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DAYS IN THE SUN

chapter twenty-eight
❛ 𝚋𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚏𝚞𝚕 𝚘𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝. ❜

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      THE NEXT MORNING, a war council meeting was called. The senior counselors of each cabin had been personally asked by Chiron the morning of, requested to meet in the sword arena and discuss the fate of camp.

The centaur and swords master stood by the weapons racks, occasionally doing a headcount to ensure the counselors were all there. Amara had found a seat in between Beckendorf and Silena, the older duo each unsmiling for once.

"Luke must have known about the Labyrinth entrance," Annabeth began, starting the meeting off by quickly getting to the point. "He knew everything about Camp."

"That's what I was trying to tell Amara and Percy last night," Juniper spoke up. "The cave entrance has been there for a long time, Luke often used it."

A frown overcame the head counselor of Aphrodite features, the Beauregard speaking softly. "You knew about the Labyrinth entrance, and didn't say anything?"

"I didn't know it was important," the dyrad's face turned a darker shade of green. "Just a cave, I don't like yucky old caves."

"She has good taste." Grover approved.

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

The Underwood boy let out a huff, the satyr quickly crossing his arms over one another. "Forget what I said about good taste."

An amused smile curled onto Amara's lips, her hands quickly stuffing into her light blue denim jacket she was gifted on their quest last winter, as Juniper sent apologetic smiles towards her boyfriend.

"Interesting," Quintus's voice interrupted the silence, sparks flying off his sword as he polished it. "And you believe this young man, Luke, would dare use the Labyrinth as an invasion route?"

"Definitely," Clarisse answered this time. "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."

"He's been sending scouts into the maze," the daughter of Athena explained. "We know because . . . because we found one."

"Chris Rodriguez," Chiron spoke, giving his newly appointed swordsman a look.

"Ah," the weapons master nodded. "The one in the . . . yes, I understand."

"The one in the what?" Percy's voice was filled with confusion, a questionable look resting on his features as he gave the centaur a confused glance.

"The point is," Clarisse shot the Jackson boy a glare that caused him to shut up quickly. "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 spoke again, clearly not caring for the La Rue girls death stare.

"Yes," Annabeth agreed, momentarily dwelling in her admiration for the creator. "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 his 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."

Her words ensured silence, the head counselors of the cabins each lost in thought as they processed her words carefully. Beckendorf was the first to react, putting his hands on the table as if to make sure he wasn't crazy for what he was saying. "Back up a sec, Annabeth, you said convince Daedalus. Isn't Daedalus dead?"

Quintus grunted, earning a certain pair of electric blue eyes to land on his figure. "I would hope so, he lived a thousand years ago. And even if he were alive, don't the old stories say he fled from the Labyrinth?"

"That's the problem, my dear Quintus," Chiron cut in, disrupting Amara's stare on the swordsman. "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 requested. "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 called out. "If we're worried about an attack, why not just blow up the entrance? Seal the tunnel?"

"Great idea!" Grover said, a genuine smile twisting on his lips for the first time in days. "I'll get the dynamite!"

"It's not so easy, stupid." Clarisse growled. "We tried that at the entrance we found in Phoenix. It didn't go well."

The blonde nodded. "The Labyrinth is a magical architecture Percy, it would take huge power to seal even one of its entrances. In Phoenix, Clarisse 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."

"We could fight." Lee Fletcher spoke, earning the counselors attention. "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 quickly agreed. "But I fear Clarisse 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."

"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," Percy arched his brow at the blonde. "What chance do we have?"

"I've been studying architecture for years." Annabeth responded. "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?"

Grover gave Amara a look from across the table, a pleading look resting on the brunette boy's face. He didn't want to go into the Labyrinth, that much was clear as he looked near tears. But all she could do was give her friend a soft, reassuring smile. The satyr's face hit the table after that, causing a small laugh to escape from the Grace while Chiron cleared his throat to stop the children of Athena and Poseidon from arguing any further.

