FIC: The Impossible Maze, Chpt 5

[shiiki]

Title: The Impossible Maze (Daughter of Wisdom 4)
Author: shiiki
Rating: PG-13
Characters/Pairings: Annabeth Chase, Percy Jackson, Luke Castellan, Tyson, Grover Underwood, Rachel Dare, Nico di Angelo, various others, Gen with developing Percy/Annabeth
Fandom: Percy Jackson

Summary: Annabeth Chase has finally gotten her chance to lead a quest, but the stakes have never been so high. With war on the horizon, she and her friends must navigate the Labyrinth to find its creator and convince him to help Camp Half-Blood. But the Labyrinth is more than just a physical maze-in its twist and turns, Annabeth must not only confront the Titan army’s monsters, but her own fears, hopes, and scariest of all, her developing feelings for her best friend. An alternate PoV retelling of The Battle of the Labyrinth.

In this chapter
Chapter Title: I Turn Down A Suspicious Offer
Rating: PG
Characters: Annabeth Chase, Percy Jackson, Sally Jackson, Grover Underwood, Juniper, Clarisse La Rue, Quintus, Luke Castellan
Word Count: 3,728

Chapter Summary: Annabeth makes a social appointment with one boy and remembers another she turned down.

Notes: Yes, I did research which movies might be playing in the theatre the year I set this …

Some references in this chapter come from events in my previous stories, The Golden Fleece, and Necklace of Harmonia. Annabeth's special phone (and my reasoning for how she got it), for instance, is a plot point from Necklace of Harmonia. I figured Percy had to find out about it somehow, so it all got worked into the conversation. I still think it's a bit of a cop-out to suddenly have her have a cell phone after books of 'oh no, monsters will eat us if we use a cell', but oh well. As for the date planning … it had to happen, right? How else was she going to come out into Manhattan to meet him if they'd never arranged it beforehand?!

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Chiron hadn't been joking about working us hard. Every head counsellor was under pressure this summer to ensure their campers could defend themselves. As head strategist, I had to check on all their work. I inspected Beckendorf's war chest (he promised he'd have a dozen more shields once Tyson was here to help), sat in on Lee's first-responder training (he got their most talented healer, Will Solace, to drill everyone on emergency first-aid), and let Silena walk me through her checklist for camp tidiness ('Untidy cabins are trip and fire hazards,' she insisted).

In my spare time, I pored over maps with my half-brother Malcolm. We'd collected all the building plans and boundary maps for the camp perimeter and were working through them slowly, looking for spots where our defences would be thinnest. Malcolm had the idea to run alarm wires along the edge of the woods since we weren't certain where the magical barriers ended. I told him to run it by the Stolls.

There was another stack of maps that I perused alone. These had been gifted to us by a demigod professor at Princeton, a son of Hephaestus whom I'd met last year. He'd actually been in the Labyrinth in his youth, and he claimed there'd been a camp entrance into the maze then. It was possible that it had moved since; we still hadn't found any sign of it. The maps were copies of ancient Cretan blueprints from Prof Daly's personal research collection. I hoped they would give me a better sense of how the Labyrinth had extended itself under the mortal world. The problem was, I couldn't figure out how they all fit together. It wasn't so much a jigsaw as it was one of those visual illusions, with stairs that just kept going up and up and up.

Frustrated, I folded up the maps and stuffed them into a drawer.

Outside my cabin window, I could see the two new demigods, Mitchell and Lacy, heading up the path to the canoe lake. The naiads had gotten out the canoes for a paddling session. For some reason, that cheered me up. I wasn't great at canoeing, but the lake was one of Percy's favourite spots at camp. I'd bet ten drachmas we'd end up hanging out there his first day back-after my afternoon with him in Manhattan, of course.

Which reminded me … I hadn't told Percy that Argus was bringing me into the city soon.

I stood up so quickly, I almost knocked my head on the top of my bunk. I had my prism and a golden drachma ready in my hand before I remembered the last time I'd IM-ed Percy. He'd been with a mortal then-his mom's new boyfriend, who didn't know anything about magic. We'd had to cut the call right away.

