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

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“Stop,” I said out loud. “Stop it!”
The fountain began to crack. Tyson muttered in his sleep and turned over. Purple light threw horrible,
ghostly shadows on the cabin walls, as if the specters were escaping right out of the fountain.
In desperation I uncapped riptide and slashed at the fountain, cleaving it in two. Salt water spilled
everywhere, and the great stone font crashed to the floor in pieces. Tyson snorted and muttered, but he
kept sleeping.
I sank to the ground, shivering from what I’d seen. Tyson found me there in the morning, still staring at
the shattered remains of the saltwater fountain.
Just after dawn, the quest group met at Zeus’s Fist. I’d packed my knapsack—thermos with nectar,
baggie of ambrosia, bedroll, rope, clothes, flashlights, and lots of extra batteries. I had Riptide in my
pocket. The magic shield/wristwatch Tyson had made for me was on my wrist.
It was a clear morning. The fog had burned off and the sky was blue. Campers would be having their
lessons today, flyingpegasi and practicing archery and scaling the lava wall. Meanwhile, we could be
heading underground.
Juniper and Grover stood apart from the group. Juniper had been crying again, but she was trying to
keep it together for Grover’s sake. She kept fussing with his clothes, straightening hisrasta cap and
brushing goat fur off his shirt. Since we had no idea what we would encounter, he was dressed as a
human, with the cap to hide his horns, and jeans, fake feet, and sneakers to hide his goat legs.
***
Chiron, Quintus, and Mrs. O’Leary stood with the other campers who’d come to wish us well, but there
was too much activity for it to feel like a happy send-off. A couple of tents had been set up by the rocks
for guard duty.Beckendorf and his siblings were working on a line of defensive spikes and trenches.
Chiron had decided we needed to guard the Labyrinth exit at all times, just in case.
Annabeth was doing one last check on her supply pack. When Tyson and I came over, she frowned.
“Percy, you look terrible.”
“He killed the water fountain last night,” Tyson confided.
“What?” she asked.
Before I could explain, Chiron trotted over. “Well, it appears you are ready!”
He tried to sound upbeat, but I could tell he was anxious. I didn’t want to freak him out any more, but I
thought about last night’s dream, and before I could change my mind, I said, “Hey, uh, Chiron, can I ask
you a favor while I’m gone?”
“Of course, my boy.”
“Be right back, guys.” I nodded toward the woods. Chiron asked an eyebrow, but he followed me out
of earshot.
“Last night,” I said, “I dreamed about Luke and Kronos.” I told him the details. The news seemed to