"First things first," the instructor demanded. "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 turned her attention on a specific demigod. "Annabeth."

Murmurs of agreement sounded from the head counselors, eyes landing on the blonde while a slight wave of dread washed over the daughter of Zeus.

"You've done as much as I have, Clarisse." Annabeth argued. "You should go, too."

"I'm not going back in there."

Travis Stoll laughed, a grin curling onto his lips as he tilted his head at the daughter of Ares. "Don't tell me you're scared Clarisse, chicken?"

The La Rue quickly got to her feet, a death stare aimed towards the son of Hermes as she spoke in a shaky tone. "You don't understand anything, punk. I'm never going in there again. Never!" With that, she stormed out of the arena.

The son of Hermes frowned, he scratched his neck as he looked around sheepishly. "I didn't mean too—"

"The poor girl has had a difficult year," Chiron raised his hand, stopping the oldest Stoll. "Now, do we have an agreement that Annabeth should lead the quest?"

Everyone nodded, except Quintus. Instead, the swordsman folded his arms over one another as he seemed to get lost in thought while staring at the table.

"Very well," their teacher 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."

The blonde only nodded, quickly getting to her feet and making her way out of the arena. Once the daughter of Athena was gone, Beckendorf's attention quickly shifted to his newly adopted sister. Her arms were crossed over her chest, eyes clouded over as the older boy stood to his feet.

"Promise me you'll be careful," Charles voice was tight, his body tensed as the younger girl lifted a brow.

"What?"

"Promise me, Amara," it was rare for the son of Hephaestus to use the electric blue eyed girls name. She sat up, eyeing the demigod.

"Charles, what are you talking about?"

He didn't answer, instead he gently grabbed onto her hands and began to ramble. "You have been on so, so, many quests. It's not fair, you're still so young and with a prophecy looming over your head. You shouldn't have to deal with all of this but you are, nothing will change that. But please, please, promise me you will be careful down there. It's completely different than any other quest you've been on, you could come by driven mad like Chris or worse—"

"Breathe," Silena's voice interrupted the blacksmith, a sad smile twisted onto her lips as she placed a hand on his shoulder. "Listen to my voice, and breathe Charlie."

Amara sent the daughter of Aphrodite a grateful look, halfway through the rant she was able to piece together what the dark skinned boy was trying to say. Annabeth was chosen to lead the quest, it would be a no brainer she asks the brunette to join her. Despite their relationship being rocky over the past six months, she knew the blonde would see this opportunity as a chance to fix it.

And it seemed Charles realized that as well, immediately jumping into worrying as he thought more than anyone about the risks.

"Charles," Amara took the Beckendorf's boy hand in her own, giving it a light squeeze as she forced a smile. A smile that would hopefully make the Hephaestus boy think she was okay going into the Labyrinth, when in reality she was done with quests. She was done nearly dying every summer, she just wanted one relaxing summer. But it seemed that would be harder than she thought.

"I'll be careful," she promised. "I make my way back every time to camp alive, don't I? I'll come back, I always do."

Charles could only nod, fighting the red that threatened to show from Silena standing next to him. Her hand gently held his, a worried look resting on her face as her eyes refused to leave his figure.

"My dear," Chiron announced, breaking the trio's silence and earning the two older demigods to sit back down. "You made it."

Amara watched the blonde, who immediately seemed off the moment she came into view. She was soundless as she made her way back into the arena, quickly sitting down and staring intently at the floor.

It was quiet, the head counselors each awaiting for the daughter of Athena's words. Quintus was the only one brave enough to speak, questioning the girl. "Well?"

Stormy grey eyes momentarily met electric blue, the old friends have a silent stare off before the former broke it. "I got the prophecy, I will lead the quest to find Daedalus's workshop."

Chiron's hoof scraped against the dirt. "What did the prophecy say exactly, my dear? The wording is important after all."

"I, ah . . . well, it said," the blonde cleared her throat quickly. "You shall delve in the darkness of the endless maze . . . the dead, the traitor, and the lost one raise."

