Percy Jackson: Daughter of Shadows

15. Percy Blows Himself to Smithereens

Once again, Viktor saves two pain-in-my-ass gods from getting smashed to a pulp. Phobos and Deimos did the wise thing and dove behind the car. I struggled in Viktor's arms, trying to get at them. Hephaestus took a few steps back. Well, at least he has good instincts. "Viktor, let me go!" "Only if you swear to not kill anyone here, okay?" I growled. "Fine" Viktor let go of me. Phobos and Deimos stepped out from behind Hephaestus's car. "Is she sane now?" I glared at them. "Mildly cooled off. For now" Phobos gulped. "How can you scare fear himself?" Percy asked, bewildered. "You try having theses idiots following you practically everywhere and not learn how to make them wet their bronze armor britches" Deimos smacked me upside the head. "I have never wet my bronze britches!" I grabbed him by the ear and slammed him onto the floor. "Ow-ow-ow-ow!" "You were saying?" "Nothing, nothing!" I let him up. "Geez, Lilly! Loosen your grip when you take prisoners, m'kay?!" Hephaestus snorted. "What." He pulled a screwdriver out of his belt and fiddled with it. "Just that I now understand why Enyo took such an interest in you. You're a creature of chaos, like her" "Okay, several things wrong with that sentence, but whatever. But anyways, we're looking for Daedalus. Can you help us or not? If you can't I don't really care, I'll just beat it out of the next monster or person we come across, and then I'll question Daedalus and kill him, if needed." 

  Annabeth flipped out and grabbed my arm. "You can't just kill Daedalus! He's lived for thousands of years, and-" "Exactly. He's escaped death one too many times. I've spoken with Thanatos, and-" Hephaestus's beard caught fire. "You've... YOU'VE SPOKEN WITH THANATOS? ARE YOU CRAZY, GODLING?" I stared at him. "Yes, and sometimes, also yes. Anyhow, Thanatos had already promised me that Minos will be severely punished for using Nico, and Daedalus will just have to be dealt with when he gets there" Annabeth sat down on the ground, her head between her knees. "How has he lived this long?" "If I had to guess, he probably didn't pull a Sisyphus, so he's probably been hiding in the Labyrinth. He's a brilliant inventor, seeing as he created this hellhole. I wouldn't be surprised if he's discovered how to just make pure life using different chemicals and ingredients. Honestly, I don't know." 

  Phobos and Deimos ran their hands through their hair. "Well, I might have an idea of where he is" Deimos said, sticking his hands in his pockets. I stared at him. "HOW????" "WHERE????" Annabeth said, her eyes wide. "One, I'm a god, I know things. Two, Daedalus is probably still in the Labyrinth, in his workshop. And three? LEARN TO BE QUIET!" I plugged my ears. "How about you do it first, Mr. I've-Gotten-Up-Stood-By-My-Younger-Cousin-More-Than-Fifty-Times?!" Deimos's cheeks flushed. "Shut up!" "Nyah-nyah-nyah!"  Deimos lunged, attempting to punch me in the face. Viktor picked me up around the waist and pulled me away. "Deimos, knock it off!" Deimos sat on the ground, growling. "What are you, a dog?" Percy asked. "No. But my wrath is nothing compared to Vik's. We fought an army of myrmkees before, and let's just say, those myrmkees are never coming back from Tartarus" Percy nearly fainted. Thank the gods for Tyson and Grover. Phobos kicked his brother in the shins. "OUCH!" "Phobos, leave your brother alone" I said, prying Viktor off of me. I held my hand out to Deimos. "Come on" He looked up at me and took my hand. "Just like old times, ay?" "In slightly better condition, yes. Here, Phobos, come here" Phobos stood next to his brother. "While we help Hephaestus get whatever he needs done done, you two need to get back to Camp Half-Blood, and wait for me in the cabin. When I get back, I'll give you two one hell of a fight, alright?" Phobos and Deimos grinned. "Sounds good" "Then get going" They both disappeared in a cloud of black smoke. 

