CHAPTER THIRTEEN
—dumb sea dogs
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—JUDITH would consider herself acclimated to the heat. She'd lived in ass-crack Texas for a portion of her life and hadn't broken a sweat. She'd been to Mexico for a spring break trip once and relished the triple digit temperature. She'd even gotten into a pack of matches when she was four and burned everything except her skin.
Her trick?
Make sure the fire within burned hotter than the sun above.
But there were times when it was too much. When the mixture of smoke and ashes consumed her lungs and clouded her head enough to make her skin susceptible to heat. The first — and last — time this happened, Judith had lost Bryce Tanner to the Sea of Monsters.
And now, she could already tell she was walking into another unforgiving heat, this time from the earth's core.
The stone walls that barred them in glowed like an oven and the air was getting thick with humidity. The tunnel sloped down and Judith could hear a loud roar, like a river, but of metal or tar. The spider skittered along recklessly, Annabeth right behind as her fears paled in comparison to her drive to retrieve the means of reaching Daedalus.
The roaring increased steadily. After another half mile or so, they emerged in a cavern the size of a Super Bowl stadium. The spider escort stopped and curled into a shiny ball. Judith stooped down to pocket it in her leather jacket ( one she refused to ditch, even in the scorching tunnel ).
Ahead of them, they scoured Hephaestus' old forge. There was no floor, just bubbling lava hundreds of feet below. They stood on a rock ridge that circled the cavern. A network of metal bridges spanned across it like a web. At the center was a huge platform with all sorts of machines, cauldrons, forges, and an anvil fit for a god in their natural form. Creatures moved around the platform — several strange, dark shapes, too far away to make out.
"How are we supposed to get in there without attracting their attention?" Percy asked.
"Who said we don't have to?" Judith shrugged. "Three demigods versus some small monsters, we got this."
Annabeth shook her head, shooting down that tactic. "Hephaestus just said to find out what they are and report back. We don't have to fight. Stay here, I got this." She put on her Yankees cap and turned invisible.
Judith grumbled at the no-fight scenario, but she had to chuckle at Annabeth's cool hat. "I love that thing." Her and Percy crouched against an outer wall, their shoulders brushing. "I would do so many things with a hat like that."
"Like torment everybody?" Percy asked, his mouth slowly smirking, no doubt thinking of all the mischief he could get in as well.
"Well-deserves torment. And I'd start with the Stoll brothers. Next would be Mark." Judith licked her lips at just the thought of torturing her brother with haunted swords.
"I have a few vendettas to settle, myself," he confessed. "Not even going to lie, Clarisse is totally on my list."
Judith pushed him over and he toppled to the ground with a hushed cry. "And you say she has no reason to hate you."
Percy brushed himself off as he readjusted himself. "Hey, I never said that. Her reasons are just ... unreasonable."
"Unbelievable," she muttered and bit her cheek before she could chuckle.
Percy shook his head with a small smile, noticing the small dimple on her cheek that told him she was fighting a smirk. But it fell as they looked out at the center platform again. "Can you see what they are?"
"No," Judith replied. "We should get closer."
He grabbed her arm before she could start moving. "I have a bad feeling about this."
Judith looked him up and down in the harsh orange light of the lava. His face was grave and littered with dirt, and something stirred in her with his words. "You have a bad feeling about going over there or just in general?"
"In general," he answered after a beat.
"Then that's even more reason to go. Annabeth might need backup," she said to convince him.
"Okay, be careful," he nodded nervously, his eyes scraping over the volcano's interior.
"Hey," she lightly punched his shoulder, "I got your back."
"Ditto," Percy said, his voice barely registering beneath the roar of fire and magma.
The heat was horrible. Geryon's ranch had been a winter wonderland compared to this. In no time, Judith was drenched with sweat. Her eyes stung from the swirling smoke and steam. They moved along, trying to keep away from the edge, until they found themselves blocked by a cart on metal wheels, like the kind they use in mine shafts. Percy lifted up the tarp and found it was half full of scrap metal. They were about to try and squeeze past it unnoticed when voices rang from down the tunnel.
