Ch30

Crap my head is sore Magnus thought as he felt his consciousness return. "Magnus are you ok?" He heard Percy ask as he felt his body being shaken.

"I'm awake I'm awake," he said as he opened his eyes and saw Percy and Annabeth standing in front of him. "What the hell happened?" He asked as he rubbed his head. He looked around and saw cut rope around them and Nico sitting on a nearby chair looking more downcast.

"Geryon knocked us out," Annabeth said. "Percy killed him and untied us, Eurytion said we are free to stay the night."

"Well that's good thanks man," He said as he got up with the help of Percy and stretched his legs. He noticed that Nico shot him a glare as he took a step back from Percy and Annabeth. "So what now?"

"Well I reckon you all can stay the night here," Eurytion said as he got up. "Lord Hephaestus gave me a gift that will take you to him."

"I'm going to walk outside," Nico muttered as he got up.

Percy appeared to want to say something but Annabeth put her hand on his shoulder and shook his head. "Give him some space."

"Did something else happen with him?" He asked

Percy sighed, "Yeah as soon as he was freed he called his sister and well it wasn't what he thought it would be like," Percy said as he explained the Iris message of Bianca that had occurred while he was knocked out cold

"Wow sounds intense," he said with a sigh.

"Yeah poor kid," Grover said as he looked out the window. "He has gone through a lot."

"Yeah but why does he seem to have it out for you to Magnus? I mean from what Percy told me you didn't interact with his sister or promise to protect her," Annabeth asked.

"I don't know maybe he blames me because I was on the quest I guess," He said as he rubbed his head. Annabeth looked at him and for a second he thought she was going to argue but she just sighed and went to get her sleeping bag.

He slept on a chair inside of his sleeping back while Percy, Annabeth and Grover were sleeping in various parts of the room while Nico slept in another room and still refused to speak to any of them.

That night he felt his mind wander into another dream. He was at some sort of party with a bunch of friends in some sort of building. "Hey Magnus thanks for coming," Percy said standing next to him. Percy smiled at him and his demeanor was more pleasant than usual, his bright green eyes were full of excitement.

"No problem man glad to be here," he said as he drank some punch from a cup.

"Yeah everything is fun," Percy said with a big grin on his face. He followed Percy throughout the room passing various people before reaching some sort of balcony.

The air outside was nice and he could see the sky outside. "So dude how about we go on a trip together?" Percy asked

"What kind of trip?" He asked

Percy smiled at him, "Anywhere dude just the two of us."

"Just the two of us? Sure sounds good," he said that was when he saw Annabeth looking at them from down below. She was staring at them, her face red with anger as she turned around and ran off.

He called out but she did not listen, she only ran farther and farther away from them.

Percy sighed, "She said she didn't want to come with us but don't worry I am glad we get to spend some time alone," he said with a smile. "You are my best friend and I enjoy spending time with you."

"Yeah me too, I am glad we can celebrate you birthday here," he said not knowing where he was exactly.

"Too bad Annabeth didn't want to come," Percy said with a sigh. "I mean she obviously prefers someone else so I get it but still it would be nice if she could have come."

He looked at Percy not knowing what to say, Percy looked sad but what bothered him the most was that Annabeth ran away farther from them.

"I can't force her to hang with us maybe she will come along in the future," Percy said with a sigh.

He looked at Percy and nodded, "Maybe she just needs some space."

"Yeah maybe," Percy said as he turned and looked at him with a smile.

The dream then shifted and he saw Luke sitting on a chair in some sort of elaborately decorated room. Standing in front of him was a familiar blonde haired God he recognized. Loki he thought as the god with the scarred face smiled at Luke. "Don't worry that maze is trickier than I am I doubt they will make it out alive."

Luke rolled his eyes, "They won't. How are things on your end?"

Loki smiled at him and Magnus saw that Luke flinched a bit, "Oh don't worry soon the dragon will awake and things will work out for you. You just need patience, our monsters take a bit longer to regenerate."

Luke nodded, "Good anything else?"

Loki scratched his head, "Well about my children. One is still ignoring me and that fool Odin just made her a Valkyrie so she wont be of any help. However, my other one should help you, her father and family don't accept her. I will lead her to you, she may be close to snapping and being kicked out and will need of some acceptance and a place to stay."

"Good, they have an ally of your pantheon among them so its only fair that we have ours," Luke said with a smile.

