ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝚆𝙸𝙽𝙴𝙼𝙰𝙺𝙴𝚁'𝚂 𝙳𝙰𝚄𝙶𝙷𝚃𝙴𝚁༉‧₊˚.[𝙿𝙴𝚁𝙲𝚈 𝙹𝙰𝙲𝙺𝚂𝙾𝙽 & 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙾𝙻𝚈𝙼𝙿𝙸𝙰𝙽𝚂]
chapter thirty-one: we meet hephaestus & percy makes a freaking volcano explode
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ASHANITI WAS absolutely sure they'd lost the mechanical spider due to them stopping to play with the sphinx, but tyson had heard the metallic arachnid, and eventually, after a few turns, and a couple of backtracks, they found the spider banging its tiny head on a metal door.
the door looked like one of those old-fashioned submarine hatches like in an episode of courage the cowardly dog that once haunted her nightmares. the door was oval-shaped, 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 eta—h in greek, a symbol of hephaestus inscribed in the middle.
they all looked at each other. "ready to meet hephaestus?" grover said nervously, sinking his teeth into his bottom lip.
"no," percy admitted squeezing ashanti's hand uncertainly.
"yes!" tyson said gleefully, and he turned the wheel. as soon as the door opened, the spider scuttled inside with the cyclops right behind it. the rest of them 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 hippalektryon 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 place. the staple gun was where the hacksaw was supposed to go.
under the nearest hydraulic lift, which was holding a '98 toyota carolla, a pair of legs stuck out. the lower half of a huge man in grubby gray 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. ashanti had seen hephaestus many times before, but the most memorable was briefly on olympus, so she thought she was pretty well prepared, but his appearance made her cringe.
her only guess was that he'd cleaned up when they seen 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 work 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. 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 then die out.
his hands were the size of catcher's mitts, but he handled the spider with amazing skill. he disassembled it in two seconds, then put it back together. "there," he murmured to himself admiring his handiwork. "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 them. "i didn't make you, did i?"
"uh," annabeth said, blinking at him uncertainly. "no, sir."
"good," the god grumbled in almost a relieved tone that irked ashanti. "shoddy workmanship."
"excuse me?" ashanti asked the god, her eyebrows raised in actual surprise. no one had ever told her the mix of her dna was shoddy workmanship.
he studied ashanti first, then, percy and annabeth. "half-bloods," he grunted. "could be automatons, of course, but probably not."
with the way ashanti was glaring at the hephaestus, offended by his comment, percy tried his luck instead, "we've met before, sir," he told the forge god.
"have we?" the god asked absently. ashanti got the sudden feeling he didn't care one way or the other. he was just trying to figure out how their bodies worked, whether it was a hinge or a lever or what, probably still secretly thinking that they were automations. "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."
"these gods get better, and better, don't they?" ashanti murmured to percy, trying to mask her agitation.
the poseidon boy merely gave her a teeny smile, "the trick is to sass 'em so you don't notice their personalities." hephaestus grumbled at percy's whispered sentence to ashanti causing a tiny smile of amusement to break out on her face.
the god looked at grover and frowned. "satyr." then he looked at tyson, and his eyes twinkled. "well, a cyclops. good, good. what are you doing traveling with this lot?"
"uh... " said tyson, staring in wonder at the god.
"yes, well said," hephaestus agreed immediately, fondness shown clearly on his face for the cyclops. "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 said hesitantly. "we're looking for daedalus. we thought—"
"daedalus?" the god roared in pure anger. "you want that old scoundrel? you dare to seek him out!" his beard burst into flames and his black eyes glowed.
ashanti couldn't help but heave a sigh. she knew it wasn't the athena girl's fault, but she kept screwing up. "uh, yes, sir, please," annabeth said, her tone starting out shaky before evening out.
