The next morning there was a lot of excitement at breakfast.

Apparently around three in the morning an Aethiopian drakon had been spotted at the borders of camp. We were so exhausted we slept right through the noise. The magical boundaries had kept the monster out, but it prowled the hills, looking for weak spots, and it didn't seem anxious to go away until Lee Fletcher led a couple of his siblings in pursuit. After a few dozen arrows in the chinks of the drakon's armor, it got the message.

"It's still out there," Lee warned us during announcements. "The thing was thirty feet long. . .Twenty arrows in its hide and we just made it mad. Bright green, too. It's eyes—"He shuddered.

"You did well, Lee," Chiron patted him on the shoulder. "Everyone stay alert, but stay calm. This has happened before."

"Ay," Quintus said from the head table. "And it will happen again. More and more frequently."

The campers murmured among themselves.

Everyone knew the rumors: Luke and his army of monsters were planning an invasion of the camp. Most of us expected it to happen this summer, but no one knew how or when. It didn't help that our attendance was down. We only had about eighty campers. Three years ago, when I first arrived, there had been more than a hundred. Some had died. Some joined Luke. Some had just disappeared.

I found it weird Luke had way more soldiers than campers that went missing, some I had never seen at all. I asked Chiron about it, and he looked at me with a pale face and said it was nothing.

"This is a good reason for new war games," Quintus continued, a glint in his eyes. "We'll see how you all do with that tonight."

"Yes. . ."Chiron said. "Well, enough announcements. Let us bless this meal and eat." He raised his goblet. "To the gods!"

We all raised our glasses and repeated the blessing.

Tyson, Percy and I took our plates to the bronze brazier and scraped a portion of our food into the flames. I hoped the gods liked Froot Loops and toast.

"Poseidon," Percy said. He mumbled something under his breath.

"Lady Aphrodite," I said. "Send me a dream message?"

We headed back to our table. Once everyone was eating, Chiron and Grover came over to visit. Grover was bleary-eyed. His shirt was inside out.  He slid his plate onto the table and slumped next to Percy.

Tyson shifted uncomfortably. "I will go. . .um. . .polish my fish ponies."

He lumbered off, leaving his breakfast half eaten.

Chiron tried for a smile. He probably wanted to look reassuring, but in centaur form he towered over us, casting a shadow across the table. "Well, kids, how did you sleep?"

"Fine." I said quickly. Was it possible he knew something about what happened at midnight?

"I brought Grover over," Chiron said, "because I thought you three might want to, ah, discuss matters. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some Iris-messages to send. I'll see you later." He gave Grover a meaningful look and trotted out of the pavilion.

"What's he talking about?" I asked as I set down my third cup of orange juice. Mom said I have a horrifying addiction to it.

Grover chewed his eggs. I could tell he was distracted, because he bit off the tines of his fork and chewed those down, too. "He wants you guys to convince me," he mumbled.

Somebody, no. . .two people slid onto the table seats: Annabeth and. . .Lee.

"I'll tell you what it's about," she said. "The Labyrinth."

It was hard to concentrate on what she was saying, because everybody in the dining pavilion was stealing glances at Percy and Annabeth. She was right next to him. I mean right  next to him.

"You're not supposed to be here," I said, avoiding Lee.

"We need to talk," he said. "Me and her."

"But the rules. . ."

She knew as well as we did that campers weren't allowed to switch tables. Satyrs were different. They weren't really demigods. But the half-bloods had to sit with their cabins. I wasn't even sure what would happen.

He reached for my hand over the table, but with my other hand I stabbed a butter knife into the table where his hand would have been seconds later.

Percy fake gasped and I knew it before he said it; "That is mahogany!"

I held back a smile.

"Please, Kiera." He moved next to me. "I don't know what happened last night, honest."

Percy's smile faded real fast. "Leave the table."

"All I remember is going to your cabin, you forgiving me, and next thing I knew, I was on the floor and you were crying in his arms." Lee said. "Honest."

Percy started to get up, but I pushed him back down by his shoulder. "He's telling the truth, Perc. Something was off."

I thought back to the memory, and recalled his eyes were glowing green, like the smoke from the Oracle.

"Fine," Percy snapped. "Fuck up one more time, and I'll kill you myself."

Lee held his hands up. "Deal."

Annabeth and Grover watched with wide eyes. I sent them a small look, saying, I'll tell ya later.