Loki smiled and laughed in a way that sent chills down his spine. "Indeed, my special child will be of great use to you," he said with a chilling smile. "Now I should get going, it would mean trouble for both of us if we are found talking together." Luke nodded and Loki disappeared and the dream slowly ended

Magnus woke up the next morning feeling a bit tired, he thought about telling Annabeth and Percy about his dream but he didn't really have the opportunity to. After breakfast, Nico said he would be staying at the ranch for a bit. He decided to keep the contents of the dream to himself since he figured it wasn't important. We have to get to Hephaestus he thought as they met Eurytion outside.

"Hephaestus should be able to tell you about Daedalus's workshop this should take you all there," Eurytion said as he removed something from his neck and handed a small disk to them. "Chase after it quickly it should take you to him, it was a gift from Hephaestus long ago, good luck now."

They thanked Eurytion and Magnus pressed the small tablet and it sprang to life into the shape of a large metallic spider. Annabeth shrieked as she jumped back, "She is afraid of spiders," Percy explained.

"Oh um sorry miss but you all better hurry after it," Eurytion said.

"Alright lets go," He said as they all ran after the spider. The little bastard was quick and he and Percy ran up ahead while Annabeth and Grover ran at a safe distance behind them. They ran through various halls as the creature ran ahead of them. Eventually, they reached a tall metal door with various Ancient Greek symbols on it.

"Ready to meet Hephaestus," Grover asked nervously.

"No," he and Percy said as Annabeth rolled her eyes and opened the door and they all followed her inside of it.

They entered a large room that was full of mechanical things and various hydraulic lifts. Wow this place is pretty cool he said as he and Percy stared in awe at the various pieces of equipment and projects all around them. That was when they saw Hephaestus; he was frankly a little uglier than the other deities (though to be fair he had met Apollo so he had very high standards). Here in his workshop Hephaestus did not appear to be preoccupied with his appearance as he wore a dirty jumpsuit, which was covered in grease while his misshapen head was covered in sweat and grime.

"Um Lord Hephaestus," Annabeth said speaking up.

Hephaestus stopped working on his project and looked at them, "Half bloods," he said looking over each of them. "What brings you all here?"

"Um sir," Annabeth hesitantly. "We are looking for Daedalus, we thought-"

"Daedalus?" The god roared causing his workshop to quake. His beard burst into flames and his black eyes glowed. "You want that old scoundrel."

"Um, yes sir please," Annabeth said nervously

Hephaestus sighed as he calmed down, "You're wasting your time, that is an expensive favor. I can do anything else to help you all but that is not an easy task. It would be wise not to go looking."

"You know where he is then?" Annabeth asked.

Hephaestus narrowed his eyes and nodded, "I do but there is a price and I need a favor to be done."

"We will do it," Percy said. He and Annabeth nodded in agreement.

Hephaestus started laughing, "You heroes always make rash promises but fine." He turned on a TV near them and they saw what appeared to be a large volcano. "Mt St. Helen it used to be one of my favorite forges and the monster Typhon is sealed beneath it. I have sensed intruders in my mountains; someone or something is using them. When I go they are empty but I know someone is using them and my automatons do not return when I send them there. I want to know who dares invade my territory and if they mean to unleash Typhon."

He looked at Percy and they both nodded, "We will do it," he said. "How do we get there?"

Hephaestus clapped his hands and the spider jumped in front of them causing Annabeth to jump back a bit. "My creation will show you the way, it is not far from the Labyrinth, stay alive," he said as the spider began to walk towards the door.

They ran after the spider and for awhile they were doing good. However, when they reached a large tree root Grover suddenly stopped. "This is it," he muttered looking at the tree.

"Grover we have to keep on moving," Annabeth said.

Grover took a deep breath, "Pan is nearby I can smell him. You all go on ahead."

"But we can't the forges," Annabeth said.

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

She looked desperate like she didn't understand at all. The spider continued moving and it was almost out of sigh. "We will split up," Percy said.

"No! We can't leave Grover alone," Annabeth said.

"Its alright I can manage by myself," Grover said. "Please just give me this opportunity I will not have it again."

They looked at him and they could tell that he was serious, "Fine just be careful," Annabeth said.

Grover nodded, "I will good luck to you all we will meet again," he said as he ran off."

Annabeth sighed as they ran after the spider. "This is bad, splitting up is a really bad idea.

"We will see him again come on the spider is almost out of sight," he said as they ran after it.

