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halothenthehorns · 1 year ago

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Chapter 12: I SET MYSELF ON FIRE

"Yeah, I don't recommend that Percy," Jason told him in concern when Thalia read the new chapter. "There are better ways to impress Annabeth. Even if the water heals you, just, why?"

"Thanks Jason, I'm sure I'll take that recommendation into account in the future," Percy said in exasperation, nobody failing to miss he hadn't denied the accusation.

"He's a pyro at heart, remember," Alex chuckled. "He's clearly just taking his passion to a new level, I respect that."

"Hopefully not to much," Thalia muttered. There were still lives that would never be the same from this instance of Percy's powers.

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.

"Tyson, once again the unsung hero of this quest," Will chuckled.

"It's not very unsung as you guys constantly point it out," but Percy was laughing right along with him.

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 Ȇta inscribed in the middle.

"I'm already wondering if he thinks automatic windows are the best thing in modern technology or if he's going to be a grumpy old man who thinks science peaked with the crank," Magnus admitted.

"He's a god, I wouldn't be surprised if it's both," Alex grinned. "Voice activated hand crank."

"Ah, yes, the obvious solution," Magnus sighed.

We all looked at each other.

"Ready to meet Hephaestus?" Grover said nervously.

"No," I admitted.

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

Nico couldn't help an uneasy frown for Tyson being so enthusiastic about this. He'd already been let down by one hero already, it seemed inevitable it was about to happen again. Did anybody live up to your dreams?

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

"Well if you were as anxious as a mechanical spider or a cyclops than I'd be worried," Jason snorted.

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,

"Robot zoo," Magnus sighed in resignation. "If that's the way of the future, I'm very sorry for this planet."

"I can see its pro's and con's," Will admitted, though his camp still had scorch marks on the hill from those mechanical bulls, so they wouldn't be endorsing the project personally.

"There weren't golden, acid spitting llamas, so he can't be that creative?" Percy shrugged while Thalia groaned as usual at this dumbasses mouth. She just knew Hephaestus was going to show up one day and decide to kill Percy retroactively now.

and a Greek war chariot made entirely of flames.

"Do you get to close to that?" Magnus asked uneasily. It was never a good thing when the chapter title started to early, it left the rest feeling even more unpredictable.

"I did not try to pet the chariot that was on fire," Percy said with confidence. Magnus didn't feel all that reassured anyways.

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.

"The first example we've had that ADHD thing comes from the godly side of the family," Alex chuckled in surprise, he'd go nuts if anybody moved his meticulous materials around.

"You clearly haven't been on the receiving end of trying to have a full conversation with one," Will reminded in exhaustion. "We do good to hold their attention for a sentence," he needlessly reminded while Percy sighed in agreement. The longest conversation he'd had with gods usually meant something disastrous was coming, and even then the topic kept swinging from what to do to how to kill him.

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 gray pants and shoes even bigger than Tyson's. One leg was in a metal brace.

Jason took a deep breath to brace himself to meet another god more one on one. He'd have thought the last winter council hearing them all in once place would have been it, the last big hurdle of this, but Percy hadn't really focused on them individually, which was usually what made his head hurt more. The details, how strange they seemed to how he felt they should be. Vulcan, his mind offered with ease. God of the forge, how bad could it be?

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?"

"At least he didn't smite you the moment you stepped in," Magnus offered with a hopeful thumbs up like Percy had already won. Gods did he hope it was that easy.

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.

"I'm assuming you just guessed that," Thalia scoffed. "You couldn't spell Hephaestus on your life."

"Guilty," Percy nodded.

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 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.

"That just sounds like an average homeless person," Alex said, clearly with no clue why Percy seemed so intimidated.

"What homeless people have you met?" Percy asked blankly.

"The kind that seem vaguely out of place and with strange, unique skills," Alex shrugged.

It seemed no stranger to Percy than anything else that had ever come out of Alex's mouth, so Percy let it go, but Magnus was riveted. It was one of those moments he wished he could ask everyone to pause to talk to him more, see if he'd just spent time around homeless people for his art or had first hand experience...but Thalia only gave a smile of understanding and kept reading, and Magnus didn't want to call attention to what experience he might have with it.

"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.

"Naw," Will smiled in surprise. Nico smiled at his smile. Only Will would be happy the machine seemed happy with its upgrade.

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

Thalia made a very disgruntled kind of noise a god wouldn't know the answer to that because they never visited their kids enough to know the difference.

"Uh," Annabeth said, "no, sir."

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

"Hey," Percy said with indignant blankness. He thought his mom and dad did alright...and how dare anyone call Annabeth shoddy?!

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

"I'm very concerned he doesn't, know the difference..." but Magnus trailed off in horror as Perdix's creepy idea came back to mind. Automaton people and AI take overs may very well happen someday if a god couldn't tell the difference...

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

"Have we?" the god asked absently.

"Well he didn't vote to kill you," Nico recalled. "Apparently that wasn't a hard choice for him, so, win?"

"Sure, I'll take it," Percy shrugged.

I got the feeling he didn't care one way or the other. He was just trying to figure out how my 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."

"There's looking on the bright side," Will agreed cheerfully.

"I'm worried what apocalyptic thing is going to happen if Percy walks away from this without angering a god," Jason admitted.

Thalia laughed without humor. Oh boy was that not an answer she wanted in vivid detail.

He looked at Grover and frowned. "Satyr." Then he looked at Tyson, and his eyes twinkled. "Well, a Cyclops. Good, good.

All seven of them laughed with surprised affection. Apparently just having a cyclops around was going to put Hephaestus in a good mood. Nobody even needed to say it this time, Tyson, the unsung hero of this quest!

What are you doing traveling with this lot?"

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

"Yes, well said," Hephaestus agreed.

"Actions speak louder than words?" Will snorted in surprise.

"I feel like Vulcan isn't the most verbose god in general," Jason shrugged. He probably spent a lot of time in silence and focusing.

