WITCHY WOMAN
— the first date (maybe, almost)

Currently, Rory was sitting in the back of a cab, freaking out.

Her hands wouldn't stay still. She kept bouncing between picking at her freshly painted fingernails, playing with hair, and flattening her dress.

This was her first time seeing Percy in person since his spring break in March. Sure, they had been Iris-messaging constantly, but this was different. Rory was going to meet him at his school after his orientation ended and take him back to camp. But before that, they would be going on their first date.

At least, Rory assumed it was a date. They would be going alone — just the two of them — to the movies. That had to be a date. Sally basically told her it was a date, convincing her to wear the dress she had bought her for Christmas. Annabeth kept making fun of the outing, calling it a date.

But what if it wasn't a date? What if Rory was reading too much into the afternoon? Oh gods, she would be so embarrassed.

Things had been confusing between them since the winter solstice — when Rory kissed Percy. They never really talked about it... but it also wasn't totally ignored. They both completely acknowledged that they weren't just friends, but they also did nothing to remedy that fact. Honestly, Rory wasn't too eager to rush that change. She was so worried that her kissing Percy would completely ruin their friendship, but it didn't. She was happy to stay in this state of limbo if it meant keeping Percy in her life.

Until about a month ago when he asked her on this supposed date. For four weeks now she had been anticipating this day, and it was finally here — and she really didn't know how to feel.

By the time the cab pulled up to the corner of East 81st and FDR Drive, Rory thought she was going to be sick. She considered asking the driver to take her right back to Camp Half-Blood. In the time it took her to pay for the ride, she mustered up the courage to exit the car. Now all she had to do was wait for Percy.

She didn't have to wait long. Not even five minutes later, Percy ran right into her. Rory was so happy to see him that she didn't even question why he had emerged from an alleyway and not his actual school.

"Hey, you're out early!" she greeted, grabbing Percy's shoulders to keep him from tumbling into the street. "What's got you in a rush, Wonder Boy?"

Percy didn't answer her. Instead he just stared at her, almost as if he was surprised to see her. Rory felt her face flush under his gaze.

"Hey," he finally breathed out, after a solid thirty seconds of silence.

"Hi?" Rory laughed.

From behind Percy, another figure emerged from the alley. A familiar redhead wearing a maroon tee and ratty jeans decorated with marker drawings, covered in monster dust.

Rory's eyes widened. "Red?"

Rachel Elizabeth Dare stopped in her tracks. "Oh, Rory... hi."

She was clearly shocked, borderline uncomfortable. She avoided Rory's eyes, her face as red as her hair. She chose to look at Percy instead.

"Oh, you remember her name?" Percy raised an eyebrow.

"I—I like Gilmore Girls!" Rachel stuttered. She glanced at Rory, as if asking her to back her up.

Rory just stared blankly. "I don't know what that is."

"Your name is Rory and you don't know what Gilmore Girls is?"

"No?"

Percy threw his hands in the air. "This is so not the time!"

"You're right," Rachel said. "You are in so much trouble. And you still owe me an explanation!"

"An explanation for what...?" Rory trailed off. She looked up at the school and for the first time, she noticed the black smoke and ringing fire alarms. "Percy, what did you do?"

"Me?"

Police sirens wailed on FDR Drive.

"I want to know more about half-bloods," Rachel insisted. "And monsters. And this stuff about the gods."

"Wait, wait, wait. What happened?" Rory asked, holding out her hands.

Percy looked like he was struggling for words. "Empanadas."

"Excuse me."

"Empousai," Rachel corrected.

Rory felt her face pale. "Empousai?" she repeated. "You're sure?"

"Pretty sure. Vampires with a donkey leg."

"Oh, gods," Rory muttered. "Oh, fuck!"

The police sirens were getting louder.

"Okay. Okay, okay, okay. You." She turned to Percy, who jumped. "Meet me down there." She pointed down East 81st to the next avenue over. "What is that, York?"

Percy nodded. Rory moved onto Rachel. "You, come with me."

"What are you doing?" Percy asked, grabbing her hand.

"Damage control." She looked at Rachel and gestured towards the school. "Come on."

The two girls bolted down the road to Goode High School.

Rory gripped Rachel's upper arm. "Tell me everything that happened."

And she did. Rachel told Rory about her and Percy's entire interaction with the empousai. How they disguised themselves as cheerleaders and trapped the two in the band room. When they tried to attack the monsters, the empousa framed Percy as trying to harass the poor cheerleaders. At the last minute, the senior empousa exploded into flames.

"Empousai," Rory repeated for what felt like the millionth time. "This is really bad."

As they bounded up the stairs to the school, Rory saw police officers exiting their cars. To Rachel, she loudly said, "Wow! Did you see that cheerleader who lit the band room on fire?"

The redhead just frowned. "What?"