It wasn't long before the tunnel started to get hot. The stone walls glowed with heat as the air felt as if they were walking through an oven. They ran after the spider and found themselves in a large cavern the size of a large stadium There was no floor, just bubbling lava hundreds of feet below them. In the center was a huge platform with all sorts of machines, cauldrons, and forges, along with huge anvils and various other types of equipment.

That was when they also noticed the monsters. There were many of them and since they were far away they could not get a good look at them. "We'll never be able to sneak up on them," Percy said.

"I can wait here," Annabeth said as she picked up the metal spider and deactivated it. "Hold this," she said as she passed the spider to Percy. Before any of them could argue she put on her Yankees cap and turned invisible.

"What should we do now?" He asked looking at Percy who looked equally confused at what his cousin was doing.

That was when they heard the sounds of approaching monsters talking, "Lets hide for now," Percy said pointing to a cart. He nodded and followed Percy into a cart of supplies and covered themselves. They felt the cart lurch forward as the monsters talked, the cart eventually stopped as they reached what appeared to be a class for young monsters.

"What are we?" A monster asked.

"Telekhines and we serve Lord Kronos," another monster said. He looked at Percy as they both gripped their weapons. He activated Sigurd's armor and gripped Gram just in case.

"Now we have some scraps to practice with," The teacher monster said as he approached their cart. He gulped and gripped his sword as he saw the shadow of the monster.

As soon as the tarp was lifted he and Percy jumped out, Percy was closer to the monster and swung his sword at the monster which looked like the combination of a dog and a sea lion.

The monster's head flew off as the rest of them snarled at them. "Demigods we will eat them," They snarled as they approached them.

"Back off," Percy said trying to sound as tough as possible. "Or new lesson monsters will be vaporized like your teacher if you are sliced with a celestial bronze sword," Percy said swinging the sword.

To both of their surprise, the monsters backed off as Percy grabbed his wrist. "Good now class dismissed," Percy said as they both booked it and ran.

"Annabeth!" They both yelled as they ran through the corridors.

"Shh you want to get us killed," Annabeth said, her voice next to them as she took off her cap and became visible. "Telekhines, they are making some sort of weapon, they betrayed the Gods before and Zeus banished them to Tartarus. We have to get out of here now."

"Annabeth put your cap back on me and Percy will distract them," he said as he heard the creatures approach them.

"What? No I'm not leaving you both behind," she said as she eyed his armor. "Magnus what are you wearing?"

Magnus looked at Percy as they both realized that they had not told her about the armor of Sigurd, "I'll tell you later I promise," he said. Annabeth looked at him and nodded though for a brief second he saw hurt in her eyes.

"I got a plan, we will distract them," Percy said. "We will be fine trust us."

Annabeth glared at both of them but then she did something surprising. She went and pulled Percy in and kissed him. He stared in shock as his cousin pressed her lips against Percy's, this is awkward he thought. Annabeth's eyes met his and he saw something he usually never saw in them, jealousy. It was as if she were telling him 'take that' with her eyes. He didn't know what to feel, Annabeth had never looked at him with that look before so he just stood stunned. Percy pulled away but Annabeth pulled him in for another kiss. They kissed a bit longer and he more awkward standing there before Percy pushed her gently away.

"We should get going," he said his face red.

Annabeth only nodded, "Be careful Seaweed Brain," she said avoiding his gaze as she put on her cap and turned invisible.

Percy looked at him with eyes that were confused and was about to say something when they heard a bunch of Telekhines approach them. "Lets do this Percy," He said as he activated Gram as the monsters slowly advanced on them.

"By the way the armor will protect you from the heat and lava," Gram said as he activated his black helmet. Inside the armor, he felt more comfortable and could not feel the heat as bad.

"Good to know," He muttered as he looked around, they were surrounded and getting out would be very tricky. "Any plans Percy?"

Percy nodded, "I think so, just hang on."

"You both will be burned here for Lord Kronos," one of the monsters said.

He gripped his sword and looked at Percy who appeared to be deep in thought as if he were focusing on some important problem.

He didn't really know what happened next. One minute he was staring at the monsters, the next thing he knew Percy grabbed him by waste and let out a loud scream as they flew into the air from the heart of the volcano. The explosion was deafening and he could see nothing as he felt Percy loosen his grip and eventually fall. He tried to call out to him, but he felt his body lose consciousness as he saw a rainbow beam of light around him followed by a bright light.

"Welcome my son," said a warm friendly voice as he felt his body lose consciousness.