CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

₊˚࿐࿔ 𖥧‧₊⚘ ❀༉. 𓏲｡

Sylvie was forced to eat ambrosia and drink nectar ever time Annabeth deemed it necessary. Now, don't think Sylvie was complaining about this—the godly substances tasted amazing and they were healing Sylvie's stab wound quicker than humanly possible.

Although Sylvie could walk by herself, and the pain had dwindled a tremendous amount, Sylvie still felt shit. She still felt like there was a sword constantly being stabbed through Sylvie's back. She could still see the blade coming out the front of Sylvie's stomach, coated with her own blood. Her own, her own, her own. Her own until she managed to make it someone else's. How could Sylvie possibly have known that for every one stumbling step forward, she took three back? Did it pass in the blood-soaked black marble or in the cold fortress or in a golden sarcophagus? There was no way to ever know.

Who will look for you when you disappear? Eurydice had asked her.

Only moments after pulling her sword out, and Sylvie dropped to the floor. Instantly, Sylvie understood what the plan was. Eurydice wanted to lure Sylvie in with false niceties, and she knew it would work because Sylvie was weak for her big sister. She knew it would work, and then, if Sylvie didn't bleed out on the floor, she would force Sylvie to work for Kronos's side of the war. Kronos would rise, and her friends would never see it, and Sylvie would either die or be taken. There was no in between. There was no other end to this story.

Except—

Who will look for you when you disappear?

The answer was Percy. Percy Jackson, the first ever person to create a different ending to Sylvie's story. Percy Jackson, the first ever person she loved that truly stayed. Percy Jackson, who looked for Sylvie when she disappeared.

Sylvie didn't die, and Sylvie wasn't taken. She was here, and she was healing, and it sort of felt like that had more than one meaning to it. She was surrounded by her friends, and Sylvie didn't care if it was in a gruesome Labyrinth. She was with Percy.

Distance was shorter in the Labyrinth. Still, by the time Rachel got them back to Times Square, Sylvie felt like they'd pretty much run all the way from New Mexico. But maybe that was because of the stab wound. They climbed out of the Marriott basement and stood on the sidewalk in the bright summer daylight, squinting at the traffic and crowds.

Sylvie couldn't decide which seemed less real—New York or the crystal cave where she'd watched a god die.

Percy led the way into an alley, where he could get a nice echo. Then he whistled as loud as he could, five times. They waited.

"Here, eat more of this," Annabeth handed Sylvie another square of ambrosia.

Sylvie sighed, but she started munching on it regardless. "How much more ambrosia are you going to make me eat?"

"This should be the last one," she said, surprisingly. Sylvie hardly believed it, so she slightly lifted up Percy's oversized shirt to check where she'd been stabbed. It had turned into a gruesome gaging scar. "I don't think the scar will go away, unfortunately, but otherwise you seem to be fine."

"Yeah, I'm great," Sylvie said blankly. She lifted Percy's shirt back down.

A minute later, Rachel was gasping. "They're beautiful!"

A flock of pegasi descended from the sky, swopping between the skyscrapers. Blackjack was in the lead, followed by four of his white friends.

(Queue equine greeting.)

"Yeah," Percy told Blackjack. "I'm lucky that way. Listen, we need a ride to camp quick."

(Queue equine response.)

One pegasus groaned and complained, something about having to carry Tyson, Sylvie was pretty sure. Everybody started saddling up—except Rachel.

"Well," she said to Percy. "I guess this is it."

Sylvie pretended to be very busy with her pegasus.

"Thanks, Rachel," Percy said. "We couldn't have done it without you."

"I wouldn't have missed it. I mean, except for almost dying, Sylvie bleeding out, and Pan..." Her voice faltered.

"He said something about your father," Percy remembered. "What did he mean?"

Rachel twisted the strap on her backpack. "My dad... My dad's job. He's kind of a famous businessman."

"You mean... you're rich?"

"Well, yeah."