"Bring it in?" One asked.
"Yeah," another echoed. "Movie's just about done."
The two demigods looked at each other worriedly. Judith reached for her ax, but Percy slapped her hand away and instead pulled her to stand up and ushered her into the cart. He climbed in after her and pulled the tarp over them and they both held their breaths.
"This is the worst idea you've ever had." Judith gritted her teeth, trying to adjust herself so jagged pieces of metal weren't digging into her back.
"Hey, that's my foot," Percy said quietly.
"Well, it's in my face," she hissed, shoving it even harder.
"Maybe your face shouldn't be on my foot," he retorted.
"You really want to fight right now?" Judith growled. "Of all times?"
"No, I really don't. Be quiet."
Judith would kill him, she swore it.
The cart lurched forward.
"Oi," a gruff voice said. "Thing weighs a ton."
"It's celestial bronze," the other replied. "What did you expect?"
As they got pulled along, Judith felt bold enough to turn to where she thought Percy's face was. "Remind me to never follow your plans ever again."
"Talking to my knee," Percy chuckled out before shifting to make them more even. "I wasn't going to let you fight them off. We have no idea what they are and we don't know where Annabeth is. Anything we do could put her in danger."
Judith inched back as he'd moved far too close for her comfort. "Yeah, well, I think either way, we're going to be fighting now, Barnacle Breath. Who knows where they're taking us."
Percy huffed, not having any good retaliation.
They turned a corner, and from the sound of the wheels echoing against the walls, Judith guessed they had passed down a tunnel and into a smaller room. The only thing Judith wasn't prepared for was if they got dumped into a smelting pot. She could fight her way out against monsters all day, but there was no way to fight magma.
They 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 afterward."
The voices quieted down, and Judith could hear the film playing.
"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 — probably? — told the younglings to be quiet, and the film continued. 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. Judith reeled through every monster that could possibly have flippers.
"Now, younglings," the instructor said, "what is the proper name of our kind?"
"Sea demons!" one of them barked.
"No. Anyone else?"
"Telekhines!" A different monster growled. Judith's eyes widened in recognition. Percy's arm reached out to touch hers as if asking should we be worried? She tapped him once, not really sure if she intended it to be a positive or negative response.
"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 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!"
Judith could feel Percy clutch his pen-sword. Her own ax was inaccessible at the moment, so she had to rely on him if they were suddenly discovered. Surprisingly, the thought wasn't as worrying as she'd anticipated.
"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."
"Get ready," Judith told him quietly. She groaned quietly as he shuffled himself around, his elbow going straight into her gut. "Gods, Jackson, watch it."
"Sorry," he mumbled.
There was a rush of movement and excited voices coming toward the cart. The tarp was thrown back. Percy jumped up, his bronze sword springing to life in his hands, and faced a bunch of ... pups. Judith was next out of the cart, her weapon blazing under the red heat, glinting dangerously.
"Demigods!" One snarled.
"Eat them!" yelled another.
But that was as far as they got before Percy slashed a wide arc with Riptide and vaporized the entire front row of monsters. Judith held her ax up menacingly, threatening the ones on the other side of the cart.
"Back off!" She yelled at them. Behind them stood their instructor — a six-foot-tall telekhine with Doberman fangs snarling. Judith stared it down with a heated gaze. "We've heard enough of this Monster Propaganda."
"New lesson, class," Percy announced next. "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 Judith's surprise, it worked like a charm. The monsters backed up, but there were at least twenty of them.
Percy jabbed Judith in her gut one more time, this one purposeful and cautious. She got the message and hopped out of the cart alongside him. He shouted, "CLASS DISMISSED!" and they dashed for the exit.
The monster pups charged after them, barking and growling. For having stubby legs and flippers, the Telekhines moved quite fast. Judith thanked the gods there was a door in the tunnel leading out to the main cavern. Percy dragged her through with a harsh tug to her hand and slammed it shut, turning the wheel handle three times to lock it, but Judith knew that if they were somehow breaking into a God's forge, a door wouldn't keep them back for long.
