Percy
_

Distance was shorter in the Labyrinth. Still, by the time Mimi got us back to camp, I felt like we'd pretty much run all the way from Colorado.

We were immediately met by Chiron, the potbellied satyr Silenus, and a couple of Apollo cabin archers. If I expected Chiron to be surprised by our latest news about Daedalus, or Kronos rising, I was mistaken.

"I feared as much," Chiron said. "We must hurry. Hopefully you have slowed down the Titan lord, but his vanguard will still be coming through. They will be anxious for blood. Most of our defenders are already in place. Come!"

It was the biggest military operation I'd ever seen at camp. Everyone was at the clearing, dressed in full battle armor, but this time it wasn't for capture the flag. The Hephaestus cabin had set up traps around the entrance to the Labyrinth—razor wire, pits filled with pots of Greek fire, rows of sharpened sticks to deflect a charge. Beckendorf was manning two catapults the size of pickup trucks, already primed and aimed at Zeus's Fist. The Ares cabin was on the front line, drilling in phalanx formation with Clarisse calling orders. Apollo's and Hermes's cabins were scattered in the woods with the Hunters of Artemis with bows ready. Many had taken up positions in the trees. Even the dryads were armed with bows, and the satyrs trotted around with wooden cudgels and shields made of rough tree bark.

The Athena cabin had set up a command tent and were directing operations. A gray banner with an owl fluttered outside the tent. Our security chief, Argus, stood guard at the door. Aphrodite's children were running around straightening everybody's armor and offering to comb the tangles out of our horsehair plumes. Even Dionysus's kids had found something to do. The god himself was still nowhere to be seen, but his two blond twin sons were running around providing all the sweaty warriors with water bottles and juice boxes.

It looked like a pretty good setup, but Chiron muttered next to me. "It isn't enough."

I thought about what I'd seen in the Labyrinth, all the monsters in Antaeus's stadium, and the power of Kronos I'd felt at Mt. Tam. My heart sank. Chiron was right, but it was all we could muster. For once I wished Dionysus was here, but even if he had been, I didn't know if he could do anything. When it came to war, gods were forbidden to interfere directly. Apparently, the Titans didn't believe in restrictions like that.

Killian helped the Hephaestus kids prepare the defenses. He picked up boulders and piled them next to the catapults for firing, surprising everyone with his newfound strength.

"Stay with me, Percy," Chiron said. "When the fighting begins, I want you to wait until we know what we're dealing with. You must go where we most need reinforcements."

"Chiron, why would Alex go to Kronos? I thought he was well-liked here? That Poseidon favored him?"

"I do not know, Percy. It pains me to have one with so much potential fall to the wrong side. I'm afraid we have no choice but..."

His voice wavered. The ground underneath us was trembling.

Everyone in the clearing stopped what they were doing. Clarisse barked a single order: "Lock shields!"

Then the Titan lord's army exploded from the Labyrinth.

The first thing I saw were a dozen Laistrygonian giants erupting from the ground, yelling so loudly my ears felt like bursting. They carried shields made from flattened cars, and clubs that were tree trunks with rusty spikes bristling at the end.

"Hold your positions!" Clarisse yelled. "Do not give any ground!"

"Fire!" Beckendorf yelled. The catapults swung into action. Two boulders hurtled toward the giants. One deflected off a car shield with hardly a dent, but the other caught a Laistrygonian in the chest, and the giant went down.

"Archers fire!" I heard Lee yell. Golden and silver arrows rained through the air and cut down the monsters. "Fire at will!"

When it looked like the Laistrygonians were about to get overwhelmed, the next wave surged out of the maze: thirty, maybe forty dracaenae in full battle armor, wielding spears and nets. They dispersed in all directions. Some hit the traps the Hephaestus cabin had laid. One got struck on the spikes and became an easy target for archers. Another triggered a trip wire, and pots of Greek fire exploded into green flames, engulfing several of the snake women. But many more kept coming. Argus and Athena's warriors rushed forward to meet them.

A dozen dracaenae suddenly broke away from the main fight and slithered down the path that led toward camp, like they knew where they were going. If they got out, they could burn down the entire place, completely unopposed.

"Nico, now!" I yelled.

He looked where I was pointing, saw the serpent women, and immediately understood.

He took a deep breath and held out his black sword. "Serve me," he called.

The earth trembled. A fissure opened in front of the dracaenae, and a dozen undead warriors crawled from the earth—horrible corpses in military uniforms from all different time periods—U.S. Revolutionaries, Roman centurions, Napoleonic cavalry on skeletal horses. As one, they drew their swords and engaged the dracaenae.

A hellhound suddenly leaped out of the tunnel and barreled straight toward the satyrs. I ran to meet it but was cut off when an enemy demigod jumped at me. I couldn't tell who it was under the helmet, but they knew how to use a sword. They forced me back a few steps with two swipes of their sword.

