Percy POV
After Mikayla, Bianca, and Ethan left, Zoe, Alex, Killian, and Lilly were scheduled to go into the Labyrinth.
"Make sure to not let those two die," I said to Zoe. "Lilly is still inexperienced in combat and such and Killian still has a lot to learn about fighting. I trust you two to come back alive as well."
"Don't worry Percy, we will," Zoe said with a smile. I smiled back. She walked away and I turned to Alex.
"Alex, I expect you to listen to Zoe while on this quest. I'd rather not have to burn any shrouds anytime soon."
"Don't worry, I will make sure that if anyone blows up, it is Killian," he said with a smile and walked off towards the others, leaving me to wonder what the heck that meant.
Later that day, we had several cases of missing demigods. Silena, Summer, Lee, and Katie, all disappeared. We were all super worried but couldn't do anything about it. We asked the gods but they didn't know anything about it either. We were forced to sit and wait for them to return.
A day after the questers entered the Labyrinth, three of them returned. Zoe and Lilly have been very emotional since they came back. Apparently, Alex was right in some weird turn of events about Killian blowing up. To take out the telkhines making Kronos' scythe, he made Mt. St. Helens erupt, blowing him sky high and most likely to Ogygia. I must say, I was very impressed with Killian's power. He caused a volcano to explode. Very few demigods—of any parentage—could do that.
Lilly herself was a wreck. She thought Killian was dead, as did everyone else wasn't alive or didn't remember the other timeline. Myself and the others who remember like Malcom, Beckendorf, Clarisse, knew better. We were just waiting for him to come back on the magical raft. Zoe and Lilly practically thought we were heartless at how we were dealing with the predicament. We just told them to wait.
Two days later was the day for burning Killian's shroud. Michael Yew and I were waiting at the beach to the ocean for him to come back.
"How long do you think it'll take him?" Yew asked and I thought about it.
"A couple more minutes, five at the most," I answered.
"I say over five." he countered, staring out over the horizon.
"You're on." So we waited. After three minutes he appeared on the raft in the distance. "Haha! I win!" I jumped up and did a victory dance while at the same time making the water propel Killian towards us faster. After another minute he was ashore. "Come on fire breath, we have a funeral to ruin." Yew and I pulled him quickly to the campfire where the shroud should be. He just went along with it and didn't say anything.
When we crossed the hill we saw everyone. Beckendorf, Luke, Will, Clarisse, Chris, and Malcolm were sitting off to one side, conversing about something. Everyone else was moping and sulking about Killian's 'death'.
"Hey y'all!" I called down into the valley, getting everyone's attention. "Get ready to see the walking dead!" I pushed Killian into their view. The first person to rush him was Lilly. Once within enough distance, she threw herself into him, smothering him in a hug. Zoe was next, hugging both of them, which surprised me so much I thought my head was going to pop off. Then another person, then another, all to the point where Yew and I had to get them to stop.
"Alright guys, that's enough. You don't want to actually kill him now." Will joked and most of them backed off. Lilly was the only person wouldn't separate from him, which neither of us tried to stop. The only people who this seemed to bug was Theo and Killian himself. Theo, I could understand, but Lilly had thought Killian was dead. Some things must've happened on that quest where they had grown close and then this happened. I say that she was fine with making sure Killian stayed alive. I didn't understand Killian's behavior, though. He kept on trying to distance himself from Lilly, which sometimes led to her having a hurt look on her his face while he looked away from her, almost ignoring her.
Killian recounted his story of meeting Calypso on Ogygia and she let him sail away after he was healed. I knew for a fact that she did not fall in love with him because Leo filled that spot. Something must be different now. After Killian did that he said something that surprised us all.
"We have to go back in," he stated and all chatter around him stopped.
"But you just got back, why would you want to go back out?" Lilly asked from beside him. Killian subtly shifted away from her. And—damn him—Lilly looked like she wanted to cry.
"Because I realized something about the prophecy out on Ogygia," he said, not looking her in the eyes. "'A battle to end the shamed brain'. The shamed brain is Daedalus, the creator of the Labyrinth. That leads to the next line, 'The creation destroyed by the slain' means that he must die. The Labyrinth is somehow connected to his life force and when he dies, it disappears. I want to get to Daedalus and bring him back before the Titan army can come through the Labyrinth to here. If we can kill Daedalus we can destroy a good portion of the enemy army."
"That is very smart," Chiron said appraisingly. "I agree with you. You will head back out before dark." Everyone began to disperse after Chiron's announcement.
