Disclaimer: I only own the plot and my OCs. Anything you recognize as not mine belongs to Rick Riordan, Greco-Roman mythology, and/or their otherwise respective owners.

Author's Notes: Hi, everyone! Welcome back! I don't have a whole lot to say about today's chapter. Well, besides that Percy's promise at the end of the chapter will not be broken. Slightly spoiler-y, but I just want to make sure you understand the importance of it.

As always, I hope you enjoy. Until the next chapter,

~TGWSI/Selene Borealis

~The Finding Home Saga~

~Finding Home~

~Chapter 97: I Set Myself On Fire~

I thought we'd lost the spider until Travis figured out where it was with his powers. We made a few turns, backtracked a few times, and eventually found the spider banging its tiny 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 Η inscribed in the middle.

We all looked at each other.

"Ready to meet Hephaestus?" Travis asked.

"No," I admitted.

"Well, we have to," Annabeth said.

Katie and Travis worked together to turn the wheel. As soon as the door opened, the spider scuttled inside. We followed after it, though we weren't very anxious anymore to keep up with it.

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 of 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 grey pants and shoes that would've been comically big on anyone else. One leg was in a metal brace.

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

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

The mechanic pushed out on a back trolley and sat up. I'd seen Hephaestus once before, briefly on Olympus, so I thought that I was prepared, but his appearance made me gulp.

I guess he'd cleaned up when I saw him on Mount Olympus, or used magic to make his form seem a little less hideous. Here in his own workshop, he apparently didn't care how he looked – and I could respect that, considering I'd lounged around in my pajamas at home a lot over the past couple months because I felt too pregnant to look nice.

Anyways, Hephaestus wore a jumpsuit smeared with oil and grime; his name was embroidered over the chest pocket. His leg creaked and clicked in its metal brace as he stood, and his left shoulder was shorter 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 dissembled it in two seconds, then put it back together.

"There," he 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 at us. "I didn't make you, did I?"

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

"Good," the god grumbled. "Shoddy workmanship." He took a second more to study us, then snorted. "Of course. Half-bloods. Could be automatons, but probably not."

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

"Have we?" the god asked absently. I got the feeling he didn't care one way or the other. He was just trying to figure out how my jaw worked, whether it was a hinge 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. But there better be a good reason why 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, before it landed on Travis' shoulder.

Travis stared back at it, obviously apprehensive of it trying to pluck his eyes out or something. I couldn't blame him.

"Why, sir?" I asked.

"Why, what?" Hephaestus said back.

I stood up a little straighter. "Why are we wasting our time with Daedalus?"

"Same reason why the last of the Hundred-Handed Ones disappointed you. What, you didn't think I would know about that?" he scoffed when I startled in surprise. "The gods don't watch half-bloods close, though most do more than I, but word travels fast. Back in the days of the first war, the Hundred-Handed Ones fought valiantly. But people, monsters, even gods, change. You can't trust 'em. Look at my loving mother, Hera. You met her while on this quest, 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."

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

"She only likes a certain kind of family, my mother," he continued. "Perfect families. She took one look at me and...well, I don't fit the image, do I? But that's besides the point. You can't trust others. You can't trust Daedalus. He won't help you."

"Why not?"

"Because he doesn't trust others, either," Hephaestus said. He shrugged. "Some of us get thrown off mountainsides by our mothers. Others...the way they learn to not trust others is more painful, for them and anyone else who they come across. Moreover, even if I wanted to, asking me for a way to Daedalus is an expensive favor. Ask me for gold, or a flaming sword, or a magical steed – those, I could grant more easily."

"So you do know where he is," Annabeth pressed.

"It isn't wise to go looking, girl, as I said."

"My mother says looking is the nature of wisdom."

Hephaestus narrowed his eyes. "Who's your mother, then?"

"Athena."

"Figures." He sighed. "Fine goddess, Athena. A shame she pledged never to marry. Alright, half-blood. I guess I can tell you what you want to know. But there is a price. I need a favor."

"Name it," Annabeth said.

Hephaestus actually laughed – a booming sound like a huge bellows stoking a fire. "You heroes," he said, "always making rash promises! How refreshing!"

I didn't agree with him. In fact, I was staring daggers at Annabeth, which she was pointedly ignoring.

It was one thing for me to do something for my patron goddesses. I trusted them, I knew they weren't like many of the others.

But Hephaestus?

He hadn't exactly impressed me so far, let's put it that way.

He pressed a button on his workbench, and metal shutters opened along the wall. It was either a huge window or a big-screen TV, I couldn't tell which. We were looking at a grey 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. Helen's," Katie said. "I've heard there's great forests around there."

I thought Hephaestus might've given a slight smile. "Indeed."

