(A/N: The chain of events that leads to the part you all have been waiting for begins in this chapter. Hope you're ready for the rollercoaster of emotions. Just one thing I want to make clear. Most of the rest of Part Two is inspired by fanfic user "Askinar-The-Dark" and his fanfic "Demigod?", in which Kronos somehow has a demi-Titan son of his own in the modern age and that son goes on to defeat his father while taking Percy's place as being the one who is sent to Calypso's Island in BOTL, and somehow manages to get Thalia Grace to fall in love with him. I know, ironic isn't it? Anyways, here's the chapter!)

Chapter Title: I Get Shoehorned Into The Labyrinth (And Kayla's Not Happy)

June 4th

Lee and the Apollo Cabin drove off an Aethopian Drakon that had been lurking near the border since like one am during the night. I apparently slept through that, as did Kayla.

Either way, Clarisse informed us all in the Ares Cabin this morning about the labyrinth entrance, which confirmed my suspicions from yesterday.

She pulled me off to the side while we were walking to breakfast though. I was honestly surprised, as was Kayla.

"Apologies, Kayla.." Clarisse said kindly. "But I need to speak to my younger brother.. alone please."

Kayla nodded, and walked off, leaving me and Clarisse by ourselves.

"What was that for..?" I asked her.

She had a serious look on her face. "Annabeth got a prophecy last night, and part of it involves you."

Oh joy. Another prophecy.

Sarcasm. Yeah, I know.

"So what did it say?"

Clarisse looks left and right, making sure no else is around, before she looks at me again. "Before I say this to you, I suspect that there's a part of this that Annabeth is leaving out, but I'm not sure" she says, and I nod, a little bit curious.

She took a deep breath and cleared her throat. "It went like this. You shall delve in the darkness of the endless maze. The dead, the traitor, the lost one raise. Gun and Bow find the truth.. to seek the joy that they never thought. You shall rise or fall at the ghost king's hand. A child of Athena's final stand. Destroy with a hero's final breath."

I noticed something. That was only seven lines.

"Yeah.. I can definitely see why you think Annabeth is hiding something.." I told her, and she nodded in agreement.

"So.." she replied. "..what do we know?"

"We know from Chris that Minos is currently the ghost king now.." I said, thinking over it. "But given what he did to Chris, there's a chance that he isn't the one who does that part of the prophecy. I just don't think it's likely he'll give Annabeth and whoever else she brings with her on this the option of rising."

"So what are you saying? That's there going to be a new ghost king?" she asked me.

"Possibly.. you never know.." I said back to my sister. "We also know that the maze is the labyrinth. That's obvious. Plus.. we know that gun and bow probably refers to me and Kayla.." I couldn't help but blush a bit at that. "..and that the dead could possibly mean that kid that ran off at the Winter Solstice. Bianca's brother, Nico Di Angelo."

"Indeed.." Clarisse responded. "Grover thinks that the lost one refers to Pan."

I considered it. Pan had been missing for a really long time, without a trace of him having ever been found. If he was underground.. then..

"I think it might be.." I said back to her. "It would make sense if Pan is the lost one because he's down there in the labyrinth."

"Maybe.. but there's no way to know for sure.. unless we found him down there.. and the labyrinth is perilous as it is.." she responded, and I nodded. She was correct. Unless we found him down there, we had no way to know for sure if my theory was correct.

"Fair enough.. but still.. it's our best bet given what we know.." I told her. "..when are they off?"

"Annabeth leaves today.. along with her quest partners.." she told me. "Chiron asked both of us to meet with him and the other head counselors later on today."

"Really? You sure?" I asked back, and she nodded. Usually, I was never called for cabin counselor meetings, so this was a rarity for sure.

"Okay then.." I told her, walking towards the pavilion. "..let me just get some breakfast first. I can't go into a cabin counselor meeting on an empty stomach."

- — - — - — - — -

We met up with Chiron and the other counselors after breakfast and after Percy and Annabeth had stepped off into the labyrinth. To be honest, I wasn't surprised that Annabeth had picked Percy. It wouldn't make sense for her to pick anyone else.

Lee, Silena, Charles, the Stoll brothers, Miranda, Pollux, and Malcolm were all there alongside Chiron in the meeting room of the Big House when me and Clarisse arrived.

Nobody spoke. Chiron looked nervous honestly, which was to be expected, given the situation. "Ah.. Clarisse.. Colton.. glad to see you could make it.." he said, trying to remain calm.

"Indeed.." I replied. "Might I ask why you called me here too?"

"I have a mission I need you to do.." he told me. "We have a problem when it comes to defenses. We lack magical weapons at the moment, since three of them were taken into the labyrinth.. and the only one here at camp is with Lee."

