BuildBotsBetterChapter 3. We play tag with scorpions. The next morning there was a lot of excitement at breakfast. Apparently around 3 in the morning in Itheopian Draken had been spotted at the borders of camp. I was so exhausted I slept right through the noise. The magical boundaries had kept the monster out but it prowled the hills looking for weak spots in our defenses. And it didn't seem anxious to go away until Lee Fletcher from Apollo's cabin led a couple of his siblings in pursuit. After a few dozen arrows lodged in the chinks of the Draken's armor, it got the message and withdrew.
It's still out there. Lee warned us during announcements. 20 arrows in its hide and we just made it mad that the thing was 30 feet long and bright greened. It's eyes. He shuttered. You did well Lee. Tyrone Pella on the shoulder. Everyone stay alert. But stay calm. This has happened before. Hi. 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 80 campers. Three years ago when I had started there had been more than 100. Someone died. Someone joined Luke but someone just disappeared. This is a good reason for new war games. Quintus continued. A glint in his eyes. We'll see how you all do it that tonight. Yes. Karen 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 and I took our plates to the bronze brazeer and scraped a portion of our food into the flames. I hope the gods liked raising toast and fruit loops. Poseidon, I said. Then I whispered. Help me with Nico and Luke and Grover's problem. There was so much to worry about. I could have stood there all morning but I headed back to my table.
Once everyone was eating, Karen and Grover came out to visit. Grover was bleary eyed. His shirt was inside out. He slid his plate onto the table and slumped next to me. Tyson shifted uncomfortably. I will go. Um, polish my fish ponies. He lumbered off leaving his breakfast half eaten. Karen tried for a smile. He probably wanted to look reassuring but in centaur form he towered over me, casting a shadow across the table. Well, Percy, how did you sleep? Uh, fine. I wondered why he asked that. Was it possible he knew something about the weird iris message I'd gotten? I brought Grover over, Tyron said. Because I thought you two might want to discuss, uh, discuss matters. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some iris messages to send. I'll see you later in the day. He gave Grover a meaningful look then trotted out of the pavilion. What's he talking about? I asked Grover. 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 to convince me. He mumbled. Somebody else slid next to me on the bench. Annabeth. 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 us and whispering. And Annabeth was right next to me. I mean right next to me. You're not supposed to be here. I said. We need to talk. She insisted. But the rules.
She knew as well as I did that campers weren't allowed to switch tables. Saters were different. They weren't really demigods, but the half-blods had to sit with their cabins. I wasn't even sure what the punishment was for switching tables. I've never seen it happen. If Mr. D had been here, he probably would have strangled Annabeth with a magical grapevine or something. But Mr. D wasn't here. Kyron had already left the pavilion. Quinches looked over and raised an eyebrow, but he didn't say anything. 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 Clarice and I have been investigating. I shifted my way trying to think clearly. 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, I guess. The labyrinth is under some building in America. See, it only took me a few years to figure things out. I knew that important places moved around with Western civilization, like Olympus being over the Empire State Building and the underworld entrance being in Los Angeles. I was feeling pretty proud of myself. Annabeth rolled her eyes. Under a building? Please, Percy, the labyrinth is huge. It wouldn't fit under a single city, much less a single building. I thought about my dream of Nico and the river Sticks. So is the labyrinth part of the underworld? No.
Annabeth frowned. Well, there may be passages from the labyrinth down into 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 under Western cities, connecting everything together on the ground. You can get anywhere through the labyrinth. If you don't get lost, Grover muttered. And die a horrible death. Grover, there has to be a way, Annabeth said. I got the feeling they had this conversation before. Clarice lived. Barely, Grover said. And the other guy, who was driven insane, he didn't die. Oh, joy. Grover's lower lip quivered. That makes me feel much better. Whoa, I said. Back up. What's this about Clarice and a crazy guy?
