A: You'll have to read and find out.

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Listening to – Unashamed by Confidential

Words: 6846

While DJ was off to the Ministry again, Sally watched Sirius sigh at random intervals around the house.

He'd look through a few forms from Gringotts and sigh. He would read the Daily Prophet and sigh. He would think about DJ's ever changing magical flux and sigh. He would look at Remus sipping hot chocolate in the summer and sigh. He would look at Sally when he thought she didn't know and sigh.

Of course, nothing would prepare them for the phone call that would make him want to rip his hair out in frustration.

While Sally had hoped a cup of tea would soothe his nerves (it didn't,) her cell rang. She rushed to pick it up to escape Sirius' moping and hoping that there was some good news about Nico. She'd nearly flipped when Harry had told her that the boy had left, again. Then she wondered if it was her place to flip at all and stayed quiet about it.

Harry's name was glowing on her screen and she swiped it to answer. "Hello?"

"Hey, Mum. Are you at Frost?"

He sounded a little down. She hoped he wouldn't take to sighing.

"Yes. Why didn't you use the landline at the Big House or the IM? I don't think it's safe to use the cell around campers."

"Don't worry. I'm not around any camper. I'm at Central Park."

Sally frowned. "Why are you not at Camp?"

"I… may have had the wish to accompany Percy –"

"Harry!"

" – into the Labyrinth… but I'm not going. It's fine. Percy's great. Annabeth alright. They're off by themselves and I'm on my way to camp."

She sat on the couch, holding the phone with both hands, trying not to smother him. "That's… thank you for listening. I was afraid –"

"I know." Harry said plaintively. "Actually, I called to talk to Sirius. And Remus. Are they there?"

"Remus will be back in a while." She said, sitting up to search for Sirius. "I'll put Sirius on the line, hold on."

She jogged towards the hall and dining room and then went up the stairs, finally finding Sirius going through a few letters. DJ's owl Garth was perched on the table and they looked up when she knocked on the open door.

"Hey, Sally." He said, looking a little alarmed. Things had been a little rocky between them after the bike ride and that kiss…

"Er… Harry wants to talk to you." She said holding out her cell to him. Sirius stared at the device and took it hesitantly, like he wasn't sure how to hold it. Sally smiled and stepped forwards to adjust his grip on it. She wanted to press the speaker option, but decided that Harry had sounded like he wanted the conversation to be private.

"I have tea ready for you downstairs." She whispered.

Sirius caught her eye as she turned to leave. "Thanks."

"Welcome!" She said, surprised. He looked at her brightly and Sally wondered if he wanted to say something else. But nodded and placed the phone to his ear.

"Harry? Hey, how's it at Camp…?"

Sally had barely left the room and reached the top of the stairs when she heard a loud, "WHAT?!"

"I asked – " Harry repeated, " – if Rosie's grave is empty?"

"Harry, what the hell kind of a question is that?" Sirius demanded. Harry could only imagine his shock.

"A curious one. I just want to know –"

"Why? Why even ask something like that? What's wrong? Did something happen?"

"How do you know if something happened?" Harry asked suspiciously. It was one think for Sally to mysteriously sense if he felt off, but if Sirius started doing it as well…

"You wouldn't be asking something like this out of pure contemplation, would you? What's the matter?"

"Nothing! I'm just curious."

"Harry…"

He huffed and sat on a park bench, propping his legs up under the sunny day. He couldn't believe what had happened. Sure Rachel looked a little like Lily, but that had been no excuse for Percy to declare that someone who was dead, wasn't actually dead. And the thing with Bolt –

"Can you do something really discreetly?" Harry asked, jiggling his feet. He watched the passersby, reveling in their normal hum-drummy lives.

"How discreet?"

"Off the record."

"Like Cullen?"

"Yes, that would be good. I want you to find out a bit about one Rachel Elizabeth Dare." Harry waited, half hoping that Sirius would react to the name.

"Alright… who is she?"

"Just a friend of Percy's. She's no threat, but there's something about her that… something doesn't add up. Or it could all be a coincidence, who knows, right? I don't. I don't know a damn thing. Just, could you ask Alice to scope her out, will you?"

There was mild static on the line as Sirius took his time to respond. Harry tapped his fingers nervously ready to remind him that it was an international call, but then deciding not to. He wondered if Sirius would figure out what was bothering Harry and why this girl Rachel had intrigued him and why he'd asked questions about Rosie when he'd never bothered to before. Had anyone ever bothered to check it out?

