"Oh look, the Author Coralie14 has finally updated,"
"About time, we were tied up for forever."
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Chapter 30: God and Sea Demons.
"We thought we had lost the spider until Tyson heard a faint pinging sound," said Annabeth.
"We made a few turns and backtracked at times, eventually finding the spider banging it's head on a metal door. It was designed like an old fashion submarine hatch," said Percy.
"You reached my forge," said Hephaestus.
"Tyson was the only one eager to meet Hephaestus," admitted Annabeth.
"Since most of the divine ones you meet end up wanting to kill you, I'm not surprised," said Thalia with a laugh.
"We entered an enormous mechanical garage with several hydraulic lifts. On the lifts were several cars, a Greek war chariot made of flames," said Percy.
"Is that for me?" asked Apollo and Ares. Hephaestus shrugged his shoulders but he did think the chariot sounded interesting to create.
"And a metal lion and a bronze hippalektryon which was pulled apart with wires hanging out," said Percy.
"Smaller projects cluttered other workstations, tools were hung along the wall," said Annabeth.
"However nothing was where it should be. The hammer was over the outline of the screwdriver and the staple gun was where the hacksaw was supposed to go," said Percy.
"So his workshop is still as disorganised in the future as it is now," said Hera.
"We found Hephaestus under a hydraulic lift holding a '98 Toyota Corolla with only his lower half sticking out," said Annabeth. "The spider scuttled straight under the car and got Hephaestus's interest."
"Hephaestus was wearing overalls smeared with oil and grime. His leg in its metal brace creaked and clinked as he stood. His left shoulder was lower than his right so it looked like he was leaning even though he was standing up straight. His head looked misshaped and bulging and his black beard smoked and hissed as a small wildfire would erupt in his whiskers every once in a while and then die out," said Percy. "His hands were the size of catcher's mitts but he handled the spider with amazing skill, disassembling and putting it back together in seconds."
"Hephaestus glowered at us asking if he had made us," Annabeth informed the room.
"Could he make automatons that lifelike?" asked Rachel.
"Don't know, but according to Hephaestus we were shoddy workmanship," said Percy.
"Hephaestus my daughter is not shoddy workmanship…. Poseidon's offspring may be, but one of mine will never be," said Athena glaring at her half-sibling.
"I informed Hephaestus that we had met before. He said that since he hadn't smashed me to a pulp the first time, he wouldn't have to do it then," said Percy loudly to distract his father and Athena from a potential argument.
"Hephaestus didn't look happy that we were interrupting him even though we stated that we had a good reason for disturbing him," said Annabeth. "Unfortunately Hephaestus's reaction to us asking for help looking for the old scoundrel Daedalus was a waste of time."
"Tyson was shown a kinder side as he was allowed to tell Hephaestus about meeting a hundred-handed one. Tyson was bothered that Briares wasn't strong and was reluctant to assist us. Hephaestus wasn't surprised that we had met Briares or his reluctance to get involved," said Percy.
"I once admired the hundred-handed ones back in the days of the first war," admitted Hephaestus.
"Hephaestus informed us that people, monsters and even gods change and you cannot trust others," said Annabeth.
"You can trust others!" exclaimed a number of people in the room.
"Provide an example of why we shouldn't be trusted," said Hera glaring at her son.
"What about you talking about how important family is, however that didn't stop you from pitching me off Mount Olympus when you saw my ugly face," replied Hephaestus with a grunt.
"I thought Zeus did that to him," whispered Connor to Thalia.
"That's her version of the story, makes her seem more likeable," replied Thalia "She likes family but certain types of families. What she deems as PERFECT families. Hephaestus wouldn't fit into her image."
"But no one is PERFECT," said Connor drawing attention to the pair "Who wants to be perfect? Perfect would be BORING."
"Don't worry, you will never be perfect," said Thalia.
"What are you two talking about?" questioned Hera.
"Nothing important," said Thalia with Connor nodding in agreement.