But her plan worked. Rory saw the police officers' eyes glaze over before saying something into their walkie-talkies.

"Come on," Rory tugged on Rachel's arm. "Let's find someone in charge.

Standing by the entrance to the gymnasium was Paul Blofis, Sally Jackson's boyfriend and an English teacher at Goode. He furrowed his eyebrows when he spotted the girls.

"Rory? What are you doing here?"

The two had interacted a handful of times. He frequented the Jackson residence whenever Rory stayed with them. The first time they met was at a "family dinner plus guests" over Christmas break. It was awkward, to say the least. But over time, the two had gotten along quite well due to their shared love of reading.

"Mr. Blofis! Thank goodness! I just saw Percy outside!"

He dragged his hand down his face. "What is going on?"

"I was waiting for Percy when he came out and told me everything. He wanted to explain to you but he was too scared to come back inside. That cheerleader—"

She glanced at Rachel who filled in the name. "Kelli."

"—Kelli attacked Percy in the band room! He was lost and tried to ask her for directions just as she was setting fire to the school! A Molotov cocktail, I think he said."

"Rory, this...this is crazy!"

"But it's true!" She forced as much power as she could into her words. Paul Blofis was tricky, he wasn't as susceptible to her magic as most mortals were. Plus, it wasn't really her best lie.

Rory felt awful using her charmspeak on Paul. He was a good man — good to Sally. But she couldn't risk Percy taking the blame for setting his school on fire... again.

His eyes glazed over, and she knew he believed the story. While in the trance-like state, Rory told him, "You should go tell the police that story. Get it to as many people as you can."

Paul nodded and walked away.

Rory sighed and turned to Rachel, whose jaw was practically to the floor. She could definitely see through the Mist. There was no way she could be in such proximity to Rory and not have fallen for her charmspeak.

"What was that?"

"Did Percy mention the Mist?" Rachel nodded. "Yeah, I can control it."

"So what?" she asked. "You can basically control what people think?"

"More or less."

"But not me?"

"No, you're..." Rory cracked a smile. "You're special."

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Thanks."

Rory glanced outside, more cop cars had shown up. "Listen, I have to go."

"Wait." From her back pocket, Rachel whipped out a black Sharpie. She grabbed Rory's arm and scribbled a phone number. "You're going to call me and explain, okay? I want to know everything."

Rory nodded, slightly dumbfounded. Rachel continued, "I'll spread your phony story around. Now get going."

With that, Rory bolted out of the school, heading down East 81st, where she saw Percy waiting for her. A cab pulled up to the curb at the same time Rory ran into him, wrapping her arms around him. He didn't hesitate to reciprocate the embrace, but he pulled away quickly.

"We have to get to camp."

The two hopped in the cab and the car sped down FDR Drive on its way to Long Island.

Rory shrunk down in her seat, letting out a sigh of relief. Meanwhile, Percy looked like he had a knife to the small of his back, he was sitting up so straight.

He looked down at the girl beside him. "What did you do?"

Rory recounted her and Rachel's adventures, and her interaction with Paul.

Percy scoffed, looking out the window at the East River. "It was only orientation and I already blew up the school."

"You did not blow up the school," Rory corrected. "And you won't get blamed for this. I made sure of that."

"Thank you."

"Of course."

"And... I'm really sorry."

Rory frowned. "What for?"

"That our afternoon got ruined," Percy admitted quietly, turning back to look at her.

On the middle seat in between them, Rory placed her hand on top of his. "We can go to the movies any time," she said, not really quite sure why he was so sorry.

Sure, she had been so excited to go to the movie theater for the first time, but it was not like it was something that they could only do today. Movie theaters would still be there waiting for them when they got out of camp in August.

"Yeah, but, once we're at camp, we're not going to be able to do anything that's, you know, just the two of us."

Rory felt her face heat up. Between the whole empousai ordeal and meeting back up with Rachel, she had completely forgotten about the maybe-date. Though gauging from Percy's reaction, Rory was pretty certain it was supposed to be a date.

"I think we'll survive," she said with a small smile. "Besides, you may regret saying that by the end of the summer. Camp's starting and now you're stuck with me for two months. You'll be sick of my company by August."

She had meant the comment to be lighthearted, to ease the sight awkwardness in the cab, but Percy frowned.

"I'd never get sick of you."

Rory averted her eyes, fixating on the city outside her window as the cab entered the Queens-Midtown Tunnel. Unconsciously, she began to pick at her nails again.

"And to think," she said, "I got all dressed for nothing."

"Yeah, wasted," Percy chucked. "You know, I don't think I've ever seen you in a dress before."

"Yes, you have," Rory pointed out.

Percy furrowed his brows. "When?"

"On Circe's island."

He stared blankly at her. "You're serious?" Rory hummed and Percy's mouth fell open. "I was a little distracted being a guinea pig to notice what you were wearing."

