Battle of the Labyrinth

Chapter 11

Ugh, last week…was just horrible. Especially Sunday. Anyway, here is the next chapter. This week...has just started off bad with a great man dying. RIP Robin Williams.

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At one point, the group thought they lost the mechanical spider, but thanks to Tyson's great hearing, they managed to find it. It was banging its head on a metal door.

The door looked like one of those old-fashioned submarine hatches—oval, with metal rivets around the edges and a wheel for a doorknob. Where the portal should've been was a big brass plaque, green with age, with a Greek Ȇta inscribed in the middle.

They looked at each other.

"Ready to meet Hephaestus?" Grover said nervously.

"No," Percy admitted.

"Eh, why not, his kids are great at helping me with my weapon creations." Naruto replied with a shrug, making Percy think about his other blade.

"Yes!" Tyson said gleefully, and he turned the wheel.

As soon as the door opened, the spider scuttled inside with Tyson right behind it. The others followed, not quite as anxious.

The room was enormous. It looked like a mechanic's garage, with several hydraulic lifts. Some had cars on them, but others had stranger things: a bronze hippalektryon with its horse head off and a bunch of wires hanging out its rooster tail, a metal lion that seemed to be hooked up to a battery charger, and a Greek war chariot made entirely of flames.

Smaller projects cluttered a dozen worktables. Tools hung along the walls. Each had its own outline on a Peg-Board, but nothing seemed to be in the right place. The hammer was over the screwdriver place. The staple gun was where the hacksaw was supposed to go.

Under the nearest hydraulic lift, which was holding a '98 Toyota Corolla, a pair of legs stuck out—the lower half of a huge man in grubby gray pants and shoes even bigger than Tyson's. One leg was in a metal brace.

The spider scuttled straight under the car, and the sounds of banging stopped.

"Well, well," a deep voice boomed from under the Corolla. "What have we here?"

The mechanic pushed out on a back trolley and sat up. The site of the man made Percy gulp and Naruto to wince a bit. The last time they saw him on Mount Olympus, he must have used magic to make himself look a little let hideous. Here in his own workshop, he apparently didn't care how he looked. He work a jumpsuit smeared with oil and grime. Hephaestus, was embroidered over the chest pocket. His leg creaked and clicked in its metal brace as he stood, and his left shoulder was lower than his right, so he seemed to be leaning even when he was standing up straight. His head was misshapen and bulging. He wore a permanent scowl. His black beard smoked and hissed. Every once in a while a small wildfire would erupt in his whiskers then die out. His hands were the size of catcher's mitts, but he handled the spider with amazing skill. He disassembled it in two seconds, then put it back together.

Seeing this, Naruto nodded to himself and knew they met the right person. However, he would have thought the god cared about his appearance just a little. Maybe is his Aphrodite blood in him, but the man could have asked some family, like Apollo, since was the God of Medicine, to help him out. Hell, the man could have asked some of the modern age doctors to help him out. Plastic Surgery did work.

"There," The Smith God muttered to himself. "Much better."

The spider did a happy flip in his palm, shot a metallic web at the ceiling, and went swinging away.

Hephaestus glowered up at the kids. "I didn't make you, did I?"

"Uh," Annabeth said, "no, sir."

"Good," the god grumbled. "Shoddy workmanship."

He studied Annabeth and Percy. "Half-bloods," he grunted. "Could be automatons, of course, but probably not."

"We've met, sir," Percy told him.

"Have we?" the god asked absently. Percy got the feeling he didn't care one way or the other. The God was just trying to figure out how his jaw worked, whether it was a hinge or a lever or what. "Well then, if I didn't smash you to a pulp the first time we met, I suppose I won't have to do it now."

His attention shift to Naruto and his eyes narrowed. "Oh, the Demi-Deity. I remember you though. The kid with the blood of Hades, Aphrodite, and Nyx of all people. You caused quite a stir, even after Mother made you her champion. Mom's new favorite I guess."

"I take it you don't like me all that much." Naruto replied.

