Half-Blood High

XXXI

      Frank

I was finishing up my lunch, when someone tapped on my shoulder. I turned and saw Hazel, who looked apprehensive. "Frank, Headmistress Pa wants to see you." She had her arms crossed, tapping her foot. "Now."

I stood up and followed her out, tossing away my trash as I went. "Is it for... the thing?" I muttered. She nodded.

Oh boy. Kronos must have made a move or something if we were getting pulled out of school early. I followed her down the hall to the closet, where Lupa was waiting. With a nod to us, she slipped inside.

The Labyrinth was different this time around. The walls were brick instead of dirt and stone, and it was a little warmer. Still, Lupa had no trouble guiding us after transforming into her lupine form.

We followed her as she took a right, walked straight, then stopped and turned around. She turned right again, and just as I was getting dizzy, we stopped in front of the ladder.

Hazel went up first, followed by myself and Lupa, who turned back into a human just to climb up.

The courtyard was void of any students as we walked inside. It must have been fourth period or something, because we only saw a few kids out of class. Which was good, since it limited the stares we got from our uniforms.

Instead of going to Chiron's office as usual, Lupa took us down a hall full of lockers, to yet another janitor's closet.

"Er, Lupa?" Hazel asked as she tried the door. It opened and we entered the closet.

"Yes Miss Levesque?" We were standing among shelves of cleaning solution and extra textbooks.

"What are we doing?"

Lupa didn't answer at first. We watched as she moved aside a potted plant, revealing a red button underneath it. She tapped it, and a loud grinding filled my ears. I rubbed my eyes in surprise as a section of the wall slid away, revealing a tunnel almost identical to the one we had just been in.

"We are going to the Atrium. It is high time you both received your weapons." Without another word, she disappeared into the Labyrinth.

Hazel glanced back at me. I shrugged. "I guess we're doing this then."she muttered, and followed Lupa into the tunnel.

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       Percy

"Are they here yet?" Leo asked, for the third time. We had quickly learned he was the most impatient out of all of us.

"Do you see them anywhere?" Annabeth asked. She was leaning against a boulder.

Leo considered this and shook his head. "No."

"Then no. And if you ask one more time, I'll open the Atrium and feed you to the spiders."

Piper raised an eyebrow. "I would shut up if I were you, Leo."

Leo nodded, looking a little pale. "Noted."

I tried not to laugh. We were all antsy to get going, and apparently half-bloods weren't good at waiting. Which made sense. We were used to going on quests and defeating monsters, not sitting idly around.

Then, we heard footsteps.

"Thank the gods," Piper muttered as Hazel, Frank, and Lupa appeared around the corner. "Leo was about to become spider food."

Frank looked confused. "What?"

Piper shook her head, a small smile playing at her lips. "Never mind."

"Alright." Lupa had turned into a wolf again. "Are the three of you ready?" She addressed Hazel, Frank, and Leo. The three of them nodded. "Very good. Leo, you're up first."

Leo took a deep breath and approached the doors. He put his hands on the handles and muttered: "Here goes nothing."

Then, he pulled.

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      Leo

"Wow," I muttered. "This definitely wasn't what I was expecting."

The room was huge. I didn't see how it could fit under the school, then I remembered it was probably magic.

The walls were made of maroon brick, and tapestries depicting a bronze hammer, an anvil, and a flame hung between torches. The floor was littered with tools and parts, from torque wrenches to spare washers.

I gasped. At the end of a brick walk way, I saw a podium, with a tool belt sitting on it. It looked ordinary, but the sight of it sent odd shivers running up and down my back. I walked slowly, and picked it up off the podium.

I half-expected a huge boulder to start rolling toward me, like in those old Indiana Jones movies, but nothing happened. Somewhere in my mind, a warning about a guardian echoed, but I ignored it as I strapped on the belt. It wasn't too heavy, and fit perfectly. It felt like it was made for me.

I grinned as I started for the doors. That was way easier than I'd thought. Before I could reach the doors, an odd rumbling filled my ears.

I turned and saw a huge muddy shadow walking toward me. The closer it got, the more clear and solid it became. It stopped a few feet from me, and I realized what it was.

A cyclops.

He was probably seven feet tall, with one beady black eye smack in the center of his forehead. His skin was dirty and cracked, and he could really have used a couple hundred baths.

He glared down at me. I gulped. This guy was twice my size. How was I supposed to fight him?

I glanced around desperately as he raised a missive fist. I leapt aside and he smashed the ground where I'd just been standing.

"Half-blood can't run!" He cried gleefully. My hands scrambled about for something, anything, and he neared me, grinning madly. My fingers closed around the handle of a screwdriver, and I threw it at him. It bounced harmlessly off his chest.

He laughed. I grabbed for another tool, but he grabbed my ankle and picked me up, making me hand upside down.

"Huh huh huh. Puny little half-blood."

"Hey!" I shouted. "No one calls me puny and gets away with it!"

I reached into my tool belt. "I need the biggest hammer possible!" My hand closed around the grip of a handle, I pulled, and out came a hammer with a bronze head the size of a cantaloupe. I swung it forward, and it caught him in the collar bone.

"Oommpphh!" He dropped me and doubled over. I swung again and his his neck. With a crack like a gunshot, he fell. His body crumbled into yellow dust.

I let out a breath I hadn't known I was holding, and slipped the hammer back in my belt. The room felt suddenly quiet after the fight.

"I still say it was easy." I muttered to myself. Then, I turned and left.
. . .
A little Leo action for the night.

Thoughts?

Peace ✌️

-SilverQuillsandRoses