lost in the labyrinth, of my mind.
☆ battle of the labyrinth
☆ book one in the 'midnight mayhem' series
[ annabeth chase x fem!oc ]
[ percy jackson x fem!oc ]
( started - 6/9/23 )
( completed - 11/25/23 )
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"READY TO MEET HEPHAESTUS?" Grover asked nervously. After almost losing the spider, some dead ends, they finally made it to him.
"No." Percy admitted.
"Nope." Gabriella answered honestly.
"Yes!" Tyson said gleefully, and turned the wheel.
"Let's just get this over with," Annabeth sighed.
As soon as the door opened, the spider wemt inside with Tyson right behind it, and the rest trailing behind. The room was enormous. It was like a mechanic's garage, with several hydraulic lifts. There were cars on some, but others had even stranger things: a bronze hippalektryon with its horse head off and a lot of wires hanging out its rooster tail, a metal lion that seemed to be connected to a battery charger, and a Greek war chariot made entirely of flames. Smaller projects spread across a dozen worktables. Tools hung on the walls, each had its own outline on a Peg-Board, but it didn't seem to be in the right place: the hammer was over the screwdriver place, the staple gun was where the hacksaw was supposed to go.
Under the nearest hydraulic lift, that was holding a '98 Toyota Corolla, a pair of legs stuck out-the lower half of a man in gray pants and huge shoes. One leg was in a metal brace. The spider scuttled straight under the car, and the sounds of banging stopped.
"Well, well," a deep voice boomed from under the Corolla. "What have we here?"
The mechanic pushed out on a back trolley and sat up. Gabriella's never seen Hephaestus in person before, but seeing him made her gulp. She's seen him in photos and artwork, but usually he looked... better. But at least he didn't have multiple heads, multiple chests, and looked like an actual person. He probably didn't care what anyone thought of him, which she respected.
He wore a jumpsuit covered with oil and grime. Hephaestus, was embroidered over the chest pocket. His leg creaked and clicked in its metal brace as he stood, and his left shoulder was uneven with his right, so he looked like he was leaning even when he was standing straight. His head was bulging, and he had a permanent scowl. His black beard smoked and hissed. Once in a while, a small wildfire would erupt in his whiskers then die out. His hands were the size of catcher's mitts, but he handled the spider with amazing skill. He disassembled it in two seconds, then put it back together.
"There," He muttered to himself. "Much better."
The spider happily flipped in his palm, shot a metallic web at the ceiling, and went swinging away.
Hephaestus glowered up at the group. "I didn't make you, did I?"
"Uh," Annabeth answered, "no, sir."
"Good," The god grumbled. "Shoddy workmanship."
He studied Annabeth, Percy, and Gabriella. "Half-bloods," he grunted. "Could be automatons, of course, but probably not."