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

"Like, it's holding the cosmos together, or, you can't get a project out of your mind?" Alex tried to clarify.

"I assume both are equally important to him," Thalia shrugged.

"Sir," Annabeth 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.

"Where's the stop watch!" Percy cried in relief. "We've achieved normalcy again, and this time it was Annabeth!"

"Losing your touch Perce?" Jason snorted.

"Sharing is caring," Percy chuckled.

"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.

"I can't decide if that easily distractable thing is good or not," Alex admitted. "It saved you from getting disintegrated, but also, I've lived the problem of having to many projects you want to work on and wouldn't wish that on anyone."

"We'll call it a win, win," Percy shrugged.

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

"Keep, it," Will said in a no-nonsense kind of voice. "You need a pet mascot, and since you didn't keep the poodle, I vote the bird!"

"You don't even have to feed it apparently, and they are great," Thalia cheerfully agreed.

"Grover might want it as a midnight snack, shouldn't risk it," Percy said, only vaguely serious.

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?"

Magnus sighed and wondered when he'd stop being surprised at gods plucking random knowledge out of the universe.

"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.

Thalia sighed at the words that fell out of her mouth. She could see how easy it would be to think that, she'd come stunningly close to being that way herself when she awoke. Finding out Luke had betrayed her hit so hard, she'd jumped at the opportunity to enroll in a mortal school, escape Camp and Chiron and everyone except Annabeth. Then she'd lost her too.

Percy, the annoying brat he was, made it really hard to stick to that solo plan. She would have gone on that quest possibly loathing Zoe and never flinching at what happened to Bianca if she'd kept her distance to long.

Being with the Hunter's helped keep her grounded away from that reality she now spoke of in a god she could still sympathize with for never being what her parent would want.

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."

Magnus spluttered like he had something stuck in his throat, Will was tempted to give him the heimlich maneuver.

"And you don't even want to know how she got pregnant with him in some myths," Thalia agreed with that reaction.

"I wonder how often he uses that as an excuse to skip meetings," Percy said. "Mom pitched me off the mountain last time I was there, I get to skip for the next millennia."

"It is one of those things nobody should blame him for not getting over," Nico agreed.

Will sighed at how casual they all made this horrible act sound. They, himself included, were definitely to desensitized to violence. Hadn't Hera just proved she wasn't that bad? And yet...this wasn't a great myth no matter who had done it. The outcome was still the same.

"But I thought Zeus did that to you," I said.

"That doesn't make that better," Magnus groaned. He didn't know why he was so shocked, it was more than common to find other homeless kids kicked out because they weren't the ideal child.

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.

Nico rubbed his fingers together, imagining the cold hard metal feather there. Like a string to be cut by the Fates, it fascinated him deeply how one action could tear someone's whole world apart. A simple mortal bullet could end someone's life, an entire bird created by a god could become useless by yanking out a feather, a demigod could drastically change the course of the world by saying the right thing at the right time. Time seemed decorated with more butterflies than skeletons.

"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.

Alex scraped his teeth against his lip and fought the urge to hug his jacket against himself. Nobody was calling him out, it was just words out of Thalia's mouth.

He still felt oddly exposed for a moment, when he normally thrived being the center of attention at all times.

Plus, I didn't exactly trust the work of Hephaestus.

Seven collective snorts of amusement circled the room, easily breaking the building tension. At least nobody would ever disagree with that in here.

One time in Denver, his mechanical spiders had almost killed Annabeth and me.

Jason still opened his mouth, his eyes still glittering with challenge and an annoying correction on his lips about how it was Percy and Annabeth's insane plans that had really been their near undoing. Percy reached behind Thalia and smacked him in the ear before he could get started and Thalia was reading loudly over them before that could escalate before Percy could even finish.

And last year, it had been a defective Talos statue that cost Bianca her life—another one of Hephaestus's little projects.

Nobody had needed that reminder as Nico still winced like a cold sharp wind cutting through everything in here.

He focused on me and narrowed his eyes, as if he were reading my thoughts.

"Is nobody going to mention Bad Cow number Two?" Alex asked in mock concern. "Because I sure as hell haven't forgotten that wonderful creature."

"Glad I'm not the only one keeping track his inventions have popped up in every book," Jason agreed with interest.

"Hopefully for the last time," Percy scowled, they'd yet done him any good, and he didn't much like the idea of an endless sea of reject projects constantly messing up every one of his quests.

"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," 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, boy. Looking for Daedalus is a waste of time. He won't help you."

"Apparently neither will Hephaestus," Will muttered, clearly personally offended. He'd just been informed Cabin 9 was under certain threat from Krono's forces, and Beckendorf's dad had no reaction? Nyssa could have vanished and her dad probably would have just gone back to his Corolla?

Nico felt the quiet distaste pouring off of Will and quickly looked over, instantly wondering what he'd done wrong, only to see the hurt as he looked at the book. Will was always so instantly looking for the good in everything, clearly this particular gods outlook wasn't sitting well with him. He wanted to do something for him, he just didn't know what.

"Why not?"

Hephaestus shrugged. "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."

"I am all for this idea!" Alex said with a disturbing bug eyed look as if all the riches in the world had just been offered to him. "Is he really saying you can just pop into his place and ask for a pottery wheel and he'll just hand one over like that!"

"Don't get greedy, but basically," Thalia shrugged. Hephaestus was well known in myth for not being one of the more petty gods, but instead much more down to earth and likely to help.

"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."

"Curiosity also killed the cat," Percy muttered, an annoying feeling nagging at his mind that had Annabeth's voice in it, distorted and unclear. He felt sure all of a sudden, he would have bet Riptide he'd said that around Annabeth at some point and she'd told him something about that phrase, like a funfact he'd probably be remembering right now if not for this curse. It was a very unpleasent feeling that made him wish he could hurry up and scrub these book straight into his brain already.

