by Rick Riordan
‘What do you mean?’ I said. ‘Of course I’m coming back!’
Hephaestus studied me sceptically. He fished something out of his pocket – a metal disc the size of an iPod. He clicked a button and it expanded into a miniature bronze TV. On the screen was news footage of Mount St Helens, a huge plume of fire and ash trailing into the sky.
‘Still uncertain about further eruptions,’ the newscaster was saying, ‘authorities have ordered the evacuation of almost half a million people as a precaution. Meanwhile, ash has fallen as far away as Lake Tahoe and Vancouver, and the entire Mount St Helens area is closed to traffic within a hundred-mile radius. While no deaths have been reported, minor injuries and illnesses include –’
Hephaestus switched it off. ‘You caused quite an explosion.’
I stared at the blank bronze screen. Half a million people evacuated? Injuries. Illness. What had I done?
‘The telkhines were scattered,’ the god told me. ‘Some vaporized. Some got away, no doubt. I don’t think they’ll be using my forge any time soon. On the other hand, neither will I. The explosion caused Typhon to stir in his sleep. We’ll have to wait and see –’
‘I couldn’t release him, could I? I mean, I’m not that powerful!’
The god grunted. ‘Not that powerful, eh? Could have fooled me. You’re the son of the Earthshaker, lad. You don’t know your own strength.’
That’s the last thing I wanted him to say. I hadn’t been in control of myself in that mountain. I’d released so much energy I’d almost vaporized myself, drained all the life out of me. Now I found out I’d nearly destroyed the Northwest US and almost woken the most horrible monster ever imprisoned by the gods. Maybe I was too dangerous. Maybe it was safer for my friends to think I was dead.
‘What about Grover and Tyson?’ I asked.
Hephaestus shook his head. ‘No word, I’m afraid. I suppose the Labyrinth has them.’
‘So what am I supposed to do?’
Hephaestus winced. ‘Don’t ever ask an old cripple for advice, lad. But I’ll tell you this. You’ve met my wife?’
‘Aphrodite.’
‘That’s her. She’s a tricky one, lad. Be careful of love. It’ll twist your brain around and leave you thinking up is down and right is wrong.’
I thought about my meeting with Aphrodite, in the back of a white Cadillac in the desert last winter. She’d told me that she had taken a special interest in me, and she’d be making things hard for me in the romance department, just because she liked me.
‘Is this part of her plan?’ I asked. ‘Did she land me here?’
‘Possibly. Hard to say with her. But if you decide to leave this place – and I don’t say what’s right or wrong – then I promised you an answer to your quest. I promised you the way to Daedalus. Well now, here’s the thing. It has nothing to do with Ariadne’s string. Not really. Sure, the string works. That’s what the Titans’ army will be after. But the best way through the maze… Theseus had the princess’s help. And the princess was a regular mortal. Not a drop of god blood in her. But she was clever, and she could see, lad. She could see very clearly. So what I’m saying – I think you know how to navigate the maze.’
It finally sank in. Why hadn’t I seen it before? Hera had been right. The answer was there all the time.
‘Yeah,’ I said. ‘Yeah, I know.’
‘Then you’ll need to decide whether or not you’re leaving.’
‘I…’ I wanted to say yes. Of course I would. But the words stuck in my throat. I found myself looking out at the lake, and suddenly the idea of leaving seemed very hard.
‘Don’t decide yet,’ Hephaestus advised. ‘Wait until daybreak. Daybreak is a good time for decisions.’
‘Will Daedalus even help us?’ I asked. ‘I mean, if he gives Luke a way to navigate the Labyrinth, we’re dead. I saw dreams about… Daedalus killed his nephew. He turned bitter and angry and –’
‘It isn’t easy being a brilliant inventor,’ Hephaestus rumbled. ‘Always alone. Always misunderstood. Easy to turn bitter, make horrible mistakes. People are more difficult to work with than machines. And when you break a person, he can’t be fixed.’
Hephaestus brushed the last drops of Pepsi off his work clothes. ‘Daedalus started well enough. He helped the Princess Ariadne and Theseus because he felt sorry for them. He tried to do a good deed. And everything in his life went bad because of it. Was that fair?’ The god shrugged. ‘I don’t know if Daedalus will help you, lad, but don’t judge someone until you’ve stood at his forge and worked with his hammer, eh?’
