I am sorry for the long awaited update.
Also, a reviewer pointed out that Leo is really OOC and I'm sorry about that. I'm trying to write him more IC, but seeing as I have almost no sense of humor, it's hard to write such a humorous character. I have a plan to explain why Leo has been so OOC since the whole arena thing, but that probably won't come in until after the Battle of the Labyrinth.
Thanks to all that reviewed, followed, faved, and read this story! It's greatly appreciated.
Disclaimer: I don't own PJO.
"Earthquake!"
"What?!" Leo leapt to his feet and after checking for his backpack, he dashed after the trio that were skidding down the halls. For a few minutes, he didn't even realize what they were running from until he discovered that the floor was indeed shaking.
His first thought: well, damn, it wasn't a dream after all.
His second thought was more appropriate: we're all gonna die!
"This way!" Rachel yelled as the quartet bolted around corners and down halls, as if the red head had the layout of the maze drawn out in her brain.
"Why should we trust you?" Annabeth screamed, angrily. "You led us into a death trap!
"It was the way you had to go and so is this!" Rachel shouted. "Come on!"
Leo wasn't sure why he trusted these kids he'd met what couldn't be more than a few hours ago, but to hell with it. He was better off with these dagger wielding demigods than the monsters that had tried to kill him, after all.
"We're almost there!" Rachel informed.
Leo couldn't help himself. Despite the dire situation, he gasped, "Where are we goi-"
He cut himself off abruptly as he nearly ran straight into a set of double doors with a huge triangle on it, glowing blue.
"Oh gods," Annabeth breathed, "Daudeleus's workshop."
"Daudeleus?" Leo searched his mind for those Mythology books he'd studied with his friend, Hollie, earlier that year. "The creator of the Labyrinth? Shouldn't he be dead?'
"He's been cheating death since ancient times," the blonde explained.
Percy moved forward and stepped forward to push open the doors, but as if sensing his presence, they opened like those of an elevator.
Leo whistled under his breath. "For a two thousand year old maze, it sure is caught up with the times."
As they stepped in, Leo's jaw dropped. Easles holding blueprints of amazing inventions were sprawled across the room and about half as many inventions were completely built or half built all over tables and the floor. Workbenches held tools of varying sizes and wires of all different colors had been thrown carelessly across the room.
Leo Valdez was in heaven. Or Elysium, depending on the way you look at it.
"Oh my God," he whispered in awe.
"Gods," Annabeth corrected.
"What is it?" Percy questioned. Leo and Annabeth turned to stare at him like he'd lost his mind.
"You are in the greatest inventor of all time's workshop and you ask what we're in awe about?" Annabeth demanded.
Leo's response was more Percy's language. "This is awesome!"
He started rushing around, inspecting all of the inventions and blueprints while the others watched on in amusement.
"Hmm..." Leo said as he focused his attention on one particular invention, a huge bronze chair, and he knelt down to study the cord that was left unplugged beside an outlet. "What is this for?"
Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at Percy, who was staring out the window.
"Where are we?"
"Colorado Springs," a new voice answered, "Garden of the Gods."
Leo spun around so fast, his curls flew into his mouth and he had to spit them out.
A man in his twenties or thirties stood on the staircase, his skin so tan it was almost bronze, like Annabeth's dagger or Percy's sword. His hair was black with a few gray streaks in it and his eyes were this strange hollow black, like Tartarus.
Leo shook his head. He'd never seen Tartarus, so how would he know what it looked like? Yet, he could almost see two people dangling over an abyss that was so far down, it seemed endless.
The boy flinched as a migrane almost as painful as that odd sting on his stomach hit him full force. A voice in the back of his mind whispered, 'Don't try to remember. The memories will come naturally, but forcing them just makes it all more painful.'
Leo shook his head again. That wasn't his voice. He needed sleep and by the looks of it, a lot of it.
When his eyes refocused and the far away image of the pit, he saw the man staring at him, weirdly.
"You shouldn't be here," the man said. "Whoever is responsible for this should know that the Fates don't like intervention."
Before he could explain what that meant, Annabeth exploded, "YOU! What have you down with Daedulus?!"
The man frowned like he was stuck in a train of bad memories. "Trust me, you don't want to meet him."
"Look, Mr. Traitor," Annabeth hissed, "I did not fight a dragon woman, a three bodied man, and a Psychotic Sphinx to see you! Now. Where. Is. DAUDELEUS?!"
