I dedicate this chapter to my favorite band, Coldplay

Thank you for the inspirational lyrics, and thank you for helping me through things when life gets rough. :)

Okay, and now for the story. Enjoy and review! xD

"Ready, campers? Get set...go!" Chiron shouted, and we all surged forward into the forest. Dusk was falling, and the sky was now a washed out shade of blue, with pink and orange streaked across it like paint across a canvas. Soon night would close over us, and if the game hadn't ended by then, that was when things would get really interesting.

I jogged easily in the middle of the pack of campers towards our base, which was a large clearing at the heart of the woods. This would give us a clear advantage in hand-to-hand combat, because it meant no one would be able to sneak up on us and snatch our flag. Athena always has a plan.

Thankfully, we had lots of cabins as our alliances this round. I think they all finally figured out that WisdomStrength. Luckily for me, these allies included a lot of my friends' cabins. On top of that, the more soldiers we had, the more watertight our plan would be, and the better our chances of winning. Ares was so going down.

Once we reached the clearing, everyone crowded around Annabeth, who was undisputedly our team captain. Her stormy gray eyes, so similar to mine and to the rest of our siblings', looked fierce and slightly wild.

"Alright guys. You know the plan- we leave multiple guards here in the clearing to guard the flag, while the rest of us split up into four different units and from there several subunits to search each section of the wood for the red team campers, as marked on the map I gave you all yesterday. Don't back down. Take risks. Fight. Give it one hundred and ten percent. We cannot lose this. I'm counting on you. On every single one of you." She jammed her blue-plumed helmet down onto her head, pulled out her shining bronze knife, stuck it in the air, and yelled, "For Athena!"

"FOR ATHENA!" everyone echoed. Then we began assembling into our various groups. I scanned the crowd for my friends.

Suddenly, someone poked me in the side. I let out a yelp and whirled around to see...Cara. She grinned at me, her brown eyes looking mischievous. "Ready for battle?"

"Of course. What section of the woods to we have?" I questioned.

She pulled a creased piece of paper out of her jeans pocket and scanned it. "Section 3, subsection 5. Which puts us..."

"In the middle of some random trees."

"Yeah. Pretty much."

"So we're going to miss all of the action?"

She made a face. "Seriously? That's so stupid! It's not like the four of us aren't good fighters."

I shook my head. "I know. Let's just go find the others."

Ten minutes later, we had located Charlotte and Keith in the cluster of troops, and the four of us were now heading for our section.

"This is so unfair!" Keith complained with a dramatic sigh. "I want to fight!"

Charlotte snorted, pushing aside a low hanging branch as we walked along. "So why don't we fight?"

I raised my eyebrows at her. "Because we're being sent to an out of the way and completely forgotten area of the forest, that's why."

"Who says we have to go there?"

Cara stopped in her tracks and stared at Charlotte. "Are you saying we should defy Annabeth, one of the toughest people ever to walk the planet, and go to a different section?"

"Well yeah!" Charlotte exclaimed. "Come on, broseph. All you guys can do is complain about how you aren't going to get to fight. If you want to fight that badly, just do it."

Keith looked at her for a moment before saying, "Sis, I think you might actually have a point. Why don't we join in the fun? I'm sure we won't be missed. Subsection 5 isn't exactly a battle hotspot."

"Well okay!" Cara said with a what-the-hell smile and a shrug. "Where to?"

Charlotte shook her head, her short, light brown hair falling into her eyes. "I have absolutely no idea."

"Well where do you think the battle is going to take place?" Cara asked, adjusting her armor strap.

"Zeus's fist," I interjected quickly. "I overheard Annabeth talking about it last night. That's why she sent all the best archers there. It's a little hard to sword fight on a huge pile of boulders, so she was going to get the Apollo kids to draw the guards down off the rocks with their arrows before launching the attack."

Charlotte shook her head. "Way to eavesdrop, girl."

