Annabeth dragged me and Percy with her somewhere. I hadn't even gotten a chance to enter cabin 3. I was grumbling about where she was taking me.
Turns out, we were in a forest clearing. A group of fat satyrs were sitting on benches, which looked like it could break any second under the weight.
Grover was standing, telling something to them. Behind him stood two girls. One had elf ears and had green skin. Another one looked like a regular school bully with brown stringy hair, which was tied with a camouflaged bandanna. "Prissy." she said to Percy. She stared at me weirdly and shrugged.
"Master Underwood, we will give you another chance to find The Great Lord Pan." The fat satyr announced.
"Thank you! Thank you so-" Grover rambled.
"One week"
"B-but, that's impossible sir!" Grover pleaded.
"One week or you find something else!" the satyr roared. "Now let us enjoy the afternoon meal." and they walked away, trotting.
I had no clue whatsoever happened. Percy saw my look and shrugged. "I don't know either, but it looks like they want to take away Grover's searching license."
He saw my look of confusion and said "Tell you later."
Grover was whimpering. I didn't have any idea what to do. So I just stood dumbly until Annabeth, Percy and the two girls calmed him down.
The stringy haired girl asked "Who are you, punk? New camper?"
Percy explained "Another son of Poseidon. My brother."
The girl had a shocked look on her face "You're soooo explaining this to me Prissy." Then she turned to me "Name's Clarrise, daughter of Ares. Pick a fight with me, and you'll pay."
"Yeah, sure." I shrugged nonchalantly. "My name's Ben Tennyson. 22 years old and came to know about this Greek world this December."
She raised her eyebrows "Oh really? Then I guess you will have an initiation ceremony from me. Or maybe Peter did it before me."
I chuckled "Yeah, I kicked his ass pretty easily."
"Oh? Then we'll have a spar in the arena this afternoon then." she challenged me.
Percy cleared his throat "As much as I would like to have Clarrise get her butt kicked, I think we should head back for now. New war game will start this evening according to Quintus."
Percy grabbed my hand and dragged me to cabin 3, rambling about having to clean it up because of inspection by Silena.
Percy had introduced me to a lot of campers in this period. I haven't met Silena though. Percy said she was the head of Aphrodite cabin.
I was thinking to use XLR8 or even Fasttrack to clean up the cabin. Turns out, we didn't have to, because someone was already cleaning up.
"Tyson! I didn't know you were coming!" Percy exclaimed happily.
The person, Tyson turned towards him and said "Big brother! I missed you!" and crushed him in a hug. He turned towards me, confused "Who is this?"
So, Percy had told me a lot about Tyson. Tyson was a cyclops, working in the Atlantis forges.
Percy smiled at him "Ben, meet Tyson. Tyson, meet Ben, my other big brother."
The cyclops turned to me and had a big smile on his face. "Another big brother! Yay!" and crushed me to a hug.
I'd recommend you to never get hugged by Tyson. His hug rivalled the hug of Ma Vreedle (long story).
"Er... Can you let me go? You're crushing me." I said weakly.
Tyson let immediately. Though he didn't look ashamed. Just then someone entered the cabin.
It was a girl around 15 or 16. She was breathtakingly beautiful, with black hair and blue eyes. She also had a smile which could make boys fall for her.
"That's Silena, Ben." Percy whispered in my ear.
I extended my hand "Howdy. Name's Ben Tennyson. Son of Poseidon."
She just chuckled "I already know silly. I saw you when you first entered the camp."
I blushed in embarrassment "Well. I met you for the first time, so thought I could introduce myself to you."
Silena replied sighing "Look at you, a gentleman. Shame, if I didn't have Charlie as my boyfriend, I could have gone out with you."
I grinned "No thanks. I don't need any other girl behind me."
Silena just nodded and said "Well... Percy, I didn't expect you to have your cabin this much cleaned. So for your efforts," she scribbled on her pad "You gain five stars. Fantastic job."
That's when I noticed she was fiddling with a black bracelet. I narrowed my eyes. I saw her looking at it, with... Regret?
When she left the cabin, I turned to Percy "I'm gonna go and get some fresh air."
He just nodded. I dialled my watch. "Chamalien!" I exclaimed with a green flash.
I turned invisible and followed Silena. She was going order wise, excluding cabin 1, 2 and 8. When she was done, she turned and walked up to Zeus' fist.
I watched her twist her bracelet a little. "Hello, Silena reporting. I got some more information. Clarrise has returned from her quest. She hasn't told me yet, because Chiron forbade it. Also, Tyson the Cyclops came back from Atlantis."
A voice came from it "Well done, Silena. Your information will not go to waste."
She bit her lips "I hope so, Luke. Please, just don't let the campers and Charlie get hurt."