Annabeth glanced over at the Aries table. Clarice was watching us like she knew what we were talking about, but then she fixed her eyes on a breakfast plate. Last year, Annabeth said lowering her voice. Clarice went on a mission for Chiron. I remember, I said. It was secret. Annabeth nodded. Despite how serious she was acting, I was happy she wasn't mad at me anymore. And I kind of liked the fact she'd broken the rules to come sit next to me. It was secret, Annabeth agreed, because she found Chris Rodriguez. The guy from the Hermes cabin? I remembered him from two years ago. We'd eavesdropped on Chris Rodriguez aboard Luke's ship, the Princess Andromeda. Chris was one of those of the half-bloods who'd abandoned camp and joined the Titan army. Yeah, Annabeth said. Last summer, he just appeared in Phoenix, Arizona, near Clarice's mom's house. What do you mean he just appeared? He was wandering around the desert in 120 degrees in full Greek armor, babbling about string. String, I said.
He's been driven completely insane. Clarice 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 good. The only thing they got out of him, Luke's men had been exploring the labyrinth. I shivered, though. I wasn't exactly sure why. Before Chris, he hadn't been that bad of a guy, but what could have driven a mat? I looked at Grover who was chewing up the rest of his fork. Okay, I asked. Why were they exploring the labyrinth? We weren't sure, Annabeth said. That's why Clarice went on a scouting expedition.
Chiron kept things hushed up because he didn't want anyone panicking. He got me involved because, well, the labyrinth has always been one of my favorite subjects. The architecture involved, her expression turned a little dreamy. The builder, Daedalus, he 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? Full of horrible traps, Grover agreed. Dead ends, illusions, psychotic, guilt-killing monsters. But not if you had Ariadna String, Annabeth said. In the old days, Ariadna String guided theses 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 Ariadna String, I said.
Why? What's he planning? Annabeth shook her head. I don't know. I thought maybe he wanted to invade Camp through the maze, but that doesn't make any sense. The closest entrance to Clarice found were in Manhattan, which wouldn't help Luke get past our borders. Clarice 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 problem. I blinked. You think Pan is underground? Would explain why he's been impossible to find. Grover shuddered. Seder's hate going underground. No search for whatever try going in that place. No flowers. No sunshine. No coffee shops. But Annabeth said, the labyrinth can lead you almost anywhere. It reads your thoughts. It was designed to fool you to trick you and kill you, but if you could make the labyrinth work for you, it could lead you to the wild god. I said, I can't do it. Grover hugged his stomach. Just thinking about it makes me want to throw up my silverware. Grover, it may be your last chance, Annabeth said. The console's serious one week where you can learn to tap dance. Over at the head table, Quintus cleared his throat. I got the feeling he didn't want to make a scene, but Annabeth was really pushing him, sitting at my table so long. We'll talk later. Annabeth squeezed my arm a little too hard. Convincing with you, she returned to the Athena table, ignoring all the people who were staring at her. Grover buried his head in his hands. I can't do it per se, but my searcher's license. Pan, I'm going to lose it all. I'll have to start a puppet feeder. Don't say that. We'll figure something out. He looked at me teary-eyed. Perse, you're my best friend. You've seen me underground. Isn't that Cyclops caved? Do you really think I could? His voice faltered. I remember the sea of monsters when he'd been stuck in a Cyclops cave. He'd never liked underground places to begin with, but now Grover really hated them.
Cyclops gave him the creeps too. Even Tyson. Grover tried to hide it, but Grover and I could sort of read each other's emotions because of this empathy link that Grover had made between us. I knew how he felt. Grover was terrified of the big guy. 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. He nodded gravely like we were sharing some dark secret. Then he went back to cutting his sausage with a dagger. In the afternoon, I went down to the Pegasus stables to visit my friend Blackjack.
Yo, boss! He caved her out on his stall, his black wings buffeting the air. You bring me some sugar cubes? You know those aren't good for you, Blackjack. Yeah, so you brought me some, huh? I smiled and fed him a handful. Blackjack and I went back a long way. I sort of helped rescue him from Luke's demon cruise ship a few years ago, and ever since he insisted on repaying me with favors. So, we got any quests coming up? Blackjack asked. I'm ready to fly, boss. I patted his nose. Not sure, man. Everybody keeps talking about underground mazes. Blackjack winning nervously.