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

He scratched at 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. Helen's 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?" Travis asked. "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 automatons to investigate, but they do not return. Something...ancient is there. Evil. I want to know who dares to invade my territory, and if they mean to let loose Typhon."

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

"Aye," Hephaestus said. "Go there. They may not sense you coming. You are not gods."

"Glad you noticed," I muttered.

"Go and find out what you can," Hephaestus said. "Report back to me, and I will tell you what you need to know about Daedalus."

"Alright," Annabeth said. "How do we get there?"

Hephaestus clapped his hands. The spider came swinging down from the rafters. Annabeth flinched when it landed at her feet.

"My creation will show you the way," Hephaestus told us. "It is not far through the Labyrinth. And try to stay alive, will you? Humans are much more fragile than automatons."

We went through the tunnels, although we had some trouble when we got to one that had a floor comprised entirely of tree roots. Still, we managed to keep up with the spider, if only barely, and it wasn't too long until the tunnels started to get hot.

The stone walls glowed. The air felt as if we were walking through an oven. The tunnel sloped down and I could hear a loud roar, like a river of metal. The spider skittered along, with Annabeth right behind.

I couldn't help but ponder on what Hephaestus had said about Athena being a virgin goddess and all that. I didn't need to ask how Annabeth or her half-siblings had been born because of it – I knew that they were the products of Athena's thoughts which burst forth from her head, in a similar way that Athena had come out of Zeus' head.

It was a reminder that my and Luke's kids and Callie weren't the only ones in our world who were born through nontraditional means. A rather comforting one, too.

The roaring got louder. After another half mile or so, we emerged in a cavern the size of a football stadium. Our spider escort stopped and curled into a ball. We had arrived at the forge of Hephaestus.

There was no floor, just bubbling lava hundreds of feet below. We stood on a rock ridge which circled the cavern. A network of metal bridges spanned across it. At the center was a huge platform with all sorts of machines, cauldrons, forges, and the largest anvil I'd ever seen – a block of iron the size of a house. Creatures moved around the platform – several strange, dark shapes, but they were too far away to make out details.

"Don't fall down, guys," Travis said nervously.

I squinted my eyes at him. "Are you scared of heights?"

He'd never given me that impression before.

"No, I'm scared of lava."

Annabeth picked up the metal spider and slipped it into her pocket. "I'm gonna go ahead and see what we're dealing with. Wait here."

"Annabeth, wait!" Katie hissed, but before any of us could do anything, the daughter of Athena put on her Yankees cap and vanished. Katie growled. "Μὰ θεούς, she's a brat sometimes!"

We didn't dare call after her, but I didn't like the idea of her approaching the forge all on her own. If those things out there could sense a god coming, would Annabeth be safe?

"We can't stay here," Travis said. It seemed our minds were operating on a similar wavelength. "We have to go after her."

"Let's go around the rim," Katie said. "We're hopefully less likely to be seen this way."

So, we did. The heat was horrible. Geryon's ranch had been a winter wonderland compared to this. In no time, we were drenched with sweat. My eyes stung from the smoke – and I knew the fumes probably weren't good for the babies, but I was trying not to think about that too much.

We moved along, trying to keep away from the edge, until we found our way blocked by a cart on metal wheels, like the kind they use in mine shafts. Travis lifted the tarp and we found it was about a quarter full of scrap metal. Katie and I were able to squeeze our way around it, only barely in my case, when we heard voices up ahead, probably from a side tunnel.

"Bring it in?" one asked.

"Yeah," another said. "Movie's just about done."

Katie, Travis, and I all panicked. We didn't have time to back up. There was nowhere to hide except...the cart. Travis jumped in first and I followed after him, which made him grunt from my extra weight when I fell on top of him. Katie took up the rear and pulled the tarp over us as I hoped we hadn't been seen. I curled my fingers around Riptide, just in case we would have to fight.

The cart lurched forwards.

"Oi," a gruff voice said. "'Thing weighs a ton."

"It's celestial bronze," the other said. "What did you expect?"

We got pulled along. We turned a corner, and from the sound of the wheels echoing against the walls, I guessed we had passed down a tunnel and into a smaller room. Hopefully, we weren't about to be dumped into a smelting pot. If they started to tip us over, we'd have to find a way to get out quick. I heard lots of talking, chattering voices which didn't sound human – somewhere between a seal's bark and a dog's growl. There were other sounds, too – like an old-fashioned film projector and a tinny voice narrating.

Travis' and Katie's breaths were hot on either side of my neck, the back and the front.

"Just set it in the back," a new voice ordered from across the room. "Now, younglings, please attend to the film. There will be time for questions afterwards."

The voices quieted down, and I could hear the film.

"As a young sea demon matures," the narrator said, "changes happen in the monster's body. You may notice your fangs getting longer and you may have a sudden desire to devour human beings. These changes are perfectly normal and happen to all young monsters."