"The lost one!" Grover perked up, a genuine smiling etching on his lips. "That must mean Pan, that's great!"

"With the dead and the traitor," Percy added. "Not so great."

"And?" Their instructor asked. "What is the rest?"

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

The brunette's heart quickly dropped, her fingers finding themselves twisting her ring back and forth while Beckendorf and Silena gave the girl a frown.

"Hey, we shouldn't jump to conclusions." the daughter of Aphrodite gave a small, but encouraging smile. "Annabeth isn't the only child of Athena, right?"

"But," Beckendorf rested a hand on Amara's shoulder gently. "Who's this ghost king?"

Silence fell over the meeting, no one spoke until the centaur braved the silence. "Are there more lines?" He asked. "The prophecy does not sound complete."

"I don't remember exactly."

The blonde was shot a look from the Grace, the former was known for her memory growing up. It was something the older girl held over her head, whenever she heard something she never once forgot it.

"Something about," Annabeth shifted. "Destroy with a hero's final breath."

"And?" Their instructor asked.

"Look, the point is, I have to go in," she stood to her feet quickly. "I'll find the workshop and stop Luke, and . . . I need help."

Her gaze landed on Percy first. "Will you come?"

"I'm in."

"Grover, you too?" She gave a small smile to their old protector. "The Wild god is waiting."

He nodded eagerly. "I'll pack extra recyclables for snacks!"

"And Amara," the old friends eyes locked. "I'll need you."

She gave the blonde a smirk, nodded her head. "I'm always with you, Wise girl."

The daughter of Athena smiled at the nickname, quickly turning her attention to the other son of Poseidon. "And Tyson, I'll need you too."

"Yay!" The cyclops clapped his large hands loudly, waking up the sleeping hellhound. "Blow things up time!"

"Wait, Annabeth," Chiron protested, but the daughter of Zeus had blocked out the centaur. Beckendorf's grip on her shoulder slightly tightened, his hand shaky while trying to keep his composure.

But her attention wasn't on him, her gaze was locked on a figure who stood away from the arena. He wore dress pants paired with a sky blue button up, his dark curls were tamed.

"Very well," the camp director's voice broke the staring contest between father and daughter. "Let us adjourn, the members of the quest must prepare themselves. Tomorrow at dawn, we send you into the Labyrinth."

Wordlessly, Amara took off in the direction of cabin six. Beckendorf and Silena were forced to watch her go, knowing her mind was set on talking to the blonde daughter of Athena. The silver building came into view, the carved stone owl seemingly staring at the brunette as she made her way inside the cabin.

"Beth?" She called, stepping inside the dream place for any and all brainiac kids. The bunks had been pushed against one wall, filling the rest of the room with work benches, tables, sets of tools, and weapons. The back of the room was filled with books that formed a library, crammed with old scrolls and leather bound books.

War maps decorated the ceilings with sets of armor hanging under the windows, their brown plates glistening in the sun. And Annabeth Chase stood in the back of it all, shuffling through the old scrolls.

"Annabeth," she called again, earning the Chase girl to jump slightly. The scrolls fell from her hands as the blonde quickly spun around, her eyes narrowed until she realized who had called her. "Oh," she muttered, quickly piling the scrolls back into her hands. "Sorry Am, didn't hear you come in."

She waved her off, making her way deeper inside the cabin. "What were you looking at?"

"I was just trying to do some research, but I'm not having much luck." Annabeth opened the scrolls, giving Amara the chance to look and take in the information. "Daedalus's Labyrinth is huge, none of the stories agree about anything and maps just lead from nowhere to nowhere."

"We'll figure it out," the Grace promised, giving her oldest friend a reassuring smile.

"I've wanted to lead a quest since I was seven, you know."

Amara's smile turned into a smirk at her words. "Trust me, I think I know better than anyone how much you've waited for this."

"Then you know how important it is to me that we succeed."

