Evangeline was playing a game of fetch with Mrs O'Leary, she had thrown a stick into the woods but when the hellhound didn't come back she went to look for her. Soon enough she found her and said. "What are you doing here?" Mrs O'Leary was staring at something in front of them.

Evangeline looked up and saw it too. A ghost of a figure; a hunter of Artemis with olive skin and dark hair that was braided. Standing in front of her was Bianca di Angelo.

The brunette stood up instantly. "Bianca?"

But the spirit didn't answer instead she took off and towards the boulders in the woods. "Wait, a second," Evangeline trailed after her, she clambered sideways along the boulders, she took another step sideways and suddenly there was nothing behind her, she saw Bianca go in the crack, and she warily followed.

The brunette slid her way between the boulders, but the ground seemed to open beneath her. She yelped as she began to fall, she tried to grab something but didn't find anything. When she hit the ground Evangeline felt as if she had broken more bones than she had fixed.

The daughter of Hades groaned as she got to her feet she couldn't see anything so she pressed the snake pendant and her sword formed in her hand, she looked around she couldn't find anything the only sound there was of her breathing.

Evangeline didn't hear the thud of someone else falling behind her, she did see an illuminating glow. She turned around and grabbed the figure's collar and pushed it against the wall with her sword at its throat.

She raised the person's sword and then the person spoke. "Whoa, it's just me princess!"

"Percy?" She asked as she finally saw the son of Poseidon pressed between her and a wall. "What are you doing here?"

"Some scorpions were chasing after me," Percy explained.

"Where's Landon?" Evangeline asked, removing her sword from his throat and stepping back.

"We got split up. I'm okay by the way, thanks for asking." He grumbled, rubbing his throat.

She looked up and there was a moment she could see the scorpions above, the purple evening sky, and the trees, and then the hole shut, and they were completely in the darkness. Their breathing echoed against the stone.

"Can we find an exit?" Evangeline asked.

"Yeah," Percy nodded. "just stay close." He lifted Riptide, letting it illuminate a dull light.

"Evangeline?" He whispered when he couldn't see her.

"Evangeline?" He called again.

No answer.

"Boo!" She yelled and suddenly appeared next in front of him.

"Don't do that!" He placed a hand on his chest. "Almost gave me a heart attack."

"Would you relax, I'm right here," She grabbed his hand and held it.  "Don't worry, I'm not going to let the shadows attack you."

"I don't need you to protect me," He mumbled as he took his hand back.

"Fine," she said. "Then don't hold my hand, stay in the dark—"

"No, no, no!" Percy quickly reached for her hand.

"I just—" He cleared his throat, acting tough. "I just think, you should hold my hand so one of us doesn't get lost."

The daughter of Hades smirked. "Perseus Jackson, are you scared of the dark?"

The raven-haired boy flushed red when she used his full name."No, I'm not."

"Okay, waterboy." She shrugged. "I just think it's kind of cute, that you are."

Evangeline was not helping Percy at all as the blush spread from his face to his neck.

He cleared his throat again. "We should find a way out," he changed the topic.

Suddenly she pulled her hand away. "Evangeline!"

"Shhh!" She said, as she placed her hand on the wall and pressed it against a tiny fissure, which began to glow blue. A ∆ symbol appeared. The Ancient Greek Delta was also the mark of Daedalus.

The roof slid open and they saw the night sky, stars blazing, It was a lot darker than it should have been. Metal ladder rungs appeared in the side of the wall, leading up, and Percy could hear people calling his name. The brunette quickly made her way up with Percy following behind.

The two made their way around the rocks and were met with Annabeth, Clarisse, Landon and a bunch of campers carrying torches.

"Where have you been?" Clarisse demanded. "We've been looking forever."

"Yeah," Landon said. "Thought you ran away or something. We were so worried about Evangeline."

"What about me?" Percy frowned.

Landon stared at Percy for a few seconds, then shrugged. "I had this bet going with my brothers. I was kinda hoping you wouldn't come back, but now I have to do Travis and Conner's chores. Thanks a lot, Percy."

"What?" The son of Poseidon blinked.

"Landon," Annabeth cleared her throat, turning toward Evangeline."I thought you weren't playing,"

"I wasn't," The brunette told her. "I just thought I saw—"

"Percy!" Tyson bellowed. "You are okay?"

"Yeah," he said. "I fell in a hole."

Annabeth looked at him skeptically.

