chapter eighty-three

─── official job title; demolition expert

          𝕴 felt like complete shit. Getting back to Times Square didn't take that long, but with everything that had happened, climbing out of the Marriott basement and into the summer sunlight felt like waking up after being hit by a truck.

Despite popular opinion, that has yet to happen to me.

I led the way into an alleyway, one with a loud echo, before getting Luke to whistle six times for the pegasi. After many years of wrangling Eleven, he had a really piercing whistle.

A minute later, Rachel gasped. "They're beautiful!"

A flock of pegasi descended from the sky, swooping between the skyscrapers. Blackjack was in the lead, followed by five of her friends.

You're alive! Blackjack called, before catching sight of Luke. Oh great, so is he.

"That's still my boyfriend, Blackjack, and I'm very happy he is alive." I pointed out. "Ride to camp, pronto if that's alright?"

That's my specialty! Oh, you got that Cyclops with you? Yo, Guido! How's your back holding up?

Guido groaned and complained, but eventually he agreed to carry Tyson. Everybody started saddling up—except Rachel.

"Well," she turned to me and Luke, "I guess this is it."

I gave Luke a look and he huffed slightly, before I left for Annabeth.

"You're just going to walk away and leave them to talk!"

"Annie, I trust Luke." I reminded her, squeezing her shoulders. "He's not going to do anything stupid because he does love me."

"But she's been hovering-"

"And she can only hover." I gave Blackjack's head a shove as she tried to snatch some food from my backpack. "It's a crush, and I can't say I blame her for having a crush on Luke, but that's all it will ever be. He's twenty-one, she's fifteen."

Annabeth huffed, before allowing me to help her onto her pegasus' back, before I turned to Nico, who was having trouble.

His Pegasus kept shying away from him, reluctant to let him mount.

He smells like dead people! The Pegasus complained.

Hey now, Blackjack said. Come on, Porkpie. Lots of demigods smell weird. It ain't their fault. Except if it's Luke, then it is his fault.

"Blackjack!" I called, before grabbing onto the reins as Nico huffed.

"Go without me!" Nico said. "I don't want to go back to that camp anyway."

"Nico," I said, "we need your help. Please."

He huffed, before his expression softened.

"All right. Fine, but I'm not staying."

"Never said you were." 

Luke joined us, jumping onto his own pegasus, as I did the same. Giving him a look, he shrugged his shoulders, motioning that he would tell me later. He'd been scarily quiet over the last few hours, and I was getting slightly worried, but he just needed time to process.

∘☽༓☾∘

We landed in the middle of the cabin area and were immediately met by Chiron, Silenus, and a couple of archers from Seven. Chiron raised an eyebrow when he saw Nico, but if I expected him to be surprised by our latest news about Quintus being Daedalus, or Kronos rising, I was mistaken.

"I feared as much," Chiron said. "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 license is revoked!"

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

"What?" Silenus' face turned bright red as I watched Grover with a grin. He was learning to talk back to powerful individuals, I was so proud. "Sacrilege and lies! Grover Underwood, I will have you exiled for speaking thus!"

"It's true," I turned back to the satyr, as Luke nodded along with me. "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 on that happy note, he readied his bow and galloped toward the woods, leaving us to follow as best we could.

∘☽༓☾∘

It was the biggest military operation I'd ever seen at camp. Everyone was at the clearing, dressed in full battle armour. Nine 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. Clarisse was drilling the ground soldiers, everyone packed close together and ready to fight. Annabeth had already disappeared to join the strategist in the tent, planning our moves and defences.

Luke's hand found my waist, leaning to kiss me. I smiled, kissing him back before pulling away and smiling softly.

"Stay alive. I'll see you later." He muttered, as I nodded. "I love you."

"I love you too." He disappeared in an instant, hurrying to help his siblings.

"It isn't enough." Chiron muttered. My heart sank, reaching for Riptide as I wondered if my mom would see me after this. I knew what the Titan army was like, I could still feel the lava burning into my skin and my hands reached to scratch and where the scars would be.