I quickly drew mine to meet his third slash. As our swords locked, I looked over his shoulder at the hellhound. It was about to snap up a satyr, but then Killian appeared, blinding white sword decapitating the beast.

Just when it seemed like the battle had balanced out again—like we might stand a chance—an unearthly shriek echoed out of the Labyrinth, a sound I had heard before.

Kampê shot into the sky, her bat wings fully extended. She landed on the top of Zeus's Fist and surveyed the carnage. Her face was filled with evil glee. The mutant animal heads growled at her waist. Snakes hissed and swirled around her legs. In her right hand she held a glittering ball of thread—Ariadne's string—but she popped it into a lion's mouth at her waist and drew her curved swords. The blades glowed green with poison. Kampê screeched in triumph, and some of the campers screamed. Others tried to run and got trampled by hellhounds or giants.

"Di Immortales!" Chiron yelled. He quickly aimed an arrow, but Kampê seemed to sense his presence. She took flight with amazing speed, and Chiron's arrow whizzed harmlessly past her head.

Kampê landed on the Athena command tent, smashing it flat. I ran after her and found Zoe at my side, keeping pace, her knives in her hands.

"This might be it," she said.

"Could be."

"Nice fighting with you, airhead."

"Airhead?"

"I wanted you to know what I called you behind your back."

Together we leaped into the monster's path. Kampê hissed and sliced at us. I dodged, trying to distract her, while Zoe went in for a strike, but the monster seemed able to fight with both hands independently. She blocked Zoe's knife, and Zoe had to jump back to avoid the cloud of poison. Just being near the thing was like standing in an acid fog. My eyes burned. My lungs couldn't get enough air. I knew that even we couldn't stand our ground for more than a few seconds.

"Come on!" I shouted. "We need help!"

But no help came. Everyone was either down, or fighting for their lives, or too scared to move forward. Three of Chiron's arrows sprouted from Kampê's chest, but she just roared louder.

"Now!" Zoe said.

Together we charged, dodged the monster's slashes, got inside her guard, and almost...almost managed to stab Kampê in the chest, but a huge bear's head lashed out from the monster's waist, and we had to stumble backward to avoid getting bitten.

Slam!

My eyesight went black. The next thing I knew, Zoe and I were on the ground. The monster had its forelegs on our chests, holding us down. Hundreds of snakes slithered right above me, hissing like laughter. Kampê raised her green-tinged swords, and I knew Zoe and I were out of options.

Then, behind me, something howled. A wall of blue and black slammed into Kampê, sending the monster sideways. And Michael was standing over us, sparking with frost and black energy.

He laughed wickedly. "Oh yeah! I like this new power!"

Kampê roared and slashed at Michael, but he caught her two scimitars with surprising strength. He was seemingly unaffected by the poisonous gas that filled the air around him.

A black mass appeared over Zoe and I. I recognized the dark red collar with a heart pendant as the hellhound lowered its head. I grabbed Zoe with one arm and grabbed Mrs. O'Leary's collar with the other. She hauled us out of the way as Michael and Kampê fought.

"Good girl!" said a familiar voice. Daedalus was fighting his way out of the Labyrinth, slashing down enemies left and right as he made his way toward us. Next to him was someone else—a familiar giant, much taller than the Laistrygonians, with a hundred rippling arms, each holding a huge chunk of rock.

"Briares!" I cried.

"Hail, little brother!" Briares bellowed. "Stand firm!"

When I looked back I saw that Michael had summoned one of his double-bladed staffs. He parried a strike that would've cut his head off and tried to counter, but Kampê was quick.

She stabbed with her second scimitar, forcing Michael to roll out of the way. He popped up and stabbed one of the mutant heads on her waist.

Kampê howled in pain and lunged at my brother in a blind rage. Michael ducked and slashed at one of Kampê's dragon legs. The shock it sent through her gave Michael enough time to get back up and attack her again. Kampê blocked another stab before feinting to the left and quickly closed the distance. She deflected his stab and sidestepped to his left. A lion head jutted out of her waist and clamped down on Michael's arm before he could get away.

Michael yelled in pain. He stabbed Kampê but the head didn't let go.

"Fine!" he shouted. "You want my arm? You can have it!"

In a moment that I could only describe as adrenaline rushed stupidity/brilliance, Michael raised his weapon before bringing the blade down on his own arm. He cut cleanly through it and ran away as quickly as he could.

Kampê roared after him, calling him a coward in her primordial language. She was so focused on him that she didn't notice the blue glow emanating from where the lion head still had the remainder of Michael's arm. The glow brightened before-

FWOOM.

In a flash of ice blue, Kampê's side was blown to bits. The hole in her side was so big, I was impressed she was still alive.

She howled in pain, stumbling to the side, trampling several monsters and enemy demigods in the process. The area around the wound was blue with frostbite.