Not for this horse. You ain't going to be crazy enough to go in no maze, boss, are you? You'll end up in the glue factory. You may be right, Blackjack. We'll see. Blackjack crunched down his sugar cubes. He shook his mane like he was having a sugar seizure. Whoa! Good stuff. Well, boss, you'll come to your senses and want to fly somewhere. Just give a whistle. Old Blackjack and his buddies, huh? We'll stampede anybody for you. I told him I'd keep it in mind. Then a group of younger campers came into the stables to start their writing lessons, and I decided it was time to leave. I had a bad feeling I wasn't going to see Blackjack for a long time. That night after dinner, Quincy said, set up. Quincy just had a suit up in combat armor like we were getting ready for capture of the flag, but the mood among the campers was a lot more serious. Sometime during the day the crates in the arena had disappeared, and I had a feeling whatever was in them had been emptied into the woods.
Right, Quincy said, standing on a head-dining table. Gather round! He was dressed in black leather and bronze. In the torchlight his grey hair made him look like a ghost. Mrs. O'Leary bounded happily around for him, forging for dinner scraps. You will be in teams of two, Quincy announced, when everybody started talking and trying to grab their friends. He yelled, which have already been chosen. Aww. Everybody complained. Your goal is simple. Collect the gold laurels without dying. The wreath is wrapped in silk package, tied in the back of one of the monsters. There are six monsters. Each has a silk package.
One, only one, holds 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. The crowd started murmuring excitedly. The task sounded pretty straightforward. Hey, we'd all slain monsters before. That's what we trained for. I will now announce your partners, Quincy said. There will be no trading, no switching, no complaining. Aww. Mrs. O'Leary buried her face in a plate of pizza. Quincy just produced a big scroll and started reading off names. Beckendorf would be with Selena Borgard, which Beckendorf looked pretty happy about. The Stole brothers, Travis and Connor would be together. No surprise. They did everything together. Clarisse was with Lee Fletcher from the Apollo cabin. Melee and ranged combat combined. It would be a tough combo to beat. Quincy just kept rattling off the names until he said, Percy Jackson with Anabeth Chase. Nice. I grinned at Anabeth. Your armor is crooked. Was her only comment, and she re-did my straps for me. Grover Underwood? Quintus said. With Tyson. Grover just about jumped out of his goat fur. What? No, Tyson whimpered. Must be a mistake. Goat boy. No complaining. Quintus ordered. Get with your partner. You have two minutes to prepare. Tyson and Grover both looked at me pleadingly. I tried to give them an encouraging nod and gesture that they should move together. Tyson sneezed. Grover started chewing nervously on his wooden club. That'd be fine, Anabeth said. Come on, let's worry about how we're going to stay alive. It was still light when we got into the woods, but shadows from the trees made it feel like midnight. It was cold, too, even in summer. Anabeth and I found tracks almost immediately. Scuttling marks made by something with a lot of legs. We began to follow the trail. We jumped to Creek and heard some twigs snapping nearby. We crouched behind a boulder, but it was only the Stole brothers tripping through the woods and cursing. Their dad was the god of thieves, but they were about as stealthy as water buffaloes. Once the Stoles had passed, we forged deeper into the West Woods where the monsters were wilder. We were standing on a ledge overlooking a marshy pond when Anabeth tensed. This is where we stopped looking. It took me a second to realize what she meant. Last winter, when we'd been searching for Nico DiAngelo, this is where we'd given up hope of finding him. Grover, Anabeth and I had stood on this rock, and I'd convinced them not to tell Kyron the truth. That Nico was a son of Hades. At the time, it seemed the right thing to do. I wanted to protect his identity. I wanted to be the one to find him and make things right for what had happened to his sister. Now, six months later, I hadn't even come close to finding him. It left a better taste in my mouth. I saw him last night. I said, Anabeth knit her eyebrows. What do you mean? I told her about the Iris message. When I was done, she stared in the shadows of the woods. He summoned him to dead? That's not good. The ghost was giving him bad advice, I said, telling him to take revenge. Yeah, spirits are never good advisors. They've got their own agendas, old grudges, and they resent the living. He's going to come after me, I said. The spirit mentioned a maze. She knotted. That settles it. We have to figure out the labyrinth. Maybe, I said uncomfortably. But who sent the Iris message? If Nico didn't know I was there, a branch snapped in the woods. Dry leaves rustled. Something large was moving in the trees just beyond the ridge. That's not the stole brothers, Anabeth whispered.