Rory gaped at him. She scoffed, but the smile creeping on her face gave her away. "I recall you being super flustered when you turned back into a human."

"I—I was so not. Pshh. I don't get flustered."

Immediately, Rory fell into a fit of giggles. Percy just stared at her, an amused smile on his face. After a moment, she calmed down, taking a deep breath — but once again she hunched over laughing. She stamped her feet on the floor of the cab.

"What now?" Percy asked, baffled at her reaction.

"I just..." She had trouble talking through giggles. "I just, heh, sometimes I just remember that you were a guinea pig — and that's really fucking funny!"

Her head lulled back, leaning against the headrest as she snorted. She covered her mouth as she tried to compose herself. She thought about Percy as a guinea pig — he made a very cute rodent.

Percy just shook his head.

What sobered Rory was remembering the circumstances that led to his transformation. Circe. Her sister. In the most Rory-fashion, her mind raced a million miles a minute until she ended up thinking about the empousai again.

Her body tensed, and Percy noticed. "What? What's wrong?"

"I can't stop thinking about the empousai," Rory sighed.

"I don't understand what the big deal is? I've never heard of empousai before."

"Clearly. You called them empanadas."

"Shut up."

"And the big deal is that empousai are servants of Hecate, they obey her command. If they came
after you at school..." Rory trailed off, shuddering. "That doesn't bode well for my mother's position in this war."

Percy's eyes widened. "You think your mom joined Kronos?"

"I don't know," she mumbled. "Maybe those empousai went rogue, but..." She shrugged, unable to articulate the rest of her thoughts.

"So what's going on at camp?" Percy asked, changing the subject — which Rory was grateful for.

"A lot," she told him. "Annabeth's been in and out all spring. A lot of monsters came after her in San Francisco, and we've been working on a project."

"Any word on Nico?"

Rory shook her head solemnly. She had heard nothing from the young boy since he ran away this past winter. She hated to think that he was in danger, but he was a son of Hades misplaced in time, there was no way he could be safe. But there was also no way for them to figure out where he was. Any time Rory tried to Iris-message him, the drachma spit back out at her head.

"How about Luke?"

Again, she shook her head. "Annabeth said that Mount Tam is still overrun with monsters, but she doesn't think he's up there."

That didn't make him feel much better, it was obvious on his face. "And Grover?"

"He's at camp," Rory said. "We'll see him today."

"Did he have any luck? I mean, with the search for Pan?"

Rory picked at the skin on her lip. It was a long story, and she didn't know how much of it would have gone down by the time they arrived. "You'll see," she told him. "I'll let him explain."

As they headed through Brooklyn, Percy used Rory's phone to call his mom. Technically, half-bloods aren't supposed to use cell phones if they can avoid it — broadcasting their voices is like sending up a flare to the monsters: Here I am! Please eat me now! Most half-bloods didn't even have a phone, but both Rory and Annabeth did. Their seniority at camp earned them the right — plus the two had to be able to communicate while Annabeth was in California in case something happened.

Percy left a message on his home voice mail, trying to explain what had happened at Goode.

After that, the two rode in silence. The city melted away until they were off the expressway and rolling through the countryside of northern Long Island, past orchards and wineries and fresh produce stands.

Rory stared at the phone number Rachel Elizabeth Dare had scrawled on her forearm. She owed it to her to call her, eventually. She was forced into their unusual world against her will, simply because she was born with a gift. She was a mortal, but she was special. She had a right to know everything... didn't she? Rory quickly saved the number into her phone so that, should something happen to the scribble on her arm, she could still reach out.

In their silence, Rory observed Percy. It was amazing how much he had changed since she had seen him just a few months ago. He had grown a lot, now taller than Rory for the first time. Over the winter, he had let his hair grow longer, but now that it was the start of camp he had gotten it cut (and Rory would never tell him, but she preferred his summer cut). The grey streak that he, Rory, and Annabeth accrued during their last quest stood out against his jet black hair, but he seemed to own it.

The other thing that he had gotten during their quest was Rory's moon charm — a gift from Artemis which she passed on to him. She had given it to him during a celebration for stopping the titan Atlas, right before she kissed him. He wore the charm on his camp necklace, between his two clay beads.

The taxi exited on Route 25A. They headed through the woods along the North Shore until a low ridge of hills appeared on their left. Rory told the driver to pull over on Farm Road 3.141, at the base of Half-Blood Hill.

The driver frowned. "There ain't nothing here, miss. You sure you want out?"

"Yes, please." She handed him a roll of mortal cash, and the driver decided not to argue.

Rory and Percy hiked to the crest of the hill. The young guardian dragon was dozing, coiled around the pine tree, but he lifted his coppery head as they approached and let Rory scratch under his chin. Steam hissed out his nostrils like from a teakettle, and he went cross-eyed with pleasure.