"And we will, I promise."

Silence overtook the duo, the girls analyzing the scrolls and wordlessly switching off their readings without so much as a look. The last couple of months had been rocky for the two, but it seemed maybe there was a chance to fix things between them.

"So," Annabeth broke the silence, handing another scroll to Amara. "When were you gonna tell me?"

"Tell you what?"

"About you and Percy."

The scroll fell from her hands, a shocked look quickly twisting onto the brunette's face as she stumbled over her words. "There's nothing—we're not—I don't know what you mean—"

Annabeth's laughter cut off the stammering daughter of Zeus, a soft smile resting on the older girls lips as she shook her head softly. "I was just messing around Am, but you gave me your answer through that mess of a sentence."

Amara's face was flushed red, a sigh of relief escaped her lips as she tried focusing on the scrolls in an attempt to calm herself down. "So when are you gonna tell him?"

The Chase girl was only given multiple head shakes as her answer. "You have to tell him, Amara."

Luckily, the daughter of Zeus was saved from answering by another voice cutting into the conversation. "Am I interrupting something here?"

The duo spun around only to be met with Zeus. The king of the gods leaned against the doorframe, his hands in his pant pockets with an arched brow raised at the demigods.

"N—No, Lord Zeus," Annabeth stammered, earning a smirk from Amara as the brunette put down the scrolls she was previously looking at.

"Then Amara, my daughter, would you care to join me for a walk?"

The electric blue eyed girl shrugged, giving the blonde one last look before making her way towards the cabin entrance where the god awaited. Once she slipped out, he quickly followed suit with a small smile.

"So, you have another quest tomorrow I heard."

She sent the god an arched brow, silently asking how he would be able to found out that quickly. With a defeated sigh, he gave her a truthful answer. "I saw the whole meeting, I came to see you but I had to wait until you were done with business."

Amara only hummed, waiting for Zeus to explain why he had decided to pay her a visit. It was unlike the king, though he had made it a point to visit as often as he could. But she had already seen him earlier in the year, so twice so soon was a little bit of a shock.

"If you follow me," Zeus pulled her from her thoughts as a small smile rested on his lips. "I have a surprise for you."

She could only arch her brow at her father, resisting the urge to smile as the lord of the sky began walking in the direction of cabin one. Upon coming into view, she had noticed it was completely different than how it was mere hours ago.

The buildings old white wood had been switched to white marble, with heavy columns around the cabin now added. The old door was replaced with bronze doors that shimmered like a hologram, lightning bolts streaking down. The rectangular shaped ceiling had been removed and replaced by a dome shaped, shining with the moving mosaics of a cloudy sky.

A smile twisted onto Amara's lips once thunder echoed, ensuring she would be able to sleep to a storm if wanted. She pushed the bronze door open, making her way inside the cabin where the first thing she saw was the alcoves, golden eagles filling their empty seats.

Her attention was drawn to the middle of the room next, where a ten foot tall statue of Zeus stood. She arched a brow at the god, but he could only offer a small shrug with a guilty look. "It is my cabin," he argued, but she could only shake her head at the lord of the sky.

Her eyes were immediately drawn to the bunk beds next, they hadn't previously been there. The Zeus cabin used to be empty, filled with nothing but the statue of himself. Chiron had to bring an extra bed in there just for Amara's sake, but Thalia had preferred the floor and a corner where she couldn't see their father's statue.

There was now four sets of bunk beds, each on the left side of the room where Amara could easily identify which was hers. The first bunk bottom bed, she could make out two dressers beside it filled with her things and pictures littering the walls.

She glanced back at her father, but Zeus' older and darker electric blue eyes weren't focused on her, instead, they were overlooking the fireplace in the back of the cabin. Slowly, she followed his gaze to land on the picture.

It was a holographic picture, a storm, with each flash of lightning the cabin flickered. Each rumble of thunder shook the cabin, the storm reflected the smell of rain in the cabin. Amara could only smirk, now figuring out how the cabin was imitating the making of a storm from the outside.

