•as the world caves in•

•my prophecy•

At the war council the next day, I explained everything and Juniper explained that she knew, but had originally thought it was just a cave.

I had my hands down on the table, sighing. "We need to go in. Find the workshop before Luke does. If Daedalus is alive, we convince him to help us, not Luke. We must do everything in our power to assure that Luke does not get Ariadne's string. If he does, we've lost the war before it's even started."

"Coriane and I have been reading about this maze for years, we know it better than anyone." Annabeth said. "We must go in now. Luke is smart, and he knows it and he knows we know it. We must get to Daedalus."

Clarisse stared me down. "Coriane should lead. She and Annabeth combined are a force of nature, but Coriane has the spirit, she's already been down there, and I know she will be the leader we all need."

I shook my head. "Clarisse, you've done as much as Annabeth, as much as I, I cannot take this from you."

"You're not taking anything away, I'm giving it to you. I will never, ever go back there." Clarisse stomped off, leaving no room for argument.

Chiron looked around. "Do we all agree that Coriane should lead?" There were hums and nods of agreement. "Very well, my dear, it's your turn to visit the Oracle."

•.•.•.•

The attic of the Big House was creepy, more so than anywhere I'd ever been. I looked at the objects from quests until I came before the Oracle, the mummified body sitting until green filled the room.

"You shall delve in the darkness of the endless maze,
The dead, the traitor, and the lost one raise,
You shall rise or fall by the ghost king's hand,
The child of Athena's final stand,
Destroy with a hero's final breath,
And lose a love to worse than death."

•.•.•.•

I was in shock. Hearing that was much worse than I thought. I met everyone at the war council and nodded to them. "I'll lead the quest. Percy?"

He nodded. "You know it."

"Annabeth, Grover?"

The two nodded.

"Tyson?"

Chiron frowned. "Coriane, you cannot allow another."

"Chiron, I must. I have a feeling that I can't shake."

"...very well."

I had many feelings about this quest and none of them were good. I'd always wanted to lead a quest, but now that I had it? I wished I never got the chance.

•.•.•.•

My cabin was empty as I looked through the books and scrolls Annabeth and I had found. I needed to do all the studying I could manage.

"Knock, knock?" Someone asked, and I looked up to see Percy.

"Oh. Hi."

His brows were laced in worry, and his lips were turned down. "You okay, Cor?"

I shrugged. "Just trying to study, this maze is huge and nobody can agree on anything."

"We'll figure it out."

"I've wanted to lead a quest since I got to camp,"

"And that's why you'll do amazing."

"I shouldn't have asked any of you to come with me."

"Hey, we're your friends, we wouldn't miss it." He walked slightly closer to me. "What's the last line?"

I couldn't even look at him, the tears were already trying to spill out, so I just held my arms out. Percy quickly hugged me, on hand rubbing my back while the other cradled my head. "You're okay, Cor, I got you."

I wanted to sob into his arms, to stay like that for all eternity and pretend the quest would never happen. "You mean so much to me, Percy, I can't even explain it."

"Then don't," he said. "You mean a lot to me as well, more than I can explain, I get it."

I looked up when the door opened, Silena sneaking in. "I'm sorry, but Chiron said to come get Coriane for dinner. Since you're here too Percy you might as well come along as well."

Percy let go of me and nodded. "Yeah, right."

I nodded and closed my books on my bed. "Yeah, let's go."