Not Like Them
The man stepped out and looked at Annabeth for a moment. He seemed middle-aged, with a neatly kept beard and simple hair. Not exactly handsome, but not unattractive either. To most people, he would probably seem fairly appealing; especially with the air of someone successful about him. Though he was dressed in a mechanic's overalls, with traces of grease on his clothes, wiping his hands with an oily rag as he set his cane aside for a moment while looking at her.
"Can I help you?" the man asked, likely drawn by the noise Annabeth was making as she struck the golden throne with the sword. His gaze lingered on the blade in her hands for a moment before returning to her.
But Annabeth only gave him a brief glance before striking the throne again with force. The impact echoed loudly, making it clear she hadn't held back at all; and that the force was hurting her just as much.
The sword fell from her hands again, her fingers trembling from the pain.
"Trying to damage that throne will be far more difficult than you think," the man said calmly, still watching her. "Its material no longer exists. The flames of Ares' war, the heat of Apollo's sun, the lightning of Zeus, even the strength of Poseidon… none of them managed to leave a mark on it. Shaping it takes long, painstaking work; longer than most people would live to see finished."
Annabeth rubbed her hands for a moment, but walked back toward the sword without saying a word.
Seeing that, the man didn't seem particularly bothered. He simply watched her movements, then lifted his cane slightly and tapped it twice against the ground.
Suddenly, one of the walls behind Annabeth trembled and split open, revealing a passage. From where she stood, the exit was clearly visible.
"There's a shortcut. You won't have to go through the tunnel again. You can leave," the man said calmly.
But Annabeth only glanced at it before picking up Percy's sword again and striking the throne, this time with even more force.
"Haa…!" she let out, this time in pain, clutching both hands tightly against her chest as the impact hit harder than before.
"Why are you pushing yourself this far?" the man asked, watching her struggle.
"Because I'm not leaving without my friend," she replied, sweat covering her forehead as the pain built with every strike.
"That's not how it works," he said, resting both hands on his cane. "It's one-way. No going back."
Annabeth shot him another look.
"And how do you know so much about the throne?" she asked, irritation slipping into her voice.
"Because I built it," the man answered calmly, meeting her gaze.
Annabeth froze for a moment, surprise flashing across her face. Her hand trembled slightly, but she still walked back toward the fallen sword.
"I'm not leaving without my friend," she repeated, picking it up again. "And if you're not going to help me, you could at least leave me alone so I can focus," she added, her tone sharp as she turned her attention back to the blade.
The god of the forge watched her without much reaction, only tilting his head slightly.
"Despite whatever my brother may have told you, I'm not someone who lets himself be walked over, you know," he said, a hint of irritation in his voice.
But Annabeth ignored him. She focused harder, closing her eyes for a moment and taking steady breaths, lifting the sword over her head for another strike.
Then, before she could bring it down, Hephaestus spoke again.
"I know your mother has been displeased with you lately."
Annabeth froze, the sword still raised above her head.
"It's well known how she can be," he continued, watching her closely. "Though this time… it went too far. Even for her."
"If you leave now with that shield, you'll be a hero. On your way to glory… and to your mother's pride and forgiveness," he said, as Annabeth kept holding the sword, now with her eyes open, listening to every word. "Everything will go back to how it's always been. How it will always be… how it's meant to be."
For a moment, Annabeth's face filled with anger. She brought the sword down with everything she had.
The impact was even louder this time as it struck the throne, the shock running straight into her wrists and forcing her to drop the blade as she fell to her knees, clutching her hands in pain; as if they might break from the force she had just used.
For a moment, Hephaestus looked surprised, his eyes widening slightly as he glanced at the throne… then back at her as she spoke again.
"This isn't how it should be," Annabeth said, still on her knees, pain evident in her voice. "It's not right. Eat or be eaten. Power and glory… like that's all that matters. Ares is like that. Zeus is like that. My mother is like that," she said, lifting her gaze to meet his directly, her lips trembling. Then she glanced at the throne, where Percy sat.
"But he's not like that. He's better than that. And maybe I was like that once… but I don't want to be anymore. Never again. And if I have to break my hands to get him out of here… then that's what I'll do," she said, pushing herself back to her feet, her eyes searching the ground for Percy's sword. "I won't be like you," she added… though she couldn't seem to find it.
Hephaestus watched her in silence for a moment, then let out a faint smile.
He lifted his cane and tapped it twice against the ground.
The throne trembled.
Then, suddenly, the golden surface covering Percy cracked… and peeled away from him, falling to the ground and turning to dust. Percy let out a breath the moment he was freed, like his body was remembering how to function again, his expression completely confused.
He looked around, spotting Annabeth looking upward; then followed her gaze and noticed the unfamiliar man standing there.
"Some of us don't like being that way either," Hephaestus said with a soft smile. "You're a good kid, Annabeth. And Percy… that's a fine sword. Take care of it."
With that, he turned and walked back the way he had come.
Percy blinked, still trying to process what had just happened. He shifted slightly on the throne, catching his breath, when he suddenly noticed the tip of his sword right next to his face. He immediately leaned back, startled.
Only then did he realize it had pierced straight through part of the throne, still lodged there.
He turned to look at Annabeth, who had noticed it as well, her expression equally surprised.
The sword hadn't been on the ground…
It had been there the whole time.
It had pierced the throne.
She just hadn't realized it.
"Well, uh… maybe I should get this back," Percy said, circling the throne and grabbing the sword. It was stuck deep, so he had to brace a foot against the throne and pull with all his strength to get it loose.
"Yeah… so everything I said earlier is starting to sound a little… embarrassing right now. So if we could just pretend none of that happened, I'd really appreciate it," he added, glancing at Annabeth.
She let out a relieved breath at seeing him okay, then gave a small laugh at his words.
"Works for me, my dear knight," she replied, a hint of teasing in her tone.
Percy looked like he wanted to complain, but considering she had just saved him, he figured he could let one or two comments slide.
Just then, footsteps echoed from the tunnel.
"I'm telling you, they probably just wasted time because Percy did something stupid, and they're both fine," Grover's voice came first, followed by faster footsteps.
Moments later, Harry appeared, his eyes scanning the room quickly before locking onto Percy. The tension in his body visibly eased the moment he saw him.
"See? Told you. I've never seen you that worked up before," Grover said, glancing at Harry, who had been nothing but nerves a moment ago.
"Yeah, I know… I just had a bad feeling," Harry admitted, relaxing—until his eyes took in the golden throne, the statue behind them, Ares' shield on the ground… and then Percy and Annabeth standing in the center, facing each other, closer than usual, both with faint smiles that quickly faded as they noticed him.
Grover saw it too.
They both went quiet for a moment.
"Sorry if we interrupted something," Grover said, before quickly grabbing Harry and pulling him back toward the tunnel.
Percy let out a long sigh.
"If you were coming anyway, why didn't we just go in all four of us?" he muttered, as if the plan to split up might have been one of the dumbest things they'd done so far.
Though… considering everything else they'd done, it probably didn't even make the top three.