Indigo Eyes

Chapter 87

Tyson's smile faded. "Y-yes, lord. We met a Hundred-handed One."

Hephaestus nodded, looking unsurprised. "Briares?"

"Yes. He – he was scared. He would not help us."

"And that bothered you."

"Yes!" Tyson's voice wavered. "Briares should be strong! He is older and greater than Cyclopes. But he ran away." 

Hephaestus grunted. "There was a time I admired the Hundred-handed Ones. Back in the days of the First war. But people, monsters, even gods change, young Cyclops. You can't trust 'em. Look at my loving mother, Hera. You met her, didn't you? She'll smile to your face and talk about how important family is, eh? Didn't stop her from pitching me off Mount Olympus when she saw my ugly face."

"But I thought Zeus did that to you," Percy said.

"That's the version that Hera likes. Makes her look like a pillar of familial values," Cressida whispered to him but the god heard her words and his eyes landed on her.

"At least with Dionysus, what you see is what you get," he remarked as he snapped his fingers and the robotic falcon flew back to the worktable. "Your friend is right, however. Blaming it all on my dad makes my mother seem more likeable, doesn't it? My mother likes families, but she likes a certain kind of family. Perfect families. She took one look at me and... well, I don't fit the image, do I?" He pulled a feather from the falcon's back, and the whole automaton fell apart. "Believe me, young Cyclops," Hephaestus said, "you can't trust others. All you can trust is the work of your own hands."

That seemed like a pretty lonely way to live.

Percy was thinking about how it was Hephaestus' mechanical spiders that almost killed Cressida and Percy in Denver, and how a defective Talos statue had cost Bianca her life - just another one of his little projects - when the gods' eyes narrowed on him. "Oh, this one doesn't like me,' he mused. "No worries, I'm used to that. What would you ask of me, little demigod?"

"We told you," Percy said. "'We need to find Daedalus. There's this guy Luke, and he's working for Kronos. He's trying to find a way to navigate the Labyrinth so he can invade our camp. If we don't get to Daedalus first –"

"And I told you, boy. Looking for Daedalus is a waste of time. He won't help you."

"Why not?"

Hephaestus shrugged. "Some of us get thrown off mountainsides. Some of us... the way we learn not to trust people is even more painful. Ask me for gold. Or a flaming sword. Or a magical steed. These I can grant you easily. But a way to Daedalus? That's an expensive favour."

"You know where he is, then," Annabeth pressed.

"It isn't wise to go looking, girl."

"My mother says looking is the nature of wisdom."

Hephaestus narrowed his eyes. "Who's your mother, then?"

"Athena."

"Figures." He sighed. "Fine goddess, Athena. A shame she pledged never to marry. All right, half-blood. I can tell you what you want to know. But there is a price. I need a favour done."

"Name it," Annabeth said.

Hephaestus actually laughed – a booming sound like a huge bellow stoking a fire. "You heroes," he said, "always making rash promises. How refreshing!" It was a moment more before he said, "This one," and he looked directly at Cressida. "This one at least has the wisdom to be afraid."

Her friends turned to her as she swallowed, hating the spotlight on her for once.

"You can't be afraid of fate, girl. No matter how painful, how bad, you can't fight fate, merely accept it."

Cressida bit her lips, not meeting anyone's eyes. "Even if I hate what's happened?"

Hephaestus grunted. "Especially then."

The god then pressed a button on his workbench, and metal shutters opened along the wall, revealing the image of a grey mountain-ringed in forests - it was a volcano, because smoke rose from the crest. "One of my forges," Hephaestus said. "I have many, but that used to be my favourite."

"That's Mount St Helens," Grover said. "Great forests around there."

"You've been there?" Percy asked.

"Looking for... you know. Pan."

"Wait," Annabeth said, looking at Hephaestus. "You said it used to be your favourite. What happened?"

Hephaestus scratched his smouldering beard. "Well, that's where the monster Typhon is trapped, you know. Used to be under Mount Etna, but when we moved to America, his force got pinned under Mount St Helens instead. Great source of fire, but a bit dangerous. There's always a chance he will escape. Lots of eruptions these days, smouldering all the time. He's restless with the Titan rebellion."

"What do you want us to do? Fight him?" Percy asked and that seemed to snap Cressida out of the daze Hephaestus' words put her in.

"Ok, if we live through this, I'm signing you up for Greek History Class every day until you die," she promised, the god snorting in amusement.

"Fighting him would be suicide," Hephaestus said. "The gods themselves ran from Typhon when he was free. No, pray you never have to see him, much less fight him. But lately, I have sensed intruders in my mountain. Someone or something is using my forges. When I go there, it is empty, but I can tell it is being used. They sense me coming, and they disappear. I send my automatons to investigate, but they do not return. Something... ancient is there. Evil. I want to know who dares invade my territory, and if they mean to loose Typhon."

"You want us to find out who it is," Percy realised.

"Aye," Hephaestus said. "Go there. They may not sense you coming. You are not gods."

"Glad you noticed," Percy muttered.

"Go and find out what you can," Hephaestus said. "Report back to me, and I will tell you what you need to know about Daedalus."

"All right," Annabeth said. "How do we get there?"

Hephaestus clapped his hands. The spider came swinging down from the rafters. Annabeth flinched when it landed at her feet, grabbing onto Cressida's arm as she rolled her eyes. "My creation will show you the way," Hephaestus said. "It is not far through the Labyrinth. And try to stay alive, will you? Humans are much more fragile than automatons."

Oh, joy. Another quest that sounded like a piece of cake.