"humph. you're wasting your time," hephaestus said simply as he frowned at something on his work table 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 the cyclops' shoulder and nipped his ear affectionately. hephaestus regarded him. the god's scowl didn't change, but ashanti thought she saw a kinder twinkle in his eyes. "i sense you have something to tell me, cyclops."
tyson's joyful smile faded. "y-yes, lord. we met a hundred-handed one."
hephaestus nodded, looking unsurprised. "briares?"
"yes," tyson agreed. "h-he was scared. he would not help us."
"and that bothered you," hephaestus filled in, reminding the daughter of dionysus of a therapist of some sorts.
"yes!" tyson's voice wavered unhappily. "briares should be strong! he is older and greater than cyclops. b-but he ran away."
hephaestus grunted. "there was a time i admired the hundred-handed ones, as well. 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," percy cut into the small monologue, his tone wove with confusion, "i thought zeus did that to you."
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 to them. "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 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."
to ashanti, it seemed like a pretty lonely way to live. plus, she didn't exactly trust the work of hephaestus. last year, it had been a defective talos statue that cost bianca di angelo her life, one of hephaestus' little projects.
the god focused on percy, "oh, this one doesn't like me, " he mused. "no worries, i'm used to that. what would you ask of me, little demigod?"
"we told you," percy replied to the god firmly. "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," the god said absentmindedly as he tinkered.
"why not?"
hephaestus shrugged. "some of us get thrown off mountain sides. 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 a bit harder on the forge god.
"it isn't wise to go looking, girl," hephaestus said to her, his expression steely.
"my mother says looking is the nature of wisdom," annabeth said in a prideful tone, lifting her chin. ashanti couldn't help but roll her eyes once again. after all, her pride had gotten them in quite the sticky situation.
hephaestus narrowed his eyes. "who's your mother, then?"
"athena," the blonde was glowing in pride the way she tilted her head up, and straightened her posture.
"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 favor done."
"name it," the daughter of athena said, still basking in the pride of her mother being praised by hephaestus.
"annabeth!" ashanti all but shouted at her.
hephaestus actually laughed, a booming sound like a huge bellows 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 t.v, ashanti couldn't tell which. they were looking at a gray mountain ringed in forests. it must've been a volcano, because smoke rose from its crest.
"one of my forges," hephaestus supplied for them. "i have many, but that used to be my favorite."
"that's mount st. helens," grover said, nodding to the mountain. "great forests around there."
"you've been there?" percy asked one of his best friends.
"looking for...you know, pan," he answered, the satyr grimaced a bit, more than likely thinking of his week-long time crunch which could've ended already. time moved differently in the labyrinth.
"wait," annabeth said, looking at hephaestus. "you said it used to be your favorite. what happened?"
hephaestus scratched his smoldering 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 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 tiredly, "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 dares invade my territory, and if they mean to let loose typhon."
"you want us to find out who it is," percy asked the god, trying to figure out what the hell he wanted since gods weren't known for being really straight forward.
"aye," hephaestus said in agreement. "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 gave them their side quest. "report back to me, and i will tell you what you need to know about daedalus."
"wait, this doesn't seem like a good idea—" ashanti was saying as a bad feeling swelled up in her chest.
"—we need the information!" annabeth cut the dionysis girl off sharply. "i'm the one leading the quest, so why don't you just follow, prewett?" annabeth finished her lips in a firm line.
ashanti's expression hardened immediately, but she didn't say anything in response. it was true, annabeth was the leader of the quest, and it wasn't the dionysus demigoddess' call as she turned down the position. but annabeth was so close to making ashanti's worst fear come true: getting someone killed on her quest.
percy's hand clasped to hold ashanti's forearm to keep her in place. her easy to ignite temper was known, so the poseidon boy wasted no time in holding her back. she looked to him in disbelief of the way annabeth had just spoken to her, as if they hadn't been fine spending time together the enter semester away from camp.
percy murmured to ashanti. "we have to focus on the quest. we'll deal with it when this is over."
"all right," annabeth said, interrupting percy calming down ashanti agitatedly.