"Look," Annabeth said, "Grover is in trouble. There's only one way we can figure to help him. It's the Labyrinth. That's what Clarisse and I have been investigating."

I removed my butter knife from  the table and started eating again. "You mean the maze where they kept the Minotaur, back in the old days?"

"Exactly," Annabeth said.

"So. . .It's not under the king's palace in Crete anymore," Percy guessed. "The Labyrinth is under some building in America."

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Under a building? Please, Percy. The Labyrinth is huge. It wouldn't fit under a single state, much less a city."

"So. . .is the Labyrinth a part of the Underworld?" Percy asked.

I frowned. "No. Well, there may be passages to  the Underworld. I'm not sure. But the Underworld is way, way down. The Labyrinth is right under the surface of the  mortal world, kind of like a second skin. It's been growing for thousands of years, lacing its way together under Western cities, connecting everything underground. You can get anywhere."

"If you don't get lost," Grover muttered. "And die a horrible death."

"Grover, there has to be away," Annabeth said. I got the feeling they spoke about this before. "Clarisse lived."

"Barely!" Grover said. "And the other guy—"

"He was driven insane. He didn't die."

"Oh, joy." Grover's lower lip quivered. "That makes me feel much better."

"Whoa," I said. "Back it up. What's this about Clarisse and a crazy guy?"

Annabeth glanced over at the Ares table. Clarisse was watching us like she knew what we were talking about, but then she fixed her eyes on her breakfast plate.

"Last year," Annabeth said, lowering her voice, "Clarisse went on a mission for Chiron.."

"We remember," Percy said. "It was secret."

Annabeth nodded. Despite how serious she was acting, I was happy her and Percy weren't fighting.

"It was secret," Annabeth agreed, "because she found Chris Rodriguez."

I dropped my orange juice glass and it shattered on the floor, OJ and glass everywhere. All eyes turned on me and I gave a small smile. "Condensation. My bad."

The glass and mess disappeared, but I didn't get another cup. I pouted but Percy handed me his and I sipped on it as it changed to my drink of choice.

"The guy from the Hermes cabin?" Percy asked. "The kid Kiera always picked the lock on the camp store with?"

"Yep." I said between sips.

Annabeth nodded. "Last summer he just appeared in Phoenix, Arizona, near Clarisse's mom's house."

"What do you mean he just appeared?"

"He was wandering around the desert, in a hundred and twenty degrees, in full Greek armor, babbling about string."

"String," Percy said.

"He'd been driven completely insane. Clarisse brought him back to her mom's house so the mortals wouldn't institutionalize him. She tried to nurse him back to health. Chiron came out and interviewed him, but it wasn't much. The only thing they got out of it was this: Luke's men have been exploring the Labyrinth."

I took a sharp breath in, but nobody payed attention to it. No. . .what if he's trying to get to camp?

Kiera, don't be ridiculous.

I'm serious!

It can't be that serious if you're talking to yourself.

He's going to try and—

"Earth to Kiera?" Lee asked, snapping his fingers in front of my face. "You good?"

"Fine." I said. "Just. . .tired."

"—As I said," Annabeth said. "Clarisse went on a scouting expedition. Chiron kept thins hushed up because he didn't want anyone panicking. He got me involved because. . .well, the Labyrinth has always been my favorite subject. The architecture involved—"her expression turned dreamy. "The builder, Daedalus, was a genius. But the point is, the Labyrinth has entrances everywhere. If Luke could figure out how to navigate it, he could move his army around with incredible speed."

"Except it's a maze, right?" Percy asked.

"Full of horrible traps," Grover agreed. "Dead ends. Illusions. Psychotic goat-killing monsters."

I nudged him, "Good thing I'm not a goat."

He stared at me with his face blank.

I sighed and said; "Right, not the time for jokes."

"But not if you had Ariadne's string," Annabeth said. "In the old days, Ariadne's string guided Theseus out of the maze. It was a navigation instrument of some kind, invented by Daedalus. And Chris Rodriguez was mumbling about string."

"So Luke is trying to find Ariadne's string," Percy said. "Why? What's he planning?"

