Chapter Title: I Get Dragged By My Sister After Her Boyfriend (Or So She Denies)

(A/N: I'm using more of laurellins' "Tales From Camp Half Blood" as a basis for these chapters, though they are somewhat altered to fit the context of the story.)

November 2007
Over four months later..
Colton's POV

Kayla had to go back at the end of the summer, to her father. More fashion shows and archery tournaments, she told me. Words cannot describe how much I miss her. It was for a lack of a better word, depressing.

I still did what I did, but honestly, every monster kill that I took with the Whitworth just felt way more personal now, because I knew full well, there was a chance that she could die out there and her hero would not be around to save her.

I talked to my siblings less, except for Sherman and Clarisse - as well as Annabeth and Thalia. Thalia hadn't taken the news that Luke had turned into a different man than the one she remembered too well, and Annabeth was just different.. not happy at all for some reason that Percy was away in High School while she was here at camp without him.

I think it was for that reason that we all became close friends in the months following Thalia's resurrection. I'm not sure.

Point is, I was like a whole different person without Kayla, and practically everyone at camp knew.

Clarisse had been gone for a couple weeks in November. Chiron had sent her on some sort of mission, for what she didn't say. Chiron wasn't talking either.

I let Sherman be temporary head counselor while she was gone, because without Kayla in my life, I didn't like doing it.

Every time we met up before she went back, after that kiss on the cheek, things just felt.. like.. more personal in a good way. I still don't know why, all I do know is that is because of her.

I've now gotten into the habit of killing as many snakes in camp as I can when it's snake day for the Apollo cabin. Lee appreciates it greatly. But still, nothing could really make up for the lack of Kayla in my life. I felt miserable.

It was after those two weeks were up that Clarisse came back. Instead of reassuming cabin duties, she had grabbed me by the collar, told Sherman that he was still head counselor for a bit longer, and then dragged me out of the cabin, while I was kicking and screaming, and out of Camp Half Blood, until she got tired of me flailing like an idiot and told me to shut up.

Next thing I knew, I'm with my sister in the airport getting on an airplane heading to Phoenix, Arizona. I was so confused. What the hell is even going on here?

"Why did you have to do that?" I asked her as we waited for the plane to depart, albeit in a quiet manner.

"Why did I do what?" she asked back.

"Why did you drag me out of the cabin?" I replied.

"You have been moping around camp like a weenie for the past couple of months since Kayla left so I thought I take you to get some fresh air.." she snapped back. "Besides, you can help me with that task Chiron gave me."

"What task was that?" I asked back.

She sighed. "Something about Luke maybe looking forward a possible invasion route into camp."

I tried my hardest not to start laughing. "That's impossible. Barrier is strong. There's no way that they can get in."

"Not above ground, dummy.." she hissed back at me. "Below ground. Ever heard of the labyrinth?"

I got a feeling of dread in my throat, but I nodded. "It's here in America with us" she added. "Said to be all underneath it. Every place imaginable has an entrance. From Louisville, Kentucky to the middle of the Mojave Desert.. and possibly in Long Island, New York as well."

"So what exactly does going to Phoenix have to do with anything?" I asked, and she got a very serious look on her face.

"One of Luke's people just showed up outside my mother's house, suffering majorly. I.. it.. it's Chris."

I was in shock. It couldn't be. Chris Rodriguez had been Luke's younger sibling and one of the first that had ran off from camp to join his cause. How in the hell had he ended up in the middle of the Arizona Desert? Unless..

"You think it's connected to the labyrinth why Chris turned up at your mother's house?" I asked her. She nodded.

"If it is.. then we know Luke is definitely searching for an entrance.. the question is where is the location of said entrance in camp if it exists?" I asked, not feeling too good in asking that question at all. I hated it.

Absolutely hated it.

"That's a question I wish I didn't have to ask.." replied my sister. "Like, I really wish I didn't have to, but that traitor had to go and join Kronos, so here we are."

Indeed, here we were, asking ourselves those difficult, gut-wrenching, heavy questions. All because Luke thought the best way of ensuring a better future for demigods was to help the very people that the Gods overthrew in the first place take over the world. What an idiot that guy was.

Because if he succeeded, it would mean the end of my siblings, of Camp Half Blood, of me, and.. Kayla.

My girl.

I had to pause and take a few deep breaths at that thought. Why the hell am I calling her that in my head? It's not like I have deeper feelings for her than just being friends.. do I?

- — - — - — - — -

No matter how much I racked my brain, I still couldn't get an answer to that riddle by the time we landed in Phoenix. "So this is where you can from, sister?" I asked her as we walked through the airport after getting off the flight. She simply turned and nodded.

"Born and raised out here by my mother.. at least until I had to go to camp.." she said. "I still keep in touch with her by phone, that's how I found out about Chris."

"Your boyfriend?" I teased, and she turned red in the face.. unusual for my sister, to say the least.

"N..n-no!" she stuttered. "He's not my boyfriend! Why would I even have feelings for that idiot who left camp to join that traitor's crusade against the gods? Besides, that's rich, given your relationship with you know who.."

