In the first time since her return to camp, Elaine dreamed of the Labyrinth's inventor.

She was in a king's courtroom—a big white chamber with marble columns and a wooden throne. Sitting on it was a plump man with curly red hair and a crown of laurels. At his side stood three pretty girls who looked like his daughters. They all had his red hair and were dressed in blue robes.

The doors creaked open and a herald announced, "Minos, King of Crete!"

Elaine stiffened, but the man on the throne just smiled at his daughters. "I can't wait to see the expression on his face."

Minos, the royal creep himself, swept into the room. He was so tall and serious he made the other king look ridiculous. Minos's pointed beard had gone gray. He looked thinner than the last time Elaine had dreamed of him, and his sandals were splattered with mud, but his eyes still gleamed cruelly.

He bowed stiffly to the man on the throne. "King Cocalus. I understand you have solved my little riddle?"

Cocalus smiled. "Hardly little, Minos. Especially when you advertise across the world that you are willing to pay a thousand gold talents to the one who can solve it. Is the offer genuine?"

Minos clapped his hands. Two meaty guards walked in, struggling with a big wooden crate. They set it at Cocalus's feet and opened it. Stacks of gold bars glittered. It had to be worth a billion dollars.

Cocalus whistled appreciatively. "You must have bankrupted your kingdom for such a reward, my friend."

"That is not your concern."

Cocalus shrugged. "The riddle was quite simple, really. One of my retainers solved it."

"Father," one of the girls warned. She looked like the oldest—a little more matured than her sisters.

Cocalus ignored her. He took a spiral seashell from the folds of his robe. A silver string had been threaded through it, so it hung like a huge bead on a necklace.

Minos stepped forward and took the shell. "One of your retainers, you say? How did he thread the string without breaking the shell?"

"He used an ant, if you can believe it. Tied a silk string to the little creature and coaxed it through the shell by putting honey at the far end."

"Ingenious man," Minos said.

"Oh, indeed. My daughters' tutor. They are quite fond of him."

Minos's eyes turned cold. "I would be careful of that."

Elaine wanted to warn Cocalus: Don't trust this man! Throw him in the dungeons or something! But the redheaded king just chuckled. "Not to worry, Minos. My daughters are wise beyond their years. Now, about my gold—"

"Yes," Minos said. "But you see the gold is for the man who solved the riddle. And there can be only one such man. You are harboring Daedalus."

Cocalus shifted uncomfortably on his throne. "How is that you know his name?"

"He is a thief," Minos said. "He once worked in my court, Cocalus. He turned my own daughter against me. He helped a usurper make a fool of me in my own palace. And then he escaped justice. I have been pursuing him for ten years."

"I knew nothing of this. But I have offered the man my protection. He has been a most useful—"

"I offer you a choice," Minos said. "Turn over the fugitive to me, and this gold is yours. Or risk making me your enemy. You do not want Crete as your enemy."

Cocalus paled. Elaine thought it was pitiful for him to look so scared and small in the middle of his own throne room. He should've summoned his army or something. Minos only had two guards. But Cocalus just sat there sweating on his throne.

"Father," his oldest daughter said, "you can't—"

"Silence, Aelia." Cocalus twisted his beard. He looked again at the glittering gold. "This pains me, Minos. The gods do not love a man who breaks his oath of hospitality."

"The gods do not love those who harbor criminals, either."

Cocalus nodded. "Very well. You shall have your man in chains."

"Father!" Aelia said again. Then she caught herself, and changed her voice to an appealing tone. "At—at least let us feast our gust first. After his long journey, he should be treated to a hot bath, new clothes, and a decent meal. I would be honored to draw the bath myself."

She smiled prettily at Minos, and the old king grunted. "I suppose a bath would not be amiss." He looked at Cocalus. "I will see you at dinner, my lord. With the prisoner."

"This way, Your Majesty," said Aelia. She and her sisters led Minos out of the chamber.

Elaine followed them into a bath chamber decorated with mosaic tiles. Steam filled the air. A running-water faucet poured hot water into the tub. Aelia and her sisters filled it with rose petals and something that must've been soapy, because soon the water was covered with monochrome foam. Elaine looked away when the girls turned aside as Minos dropped his roves and slipped into the bath.

