down, refusing to look at her. "Because we found one."

"Chris Rodriguez," said Chiron, something in his voice Kia couldn't discern. She didn't miss the meaningful way Chiron looked at Quintin as he said it.

"Ah," Quintus said, eyebrows chasing his hairline. "The one in the... Yes, I understand."

"The one in the what?" Percy asked tactlessly.

Clarisse glared at him before Kia could elbow him in the gut. "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," Annabeth said. "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 silence was deafening.

Finally, Beckendorf put his hands on the table as a sign of having something to say. "Back up a sec, Annabeth, you said 'convince Daedalus'? Isn't Daedalus dead?"

Quintus grunted. The grunt sounded a little too forced to not be personal. "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."

"Then it's worth keeping as an option," Kia said with finality. "If there's any chance we'll find him, it'd the best on we've got. Right, Beth?"

Annabeth nodded in confirmation. "Yes. We need to go in. 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. In short, do everything we can to stop Luke from entering camp."

"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, eager to agree. "I'll get the dynamite!"

Clarisse growled, about to let it rip on Percy, but Kia interrupted. "It wouldn't work. The firepower we'd need is impossible to realistically achieve. Sealing it is another thing altogether."

Annabeth nodded along, agreeing. "Kia's right. 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 suggested. "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."

"We have to get to Daedalus's workshop first," Annabeth insisted. "Find Ariadne's string and prevent Luke from using it."

"But if nobody can navigate in there," Percy countered, "what chance do we have?"

"I've been studying architecture for years," she replied. "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?"

"Percy," Kia hissed. "Enough." She jerked her head at everyone. Percy saw that everyone was watching them like they'd watch a tennis match on television.

Chiron cleared his throat, slicing through the tension of the room. "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."

Murmurs spread like a wave throughout the campers. Annabeth's had been waiting ever since she was little for a quest. She was a leader through and through, and the Labyrinth was a topic she excelled at, but Kia couldn't deny that she was worried; this would be exceptionally dangerous. Annabeth looked a little uncomfortable as well.

"You've done as much as I have, Clarisse," Annabeth said. "You should go, too."

Clarisse shook her head, denying it. Kia didn't know what she expected, since humility would be odd to hear from Clarisse, but what she actually said might have surprised her even more. "I'm not going back in there."

Travis laughed obnoxiously. "Don't tell me you're scared. Clarisse, chicken?"

Clarisse got to her feet, her face not as menacing as anyone would have expected it to be. 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.

It was upsetting to see one of the bravest amongst them reduced to shaking like a leaf at the mention of the Labyrinth. Clarisse, no matter how arrogant or unpleasant, was brave and war-like—the perfect image of a Greek warrior; for her to be like this couldn't mean anything good for the campers who would be going on the quest.

Travis looked around sheepishly. "I didn't mean to—"

Chiron raised his hand, stopping him. "The poor girl has had a difficult year. Now, do we have agreement that Annabeth should lead the quest?"

Everyone nodded in unison, completely in agreement of Annabeth being the best fit to lead the quest. All except for the sketchy guy, Quintus. He folded his arms and stared at the table looking like he was coming up with a plan. Percy gave Kia a side-glance, saying silently that he saw it as well.

"Very well." Chiron turned to Annabeth. "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."