The man chuckled, quietly, and it reminded Leo of all the bullies he'd faced when they would pretend to be kind before slamming their fist into his nose. He descended the stairs and scanned their faces, his confused and somewhat fearful gaze lingering on Leo unnervingly long.
"You think I'm an agent for Kronos," the man said. "That I work for Luke."
"Well, duh," Annabeth growled.
"You are an intelligent girl." Leo had a feeling that this was an extreme understatement. "But you are wrong. I work only for myself."
"Luke mentioned you." Percy spoke up. "Geryon knew you too. You've been to his ranch."
For as long as Leo could remember, he'd loved solving problems. He could never sit through tests, but he always passed them because finding solutions was his fortè. He'd always find ways to escape people from bullies to social services to foster homes by using his wit. He was clever, but he couldn't figure out what they were talking about or why this Daudeleus guy was so important. It was driving him crazy.
"The view changes from day to day," the man murmured. "Yesterday, it was a skyscraper, overlooking Manhattan. The day before, a beautiful view of Lake Michigan. But it keeps coming back to the Garden of the Gods. I think that the Labyrinth likes it here. Fitting name actually."
"You've been here before," Percy guessed.
"Oh, yes."
"That's an illusion out there? A projection or something?" Percy asked.
"No," Rachel whispered. "We're really in Colorado."
How is that possible? Leo thought. There is no way I can get from Texas to Colorado in less than a day.
Then again, a small voice in the back of his mind said, you also shouldn't be able to shoot fire or fight monsters, but you did that didn't you?
Oh, that's where his conscious went off to. He'd been wondering where it'd disappeared to.
"You have clear vision, don't you?" The man said. "You remind me of another girl I once knew. A princess that came to grief."
His eyes looked glazed over like he had literally flashed back to that time and wasn't just thinking on memories. Leo could relate to that.
Leo's eyes flickered over to one particular blue print of an automation that he'd been studying before the man had appeared.
Oh God... s.
A few of the words starting shifting around and at first, he thought it was his dyslexia acting up but it wasn't.
Magic
Fifth
Cheat Death
Something clicked in Leo's brain.
"Enough games," Percy snapped. "What have you done with Daudeleus?"
"My boy, you need to take lessons from your friends on seeing clearly. I am Daedulus."
"You can't be Daedulus because you're an automation!" Leo burst out and the entire room turned to stare at him quizzically. "Can't you feel it? The mechanics?"
Blank looks.
Annabeth finally said, "What?"
"I don't know how to explain it... kind of like a buzzing in my ears I guess," Leo stammered, frowning when he realized that he didn't get his point across judging by their confused looks.
"Good eyes, son of Hephaestus," Daedulus smirked. "You are more powerful than your numerous half siblings that I have met."
Before Leo could even open his mouth to voice his question, Daedulus turned away to face the others.
"I had a dream," Percy mumbled before his eyes widened almost comically. "You... You made a new body!"
"Percy," Annabeth said, voice a little shaky. "That isn't possible. That can't be an automation."
"Annabeth, when I woke up this morning, I didn't think that the Greek gods could be real or that I could travel from Texas to Colorado in a few hours. But, I did both of those things and more, " Leo pointed out. "It's very possible."
"It can't be possible, though! It's like- it's like... flying! It isn't possible!"
The flash hit him like a frying pan to the face and Leo flinched. When he opened his eyes, he was somewhere else.
A boy with blonde hair was soaring through the sky, winds forming physical tendrils around him. He was shooting lightning from his fingers at the army of monsters below him.
Leo saw the cannonball before he did.
"Jason!" The word was ripped from his throat and the blonde turned to him just before the green fiery cannonball collided with his side. Leo clenched his hands over his ears but the CRACK! of this Jason fellow could be heard through his hands, along with a girl's heartbroken scream...
Leo jolted back to the present in time to hear Daudeleus ask, "Do you know what Quintus means my dear?"
"The fifth in Latin, but-"
"This is my fifth body." He clicked open a panel on his arm around showed off the working inside.
"That's cool," Rachel mumbled.
"That's creepy," Percy disagreed.
"I've seen weirder things," Leo said. "Really good workmanship though."
"You found a way to transfer your animus into a machine. That's not... normal," Annabeth whispered.