"Ahh." He smiled. "An excellent bath. Thank you, my dears. The journey has been long indeed."

"You have been chasing your prey ten years, my lord?" Aelia asked, batting her eyelashes. "You must be very determined."

"I never forget a debt." Minos grinned. "Your father was wise to agree to my demands."

"Oh, indeed, my lord!" Aelia said. Elaine thought she was laying on the flattery pretty thick, but the old guy was eating it up. Aelia's sisters trickled scented oil over the king's head.

"You know, my lord," Aelia said, "Daedalus thought you would come. He thought the riddle might be a trap, but he couldn't resist solving it."

Minos frowned. "Daedalus spoke to you about me?"

"Yes, my lord."

"He is a bad man, princess. My own daughter fell under his spell. Do not listen to him."

"He is a genius," Aelia said. "And he believes a woman is just as smart as a man. He was the first to ever teach us as if we had minds of our own. Perhaps your daughter felt the same way."

Minos tried to sit up, but Aelia's sisters pushed him back into the water. Aelia came up behind him. She held three tiny orbs in her palm. At first Elaine thought they were some kind of bath beads. But she threw them in the water and the beads sprouted bronze threads that began wrapping around the king, tying him up at the ankles, binding his wrists to his sides, circling his neck.

Elaine hated Minos, but it was pretty horrible to watch. He struggled and cried out, but the girls were much stronger. Soon he was helpless, lying in the bath with his chin just above the water. The bronze strands were still wrapping around him like a cocoon, tightening across his body.

"What do you want?" Minos demanded. "Why do you do this?"

Aelia smiled. "Daedalus has been kind to us, Your Majesty. And I do not like you threatening our father."

"You tell Daedalus," Minos growled. "You tell him I will hound him even after death! If there is any justice in the Underworld, my soul will haunt him for eternity!"

"Brave words, Your Majesty," Aelia said. "I wish you luck finding your justice in the Underworld."

And with that, the bronze threads wrapped around Minos's face, making him a bronze mummy.

The door of the bathhouse opened. Daedalus stepped in, carrying a traveler's bag.

He'd trimmed his hair short. His beard was pure white. He looked frail and sad, but he reached down and touched the mummy's forehead. The threads unraveled and sank to the bottom of the tub. There was nothing inside them. It was as if King Minos had just dissolved.

"A painless death," Daedalus mused. "More than he deserved. Thank you, my princesses."

Aelia hugged him. "You cannot stay here, teacher. When our father finds out—"

"Yes," Daedalus said. "I fear I have brought you trouble."

"Oh, do not worry for us. Father will be happy enough taking that old man's gold. And Crete is a very long way away. But he will blame you for Minos's death. You must flee to somewhere safe."

"Somewhere safe," the old man repeated. "For years I have fled from kingdom to kingdom, looking for somewhere safe. I fear Minos told the truth. Death will not stop him from hounding me. There is no place under the sun that will harbor me, once word of this crime gets out."

"Then where will you go?" Aelia said.

"A place I swore never to enter again," Daedalus said. "My prison may be my only sanctuary."

"I do not understand," Aelia said.

"It's best you did not."

"But what of the Underworld?" one of her sisters asked. "Terrible judgment will await you! Every man must die."

"Perhaps," Daedalus said. Then he brought a scroll from his traveling bag—the same scroll Elaine seen in her dream weeks ago, with his nephews notes. "Or perhaps not."

He patted Aelia's shoulder, then blessed her and her sisters. He looked down once more at the coppery threads glinting in the bottom of the bath. "Find me if you dare, king of the ghosts."

He turned toward the mosaic wall and touched a tile. A glowing mark appeared—a Greek Δ—and the wall slid aside. The princesses gasped.

"You never told us of secret passages!" Aelia said. "You have been busy."

"The Labyrinth has been busy," Daedalus corrected. "Do not try to follow me, my dears, if you value your sanity."

***

Elaine's dream shifted. She was underground in a stone chamber. Luke and another half-blood were studying a map by flashlight.

Luke cursed. "It should've been the last turn." He crumpled up the map and tossed it aside.

