It was safe to say Finley didn't sleep at all that night. She had, for the first time in what seemed like forever, gone back to her cabin. She spent the night tossing and turning, unable to sleep a wink.

When the sun rose above the horizon, she thanked her father and climbed out from under her covers. Unlike the rest of her siblings, Finley slept with more than just basic covers. For her birthday, Sally Jackson had sent Finley a "care package". In it lay mac and cheese cups (which she assumed Percy had something to do with), fuzzy socks, a new brush, golden nail polish, and a soft grey blanket with a majestic black wolf.

After slipping on her jean shorts, she pulled her thin grey razor back tank top over her head. A sketched wolf howling at the moon was on the front. Her black bikini top straps were visible around her neck.

Two things to know about Finley. One, she loved wolves. They were her favorite animal. Two,  she hated bras. Luckily, she found an alternative. She almost always wore a bikini top around camp instead of a regular bra. She, of course, also wore a shirt, but she found herself being more comfortable in a bikini top. Annabeth had introduced to a 'sports bra'. The light brunette actually liked them, but she didn't have one clean, which irritated her. 

After lacing up her black converses, she slipped her bracelets on. One was a thing leather strap. She had it since her time on the run with Luke, Thalia, and Annabeth. The two seven-year-olds each found a small leather string. They both had their own that was always around their wrist Neither Annabeth nor Finley had taken them off. Her second was another leather-bound one, but it held four small golden charms: an owl, a wave, reed pipes, and a sun. 

"You can't be here," Lee Fletcher said as he rounded on his little sister. For the first time ever, the war council meeting was held in the arena. Finley arrived with Annabeth. When she did, her blond brother threw a fit. 

"But I'm here," she shrugged. 

"You aren't allowed to be here," he stated. "You need to rest. You've been so busy-"

"This 'Big Brother Spiel' you're going on is great and all, but," she interrupted. "I've been working to protect camp. It only makes sense for me to be here."

"Like your boyfriend and Annabeth-"

"Percy's not my boyfriend," she rolled her hazel eyes. 

"One, I never said who," Lee grinned. "And, two, they'll tell you everything anyway."

"Yeah, but it saves time," Finley shrugged. "And I'm not leaving."

"Yes, you are."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"What are they arguing about?" Percy asked Grover once he arrived. 

"Lee wants Finley to leave," Grover stated. 

"Why?" Percy furrowed his dark brows. 

"She's not a counselor. She is going to work herself to exhaustion. She needs a break. She needs to relax." Grover listed. 

"Why do you feel the need to try and protect me?" Finley shouted angrily. 

Lee crossed his arms over his chest. "Someone has to."

Finley glared at her brother. "I'm staying."

Lee opened his mouth to protest but Chiron objected. 

"Let her be, Lee," he sighed. "She's going to know everything after the meeting anyway."

Finley looked at her brother with a large and confident smile as if to say 'I won'. 

"Let's begin," Chiron announced. 

He and Quintus stood at the front by the weapon racks. Clarisse and Annabeth sat next to each other and led the briefing. Tyson and Grover sat as far away from each other as possible. Also present around the table: Juniper the tree nymph, Silena Beauregard, Travis and Connor Stoll, Beckendorf, Lee Fletcher, even Argus, our hundred-eyed security chief. Argus hardly ever shows up unless something major is going on. 

The whole time Annabeth spoke, he kept his hundred blue eyes trained on her so hard, his whole body turned bloodshot. 

"Luke must have known about the Labyrinth entrance," Annabeth said. "He knew everything about camp." 

Percy and Finley shared a glance. It was clear they both heard the odd sliver of pride in her voice.

Juniper cleared her throat. "That's what I was trying to tell you last night. The cave entrance has been there a long time. Luke used to use it."

Silena Beauregard frowned. "You knew about the Labyrinth entrance, and you didn't say anything?"

Juniper's face turned green. "I didn't know it was important. Just a cave. I don't like yucky old caves."

"She has good taste," Grover said. 

"I wouldn't have paid any attention except... well, it was Luke." She blushed a little greener. 

Grover huffed. "Forget what I said about good taste."

Finley snorted. 

"Interesting." Quintus polished his sword as he spoke. "And you believe this young man, Luke, would dare use the Labyrinth as an invasion route?"

"Definitely," Clarisse said. "If he could get an army of monsters inside Camp Half-Blood, just pop up in the middle of the woods without having to worry about our magical boundaries, we wouldn't stand a chance. He could wipe us out easy. He must've been planning this for months."

"It's the smart thing," Finley stated. "As much as I despise Luke, he's smart. I'll give him that much."

"He's been sending scouts into the maze," Annabeth said. "We know because... because we found one."

