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

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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 that?
“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 had revoked Grover’s searcher licensein
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 seen 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?”