"Sir!" his companion protested.

"Maps are useless here," Luke said. "Don't worry. I'll find it."

"Sir, is it true that the larger the group—"

"The more likely you get lost? Yes, that's true. Why do you think we sent out solo explorers to begin with? But don't worry. As soon we have the thread, we can lead the vanguard through."

"But how will we get the thread?"

Luke stood, flexing his fingers. "Oh, Quintus will come through. All we have to do is reach the arena, and it's at the juncture. Impossible to get anywhere without passing it. That's why we must have a truce with its master. We just have to stay alive until—"

"Sir!" a new voice came from the corridor. Another guy in Greek armor ran forward, carrying a torch. "The dracaenae found a half-blood!"

Luke scowled. "Alone? Wandering the maze?"

"Yes, sir! You'd better come quick. They're in the next chamber. They've got him cornered."

"Who is it?"

"No one I've ever seen before, sir."

Luke nodded. "A blessing from Kronos. We may be able to use this half-blood. Come!"

They ran down the corridor. A lone half-blood, wandering in the maze. Elaine could take a guess at who that might be.

***

The next morning, after Elaine double checked to make sure she had enough snacks and supplies, she ate breakfast with her siblings. Even her older sisters, Georgia and Solina wished her luck. It seemed everyone in her cabin felt some impending doom lingering over them. What that meant for Elaine, she didn't want to know. After breakfast, she hiked over Half-Blood Hill and met with Annabeth, Percy, and Argus on the road.

Nobody talked much in the van. Argus never spoke, probably because he had eyes all over his body, including—so she'd heard—at the tip of his tongue, and he didn't like to show that off.

Annabeth sat in the middle, which might have been why she looked uneasy, as if she'd felt the awkward tension between her friends.

"Is everything okay?" Elaine finally asked.

She shook her head. "An Iris-message from Eurytion."

"Eurytion? Is something wrong with Nico?"

"He left the ranch last night, heading back into the maze. Nico was gone before he woke up. Orthus tracked his scent as far as the cattle guard. Eurytion said he'd been hearing Nico talk to himself the last few nights. Only now he thinks Nico was talking with the ghost again, Minos."

"He's in danger," Percy said.

"No kidding." Annabeth agreed. "Minos is one of the judges of the dead, but he's got a vicious streak a mile wide. I don't know what he wants with Nico, but—"

"It's worse than that," Elaine complained. "I had this dream last night ..." she told them about Luke, how he'd mentioned Quintus, and how his men had found a half-blood alone in the maze.

Annabeth's jaw clenched. "That's very, very bad."

"So what do we do?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Well, it's a good thing Percy has a plan to guide us, huh?"

***

It was Saturday, and traffic was heavy going into the city. They arrived at Percy's apartment around noon. When Sally Jackson answered the door, she gave him a hug just shy of a tackle.

"I told them you were all right," his mom said, but she sounded like the weight of the sky had just been lifted off her shoulders.

She sat them down at the kitchen table and insisted on feeding them her special blue chocolate-chip cookies while they caught her up on the quest.

When they got to the part about Geryon and the stables, Sally pretended like she was going to strangle Percy. "I can't get him to clean his room, but he'll clean a hundred tons of horse manure out of some monster's stables?"

Annabeth laughed, and soon, Elaine found herself joining. It was the first time she'd laughed about something in a long time.

It almost surprised Elaine just how easy-going Percy's mother was. Her own mom was pretty relaxed for the most part, but she knew that if she came home in the middle of a quest, there was a good chance she wouldn't be allowed to complete it.

"So," Sally said when they were done with the story, "you wrecked Alcatraz Island, made Mount St. Helens explode, and displaced half a million people, but at least you're safe."

"Yep," Percy agreed. "That pretty much covers it."

"I wish Paul were here," she said, half to herself. "He wanted to talk to you."

"Oh, right. The school."

So much had happened since then that Elaine had forgotten about the high school orientation at Goode—the fact her friends left the building in flames, and the last anyone had seen of Percy was him fleeing with her and Annabeth like fugitives.

"What did you tell him?" he asked.

