Next chapter. I'm writing this instead of continuing my Lucifer binge-watch on Prime Video, so you better like it and review.

"So, the Hephaestus kids are forging new weapons with the bronze?"

"Yes. The hunters have brand new quivers and knives, courtesy of Artemis, the senior campers are taking turns watching the Labyrinth entrance, and the rest of camp is alternating between training and staying up all night."

Chiron sighed. "Yes. I fear I might be joining them in that."

I watched the centaur trot up and down the porch of the Big House. He seemed twenty years older. Come to think of it, that wasn't a figure of speech. Whisps of silver hair had sprouted on his head, and his beard was greying. It was almost like he mirrored the emotional level of the camp. Chiron came to a stop, then breathed in. And out.

"Percy and the others should have been back by now. I don't know what's keeping them."

I stared at him, then sighed. "Um. It could be anything. It's a quest."

Chiron looked at me. "That is not comforting. It could be anything. Exactly."

I nodded. The centaur spoke again,

"Fayden."

I met his eyes. Chiron had that look. The one when a teacher was about to give you a particularly difficult homework assignment, and they knew you couldn't do it.

"Normally, I would never ask a camper to do this, but with Annabeth and Percy in the Labyrinth…"

He trailed off; I simply waited.

"You must lead them. You must be at the forefront of this fight. I'm not asking. I just…sense it. I don't know why."

I nodded, and Chiron noticed my unsurprised expression.

"You are not upset, shocked, even surprised by this?"

I smiled at him. "Why would I be? I'm a half-blood. This is a summer camp activity for us. Literally. Anyway, I have a…uh…divine task to complete anyway."

Chiron frowned. "Go on."

"Ares. He gave me the Celestial Bronze. In return, I have to make sure Clarisse stays alive."

Chiron's face paled. He quickly rushed his next questions,

"What? How did he know she might die? What would happen if you failed? I doubt all he will do is remove the Celestial Bronze."

I was surprised by his reply. "Woah, there. What's wrong?"

Chiron grabbed my shoulder. "What's wrong, is that you entered into a deal with a god. Trust me, it is never good for the mortal in these bargains."

I shrugged him off gently. "It's fine. Apollo let slip that Clarisse might be in danger, so Ares wanted me to keep an eye on her. And as to what would happen if I failed…"

I trailed off, suddenly nervous. "He…didn't say."

Chiron, if possible, grew paler. "So, you entered into a deal with one of the most temperamental deities to try and overcome a prediction from the prophecy god, and you didn't ask what would happen should you fail!"

I gulped. When he put it like that. Chiron shook his head, and continued.

"Never mind. What's done is done. I need you to go and check up on everything. I mean everything. I want it all in order."

I nodded, then turned to leave. Strolling out of the big house, I gazed across camp. It was shocking how quickly it had changed from a summer camp to a battle zone. Kids marched up and down the place in armour. The hunters were…well, they were still at the archery range. No one was in the Arts and Crafts building, or the Pegasus Stables. The Amphitheatre and Dining Pavilion were empty. Canoe's drifted in the middle of the lake. Even the nymphs were underwater, out of sight. The only locations that showed any sign of movement were the Armoury and the Arena. Smoke rose from the former, Beckendorf and his cabin hard at work. Clarisse was in the arena, training everyone overtime. All other campers that weren't in these two places were already in the woods. 24/7 constant surveillance over the Labyrinth entrance. I jogged over to the arena. Clarisse saw me coming and smiled, then addressed the crowd of 11-year-olds. They were all too young to fight in a war, but they were demigods. Get used to it…or die.

"Ah! Now that Fayden is here, you useless little pipsqueaks can watch us, and take notes."

I had to smile. She was so much like her father, even in the way she said 'pipsqueaks'. I walked over, and drew my sword, before standing before Clarisse. She turned to the crowd, and said,

"Split in to pairs, then copy us. Now!"

It took less than thirty seconds. I nodded in approval.

"Right, Fayden is going to perform a basic overhead strike."

She nodded at me, but a demigod (Son of Apollo, maybe?) interrupted her.

"We know how to do those strikes!"

I smirked at the Daughter of War. She scowled.

"Ok. If you think you know the basics, which one of you volunteers to fight me or Fayden?"

Silence. Nothing but the shuffling of feet. I smiled, the addressed them.

"Right. So, I'm not gonna lie... Clarisse' training sucks."

At this, she glared at me. I was not helping her authority over these kids, but I continued,

"So, I'm gonna train you. I want everyone to line up in front of me."

They all rushed to do so. I nodded.

"Good. Now, you first."

I addressed the small boy at the front. He frowned, looking nervous. "Uh, what?"

I smiled. "Come forward, and attack me."

He faltered, having started moving forward. I frowned. "Trust me. You won't land a hit. Just attack."

This seemed to work, or at least affect the kid's ego, for he charged, sword raised. It was easy to meet the kids blows. I was doing it with one hand, and knocking his arm higher or lower, and changing his position.

"Lower your spare arm. It'll be a target. Keep it tucked in. Now…"

I blocked another attack. He was actually ok, but it was still easy to block his attacks. They had no power to them. I sighed. After roughly ten minutes, I knocked the sword out of his hands with ease, before bending to retrieve it. I nodded at Clarisse, and she understood.

"Go over to Clarisse, and she'll brush up individual moves and overall posture. Next!"