He remembered what Luke had said.

"…Of course, there were some articles about the twins and how one of them disintegrated completely, apparently – your sister's grave is empty, did you know that? –…"

He remembered reading war editorials about Death Eaters torching entire buildings and burning people so furiously that only pillars of dusts were left behind. He hadn't read anything about anyone's casket being empty, though. So, either Rosie was dead and dust or she was never there.

Harry could only imagine the uproar it would create if it turned out that Rachel was his sister… if two infants had survived that night… if no one had accounted the Girl-Who-Lived.

He felt like sticking his wand into his eye. That couldn't be true. Rachel had parents. Muggle, mortal, bloody normal parents. May be she was a reincarnation.

May be Harry needed a time out.

"Alice! Alice Hale. Cullen! Yeah, I'll definitely… ask her." Sirius sounded out of breath. Harry imagined that the man had thought of Alice Longbottom before remembering Rosalie's sister.

The story of Neville's parents was internationally famous. They were driven insane by Lestrange and her troops. Harry wondered if Dionysus could heal them. That was interest to contemplate. A little more than interesting, in fact.

Unbelievably, they lasted what felt like twenty minutes before running into Luke's army. Percy wished he could count it as a win but it felt like something straight out of his nightmares.

They were lead straight into Antaeus' entertainment arena where Percy, lucky guy, was chosen to be amusement – gladiator style. He was tempted to inform them about the invention of the home box theatre but on seeing Luke converse with wanting to spare Annabeth, Percy knew he had to get involved.

He faced a dracaena, which went by quick. The next round was with a runaway demigod, Ethan Nakamura. Percy was secretly glad it wasn't Nico. Ethan was someone he didn't remember yet his heart went out to the guy who looked desperate to win Luke's approval.

By sparing him, Percy challenged Antaeus to a fight and won using Annabeth's advice of the god's immortal mother, Gaea.

And maybe, he would have died then if Bolt hadn't leapt from Rachel's grasp, transforming into a tiger.

A large golden and white stripped ferocious tiger. Percy remembered Harry talking about her limited ability of being a shape-shifter. Most of the monsters backed away in surprise and Annabeth used the distraction to elbow Kelli in the gut and slip out of her hold. She snatched her knife back and kicked the Empousa out of the way, grabbing a shocked Rachel and pulling her away from the chaos that had sprung up.

"Ethan! Come on!" Percy yelled as a dozen arrows came their way. Luke leapt out of his seat of honour, landing on the ground perfectly before directing the army towards them.

Bolt gave a roar that could make any cat proud. It was loud, scary and absolutely avalanche worthy, which is what happened. The tunnels shook from the sound and the stalactites and chains started falling from the ceiling.

"The far end! That's the exit!" Rachel gasped. They rushed for it, dodging the audience of monsters who panicked and ran in every direction.

Just as Bolt, who was bringing up the rear of their small group, crossed the threshold of the arena exit, rocks started tumbling down, sealing most of the way. They didn't stop running though, preferring to put as much distance away from the army and themselves.

When they reached a moderately less shaky section of the system, they stopped to catch their breaths.

"You guys…" Ethan panted. "… are crazy!"

"You're welcome." Annabeth wheezed, doubled over a stitch in her stomach.

Bolt shook her fur, the tremour travelling from her head to the tip of her tail like a shockwave. She purred and shrunk back into the puppy she was. She trotted towards Rachel who backed away in fear.

"It's alright." Percy said, groaning as he popped a few joints in his limbs. "She does stuff like that. She can turn into a wolf too."

"Right." Rachel said, looking faint. But she let the puppy nuzzle her cheek over her sneakers.

"You shouldn't have spared me, Jackson." Ethan said, looking back the way they came from.

"Oh come on! Don't tell me you want to be part of Luke's army!" Percy complained.

"Why should I not? What has the gods ever done for me?"

"So you want to join the side that makes you fight for entertainment?"

Ethan glared at Percy, shaking his head. "There is no right or wrong side here. Mercy has no place in a war, Jackson. The sooner you learn that, the longer you might live."

Without another word, he turned and ran into the darkness of the tunnel they had emerged from.

"He was nice." Rachel muttered, picking Bolt up.

