(A/N: Again, some of this is from Askinar-The-Dark's fanfic "Demigod?", so shout-out to them.)

Chapter Title: Percabeth Is A Thing (And I Think Percy Got Us Both Killed)

I continued forward through the labyrinth, encountering more of the same stuff I had encountered prior to meeting Kelli. To be honest, the whole thing still felt weird in my head, not just my encounter with Kelli, but this whole time I've been in the labyrinth. I had a gut feeling that Percy and Annabeth were having a more difficult time than I was, but even so, this in and of itself was unprecedented.

The labyrinth was one of the most malevolent things - or should I say, conscious things - towards demigods on the planet. There was absolutely no way in hades - or hell for that matter - that it would give me this much of a free and safe pass going through it. Something or someone had to be controlling it currently. The question was, what or who was it?

I was really on edge, honestly. Not that anyone could blame me honestly. Because seriously, I was having the most unbelievable luck in the labyrinth right now that a demigod could hope to even have and it made me very edgy and anxious. When is the other shoe going to drop? When is this damn place going to drive me insane like Chris or perhaps kill me?

The fact that I kept hearing that weird voice in my head did not help matters much.

That's it, child. Keep following my voice. Come to me.

It was creepy as shit, honestly. Like, really creepy. Yet, I couldn't help but be beckoned by the voice towards where it was coming from. So I continued forwards, turning this way or that way at times to continue following the voice, killing the random monster that came across my path as I went. The thing is, the monsters I encountered.. seemed to be about as confused as me as to what was going on. Like either they had gotten lost or were puzzled by why the labyrinth was acting the way that it was right now. Confused enough that for the most part, they never saw the demigod with the rifle that killed them.

Even so, thanks to Kelli's warning earlier, I knew that this good luck probably wouldn't last once I reached Hephaestus' forge. Telekhines were nasty things to come across, if I were to be honest with myself. I had never seen one before, but I knew from the myths and from the fact that the traitor Luke had come across a couple of them during his failed quest, that they weren't monsters that you could take lightly. These were immortal, dangerous opponents.. and skilled blacksmiths too. I had heard once that the quality of their work could greatly surpass that of Hephaestus on his best days if they worked hard enough. I didn't know if that was true or not, but it did leave with a healthy respect for their abilities to be honest.

So you can safely say that I was well aware of how difficult my task of getting magical weapons for camp had just become. Just my luck that the hard part of this whole thing is when I get to the forge, I thought to myself as I carefully maneuvered myself around a simplistic and primitive spike trap. The life of a demigod was never easy, was it?

I will admit, having a creepy voice in your head guiding you towards where it was in a dangerous place such as the labyrinth was helpful in a sense. Even though I didn't know where exactly I would end up - or even if I would end up at Hephaestus' forge, it did help me have an easier time navigating through the labyrinth than I otherwise might have had.

Clarisse was down here for a few hours - equivalent to a day up on the surface of the planet - so I knew full well how abnormal my experience was. Words couldn't begin to possibly even describe this at all. The best thing I could be able to come up with at this time would be that this must be how Percy must be to be so fucking blessed by the fates. People say the fates don't pick favorites, but given the stories of Percy's adventures, they sure seem to fucking favor him right now honestly in my opinion.

That being said, the knowledge that he was probably having a tougher time with Annabeth right now made me smile, even as I walked through the corridors, the sound of my shoes taking one step after another along the stony floor of the labyrinth being the only sounds I could hear most of the time, other than the occasional monster, the voice in my head, and the rustling of my gear.

Honestly, I didn't want to spend any more time in this treacherous place than I needed to. I had stopped to talk with Kelli although that was not initially my intention, but that would about it. I had to find Hephaestus' forge, I had to get those magical weapons, and then I had to somehow get back through the labyrinth to camp with said weapons. I wished I could just go back to camp to Kayla right now, I really did.

But the threat of Luke, Kronos, and their forces destroying camp and killing what family I had left in this world and the only home I had left drove me to keep going. I had no other choice.

