Sorry for the slightly late update- but hey, I've got it for ya haven't I? Anyways the big stuff is coming up real soon- I must prepare myself to be murdered when it does come.

Leo was somewhat dazed as they followed the spider- Percy kept a close eye on him as they moved- he was quieter than usual, but at least he didn't seem too upset. She'd been worried that it would go badly- but Hephaestus had shown that he cared even if it was in an odd way.

It was strange though, seeing the usually talkative boy so quiet and contemplative.

They kept moving, rushing after the spider- and they didn't stop until they spotted a tunnel off to the side that was dug from raw earth and wrapped in thick
roots.

Grover stopped in his tracks and they all had to stop, Percy grabbing Leo's hand to force him to a halt.

"Grover what is it?" Percy gasped out. And he didn't move, staring open mouthed into the dark tunnel as his curly hair rustled in the breeze.

"Gover come on!" Annabeth's voice was frantic, "We have to keep going."

"Before my dads automaton gets too far ahead."

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

"What-" Percy's eyes widened, "The way to Pan." she heard Annabeth, Nico and Kayla gasp softly. Grover looked at Tyson. "Don't you smell it?"

"Dirt," Tyson said. "And plants."

"Yes! This is the way. I'm sure of it!"

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

"Well 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?"

She looked desperate, like she didn't understand at all. The spider was almost out of sight. And Percy knew, there was only one option- because Grover
couldn't not go. She could remember their talk not so long ago- this was his only chance.

"We need to split up-"

"But Percy-"

"Annabeth, Grover has to do this."

"It'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."

Percy's eyes widened in surprise, "Ty-"

"Got boy needs help. We will find the god person. I am not like Hephaestus. I trust friends."

Grover took a deep breath. "Percy, we'll find each other again. We've still got the empathy link. I just…have to."

"And I'll go with them." Nico spoke up, a determined look on his face. "I don't know why but I know that it's important."

"We weren't supposed to be part of your quest anyway." Kayla pointed out, "And... it kind of makes sense Annabeth. The traditional number for quests is three- and Nico can shadow travel us to camp if he has to-"

"I-" Percy didn't like that- the thought of being parted from Nico. "Neeks-"

"Percy we'll be fine."

"I- if that ghost shows up again- don't trust him-"

"How did you know-"

"I had a demigod dream- he's been manipulating you- he lied about Clarisse and Will being in the Labyrinth, who knows what else he'll lie about."

"I won't listen to anything he says ever again." Nico promised, darting forward to hug Percy tightly, "We'll see you guys on the other side."

"See you on the other side-" Percy pulled back from Nico, holding her arms out for Tyson, "We don't have long for goodbyes."

"I hate this!" Annabeth blurted out, lunging at Grover and hugging him tightly.

And after their goodbyes- which included Percy and Annabeth forcing back tears and even Leo looking like he wanted to cry at one point as he hugged Tyson and Nico at the same time.

Then Percy, Leo and Annabeth were watching them disappear through the tunnel of tree roots, and Annabeth whispered, "Percy this... it doesn't feel right. Splitting up on quests never ends well you know that Percy-"

"Annabeth- this is why Grover came-"

"They'll be fine." Leo's voice was confident, "Nico's scary strong, Tyson can bend bars, Kayla's a badass with an arrow and Grover is, well he's got his flute."

"Thanks Leo." Annabeth let out a breath, reaching out and ruffling his hair- "You're a smart kid-"

"Hey! I'm not just a kid I'm the great Flameo! And I'm not that much younger than you!"

"Eh, practically a baby." Percy joined in the teasing, "Now let's go and follow your dads creepy metal spider shall we?"

"Right." and with that the trio were off again, following the automation once more.

It didn't take long before Percy and Annabeth noticed that the tunnel had started to get hot- though Leo didn't seem to be too bothered by it.

The stone walls almost glowed with the heat- it felt like they were walking through an oven. The tunnel sloped down and they could hear a roar like a river of metal, the spider skittering along ahead, Leo barely an inch behind it as Percy and Annabeth rushed side by side a few foot behind Leo.

"This is ridiculous." Annabeth breathed out, panting slightly, "It can't get hotter than this can it?"

"We're in a volcano." Percy muttered back, grimacing, "I think it can probably get hotter- what's crazy is how okay Leo is right now."

"Definitely Hephaestus' son." Annabeth let out a faint laugh.

The roaring got louder. After another half mile or so, they emerged in a cavern the size of a Super Bowl stadium. The spider escort stopped and curled into a ball, which Leo quickly scooped up and tucked into a pouch on his toolbelt.

The 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 centre was a huge platform with all sorts of machines, cauldrons, forges, and the largest anvil Percy had 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.

Percy reached out automatically, grabbing Leo's arm and yanking him backwards into her chest, her eyes wide, "What are those things? I can't see them properly."

"I can check it out." Annabeth pulled her cap out of her pocket, "I won't be long Seaweed brain, Flameo-"

"But-" But Percy didn't get the chance to protest because Annabeth had pulled her cap on and she was done- and it wasn't like Percy could risk calling for her girlfriend and getting her caught by alerting the monsters to her presence.

She stared at the spot where Annabeth had been for a very long moment before she let out an exasperated huff.

