"Holy shit..." I breathed.
We made it to Hephestasus's workshop–after briefly losing the spider–and I'm not gonna lie–I was impressed.
I spent a lot of time with the god's son–Charles Beckendorf–and I had spent a lot of time in the Hephaestus kids' forge, but this was next level.
We were surrounded by all kinds of bronze figurines, prototypes, and whatever the hell the god of forges decided to make.
I was staring at some kind of dragon head prototype when a voice came from underneath a '98 Toyota Corolla, "Well, well...What have we here?"
I turned to come face to face with the marred face of Hephaestus.
"What's up, Captain Fire-Face?"
I didn't register that I had said it until I felt my brother and friends staring at me in horror.
Hephaestus just kinda stared at me–not really exposing his emotions as he wiped his grimey and oily hands on his jumpsuit. I stood in my spot as he walked over to me–his metal brace creaking as he did so, and one of his shoulders dipped lower than the other.
As he stood over me, I knew I might have screwed up before he said in his booming voice, "Not the worst I've been called."
The spider thingy climbed up his leg and into his mishappened palm–to which he continued to disassemble and reassemble it in record time, "There. Much better."
I watched as the spider did a little flip before shooting a metallic web toward the ceiling and swinging away.
"Peter Parker would be so jealous..." I muttered to no one.
Annabeth looked ready to strangle me as Hephaestus looked at the rest of our group, glowering, "I know I didn't make her–but I didn't make you, did I?"
I rolled my eyes at his slight jab at my existence as Annabeth stammered, tearing her burning eyes from me, "Uh, no sir."
"Good. Shoddy workmanship." His eyes took in Percy, Annabeth, and I. "Half-bloods...Could be automatons, of course, but probably not."
"We've met, sir," Percy told him patiently.
"Have we?" The god shot back–obviously not really paying attention. "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 then turned his eyes to Grover, frowning. "Satyr." Then he looked to Tyson–his eyes twinkled, "Well, a Cyclops. Good, good. What are you doing traveling with this lot?"
"Uh..." Tyson stared at the god like a kid at Christmas.
"Yes, well said," Hephaestus nodded firmly. "So, there'd better be a good reason you're disturbing me. The suspension on this Corolla is no small matter, you know."
"Sir," Annabeth spoke again nervously, "we're looking for Daedalus. We thought—"
"Daedalus?" The god bellowed, making me flinch and duck my head slightly. Percy looked at me from the corner of his eyes worriedly as the god continued to freak out. "You want that old scoundrel? You dare to seek him out!"
"Uh, yes, sir, please," Annabeth seemed generally unphased even as the god's beard erupted in flames.
"Humph. You're wasting your time." The enormous deity frowned at something at his worktable, moving to grab it.
I watched as he messed with a few metal plates and some springs, and within seconds–a silver and bronze falcon was sitting in his hands.
My jaw dropped as its wings extended, and it flew around the room–moving to Tyson, who was laughing and nipping his ear affectionately.
Hephaestus stared at my half-brother–his scowl never leaving, but a twinkle lighting up his eyes. Then he said, "I sense you have something to tell me, Cyclops."
Tyson's bright smile faded, "Y-yes, lord. We met a Hundred-Handed One."
Hephaestus bobbed his head, "Briares?"
"Yes. He-he was scared. He would not help us."
"And that bothered you."
"Yes!" Tyson's voice shook as I took his massive hand in mine. "Briares should be strong! He is older and greater than Cyclopes. But he ran away."
Hephaestus sighed tiredly. "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."
I scowled at that–and even though I had never spoken to Hera, I just overall decided we would not be friends.
Which I am sure will cause problems later, but I don't care.
"But I thought Zeus did that to you," Percy said, his brows furrowing.
Hephaestus coughed, clearing his throat, and spat a glob of spit into something on his right before snapping his fingers, calling the falcon back and saying, "Mother likes telling that version of the story. Makes her seem more likable, 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 gently pried a single feather from the falcon's back, and the whole thing fell apart. "Believe me, young Cyclops, you can't trust others. All you can trust is the work of your own hands."
I wasn't really sure what to think about this god.
He wasn't necessarily unlikeable, but his creations were.
The spiders at the waterpark all those summers ago and the Talos statue that had cost Bianca her life to bring down.
I pinched my lips into a frown as I crossed my arms over my chest.
"Oh, this one doesn't like me," Hephaestus nodded at my brother–seeming amused. "No worries, I'm used to that. What would you ask of me, little demigod?"
"We told you," Percy grumbled. "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, sparks flying off his body. "Some of us get thrown off mountainsides. 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 favor."