‘I’ll – I’ll try.’
Hephaestus stood. ‘Goodbye, lad. You did well, destroying the telkhines. I’ll always remember you for that.’
It sounded very final, that goodbye. Then he erupted into a column of flame, and the fire moved over the water, heading back to the world outside.
I walked along the beach for several hours. When I finally came back to the meadow, it was very late, maybe four or five in the morning, but Calypso was still in her garden, tending the flowers by starlight. Her moonlace glowed silver, and the other plants responded to the magic, glowing red and yellow and blue.
‘He has ordered you to return,’ Calypso guessed.
‘Well, not ordered. He gave me a choice.’
Her eyes met mine. ‘I promised I would not offer.’
‘Offer what?’
‘For you to stay.’
‘Stay,’ I said. ‘Like… forever?’
‘You would be immortal on this island,’ she said quietly. ‘You would never age or die. You could leave the fight to others, Percy Jackson. You could escape your prophecy.’
I stared at her, stunned. ‘Just like that?’
She nodded. ‘Just like that.’
‘But… my friends.’
Calypso rose and took my hand. Her touch sent a warm current through my body. ‘You asked about my curse, Percy. I did not want to tell you. The truth is, the gods send me companionship from time to time. Every thousand years or so, they allow a hero to wash up on my shores, someone who needs my help. I tend to him and befriend him, but it is never random. The Fates make sure that the sort of hero they send…’
Her voice trembled, and she had to stop.
I squeezed her hand tighter. ‘What? What have I done to make you sad?’
‘They send a person who can never stay,’ she whispered. ‘Who can never accept my offer of companionship for more than a little while. They send me a hero I can’t help… just the sort of person I can’t help falling in love with.’
The night was quiet except for the gurgle of the fountains and waves lapping on the shore. It took me a long time to realize what she was saying.
‘Me?’ I asked.
‘If you could see your face.’ She suppressed a smile, though her eyes were still teary. ‘Of course, you.’
‘That’s why you’ve been pulling away all this time?’
‘I tried very hard. But I can’t help it. The Fates are cruel. They sent you to me, my brave one, knowing that you would break my heart.’
‘But… I’m just… I mean, I’m just me.’
‘That is enough,’ Calypso promised. ‘I told myself I would not even speak of this. I would let you go without even offering. But I can’t. I suppose the Fates knew that, too. You could stay with me, Percy. I’m afraid that is the only way you could help me.’
I stared at the horizon. The first red streaks of dawn were lightening the sky. I could stay here forever, disappear from the earth. I could live with Calypso, with invisible servants tending to my every need. We could grow flowers in the garden and talk to songbirds and walk on the beach under perfect blue skies. No war. No prophecy. No more taking sides.
‘I can’t,’ I told her.
She looked down sadly.
‘I would never do anything to hurt you,’ I said, ‘but my friends need me. I know how to help them now. I have to get back.’
She picked a flower from he
r garden – a sprig of silver moonlace. Its glow faded as the sunrise came up. Daybreak is a good time for decisions, Hephaestus had said. Calypso tucked the flower into my T-shirt pocket.
She stood on her tiptoes and kissed me on the forehead, like a blessing. ‘Then come to the beach, my hero. And we will send you on your way.’
The raft was a three-metre square of logs lashed together with a pole for a mast and a simple white linen sail. It didn’t look like it would be very seaworthy, or lakeworthy.
‘This will take you wherever you desire,’ Calypso promised. ‘It is quite safe.’
I took her hand, but she let it slip out of mine.
‘Maybe I can visit you,’ I said.
She shook her head. ‘No man ever finds Ogygia twice, Percy. When you leave, I will never see you again.’
‘But –’
‘Go, please.’ Her voice broke. ‘The Fates are cruel, Percy. Just remember me.’ Then a little trace of her smile returned. ‘Plant a garden in Manhattan for me, will you?’
‘I promise.’ I stepped onto the raft. Immediately it began to sail from the shore.
As I sailed into the lake I realized the Fates really were cruel. They sent Calypso someone she couldn’t help but love. But it worked both ways. For the rest of my life I would be thinking about her. She would always be my biggest what if.
