Percy's POV:

That kiss had me momentarily stunned. Had she really done that? I immediately brought my fingers to my lips and rubbed them with my fingers. The taste of strawberry lingered as I saw her turn around and run towards the entrance of the labyrinth, putting her cap back on. The heat of the volcano all around me reminded me that I couldn't afford to be distracted. I shook my head and turned around, getting Riptide ready.

It wouldn't make sense to fight that many of them. I realized that I'd have to come up with something clever. I thought back to what I had done at Olympus about a year ago. I had fought against Athena and we had been duelling rather evenly until she got injured. I had taken her out by overwhelming her with a wave produced from my sword.

Since then, I hadn't had much time to train with that power. From what Annabeth had told me afterwards, few children of Poseidon had been able to do that in the past. Theseus, for example, had been able to do it so rapidly that the waves he produced were almost like blades themselves. They could cut through just about anything and he could summon those waves with just a swing of his sword.

The Telkhines charged at me relentlessly and I prepared myself before running towards them, clearing my mind as much as I could. I fought through them in a way that I had never fought before. I couldn't afford to slow down or they'd just kill me. Moreover, I definitely had to be quick because these guys did have magic and I didn't want to experience being a guinea pig again or worse.

You think you can beat them alone? Ask for help. I heard a voice speak to me within my mind and I tried so hard to ignore it as I focused on the monsters in front of me. That little distraction did cost me a bit, though.

I screamed as a lump of lava hit my shirt, burning through it completely and burning my skin. One of these monsters had thrown that at me and I had been distracted enough to not be able to block it with Riptide. Strangely, I hadn't been as burned as

"GIVE UP NOW, SEA SPAWN! We cared for Poseidon when he was nothing but a babe. We will show you the same mercy if you drop your sword." They screamed at him, stopping for just an instance to allow me to respond.

I staggered backwards as I tried to regain my footing, baring my teeth at them and holding out my blade directly pointed at them. There was no way I would surrender, especially not when I could still get out of this alive. They'd just bring me to Kronos and kill me later. I'd be able to do nothing about it at that point. Just as I was about to clear my mind enough to call upon the sea within me, the violent shaking of the volcano stopped me in my tracks.

Surprised, I looked below me and saw the lava in the volcano churning more wildly than ever, right before it erupted violently and completely engulfed the Telkhines before me. When it settled away, all of them had disappeared and I was left nearly completely unharmed. I was confused by what had just happened? Was that my Father's doing? He had been called the Earth-Shaker before. But I didn't think he had any control over volcanic eruptions.

"He doesn't. Not directly, anyways." A voice snapped me out of my thoughts and I looked up to see a man walking towards me. He appeared to be very old, with long grey hair and a grey beard that covered most of his face. His eyes were an electric blue, similar to Zeus's eyes, and he didn't seem like he was affected at all by the heat of the volcano. When he spoke, I recognized how similar his voice was to the one that had spoken to me earlier.

"I am Typhoeus, Son of Gaia and Tartarus. How may I be of service to you, Sea Spawn?"

Annabeth's POV:

I continued to run after the metallic spider that was scurrying towards Hephaestus's workshop. Tears were falling down my face as I tried to shut off all thoughts about Percy from my mind. I had to focus and just hope that he was alright. Sure, he had gone up against worst monsters before but there were so many Telkhines there and it wasn't like he was near water.

Mom, if I've ever done anything to make you proud, then please just keep Percy safe. I prayed, hoping that Athena would listen.

I remembered her vow on the Styx to leave Percy alone. In front of him, she had showed much contempt and she wasn't very pleased by the fact that he had beaten her in combat. She was a god of her word, however, and she had caused no trouble to Percy afterwards. I spoke to her afterwards and she admitted that Percy seemed, at least in fighting power, like someone she had known as a younger woman. I was just glad that she was giving Percy a break, failing to ask her what exactly she meant by that.

But that won't matter if he's dead. I barely managed to restrain my tears from spilling out as I continued to run after the spider. After some time, I finally reached Hephaestus's workshop in the labyrinth. As I ran into it, my legs just gave way and I fell to the floor sobbing uncontrollably about the state of this quest.