But I did have another option-one that made me just like a normal teenager for once.

I said a silent thank-you to my dad and rummaged in my drawer for the cell phone he'd given me. I hadn't told anyone I had it, since cell phones were technically forbidden at camp. Monsters can trace cell signals, so using a cell phone is basically like sending up a telegraphic flare to say come get me! I'd never been entirely certain if using one within the magical boundaries would cause the barriers to weaken. It wasn't something anyone wanted to test.

Although my dad's phone had come from a military pal and used an encrypted cell network that should theoretically be untraceable, I didn't want to break the no-cell-phone rule too blatantly. I went up to the property line to make the call.

Peleus looked up when I approached Thalia's pine. I threw him a few animal crackers (he was partial to the sheep ones). He snapped them up with a contented snort.

A light breeze ruffled the branches of the tree. The Golden Fleece swayed in it, glittering brightly among the evergreen needles. I wondered what Thalia was up to now. Last I heard, she and the Hunters of Artemis were tracking down ancient monsters. I hoped they'd been having some success.

Percy's mom, Sally, answered my call on the third ring.

'Hi Ms Jackson,' I said politely. 'Is Percy there?'

'Yes …' She sounded surprised. I guess Percy didn't get too many phone calls. This made me glad, for some reason. 'Who should I tell him this is?'

'Oh, um, sorry. It's Annabeth. From camp.'

'Annabeth!' Sally sounded even more astonished now. 'Honey, are you all right? This must be so dangerous for you-'

'I'm fine,' I said quickly. 'I'm at camp. I was just, um-Chiron said I could go into Manhattan next week, and I thought maybe, um-' I cast about for a way to explain why I was calling that didn't sound like I was asking Percy on a date.

I wasn't, was I?

'Oh, of course, honey.' Sally's knowing tone made my cheeks heat up. 'You're always welcome here, you know. I'll go get Percy. He'll be thrilled to hear from you.'

There was a soft click as she put down the phone. I heard her voice in the background, calling for Percy. Seconds later, there came the loud huff of someone breathing hard into the speaker.

'Annabeth?' Percy sounded like he'd just sprinted across his mom's apartment.

'Hey,' I said. Maybe it was just the phone, but his voice was pitched lower than I remembered.

'I thought we couldn't use cell phones. Aren't you gonna, like, bring a horde of monsters down on you?'

'I think we're okay for now.' I explained how my dad had gotten my phone special from the military. 'But we'd better not talk too long, anyway. I just wanted to tell you Chiron gave me permission to go into the city next week, and, um …' My voice faltered. The idea of me going all the way up there just to ride back with him to camp suddenly seemed really lame. In the pause, I counted one heartbeat, two, three …

Just when I was beginning to cringe, Percy said, 'D-do you want to, like …' He mumbled something.

'What?'

'Never mind,' he said quickly. 'It was a dumb idea. I just thought, well, the new Indiana Jones is out-'

'Like … the movie? Are you-I mean, did you want to-'

'Go see it, yeah.' He sounded like he'd developed a sudden sore throat. 'If you don't want to, that's okay-'

'No! I mean, yes, I want to.' I was ambivalent about Indiana Jones, but the thought of going to the movies with Percy, a whole afternoon that was just the two of us, made my insides turn light and fluttery.

'Uh, cool,' Percy said. 'Er, I got this high school orientation thing Monday morning, but I could meet you after …'

'Wait-Monday? I thought you were coming to camp on Tuesday?'

'I am,' he said, puzzled. 'But-oh. Does that mean you can't meet me Monday after all?'

'No. Monday's cool.'

'You could, um, stay over if you like,' he offered. 'And my mom can drive us to camp together.' Was it just me, or did he sound hopeful?

'I'd like that.'

'Cool.' Even though images didn't travel over the phone, I somehow knew his cute, lopsided smile was spreading across his face. He gave me the address of his new high school and the time of his morning orientation, and we hung up.

Peleus gave a breathy snort, like he was laughing at me. He winked one large, amber eye.

'Shut up,' I told him, but without any real rancour. I was going for a movie with Percy, and spending the night at his place. I didn't think anything could spoil my mood right now.

