A/N: Sorry for the one-week delay – I was a bit slow writing this chapter, which is why there's been a strange Wednesday update. I have some news regarding the update schedule for the rest of this story.
Including this chapter, I have seven chapters planned for this story before its conclusion. This includes three chapters for the rest of the second arc (including this one), three "finale arc" chapters, and one epilogue chapter. Next week will not feature an update, but I will (hopefully) update every Monday after that for six consecutive weeks, concluding with the epilogue on October 1st, the one-year anniversary of this story's beginning.
The three-part finale arc will take the place of the third arc of this story, and each chapter will likely be longer than normal. I hope you are all still enjoying the story, and without further ado, I present Chapter 24: A Pyrrhic Victory.
Percy was grateful when they finally landed on the shore of the island of Lemnos. It had been just a few hours since Alcaeus had been put to rest in the Aegean Sea, and since then, the boat had been completely silent. Even though he was at sea, something that normally calmed him and gave him confidence, Percy felt a sense of melancholy wash over him like a wave in the ocean.
Alcaeus had been the solid pillar of their group, the metaphorical glue that gave Percy and Kassandra a common point of connection. He was, though not officially, the de facto leader of the group – his age and experience had more than qualified him for the role. Even though he ultimately deferred to Percy's decisions, Alcaeus was always the one to carry them out, and more than once he gave precious advice on the situation and what Percy should do, though it was not always what he did do. He always made sure that they were keeping up on their strength, making sure to account for their issues in the overall goal to complete the Mycenean King's quest. All things that Percy, as the actual leader of the quest, should have done.
And now he was gone.
Jumping off the boat, Percy, along with Kassandra, wordlessly pulled it onto the sandy shore. The demigod shook his head as he did so, trying to compartmentalize his tumultuous emotions and thoughts of Alcaeus; they would do him and Kassandra no good on this island, and he needed to focus on the task before him. Brushing away the last thoughts of his late companion, Percy took stock of the environment around them.
They had landed upon a rather rocky shore – around the small section of sandy beach were rocky cliffs and a scattering of short trees. Percy jolted with a start when he heard a loud series of metal clinks behind him, turning to see Kassandra hoisting up and dropping a large black cloth bag. She had a wry smile on her face after seeing Percy's surprised expression.
"What?" she asked, a playful tone in her voice.
"Uh, what is that?" Percy replied, pointing at the large bag that had partially sunken into the soft sand.
In response, the young woman tore open the tied cloth bag, revealing an assortment of swords, axes, bows, arrows – in a quiver, and other tools and weapons. She arched an eyebrow at the veritable arsenal, though many of the weapons were old and rusty.
"Need anything?" she asked, a sense of sarcasm dripping in her voice.
"I think I am fine for now, but thank you," Percy responded in kind.
She gave a small nod and picked up the bow for herself, testing out the pullback. She nodded to herself and picked up the quiver to go along with it, slinging that around her back. Tying the bag back up, she stashed the unwanted weapons behind one of the larger rocks on the beach so that anyone who faced the sea would not see it.
"Ready?" Percy asked his companion, to which she nodded. The two set off down a rocky path that led through a crevice in the cliffs.
The trek was on a rough collection of rocks and stones rather than a path, which fit Percy's initial assumption that they had landed at a relatively untouched and uninhabited part of the island. On one hand, Percy liked the idea that no one would be alerted to their presence, but on the other, that made their hike all the more difficult – being far away from potential onlookers also meant that they would be far away from their ultimate destination. Coming to a stop as they finished scaling the rocky cliff, Percy sighed with relief. By the end, they had to vertically scale the cliff, free climbing up the rocky surface with only the certainty that any fall would be a quick end.
"There we go," Kassandra suddenly said, panting slightly as she did so. Percy glanced at her. One hand was on her hip and the other was extended to point past him. He turned to see where she was pointing, and the sight left him shocked.