"So that's how you got the chauffeur to help us? You just said your dad's name and—"

"Yes," Rachel cut Percy off. "Percy... my dad's a land developer. He flies all over the world, looking for tracts of undeveloped land." She took a shaky breath. "The wild. He—He buys it up. I hate it, but he plows it down and builds ugly subdivisions and shopping centers. And now that I've seen Pan... Pan's death—"

"Hey, you can't blame yourself for that."

"You don't know the worst of it. I—I don't like to talk about my family. I didn't want you to know. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything."

"No," Percy said. "It's cool. Look, Rachel, you did awesome. You led us through the maze. You were brave. That's the only thing we're going to judge you on. We don't care what your dad does."

Rachel looked at Percy gratefully. "Well... if you ever feel like hanging out with a mortal again... you should call me or something."

Sylvie forced herself to look back at her pegasus. The sword was stabbing her again.

"Uh, yeah," said Percy. "Sure."

Sylvie couldn't see it, but Rachel smiled. She nodded at Sylvie, looking at Percy, and sent him a particular look. "See you later, Jackson. You and your friends go save the world for me, okay?"

She walked off down Seventh Avenue and disappeared into the crowds.

Sylvie let out a breath she didn't know she was holding in. Finally she could focus on something other than Percy and Rachel. She noted that Nico was having trouble. His pegasus kept shying away from him, reluctant to let him mount.

(Queue equine protest.)

"Go without me!" Nico said. "I don't want to go back to that camp anyway."

"Nico," Annabeth said, "we need your help."

He folded his arms and scowled. Then Sylvie put her hand on his shoulder.

"Nico," Sylvie said. "Please."

Slowly, Nico's expression softened. "Alright," he said reluctantly. "For you. But I'm not staying."

Percy raised an eyebrow at Sylvie, like, How come all of the sudden Nico listens to you? Sylvie stuck her tongue out at him.

At last they got everybody on a pegasus. They shot into the air, and soon they were over the East River with Long Island spread out before them.

They landed in the middle of the cabin area and were immediately met by Chiron, the potbellied satyr Silenus, and a couple of Apollo cabin archers. Chiron raised an eyebrow when he saw Nico, but if Sylvie expected him to be surprised by their latest news about Quintus being Daedalus, or Kronos rising, Sylvie was mistaken.

"I feared as much," Chiron said. "We must hurry. Hopefully you have slowed down the Titan lord, but his vanguard will still be coming through. They will be anxious for bloodshed. Most of our defenders are already in place. Come!"

"Wait a moment," Silenus demanded. "What of the search for Pan? You are almost three weeks overdue, Grover Underwood! Your searcher's license is revoked!"

Grover took a breath. He stood up straight and looked Silenus in the eye. "Searcher's licenses don't matter anymore. The great god Pan is dead. He has passed on and left us his spirit."

"What?" Silenus's face turned bright red. "Sacrilege and lies! Grover Underwood, I will have you exiled for speaking this!"

"It's true," Percy said. "We were there when he died. All of us."

"Impossible! You are liars! Nature-destroyers!"

"No we aren't," Sylvie protested. "Your head's just as big as your stomach, and you don't believe us!"

Percy's eyes widened, and he stepped in between Sylvie and Silenus. "She doesn't mean that. She's just having a hard time. I swear."

Silenus bristled, but Chiron decided to intervene too. "We will speak of this later."

"We will speak of it now!" Silenus said. "We must deal with this—"

"Silenus," Chiron cut in. "My camp is under attack. The matter of Pan has waited two thousand years. I fear it will have to wait a bit longer. Assuming we are still here this evening."

And on that happy note, Chiron readied his bow and galloped toward the woods, leaving them to follow as best they could.

It was the biggest military operation Sylvie had ever seen at camp. Everyone was at the clearing, dressed in full battle armor, but this time it wasn't for capture the flag. The Hephaestus cabin had set up traps around the entrance to the Labyrinth—razor wire, pits filled with pots of Greek fire, rows of sharpened sticks to deflect a charge. Beckendorf was manning two catapults the size of pickup trucks, already primed and aimed at Zeus's Fist. The Ares cabin was on the front line, drilling in phalanx formation with Clarisse calling orders. Apollo's and Hermes's cabins were scattered in the woods with bows ready. Many had taken up positions in the trees. Even the dryads were armed with bows, and the satyrs trotted around with wooden cudgels and shields made of rough tree bark.