  Hephaestus stared at me. "How did you know I needed something done?" "Gut feeling. Now, let me guess, the reason you're here is because some monsters sent by Kronos have taken over your forges. Yes, or no?" Hephaestus's beard caught fire again and then died out. "C-Correct" "Exactly" I pulled out my swords, swinging them around. "So, what's in your forges?" "Telekhines. Know what those are?" "Sea monsters. They made Poseidon's trident, but Zeus banished them to Tartarus for using magic. Ironic, considering that he's beyond terrified of Hecate and Nyx" Annabeth nodded. "Agreed. But why do we have to do this?" "Because, like many, many, many of the gods, Hephaestus prefers letting demigods handle his shit over doing it himself" Hephaestus coughed, looking away. "Mhm" I tossed Viktor my bag. "Okay. Vik, you, Grover, and Tyson get out of here and take these" I handed him one of the pearls from the nymphs. "Take that and use it to get the heck out of dodge. Tyson, Grover, if you two still plan on searching for Pan, you can do that. Percy, Annabeth and I will go to the forges, see what we can do. Telekhines don't associate themselves with demigods, so best to have Wise One and Aquaman with me in case if we need to blow anything up. Now, go, go, go!" Tyson and Grover left, but Viktor stayed behind. "Vik, why are you still here?" I asked. He squeezed my hand. "Just... don't do anything crazy without me, okay?" "Why would I?" I asked, chuckling. He cupped my cheek. "Because you always do, and always will" That's when he kissed me. 

  I stood there, shocked. My heart fluttered and I leaned into the kiss. "AHEM." Annabeth was tapping her foot. I pulled away, my face red. Viktor rubbed the back of his neck, blushing. Annabeth shook her head. "Come on" Viktor smiled. "See you soon, Lil's" "See you soon, Vik" He headed out the door. "A-Al-Alright then, let's get going then."

  Hephaestus's forges stunk of melted metal and iron. The smell of hot coals and ash drifted towards us in a cloud of smoke. "Cover your mouths, that could be toxic" I hissed, pulling my jacket over my face. Percy slid his shirt over his mouth and peered behind the corner. "They're here" I nodded. "Alright. So, telekhines hate demigods and gods alike, but I've met one before, and they all fear two things. Celestial Bronze and the smell of death. Combined, we've all got that covered. Annabeth, do you need any more information?" Annabeth shook her head. "No, I've got a plan. You and Percy will go ahead, and I'll follow invisible. Lilly, you go right and distract them, and then Percy will start destroying the telekhines, and I'll find a way to get rid of them for good. Sound like a plan?" "Sounds like it'll probably fall to pieces due to my track record, but yeah, sounds great!" 

  For the love of Chaos, when will this end? Why do the gods insist on sending their kids through hell?

  Annabeth disappeared, and Percy was basically sweating through every part of his body. "Percy, cool off. She'll be fine" My gut churned. Would she really? I wanted to go after, but keeping Percy safe was also a priority. I grabbed Percy's shoulder. "Percy, we need to do this, okay? Let's go get this done, and if she isn't safe, I'll bring her back myself. I promise" Percy took a deep breath and nodded. "Good. Now, how many telekhines do you think you can handle?" 

  We entered the forge to find a class of telekhines watching a movie about telekhine puberty, or whatever the heck that is. The movie ended; and I could not have been happier. The 'teacher' began to question the class. "So you were right" Percy mumbled. "Yeah, apparently. You ready?" "Yep" "Alright, now!" We sprang out from behind the door. "Demigods!" one of the telekhines snarled. "Eat it!" shouted another. The class lunged; their fangs bared. Percy uncapped Riptide and slaughtered the first row of monsters. The class backed against the wall. "New lesson, class," Percy announced. "Most monsters will vaporize when sliced with a celestial bronze sword. This change is perfectly normal and will happen to you right now if you don't BACK OFF!" To both of our surprise, the class backed off. Then the other telekhines came in, snarling. That spurred the class back to action. "CLASS DISMISSED!" Percy yelled, and we ran out the door. 

 We ran into Annabeth outside the classroom. "Annabeth!" "Shush, Seaweed Brain!" I chuckled. "What?" "Nothing. Everything good?" "Not entirely. These two telekhines have been talking about fusing metals" My stomach fell to the floor. "Kronos's scythe" "What?" "Kronos's scythe. The murder weapon he used to kill Ouranos. That's what the telekhines are making" Annabeth went pale. "What do we do? Destroy it?" At that moment, the young telekhines and teachers came rushing into the forge, trying to figure out which way to charge. Percy turned to me and Annabeth. "Put your invisibility cap on! Go, the spider will lead you back to Hephaestus. Lilly, go with her" "You'll be killed!" Annabeth said. "I'll be fine. Both of you, go!" That's when Annabeth did something shocking. She kissed Percy. "Be careful, Seaweed Brain" she said, and then she disappeared under her cap. I looked at Percy. "You heard the woman. Stay alive, Perseus." 

  Right before we got to Hephaestus's hideout-thingamabobber, the entire area shook. I spotted a comet shooting through the sky from the volcano. "What the-PERCY!" Annabeth screamed, trying to go back. I grabbed her by the waist holding her back. "Let me go! Percy! PERCY!" "Annabeth, it's no use. He blew up the mountain, we can't go back" "Why not? He's not dead, he can't be-" "I know that" I wiped my eyes. "We can't go back because Typhon is stirring. We need to get back to camp. Now."