The shock came from the impressive sight of a single volcano. It billowed with smoke, and even from where they stood, it was obvious that there was plenty of activity around the base of the peak. All he knew was that somewhere in that volcano was Hephaestus' second most important forge, as was the weapon that King Perseus had asked for, but he had no idea how to get inside the volcano undetected and where to find the weapon that the other Perseus wanted. The man had said it would be easy to find, but Percy couldn't see how anything would be easy to find in such a massive place.
They had a long journey ahead of them – the trek to the volcano itself would be hard enough. Percy readied himself mentally, and the two of them continued forward, marching toward the ominous sight in the distance.
Percy was fairly certain that his legs were ready to mutiny against him. He and Kassandra had slogged through forests and hiked over hills for nearly three hours. The end result to show for all of that time was a nice view of the base of the volcano and two screaming sets of muscles. Now, the two of them were hiding at the edges of the forest, peering through the leaves into the work camp at the base of the volcano. There was a multitude of activity going back and forth, but Percy's heart sunk as he saw the workers come into view.
The workers were all robots.
To be more exact, the workers were all mechanical automatons of a sort, made of gleaming bronze and moving in set patterns as they carried materials. They were all vaguely humanoid, with obvious heads and glowing eyes as they maneuvered past one another. Not all were constructed the same – many were taller or shorter, wider or thinner than the others around them. Hephaestus seemed to enjoy some variety in his designs.
"That will make it harder," Kassandra muttered under her breath. Percy turned to face the woman.
"We can't disguise ourselves as these… things," Kassandra explained, to which Percy nodded.
"I agree," he replied in the same hushed tone before looking back to the camp. The two eyed the automated workers for a while more before Percy quickly extended a hand, clasping Kassandra's upper arm.
"Look!" he hurriedly whispered, pointing at a set of automatons. Kassandra followed Percy's finger and gaze to eye two particular automatons.
These two creations of Hephaestus were slightly different from many of their brethren. Namely, they wore shiny bronze armor over their already-bronze construction. Their heads were covered by helmets of extravagant design, hiding their features and exact build from any observers.
Both Percy and Kassandra turned to look at each other at the same time, identical grins appearing on their faces as they simultaneously nodded. They had the same idea.
"These things are more uncomfortable than they look," Percy whispered. Kassandra quickly shushed him, but he could see her nod as she did so.
They had ambushed the two automatons – likely "guard" units for the other ones – as the two rounded the perimeter of the work camp and neared their hiding spot in the forest. They had made quick work of the two; Percy had swamped both units in water and Kassandra put them down quickly with two swift swipes of her dagger. After defeating both automatons, they had taken the armor each one wore and dressed themselves. Luckily for them, the armor seemed to resize itself to fit the wearer, so the armor fit them about as well as they could. As long as Percy and Kassandra did nothing that would give away their human nature, they were like every other automaton in the work camp.
However, the resizing functionality of the armor did not preclude its comfort for the wearer – in Percy's experience, he believed Hephaestus probably never thought of a person wearing something that the god had built for a machine, so the armor was already going against its intended use.
Now, the two of them were making their way through the camp, making sure to mimic the automatons' robotic walk as best they could. So far, none of the automated workers they passed seemed to give any indication that their disguise was less than convincing. This continued as the two passed through the main entrance that sat at the base of the volcano. The two of them milled about with the automatons at work, effectively blending in with the streams of workers carrying materials into the volcano workshop.
Percy's fear only grew as they entered deeper into the volcano. For one, the heat was slowly becoming more oppressive, an issue that was exacerbated by the heavy armor they wore. The other reason was because of how easy it seemed. There were no other guard automatons that stopped to check them. There were no security checkpoints. There weren't even any traps that would spring up to hinder their progress.
He felt a nudge in his left side and turned to see Kassandra gesturing her head toward a side corridor. Percy looked ahead where he had been walking – from what he could see, it led to a large furnace room from which a sweltering heat emanated, so he acquiesced and followed Kassandra. He wasn't going to find what he was looking for in the hot inferno of a furnace, meaning they were better off searching other parts of the complex.