"Hephaestus informed us again that looking for Daedalus was a waste of time, that Daedalus wouldn't help us as there were different ways to learn not to trust people, that was also painful," said Percy.
"Hephaestus said that he could grant us with gold, a flaming sword or magical steed but a way to Daedalus was an expensive favour," said Annabeth.
"Oh can I have a flaming sword?" asked Travis.
"I'll have a magical steed," said Nico.
"No one is getting new weapons or magical items," said Hestia. All the demi-gods looked glum but accepted Hestia's decision and didn't complain. If Zeus had declared it, the demi-gods would have questioned it.
"Hephaestus, you seem to know where to look for Daedalus?" asked Athena.
"He seems to be somewhere in the Labyrinth," said Hephaestus.
"Hephaestus informed us that it wasn't wise to go looking," informed Annabeth.
"Looking is the nature of wisdom," exclaimed Athena.
"When Hephaestus found out the Annabeth was your daughter he was flattering," admitted Percy.
"What do you mean?" questioned Aphrodite.
"He said she was a fine goddess and that it was a shame she pledged to never marry," admitted Percy as both Hephaestus and Athena blushed. Aphrodite felt jealously for the first time in a long time. Hephaestus had never said she was a fine goddess.
"Hephaestus decided to tell us what we wanted to know, but there was a price. We needed to do him a favour," said Annabeth.
"Annabeth accepted immediately," said Percy.
"You heroes always making rash promises," said Hades shaking his head… these rash decisions usually ended in someone's death and contributed to the clog in the Underworld.
"Don't worry. I'm very wary with making deals… now… you Gods have taught me that," admitted Percy.
"Hephaestus showed us one of his forges, at Mount St Helens, telling us that it use to be one of his favourites," said Annabeth.
"What do you mean it use to be one of his favourites?" asked Hera.
"That is where the monster Typhon is trapped," said Chris.
"It is a great source of fire but a bit dangerous," admitted Hephaestus.
"You informed us that there was always a chance of Typhon escaping. That there was a lot of eruptions and smouldering occurring as he was restless with the Titan Rebellion," said Percy.
"That is not good news," said Apollo.
"What did Hephaestus wanted you to do?" asked Clarisse, "fight him?"
"That would be suicide," said Hades.
"It was dangerous when we fought him during the last war," admitted Zeus.
"Hephaestus had sensed intruders in his mountain and that someone or something was using his forges," said Percy.
"You don't just go and check it out yourself?" questioned Ares.
"He had but it was always empty but he could tell it had been used. Apparently it was like they sensed him coming and disappeared," replied Percy.
"Send automatons to investigate," said Apollo.
"He had but they had never returned," said Annabeth.
"Hephaestus wanted us to enter his forges and find out who dared to enter his territory and whether or not they meant to release Typhon," said Percy.
"So you go in and find out as much as you can, report to Hephaestus and then he will tell you what you needed to know about Daedalus," stated Thalia.
"Correct," said Annabeth.
"And the gods wonder why there is discontent towards them," mumbled Rachel.
"We were to follow the spider. We are more fragile than automatons so we were to try and stay alive," said Percy.
"Why are the gods so blasé about our lives?" asked Thalia. The gods looked surprised and unable or unwilling to answer that question.
"We followed the spider down a tunnel until we came to tree roots and noticed a tunnel to the side that was dug from raw earth," Annabeth informed the group." Grover stopped and stared open mouth down the tunnel."
"Grover informed us that, that was the way to Pan," said Percy.
"You can't stop … you need to get to the forges," said Hephaestus.
"But you can't expect the tunnel to be there when you come back. A door like that won't stay open," said Hermes.
"We decided to split up," said Annabeth.
"That's dangerous, you can't let Grover go off alone," said Thalia.
"Tyson offered to go with Grover. He stated that he is not like Hephaestus and he trust friends," said Percy.
