For the first time in a decent while, Finley actually got a good night's sleep. Normally, she'll live off of two hours of sleep, popping up like nothing happened. However, shortly after Grover's hearing, she went back to her office. There she had fallen asleep upon the small cot she had folded in the corner, designed for the sole fact she needed somewhere to sleep.

She woke up feeling wonderful. She was relaxed and happy.

However, upon the news of a drakon trying to get into camp, her good mood faded. As it would turn out, her own siblings took care of it. When she spoke with Lee Fletcher, who led the attack, she was told they didn't want to bother her. 

Despite being absolutely warmed by the thought, she was mildly upset. She wanted to help. She was in charge of keeping camp safe (not technically, but she took acted like it was). Yet, she slept through an "attack". 

When Percy tried reasoning with her that it wasn't that big of a deal considering he had also slept through the "attack", Finley was not comforted. She knew Percy could sleep through a hurricane. 

Annabeth and Finley shared a look from their opposing tables and nodded. After Chiron had left, leaving Percy to eat breakfast alone with Grover, Finley and Annabeth moved to sit next to him. This was strictly against the rules, but it would appear neither cared. 

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

"You're not supposed to be here," Percy hissed. 

"We need to talk," Annabeth insisted.

"But the rules..." Percy persisted.

"Rules can be broken," Finley shrugged. "Besides, what are they gonna do?"

"The Gods-"

"I could care less," Finley shrugged again, snatching Percy's apple and biting into it. Percy's sea-green eyes followed her movements. "This is more important than a seating-chart."

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

Percy shifted his weight. 

"You mean the maze where they kept the Minotaur, back in the old days?" 

"Exactly," Finley nodded. 

"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 city, much less a single building." 

"So... is the Labyrinth part of theUnderworld?" 

"No." Finley took another bite of her apple. "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 underground. 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. "Clarisse lived." 

"Barely!' Grover said. "And the other guy –"

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

Finley snorted. "Like that's gonna help, Wise Girl."

"Oh, joy." Grover's lower lip quivered. 

"Whoa," Percy interrupted. "Back up. What's this about Clarisse and a crazy guy?" 

Annabeth glanced over towards the Ares table. Clarisse was watching them like she knew what they 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." 

"I remember," Percy nodded. "It's a secret."

"Not to a few," Finley remarked. 

Despite the seriousness of their current conversation, Percy was happy Finley wasn't angry. Or at least he hoped she wasn't angry. It was hard to tell what she felt anymore, her facial expressions became guarded, and fierce. If he had to guess, Finley wasn't as angry anymore. After all, she did break the rules to sit next to him. Which the boy found himself happy for. 

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

"The guy from the Hermes cabin?" 

Chris was one of the half-bloods who'd abandoned camp and joined the Titan army. While Finley would normally wish for his death, she found herself sympathizing with him. He was driven insane, which made it harder to hate his guts. 

"Yeah," she set her apple down. "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 fifty degrees, in full Greek armor, babbling about string," Annabeth added.

"String," Percy repeated. 

"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 good. The only thing they got out of him: Luke's men have been exploring the Labyrinth." Finely stated. 

"Okay," Percy asked. "Why were they exploring the Labyrinth?"

"We weren't sure," Annabeth said. "That's why Clarisse 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, 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 goat-killing monsters."

"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?

"You can end up literally anywhere in the maze. You can enter in Utah and come out within hours in Flordia." Finley whispered lowly. "If you can navigate the maze, you can end up anywhere. Which brings upon my fear they can get into camp through the maze."

"That's why you're working on traps around the woods?" Grover asked. "And around the boarders?"

Finley said nothing. 

"Labyrinth might be the key to Grover's problem," Annabeth added.

Percy and Finley both blinked. "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!"

"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 can make the Labyrinth work for you –"

"It could lead you to the wild god," Percy stated. 

"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 council is serious. One week, or you learn to tap dance!"

