The Battle of the Labyrinth

of the kitchen, even though I was nervous about what I was about to do. I went to the phone and placed the call. The number had washed off my hand a long time ago, but that was okay. Without meaning to, I’d memorized it.
    We arranged a meeting in Times Square. We found Rachel Elizabeth Dare in front of the Marriott Marquis, and she was completely painted gold.
    I mean her face, her hair, her clothes—everything. She looked like she’d been touched by King Midas. She was standing like a statue with five other kids all painted metallic—copper, bronze, silver. They were frozen in different poses while tourists hustled past or stopped to stare. Some passersby threw money at the tarp on the sidewalk.
    The sign at Rachel’s feet said, URBAN ART FOR KIDS, DONATIONS APPRECIATED.
    Annabeth and I stood there for like five minutes, staring at Rachel, but if she noticed us she didn’t let on. She didn’t move or even blink that I could see. Being ADHD and all, I could not have done that. Standing still that long would’ve driven me crazy. It was weird to see Rachel in gold, too. She looked like a statue of somebody famous, an actress or something. Only her eyes were normal green.
    “Maybe if we push her over,” Annabeth suggested.
    I thought that was a little mean, but Rachel didn’t respond. After another few minutes, a kid in silver walked up from the hotel taxi stand, where he’d been taking a break. He took a pose like he was lecturing the crowd, right next to Rachel. Rachel unfroze and stepped off the tarp.
    “Hey, Percy.” She grinned. “Good timing! Let’s get some coffee.”
    We walked down to a place called the Java Moose on West 43rd. Rachel ordered an Espresso Extreme, the kind of stuff Grover would like. Annabeth and I got fruit smoothies and we sat at a table right under the stuffed moose. Nobody even looked twice at Rachel in her golden outfit.
    “So,” she said, “it’s Annabell, right?”
    “Annabeth,” Annabeth corrected. “Do you always dress in gold?”
    “Not usually,” Rachel said. “We’re raising money for our group. We do volunteer art projects for elementary kids ’cause they’re cutting art from the schools, you know? We do this once a month, take in about five hundred dollars on a good weekend. But I’m guessing you don’t want to talk about that. You’re a half-blood, too?”
    “Shhh!” Annabeth said, looking around. “Just announce it to the world, how about?”
    “Okay.” Rachel stood up and said really loud, “Hey, everybody! These two aren’t human! They’re half Greek god!”
    Nobody even looked over. Rachel shrugged and sat down. “They don’t seem to care.”
    “That’s not funny,” Annabeth said. “This isn’t a joke, mortal girl.”
    “Hold it, you two,” I said. “Just calm down.”
    “I’m calm,” Rachel insisted. “Every time I’m around you, some monster attacks us. What’s to be nervous about?”
    “Look,” I said. “I’m sorry about the band room. I hope they didn’t kick you out or anything.”
    “Nah. They asked me a lot of questions about you. I played dumb.”
    “Was it hard?” Annabeth asked.
    “Okay, stop!” I intervened. “Rachel, we’ve got a problem. And we need your help.”
    Rachel narrowed her eyes at Annabeth. “ You need my help?”
    Annabeth stirred her straw in her smoothie. “Yeah,” she said sullenly. “Maybe.”
    I told Rachel about the Labyrinth, and how we needed to find Daedalus. I told her what had happened the last few times we’d gone in.
    “So you want me to guide you,” she said. “Through a place I’ve never been.”
    “You can see through the Mist,” I said. “Just like Ariadne. I’m betting you can see the right path. The Labyrinth won’t be able to fool you as easily.”
    “And if you’re wrong?”
    “Then we’ll get lost. Either way, it’ll be dangerous. Very, very dangerous.”
    “I could die?”
    “Yeah.”
    “I thought you said monsters don’t care about mortals. That sword of yours—”
    “Yeah,” I said. “Celestial bronze doesn’t hurt mortals. Most monsters would ignore you. But Luke . . . he doesn’t care. He’ll use mortals, demigods, monsters, whatever. And he’ll kill anyone who gets in his way.”
    “Nice guy,” Rachel said.
    “He’s under the influence of a Titan,” Annabeth said defensively. “He’s been deceived.”
    Rachel looked back and forth between us. “Okay,” she said. “I’m in.”
    I blinked. I hadn’t figured it would