When I came down the hill, I found Grover sitting on the back steps of the Big House, playing a mournful tune on his reed pipes. His dryad girlfriend Juniper sat next to him, patting his arm comfortingly.

'It's going to be okay, Grover,' she was saying. 'You're the bravest satyr ever! The Council will see that. You just have to tell them everything you've done.'

Grover lowered his pipes. 'But I have, Juniper. They just don't believe me.'

I took a seat beside them. 'Is this about the hearing?'

'Yeah,' Grover said miserably. 'It's been scheduled for Monday afternoon.'

I pushed my hair behind my ears, feeling guilty. Monday. I was going to miss it.

'Juniper's right,' I said bracingly. 'You've already gotten further than anyone in the search.'

'I just don't understand it,' Grover wailed. 'Why the trail keeps vanishing! Like it's-I don't know, gone underground or something.'

'Maybe it has.'

We looked up. Clarisse had come onto the porch. For once, she wasn't carrying her spear. And she actually looked thoughtful, which was rare for an Ares kid.

'What do you mean?' I asked.

'Well, has Grover looked underground?'

'Like, in a cave?' Grover wrinkled his nose.

'No, I mean actually underground. What if Pan's in the Labyrinth?'

'Seriously?' I said. 'Why would you think that?'

'Everything else seems to be down there,' Clarisse said. 'Kronos's monsters. Luke's scouts. Maybe the reason no one's finding anything is because everything's hidden in there.'

I had to admit this actually made sense. It fit what my mom had said: They are moving underground.

In my head, I saw the blue Delta at the Geary Street Target and the hippogriffs bursting from the superstore.

'We thought Kronos might be trying to use the Labyrinth to get to us,' I mused. 'But what if he's just using it like-like an incubation chamber for monsters?'

'Pan isn't a monster!' Juniper protested.

'But it might not be just monsters returning through the Labyrinth.' I looked at Clarisse. 'Remember what Prof Daly said at Princeton last year? Nobody knows where the Labyrinth draws its life force from. What if Pan is sustaining it?'

Grover let out a nervous, bleating laugh. 'That's ridiculous. How can he be underground? Remember, he was last seen by a sailor off the coast of Ephesos!'

'Yeah, and that sailor said to tell the world he's dead,' I reminded him. 'So if you believe that story, you must believe he's dead.'

'You just don't like underground spaces 'cause you're a satyr,' Clarisse said.

'Underground smells of monsters for a reason,' Grover protested. 'And Pan's a satyr, too. He wouldn't like the underground any more than I do.'

'Maybe he's not there by chance,' Clarisse said darkly. 'Maybe-'

'Well, this sounds like an interesting conversation.' Quintus popped up on the lawn. His sword dangled from his belt. He looked fresh as a daisy, but a glance across the green confirmed that the Apollo campers were practically crawling back to their cabin from the direction of the sword-fighting arena. Training under Quintus was no joke-he could disarm just about anyone in five seconds flat. (Or it could be because sparring with a bear-sized hellhound spectating made everyone nervous.)

Clarisse gave Quintus a distasteful look.

'Think about it,' she said to Grover, and stalked off.

'I do not think that girl likes me very much,' Quintus observed. He ran his hand along the hilt of his sword.

'It's just Clarisse,' Grover said. 'She doesn't like anyone. You should see her with Percy.'

'Ah. The elusive Percy Jackson. I've heard quite a bit about this young man.' Quintus nodded sharply, as though he'd come to a decision. He smiled kindly at Grover. 'I think some of the wood nymphs are having trouble with a patch of weeds. I was told you might be the man-er, satyr-for the job.'

Grover blushed. 'Oh, um, yeah, of course, if they need me.'

He headed off with Juniper, leaving me alone with our new sword instructor.

Quintus gazed out over the camp grounds. 'An interesting place,' he said. 'I wonder what it would have been like to grow up in a setting like this.'

'Are you a half-blood, too?'

He nodded. 'But I had no camp such as this when I was a boy.'

I stared at him. How old was Quintus exactly? With his grey hair and beard, he was definitely older than my dad, possibly even older than Professor Daly, who was the oldest demigod I'd ever met so far. But if Quintus had grown up before the camp had come to Long Island, he had to be ancient.