Excited snarling filled the room. The teacher – I guess it must've been a teacher – told the younglings to be quiet, and the film continued. I didn't understand most of it, and I didn't dare look. The film kept talking about growth spurts and acne problems caused by working in the forgers, and proper flipper hygiene, and finally it was over.

"Now, younglings," the instructor said, "what is the proper name of our kind?"

"Sea demons!" one of them barked.

"No. Anyone else?"

"Telekhines!" another monster growled.

"Very good," the instructor said. "And why are we here?"

"Revenge!" several shouted.

"Yes, yes, but why?"

"Zeus is evil!" one monster said. "He threw us into Tartarus just because we use magic!"

"Indeed," the instructor said. "After we made so many of the gods' finest weapons. The trident of Poseidon, for one. And, of course, we made the greatest weapon for the Titans! Nevertheless, Zeus threw us away and relied on those fumbling Cyclopes. That is why we are taking over the forges of the usurper Hephaestus. And soon we will control the undersea furnaces, our ancestral home!"

I clutched my pen-sword, and even Katie shifted uncomfortably a little. These snarling things had created Poseidon's trident? What were they talking about? I'd never even heard of a telekhine.

"And so, younglings," the instructor continued, "who do we serve?"

"Kronos!" they shouted.

"And when you grow to be big telekhines, will you make horses for the army?"

"Yes!"

"Excellent. Now, we've brought in some scraps for you to practice with. Let's see how ingenious you are."

There was a rush of movement and excited voices coming towards the cart. There was also a rush of movement coming from inside the cart. Katie sat up, getting her vines at the ready. I got ready to uncap Riptide. Travis kind of had the short end of the stick, since he couldn't get out his sword with us on top of him, but I felt him get ready to get it out if he absolutely had to or had a better opportunity.

The tarp was thrown back. Katie and I jumped up, my bronze sword springing to life in my hands, and found ourselves facing a bunch of...dogs.

Well, their faces were dogs, anyways, with black snouts, brown eyes, and pointy ears. Their bodies were sleek and black like sea mammals, with stubby legs that were half-flipper, half-foot, and humanlike hands with sharp claws. If you blended together a kid, a Doberman pinscher, and a sea lion, you'd get something like what we were looking at.

"Demigods!" one snarled.

"Eat them!" yelled another.

But that's as far as they got before I slashed a wide arc with Riptide and vaporized the entire front row of monsters.

"Back off!" I yelled at the rest, trying to sound fierce. Behind them stood their instructor – a six-foot-tall telekhine with Doberman fangs snarling at us. I did my best to stare him down.

"New lesson, class," I announced. "Most monsters will vaporize when sliced with a celestial bronze sword. This change is perfectly normal, and will happen to you right now if you don't BACK OFF!"

To my surprise, it worked. The monsters backed up, but there were at least twenty of them. My fear factor wasn't going to last long.

I jumped out of the cart, yelled "CLASS DISMISSED!" and ran for the exit. Travis and Katie were right behind me.

"Percy, you are insane!" the son of Hermes shouted at me.

"I know!" I said back.

Right behind Travis and Katie were the monsters, charging at us, barking and growling. I hoped they couldn't run very fast with those stubby little legs and flippers, but they waddled along pretty well. Thank the gods there was a door in the tunnel leading out to the main cavern. Travis slammed it shut and turned the handle to lock it, but I doubted it would keep them for long.

I didn't know what to do. Thankfully, Katie did. "We need to find Annabeth," she insisted. "The scouting for Hephaestus without getting caught is over."

"'Least we can tell him what's going on here," Travis said.

"You're not helping," she snapped at him, but he wasn't offended.

Together, we ran towards the platform at the center of the lava lake.

"Annabeth!" I yelled.

"Shh!" An invisible hand clamped over my mouth and wrestled me down behind a big bronze cauldron. Our friends followed after me, knowing the person responsible had to be her. "Are you trying to get us killed?"

"Too late for 'trying,'" I said.

I found her head and took off her Yankees cap. She shimmered into existence in front of me, scowling, her face streaked with ash and grime. "What do you mean?"

We explained to her what had happened as quickly as we could.

"So, that's what they are," she said. "Telekhines, I should've known. And they're making...well, look."

We all peeked over the cauldron. In the center of the platform stood four sea demons, but these were fully grown, at least eight feet tall. Their black skin glistened in the firelight as they worked, sparks flying as they took turns hammering on a long piece of glowing hot metal.

"The blade is almost complete," one said. "It needs another cooling to fuse the metals."

"Aye," a second said. "It shall be even sharper than before."

"What is that?" Travis whispered.