"Honest!" he insisted. "There were three scorpions after me, so I ran and hid in the rocks. But we were only gone a minute."

"You've been missing for almost an hour," Chiron said. "The game is over."

"Yeah," Grover muttered. "We would've won, but a Cyclops sat on me."

"Was an accident!" Tyson protested. Then he sneezed.

Clarisse had won, but she wasn't bragging about it. "A hole?" she asked. Percy nodded.

"You found it didn't you?" Annabeth asked the brunette.

The daughter of Hades met the blonde's gaze, pursing her lips, she nodded in confirmation.

"Chiron..." the blonde said. "Maybe we should discuss this at the Big house,"

A bunch of campers started asking questions, looking confused, 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 past!"

There was a lot of mumbling and complaints, but the campers drifted off, talking among themselves and giving Percy suspicious looks.

"What did we find?" Percy asked.

The daughter of Ares said. "This explains a lot. It explains what Luke is after."

"Do you think he knows that it's there?" Annabeth asked.

"Wait a second," Percy said. "What do you mean? What did we find?"

The brunette turned to the boy. "An entrance to the Labyrinth. An entrance that would give Luke the perfect route to the heart of Camp Half-Blood."

Chiron had called a war council. They met in the sword arena, while Mrs O'Leary chewed on a life-sized squeaky pink rubber yak, next to Evangeline.

Chiron and Quintus stood by the front of 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. Percy twisted his ballpoint pen around his fingers, also around the table: Juniper, Silena, Beckendorf, Lee Fletcher, even Argus, and Conner and Travis who sat next to Evangeline.

"Luke must have known about the Labyrinth entrance," Annabeth said starting off the meeting. "He knew everything about Camp."

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

The daughter of Aphrodite frowned. "You knew about the Labyrinth entrance, and you didn't say anything?"

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

"She has good taste." Grover nodded.

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

The satyr huffed. "Forget what I said about good taste."

"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 into Camp Half Blood, just pop up in the middle of the woods, without having to worry about our magical borders, we wouldn't stand a chance. He'd wipe us out easy. He must've been planning this for months."

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

"Chris Rodriguez," said Chiron, giving Quintes a look.

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

"The one in the what?" Percy asked.

The daughter of Ares glared at Percy. "The point is, Luke has been looking for a way to navigate the maze. He's been searching for Daedalus's workshop."

The boy's brows furrowed. "The guy who created the maze."

"Yes," The daughter of Athena spoke. "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 knows 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 disembowled. Evangeline twisted her ring back and forth as she stared at the ground.

Finally, Beckendorf put his 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 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 said. "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, dumbass," Clarisse growled. "We tried that at the entrance we found in Phoenix. It didn't go well."

The daughter of Athena nodded. "The Labyrinth is magical. It would take a lot of power to seal just one entrance. In Phoenix, Clarisse demolished a whole building with a wrecking ball, and the entrance just moved to a new building a few feet away. The best we can do is prevent Luke from learning how to navigate the Labyrinth."

"We could fight," Lee suggested. "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."

"We will certainly set up defenses," Chiron agreed. "But I fear Annabeth 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 at Chiron's news. The centaur usually tried to be upbeat and optimistic. If he was predicting they couldn't hold off an attack, that wasn't good.

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

"But if nobody can navigate in there," The son of Poseidon said. "What chance do we have?"

"I've been studying architecture for years," The blonde narrowed her eyes at him. "I know Daedalus's Labyrinth better than anybody."

"From reading about it."

"Well, yes."

"That's not enough."

"It has to be!"

"Are you going to help me or not?" Annabeth asked.

Something was off, off between Percy and Annabeth. Everybody was watching them like a tennis match and Evangeline shifted in her seat as the rubber yak gave one last feeble squeak.

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.

"Clarisse has done as much as I have," she said. "She should go, too."

The daughter of Ares shook her head. "I'm not going back in there."

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

Evangeline kicked him in the shin shooting him a glare. "Don't give me that look." Travis whispered.

Clarisse got to her and spoke in a shaky voice. "You don't understand anything, asshole. I'm never going in there again. Never!"

And then Daughter of War 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 this quest?"

Everyone nodded, except Quintus who folded his arms at the table with pursed lips.

"Very well." Chiron turned to the Chase girl. "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."

Evangeline shared a look with the daughter of Athena before the blonde turned and made her way out the arena.

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

Annabeth walked into the arena. She sat on a stone bench and stared at the floor.

"Well?" Quintus asked.

