AN: Sorry about the lack of updates recently everyone, was dealing with final exams and projects. Hopefully though I'll have more time to update from now on.
Son of the Moon
Chapter 44
-Percy-
The spider seemed lost to them, time having been wasted by that incompetent sphinx. It was only through the years of training he underwent with the hunt along with a decent amount of luck that they found the spider again. Following the rhythmic pinging of a tiny metal head against a large metal door they found the spider bouncing off a large door, similar to that of a submarine hatch. "Ready to see Hephaestus?" he asked the others, gripping the circular handle and turning it, his muscles straining under the force needed.
"If it means getting out of this death trap sooner? Hell yes." Nico grunted, joining him in moving the god strength door, the seal breaking with a hiss as air rushed out of the sealed space. Looking around the opening door he let out a low, impressed, whistle. The inside of the forge looked like the garage every mechanic dreams about at night. There were several hydraulic lifts, some with cars on them while others had automatons, and one even had a Greek war chariot made entirely of fire.
"…I want one." He and Nico said in tandem, grinning with a fist bump as their girlfriends just gave exasperated sighs in the background. Continuing to look around he saw a pegboard with outlines for tools, none of which were in their right places. "Organized," he nodded in mock seriousness "I like it."
"Yeah, yeah," a voice grunted from underneath one of the nearby hydraulic lifts, a pair of legs kicking away a toolbox to make room "laugh it up brat." With a grunt Hephaestus slid out from underneath the car, a 97 Toyota Corolla, and straightened "Wondered how long it would take you to get here."
"You knew we were coming?" Amanda asked surprised.
"He knew Eurytion had that medallion," he answered for the god with a grin "he had us that minor god at the Dude Ranch because of it, am I right?"
"You never fail to impress Percy." Hephaestus gave a grin "Yeah, I figured you'd end up with some reason to kill that nuisance Geryon and that Eurytion would end up giving you the medallion for it. So, I'm guessing you came here to try and find Daedalus, correct?"
"What gave it away?" he asked "The prophecy or the fact we're in the gods forsaken Labyrinth?"
"The first to be honest," Hephaestus shrugged "you're crazy enough to come down here to train."
Raising a finger to protest he trailed off, said finger going limp "You…may have a point." He admitted "But you're right, we're here to find Daedalus, there any way you can help us?"
"Simplest way would be an exchange, task for task." Hephaestus picked up the little spider bot which had scuttled over to its creator "You do something for me I need done and I can tell you where, or how, to find Daedalus' lair in the Labyrinth."
"What's the task?" He asked, going from joking to serious as it was time to receive a mission.
"Mount St. Helens," Hephaestus spoke and pulled up an image of the volcano on the screen "I have many forges but that one used to be my favorite. Problem is that I have some squatter's that keep using it when I'm not around and I can't manage to catch them in the act. They sense me coming due to my divine signature but demigods, you four could get close and find out who's using my forge and for what."
"Done." He said with a nod, clasping arms with one of his patrons "How do we get there?"
"I've reprogrammed the spider for you." He tossed them the still collapsed spider he had been tinkering with "it will guide you there and then back. I've also added a feature that will 'leash' it to whoever activates it so it doesn't run away from you again."
"Oh thank Olympus." Nico groaned in relief at that, a sentiment openly shared by the rest of the quest party.
"Heroes!" he called out, tilting his head to crack his neck as the others straightened "We have a heading and we have a target so let's give 'em hell!" the three gave him a war cry before they activated the spider, once more running off through the Labyrinth, not quite as fast as their mad scurry had been before. Noticing the spider begin to slow he held up a hand in silence, the others slowing down with him, noting the fiery glow from around the next corner.
"Stay low and stay quiet." He whispered to the others as they crept around the corner, feeling the waves upon waves of heat from the magma of the volcano. Looking around he saw monsters, some small and some massive, all looking like a fusion of a seal and a wolf. "Telekhines," he hissed in distaste "it had to be Telekhines."
"What are these things?" Amanda asked quietly, watching the clan of monsters.
"The Telekhines," he said softly "they invented metal working and were the ones to not only create the Scythe of Kronos but helped show the elder Cyclopes and the hundred handed ones how to forge the symbols of power for the big three. Grandpa banished them to Tartarus for practicing Black magic that fused Stygian Water with Sulfur, forming a poison they used on the mortal world. It looks like they're back and they're pissed."
"So what are we gonna do?" Nico asked, the girls turning at the question and all three looking at him for answers "There are a lot of monsters down there, strong ones, and we don't know many more there are that we can't see. I don't think we could last fighting all of them in close quarters before we run out of energy."
