This chapter includes sexual content. Minors do NOT interact.
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It wasn't long before the tunnel started to get hot. The stone walls glowed. The air felt as if they were walking through an oven. The tunnel sloped down, and Livia could hear a loud roar, like a river of metal. The lizard skittered along, with all of them right behind.
And soon, they arrived at the forge of Vulcan.
There was no floor, just bubbling lava hundreds of feet below. They stood on a rock ridge that circled the cavern. A network of metal bridges spanned across it. At the centre was a huge platform with all sorts of machines, cauldrons, forges, and the largest anvil she'd ever seen--a block of iron the size of a house. Creatures moved around the platform--several strange, dark shapes, but they were too far away to make out details.
If those things out there could sense a god coming, would they be safe?
Livia looked back at the Labyrinth tunnel. The others looked between themselves. Livia frowned, "Note to self... take some espionage classes." The others snorted softly before Jason nudged them to follow him.
They crept along the outer rim of the lava lake, hoping they could get a better angle to see what was happening in the middle. Livia didn't think they had been there long enough to get heatstroke, but she swore that she could see someone on the other side doing the same thing.
The heat was horrible. In no time they were drenched with sweat. Her eyes stung from the smoke. Livia moved along, trying to keep away from the edge, until she found her way blocked by a cart on metal wheels, like the kind they use in mine shafts.
She looked around, noting that the others had disappeared. She frowned, blinking at the sight of Percy on the other side. "What," he said, gaping at her. Livia opened her mouth to reply before they heard voices from up ahead, probably from a side tunnel.
"Bring it in?" one asked.
"Yeah, " another said. "Movie's just about done. "
The twins panicked. Neither had time to back up. There was nowhere to hide except... The cart. They shared glances before they both scrambled inside. Livia contorted her body to make it a comfortable fit for both of them as Percy pulled the tarp over them, hoping no one had seen them. Each of them curled their fingers around their weapons just in case they had to fight.
The cart lurched forward.
"Oi, " a gruff voice said. "Thing weighs a ton."
"It's celestial bronze, " the other said. "What did you expect?"
They got pulled along. They turned a corner, and from the sound of the wheels echoing against the walls Livia guessed they had passed down a tunnel and into a smaller room. She could feel Percy's eyes on her but she ignored him.
Hopefully they were not about to be dumped into a smelting pot. If they started to tip them over, they'd have to fight their way out quick. She heard lots of talking, chattering voices that didn't sound human--somewhere between a seal's bark and a dog's growl. There were other sounds too--like an old fashioned film projector and a tiny voice narrating.
"Just set it in the back, " a new voice ordered from across the room. "Now, younglings, please attend to the film. There will be time for questions afterward. "
The voices quieted down, and she could hear the film.
As a young sea demon matures, the narrator said, changes happen in the monster's body. Y ou may notice your fangs getting longer and you may have a sudden desire to devour human beings. These changes are perfectly normal and happen to all young monsters.