He had warned me previously. Chiron had told me not to bring four of them along. I had been naïve, thinking that I'd be able to protect them all. My fatal flaw had finally caused me to lose the people who trusted me. If Percy was dead, then I would never be able to forgive myself for leaving him behind. I looked up to see Hephaestus dropping his tools and crouching beside me.

He placed his hand on my shoulder and I immediately felt warmth spread all over my body. The divine heat he emitted certainly made me feel better about the terrible mess my life had recently become. It took a lot out of me to control my crying and I wiped the tears away before looking at his kind face.

"Telkhines. They were the ones who had taken over your forge. Grover and Tyson got lost on the way there. Percy stayed behind to fight them and…." I cast my eyes downwards, unable to continue the story. Continuing would be an admission of truth; a sign that I truly believed that Percy wasn't going to come back. He would come back. I needed him to come back to me.

When I looked up again, I saw Hephaestus's eyes widening as he understood what I couldn't say. His gaze softened as he stood up, giving me a sad smile. I stood up beside him as well, tears still covering my face.

"You've gone through your fair share of trouble, child. Your quest is not over but you need time to heal, both internally and externally. There will be time to tell me everything else later." He said.

Before I could respond to him, a massive shockwave caused me to stumble and Hephaestus caught me before I could fall over. He looked up and I saw the confusion on his face as everything in his workshop started to shake. His eyes widened as he grabbed a black object near him and pressed a button on it, causing one of the monitors on the walls to light up.

The monitor was showing a volcano, except that it looked absolutely like hell. The volcano had basically been ripped apart completely. Smoke and lava just billowed out of it and I could see people running for their lives.

"That's Mount St. Helens. Oh boy, this isn't good at all." I gulped as I heard what Hephaestus muttered to himself. We had just been there…..Percy had just been there. If he had been caught in that kind of explosion, then there was no way he could've survived that. I could barely hold back the tears in my eyes as Hephaestus looked down at me again, pity in his eyes.

"I will return you back to camp. You must tell Chiron what has happened and hope, for everyone's sake, that Percy will return. I will visit you in 2 weeks to check up on you." He continued.

Before I had a chance to protest, he snapped his fingers and I found myself on the floor of my cabin. The stress was way too much for me to endure and I wasn't surprised when I found myself blacking out completely, barely remembering Malcom's worried face looking down at me.

Percy's POV:

"Are you going to kill me?" I asked the man standing in front of me. He looked at me thoughtfully for a moment.

"No. Why would I want to do that?" He said, inching ever so slightly closer. My guard was up and I held my sword up towards him, ready to fight if he made any sudden moves.

"Oh, put that thing away. I only wish to talk to you…..for now. You're not exactly my enemy to fight." He said and proceeded to sit down cross-legged, right in front of me. He snapped his fingers and almost immediately, a cup appeared in his hand and a cup appeared in front of me.

I looked down and saw that it contained some nectar and it made me realize just how hungry I'd been up till then. I decided to keep my sword on my lap as I sat down. If he tried anything, then I'd be ready.

"Well, drink up, young hero. Hot nectar doesn't come free, you know. I've already diluted it enough so you can drink it safely." The man said, proceeding to drink from his own cup. His tone, oddly enough, sounded rather motherly and I decided to temporarily trust him.

Besides, I'd drink just a little bit of the drink to see if there was anything wrong with it. If there was, then my sword would be the last thing this guy would taste. I picked up the cup and proceeded to just drink a little bit of the liquid within. I was surprised to find that it tasted good, not at all concentrated like regular nectar. It was sweet and slightly warm but it gave me a good feeling inside. I knew that I had been hungry but I didn't quite expect myself to finish everything in the cup.

"You are Perseus?"

"Well, not the Perseus but that's what my Mom named me. My friends call me Percy."

"So, what brings you here to my prison? I take it you didn't come here just for an afternoon fight against Telkhines, of all things?"

I hesitated; I didn't think I could trust this person. He said he was Typhon? Wasn't that the guy who fought against Zeus? Annabeth had told me once that every Greek monster could trace its roots back to him. He was an enemy of the gods. I didn't think it would be wise for me to talk to him about any of this stuff.

"I….can't tell you. I'm sorry."

He smiled wearily at me, as though he had been expecting that sort of answer.