A young, 12-year-old looking girl stepped up. She wielded two short daggers. I smiled warmly, then sheathed my sword, drawing my Balisong and turning it into a Siccae. She watched with awe as I pulled out another magical item, then beckoned her forward. She was much better. Her attacks had some force, and she was still quite fast. I didn't back away, however. I didn't need to. Deftly blocking her attacks, I knocked her knees, straightening her stance.

"With two weapons, you want to be careful on defence."

I stepped forward, pushing her back. "It's great for attack…"

She surged forward, but I blocked her attacks, still not even stepping away.

"…but, especially with daggers, it'll be hard to defend. You'll want to learn to be quick. Don't block. Dodge."

She seemed to listen, and immediately improved. I swung my Siccae and she ducked, stepping in. I had to finally lean to the side to avoid the strike. My eyebrows raised.

"Good. Like that."

I thrust, and she rolled to the side, bringing up both daggers at the same time, both aiming for my side. Bad move. I swept them aside in one strike. She slumped, tired out.

"That was good, but don't attack like that. I could, and did, easily knock both weapons away at once. Use the dual wielding to attack two places at once."

She nodded, and scooped up her daggers, before moving over to Clarisse. For the next three hours, we switched between having mock fights and teaching moves. Finally, I walked out of the arena, a slight stickiness on my face. It wasn't quite sweat, but. I walked over to the archery range. Zoe and Thalia both greeted me warmly, and the other hunters didn't hiss, shout, or shoot at me, so they must be in a good mood.

"Hey! I was going to practise. Don't let me interrupt anything."

But Zoe shook her head smiling, and Thalia laughed, saying,

"Fay, its not our archery range. Besides…"

She smirked at me.

"…Competition?"

I laughed in return. "You're on Thals."

Then we both lined up against the targets.

And now I'm in the forest. I beat Thalia. Obviously. The hunters were shocked, Thalia was laughing, I was smug…the usual. Now I'm finally on Guard Duty. Incredibly riveting. Stare at boulders. Stare at boulders. Move to a different spot, for a different view of the boulders. Now what?

Stare at the boulders.

I wandered around the small clearing, Zeus' fist in sight. The crack showing the entrance to Daedalus' maze still boring and silent. Silena and Beckendorf had been assigned this spot, but Beckendorf was smithying (is that a term? It is now), so I had to replace him. She was skirting the edges of the woods, while I got the actual entrance. Lying on a rock (still staring at the boulders…no one could ever say I didn't do my duty. HowevermuchIwantedtokillmyselfoutofboredombecauseofit…*cough* Did I say something?). Anyway, I started throwing pebbles up in the air, watching them slowly sink back to the ground. It was a waste of my powers, but in the long run, my sanity remained intact, so maybe it wasn't? No, that wasn't a question. Let me rephrase. It wasn't a waste. An hour or two passed (I know right? Me, the son of Kronos, capable of determining whether it took me 12 minutes and 7 seconds exactly to shower, or 12 minutes, 7 seconds and 46 milliseconds, couldn't tell the difference in hours. I was BORED!) But anyway, after a few hours, I was released by Connor, and I saw Travis swapping out Silena. I headed away from the forest, looking for something to do.

It seems however, that everyone was ready. All the campers were now lined up outside the wood. They all had armour of some kind, and a weapon, shield, dual weapons, or something. Chiron stood behind them and to the left, where the hunters of Artemis also stood. Thalia and Zoe were standing in front of them, bows raised. Silena had joined Beckendorf at the front of the campers. Lee was also there, in front of the Apollo cabin, who were still with the campers, but on the far left, ready to spring into action with the hunters. Clarisse was in her black and red armour, her electric spear crackling. A sword hung at her hip. I couldn't help but feel anxious. She might die. I choked, and breathed. No. No one will die.

But this lie was too big. I was too logical. A lot of us would die today.

I stood in front of the whole army, even in front of the senior campers, who were slightly ahead themselves. Katie was next to Lee, wielding a short sword. Non one spoke up as I took my position in front of the army. I turned, and faced the wood in silence.

Half an hour.

Another ten minutes.

And thirty-four seconds.

Then Connor and Travis came running out of the woods, panting. Their swords were by their shoulders, floating of their own accord. They lined up in front of their own cabin, each taking a segment to watch over the largest cabin.

A distant thundering started, like Zeus was stuck underground, and annoyed about it. It grew louder, and then the unmistakeable noise of rock exploding sounded out, and a cacophony of snarls, growls and yells resonated over the valley. I glanced around. My eyes caught on to Thalia.

She smiled.

And it was like an adrenaline boost. No speech could have roused me more. I grinned back, then turned to face the wood, brimming with confidence.

My hoodie and jeans flickered.

My trainers replaced were with combat sandals and greaves.

My battle armour gleamed golden and black.

The roars of the monsters were getting louder and more varied. More creatures were pouring out of the Labyrinth somewhere in those woods.

I raised my sword.

Never had it been better named.

Astyfilaka.

Peacekeeper.

With a deep breath, I ran at the woods, yelling,

"CHARRRRRGE!"

Goddamn. I had goosebumps writing that end. I love dramatic short sentences. The Battle of the Labyrinth has begun. And…it's a fanfic. Who knows if I'll let Clarisse survive?

MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!