I choked on my own saliva, an embarrassing feat really. I coughed as I tried to recover myself and Charlie squinted at my reaction.
"No you're not," he argued confidentially.
Quintus looked surprised and thoughtful at the same time. "What makes you say that?" he asked. He looked different that when my mom had described him. His hair was long and grey, and a curly beard grew shamefully from his chin. Now, he was just an old man. A genius old man, but an old man nonetheless. He was a demigod son of Athena. My uncle, I guess.
"Because he's smart," Charlie excused, pointing at me.
"Daedalus," I reintroduced. Charlie's head whipped towards me in surprise and confusion, but he didn't question me. The look on "Quintus's" face confirmed my suspicion. He didn't say anything, only held his head in shame and sighed as I announced his real identity. "What are you doing here?" I asked.
Daedalus stared and us for a moment before sighing deeply (again) and giving up his cover. "Minos got what he wanted. I wanted to put him in Tartarus, so that's what he did to me," he explained. I had so many questions. I wondered if he knew that the laptop containing his work was down here, somewhere beneath the river of Lamentation. I doubted he'd want to know that, so I didn't mention it. Charlie pulled my hand and I looked up, noticing that the monsters were still moving and were almost out of sight by now.
"Come on!" I insisted. "We're following these monsters out of here."
While we walked, Daedalus told us his story. He even spoke about his time at Camp Half Blood. I had to keep myself from smiling as he mentioned my parents. He spoke so fondly of my mother, as if she were his hero and not the other way around.
"A very wise girl indeed…" he trailed off, looking wistfully into the distance as if he wished for nothing more than somebody to have an intelligent conversation with. I almost laughed at his unintentional pun. Wise girl. My dad would have laughed.
"So…" Charlie trailed off, trying to make small talk. "How'd you find out about the crack to the surface?" It was a strange question, especially if taken out of context.
Daedalus fidgeted guiltily, catching my attention. "The crack is not what you think," he said. He too a deep breath as if what he was about to admit would lead to dire consequences. "It's the Labyrinth."
TO BE CONTINUED…
