Percy Jackson: Daughter of Shadows

15. We Meet Athena's Ex-Boyfriend

"So, I'm going to go ahead and guess that you really hate this quest" Percy said, helping me up. "Oh, you think? This is the worst quest, hell, time I've been out of camp I've been on or in since I was eight! Artemis and Annabeth are still missing, we now have a giant cow-serpent on our hands, like that isn't going to slow us down, we have no clue where we are, Bianca's dead, and I've been having bat-shit crazy dreams ever since this stupid thing started, the person who's been trying to stop me from learning who my father is behind them, and my powers are practically useless since I couldn't even manage to stop Annabeth from disappearing in the first place or bring Bianca back. So no, I am not fine, Jackson" "Lil's-" Viktor tried to grab my hand. "Don't, Viktor" I stared at the sky. "If, if we get to Olympus, if we can get Luke, I'm hauling him to Olympus and for the heck of it, I'm going to pound his face in in front of the gods, including Hermes. They want to drag me through hell and back? Fine, be my freaking guests. They want to, I don't know, kill off every single one of the people I give a damn about? Fine, have at it. But now, they want to take a FUCKING TWELVE YEAR OLDS LIFE, DO ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO HELP WITH OUR QUEST, AND TAKE MY FRIENDS AND SEND THEM THROUGH THE SAME BULLSHIT I HAD TO GO THROUGH. Well, fuck them, and fuck me for letting my guard down, which I will never do again" I sighed. "Just... grab your stuff and let's go. We've got to get to the Garden of Hesperides" "Lilly, wait" Viktor grabbed my wrist. "What?" "Come with me." 

    "Vik, what do you want?" I asked as we trudged up a hill. "I am in no mood for-" "Look" He pointed towards the horizon. I could see East Beach, the last place where.... "My mom took us" Viktor nodded. "Why did you bring me here?" I asked, staring at him. He shrugged. "You kinda went on a rant back there, I thought we could sit here and just, you know, stare off into the horizon" I smiled. "Come on, sit down" I sat down next to him. "Why didn't you tell me you were having dreams?" "I didn't want to worry you" "Lilly, I have been your best friend since we were five. I literally dragged you away from your mom's funeral because I noticed the Furies in the crowd. I have watched you take on entire armies, slay gods, negotiate with Greek mythology's worst monsters from Tartarus and stab them in the back seconds later. I'd honestly be surprised if there was something that did scare me about you" "What if I'm the daughter of Dionysus?" I asked, tossing a pebble down the hill. "Now that would probably scare the hell out of me" I burst out laughing. "What else would scare you?" Viktor stared off into the distance. "Well, I can list a few. One, if a god wasn't absolutely scared of you, two, if you didn't try to either barter or sass every immortal you met, or" He turned back to me. "If you were to ever blame yourself for everything that went wrong in a quest" "Why would that scare you?" He sighed. "Don't you get it, Lilly? If you blame yourself for everything every time something goes wrong or sideways on a quest, you tend to get either incredibly grouchy or upset. I hate seeing you either way" I snorted. "You hate seeing me angry?" He nodded. "When you're angry, things go, well, slightly worse. And sometimes, I think you don't notice it" He placed his hand on my knee. "Look, I get that you're angry at the gods, I do. If it were me, I'd have already killed half of the gods and Kronos just to get back at my dad. I mean, you met my parents" "Yeah, touché" Viktor laughed. "Come on," He stood up, holding his hand out. "Let's go find your ass of a relative." 

