I do not own, that would be Rick Riordan.

Thanks you to those people who reviewed last chapter.

This chapter was brought to you by my sickness and having a week off sick. (Don't expect it often- It is Spring in Australia and we have had unseasonably warm weather and I get sick).

Chapter 23- War Council

"There is an entrance into the Labyrinth at camp," exclaimed Zeus.

"Yeah at the pile of dog poo," said Connor.

"I love that Chiron sent you to bed, your mortal life were in danger but sleep tight," said Thalia.

"That night was the first of a series of dreams," said Percy. Apollo grinned,

"I love your dreams, they are really informative," he said.

"I dreamed of a stone room, huddled in the corner was a boy, he was dirty and had scratches and scrapes on his arms, legs and face like he had been dragged into the room,"

"Is that Nico?" asked Thalia.

"It is not me," said Nico pouting.

"The boy was dressed in a Greek tunic and sandals," said Percy.

"I still think it could be Nico, maybe the ghost talked into that outfit and situation," said Thalia.

"IT IS NOT ME," yelled Nico standing up but was grabbed before he could start a fist fight with Thalia.

"You're dreaming about the past again," exclaimed Aphrodite.

"In the dream, double oak doors are opened and guards threw an old man to the floor. It was Daedalus, and the boy was his son," said Percy. "Behind the guards stood a tall man in white robes and wearing a circlet of gold on his head. He accused Daedalus of helping the Athenian kill his Minotaur and turning his daughter against him."

"He turned his daughter against him, himself," mumbled Athena.

"The king said the room they were currently in would be Daedalus's workshop and he was to stay there in the workshop making him new wonders. Apparently every maze needs a monster and Daedalus was to be his. He threatened that he will inflict punishment on his boy if he displeased him," informed Percy.

"I can't believe you started dreaming about Daedalus," said Clarisse.

"That was the end of the dream. But not the last one," said Percy.

"In the morning Chiron called a war council, we met in the sword arena where Mrs O'Leary was chewing on a large pink life-size rubber yak squeak toy," said Connor.

"I don't want to know where they found a life size squeak toy for a hellhound," said Poseidon.

"I do," said Hades.

"Chiron and Quintus were present and Clarisse and I lead the briefing," said Annabeth.

"We were present along with Percy, Silena, Beckendorf, Lee, Tyson, Grover, Juniper and Argus," said Travis pointing to himself and Connor.

"It must be a serious threat if Argus is present," said Zeus.

"We knew Luke had known about the entrance as he knew everything about camp," said Annabeth.

"That not good, the enemy knowing everything about the camp," said Athena.

"Juniper confirmed that the cave entrance had been there for a while and that Luke used to use it," said Clarisse.

"She knew about the Labyrinth entrance and didn't say anything," exclaimed Aphrodite.

"She didn't think it was important. It was a cave and she didn't like caves," said Percy.

"She admitted that she wouldn't have paid attention except that it was Luke," said Travis.

"Did all the girls have crushes on Luke?" asked Nico as Annabeth, Thalia and Katie blush bright red.

"Hermes, your son must be blest with good looks and charm," said Aphrodite.

"Yeah, it definitely didn't come from you," said Dionysus teasing his older brother.

"We agreed that Luke would dare use the Labyrinth as an invasion route," said Clarisse.

"If Luke could get an army of monsters through the maze and into Camp Half-Blood he wouldn't have to worry about the magical boundaries," said Athena.

"He would pop up in the middle of the woods and could easily wipe everyone out. You wouldn't stand a chance," said Ares clearly disgusted with the strategy, it would be a massacre not a war.

"We knew that Luke had been planning for months as he had been sending scouts into the maze, we knew because we found one," said Annabeth.

"That would be you?" asked Hermes looking at Chris who nodded.

"Luke was searching for a way through the maze, He was searching for Daedalus's workshop," said Chris.

"Percy dreamt of the workshop before he even knew who Daedalus was," pointed out Connor.

"We knew if Luke managed to find the workshop and convinced Daedalus to help him, he could navigate the maze quickly and safely," said Annabeth.

"Convince Daedalus, he should be dead," said Zeus.

"Except he is not," moaned Hades.

"Rumours are that he disappeared back into the Labyrinth towards the end of his life. He might be still alive," said Apollo.

"You need to get to the workshop first and convince Daedalus to help you, not Luke. Also if Ariadne's string still exists, you need to make sure it never falls into his hands," said Artemis.