Annabeth went to join her siblings from the Athena cabin, who had set up a command tent and were directing operations. A gray banner with an owl fluttered outside the tent. Their security chief, Argus, stood guard at the door. Demeter's, Aphrodite's, and Dionysus's kids were just as busy as every other cabin, running around and using their abilities to fortify the upcoming battle.

In fact, when Sylvie headed over to her siblings of the Demeter cabin, they were setting up plant traps that blended in with the forestry of the woods. Poison ivy, toxic flowers, thorny vines, rotting soil, live trees—anything they were physically capable of creating. Sylvie had never felt more proud, honestly. It's not like she had anything to do with this, but she just loved her siblings so much.

"She's alive!" was the first thing Sylvie heard. Before she knew it, Florian was slamming Sylvie into a hug so fierce that she would've fallen over, had it not been for her brother's arms wrapping around her. She couldn't help but smile at the fact that, as much as they pretended to hate it each other, it was always Florian who ran for her first. Sylvie was quick to return the embrace.

However, this hug wasn't like any of the few hugs she and Florian have shared in their lifetime. Florian was so stiff, and so still, and his hand cradled the back of her head so delicately, and Sylvie realized he was shaking. Florian was never like this. Something was wrong.

"I had—I had the worst dream," he whispered, voice was strained. "Eurydice, she... It ended right after, and—and I thought you..."

He'd seen Eurydice stab Sylvie in the back, Sylvie realized. The irony in that statement. It wasn't even the first time Eurydice did that to her. First figuratively, then—because that apparently wasn't enough—physically.

"I'm okay," Sylvie assured, even though it was a lie. "I'm right here."

"If you go back into that Labyrinth a third time, Henriette, I'll kill you. I'll just straight up kill you," Florian sent her an empty threat.

Sylvie found herself smiling. "Duly noted."

Unfortunately, she couldn't really spend the same amount of time reuniting with the rest of her siblings. As previously established, the camp was about to be thoroughly attacked. This was Miranda and Cedar's home. This was Katie, Florian, and Sylvie's second home. Sylvie wasn't going to let anything happen to it, or the family she'd grown to love.

So Sylvie took charge and starting handing out orders.

She knew how much Cedar hated fighting, and put all of his passion into using his chlorokinesis powers for healing with medicinal herbs, so Sylvie sent him off to find the Apollo kids that were acting as healers rather than warriors. She knew Miranda's strength was her love for flowers, so she instructed Miranda to keep doing her work on creating assailant flowers—Sylvie had no clue how you made a flower violent, but she really wasn't going to ask. She knew a power that both Demeter and Dionysus kids shared was their ability of vine growing, so she directed Florian to his best friends Castor and Pollux to combine their efforts—it helped that Florian was just as well of a swordsman as Eurydice was. She knew that Katie was the most experienced and controlled, like a jack of all trades in the way she was so well-rounded. Katie, just like Sylvie, would be running around as a direct attacker.

Still, Sylvie felt like it wasn't enough.

She thought about what she'd seen in the Labyrinth, all the monsters in Antaeus's stadium, and the power of Kronos that Sylvie had felt on Mount Tam. Her heard sank. She was right about this not being enough, but it was all they could muster. For once Sylvie wished Dionysus was here, but even if he had been, Sylvie didn't know if he could do anything. When it came to war, gods were forbidden to interfere directly. Apparently, the Titans didn't believe in restrictions like that.

Over at the edge of the clearing, Grover was talking to Juniper. She held his hands while he told her their story. Green tears formed in her eyes as he delivered the news about Pan.

Tyson helped the Hephaestus kids prepare the defenses. He picked up boulders and piled them next to the catapults for firing.

Then the ground underneath them was trembling.

Everyone in the clearing stopped what they were doing. Clarisse barked a single order: "Lock shields!"

Then the Titan lord's army exploded from the Labyrinth.