Annabeth wiped her face, "I'm just glad it wasn't Nico you had to face."

Percy frowned. Ethan may have gone looking for Luke, but Nico was still down here and none of them had a clue on how to find him, or Grover or Tyson. Even with Rachel, Percy could feel the hopelessness start to seep in again and wondered if it was the effect of being in the Labyrinth or if it was the thought of the clear division in sides.

The war was more real now than it ever had been. Zoe's death had been the wakeup call and finding out that Nico's father was Hades prompted Percy to take on the burden, but seeing Luke ready to kill them, ready to do anything to take Olympus and Camp down seemed to be the worst thing of all.

"Let's take a break." Percy suggested. Rachel gave a nod at that and sat down as though her legs couldn't hold her up anymore. Annabeth gave Percy a sharp look, the way she always did when he could not take a cue from her. He stared back in confusion until she said, "Fine. I'll get some firewood."

She turned around and started searching the large room they'd ended up in for dry wood. Percy leaned against the muddy wall and rubbed the back of his neck. He looked down at Rachel who was scratching behind Bolt's ears.

"What does 'bonded' mean?" She asked softly, as though she knew Percy was paying attention to her.

He kneeled down to look at Bolt who gave a yawn as though she were tired.

"Harry found Bolt when he was eleven. Familiar means there's a greater trust relationship, I guess. I don't really know. But if Bolt really left him, then they weren't bonded. I don't know wizard rules. You'll have to ask him."

Rachel looked at him. "He looked like he hated me."

"No. No. He doesn't hate you. He probably hates me." Percy assured her.

She grimaced. "What did he mean that he didn't need any more crap in his life? It felt like I had something to do with that. What's his problem?"

Percy chuckled. "You're not a problem. You're just someone who he thinks complicates his life. Someone he really can't explain."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

He stared, wishing he could tell her what he first thought of her, when he had seen Rachel and Harry sitting side by side, looking so similar that a DNA test wasn't even necessary to prove it.

Percy dug through his pockets to fish out the piece of photograph that Harry hadn't taken from them. Either things were really slipping through his eidetic memory, or he had left it with them on purpose.

"Look at them." He said, handing Rachel the moving photo. Her eyes bugged out when she saw that the couple in it were moving and waving their hands. She nearly dropped it.

"Careful." Percy whispered. "Harry loves this photo. Carries it everywhere with him ever since he was seven."

She turned it around in her hands. James and Lily wobbled in the frame and they held onto each other for balance.

"Are they his parents?" Rachel asked quietly.

Percy smiled at her, not needing to give her the answer. It was rather obvious, when James took off his glasses and narrowed his eyes in a very Harry-esque imitation of irritation. Percy grinned.

"Wow. This is magic." Rachel said.

Annabeth dropped her bundle of sticks suddenly, making Percy and Rachel jump. She started to rub two of them together, expertly, to make a fire going, ignoring them.

Rachel cleared her throat and gave Percy the photo. "Thanks. But why did you show it to me?"

"I thought it was obvious." He blurted. How could she not see? She looked so much like Lily, so much like Harry that it wasn't even funny. Could she only see tracks in the Labyrinth and not coincidences?

Rachel looked like she knew what Percy was thinking about. She hesitated, shaking her head. "Wizards? Magic? Gods?"

"Flo." Percy said, showing her the photo again.

Rachel dropped Bolt onto her lap and buried her face in her hands. Percy swallowed, looking towards Annabeth for help, but the demigoddess was sitting, facing the small fire she'd made, promptly turning away from him.

"I'm adopted."

Percy turned his head so fast that it felt like he had a whiplash. He rubbed his neck again. "You're what?"

Annabeth stared too. Rachel was still hiding her face but she lifted her head by an inch and said slowly, "I am adopted."

"Oh."

Bolt licked the side of Rachel's face in an attempt to make her feel better. Percy didn't know what to say.

"I love my parents. I really do. But I've always wondered why I didn't have a family before them." She whispered. There was a break in her voice.

Percy looked towards Annabeth again, but the latter looked stony and uttered nothing. Jeez, couldn't she help?

"You did have a family." Annabeth muttered. "You had two perfect parents and an obnoxious brother before everything went to hell. Now that you have a chance to get him back, you'd better do something about it and not just hide behind your adoptive parents. No matter how much they care about you, you can't abandon one family for another."

