Son of the Moon

44

-Percy-

The spider seemed lost to them, time having been wasted by that incompetent sphinx. It was only through the years of training he underwent with the hunt along with a decent amount of luck that they found the spider again. Following the rhythmic pinging of a tiny metal head against a large metal door they found the spider bouncing off a large door, similar to that of a submarine hatch. "Ready to see Hephaestus?" he asked the others, gripping the circular handle and turning it, his muscles straining under the force needed.

"If it means getting out of this death trap sooner? Hell yes." Nico grunted, joining him in moving the god strength door, the seal breaking with a hiss as air rushed out of the sealed space. Looking around the opening door he let out a low, impressed, whistle. The inside of the forge looked like the garage every mechanic dreams about at night. There were several hydraulic lifts, some with cars on them while others had automatons, and one even had a Greek war chariot made entirely of fire.

"…I want one." He and Nico said in tandem, grinning with a fist bump as their girlfriends just gave exasperated sighs in the background. Continuing to look around he saw a pegboard with outlines for tools, none of which were in their right places. "Organized," he nodded in mock seriousness "I like it."

"Yeah, yeah," a voice grunted from underneath one of the nearby hydraulic lifts, a pair of legs kicking away a toolbox to make room "laugh it up brat." With a grunt Hephaestus slid out from underneath the car, a 97 Toyota Corolla, and straightened "Wondered how long it would take you to get here."

"You knew we were coming?" Amanda asked surprised.

"He knew Eurytion had that medallion," he answered for the god with a grin "he had us that minor god at the Dude Ranch because of it, am I right?"

"You never fail to impress Percy." Hephaestus gave a grin "Yeah, I figured you'd end up with some reason to kill that nuisance Geryon and that Eurytion would end up giving you the medallion for it. So, I'm guessing you came here to try and find Daedalus, correct?"

"What gave it away?" he asked "The prophecy or the fact we're in the gods forsaken Labyrinth?"

"The first to be honest," Hephaestus shrugged "you're crazy enough to come down here to train."

Raising a finger to protest he trailed off, said finger going limp "You…may have a point." He admitted "But you're right, we're here to find Daedalus, there any way you can help us?"

"Simplest way would be an exchange, task for task." Hephaestus picked up the little spider bot which had scuttled over to its creator "You do something for me I need done and I can tell you where, or how, to find Daedalus' lair in the Labyrinth."

"What's the task?" He asked, going from joking to serious as it was time to receive a mission.

"Mount St. Helens," Hephaestus spoke and pulled up an image of the volcano on the screen "I have many forges but that one used to be my favorite. Problem is that I have some squatter's that keep using it when I'm not around and I can't manage to catch them in the act. They sense me coming due to my divine signature but demigods, you four could get close and find out who's using my forge and for what."

"Done." He said with a nod, clasping arms with one of his patrons "How do we get there?"

"I've reprogrammed the spider for you." He tossed them the still collapsed spider he had been tinkering with "it will guide you there and then back. I've also added a feature that will 'leash' it to whoever activates it so it doesn't run away from you again."

"Oh thank Olympus." Nico groaned in relief at that, a sentiment openly shared by the rest of the quest party.

"Heroes!" he called out, tilting his head to crack his neck as the others straightened "We have a heading and we have a target so let's give 'em hell!" the three gave him a war cry before they activated the spider, once more running off through the Labyrinth, not quite as fast as their mad scurry had been before. Noticing the spider begin to slow he held up a hand in silence, the others slowing down with him, noting the fiery glow from around the next corner.