"You know where he is, then," Annabeth pressed–lifting her brows.
"It isn't wise to go looking, girl."
"My mother says looking is the nature of wisdom."
Hephaestus turned his gaze to her, his eyes narrowing, "Who's your mother, then?"
"Athena."
"Figures." He sighed longingly. "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 favor done."
"Name it," Annabeth said without hesitation.
Hephaestus broke into a bone-rattling laugh, "You heroes, always making rash promises. How refreshing!" He pressed a button on his workbench–making metal shutters along the wall open.
What appeared looked both like a huge ass window or an enormous TV–but I couldn't really tell from where we were standing. On the surface, though, was a gray mountain–surrounded by forests for miles. And hovering above the crest of the mountain was smoke.
I figured it out before Hephaestus spoke again, "Is that a forge?"
The god nodded at me, "Observant–good for you. But yes, it's one of my forges. I have many, but that used to be my favorite."
"That's Mount St. Helens," Grover commented, staring at the image. "Great forests around there."
"You've been there?" Percy asked him curiously.
"Looking for...you know, Pan."
"Wait," Annabeth interrupted, looking at Hephaestus skeptically. "You said it used to be your favorite. What happened?"
Hephaestus scratched at his beard–sending more sparks flying, "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, smoldering all the time. He's restless with the Titan rebellion."
"What do you want us to do?" Percy asked, "Fight him?"
Hephaestus snorted in amusement, "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."
"And let me guess..." I rubbed the back of my head, swiping at some sweat that had gathered at the base of my hair. "You want us to go sneak in and figure out who it is?"
"Aye," Hephaestus nodded. "Go there. They may not sense you coming. You are not gods."
"Glad you noticed," Percy muttered, and I had to bite my lip to keep myself from snorting.
"Go and find out what you can," Hephaestus told us. "Report back to me, and I will tell you what you need to know about Daedalus."
"All right," Annabeth nodded confidently before she asked, "How do we get there?"
Hephaestus clapped his hands, and the spider from earlier flew down–dropping at Annabeth's feet.
I saw my blonde friend flinch at the presence of the little metal spider as Hephaestus explained, "My creation will show you the way. It is not far through the Labyrinth. And try to stay alive, will you? Humans are much more fragile than automatons."
"No shit..." I muttered under my breath. I sucked in a deep breath, saluting to the god, "See ya in a bit, Lord Sparky!"
Hephaestus once more just stared at me before muttering under his breath, "You would get along with my son..."
I didn't answer him as I marched out with Annabeth hot on my heels–scolding me like she was my mom, and we headed back into the Labyrinth–my least favorite place in the whole damn world.
†††
We were on a good pace–following the spider until we hit the tree roots.
We had just spotted a tunnel off to the side that was dug from raw dirt, and Grover pulled up short so fast that I almost collided into his back.
Gasping slightly, I asked, "Groves, what is it?"
He stared at the tunnel, his eyes enormous as a breeze rustled his curls across his forehead.
"Come on!" Annabeth urged. "We have to keep moving."
"This is the way," Grover murmured in awe. "This is it."
"What way?" Percy asked–looking down the tunnel. "You mean...to Pan?"
Grover looked at Tyson over my head. "Don't you smell it?"
"Dirt," Tyson replied. "And plants."
"Yes! This is the way. I'm sure of it!"
I could hear the spider getting further and further away up ahead, and I wasn't sure what to do.
Grover had been searching for months for Pan–not to mention the fact this searcher's license was about to be taken away from him, and if this tunnel led to him, we should—
"Well, come back," Annabeth promised Grover, cutting off my thoughts. "On our way back to Hephaestus."
"The tunnel will be gone by then," Grover shook his head firmly. "I have to follow it. A door like this won't stay open!"
"But we can't! The forges!"
Grover moved his eyes to her and smiled sadly, "I have to, Annabeth. Don't you understand?"
Annabeth looked desperately at him, and I met eyes with Percy.
I knew we were thinking the same thing.
And I was right as we said in unison, "We'll split up."
"No!" Annabeth snapped at us. "That's way too dangerous. We just got Sally back! How will we ever find each other again? And Grover can't go alone."
Tyson placed an enormous hand on Grover's shoulder, "I—I will go with him."
I looked up at my half-brother, feeling like a proud mom at his bravery as Percy asked, "Tyson, are you sure?"
Tyson bobbed his head, "Goat boy needs help. We will find the god person. I am not like Hephaestus. I trust friends."
Grover sucked in a deep breath, "Percy, we'll find each other again. We've still got the empathy link. I just...have to."
Percy smiled nervously at him, murmuring, "I hope you're right."
"I know I am."