"cut the attitude, annabeth," percy snapped at the blonde, getting a little sick of her new persona as well. she'd been overly prideful since they'd left the ranch. "i'm keeping her from sending you straight back to hades right now."
hephaestus clapped his hands to get their attention back. "so, yes, you'll do it?"
the spider came swinging down from the rafters. annabeth flinched when it landed at her feet, and ashanti couldn't help the silent smile of appreciation.
"my creation will show you the way," hephaestus explained to them patiently. "it is not far through the labyrinth. and try to stay alive, will you? humans are much more fragile than automatons."
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THEY WERE doing okay until they hit the tree roots.
the spider raced along and they were keeping up, but then they 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?" ashanti asked her friend worriedly, "are you alright?" he didn't move. grover stared open-mouthed into the dark tunnel. his curly hair rustled in the breeze.
"come on!" annabeth demanded, her tone still sour from her and ashanti's previous encounter, "we have to keep moving."
"this is the way," grover muttered in an odd daze, his tone laced heavily in awe. "this is it."
"what way?" percy asked grover, his green eyes trained on him intently. "you mean...to pan?"
grover looked at tyson. "don't you smell it?"
"dirt," tyson confirmed nodding his head at grover. "and plants."
"yes! this is the way. i'm sure of it!" grover said, his voice rising rapidly with obvious enthusiasm. up ahead, the spider was getting farther down the stone corridor. a few more seconds and they'd lose it.
"we'll come back," annabeth promised, her voice growing near hysterical as the spider scurried farther and farther away from them, her grey eyes bouncing back and forth between grover and the spider. "on our way back to hephaestus."
"the tunnel will be gone by then," grover argued with the blonde. "i have to follow it. a door like this won't stay open!"
"but we can't," annabeth said impatiently. "the forges!"
grover looked at her sadly. "i have to, annabeth. don't you understand?" annabeth looked desperate, like she didn't understand at all. the spider was almost out of sight. but percy stared at grover, as if he were remembering something.
"we'll split up," percy said finally.
"no!" annabeth all but screamed. "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."
ashanti couldn't believe she was hearing this. "tyson, are you sure?" percy asked his brother, his dark eyebrows pulled together in confusion.
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," he paused and took in ashanti's expression, the utterly terrified look on her face. "shanti, we'll find each other again. percy and i've still got the empathy link. i just...have to."
ashanti didn't blame him. not one bit. 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 told grover, his green eyes shining in obvious worry.
"i know i am." grover told them solomnly, and ashanti has never heard him sound so confident about anything, except maybe that cheese enchiladas were better than chicken enchiladas.
"be careful," percy told him. ashanti's bottom lip wobble day the thought of them going off without the group. ashanti absolutely crushed grover into a giant hug, she squeezing the dear life out of the satyr.
"should i—?" ashanti asked, gesturing to the two boys, but percy cut her off with an, "—absolutely not."
"alright," she nodded, "i should have seen that coming." then, tyson and grover disappeared through the tunnel of tree roots and were lost in the darkness.
"this is bad," annabeth murmured. "splitting up is a really, really bad idea."
ashanti didn't say anything in response, still looking over her shoulder where they'd disappeared. "we'll see them again," percy assured her.
"i hope you're right," ashanti told him, swiping away a single tear from the bottom of her eye with her ring finger, "now, let's go. that spider is getting away."
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IT WASN'T long before the tunnel started to get hot.
the stone walls glowed. the air felt as if they were walking through an oven. the tunnel sloped down and ashanti could hear a loud roar, like a river of metal.
the spider skittered along, with annabeth right behind.
"hey, wait up," percy called to her, practically dragging ashanti by her hand to catch up to the daughter of athena.
annabeth merely glanced back at the pair of them, then asking a nonchalant, "yeah?"
"something hephaestus said back there... about athena," percy said looking between the two girls since they'd often have the answers he was looking for.
"she swore never to marry," annabeth answered, clearing her throat awkwardly. "like artemis and hestia. she's one of the maiden goddesses."