"Make sure you don't get blown up again fire breath." I scolded Killian who smiled sheepishly. It was just after dinner and the questers were ready for departure. There was still no sign of the missing demigods, and no one has heard anything from my sister, Bianca, or Ethan yet. It was beginning to worry me.
"I'll try not to airhead." he shot back. I laughed.
"Original, I like it." I laughed. "Now get going or else Alex will leave you." He headed off and I went in the opposite direction to start making plans for the upcoming attacking that may happen.
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The next day is when it happened. Beckendorf, Clarisse, and I had set up an impenetrable plan to defend the camp. First, we had a phalanx of shields and spear ready to kill the first monsters. Swordsman, we're behind them with Luke leading them. Archers were being led by Yew. Beckendorf and some of the Hermes kids had set up traps to trip up the first of the approaching army. Beckendorf was with his siblings were manning the catapults, ready to fire. I was in front of all of them, ready to grab the questers and light travel them to safety. After about half an hour of restless waiting, the quest emerged.
"They are right behind us!" Killian yelled as soon as he was out with Lilly right behind him. I grabbed them and light traveled them to a safe place. Alex, Zoe, and Daedalus appeared next and I traveled back over to grab them before going right back. Right after I let go of them, monsters flooded out of the entrance.
"Now!" Luke yelled and I saw Maddie push a button. Greek fire exploded near the cave and killed tons of monsters. After they got over the shock they kept going. "Beck!"
"Catapults ready!" he shouted. "Fire!" Balls of metal and fire flew through the air and into the enemy army. I saw a few monsters fall victim to the traps that were set.
"Shields lock!" I heard Clarisse shout. The sound of clanking shields came right after. "Spears ready!" The sound came again. "Hold your positions! Do not give any ground!" After another minute the first monsters hit the phalanx.
"Archers fire!" I heard Yew yell. Golden arrows rained through the air and cut down the monsters as they hit the shields. "Fire at will!" The arrows kept coming but not enough to stop the attack.
"Swords ready!" Luke yelled. "Get ready to protect your home! Charge!" he yelled as the phalanx broke. Everyone charged the monsters with a fury like no other, but before the two armies could meet, the ground shook.
"Get back!" I heard Yew yell as an ear-splitting crack filled the air and the ground in between the two armies fractured apart.
Silence fell and demigods and monsters alike stared at the hole. Then someone flew from the hole and landed on their feet in front of the army. He flipped his silver sword in his hand and looked up.
The army of monsters retreated a couple of steps from my brother's gaze.
Two other figures shot out of the hole, landing neatly on either side of Michael. I recognized Bianca and Ethan, both brandishing their weapons.
Three more demigods flew out of the hole and fanned out behind my brother. Michael stretched his hand behind him and the ground rumbled. I watched in amazement as the crack in the ground closed and reformed until it looked like it had never been there.
"You come here," Michael's voice echoed through the silent clearing, "and threaten my home. Threaten my friends and family. And you think you can win?" He laughed darkly and an involuntary shiver traveled down my spine. "You can try." He lifted his sword up and the other eight demigods behind him tensed. The moment he let his sword fall, they were flying.
Travis and Connor were literal blurs as they attacked the army, their swords slicing through the throats and bodies of monsters at the front. Bianca, Lee, Summer, and surprisingly Silena shot arrows with incredible accuracy. Katie stayed behind Michael, her eyes glowing a vivid green that spooked me. I saw the shifts on the earth rather than felt them as she changed the field to her will, something I had never seen a child of Demeter do before. Ethan was hacking away at the front of the army, defending while being pushed back only by the sheer number of monsters pressing against him.
And Michael waited.
He waited, his eyes closed, with a small, creepy smile on his face.
The campers finally shook themselves out of their daze and charged the army, helping our enhanced friends.
Just when it seemed like the battle had balanced out again—like we definitely stood a chance—an unearthly shriek echoed out of the Labyrinth, a sound I had heard before.
Kampê shot into the sky, her bat wings fully extended. She landed on the top of Zeus's Fist and surveyed the carnage. Her face was filled with evil glee. The mutant animal heads growled at her waist. Snakes hissed and swirled around her legs. In her right hand she held a glittering ball of thread—Ariadne's string—but she popped it into a lion's mouth at her waist and drew her curved swords. The blades glowed green with poison. Kampê screeched in triumph, and some of the campers screamed. Others tried to run and got trampled by hellhounds or giants.
"Di Immortales!" Chiron yelled. He quickly aimed an arrow, but Kampê seemed to sense his presence. She took flight with amazing speed, and Chiron's arrow whizzed harmlessly past her head.