"Stay with me, Andromeda," Chiron said. "When the fighting begins, I want you to wait until we know what we're dealing with. You must go where we most need reinforcements."

"But-"

"We cannot afford to lose you." Chiron corrected as my shoulders slumped. The words twisted in my head until I understood what it meant; everyone else was dispensable.

"Romy." Turning, I found Clarisse approaching, holding my armour in her hands. "Here."

"Thanks." I tugged it on, before looking at the younger girl. "Is Brooke here? I need to speak with her."

"No, she's over 18 now. She's not at camp anymore, back with her parents." I kissed my teeth as Clarisse walked off. I needed to speak to Brooke, to tell her that Puck was hosting Kronos. I had to find her.

"Chiron, if he, if Kronos, leads the attack—"

"I do not think so, my girl. I would sense if he were drawing near. No doubt he planned to, but I believe you inconvenienced him when you pulled down his throne room on top of him." He looked at me reproachfully. "You and your friend Nico, son of Hades."

"It wasn't my place to say." I tried to find Luke in the crowd, but I couldn't see his blond hair anywhere.

Chiron raised his hand. "I understand why you did it, Andromeda. You were protecting Luke, and Nico. But, my girl, if we are to survive this war, we must trust each other. We must..."

His voice wavered. The ground underneath us was trembling. Everyone in the clearing stopped what they were doing. A single order was echoed through the ranks: "Lock shields!" 

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

∘☽༓☾∘

I mean I'd been in fights before, but this was a full-scale battle. The first thing I saw were a dozen Laistrygonian giants erupting from the ground, carrying shields made from flattened cars, and clubs that were tree trunks with rusty spikes bristling at the end.

"Fire!" Beckendorf yelled. The catapults swung into action. Two boulders hurtled toward the giants. One deflected off a car shield with hardly a dent, but the other caught a Laistrygonian in the chest, and the giant went down. Archers fired a volley, dozens of arrows sticking in the thick armour of the giants like porcupine quills. Several found chinks in armor, and some of the giants vaporized at the touch of celestial bronze.

But just when it looked like the Laistrygonians were about to get overwhelmed, the next wave surged out of the maze: thirty, maybe forty dracaenae in full battle armor, wielding spears and nets. They dispersed in all directions. Some hit the traps the Hephaestus cabin had laid. One got struck on the spikes and became an easy target for archers. Another triggered a trip wire, and pots of Greek fire exploded into green flames, engulfing several of the snake women. But many more kept coming. My friends were somewhere in that fray, Luke was somewhere leading it, yet I was stuck here, not being able to help.

Chiron calmly aimed arrow after arrow, taking down a monster with every shot. But more enemies just kept climbing out of the maze. Finally a hellhound—not Mrs. O'Leary—leaped out of the tunnel and barrelled straight toward the satyrs.

I ignored all previous orders, drawing Riptide and charging towards them.

As I raced across the battlefield, I saw horrible things. An enemy half-blood was fighting with a son of Dionysus, but it wasn't much of a contest. They weren't evenly matched, and I tried not to stop as I watched the boy go down. Another enemy warrior shot flaming arrows into the trees, sending our archers and dryads into a panic, some falling several feet to the ground.

A dozen dracaenae suddenly broke away from the main fight and slithered down the path that led toward camp, like they knew where they were going. If they got out, they could burn down the entire place, completely unopposed.

The only person anywhere near was Nico di Angelo. He stabbed a telekhine, and his black Stygian blade absorbed the monster's essence, drinking its energy until there was nothing left but dust.

"Nico!" I yelled.

He looked where I was pointing, saw the serpent women, and immediately understood.

He took a deep breath and held out his black sword. "Serve me," he called.

The earth trembled. A fissure opened in front of the dracaenae , and a dozen undead warriors crawled from the earth—horrible corpses in military uniforms from all different time periods. As one, they drew their swords and engaged the dracaenae. Nico crumpled to his knees, but I didn't have time to make sure he was okay.