This was a war now.

A war to decide the future of America, and probably the whole world as well. A war for the survival of the Gods. A war for the future of demigods. A struggle for existence, if you may.

So I had to do this. For Percy, For Annabeth, For my siblings, For Clarisse, For Kayla, for the mortals, for the gods, for Camp Half Blood. It was for them all that I had to do this.

I had a feeling that I wasn't going to die from this, given the nature of my prophecy, but then again, when you're a demigod, you never knew. All I could do was fight to the best I could give and hope it would be enough to live and survive another day, or in this case, prevent camp from being destroyed and my friends - and Kayla - from meeting horrible fates.

So I pressed forward, following the voice in my head to its source, hoping that I would succeed in my mission.

- — - — - — - — -

I could tell that I was at least getting close to something after maybe two more hours down here, because the heat started to rise, and I could smell a bit of sulfur in the air. I was getting close to lava, it seemed. Hopefully where the lava was, that's where Hephaestus' forge was too.

Good, child. You are almost there.

I still hadn't figured out who in the world that voice talking to me was. I could at least definitely rule out the possibility of it being Kronos at this point though. It seemed to want me to come to it for reasons other than destroying Olympus and what not, to be honest.

Eventually, I came to a corridor that ended in a doorway. I could feel the presence of whoever was speaking to me being on the other side of that door somehow. It also was really hot by now, and I could hear lava churning. I guessed I was under maybe a volcano now, though I couldn't tell. Hopefully the forge was on the other side of those doors.

So I walked up to the doors, and pushed one open a little, taking a peek inside. There was a metal bridge that extended a good distance forward of me as I noticed that on the other side of the door was a massive sized cavern. A complex web of metal bridges weaved and connected various locations around the cavern, including more doors similar to the ones I was opening and to a rock ridge that flowed around the cavern, to a central area of machines, cauldrons, a massive anvil - everything you would expect in a forge.

I couldn't help but smile. Hephaestus' forge. I had found it, thanks to that weird voice.

I pushed the door opened more, and slipped on inside, taking cover along the boulders on the crest of portion of the rock ridge next to the bridge that was past the doors I had entered, and peered over the edge a tiny bit.

Lava flowed around the central massive area just about what seemed to me to be one hundred meters down below, and on many of the bridges and in the central area, were plenty of Telekhines hard at work operating the forge.

A flash of what seemed to be celestial bronze out of the corner of my eye caught my attention, and I shifted my focus to the right. I just about let out a scream in shock when I noticed who it was, but I caught myself before I could. About at least a quarter of a mile away from me, sneaking around behind the rocks along the edge of the same ridge I was on, was none other than Percy fucking Jackson.

Looks like the labyrinth led him and Annabeth here too, I thought to myself, watching Percy.

While some of the Telekhines weren't looking, Percy leaped into a cauldron, which after a few more moments, the molten monsters picked it up and took down the metal bridge that they were on towards the center.

The heat was very intense and unbearable a bit, to be honest. I was sweating like crazy right now, and my eyes were stinging. I fucking hated this place a lot right now.

But I kept watching Percy regardless of all of that as he approached the center of the area undetected. Glancing around at the center area, I saw something that made my blood run cold. Three of the monsters were on top of an anvil, forging what looked like.. Kronos' scythe.

I paled.

That was bad.

"Zeus is evil!" shouted a fourth monster loudly enough that I could hear it. "He cast us out after we forged the finest weapons of the Gods! He no longer has our loyalty, for we now serve Kronos!"

"Kronos! Kronos! Kronos!" shouted the three monsters forging the scythe.

"Zeus was a fool to cast us aside and rely on those bumbling Cyclopes.." the fourth monster continued. I felt bad for Tyson after hearing that part. "That is why we have taken over the forge of the usurper Hephaestus. Soon, my brothers, we will control the undersea furnaces, our ancestral home!"

I was confused for a bit. How the hell do you even have furnaces under the sea? That was probably a question I would have to ask Poseidon if we survived all of this.

