𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐬'𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 • 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘺 𝘫𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘴𝘰𝘯

Percy

Y/n's Pov:

I thought we'd lost the spider until Tyson heard a faint pinging sound. We made a few turns, backtracked a few times, and eventually found the spider banging its tiny head on a metal door.

The door looked like one of those old-fashioned submarine hatches—oval, with metal rivets around the edges and a wheel for a doorknob. Where the portal should've been was a big brass plaque, green with age, with a Greek Τ inscribed in the middle.

We all looked at each other.

"Ready to meet Hephaestus?" Grover said nervously.

"No," Percy admitted.

"Yes!" Tyson said gleefully, and he turned the wheel.

As soon as the door opened, the spider scuttled inside, with Tyson right behind it. The rest of us followed, not quite as anxious.

The room was enormous. It looked like a mechanic's garage, with several hydraulic lifts. Some had cars on them, but others had stranger things: a bronze hippalectryon with its horse head off and a bunch of wires hanging out its rooster tail, a metal lion that seemed to be hooked up to a battery charger, and a Greek war chariot made entirely of flames.

Smaller projects cluttered a dozen worktables. Tools hung along the walls. Each had its own outline on a Peg-Board, but nothing seemed to be in the right place. The hammer was over the screwdriver's place. The staple gun was where the hacksaw was supposed to go.

Under the nearest hydraulic lift, which was holding a '98 Toyota Corolla, a pair of legs stuck out—the lower half of a huge man in grubby grey pants and shoes even bigger than Tyson's. One leg was in a metal brace.

The spider scuttled straight under the car, and the sounds of banging stopped.

"Well, well," a deep voice boomed from under the Corolla. "What have we here?"

The mechanic pushed out on a back trolley and sat up. I'd seen Hephaestus once before, briefly on Olympus, so I thought I was prepared, but his appearance made me gulp.

I guess he'd cleaned up when I saw him on Olympus or used magic to make his form seem a little less hideous. Here in his own workshop, he apparently didn't care how he looked. He wore a jumpsuit smeared with oil and grime. Hephaestus was embroidered over the chest pocket. His leg creaked and clicked in its metal brace as he stood, and his left shoulder was lower than his right, so he seemed to be leaning even when he was standing up straight. His head was misshapen and bulging. He wore a permanent scowl. His black beard smoked and hissed. Every once in a while a small wildfire would erupt in his whiskers, and then die out. His hands were the size of a catcher's mitts, but he handled the spider with amazing skill. He disassembled it in two seconds, and then put it back together.

"There," he muttered to himself. "Much better."

The spider did a happy flip in his palm, shot a metallic web at the ceiling, and went swinging away.

Hephaestus glowered up at us. "I didn't make you, did I?"

"Make me as in machinery, no," I said. "I'm also not your daughter."

"Good," the god grumbled. "Shoddy workmanship."

He studied Annabeth, Percy, Grayson, and me. "Half-bloods," he grunted."Could be automatons, of course, but probably not."

"We've met, sir," Percy told him.

"Have we?" the god asked absently. I got the feeling he didn't care one way or the other. he was just trying to figure out how Percy's jaw worked, whether it was a hinge or a lever or what. "Well then, if I didn't smash you to a pulp the first time we met, I suppose I won't have to do it now."

He looked at Grover and frowned. "Satyr." Then he looked at Tyson, and his eyes twinkled. "Well, a Cyclops. Good, good. What are you doing travelling with this lot?"

"Uh..." said Tyson, staring in wonder at the god.

"Yes, well said," Hephaestus agreed. "So, there'd better be a good reason you're disturbing me. The suspension on this Corolla is no small matter, you know."

"Sir," I said hesitantly, "we're looking for Daedalus. We thought—"

"Daedalus?" the god roared. "You want that old scoundrel? You dare to seek him out!"

His beard burst into flames and his black eyes glowed.

"Uh, yes, sir, please," Annabeth said.

"Humph. You're wasting your time." He frowned at something on his worktable and limped over to it. He picked up a lump of springs and metal plates and tinkered with them. In a few seconds, he was holding a bronze and silver falcon. It spread its metal wings, blinked its obsidian eyes, and flew around the room.

Tyson laughed and clapped his hands. The bird landed on Tyson's shoulder and nipped his ear affectionately.

Hephaestus regarded him. The god's scowl didn't change, but I thought I saw a kinder twinkle in his eyes. "I sense you have something to tell me, Cyclops."

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," Grayson said.

Hephaestus cleared his throat and spat into a bronze spittoon. He snapped his fingers, and the robotic falcon flew back to the worktable.

"Mother likes telling that version of the story," he grumbled. "Makes her seem more likeable, doesn't it? Blaming it all on my dad. The truth is, 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."

