Son of the Moon

42

-Percy-

"Oh Iris, goddess of the rainbow, accept my offering and show me Hephaestus, god of the forge." He intoned as he tossed in the golden coin, the shimmering metal vanishing into motes of light, the rainbow glowing as the colors shifted into a screen that revealed the face of his uncle.

"Ah, Percy." The lord of fire said, looking up at the light from the screen before the god's eyes went wide, the hammer and hot metal that were being forged dropping to the ground in shock "Is…is that…?"

"Uncle, may I reintroduce Briares." He grinned, "Hundred Handed One and once more ally of Olympus."

"Percy this is just the news we needed." Hephaestus grinned "I'll send someone to bring him to Olympus." Hephaestus paused and seemed to be studying the image "I…I think you're near the Geryon dude ranch. Get to there and I'll have someone waiting for you, alright?"

"Uncle…we're in the Labyrinth. We're just as likely to wind up having scones on the Eifel Tower as actually find this dude ranch." He deadpans at the forge god.

"Oh, can we?" Bianca asked with a playful grin "sounds like a date to me. With those two it can even be a double date." She finished as she jerked her thumb at Nico and Amanda."

"Threat to camp now, scones later." Hephaestus chides but he could see the corner of the old god's mouth twitch in amusement "just keep going down the path you're on and you should smell fresh air. Follow it and you'll be fine."

"Sounds good Uncle, thanks." With a wave of his hand the message ended and Percy turned back to his comrades "Alright, we have a heading so let's move out." Picking up his pack he continued on, using his spear as a walking stick just for some small sound in the entombing silence of the Labyrinth.

Eventually, just like Hephaestus had said, the smell of fresh summer air came drifting almost lazily from down a side corridor, as tempting as a sirens song to those who had been trapped in the underground nightmare that was the labyrinth. "Looks like we found our exit." Nico grins before giving Briares a friendly slap on the back "you'll be out of here soon…lucky."

"Watch it Nico," he grinned "the role of best friend can be replaced should you continue this path of being a whiny little brat, you complain too much."

"Not little!" Nico rounded on him with faux anger "And no, I complain the perfect amount for my situation."

"Your situation?" he gaped in mock surprise and outrage, jabbing a finger into his friend's gut "I'm the one with the bloody prophecy over my head…again. I think the oracle is doing one of those punch card deals, 'ten prophecies completed and godhood is free!'.

"Only ten?" Nico snorted amused "You could handle that in a couple weeks if you wanted to."

"He'd better not." Bianca joined in the conversation "His job outside major quests is to be my pillow and he is not getting any vacation time."

"Do I get no say in this?" he chuckled out as Bianca latched onto his arm and proceeded to prove her point by using his shoulder as a pillow while they walked.

"Nope." Amanda answered for her friend as the daughter of Hermes did the same thing to her boyfriend.

"You…are not what I expected." Briares spoke up, confusion emanating from the voice of the hundred handed one at their behavior.

"What were you expecting then?" he asked, honestly curious as to what the ancient being expected for him to be like.

"A soldier, a general." Briares answered instantly "A force with a will of iron who is unfazed by anything the world throws at him. One who stares death and destruction calmly in the eye before ramming it through with a blade. An unshakable force of nature."