It took a few moments before I realized who she was talking about. Now it was my turn to turn red in the face out of blushing and embarrassment.

"Look.." I said after a few more moments. "..she and I are friends, that's all. I just miss her a lot."

"You know what they say.." she called out. "..absence makes the heart grow fonder."

I stopped there for a few moments, confused as hell. What the fuck did she mean by that? Like, is my heart growing fonder for Kayla the more I miss her?

It felt weird, really weird honestly. I couldn't figure it out, so after a few more moments, I took off to catch back up to Clarisse.

- — - — - — - — -

I didn't really know what to even expect about where my sister grew up, but honestly, the two story red brick house with a blue reinforced roof connected by power lines just off a dusty road more or less matched at least part of what I expected. Just on the outskirts of civilization.

That would be just about all that met my expectations on this particular trip, to be honest.

I stood behind Clarisse as she knocked on the front door, and we waited a few moments before her mother, who was slightly taller than her, opened the door. Her face looked tired and very stressed out, yet she gave her daughter a tight hug. "Thank the gods you're here.." she said to her daughter. "He's been getting worse. I've tried mortal medicines and prayed to every healing god I could think of. But nothing has helped."

Those words had me thinking about what the fuck must have gone on down in that literal hellhole of a maze. Seriously Chris, what the fuck happened to you?

"I even tried praying to your father. Usually he'll send me some kind of sign, but nothing this time" Clarisse's mother said to her.

"Probably because Chris is now an enemy of the Gods now.." Clarisse revealed to her mother, causing her mother's eyes to go wide. "None of them would want to intervene to help him."

"Should we be helping him then..?" she asked awkwardly, trailing off at the end.

Clarisse huffed. "Yes, we are going to help him. Me, you, and Colton.." she said, turning and gesturing to me. Clarisse's mother looked at me, and to be completely fair, I could definitely see that she took more traits physically from her mother than from Ares while standing a few feet away from the two of them.

Her mother looked almost like her twin, they were so similar despite the height difference that I would call them twins if I didn't know any better. Either way, I just gave a wave when she looked at me.

"I'm not letting him get away until he can look me in the eyes and explain why he betrayed me" Clarisse continued. "Besides, he was close to Luke from what I remember. He could have useful information."

I didn't want to be the one that pointed out the obvious about how hard that was going to be, but I felt like I had to.

"Uh.. Clarisse.." I started. "I don't mean to be rude, but given what your mother just said, I have a feeling that doing that is going to be easier said than done."

Her mother simply nodded along with what I was saying. "Alright.. you can see him first.. but I'd like to talk with Colton for a moment.." she said, allowing Clarisse entry into the house.

"He's in the guest room!" she called out, before stepping out of the doorway and turning around to me.

"So.. you're her younger sibling Colton.." she said warmly. "Clarisse has said so much about you, young man."

I couldn't help but look away and blush. "Yeah.. well.." I responded awkwardly. "She isn't the type to speak so warmly about other people in front of the other campers. So, color me surprised."

I wasn't lying at all either. She never was the type to do that publicly, only in private.

"OH MY GOD!" Clarisse shrieked from inside the house in horror, interrupting the conversation between me and her mother. "CHRIS!"

Her mother turned around in worry, and to be fair, I was worried too.

"How bad was he when you found him?" I asked as we both made for the door and I entered into my sister's house. The grim look on her mother's face when she turned to look at me told me all I needed to know.

It was very, very, very bad.

I felt sick to my stomach. "I'm sorry I asked.." I muttered as we made our way into the guest room. Clarisse stood in one corner, frozen in a state of fright and horror.

Chris was lying on the bed, definitely not asleep as he just squirmed and mumbled under his breath, not even acknowledging our presence. He was bandaged quite heavily, for there were multiple bandaged wounds on his body that we could see, most likely having been done by Clarisse's mother. And honestly, I'll admit, it definitely made me start to consider Clarisse's house as not a bad place to be dumped if I was wounded heavily and dumped in the middle of nowhere.

Chris' eyes were unfocused and wild as he repeated words under his breath over and over. He was physically a bit different than the last time me or Clarisse had seen him, now being a bit taller than my sister and with his hair being longer and more unruly, but it was still Chris nonetheless.

"I'll leave you three then.." her mother spoke, shaking me out of my thoughts and my sister out of her horror staring. "I'll make some more offerings to Dionysus and Apollo in hopes they will intercede to heal his mind."

Clarisse thanked her mom quietly, and then left, leaving me and Clarisse with Chris.

"What the fuck was he even doing down there in the labyrinth?" I hissed to my sister.

"I think he was looking for Ariadne's string.. you know.. the string that Theseus used to find his way out after he killed the Minotaur.." Clarisse replied, and I nodded. "Mother said he kept referring to string in the singular form, so that's probably what he was looking for."

"But why would Luke even need the string..?" I asked, trailing off when I realized the uncomfortable truth. That entrance into camp.. it probably does exist after all. That's why Luke sent Chris down there.

Clarisse looked at me, and I looked back at her. Her eyes, filled with dread and horror and realization, told me all I needed to know. She realized it too.