"Hello, Peleus," Rory cooed. "Keeping everything safe?"

The dragon was at least twelve feet long, and as thick as the tree itself. Above his head, on the lowest branch of the pine tree, the Golden Fleece shimmered, its magic protecting the camp's borders from invasion. Peleus seemed relaxed, like everything was okay. Below them, Camp Half-Blood looked peaceful — green fields, forest, shiny white Greek buildings. The Big House sat proudly in the midst of the strawberry fields. To the north, past the beach, the Long Island Sound glittered in the sunlight.

Still... something felt wrong. There was tension in the air, as if the hill itself were holding its breath, waiting for something bad to happen. It had been like that for months now.

The two walked down into the valley and found the summer session in full swing, since most of the campers had arrived last Friday. The satyrs were playing their pipes in the strawberry fields, making the plants grow with woodland magic. Campers were having flying horseback lessons, swooping over the woods on their pegasi. Smoke rose from the forges, and hammers rang as kids made their own weapons for Arts & Crafts. The Athena and Demeter teams were having a chariot race around the track, and over at the canoe lake some kids in a Greek trireme were fighting a large orange sea serpent. A typical day at camp.

When the two reached the volleyball court, Rory stopped, catching Percy's attention. "I need to talk to Annabeth and Clarisse," she told the boy.

He stared at her, bewildered. "What for?"

"We've been working on something," she said, intentionally vague. "Why don't you get settled, I'll tell Chiron you're here."

She smiled at him, and before he could respond, she jogged down the path toward the archery field.

Chiron was in the middle of archery lessons. In one hand he held a bow and he had a quiver full of arrows slung over his #1 Centaur shirt. He was adjusting Silena Beauregard's stance, backing away as she released an arrow. It whizzed past the target, hitting a tree behind it.

"Much better," he told her, a strained smile on his face.

From the edge of the strawberry fields, Rory cupped her hands around her mouth and called, "Chiron!"

The centaur whipped around, his face lighting up at the sight of Rory. He galloped towards her, slinging his bow around his chest.

"Ah, Rory!" he greeted. "I thought you and Percy weren't due to return for a few more hours."

Rory grimaced. "Change of plans."

"Oh, no." Chiron's face fell. "What happened?"

"I'll let Percy tell you," she said, her voice trailing off as she scouted the camp grounds. "Have you seen either Annabeth or Clarisse, or preferably both of them?"

He pointed to the woods. "They are in the grove," he told her. "Along with Grover."

Rory gasped. "It started?"

Chiron nodded. "I'm afraid so. Why don't you go ahead, I'll go find Percy."

"I left him by the volleyball court."

"I'll find him," he repeated, patting her arm.

He turned around back to his archery class. "Lesson is over!" he called to the children of Aphrodite. "Drew, put down that bow!"

Rory chuckled as he galloped away. She, too, turned and hurried into the woods.

She knew the forest very well after playing capture the flag here for almost all her life. She took a fairly unknown path: through a tunnel of old willow trees, past a little waterfall, and into a glade blanketed with wildflowers. Nymphs peeked out of the trees to watch her. Large shapes rustled in the shadows — monsters that were stocked as a challenge to the campers.

A bunch of satyrs were sitting in a circle in the grass — three really old, really fat satyrs who sat on topiary thrones shaped out of rose bushes. The Council of Cloven Elders.

Rory arrived just as Grover stepped up to the middle of the circle. He twisted the bottom of his shirt, shifting nervously on his goat hooves. He hadn't changed much since last winter, since satyrs age half as fast as humans. His acne had flared up and his horns had gotten a little bigger so they just stuck out over his curly hair, but other than that, he was still the Grover that Rory knew and loved.

She took her place off to the side of the circle, beside Annabeth, Clarisse, and Juniper.

Rory had known Juniper for a while. She was a nymph, and Grover's girlfriend. She was pretty — petite, with wispy hair the color of amber and a pretty, elfish face. She wore a green chiton and laced sandals, and she was dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief.

She sniffled as Rory approached them. "Oh, Rory. Thank goodness you're here!"

"How's it going," Rory asked, wrapping her arm around Juniper.

Annabeth made a face. "It just started," she said, trailing off. It was clear that there was already no hope for Grover — the council was furious with him, there was no way he was going to keep his searcher's license. But they weren't going to say that in front of Juniper.

Grover began to recount his past few months searching for Pan, and the blessing of the Wild they had been given during their quest over the winter. Of course he brought up that he had been drinking coffee, and he refused to acknowledge the fact that the coffee had nothing to do with Pan.

A few minutes later, Percy entered the grove, riding on Chiron's back. Clarisse glared at him and muttered, "Punk."

Juniper sniffled again. "It's going terrible!"