Then, I glanced around again. I didn't see Percy, but the fact the one Telekhine just literally vaporized out of nowhere with no warning at all at the edge of the center circle while doing nothing let me know where Annabeth was. She was apparently invisible from the looks of it.

I took a look to the right where I had entered. Some of the monsters were gathering another cart to carry down, and hadn't noticed me yet. So I quietly crept over, close enough that I could hear them yet still out of view.

"God damn it, this shit weighs more than I thought it did.." sighed one of them. "Stupid metal."

"Ascoles, shut the fuck up and pull your weight.." said another.

They walked off, leaving me there wondering exactly how the hell I was going to get down there.

As it turned out, I didn't really have to put myself in one of those carts. Percy did the distraction for me.

"...BACK OFF!" his voice shouted out of nowhere, startling even me. Small crashing noises were heard, and then, "CLASS DISMISSED!"

The Telekhines stopped what they were doing and moved off towards where Percy was, allowing me to sneak down the metal bridge into the center area. It took me a few moments, but I managed to get close to where Percy was, concealed from view pretty well from both where any monsters could see me and from Percy himself, as he seemed to be arguing with air. I had the Whitworth slung on my back, connected from trigger guard to ramrod by a strap made out of a very durable material - I forgot what it was called - that rested on my waist.

Then, the air turned into Annabeth, who shoved her Yankees cap into her back pocket. She looked very pissed off at Percy.

"No! Percy!" she yelled. "You can't kill all those Telekhines!"

Alone by himself, probably not. Then again, I was around, though he didn't know it yet, so maybe we had a chance.

"I have a plan. Go invisible, and run!" Percy said back.

I was confused. The fuck kinda plan was that?

Then, Annabeth did something that totally caught me off guard.

She. Kissed. Him.

I was shocked honestly. But then I thought, finally. HOPEFULLY, THIS DUMB DENSE IDIOT FINALLY REALIZES THAT SHE IS IN LOVE WITH HIM AND HE SURVIVES TO CONFESS TO HER.

One could only hope though.

Annabeth disappeared, and I unsheathed my sword, ready for combat.

Before I could reveal my presence to Percy, I felt myself being touched by cold, clammy hands. I turned left and right, only to see no one. Still, it felt rather calming. I could feel something being placed on my head, almost as if it was a crown or something - I couldn't tell for again I could see nothing there.

Arise, my chosen one - for you are now the Monster King.

Then it hit me.

Monster King.

Monsters.

Typhon.

I held in a scream. THAT FUCKING VOICE WAS TYPHON THE WHOLE TIME? I thought to myself. I felt a massive surge of energy flow through my body.. and I thought I was about to transform or something. Then, after a few moments, the surge abated and I could no longer feel the hands, the object on my head, or that surge. I took a quick glance at myself, feeling something on my neck. It was a necklace made out of bones, linked together by what seemed like rope made from the fur of the Minotaur and connected to a black jewel connected by steel to the rest of the necklace. Fitting piece of jewelry, I thought to myself.

I snapped back to reality when a voice said, "THERE! GET HIM!"

The Telekhines had found Percy.

Time to fight.

I turned and leapt from my spot, being above where Percy was. Ten young Telekhines were charging Percy, with four adults standing unawares. Perfect timing.

I got the jump on the adults, slicing all four to pieces, killing all of them. Percy took care of the younger ones in short order.

I went over to him. He definitely looked surprised to see me.

"Colton?" he exclaimed. "What are you even doing here?"

"I got sent down here to get more magical weapons for camp by Chiron.." I explained. Percy was about to say something when he was hit by lava, screaming.

I turned around, noticing three more adult Telekhines having joined the party, all of them with globs of lava in their hands, courtesy of dark magic.

I was about to go attack them.. when everything blew up.

My last thought before I blacked out was..

Percy Jackson, so help me gods, I'm going to murder you when I wake up, asshole.

Pretty sure I prayed to the gods that I could make it back to Kayla before I had that thought, though.

But yeah, it was safe to say.. that I might be dead.