Battle of the Labyrinth

A/N: Here's the next and final chapter of the Battle of the Labyrinth! I have awesome news; I've reached 100k+ words on this story! I never thought I would get this far! Anyways, the bad news is that the "daily updating spree" has most likely come to an end. I'll still be doing weekly updates though. Unless, of course I get more snow days...probably not happening.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter of 'Love and Hate's Daughter!" :)

Lina POV

I was with Anne somewhere by the woods. I had thought today was going to be normal, or as normal as it could get. It had been almost two weeks since both Percy and Annabeth left for that cursed Labyrinth.

I really, really hope they make it out alive, along with Grover and Tyson.

Then, all of a sudden, as if reading my mind, all four of the quest group, including Nico Di Angelo...wait, what...appear in the middle of the Camp by Pegasi. Anne grabs my arm. "It's the questers," I whisper to her.

I run over and give Percy, Annabeth, Grover, and Tyson hugs. I see Chiron and one of the really fat satyrs come up to us.

"Kronos is using Luke's body and leading an army here!" Percy gasps, turning to Chiron.

"It almost sounded like you said Kronos was using Luke's body," I point out, chuckling, hoping this was a joke.

"I wasn't joking, Lina." Percy tells me. "He gave himself over to Kronos." I blink. "I'm sorry, Lina. Luke's gone." He looked genuinely sorry.

"No—" I tell Percy. "You—you must be joking." I say, tears coming into my eyes.

(("Fine, Alina." He snaps at me. "But when Kronos takes over my body both you and I will regret it." He stalks off and disappears in the Forbidden Forest.))

I regret it. I regret it completely.

"Yes," I say firmly. "You must be lying." My voice rises. "Annabeth," I say, looking at her. "Please tell me he's lying!"

Tears were in Annabeth's eyes, and she shook her head.

"No! You're wrong! All of you!" I say my eyes wide. Anne puts a hand on my back, I knew it was meant to calm me down, but it just irritated me.

I break down sobbing. Annabeth comes up to me and pulls me into a hug.

"Wait," Chiron says. "What do you mean?"

"It's Kronos in Luke's body. He's more powerful than ever. It's terrifying." Percy confirms.

I sob even harder, both Annabeth and Anne doing their best to comfort me.

I couldn't hear anything out of the rest of the conversation. "I should have gone with him—when he asked me to run away with him at the end of second year." I sniffle.

"Who—who was Luke?" Anne asks innocently.

I sigh and pull myself off of Annabeth's shoulders. "Anne, when I was on the run at six years old I allied up with Luke, Thalia, and Annabeth. We were like a family. Luke was like a big brother to me. We were so close—then when I was ten—he betrayed us, Anne-Banana. He—he was never the same Luke. Then—then just weeks ago he asked me to run away with him. I said no. He said I would regret my decision. Luke gave himself to Kronos. I regret my decision completely."

By now, everyone left except for Annabeth, Anne, and I. Annabeth puts a hand on my shoulder. "Lina, they're leading an army. I'm sorry to interrupt, but they're coming! Take her—" She gestures to Anne. "To safety, then get to where reinforcements are needed, but please, I'm begging you, stay safe. GO, Lina!" She says forcefully, looking frantically at the entrance to the Labyrinth.

I nod. Annabeth's right. We have to defend the Camp. I can worry about Luke later. "I'm—I'm a pretty good archer." Anne says timidly, grabbing her weapon, the bow and arrow.

"Good." I tell her. "Stay in the bushes and attack from there. Do not let yourself be seen, do you understand?" I tell her sternly. "I can't lose you, Anne-Banana." I add softly.

"I—I can't lose you either, Lin-Bean." Anne sniffles. "Try and stay out of the line of fire."

I nod and we hug.

I feel really guilty for going against Anne's wishes. I strap myself in armor, and the line of fire is exactly where I go.

I run to the front lines. It was mainly the Ares cabin—but there were a couple of other people too.

"We need someone, who's smaller but experienced!" I heard a frantic Clarisse mutter to the phalanx in front of her. She sees me and looks relieved. "Oh, good! Lina, quick! Get into the phalanx!"

That is the first and only time I will ever obey Clarisse. I squeeze myself deep into the phalanx and pull out my long silver knife. I am in a good enough position to send flames at monsters. I could squeeze easily through the buff members of the Ares cabin.

I gulp. The ground is rumbling. This may be it.

To Harry, Ron, and Hermione...if I don't get back...if I die...Harry, know that I...

I couldn't finish my thoughts because the army burst through.

"Don't break the formation!" I hear Clarisse yell. "If the phalanx breaks, it's useless!"

I feel a rush of adrenaline. Luke had given himself to Kronos. Luke was misguided...by the Titan Army.

I am going to kill the Titan Army for doing this to Luke. I notice that the Ares cabin members in the phalanx felt the same way—probably not for the same reasons I did, but they had the same look of determination I did.