Well, Sylvie had been in fights before, but this was a full-scale battle. The first thing Sylvie saw were a dozen of Laistrygonian giants erupting from the ground, yelling so loudly Sylvie's ears felt like burning. They carried shields made from flattened cars, and clubs that were tree trunks with rusty spikes bristling at the end. One of the giants bellowed at the Ares phalanx, smashed it sideways with his club, and the entire cabin was thrown aside, a dozen warriors tossed to the wind like rag dolls.

"Fire!" Beckendorf yelled. The catapults swung into action. Two boulders hurtled toward the giants. One deflected off a car shield with hardly a dent, but the other caught a Laistrygonian in the chest, and the giants went down. Apollo's archers fired a volley, dozens of arrows sticking in the thick armor of the giants like porcupine quills. Several found crevices in armor, and some of the giants vaporized at the touch of celestial bronze.

But just when it looked like the Lastrygonians were about to get overwhelmed, the next wave surged out of the maze: thirty, maybe forty dracaenae in full battle armor, wielding spears and nets. They dispersed in all directions. Some hit the traps the Hephaestus cabin had laid. One got stuck on the spikes and became an easy target for archers. Another tripped a trip wire, and pots of Greek fire exploded into green flames, engulfing several of the snake women. But many more kept coming. The direct warriors rushed forward to meet them, including Sylvie.

She drew her daggers to engage one dracaenae, hoping it wasn't an issue she didn't have a shield. That was the downside of having two weapons, but Sylvie had fought so long like this, that she was sort of used to it. Nearby, Annabeth was slicing with a sword and Tyson was riding a giant—Somehow he'd managed to climb onto the giant's back and was hitting him on the head with a bronze shield—BONG! BONG! BONG!

As Sylvie raced across the battlefield, she saw horrible things. Florian, Castor, and Pollux got overwhelmed by an enemy half-bloods, but one of the Dionysus twins was the most attacked out of the trio. Sylvie couldn't tell who. The enemy stabbed him in the arm then clubbed him over the head with the butt of his sword, and Dionysus's son went down. Another enemy warrior shot flaming arrows into the trees, sending their archers and dryads into a panic.

A dozen dracaenae suddenly broke away from the main path and slithered down the path that led toward camp, like they knew where they were going. If they got out, they could burn down the entire place, completely unopposed.

The only person anywhere near was Nico di Angelo. He stabbed a telkhine, and his black Stygian blade absorbed the monster's essence, drinking its energy until there was nothing left but dust.

"Nico!" Sylvie yelled.

He looked where Sylvie was pointed, saw the serpent women, and immediately understood.

He took a deep breath and held out his black sword. "Serve me," he called.

The earth trembled. A fissure opened in front of the dracaenae, and a dozen undead warriors crawled from the earth—horrible corpses in military uniforms from all different time periods—U.S. Revolutionaries, Roman centurions, Napoleonic cavalry on skeletal horses. As one, they drew their swords and engaged the dracaenae. Nico crumpled to his knees, but Sylvie didn't have time to make sure he was okay.

Sylvie closed on a Laistrygonian, which was raking through the Hephaestus traps and trying to push the cabin members back. She slid quickly, slicing the giant in the back of both his heels with Halcyon and Cereal.

When she popped back up, the giant was howling in pain. He turned, eyes narrowing on Sylvie.

Sylvie didn't waste any time, didn't let herself constrict with timidity. When the Laistrygonian giant swung at Sylvie with his tree trunk club, Sylvie made the wood explode to her own will. Now with the monster weaponless, Sylvie tilted her chin slightly and looked up at him with concentration. Thick vines and roots suddenly grew out from the ground. They curled around the Laistrygonian so tightly they could've been Sylvie's figurative vines of fear.

He roared in agitation, trying to struggle out of the plant-made binding, but Sylvie's hold was too strong. She started to feel weak and tired and faint, but she had to keep her powers going for a little longer. She held her ground long enough so that one of the Apollo kids could shoot an arrow straight through its forehead. It vaporized into nothing.

Sylvie let out a heaving exhale, stumbling onto her knees. Her hands hit the dirt ground as she tried to steady her breathing.

