𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥. | p. jackson.

▪︎botl▪︎ if it feels like a trap, you're already in one

"connor!" she scolded, wiping the liquid off her face.

"you wouldn't wake up," said connor. "chiron's called for a meeting."

● _____《°•○ \|/ ○•°》_____ ●

the meeting was in the swordfighting arena. chiron and quintus stood at the front by the weapon racks. mrs. o'leary chewed on her pink squeaky yak. clarisse and annabeth sat next to each other and led the briefing. tyson and grover sat as far away from each other as possible. andromeda sat around the table with evander, juniper, silena, travis and connor, beckendorf, lee fletcher and argus. the hundred-eyed security chief.

"i don't like him being here," she whispered. "he only comes around for serious things."

"well," evander whispered back. "this is serious."

she glared at him. "i know that. i don't like it."

evander looked at annabeth with concern. the girl's hair was matted, her eyes bloodshot and her complexion colourless. she looked tired.

"neither do i," evander frowned.

andromeda knew he was worried for annabeth. she was too.

annabeth spoke. "luke must have known about the labyrinth entrance, he knew everything about camp."

juniper cleared her throat. "that's what i was trying to tell andy last night. the cave entrance has been there a long time. luke used to use it."

silena 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 supported.

"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," annabeth said. "we know because. . .because we found one."

"chris rodriguez," chiron said, giving 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," andromeda spoke up. "luke has been looking for a way to navigate the maze. he's searching for daedalus's workshop, i think."

"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 arena was silent except for mrs. o'leary's toy yak getting disemboweled.

finally, beckendorf put his huge hands on the table. "back up a sec, annabeth, you said 'convince daedalus'? isn't daedalus dead?"