"We won't Silena. I will personally make sure everyone who you care for will be safe. Now tell me about this 'Ben Tennyson'." Luke said.
"I really don't know about him Luke. He's a really mysterious person, he trusts only Percy, Annabeth, Thalia and Grover. There is a secret between them that I don't know." She informed him.
Luke sighed "Very well Silena. Inform anything what you hear about him. We need to make sure he doesn't become a danger to our plans. Goodbye for now." and a beep came from the bracelet.
She sighed "Oh what will I ever do..."
I left for cabin 3, now knowing that Silena was the spy all along...
***
"Ben, did something happen? You look worried." Percy asked, with a concerned look.
I looked at him "I found it."
He asked confused "Found what?"
"The spy." I muttered. Percy had a look of horror on his face.
Then his face contorted into a look of rage "Who is it? I will make sure the spy will never mess with us." he growled.
"Percy... It's complicated. I don't know how you will react to it. The spy is thinking it will help keep the campers safe." I interjected.
Percy's eyes softened "But, giving information doesn't keep the camp safe. Just tell me who it is."
I sighed "It's not easy, alright? I will tell you, just not now. You need to concentrate on the war game today. I will deal with the spy myself. If it doesn't work, then I'll tell you."
Percy gritted his teeth "But why? Why can't you tell?"
I sighed again "Please Percy. It's hard enough not to tell. I want to ensure the safety of the camp and the spy."
"Fine" Percy huffed. "But if it doesn't work, it will your fault."
He turned around and exited the cabin. While I was thinking whether or not it was a good choice to not tell him.
***
As I was getting ready for the game, Chiron said to me "You won't participate this time."
I stared at him surprised "But why?"
He sighed "My boy, it gives an unfair advantage to you."
"But I won't use it." I said.
"I know you won't, just... Please don't play this time." Chiron pleaded.
"Fine. But I will watch the others by flying in the sky." I huffed.
Chiron nodded. And Quintus declared the game to begin.
He had released some scorpion like monsters and paired everyone in a team of two. Percy and Annabeth, Michael and Clarrise, the Stoll twins, Silena and Charlie, Grover and Tyson, and many others I didn't know.
I really hoped Percy and Annabeth would win. I watched others take different directions into the forest. Quintus turned his back on me. I dialled my watch and with a green flash turned into bigchill.
I turned invisible and flew upwards. Thankfully, Quintus hadn't noticed. I watched overhead, Percy and Annabeth following the Stoll twins.
Then I saw them encountering, not one, not two, but THREE scorpions ganging up on them. They slipped back on a cave hole to hide. I got closer to them and froze the scorpions. Then with a punch, broke the ice, and the scorpions turned into golden dust.
Then I waited. And waited. But Percy and Annabeth never came out of the hole. Just when it was about an hour, when everyone had started searching them, I tried going inside the cave.
Of course, they had to come right then. I turned into a human and asked "Percy? Annabeth? Are you two alright?"
Percy shot me a confused look "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"
I glared at him "Because, you two were gone for an hour! Where the hell were you two?"
Chiron and the other campers had gathered there. Percy, still confused, asked "But we were there for only a few minutes..."
Then Annabeth widened her eyes "Seaweed brain, I think because the place distorts time!"
What? Now I had a confused look. Annabeth looked at Chiron "We found it."
I looked at the campers, who had a confused expression. But Chiron and Clarrise had a grim look. Quintus had an unreadable expression.
Percy met my eyes which said stay here very clearly. Chiron ordered everyone to get back to their cabins because it was an hour past curfew.
Clarrise, Annabeth, Grover, Tyson and Quintus stayed behind. I stayed behind, because Percy had asked me to. Chiron didn't say anything to me, because I was favoured by the gods and also because he didn't want Quintus knowing why.
Percy then turned to me to explain "When you had work," I knew he was talking about me taking a walk to find the spy. "We talked with Clarrise. Turned out her secret mission was to find a direct entrance of the Labyrinth to the inside of the camp. And we just found it."
The Labyrinth? Wasn't it built by some dude named Daedalus to trap the Minotaur? I'm certain it was. As if on the question I asked mentally, Omnitrix beeped *The Labyrinth was built by Daedalus, Son of Athena. It was ordered by king Minos of Crete, who had a child who was half bull, half man. He named it 'Minotaur' who lived in the labyrinth. Young heroes from Athens were thrown there to feed the Minotaur. Theseus, Son of Poseidon, was the one who had killed it with it's own horn. Daedalus had then escaped to the Labyrinth to escape the wrath of King Minos, who was later killed by him. He is then believed to have disappeared from the history. The Labyrinth is a maze so intricate, it fools the person itself. It is believed that to navigate it, you need the String of Ariadne.*
In times like these, I loved the omnitrix. It had information on almost anything. I saw Quintus had a look on his eyes, which I saw too many times on Annabeth's eyes.