Rachel looked up. Her eyes were wet and Percy went to give her a one armed hug, rubbing small circles on her upper arm with his thumb. She sniffed and took the photo again to stare at her parents, leaning her head on his shoulder.

Annabeth made to get up, probably to get away from them, but Percy couldn't stand her stoicism. He grabbed at her wrist silently and she sat back down to stare at him, fingers interlocked.

While the cabin counselors had a meeting, most of the campers were setting up defenses around Zeus' Fist. Harry had been instructed to keep Quintus' hyper puppy out of the way. It made him want to play Get The Greek using the demigods as bait.

Michael Yew kept him company. The boy picked up a twig when they reached amphitheatre. "This is kinda cool. I've never hung out with a wizard before. Here, girl! Wanna play fetch?"

He threw it up in the air as hard as he could. Mrs. O'Leary didn't even leap. She just tucked her head back, jaws snapping up it up. She chomped on the twig and swallowed it immediately. She made a hacking sound which worried them but shook her head, ears flopping wildly, wagging her tail happily.

"You might want something bigger." Harry said, looking around them. He spotted a large log which was sometimes used as a spare seat. With a grunt, he lifted it clean off the ground.

Michael's jaw dropped. Mrs. O'Leary got so excited that she started jumping.

"Okay, pup. Fetch!" He swung the log around once and with an almighty heave, launched it into the troposphere. It spun around a few times, disappearing into the distance in the direction of the forest.

Mrs. O'Leary howled in delight and hurtled behind the trees, making a few dryads who'd been lingering out, scattering away from her. Harry rotated his shoulder. "I think I pulled something."

"You… you can do that – you lifted the whole thing! What was it, like 500 pounds?!" Michael chattered in shock.

Harry sighed, wondering when he'd stop showing off. It was fun to see people stare when he did something so unbelievable, but then again, lifting a tree trunk wasn't much work like coming back from the dead involved.

"Was that a wizard thing? Are all wizards freakishly strong?!" Michael had kept talking even when Harry tried to not pay attention. No wonder the campers encouraged him to hang out with Harry. They needed a little kid out of the way to do their work.

"That was so cool! Can you do that again?" Michael said, looking about as composed as Mrs. O'Leary was.

"Yeah. Well, let's see if my arms are alive by the time she gets back." Harry said, looking around them. It had been nearly three days since Percy and Annabeth had recruited Rachel to delve back into the Labyrinth. While Camp was fun, the upcoming war seemed to make him think that it was probably not the best time to visit the place. Well, he had to do something in the summer.

A breeze picked up and the heat fell by a few degrees almost instantly. The sky looked duller than it had a few seconds ago and Harry wondered if it would rain.

"Your phone's ringing." Michael said. "Will says that monsters can sense where demigods are if we answer phone calls. Like, cell phones, not landlines. So the connection in the Big House is safe, but I don't think you should take the call."

Harry took the call. "Hello, Sirius. Please tell me you found something."

When he'd asked the man to find about Rachel, he didn't realize it would take three days. There was either a lot or practically nothing about her.

"Oh boy, did we ever?!" Sirius sounded a little too happy for Harry's mood. "I'm looking at her photo right now. And Alice confirmed it too! Rachel's adopted, did you know that?"

Harry swallowed. "No."

"Merlin, she looks so much like Lily. Same eyes, hair… well, Lil's was straighter –"

"Where did the Dares find her?" Harry reminded him.

"You're not going to believe this, but they adopted her from a foster family in Aquitane who'd taken her in when she was two years old. We don't know how she ended up in France –"

"Wait, what?! What do you mean 'France'? Why does everything suck!? That makes no sense –" Harry yelled, waving his free arm.

"What?" Michael asked, hearing the panic in his voice. "What sucks?"

"Harry, you need to calm down." Sirius said slowly. "I told you, Alice is still searching, but there's no paper trail and it looks like she just appeared there without any trace."

"Did she apparate?"

"Did who – … No, I don't believe a toddler could apparate no matter how incredible a witch she could be."

"Then how –"

"We're looking into it. Trust me, Harry, if I knew anymore, I would tell you, but we can't make this public information, yet. There's no telling what can happen."

"I know what can happen." Harry muttered. "She'd replace me as target number one. We're not involving anyone else. No one else should know. Don't te –"

Sirius chuckled knowingly. "I haven't told anyone else. It's between us and Alice. Well, the Cullens, actually, but they're a unit. And Remus, Sally and DJ knows, but no one else."

