Indigo Eyes

Chapter 103

When they landed in the middle of the cabin area, they were immediately mobbed by Chiron, Silenus and Cressida's brothers.

"I feared as much," Chiron said after they'd told him the important parts of their story, namely Daedalus being Quintus. "We must hurry. Hopefully, you have slowed down the Titan lord, but his vanguard will still be coming through. They will be anxious for blood. Most of our defenders are already in place. Come!"

"Wait a moment," Silenus demanded. "What of the search for Pan? You are almost three weeks overdue, Grover Underwood! Your searcher's licence is revoked!"

Grover took a deep breath. He stood up straight and looked Silenus in the eye. "Searcher's licences don't matter anymore. The great god Pan is dead. He has passed on and left us his spirit."

"What?" Silenus's face turned bright red. "Sacrilege and lies! Grover Underwood, I will have you exiled for speaking thus!"

"It's true," Percy said, glancing to where Cressida was hugged to Castor's side and her hand was joined with Pollux's. "We were there when he died. All of us."

"Impossible! You are all liars! Nature-destroyers!" 

Chiron studied Grover's face. "We will speak of this later."

"We will speak of it now!" Silenus said. "We must deal with this –"

"Silenus," Chiron cut in. "My camp is under attack. The matter of Pan has waited two thousand years. I fear it will have to wait a bit longer. Assuming we are still here this evening."

And they were launched into the biggest military operation the camp has ever held.

The Hephaestus cabin had set up traps around the entrance to the Labyrinth – razor wire, pits filled with pots of Greek fire, rows of sharpened sticks to deflect a charge. Beckendorf was manning two catapults the size of pickup trucks, already primed and aimed at Zeus's Fist. Tyson was also helping. The Ares cabin was on the front line, drilling in a phalanx formation with Clarisse calling orders. Apollo's and Hermes's cabins were scattered in the woods with bows ready. Many had taken up positions in the trees. Even the dryads were armed with bows, and the satyrs trotted around with wooden cudgels and shields made of rough tree bark. Annabeth went to join her brethren from the Athena cabin, who had set up a command tent and were directing operations. A grey banner with an owl fluttered outside the tent. Our security chief, Argus, stood guard at the door. Aphrodite's children were running around, straightening everybody's armour and offering to comb the tangles out of our horsehair plumes.

Castor was outfitting Cressida into her armour as he explained what had happened while Pollux was handing out water bottles and juice boxes and the occasional bunch of grapes before returning to help the Hermes cabin with the pranks they'd been ordered to rig throughout the entire woods. Annabeth had given her a chug of the canteen Clarisse had given her, just in case. But it wasn't going to be enough.

They weren't going to be enough.

Cressida saw the army that had marched under Luke's command last winter and given the time, surely it had to have grown. And while they didn't have the power of the gods because they didn't believe in interference, the Titans didn't believe in such restrictions.

"Hey, hey, are you sure you're ready for this?" Castor asked as Pollux came back and Cressida took a deep breath as she pushed her hair back again.

"No. I - I can't even begin to describe how emotionally messed up that quest made me - the last month has made me. But we have to do this. This is home," she said.

"We're really proud of you, Cress. Even though you didn't stop Luke from getting the string, you still rocked that quest," Pollux praised and her smile was small.

"We stick together, right? The three of us," she asked and her brothers nodded at each other before looking to her, their expressions determined.

"Always," Castor and Pollux answered in unison.

"We got your back, baby sister," Castor grinned. It was that protective, older brother smile that never failed to make her feel at ease.

"And your front," Pollux joked, his words never failing to put a smile on her face.

"I love you, Castor. I love you, Pollux," she said as she hugged both of them.

"We love you too, Cress," they replied as they pressed twin kisses on her cheeks.

They stayed like that for minutes on end until the ground began shaking.

Everyone in the clearing stopped what they were doing. Clarisse barked a single order: "Lock shields!"

Then the Titan lord's army exploded from the Labyrinth.