Within minutes the island of Ogygia was lost in the mist. I was sailing alone over the water towards the sunrise.
Then I told the raft what to do. I said the only place I could think of, because I needed comfort and friends.
‘Camp Half-Blood,’ I said. ‘Sail me home.’
13 We Hire a New Guide
Hours later, my raft washed up at Camp Half-Blood. How I got there, I have no idea. At some point the lake water just changed to salt water. The familiar shoreline of Long Island appeared up ahead, and a couple of friendly great white sharks surfaced and steered me towards the beach.
When I landed, the camp seemed deserted. It was late afternoon, but the archery range was empty. The climbing wall poured lava and rumbled all by itself. Pavilion: nothing. Cabins: all vacant. Then I noticed smoke rising from the amphitheatre. Too early for a campfire, and I didn’t think they were roasting marshmallows. I ran towards it.
Before I even got there I heard Chiron making an announcement. When I realized what he was saying, I stopped in my tracks.
‘– assume he is dead,’ Chiron said. ‘After so long a silence, it is unlikely our prayers will be answered. I have asked his best surviving friend to do the final honours.’
I crept up the back of the amphitheatre. Nobody noticed me. They were all looking forward, watching as Annabeth took a long green silk burial cloth, embroidered with a trident, and set it on the flames. They were burning my shroud.
Annabeth turned to face the audience. She looked terrible. Her eyes were puffy from crying, but she managed to say, ‘He was probably the bravest friend I’ve ever had. He…’ Then she saw me. Her face went blood red. ‘He’s right there!’
Heads turned. People gasped.
‘Percy!’ Beckendorf grinned. A bunch of other kids crowded around me and clapped me on the back. I heard a few curses from the Ares cabin, but Clarisse just rolled her eyes, like she couldn’t believe I’d had the nerve to survive. Chiron cantered over and everyone made way for him.
‘Well,’ he sighed with obvious relief. ‘I don’t believe I’ve ever been happier to see a camper return. But you must tell me –’
‘WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?’ Annabeth interrupted, shoving aside the other campers. I thought she was going to punch me, but instead she hugged me so fiercely she nearly cracked my ribs. The other campers fell silent. Annabeth seemed to realize she was making a scene and pushed me away. ‘I – we thought you were dead, Seaweed Brain!’
‘I’m sorry,’ I said. ‘I got lost.’
‘LOST?’ she yelled. ‘Two weeks, Percy? Where in the world –’
‘Annabeth,’ Chiron interrupted. ‘Perhaps we should discuss this somewhere more private, shall we? The rest of you, back to your normal activities!’
Without waiting for us to protest, he picked up Annabeth and me as easily as if we were kittens, slung us both onto his back and galloped off towards the Big House.
∗ ∗ ∗
I didn’t tell them the whole story. I just couldn’t bring myself to talk about Calypso. I explained how I’d caused the explosion at Mount St Helens and got blasted out of the volcano. I told them I’d been marooned on an island. Then Hephaestus had found me and told me I could leave. A magic raft had carried me back to camp.
All that was true, but as I said it my palms felt sweaty.
‘You’ve been gone two weeks.’ Annabeth’s voice was steadier now, but she still looked pretty shaken up. ‘When I heard the explosion, I thought –’
‘I know,’ I said. ‘I’m sorry. But I figured out how to get through the Labyrinth. I talked to Hephaestus.’
‘He told you the answer?’
‘Well, he sort of told me that I already knew. And I do. I understand now.’
I told them my idea.
Annabeth’s jaw dropped. ‘Percy, that’s crazy!’
Chiron sat back in his wheelchair and stroked his beard. ‘There is a precedent, however. Theseus had the help of Ariadne. Harriet Tubman, daughter of Hermes, used many mortals on her Underground Railroad for just this reason.’
‘But this is my quest,’ Annabeth said. ‘I need to lead it.’
Chiron looked uncomfortable. ‘My dear, it is your quest. But you need help.’
‘And this is supposed to help? Please! It’s wrong. It’s cowardly. It’s –’
‘Hard to admit we need a mortal’s help,’ I said. ‘But it’s true.’
Annabeth glared at me. ‘You are the single most annoying person I have ever met!’ And she stormed out of the room.