"It's a wonder you two never killed each other," Thalia rolled her eyes.

Hephaestus narrowed his eyes. "Who's your mother, then?"

"I really like him though," Magnus chuckled awkwardly as Alex still seemed to be counting up his riches. "First god who doesn't seem to give a crap about your parentage or anything. Can't blame this god for distancing from the world I guess since he hasn't much to do in it."

Will sighed, he still didn't really feel like he agreed. His children out in the world should make him want to associate, but the majority of children of Hephaestus were a lot like their dad. Off in their own little world, private, generally untrusting and hard to open up to. Hephaestus's indifferent attitude about camp still bothered him greatly, but it was no different than the rest of the Olympians. He would care, in the moment he truly heard his children's prayers, Will was sure of it.

"Athena."

"Figures." He sighed. "Fine goddess, Athena. A shame she pledged never to marry.

"And here I was just thinking they'd make a great power couple," Alex came back to himself finally, probably just putting a pin on his device to take over the world the god would probably make for him so long as it didn't involve Daedalus.

"Hephaestus agreed," Will muttered cross-eyed, but he hoped that was one story exaggerated.

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.

"Got to admire this girls moxie," Jason chuckled.

"Yeah," Percy agreed dreamily, probably making up his own idea what the word moxie meant.

"No," Nico muttered. That girl was going to get Percy killed one of these days by blindly agreeing to help a god without knowing the full deal.

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

Magnus sucked in air slowly through his teeth. "Is it?"

"Goes to show how much Hephaestus gets out now a days," Thalia chuckled. She'd never spent much time around the forge god and she found him quite refreshing. As blunt and welcoming as Artemis seemed.

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.

"Since every one of you are banned from using the remote, I guess that's a mystery we'll never know," Alex snorted.

"Annabeth cheats," Percy huffed.

We were looking at a gray mountain ringed in forests. It must've been a volcano, because smoke rose from its crest.

Jason raised his hands to start slow clapping Percy's brilliant deduction of recognizing that. Percy reached in front of Thalia this time to smack at him before she used the book to smack his arm and get him to stop.

"One of my forges," Hephaestus said. "I have many, but that used to be my favorite."

"What happened, it went dormant and so it's not as fun when it's not deadly?" Magnus frowned with all the sarcasm.

"Not quite," Thalia said with a strained smile.

"That's Mount St. Helens," Grover said. "Great forests around there."

Percy gasped as he felt a fire starting to tingle in his toes and fingers. A hot, burning feeling that felt like it was fixing to race through every vein, muscle, and bone of his body the second he wasn't paying attention...

"Does he just instinctively recognize every natural land mark?" Jason snorted in surprise. "If I showed him a picture of the Rocky Mountains, would he still know exactly where it was taken on the planet?"

"I wouldn't put it past him," Percy shrugged, trying to laugh his moment off. He knew he didn't fool them, most of them were frowning at him and some were giving weary looks to the walls already. Thalia watched him steadily for a few beats before giving him a secretive smile that looked as old and sad as the gods. It was not comforting.

"You've been there?" I asked.

"Looking for...you know, Pan."

"Wait," Annabeth said, looking at Hephaestus. "You said it used to be your favorite. What happened?"

"Leader of the quest, actual perceptive questions to keep the ball rolling," Will reminded in exasperation.

"I bet she's just as distracted as I was wondering how the heck the toilet in that place worked," Percy sniffed, "she's just better at hiding it."

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.

"You know it's bad when a god's saying it's dangerous," Magnus groaned his idea was extinguished. "No, no, he's saying it's his favorite because a monster lives under it!"

"You said it Magnus, not me," but Percy's eyes were troubled as he looked at the floor. Something of that name, this story, it tugged painfully on the edge of his mind to be remembered. The fiery feeling was already slowly creeping up his palms and the soles of his shoes, he kept watching his skin intently to make sure he wasn't covered in gasoline or something.

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?" I said, "Fight him?"

Thalia couldn't even read that with a straight face. She stopped and started with a kind of horror like somebody asked her to start chewing on her bow. "The fact that the idea even crossed your mind, let alone you said it out loud," she groaned.

"Well what else was I supposed to assume from what he was talking about? He wanted us to find him a new volcano with another monster in it?" Percy rolled his eyes, as unphased as ever.

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.

Percy's brain started fritzing like somebody was playing on the drums in there. He shivered and felt hot and cold all at once. That. That was not a good feeling...and yet despite the instant sickness...his lips tingled too. What the heck?!

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 loose Typhon."

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

"Aye," Hephaestus said.

"At least it sounds like a doable task," Magnus still managed to say without any hope. "You don't have to fight anybody to progress."

"Percy just will because that's the choice he makes every day," Alex nodded with a hint of pride.

"Yeah, that just went without saying," Magnus sighed.

"Go there. They may not sense you coming. You are not gods."

"Glad you noticed," I muttered.

"I feel like it swings back and forth," Jason agreed with Percy's displeased expression. "They think us a step above puny mortals when they need something and think us fearsome enough to topple their mountain when we need something," he had a displeased look on his own face by the end of how uncomfortable thinking about all this always made him.

"Who needs consistency," Percy mock agreed.

"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."

Percy sighed that they were already having to leave when he hadn't even gotten the chance to see what was up with that cool table walking around and what it could have inside. He could have spent hours in there poking at stuff, even if he knew he probably would have exploded something and possibly lost Hephaestus's favor.

"All right," Annabeth 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."

"He does not need to remind us of that," Will assured, hoping Tyson would never mistake him for a bad cow.

"Automatons are much less durable than skeletons," Nico said casually. "If we're comparing armies."

"We are not," Percy groaned with automatic dread.

We were doing okay until we hit the tree roots.

"Was Grover playing Hilary Duff on his pipes again?" Alex snickered.