"No, no," Rory rubbed her arms. "He'll be fine."

She caught Percy's eye and mouthed, Grover's girlfriend. Immediately his eyebrows shot up.

"Master Underwood!" the council member on the right shouted, cutting off whatever Grover was trying to say. "Do you seriously expect us to believe this?"

"B-but Silenus," Grover stammered. "It's the truth!"

Silenus turned to his colleagues and muttered something. Chiron cantered up to the front and stood next to them since he was an honorary member of the council. The elders didn't look very impressive. They had huge bellies, sleepy expressions, and glazed eyes that couldn't see past the next handful of goat chow.

Annabeth had to keep her hand on Rory's upper arm to keep her from strutting up and knocking each of their teeth out. She had never liked the council and the way they treated Grover. Especially after they punished him for Thalia's self-sacrifice, even though he saved two other half-bloods.

Silenus tugged his yellow polo shirt over his belly and adjusted himself on his rosebush throne. "Master Underwood, for six months — six months — we have been hearing these scandalous claims that you heard the wild god Pan speak."

"But I did!"

"Impudence!" said the elder on the left.

"Now, Maron," Chiron said. "Patience."

"Patience, indeed!" Maron said. "I've had it up to my horns with this nonsense. As if the wild god would speak to... to him."

Juniper looked like she wanted to charge the old satyr and beat him up, but Clarisse held her back. "Wrong fight, girlie," she muttered. "Wait."

"For six months," Silenus continued, "we have indulged you, Master Underwood. We let you travel. We allowed you to keep your searcher's license. We waited for you to bring proof of your preposterous claim. And what have you found in six months of travel?"

"I just need more time," Grover pleaded.

"Nothing!" the elder in the middle chimed in. "You have found nothing."

"But, Leneus—"

Silenus raised his hand. Chiron leaned in and said something to the satyrs. The satyrs didn't look happy. They muttered and argued among themselves, but Chiron said something else, and Silenus sighed. He nodded reluctantly.

"Master Underwood," Silenus announced, "we will give you one more chance."

Grover brightened. "Thank you!"

"One more week."

"What? But sir! That's impossible!"

"One more week, Master Underwood. And then, if you cannot prove your claims, it will be time for you to pursue another career. Something to suit your dramatic talents. Puppet theater, perhaps. Or tap dancing."

"But sir, I—I can't lose my searcher's license. My whole life—"

"This meeting of the council is adjourned," Silenus said. "And now let us enjoy our noonday meal!"

The old satyr clapped his hands, and a bunch of nymphs melted out of the trees with platters of vegetables, fruits, tin cans, and other goat delicacies. The circle of satyrs broke and charged the food. Grover walked dejectedly toward his friends. His faded blue tee had a picture of a satyr on it. It read Got Hooves?

"Hi, Percy, Rory," he said, his head held low. "That went well, huh?"

"Those old goats!" Juniper said. "Oh, Grover, they don't know how hard you've tried!"

"There is another option," Clarisse said darkly.

"No. No." Juniper shook her head. "Grover, I won't let you."

His face was ashen. "I—I'll have to think about it. But we don't even know where to look."

"What are you talking about?" Percy asked.

In the distance, a conch horn sounded.

Annabeth glanced at Rory, and then pursed her lips. "We'll fill you in later, Percy. We'd better get back to our cabins. Inspection is starting."

Cabin Eleven never got a good inspection. They were the largest cabin — and it's hard enough to get one teenager to clean their room, never mind seventeen, ranging in age from twelve to twenty.

The most anyone did was stuff their shit under their beds (if they even had one — the kids in sleeping bags didn't have that luxury). You would be lucky if half the kids in Cabin Eleven even made their beds.

Silena Beauregard was conducting the inspections, meaning Cabin Eleven was going to fail. As a daughter of Aphrodite, Silena liked things pretty... and that is not a word Rory would use to describe the Hermes cabin.

Rory had nothing to worry about — her bunk was spotless (she was a bit of a neat-freak). So when Silena came in with the inspection scroll, she looked right to Rory.

"Well," she said, pursing her lips. "Good job, Rory."

She glanced around at the rest of the cabin and said nothing. Silena was so nice that silence was the meanest thing she could say.

Rory gave her a pitiful look. "Just do it."

Silena nodded, marked something down on the scroll, and then hurried out.

Once she was gone, Rory scrambled out, too. She found Annabeth sitting on the steps, tapping her fingers on her knee in a rhythmic pattern. When she spotted Rory, she stood up.

She nodded her head towards the canoe lake. "Come on."

They spent the rest of the afternoon there. Rory told her friend about what had happened at Goode High School. Annabeth was definitely weirded out about Percy getting help from a mortal. It was a pride thing.

"This is the same mortal you almost killed at the Hoover Dam?" Annabeth asked. Rory nodded and the blonde hummed. "She gave you her number?"