Together we drew our swords. We got to Zeus's fist, a huge pile of boulders in the middle of the West Woods. It was a natural landmark where campers often rendezvoused on hunting expeditions, but now there was nobody around. Over there, Anabeth whispered. No, wait, I said, behind us. It was weird. Scuttling noises seemed to be coming from several different directions. We were circling the boulders, our swords drawn, when someone right behind us said, Hi, we wirled around in the tree named Juniper Yelt. Put those down, she protested. Dryads don't like sharp blades, okay? Juniper, Anabeth exhaled. What are you doing here? I live here. I lowered my sword. In the boulders, she pointed toward the edge of the clearing.
In the Juniper, duh. It made sense, and I felt kind of stupid. I'd been hanging around Dryads for years, but I never really talked to them much. I knew they couldn't go very far from their tree, which was their source of life, but I didn't know much else. Are you guys busy? Juniper asked. Well, I said, we're in the middle of this game against a bunch of monsters, and we're trying not to die. We're not busy, Anabeth said. What's wrong, Juniper? Juniper sniffled. She wiped her silky sleeve under her eyes. It's Grover. He seems so distraught. All year he's been looking for pan, and every time he comes back it's worse. I thought maybe at first he was just seeing another tree. No, Anabeth said as Juniper started crying. I'm sure that's not it.
He had a crush on a blueberry bush once. Juniper said miserably. Juniper, Anabeth said. Grover would never even look at another tree. He's distressed out about his searcher's license. He can't go underground. She protested. You can't let him. Anabeth looked uncomfortable. It might be the only way to help him. If we just knew where to start. Ah. Juniper wiped a green tear off her cheek. How about that? Another rustle in the woods in Juniper yelled, hide! Before I could ask why she went poof into green mist. Anabeth and I turned. Coming out of the woods was a glistening amber insect, ten feet long with jagged pincers, an armored tail, and a stinger as long as my sword, a scorpion. Tied to its back was a red silk package. One of us gets behind it. Anabeth said as the thing clattered toward us. Cut off his tail while the other distracts it in front. I'll take point. I said, you've got the invisibility hat. She nodded. We'd fought together so many times we knew each other's moves. We could do this easy. But it all went wrong when the two other scorpions appeared from out of the woods. Three? Anabeth said. That's not possible. The whole woods. Half the monsters come at us? I swallowed. One we could take. Two? With a little luck. Three?
Doubtful. The scorpions scurried toward us, whipping their barbed tails like they'd just come here to kill us. Anabeth and I put our backs against the nearest boulder. Climb? I said. No time, she said. She was right. The scorpions were already surrounding us. They were so close I could see their hideous mouths foaming, anticipating a nice juicy meal of demigods. Anabeth parried away a stinger with a flat of her blade. I stabbed with riptide but the scorpion backed out of range. We clamored sideways along the boulders but the scorpions followed us.