"Chris Rodriguez," Chiron said. He gave Quintus a meaningful look. 

"Ah," Quintus said. "The one in the... Yes. I understand."

"The one in the what?" Percy asked. Clarisse glared at him. 

"The point is, Luke has been looking for a way to navigate the maze. He's searching for Daedalus's workshop."'

"The guy who created the maze."

"Yes," Annabeth nodded. "The greatest architect, the greatest inventor of all time. If the legends are true, his workshop is in the center of the Labyrinth. He's the only one who knew how to navigate the maze perfectly. If Luke managed to find the workshop and convince Daedalus to help him, Luke wouldn't have to fumble around searching for paths or risk losing his army in the maze's traps. He could navigate anywhere he wanted – quickly and safely. First to Camp Half-Blood to wipe us out. Then... to Olympus."

The arena was silent except for Mrs. O'Leary's toy yak getting disemboweled: SQUEAK!SQUEAK! 

Finally, Beckendorf put his huge hands on the table. "Back up a sec. Annabeth, you said 'convince Daedalus'. Isn't Daedalus dead?" 

Quintus grunted. "I would hope so. He lived, what, three thousand years ago? And, even if he were alive, don't the old stories say he fled from the Labyrinth?" 

Chiron clopped restlessly on his hooves. "That's the problem, my dear Quintus. No one knows. There are rumors... well, there are many disturbing rumors about Daedalus, but one is that he disappeared back into the Labyrinth towards the end of his life. He might still be down there."

"We need to go in," Annabeth announced. "We have to find the workshop before Luke does. If Daedalus is alive, we convince him to help us, not Luke. If Ariadne's string still exists, we make sure it never falls into Luke's hands."

"Wait a second," Percy interrupted. "If we're worried about an attack, why not just blow up the entrance? Seal the tunnel?"

"Great idea!" Grover said. "I'll get the dynamite!"

"It's not so easy, stupid," Clarisse growled. "We tried that at the entrance we found inPhoenix. It didn't go well."

Annabeth nodded. "The Labyrinth is magical architecture, Percy. It would take huge power to seal even one of its entrances. In Phoenix, Clarisse demolished a whole building with a wrecking ball, and the maze entrance just shifted a few meters. The best we can do is prevent Luke from learning to navigate the Labyrinth."

"We could fight," Lee Fletcher said. "We know where the entrance is now. We can set up a defensive line and wait for them. If an army tries to come through, they'll find us waiting with our bows."

"I'm already working on the traps, tricks, and other devices I can use to protect the woods," Finley declared. "But that won't be enough."

"We will certainly set up defenses," Chiron agreed. "But I fear Clarisse is right. The magical borders have kept this camp safe for hundreds of years. If Luke manages to get a large army of monsters into the center of camp, bypassing our boundaries... we may not have the strength to defeat them."

Nobody looked very happy about that news. Chiron usually tried to be upbeat and optimistic. If he was predicting we couldn't hold off an attack, that wasn't good. 

"We have to get to Daedalus's workshop first," Annabeth insisted. "Find Ariadne's string and prevent Luke from using it."

"I'm in," Finley shrugged. 

"But if nobody can navigate in there," Percy objected. "what chance do we have?"

"I've been studying architecture for years," Annabeth said. "I know Daedalus's Labyrinth better than anybody."

"From reading about it."

"Well, yes."

"That's not enough."

"It has to be!"

"It isn't!"

"When have we actually planned something?" Finley inquired. 

The rest of the table was watching the trio like a tennis match. Their eyes bounced back and forth between the three of them.

"What do you mean?"

"Let's be honest," Finley said earnestly. "Everything we do is with minimal preparation-"

"But this is a Labyrinth!" Percy objected. "This isn't running across America-"

"This time we won't have the entirety of America out for your head," Finley sassed. 

"Did you just-"

"Yes. Yes, I did," Finley nodded. "So what if we can't navigate our way through the dam maze? We've got Annabeth who's been reading about this dam thing since we were eight."

Percy opened his mouth to say something when Finley spoke again. 

"No one is making you come," she shrugged. "I'll help Annabeth. You can always stay here and help Charlie with the defenses."

Chiron cleared his throat. "First things first. We need a quest. Someone must enter the labyrinth, find the workshop of Daedalus and prevent Luke from using the maze to invade this camp."

"We all know who should lead this," Clarisse said. "Annabeth."

There was a murmur of agreement. Annabeth, who has been wishing to lead a quest of her own, looked uncomfortable. 

"You've done as much as I have, Clarisse," she said. "You should go, too."

Clarisse shook her head. "I'm not going back in there."