"And here my first thought was the earth was going to come alive and try to kill them next," Magnus admitted.

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.

"Is he going to start kissing the tree roots?" Jason sighed. "I know he misses nature, but I really don't want to hear it from Juniper if he starts macking with tree roots."

"He's only a tree hugger, he keeps the PDA to himself," Percy said with relief.

"What is it?" I said.

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

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

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

"What way?" I 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!"

"He is quite confident Demeter isn't down there causing chaos with corn," Thalia frowned, and she knew it all worked out.

"His instincts have gotten him this far," Percy said with instant confidence in him, even as his worry grew for what the heck they were going to do about these two problems side by side...

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

"I'm sure Annabeth would agree that leash thing is sounding better and better," Jason said.

"With a spider silk handle and attachable backpack option so I could be Spiderman," Percy happily agreed.

"I bet she'd scream and hit you with a newspaper if you even tried to dress up as him for Halloween, let alone that," Thalia scoffed.

"We'll come back," Annabeth 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," Annabeth said. "The forges!"

Grover looked at her sadly. "I have to, Annabeth. Don't you understand?"

It wasn't the entire reason he'd come on this quest, Will knew Grover would always accompany Percy wherever he needed him, but this was a very driving factor for him. His dream was on its last threads, those roots were his salvation.

This was Annabeth's quest though, and Grover and Tyson splitting off right here had indirectly led to her stumbling back into camp in a zombie esque' state. More distraught than even the kids who thought this was going to be their last week on earth while setting up battle stations. Will sighed at this no win situation that still somehow worked out for all. The Fates were truly a mystery nobody could understand, even with hindsight.

She looked desperate, like she didn't understand at all. The spider was almost out of sight. But I thought about my conversation with Grover last night, and I knew what we had to do.

"We'll split up," I said.

Percy had felt like the maze was ripping him to shreds. He couldn't leave Annabeth to do this on her own, but he couldn't leave Grover in this horrible maze either! This was a truly evil place, making him choose between his best friend and Annabeth!

"No!" Annabeth 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?"

"He's already spent a summer in a cyclops forge, how much worse could this be?" Magnus tried to say with real hope like he meant that.

"He's already had his hopes and dreams crushed by Braries so this can't be any worse," Alex said in the same tone.

"Your helpful advice is the limit," Percy groaned. He felt selfish for not thinking of that himself, that Tyson should stay with him because that was his little brother. That didn't mean he should expect the big guy to follow him forever, same as Grover. He trusted them to know what they were doing.

The big guy nodded. "Goat boy needs help.

"Maybe he'll even learn his name along the way and find some good, all natural allergy medicine," Will sounded like he really meant that.

"Some day, somebody's going to shove you into this labyrinth because you won't stop babbling about finding world peace in there," Nico rolled his eyes, his tone heavily implying he'd be the one to do it.

"And when I come out with a cure for cancer I'll still accredit that person," Will said saintly.

We will find the god person. I am not like Hephaestus. I trust friends."

Jason grinned at Tyson's view of the world. Sometimes it was nice to step back and see it in black and white. Who you trusted and what was real, rather than constantly questioning who knew what and why you didn't know.

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," I 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.

"And that was all the way back when I first met him," Percy felt old, all of a sudden. He didn't even know how old he was, but he knew it was older than that young twelve year old with no clue why Mr. Brunner thought Kronos eating his kids was important to his life. Nancy Bobofit wouldn't scare this Grover anymore, though he'd probably still eat those ketchup and peanut butter sandwiches.

"Be careful," I told him. Then I looked at Tyson. He gulped back a sob and gave me a hug that just about squeezed my eyes out of their sockets.

Percy sighed, his arms dangling at his side, his head tipped back to the ceiling like he was playing dead. No matter how painful it was, he couldn't remember the last time he'd been hugged by his brother like that, and now he didn't even know when or if he'd see him again! Moments like this made him want to skip to the end of all this already and know the real last time he'd been around Tyson.

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," I said, trying to sound confident. "Now come on. The spider is getting away!"

"The only time Annabeth would ever agree that's a bad thing," Thalia snorted.

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

"You're going into an active volcano, I'd be more concerned if it got cold," Magnus rolled his eyes.

"I'm just hoping it's not a sentient volcano out to get me," Percy sighed, and it hurt Magnus's brain quite a lot Percy might not even be entirely joking.

The stone walls glowed. The air felt as if we were walking through an oven. The tunnel sloped down and I could hear a loud roar, like a river of metal. The spider skittered along, with Annabeth right behind.

Thalia still chuckled to herself at the odd mental image she had trouble picturing from a girl who'd once created a whole strategy to collect every spider into one central location and launch them into the sun. There had been blueprints.

"Hey, wait up," I called to her.

She glanced back at me. "Yeah?"

"Something Hephaestus said back there...about Athena."

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

Jason made a loud noise of appreciation. He'd been struggling to articulate his problems with Minerva... Athena...Annabeth since the beginning and finally somebody said it out loud!

I blinked. I'd never heard that about Athena before. "But then—"

"How come she has demigod children?"

I nodded. I was probably blushing, but hopefully it was so hot anyway that Annabeth didn't notice.

"We seriously need an unbiased third party here," Alex groaned before giving an exaggerated snap to his fingers like the idea just occurred to him, "like Tyson!"

"If I could summon people here at whim, this place would be overcrowded," Percy reminded. His mom and Annabeth, Grover, Rachel would be awesome to have back, perhaps Gabe to insure his death, Chiron certainly for some advice, maybe Bianca if he could...the list went on of people he longed to see outside of this place.

"Percy, you know how Athena was born?"

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

"Or something," Magnus sighed. "Yeah, the details in that actually true story don't matter, or something."

"C+," Percy reminded, "I got the important details."

"Like the fact you forgot she was a maiden goddess," Jason muttered, which seemed kind of significant to him.