It seemed like a pretty lonely way to live. Plus, I didn't exactly trust the work of Hephaestus. One time in Denver, his mechanical spiders had almost killed Annabeth, Percy, and me. And last year, it had been a defective Talos statue that cost Bianca her life—another one of Hephaestus's little projects.

He focused on Percy and me and narrowed his eyes as if he were reading our thoughts. "Oh, these don't like me," he mused. "No worries, I'm used to that. What would you ask of me, little demigods?"

It seemed as if Percy was thinking the same as me

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

"Why not?"

Hephaestus shrugged. "Some of us get thrown off mountainsides. For some of us...the way we learn not to trust people is 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," Percy said.

Hephaestus actually laughed—a booming sound like a huge bellow stoking a fire. "You heroes," he said, "always making rash promises. How refreshing!"

He pressed a button on his workbench, and metal shutters opened along the wall. It was either a huge window or a big-screen TV, I couldn't tell which. We were looking at a grey mountain-ringed in forests. It must've been a volcano because smoke rose from its 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?" Grayson 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 MountSt. 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?" Percy said, "Fight him?"

Hephaestus snorted. "That would be suicide. 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 dates invade my territory, and if they mean to lose Typhon ."

"You want us to find out who it is," I said.

"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," I 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.

"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."

~

We were doing okay until we hit the tree roots. The spider raced along and we were keeping up, but then we spotted a tunnel off to the side that was dug from raw earth and wrapped in thick roots. Grover stopped dead in his tracks.

"What is it?" Percy said.

He didn't move. He stared openmouthed into the dark tunnel. His curly hair rustled in the breeze.

"Come on!" I said. "We have to keep moving."

"This is the way," Grover muttered in awe. "This is it."

"What way?" Percy asked. "You mean...to Pan?"

Grover looked at Tyson. "Don't you smell it?"

"Dirt," Tyson said. "And plants."

"Yes! This is the way. I'm sure of it!"

Up ahead, the spider was getting farther down the stone corridor. A few more seconds and we'd lose it.

"We'll come back," I promised. "On our way back to Hephaestus."

"The tunnel will be gone by then," Grover said. "I have to follow it. A door like this won't stay open!"

"But we can't," I said. "The forges!"

Grover looked at me sadly. "I have to, Y/n. Don't you understand?"

The spider was almost out of sight. 

We have to move or we'll lose the spider!

But they refuse to go!

So then what do we do?!

"We'll split up," Percy said.

WHAT?!

"No!" I said. "That's way too dangerous. How will we ever find each other again? And Grover can't go alone."

Tyson put his hand on Grover's shoulder. "I—I will go with him."

I couldn't believe I was hearing this.

"Tyson, are you sure?" Percy asked.

The big guy nodded. "Goat boy needs help. We will find the god person. I am not like Hephaestus. I trust friends."

Grover took a deep breath. "Percy, we'll find each other again. We've still got the empathy link. I just...have to."

I didn't blame him. This was his life's goal. If he didn't find Pan on this journey, the council would never give him another chance.

"I hope you're right," Percy said.

"I know I am."

I'd never heard him sound so confident about anything, except maybe that cheese enchiladas were better than chicken enchiladas.

"Be careful," Grayson told him.

Then I looked at Tyson. He gulped back a sob and gave Percy a bear hug. Then he and Grover disappeared through the tunnel of tree roots and were lost in the darkness.

"This is bad," Annabeth said. "Splitting up is a really, really bad idea."

"We'll see them again," Grayson said confidently. "Now come on. The spider is getting away!"

~

It wasn't long before the tunnel started to get hot.

The stone walls glowed. The air felt as if we were walking through an oven. The tunnel sloped down and I could hear a roar, like a river of metal. The spider skittered along, as I followed right behind. Annabeth and Grayson chatted about something some meters behind me.

"Hey, Y/n, wait up," Percy called as he ran to me.

I glanced back at him. "Yeah?"

Percy walked beside me. "Something Hephaestus said back there...about Athena."

"She swore never to marry," I said. "Like Artemis and Hestia. She's one of the maiden goddesses."

Percy blinked. "But then—"

"How come she has demigod children?"

He nodded. 

"Percy, you know how Athena was born?"

"She sprung from the head of Zeus in full battle armour or something."

"Exactly. She wasn't born in the normal way. She was literally born from thoughts. Her children are born the same way. When Athena falls in love with a mortal man, it's purely intellectual, the way she loved Odysseus in the old stories. It's a meeting of minds. She would tell you that's the purest kind of love."

"So Annabeth's dad and Athena...so Annabeth wasn't..."

"She was a brainchild," I said. "Literally. Children of Athena are sprung from the divine thoughts of their mother and the mortal ingenuity of their father. They are supposed to be a gift, a blessing from Athena on the men she favours."