"Not even Dumbledore?"

"Not yet. Not now. I want to find out everything before I let him know. Besides, he already has a lot on his plate."

Harry kicked a pebble past the dimly lit hearth. The tiny flames swayed from the breeze and a couple of the coals glowed like eyes.

"Fine. Text me if anything happens. Calls are frowned upon at camp."

"How about we link up the fire places?" Sirius suggested. "We were planning to blow a hole in Sally's apartment to build a hearth and chimney, anyway. We can set up the connections at the same time."

"I don't want to open this place up to any grate." Harry said worriedly.

"No, no. We can link it up to Frost or a safe house. Well, Frost is a safe house, we just haven't added any major wards as such. Morgana, that could take up to a few months… I haven't even started it."

They ended the call and Harry lifted his head to stare at the grey clouds. Fine. Rachel was adopted. So were thousands of people. It didn't mean that she was related. Harry was adopted and so was DJ and… damn it!

Harry kicked at the earth again.

Michael jumped at the sudden ferocity. "Hey! Hey, what's wrong?"

"It's… nothing. Just some unpleasant reminders."

"Like bad memories." He nodded sagely. "Yes, they can trouble the best of us. Say, you know what? I know a hymn that can relieve stress."

"Oh you do?" Harry said absentmindedly, looking towards the forest. Shouldn't Mrs. O'Leary be back by now?

"Yeah. It's real easy. I think it's the first spell I learnt at camp. Hold still. Um… You may be bored, but not anymore. Now play this game till I say it's lame!"

Harry raised his eyebrows and then snorted. "You call that a spell? I'm a wizard, I can tell."

Michael frowned. "Wait, I think I messed it up. It wasn't supposed to sound that vague."

It was a fruitless endeavor to keep thinking of Rachel, so Harry decided to give a whistle for the hellhound. "Mrs. O'Leary! Come on, girl, I'm feeling teary!"

Michael stared. "What?"

"What? What the hell? Why did I say that? Is this the spell?!" Harry said angrily.

The boy slapped a hand over his mouth, muffling a great bout of laughter. "Uh… I told you I messed it up…"

"It's not funny! And why isn't it sunny?"

Just as Harry said it, lightning filled up the sky. Thunder was heard almost immediately and camp went quiet.

Literally. Every camper, nature and water spirit froze and stared up at the clouds in alarm. A moment later, it began to rain.

A bolt of lightning hit the beach very visibly. It poured in every sense of the term and everyone ran for shelter, heading for the cabins. Harry followed Michael into the weapons shed that they were closest too. Flashes of light filled the skies every now and then and Harry turned to Michael, "Is this the gods or coincidence? I gather this isn't simple happenstance."

"It isn't. The barrier magic controls the weather and it's always been easy throughout the years. I don't know why it would change." He said peeking out. "It can't be good, though. Maybe the gods are fighting?"

Harry was inclined to agree with Michael. He leaned against a case filled with sharp knives and wondered where Percy and the others were.

They found Daedalus. He was exactly where Annabeth said he wasn't and where Rachel said he was. Percy would have been happier if Quintus hadn't been the inventor himself, but after the showing them the murderer's brand and the automaton body, he was thoroughly convinced.

Even Mrs. O'Leary had shown up. She'd known the truth, he supposed. Though, no one was sure why she was dragging a large tree trunk into the forge, she was ecstatic of having to see Quintus again.

The two thousand year old man looked impressed with Rachel and sad with Annabeth and he confessed. "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. It's not as accurate as
your mortal friend here, perhaps. But good enough. Good enough."

"Where is it?" Annabeth said.

"With Luke," Daedalus said sadly. "I'm sorry, my dear. But you are several hours too late."

Percy felt his morale falling, failing, the longer Daedalus spoke about the aimlessness of even resisting Kronos. He'd disguised himself to have his own opinion about camp to see if the demigods really had the strength and drive to stand up to the Titans. His role as Quintus was to seal their faith and while Percy couldn't believe that he'd gone ahead and already helped Luke's cause, Annabeth's wrath reared its head.

She pushed over an easel. Architectural drawing scattered across the floor. "I used to respect you.
You were my hero! You—you built amazing things. You solved problems. Now…I don't know what
you are. Children of Athena are supposed to be wise, not just clever. Maybe you are just a machine.
You should have died two thousand years ago."