I looked at the boys and said sternly, "Be careful. Stay together."
Grover and Tyson nodded before I hugged them and then moved so they could hug Percy and Annabeth.
And moments later, it was just me, Percy, and Annabeth in the tunnel–staring down the earthy tunnel.
"This is bad," Annabeth whispered in a shaky voice. "Splitting up is a really, really bad idea."
"We'll see them again," Percy reassured her. "Now come on. The spider is getting away!"
Annabeth and Percy took off again–but I cast one more glance down the dark tunnel, part of me screaming to go after Grover and my brother.
But I didn't.
Picking up the pace again, just in time to hear Annabeth say, "She swore never to marry. Like Artemis and Hestia. She's one of the maiden goddesses."
I was careful to watch my footing as the tunnel sloped into a decline, but I asked, "What the hell are you talking about?"
Percy didn't hear me as he asked, "But then—"
"How come she has demigod children?"
"Oh my gods, Perc. Are you really asking how maiden goddesses have kids?"
My brother's face was blood red with embarrassment, but Annabeth didn't seem to notice as she replied simply, "Percy, you know how Athena was born?"
"She sprung from the head of Zeus in full battle armor or something. Sally told me."
"Yeah because you literally have asked me this before."
"Exactly," Annabeth ignored our banter. "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."
I could tell Percy was trying to wrap his head around the explanation for the second time, "So your dad and Athena...so you weren't..."
"I was a brain child," Annabeth put it simply. "Literally. Children of Athena are sprung from the divine thoughts of our mother and the mortal ingenuity of our father. We are supposed to be a gift, a blessing from Athena on the men she favors."
"But—"
"Percy, I really love you and how you would like to learn more about where brain babies come from, but the spider's getting away," I interrupted him, nodding away as sweat dripped into my eyes. "Do you want us to explain it step by step?"
"We can do that," Annabeth told him. "If that's what you want..."
Annabeth and I were totally teasing him at this point but it didn't stop him from stammering over his words–dumbstruck, "Um...no. That's okay."
Annabeth smirked at me. "I thought not."
She ran ahead with a flash of blonde hair, but I stayed behind with Percy, nudging his shoulder, "Don't overthink it. She's still Annabeth."
My brother's eyes followed her and I just snorted right before I noticed the loud roaring around the tunnel.
What in Hades was that?
We ran about another half-mile before emerging into a new cavern about the size of a Super Bowl stadium.
And our little spider friend had stopped–curling into a ball.
The heat from the lava a hundred feet below us made my skin slick with sweat.
As I looked over the edge of the ridge, we had stopped at–I examined the metal bridges spanning across the cavern. They lead to platforms with all kinds of different items–machines, cauldrons, forges, and one huge ass anvil (like this thing was the size of a house).
I could vaguely make out some weirdly shaped creatures walking around and working–but we were too far away to actually tell who or what they were.
Annabeth leaned over–grabbed the spider from the ground, and tucked it into her pocket before saying distantly, "I can. Wait here."
"Hold it!" Percy hissed.
But Annabeth disappeared as she placed her Yankees cap on her gold curls–vanishing from view.
I held up my hands, "Did–Did she just leave us here?"
"Yep."
"Oh gods."
The two of us just stood there for a second before meeting eyes–our brows raising.
"Go gonna go—"
"Let's go."
Percy and I were drenched in sweat and were basically blind from the smoke that wafted around us.
I almost ran into the back of an old mining cart–but Percy grabbed my elbow before I could knock myself out. I gave him a small sheepish look before we looked under the tarp–inspecting the half-full cart of scrap metal.
I dropped the tarp as Percy and I was trying to judge if we could slip around the cart against the cavern wall when a voice found our ears, sending us both into a crouch.
"Bring it in?" The voice asked.
"Yeah," Another replied. "Movie's just about done."
"Shit, shit, shit..." I hissed. I pulled Percy back away from the wall and pushed him into the cart, "Get in!"
He didn't even question me–just hopped into the back, offering me a hand to climb in after him.
We slipped under the tarp, our breaths still.
Percy wrapped his hand around Riptide, the pen gripped tightly in his fingers.
I was ready to pull Undertow from my finger as the cart lurched forward, almost sending us into the wall of the car headfirst.
"Oi," A gruff voice grumbled. "Thing weighs a ton."
"It's celestial bronze," The other voice snapped. "What did you expect?"
I looked down at the metal, furrowing my brows–Why were they mining all of this?
The cart shifted around, and Percy and I were barely balancing on the balls of our feet, clutching onto each other's shoulders in hopes we wouldn't give our hiding spot away.