"And it is confirmed; Tyson is Percy's sibling. The loyalty trait shines brightly in both of them," said Chris.
"Grover was so confident that it was the way to Pan that I had to let him go. I just had to believe that we would see each other again," stated Percy.
"Well clearly you do see him again, you have mentioned him in present time," said Hera.
"We continued on after the spider and the tunnel soon started to get hot. It was like walking through an oven," said Annabeth.
"How do you know what walking through an oven feels like?" questioned Connor with a grin.
"The stone walls glowed and we could hear a loud roar, like a river of metal," described Percy.
"And this is where Percy decided to question my birth," Annabeth informed the group as Percy turned red and hung his head.
"You decide that then was the best time to question how she was born?" asked Hera.
"Yes, I wanted to know how Lady Athena a maiden goddess managed to have demi-god children. It is wrong," said Percy.
"How am I wrong?" asked Annabeth glaring at her boyfriend.
"Annabeth wrong, Annabeth is never wrong," said Connor.
"There was that one time where we thought she was wrong… but it turned out she was right," replied Travis.
"I meant she is wrong because she is born from thoughts, from a goddess and a mortal man," said Percy trying to explain.
"An intellectual mortal," replied Annabeth.
"So you are literally a brain child," said a surprised Rachel who hadn't really thought about how Annabeth had appeared into the world.
"We are supposed to be a gift, a blessing from Athena on the men she favours," said Annabeth.
"What about intellectual female mortals are they eligible for this blessing?" asked Nico.
"Do all the men want children?" asked Rachel.
"No," said Connor "the proof is with the number of children of Athena at camp."
"That is not proof," exclaimed Athena.
"It is when they are the youngest," replied Connor.
"At least Lady Athena claims all her children," pointed out Travis.
Annabeth suddenly squealed and slapped Nico's hand away from her stomach.
"What the Hades do YOU think you are doing?" yelled Annabeth glaring at Nico.
"If you are a brain child… Do you have a belly button?" asked Nico.
"Yes I have a belly button," Annabeth yelled at Nico.
"BUT WHY? You don't need one if you were born from thoughts," asked Nico curiously looking between Annabeth and Lady Athena.
"It's so she will be normal," said Katie.
"Wise Girl has never been normal," exclaimed both Thalia and Clarisse.
"Hey" exclaimed Annabeth.
"You're a demi-god, we have never been considered NORMAL," explained Percy.
"Annabeth has a belly button to fit into the mortal world, a baby without a belly button would cause a medical frenzy," Rachel explained to Nico.
"I decided then and there that I would never look at Annabeth the same way. And that some things are better left as mysteries," said Percy trying to redirect the topic back to the story.
"We walked about half a kilometre or so until we emerged into a cavern the size of the super bowl stadium. We had arrived at the forge of Hephaestus," said Percy. "There was no floor, just bubbling lava hundreds of meters below. Annabeth and I were standing on a rock ledge that circled the huge cavern. A network of metal bridges spaned across it with a huge platform with all sorts of machinery in the centre."
"Creatures moved around the platform but we couldn't make out any details," said Annabeth.
"Annabeth decided that she could sneak up in her invisible cap to get a better look. I didn't like the idea of her approaching the forge on her own," admitted Percy.
"Oh how cute," squealed Aphrodite.
"I couldn't stay put," begun Percy.
"Of course not," said Athena rolling her eyes.
"I couldn't stay put so I crept along the outer rim of the lava lake in the hope of getting a better look at what was happening in the middle," said Percy glaring at Lady Athena. "The heat was horrible, in no time I was drenched in sweat. My eyes stung from the smoke. I moved along until I was blocked by a cart, like the kind they use in mine shafts. It was full of scrap metal."
"So someone is definitely using the forge, and it is most likely the enemy," said Ares.
"I was about to squeeze around the cart when I heard someone coming. I panicked with no time to go back, I scrambled into the cart and pulled a tarp over me hoping no one had seen me," said Percy.
