A/N: Oh hey again, I finished this chapter. Hopefulyl I get to update some of my more popular fics too... Anyways, Luna gets to shine a bit longer in this chapter before Clay gets the reins once more.

Chapter 15: In which my sister is hoarding the mic

12th November, 2005

It had been a miscalculation. Luna had been aiming for a new godless stone and been almost caught. She should've expected it really. Her target was a rainbow moonstone called Lunar Guard, obviously belonging to Artemis. So she should've expected Athena making a security plan and a trap for her. Anything for a favorite sibling.

Luna did get the stone. But in order to escape, she had to use the Labyrinth. It was no failsafe in the case any of the goddesses decided to follow her but at least she could escape mortals. Luna was reluctantly impressed. It appeared that Athena had learnt from last time and been able to predict the girl's actions this time.

But Luna did succeed and as soon as she was in the safety of Labyrinth's corridors, she had Beauty of Love change her appearance and clothing something sturdier: cargo pants, military boots and a denim jacket over light green t-shirt. Her hair became frizzy brick red mess that was pulled on a high tail. A smatter of freckles beneath olive green eyes adorned her pale skin. Luna really loved how handy it was for disguises. She didn't dare to use Pathway of Spring just yet. Not until she was in a place shielded from godly surveillance. There were some areas like that Luna had found during her exploration trips and that Clear Thought helped her to find again.

There was a crash on a side corridor and more followed. Luna doubted that whatever was there, would follow her since generally monsters stayed on their designated areas as they couldn't afford to get lost in the Labyrinth. If they found an entrance that is.

But there were always exceptions to the rule. Like this one. A Colchis Bull. Just her luck. The bull noticed her and charged after her. Luna clenched her fist. There were too many thoughts running through her head to concentrate properly on anything.

One: She still wasn't sure if there was someone after her from her heist. Thus, she couldn't risk using the Pathway.

Two: While being mortal meant that she generally didn't have a scent for the monsters to fixate on, it meant that she was entirely reliant on her godless stones and much more vulnerable.

Three: She had been spending time with Percy, a son of Poseidon with very potent scent (though hidden by Gabe Ugliano's stench), and had Clay, a sort-of-son of Apollo, as a brother, so there was still a chance of monsters catching onto her trail.

Four: She had completely lost her destination while distracted by that bull and thus had no idea where she was running to.

Things weren't so good. While Luna was Clear-Sighted and had Clear Thought to help her too, they didn't matter if you didn't have destination in mind. Cheats work only if you know what you are cheating for.

Luna rounded the corner and closed her eyes for a moment. Thankfully she was swifter when turning but the bull still had four legs and was made out of Celestial Bronze. Still, she gained some extra seconds out of and used those to gather her thoughts and concentrate on her disguise. While outwardly it seemed that she'd been wearing boots, first knee high ones in her Thalassa attire and then the military ones she had now, in reality she had her wing-shoes. And she also had Wings of Wind on her gauntlet. She unraveled the disguise just enough to let those two show and whispered the code word for her shoes:

"Ikou!" It was Japanese and meant simply: Let's go!

Luna sprung upwards and let the bull charge from beneath her. Her feet touched the wall and she began running to the opposite direction until her momentum ended and the gravity forced her to return to the floor. She was still in the middle of figuring out how Wings of Wind actually worked.

There was galloping steps behind Luna. The bull had managed to turn and was chasing her again. Luna needed a plan. And quickly!

Lady Sky was on her right middle finger already. Her left hand was clutching onto the brooch that she'd acquired not even an hour ago. Now was admittedly the most optimal time to use Moon Guard…

Luna skidded to stop and twisted her body around, bringing the rainbow moonstone before her and twisted the power within. Shimmery, almost metallic but still translucent shield opened gracefully like a fan between her and the bull. The bovine crashed onto the shield, the metal plates grinding together. The still green eyes narrowed as the thirteen-year-old girl raised her right hand and Hecate's Eye glowed deep green. She twisted again while the bull was reorienting itself, snapping the shield closed and then blasting a soccer ball worth of green energy at the joints of the bull. The bull slid sideways and bit, it's hoofs digging onto the floor. Some of its metal plates seemed clunky now but it was no way defeated. The bull raised its head and breathed out burning hot smoke. It had quite the acrid smell. Luna let out a cough. That had the bull charging her again.