With Michael finally out of the way, Briares finally unleashed his attack. The Hundred-Handed One launched a volley of boulders at Kampê. The rocks seemed to enlarge as they left Briares's hands. There were so many, it looked like half the earth had learned to fly.

BOOOOOM!

Where Kampê had stood a moment before was a mountain of boulders, almost as tall as Zeus's Fist. The only sign that the monster had ever existed were two green sword points sticking through the cracks.

A cheer went up from the campers, but our enemies weren't done yet. One of the dracaenae yelled, "Ssssslay them! Kill them all or Kronossss will flay you alive!"

Apparently, that threat was more terrifying than we were. The giants surged forward in a last desperate attempt. One surprised Chiron with a glancing blow to the back legs, and he stumbled and fell. Six giants cried in glee and rushed forward.

Then it happened. Katie, who had appeared at the back of the battle, opened her mouth, and the most horrible sound I'd ever heard came out. It was like a brass trumpet magnified a thousand times—the sound of pure fear.

As one, the forces of Kronos dropped their weapons and ran for their lives. The giants trampled the dracaenae trying to get into the Labyrinth first. Telkhines and hellhounds and enemy half-bloods scrambled after them. The tunnel rumbled shut, and the battle was over. The clearing was quiet except for the fires burning in the woods, and the cries of the wounded.

Zoe and I ran to Michael, who was being held up by Bianca. I immediately embraced him in a hug, which he returned with his one arm.

"You saved us," I breathed. "Thank you."

"You're my best friend," he said. "I had to."

"What does that say about me?" Zoe asked in mock anger.

We broke apart and he looked at her. He tilted his head and grinned mischievously.

"If you consider Percy and I brothers, then you are my soon-to-be sister-in-law."

I don't know who blushed harder, me or Zoe. She punched Michael in the side and turned away.

"You lost your fucking arm!" I heard Katie yell from behind us. She ran up and began to check Michael over, noting every minor injury. "And your leg! What the hell happened?"

I hadn't even noticed he was favoring one leg over the other. His right leg was bleeding heavily, and I saw what looked like the white shine of bone.

"Bastard giant stepped on it," he grimaced. "It's not the worst injury, at least."

"Yeah, you got your damn arm chewed off! Am I really going to be the only one in this relationship with both arms?"

I wanted to ask what that meant, but I realized that we still had a lot to do.

"Guys, we've got to get Michael to a medic from the Apollo cabin," I said. "We'll talk later."

They nodded. Katie and Bianca helped Michael hop away, leaving Zoe and I on the battlefield.

She was still turned away. Probably from what Michael said.

"Hey, Zoe," I said, tapping her on the shoulder. "Let's get checked out, too, shall we? I think Kampê broke some of my ribs when she stepped on us." I tapped her shoulder again. "Zoe? You okay?"

She slowly turned around. She glanced up at me. Now that I looked into her eyes, I saw that they were lighter than I thought. Not so much a chocolate brown, more of a...syrup brown. Cute.

She must've been reading my thoughts because she suddenly blushed. She looked back down sheepishly.

"I'm glad we didn't die," she muttered.

I couldn't help but smile. "Me too, Zo." I stretched out an arm toward her. "Now, come on. I really want to hear what happened with Michael."

She let me put my arm around her shoulders and guide her to the makeshift medic area. "And how he's back as a man."

"You know what, I hadn't even noticed."

She laughed and leaned further into me, making me smile wider.

"So these...primordial gods want...what, exactly?"

"They want heirs," Michael told me. It was the next day, and news of what happened in the labyrinth had spread to camp.

Casualties from the battle had been light, thank Hestia. Daedalus had officially been sent to the underworld by Nico, destroying the labyrinth, and hopefully the rest of the strike force with it.

Alex's name was a heavy subject. Everyone was surprised he had turned into Kronos's host. I know I had only known the evil version of him, but even Chiron said he had hoped better for the boy. The centaur got teary every time Alex was brought up, said that it would devastate his mother and father beyond relief. Michael, though, had convinced him not to tell Alex's mother. There wasn't a reason to tell her such bad news. Not when there was still hope of reclaiming him.

After getting seen by Lee, Will, and their siblings, our small friend group got together by the lake to talk things over. It was me, Zoë, Michael, Bianca, Katie, Killian, Lilly, and Lee. Lee was there mainly to make sure Michael didn't strain himself and do something to his leg. Nico would've joined us, but he was busy making sure his boyfriend didn't overwork himself.

"Heirs?" Killian asked. "Why?"

Michael shrugged. "They didn't tell us that. But they assured us that it was for the benefit of the world and its inhabitants."

"And so you three became heirs to..." Zoë trailed off.

Michael pointed at Katie. "Gaea." He pointed at Bianca. "Erebos." Then to himself. "Nyx."
We just stared at them.