"That entrance into camp.." she muttered. "Guess it does exist after all. This is just fucking great."

Kayla was not going to take that news well at all. Then again, neither were me or Clarisse right now. In a matter of moments, we were back to that state we were in when Thalia's tree was dying. Unsure of how the hell we were going to save camp and protect our siblings too.

She turned to Chris now and cautiously approached him. "Chris?" she spoke quietly, evidently not wishing to startle him.

His eyes blinked at her like he was seeing things, "Mary?"

My sister was confused, but even as she spoke, I was trying to decipher it. "I don't know who Mary is. My name is Clarisse, surely you remember me?" she asked.

Then it hit me. He wasn't down there alone. He must have had company along with him and something went terribly wrong down there.

Chris' words only made me more sure of this. "We should give up Mary" he said. "He'll keep making us fight till we die anyway. Let's just die now."

"Who's making you fight? Who's Mary?" Clarisse asked, her voice rising slightly. Before Chris could say anything else, I filled in the dots for her.

"You weren't alone down there, Chris. You had people with you and they died.. and you wanted to quit because Kronos wanted you to keep fighting. Is that it?" I asked as his vision slightly cleared enough for him to turn at me and simply nod before he slipped back into the mania.

Clarisse looked at me, eyes wide with horror. Chris started shaking his head frantically, "Melina you have to stay quiet!"

That name, both of us did remember. Melina had been the second oldest in the cabin, and she had only briefly led the cabin for the time between Austin leaving for college and Percy arriving at camp. She had left camp a few hours after Percy arrived and never returned for some reason.

We had always thought she had decided to return to her family. But now, it seemed she too had been drawn into Luke and Kronos' war against the Gods. It was very much a rude awakening for both of us, me and Clarisse.

"Melina? Like my sister?" Clarisse asked more quietly this time, but Chris didn't answer. He was giving the thousand yard stare right now and it frustrated my sister a whole lot.

She wanted to pour something down his throat, as she was reaching for nectar, but I grabbed her hand to stop her. "What? Are you nuts?" She hissed at me.

I looked her grimly in the eyes. "Just.. let me try.." I said calmly and she nodded.

I turned to Chris. "Look Chris.." I started. "I know you've probably most likely been driven mad by the Labyrinth, but I'd like to ask you a few questions. First off, did Luke send you down there with Mary and Melina?"

The mania once again seemed to wear off as he looked at me and nodded. "Might I ask what reason he gave you, if any?" I continued. The mania wore off more, as he started to remember.

"H-He.. said.. that he needed the string.. to help guide the army through the Labyrinth to Camp Half Blood.. he needed a safe route through there.. string seemed like the most likely thing that could help us do it.." Chris responded, confirming me and Clarisse's worst suspicions.

An entrance from the labyrinth to Camp Half Blood definitely existed, there was no longer any doubt from either of us now.

"Did Mary and Melina die before you went mad or after?" I continued, and Chris shook his head, clutching it with his hands a little bit.

"I.. don't know.." he said. "Maybe before, I think.."

He then started muttering, "Damn illusions and traps."

"Illusions and traps?" I asked him, curious. The mania seemed to be almost gone from him now.

"Yeah.. those things were a bitch.." he said. "One of them was of Clarisse.. and I had to tell myself that she wasn't in the labyrinth over and over.."

Clarisse's heart just broke. The labyrinth had tortured Chris by using herself as an illusion to do it. It was beyond cruel.

"What exactly do you remember last?" I asked him, and in a flash, the mania melted away completely and he stopped doing those mad motions.

"Kinda hard for me to remember.. but I was running like crazy, and I rounded this corner.. and I saw this guy.. this ghost dude.. with a beard.. looked like Minos.." he said, and he looked at Clarisse for the first time and blushed.

"Minos? As in King Minos?" Clarisse asked him, her face going a bit red just from seeing Chris looking at her.

"Yeah.. he called himself the Ghost King.." Chris said back, before he seemed to remember something else. "Antaeus is down there too."

"That guy Hercules crushed in a bear hug after lifting him off the ground?" I asked, and Chris turned and nodded.

"God.. Clarisse.." he said, and my sister just melted from his words. "You're even more pretty since I last saw you.."

I turned to the door, and opened it, with Clarisse's mother standing on the other side. "Dionysus gave me a sign that he would heal him.. is he mind cured now?" she asked him.

"Yeah it is.." I told her, the sound of Chris and Clarisse chatting behind me confirming this to her. "I managed to jog him back and reveal most of what happened down there."

"Well good.. that's very good.." she said before Clarisse walked up behind me. "Colton, move please."

I did as my sister asked, sitting down beside Chris. "I need you to take me to the exact spot where you found Chris after he escaped the labyrinth" Clarisse said to her mother.

Her mother gave her a bewildered look. "Why?"

"I need to go in the labyrinth myself.." Clarisse replied before turning to me. "You stay here with him."

I nodded, before I smirked. "So is he your boyfriend or no?" I teased as she walked out of the room.

"For the last time, Colton.." she hollered back. "..he's not my boyfriend!"

The door shut and it was now just me and Chris, who simply just said, "Yep.. you really have not changed much."