Annabeth shook her head. "They keep talking about fusing metals, I wonder – "

"They were talking about the greatest Titan weapon," Katie said. "And they...they said they made Percy's father's trident."

"The telekhines betrayed the gods," Annabeth said. "They were practicing dark magic. I don't know what, exactly, but Zeus banished them to Tartarus."

"With Kronos."

She nodded. "Yes."

Something was nudging at the back of my brain, a possibility for what we were looking at.

Despite the searing heat, I felt my face pale.

"Guys," I said. "We have to get – "

No sooner had I said that that the door to the classroom exploded and young telekhines came pouring out. They stumbled over each other, trying to figure out which way to charge.

"Come on!" Katie said. "Let's go!"

She and Travis ran immediately, with Annabeth and then me right behind them this time.

This proved to be a mistake. I don't know why, but all of a sudden, my cramps returned right then, and they were bad. "Agh!" I groaned, nearly falling to my knees.

Annabeth turned around. "Percy!" she screamed.

"There!" one of the telekhines yelled. The entire class of them were charging across the bridge towards us. I ran for the middle platform, which my friends were already most of the way across. We'd surprised the four elder sea demons working so much they'd dropped the red-hot blade. It was about six feet long and curved like a crescent moon. I'd seen a lot of terrified things, but this one scared me the most.

I knew it was the blade of Kronos' scythe.

The elder demons were killed in quick succession by Travis and Katie, but that didn't mean much for me. The younger ones were right behind me.

"Go!" I shouted at my friends. "Don't worry, I'll catch up!" I couldn't walk any more, even if I'd wanted to. I knew that to be true. The pain in my sides was too bad, regardless of the adrenaline.

"What? No! We're not leaving you!" Annabeth cried. She knew I was lying.

"I'll be fine!" I promised.

"Percy, come on!" Katie said.

She looked like she was about to rush forwards, but she was stopped by one of the younger telekhines slinging a ball of lava at her and Travis like it was a snowball. They were barely able to duck in time.

"Go!" I insisted, suddenly recalling: "Demeter and Rhea said no severe harm will happen to me on this quest! It's the only reason why I agreed to come!"

"What? What do you mean, Rhea?" Annabeth demanded, since she of course knew that I was a champion of Demeter.

I could see the fear in her eyes. I wondered how much I was reminding her of Thalia when she'd died right now, except her being in charge of our quest and my pregnancy in a way making it several times worse. She was definitely going to be re-traumatized all over again even if she wasn't currently making the connection.

"Just go!"

Katie lurched forwards, grabbing Annabeth by the arm and pulling her away. The daughter of Athena screeched, but the daughter of Demeter gave me a solid look, one which conveyed, "You better not be lying, Percy."

I knew I wasn't, but at the same time, I felt like I was.

My friends ran back to the way we'd come. I kneaded my left hand in my side as I turned around to face the younger telekhines and their teacher, glaring.

"Behold, younglings, a child of Poseidon," the teacher said. "His father's nature protects him. Makes him hard to burn. But it is not impossible. No, not impossible."

I spat at him as I held Riptide in my right hand. "Not just a son of Poseidon," I said, my plan forming as I spoke. "I'll have you know I'm a descendant of Kronos, too. Through my mother's line. Her grandmother was a child of Kronos."

The teacher snarled. "You lie!"

"Yeah?" I scoffed. "You wanna bet?"

"Let us see how strong he is, younglings!" the teacher called out. "Let us see how long it takes him to burn!"

One of the young telekhines scooped some lava out of the nearest furnace. He seemed to be surprised at first by its heat, but he didn't let that deter him for long. He threw a glob of molten rock at me and it set my pants on fire. Two more followed him, aiming for my torso. I was able to dive out of the way, despite my cramps; it resulted in glob from yet another telekhine landing on my back, sending me to the floor. I groaned, my sword falling from my hand as I tried to put out the flames. Annabeth was still screaming at the top of her lungs in the background.

Fire was engulfing me. Strangely, it felt only warm at first, but it was getting hotter by the instant.

Come on! I thought. I know what I'd said about parentifying my kids in the womb by relying on their powers before, but I figured this could be the one last exception. No more after this, I promised myself.

...Provided that we survived, that is.

But I needn't have worried. As the fire actually started to hurt, there was a tugging sensation in my gut, the one that wasn't my own. I opened my eyes, since I'd apparently closed them, and watched the golden bands in my wrists appear.

And then, in the blink of an eye, the fire around me disappeared. I was standing upright again, my cramps having vanished and Riptide back in my hand, looking at the class of telekhines and their teacher, who were staring back at me in shock.

"See?" I asked rhetorically, sounding far calmer than I felt. "I told you I'm a descendant of Kronos."

With that being said, I charged.

Word Count: 4,418

Next Chapter Title: We Go Back To The Drawing Board