The rest of the volcano workshop was as hot as the entrance, though none quite approached the intensity of heat that Percy felt from the furnace; even from a distance, it had been nearly unbearable, and Percy suspected that it was not meant for mortals to enter in the first place. After all, the workshop was supposed to be staffed solely by automatons, and Hephaestus himself certainly wouldn't be affected by extreme heat. The sword King Perseus wanted would be elsewhere, likely wherever the completed objects made from the workshop were stored.
The corridor was made of a rocky surface, punctuated irregularly by heavy metal doors that were mostly closed. Every now and then, Percy could see into one of the rooms whose doors were open, and they were generally filled with either boxes for storage or automatons working at tables. None of them fit the description of any kind of storage room where Hephaestus would keep his completed, but unused works. Bright lamps lit up the corridor, bathing every crevice of the rock wall in light.
As they neared the end of the corridor, Percy's heart began to sink. There was no room in the hall that could have held the weapon they sought, but the end of the hall did split into two different paths.
"Right or left?" Kassandra whispered, looking as much toward Percy as her armor let her.
"Right," Percy responded, and the two turned the right corner as they reached the end of the rocky corridor.
This hall looked much the same as the previous, and Percy sneaked a glance backward to look at what would have been the left turn – much of the same.
"Let's go in here," Percy whispered, gesturing to an open room. There were no automatons in the room, and the room itself had nothing more than a table with a series of stacked chairs. Kassandra nodded and entered the room, with Percy closing the metal door behind them.
"Ahh, that is nice," Kassandra sighed as she took off her helmet. She shook her head to let her damp brown locks return to their normal form after being cramped in the helmet for so long, and her face shone with perspiration from the heat of both the armor and the volcano. Setting her helmet on the table, she took a seat in one of the chairs that Percy had grabbed from the stack, leaning back and closing her eyes to rest a bit.
Percy, for his part, sat down and leaned on his armored hands, thinking hard about what to do. Hephaestus' volcano workshop was a complex facility, and there were no directions or map that they could follow to find what they needed. They also couldn't wander the complex forever – they only had so much water and had to eventually leave, and the longer they stayed in or near the volcano, the more likely they would be found out.
"So, what is the plan, Perseus?" Kassandra suddenly asked, leaning forward. She mimicked Percy's own chin-on-hands position on the table. "Can you use water to try and scout out the entire volcano?"
The demigod shook his head. "Too hot. There is barely any moisture in this volcano, much less enough to try and feel out the entirety of this place."
Kassandra grimaced and scrunched up her brow in thought. "I suppose we can't just ask one of the automatons about this."
Percy blinked a few times before staring straight at the young woman. "I… I suppose that could work."
She returned his stare with a raised eyebrow. "I was joking."
"I'm being serious. An automaton might just tell us – I mean, Hephaestus has to communicate with them if he wants to know something, so they would probably be able to communicate with us as well."
Kassandra leaned back into her chair again. "That seems a bit far-fetched."
Percy sighed and unclasped his hands, leaning on his elbows as he pressed forward into the table. "Still, it is one of our only options. I think I know how we can try."
The metal door swung open and two armored guards exited, not bothering to close the door behind them. Standing outside of the room, the two guards were still as the sounds of automatons grew louder, signifying that they were coming toward the guards.
A pair of automatons turned the corner, each carrying a box of supplies. As the first one passed the duo, one guard raised a hand to the second automaton, bringing it to a halt. Its companion paid no heed and continued forward, soon disappearing around another bend.
"Halt," Percy intoned as mechanically as possible.
The automaton gave no response.
"Where is the storage room for completed weapons?"
