[1] something new | pjo

xxxviii. thirty eight

SO, IN CONCLUSION, HEPHAESTUS HATES DEMIGODS.

He literally send Percy, Annabeth, and Daphne to their own death. After they split—Tyson and Grover went on their own to find the lost god Pan, the three remained demigod followed the mechanic spider into the tunnel.

It wasn't long before the tunnel started to get hot. The stone walls glowed. The air felt as if we were walking through an oven. The tunnel sloped down and they could hear a loud roar, like a river of metal. The spider skittered along, with Annabeth right behind.

The roaring got louder. After another half mile or so, they emerged in a cavern the size of a Super Bowl stadium. Their spider escort stopped and curled into a ball. They had arrived at the forge of Hephaestus.

There was no floor, just bubbling lava hundreds of feet below. We stood on a rock ridge that 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—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.

Annabeth picked up the metal spider and slipped it into her pocket. "Wait here."

"Hold it!" Percy said, but before he could argue, she put on her Yankees cap and turned invisible.

Percy turned to Daphne.

"What?"

"Well, aren't you going to go after her, it's your favorite isn't to...slaughter the enemy?" Percy asked.

Daphne snort, "Are you mad? Can't you see? It's a suicide to go there and face them all alone,"

"Then what about Annabeth, she approach the forge on her own," Percy half-shouted.

"It's a wonder she's Athena's daughter, she's foolish enough not to be one," Daphne mocked.

"Hey!"

"Calm down, I never said that I won't go there, I just won't go there alone," Daphne rolled her eyes.

"Then who—"

Daphne closed her eyes, this place is close enough to the underworld so she need to be careful to not call anyone other than her father gift.

"Hello Julius,"

Percy widened his eyes.

"Can you call a few of others and help me to clean the forge?" The spirit of confederate soldier curt at Daphne and vanished.

"What is—I always forget you could do that,"

"Then please get used to it, now can you shut up because I need to focus,"

After a while, finally Percy decided he couldn't stay put. He crept along the outer rim of the lava lake, hoping could get a better angle to see what was happening in the middle.

The heat was horrible. Geryon's ranch had been a winter wonderland compared to this. Percy moved along, trying to keep away from the edge, until he found his way blocked by a cart on metal wheels, like the kind they sue in mine shafts. He lifted up the tarp and found it was half full of scrap metal. He was about to squeeze my way around it when he heard voices from up ahead, probably from a side tunnel.

Percy got pulled along. They turned a corner, and from the sound of the wheels echoing against the walls Percy guessed they had passed down a tunnel and into a smaller room. Hopefully he was not about to be dumped into a smelting pot. There's lots of talking, chattering voices that didn't sound human—somewhere between a seal's bark and a dog's growl.

"A demigod!" one snarled.

"Eat it!" 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!" Percy yelled at the rest, trying to sound fierce. Behind them stood their instructor—a six-foot-tall telekhine with Doberman fangs snarling at him

"New lesson, class," Percy 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!"

Percy jumped out of the cart, yelled, "CLASS DISMISSED!" and ran for the exit.

Daphne cursed when she heard Percy's voice followed by lots of angry bark and growl.

"Another episode of Percy idiocy has started,"

The monsters charged after Percy, barking and growling. There was a door in the tunnel leading out to the main cavern. Percy slammed it shut and turned the wheel handle to lock it.

Their chance for a subtle reconnaissance mission had been blown. Percy ran toward the platform at the center of the lava lake.

"Annabeth!" Percy yelled.

"Shhh!" an invisible hand clamped over his mouth and wrestled him down behind a big bronze cauldron. "You want to get us killed?"

Percy found her head and took off her Yankees cap. She shimmered into existence, scowling, her face streaked with ash and grime.

"Percy, what is your problem? Julius and a few others are here, they help me enough!"

"We're going to have company!" Percy explained quickly about the monster orientation class. Her eyes widened.

No sooner had she said that than 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.

"Put your cap back on," Percy said. "Get out!"

"What?" Annabeth shrieked. "No! I'm not leaving you. Daphne would kill me,"

"I've got a plan. I'll distract them. Daphne would know better about sacrifices. You can use the metal spider—maybe it'll lead you and her back to Hephaestus. Both of you have to tell him what's going on."

"But you'll be killed!" Annabeth half-shouted, "Julius and the other zombies can be used as a distraction, they won't be killed,"

At that time, the zombies that tried to shield them turned transparent and vanished.

"Daphne lost her focus," Percy said, "I'll be fine. Besides, we've got no choice."

"You better come back alive and explain everything to her yourself,"

Annabeth glared at Percy like she was going to punch him.

"Be careful, " She put on her hat and vanished.

An explosion. Annabeth met Daphne and then an explosion can be heard.

"What?" Daphne flabbergasted.

"We need to go, right now!"

"Where's Percy?"

Annabeth pulled Daphne and they both tried to get out from there. 

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