Indigo Eyes

Chapter 75

Chiron called a war council the next morning. Except this one was conducted in the sword arena rather than the rec room.

Chiron and Quintus stood at the front by the weapon racks. Clarisse, Annabeth and Cressida sat next to each other and led the briefing. Tyson and Grover sat as from away from each other as possible. Also present around the table: Juniper the tree nymph, Silena Beauregard, Travis and Connor Stoll, Beckendorf, Lee Fletcher, Castor and Pollux, and even Argus, the hundred-eyed security chief. You knew things were bad when Argus showed up because he never showed up. Annabeth did most of the talking, all a hundred of his eyes trained on her.

"Luke must have known about the Labyrinth entrance," Annabeth said. "He knew everything about camp."

To be quite honest, Annabeth's unfailing hope that Luke could be redeemed was getting a little annoying, especially even after he kidnapped her, tricked her and tried to kill all of them for like the third time.

Juniper cleared her throat. "That's what I was trying to tell you last night. The cave entrance has been there a long time. Luke used to use it."

Silena Beauregard frowned. "You knew about the Labyrinth entrance, and you didn't say anything?"

Juniper's face turned green. "I didn't know it was important. Just a cave. I don't like yucky old caves."

"She has good taste," Grover said.

"I wouldn't have paid any attention except... well, it was Luke." She blushed a little greener.

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."

"And if he finds a way to navigate the maze," Cressida piped up. "He'll lose all risk of his soldiers losing their minds. And from the scout that we found, we know what he's searching for. Daedalus' workshop."

"The guy who created the maze?" Percy clarified.

"Yes," Annabeth said. "The greatest architect, the greatest inventor of all time. If the legends are true, his workshop is in the centre of the Labyrinth. He's the only one who knew how to navigate the maze perfectly. Like Cressida said, if Luke managed to find the workshop and convince Daedalus to help him, his army wouldn't fall to the maze's magic or its traps. He could navigate anywhere he wanted – quickly and safely. First to Camp Half-Blood to wipe us out. Then... to Olympus."

The arena was silent.

Finally, Beckendorf put his huge 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 rumours... well, there are many disturbing rumours about Daedalus, but one is that he disappeared back into the Labyrinth towards the end of his life. He might still be down 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."