I had trouble sleeping after that. I tossed and turned.

"Hey Nora?"

"I'm sorry Will if I'm keeping you awake." I whispered.

"I can't either. Can...can I umm..." He finally sounded like the 13 year old boy he was.

"Nora can I come snuggle?" He whispered so quietly. He rushed on, like he needed to explain everything. "Like in a brother way? Cuz...like that would be weird. Especially if we're siblings and-"

"Will!" I hissed. "Shut up and get your ray of sunshine butt over here."

"Oh ya...okay." he got up, his blanket wrapped around himself and shuffled over. He awkwardly lay down beside me. I rolled my eyes and pulled him closer.

"Dude. Your like 13. It's okay to hug your sister."

"Your not weirded out by this?"

"A sister comforting her brother? No. It's not romantic- that would be weird. I'd probably call you a brother right after Percy. Then Lee. "

"Very true." He whispered. "Also...Nora?..." He trailed off.

"I know, Will. I ain't your...type."

"Really?"

"Ya. I can...I dunno, feel it? I'm sorry if I forced anything you weren't ready for."

"Only cabin 7 knows."

"Not my secret to tell." I whispered, giving him a tight hug, even though he was absolutely tallee then me.

"Sleep. Apollo's stupid guitar solo is gonna wake us up soon." I whispered into his curly blond hair. "Well talk about nightmares tomorrow."

"Deal." He yawned.

🔆

I was still feeling shaky the next morning when Chiron called a war council. I had asked Percy about dreams. And he said dreams were normal for demigods. I groaned. We met in the sword arena, which I thought was pretty strange- considering I was told war councils usually happened in the Big House around a ping pong table.

Trying to discuss the fate of the camp while Mrs. O'Leary chewed on a life-size squeaky pink rubber yak. I could hear the rest of the camp going about their day.

Chiron 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, Raph and Will and of course myself. Even Argus, our hundred-eyed security chief- That's how I knew it was serious. Argus hardly ever shows up, apparently, unless something really 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.

For the first few minutes I just sat and stared. It was the weirdest thing I had ever seen. I even saw an eyeball on his tongue. I shuddered and ripped my eyes away, that creeped me out- how would he kiss someone? He'd see the inside of their mouth. I shook my head and had to find something else to look at and keep my mind focused. I pulled the marker out. My hands became fidgety. I was starting to feel anxious when a hand slid into my lap.

My ADHD brain started doodling on the hand immidiatly. I could feel my muscles relax. And then I saw the titanium ring and I froze. My stomach exploded with butterflies. That was Raph's ring. Raph had his hand on my knee and I had started doodled all over the back of his hand. I froze not knowing what to do. I glanced up at him. His dark eyes were already looking. The corner of his mouth twitched, the closest thing I had seen to a smile, that was a smirk. He inclined his head so slightly I almost missed it. He turned his eyes back to Annabeth who was talking.

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

I thought I heard a little pride in her voice, like she still respected the guy, evil as he was. Percy had told me her past with him. He was like a big brother, maybe she had romantic feelings for him at one point. I saw Percy wrinkle his nose slightly and narrow his eyes.

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

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

Juniper's face turned green- her way of blushing. "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."

I snorted, and slapped a hand over my mouth. I had heard from a few different girls Luke was quite good looking and that's why he slid under the radar. His looks and charms.

"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." Raph said. He didn't speak much in this meeting, but his deep voice and his intense dark eyes and a resting broody wolf face made people around him stop and listen.

"He's been sending scouts into the maze," Annabeth added with a nod. "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 who, in the what now?" I asked.

Clarisse glared at me. "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." Percy said with a frown.

"Yes," Annabeth said. "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 toward the end of his life. He might still be 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," I said. "If we're worried about an attack, why not just blow up the entrance? Seal the tunnel?"

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

"It's not so easy, stupid," Clarisse growled, glaring at me.

Raph cut her off before she could cause a fight, I felt his hand gently apply pressure to my knee. Which was weird that I felt my muscles loosen instead of getting more tight. I thought children if Ares made this worse, they liked fights and making people angry. Here was the son of Ares, second in command and he was trying to keep me from wanting to punch his sister.

"We tried that at the entrance we found in Phoenix. It didn't go well." He rumbled.

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

I could feel my heart fall. It was never that easy.

"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."

"We will certainly set up defenses," Chiron agreed. "But I fear Clarisse, Raphael and Annabeth are 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 real 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."

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

"I've been studying architecture for years," she 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!"

"Are you going to help me or not?"

They seemed to realized everyone was watching Annabeth and me like a tennis match. Mrs. O'Leary's squeaky yak went EEK! As she ripped off its pink rubber head.