Giants burst through the entrance to the Labyrinth. The phalanx was no match for it. It swings its club sending half the phalanx, including me, in the air. I land on my side, dislocating my shoulder.

"Gods, give us strength," I mutter.

I see a brunette on the ground. "Lina," she squeaks. I come over to her and gasp. "Lacy...no..."

"Lina," she says weakly. "You—you were one of my best friends here. I—I have to go. It's my time. We're demigods, right?"

"No..." I cry out. "You'll be in Elysium." I say firmly.

She grabs my hand and she doesn't move anymore. They took her life. First Luke, now Lacy...

I leap up and snarl in rage. They will pay.

I don't really know what happened next. All I know is that I was on fire. My knife was soaring through monsters, flames striking them, spells being cast. The sight of Lacy dead on the ground and the hearing of Kronos taking over Luke's body have fueled me into an angry rage.

Silena comes next to me, armed with her weapon.

"Lacy?" She asks me.

"Dead," I snarl.

With that, the two of us fight harder than ever, side by side. But it was hopeless. More and more monsters kept coming through. We were getting weaker and weaker. We're not ever lasting fighters. Eventually I would drop down dead. I think of Anne. Is she safe? Is she okay? She better be.

I see a giant—who's probably allied with us—kill the main enemy: Kampe.

The entire camp cheers as we continue fighting.

Suddenly, a horrible sound echoes throughout the camp. I turn my head to see it coming from Grover. The monsters chase each other back into the Labyrinth.

Silena and I look at each other and at the dead Lacy. We hug each other, sobbing for the loss of our best friend.

"Lina..." Silena says, concerned. "Your shoulder..." I look down at my shoulder to see blood spurting out of it. One of the monsters must have gotten a good scratch on me.

"Oh, gods..." I mutter weakly before I almost fall into her arms.

"Lina!" She screams. "Quick, I need a Healer!"

That was all I heard before everything went black.

My eyes flutter open, and I am immediately met with four concerned pairs of eyes: a grey pair, a green pair, a blue pair, and a sea-green pair.

"Annabeth...Anne...Silena...Percy." I mutter. "I'm okay—what happened?"

"You were hurt in battle," Annabeth says, grabbing my pale hand. "Lina, I'm sorry. I should have stayed by your side."

"N—no. It was fine. I—I was asking for it. Getting in a phalanx with the Ares cabin." I chuckle weakly. "I—I was just really angry for what the Titan army did to Luke. I wanted to fight."

"I see you're still as reckless as ever." Annabeth laughs.

"Lina, the girl that healed you, Kayla, says that you're going to be fine." Silena says. I can tell she's trying to reassure herself more than me. "You just need rest."

I nod. "Hey, Anne-Banana." I say. "Are you okay?"

She nods. "Yeah, I—I tried to stay out of the way. Looks like you didn't stay out of the line of fire after all."

"Anne," Annabeth tells her. "You have to learn that whenever Lina says she's going to be careful, she never is, along with Seaweed Brain."

Anne giggles while Percy and I look offended.

"How long was I out?" I ask them.

Percy sighs. "Beauty Queen, you were out for two weeks. You lost a lot of blood on that shoulder. The healers from the Apollo cabin thought you weren't going to make it the first week you were out—"

Tears form in my friends' eyes.

"You couldn't imagine how relieved we were the second week when they told us you were going to make it," Silena says.

"What's today, anyway?" I ask.

Anne grins. "July 24th. You're a teenager, Lin-Bean!"

I chuckle. "Never thought I'd live long enough to enjoy teenager-hood. Well, I'd better get up to enjoy this special day!"

"Here," Annabeth says. She passes me some squares of ambrosia, and I delightfully eat them. I feel the lovely taste of rich chocolate ice cream, and I feel strength.

"Be careful of your shoulder," Silena warns as she helps me up. "The healers had to perform stitches. Oh, and there's already a cake to eat. Someone named Mrs. Weasley sent it, do you know her?"

I nod. "I do." Seriously, how does Mrs. Weasley find time to do nice things for Harry, Hermione, and I?

My friends and I leave the infirmary, ready to enjoy a delightful thirteenth birthday.

After all, we should enjoy it as much as we can.

It's not like I ever get a year—or a summer—without another threat. It makes me long for the old days; the four years when I was at Camp Half Blood.

But—without it—I would have never met Percy. I would have never met Anne. I would have never met Harry, Ron, or Hermione. I wouldn't have known what the Wizarding World even was.

I should simply take the good with the bad.

The month after that...well...was pretty much, what can I say, um, normal? There were war-games, activities, normal Camp stuff. On August 16, Percy left the camp. This year, I was planning on staying at Hogwarts over Christmas Break. It was for a cowardly reason, really. I wouldn't be seeing Percy until next summer, unfortunately.

I had managed to accept Luke being Kronos's host as best as I could, however, it took lots of grieving moments with Annabeth.

I wanted to run-away from it all. Luke being Kronos's host, and the wars. Lacy's death. The upcoming war. I just wanted a normal life; and I can get that at Hogwarts—well, as much as possible...