Instead of getting mad, Daedalus hung his head. "You should go warn your camp. Now that Luke has
the string—"

Suddenly Mrs. O'Leary pricked up her ears.

"Someone's coming!" Rachel warned.

The doors of the workshop burst open, and Nico was pushed inside, his hands in chains. Then Kelli and
two Laistrygonians marched in behind him, followed by the ghost of Minos. He looked almost solid
now—a pale bearded king with cold eyes and tendrils of Mist coiling off his robes.

He fixed his gaze on Daedalus. "There you are, my old friend."

Daedalus's jaw clenched. He looked at Kelli. "What is the meaning of this?"

"Luke sends his compliments," Kelli said. "He thought you might like to see your old employer Minos."

"This was not part of our agreement," Daedalus said.

Percy stared at Nico. The boy looked beaten and worn like he'd been dragged all the way to the room. Everyone had suspected him to have left camp on his own. No had the faith to believe that Nico was still on their side and Percy remembered Chiron saying something about the young kids affinity to attract ghosts and spirits. It seemed that it was Minos who had been manipulating Nico's actions, driving him all over the place.

"You okay?" Percy asked him.

He nodded morosely. "I—I'm sorry, Percy. Minos told me you were in danger. He convinced me to go into the maze."

"You were trying to help us?" Percy's heart felt squished because he'd doubted him at first and now it swelled. Without a beat, he rushed forwards and hugged Nico to everyone's surprise.

Kelli reared back ready to strike if Percy attacked them but he pulled Nico away from Minos' side, eyeing distastefully.

"This is treachery." Daedalus insisted. "I did my part. I helped the demigod find his way around the Labyrinth."

"Get used to it." Kelli said, lips pulling back for a devilish smile. Minos watched the inventor hungrily and Percy cut the shackles on Nico's arms, checking him for any other bruises.

Suddenly, Annabeth, Rachel and Mrs. O'Leary leapt forwards. While the hellhound enveloped her master protectively, she used her tails to swat the tree trunk towards Kelli Minos and their minions. They yelled in surprise. The trunk clocked the bouncer giant in the face and startled the ghost, distracting him.

Percy and Nico were grabbed by the girls and the next thing they knew, they were jumping out of the window with metal wings attached to their backs, shoulders and arms.

None of them knew how to fly, but they managed to not scream as they found themselves soaring over the Garden of the Gods. Percy extended his arms and the wings suddenly took him ten feet above, spiraling through the clouds like he owned the skies.

He laughed. This was amazing. No wonder wizards played Quidditch. The thrill of flying itself was the best adrenaline rush anyone could get. Percy had always assumed that as a son of Poseidon he'd naturally hate flying, but he realized that it was heights that he didn't like. There was a vast difference when fear could be forgotten and adventure could be celebrated.

"Land!" Annabeth yelled. "These wings won't last forever."

"How long?"Rachel asked.

"I don't want to find out!" Annabeth said.

With more grace than expected from first timers, the four teens reached the ground, relatively safely. They landed on the terrace of the visitors' entrance of the mountain climbing exploration site.

Percy used the tourist binocular camera to look up at the hill where Daedalus's workshop had been, but it had vanished. No more smoke. No broken windows. Just the side of a hill.

"The workshop moved," Annabeth guessed. "There's no telling where."

"But we need to get back into the maze." Percy argued. He turned towards Nico. "Did you see Tyson and Grover? Did you see Ethan?"

Nico shook his head dolefully. "Sorry, no. We ran into a broken down stadium where the demons caught me. They were talking about preparing for something and some kind of sacrifice."

Annabeth paled. "Sacrifice? What did they say? Was it about Luke?"

"They… I don't know about that. Luke wasn't there. Minos started making all these promises with the she-demon and I realized that they had already sent some kind of monster after Tyson and Grover. I don't know where though."

She inhaled shakily and Percy glared at the ground. He thought about Grover and Tyson, still down there somewhere. And Daedalus…even though he'd done some terrible things and put everybody he cared about at risk, it seemed like a pretty horrible way to die. And Annabeth was still worried about Luke like he was worth it.

"What we should think about is if the maze is still even standing." Percy said loudly. "You said that it's tied to Daedalus' life force. If Minos killed him -"

"No," Nico said. "He isn't dead."