I stared at the doorway. I felt like hitting something. ‘So much for being the bravest friend she’s ever had.’
‘She will calm down,’ Chiron promised. ‘She’s jealous, my boy.’
‘That’s stupid. She’s not… it’s not like…’
Chiron chuckled. ‘It hardly matters. Annabeth is very territorial about her friends, in case you haven’t noticed. She was quite worried about you. And now that you’re back, I think she suspects where you were marooned.’
I met his eyes, and I knew Chiron had guessed about Calypso. It was hard to hide anything from a guy who’s been training heroes for three thousand years. He’s pretty much seen it all.
‘We won’t dwell on your choices,’ Chiron said. ‘You came back. That is what matters.’
‘Tell that to Annabeth.’
Chiron smiled. ‘In the morning I will have Argus take the two of you into Manhattan. You might stop by your mother’s, Percy. She is… understandably distraught.’
My heart skipped a beat. All that time on Calypso’s island, I’d never even thought how my mom would be feeling. She’d think I was dead. She’d be devastated. What was wrong with me that I hadn’t even considered her?
‘Chiron,’ I said, ‘what about Grover and Tyson? Do you think –’
‘I don’t know, my boy.’ Chiron gazed into the empty fireplace. ‘Juniper is quite distressed. All her branches are turning yellow. The Council of Cloven Elders have revoked Grover’s searcher’s licence in absentia. Assuming he comes back alive, they will force him into a shameful exile.’ He sighed. ‘Grover and Tyson are very resourceful, however. We can still hope.’
‘I shouldn’t have let them run off.’
‘Grover has his own destiny, and Tyson was brave to follow him. You would know if Grover was in mortal danger, don’t you think?’
‘I suppose. The empathy link. But –’
‘There is something else I should tell you, Percy,’ he said. ‘Actually two unpleasant things.’
‘Great.’
‘Chris Rodriguez, our guest…’
I remembered what I’d see
n in the basement, Clarisse trying to talk to him while he babbled about the Labyrinth. ‘Is he dead?’
‘Not yet,’ Chiron said grimly. ‘But he’s much worse. He’s in the infirmary now, too weak to move. I had to order Clarisse back to her regular schedule, because she was at his bedside constantly. He doesn’t respond to anything. He won’t take food or drink. None of my medicines help. He has simply lost the will to live.’
I shuddered. Despite all the run-ins I’d had with Clarisse, I felt horrible for her. She’d tried so hard to help him. And now that I’d been in the Labyrinth, I could understand why it had been so easy for the ghost of Minos to drive Chris mad. If I’d been wandering around down there alone, without my friends to help, I’d never have made it out.
‘I’m sorry to say,’ Chiron continued, ‘the other news is less pleasant still. Quintus has disappeared.’
‘Disappeared? How?’
‘Three nights ago he slipped into the Labyrinth. Juniper watched him go. It appears you may have been right about him.’
‘He’s a spy for Luke.’ I told Chiron about the Triple G Ranch – how Quintus had bought his scorpions there and Geryon had been supplying Kronos’s army. ‘It can’t be a coincidence.’
Chiron sighed heavily. ‘So many betrayals. I had hoped Quintus would prove a friend. It seems my judgement was bad.’
‘What about Mrs O’Leary?’ I asked.
‘The hellhound is still in the arena. It won’t let anyone approach. I did not have the heart to force it into a cage… or destroy it.’
‘Quintus wouldn’t just leave her.’
‘As I said, Percy, we seem to have been wrong about him. Now, you should prepare yourself for the morning. You and Annabeth still have much to do.’
I left him in his wheelchair, staring sadly into the fireplace. I wondered how many times he’d sat here, waiting for heroes that never came back.
Before dinner I stopped by the sword arena. Sure enough, Mrs O’Leary was curled up in an enormous black furry mound in the middle of the stadium, chewing halfheartedly on the head of a warrior dummy.
When she saw me, she barked and came bounding towards me. I thought I was dead meat. I just had time to say, ‘Whoa!’ before she bowled me over and started licking my face. Now usually, being the son of Poseidon and all, I only get wet if I want to, but my powers apparently did not extend to dog saliva, because I got a pretty good bath.