"I didn't actually get to meet Lady Gaea," Katie said awkwardly to fill the silence. "Not fully, at least. I got to meet a portion of her good side. Her 'Innocent Half,' they called it."

"She has a good side?" I asked.

Michael quickly explained the whole 'Innocent Half' and 'Corrupted Half' concept.

"I can't believe they have good sides," was all I said.

"What interest do they have in us?" Lilly asked.

"They want heirs," Bianca said. "They want certain demigods to inherit their power and become the new god of whatever they are."

"There's talk of you becoming the heir for Lord Aether," Michael said to Lee. "I mean, you're the most brilliant mind in camp. Well, perhaps not, with the Athena children, but you may as well be one of them! You got Daedelus's laptop, for fuck's sake! You'd be perfect!"

"I'll...I'll think about it," Lee said uneasily, still unsure that he was special enough to have received Daedalus's laptop. He had been singled out by the inventor, something which made other demigods, especially the Athena kids, jealous.

"What about you three?" Zoë asked. "What happened? Michael said he was going to fix everything between you three, and you appear to be better. You aren't at each other's throats anymore, at least."

"Oh, we're together!" Bianca said brightly.

...

"You're what?"

"We're together," Michael repeated. He raised his right hand and we saw a dark blue band around his ring finger. "Lady Nyx and Lady Hemera were happy to marry us."

"Wait, you're all married?" Lilly exclaimed. "And to each other?"

All three nodded.

"Michael explained that he would rather have us both than just one," Katie said, "and managed to convince us to become...well, to become polyamorous."

"With a little help from Eros, the love Katie and I had for each other grew," Bianca said. "Though I still get to have the first baby."

Katie waved her off. "Whatever, whatever."

A lightbulb went off in my head. "Oh yeah, whatever happened with your pregnancy, Michael?"

"Oh, well..." He rubbed the back of his head. "Eros accelerated me through it and I gave birth to twins. One boy and one girl."

"What'd you name them?" Lilly asked, leaning forward with her elbows on her legs, her head in her hands. I thought I saw her glance at Killian, but it was so quick I wasn't really sure.

"Alexios Asher and Andromeda Vera Persephone."

"And whose are they?"

"All of ours," Bianca said. "They each take after us in a certain aspect. Alexios has Michael's hair but my face, and Andromeda has Katie's face."

"Good to know, but not what I meant," Lilly said. "I meant, like, last name wise. Since you're all apparently married now."

"Oh!" Katie smiled brightly. "We decided to combine our names. So it's di Angelo Gardner."

"I still think we should've hyphenated it," Bianca muttered sorely.

"And I told you that if we did that, it would be too long of a last name," Katie shot back. "People would get confused."

"People are gonna be confused anyway," Bianca retorted. "We're three people married to each other! You think that's not going to cause confusion?"

"Glad to see you two still argue," Zoë muttered. "What's your official last name, then? Because I'm sure Percy is still confused."

"It's true. I am confused."

Michael rolled his eyes but smiled. "Officially, it's Gardner. Katie beat Bianca in rock-paper-scissors for last name rights. But we just incorporated 'di Angelo' into our names. Sort of like a...what's it called?"

"Middle name," Katie said.

He snapped his fingers. "Yeah, that! I didn't have a middle name to begin with, so it's not much of a change for me."

"You don't have a middle name?" Killian asked. "Why?"

"Hispanic culture," Michael told him. "My mother didn't have one either. When she got married to that polla de una persona, her last name became her middle name."

"Huh. Okay."

"You're handling this awfully well, Percy," Zoë commented.

I shrugged. "Hey, they're gonna live how they wanna live. I'm not gonna tell them off for it. Besides, the gods have done worse things. At least none of them are siblings."

"Wait, wait wait wait," Lee suddenly interjected. "If that's your last name, then...you named your daughter Andromeda Vera Persephone di Angelo Gardner? That's a pretty long name."

All three shrugged.

"We couldn't decide," Katie explained. "Bianca chose Alexios's first name and I chose Andromeda's. Then Michael chose their middle names, though Bianca wanted to add one to Andromeda's. We couldn't come to an agreement on it, though."

"She means they couldn't," Michael corrected. "So I made the executive decision as the tallest in the relationship to just use both."

"As the tallest?" Lilly repeated. "Not as the man?"

"He's not a man," Zoë said dismissively. "He's non-gendered. He just goes by 'he'. It's the only reason I tolerate him."

"You tolerate me," Killian pointed out. "And I am 100% male."

"You saved my lady and held up the sky," Zoë added. "Therefore, you earned my respect."

"What about Percy?" Lilly asked.

She didn't say anything. Her face was turned away from me, but whatever the others saw was obviously enough.

"Well," Lilly said, apparently satisfied with her conclusion, "when are we going to meet the little babies?"