"Have you tried to study that family tree?" Percy reminded in pain. "Because I've actively tried to forget what branches go where since learning it really happened!"

"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 your dad and Athena...so you weren't..."

"I was a brain child," Annabeth said. "Literally. Children of Athena are sprung from the divine thoughts of our mother and the mortal ingenuity of our father.

"Did she get full battle armor too?" Jason asked with bemusement.

"If so, her dad didn't keep it," Thalia rolled her eyes at what she clearly perceived as a stupid, if playful question.

"Hopefully she didn't come with a handkerchief," Will muttered. That was a weird story Malcom had almost stabbed a kid over asking one time.

We are supposed to be a gift, a blessing from Athena on the men she favors."

"But—"

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

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

"Thank the gods," Will sighed. "She's being tolerant, her siblings have been known to strangle kids if they get too intrusive with those questions. Never ask an Athena kid if they have a belly button."

"Note to self," Magnus promised, while Alex looked like he was already compiling a mental list of what he could and couldn't get away with asking.

She smirked. "I thought not." And she ran ahead. I followed, but I wasn't sure I would ever look at Annabeth the same way again. I decided some things were better left as mysteries.

"Might have to agree with you on that one," Jason begrudgingly said. He'd like to know more, but the idea still gave him a splitting headache even with the most minor of explanations, so he was willing to let it go too.

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.

"Don't tempt me," Magnus muttered, visions of lava threatening to chase his cousin around the chamber already dancing in his mind.

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 center was 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.

Alex's twitching fingers already looked likely to go for his garrote at any moment. Or he just really wanted to get his hands on whatever was being built in a volcano. Both seemed likely.

"We'll never be able to sneak up on them," I said.

Annabeth picked up the metal spider and slipped it into her pocket. "I can. Wait here."

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

"I can name fifteen ways this is a bad thing and only be getting started," Jason groaned.

"Annabeth just got done freaking out because Tyson and Grover split off," Nico agreed. "Did the master planer put any thought into doing this?"

"I guess she was just really anxious to get this job done and report back," Will sighed. He couldn't hold a hint of snark to her, considering he was the only one who knew the state she'd come back in from this mission.

I didn't dare call after her, but I didn't like the idea of her approaching the forge on her own.

The water was already frothing around them as if to prove this point. Thalia read as calmly as ever, but there was something in it that wasn't as soothing as usual. Her tight voice left something to be desired Percy immediately picked up on, that just inflated his growing sense of dread for once rather than dulling it. Not all was going to be well with this.

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 I decided I couldn't stay put.

"Oh, we all knew that was coming," Thalia groaned. She wished that she could smack Percy already. Annabeth had recounted this to her in as few words as possible, she barely knew what to expect herself.

I crept along the outer rim of the lava lake, hoping I could get a better angle to see what was happening in the middle.

The heat was horrible.

"Do you dehydrate faster than normal people?" Alex inquired. "Do you shrivel up like a sponge if you don't drink enough water to long?"

"Gee Alex, I've never thought about it," Percy chuckled. He couldn't deny he was a bit curious now though to know.

Geryon's ranch had been a winter wonderland compared to this.

"I will still take the active volcano with a literal monster sleeping under before the winter wonderland of a shitstorm that place was," Jason gagged in disgust and waved his hand about his nose.

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.

"Ten bucks says Percy gets in that and crashes a new ride," Will chuckled.

"Nobody in here is foolish enough to make that bet," Thalia scoffed.

I lifted up 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."

"These monsters are having a movie day in there?" Magnus laughed in surprise. "Truly diabolical things going on. I bet they just invented a better popcorn machine than Hephaestus could and this is all just a big misunderstanding."

"Yeah Magnus, let's, hope," Thalia sighed.

I panicked. I didn't have time to back up. There was nowhere to hide except...the cart. I scrambled inside and pulled the tarp over me, hoping no one had seen me. I curled my fingers around Riptide, just in case I had to fight.

Thalia took an uneasy breath in the lingering silence. Everybody was on edge now. Wondering how Percy was going to get out of this, wondering where Annabeth was and how she was faring, wondering if this whole quest was going to be massively put on hold while somebody had to track down some life saving nectar and ambrosia for whatever hellish thing was about to happen. It was her fault for dragging out every period, and Thalia knew it. Percy and Annabeth had come out of this alive, but she'd never wanted details of how close that had come to not being true, and she read with dread in every following word.

The cart lurched forward.

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

"I keep telling you to lay off those burgers and pizza Percy," Jason snatched at that low hanging fruit.

Percy brushed the gray strands of hair out of his eyes and shrugged, "I'm sure those monsters should take a turn holding the sky for something."

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

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 I was not about to be dumped into a smelting pot.

"And here I already had a name picked out for your statue of glory and everything," Alex heaved a tragic sigh. "I bet Chiron would have paid a huge commission to have it placed on the top of his hill too."

"Pass," Percy scoffed.

If they started to tip me over, I'd have to fight my 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.

"If Annabeth finally got her obedience school kickstarted, I have questions about the funding," Magnus said with a nervous laugh.

"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 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.

"Oh do not get me started on sex ed classes," Alex yelped in outrage.

"Oh gods, make it stop, please," Nico looked one self-motivating word away from covering his ears and sprinting from the room.

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.

"Percy, this might be why you have some issues in class. You never participate. You totally could have raised your hand," Thalia told him with all the mock cheerfulness of a bubbly teacher.

"I don't even want to know what Artemis's videos go over for girls who are stuck without puberty," Percy shivered.

Will raised his hand and began speaking without being called on, "oooh, oh, my dad offered to do one for her! He said he'd wear a dress and everything."

"Will, no," Thalia groaned in horror, swiftly reading loudly before anything else could be said on the subject and easily ignoring the following laughter.

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.

"Are we about to get dolphin monsters?" Magnus asked blankly. "Orcas that swim through lava? Street sharks?"

