I really missed this story and I am loving writing it.

The next morning there was a lot of excitement at breakfast. Apparently, around three in the morning an Aethiopian drakon had been spotted at the borders of camp. The magical boundaries had kept the monster out, but it prowled the hills, looking for weak spots in their defenses, and it didn't seem anxious to go away until Lee Fletcher from Apollo's cabin led a couple of his siblings in pursuit. After a few dozen arrows lodged in the chinks of the drakon's armor, it got the message and withdrew.

"It's still out there," Lee warned them all during announcements. "Twenty arrows in its hide, and we just made it mad. The thing was thirty feet long and bright green. It's eyes—" he shuddered.

"You did well, Lee," Chiron patted him on the shoulder. "Everyone stay alert, but stay calm. This has happened before."

"Aye," Quintus said from the head table. "And it will happen again. More and more frequently."

The campers murmured among themselves.

Everyone knew the rumors: Luke and his army of monsters were planning an invasion of the camp. Many expected it to happen this summer, but Aaron felt unsure. Thanks to his and Meggy's efforts there were many more demigods than even his first summer where there had been more than a hundred. Now there were close to a hundred and fifty kids, some brought by Meggy, some brought by Hera and her group. The increase and better training, spearheaded by Aaron and the Children of Aphrodite and of course Metis, made them safer than ever.

"This is a good reason for new war games, "Quintus continued, a glint in his eyes. "We'll see how you all do with that tonight."

"Yes…" Chiron said. "Well, enough announcements. Let us bless this meal and eat." He raised his goblet. "To the gods."

They all raised our glasses and repeated the blessing. Aaron and Meggy took their plates to the bronze brazier and scraped a portion of their food into the flames. He offered it to Hades and Persephone and Hera and Oceanus and Tethys and Metis. A lot of people but the ones that deserved it the most.

Metis, who was sitting next to him, smiled. "That was kind of you."

"You help my home, both of them, I cannot help but like you."

"And I you for that and so many other reasons." She leaned. "There is much to tell you... I know you dealt with the Labyrinth just recently, but we are working at it here as well. It has not been found, any entrance here, but Clarisse and Annabeth have been investigating it for some time. Clarisse found an entrance in Phoenix, she could not destroy it."

He nodded. "It would take tremendous power and an element of opposing power, even my lover would have trouble destroying it."

"Even I would with my mastery of the craft. Pasiphae performed terrible magics to breathe life into the Maze." She leaned in. "Clarisse found someone, a girl named Mary, a demigoddess... she was babbling about Luke and String. She died a week later, nothing we could do helped her... She was driven to madness and lost her will to live. Clarisse was deeply, immeasurably traumatized by this and will not investigate any longer. From what we know, Luke is finding a way here via the maze.

Annabeth is trying to get Grover to go into the Maze with her to find Pan. It is an unsearched place, it would likely be a perfect place for Pan to be hiding. I suspect he hid there to die, with the damage to his domain... it must be pure agony to exist in a half state. He likely is trying to pass on but is unable to due to the Saytrs stubbornness."

"I can only imagine."

"""

That night after dinner, Quintus had the camper suit up in combat armor like they were getting ready for capture the flag, but the mood among the campers was a lot more serious. Sometime during the day the crates in the arena had disappeared, emptied into the woods.

"Right," Quintus said, standing on the head dining table. "Gather 'round." He was dressed in black leather and bronze. In the torchlight, his gray hair made him look like a ghost. Mrs. O'Leary bounded happily around him, foraging for dinner scraps. "You will be in teams of two," Quintus announced. When everybody started talking and trying to grab their friends, he yelled: "Which have already been chosen!"

"AWWWWW!" everybody complained.

"Your goal is simple: collect the gold laurels without dying. The wreath is wrapped in a silk package, tied to the back of one of the monsters. There are six monsters. Each has a silk package. Only one holds the laurels. You must find the wreath before the other teams. And, of course…you will have to slay the monster to get it, and stay alive."

The crowd started murmuring excitedly. The task sounded pretty straightforward.

"I will now announce your partners," Quintus said. "There will be no trading. No switching. No complaining."

"Aroooof!" Mrs. O'Leary buried her face in a plate of pizza.

Quintus produced a big scroll and started reading off names. The Stoll brothers, Travis and Connor, would be together. No surprise. They did everything together. Clarisse was with Lee Fletcher from the Apollo cabin—melee and ranged combat combined, they would be a tough combo to beat. Quintus kept rattling off the names until he said, "Percy Jackson with Annabeth Chase. Grover Underwood," Quintus said, "with Tyson."

Grover just about jumped out of his goat fur. "What? B-but—"

"No, no," Tyson whimpered. "Must be a mistake. Goat boy—"

"No complaining!" Quintus ordered. "Get with your partner. You have two minutes to prepare!"

