Chapter 13.

When Percy and Rachel arrived at the zone, an out of the way spot in central park, it quickly became a waiting game. Rachel, having been smart enough to bring her bag, started to draw to pass the time. Percy had taken to dismantling his weapons and performing cleaning and maintenance on them. Rachel found herself glancing at him from time to time, noticing a few small habits that intrigued her. He held himself and his weapons in such a way that allowed him to still have an almost unobstructed view, he would momentarily freeze whenever something in that view moved towards them, and kept at least one weapon fully set, loaded, and within reach.

Eventually the sound of a roaring engine was heard, and a large, bright red pickup truck pulled up. Rachel read the license plate quickly, it read 'SARGE' in bold letters, and had a rough and gritty feel to it. Percy seemed to recognize this vehicle quickly, as he lurched forward and started to holster his weapons.

Rachel saw him, Mike, the man she had seen in the video call earlier. Like in that call he seemed to carry an authority to him. He moved with smooth motions, like a jungle cat casually approaching its intended prey. She had no doubt that this man could kill her in a heartbeat if he so chose.

"Mentor, it's good to see you." Percy said.

"I haven't been your mentor in years Percy, what happened to calling me a shadow?" Mike said with a smirk.

"Monitored conversations are one thing, this is private." Percy answered simply.

"Very well. Now, this is important. A few contacts in Camp Half-Blood confirmed that a number of Monsters were able to get in." Mike said.

"How, the barrier is impervious. It even extends underground so they couldn't tunnel their way in either." Percy said with a frown.

"Turns out that there's a workaround to that. The Labyrinth." Mike said.

"The Labyrinth. You mean the Labyrinth originally meant to hold the Minotaur?" Percy asked.

"The very same. It seems that this structure manages to exist outside of normal spatial parameters, so it can form entryways anywhere it wishes. This includes one opening right into Camp Half-Blood." Mike said, watching Percy cross his arms and start thinking.

"What can we do about it? Can we block the entrance?" Percy asked.

"Not that easy Percy. If we try to block the entrance it will simply move so that it's unblocked." Mike answered.

"Ok, let's leave that issue alone for right now. I'm guessing that Luke intends to use the Labyrinth to flood the Camp with monsters. But how? If what the legends about it are true, then even its creator almost wouldn't be able to navigate it. How does Luke intend to…do…this?" Percy trailed off, his head turning to look at Rachel.

"Ah yes, which brings me to that point. Miss Dare here seems to possess an uncanny ability to see through the Mist, even beyond what demigods are capable of. We have it on good authority that such individuals can navigate the Labyrinth. Unfortunately for Luke, Cronos doesn't fully understand how Miss Dare is useful. He only knows that she is." Mike said. Rachel seemed surprised by this, but she kept quiet knowing that this was an exchange between the two of them. As such she stepped away, but kept near the car.

"Wait, the legends say that Theseus navigated the Labyrinth. How?" Percy asked.

"That brings me to the next point. There is an item, called Ariadne's string, which can allow for someone to navigate the Labyrinth." Mike said.

"Please tell me that we have this item in custody." Percy said.

"Yes indeed. A few decades ago Daedalus approached Divinity with an offer. We supply him with new identities as needed and we get to him as a consultant. He asked us to stow the string for safekeeping." Mike explained.

"I would think that any child of Athena would be scrambling to meet the most famous Athena demigod in history." Percy pointed out.

"Normally yes, but he is a private person and you need some pretty high clearance to even meet with him." Mike answered.

Percy was silent after that, digesting the fact that the most famous inventor in Greek mythology was one of his coworkers.

"I take it that a contract came for us to do something about the Labyrinth opening in Camp." Percy speculated.

"No. The Director is trying to establish a somewhat more positive relationship with the Camp, and to do this she intends for this mission to be a charity." Mike said. Neither of them liked this, since charity cases rarely ended well for them. But orders were orders, and they would be followed.

"That still leaves us with the issue of an opening that we can't simply destroy or close." Percy said, bringing the conversation back to the problem.

"To discuss the creation, speak to the creator." Mike said simply, then turned back to his truck.

Percy didn't try to follow or stop his former mentor, he figured that Mike had a mission of his own. So instead he headed back to his car, where one Rachel Dare was waiting. By now night was falling and it would be best for them to rest, a nearby hotel would suffice. It was one of the properties that Divinity used as a front, a revenue source, and a safe house. Percy signed in for a two room space near the top and was led by one of the staff. When they did reach the room Percy claimed one of the rooms within seconds. Rachel took this time to try and get some more information.

"So, he was your mentor huh." Rachel began.

"Yes. One of the best snipers Divinity has ever produced." Percy said, smiling as he remembered Mike teaching a young Percy how to shoot.

"He said something about Shadows. What did he mean?" Rachel asked.

"The Shadow Corps is a group meant to identify and eliminate traitorous agents or assets. Their actions, movements, and missions are only accessible by the Director herself. And no agent is above their scrutiny or beyond their skill." Percy explained.

"So they're elite agents?" Rachel asked for clarification.

"No. They're elites among elites. Only those agents who have demonstrated remarkable skill and unquestionable loyalty to Divinity are even considered. And even then it's a long, grueling process to get accepted in." Percy said as he fiddled with his phone in response to a notification popping up.

"And your mentor is one of them?" Rachel asked, remembering the first time she met Mike's eyes. She still felt that he was one order or inclination away from killing her.

"After he killed his younger brother." Percy answered, seeing Rachel's head whip towards him. "The younger brother was gathering other agents to go rogue and tried to recruit my mentor. He played along just long enough to gather both evidence and the full list of names, and then proceeded to hunt them down and kill them all. He received both a commendation for his actions and a recommendation for the Shadows written by the Director herself."

"So he kills a bunch of people and got rewarded for it?" Rachel asked, somewhat unimpressed.

"He killed almost forty traitors and his own brother singlehandedly, all of whom were people who posed a great risk to Divinity. So yes, he was rewarded for killing them." Percy said crossly.

Rachel was silent. She understood the logic behind the situation but it still didn't sit right with her. She knew that she could never be able to simply kill so easily, but she also knew that demigods had to live life differently than her just to survive. Percy went back to reading the notification, his brows rising as he read.

"You should go and get some sleep, we're meeting someone very famous tomorrow." Percy said, setting the phone aside. Rachel left, more than a little concerned about the immediate future.