"Oh, I assure you, my dear, it is still me. I am still very much Daedulus. Our mother, Athena, makes sure I never forget that." The man scowled and tugged on his collar to reveal a bird shaped burn mark.
"A murderer's brand."
Leo reached his backpack and gripped the dagger from the arena at the word murderer.
"For your nephew, Perdix," Percy clarified, "the boy you pushed off the tower."
Daedulus clenched his fists. "I did not push him. I simply-"
"Made him lose his balance. Let him die."
Daedulus wouldn't meet their eyes, just keeping them trained on the view outside the window. "I regret what I did, Percy. I was angry and bitter... But I cannot take it back and Athena never let's me forget. As Perdix died, she turned him into a small bird- a partridge. She branded the bird shaped burn on my neck as a reminder. No matter what body I take, the mark reappears on my skin."
Rachel closed her eyes, as if she were imagining the story.
"You really are Daedulus" Percy said, quietly. "But why come to camp? Why spy on us?"
"Too see if your camp was worth saving. Luke had given me one story, but I perfer to come to my own conclusions."
"So you have talked to Luke."
"Oh yes, many times, he can be persuasive."
Leo thought back on the guy from the arena. He supposed the guy could be persuasive if he had so many humans on his side, but that didn't mean he wasn't still creepy.
"Now, you've seen camp!" Annabeth exclaimed, excitedly. "You know we need your help. You can't let Luke through the maze!"
"The maze is no longer mine to control, Annabeth. I created it, yes. In fact, it is tied to my life force. But I have allowed it to live and grow on its own. That is the price I paid for privacy," Daedulus explained, bitterly.
"Privacy from what?" Rachel asked, more curiously than anything else.
"The gods. And death. I have been alive for two millenia, hiding from death."
"How can you hide from Hades?" Percy demanded. "He has the furies."
"They don't know everything. Or see everything," Daedulus replied. "You have encountered them, Percy. You know this to be true. A clever man can hide for so long and I have buried myself deep. Only my greatest enemy has kept after me and even him I have thwarted."
"You mean Minos."
Another headache hit Leo and he could almost see a man in golden pajamas turning a very familiar girl with choppy brown hair into solid gold.
Piper.
The name came to his mind, but the harder he tried to retrieve the memory of her, the more painful his migrane became.
Daedulus nodded. "He hunts for me relentlessly. Now that he is a judge of the dead, he would like nothing more than for me to stand before him so that he can punish me for my crimes. After the daughters of Coculas killed him, his ghost began to haunt me in my dreams. He promised he would hunt me down. I did the only thing I could. I retreated from the world completely. I descended into my labyrinth. I decided that this would be my ultimate accomplishment; I would cheat death. "
"And you did," Annabeth breathed. "For two thousand years."
"For the record," Leo advised, "nothing good comes from cheating death you know. Trust me on that one."
Daedulus attempted a smile. "You are very wise, son of Hephaestus. Knowing your fate, I feel very sorry for you, but at least your sacrifice will not be in vain."
"What are you talking about? You're an inventor, not an oracle. How do you know all of this?" Leo interrogated.
Daedulus smiled a watery grin. "I have many connections, young hero. Many of them can see the future, and they have warned me of you. It's funny that you're lecturing me on cheating death. Hopefully, Hades will allow you to slip under the radar, seeing as you will save his children from certain death many times in the years to come."
Before the three demigods could question the inventor, a loud bark echoed from the corridor. Leo whipped out his dagger, ready for a monster attack, but instead, the giant dog that had saved them earlier bounded in, licking Daedulus's face.
"There's my old friend!" The man cheered as he ran his hand through the dog's fur. "My only companion all these long, lonely years."
"You let her save me," Percy realized, thankfully. "The whistle actually worked."
"Of course it did, Percy," Daudeleus responded. "You have a good heart. And I knew Mrs. O'Leary liked you. Perhaps, I-I felt guilty as well."
Leo's heart sunk like a stone.
"Guilty about what?" Percy demanded.
"That you're quest would be in vain."
"What?" Annabeth shrieked. "But... you can still help us! You have to! Give us Adriane's string so Luke can't get it!"
"The string... I-I told Luke that the eyes of a clear sighted mortal are the best guide. But he did not trust me. He was so focused on the idea of a magic item. And the string works. Not as well as your mortal friend here, but good enough. Good enough."