"I would readily believe any of the above," Alex agreed enthusiastically.

"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!"

"Awww, this is kind of cute," Percy admitted to himself, even as he clutched his pen tighter than ever. "I feel kind of bad, Tyson probably missed out on his nap time and primary classes with finger paints."

"I don't think this is the kind of class you're going to want to enroll your brother in," Thalia said with a sad smile.

The uneasy feeling in Percy continued to rise. He wasn't thrilled with the fact that he instinctively agreed.

"Indeed," the instructor said. "After we made so many of the gods' finest weapons. The trident of Poseidon, for one.

Percy twisted the cap of Riptide around, his stomach sinking lower every word. They were monsters, they were probably lying...but his own sword had a pretty bad history with Zoe and Hercules. He should probably know how his dad got his symbol, and yet right now was strangely glad he could lie to himself and think it wasn't from a bunch of monsters that Zeus threw away.

And of course—we made the greatest weapon of the Titans! Nevertheless, Zeus cast us away and relied on those fumbling Cyclopes.

"Fumbling," Magnus huffed. "Like, I get they're pissed if all this is true, but no need to be mean to the Cyclopes while they're at it."

"A classic misdirect," Alex scowled. "Making others sound worse than they really are."

That is why we are taking over the forges of the usurper Hephaestus. And soon we will control the undersea furnaces, our ancestral home!"

I clutched my pen-sword. These snarling things had created Poseidon's trident? What were they talking about? I'd never even heard of a telekhine.

"Percy, you've probably never heard of a ficus, I'm not sure you're the basis on how common a greek monster is," Jason sighed.

"Why would I know my moms fica score?" Percy frowned.

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

"Kronos!" they shouted.

"Oh dang, now they're going to die whether they deserve it or not," Alex sighed.

"Percy will probably go easy on them, I don't think he'll attack kiddo monsters," Magnus offered.

"Well I can't go to soft on them, it'll set a bad example for future interactions," Percy looked plenty troubled though about what was about to happen. They just weren't sure which part of this mess that was about.

"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.

"That was probably going to be the highlight of their day until they find what's underneath that tarp," Will sighed.

"I hope they at least had lunch before this class, then at least this is the second best part," Percy shrugged.

I got ready to uncap Riptide. The tarp was thrown back. I jumped up, my bronze sword springing to life in my hands, and found myself 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 foot, and humanlike hands with sharp claws. If you blended together a kid, a Doberman pinscher, and a sea lion, you'd get something like what I was looking at.

"Sounds neat," Alex readily admitted.

"They weren't the worst monsters I'd ever seen," Percy's frown was still tugging at the corner of his mouth. This wasn't a victory he was proud of as the image flashed to mind of one of these things in a cop uniform knocking on a door, and some Doberman-sea lion thing in an apron opening the door with blue cookies in the oven.

"A demigod!" one snarled.

"Eat it!" yelled another.

"That's a terrible idea," Magnus scoffed, "Percy would give those things digestion. He's got to much of the ocean in him."

"Um?" Percy asked, not sure how to take that.

"You're salty and you scare people," Magnus shrugged without regret.

"Yeah, okay," Percy nodded.

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

"And that is why I never sit in the splash zone," Thalia nodded wisely.

"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," I 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. My fear factor wasn't going to last long.

"Some days it feels like my only talent is being stress," Percy huffed. He'd bet somebody else would have taken out that whole room of monsters without blinking.

"Don't you mean stressed?" Magnus asked.

"No," Percy said.

I jumped out of the cart, yelled, "CLASS DISMISSED!" and ran for the exit.

"Bet you anything that teacher yells, I dismiss you, not the bell, or that demigod," Thalia rolled her eyes.

"I think they'll be thanking me, I'm giving them a free field trip. PE they want to participate in," Percy tried to sound like his usual upbeat self again, but it got harder the longer this dragged on.

The monsters charged after me, 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. I 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 subtle reconnaissance mission had been blown.

"To be fair, that was a lost cause the second you and volcano were put in the same sentence," Jason offered to Percy's ever growing frown. "That's like putting you in a candy store, how did you think this was going to go?"

Percy tried to think of a moment when was the last time he'd been the least bit subtle, and couldn't.

I ran toward the platform at the center of the lava lake.

"Annabeth!" I yelled.

"You know Percy," Alex began oh so casually, a clear warning sign that meant danger was coming. "One of these days I'm going to be in a life or death situation, and you know what's going to come out of my mouth? Annabeth. Your constant instinct to yell to her for help is going to rub off on me and get me killed."

"That sounds like a personal problem Alex," Percy shrugged, clearly not seeing the downside of how ever calling out for her would be a bad thing.

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

"An honest question considering how often you two tempt that," Thalia agreed.

I found her head and took off her Yankees cap. She shimmered into existence in front of me, scowling, her face streaked with ash and grime. "Percy, what is your problem?"

"In alphabetical order, or in current causation order?" Jason grinned.

"I will find a way to tear up your laminated notes," Percy scowled.

"We're going to have company!" 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 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. "It shall be even sharper than before."

"Percy always gets to go on the best tours," Jason sighed. "I'm pretty confident I've never gotten to see the process of a new godly weapon being made."

"I'd offer you a front row seat to the next one, but I can't guarantee the results," Percy said.

Jason blanched at the idea of being forced to sit through a video over puberty to get this treat and wasn't so sure it was worth it anymore, meanwhile Magnus was to busy with his bubbling concern why blood was being mentioned to balk at either of them for once.

"What is that?" I 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."

"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."

Which didn't feel like a stellar reason for banishment to the darkest part of anything, considering they'd all heard more than one instance already of an unjust cycle going on in the Olympian system. Still, if it was a choice between Percy and Annabeth getting out of there alive or some monsters that would regenerate, nobody was exactly rooting for the telekhines to win here.

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.

