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

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“So youhave talked to Luke.”
“Oh, yes.Several times. He is quite persuasive.”
“But now you’ve seen the camp!” Annabeth persisted. “So you know we need your help. You can’t let
Luke through the maze!”
Daedalus set his sword on the workbench. “The maze is no longer mine to control, Annabeth. I created
it, yes. In fact, it is tied to my life force. But I have allowed it to live and grow on its own. That is the
price I paid for privacy.”
“Privacy from what?”
“The gods,” he said. “And death. I have been alive for two millennia, my dear, hiding from death.”
“But how can you hide from Hades?” I asked. “I mean…Hades has the Furies.”
“They do not know everything,” he said. “Or see everything. You have encountered them, Percy. You
know this is true. A clever man can hide quite a long time, and I have buried myself very deep. Only my
greatest enemy has kept after me, and even him I have thwarted.”
“You mean Minos,” I said.
Daedalus nodded. “He hunts for me relentlessly. Now that he is a judge of the dead, he would like
nothing better than for me to come before him so he can punish me for my crimes. After the daughters of
Cocalus killed him,Minos’s ghost began torturing me in my dreams. He promised that he would hunt me
down. I did the only thing I could. I retreated from the world completely. I descended into my Labyrinth.
I decided this would be my ultimate accomplishment: I would cheat death.”
“And you did,” Annabeth marveled, “for two thousand years.” She sounded kind of impressed, despite
the horrible things Daedalus had done.
Just then a loud bark echoed from the corridor. I heard theba-BUMP,ba -BUMP,ba -BUMP of huge
paws, and Mrs. O’Leary bounded into the workshop. She licked my face once,then almost knocked
Daedalus over with an enthusiastic leap.
“There is my old friend!” Daedalus said, scratching Mrs. O’Leary behind the ears.“My only companion
all these long lonely years.”
“You let her save me,” I said. “That whistle actually worked.”
Daedalus nodded. “Of course it did, Percy. You have a good heart. And I knew Mrs. O’Leary liked
you. I wanted to help you. Perhaps I—I felt guilty, as well.”
“Guilty about what?”
“That your quest would be in vain.”
“What?” Annabeth said. “But you can still help us. You have to! Give usAriadne’s string so Luke can’t
get it.”