Thinking things over, Percy nods as he comes to a decision "You three head back to Hephaestus, iris message him on the way and tell him to make sure to minimize the fallout of what I'm gonna do."
"What are you going to do?" Bianca asked him, her eyes worried as she clutched his hand.
"I plan to earn my name." he said, glaring coldly back in the direction of the Telekhines "Now go," tenderly he kissed the woman he loved "I'll catch up as soon as I can love."
"You'd better come back to me." Tears glistened in her eyes as she clutched him "Or I'll make daddy revive you just so I can kill you myself."
"With encouragement like that how can I fail?" he tried to lighten the situation before giving her another kiss and hugging Nico and Amanda "Now go!" he ordered them, seeing his friends run back down the tunnel, the spider leading the way. Looking at his chest he checked what equipment he had left. This was going to be big.
-Nico-
"That idiot better make it back." He growled, running at the front of their group, the spider just ahead. Pulling out a small ball of glass he threw it at the ground as it shattered, a small rainbow appearing in the air in front of them, moving at their same pace. Tossing in a coin he intoned "Oh Iris, goddess of the Rainbow, accept my offering and show me Hephaestus, lord of the forge."
The rainbow shimmered for a moment before it changed to show Hephaestus' garage again, "That was quick." The god said, the being's back to them as he worked on the Toyota "So what was-" the god stopped speaking as he turned, a frown visible through the smoldering beard "where's Perseus?"
"Your forge was full of Telekhines." He answered the god, "Percy stayed behind to do something to stop them. He wants you to try and stop the fallout."
"What's he planning?" Hephaestus frowned but pulled up a screen of Mount St. Helens, the god's fingers alight with magic as the ancient master of metal and flame wove enchantment over enchantment over the area.
"He just said he planned to earn his name." Amanda said confused as Hephaestus' eyes widened.
"By the halls of Olympus." Hephaestus whispered in worry before speeding up the enchanting.
"What does that mean?" Bianca demanded, noticing the god's reaction.
"His name, Perseus…it means 'The Destroyer'." Just as Hephaestus spoke they felt he ground shake, the sound of a cacophonous explosion ripping apart the air and on the screen in the forge god's garage Mount St. Helens exploded in a furious storm of fire and lightning.
"PERCY!" they yelled in horror.
-Percy-
Seeing his friends run back down the hall he turned back to the forge, taking off the bandoliers with the remaining expanded vials of water in one hand and Riptide in the other. "Thus to destruction I turn," he whispered softly to himself "so creation may live on." Taking in a deep breath to steady himself he gave a yell and charged down the corridor, his roar echoing off the stone and metal. Leaping off the edge of a cliff inside the volcanic forge he saw the startled Telekhines looking around in panic.
With a cry, he landed on a large outcropping of rock with four full grown Telekhines working on forging something with a large curved blade. Eyes alight with fury and purpose he drove Riptide into the volcanic stone, the blade sinking into the stone like butter. Focusing his power and his rage he channeled the gifts of the gods that rushed through his veins, the earth shaking with the might of his fury. With a yell, he brought down the vials against the stone, torrents of water rushing out in a swirling vortex, lashing out like serpents at the Telekhines who screamed as their flesh was cut and blood poured forth.
"Kill him!" one Telekhine screamed as it was flung from the stone into a pool of magma, a splash drowning out its pained cry. The initial shock over, the Telekhines began to rally, throwing spears and arrows up at him even as more drew swords or readied claws. He felt arrows slice him as they flew past, some imbedding in him like thorns. Scowling even as the spear cut a furrow in his cheek he drew forth more power, the veins of energy on his skin glowing with his need as the air swirled about him, fueled by the water as lightning crackled around, striking the rumbling stone.
"You have fled your punishment, issued by the gods." His cold voice echoed throughout the shaking chamber "You thought you could outrun the storm of Tartarus." A hurricane began to form around him within the volcano, drawing upon the water he had summoned and continued to summon, sucking up lava from the pools, and dancing with the lightning that leapt from his skin. "Then it is by storm I return you to the pit!" with a yell he let the hurricane loose, the mountain exploding around him as the world seemed to go white and he lost all sensation but that of falling.
AN: To those who wonder why Percy doesn't just go slaughter happy with his sword is that he's used to fighting a few big monsters he can focus on or a bunch of weaker ones. Telekhines are supposed to be tough and he didn't know how many there were. If there were too many he would eventually be worn down and they would win. So, he decided to just make everything go 'boom'. Next chapter we have Ogygia.