Indigo Eyes

Chapter 98

Ok, of all the things Cressida thought Percy could've said in response to her deduction, "But you're not an inventor! You're a swordsman!" was not one of them. Why did she like him again?

"I am both," Quintus said. "And an architect. And a scholar. I also play basketball pretty well for a guy who didn't start until he was two thousand years old. A real artist must be good at many things."

"That's true," Rachel said. "Like I can paint with my feet as well as my hands."

"You see?" Quintus said. "A girl of many talents."

"But you don't even look like Daedalus," Percy protested. "I saw him in a dream, and..." his face paled as he cut himself off.

"Yes," Quintus said. "You've finally guessed the truth."

"You're an automaton. You made yourself a new body."

"Percy," Annabeth said uneasily, "that's not possible. That – that can't be an automaton."

"How were we able to walk across the country in a day? How did it feel like we were in the maze a couple days but we were in there a week?" Cressida said. "Your name. It's Latin."

"Correct again," Quintus chuckled.

"What's it mean?" Percy wondered.

"The fifth. But -"

"This is my fifth body." The swordsman held out his forearm. He pressed his elbow and part of his wrist popped open – a rectangular hatch in his skin. Underneath, bronze gears whirred. Wires glowed.

"That's amazing!" Rachel said.

"That's weird," Percy said.

"That shouldn't be possible," Cressida said.

"You found a way to transfer your animus into a machine?" Annabeth said. "That's... not natural."

"Oh, I assure you, my dear, it's still me. I'm still very much Daedalus. Our mother, Athena, makes sure I never forget that." He tugged back the collar of his shirt. At the base of his neck was the dark shape of a bird grafted to his skin.

"A murderer's brand," Annabeth said.

"For your nephew, Perdix," Percy guessed. "The boy you pushed off the tower."

Quintus's face darkened. "I did not push him. I simply –"

"Made him lose his balance," Percy finished. "Let him die."

Quintus gazed out of the windows at the purple mountains. "I regret what I did, Percy. I was angry and bitter. But I cannot take it back, and Athena never lets me forget. As Perdix died, she turned him into a small bird – a partridge. She branded the bird's shape on my neck as a reminder. No matter what body I take, the brand appears on my skin."

Percy stared at him, like really stared at him. "You really are Daedalus," he decided after a time. "But why did you come to the camp? Why spy on us?"

"To see if your camp was worth saving. Luke had given me one story. I preferred to come to my own conclusions."

"So you have talked to Luke."

"Oh, yes. Several times. He is quite persuasive."

"But now you've seen the camp!" Annabeth persisted. "So you know we need your help. You can't let Luke through the maze!"

Daedalus set his sword on the workbench. "The maze is no longer mine to control, Annabeth. I created it, yes. In fact, it is tied to my life force. But I have allowed it to live and grow on its own. That is the price I paid for privacy."