The automaton's eyes adjusted slightly as Percy heard gears inside of it grind. He gulped – the contraption was taking a rather long time to figure out what to do, and the longer it took, the more anxious Percy felt. He was already sweaty from the heat, but he felt new beads of sweat form on his temple and drip down his skin as the automaton whirred in front of him.
"Query processed. Proceed down this corridor," the automaton finally responded, its voice a rough approximation of a human's with scratchy Greek and a synthetic quality, "take the first right, and then take a left."
With that, the automaton side-stepped Percy's still form and continued down its way, disappearing down the same bend its companion had taken a few minutes earlier. Behind Percy, Kassandra let out an audible sigh.
Percy didn't sigh, but he did let the water he had been holding slip back into the rock wall of the corridor. It had taken a bit of effort to call any substantial amount of water from their surroundings – the literal undertaking of the phrase "squeezing water from a stone". To him, though, it was worth the effort. He had been ready to use the water to destroy the automaton if need be, and overall, the water represented a sort of safety net to him. It was comforting to know that it was an ally in times of need.
"Shall we go?" Kassandra asked. Percy nodded.
The two of them set off down the hallway, passing the first corridor that Kassandra had brought them down and now effectively going the left direction of the first fork they had encountered. Following the automaton's direction, Percy took the first left and then the right, and found himself staring at a closed double door. It was made of a similar metal to the other single doors they had seen in the rocky corridors of the volcano, and with a hesitant hand, Percy slowly pushed the door open.
Without any squeaks or resistance, the door opened, and Percy peered into the room, his eyes widening as he saw the contents inside. It was virtually a vault, and there was a vast assortment of objects all over the room. From enough suits of armor to equip an army to a veritable arsenal of fine spears, the room was filled with objects of various shapes and sizes. It was a long, grand hall that reminded Percy of a European cathedral.
But to Percy, there was only one object that mattered. And it was plainly visible for all to see.
At the very end of the hall sat a pedestal, and upon the pedestal – or more accurately, floating above it – was a sword. Not just any sword – it was a sword of quality that Percy had never seen before. The hilt was ornamental, but not ostentatious. The blade was a gleaming bronze with no imperfections visible on its surface. Percy could almost see his reflection in the blade. Reaching the base of the pedestal, Percy reached out a hand, only to recoil at the pain of a sharp shock jolting through his extended arm and body. He jumped back, warily looking at the sword and its pedestal.
"What's wrong?" Kassandra asked, looking at Percy with a curious look.
"It… shocked me," Percy hesitantly replied, not sure of exactly what had shocked him. "There is some sort of energy surrounding the sword."
"Maybe it is what is holding the sword up," Kassandra theorized, examining the entire setup. She circled around the stone pedestal and stared at the blade, frowning as she did so. "I have never seen anything like this before."
Percy nodded. "A contraption of Hephaestus indeed," he responded, a hand on his chin. "Any thoughts on how to go about this?"
Kassandra shrugged. "My best guess would be to destroy the base. It seems to be what is holding the sword in place."
Grimacing, Percy examined the pedestal in greater detail. It was, unlike the sword, very plain and simple, being just a stone slab that seemed to be the source of the power that held the sword in place and kept any people from getting close. It looked fairly sturdy and had no clear mechanism to disable. Uncapping Riptide, Percy readied his own trusty sword and prepared himself. He aimed his sword, and with a deep breath, thrust forward and stabbed the pedestal with his sword.
In hindsight, stabbing a stone pedestal with a bronze sword may not have been the best idea, but Percy had little time to think about that as a torrent of energy washed over him. It was unlike the shock he had received before; this time, it was like his body was being rooted in place. There was a weight on his limbs that seemed to lock him into place, keeping his hands on Riptide's hilt and the sword in the stone pedestal.
Kassandra watched with growing anxiety as Percy grunted in pain. The demigod felt energy draining out of him, but the pedestal remained intact, bar the sword that now pushed ever deeper into its stone. Percy knew he could not sustain for much longer, so with a hint of panic, he called upon the little amount of water he had found in the volcano to him. The water rushed out of the stone floor, pouring toward the pedestal. As the water surged into the stone, the pressure increased, and beads of sweat slowly dripped down Percy's face as he tried his hardest to push his sword deeper into the stone.