"Are you okay?" she heard a voice right in front of her.

Sylvie looked up to see her little brother, Cedar, staring at her with worried eyes. She huffed, feeling so many emotions at the sight of him that she couldn't decide what she was feeling.

"I'm perfectly fine," Sylvie assured him. Her voice was a little shaky.

Cedar frowned. He kneeled down on the ground, so that he was at Sylvie's level, but he was much more graceful, as he sat on his calves. "Here," he said, handing her a flower. "Eat this."

Sylvie raised an eyebrow. She didn't want to say she had no faith in her brother's creation, but, "You want me to eat... a flower?"

"Just do it," Cedar ordered. Sylvie grumbled like she was the eleven-year-old.

Regardless, she ate the lime-colored flower.

Sylvie didn't always love to admit she was wrong to her siblings, but almost instantly, she started feeling energy replenish her body. Cedar stood up, offering Sylvie a hand, and she felt stable enough to stand up with his assistance. She blinked in shock and awe at her little bother.

"Cedar, I—" she said. Then, "Duck!"

Cedar thankfully reacted quick enough. He bent down, and Sylvie chucked Ceral right at the threat behind him. Her celestial bronze blade landed right into the looming dracaenae's chest.

The creature stiffened, eyes wide in a daze. Sylvie walked right up the dracaenae, pulled Cereal out of her reptilian skin, and spat, "Bitch."

The dracaenae dissipated into nothing but dust.

Just when it seemed like the battle had balanced out again—like they might stand a chance—an unearthly shriek echoed out of the Labyrinth, a sound Sylvie had heard before.

Kampê shot into the sky, her bat wings fully extended. She landed on the top of Zeus's Fist and surveyed the evil carnage. Her face was filled with evil glee. The mutant animal heads growled at her waist. Snakes hissed and swirled around her legs. In her right hand she held a glittering ball of threat—Ariadne's string—but she popped it into a lion's mouth at her waist and drew her curved swords. The blades glowed green with poison. Kampê screeched in triumph, and some of the campers screamed. Others tried to run and got trampled by hellhounds or giants.

"Di Immortales!" Chiron yelled. He quickly aimed an arrow, but Kampê seemed to sense his presence. She took flight with amazing speed, and Chiron's arrow whizzed harmlessly past her head.

Tyson untangled himself from the giant whom he'd pummeled into unconsciousness. He ran at their lines, shouting, "Stand! Do not run from her! Fight!"

But then a hellhound leaped on him, and Tyson and the hound went rolling away.

Kampê landed on the Athena command tent, smashing it flat. Sylvie ran after Kampê and found Percy at her side, keeping pace, Riptide in his hand.

"This might be it," Percy said.

"Could be."

"Nice fighting with you, Applejack."

"Ditto, Fishstick."

Together they leaped into the monster's path. Kampê hissed and sliced at them. Sylvie dodged, trying to distract her, while Percy went in for a strike, but the monster seemed able to fight with both hands independently. She blocked Percy's sword, and Percy had to jump back to avoid the cloud of poison. Just being near the thing was was like standing in acid fog. Sylvie's eyes burned. Her lungs couldn't get enough air. She knew they couldn't stand their ground for more than a few seconds.

"Come on!" she shouted. "We need help!"

But no help came. Everyone was either down, or fighting for their lives, or too scared to move forward. Even Annabeth was fighting at Mickey and Phoenix's sides, trying stop the monsters that were attempting to sneak on Sylvie and Percy from behind. Three of Chiron's arrows sprouted from Kampê's chest, but she just roared louder.

"Now!" Percy said.

Together they charged, dodged the monster's slashes, got inside her guard, and almost... almost managed to stab Kampê in the chest, but a huge bear's head lashed out from the monster's waist, and they had to stumble backward to avoid getting bitten.

SLAM!

Sylvie's eyesight went black. The next thing she knew, Sylvie and Percy were on the ground. The monster had its forelegs on their chests, holding them down. Hundreds of snakes slithered right above Sylvie hissing like laughter. Kampê raised her green-tinged swords, and Sylvie knew she and Percy were out of options.