It was a few seconds before we heard lots of talking–talking that sounded weirdly like a seal barking and a dog growling mixed.
A weirdly old-fashioned voice was added to the mix before another live voice shouted, "Just set it in the back. Now, younglings, please attend to the film. There will be time for questions afterward."
I looked at Percy, who looked just as confused as I was as the voices quieted and the narrator's voice took to the air, As a young sea demon matures, 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.
There were excited growlings from around the room–only to be once more silenced by the teacher or whoever was leading the class.
I zoned out through most of it–literally missing everything until the teacher spoke up again, "Now, younglings, what is the proper name of our kind?"
"Sea demons!" One shouted confidently.
"No. Anyone else?"
"Telekhines!" Another monster spoke up.
"Very good. And why are we here?"
"Revenge!" The group all shouted.
"Yes, yes, but why?"
"Zeus is evil!" One snarled. "He cast us into Tartarus just because we used magic!"
"Indeed," The teacher confirmed. "After we made so many of the gods' finest weapons. The trident of Poseidon, 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 usurper Hephaestus. And soon, we will control the undersea furnaces, our ancestral home!"
Percy and I were staring at one another with enormous eyes.
These things made our dad's trident?
I tried to remember reading about telekhines or if Annabeth had talked to me about them–but my brain was short-circuiting, and I couldn't think of anything.
It was so freaking hot in here, and the smoke was relentless on my lungs.
"And so, younglings," The teacher continued, "who do we serve?"
"Kronos!" The group cheered.
"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."
I could feel the cart shaking as the monsters rushed at us.
I pulled Undertow from my finger, waiting for the go from Percy.
We didn't really have time to communicate as the tarp was thrown off of us, and we both jumped up, swinging our swords out in front of us.
But what I saw made me blink.
The telekhines were literally...dogs. They had the face of a cute Doberman pinscher, a sleek body like a seal, and little stubby legs that were half flipper, half foot, and humanlike hands with sharp claws.
I stared at one who watched me with great interest until another shrieked, "Demigods!"
"Eat it!" Another one shouted.
We didn't let them get that far.
Percy took out the whole first front row of the monsters with his sword as I shouted, "Alright, guys! We're gonna do a little activity!" I swung my sword out in front of me as I said, "As we just saw, most monsters will go poof when sliced with a celestial bronze sword. This change is perfectly normal–like totally–and will happen to you right now if you don't BACK THE HELL OFF!"
The monsters took my words to heart–but even when they backed up, Percy grabbed my wrist and shouted, "CLASS DISMISSED!"
We sprinted to the exit–the monsters on our heels.
Thankfully the monsters couldn't get anywhere fast as Percy dragged me to the door that led to the tunnel leading to the main cavern.
The second it was closed–I was locking it up, leaning against it–my chest heaving.
"We gotta..." Percy wheezed a little. "We-We gotta go...go—"
"Yeah, I got you...come on, Kelp Brain. You get to explain to Annabeth what happened with the dogs."
Percy just rolled his eyes as we hurried to the platform in the middle of the lava ocean under us.
Our footsteps were way too loud in my ears, and when Percy yelled, "Annabeth!"
I almost skewered him, but Annabeth just slapped a hand over his mouth harshly while also slapping him in the back of the head, hissing, "You want to get us killed?"
Percy lifted his hand and grabbed her hat off her head–revealing a soot and sweat-covered Annabeth, glowering at him.
"Percy, what is your problem?!" Annabeth snapped at him, trying to get the hat.
"We're going to have company!" Percy choked out before explaining what we had heard in the monster orientation class.
Her gray eyes widened as she breathed out, "So that's what they are. Telekhines. I should've known. And they're making...Well, look."
We all popped our heads over the cauldron we were hiding behind.
Four sea dogs were in the middle of the platform–much bigger than the ones from earlier. Like they were almost or were eight feet tall.
I swallowed thickly as I watched them work on hammering a long piece of glowing metal.
"The blade is almost complete," One sighed. "It needs another cooling in blood to fuse the metals."
"Aye," A second agreed. "It shall be even sharper than before."
"What is that?" Percy questioned softly
Annabeth shook her head, shrugging her shoulders, "They keep talking about fusing metals. I wonder—"
"They were talking about some great Titan weapon–the greatest, I think," I interrupted, watching the monsters hammer away at the red-hot metal. "And they–they mentioned that they were the ones who made Poseidon's trident."
"The telekhines betrayed the gods," Annabeth glanced at me nervously. "They were practicing dark magic. I don't know what, exactly, but Zeus banished them to Tartarus."
"With Kronos," Percy added.