"Where is the string?!" Annabeth commanded.
"With Luke. I'm sorry, my dear, but you are several hours too late, " Daedulus said, softly.
Leo glanced at his new friend's faces and felt anger fuel him when he saw the defeat, the worry, the fear in their eyes. They couldn't save their home. He was reminded of the Civil War all over again.
Leo started. What civil war? Where had that come from?
He couldn't focus on that right now. At the moment, a solution- a plan- was the only thing on his mind.
"Why would you give them the string?" He demanded. "They make freaking kids fight to the death! And for what? Passage? Power? What the hell what were you thinking?!"
"Kronos promised me freedom," Daedulus choked. "Once the Titans win, he will set me over the Underworld. I will reclaim my son, Icarsus. I will make things right with Perdix. I will cast Minos's soul into Tartarus and never be bothered again!"
"That's your brilliant idea?" Annabeth ordered. "You're going to allow Luke to attack camp, kill hundreds of demugods, and then attack Olympus?! You're going to allow him to bring the whole world down just so you can get what you want?"
"Your cause is doomed, my dear. The offer was simply too sweet to refuse."
Annabeth yelled as she tipped an easle over. Blueprints scattered across the floor.
"I... I used to respect you. You built amazing things, solved problems... Now, I don't even know what you are. Children of Athena are meant to be wise, not just clever. Maybe you are just a machine. You should've died two thousand years ago."
No one spoke, the only sound was Annabeth sniffling as she tried to keep from crying.
Leo broke the silence. "We should leave. You said Luke was trying to get through the Labyrinth. Maybe we can get back to camp and seal the entrance, so Luke can't get there?" He suggested.
Daedulus shrugged. "It might work, it might not, the most it can probably do is bide you time."
"Well, in my opinion, having a plan that may not work is better than not having a plan at all, right? But we have to leave now if we've even got a shot at helping ca-"
"Someone's coming!" Rachel suddenly warned. They all spun around, drawing weapons (Rachel wieled a blue plastic hairbrush like a knife). Mrs. O'Leary crouched defensively.
The doors of the workshop slid open and boy, scrawny, tired, and unhealthily thin, was shoved through. His hair was pitch black and his obsidian eyes were ringed with dark circles. He wore all black and his hands were bound in front of him. The boy couldn't have been older than Leo himself.
The image was so brief Leo thought he imagined it, but deep down, he knew he hadn't. It was an image of a boy that was identical to this prisoner except for the fact that he was a good foot taller, a few years older, and his haunted eyes that looked like shattered glass.
Nico. That was his name. Leo was positive.
Behind him, a stereotypical cheerleader, two monsters, and a ghost followed into the room.
The ghost fixed his gaze on Daedalus. He smiled a cold smile. "There you are, my old friend."
Daedalus clenched his jaw. He looked at the cheerleader. "What is the meaning of this?"
"Luke sends his compliments," she replied with a grin. Leo backed up when he saw her razor sharp teeth. "He thought you might like to see your old employer, Minos."
"This was not part of our agreement," Daedalus hissed.
"No indeed," the cheerleader said in a bored tone. "But we already have what we want from you, and we have, ah, other agreements to honor. Minos required something else from us, in order to turn over this fine young demigod." She ran a finger under the boy's chin. "He'll be quite useful. And all Minos asked in return was your head, old man."
Daedalus paled. "Treachery."
"Get used to it."
"Nico," Percy interjected. "Are you okay?"
The boy nodded. "I-I'm sorry, Percy. Minos told me you were in danger. He convinced me to go back into the maze."
"You were trying to help us?"
"I was tricked! He tricked all of us."
Percy shot a glare at the cheerleader. "Where's Luke? Why isn't he here?"
The cheerleader smiled. "He's... busy. He is preparing for the assault. But don't worry, we have more friends on the way. And in the meantime, I think I'll have a wonderful snack!"
Leo watched, horrified, as her hands morphed into claws. Her legs shifted - one into bronze, and the other a... donkey leg?
Rachel whispered something Leo couldn't hear, and Percy nodded.
Then he and Annabeth charged at the former-cheerleader.
The giants with them stepped forward to grab Daedalus, but the dog - Mrs. O'Leary - jumped to defend her master. The boy, Nico, was shoved to the side as the ghost cheered for the giants fighting Mrs. O'Leary.