Or maybe he just hadn't known about camp. Plenty of demigods never made it here. Although most of them ended up as a monster's snack, a number had made it to adulthood without ever being trained. Some of them were even famous. You probably wouldn't believe me if I told you their names.

Quintus's eyes landed on the hedge maze in front of the art and crafts cabin, the one I'd designed a year ago. It was growing well now, the hedges well over six feet. A few of the Demeter kids were trimming the branches.

'Quite a work of art,' Quintus said appreciatively. 'Chiron says it was your handiwork.'

'Yes,' I said, lifting my chin a notch. 'And the art and crafts cabin, too. After it got burnt down last summer.'

'Ah.' Quintus squinted at the building. 'Functional and aesthetic. You are an architect, then.'

'Do you know about architecture?'

Quintus scratched his beard. 'A bit.'

I got the sense that he knew more than a bit, but he didn't elaborate. Instead, he took a seat at the card table Mr D usually reserved for pinochle games, and motioned for me to grab the adjacent chair. 'Tell me about camp, Annabeth.'

'Camp?' I said, bewildered. After all, we were at camp. He'd been wandering around for days, examining our different activities with Mrs O'Leary trotting at his heels. What more was there to tell about it?

Quintus nodded and leaned forward with an eager glint in his eyes. 'What do you think of it?'

'Well, it's …' How did I begin to explain my complex relationship with camp? 'It's where we're protected. Where we learn who our parents are-who we are. It's-the only place demigods can be safe. It's … home, I guess.' Something permanent, my mind suggested. The memory of a cold, derisive laugh echoed in response-Foolish girl … it is temporary … like everything will soon be …

I shuddered.

'Indeed.' Quintus steepled his fingers under his beard. 'But I was given to understand that the place might be under attack from a traitor-one of your own? This … Luke?'

My throat tightened painfully. 'That's not-I mean, Luke, he's-' Misguided, I wanted to say. Misled.

My hesitation seemed to be answer enough for Quintus. He gave that quick, decisive nod again, as if I'd given him some critical information. 'Thank you for the chat, Annabeth. It's always good to get all the facts straight.' He got up and bowed to me. As he bent, I saw a dark bruise on his shoulder peeking out from under his tunic. Who had possibly managed to score a hit on him? 'I should go take a shower before dinner. See you around, my dear.'

I stayed on the back porch, frowning at Quintus's retreating back. I'd been trying not to think too much about Luke, but Quintus's questions brought it all back-the last time I'd seen him.

It hadn't even been a fortnight ago. I'd just gotten my acceptance letter to design school-the offer I'd turned down-and my mind had been a million miles away from the war when I'd answered the door. I'd been totally unprepared to find Luke standing there on the front step of my house in San Francisco.

He'd looked nearly as bad as when I'd rescued him from under the sky last winter. His sandy hair had been lank and lacklustre, with a thin line of grey threaded through it. I had the same grey streak, and so did Percy. It was a token of our ordeal, the signature of the sky that we had each taken a turn in carrying. It connected us, like a thread of fate, knitting us tightly into the same quilted future.

The memory enveloped me.

My heartbeat pounded in my ears. 'How did you find-' My hand went to my dagger. 'What are you doing here?'

Luke reached for my arm. 'So it's true. You came to San Francisco.' His eyes were wild, just like when we'd stood fighting on the edge of Mount Tam.

When he'd fallen off the cliff.

I'd known somehow that he had survived, that we would meet again, but I hadn't expected it to be like this.

I jerked away the moment he touched me, his fingers cold as death.

'Annabeth …'

My heart was a resounding hammer against my rib cage. 'What are you doing here?' I repeated. 'Are you trying to-to kidnap me again?' I craned my neck to see behind him, half-expecting a team of Scythian dracaenae to burst out of Janet's well-trimmed bushes.

'No, nothing like that. I came to … look,' he held up his hands, 'I'm unarmed. No one else is here. Just me.'

I crossed my arms but kept my dagger in my hand. Luke's eyes darted to it. He seemed to brighten at the sight of it.