"How can you be sure?"

"I know when people die. It's this feeling I get, like a buzzing in my ears. Plus, I think Mrs. O'Leary saved him."

"What about Tyson and Grover, then?" Percy asked, wide eyed.

Nico shook his head. "That's harder. They're not humans or half-bloods. They don't have mortal souls."

"We have to get into town," Annabeth decided. "Our chances will be better of finding an entrance to the Labyrinth. We have to make it back to camp before Luke and his army."

"So…" Rachel sounded hesitant, but she ploughed on. "We still need to get back to Manhattan, right?"

"Right. And we're running out of time. See, it's already been a couple of days since we went back in the second time." Annabeth pointed out.

"We could take the plane?"

"No." Percy told Rachel. He shared a look with Nico. "We can't."

"But we need to get back to Camp and the Labyrinth is the fastest way." Annabeth said, looking around for some kind of superfast transportation they could use. Percy took a look at Bolt who seemed to be gearing up for something.

"Sorry." She said out loud, startling everyone. "I can't take all four of you back to camp. Two at most and even that's dangerous."

"What?" Rachel asked, confused but Percy groaned.

"I don't want to go back down there. But if we can find Tyson –"

"Then we need to get to ground level and find another way to reach the city limits if we want to go back in." Annabeth said decisively.

Later, after they'd made a call to camp via IM, Rachel was able to harness the power of her name and get them a limo for a ride back. She shrugged when they asked her how and they didn't talk much until she found an old industrial museum with an entrance back into the maze.

There was mine shaft among the huge amount of debris surrounding the area and the padlock on the unused double doors had an engraving of Daedalus' mark.

Had Rosalie and Alice been humans, they would have crashed after the forty hour mark. Luckily, they weren't and with five solid days of research and breaking and hacking into sensitive accounts, they found a bit more about Rachel Elizabeth Dare.

She was raised in Versailles till she was twelve, after which the Dares moved to New York on account of her mother's business. Beatrice Dare worked in fashion and was on the Board of Directors of a famous brand company that made Alice want to swoon.

Rachel's father was Patrick Dare, a dabbler in the stock market and owner of a sizeable portion of the world's coin coverage.

The family wasn't to be toyed with. Powerful and incredibly influential, they were at the top of their game and Rachel was their darling treasure, as several news articles highlighted.

Jasper was careful in his silent digging of information. Vampires or not, if the business tycoons got wind of someone trying to poke at their little red emerald, the lawsuit would become internationally famous.

Her previous foster caretakers hadn't had a record of how she came into their hands. They'd planned to put her back into the system and no doubt, she would have ended up in another house or an orphanage, but the Dares had been looking to adopt a child and the moment they'd laid eyes on the tiny red headed toddler with chubby cheeks and large, bright eyes, they'd fallen in love.

Rosalie kept looking at the photographs of the little girl. She looked just as little Rosie had been. Short of doing a blood test, they had no doubts that this person was Rosie Potter. Floo systems were dangerously unreliable during the time of the first war against Voldemort.

Grates were malfunctioning in several spots and the most credible theory of what happened was that James had most likely seen Voldemort before the door was broken in and instead of searching for his wand, he had pushed his daughter into the hearth which was automated to floo her to the safe house, but instead took her someplace else. It was unlikely that Rosie ended up in France, but the theory was not dismissed. The most plausible explanation was that she'd ended up in the wrong grate and someone took her to France, but even that was sketchy.

"We're getting nowhere." Alice muttered. "I can't scope out on her. I've never been good with wizards' future."

"Try her parents."

Alice frowned. "There's not much. All I see are numbers and decisions about their jobs. And the occasional surprise gifts that they spoil Rachel with."

Rosalie seemed unhappy with that but Alice comforted her, shutting down the laptop. "At least, she's with a happy family. Well, as happy as it can be. Both her parents are out of the country and she's supposed to have round the clock protection but she shut that down years ago."

"She shut… Why?"

Alice shrugged. "Rachel probably wanted to be a regular American teenager. You know? The loud mouthed, opinionated type?"

Rosalie chuckled. "Does that make Percy and Nico not regular American teenagers?"

"Hmm. Percy's a sweetheart. Nico's not yet there. We could nominate Harry."

