𝐏𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐋 𝐃𝐈𝐕𝐄𝐑, percy jackson

CHAPTER 54! she couldn't go a moment without thinking of him

cherry giggled, and reached out for a high-five.

percy stood up, walked over, and put her hand down.

beckendorf and silena shared a look, and tried to resist childish giggles.

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. 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?" percy asked.

"yes," annabeth said.

"if he found the maze, he'd figure out a way to get to camp?" cherry assumed.

"mhm. 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." annabeth frowned.

the arena was silent except for mrs. o'leary's toy yak getting disemboweled: squeak! squeak!

finally 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, 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."

"we need to go in," annabeth 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."

annabeth nodded. "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."