Then, behind Sylvie, something howled. A wall of darkness slammed into Kampê, sending the monster sideways. And Mrs. O'Leary was standing over them, snarling and snapping at Kampê.

"Good girl!" said a familiar voice. Daedalus was fighting his way out of the Labyrinth, slashing down enemies left and right as he made his way toward them. Next to him was someone else—a familiar giant, much taller than the Laistrygonians, with a hundred rippling arms, each holding a huge chunk of rock.

"Briares!" Tyson cried in wonder.

"Hail, little brother!" Briares bellowed. "Stand firm!"

And as Mrs. O'Leary leaped out of the way, the Hundred-Handed One launched a volley of boulders at Kampê. The rocks seemed to enlarge as they left Briares's hands. There were so many, it looked like half the earth had learned to fly.

BOOOOOM!

Where Kampê had stood a moment before was a mountain of boulders, almost as tall as Zeus's Fist. The only sign that the monster had ever existed were two green sword points sticking through the cracks.

A cheer went up from the campers, but their enemies weren't done yet. One of the dracaenae yelled, "Ssssslay them! Kill them all or Kronossss will flay you alive!"

Apparently, that threat was more terrifying than their opponents were. The giants surged forward in a last desperate attempt. One surprised Chiron with a glancing blow to the back legs, and he stumbled and fell. Six giants cried in glee and rushed forward.

"No!" Percy screamed, but he was too far away to help.

Then it happened. Grover opened his mouth, and the most horrible sound Sylvie had ever heard came out. It was like a brass trumped magnified a thousand times—the sound of pure fear.

As one, the forces of Kronos dropped their weapons and run for their lives. The giants trampled the dracanae trying to get into the Labyrinth first. Telkhines and hellhounds and enemy half-bloods scrambled after them. The tunnel rumbled shut, and the the battle was over. The clearing was quiet except for fires burning in the woods, and the cries of the wounded.

Percy helped Sylvie to her feet. They ran to Chiron with Annabeth.

"Are you alright?" Sylvie asked.

He was lying on his side, trying in vain to get up. "How embarrassing," he muttered. "I think I will be fine. Fortunately, we do not shoot centaurs with broken... Ow!... broken legs."

"You need help," Annabeth said. "I'll get a medic from Apollo's cabin."

"No," Chiron insisted. "There are more serious injuries to attend to. Go! I am fine. But, Grover... later we must talk about how you did that."

"That was amazing," Percy agreed.

Grover blushed. "I don't know where it came from."

Juniper hugged him fiercely. "I do!"

Before she could say more more, Tyson called, "Percy, come quick! It is Nico!"

There was smoke curling off his black clothes. His fingers were clenched. The grass all around his body had turned yellow and died.

Sylvie and Percy were both sat at his side. Percy rolled him over gently and Sylvie put her hand against his chest. His heart was beating faintly. "Get some nectar!" Sylvie yelled.

Mickey hobbled over and handed Sylvie a canteen. Sylvie trickled some of the magic drink into Nico's mouth. He coughed and spluttered, but his eyelids fluttered open.

"Nico, what happened?" Percy asked. "Can you talk?"

He nodded weakly. "Never tried to summon so many before. I—I'll be fine."

They helped him sit up and gave him some more nectar.

He blinked at them, like he was trying to remember who they were, and then he focused on someone behind Sylvie.

"Daedalus," he croaked.

"Yes, my boy," the inventor said. "I made a very bad mistake. I came to correct it."

Daedalus had a few scratches that were bleeding golden oil, but he looked better than most of them. Apparently his automaton body healed itself quickly. Mrs. O'Leary loomed behind him, licking the wounds on his master's head so Daedalus's hair stood up funny. Briares stood next to him, surrounded by a group of awed campers and satyrs. He looked kind of bashful, but he was signing autographs on armor, shields, and T-shirts.

"I found the Hundred-Handed One as I came through the maze," Daedalus explained. "It seemed he had the same idea, to come help, but he was lost. And so we fell in together. We both came to make amends."