Alex, who'd run from my side apparently and lost his sword, untangled himself from the giant whom he'd pummeled into unconsciousness. He ran at our lines, shouting, "Stand! Do not run from her! Fight!"
But then a hellhound leaped on him, and Alex and the hound went rolling away.
Kampê landed on the Athena command tent, smashing it flat. I ran after her and found Zoe at my side, keeping pace, her knives in her hands.
"This might be it," she said.
"Could be."
"Nice fighting with you, air head."
"Air head?"
"I wanted you to know what I called you behind your back."
Together we leaped into the monster's path. Kampê hissed and sliced at us. I dodged, trying to distract her, while Zoe went in for a strike, but the monster seemed able to fight with both hands independently. She blocked Zoe's knife, and Zoe had to jump back to avoid the cloud of poison. Just being near the thing was like standing in an acid fog. My eyes burned. My lungs couldn't get enough air. I knew that even we couldn't stand our ground for more than a few seconds.
"Come on!" I shouted. "We need help!"
But no help came. Everyone was either down, or fighting for their lives, or too scared to move forward. Three of Chiron's arrows sprouted from Kampê's chest, but she just roared louder.
"Now!" Zoe said.
Together we charged, dodged the monster's slashes, got inside her guard, and almost...almost managed to stab Kampê in the chest, but a huge bear's head lashed out from the monster's waist, and we had to stumble backward to avoid getting bitten.
Slam!
My eyesight went black. The next thing I knew, Zoe and I were on the ground. The monster had its forelegs on our chests, holding us down. Hundreds of snakes slithered right above me, hissing like laughter. Kampê raised her green-tinged swords, and I knew Zoe and I were out of options.
From out of nowhere, Michael slammed into Kampê, knocking her away from us. Kampê roared and stuck at Michael, but he caught her two scimitars with surprising strength. He was seemingly unaffected by the poisonous gas that filled the air around him. I helped Zoe get up and limp away from the battle between the two powerhouses.
When I turned back I saw Kampê block a slash from Michael and counter. Michael rolled out of the way and popped up in time to cut off one of the mutant heads around her waist.
Kampê howled in pain and lunged at my brother in a blind rage. Michael ducked and slashed at one of Kampê's dragon legs. The shock it sent through her gave Michael enough time to get back up and attack her again. Kampê blocked another slice before feinting to the left and quickly closed the distance. I watched in horror as a lion head jutted out of her waist and clamped down on Michael's arm before he could get away.
Michael's cry of pain sounded through the whole area. He stabbed the monster head with his sword and it dropped him to the ground, where he gripped his next missing arm for dear life. The remainder of his arm fell down in front of him.
Then, behind Kampê, something howled. A wall of darkness slammed into Kampê, sending the monster sideways. And a bigass black dog was standing over Michael, snarling and snapping at Kampê.
"Good girl!" said a familiar voice. Daedalus was fighting his way out of the Labyrinth, slashing down enemies left and right as he made his way toward us.
Next to him was someone else—a familiar giant, much taller than the Laistrygonians, with a hundred rippling arms, each holding a huge chunk of rock.
"Briares!" Alex cried with a large smile.
"Hail, little brother!" Briares bellowed. "Stand firm!"
And as the giant hellhound I recognized as Mrs. O'Leary leaped out of the way, hauling Michael away with her teeth, the Hundred-Handed One launched a volley of boulders at Kampê. The rocks seemed to enlarge as they left Briares's hands. There were so many, it looked like half the earth had learned to fly.
BOOOOOM!
Where Kampê had stood a moment before was a mountain of boulders, almost as tall as Zeus's Fist. The only sign that the monster had ever existed were two green sword points sticking through the cracks.
A cheer went up from the campers, but our enemies weren't done yet. One of the dracaenae yelled, "Ssssslay them! Kill them all or Kronossss will flay you alive!"
I limped towards near Killian and Lilly with Zoe as the battle raged on.
"What do we have to do?" I asked them. Zoe looked at Killian and so did Lilly. All of us were scratched and bruised from the battle.
"One of you has to kill me," Daedalus said hurriedly as he ran up to us. "We do not have much time. Titan born, you must do it." He turned to Killian who had a new sword in his hand.
"No, I'll do it." I offered, summoning Azure.
"No, it must be him. He must mature." Daedalus said calmly.
"No! He does not need this on his conscious!" I shouted.
"I'll do it!" Killian shouted. Before anyone could utter another word, Killian's sword was embedded in the middle of Daedalus' gut. With a twist, the light left Daedalus' eyes. He froze like a statue. His skin turned transparent, revealing the bronze gears and machinery whirring inside his body. Then the statue turned to gray ash and disintegrated.