"Listen, G," Finley said quietly, but her words of reassurement. "If you want to go look for Pan in the Labyrinth, I'll go with you-"

Over at the head table, Quintus cleared his throat. He wasn't trying to cause a scene but Finley and Annabeth were both making it difficult. 

Finley rolled her eyes and left the pavilion. 

"Is she alright?" Percy whispered to Annabeth before she stood. 

"She's been trying to piece her visions together," Annabeth whispered. 

"Visions-?"

"On top of that, she's unofficially in charge of defenses," Annabeth stood. "We'll talk later."

***

After breakfast, Percy had gone to visit Blackjack at the pegasus stables. However, when he got there, his pegasus was gone. This, of course, confused him greatly seeing as he let no one ride him. He threw a camper off of his back because they weren't Percy. 

It seemed to slip his mind that Blackjack loved Finley. 

Leaving the stables to the arena, Percy let out a taxi cab whistle. 

A black dot came appeared in the sky. With lightning speed, the black dot grew into something larger. Much larger. 

Blackjack appeared in the sky as he flew like a bullet to the ground. Percy thought he caught a glimpse of dark gold. 

Yo, Boss! Blackjack greeted Percy. Just flew around Manhattan with Boss Lady. 

"Hiya, Seaweed Brain," Finley greeted as she got off Blackjack's back. She held out a small white box in her hand. "Donut?"

We got donuts, Boss! Blackjack's voice came excitedly. Isn't that awesome?

"Donuts?" Percy raised a brow. 

"No," Finley rolled her eyes sarcastically as she sat down in the grass. "It's vegetables."

"You stole my pegasus-" Percy sat next to her. 

"Technically he's my pegasus-" Finley stopped. "Yeah, no. You've got me there."

"You stole my pegasus to get donuts?" Percy asked again, completely astounded. 

"Yup," Finley nodded. "Also your mom says 'hi'."

"My mom-"

"Oh and she says to stay out of trouble," Finley added, handing him a donut with blue icing and sprinkles. 

I like Boss Lady, Boss. She gave me donuts, Blackjack told Percy. 

"When did you see my mom?" Percy said, taking the donut. 

"Oh, I ran into her," Finley waved it off. "She also said to give you these."

Finley tossed a bag of blue cookies to Percy, whose eyes lit up with excitement.

"Wait a minute!" Percy wondered. "If you ran into her, she wouldn't have cookies-"

"I ran into her at your apartment," Finley clarified. "She gave me mac and cheese."

"Let me get this straight," Percy began. "You stole my pegasus, got donuts, and went to my mom's apartment?"

"Sounds about right," Finley nodded. 

"Why?"

"Why not?" 

"But why?"

"But why not?"

I had fun with Boss Lady, Boss, Blackjack added. 

"But why?"

She's really fun! We flew around! She let me show off! And we got donuts- Blackjack paused. Oh, you were talking to Boss Lady . . .

"Well, I just needed a break. Ms. Jay always says her door is open," Finley shrugged. "I also got attacked by a monster so there's that."

"What?" Percy demanded, stopping with his donut halfway to his mouth.  

"It was a giant snake, nothing major. I'm sure it looked like I was playing with a kitten or something," Finley shrugged. "Your mom practically dragged me back to your apartment after it became golden dust."

Percy reached for another donut when Finley smacked his hand away. 

"But I want another donut!" he groaned

"I only got six! I'm running on a demigod salary," Finley reasoned. "I got enough for Blackjack to have two. And for me, you, and Annabeth to have one. I'm not sure if Grover eats cardboard or not . . .so I got him a donut too."

Percy gave her the 'baby seal' eyes. 

If you thought the 'puppy dog eyes' were irresistible, you haven't seen Percy's baby seal face. It melted your heart, making it impossible to say no. 

Finley shooked her head. 

"Please?"

"No," Finley said, despite her heart turning to mush. She waved the blue cookies in Percy's face. "But you can have the cookies."

So . . .Boss, Blackjack began 'innocently'. When are you formally going to make Boss Lady 'Boss Lady'.

Percy choked on his cookie.