"Ah yes, you must have heard the stories about me, I suppose. I guess I'm an enemy of the gods so you can't trust me." He said, casting his eyes downwards, "It's funny how our parents often force us to go down a road not of our own choosing and then blame us for failing to live up their expectations."

I was taken aback by what he had just said. I had not been expecting the bitterness that had seeped into his voice when he said that. He could see the surprise evident on my face and he took that as his cue to continue, right after he took a sip of the sweet drink from his own cup.

"My mother Gaia created me for the sole purpose of killing Zeus. That's all well and good if I had desires like that in the first place. But I didn't care about any of that stuff. I just wanted to live my own life, you know? See the world, perhaps, and maybe even help out wherever I could."

He looked straight at me, "Do you ever feel like that? Like you've been dragged into a fight that was never really yours to begin with? Has your mother ever dragged you into her own fights? What about your father?"

I looked down and I thought about it for a second. My mother had always tried to protect me, keeping me out of her own fights with Gabe and a multitude of other issues we'd faced over the years. If I had to deal with half of that stuff, I'd go insane.

Meanwhile, I had gotten to know who my dad was precisely because I had been dragged into a fight that wasn't mine. I remembered that fear that I had of being destroyed in the conflict if I didn't return Zeus's Master Bolt to him at the time. Even when I had returned it to him, he wasn't too happy with my existence as a whole and neither was my dad. The last time I had been at Olympus, they had been debating about killing me. Luckily, they hadn't and I had even been able to prove some of my worth through my fight with Athena.

It had taken some time but I had built a decent relationship with my dad, one in which he was willing to vouch for me. I couldn't help but think, though, that if he hadn't met my mom, then none of this would've happened to me. I wouldn't have had to care about Olympus or the stupid prophecy that was going to kill me when I turned 16.

But you would never have met Annabeth. A voice said to me in the back of my mind. You wouldn't have been able to taste her sweet lips against your own.

I looked up at Typhon and nodded. I could empathize with him to some extent. He seemed like he was nice enough and I wondered why he wasn't as scary as he had been portrayed in the stories that spoke of him. He looked at me with a smile of resignation on his face.

"It's just sad that we are destined to fight."

"What? Typhon, you just said – "

"I know what I said, Perseus. It's inevitable. Gaia and Tartarus both support Kronos and while they can't do much themselves, they've given him enough power to command me. It's taking up everything within me to stop myself from killing you, given that Kronos himself ordered me to do it."

He breathed in a little bit and closed his eyes momentarily, as though he was trying to control himself. I opened my mouth to say something but his eyes opened and he held his hand up, signalling me to wait.

"Perseus, listen to me. You will be the one to free me; that has already been decided. I can't escape my fate but perhaps I can help you escape yours. I cannot let you escape from here of my own will. However, I can create the circumstances so that I can escape this prison and you are sent away before I can kill you."

He snapped his fingers and both our cups vanished. He stood up after that and began to walk towards me. I grabbed the hilt of Riptide and quickly stood up myself, intending on holding my blade up to him. After hearing what he had to say, though, I couldn't bring myself to see him as a threat. He just seemed so…. resigned of it all. He had that sad look on his face, as if he didn't enjoy any of this. It really did seem like he wanted an escape.

When he reached me, he held his hand up to my chest and smiled down at me. It reminded me very much of Poseidon's smile and I couldn't help but feel a small bubble of happiness within me. He seemed like someone I could trust and if he hadn't been an enemy, I could imagine us being good friends.

"You have a lot of power built up inside of you, Son of Poseidon. That is not a good thing. I will release all that power for you and, in so doing, free myself from this place. Your strength will carry you out of this place safely and though you will be very weak afterwards, you will survive. This will strengthen you in the long run, young hero."

His palm glowed for just a second and my eyes widened as I felt the sea within me explode outwards. I had no idea what the hell happened, but it felt like I was spontaneously combusting and creating water instead of an explosion. It almost felt like I had summoned all the sea to me in this volcano. It was as if I had just dropped the entire ocean into the volcano and I felt myself shooting upwards into the sky.

The last thing I saw before I lost consciousness from the sudden burst in power was Typhon smiling at me. "Goodbye Perseus. Perhaps we'll meet again someday."