Percy had a grin on his face. "Well, not too bad for a watch I guess." Chiron laughed "Indeed m'boy."
"I take it you're gonna do something?" I asked. "We need a quest so we can ensure the safety of campers." I nearly jumped when Clarrise said that. Honestly, I had forgotten she was there too.
"Indeed. We will have the campers ready if the Titan Lord decided to send forces here." Then he turned to Annabeth "And you, my dear, are going to lead this quest."
Annabeth nearly fell "M-me?"
Percy nodded "Yeah, that's a good idea. Annabeth knows about The Labyrinth more than anyone else. Besides, you have been wanting to lead a quest."
Annabeth steeled her eyes with determination "Yes, you're right. I'm going to lead the quest."
Quintus said "I am going to practice now. I am going to leave right now." and excused himself.
I didn't mind, because I didn't want Quintus knowing about Omnitrix. The less people know, the better.
Annabeth had meanwhile went to the attic, where the Oracle was. After a few minutes of waiting, she came out, looking a little pale.
Chiron asked "What was the prophecy, my dear?"
"I got the prophecy. I will lead the quest to find Daedalus's workshop." She said cryptically. Chiron scraped a hoof on the dirt floor. "What did the prophecy say exactly, my dear? The wording is important."
Annabeth took a deep breath. She looked a little bit scared to answer "I, ah...well, it said, you shall delve in the darkness of the endless maze..." We waited. "The dead, the traitor, and the lost one raise."
Grover perked up. "The lost one! That must mean Pan! That's great!" "With the dead and the traitor,"
Percy added. "Not so great now" I said, which made Grover gloomy.
"And?" Chiron asked. "What is the rest?"
"You shall rise or fall by the ghost king's hand," Annabeth said, "The child of Athena's final stand."
Everyone looked around
uncomfortably. Annabeth was a daughter of Athena, and a final stand didn't sound good. "Hey...we
shouldn't jump to conclusions," I said. "Annabeth isn't the only child of Athena, right? It could even be Daedalus himself, because it was said he disappeared, not die."
"But who's this ghost king?" Grover asked. No one answered. I had no clue at all.
"Are there more lines?" Chiron asked. "The prophecy does not sound complete."
Annabeth hesitated. "I don't
remember exactly." I had a feeling she was hiding something. Chiron knew it too and asked "Anything?"
Annabeth said slowly, as if trying to remember "Something about...Destroy with a hero's final breath."
"And?" Chiron asked. She stood. "Look, the point is, I have to go in. I'll find the workshop and stop
Luke. And...I need help."
She turned to Percy. "Will you come?" Percy didn't even hesitate. "I'm in." Percy answered immediately.
She smiled like she hadn't in days. "Grover, you too? The wild god is
waiting." Grover seemed to forget how much he hated the underground. The line about the 'lost one'
had completely energized him. "I'll pack extra recyclables for snacks!" "You too Tyson," Annabeth said.
"I'll need you too."
"Yay Blow-things-up time!" Tyson clapped so hard he woke up Mrs. O'Leary, who was dozing in the corner. She then turned to me "And Ben." I answered "Yeah, su-" when I was cut of by a loud beep from Omnitrix. I turned towards it. *Chimera Sui Genesis data has been found San Francisco. Please report immediately.*
I perked up hearing that. I turned to Annabeth regretfully "I'm sorry Annabeth, I can't go with you all, as much as I wanted to. I just found Vilgax's DNA data in San Francisco, so I need to go there."
Annabeth had a sad look in her eyes. "Alright. We will manage."
"Wait, Annabeth," Chiron said. "This goes against the ancient laws. A
hero is allowed only two companions."
"I need them all," she insisted. "Chiron, it's important."
Chiron couldn't help but sigh "Alright. Though there may be consequences for messing with the prophecy. You should probably start the quest tomorrow after packing."
Everyone nodded their head. Percy and Annabeth were discussing something, and Percy said "Good luck" to me.
Before he was going, I handed him a Plumber Telicommunication device. He looked confused as to why I was giving this. I explained "If you're going to be in trouble, then definitely call me. You can use that to call me, and I will arrive wherever you are."
He gave me a thumbs up "Thanks. I'll definitely call you if there's something of grave danger."
While he headed back, I started making plans about how to ambush Vilgax. This was the best lead I found about him in this world so far.
But first, I had to deal with Silena, the spy.
_____
Phew! Another chapter complete. Many parts were taken from the original BoL.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask in comments. Next chapter will be a completely different scenario where Ben will be tracking Vilgax down, because you all have read what Percy and his friends did in the labyrinth. I didn't include Ben, because Percy is strong himself, and doesn't need to always rely on Ben.
Hope you're doing good.
Stay safe, stay healthy.
~PerseusKyogre09