"But—"

"Percy, the spider's getting away. Do you really want me to explain the exact details of how my best friend was born?"

"Um...no. That's okay."

I smirked. "I thought not." And I ran ahead.

The roaring got louder. After another half mile or so, we emerged in a cavern the size of a Super Bowl stadium. Our spider escort stopped and curled into a ball. We had arrived at the forge of Hephaestus.

There was no floor, just bubbling lava hundreds of feet below. We stood on a rock ridge that circled the cavern. A network of metal bridges spanned across it. At the centre were a huge platform with all sorts of machines, cauldrons, forges, and the largest anvil I'd ever seen—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. 

Annabeth picked up the metal spider and slipped it into her pocket. "Grayson, come on. You two, wait here."

"Hold it!" I said, but before I could argue, she put on her Yankees cap, grabbed Grayson's hand, and turned invisible.

I didn't dare call after her, but I didn't like the idea of her approaching the forge on her own. If those things out there could sense a god coming, would Annabeth be safe?

I looked back at the Labyrinth tunnel. I missed Grover and Tyson already. Finally, Percy and I decided we couldn't stay put. We crept along the outer rim of the lava lake, hoping we could get a better angle to see what was happening in the middle.

The heat was horrible. Geryon's ranch had been a winter wonderland compared to this. In no time I was drenched with sweat. My eyes stung from the smoke. I moved along, trying to keep away from the edge, until I found my way blocked by a cart on metal wheels, like the kind they use in mine shafts. Percy lifted the tarp and found it was half full of scrap metal. I was about to squeeze my way around it when I heard voices from up ahead, probably from a side tunnel.

"Bring it in?" one asked.

"Yeah," another said. "Movie's just about done."

Percy and I shared a panicked look. We didn't have time to back up. There was nowhere to hide except...the cart. We scrambled inside and pulled the tarp over us, hoping no one had seen us. Percy curled his fingers around Riptide, just in case we had to fight. I stayed ready for attack. 

The cart lurched forward.

"Oi," a gruff voice said. "Thing weighs a ton."

Rude.

"It's celestial bronze," the other said. "What did you expect?"

Percy and I got pulled along. We turned a corner, and from the sound of the wheels echoing against the walls, I guessed we had passed down a tunnel and into a smaller room. Hopefully, we were not about to be dumped into a smelting pot. If they started to tip us over, we'd have to fight our way out quick. I heard lots of talking, chattering voices that didn't sound human—somewhere between a seal's bark and a dog's growl. There were other sounds too—like an old-fashioned film projector and a tinny voice narrating.

"Just set it in the back," a new voice ordered from across the room. "Now, younglings, please attend to the film. There will be time for questions afterwards."

The voices quieted down, and I could hear the film.

As a young sea demon matures, the narrator said, changes happen in the monster's body. You may notice your fangs getting longer and you may have a sudden desire to devour human beings. These changes are perfectly normal and happen to all young monsters.

Excited snarling filled the room. The teacher—I guess it must have been a teacher—told the younglings to be quiet, and the film continued. I didn't understand most of it, and I didn't dare look. The film kept talking about growth spurts and acne problems caused by working in the forges, and proper flipper hygiene, and finally, it was over.

"Now, younglings," the instructor said, "what is the proper name of our kind?"

"Sea demons!" one of them barked.

"No. Anyone else?"

"Telekhines!" another monster growled.

"Very good," the instructor said. "And why are we here?"

"Revenge!" several shouted.

"Yes, yes, but why?"

"Zeus is evil!" one monster said. "He cast us into Tartarus just because we used magic!"

"Indeed," the instructor said. "After we made so many of the gods' finest weapons.The trident ofPoseidon, for one. And of course—we made the greatest weapon of the Titans! Nevertheless, Zeus cast us away and relied on those fumbling Cyclopes. That is why we are taking over the forges of the usurperHephaestus. And soon we will control the undersea furnaces, our ancestral home!"

I rubbed my ring. Now I remembered.

The telekhines were four mysterious sea-god magicians and smiths native to the islands of Keos and Rhodes. They invented the art of metal-working and were said to have crafted the sickle used by Kronos used to castrate his father Ouranos as well as the magical trident for Poseidon which the god used to lever mountains into the sea to create the island of the Aegean. Their malignant use of magic later angered Zeus, who cast them beneath the sea or into the pit of Tartarus.

"And so, younglings," the instructor continued, "who do we serve?"

"Kronos!" they shouted.

"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."

There was a rush of movement and excited voices coming toward the cart. I got ready to summon my bow and arrow. The tarp was thrown back. I nodded at Percy, and together, we jumped up, our weapons springing to life in our hands. Suddenly, we found ourselves facing a bunch of...dogs.