I rolled my eyes at her. "Whatever. Let's just go before we miss all the fighting."

We broke into a run and headed off in the opposite direction. The only sounds penetrating the warm evening air were our sneakers hitting the lush, grassy forest floor and the occasional chirping bird. It was a perfect and peaceful summer evening. Of course, perfect days are always when you last expect something to go terribly, terribly wrong.

The four of us had finally reached the fringe of trees bordering Zeus's fist, and we were sitting in a little semicircle behind a large cluster of maples that concealed us from view, waiting for the action to begin.

"I wish they would hurry up," I said, ripping out chunks of grass to keep my trembling hands busy.

"Chill, Cora," Keith said. "They'll get here when they get here." He reached over and grabbed my hands. "Stop it. You're hurting the grass."

I grinned and shoved him before going back to ripping out the greenery, but not before glancing up and seeing Charlotte, who was smirking at me. I felt my face getting hot and quickly looked away. Now is not the time, I thought, mentally shaking myself. It's time to get ready for battle. I took a deep breath to compose myself, and then proceeded to pull my glinting bronze knife out of its sleek black sheath to examine it. It had a blade about six inches long and was lethal to any monster or demigod who would happen to get in its way. Annabeth had given it to me my first summer here at Camp Half-Blood, and I hadn't parted from it since. The worn leather grip formed to my hand perfectly. It was the only weapon I ever wanted to have in a fight.

Suddenly, there were shouts from nearby. In a flash, we all had grabbed our helmets and were on our feet, ready to fight. Charlotte had drawn her sword. It was short and sturdy, which allowed it to double as a blunt force weapon used for clubbing people over the head.

Keith pulled out his blade, which was a long, thin sword that he called "the sword of Gryffindor."

Cara had drawn her bow and arrows. They were entirely made of a shiny ebony, with the exception of the arrowheads. Those were made of the glowing celestial bronze that our knives and swords were constructed from. She notched an arrow, and drew her bow into firing position.

Quietly, we crept closer to the edge of the trees to see what was going on. The Ares campers, who had been sitting around on the top of Zeus's fist, were now clambering down the weatherbeaten boulders. Hidden Apollo kids were firing arrows faster than the speed of light, and every now and again one of the guards would yelp in pain as they got hit. However, I knew that the archers had been instructed to, for the most part, shoot over and around the guards. This was merely a distraction until the main unit arrived.

We watched in silence as the stream of arrows continued to fly at the Ares kids.

They finally made it to the bottom of Zeus's fist, and they glared around meanly, trying to spot the archers.

Merely seconds later, someone shouted, "Team Blue!" from the trees opposite us, and a wave of people spilled into the clearing.

The first person I spotted was Annabeth. She whipped her knife, which was almost identical to mine, out of its sheath and sprinted at one of the guards head on. The guard tried to swing his sword at her, but he was too slow. She deflected it easily, and then proceeded to kick him in the gut with all her might. He doubled over and stumbled back a few steps. She banged him on the helmet with the handle of her knife, and he fell to the ground.

Blue fought red. Swords clanged, and shouts echoed through the forest. I was sure Ares backup was on their way, but hopefully they wouldn't make it in time.

Keith's POV

Cora turned to look at me, her gray eyes looking intense. "Ready?"

I nodded. "Ready guys?" I asked the others.

"Let's go," Cara said with a grin, looking excited.

We burst out of the trees. And honestly, it was pretty anticlimactic. If anyone noticed our arrival, they didn't say anything. We all just sort of stood there for a moment.

Suddenly, an Ares camper ran up behind Charlotte, his sword pulled back in preparation to strike.

"Charlotte turn around!" I shouted. Her green eyes widened, and she spun around just in time to deflect the blow.

Meanwhile, Cara began rapidly firing at any and all of the red team members.

"Annabeth!" Cora cried suddenly. I looked around the clearing for a second and then spotted her older sister, who was now battling three campers at once. Annabeth was tough, but even she couldn't hold off that many people at one time.