"With Percy's luck the cart is going to move and he is going to land in some sort of trouble," said Hermes.
"How did you know?" said Percy sarcastically. "I was taken down a tunnel and I hoped that I was not about to be dumped into a smelting pot."
"That wouldn't be good," admitted Poseidon.
"The cart ended up in a room where I could hear a voice tell the younglings, to watch a film, and that there would be time for questions afterwards," said Percy.
"Monsters are having lessons?" questioned Clarisse.
"Why not, we learn how to fight, why not monsters?" said Katie.
"The film was talking about growth spurts, acne problems caused from working in the forges and proper flipper hygiene," said Percy.
"It sounds like the puberty video they show at school," said Chris laughing.
"That is how I found out what they were, they were Telekhines," said Percy.
"Sea demons," said Athena and Poseidon with a sigh.
"They crafted many of our weapons, including Poseidon's Trident," informed Zeus.
"Yes and then you threw them into Tartarus because they used magic. It is no wonder they wanted revenge," said Percy.
"I take it, the plan was to control their ancestral home, the undersea furnaces. But first they would take over the forges of Hephaestus," said Athena looking at Poseidon.
"Why are there so many sea demons," sighed Poseidon.
"Once the film and question time was finished the teacher told the younglings that they had brought them some scrap material to practice with," said Percy.
"Percy is about to be caught," said Nico.
"Why would you say that?" asked Percy.
"BECAUSE IT IS YOU," yelled the whole room.
"I jumped up, Riptide springing to life in my hands and I found myself facing a bunch of dogs … well their faces were dogs with black snouts and pointy ears. Their bodies were sleek like sea mammals with stubby legs that were half flipper, half foot and humankind hands with sharp claws. It was like they were created by blending a kid, a Dobermann Pinscher and a sea lion," described Percy.
"I agree, that is totally what they look like," said Chris.
"I love his descriptions," said Apollo and Hermes.
"I slashed a wide arc and vaporized the entire front row of monsters," said Percy.
"And that's why you don't sit in the front of the class," Connor informed Nico.
"And why you shouldn't be eager to do class work," said Travis.
"I yelled at the rest of the demons to back off while trying to stare down the instructor. I informed the class about their new lesson, how the change was perfectly normal, that when sliced with celestial bronze swords, monsters will vaporize. I told them that it would happen right then and there if they didn't back off," said Percy as the room laughed.
"Surprisingly the twenty monsters backed off. I jumped out of the cart, yelled CLASS DISMISSED and ran for the exit. I hoped that their fat stubby little legs and flippers would hold them back as they charged after me but they were quicker than I thought they would be," said Percy.
"Monsters always are faster than you think they would be," said Thalia.
"Thankfully there was a door in the tunnel leading out to the main cavern that I shut and locked, but I doubted that it would keep them at bay for long," said Percy.
"The chance for subtle reconnaissance mission has been blown," said Athena.
"Especially when Percy arrived on the platform yelling my name," said Annabeth.
"She was not happy to see me," said Percy.
"How could you tell? Was it because I dragged you behind a big bronze cauldron, or was it, my hand firmly clamped over your mouth," asked Annabeth.
"Probably both," said Hermes.
"We sat there watching four Telekhines as they were hammering a long piece of glowing hot metal," said Percy.
"They are in a forge, what else would they be hammering?" asked Rachel rolling her eyes.
"The telekhines were talking amongst themselves saying that the blade was almost complete and it just needed another cooling in blood to fuse the metals," said Annabeth.
"Blood. Couldn't water work?" asked Travis.
"Fusing metals… what are they doing?" questioned Hephaestus.
"The young telekhines then burst into the cavern. Percy told me to put the invisible cap back on and get out of the place," said Annabeth. "I was to follow the spider back to Hephaestus and inform him with what is going on."
"I told Annabeth I had a plan and would distract the telekhines while she got out," said Percy.