"that's always confused me," ashanti spoke up finally. she hadn't said much since grover and tyson took a different path. "how come we've never met a child of hestia?"
percy blinked hard. "wait, but then—"
"how come she has demigod children?" annabeth said dryly, finishing percy's thought.
he nodded, cheeks flushed a bright red. ashanti smirked and jabbed her pointer finger teasingly where his dimples were. percy only blushed brighter, smacking her hand away in embarrassment.
"it's not what your thinking, percy," ashanti told the boy. "it's similar to how athena was born."
"how she sprung from the head of zeus in full battle armor or something, right?" he asked her.
"mhmm. she wasn't born in the normal way. she was literally born from thoughts. her children are born the same way,"
annabeth answered for him instead since he was still a bit confused, "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 your dad and athena..." percy said, trying to piece the puzzle together, his face still totally red, "so you weren't..."
"percy, gods," ashanti laughed lightly, "just say sex. it's not that hard. and no, they didn't."
"i was a brain child," annabeth explained. "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 cut in, still wanting to ask questions.
"percy, the spider's getting away," annabeth said impatiently, "do you really want me to explain the exact details of how i was born?"
"um...no. that's okay," he said rushingly.
"he can make jokes about masturbation but can't listen to a little info about the birth of athena's kids," murmured aloud to herself, a bit of a smirk curled on her lips.
the roaring got louder. after another half mile or so, they emerged in a cavern the size of a super bowl stadium. their spider escort stopped and curled into a ball. they had arrived at the forge of hephaestus.
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.
at the center was a huge platform with all sorts of machines, cauldrons, forges, and the largest anvil ashanti ever seen besides roadrunner cartoons, and honestly, the daughter of dionysus didn't think that actually counted. 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. "i can look around. wait here."
"hold it!" percy said, but before he could argue, annabeth put on her yankees cap and turned invisible. ashanti didn't dare call after her, but she didn't like the idea of the athena girl approaching the forge on her own. if those things out there could sense a god coming, would annabeth be safe?
ashanti's deep purple eyes slowly lifted back at the labyrinth tunnel. she missed grover and tyson already.
"let's go," percy whispered to the dionysus girl, his eyes scanning around them. "i can't stay right here any longer."
they crept along the outer rim of the lava lake, hoping to 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 that. in no time, they were both drenched with sweat. ashanti's eyes stung from the smoke.
they moved along, trying to keep away from the edge, until percy pointed out that they were blocked by a cart on metal wheels, like the kind they used in mine shafts. she lifted up the tarp and found it was half full of scrap metal. ashanti moved to squeeze her way around it when they heard voices from up ahead, probably from a side tunnel.
"bring it in?" one asked.
"yeah" another said. "movie's just about done."
the dionysus girl all but panicked looking at the wild look in percy's eyes, and then the cart. "this is a bad idea," she mumbled, but still allowed him to give her a hand.
she scrambled into the cart, percy right after her. it was dark and they were squished closely together. ashanti's eyes were open wide in the low lightening, desperately trying to see anything as her fingers curled tightly around her nameplate that transformed into a javelin at will.
the cart lurched forward. "oi," a gruff voice said. "thing weighs a ton."
"it's celestial bronze," the other said annoyedly. "what did you expect?" they got pulled along. they turned a corner, and from the sound of the wheels echoing against the walls.
ashanti guessed they had passed down a tunnel and into a smaller room. hopefully, they weren't about to be dumped into a smelting pot. if they started to tip then over, they'd have to fight their way out and quickly.
the demigoddess 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 ashanti 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 ( ashanti was grasping at straws here, it must have been a teacher ) told the younglings to be quiet, and the film continued. she didn't understand most of it, and 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.
"oh my gods," ashanti breathed under her breath, her eyes shooting to percy.
"very good," the instructor said proudly. "and why are we here?"
"revenge!" several shouted.
"yes, but why?"
"zeus is evil!" one monster said gruffly. "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 cyclops. that is why we are taking over the forges of the usurper hephaestus. and soon we will control the undersea furnaces, our ancestral home!"