"I told you so," Judith grunted. "Fighting is inevitable sometimes."
Percy rolled his eyes. "Okay, genius. And how do you suppose we fight out of this one, huh?"
Judith only had to think for a moment. "Well, if they're only going to be coming through this door, then it'll be easy to just swipe at them as they bottle-neck."
"And the ones in here?" Percy asked impatiently, gesturing around the new room they'd found themselves in.
"I don't know, we get there when we get there," she said in annoyance. "Some other bridges need to be crossed first."
Two invisible hands managed to cover Judith and Percy's mouths as they bickered. "Shhh! You want to get us killed?"
Annabeth took off her cap and appeared flustered in between them. "Gods, I thought we were over the whole arguing thing with you two."
Judith slapped the girl's hand away from her face and wiped at her mouth. "Far from over."
"What is the problem?" Annabeth asked next, knowing they wouldn't be shouting for no reason.
"We're going to have company!" Percy 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."
They peeked over the cauldron. In the center of the platform stood four sea demons, but these were fully grown, at least eight feet tall. Their black, slick 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 announced. "It needs another cooling in blood to fuse the metals."
"Aye," a second confirmed. "It shall be even sharper than before."
"What is that?" Percy whispered.
Annabeth shook her head. "They keep talking about fusing metals. I wonder — "
"The greatest Titan weapon. It's another scythe for Kronos," Judith answered. "The last one was used to castrate Ouranos."
The two demigods next to her groaned in disgust. Leave it to Judith to deal out disturbing mythological facts. Annabeth would admit that she had a large arsenal of information in her mind, but she always managed to filter out things she didn't like — this would have been one of those tidbits to get thrown out.
"And they ... they said they made my father's trident," Percy said.
"The telekhines betrayed the gods," Annabeth said. "They were practicing 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.
"Put your cap back on," Percy said as Judith readied her ax. "Get out!"
"What?" Annabeth shrieked. "No! I'm not leaving you guys."
"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 both be killed!"
Judith and Percy fleetingly glanced at each other, both of them thinking about their chat earlier about watching each other's backs. "We'll be fine," Judith said.
Annabeth seared a glare into both of their minds before disappearing in a flash.
Judith gritted her teeth in readiness before looking at Percy who was already staring at her. "So, the plan?"
Percy shook himself out of his daze before looking at the door beside them where Annabeth had just escaped through. "We'll have to surprise them."
Their eyes overlooked the flooding lower levels, their position still undiscovered. Judith's hands twitched at the sight, ready to slay some monsters. But her face dropped and she cursed.
"What?" Percy asked.
"I have the spider. I need to get this to Annabeth." Judith pulled the metal ball out of her pocket. "Don't go anywhere."
Percy followed her to the door. "Wouldn't dream of it," he sighed and the girl picked up on the strange tone.
"I mean it," Judith stressed as she spun the wheel on the door. She swung the door open before looking back at him. "I'm serious."
Percy glanced over his shoulder with increasing panic. "So am I."
When Judith said she was used to heat, she'd been lying.
Because the fire that blazed over her skin as the son of Poseidon clasped her elbow and pulled her into a kiss was unlike any she'd ever felt. It raged from her head to her toes, exploding like the stray firework that sets a forest on fire. Lighting her up like a sparkler. It was unbearable, clogging up her mind and lungs like fog. It made her sweat, made her hyperventilate.
It was intoxicating.
Thrilling.
Breathtaking.
And it was over before she could tell herself to count to three.
Because the boy was pushing her through the bay door and slamming it in her face before she could decide whether she liked the squelching fire in her heart or not. Still reeling from what he'd done, Judith could hardly feel herself kick the door repeatedly. A door that locked from the inside.
"You're so dead, Jackson," she breathed, chest blooming with staggering warmth. "So unbelievably ... dead."
NOTES ;
LISTENING TO THE SONG TRUE LOVE BY P!NK AND WONDERING HOW A SONG COULD FIT THIS RELATIONSHIP SO WELL
ANYWAY, LET ME KNOW HOW YOU THOUGHT
edited : 09 / 10 / 2020