Luna sprung the shield again, barely in time. The girl then proceeded to attach the brooch onto her shirt in order to free her left hand as she summoned Lady Sky. The bull was limping now as it kept ramming against the shield. The plates clattered from the places that they'd come loose. Luna gripped her sword in her both hands and swallowed dryly. She was going through Ares's lessons in her mind. While she had progressed well during the past year that she'd gotten the lessons on swordsmanship and close combat in general, the God of War had been her only opponent. Clay didn't really count as the boy didn't want to go all out against her. But this was a bull made of Celestial Bronze. Something not so easily defeated. It wouldn't even turn into dust once killed.

The bull broke through the shield. Luna's eyes widened but she thrusted her sword forwards to stab it between the plates. She had wide and steady stance but she didn't fight when the bull's greater strength pushed her backwards. As long as the bull remained at an arm's length away and didn't push her against a wall…

Luna's right foot hit wall and the girl cursed. She thought quickly and planted her left foot to the wall too from where it had been in front of her. Then…

"Ikuyo…" (Here we go…) She let go of Lady Sky and pushed herself upwards and over the bull which in turn crashed through the… door?

"What?" Luna blinked and looked into the room that the clunky bull stumbled to. It looked like some sort of workshop…

Shit.

Hephaestus heard the door of his workshop open with a mighty crash. What followed was sound of metallic clinking of various volumes and pitches. Quite unpleasant sound. Something needed maintenance.

The forge god looked up from his blueprints and took in the sight of one of his bull's in considerable disrepair and with a sword sunk hilt-deep into the bronze bovine's chest cavity.

"Hmm…" With two long but limping strides, Hephaestus reached the bull and lifted it up by the neck in order to examine it better. It wasn't unsalvageable per say but one could always build it into something better.

There was a surprised gasp at the door and the god turned to glance at the source of it. A girl. Mortal girl but with traces of several gods swirling around her. Hephaestus's eyes fell onto the forearm guard the girl wore on her right arm. It was adorned by several precious stones and so was her belt. Godless Stones. So this slip of a girl was the thief that Athena had failed to catch twice in running. The girl was shaky and still high in adrenaline probably both from her heist and being chased by his bull. Her disguise – which was powered by his wife's stone – was slipping, red giving space for blonde and green for blue.

"You may come in, girl." The god rumbled.

"Thank you, Lord Hefaistos." The girl bowed shortly before stepping into the workshop. Her accent when saying his name was hard to place but Hephaestus was sure he'd heard it sometime in the past century or two.

The bull let out a billow of smoke and the god frowned at the smell. The sword had managed to hit something problematic on the inside. Most likely punctured the oil tank and jammed the mixer system.

Behind him the girl looked around the workshop, taking the unfinished projects, raw materials and tools scattered around. Curious but respectful. Hephaestus dragged the bull to one of the benches that didn't have currently anything of importance going on and after waving it empty, placed the bull on top of it. Then, he pulled the sword free from between the bronze plates and offered it to the girl. She looked up at him in surprise but with a tiny nod accepted her sword which turned into a silver ring adorned by a lapis lazuli. Lady Sky then.

"You can take off your disguise here. I don't care whether or not you collect those stones as long as you keep your thieving out of here." The god grunted.

"Understood." The girl nodded and her disguise melted off, the very faint traces of Aphrodite concentrating on the pink stone on the forehead of her white mask before disappearing. She slowly lifted her hands to extract the mask and move it on top of her head.

Hephaestus snorted. So much for Athena's theory of the thief being incapable of using the power of the stones.

