5 || Tʜᴇ ᴇɴᴛʀᴀɴᴄᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ʟᴀʙʏʀɪɴᴛʜ (1)

Once Phoebe, Thalia and Atlanta came back from the infirmary, they all said 'Thank you' to us, and went to their bedrooms in the tent. It was magical, it could accommodate EN number of people.

Me and Zoe went to a single bedroom, and laid on the bed. Staring at the ceiling, I noticed that Zoe's breathing was now even, meaning she was asleep on my chest.

Once she was comfortable, I too slept.

-OO-

Waking up, to find Zoe by my side, was one of my most cherished memories. And, here I was, making it.

As my eyelids moved upwards, and light rays entered my retina, the dark room seemed brighter to me.

Moving my head to the left, to find that Zoe was still sleeping, and snoring lightly. Her reaction would be fun to watch, when I tell her about her snoring.

I tried to move, but she held on tighter. With no option, I laid back in bed. Waiting for Zoe to stir, I started thinking about my life, and the war that will finally start in full force, while staring at the ceiling.

Today, there was a gathering of the Titans, and I still had to request Oceanus to attack Poseidon.

A moment after, I felt Zoe's copper body shift, her left leg going more ahead on my body, as she started to climb a little. But then she stopped, finding a comfortable spot, cuddling into my chest.

I smiled a little, as I too hugged her tightly.

Few minutes later, her eyes opened, "Good morning, Percy."

"Good morning, Zo."

She moved back onto the bed, also glaring at the ceiling. She stretched her arms and legs, while exuding a moan.

"Tired?" I asked while turning my head towards her.

"Of course, Percy."

I turned my head back to its original position. I got up, and checked my watch, 5 am. Early. Good. "Zoe, quickly go to the room beside the kitchen, they should not know that you were sleeping with me."

She nodded, and rushed towards that room.

I went towards the main door, and opened it. A soft breeze brushed my face, the cold wind, touching my skin.

I sighed, and went towards the beach.

Walking on the beach, I walked for 2 hours, front and back, and I was sweaty. With a snap, I changed my clothes, and went back to the dinner pavilion.

Seeing all the kids on their respective tables, got me thinking. Would I have a child? Would I also have to leave them? Would they love me?

I sat down on the Hermes cabin Table, sitting down with over 20 kids, 6 of them were unclaimed, and 5 were children of minor gods.

The minor gods are still gods. They should get the respect they deserve, I will make sure of that, once we establish Othrys again.

After finishing breakfast, we had free time, so I flashed away to the Titan throne room. It was a temporary residence for our meetings. It will be shifted to another place, and would be redecorated once we conquer the Olympians.

Calling a meeting by throwing shadows at the ceiling, most Titans showed up immediately, the female Titans coming after a few seconds. The only missing Titan was Kronos himself. He was still stuck in the pit.

So, we used Titan calling, and Krios chanted the prayer, once finished, the Earth uplifted, and with a Golden light, Kronos's soul could be seen in the pit, sitting above his sarcophagus.

"Hello Titans." The king called out.

We nodded.

"Why have you called this meeting, Perseus?"

"Well, we have to make a plan for this war. And, for your revival. It should not happen like last time, I was the only one left, and you all lost to Gods, all of whom were weaker than you."

They looked down in shame, "Ok, Perseus. And I presume that you do not want the demi-gods -of either camp- in the final march?"

I nodded. "I vouch for this plan too." Supported Krios, and the others nodded.

"Can Typhoon be released?" I inquired.

"Not yet. Perhaps in a few decades. He is too weak right now. We would either need a huge blast for the demolition of his cage, or provide energy, which we can't do, we are reserving our power for the final battle." I nodded.

"What about your reincarnation, Brother?" asked Koios, to Kronos.

"We can put his soul inside a human body." Opinionated Mnemosyne.

"He will need permission. No one would do that, as after gathering enough power, the body will not sustain, and it will blast. The boy will die, and Kronos has started gathering power for a few years."

"How about I provide him some energy?" I asked.

"That would work, but you would become weaker, your power would be divided between the transfer with Typhoon and Kronos."

"Yes, but you all would be there. We can defeat them. Me on half power, while you all on full power, plus the minor gods, we can overpower them easily."

"That could work." Koios said, while scratching his chin.

"Then it is decided. Nobody attacks the demi-gods, unless they attack, or defend the Olympians. Try to make relationships, or bonds with them. Perseus, I want you to convince the Romans to stay out of this battle. I will ask Hypnos to make the Greek demi-gods sleep on that day, and if the Romans do not cooperate, the same thing shall be done to them." Everyone nodded, "Any questions?" asked Kronos.

Everybody shook their heads, "Meeting dismissed."

Before everyone could vanish, I asked Oceanus to meet me after everybody went, firstly the Titan call ended, and then everybody left.

"What happened, Brother?"

"Brother, you stayed out of the battle last time. Please support us this time."

"I will, Perseus."

"Thank you. But, I have only one favour to call from you, we will handle the Olympians, you attack Atlantis. I am not calling you weak, but Poseidon is a very powerful ally to the Olympians, if he is destroyed, Olympians will be crushed easily. I hope you understand?"

He nodded, and then flashed into mist, leaving a fresh, salty smell.

I disappeared into the shadows, and flashed myself back to camp.

-OO-

The 3-legged games were about to start, and the teams were to be decided.

"I want you to pair up with others. Some of the pairs will be decided by me, for example. Silena and Beckendorf. Annabeth and Perseus."

We nodded. I came near Annabeth, and tied the rope on my left, and her right leg. Scorpions, Hellhounds, etc would come at us, and we would have to either kill them, or survive. Nothing too dangerous.

As everyone chose their partners, Chiron rang the whistle and we all rushed in random directions.

