Annabeth Chase and the Battle of the Labyrinth

Chapter 8 - I break rules to have a chat

The drakon was the talk of the camp the next morning. Those who hadn't been awake to see it were quickly filled in on what happened. I steered clear of all the camp gossip, especially talks about Luke and his army and doom and destruction. I had to keep my head clear and think things through rationally. 

I also had to speak to Percy, desperately. It was time to tell him everything that had been happening around camp, but I didn't know when I would have time to do it. Our schedules were pretty jammed packed for the rest of the day, between classes and the war games this afternoon, and I knew I couldn't wait until tomorrow. It had to be this morning. 

I was sitting at my table at breakfast, barely listening to my siblings chatter about the drakon and Luke and war plans when I happened to glance over my shoulder to see Percy sitting with Tyson at the Poseidon table as usual. As I watched, Chiron trotted over to him with Grover at his side. Grover looked terrible, his eyes blank with lack of sleep, his hair mussed up and his shirt inside-out. He slumped down beside Percy, causing Tyson to get up and evacuate quickly, nearly knocking the Apollo table over. 

"I brought Grover over because I thought you two might want to, ah, discuss matters," Chiron said, glancing briefly over at me as I eavesdropped. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some Iris-messages to send. I'll see you later in the day." He stared at Grover, gave me another brief look, then trotted out of the dining area. 

This was my chance, if I dared. I glanced up at Quintus, who was sitting in Mr D's chair, to see he wasn't paying attention to anything happening in the pavilion. All his attention was on his knife as he spun it around on one of his fingertips. 

"What's he taking about?" Percy asked Grover. 

Without another thought, I got up from my place at my table and moved towards Percy and Grover.

"We wants you to convince me," Grover mumbled, chewing morosely on his fork. 

"I'll tell you what it's about," I said as I sat down beside Percy, close enough that I could speak low enough that no one else would hear. "The Labyrinth."

Percy's face reddened as he saw how close I was. "You're not supposed to be here," he muttered, looking around at all the people staring at us. 

I was aware at how many people were watching us and whispering, I could feel them, but at that moment, I didn't care. This was too important to bother about camp rules. Quintus raised an eyebrow, but returned to staring at his knife without saying anything. 

"We need to talk," I said urgently. 

"But the rules . . ."

"Look, Grover is in trouble. There's only one way we can figure out to help him. It's the Labyrinth. That's what Clarisse and I have been investigating."

Percy looked around briefly, still feeling uncomfortable with the situation but I could tell that I had his attention now. "You mean the maze where they kept the Minotaur, back in the old days?"

"Exactly."

"So . . . it's not under the king's palace in Crete any more. The Labyrinth is under some building in America."

I rolled my eyes. If only he had some idea. "Under a building? Please, Percy. The Labyrinth is huge. It wouldn't fit under a single city, much less a single building."

I could see his mind working, like he was putting pieces together. "So . . . is the Labyrinth part of the Underworld?"

"No," I said hesitantly. I hadn't exactly thought of that, not that I was going to admit it, of course. "Well, there may be passages from the Labyrinth down into the Underworld. I'm not sure. But the Underworld is way, way down. The Labyrinth is right under the surface of the mortal world, kind of like a second skin. It's been growing for thousands of years, lacing its way under Western cities, connecting everything together underground. You can get anywhere in the Labyrinth."