I closed on the hellhound, which was now pushing the satyrs back toward the woods. The beast snapped at one satyr, who danced out of its way, but then it pounced on another who was too slow. The satyr's tree-bark shield cracked as he fell.

"Bad dog!"

The hellhound turned. It snarled at me and leaped. It would've clawed me to pieces, but as I fell backward, my fingers closed around a clay jar—one of Beckendorf's containers of Greek fire. I tossed it into the hellhound's maw, and the creature went up in flames. I scrambled away, breathing heavily. 

The satyr who'd gotten trampled wasn't moving. I rushed over to check on him, but then I heard Grover's voice: "Romy!"

A forest fire had started. Flames roared within ten feet of Juniper's tree, and Juniper and Grover were going nuts trying to save it. Grover played a rain song on his pipes. Juniper desperately tried to beat out the flames with her green shawl, but it was only making things worse.

I ran toward them, jumping past duels, weaving between the legs of giants. The nearest water was the creek, half a mile away...but I had to do something. I concentrated. There was a pull in my gut, a roar in my ears. Then a wall of water came rushing through the trees. It doused the fire, Juniper, Grover, and pretty much everything else.

Grover blew a spout of water. "Thanks, Romy!"

"No problem!" I ran back toward the fight, and Grover and Juniper followed. Grover had a cudgel in his hand and Juniper held a stick—like an old-fashioned whipping switch. 

Just when it seemed like the battle had balanced out again—like we might stand a chance—an unearthly shriek echoed out of the Labyrinth, a sound I had heard before.

Kampê shot into the sky, her bat wings fully extended. She landed on the top of Zeus's Fist and surveyed the carnage. Her face was filled with evil glee. The mutant animal heads growled at her waist.

Snakes hissed and swirled around her legs. In her right hand she held a glittering ball of thread— Ariadne's string—but she popped it into a lion's mouth at her waist and drew her curved swords. The blades glowed green with poison. Kampê screeched in triumph, and some of the campers screamed.

Others tried to run and got trampled by hellhounds or giants.

"Di Immortals!" Chiron yelled. He quickly aimed an arrow, but Kampê seemed to sense his presence. She took flight with amazing speed, and Chrion's arrow whizzed harmlessly past her head.

Tyson untangled himself from the giant whom he'd pummelled into unconsciousness. He ran at our lines, shouting," Stand! Do not run from her! Flight!"

But then a hellhound leaped on him, and Tyson and the hound went rolling away.

Kampê landed on the Athena command tent, smashing it flat. I ran after her and found Annabeth at my side, keeping pace, her sword in her hand.

"This might be it," she said.

"Could be."

"Nice fighting with you, Seaweed Brain."

"Ditto, Wise Girl." I took a deep breath, sensing the water around us in case I needed to heal. We leapt into the monster's path. Kampê hissed and sliced at us. I dodged, trying to distract her, while Annabeth went in for a strike, but the monster seemed able to fight with both hands independently. She blocked Annabeth's sword, and Annabeth had to jump back to avoid the cloud of poison. Just being near the thing was like standing in an acid fog. My eyes burned. My lungs couldn't get enough air. I knew we couldn't stand our ground for more than a few seconds.

"Come on!" I shouted. "We need help!"

But no help came. Everyone was either down, or fighting for their lives, or too scared to move forward. Three of Chiron's arrows sprouted from Kampê's chest, but she just roared louder.

I felt it then, deep in my bones, something was shifting and twisting, something was trying to get out. My bones fell out of place again, like they needed to click. My eyesight began to fade, dots in my vision as I watched Annabeth reach for me, before it snapped back into place

The ground rumbled, trembling as around us the earth began to open, shifting to and fro as enemies and friends alike were sent to the ground. Kampê was dropped deep into the earth, until only her head was visible, before the earth finally stopped moving once more. 