The ground shook as the Labyrinth was destroyed. I didn't pay attention to the battle anymore. Killian stood there with a hardened look on his face. He normally brown hair was unkempt and messed up, which never happened. Grime and dirt covered his face. What happened on that quest?
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After the battle, we found that there were no casualties, which was beyond excellent. Nico, me, Michael, Bianca, Zoe, Lilly, Alex, and Killian sat out in the woods, catching up on what had happened in the last few days. I was more than surprised to find out about the champion host thing with the primordial gods, but I guess it makes sense. I was kind of looking forward to meeting Ouranos again and learning about my new powers.
And apparently, before the primordials changed Michael back into a guy, they accelerated his pregnancy until he was ready to pop. Then he—technically she, at the time—gave birth to two children. Of course. So now Bianca and Michael are parents. Yaaay. You can hear my sarcasm, right? Michael's twins were being taken care of by Hemera and Artemis, and the latter didn't know that they were Michael and Bianca's, though I'm pretty sure she'll find out soon enough.
After some convincing, Michael finally allowed me to tell him that Alex wasn't a bad person. He just wanted some popularity, contrary to how it was in school for him. Michael said that he couldn't relate to that, but still allowed him to talk with us, even if he kept an eye on the son of Poseidon the whole time.
Michael's left arm was wrapped in bandages, but since the rest of it was smashed under the rocks, he'd have to go to Hephaestus for another prosthetic. Poor boy. He's going to be made of metal by the end of his life.
Everyone was talking except for Killian. He just stared at a rock, not paying any attention to anything else in the world.
"Killian, stop this," I said, stopping all conversation around us. "Daedalus' death was out of your hands. It couldn't have been stopped."
"But it could've," Killian said, speaking for the first time. "It was my sword that did it and I did it with my hand. I know it was necessary, but that doesn't make it any easier."
"I know Killian, believe me, I know. So does Michael, Zoe, Luke, Nico, practically everyone here. It can't be helped. All we can do is move past it."
"I know, it's just..." he sighed. "It's hard. I still can't believe that I..."
Lilly reached over and laid her hand over his arm, which I thought was a little much. "You're fine Killian," she told him. "It wasn't your fault."
He yanked his arm away from her hand, leaving her with a hurt look on her face. "But it is," he snapped. "I feel so bad for doing that to him. I'm so sorry about it..."
Before he could continue, a sparkle of light appeared next to us, like someone had opened a gold curtain in the air.
"You have nothing to apologize for, my dear." Standing in the trees with us was a tall woman in a white dress, her dark hair braided over her shoulder.
"Hera," Alex said.
The goddess smiled. "You found the answers, as I knew you would. Your quest was a success."
"A success?" Killian said. "Lace is gone. Daedalus is dead. Pan is dead. How is that—"
"Our family is safe," Hera insisted. "Those others are better gone, my dear. I am proud of you."
He balled his fists.
"You're the one who paid Geryon to let us through the ranch, weren't you?" Zoe snarled.
Hera shrugged. Her dress shimmered in rainbow colors. "I wanted to speed you on your way."
"But you didn't care about Kasey. You were happy to see him turned over to the Titans." Alex said. I raised my eyebrows. Who was Kasey? Why was he important? What did he do? I could see that Michael, Nico, and Bianca were having similar thoughts.
"Oh, please." Hera waved her hand dismissively. "The son of Janus said it himself. No one wants him around. He does not belong."
"Hephaestus was right," Killian growled. "You only care about your perfect family, not real people."
Her eyes turned dangerously bright. "Watch yourself, son of Hyperion. I guided you more than you know in the maze. I was at your side when you faced Geryon. I let your arrow fly straight. I sent you to Calypso's island. I opened the way to the Titan's mountain. Lilly, my dear, surely you see how I've helped. I would welcome a sacrifice for my efforts."
Lilly sat still as a statue. She could've said thank you. She could've promised to throw some barbecue on the brazier for Hera and forget the whole thing. But she clenched her jaw stubbornly.
"Killian is right." she turned her back on the goddess. "You're the one who doesn't belong, Queen Hera. So next time, thanks...but no thanks."
Hera's sneer was worse than an empousa's. Her form began to glow. "You will regret this insult, Lilly. You will regret this very much."
We averted our eyes as the goddess turned into her true divine form and disappeared in a blaze of light.
When the light was gone, we all looked at each other.
And then Michael cackled.
"Knew she was a bitch," he said. He suddenly stopped laughing. And with the most serious voice I've ever heard him use, he demanded, "Now tell me about this Kasey."