Well, their faces were dogs, anyway, with black snouts, brown eyes, and pointy ears. Their bodies were sleek and black like sea mammals, with stubby legs that were half flipper, half a foot, and humanlike hands with sharp claws. If you blended a kid, a Doberman pinscher, and a sea lion, you'd get something like what I was looking at.

"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 vaporized the entire front row of monsters.

"Back off!" I yelled at the rest, trying to sound fierce. Behind them stood their instructor—a six-foot-tall telekhine with Doberman fangs snarling at me. I did my best to stare him down.

"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 my surprise, it worked. The monsters backed up, but there were at least twenty of them. Percy's fear factor wasn't going to last long. He jumped out of the cart.

I jumped afterwards, yelled, "CLASS DISMISSED!" and we ran for the exit.

The monsters charged after us, barking and growling. I hoped they couldn't run very fast with those stubby little legs and flippers, but they waddled along pretty well. Thank the gods there was a door in the tunnel leading out to the main cavern. We slammed it shut and turned the wheel handle to lock it, but I doubted it would keep them long.

I didn't know what to do. Annabeth was out here somewhere, invisible. Our chance for a subtler reconnaissance mission had been blown. We ran toward the platform at the centre of the lava lake.

~

"Annabeth! Grayson!"I yelled.

"Shhh!" an invisible hand clamped over my mouth and wrestled me down behind a big bronze cauldron."You want to get us killed?"

I found her head and took off her Yankees cap. Annabeth and Grayson shimmered into existence in front of me. Annabeth scowled, her face streaked with ash and grime. "Y/n, what is your problem?"

"We're going to have company!" Percy and I explained quickly about the monster orientation class. Her eyes widened.

"So that's what they are," she said. "Telekhines. I should've known. And they're making...Well, look."

We peeked over the cauldron. In the centre of the platform stood four sea demons, but these were fully grown, at least eight feet tall. Their black skin glistened in the firelight as they worked, sparks flying as they took turns hammering on a long piece of glowing hot metal.

"The blade is almost complete," one said. "It needs another cooling in blood to fuse the metals."

"Aye," a second said. "It shall be even sharper than before."

"What is that?" Grayson whispered.

Annabeth shook her head. "They keep talking about fusing metals. I wonder—"

"They were talking about the greatest Titan weapon," I said.

"And they...they said they made my father's trident," Percy told her.

"The telekhines betrayed the gods," Annabeth said. "They were practising dark magic. I don't know what, exactly, but Zeus banished them to Tartarus ."

"With Kronos."

She nodded. "We have to get out—"

No sooner had she said that than the door to the classroom exploded and young telekhines came pouring out. They stumbled over each other, trying to figure out which way to charge.

Annabeth grabbed Grayson's hand. "Distract them. We'll wait for you."

And they ran to the opposite side.

"Go with Annabeth," Percy told me. "Get out!"

"What?" I shrieked. "No! I'm not leaving you."

"I've got a plan. I'll distract them. You can use the metal spider—maybe it'll lead you back to Hephaestus. You have to tell him what's going on."

"But you'll be killed!"

"I'll be fine. Besides, we've got no choice."

Gods, he's so stubborn!

But also...

I looked him in the eyes, grabbed his face, and kissed him. On the lips this time. It was short, but it felt like heaven. I figured if something did happen to him, I should at least know if he's the one.

He is. It felt so right.

I pulled away. Percy stared at me, dumbfounded. "Be careful, Seaweed Brain."

I ran to Annabeth and Grayson.

"Where's Percy?" Grayson asked.

"Distracting the telekhines," I said.

Annabeth's eyes widened. "What? No - "

"Anna. He wanted this."

Annabeth looked into my eyes. She always knew what was wrong with me.

She nodded. "Alright. Let's do this."

She put her Yankees cap on, grabbed Grayson's and my hand, and we set free the spider. We ran after it as fast as we could. With three bodies and six legs, you'd think we'd be faster.

Nope.

We tripped a lot, but we made it out safely.

Once we were safe, I set myself free of the invisible charm.

"Y/n!" Annabeth called. "What are you doing?"

"Waiting for Percy."

"But the spider - "

Just then there was a huge explosion, sending us three backwards. My back hit a boulder, as Grayson landed horizontally on top of me.

"Sorry," he said standing up.

"Percy," I breathed.

I stood up quickly, reaching for the closest safe spot next to the forges.

"Percy!" I screamed.

Annabeth covered my mouth, her Yankee's Cap now on her hand. "Y/n! They're going to hear you!"

Tears formed in my eyes. "But Percy..."

"Y/n, you knew this was going to happen."

And lose a love to worse than death.

No...