"Percy." Leo's voice was quiet, "What are we supposed to do?"

"We just wait." Percy grimaced, grabbing Leo's arm and dragging him so that they were sat down a short distance from the entrance to the tunnel "There's not much we can do right now." she gave him a warning look "We keep it quiet and we wait okay?"

"Boring." Leo pulled a face, "But fine. I just feel like I should be doing more I mean- the forges are my dads y'know?"

"Yeah, yeah I know." Percy flicked his ear, "But Flameo, you're a thinker not a fighter. Don't try and be something you're not. You know that never ends well."

"Doesn't mean I have to like it." he grumbled, leaning into Percy's side. "It sucks-"

"Uh huh. I know it does." Percy hummed, "How do you feel about meeting your dad Leo?"

"I-" he hesitated, "Weird." he pulled the spider out of his pouch, and he pulled out a little pack of small tools and started tinkering with it as he talked- and Percy was fine with that she knew he thought better when his hands were moving and he tinkered. He always felt better when he was doing that. He'd hyper focus on it.

"He does care about you."

"I know. I think." Leo's face scrunched up slightly, "He loves me he just- doesn't get people." Leo hesitated, "I don't know if I always understand people too so that's okay I think. But- he was wrong about not being able to trust people I know that."

"Good." Percy watched him carefully. "It's nice. That he said you could keep the spider."

"Yeah." Leo's face lit up slightly, "It's my first present from my dad." he slowly started to disassemble the spider, "I know most demigods don't even get a present. I'm lucky aren't I?"

"He definitely cares." Percy agreed quietly, "Which is good- some of the gods don't always seem to. I'm glad that your dad does." she pressed her lips to the top of Leo's head. "And he seemed annoyed that Hera screwed with you-"

"Ugh." Leo huffed the word, "I'm just glad that she can't really mess with me anymore." he paused, "Y'know. It was great meeting my dad and all, but..." he shook his head, "I think I'd have been okay if I never met him y'know?"

"Oh?" Percy tilted her head, "Most demigods are desperate to meet their godly parent-"

"It's great don't get me wrong." Leo gave a very small smile. "But- I don't need to have him when I've got you guys."

"Leo-"

"I- you're not like any of- I mean..." Leo swallowed hard, "No one ever wanted me before." he admitted the words quietly- and Percy felt shock flooding through her. Sure he'd been slowly opening up but he'd never been this open before. "Not like this. Not since my mom."

"Leo-"

"I didn't mean-" his voice caught, "I didn't understand what I was doing I didn't mean to hurt her I didn't-"

"Leo-" Percy reached out, grabbing his hands and forcing them to stop their frantic shaking movements. "Leo. Breath. It's okay. I know it's not your fault what happened to her Leo. Mom looked into your history after she adopted you. She told me because I was the one training you-"

"I didn't understand back then." Leo swallowed hard, "I wanted to protect her."

"You were a little kid." Percy squeezed his hand gently, "You couldn't have known you did what you thought was right-" and Leo was crying as he slumped into Percy's side, tears pouring down his cheeks.

"My aunt Rosa called me- she said I was a devil. She told everyone that it was my fault she turned my whole family against me they all hated me they thought I was a monster-"

"Leo you're not a monster you were just a kid who was... whatever exactly happened I know you. You don't have a bad bone in your body- I mean, sure you're a little shit who has a habit of pranking people and blowing things to smithereens but that's not any worse than Travis and Connor. You're a good kid with a good heart and I know that- I know that you hide it when you're struggling and you joke to hide that you're hurting but... you can talk to me you can always talk to me." and Leo was clinging to her as he let out soft broken little sobs.

Percy held him as he cried, soothing her fingers though his curls, humming a soft lullaby that her mom and Luke used to sing to her when she had nightmares when she was little.

It did feel weird at times- she'd gone from the baby sister to the big sister with ridiculous ease- first with Nico and Tyson- who these days didn't need her so much and then with Leo- and it was weird, Leo was closer to her age, and yet in a weird way he needed her more than Nico and Tyson did- Leo was one of the most insecure people she'd ever met, and she let out a slow breath as she felt his breathing even out as he drifted off, his head on her shoulder.

Gods but if she could find this aunt of his she'd strangle her, she'd feel no remorse for it- Leo had been a little kid who could treat a child like that.

She was pulled out of her thoughts by a noise at the entrance to the tunnel- and Percy tensed, eyes narrowing slightly as she carefully slipped out from under Leo, leaning him against the wall and getting to her feet slowly and padding down the tunnel towards the entrance, sticking close to the rock walls to try and avoid being seen.

She ducked backwards, sucking in a gasp as two monsters walked past.

They had the faces of dogs, with black snouts, brown eyes and pointy ears. Their bodies were sleep and black like sea mammals with stubby legs that were half flipper half foot, and humanlike hands with sharp claws.

And as they passed the entrance they spoke.

"Lord Kronos has entrusted the forging of the scythe to us. It must be ready on time or he will be disappointed." and Percy felt a rush of horror and terror at the realization.

That had to be what they were doing- why they'd infiltrated Hephaestus' forges.

They were recreating Kronos' scythe. His greatest weapon. His symbol. And Percy felt a slow dawning feeling of dread rising in her chest.

She couldn't let them finish doing it.