Annabeth's eyes looked straight at Evangeline first, then Percy. She looked terrified. Something Evangeline had seen a few times from the blonde. Slowly, Annabeth looked back at Quintus. "I got the prophecy. I will lead the quest to find Daedalus's workshop."

Chiron scraped a hoof on the dirt floor. "What did the prophecy say exactly, my dear? The wording is important."

Annabeth took a deep breath. I, ah... Well, it said You shall delve into 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."

Evangeline shot the satyr a glare. "What about the dead and the traitor?"

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

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

Evangeline's eyes widened at the words. "Hey... we shouldn't jump to conclusions," Silena said. "Annabeth isn't the only child of Athena, right?"

"But who's the ghost king?" Beckendorf asked, turning towards the brunette. "Evangeline, do you know who it is?"

Everyone turned towards Evangeline. She shifted uncomfortably under their gaze. "I don't involve myself in Underworld politics."

"Are there more lines?" the centaur asked. "The prophecy does not sound complete."

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

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

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

"And?" the centaur urged.

The Chase girl stood. "Look, the point is, I have to go in. I'll have to find the workshop and stop Luke. And... I need help." She turned to the daughter of death standing in front of her, with crossed arms. "Whatever this ghost king business is I know you'll be a major part of it. And I would want you to go-"

"I'll go." She interrupted.

Annabeth turned to Percy. "Will you?"

The son of Poseidon didn't even hesitate much like the brunette. "I'm in."

Annabeth started smiling, for the first time in days. "Grover, you too? The Wild god is waiting."

"I'll pack extra recyclables for snacks!"

Chiron was starting to frown as Annabeth turned to Percy's brother. "And Tyson," she said. "I'll need you, too."

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

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

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

"Annabeth." The centaur's tail flicked nervously. "Consider well. You would be breaking ancient laws, and there are always consequences. Think about that. Three is a sacred number. There are three Fates, three Furies, and three Olympian sons of Kronos. It is a good, strong number that stands against many dangers. Five... this is risky."

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

Evangeline could tell the centaur didn't like it. Quintus was studying the five questers as if he were trying to decide which of the three would make it back alive and the two would die.

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

Evangeline wanted to get some peace and quiet before all the chaos started to take over. So when she left the arena after the meeting, she made her way toward Cabin Eleven.

The brunette caught a glimpse of Percy entering the Athena cabin. She felt her throat tighten and a knot form in her stomach, but she quickly ignored it.

She opened the door to the Hermes Cabin, the hinges making a creaking noise as she let it close behind her once she was inside. Evangeline found the son of Hermes sitting cross-legged on the ground in front of a duffel bag.

"Aren't you supposed to be at training?" She asked, sitting down next to him.

Landon shrugged. "I skipped it," he told her. "It's pretty boring."

"Training is boring?" She asked.

"Yeah." He nodded. "Besides, it's not like I'm going on life threatening quests, or encountering monsters."

"You do realise that a war is upon us?" Evangeline raised a brow.

"Well, if I survive that's good," He said. "If I don't, oh well." He pushed a duffel bag underneath Travis and Conner's bunk.

"So what's up with the bag?" She asked.

"Some stuff I found while I was stuck doing chores." Landon said. 

The brunette hummed an answer. The cabin didn't look too clean, but it still looked better than it originally had this morning. But that was only till everyone came back, then it would turn back into a mess.

"How was the experience cleaning the horrendous mess of Cabin Eleven?" The brunette tilted her head.

"Horrible," he said. "But I did fine this," The boy reached for his pockets and pulled out a folded piece of paper. He opened the paper and started reciting it. "Dear, Landon. It's me, Evangeline,"

The brunette's eyes widened as she realized what it was. It was a letter she wrote to him when they were ten and Landon had gone to his aunt Sofia's for the holidays. "Is that—?"

"Yeah," He smirked as he nodded. "This has been a weird winter at camp, and—"

"Hand it over," She said.

"And I accidentally shadow traveled to New York and onto someone's balcony, and there was a guy that smelled like moldy garlic pizza wrapped in sweaty shorts, he was talking to this boy I'm guessing his son and he yells at him to get him a beer. I think the man's name was something with a g," Landon broke into laughter.

"The man looked like a fat rat if you ask me. I feel slightly bad for the boy. The boy looked nothing like the man he had dark black hair and I think green eyes I didn't get a good look at them—"

"Give me that," The brunette snatched the letter out of his hand.

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