My knees gave out as soon as it stopped, air returning to my lungs along with a blinding pain down my left arm, almost like someone was trying to break it or dislocate it.

"Romy!" Annabeth called, as I groaned and fell into her chest. "Romy! Get up, you've got to get up!" 

More monsters were approaching, but I couldn't feel my legs. 

"Come on, Romy!" Annabeth pleaded, standing ahead of me and swiping at the oncoming foes. I looked up, staring at Kampê's head as she tried to escape from the ground, before a blur of black fur went barrelling into her, turning her to dust.

"Good girl!" said a familiar voice. Daedalus was fighting his way out of the Labyrinth, slashing down enemies left and right as he made his way toward us. Next to him was someone else—a familiar giant, much taller than the Laistrygonians, with a hundred rippling arms, each holding a huge chunk of rock.

"Briares!" Tyson cried in wonder.

"Hail, little brother!" Briares bellowed. "Stand firm!"

And as Mrs. O'Leary leaped out of the way, the Hundred-Handed One launched a volley of boulders at Kampê. The rocks seemed to enlarge as they left Briares's hands. There were so many, it looked like half the earth had learned to fly.

Kampê was soon buried beneath a pile of boulders, as I let out a sigh of relief, still trying to recover from whatever I had done.

A cheer went up from the campers, but our enemies weren't done yet. One of the dracaenae yelled, "Slay them! Kill them all or Kronos will flay you alive!"

Apparently, that threat was more terrifying than we were. The giants surged forward in a last desperate attempt. One surprised Chiron with a glancing blow to the back legs, and he stumbled and fell. Six giants cried in glee and rushed forward.

"No!" I tried to cry out, trying to find my feet to stop them from killing Chiron, but my legs were still not cooperating with me. "Fuck's sake! Come on!"

Then it happened. Grover opened his mouth, and the most horrible sound I'd ever heard came out. It was like a brass trumpet magnified a thousand times—the sound of pure fear.

As one, the forces of Kronos dropped their weapons and ran for their lives. The giants trampled the dracaenae trying to get into the Labyrinth first. Telekhines and hellhounds and enemy half-bloods scrambled after them. The tunnel rumbled shut, and the battle was over. The clearing was quiet except for the fires burning in the woods, and the cries of the wounded.

"Go. Chiron." I urged Annabeth to the centaur, taking a deep breath as I tried to move my legs around.

"Andi!" Luke found me. He had blood down his temple, and he seemed a bit bruised, but he was alright. "What...? What happened? Are you alright?"

"I can't feel my legs." Luke hauled me upright, looping an arm under my shoulders.

"That was you wasn't it?"

"Think so."

"Shit, earthquakes, Andi?"

"Is that what it is?"

"Well, the earth was quaking, so let's go with yes." Luke pointed out as my legs began to gain feeling, but it felt like an extreme bout of pins and needles. "This is rare, powerful."

"Well, I feel like shit." I whispered, before seeing smoke curling off of someone's body. "But not as bad as him. We should help."

"Someone will help him." Luke pointed out, before I saw the shirt.

"It's Nico." I huffed, pulling myself free of Luke and hobbling over. "The child I have custody over."

I flipped him over, checking for a pulse, before Luke gave him some nectar.

"Nico, what happened?" I asked. "Can you talk?"

He nodded weakly. "Never tried to summon so many before. I—I'll be fine."

Luke and I helped him sit up and gave him some more nectar. He blinked at all of us, like he was trying to remember who we were, and then he focused on someone behind me.

"Daedalus," he croaked.

"Yes, my boy," the inventor said. "I made a very bad mistake. I came to correct it."

Daedalus had a few scratches that were bleeding golden oil, but he looked better than most of us. Apparently his automaton body healed itself quickly. Mrs. O'Leary loomed behind him, licking the wounds on her master's head so Daedalus's hair stood up funny. Briares stood next to him, surrounded by a group of awed campers and satyrs. He looked kind of bashful, but he was signing autographs on armor, shields, and T-shirts.