A light began to emit from the growing crack in the stone, and in the blink of an eye, the stone shattered, sending a burst of power across the room and flinging Percy back some distance. Kassandra, who had been standing nearby, was pushed to the ground by the force.
"Perseus!" Kassandra cried out, seeing her companion on the ground some feet away. The young man groaned as he blearily opened his eyes. After blinking a few times, Percy's vision cleared, and he saw the destruction that had unfolded in front of him. The entire back half of the room was rattled, with many weapons and other objects out of place or knocked to the floor. The pedestal itself was shattered, some of its stone flung across the floor, while the sword that had been suspended in mid-air now lay on its ruins of what was left in place. He couldn't help but crack a smile: his hasty plan had worked.
The smile shrunk when Percy clasped his right hand, expecting to close around the leather wrap of Riptide's grip as he had become so accustomed to feeling. Instead, his right hand closed around jagged metal, and he slowly turned his head to see what he was holding.
Riptide was gone. The bronze blade that had been a constant in Percy's life for years was no longer there. In its place was a pin of some sort – a brooch. To Percy, it looked vaguely familiar, but he couldn't quite place where he had seen it before. Nonetheless, it was twisted and warped, and he knew that it was Riptide. His sword had been the conduit for all of the energy that had come out of the pedestal, and in breaking the stone, it itself had been broken. There was a hollow feeling inside of him. Riptide had saved his life many times, and he had fought his way through difficult situations with it, trusting the sword to always be there when he needed. Now that it wasn't, Percy felt uneasy and vulnerable.
Kassandra walked over and eyed Percy, extending an arm for him to stand back up. After a few moments of silence, Percy accepted the hand, getting back on his feet as he pocketed the ruined Riptide. It felt strange to think about mourning a sword, but even so, it was not the time to mourn a sword – they were, after all, still breaking and entering in an Olympian's domain. Without any hesitation, Percy grabbed the hilt of the bronze sword that they had come to steal, and in that moment, all hades broke loose.
A screaming klaxon blared throughout the rock, causing both Percy and Kassandra to wince at the sound. Percy immediately concluded that he had tripped some sort of security system when he touched the sword, and he cursed for not thinking that apart from the sword's exterior defense, there would be something protecting the sword itself. Still, it was too late to think about that, so the son of Poseidon reached to grab a cloth blanket in the vault – which, incidentally, had been draped over another sword – and quickly bundled up the bronze sword.
"What is that noise?" Kassandra asked, looking around.
"An alarm," Percy replied, also examining their surroundings. He had no idea where the sound was coming from, but he didn't really care either. He tied the sword to his back, making sure it was snug. "They know we are here."
"We need to leave then," Kassandra stated, a worried look playing on her face as she watched him prepare the sword. With a nod from Percy, the two exited the vault room, quickly dashing down the rocky corridors as the alarm continued to sound.
Percy quickly put an arm in front of Kassandra to stop her as they rounded the first corner, narrowly stopping her from running headfirst into an exposed blade that had protruded from the wall.
"That was not there earlier," Kassandra whispered, her voice trembling at how close she had come to running into death.
"Traps," Percy muttered. "This is Hephaestus' style – it all seems normal until you need to leave, and that is when he brings out the traps. Be very careful."
Kassandra nodded, and the two ducked under the blade and continued down the hall, albeit much slower and more carefully now. However, their slow advance out of the maze of rocky corridors was punctuated by the clanging sound of metal upon rock behind them. It was a cacophony of noises that only grew louder.
"Automatons," Percy whispered, looking at Kassandra. "They must be here for us." And left unspoken, they both knew that it was unlikely that the automatons would only be there to capture them – Hephaestus would not appreciate anyone breaking into his workshop, and Greek gods were not known for their mercy.