Annabeth shook her head. "I don't know. I thought maybe he was going to invade camp through the maze, but that doesn't make any sense. The closest entrances Clarisse found were in Manhattan, which wouldn't help Luke get to camp. . .Clarisse explored a little way into the tunnels, but it was very dangerous. She had some close calls. I researched everything I could find about Daedalus. I'm afraid it didn't help much. I don't understand exactly what Luke's planning, but I do know this: the Labyrinth might be the key to Grover's problems."

I blinked, and set down my cup. "You think Pan is underground?"

"It would explain why he's been impossible to find."

Grover shuddered. "Satyrs hate going underground. No searcher would ever try going in that  place. No flowers. No sunshine. No coffee shops!"

"Of course," I said. "Naturally, that's going to be where we find him."

Annabeth elbowed me hardly. "But, the Labyrinth can lead you almost everywhere. It reads your thoughts. It was designed to fool you, to trick you and kill you; but if you can make the Labyrinth work for  you—"

I don't get why she had to elbow me, I was enforcing her damned point.

"It could lead you to the wild god," Lee said.

I threw my hands in the air, "Is that not what I was fucking saying!?"

Lee put my hands back down and I stuck my tongue out at him.

"I can't do it." Grover hugged his stomach. "Just thinking about it makes me want to throw up my silverware."

"Let's not." I grumbled, shuffling away from him.

Lee pulled me closer, "boy, you are just full of sarcastic comments today."

"Zip it, glow stick."

"Grover, it may be your only and last chance," Annabeth said. "The council is serious. One  week or you learn to tap dance!"

Over at the head table, Quintus cleared his throat. I get the feeling he didn't want to make a scene, but Annie and Lee were really pushing it, sitting at our table too long."

"We'll talk later," Annabeth said, squeezing Percy's arm a little too hard and causing the tie between them to light up. "Convince him, will you?"

Lee nodded. "We can train later, if you'd like."

"'Kay," I said.

They returned to the Athena and Apollo table, ignoring all the people who were staring at them.

Grover buried his head in his hands. "I can't do it, Kiera. My searcher's license. Pan. I'm going to lose it all. I'll have to start a puppet theater."

"Don't say that! We'll figure something out." Percy said.

I nodded along, spilling half of my OJ. I wiped myself off with napkins.

Grover looked at both of us teary-eyed. "Percy, Kiera, you're my best friends. You've seen me underground. In that Cyclops's cave. Do you really think I could. . ."

His voice faltered. I remembered the Sea of Monsters. When he'd been stuck in a Cyclops's cave. He never liked underground places to begin with, but now Grover really hated it.

"I have to leave,"Grover said miserably. "Juniper's waiting for me. It's a good thing she finds cowards attractive."

After he was gone, I looked over at Quintus and he nodded gravely, like we were sharing some dark secret. Then he went back to cutting his food with a dagger.

I chugged another glass of orange juice, once you start, you can't stop. It just tastes so good you don't realize how much you've drank until way after or someone tells you. I had a terrifyingly unhealthy addiction to the shit.

As I set it down to start eating again, it refilled. "Oo!" I said, a smile making its way across my face that quickly disappeared as my brother stared at me horrified.

"What?" I asked.

He took the glass from me. "That's enough."

I started to sit up for my cup but he moved it away. "Kie, that's your twelfth fucking glass, not counting the ones in your  previous cup, that you  spilt!"

I frowned. "And that's my problem. . .how?"

"You," He said. "Are addicted. I'm placing a temporary ban on you, like Mr. D with his wine."

"You can't do that!" I protested.

"Watch me." Percy put the cup farther from me.

I reached for it again and he slid it further away. "Give it to me. Right now."

"No," he said. "I don't think I will."

"Perseus Achilles Jackson," I said. "Give. Now."

He stared at me before booking it out of the dining pavilion. I hopped up and sprinted after him, the other campers staring at me. "You little bitch!"

————————☁︎ ✯  ☾ ✯ ☁︎————————

In the afternoon, we went down the pegasus stables to visit our friends Blackjack and Ace. Percy tripped on the way to our cabin and broke the glass, leaving me with nothing to do, and I was no longer in the orange juice moment.

Yo, boss! Blackjack capered around in his stall, his black wings buffeting the air. Ya bring me some sugar cubes?

"You know those aren't good for you, Blackjack." Percy said.

Ace nuzzled into my side, but surely, you brought me some!