Annabeth nodded, her eyes swung around the platform, "We have to get out—"
BOOM!
I spun around to see the door that led to the classroom exploding, and all of the baby telekhines clamored out.
I didn't give the group a second thought as I turned to Annabeth, "Hey, you gotta get out of here. Put on your hat and—"
"What?!" Annabeth basically screamed at me. "No! I'm not leaving you guys!"
I went to argue with her, but Percy stopped me and said, "I've got a plan. We'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!"
"We'll be fine," I reassured her, even though I had no idea what the hell Percy was planning. "Besides, we've got no choice."
Annabeth glared at me and spun her burning eyes on Percy as he said, "Annabeth, you gotta go. They're coming, and we don't—"
His words were cut off, and I furrowed my brows, turning back to see why only to find him kissing Annabeth.
Wait.
No.
Annabeth kissing him!!!
OH MY GODS! OH MY GOOODDDSSSS!! IT'S HAPPENINGGGGGGG!
I was barely able to process anything but my excitement over their kiss as she murmured to my brother, "Be careful, Seaweed Brain." She looked back at me and simply flipped me off before putting her hat back on and vanishing.
I knew that was her silent message of, Be careful, you idiot.
But I looked at Percy–and I probably looked like the Cheshire Cat with how widely I was smiling at him.
"I-I-I—" He choked out.
"Oh my gods, you're so whipped."
His face was blood red, but when a voice shouted, "THERE!!!" I snapped out of my excitement, turning around and spying the entire class of telekhines charging toward us.
"Shit..." I muttered. "Come on, Romeo." I grabbed my brother under the arm and pulled him into a run toward the middle of the platform again. "Do you actually have a plan?"
"Uhhhhh—"
Damnit, Percy...
We skidded to a half–scaring the older sea demon guys, and they dropped the weapon they were working on.
I stared down at the curved weapon–and dread filled me at the sight. It was already six feet long–and unfinished, it looked just as scary as it probably would be when it was finished.
The telekhines got over their surprise–and when Percy spun to look for a way out for us, the demons covered the only four entrances the platform had.
The tallest monster snarled at us, "What do we have here? A son of Poseidon?"
"Yes," Another growled and tilted his head at us. "I can smell the sea in his blood." Then his eyes narrowed on me, and he sniffed loudly, "This one...this one has salt in her veins too...but there's war in her bones."
"Strike down one of us, demigods," The third demon said from behind me, "and the rest of us shall tear you to shreds. Your father betrayed us. He took our gift and said nothing as we were cast into the pit. We will see him sliced to pieces. He and all the other Olympians."
I looked at my brother, finding him already looking at me, and all that was glowing in his eyes was guilt.
He really didn't have a plan.
Part of me was absolutely enraged that he had dragged me into a trap–with literally no way out, but honestly...part of me felt relief that, at this moment, this could be my last.
And the fact that I felt that way scared me.
My stomach clenched as I forced myself to stop thinking about it, and I just grabbed his hand tightly in mine, whispering, "It's gonna be okay."
The tallest telekhine spoke again, "Let us see how strong they are. Let us see how long it takes them to burn!"
Without warning, the elder telekhines casually scooped out handfuls of lava from the stove near them and chucked them at us. The second a few globs hit my bare legs, I let out a shocked and garbled shout. It didn't really burn at first as I kicked off the stuff and picked up Riptide as Percy was swatting at the fire on his pants.
"Your father's nature protects you," One of the Telekhines said. "Makes you hard to burn. But not impossible, younglings. Not impossible."
Have you ever put your hand on top of a stove–not knowing it was hot? The pain that comes with that is so sudden and sharp?
Yeah, this wasn't like that–at all.
The pain was slow as the lava sunk into my skin, burning everything it touched.
Tearing.
Melting.
Percy wasn't any better beside me–his screams were distant as white pain caught up with me as I tried to rid myself of the lava on my bare skin.
I don't remember exactly what happened, but in my panicked and agonizing state, I vaguely recalled thinking: Water...I need water...
But I couldn't carry out my thoughts–the searing, burning pain was distracting me from doing anything to save me or Percy.
And as I tried to gather my bearings–my vision going speckled as my brain was overwhelmed by my pain synapses sending signals–a glob of lava hit me between the shoulder blades, throwing me off balance.
AND–
I tripped right over the platform's edge.
I vaguely heard Percy scream–for what, I have no idea–but suddenly, I was flying.
Shooting straight up into the sky–so high I was sure that Zeus was probably super pissed–but I didn't have time to think about his stupid insecurity issues because as black took over my vision, I started hurtling straight back down like the meteor that killed all the dinosaurs.
And my last thought was: Again?