"We have to move faste- watch out!" Kassandra yelled as a section of the rock wall protruded, extending toward Percy. He barely dodged it by moving forward, but another section of rock protruded from the other side of the wall, catching Kassandra unaware as she focused on the one that nearly hit Percy. She screamed as one of her legs was caught between the protruding rock segment and the other wall, pinning her in place.
"Kassandra!" Percy shouted, hurriedly looking at the protruding rock. It almost looked like some sort of hydraulic system, and grabbing one of Kassandra's daggers from her belt, he did his best to ignore her whimpers of pain as he cut into the exposed mechanical parts behind the fake rock. The rock protrusion lost tension and Percy easily pushed it back into the wall, allowing Kassandra to sink to the ground.
"Are you alright?" Percy asked, unsure what to do to help the woman.
"I- I think my leg is shattered," Kassandra bit out, her face scrunched up in pain. "I cannot move."
"Alright, here. I will carry you out of here," Percy replied, turning around. "Get on my back."
Kassandra grabbed Percy's hand and turned him back around, her brown eyes staring into his green ones. For a moment, it was completely silent and still, and Percy could almost believe that there was no danger coming. But the moment passed, and he knew that they could wait no longer.
"Go, Perseus," Kassandra whispered, still staring into Percy's soul. "Leave me behind."
Percy shook his head. "No. We have already lost Alcaeus – I am not about to lose you here as well."
Kassandra gave a weak smile. "There is no other choice. I will be nothing more than dead weight to you. I will get us both killed."
Percy continued to shake his head. "I still do not see why I should leave you here. I would rather take the chance that you survive than leave you to die."
"It is not you leaving me to die – it is me choosing to stay here. My leg will never recover from this. Even if I were to survive, I would be useless to my king. That is a fate I do not want to face." To stop any further protests, Kassandra put a finger to Percy's lips. "Please do not object; this is my choice, and I hope that you will respect it by leaving here with your life."
Percy's face showcased a multitude of emotions as he dealt with his inner turmoil. Finally, after a few moments, between the blaring of the alarm and the clangs of the automatons approaching, he slowly nodded. Kassandra's smile widened into a full one, and she turned his head to kiss his cheek.
"Go, Perseus," she said again. "Your destiny lies beyond. Alcaeus knew this and I do too – you must live. So go."
Percy straightened as he stood up, and for a fateful second looked back at Kassandra.
"Goodbye, Kassandra," Percy blurted out, unsure of what else to say. He quickly turned and ran down the corridor, dodging every single rock protrusion.
"Goodbye, Perseus," Kassandra whispered, looking at the hero's fleeing back, before she turned toward the hallway they had just come from. The sounds of automatons coming from that hallway only got louder, so she reached around her back and grabbed her bow. Notching an arrow, she waited.
That was all she could do now.
Percy tried to put all thoughts of the woman he had just left behind out of his mind. It was neither the time nor the place to think about it – he was on the run for his life from the equivalent of killer robots in the middle of a very dangerous and unknown place that was inside of a volcano.
He turned the left, dodged the spikes that shot out of the floor, took the right, and barely squeezed under the spinning blade as he slid across the floor. Picking himself back up, he found himself in the large hall that led to the hot furnace room. This was where he was before Kassandra had gestured for him to go down the side corridor.
There was one substantial difference between then and the situation Percy now found himself in. Earlier, he had blended in seamlessly with the hordes of automatons that moved to each of their stations. Now, he was in the middle of a big circle of automatons, all of whom seemed to glare at him. The demigod had no illusions that his disguise was still working, and he truly began to panic as a few of the automatons walked forward toward him. There was no water to bail him out – he had already used all that he could find in the workshop against the stone pedestal. He had no sword on him – Riptide was broken and the bronze sword on his back was tied up. He had no support – she was left behind him.
