THE BATTLE OF THE LABYRINTH Percy Jackson ... - No one's invited.

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“No, my boy,” Daedalus said sharply. “You are naïve. Such a thing is impossible.”
“I don’t think so,”Perdix insisted. “With the use of a little magic—”
“Magic?Bah!”
“Yes, Uncle!Magic and mechanics together—with a little work, one could make a body that would look
exactly human, only better. I’ve made some notes.”
He handed the old man a thick scroll. Daedalus unfurled it. He read for a long time. His eyes narrowed.
He glanced at the boy, then closed the scroll and cleared his throat. “It would never work, my boy.
When you’re older, you’ll see.”
“Can I fix that astrolabe, then, Uncle? Are your joints swelling up again?”
The old man’s jaw clenched. “No. Thank you. Now why don’t you run along?”
Perdixdidn’t seem to notice the old man’s anger. He snatched a bronze beetle from his mound of stuff
and ran to the edge of the tower. A low sill ringed the rim, coming just up to the boy’s knees. The wind
was strong.
Move back, I wanted to tell him. But my voice didn’t work.
Perdixwound up the beetle and tossed it into the sky. It spread its wings and hummed away.Perdix
laughed with delight.
“Smarter than me,” Daedalus mumbled, too soft for the boy to hear.
“Is it true that your son died flying, Uncle? I heard you made him enormous wings, but they failed.”
Daedalus’shands clenched. “Take my place,” he muttered.
The wind whipped around the boy, tugging at his clothes, making his hair ripple.
“I would like to fly,”Perdix said. “I’d make my own wings that wouldn’t fail. Do you think I could?”
Maybe it was a dream within my dream, but suddenly I imagined the two-headed godJanus shimmering
in the air next to Daedalus, smiling as he tossed a silver key from hand to hand.Choose , he whispered to
the old inventor.Choose.
Daedalus picked up another one of the boy’s metal bags. The inventor’s old eyes were red with anger.
“Perdix,” he called. “Catch.”
He tossed the bronze beetle toward the boy. Delighted,Perdix tried to catch it, but the throw was too
long. The beetle sailed into the sky, andPerdix reached a little too far. The wind caught him.
Somehow he managed to grab the rim of the tower with his fingers as he fell. “Uncle!” he screamed.
“Help me!”