"Yay!" Tyson jumped up and down. "Briares! I knew you would come!"

"I did not know," the Hundred-Handed One said. "But you reminded me who I am, Cyclops. You are the hero."

Tyson blushed, but Percy patted him on the back. "I knew that a long time ago," he said. "But, Daedalus... the Titan army is still down there. Even without the string, they'll be back. They'll find a way sooner or later, with Kronos leading them."

Daedalus sheathed his sword. "You are right. As long as the Labyrinth is here, your enemies can use it. Which is why the Labyrinth cannot continue."

Annabeth stared at him. "But you said the Labyrinth is tied to your life force! As long as you're alvive—"

"Yes, my young architect," Daedalus agreed. "When I die, the Labyrinth will die as well. And so I have a present for you."

He slung a leather satchel off his back, unzipped it, and produced a sleek silver laptop computer—one of the ones Sylvie had seen in the workshop. On the lid was the blue symbol L.

"My work is here," he said. "It's all I managed to save from the fire. Notes on projects I never started. Some of my favorite designs. I couldn't develop these over the last few millennia. I did not dare reveal my work to the mortal world. But perhaps you will find it interesting."

He handed the computer to Annabeth, who stared at it like it was solid gold. "You're giving me this? But this is priceless! This is worth... I don't even know how much!"

"Small compensation for the way I have acted," Daedalus said. "You were right, Annabeth, about children of Athena. We should be wise, and I was not. Someday you will be a greater architect than I ever was. Take my ideas and improve them. It is the least I can do before I pass on."

"Woah," Sylvie said. "Pass on? You can't just kill yourself. That's wrong..."

He shook his head. "Not as wrong as hiding from my crimes for two thousand years. Genius does not excuse evil, Sylvie. My time has come. I must face my punishment."

"You won't get a fair trial," Percy said. "Minos's spirit sits in judgment—"

"I will take what comes," he said. "And trust in the justice of the Underworld, such as it is. That is all we can do, isn't it?"

He looked straight at Nico, and Nico's face darkened.

"Yes," he said.

"Will you take my soul for ransom, then?" Daedalus asked. "You could us it to reclaim your sister."

"No," Nico said. "I'll help you release your spirit, but Bianca's passed. She has to stay where she is."

Daedalus nodded. "Well done, Son of Hades. You are becoming wise." Then he turned toward Percy. "One last favor, Percy Jackson. I cannot leave Mrs. O'Leary alone. And she has no desire to return to the Underworld. Will you care for her?"

Sylvie looked at the massive black hound, who whimpered pitifully, still licking Daedalus's hair. Percy looked unsure, but Sylvie nudged him a little and sent him an encouraging smile. So Percy faced Daedalus and said, "Yeah. Of course I will."

"Then I am ready to see my son... and Perdix," he said. "I must tell them how sorry I am."

Annabeth had tears in her eyes.

Daedalus turned toward Nico, who drew his sword. At first Sylvie was afraid Nico would kill the old inventor, but he simply said, "Your time is long since come. Be released and rest."

A smile of relief spread across Daedalus's face. He froze like a statue. His skin turned transparent, revealing the bronze gears and machinery whirring inside his body. Then the statue turned to gray ash and disintegrated.

Mrs. O'Leary howled. The earth rumbled—an earthquake that could probably be felt in every major city across the country—as the ancient labyrinth collapsed. Somewhere, Sylvie hoped, the remains of the Titan's strike force had been buried.

Sylvie looked around at the carnage in the clearing, and the weary faces of her friends and family.

"Come on," Percy said. "We have work to do."

╰━━━ ◦ ❀ ◦ ❀◦ ━━━╯

BAILEY YAPS...

Thoughts on a daughter of Bacchus oc for this story who may or mayn't be Jason Grace's love interest

This chapter goes out to Florian Whitlock especially because you actually need all the hugs in the world right now I'm so sorry

Grover randomly screaming is me btw

Sylvie and Cedar siblingism changed lives actually like Go girl go give Cedar the relationship you always yearned for because you couldn't have it

I fear I have grown fond of Sylviebeth and SylvieNico