Somehow, in the depths of Percy's fear, he had a single rational thought float through his mind: Poseidon was the god of earthquakes as well. He was a son of Poseidon, so it stood to reason that if his father could induce earthquakes, Percy would have some measure of that power as well.
The automatons were still closing as Percy closed his eyes. He had to approach this like he did with water. He had to feel the earth under him – in this case, it was all around him, so he had to tap into his surroundings. There! He could feel a rumbling, and all he had to do was nudge it…
A crack appeared in the ground as Percy opened his eyes, and he grinned when he saw the crack. His grin disappeared when he saw a deluge of magma pour from the massive furnace room into the hall he was in, and he quickly turned to run, pushing aside the automatons who just stood there. Many automatons also attempted to flee, but those that were close to the furnace perished before they could even react.
Percy swallowed heavily as he ran. He had only meant to shake the ground enough to get the automatons to run or fall down. Instead, he had induced an entire volcanic eruption.
And so the demigod ran for dear life.
Kassandra groaned as she lowered her bow. She had just spent her last arrow, and the dozen or so automatons that lay on the ground with arrows sticking out of them was a testament to how long she had managed to hold the hordes of automatons off.
When a lone automaton turned the corner and turned its head toward her, Kassandra's blood chilled. The automaton stalked forward with no warning, quickly doing its best to close the distance between it and its target. Kassandra, for her part, felt panic – she had no more arrows, and all she had left was a single remaining dagger.
The automaton quickly fell on top of Kassandra, trying to end the fight as efficiently and quickly as possible. She yelled as she brandished her dagger, trying to hold off the automaton. The automaton, however, had little care her ineffectual slashes, and extending an arm, took Kassandra's throat in its grasp. She gurgled as the automaton continued to squeeze, and even though she stabbed her dagger into its back, it did not stop. She could feel her strength leaving her and her vision turning to darkness.
Go Perseus, Kassandra thought one last time. Do what you were meant to. And then the world faded from her.
The entire volcano shook with a great rumble, and as the automaton lay over Kassandra, the rocky corridor collapsed inward, burying them in an avalanche of rock.
Percy ran as quickly as he could given the deluge of molten hot lava that was racing after him. He could not stop it – he couldn't feel any water in the lava, so all he could do was run. He brushed aside and dodged automatons that tried to stop him, and soon enough, he had run back into the light of the sun. He looked at the tree line where he and Kassandra had previously hid and shook his head. He knew couldn't outrun the lava forever – he would grow tired and it would not.
Instead, Percy called upon whatever energy he had left and drew the water of the forest. He summoned every drop he could find, be it from the soil, the trees and plants, or the air itself. Letting it wash over him to reinvigorate himself, he forced it forward to the entrance of the volcano just as the lava began to pour out. The resulting combination released massive amounts of steam, but Percy kept at it, pushing more and more water to the entrance.
Finally, he cut the water stream off, panting from the exertion. Beads of sweat dripped down his head as his throat felt parched in the uncomfortably dry air. However, he couldn't help but smile as he saw the front of the volcano completely sealed up.
A great rumble knocked that smile off of his face. He looked upward in fear to see the top of the volcano begin to leak lava.
"That is not good," Percy whispered to himself, slowly backing away from the peak. The volcano began to crack as fissures appeared throughout its side, spreading to the very ground Percy stood on. Somehow, he could feel the pressure building up in the volcano, and he knew it was going to explode; he just wasn't sure how to get away.
Almost instinctually, Percy called water to envelop himself just as the volcano exploded, the entire peak disappearing in a fiery haze of rock and lava. Percy couldn't stop himself from being blown into the sky, the force being enough to vaporize everything else that was beside him. Only his water shield stopped him from being incinerated by the fire or shredded by the force, but as he flew through the air, Percy felt like he was in agony.
The last Percy saw was the shining blue sea. The last thing he felt was pain everywhere.
Then he landed and knew no more.