Cora sprinted toward her sister, her knife drawn. I was about to follow her when I felt something hit me in the back, hard.

The wind was knocked out of me, and I was barely able to keep my balance. Unsteadily, I spun around to defend myself.

A beefy Ares guy was giving me a death stare. He held a large sword in one hand and some sort of club in the other. Greaaaat.

He swung his sword at me and I deflected it easily. Apparently he wasn't much of a swordsman.

Then, he attempted to whack me on the head with his club, but I just knocked it away with the hilt of my sword. Seriously? I thought. Has he ever fought before?

Not long after, the camper was on the ground unconscious. I grinned. Nothing like kicking some Ares butt to put a guy in a good mood.

I scanned the area for the girls. Charlotte had successfully beaten the soldier who had sneak-attacked her, and now she had jumped in to help another blue team member fend off a particularly large enemy. They seemed to be winning easily.

Cara was near the edge, practically melting into the shadows, and shooting up a storm. One of the Ares girls had made the mistake of taking off her helmet, and Cara nailed her in the forehead, causing the girl to fall to her knees and shout profanities.

Where's Cora? I thought, slightly worried. She was tough, so it wasn't likely that she'd been seriously hurt, but you never know.

I spotted her, fighting alongside her sister. She and Annabeth were at the base of Zeus's fist, trying to defeat four Ares campers. They were the last line of defense; if they could get these four out of the way, the flag would be ours. I started to run towards them to help.

Suddenly, several things happened at once. Time seemed to slow down. One of the Ares campers knocked Cora's knife out of her hand, and another swung his club at her. It made contact with her left wrist, and I could practically hear the impact. Her stormy eyes widened for a fraction of a second and then she screamed. My stomach dropped. Then I heard my sister's voice and turned to see Charlotte running towards me, dragging Cara along behind her. "Look! Keith!" she yelled, pointing. Not twenty feet away from Cora and Annabeth, there was a hellhound. It was massive, at least as big as a car.

The three of us looked at each other in horror. Who could have done this? Then I spotted an Ares camper, hiding at the edge of the trees and watching the hellhound, looking pleased.

"He..he summoned..." I stammered, gesturing towards the camper. Cara's eyes widened, but Charlotte just glanced at him.

"Are you really that surprised? It's the god of war's children we're talking about here. Now come ON, we need to help them!"

She yanked on my arm, jerking me into action. We sprinted towards Cora and Annabeth. Cora was attempting to fight using just her right hand, but she looked pale and her face was contorted in pain. Annabeth was doing the best she could, but they wouldn't be able to last much longer. It looked as though they had not even noticed the hellhound yet, who was crouched in the shadows nearby, prepared to spring.

We reached them just as the huge beast let out a bone-chilling howl and bounded towards us. Annabeth rolled to the side, away from the boulder stack and the monster. But we weren't fast enough. It was bearing down on us and there wasn't enough time to run.

"Zeus's fist!" Cara shouted. We all jumped onto the boulders and began scrambling up as fast as we could go. Cora lagged behind, trying to keep her balance and climb using her good hand. I looked behind her and saw that the hellhound was now beginning to climb up the rocks. Although it was clumsy, it'd be upon us within moments.

"Here," I said, walking back to her quickly and grabbing her right hand. "You won't fall. No worries."

She smiled gratefully. "Thanks. I thought you'd leave me behind."

I rolled my eyes at her. "You know we wouldn't do that Cora."

With my help, she was able to move faster, and soon all four of us had nearly reached the summit. But it had all been for nothing it seemed. The monster was still trying to get to us, its red eyes gleaming evilly in the semidarkness.

"Where are we going to go?" Cara asked, panicked.

"I don't-" I began, but then Charlotte cut me off

"Guys look," she said, gesturing to a large space between the rocks. "It looks like some sort of alcove or something. Why don't we try and jump in there?"

