Hours later, after the Camp had been thrown into chaos surrounded rumors of the Labyrinth, Will had finished his DNA test and finger tip swabs.

"Are you crazy? We both know that's not possible!" Annabeth boomed, raising her voice for the first time in months. Annabeth rarely yelled at Will, who now stood in front of her, pale-faced and nearly shivering.

"Annabeth, I'm sorry but I know what I'm talking about and I know what I saw!" Will argued, motioning towards the arm laying on the slab next to them. His voice was low, quiet. Half the camp was holed into the infirmary once they heard that Will had identified the arm.

"No, Will you don't understand! It can't be!" Annabeth's voice cracked at the last word.

"It's Jase's arm, Annabeth, and he was alive when he lost it, today."

Annabeth shook her head and reached for Will. He held her tightly as Percy came running into the room. He glanced to the arm on the metal platter, then to Annabeth crying in Will's arms. He put it together rather quickly.

"You don't understand," Annabeth sobbed. "If that was Jase, then that means that I gave up on him! I gave up on my little boy when he was still alive! I could have been looking, fighting for him to come home, but I was moving on! And you're telling me he wasn't dead. Will, I gave up," she was whispering by the time she finished speaking. Grover grabbed Percy's arm, pulling him to reality.

"I need to speak to Thalia," Percy spoke promptly. Without even stopping to speak to his wife, he ran from the room to the forest where the hunters were practicing. Annabeth didn't call after him.

Casey was with Thalia, who was teaching her to shoot her bow. "Hey dad, I think I'm getting better than you!" she called as Percy approached.

"I think you were born better than him," Thalia snorted.

"Thalia I need the hunters to do something. When are you leaving?" Percy asked sternly.

"Uh, this afternoon? Early morning? I don't know, why?"

"The arm, it's Jase's."

"What?" Casey dropped the bow. "That means I was right! He's alive!" Her face lit up.

"Or he was when he pushed Will away from those monsters. But with blood loss he must have encountered could have been enough…"

"He's alive," Casey snapped. "Does this mean he's out of Tartarus? And if that really was the Labyrinth, how did Jase get there? Does this mean he can get out? What about Daedalus?"

Percy looked at Casey with a mournful look. "I don't know the answer to any of those questions. Thalia, I need your hunters to track down a monster that's been in the Labyrinth, find out if they've seen my son."

Thalia nodded, slinging her bow and whistling to the other hunters. "What will you be doing?" she asked Percy.

He sighed regretfully. "Right now, I need to help Annabeth. But I don't know what else we can do. If he's really in the Labyrinth, then he could be anywhere in the world. And the kids still have school-"

"What?" Casey interrupted. "You're saying that Jase is still alive and we can go save him, but we have to go to school? We have to find Jase!"

"No, Casey, that's not what I'm saying. I'm saying there's not really anything we can do. We have to stay here. If he gets out, this will be the first place he goes. We need to monitor communications in case he tries to call or Iris Message. We'll reach out to the Romans, and the Norse will have their valkyrie keep an eye out for him."

"We can open the Labyrinth here! Then we can go in and search for him-"

"No." Percy's face darkened. "The Labyrinth is endless, there's no way we'd ever find him. Besides, it's too dangerous. I will not lose another child."

Casey's eyes widened almost to a pout. "But if it's so dangerous, then why are you letting Jase go through it alone?"

Percy was silent. The comment struck him through the heart. If he were younger, back when he didn't have kids and still thought that everything would always turn out ok, like the last time he'd traveled through the Labyrinth, he would have jumped right in just to explore. But now, he knew the consequences. Death was just around the corner in this life, and if he died now, he's leave his kids fatherless. He's leave Annabeth without her husband, her best friend. Was he willing to risk the life of one child to save another?

"No, Casey. We can't risk it," he finally said. "I'm not letting Jase go alone, he has Charlie." His tone was hopeful, strangely optimistic.

"Charlie Valdez? The same Charlie that didn't know what a demigod was last time we saw him? Yeah, I'm sure he'll keep Jase safe."

Percy shrugged. "Demigods are fast learners. I've got to go find Annabeth. As for you, you're staying here. The hunters will track down any leads, but we-"

"Then I'll go with them!" Casey once again butted in.

Thalia's eyebrows shot into the air. Percy froze mid-step and turned back around. "Casey, are you saying-"

"I'll become a hunter. If that's what it takes. I need to find my brother, and if you aren't going to help me I'll find another way. Like you said, the Labyrinth is dangerous. We need to get him out."

"Are you sure about this?" Thalia asked, whispering to Casey. Casey noticed she was clutching her sword pendant tightly.

Casey nodded sharply. "Yes, let's do it. Make me a hunter."