I looked around to make sure the other pegasi weren't looking, and I gave him a handful I took from breakfast. Blackjack, Ace, and me and Percy went a long way. We sort of helped rescue them from Luke's demon cruise ship a few years ago—I did all the work—and ever since, they insisted on repaying us with favors.

So we got any quests coming up? Blackjack asked.

Ace finished his sugar cubes We're ready to fly, Lady!

I patted his nose. "Not sure, man. Everybody keeps talking about underground mazes."

They whinnied nervously. Nuh-uh. Not for these horses! You ain't gonna be crazy enough to go in no maze, boss. Are ya? You'll end up in the glue factory!

"You may be right, Ace." I said.

Blackjack crunched down his sugar cubes from Percy. He shook his mane like he was having a sugar seizure. Whoa! Good stuff! Well, boss, you come to your senses and want to fly somewhere, just give a whistle. Ole Blackjack, Ace, and our buddies, we'll stampede anybody for ya!

I groaned. "Why do you two talk like you're in the mafia?"

They suddenly were silent. Percy told them we'd keep it in mind. Then a group of younger campers came into the stables to start their riding lessons, and we decided it was time to leave. One younger camper—about two years younger than me, and I believe he was from Cabin Four—stared at me, jaw open. I winked at him and did finger guns as Percy and I left and he looked like he was gonna pass out.

Weird kids.

————————☁︎ ✯  ☾ ✯ ☁︎————————

That night after dinner, Quintus had us suit up in combat armor like we were getting ready for capture the flag, but the mood among the campers was a lot more serious. Sometime during the day the crates int he arena had disappeared, and I had a feeling whatever was in them had been emptied into the woods.

"Right," Quintus said, standing on the head dining table. "Gather 'round,"

It had been a while since I had to wear armor, since I didn't usually during capture the flag. It would weight my attacks down, bring light to areas—which would block my ability to shadow travel—that I was in, make loud noises, and overall was too much work. So, Chiron let me not play with it, though I had my fair share of injuries.

Quintus was dressed in black leather and bronze. In the torchlight, his gray heir made him look like a ghost. Mrs. O'Leary bounded happily around him, foraging for dinner scraps.

"You will be in teams of two," Quintus announced. I turned to Percy and we fist bumped.When everybody started talking to grab their friends, he  yelled: "Which have already been chosen!"

"AWWWWW!" Everybody complained. I groaned.

"Your goal is simple: collect the gold laurels without dying. The wreath is wrapped in a silk package, tied to the back of one of the monsters. There are six monsters. Each has a silk package. Only one has the laurels. You must find the wreath before the other teams. And, of course. . .you will have to slay the monster to get it, and stay alive."

I raised my hand, "So, what if we are able to get the package off of the monster, without  dying, of course. And without killing the monster, would it still be allowed?"

He hesitated, "Um. . .I didn't think of that. So, no. You have  to kill it to win."

I rolled my eyes as Clarisse came next to me, "Why'd you ask him? You could've just done it without needing to ask."

"Smart." I said. "I'll remember that next time."

Clarisse winked at me and went back to the crowd, all of who started to murmur excitedly. The task sounded pretty straightforward. Hey, we'd all slain monsters before. That's what we trained for.

"I will announce your partners," Quintus said. "There will be no trading. No switching. No complaining."

"Aroooof!" Mrs. O'Leary buried her face in a plate of pizza.

Quintus produced a big scroll and started reading off the names. Beckendorf would be with his girlfriend, Silena. The Stoll brothers, Travis and Connor, would be together. No surprise. They did everything together. Teqi and her twin Tony, also together. Clarisse and the young kid from Demeter's cabin from earlier was with her. I was with Lee Fletcher—melee and ranged combat combines, we were going to be the toughest combo to beat. Quintus kept rattling off names until he said, "Percy Jackson with Annabeth Chase."

"Shit," I whispered. I turned to Lee, "They're gonna be the hardest to go against, they're literally the best combo."

He knit his eyebrows. "What about us?"

I shook my head, "Nah, we'd get second. Percy and Annabeth would win anything together, unless someone fucked with them. They'd go through hell and back and be fine with each other."

Lee contemplated it. "Yeah, you're right."

"When am I not?" I asked.

He just rolled his eyes and Quintus kept saying partners. Percy grinned at Annabeth and said something, all I heard her reply was; "Your armor is crooked," then she fixed it. Ah, young love.

"Grover Underwood," Quintus said. "With Tyson."

Grover just about