Travis Stoll laughed. "Don't tell me you're scared. Clarisse, chicken?" 

Clarisse got to her feet. She said in a shaky voice: "You don't understand anything, punk. I'm never going in there again. Never!"

She stormed out of the arena. Travis looked around sheepishly. 

"I didn't mean to –"

Chiron raised his hand. "The poor girl has had a difficult year. Now, do we have an agreement that Annabeth should lead the quest?"

Everyone nodded. 

"I thought that was the point of this meeting," Finley stated as she leaned back in her chair. 

"Very well.' Chiron turned to Annabeth. "My dear, it's your time to visit the Oracle. Assuming you return to us in one piece, we shall discuss what to do next."

***

By the time Annabeth returned, everyone was worried. Percy practically wore a hole in the ground. Finley's palms held scares for how hard she had been clenching her fist. 

"My dear," Chiron said. "You made it."

Finley watched with an expressionless face as Annabeth sat on the stone bench. Her grey eyes never left the ground. 

Finally, her grey eyes met Finley's hazel. They were wide with fear. 

"I got the prophecy. I will lead the quest to find Daedalus's workshop." She declared. 

No one cheered. 

"What did the prophecy say exactly, my dead? The wording is important." Chiron declared as his hoof scraped the dirt floor. 

Annabeth took a deep breath. "I, ah... well, it said, You shall delve in the darkness of the endless maze..." 

They waited. 

"The dead, the traitor and the lost one raise'" 

Grover perked up. "The lost one! That must mean Pan! That's great!"

"With the dead and the traitor," Percy added. 

"Not so great." Finley commented. 

"And?" Chiron asked. "What is the rest?"

"You shall rise or fall by the ghost king's hand," Annabeth said, 'the child of Athena's final stand!" 

Everyone looked around uncomfortably. Annabeth was a daughter of Athena, and a final stand didn't sound good. 

"Yeah . . .that line doesn't work for me," Finley declared. "It's worded a bit funny. Perhaps it was The child of Athena's final day-oh Hera! That's worse! Um . . .the child of Athena's final clay. . .? Yeah! That's better! Nothing to worry about. You'll just run out of clay."

"Hey... we shouldn't jump to conclusions," Silena said. "Annabeth isn't the only child of Athena, right?"

"But who's this ghost king?" Beckendorf asked as he crossed his dark and toned arms across his chest.No one answered. 

"Are there more lines?" Chiron asked. 'The prophecy does not sound complete."

Annabeth hesitated. "I don't remember exactly." 

Chiron raised an eyebrow. Annabeth was known for her memory. She never forgot something she had heard. 

Annabeth shifted on her bench. "Something about... Destroy with a hero's final breath!" 

"And?" 

Chiron asked. She stood. "Look, the point is, I have to go in. I'll find the workshop and stop Luke. And...I need help." 

She turned to Percy. "Will you come?"

He didn't even hesitate. "I'm in." 

She smiled for the first time in days, and that made it all worthwhile. "Grover, you too? The wild god is waiting." 

Grover seemed to forget how much he hated the underground. The line about the 'lost one had completely energized him. "I'll pack extra recyclables for snacks!"

"And Tyson," Annabeth said. "I'll need you, too."

"Yay! Blow-things-up time!" Tyson clapped so hard he woke up Mrs. O'Leary, who was dozing in the corner. 

"Finley-"

"Where you go, I go."

"Wait, Annabeth," Chiron said. "This goes against the ancient laws. A hero is allowed only two companions."

"I need them all," she insisted. "Chiron, it's important."

"Annabeth." Chiron flicked his tail nervously. "Consider well. You would be breaking the ancient laws, and there are always consequences. Last winter, six went on a quest to save Artemis. Only three came back. Think about that. Three is a sacred number. There are three fates, three Furies, three Olympian sons of Kronos. It is a good strong number that stands against many dangers. Five... this is risky." 

Annabeth took a deep breath. "I know. But we have to. Please."

Chiron clearly didn't like it. 

"Chiron," Finley spoke up. "It'll be fine. When we were twelve, four of us went to retrieve the big man's bolt of lightning. We all came back fine."

Quintus was studying them. It was like he was trying to decide which of them would come back alive. 

Chiron sighed. "Very well. Let us adjourn. The members of the quest must prepare themselves. Tomorrow at dawn, we send you into the Labyrinth."

As everyone left, Finley saw Percy being pulled to the side by Quintus. She wasn't sure why, but she felt like something was off about that guy. 

Nonetheless, she turned to Annabeth. 

"It's going to be alright," she reassured quietly. "I won't let you die."

"You can't control the fates-"

"They'll have to kill me first," Finley said darkly. "And I'd like to see them try."