His mom shook her head. "What could I say? He knows something is different about you, Percy. He's a smart man. He believes that you're not a bad person. He doesn't know what's going on, but the school is pressuring him. After all, he got you admitted there. He needs to convince them the fire wasn't your fault. And since you ran away, that looks bad."

Elaine (begrugdedly) felt a twinge of sympathy. She'd been in similar situations and knew as well as anyone that it's never easy for a half-blood to keep secrets in the mortal world.

"I'll talk to him," he promised. "After we're done with the quest. I'll even tell him the truth if you want."

"Thank you, Percy. I'll tell him you'll be home..." She frowned. "When? What happens now?"

Elaine casted her eyes downward as she began fiddling with her cookie. "Percy has this plan."

Reluctantly, he told his mom.

She nodded slowly. "It sounds very dangerous. But it might work."

"You have the same abilities, don't you?" He asked. "You can see through the Mist."

She sighed. "Not so much now. When I was younger it was easier. But yes, I've always been able to see more than was good for me. It's one of the things that caught your father's attention, when we first met. Just be careful. Promise me you'll be safe."

"We'll try, Ms. Jackson," Annabeth said.

"Keeping your son safe is a big job, though." Elaine muttered, folding her arms and casting a glare at her shoes.

Sally frowned. "What's going on with you two? Have you been fighting?"

Neither of them said anything.

"I see," his mom said, and for a moment, Elaine wondered if Sally could see through more than just the Mist. It sounded like she understood what was going on with her son and her, but Elaine sure as heck didn't. "Well, remember," Sally said, "Grover and Tyson are counting on you three."

"We know," Annabeth said, saving her friends from a response.

Sally smiled. "Percy, you'd better use the phone in the hall. Good luck."

***

The meeting was arranged for Times Square. They found Rachel Elizabeth Dare in front of the Marriott Marquis, and she was completely painted gold.

Her face, her hair, her clothes—everything. She looked like she'd been touched by King Midas himself.

She was standing like a statue with five other kids all painted metallic—copper, bronze, silver. They were frozen in different poses while tourists hustled past or stopped to stare. Some passerby threw money at the tarp on the sidewalk.

The sign at Rachel's feet said, URBAN ART FOR KIDS, DONATIONS APPRECIATED.

The three of them stood there for like five minutes, staring at Rachel, but if she noticed them at all she didn't let on. She didn't move or even blink that Elaine could see. Having ADHD, Elaine simply could not have done that. Standing still that long would've driven her crazy. It was weird to see Rachel in gold, too. She looked like a statue of somebody famous, an actress or something. Only her eyes were normal green.

"Maybe if we push her over," Annabeth suggested.

Elaine stifled a laugh but decided it would be a bit mean.

After another few minutes, a kid in silver walked up from the hotel taxi stand, where he'd been taking a break. He took a pose like he was lecturing the crowd, right next to Rachel. Rachel unfroze and stepped off the tarp.

"Hey, Percy." She grinned. "Good timing! Let's get some coffee."

They walked down to a place called the Java Moose on West 43rd. Rachel ordered an Espresso Extreme, the kind of stuff Grover would like. Elaine paid for a frappicino while Annabeth and Percy got fruit smoothies. Nobody even looked twice at Rachel in her golden outfit.

"So," she said, "it's Annabell and Eleanor right?"

"Annabeth."

"Elaine." The girls corrected.

"Do you always dress in gold?" Annabeth asked warily.

"Not usually," Rachel said. "We're raising money for our group. We do volunteer art projects for elementary kids 'cause they're cutting art from the schools, you know? We do this once a month, take in about five hundred dollars on a good weekend. But I'm guessing you don't want to talk about that. You're half-bloods, too?"

"Sure," Elaine said, looking around. "Just announce it to the world, why don't you?"

"Okay." Rachel stood up and said really loud, "Hey, everybody! These three aren't human! They're half Greek god!"

Nobody even looked over. Rachel shrugged and sat down. "They don't seem to care."

"That's not funny," Annabeth said. "This isn't a joke, mortal girl."

"Hold it," Percy said. "Just calm down."

"I'm calm," Rachel insisted. "Every time I'm around you, some monster attacks us. What's to be nervous about?"

"Look," he said. "I'm really sorry about the