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

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

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

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Together we drew our swords.<br />

***<br />

We got to Zeus’s Fist, a huge pile of boulders in the middle of the west woods. It was a natural<br />

landmark where campers often rendezvoused on hunting expeditions, but now there was nobody around.<br />

“Over there,” Annabeth whispered.<br />

“<strong>No</strong>, wait,” I said.“Behind us.”<br />

It was weird. Scuttling noises seemed to be coming from several different directions. We were circling<br />

the boulders, our swords drawn, when someone right behind us said, “Hi.”<br />

We whirled around, and the tree nymph Juniper yelped.<br />

“Put those down!” she protested. “Dryads don’t like sharp blades, okay?”<br />

“Juniper,” Annabeth exhaled. “What are you doing here?”<br />

“I live here.”<br />

I lowered my sword.“In the boulders?”<br />

She pointed toward the edge of the clearing.“In the juniper.Duh.”<br />

It made sense, and I felt kind of stupid. I’d been hanging around dryads for years, but I never really<br />

talked to them much. I knew they couldn’t go very far away from their tree, which was the source of life.<br />

But I didn’t know much else.<br />

“Are you guys busy?” Juniper asked.<br />

“Well,” I said, “we’re in the middle of this game against a bunch of monsters and we’re trying not to<br />

die.”<br />

“We’re not busy,” Annabeth said. “What’s wrong, Juniper?”<br />

Junpersniffled. She wiped her silky sleeve under her eyes. “It’s Grover. He seems so distraught. All year<br />

he’s been out looking for Pan. And every time he comes back, its worse. I thought maybe, at first, he<br />

was seeing another tree.”<br />

“<strong>No</strong>,” Annabeth said as Juniper started crying. “I’m sure that’s not it.”<br />

“He had a crush on a blueberry bush once,” Juniper said miserably.<br />

“Juniper,” Annabeth said, “Grover would never evenlook at another tree. He’s just stressed out about<br />

his searcher’s license.”<br />

“He can’t go underground!” she protested. “You can’t let him.”<br />

Annabeth looked uncomfortable. “It might be the only way to help him; if we just knew where to start.”

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