A rug filled the cabin floor on the outside of the bunk bed's, reflecting the sky above as she loosely ran her fingers through the soft fabric.

Zeus cleared his throat, earning her attention once more as he nudged his head in the direction of her bunk. She rolled her eyes lightly at the god, but did as he instructed nonetheless.

Each of the bunks had the same sky blue sheets, paired with a grey blanket that reminded her of clouds in a storm. Gold trimming outlined the comforter, where she found her initials A.R.G in the corner. She smiled, running her fingers over the stitching before turning her attention to the dresser.

Above the left dresser hung a bronze mirror, attached to an eagle as it stood as the stand. A lamp was underneath, the cover pale with small bolts of lightning filling the design. There was a picture, one that had been taken years ago.

She lifted it up gently, tears slowly welling up as she analyzed the photo. Zeus stood tall, a gentle smile resting on his face with one of his arms wrapped around a beautiful brunette woman. The woman's light blue eyes almost matched the four members of her family, but anyone could tell she belonged.

Her perfectly straight teeth shined bright in the lighting, her eyes twinkling with a genuine smile laced onto her peach lips with her hand resting on their middle child and the other around the god.

Zeus' other hand had been rested on their eldest child, who matched him perfectly. She held the same raven hair, dark electric blue eyes that analyzed the photographer with slight annoyance. But she held a smile anyway, her arms crossed across her chest.

The second daughter was a mixture of her parents, standing in the middle of the couple with a wide smile curled onto her lips. She resembled her mother more than anything, sporting the woman's brown hair, freckles, and tan skin. She did get her father's eyes, however being a lighter shade of electric blue compared to the darkness of her sister's.

Her arm was wrapped around the youngest child, the only son the couple had. The young boy held onto his sister for support, his mouth turned upward with a slight scar on his lips.

The youngest didn't share the same resemblance as his sisters, he had fair skin and held light electric blue eyes. His hair was blond, spiked up unlike the rest of the Grace family's dark features.

Amara put the picture back down, her finger lingering on the little blond boy as she managed to keep the tears back. "How did you—"

Zeus held a small grin, an accomplished look evident on his face. "I am a god, Amara. You really question how I can do some things?"

She could only shake her head at the god, her attention falling on the dresser on the right side of her bed. An eagle stood, carrying a stone tablet where a clock rested atop it.

Another picture showed, this time she knew it was one she had all along. Thalia and Luke were kneeling, the older duo's grins were wide as their arms were wrapped around two girls. The blond had his arms around Amara, the younger girl mid laugh as the boy held a fond look.

Thalia had her arms around Annabeth, the young blonde held a smile while the older girl held the same look as Luke.

She didn't dwell on that one for long, her attention going to the other side of the room. A weapons stand littered the corner, filled with swords, shields, spears, even bows and arrows that she knew was meant for the eldest daughter of Zeus.

Armor stands stood next to it, instead of its typical bronze it was covered in dark grey, trickled with hints of teal and yellow streaks.

Next to the weapons area was desks, two besides and two across from each other. And finally, there was a small library that made it hard for Amara to hold back her wide smile at the sight of all the books.

"Well?" Zeus's voice breached the silence, an unsure expression resting on his face as he tried to figure out his youngest daughter's thoughts. "Do you like it?"

Her lips twisted upwards as she turned around, giving her father a smile as she nodded. Wordlessly, a sigh escaped the god as he wrapped his arms around his daughter tightly. "Please," he silently begged. "Be careful on your quest."

She was quiet, only squeezing tighter onto the lord of the sky as her answer while her eyes remained locked on the books that awaited for her to read.

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09-10-24

hello hello ! we're gonna act like it hasn't almost been a year since i've last uploaded, but that's okay. i'm so sorry for not updating it's been a hectic year, but i'm backkkk, anyway i hope you all enjoyed this chapter and i'll try getting the next one out as soon as possible <3