"How all kids burst out of school to escape," Percy nodded fairly, "let's hope they don't have the senses of a blood hound to back it up," he finished with a groan.

"Put your cap back on," I said. "Get out!"

"What?" Annabeth 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.

"I was vaguely alright with the whole you two splitting up and meeting back at the entrance part," Magnus admitted. "But what is this you expect her to go back in the maze and entirely leave you to fend for yourself part? That is the craziest thing in a long line of crazy I've heard down here Percy."

"If you wouldn't let Grover go off by himself, what makes you think it's a good idea?" Alex agreed, his voice as challenging as ever.

Percy didn't really answer. He'd only seen an army of monsters in front of him and a way for Annabeth to get out in his mind same as if Annabeth herself had been here to chastise him for trying to 'save her.' He'd do it again in a heartbeat so long as she made it out of this alive...

You have to tell him what's going on."

"But you'll be killed!"

"I'll be fine.

That not so funny chapter title nagged at the edge of their mind this would not be so. They certainly didn't think Percy was going to set himself on fire and run around as a distraction and be 'fine' right away at any rate.

Besides, we've got no choice."

"There's always a choice," Jason said stubbornly. Maybe not a good choice, but a choice Percy and Annabeth were making by splitting up like this. A choice for the quest to succeed before anything else. One he couldn't find in himself to argue with...and that bothered him as much as this choices outcome of Percy getting hurt.

Annabeth glared at me like she was going to punch me. And then she did something that surprised me even more.

"Agreed you were right?" Alex asked in true disbelief.

She kissed me.

Thalia had of course heard this in abundance before, but she was the only one, so she still respectfully stopped as Will began choking on a laugh and Alex looked on in admiration.

"Yeah, that's pretty surprising, all things considered," Magnus agreed casually with the turn of events while Percy sat there like a gaping fish.

This wasn't right. This wasn't the kiss from his memory, where she'd smiled and leaned in and there had been a mist of bubbles around, her swirling blonde curls floating like an angel.

This memory was the opposite. There had been fear and anger in her gray eyes like a storm breweing, soot on her face. Her cap dangling from one hand likely to fall any second, her hair a tangled mess from all their time running.

He touched his lips and was suddenly all to convinced this was all a very delusional dream if he couldn't even remember the actual first time Annabeth had kissed him...but then again, who cared?! Annabeth had kissed him!?

"Well, I don't think we're getting a coherent thought out of him for a while," Jason shrugged without surprise.

Nico searched for the jealousy in himself at so blatantly hearing this. He studied Percy's lips, letting himself try for the first time to imagine kissing him, and it oddly didn't hold that much appeal.

He still wanted to, Percy was a good enough looking guy, still funny and wicked good with that sword, who wouldn't admire him? It just wasn't as much of a forbidden craving, no longer tied into the grief of his sister. Knowing more realistically who Percy was, he at least didn't regret his blabbing secret, the rejection didn't make him feel like a freak of nature looking back so much as just finally saying it out loud had released it all at once. It was an interesting feeling of relief, acknowledging that to himself.

Will's spluttering laughter had died off rather quickly as well. As much as he had enjoyed the brief idea of everyone at camp losing their minds with their own laughter these two had in fact kissed long before they'd thrown them in the lake, the momentary satisfaction wasn't worth the following memory Will actually had of Annabeth stumbling out of this maze with an indescribable look.

Thalia hummed in agreement and moved on. Percy and Annabeth's crush had been a mystery to no one after all, this had just been like a confirmation sentence as bland as Sally making cookies would be at this point.

"Be careful, Seaweed Brain." She put on her hat and vanished.

"This girl is the worst," Alex sighed. "Who kisses you right before you're about to die and then just takes off like that?"

"Umm, uhh," Percy tried to stammer something, but wasn't quite there yet. Alex looked disappointed, he'd been sure that would rouse a response out of Percy.

I probably would've sat there for the rest of the day, staring at the lava and trying to remember what my name was, but the sea demons jarred me back to reality.

"Demons are just inconsiderate that way," Nico agreed nonchalantly.

"I, uh," Percy kept prodding at his lip like he wasn't entirely convinced it was still attached to him. His memory was fritzing and glomming onto this moment, mixing lava and water together until he might as well be as unhelpful as an idiot rock.

"There!" one yelled. The entire class of telekhines charged across the bridge toward me. I ran for the middle of the platform, surprising the four elder sea demons so much they dropped the red-hot blade. It was about six feet long and curved like a crescent moon. I'd seen a lot of terrifying things, but this unfinished whatever-it-was scared me worse.

"Every weapon has its advantages and disadvantages?" Jason couldn't make that sound like a good thing though, they all fidgeted uncomfortably at where this was inevitably headed. Percy was going to dive off that platform into the magma, wasn't he?

The elder demons got over their surprise quickly. There were four ramps leading off the platform, and before I could dash in any direction, each of them had covered an exit.

The tallest one snarled. "What do we have here? A son of Poseidon?"

"Yes," another growled. "I can smell the sea in his blood."

Percy finally shook himself to pay full attention to what was going on. He was about to die. If anything had to drag him away from his moment with Annabeth, this would have to do.

He gave his armpit a theatrical sniff and rolled his eyes. "I really don't know why monsters always say that, I don't actually bathe with bath salts."

"We never get to pick what we inherit from our parents," Thalia shrugged.

I raised Riptide. My heart was pounding.

"Strike down one of us, demigod," the third demon said, "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 wished I had a plan. I wished I hadn't been lying to Annabeth. I'd wanted her to get out safely, and I hoped she'd been sensible enough to do it.

Magnus imagined her doubling back and stabbing Percy once she rescued him from this stupid situation when she realized he lied. He just as easily imagined her trusting Percy and going back to that Labyrinth, waiting for him until he rushed past her on fire or something equally insane.