Rory squinted her eyes. "Yeah...?"

A smile danced on Annabeth's lips. "Is she cute?"

"Annabeth!"

"What? She should at least be cute if she ruined your date with Percy."

"She didn't ruin—" Rory cut herself off, shaking her head. "It wasn't a date!"

Annabeth tilted her head. "No?"

"No! At least, I don't think so."

Annabeth just laughed, patting Rory's knee. "You and Percy. You're both so clueless."

"Do not compare mine and Percy's cluelessnesses. Okay? That's really rude."

The girls had taken their shoes and socks off, dipping their feet into the lake. Normally the nymphs preferred not to have humans in their water (unless it was an accident, like falling out of a canoe), but they liked Rory and Annabeth, so they made an exception for the two.

Annabeth leaned forwards and used her hand to splash water at Rory. She gasped dramatically before reciprocating. They did that for a few minutes until they were sufficiently soaked.

After a little while, Percy and Tyson joined the girls at the lake.

Rory immediately jumped up and gave Tyson a big hug. Annabeth did, too. He must have just arrived at camp, because he hadn't been here a few hours ago when Rory left for Manhattan.

As the four talked and caught up, Rory's mind kept wandering. She kept glancing over at the forest. No one had seen Grover since the council disbanded, and if what they had been working on was true...

"What's this 'other way'?" Percy asked. "The thing Clarisse mentioned?"

Annabeth picked up a stone and skipped it across the lake. "Something Clarisse scouted out. Rory and I helped her a little this spring. But it would be dangerous. Especially for Grover."

"Goat boy scares me," Tyson murmured.

Rory stared at him. Tyson had faced down fire-breathing bulls and sea monsters and cannibal giants. "Why are you scared of Grover?"

"Hooves and horns," Tyson muttered nervously. "And goat fur makes my nose itchy."

And that pretty much ended the Grover conversation.

That night, as Rory was lying in bed, unable to fall asleep, she heard a wispy voice whisper in her ear.

Immediately, she sat upright, knocking her head on the bottom of the bunk that used to belong to Luke Castellan. She groaned as she flopped back down on her pillow, holding her temple. Rory assumed maybe she had just imagined the voice — until she heard it again. No discernible words were spoken, but it made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

Slowly, she climbed out of her bed. Everyone else in Cabin Eleven was still sound asleep. Again, the voice whispered in her ear, sending shivers down her spine. But this time, she could actually understand something — come outside, it seemed to say.

Now, you're probably thinking: don't follow the spooky voice! But you see, Rory was way too curious. Besides, camp's borders protected the kids from monsters and evil spirits. Granted, it could very well be an evil demigod, one who had succumbed to Kronos... but she would cross that bridge if she needed to.

Still in her pajamas and barefoot, Rory quietly exited Cabin Eleven. A breeze blew through her hair as she sneaked around the the back of the cabin.

Like an ethereal being, bathed in silver glow under the moonlight stood Bianca di Angelo. She looked the same as she had in life: a green cap set sideways on her thick black hair, dark eyes, and olive skin like her brother. She wore jeans and a silvery jacket — the outfit of a Hunter of Artemis. A bow was slung over her shoulder.

Rory could have sworn her heart stopped. "Bianca," she whispered.

Bianca smiled faintly, and her whole form flickered. "Hello, Rory."

Rory shook her head in disbelief. "What are you... How are you..."

"I'm worried about Nico," Bianca said. "He's trying to bring me back, but he's becoming obsessive. He's being influenced and now he is seeking vengeance. I don't want him to do something he'll regret."

It still seemed so wild to Rory that Bianca and Nico were children of Hades. They were children of the Big Three and yet they technically weren't the results of Hades breaking the pact to forgo having children. She always thought that children of Hades would be scary, like their father... but Bianca and Nico were just kids.

"I've warned Percy, as well, by showing him an Iris-message. But it is easier to appear to children of the Underworld."

"Have you talked to him? Nico, I mean." Rory asked.

Bianca's face fell. "No. Nico... he's been reaching out to me, but I've been staying away."

"Why?"

"I'm hoping that eventually he'll give up."

"Give up?" Rory repeated. "Bianca, he's not going to give up. You were his whole world! He's not going to let you go so easily. And he's not going to listen to anyone but you."

"But he is," she said pointedly. "He's being advised by a spirit. I'm not quite sure who, though — but no one good."

"Bianca, you have to talk to him. Answer his calls. Because right now, he mostly likely doesn't think that you're ignoring him, but rather that he's doing something wrong."

Bianca shook her head. "I won't... I can't be there for him forever. He needs to learn to get on without me, but he needs a push."

"I want to help Nico," Rory emphasized. "But this is not the way to do it!"