"Percy has a plan?" questioned Nico.
"Percy was so insistent that I had to get out, even though he could be killed," said Annabeth.
"Someone needed to tell what the enemy was doing," said Apollo.
"Annabeth did the most unexpected thing," informed Percy.
"Annabeth punching or slapping you is not unexpected," said Clarisse.
"I kissed him," admitted Annabeth. Aphrodite squealed.
"You kissed him!" exclaimed the room. Athena looked dismayed that her daughter had initiated the kiss. Percy was surprised when Rachel hit him in the face with a cushion.
"What was that for?" asked Percy.
"You'll work it out," said Rachel rolling her eyes "He really is oblivious," she said to Annabeth.
"After kissing Percy I placed my cap back on my head making my way out of the forges, hoping that Percy's plan would work," said Annabeth.
"The telekhines charged across the bridge towards me and I ran for the centre of the platform surprising the telekhines in the centre causing them to drop the red hot blade. It was about two metres long and curved like a crescent moon. For some reason this unfinished item scared me," admitted Percy.
"That's fine… the finished product terrified me," admitted Thalia. The rest of the demi-gods had to agree with her.
"The elder demons covered all the exits from the platform," said Percy.
"You are trapped," said Aphrodite stating the obvious.
"The elders knew I was a son of Poseidon as they could smell the sea in my blood," said Percy.
"I wonder what we smell like?" asked Travis.
"Percy smells like the sea, Nico like death and Thalia like a pine tree," said Connor.
"You two probably smell funny," said Nico as Thalia attacked Connor.
"So what was the plan?" asked Hermes, showing little concern for his son.
"The plan was for Annabeth to get out safely. I had lied when I said I had a plan," admitted Percy.
"So you could die- in the heart of a volcano by a pack of demons," stated Poseidon.
"You clearly don't die," said Hades "but how you survive….?"
"The ice whistle in my pocket was getting colder," Percy informed the group.
"If there was ever a time you needed help, then was the time," said Zeus.
"How would a dog whistle help you?" asked Artemis.
"Unless it causes the telekhines to react like dogs to high pitch noises," said Katie.
"I however hesitated from using the whistle, I didn't trust Quintus's gift," replied Percy.
"Did you trust it before you got his dog?" asked Dionysus.
"The Telekhines decided to see how strong I was and how long it took me to burn. They threw globs of molten rock at me and set my trousers on fire. Strangely as the fire engulfed me it only felt warm but it was getting hotter by the instant," said Percy.
"Your father's nature must project you. It would make it hard for you to burn, but not impossible," said Hestia.
"The monsters threw more lava at me. My whole body was on fire, I remember screaming and the pain was worse than I had ever felt. It was excruciating and I crumbled to the floor," said Percy.
"You need to put the fire out," said Ares.
"How? He is stuck surrounded by molten rock," said Artemis.
"I realised that I needed the sea. I remembered the river naiad telling me that water was within me. I had nothing to call on, so I called on the power of the ocean within myself. It was like an explosion, a tidal wave, a whirlwind of power simultaneously casting me down into the lava. Fire and water collided, causing superheated steam and I shot up from the heart of the volcano in a huge explosion," said Percy.
"You caused Mount St Helen's to erupt," said Rachel.
"You finally made something go BOOM," said Chris "Tyson would have been happy."
Zeus, Hades and Hera were looking at Percy warily, this was a very powerful demi-god in front of them. Poseidon was also looking at him with caution but also with some pride. That was his son and he was so powerful.
The last thing I remembered before losing consciousness was flying, flying so high that Zeus would never forgive me, and then falling like a comet towards the earth, smoke, fire and water streaming from me," said Percy.
A/N: So about 9 months it took me to update this story. I hope you like this baby. Hopefully I will update sooner next time. Please review it motivates me to write- What did you like about this chapter? What didn't you like? Who was your favourite character? What was your favourite line/ section? Anything you want to see happen?