"Kids don't have to be American to be brilliantly annoying." She said, shaking her head. They looked through the mounds of printouts surrounding them in Alice's room and started sorting out the relevant texts from the others.

Time slowed down around me, like the world was turning to Jell-O. Percy'd had this feeling once before, and he knew it was the power of Kronos. His presence was so strong it could bend time itself.

"Run, little hero," he laughed. "Run!"

Percy glanced back and saw him approaching leisurely, swinging his scythe as if he were enjoying the feel of having it in his hands again. No weapon in the world could stop him. No amount of celestial bronze would prove effective.

The Titan was ten feet away when he heard, "PERCY!"

Rachel's voice.

Something flew past him and a blue plastic hairbrush hit Kronos in the eye.

"Ow!" he yelled. For a moment it was only Luke's voice, full of surprise and pain. Percy's limbs were suddenly free and he ran straight into Rachel, Nico and Annabeth, who were standing in the entry hall, their eyes filled with dismay.

"Luke?" Annabeth called. "What—"

Percy grabbed her by the shirt and hauled her after him. They ran as fast as could, straight out of the
fortress. They were almost back to the Labyrinth entrance when the loudest bellow in the
world —the voice of Kronos, came back into control. "AFTER THEM!"

"No!" Nico yelled. He clapped his hands together, and a jagged spire of rock the size of an eighteen-wheeler erupted from the ground right in front of the fortress. The tremor it caused was so powerful the front columns of the building came crashing down. They heard muffled screams from the telekhines inside. Dust billowed everywhere.

They plunged into the Labyrinth and kept running, the howl of the Titan lord shaking the entire world behind them.

They ran for a long time, finally collapsing in a dingy part of the tunnel.

Annabeth was all out sobbing and Percy didn't know who to be furious at. Luke had taken the final step, he was gone or as gone as a possessed guy could be. Rachel and Nico looked twice as uncomfortable as each other and it took them a while to calm down.

None of them was in any shape to keep going but Percy found a Rasta cap on the wet, mushy ground.

Surged with new energy from the discovery, they plunged back into the darkness. Percy braced himself for the worst. The tunnel was treacherous. It sloped at weird angles and was slimy with moisture. Half the time they were slipping and sliding rather than walking.

Finally they got to the bottom of a slope and found themselves in a large cave with huge stalagmite columns. Through the center of the room ran an underground river and Tyson was sitting by the banks, cradling Grover in his lap. Grover's eyes were closed. He wasn't moving.

"Tyson!" Percy yelled in absolute relief.

"Percy! Come quick!"

He ran over to them. Grover wasn't dead, thank the gods, but his whole body trembled like he was
freezing to death.

"What happened?" He asked.

"So many things," Tyson murmured. "Large snake. Large dogs. Men with swords. But then…we got
close to here. Grover was excited. He ran. Then we reached this room, and he fell. Like this."

"Did he say anything?" I asked.

"He said, 'We're close.' Then hit his head on rocks."

Annabeth knelt next to him. The only other time Percy had seen Grover pass out was New Mexico, when he'd felt the presence of Pan. Percy looked around the cave. The rocks glittered. At the far end was the entrance to another cave, flanked by gigantic columns of crystal that looked like diamonds. And beyond that entrance…

"Grover," Annabeth said. "Wake up."

"Uhhhhhhhh."

She reached out splashed icy cold river water in his face.

"Splurg!" His eyelids fluttered. "Percy? Annabeth? Where…"

"It's okay," Percy said. "You passed out. The presence was too much for you."

"I—I remember. Pan."

"Yeah," Rachel murmured staring at the entrance with wide eyes. "Something powerful is just beyond that doorway."

"Right." Percy looked up. "Grover, Tyson. Rachel. Rachel – Grover, Tyson." He said waving his hand between them.

"Hi." Tyson said, perking up right away. "You are pretty. Like… like a pretty Harry."

Annabeth practically growled while Grover sat up looking even more disoriented. Nico sighed, following Rachel's gaze as she stared at the door. The group got up and headed for it, getting their first and last glimpse of the lair of the lost god.

Too many things happening, amirite? Next chapter's going to tie everything up, I promise.

My excuse for the late update is that a number of education institutions in my country begin in the month of June. So, yeah. Irregular intervals may be expected, but be hopeful and stay tuned!

Q: Who takes over the mantle of the God of the Wild after Lord Pan?

Cabba.