Before she could respond, Bianca's ghostly figure began to ripple.

"I cannot stay any longer," she said. Her face was sad as she looked at Rory, almost desperate. "Please, Rory. I need your help."

"Wait Bianca," Rory called desperately before she disappeared. "I—I'm so sorry."

Bianca smiled sadly. "Don't be. I made my own choice. I don't regret it."

Her form shivered and she was gone, leaving Rory alone in the clammy summer night.

The next morning there was a lot of excitement at breakfast.

Apparently, around three in the morning, an Aethiopian drakon had been spotted at the borders of camp. Rory was so exhausted that she slept right through the noise. The magical boundaries had kept the monster out, but it prowled the hills, looking for weak spots in their defenses, and it didn't seem anxious to go away until Lee Fletcher from Apollo's cabin led a couple of his siblings in pursuit. After a few dozen arrows lodged in the chinks of the drakon's armor, it got the message and withdrew.

"It's still out there," Lee warned during announcements. "Twenty arrows in its hide, and we just made it mad. The thing was thirty feet long and bright green. It's eyes—" he shuddered.

"You did well, Lee," Chiron patted him on the shoulder. "Everyone stay alert, but stay calm. This has happened before."

"Aye," Quintus said from the head table. "And it will happen again. More and more frequently."

Quintus was the news swords instructor. He had just showed up one day over the summer, offering to help Chiron out around camp. It was suspicious, to say the least. But Mr. D was out on godly business and Quintus, who claimed to be a half-blood too, could clearly enter camp's borders. Chiron agreed — if for no other reason than to keep an eye on the mysterious swordsman.

The campers murmured among themselves.

Everyone knew the rumors: Luke and his army of monsters were planning an invasion of the camp. Most people expected it to happen this summer, but no one knew how or when. It didn't help that attendance was down. There were only about eighty campers. Usually there were more than a hundred. Some had died. Some had joined Luke. Some had just disappeared.

"This is a good reason for new war games," Quintus continued, a glint in his eyes. "We'll see how you all do with that tonight."

"Yes..." Chiron said. "Well, enough announcements. Let us bless this meal and eat." He raised his goblet. "To the gods."

Everyone all raised their glasses and repeated the blessing.

Rory and Cabin Eleven took their plates to the bronze brazier and scraped a portion of their food into the flames. "Hecate," she said. Then she whispered, "Help me help camp, please."

There was so much to worry about that she could have stood there all morning, but she headed back to her table.

Once everyone was eating, Rory saw Chiron and Grover go over and join Percy and Tyson. The latter got up and left — probably due to his fear of Grover — and after a minute or so, Chiron left, too.

Across the dining pavilion, Rory caught Annabeth's eye, and the blonde nodded. They both got up from their seats, abandoning their breakfasts, and moved to the Cabin Three table.

As they got closer, Rory could hear the boys' conversation.

"What's he talking about?" Percy asked.

After a beat, Grover mumbled, "He wants you to convince me."

"I'll tell you what it's about," Annabeth said as she sat beside the satyr. "The Labyrinth."

Rory took her place beside Percy. Admittedly, it was hard to concentrate because everybody in the dining pavilion was stealing glances at them and whispering. And she was sitting right next to Percy.

"You're not supposed to be here," Percy managed.

"We need to talk," Annabeth insisted.

"But the rules..."

Rory smiled. "Since when do we follow rules,"

According to the camp, half-bloods weren't allowed to switch tables. They had to sit with their cabins. Though Rory wasn't even sure what the punishment was for switching tables. She had done it plenty of times and never got in trouble. Quintus looked over and raised an eyebrow, but he didn't say anything.

"Look," Annabeth said, "Grover is in trouble. There's only one way we can figure to help him. It's the Labyrinth. That's what Rory and I—"

"And Clarisse," Rory interrupted.

"—have been investigating."

Percy shifted in his seat. "You mean the maze where they kept the Minotaur, back in the old days?"

"Bingo," Rory said.

"So... it's not under the king's palace in Crete anymore," he guessed. "The Labyrinth is under some building in America."

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Under a building? Please, Percy. The Labyrinth is huge. It wouldn't fit under a single city, much less one fucking building."

"So... is the Labyrinth part of the Underworld?"

"No." She frowned. "Well, there may be passages from the Labyrinth down into the Underworld. I'm not sure. But the Underworld is way, way down. The Labyrinth is right under the surface of the mortal world, kind of like a second skin. It's been growing for thousands of years, lacing its way under Western cities, connecting everything together underground. You can get anywhere through the Labyrinth."

"If you don't get lost," Grover muttered. "And die a horrible death."

"And then you end up in the Underworld," Rory pointed out. Maybe she was finally embracing her Underworld blood.

"Rory, shut up," Annabeth said before turning to Grover, next to her. "There has to be a way. Clarisse lived."