Leo decided to try and be helpful, so he raced over to the boy, Nico, and began to pick the lock on his chains.
"Who are you?" Nico demanded.
The chains clicked and Nico was free.
"Leo Valdez, but now is not the time for introductions!" Leo yelled, yanking Nico out of the way out of a dagger that had been hurtling towards them. Leo smirked when it burrowed itself in one of the monsters bellies, turning it to nothing but dust.
He spotted Rachel over by a collection of mechanical wings hanging off the walls. She was currently struggling to connect them to her, and Leo saw her plan.
"Nice plan!" He shouted over the noise of the battle as he clasped the wings latches until they were firmly connected to Rachel's back. "Help Nico!"
Leo sprinted over to the heart of the battle, twirling his dagger in his hand. He tried to stab the cheerleader in the chest, but she dodged with a taunting giggle. Spinning around, he slashed at a snake woman, but didn't even make a dent in her armor.
'Come on, Valdez!' A voice that sounded like a coach's shouted in his mind. 'You've defeated tougher monsters than these before lunch!'
'Since when?' He thought, but even as he thought it, he knew it was true. He had to do this.
Like he was on autopilot, he yanked the hammer out of his bag and clobbered the snake woman on the head. She'd apparently believed that he wasn't good at fighting, which should've been correct but wasn't, so he took her by suprise. She fell to the ground, out cold.
He swung around and smacked the cheerleader across the face with a hammer before she could bite him. A fang and a trail of blood flew from her lips and while she was trying to regain her senses, Leo stabbed her just above the collar bone. She dissolved.
Meanwhile, the ghost was cackling insanely and the final snake woman was towering over a defenseless and dazed Percy, raising a sword.
They were clear on the other side of the workshop.
Leo knew he would never get there in time but he surged forward. Annabeth beat him to it and he sighed in relief as she stabbed the monster and Percy was out of harm's way.
"To me!" Minos cried. "Spirits of the dead!" He raised his hands and the air suddenly grew agitated.
"No!" Nico yelled. He stumbled to his feet.
"You do not control me, fool! All this time, I have been controlling you! A soul for a soul, yes, but not for your sister. It is I who will rise, as soon as I slay the inventor!"
Other ghostly figures shimmered into the air around Minos.
"I am the son of Hades," Nico insisted. "Be gone!"
"You have no power over me. I am the lord of spirits! The ghost king!"
"No," Nico said, pulling out a sword made of a strange, black metal. "I am."
He stabbed the sword into the ground as if it were a toothpick going through butter.
"Never!" Minos's form began to ripple. "I will not -"
Leo was knocked off his feet as the ground rumbled and the windows burst. A blast of fresh air blew into the workshop, and Minos and the ghosts disappeared into a large crack that appeared in the ground.
That is extremely creepy, Leo thought as Nico shakily stood up.
Leo registered the sound of pounding in the tunnels - more monsters were on the way.
"We have to help Daedalus!" Percy insisted.
"No time," Rachel called back. She and Nico both had wings attached to their backs and she was practically throwing them at Leo, percy, and Annabeth.
In a few seconds, the five of them had metal wings.
"Daedalus!" Percy yelled. "Come on!"
Leo glanced at the inventor. He was cut everywhere - but instead of blood, golden oil leaked out.
"I won't leave Mrs. O'Leary! Go!"
Leo turned and looked out the window.
They were really high up.
"None of us know how to fly!" Nico argued.
"Great time to find out," Percy said.
And together, the five demigods leaped out the window.
I'm sorry if the story isn't completely accurate compared to the battle of the Labyrinth. I have not read it in forever!
To explain a few things.
1. I always thought Leo and Annabeth were more alike than anyone thought, especially when it comes to problem solving, so you will be seeing a lot of parallels between the two.
2. All demigods have an instinct to defeat monsters I believe and technically, what with the whole new fate thing, Leo does have experience even if he doesn't realize it. That's to explain how he defeated the monsters so quickly in this story.
3. The flashes are hints of memories that he will begin to get later on, but as the story continues, the memories will become longer and more detailed instead of just flashes and brief images.
Finally, I am trying this new trivia thing. No one did it last chapter so I'm gonna try it again. Basically, I give you all a trivia question and the first one to answer it correctly gets a character of their choice in the story.
Who is the greek god of Truth?