'I just want five minutes to talk, okay? Can you give me that?'

I should tell him to go. Percy would have. He'd probably have run Luke through with Riptide by now. Especially if Luke really was weaponless, as he claimed to be. But I sighed and nodded tightly.

Luke threw a desperate look over his shoulder, like he was afraid of being overheard. 'Annabeth, I screwed up. I-everything's all messed up. And Thalia's gone, and I've failed, and-I wish I could take it all back.'

'Thalia's not gone, Luke. She's just joined the Hunters.'

'She's gone to me,' he said bitterly. He looked at my dagger again. 'But you're still-I want to leave. Leave Kr-leave him and go back.'

'Back?' Hope fluttered in my heart. Did he mean what I thought he did? 'To camp, you mean?'

'No-no, that's not what-' He gulped. 'Annabeth, we could-we could run away. From all of it. No more gods, no more-will you come with me?'

'What are you talking about?' I said. 'We can't run away. That's crazy.'

'You don't understand.' Luke's eyes grew wide and fearful. 'Kronos is going to use me. I-please, Annabeth. Come with me. It would be like the old days.'

He held his hand out to me, palm facing up. For a second, I was seven years old again. Luke, my hero, was offering me a hand that meant safety, protection, family.

For a second, Luke was who he used to be.

Then the illusion burst. Sunlight danced over the grey streak in his hair, reminding me of the crushing weight of the sky-a weight that Luke had put on my back. He'd pleaded with me then, too.

I wanted to believe him-to believe that I could rescue him from Kronos. I wanted to rescue him from Kronos. But this desire had gotten me and Artemis trapped and two Hunters killed last winter.

I stepped back from Luke. 'No. No way, Luke. How-how can I even trust anything you say? You-you've tricked me so many times. How is anything different now?'

'I'm serious, Annabeth. I really am. I don't have much time left. Kronos, he-Percy Jackson keeps ruining his plans, but he won't stop until he gets what he wants. He's going to take over the world. He's going to use me as a stepping stone to do it.'

'Kronos has been using you all along,' I pointed out. 'He used me, too, if you've forgotten. You used me to trap Artemis. And if you think I'm going to let you trick me into being used again-'

My breath caught in my throat. My eyes burned. Broken trust hung between me and Luke, the weight of it heavier than the sky. 'I almost died, Luke. If Percy hadn't-'

'Percy.' Luke's mouth twisted like he'd just swallowed a lemon. 'That's it, isn't it? You won't come with me because of him. You're choosing him.'

'Don't be ridiculous,' I snapped. 'I'm not choosing anyone.'

Luke's expression turned dark and dangerous. 'He'll never be what you need, Annabeth.'

'And you are?' I challenged. My fingers tightened involuntarily around the hilt of my dagger. Luke's eyes darted to it.

'Are you going to fight me, too? Like Thalia?' His whole demeanour changed. No longer was he desperate and pleading. This was the angry, jaded Luke that Kronos had corrupted. I waited for him to pull out his sword, to prove he'd been lying about coming here defenceless. But he just laughed bitterly. 'You may as well. You'll never get the chance again.'

He spread his arms so that his chest was exposed, unprotected, before me. I could have killed him easily. One stab to the heart would have done it.

I made myself release my dagger. It clattered to the ground between us. Luke didn't stoop to pick it up.

'Just go, Luke. If you're serious about leaving Kronos, come back to camp.'

The sound of a conch horn brought me back to the present. Chiron was at the dining pavilion, gathering us for dinner. I touched my cheeks. They were wet.

I'd picked up my knife and closed the door on Luke, but I hadn't been able to leave. A minute later, I'd opened it. Luke had gone.

If I'd agreed to go with him, would we really have been able to escape Kronos? More likely, we'd have been hunted down and killed. And I would have abandoned camp, and Percy, all for nothing.

I'd done the right thing.

Luke was still out there now. I'd hoped he'd really run away, that Kronos hadn't been able to use him the way he feared. But I was filled with the same certainty that had struck me when I scouted Mount Tam.

Luke was still with Kronos, and we would see him again, very soon.

Chapter 6