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. I knew Annabeth had been waiting for her own quest since she was a little kid, according to Percy, but she looked uncomfortable. I could feel her nervousness.

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

She shook her head violently.

"Uh Chiron?" I said hesitantly. "That's not the only quest."

He turned his head to look at me. His eyes went wide, like he forgot about me. "Yes Nora...your quest as well. Would you like to debreaf us?"

"So...ya'll know what happened with the Orical."

"That green smoke looked gross!" Connor wrinkled his nose.

"Ya...like hot sauce and green sour candy and metal. Nasty!" I agreed. I shuddered. "Ya so anyways. I have the two other demigods...if they officially say yes. But...we also need to go into the maze."

There was dead silence. Every head looked at me and blinked.

"Why?" Selina asked.

"I...I haven't figured that out yet. But the first two line are clear. The Daughter of the Light, The Healer and son of War. Must journey deep through twist and turn."

"Ya okay..." Annabeth said and pulled her eyebrows together. "But the second half? To find the sputtering flame who has fallen asleep. Awake the blaze within before the earth is dead and cold."

"What can you tell me about downsizing, and Helios?" I asked.

Chiron cleared his throat and looked away for a second, his one back leg pawed the ground nervously.

"Well...Helios started to become slightly erratic and unpredictable, his lives of the sun chariot was taken a few times. His mind just wasn't the same as it used to be. Especially when humanity started to give more worship and credit for the sun rising and the sky and that domain to Apollo. Helios started to fade-"

"Fade? Gods can fade?" Percy asked.

"Percy, even immortality has limits. Sometimes…sometimes monsters get forgotten and they lose their will to stay immortal."

"Exactly. So when Apollo started to get the credit...Helios, the Sun Titan god he started to uh...for a lack of a better term, loose his marbles."

"What happened to him?" I asked, "like if Pan," I indicated to Grover, "if he is fading and people are still looking for him... Is Helios lost too?"

"No." Will said shaking his head. "He's still very much alive. Just... beginning stages of the immortal version of Alzheimer's."

"How do you know?" Beckendorf ask. "If he's fading..."

"Dreams. He retired and was checked into the Olympus Nursing home. But he umm apparently somehow got out and is now...wondering the labyrinth." Will sighed running his hand down his face."

"So... To find the sputtering flame who has fallen asleep. Does that mean find Helios?" Selina asked.

It was quiet, while we all chewed this I formation.

"Awake the blaze within before the earth is dead and cold...do we need to try bring back a god?" I asked, feeling very overwhelmed, I could feel the anxiety creeping back in.

"Prophecies usually have more then one meaning and not always mean what it says and not says what it truly means." Annabeth said, I could see her chewing her lip trying to work through it.

"Well it's a good start." Quintus said. He had his sword propped up on his shoulder and flung a huge frisbee for Miss O'Leary.

"So. We have one Quest ready, with the willing participants?"

I looked at Will. He nodded. And then I looked at Raph. His dark eyes searching my face.

"I...I know you've been in there ready."

"Yeah, and nearly died."

"I'm sorry. But do you know anyone, Son of War, who would take that place?"

"No."

I narrowed my eyes and crossed my arms. "Then will you come?"

He was silent still watching me.

"It's dangerous." His voice was quiet and  dangerous.

"Ya, clearly!" I cried.

"But when a ty dyed hippie boho grandma gives you CPR with nasty tasting green smoky essence of Delphi-"

"You have no idea how to navigate it."

"We'll have you. And Annabeth! We can go with them as far as we can!"

"Is that good enough?" He challenged. His voice was expertly calm and quiet.

"It has to be!" I finally stood up, feeling angry that now he wanted to question all of this. In front of everyone in the council. "I have no other option. Unless I ignore it."

"Fine." He said sharply.

"Fine? That's it?"

He just nodded. His eyes pierced me, holding me frozen in place. I could feel my heart slamming into my chest, my hands clenched into fists and my jaw clenched.

Chiron cleared his throat. I snapped my eyes away from Raph and threw myself back into my chair, arms crossed.

"So... Annabeth?" Chiron said, turning back to her, "your quest?"

"Clarisse? You won't come?" She asked one more time, hopeful.

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, I thought she was going to pulverize Travis, but she said in a shaky voice: "You don't understand anything, punk. I'm never going in there again. Never! Good luck Raph."

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 agreement that Annabeth should lead the other quest?"

We all nodded except Quintus. He folded his arms and stared at the table, but I wasn’t sure anyone else noticed.

"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."

I watched as Annabeth glanced at Percy and then she left the arena quickly.