"Barely!" Grover said. "And the other guy—"

"He was driven insane. He didn't die."

"Oh, joy." Grover's lower lip quivered. "That makes me feel much better."

"Whoa," Percy said. "Back up. What's this about Clarisse and a crazy guy?"

Rory glanced over her shoulder toward the Ares table. Clarisse was watching them like she knew what they were talking about, but then she fixed her eyes on her breakfast plate.

"Last year," Rory said, lowering her voice, "Clarisse went on a mission for Chiron."

"I remember," Percy said. "It was a secret."

She nodded. "It was secret because she found Chris Rodriguez."

"The guy from the Hermes cabin? From the Princess Andromeda?"

Two years ago, Percy, Rory, Annabeth and Tyson had eavesdropped on Chris Rodriguez aboard Luke's ship. Chris was one of the half-bloods who had abandoned camp and joined the Titan Army.

"Yeah," Annabeth said. "Last summer he just appeared in Phoenix, Arizona, near Clarisse's mom's house."

"What do you mean he just appeared?"

"He was wandering around the desert, in a hundred and twenty degrees, in full Greek armor, babbling about string."

"String," Percy repeated.

"He'd been driven completely insane. Clarisse brought him back to her mom's house so the mortals wouldn't institutionalize him. She tried to nurse him back to health. Chiron came out and interviewed him, but it wasn't much good. The only thing they got out of him was that Luke's men have been exploring the Labyrinth."

"Okay," he asked. "Why were they exploring the Labyrinth?"

"We weren't sure," Rory said. "That's what Clarisse was looking for. Chiron kept things quiet because he didn't want anyone panicking."

Annabeth nodded. "He got me involved because... well, the Labyrinth has always been one of my favorite subjects. The architecture involved—" Her expression turned a little dreamy. "The builder, Daedalus, was a genius."

"And where Annabeth goes, I go," Rory added with a smile. "Plus I know magic. But the point is that the Labyrinth has entrances everywhere. If Luke could figure out how to navigate it, he could move his army around with incredible speed."

"Except it's a maze, right?"

"Full of horrible traps," Grover agreed. "Dead ends. Illusions. Psychotic goat-killing monsters."

"But not if you had Ariadne's string," Annabeth said. "In the old days, Ariadne's string guided Theseus out of the maze. It was a navigation instrument of some kind, invented by Daedalus. And Chris Rodriguez was mumbling about string."

"So Luke is trying to find Ariadne's string," Percy said. "Why? What's he planning?"

Rory shook her head. "We don't know. We thought maybe he wanted to invade camp through the maze, but that doesn't seem to be the case. There are entrances in Manhattan, sure, but we haven't found any within the borders. Clarisse explored a little way into the tunnels, but..." She trailed off, so Annabeth took over for her.

"She had some close calls," she told Percy. "I researched everything I could find about Daedalus. I'm afraid it didn't help much. I don't understand exactly what Luke's planning, but I do know this: the Labyrinth might be the key to Grover's problem."

Percy blinked. "You think Pan is underground?"

"It would explain why he's been impossible to find."

Grover shuddered. "Satyrs hate going underground. No searcher would ever try going in that place. No flowers. No sunshine. No coffee shops!"

"But," Annabeth said, "the Labyrinth can lead you almost anywhere. It reads your thoughts. It was designed to fool you, trick you and kill you; but if you can make the Labyrinth work for you—"

"It could lead you to the wild god."

"I can't do it." Grover hugged his stomach. "Just thinking about it makes me want to throw up my silverware."

"Grover, it may be your last chance," Annabeth said. "The council is serious. One week or you learn to tap dance!"

Rory reached forwards and placed her hand on top of Grover's. "We just want to help you. You wouldn't be going alone, I promise you that."

Over at the head table, Quintus cleared his throat. Rory got the feeling he didn't want to make a scene, but the girls were really pushing it, sitting at Percy's table so long.

"We'll talk later." Rory squeezed Percy's arm. "Talk some sense into him."

The two girls returned to their tables, ignoring all the people who were staring at them.

As she sat back down with Cabin Eleven, Connor Stoll gave Rory a funny look. "What was that about?" he asked through a mouthful of French toast.

Rory scrunched her nose. "Huh? I can't hear you over your breakfast."

Travis Stoll laughed loudly, shoving his younger brother's shoulder. Meanwhile, Connor just rolled his eyes. "Shut up."

Author's Note !

here we go again — battle of the labyrinth!!

i've had the idea for the first part of this chapter for MONTHS and i'm so happy i finally get to write it :))) when i tell you the percy/rory content will be RIFE this act i really mean it

and let me preface: i love rachel — she will not be a villain nor will i stand for rachel elizabeth dare slander

that's all i really have right now🤙🏻

hope you all enjoyed!! let me know what you think :)))