𝐈𝐍𝐕𝐈𝐒𝐈𝐁𝐋𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆 | 𝐩. 𝐣𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬𝐨𝐧

Minos beats up an old man

"You think I'm an agent of Kronos," he said. "That I work for Luke."

"Well, duh," Annabeth said.

"You're an intelligent girl," he told her. "But in this instance, you're wrong."

"Luke mentioned you," Percy said. "Geryon knew about you, too. You've been to his ranch."

"Of course," Quintus said. "I've been almost everywhere. Even here."

The sword master walked past the children of the Big Three as if they were no threat at all and stood by the window. Evangeline was fighting the urge to push him out of it.

"The view changes from day to day," he mused. "It's always some place high up. Yesterday, it was from a skyscraper overlooking Manhattan. The day before that, there was a beautiful view of Lake Michigan. But it keeps coming back to the Garden of the Gods. I think the Labyrinth likes it here. A fitting name, I suppose."

"You've been here before," Percy said.

"Oh, yes." He replied cryptically.

"That's an illusion out there?" Percy asked. "A projection or something?"

"No," Rachel murmured. "It's real. We're actually in Colorado."

Quintus regarded her. "You have clear vision, don't you? You remind me of another mortal girl I once knew. Another princess who came to grief."

Evangeline rolled her eyes. "For the love of gods," she grumbled. "Get to the point already grandpa, we don't have all day."

"What have you done with Daedalus?" Percy asked.

Quintus stared at the brunette. "My boy, these two could teach you about seeing clearly. I am Daedalus."

The daughter of Hades waited for the other three to get over their shocks. Percy was the first one to break the silence. "But you're not an inventor! You're a swordsman!"

"I am both," Quintus said. "And an architect. And a scholar. I also play basketball pretty well for a man who didn't start until he was two-thousand years old. A true artist must be good at many things."

"He's not wrong," Rachel said. "Like I can paint with my feet as well as my hands,"

"Why were you trying that out in the first place?" The brunette asked.

"It's a talent," He said. "And she is a girl of many talents."

"But you don't even look like Daedalus," the son of Poseidon protested. "I saw him in a dream and..." Suddenly, his face paled as he looked at the sword master a little closer.

"I think you already know the truth," Quintus responded.

"You're an automaton. You make yourself new bodies." The daughter of Hades narrowed her eyes.

"Evangeline," Annabeth said uneasily, "that's not possible. That—that can't be an automaton."

Quintus chuckled. "Do you know what Quintus means, my dear?"

"The fifth," Evangeline arched a brow. "This is your fifth body isn't it?"

Quintus held out his forearm. He pressed his elbow and part of his wrist popped open—a rectangular hatch in his skin. Underneath, bronze gears whirred. Wires glowed.

"That's amazing!" Rachel said.

"That's weird," Percy disagreed.

"You found a way to transfer your animus into a machine?" Annabeth said, staring at the man in horror. "That's... not natural."