"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.
ashanti got ready to summon her javelin. the tarp was thrown back.
ashanti jumped up with percy at the exact same time, both their weapons drawn. percy's sword sprang to life, and ashanti's ice-pick sharp javelin glinted dangerously in the low lighting. when she found herself facing a bunch of...dogs, she was well, confused.
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 foot, and humanlike hands with sharp claws. if someone blended together a kid, a doberman pinscher, and a sea lion, they'd see what the actual fuck they were dealing with.
"demigods!" one snarled.
"eat them!" 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!" he yelled fiercely at the rest.
behind them stood their instructor, a six-foot-tall telekhine with doberman fangs snarling at them. ashanti stared him down, challenging him to try and stop them.
"new lesson, class," percy announced with a wide, sarcastic smile. "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 ashanti's surprise, it worked. the monsters backed up, but there were at least twenty of them. ashanti twirled her javelin between her fingers in a way that was calming her nerves.
percy linked hands with ashanti, and jumped out of the cart, yelling, "class dismissed!" and ran for the exit, pulling the girl behind him.
the monsters charged after them, barking and growling. the dionysus girl hoped they couldn't run very fast with their 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.
ashanti slammed it shut and turned the wheel handle to lock it, but both of them silently doubted it would keep them long.
"annabeth!" percy yelled, desperately looking for the girl.
"shhh!" an invisible hand clamped over percy's mouth and wrestled him down behind a big bronze cauldron. ashanti crouched with them. "you want to get us all killed?"
ashanti felt around the air before she found the blonde's head and took off her yankees cap. she shimmered into existence in front of them, scowling, her face streaked with ash and grime.
"percy, what is your problem?" she asked the green eyed boy.
"we're going to have company!" percy explained quickly about the monster orientation class. annabeth's grey eyes widened.
"so that's what they are," she said, nodding. "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 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, nodding in agreement. "it shall be even sharper than before."
"what is that?" percy whispered.
"i think it's kronos'..." ashanti started but annabeth cut the girl off shaking her head, a warning not to say it.
"they keep talking about fusing metals. but, i wonder—"
"they were talking about the greatest titans weapon," percy said to annabeth, recalling what they found out. "and they...they said they made my father's trident."
"the telekhines betrayed the gods," annabeth said, explaining things to the boy, and ashanti nodded in agreement. "they were practicing dark magic. i don't know what, exactly, but zeus banished them to tartarus."
"with kronos."
annabeth 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 ordered the blonde girl. "get out, and take shanti!"
"what?" ashanti shouted at the sheer stupidity of the plan. "no! we're not leaving you."
"i've got a plan. i'll distract them," percy told her seriously, his green eyes watching her face intently as if he were trying to memorize her every feature, almost as if he thought he'd never see her again. "you guys can use the metal spider. maybe it'll lead you back to hephaestus. you have to tell him what's going on."
"percy," ashanti begged, her voice already shaking because the son of poseidon had already made up his mind. "you didn't think this through. this isn't a plan! you'll be killed."
"i'll be fine," he tried to convince her, his tone rising a couple octaves. "besides, we've got no choice."
"no," ashanti said stubbornly. "no! i'm not leaving, and you can't make me." percy looked over her shoulder at annabeth who nodded. to her, he sighed, and hugged her closely. ashanti tried not to, but she cried. tears kept flowing and flowing to the point where despite the heat, his shoulder was soaked.
"you have to get out of here," percy told ashanti. he lifted her chin, and pressed a long kiss on her lips. when he slowly pulled away, she blinked at him wildly, but annabeth yanked her arm, dragging her away, toward safety, but away from percy.
as they ran, ashanti cried almost to the point of hyperventilation as she hiccuped. tears ran freely, blurring her vision as she sprinted back into the labyrinth with annabeth holding her hand tightly. just before he disappeared from view, she swore she heard percy call after her. or maybe, it was just a hopeful illusion.
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