"If you are worried about an attack why don't you just seal the tunnel? Just blow up the entrance," said Ares.

"We had tried that with the entrance we found at Phoenix, I demolished a whole building with a wreaking ball, and the entranced of the maze just shifted a few metres," said Clarisse. The gods were discouraged to hear that.

"I'm glad we didn't need the dynamite," said Will.

"I know can you imagine the pandemonium if some people got their hands on them," said Katie looking at the Stolls.

"We had some but Chiron took it….Mr D threatened us with a fate worst than death if he ever found us with dynamite," said Travis.

"Thank goodness," said Clarisse.

"We decided to set up a defensive line and wait in case Luke managed to get an army through the Labyrinth," said Percy.

"If Luke gets a large army into camp bypassing the magical boundaries… they may not have the strength to defeat them…" Athena pointed out to the other gods and goddesses. They all looked troubled.

"You need to find Daedalus's workshop and Ariadne's string before Luke does," said Zeus.

"Annabeth mentioned that she had been studying architecture for years and knew Daedalus's Labyrinth better than anyone," said Travis.

"From reading about it?" exclaimed Aphrodite.

"We needed a quest and Annabeth was to lead it," said Clarisse.

"Clarisse refused to attend the quest, stating that she would never go into the Labyrinth again," said Travis as Clarisse glared at him.

"I understand," said Percy, Annabeth, Rachel and Chris while Nico nodding in agreement.

"Waiting for Annabeth to visit the Oracle was harder than when I visited the Oracle," admitted Percy.

"Really, you really think that?" asked Thalia.

"I hate waiting," admitted Percy.

"We know, Percy was pacing the arena," Connor informed the gods.

"Mrs O'Leary was having lunch, where did the trashcan lid size dog biscuits come from?" asked Travis.

"Not sure, but Nico gets me some," said Percy.

"Shh Percy, Dad doesn't need to know that I'm stealing Cerebus's dog biscuits," said Nico.

"Connor, Travis and Tyson were racing miniature chariots that Tyson had made from scraped pieces of armour," said Percy.

"Who won?" asked Will.

"Tyson, I still think he gave himself the better chariot," grumbled Connor.

"You're just bitter because you came last," said Travis.

"I left the arena and as I did Juniper called me over. She informed me that Luke wasn't the only one she saw hanging around the cave. Quintus the sword master had been snooping at the cave," said Percy.

"When was Quintus hanging around the entrance?" asked Hermes.

"He checked out the cave when he first arrived at camp. Juniper thought he was creepy as he had just appeared in the glade," said Percy.

"I don't think I would trust him," pondered Hestia.

"I couldn't wait any longer and headed to the big house to find Annabeth," said Percy.

"It's against the rules," exclaimed Katie.

"Yeah but I didn't care then, I soon wished I hadn't," admitted Percy.

"Why would you regret going to the big house?" asked Poseidon.

"When I got to the stairs I heard sobbing and it wasn't coming from above," said Percy with a quick glance at Clarisse and Chris.

"In the basement was Clarisse. She was with Chris who was wearing tattered and dirty clothing and his hair was greasy and mattered. He was hugging his shoulders and sobbing," said Percy. "Chris called Clarisse Mary stating that she was an illusion."

"Who is Mary?" asked Will. Chris shook his head a look of fear, sorrow and pain crossed his features.

"You shouldn't have been eaves dropping," reprimanded Lady Hestia.

"I know, "said Percy.

"Why are you in the basement?" asked Apollo confused.

"We were waiting for Mr D to arrive as he is the expert in madness, we were hoping he could make Chris better," said Clarisse. Clearly that had happened.

"Chris was babbling about a thousand skulls, and that the earth keeps healing him," said Percy. Poseidon turned his head looking between Chris and Percy. Please not him? thought the god.

"Chris seemed to catch a glimpse of me and stated 'The son of Poseidon! He's horrible," said Percy.

"I agree Percy is horrible," chimed in Thalia as Percy rolled his eyes and Poseidon looked horrified, he knew which son of Poseidon they were talking about and he did not like it.

"Although Chris was looking straight at me, I got the feeling he hadn't been talking about me. I quickly made my way out of the building and back to the arena," said Percy.

"Annabeth arrived after getting a

Prophecy and would lead the quest to find Daedalus's workshop," said Travis.

"What did the Prophecy say," asked Apollo.