I slashed out another one but going on the offensive was way too dangerous. If I went for the body, the tail stabbed downward. If I went for the tail the things pincers came from either side and tried to grab me, all we could do was defend. And we wouldn't be able to keep that up for very long. I took another step sideways and suddenly there was nothing behind me. It was a crack between two of the largest boulders. Something I'd probably passed by a million times but in here I said, Anabeth sliced out a scorpion and looked at me like I was crazy. In there it's too narrow. I'll cover you, go. She ducked behind me and started squeezing between the two boulders. Then she yelped and grabbed my armor straps and suddenly I was tumbling into a pit that hadn't been there a moment before.
I could see the scorpions above us, the purple evening sky and the trees and the whole shot like the lens of a camera and we were in complete darkness. Our breathing echoed against stone. It was wet and cold. I was sitting on a bumpy floor that seemed to be made of bricks. I lifted a rip tide. The faint glow of the blade was just enough to illuminate Anabeth's frightened face and the mossy stone walls on either side of us. Where are we? Anabeth said. Safe from scorpions anyway. I tried to sound calm but I was freaking out. The crack between the boulders couldn't have led into a cave. I would have known if there was a cave here. I was sure of it. It was like the ground had opened up and swallowed us. All I could think of was the fissure in the dining room pavilion where those skeletons had been consumed last summer. I wondered if the same thing had happened to us. I lifted my sword again for light. It's a long room. I muttered.
Anabeth gripped my arm. It's not a room. It's a corridor. She was right. The darkness felt emptier in front of us. There was a warm breeze like in subway tunnels. Only it felt older. More dangerous somehow. I started forward but Anabeth stopped me. Don't take another step. She warned. We need to find the exit. She sounded really scared now. It's okay, I promise. It's right. I looked up and realized I couldn't see where we'd fallen in. The ceiling was solid stone. The corridor seemed to stretch endlessly in both directions. Anabeth's hand slipped into mine. On a different circumstance as I would have been embarrassed but here in the dark I was glad to know where she was. It was about the only thing I was sure of.
Two steps back. She advised. We stepped backward together like we were in a minefield. Okay. She said. Help me examine the walls. What for? The mark of datilis, she said, as if that was supposed to make sense. Okay. What kind of got it? She said with relief. She set her hand on the wall and pressed against a tiny fissure which began to glow blue. A Greek symbol appeared. The ancient Greek delta. The roof slid open and we saw a night sky, scars blazing. It was a lot darker than it should have been. Metal ladder rungs appeared on the side of the wall leading up and I could hear people yong our names. Percy! Anabeth! Tyson's voice bellowed the loudest but others were calling too.
I looked nervously at Anabeth. Then we began to climb. We made our way around the rocks and ran into Clarice and a bunch of other campers carrying torches. Where have you two been? Clarice demanded. We've been looking forever. But we were only gone a few minutes. I said. Chiron trotted up followed by Tyson and Grover. Percy! Tyson said. You're okay. We're fine. I said. We fell on a hole. The others looked at me skeptically. Then at Anabeth. Honest. I said. There were three scorpions after us so we ran and hid in the rocks but we only got a minute. You've been missing for almost an hour, Chiron said. The game is over.
Yeah. Grover muttered. We would have won but a cyclops sat on me. Wasn't accident. Tyson protested and then he sneezed. Clarice was wearing the gold laurels but she didn't even brag about winning them which wasn't like her. A hole? She said suspiciously. Anabeth took a deep breath. She looked around at the other campers. Chiron. Maybe we should talk about this at the big house. Clarice gasped. You found it, didn't you? Anabeth bit her lip. I... yeah. Yeah, we did. A bunch of campers started asking questions, looking about as confused as I was but Chiron raised his hand for silence. Tonight is not the right time and this is not the right place. He stared at the boulders as if he'd just noticed how dangerous they were. All of you, back to your cabins, get some sleep. A game well played but curfew is passed. There's a lot of mumbling and complaints but the campers drifted off, talking among themselves and giving me suspicious looks.
This explains a lot, Clarice said, and explains what Luke is after. Wait a second, I said, what do you mean? What did we find? Anabeth turned toward me, her eyes dark with worry. An entrance to the labyrinth. An invasion route straight into the heart of camp.