Work Text:
“Percy, the spider’s getting away. Do you want me to explain the exact details of how I was born?”
“Um…no. That’s okay”
I smirk at him, “I thought not.”
I ran ahead of Percy. I could tell that we were almost there as the faint roaring in the background got louder as we continued down the hallway.
The spider that was leading us stopped and curled in a ball—we made it to the forge of Hephestus.
We stood at a cliff that led to instant death—boiling hot lava.
There was a web of metal bridges across the liquid death, with a large platform in the middle connecting them all. There were different machines, cauldrons, and forges on it. But that wasn't my main focus. All of my focus was taken by the strange creatures moving around. They were too far to make out, but I don't think I have ever seen them before.
“We’ll never be able to sneak up on them,” Percy says.
I picked up Hephestus’s spider and slid it into my pocket. “I can. Wait here.”
“Hold it!” Percy says. But I didn’t care. I put on my yankees cap and faded away.
I had no idea what Percy’s plan was, but I prayed to the gods that he was going to be okay. I didn’t want him dying on me now.
We both ran in the same direction but split on one of the many bridges. I wanted to watch Percy but I knew I had to focus and figure out what these things were. So I continued quietly towards the middle of the web, making sure not to get too close so they didnt smell me. I wanted to hear the conversation these monsters were having but got distracted trying to figure out what they were.
The monsters had heads that looked like… dogs? I got a bit closer than I should have and still couldn’t figure out what these monsters were.
When I caught myself getting too close I backed up as much as I could, keeping the monsters within a good distance.
I continued observing the monsters. They had pointy ears, black snouts, and brown eyes I think? That's all I could see.
Looking below their strange heads, their bodies were black like sea mammals. Their legs were short and stubby, half flipper half human like—kind of freaky looking. Their hands were human hands, but with giant claws.
They were making some kind of weapon. A sword maybe? But then I looked closer. It was some sort of blade—of that I was sure— but there was nothing at the end of it.
“We need to fuse these metals better!” One of the monsters yelled. There seemed to be about four of them.
Fuse the metals better? What could that mean? I thought of all the weapons my enemies could have used. But the only weapon that came to mind that had two different metals was Luke's sword, Backbiter. I couldn’t bear the idea that Luke had something to do with this, So I just came to the conclusion that it was something different.
Still stumped on what these monsters are, Percy comes bursting through a door on the opposite side we came in. He approaches the center where I am.
“Annabeth!” He yells.
“Shh!” I tell him as I smack my hand over his mouth, and drag him down behind a bronze cauldron. “Do you want to get us killed?”
Percy figures out where my head was and takes my yankees cap off. I flicker back into existence.
“Percy, what's your problem?” I ask, trying to hide the fact that I was blushing.
“We’re going to have company!” Percy says quickly. He explains how he had just fought mini versions of the monsters right in front of us and how he ‘taught’ the class. He also mentioned the name of these monsters: Telkhines. My eyes widened. Of course!
“So that's what they are,” I say “Telkhines. I should have known. And their making… Well, look.”
Percy looked over the cauldron when I motioned to the middle platform. I got a better look at the blade and saw how long it really was. I would say it's about five to six feet long; so too long to be a sword. Each Telkhine was taking turns hammering the blade to perfection. But I was knocked out of my thoughts when I heard a Telkhine say something.
“The blade is almost complete. It needs another cooling in blood to fuse the metals.”
It's the fusing metals again. How can blood possibly fuse metals? Is this Kronos' weapon?
“Aye,” another one said. “It shall be even sharper than before.”
“What is that?” Percy asks.
I shook my head. “They keep talking about fusing metals. I wonder-”
Percy cuts me off, “They were talking about the greatest Titan weapon. And they… they said they made my father’s trident.”
I look him in the eyes, confused.
“The Telkhines betrayed the gods,” I say. “They were practicing dark magic. I don’t know what exactly, but Zeus banished them to Tartarus.”
“With Kronos”
I nod. “We have to get out-”
I was interrupted by a school of small Telkhines bursting out of the same door Percy came out of not too long ago. They looked like they had no idea where to go, stumbling all over each other.
“Put your cap back on,” Percy says. “Get out!”
“What?” I shriek “No! I’m not leaving you!”
“I’ve got a plan. I’ll distract them.” Percy says desperately. “You can use the metal spider—maybe it’ll lead you back to Hephaestus. You have to tell him what's going on.”
“But you’ll be killed!”
“I’ll be fine. Besides, we’ve got no choice.”
I glare at him right in the eye. I didn’t know if I would ever see him again, so I did what any logical person would do in this situation.
I grabbed the collar of his shirt and kissed him.
“Be careful, Seaweed Brain.”
I put my yankees cap on and vanish.
I grab the spider to lead me back to Hephaestus, but first I watched Percy go into battle. Knowing him however, I was backing up the way we had came.
Once I made it to the cliff with the metal door, I looked back at Percy. He was concentrating on something, like he was hoping to make a tsunami from an ocean. The only problem was, there were no bodies of water around here.
Then I put the sudden shaking ground and his dad being the god of earthquakes together. I also took that as my que to get on the other side of the door.
I genuinely thought I was gonna die if I didn’t.