Heart Pierced - Kayla Knowles (1)

XVIII. Percabeth Is A Thing (And I Think Percy Got Us Both Killed)

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

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.