cymophobia | percy jackson

𝑥𝑖𝑖

"Talos," Zoë frowned. "It's Talos."

"Who–who's Talos?" Percy stuttered.

"One of Hephaestus's creations. But that has to be a prototype, or a defective model."

The metal giant didn't seem to like the word 'defective.' He moved one hand to his sword belt and drew his weapon with a horrific screeching sound, rusty old metal against rusty old metal.

"Somebody took something," Thalia said. "Who took something?" She stared accusingly at Percy, who shook his head.

"I'm a lot of things, but I'm not a thief." Ash was staring at Bianca, who was avoiding eye contact and looking strangely guilty, but she didn't have much time to think about that. The giant metal monster took one step and closed half the distance between them.

"Run!" Grover yelped. They split up as Talos swung his sword and took out a row of power lines, which exploded across Thalia's path. Zoë's arrows shattered harmlessly against its face. Grover brayed like a baby goat and clambered up a mountain of metal.

Ash ended up next to Bianca, Percy following her as they crouched behind a broken chariot.

"Bianca, it's okay. Just give it back! Throw it down!" Ash was saying.

"Ash, I, I..." the younger girl's voice quivered. "It's too late!"

"What did you take?" Percy urged.

Before she could answer, a shadow blotted out all light. "Move!" Ash shoved them down the hill just as the giant's foot smashed a crater in the ground where they'd been hiding.

"Hey, big boy!" Grover yelled as the monster looked down at the three of them. He played a quick melody on his pipes, and the downed power lines began to dance, wrapping themselves around Talos's calves.

"Come on!" Percy told the girls. Ash was tugging on Bianca's arm but she stayed frozen. From her pocket, she brought out a small metal figurine.

"It.. it was for Nico. It was the only statue he didn't have."

Ash's face twisted with sympathy and pain. "How can you think of Mythomagic at a time like this?" Percy asked incredulously. There were tears in Bianca's eyes.

"Throw it down," he said in a more soothing tone. "Maybe it'll leave us alone."

She dropped it reluctantly, but the robot was still going after Grover. It stabbed its sword into a junk hill, thankfully missing the satyr, but also sending an avalanche of scrap metal crashing over his head.

Thalia yelled, and a blue arc of lightning hit the monster in his rusty knee, making it buckle. But that just ticked it off. Talos lifted his foot to reveal a treaded sole, like a sneaker, with a large manhole in the middle. Red words that took Ash a good 30 seconds to process read FOR MAINTENANCE ONLY.

"Crazy-idea time," Percy said. Bianca looked at him nervously, Ash expectantly. He suggested going into the maintenance hatch to try and control Talos from inside.

"How? You'll have to stand under its foot! You'll be crushed," Bianca exclaimed.

"Distract it," Ash told them. "I'll get the timing right."

Percy's jaw tightened. "Absolutely not."

"I'll go," Bianca suggested.

"You can't," Ash argued, looking a bit frantic. "I won't let you die."

"It's my fault the monster came after us. It's my responsibility. Here." She picked up the little god statue and pressed it into Ash's hand. "If anything happens, give that to Nico. Tell him... tell him I'm sorry."