"Heh, if I didn't like you, you wouldn't even me allowed in my cabin. But my kids like you, so I don't mind all that much." The Smith God replied with a shrug. He then looked to the other Demi-gods in his presence and knew that this one was a daughter of his wife. "Hmph, so you're Aphrodite's kid huh?"

"Yes, sir." Silena replied and while she was inwardly screaming at his appearance due to her blood, but she also knew to never judge a book by its cover. She actually felt sorry for the man. He was actually a good guy, too bad her mom was married to the guy. But taking a look at his work shop, she wished he would clean it up. "I am Silena Beauregard."

The Smith God raised an eyebrow at that. "Another frechy, eh? I guess she really like her French men. One I guess that had a clean fetish too I would assume because I saw the look you gave my workshop. Meh…I'll do it later." That statement made Silena's eye twitch in annoyance.

He looked at Grover and frowned. "Satyr." Then he looked at Tyson, and his eyes twinkled. "Well, a Cyclops. Good, good. What are you doing traveling with this lot?"

"Uh…" said Tyson, staring in wonder at the god.

"Yes, well said," Hephaestus agreed. "So, there'd better be a good reason you're disturbing me. The suspension on this Corolla is no small matter, you know."

"Sir," Annabeth said hesitantly, "we're looking for Daedalus. We thought—"

"Daedalus?" the god roared. "You want that old scoundrel? You dare to seek him out!"

His beard burst into flames and his black eyes glowed.

"Uh, yes, sir, please," Annabeth said.

"Humph. You're wasting your time." He frowned at something on his worktable and limped over to it. He picked up a lump of springs and metal plates and tinkered with them. In a few seconds he was holding a bronze and silver falcon. It spread its metal wings, blinked its obsidian eyes, and flew around the room.

Tyson laughed and clapped his hands. The bird landed on Tyson's shoulder and nipped his ear affectionately.

Hephaestus regarded him. The god's scowl didn't change, but Naruto thought he saw a kinder twinkle in his eyes. "I sense you have something to tell me, Cyclops."

Hephaestus grunted. "There was a time I admired the Hundred-Handed Ones. Back in the days of the first war. But people, monsters, even gods change, young Cyclops. You can't trust 'em. Look at my loving mother, Hera. You met her, didn't you? She'll smile to your face and talk about how important family is, eh? Didn't stop her from pitching me off Mount Olympus when she saw my ugly face."

"But I thought Zeus did that to you," Percy said.

Hephaestus cleared his throat and spat into a bronze spittoon. He snapped his fingers, and the robotic falcon flew back to the worktable.

"Mother likes telling that version of the story," he grumbled. "Makes her seem more likeable, doesn't it? Blaming it all on my dad. The truth is, my mother likes families, but she likes a certain kind of family. Perfect families. She took one look at me and…well, I don't fit the image, do I?" He paused as he looked at Naruto and said, "But I am curious one what made her pick you as a champion….though I doubt you would know." Naruto just shrugged himself.

He pulled a feather from the falcon's back, and the whole automaton fell apart. "Believe me, young Cyclops," Hephaestus said, "you can't trust others. All you can trust is the work of your own hands."

"That's a rather depressing way of thinking." Naruto commented. "Sure, your family isn't all that great, but who's is really perfect. Lady Hera wants a perfect family, well she really has a lot of work on her then." That made the Smith God chuckle a bit. "But come on, you have lived a long time, surely you have found something or someone worthwhile other than your creations."

Hephaestus gave Naruto a skeptical look but on the inside, he knew it was true. He had passed up quite a few actual women there were better to him than Aphrodite, but when he thought of that woman, he couldn't really help himself since he was technically married to her. Never stopped her from cheating on him the whole time with Ares. Odd that this conversation as coming from someone with her blood in them, even with the mixed blood. He sighed, "You have a point."

"I know I do." Naruto said with a smile. "Your kids are happy, so why shouldn't you? And besides, your Dad made a stupid choice with an arranged between you and Aphrodite."