I hated myself for it. Worthless. Useless. Weak.

No, Lina. Stop that. Not this again.

Anne knows nothing. She doesn't know about Hogwarts yet. She doesn't know I'll be leaving for a year. She doesn't know I'm a witch. I decided to tell her as soon as my Hogwarts letter arrived.

Midnight soars into the open Aphrodite cabin with my letter.

I open the envelope:

Dear Miss Quimby,

Please note that the new school year will begin on September the first. The Hogwarts Express will leave from King's Cross Station, platform nine and three quarters, at eleven o'clock.

I gasp in delight when I read the next section:

Third-years are permitted to visit the village of Hogsmeade at certain weekends. Please give the enclosed permission form to your parent or guardian to sign.

A list of books for next year is enclosed.

Yours sincerely,

Professor McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

I look at my book list:

Alina Quimby: Care of Magical Creatures and Ancient Runes

Third years will require:

The Standard Book of Spells Grade 3, by Miranda Goshawk

Intermediate Transfiguration by Emeric Switch

The Monster Book of Monsters by Edward Grant

Magical Hieroglyphics and Logograms by Samuel Smith

Guide to Ancient Runes by John Brooks

Then I scan the Hogsmeade Permission form greedily.

"I have to give this to Chiron so he can sign it!" I exclaim to myself.

"What's Hogwarts?" An innocent voice asks me. "What's Hogwarts and what's a third year?"

I spin around to be face to face with Anne. "Oh, Anne-Banana. Were you snooping in my letters?" I ask her.

"But I want to know." She pouts.

I sigh. Better now than the 31st.

"Anne, have you ever heard of witches?" I ask her.

She nods, enthusiastic. "Yeah, in fairy-tales!"

"But this isn't a fairy tale, Anne-Banana." I tell her. "Witches exist and you're speaking with one."

"You mean, you're a—"

"Demigod. Witch. Part of two worlds." I supply.

Anne gasps. "Can you show me spells, Lin-Bean?"

I smirk. "Gladly." I pull out my wand and point it at the letters. "Wingardium Leviosa!"

"Wow," Anne says incredulously. She tries to catch the letters, but I just continue to fly them above her reach, annoying her.

All of a sudden her mood changes. "So—so you're going to be gone for an entire year?" Anne asks incredulously.

"Ten months. But I promise I'm going to write you as much as possible." I tell her.

"Every day?" Anne asks me.

"I can't promise you that, Anne. That's crazy. Once every two weeks, or every week, definitely."

We hug. "Hey," I tell her. "The summer's not over yet!"

"You have another letter," Anne says.

I open it. It's from Harry.

Dear Lina,

DON'T GO TO DIAGON ALLEY UNTIL AUGUST 31.

"Wow," Anne mutters. "He's desperate."

I shush her before continuing on.

That's the date when Ron, Hermione, and I will all be in Diagon Alley. By the way, you'll never guess where I am right now. The Leaky Cauldron. You see, I accidentally used magic and blew up my aunt—

Anne and I burst out laughing.

-then I ended up on this Wizarding transportation thing called the Knight Bus. Now, I'm staying at the Leaky Cauldron. Oh, and did I mention that the Minister caught me, but never did anything at all?

Anne and I were still laughing.

Anyways, what about you, Lina? Are you alright? I hope that you didn't have to face anything too major at Camp this summer—

"Too major?" Anne asks me.

"I never told Harry. I hate it when he gets protective." I mutter to Anne.

-and I hope you're alright. I hope I can see you in Diagon Alley.

I miss you,

Harry

PS: Ron wants to copy your Charms Essay. I already told him you'd say no, but he told me to pass on the message.

"Uh, no way, best friend or not, no one can do that." I tell Anne, who giggles.

"So, I guess I'm going to Diagon Alley on the 31st of August then." I tell Anne.

Anne gasps. "Can I come, please, please please?"

"I'll have to ask Chiron—but I'm sure he'll let you go." I tell Anne.

Anne beams.

It's August 31st today. I had gotten my Hogsmeade form signed by Chiron as:

Chiron Brunner

Chiron had given Anne and me the okay to go to Diagon Alley together.

"Stay safe, both of you." Annabeth tells us by the fireplace.

"When do I not stay safe?" I ask her.

"Do you really want me to answer that?" She asks me, glaring.

"Um...no..." I tell her.

"Good," she says.

"Okay—we'll try." I tell her. She doesn't look satisfied, but I grab Anne and step into the flames: "Diagon Alley!"

A/N: So, now Anne knows that Lina's a witch! Yeah, so the Battle happened and Lina was on fire with her fighting ;) Yeah, Lacy wasn't really that major of a character but I killed her off, my first character I killed off :( Lina sort of feels depressed and has some regrets about Luke Castellan.

In the next chapter, Lina and Anne will go to Diagon Alley! I'll give you a hint of what will happen: Lina and Anne will encounter both Draco and Harry...Okay, enough hints!

Please R&R :)

-Ana