Cara frowned. "But what if it's-"

"There's no time to argue!" Cora exclaimed. "That thing will get up here any minute now, and even if my wrist wasn't broken, it's like the size of a Hummer. We're screwed either way. This is our only option."

With that, she let go of my hand and lowered herself down into the alcove. Charlotte didn't even hesitate. She jumped right in after.

I looked at Cara. "Well. Let's do this," I said. She went first. I looked at the space for a moment, and then slid down into the blackness after her.

Keith's POV

I was falling for longer than I would have expected. Just as fear started to creep into my stomach, I hit the floor with a thud.

"What the-" I mumbled, sitting up and rubbing my head. I looked around. It was pretty dark, but somehow I had the feeling that this wasn't what it was supposed to be.

Suddenly, someone grabbed my right arm, and I jumped violently.

"It's me, it's me," Charlotte's voice said. I relaxed, exhaling slowly.

"Where ARE we?"

"I don't know. I really have no-"

"I know," said another familiar voice in my left ear. I jumped again. Cora giggled.

"Sorry," she said, sounding completely unapologetic. "Anyway, as I was saying, I know exactly where we are. Look down to your right. And then to your left. See any walls?"

I frowned. "No...it's almost like we're sitting in a-"

"Hallway," Charlotte said, sounding scared.

"So?" Cara said, also off to my right somewhere.

"Isn't it obvious?" Cora asked. "We're in the Labyrinth."

I felt my blood run cold. "Wh-what?"

"The Labyrinth. Daedalus's Labyrinth."

"But that was destroyed a few years ago," Cara said, disbelief in her voice.

At least I wasn't the only disbelieving one.

Cora sighed, her breath tickling my face. "The Labyrinth supposedly was destroyed because Daedalus died, right? Well, it did crumble. But it reformed within months, becoming even bigger and better. It is much too powerful for it to have been eliminated that easily. Although it was tied to his life force to some extent, it evolved into its own living, growing structure. That's why it is able to exist even though he's gone. Even while he was alive, it was no longer inside his control. It had become something more."

I gaped at her. "How do you know this?"

"Annabeth had her suspicions. We've talked about it a lot before."

"So...so we're really in the Labyrinth?" Cara asked, sounding amazed.

"Sure are."

"Oh my GOD!" Charlotte exclaimed. "Alright, this is cool. This is very cool."

"How do we get out?" I asked nervously. "Isn't this place full of traps and monsters? We probably should leave while we can."

"No. We should obviously explore it. Once Chiron knows about this he'll never let us back in," Charlotte said decisively.

We glared at each other.

"Guys," Cara said. "Why don't we just leave and come back another day?"

"But Chiron won't let us!" Charlotte shouted, exasperated.

"I have an idea," I said suddenly. Everyone fell quiet. "Why don't two of us sneak out and get some supplies? Then we can go on a quest."

"Do you have any idea how many rules that breaks?" Charlotte asked me.

"Well, yeah but-"

"It's a fantastic idea!" she cried, cutting me off. "Let's do it!"

"Cora? Cara?" I asked.

There was a pause.

"If you guys are sure you want to, I don't mind coming along," Cara said finally.

"Cora?" I asked, holding my breath.

"Definitely," she responded. I grinned.

"A quest, a quest, we're going on a quest!" Cara sang. "Can Charlotte and I fetch the supplies?"

"You most certainly may," Cora replied.

I couldn't stop smiling. I felt full of happiness and excitement and energy. This wasn't training anymore. This was the real deal. Monsters? Bring it on.

"A quest, a quest, we're going on a quest," I sang under my breath. And what a quest it would be.

Okay, so review please:)

That was the longest chapter ever. Soooo much fun to write!

I hope you liked that half of it was Keith's POV. I thought it'd be interesting to switch it up. It'll be back to being Cora's POV next chapter:)

Keep on reading!