"Come on." Said Annabeth, as we ran deep into the forest.

Barks came out of each and every angle, and we knew we were circled. I couldn't use my powers as I was a 'Son' of Hermes. So, I had to rely on trickery, speed and manipulation.

I dragged Annabeth at insane speeds, rushing at 32 miles per hour.

One hellhound caught us, and was rotating around us, his prey.

I took out a sword from my sheath, and tried to kill the monster with physical fighting.

It was very hard, fighting with Annabeth tied to my leg, but with so many years of experience in sword fighting, it was water under the bridge.

I tried a straight blow, but the hound was smart. It jumped back, and attacked Annabeth by shadow travelling by her side. I rotated her, and instead of her hand, a sword was exchanged, and it cut the paw of the Hellhound.

It wailed and whimpered, before angrily looking at us with his red eyes, I showed it my true form for a moment, and changed it back. I had hurt my own creation, and it straightened, before bowing.

Quickly, before Annabeth could see, I healed his paw, by regrowing it with the help of the shadows, and teleporting it to the House of Night.

I sighed, and acted tired to fool the granddaughter of my ex.

But, as I stepped back, I fell.

I fell on firm ground, soft but hard. And, I pulled her down too, due to the attached rope.

I touched my head, and looked around, it was a cave. With a few symbols here and there. Some looked Roman, some Greek, but one was familiar.

The mark of Daedalus. It was an entrance to the Labyrinth, a path directly opening inside the camp, surpassing the borders.

"The mark of Daedalus," Annabeth whispered. Her Athenian brain short circuited, she was inside the creation of her brother, the greatest creator of all time. Daedalus.

She looked around with curiosity replacing the normal sparkle in her grey eyes.

I rubbed my head, and got up. This led her to do the same.

I untied the rope on our feet, and threw it aside. "Come on Annabeth. We have to get out."

I sat on one foot, and opened my palm ahead of me. "Annabeth. Climb on my hand, and get out. Then pull me."

"Ok, Percy."

She put her right foot on my palm, and reached to the opening above. She pulled herself above, and gave her hand to me. I held her hand firmly, and she pulled me.

We came out to see that the sky was orange. It was evening.

Out of the woods, campers and Chiron came with torches in their hands.

"Where were you? The games finished about an hour ago? You never returned."

"We fell in this cave," Annabeth pointed to the opening behind us, "It was an entrance, an entrance to the Labyrinth."

"There is a time difference between the Labyrinth and the outside world. That's why you would have been missing for so much time."

We nodded. "It's ok. We will look into it afterwards; you both get cleaned up. Go back to the washrooms."

I walked out of that place, and went into the stalls.

A warm bath was all I needed, and it felt so good.

-OO-

Luke went towards the creek. Perseus told me to meet him there after lights out. Once I confirmed that all were asleep, I walked towards the forest. For precaution, I also used a sleeping potion on all of them.

Perseus was waiting for me there. Shadows were there, I could feel it, but I could also see through them. Sort of like a Two-way mirror. Nobody could see inside, while we could see outside.

He was looking towards the lake, with a calm view.

I went ahead and sat beside him. "Lord Perseus."

"Luke."

"Why did you call me here, milord?"

"There is an entrance to the Labyrinth. Right inside the camp. And, we want to exploit it. We want to use the Labyrinth for secret use. Meaning, we will have to close this entrance. And, for that we will need Daedalus himself. You, go and collect all our allies tomorrow, and take them over to the beach. Once you all reach there, ask Oceanus for a ship. It will be delivered, and then sail to the new Mount Othrys."

"Ok Lord." I replied.

"Now you can go." I nodded, and went back to the cabin.

-OO-

Perseus was headed to the big house, representing the Hermes cabin, again.

Annabeth was finally getting her own quest. She received a prophecy from the oracle a few minutes ago.

"A new prophecy was revealed about the Labyrinth to Annabeth. She is going to lead a quest to find Daedalus. The Titans are going to use the Labyrinth for their own use, and want to exploit it. If we find the old creator before, we might be able to stop them."

At this, my eyes twitched, I grimaced, there was a traitor. Somebody is telling all our plans to the Olympians. Let me get my hand on him or her once. They will like uncle Tartarus's torture better.

But I maintained a calm posture, and continued to listen. "Annabeth dear, you have a choice for your quest-mates. Who do you choose?"

"I choose... Perseus and Clarisse."

At this, many were shocked. Clarisse and Annabeth never liked one another. They why? The reason is, they became good friends when Annabeth saved her life from the Minotaur on her first quest.

"Okay. You will leave at dusk; you all may go to sleep. Campers can come to send them off. Meeting dismissed."

I left the meeting to go directly inside the forest, a copy of me-made out of shadows- was present in the Hermes cabin.

Using Titan calling, I connected directly to Kronos. "What happened brother?"

"Brother, there is a traitor in our midst. They know of our plan to use Labyrinth as secret services to keep us above the radar of the gods."

"Who could it be?"

"I don't know brother. But we need to find them soon. I have an idea, but it can be inaccurate. I will see you in the next meeting, you too try to find the traitor, and then give them to me. I will make uncle Tartarus's body look like paradise."

He looked scared at my angry expression, "I will do that Perseus. Bye brother."

"Bye." And then the ground seeped back into the Earth.

-OO-

It was daybreak, and we were to leave. I climbed out of the bed, and looked out the window. The sun was making a beautiful scene with the moon. Helios and Selene will soon take their domains, and places back.

Sighing, I hung my backpack on my shoulder, and set out into the area of the Labyrinth's entrance.

I reached there, and 15 campers were surrounding the entrance. Pushing through them, I found that Annabeth and Clarisse were standing there, waiting for me. I smirked, and went ahead, down in the hole of the Labyrinth.

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