As the others vanished, going into the woods, Aaron turned to Quintus." So, who branded you with a murderer's brand?"

The man jumped, turning to him with something dark in his eyes but before he could move, Meggy grabbed his shoulders and pressed down. "I don't-"

"You could lie, or you could tell me the truth. One ensures you live, the other me abusing my ties to the Underworld and you end up in enteral torment. Your pick?"

The man shivered but before he could say a word, Meggy whispered. "He is made of metal, he is an automaton."

Aaron's eyes widened, he grabbed Quintus' arm and he felt it, a thrum of magic. "You transferred your soul into this artificial vessel, I can feel muted demigod essence and potent necromantic and mechanical magics. What are you?" He felt a familiar thrum of magic in the man that made everything clear. " Who... Daedelus?"

The man cringed. "How did you figure that out?"

"I know that your spirit was never found, and I have felt the magic of the Maze, It is subtle, but it was present. Your aura is telling."

"Yes... it... I am Daedelus."

"Why are you here, do not like or you lose your life."

"I... Freedom. I want to die, one day, and see my beloved family, those I failed in life. I know I cannot do this, Minos would never allow it. He chases me, even to this day. "

Aaron nodded. "I cannot deny you that... tell you what, if you swear to help us, until the war ends, or until your death, I Will personally ensure that you do not end up in the Fields of Punishment. I hold sway, not enough to give your paradise but enough to give you a chance to make enough amends to end up out of the Darker fields. You can serve My Lord Hades, acting in a way that would help the Underworld. Building overpasses, constructing additions to the temples, shrines, and just overall improving the layout of the Underworld... you will keep your mind, your sanity and earn your way into being around those you love. I swear in Styx that this is my truth."

The thundering startled the Son of Athena. "I... I... I was going to spy for Luke, to help him with the string... if he gave me the better offer, but I know of you and your power... if you can get Lord Hades to swear this to me then I will agree to it."

Waving his hand, Aaron summoned a shadow that swirled until it revealed Hades and Persephone both, on their thrones. They took one look at Aaron, then Daedelus and frowned. " What is this, Aaron?"

"This is Daedelus, and he can help defend the camp and improve the Underworld all at once... but he will need an agreement... let me explain fully."

Persephone nodded. "Please do, little love."

And so he did, detail for detail, with Daedelus adding his own comments into the conversation every so often.

Once they finished, Hades nodded. "If you agree to help, then this will be your path. Minos' lust for vengeance is too great to be trusted, and he... he is missing, he has abandoned his post many a time. I have long since considered being free of him as a judge. I swear by Styx."

As the sky thundered once more, Daedelus bowed. "I will serve... and I will see my family. I swear by Styx to the terms agreed to." The Shadow faded and Daedelus turned to Aaron. "You caring soul is a gift, never lose it."

"I don't plan to. Now... to Chiron, he needs to know.;

'''

After the games it became clear that Percy and Annabeth were missing. The entire camp went searching for an hour until the two appeared, looking flustered and confused.

"Where have you two been?" Clarisse demanded. "We've been looking forever."

"But we were gone only a few minutes," Percy said, making Aaron gap, he knew exactly what that meant.

Chiron trotted up, followed by Tyson and Grover.

"Percy!" Tyson said. "You are okay?"

"We're fine," Percy said. "We fell in a hole."

The others looked at Percy skeptically, then at Annabeth.

"Honest!" Percy said. "There were three scorpions after us, so we ran and hid in the rocks. But we were only gone a minute."

"You've been missing for almost an hour," Chiron said. "The game is over."

"Yeah," Grover muttered. "We would've won, but a Cyclops sat on me."

"Was an accident!" Tyson protested, and then he sneezed.

Clarisse was wearing the gold laurels "A hole?" she said suspiciously.

Annabeth took a deep breath. She looked around at the other campers. "Chiron…maybe we should talk about this at the Big House."

Clarisse gasped. "You found it, didn't you?"

Annabeth bit her lip. "I—Yeah. Yeah, we did."

A bunch of campers started asking questions, but Chiron raised his hand for silence. "Tonight is not the right time, and this is not the right place." He stared at boulders as if he'd just noticed how dangerous they were. "All of you, back to your cabins. Get some sleep. A game well played, but curfew is past!"

There was a lot of mumbling and complaints, but the campers drifted off, talking among themselves and giving Percy suspicious looks.

"This explains a lot," Clarisse said. "It explains what Luke is after."

"Wait a second," Percy said. "What do you mean? What did we find?"

Annabeth turned toward me, her eyes dark with worry. "An entrance to the Labyrinth. An invasion route straight into the heart of the camp."

Daedelus came forward. " It is an entrance. I can feel them... since I built the Maze." They all turned to him, shocked. "I am Daedelus, and because of Aaron I am going to help you."

Chapter end, tell me what you think in the reviews.

This was a blast to write.

Love, your Ninja Overlord,

Mika.