  When we got back to the others, the Ophiotaurus and Grover were gone. "Where's Grover and the cow?" "Grover took him to Olympus" Zoe rocked back and forth on her toes. "Hey, are you okay, Zoe?" "What? Oh, yes, I am fine" "Zoe..." She looked away. "Zoe, are you actually alright?" "No, I feel faint-" She collapsed onto the ground. "ZOE!" I knelt next to her. "Vik, grab my bag, I have some nectar and ambrosia in it, find some aspirin and mix it in. Percy, use your powers to get some water on her. Thalia, do you know where we can find a ride to the garden?" "Working on it" Viktor passed me a canteen. I poured it into Zoe's mouth. Her eyes flew open. I could see constellations swirling in her black eyes. "Artemis...." "We haven't found her yet, Zoe. Hang on, you'll be okay" "Mom..." I blinked. "What's that about?" "I don't know. Pleione died after the Hesperides were born, which would mean that whoever Zoe's father is raised her, not her mother. Why would she say that about Artemis?" "I don't know. Here, you go help Percy, see if Thalia's found anything" "Okay" I handed Viktor the canteen and headed over to Percy. "Lilly, what's wrong with Zoe? She wasn't eating earlier either" "I'll explain later, Percy, I promise. How's it going over here?" "Fine, where are we headed to?" "About to ask Thalia that, hang on a sec" Thalia ran up to me. "I've got it!" "Great, where we going?" "Fredrick Chase's house, Annabeth's father." 

     "Remind me why we're going to Wise Girl's dad's house, who hates her, and wants nothing to do with her?" Percy asked. "Easy, we have no other choice. Zoe is barely conscious, and we don't have a ride to the garden. This is our best bet" Viktor said, knocking on the door. Zoe was conscious, just not doing so well. 

Note to self, never meet demigod parents, it will drive you nuts. 

    Dr. Fredrick Chase was a slightly older guy, he definitely could have dated my mom. He had Annabeth's sandy brown hair and hazel eyes, except those were bulging under aviator goggles and his hair stuck out funny from under neath an aviator's cap. "Are you here with my planes?" "No, sir, but-" "Ah well, hurry along then-" "Dr. Fredrick Chase, I am Lilly Black, demigod, and we're here about Annabeth" I said, stepping in front of him. "Annabeth?" He looked worried. "What's happened to her?" "No clue. Can we come in?" "Yes, of course. Lilly, was it?" "Yes, and this is Viktor, Zoe, Thalia, and Percy, you might have heard of him, or 'Seaweed Brain', whatever Annabeth's calling him nowadays. Viktor, help me with Zoe" Viktor nodded and heaved Zoe onto my back. "I can walk-" "I know you can, but you're a little delirious right now, so I'm just going to carry you for now" Zoe tried to climb off. "I do not need thy's help" "I know you don't. That's why I'm doing it" Mrs. Chase peered out from the kitchen. "Dear, who are they?" "Lilly Black, pleasure, and you must be Annabeth's stepmother, not a fan, though" Mrs. Chase blinked. "Fredrick?" "Yes, dear?" "Talk to our guests, I'll bring up some food" "Okay, dear" I rolled my eyes. "Lilly, are you alright?" "Yes, fine, Dr. Chase. However, Mrs. Chase?" "Yes?" "Can you make me a coffee? I haven't had any in ages, and I am about to lose my crap."

  "So, Annabeth fought a manticore, is now carrying something huge, and you just found out where she is?" "Yes, sir" Percy said, picking at his chair. Dr. Chase ran his hands through his hair. "Alright, what do you need?" "Well, I wouldn't say no to taking one of you planes-" "NO!" I stepped back. "Sorry, just, I really like my planes" I looked around his office. Maps and designs of plane architecture covered the walls. Bookshelves were filled to the brim with books about wing structure and propellers. "Yeah, I couldn't tell" Dr. Chase laughed. Mrs. Chase came through the door, carrying a tray of cookies, sandwiches, and soda. "And here's your coffee" She handed me a steaming mug of coffee and a couple of creamer packets. "Thanks, Mrs. Chase" "You're welcome. Fredrick, help them with whatever they ask, alright?" "Um, yes, of course dear!" She smiled. "And Lilly, tell... tell Annabeth that she still has a home here, okay?" "Sure. Can't guarantee she'll be willing to listen though" Mrs. Chase nodded, as though she'd been expecting that answer. She left the room, and Percy went after the cookies. I grabbed a couple of cookies and shoved them in a bag. "So, Dr. Chase, can you get us a ride to the Garden of Hesperides?" He nodded. "Great" I dipped a cookie into the coffee. "Let's get going then. Also rule number one, everyone, I get dibs on whoever took Annabeth in the first place. However, if seeing ichor covering the entire area and my body will scare you, I suggest backing down now" Percy nodded. "Whoever took her is going down."