But now it was dawning on me that this might be the place I would die. No prophecies for me. I would get overrun in the heart of a volcano by a pack of dog-faced sea-lion people. The young telekhines were at the platform now, too, snarling and waiting to see how their four elders would deal with me.

Thalia's voice was pained. She might as well have been describing the moment on that hill, her last glimpse of Luke carrying Annabeth away as a pack of monsters descended on her. Percy had lived through this experience one to many times for her to even consider envying him for it, he somehow knew the desperate relief in life of it all deeper than her.

I felt something burning against the side of my leg. The ice whistle in my pocket was getting colder. If I ever needed help, now was the time. But I hesitated. I didn't trust Quintus's gift.

"Even if you did summon a demon dog to attack you, the surprise could have been enough to distract them all from a large potential enemy," Jason said anxiously, clearly in favor of any help regardless of the outcome.

"And then have dog-faced sea-lion people and a tank missile with canines trying to kill him when they all realized they were on the same side," Magnus reminded with dread. Not to mention anything that happened to Percy was going to inevitably happen to Annabeth very, very soon when they reconnected.

Before I could make up my mind, the tallest telekhine said, "Let us see how strong he is. Let us see how long it takes him to burn!"

"Jason, if you get your stopwatch out, I will stab you," Percy sighed.

Jason hastily tucked his hands behind his back and whistled innocently. It didn't hide the gleam of curiosity in his eyes to know how this would affect Percy as statistics and numbers ran in his head at the boiling point of water.

He scooped some lava out of the nearest furnace. It set his fingers ablaze, but this didn't seem to bother him at all. The other elder telekhines did the same. The first one threw a glop of molten rock at me and set my pants on fire.

"You didn't even set yourself on fire," Alex looked betrayed. "That's the last time I ever take those stupid chapter titles at word."

"I think I'm more grateful I was never desperate enough before to try that," Percy admitted in relief, he'd never been a fan of those from the beginning.

Two more splattered across my chest. I dropped my sword in sheer terror and swatted at my clothes. Fire was engulfing me. Strangely, it felt only warm at first, but it was getting hotter by the instant.

Percy touched his chest with such a painful tightening of his gut, his body remembering the feeling a little to vividly as his mind stared blankly down at himself to make sure he wasn't wearing smoldering ashes and his underwear wasn't showing.

Will chewed on his lip with nerves. He hated hearing Percy in shock and pain, he hated he knew the outcome of this was no cakewalk off the platform. The smiles dimming around him as the others seemed to finally realize Percy wasn't going to just slash his sword and fix this problem was becoming more apparent by the word, and the uncomfortable silence was only going to be the beginning as the water began heating up around them.

"Your father's nature protects you," one said. "Makes you hard to burn. But not impossible, youngling. Not impossible."

They threw more lava at me, and I remember screaming. My whole body was on fire. The pain was worse than anything I'd ever felt. I was being consumed. I crumpled to the metal floor and heard the sea demon children howling in delight.

Percy wanted to take the book away from Thalia now, she sounded so blue, as if those really had been his last moments. He studied his shaking hands though and didn't think he'd have been able to get through it, she'd have snatched it away and smacked him for trying anyways. His throat hurt with the echo of remembered strain, Riptide lay in pen form at his feet as his fingers tried to curl up and then fought even that.

Annabeth had kissed him, the world had been perfect for one moment painted in shades of blue and purple from the heat, and then the greatest pain he'd ever felt had shortly followed and he didn't even know how he'd survived this one.

Was it to late to close the book and believe the lies his mom had once told him?

Then I remembered the voice of the river naiad at the ranch: The water is within me.

I needed the sea. I felt a tugging sensation in my gut, but I had nothing around to help me. Not a faucet or a river. Not even a petrified seashell this time. And besides, the last time I'd unleashed my power at the stables, there'd been that scary moment when it had almost gotten away from me.

I had no choice. I called to the sea. I reached inside myself and remembered the waves and the currents, the endless power of the ocean.

And I let it loose in one horrible scream.

Afterward, I could never describe what happened. An explosion, a tidal wave, a whirlwind of power simultaneously catching me up and blasting me downward into the lava. Fire and water collided, superheated steam, and I shot upward from the heart of the volcano in a huge explosion, just one piece of flotsam thrown free by a million pounds of pressure. The last thing I remember before losing conscious was flying, flying so high Zeus would never have forgiven me, and then beginning to fall, smoke and fire and water streaming from me. I was a comet hurtling toward the earth.

Thalia didn't realize she was panting for breath until Magnus called in concern, "Percy? Are you trying to summon another volcano?"

Everybody was flushed red with how hot it was getting in here. Percy finally gasped and closed his eyes in concentration, the temperature bottoming out so fast it only caused them all to shiver.

She didn't know how long she'd been holding her breath as she forced herself to finish every painful word. She was grateful Annabeth wasn't here for this, in painful detail of his final moments he somehow managed to recite now engraved in her brain. Calypso's island was no Elysium, he had come back from there...

Nico cleared his throat softly, and Thalia jolted. She realized she wasn't trapped in that tree, her final moments playing over and over in her head like a dream. Percy wasn't dead, though as she morbidly looked around at the son of Hades she wondered what thoughts he might share about this island where lost souls landed as she finally forced herself to her feet. Her boots scraped the ground, and she seemed oddly reluctant to hand over the book.

How could it get worse, they all wondered in horror. Even Will didn't understand this odd detachment she had on her face of why she seemed more worried yet about Percy waking up than his potential death from moments ago.

None of them knew how it felt to be taken from a paradise of endless nothing. Letting go of a dream that you could believe you didn't have to wake up from. In that tree, she'd died, but she'd spent that time in her soul believing they were safe.

Some days she woke up still wishing to be in that tree. She wasn't looking forward to hearing of Percy's similar wish on Ogygia.

#pjo #percy Jackson #Thalia Grace #Jason Grace #nico di angelo #will solace #alex fierro #Magnus Chase #HDYSG

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