"Annabeth had trouble remembering it, which was strange," said Connor as all the gods turned to said demi-god.

"That is unlike you Annie," said Thalia ignoring the look Annabeth gave her for calling her Annie.

"I remembered most of it. I was worried about what the prophecy said and meant," admitted Annabeth.

"What did the Prophecy say," Apollo asked again.

"You shall delve in the darkness of the endless maze.

The dead, the traitor and the lost one raise.

You shall rise or fall by the ghost king's hand,

The child of Athena's final stand," said Annabeth.

"And then she couldn't remember the rest, it was something about 'Destroy with a hero's final breath," said Travis.

"Hey how come Rachel didn't take over?" asked Will. They all looked at said Oracle and found her pinned to the couch by the son of Poseidon his hand firmly over her mouth.

"Percy! Get off her," said Annabeth.

"She was going to give away the story- you not telling us the whole prophecy is an important part," said Percy but climbed off Rachel giving her an apologetic look.

"You owe me," Rachel said glaring at Percy.

"Sorry. Let's discuss the prophecy," said Percy.

"The lost one does that mean Pan?" asked Hermes.

"How can we discuss a prophecy that is unfinished?" asked Apollo looking at Annabeth and the other demi-gods.

"I knew I had to go into the Labyrinth and I needed help. Percy accepted to help," said Annabeth.

"Annabeth than chose Grover and Tyson to accompany her as well," said Connor.

"Hang on that goes against ancient laws. A hero is allowed only two companions," said Athena looking at her daughter.

"I needed them all," admitted Annabeth.

"Tyson was happy, it was Blow-things-up time," said Travis.

"I don't like it, there are always consequences to breaking ancient laws, three is a sacred number," said Athena.

"I NEEDED them ALL," Annabeth repeated.

"Chiron was clearly not happy but sent them to prepare for the quest," said Connor.

"Quintus pulled me to the side and told me that he had a bad feeling and he didn't like the idea of any of us entering the maze. I didn't trust him, remembering what Juniper had said but looking at him all I saw was concern," said Percy. "Quintus told me that the Labyrinth exists to fool you, it will distract you. That to a half-blood is dangerous as we are easily distracted."

"WE ARE NOT EASILY…." Said the Stolls but lost focus as the flames in the hearth changed colour and made figures.

"Quintus told me that he had been in there before and had barely escaped with his life. He told me to keep in mind what matters most because if I do I might find the way," said Percy. "He then gave me a gift, a dog whistle."

"A dog whistle, what sort of gift is that?" asked Aphrodite.

"It was a whistle for Mrs O'Leary, he wasn't sure how well it would work in the maze but she could appear no matter how far away she was. I also had to use it carefully because it was made of Stygian ice," said Percy.

"Stygian ice is very delicate, it cannot melt but can shatter," said Hades.

"I could only use it once as it was going to shatter when I blew it," said Percy "I however was a bit mistrusting of the gift because on my first quest…"

"Luke gave you the shoes that were to drag you to your death," said Artemis.

"I took the whistle and slipped it into my pocket promising myself that I would never need to use it," said Percy.

"What situation were you in to need to use it?" asked Poseidon, but was not answered.

"Percy came to me in the Athena cabin while I was rifling through scrolls trying to do some last minute research," said Annabeth.

"Annabeth was worrying about finally leading a quest, about whether or not she should have asked Tyson, Grover and I to attend. I also got the impression that there was something else- about the prophecy but she wouldn't say.

"I needed some reassurance so Percy put his arms around me in a hug," said Annabeth turning red.

"Finally, some love action," said Aphrodite.

"We were caught by Malcolm, Annabeth's half-brother and it was soon over," admitted Percy.

"Can I slap Malcolm, if he hadn't interrupted maybe they would have gotten together sooner," asked Katie.

"Percy stunned me when he asked me about the prophecy," admitted Annabeth.

"In other prophecies the last line usually rhymes with the one before," said Percy "Therefore I wanted to know if the line ended in the word death?"

A/N: I thank everyone for reading. I would love to know your thoughts on the chapter.

I asked in the last chapter: Which character would you like to meet and what advice would you give them?

Three people answered two said they wanted to meet Annabeth.

I loved Shel12 answer and why. If I could meet A character it would be Apollo. I would make him go and recite his bad poetry to English teachers so they don't make anyone waste their time writing essays on poetry. Seriously, since leaving school when have I had to recite poetry?