The Son Of Asclepius, Demi-god Doctor

Finally Out

Back in the labyrinth, they continued their wandering through misty tunnels and gloomy pipes. If they had to be honest, it was a little boring. Yes, they'd had a few encounters and conversation along the way, but just roaming around, waiting to run into Annabeth's questing party? Boring. Luckily for the two, the action was about to pick back up. An hour or so in, the temperature started to get hot, boiling hot. Elara was fanning herself with her tail and sweat dripped from the son of Asclepius' brow. His mouth was going dry and he was dying for water. He didn't need the stuff to live, but it was refreshing. Soon enough, they could hear roaring. Whether it was a monster or not, (Y/N) couldn't tell. A mile or so later though, they found the source of the sound. 

The labyrinth opened up onto a tiny ledge that overlooked a volcano. Looking down on the ridge that surrounded the cabin, he realised where they had been brought to.

"A forge of Hephaestus."

A network of tunnels and bridges spanned the entire pit, precariously hanging over the bubbling lava just below them. Talk about a safety hazard, no rails or nothing. At the centre of it all was a huge platform with all sorts of machines; cauldrons, forges, and a god sized anvil—a block of iron the size of a house. Creatures moved around the platform—several strange, dark shapes, but they were too far away to make out details. To look for some idea of what was going on, they both began to climb down the volcano's sides, Elara with her talons and (Y/N) with Nightshade and Angelo. As he descended, (Y/N)s eyes stung of smoke. 

They landed down at the entrance of yet another tunnel, but not one back into the labyrinth. This one went deeper than others into the volcano, and he could hear voices echoing around inside. Young voices.

"We might as well check it out, it is my duty as a servant of Olympus to look into this sort of stuff anyway. Besides, I wouldn't be surprised to find Jackson here doing something stupid."

"Well, that boy issssss an odd casssssse. Let'sssssss go."

When they got to the end of the tunnel, (Y/N) could feel his eyes fall to the back of his head. It was a classroom of sea monsters, finishing a movie of anti-Olympus propaganda.

"Telekhines," he whispered to Elara, "monsters of the sea. What they're doing in a forge of Hephaestus, I have no idea."

"And so, younglings," one of the older ones said, "who do we serve?" 

"Kronos!" they shouted. 

"That basically sums up their whole agenda, gods bad titans good," he whispered again.

"And when you grow to be big telekhines, will you make weapons for the army?" 

"Yes!" 

"Excellent. Now, we've brought in some scraps for you to practice with.Let's see how ingenious you are." 

All the telekhines made their way to a cart in the middle of room, and as the tarp was thrown off, Percy Tartarus Jackson sprung up like a jack-in-the-box. Completely surrounded. Sword out. (Y/N) slapped his forehead.

"A demigod!" one snarled. 

"Eat it!" yelled another. 

But that's as far as they got before Percy slashed a wide arc with Riptide and vaporised the entire front row of monsters. 

"Back off!" he yelled at the rest, trying to sound fierce. 

Behind them stood their instructor—a six-foot-tall telekhine with oddly sized fangs snarling.

"New lesson, class," Jackson announced. "Most monsters will vaporise 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!"