"He is correct sir." Silena said, also thinking that original decision was poorly made. "Mom is a Goddess of Love, yet she feels no love for you if her actions thus far are to be considered. Everyone deserves to be loved, so I suggest you find that someone and marry them to be happy instead of what my mother is doing with some random guy or Ares. And history proves that you can be happy since you do have a lot of kids."

Hephaestus stared at the two descendents of his wife, making them all nervous. Annabeth was worried for her brother figure and his girlfriend that they might have angered the Smith God. Then, the Smith God's perpetual frown cracked into a sad smile. "You two…..are not like Aphrodite. You actually use your heads and don't scorn me for my appearance. You are right though, I have just been hung up for too long that my wife will come back to me one day when that answer is as plain as day. That old phrase of Love and War, I guess those two are perfect for each other. Maybe I will take your advice." He said before looking to Annabeth.

"You still want to find that man eh? Fine, do some Recon for me and I'll tell you how to find him."

"What do you need me to do?" Annabeth replied immediately.

"So eager to get on with your quest? Who's is your godly parent?"

"Athena."

"Yeah, you got her looks alright, too bad she pledged to never marry." The Smith God replied actually looking sad at that. He then pressed a button on his workbench, and metal shutters opened along the wall. It was either a huge window or a big-screen TV, it was kind of hard to tell. They were looking at a gray mountain ringed in forests. It must've been a volcano, because smoke rose from its crest.

"One of my forges," Hephaestus said. "I have many, but that used to be my favorite."

"That's Mount St. Helens," Grover said. "Great forests around there."

"You've been there?" Percy asked.

"Looking for…you know, Pan."

"Wait," Annabeth said, looking at Hephaestus. "You said it used to be your favorite. What happened?"

Hephaestus scratched his smoldering beard. "Well, that's where the monster Typhon is trapped, you know. Used to be under Mount Etna, but when we moved to America, his force got pinned under Mount St. Helens instead. Great source of fire, but a bit dangerous. There's always a chance he will escape. Lots of eruptions these days, smoldering all the time. He's restless with the Titan rebellion."

"What do you want us to do?" I said, "Fight him?"

Hephaestus snorted. "That would be suicide. The gods themselves ran from Typhon when he was free. No, pray you never have to see him, much less fight him. But lately I have sensed intruders in my mountain. Someone or something is using my forges. When I go there, it is empty, but I can tell it is being used. They sense me coming, and they disappear. I send my scout automatons to investigate, but they do not return. Something…ancient is there. Evil. I want to know who dares invade my territory, and if they mean to loose Typhon."

"You want us to find out who it is," Percy said.

"Not you boy, I want Athena's Daughter and the Ninja to go and do some recon for me, you all can stay here until they return. The girl has her hat and the boy is a ninja, so stealth is a must. I doubt that whatever is in there will sense them since they are not gods. Now, if you can take whatever is in there out, then great, go for it. But if not, I have some battle automatons that I want to test out."

"Alright." Naruto as he walked up next to Annabeth. "We'll get this done for you."

"But how do we get there?" Annabeth asked.

"Ah, almost forgot about that." The Smith God replied before clapping his hands and the spider from before appeared before them. "My creation will show you the way," Hephaestus said. "It is not far through the Labyrinth. And try to stay alive, will you? Humans are much more fragile than automatons."

"Cool." Naruto replied as he and Annabeth followed the spider, must to her reluctance again.

Once they left, Percy asked the question that was on all their minds. "What are we going to do?"

"You could try your hands at making Automatons." Hephaestus replied with a shrug, inwardly cursing himself that he didn't think of anything for the leftovers of the group.

"I have a better idea." Silena replied writhing her hand sinisterly that made every male in the group shiver. "We will clean this place up!"

"Oh no, I forgot she was a neat freak." Percy muttered.

Hephaestus shivered when he managed to hear Percy. "Oh dear me." He groaned.

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Ok, I am ending it here while I think on a way to get Naruto and Annabeth there and back again safely while also trying to think of a way for Naruto to at least meet Calypso….maybe in clone form.

I hoped you all liked it

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