"I found the Hundred-Handed One as I came through the maze," Daedalus explained. "It seems he had the same idea, to come help, but he was lost. And so we fell in together. We both came to make amends."

"Yay!" Tyson jumped up and down. "Briares! I knew you would come!"

"I did not know," the Hundred-Handed One said. "But you reminded me who I am, Cyclops. You are the hero."

Tyson blushed, but I patted him on the leg. "I knew that a long time ago," I said. "But, Daedalus...the Titan army is still down there. Even without the string, they'll be back. They'll find a way sooner or later, with Kronos leading them."

Daedalus sheathed his sword. "You are right. As long as the Labyrinth is here, your enemies can use it. Which is why the Labyrinth cannot continue."

Annabeth stared at him. "But you said the Labyrinth is tied to your life force! As long as you're alive—"

"Yes, my young architect," Daedalus agreed. "When I die, the Labyrinth will die as well. And so I have a present for you."

He slung a leather satchel off his back, unzipped it, and produced a sleek silver laptop computer—one of the ones I'd seen in the workshop.

"My work is here," he said. "It's all I managed to save from the fire. Notes on projects I never started. Some of my favorite designs. I couldn't develop these over the last few millennia. I did not dare reveal my work to the mortal world. But perhaps you will find it interesting."

He handed the computer to Annabeth, who stared at it like it was solid gold. "You're giving me this? But this is priceless! This is worth...I don't even know how much!"

"Small compensation for the way I have acted," Daedalus said. "You were right, Annabeth, about children of Athena. We should be wise, and I was not. Someday you will be a greater architect than I ever was. Take my ideas and improve them. It is the least I can do before I pass on."

"Pass on? You can't just kill yourself. That's wrong."

He shook his head. "Not as wrong as hiding from my crimes for two thousand years. Genius does not excuse evil, Andromeda. My time has come. I must face my punishment."

"You won't get a fair trial," Annabeth said. "The spirit of Minos sits in judgment—"

"I will take what comes," he said. "And trust in the justice of the Underworld, such as it is. That is all we can do, isn't it?"

He looked straight at Nico, and Nico's face darkened.

"Yes," he said.

"Will you take my soul for ransom, then?" Daedalus asked. "You could use it to reclaim your sister."

"No," Nico said. "I will help you release your spirit. But Bianca has passed. She must stay where she is."

Daedalus nodded. "Well done, son of Hades. You are becoming wise." Then he turned toward me. "One last favour, Andromeda Jackson. I cannot leave Mrs. O'Leary alone. And she has no desire to return to the Underworld. Will you care for her?"

My eyes lit up, as I turned to Luke with a grin. We could definitely fit her in the apartment!

"Of course I will." Luke shook his head slowly at the idea. It might be a bit of a squeeze, but we could definitely fit her in the apartment. 

"Then I am ready to see my son...and Perdix ," he said. "I must tell them how sorry I am."

Annabeth had tears in her eyes.

Daedalus turned toward Nico, who drew his sword. At first I was afraid Nico would kill the old inventor, but he simply said, "Your time is long since come. Be released and rest."

A smile of relief spread across Daedalus's face. He froze like a statue. His skin turned transparent, revealing the bronze gears and machinery whirring inside his body. Then the statue turned to grey ash and disintegrated.

Mrs. O'Leary howled. The earth rumbled—an earthquake that could probably be felt in every major city across the country—as the ancient Labyrinth collapsed. Somewhere, I hoped, the remains of the Titan's strike force had been buried. That would be a small mercy.

∘☽༓☾∘

Hiya,

Luke and Andi are very cute and I love them dearly. Plus, Blackjack always hoping that Luke is dead is hilarious to me for some reason cause they just don't get along at all. But yes, Andi's delving into her earthquake powers, which I am hyped for. They get explored a little more in the next act, and then even more in Can't Pretend!

Let me know what you think,

Love Li xx