Luna watched Hephaestus start dismantling the Colchis bull and sat herself on a stool out of the way of the tables and tools. It wouldn't do any good to be in the way.

It was quite interesting to watching the god working. He was very efficient in a manner that almost seemed careless but in reality, relied on instinct and experience. Hephaestus sometimes stopped to inspect the pieces so see the exact damage done to them be setting them aside, sorted in piles depending on damage or usability otherwise. Or something.

As she watched, Luna's thoughts drifted to her own project. The arrows she'd spoken about to Clay in May. She hadn't progressed much with it. Mostly due lack of materials needed to craft even the prototypes… And really, she needed to come up with some better name for them than God Slayer…

"It is quite the pretentious name regardless of matching with the purpose they are intended for." Hephaestus rumbled, startling Luna from her thoughts.

"Ah… yes…" Had she spoken aloud or…

"Your thoughts were quite loud."

"My apologies." Luna ducked her head and when she looked up again, she saw the god giving her an amused glance, the bull in pieces behind him.

"Think nothing of it. It seems quite the interesting project but I'd recommend to watch your thoughts around others. They might not find its scientific value and usefulness more important than the possible threat it presents."

That was… true. Luna sighed. She really needed to reconsider actually making them regardless of their usefulness in the future.

The god was assessing the girl with a contemplative look.

"Why don't you bring your notes of those arrows here and we'll see what we can do about them?"

"What…" The girl blinked. Had she heard right? "Really? We could… we could actually make them?"

"Provided that proper safeguards and precautions are taken in regards of them, yes." Hephaestus nodded.

"Thank you." Luna breathed but then her watch beeped. She needed to get going. Before her absence was noticed at Yancy. While she might've picked Friday night for her heist in the case she'd need the Labyrinth, she didn't have too much time in her hands until the school staff would notice she wasn't in her room. Her watch was informing her that 12 hours had already passed outside the Labyrinth. Two of those Luna had spent at Hephaestus's forge while the others had run past when she'd been running and fighting. "Ah, I have to go now."

"Until we see again." The forge god rumbled. Luna smiled and jumped down from the stool. She bowed deep.

"Thank you for your hospitality, Lord Hefaistos."

And with a twirl of green, she was gone.

Luna removed her belt and mask and placed them into a small chest by the fireplace before turning around and going to her room to change clothes and leave majority of her tools. The digital alarm clock showed that it was almost lunchtime. She needed to hurry before Percy would worry. Screw teachers but she didn't want Percy to worry or either Grover or Chiron to be suspicious of her.

With only Pathway, Lady Sky and Wings of Wind with her, Luna teleported back to her dorm room and from there made her way to cafeteria.

A/N: This is... Maybe third last chapter before this prelude fic is finished. In the next chapter Clay will be the narrator once more and we get to have Christmas. A proper Christmas chapter with the events of Winter Solstice mentioned too. After that an aftermath chapter with Alecto, freaky weather etc. Plus Clay's fifteenth birthday.

Attention, I've rewritten the second chapter too. With it, I removed Luna's mention of sleeping with Kaito since it was causing discomfort and/or confusion for my readers. I admit, it was a spur of a moment decision originally to write that line, especially when it doesn't actually affect this fic otherwise at all.

Replies to reviews:

-In Brightest Day: (chapter 4)
Very true. They really shouldn't poke at Artemis though. But of course they will.

-Guest:
Thank you. I have no plans to discontinue this even though updating this is quite slow.
I'm glad to hear that my characterizations are spot on and my OCs are likeable too.

-ephemeral-times:
chapter 2: It allegedly happened between whatever point of time there is going on in Dream or Not-verse and 'year later' when the beginning of the first chapter of this fic happens. But as I removed that part of the conversation from chapter 2, you don't need to worry about it. (I've got other pairing plans for my mains fics anyways)
chapter 14: Yup, here is the newest chapter. I hope you like.