I nodded. Oh, so weapons-gathering run.. simple.

"Where exactly do I get magical weapons from then?" I asked.

Chiron looked a bit more nervous. "From Hephaestus' forge.." he replied.

"And where exactly is the forge then?" I asked again, having a sinking feeling that I was not going to like the answer at all.

Chiron looked even more nervous now than when he spoke the last time. "The last time I checked, the location that Hephaestus preferred his forge to be was.. in the labyrinth."

I paled at Chiron's words. There was no way he was asking me.. ME.. to go down into that death trap of a place and go to Hephaestus or a Cyclopes to get more magical weapons. But I had heard him, so it was likely that I was. In a way, it made sense about the location. By having his forge in the labyrinth, Hephaestus would have a lot easier time accessing metals to work with. It made perfect sense honestly.

But still, it meant that I would have to go down there and find him.

"Do I at least get to take anyone else?" I asked him, hoping at least I wouldn't have to go down there alone.

"No."

You got to be fucking kidding me.

As expected, Clarisse was.. not happy at all. That was an understatement to be honest. My sister looked mortified at the idea.

Her face was paler than even I had ever seen before.

"No!" she shouted. "He's not going alone. You know what happened to Chris! No!"

Chiron shifted his body, looking a good bit uncomfortable with all this. Silena was also pale at the thought of me going down there alone; Lee had a look of outright horror on his face; Beckendorf looked like he was not a fan of this decision at all; Miranda just looked at me with pity; the Stoll brothers were outright shocked, and Malcolm was in disbelief. "Clarisse. He is more than capa.."

My sister interrupted him. "NO! No one is!"

On the one hand, she was right. No matter how skilled you were, no matter how capable you were, the labyrinth was designed to break you down to a scared person before it finished you off. We all knew that full well.

On the other hand, we needed those magical weapons if we were to withstand Luke's onslaught should he attack camp. I had to make a decision.. one that honestly made me feel between a rock and a hard place.

I put my hands on my sister's shoulders, looking at her now tear-stained face.

"Clarisse.. look.." I said, really feeling downright guilty. "I don't like this either.. but everyone else is needed here at camp.. so I'm gonna have to go down into there. To protect you, to protect Kayla.." I blushed at the mention of Kayla from myself. I still don't know why I do that. "..to protect everyone, I have to do this."

I hugged her, letting her cry into my shirt.

"Why?!" she screamed. "You know how dangerous that place is!"

I got serious. "I don't like my options here either, I said that before. But if it means we have some more magical weapons to use against whatever Luke is going to throw at us, it's a hell of a lot better than letting all of camp be destroyed by an army of monsters" I answered her. I never seen her this emotional, not since Chris.

My mind thought of that man. Oh, I thought to myself. He was going to have his hands full tonight.

"Please don't go, little bro" she pleaded with me. "Please. It was bad enough that Chris had to go into that.. that terrible place.. but now you as well?!"

"Do I look like I even have a damn choice in this, sister?!" I snapped back. "I have to."

"No. You don't."

Then she pulled herself out of my hug and stormed off, and my heart honestly felt like it was shattering into a million pieces.

If Clarisse was like this, I thought to myself. I shudder at how Kayla is going to react.

I didn't stay for the rest of the meeting. I simply left after that.

- — - — - — - — -

I never got the chance to see how she reacted, and to be honest, part of me was glad that my heart didn't have to break into more pieces over her reaction.. but at the same time, I felt angry that I couldn't be there to comfort her and assure her that I would return.

But as I stepped towards that labyrinth, seemingly beckoned towards it by something about an hour after the meeting, decked in full gear, two swords sheathed on my back, a mixture of rounds in my cartridge box, and Whitworth Rifle in hand, I knew one thing and one thing only.

That no matter what happened down there, I was coming back to Camp Half Blood. I would come back to Kayla Knowles. Whatever it took. I swear it on the River Styx.

And so.. I took my first steps downward.

Into the darkness.

Into the labyrinth.

Hopefully, I would come back from this alive.

(A/N: The reason why I love Askinar's version of BOTL is because of how emotional it gets, and how despite the fact that Thalia is a hunter who in this AU sticks with Camp Half Blood during the actual battle, the Male OC Fayden Thatch taking Percy's place in being the one who gets sent to Calypso's Island and having to sail back to Camp Half Blood causes Thalia to realize her feelings for him.

That's why I said Luke was going to be the unintentional reason as to how Kayla realizes her feelings for Colton. Simply being the servant and then host of Kronos sets the chain reaction that we are starting to see play out here.

Either way, next chapter is going to be a Kayla POV chapter, and it's going to be a good one!)