I took a deep breath before heading into the ruins of Othrys, the black pillars seemingly a little taller than before. There was not a single soul in sight as I passed through the ruins, keeping a steady, confident pace towards the sky where Artemis knelt. I didn't know if that was good luck, or bad luck, but it didn't matter. Resolve settled in me, a thousandfold from what I thought had been before, and I was ready to tackle whatever came my way.
"Who's there?" Luke's voice echoed through the still, fog-shrouded air, and I stilled momentarily before gathering myself, placing on my cool, cultured, mask.
"It's Rianna!" I called back, my voice steady.
There was a heartbeat of silence, suffocating and eternal, and then I heard footsteps and he skidded around the corner, coming to a stop at the sight of my lopsided smirk fixed firmly on my face.
"Hey," I said simply. "I'm back."
Pure relief flashed through his eyes, so strong that it nearly caused me to lose my composure. "Thank the gods," Luke murmured, so soft I could barely hear it. He closed the gap between us and, faster than I could blink, wrapped me in a crushing embrace that I found myself collapsing into, my hands digging into the back of his grey sweater. "I'm so sorry," Luke whispered, his voice featherlight against my ear.
"Shh," I hushed, drawing back to stare into his blue eyes. "We'll figure it out. There's gotta be another way."
Luke opened his mouth to object but I slapped him lightly and shook my head. "I'm not taking no for an answer."
"There's that typical stubbornness," Luke said, his voice turning hoarse.
"You wouldn't love me otherwise," I hissed, though my lips curled in a genuine smile. "We'll figure it out. Together."
Luke's eyes flashed with doubtful hope, but he didn't argue further and turned towards where he'd come from. "Atlas is waiting. You better have a good excuse for why you were gone for so long."
Shit, I thought. I had my excuse ready, but I was hoping that the titan would have forgotten about an insignificant mortal. Apparently not. I sighed. "Alright."
I trailed behind Luke, a respectful distance behind, nothing more than lieutenant to the future host of the Titan of Time. And fought the urge to gulp as we emerged into the stormy cavern of the sky and I saw Atlas, standing there in a fresh suit, looking like a very buff, scary, albeit giant, bodyguard of the President of the United States.
"Where were you?" Atlas rumbled, menace clear in his tone.
"I went to the botanical museum to find curare," I replied. "It's a native plant to the Amazon jungle that can be used as a potent poison for arrows or as anesthesia," I added at the blank look Atlas was giving me. "Forgive me, General, but I've been trained in medicine and healing and I couldn't help myself when I found out about this." I cast my gaze downward in a show of submission. "I should have asked you for permission first. I'm sorry."
Atlas blinked slowly at me, then shrugged his massive shoulders and turned away. "Very well, daughter of Hecate. Just be sure to let at least Luke know if you ever decide to go on another . . . plant hunt. It seems like your knowledge of this will be very useful, if potent poisons are to your knowledge."
"Thank you, General," I murmured, hiding my smile as I bowed again. "I will."
Atlas nodded and shot a victorious glance towards Artemis. "I'm going to pay a visit to our allies. Boy," he added, addressing Luke. "You're in charge here until I get back tomorrow. Understood?"
"Yes, General," Luke affirmed. "I'll make sure everyone stays in line."
As soon as Atlas trudged off in his new suit and was off the slopes of Mount Tam, Luke whirled on me with a disbelieving laugh. "Rianna, you never told me you were so good at lying! I would have believed you myself had I not known the truth. You sure you're not a child of Hermes?"
The grin on my face slipped off and I shrugged, turning away from Luke to meet Artemis' gaze as she raised her head, her silver eyes fixed on me. "That's kinda eww," I joked, turning back to him. "If I was your sister . . ."
"Th-that's not what I meant," Luke sputtered. "I only meant-"
"I was just joking," I said, patting his arm. "Chill. And I know I'm a multi-talented person."
"Botany?"
"I wasn't lying about that. I actually do know medicine."
Luke looked doubtful but he shrugged. "Well, I learned the hard way of underestimating you."
"What are you doing?" he asked as I walked closer to the goddess, stopping a few metres away, and sat down, my back against a boulder jutting up from the ground.
"I think I'll stay here and keep watch on our prisoner until Atlas returns," I replied without looking at him. "He believed me now, but if he returns to find me gone again, I doubt I'll be as convincing as this time."
"Do you want me to keep you company?" Luke asked, though I could tell from his tone that it was half-hearted.
Because we both knew that despite the apologies, his secret had driven something that went far deeper than just a betrayal of trust between us. My heart was still bleeding and it still felt like shards of glass were embedded inside and, even as I yearned for his warmth, I could barely bring myself to look him in the eye. I felt like I was being ripped in two, and having here wasn't easing the pain like it would have normally. Not when he was the cause of it.
"I think I'll be fine by myself," I replied. "You can go take care of whatever you need to do. Keep the monsters in line."
"Yeah," Luke murmured. "And for what it's worth, I'm really sorry."
I didn't reply, words I couldn't speak lodged into my throat, staying silent as Luke walked slowly towards the ruins of the palace, the fog shrouding the mountains swallowing up his figure. I couldn't help but think of how he, the things that made Luke Luke, would be swallowed up too by the presence of Kronos.
I fought off my shudder and took a deep breath, turning back to the goddess of the hunt.
"Before you ask," Artemis grunted, "I'm fine, and no, I forbid you from using your magic to help me. I saw what you did for Annabeth, and that was already enough."
"But I-"
"No."
"Can't I please just do something useful?" I pleaded. "I can't bear just standing here and seeing all of you suffer. I can't just stand here and watch you like. . . like this." I stabbed my dagger into the ground. "It's killing me,"
"You're already doing enough," Artemis said sympathetically. "I know it's hard, but if anyone can do it, Clari, it's you."
"You guys keep saying that," I muttered. "But I don't know how much longer I can last."
"As long as necessary," Artemis replied. "You volunteered for this, remember."
I grunted. "I know. But-"
"Is it the boy?" Artemis interrupted, eyeing me carefully.
"I-what?" I sputtered, completely caught off guard. "What about Luke?"
"You love him," she said bluntly. "Right?"
"What?" I blurted, jerking around to face her. "You know, he is the enemy."
Artemis sighed. "Clari, you might be able to lie to Zeus and get away with it, even Hermes, but when have you ever lied to me and gotten away with it? I know you too well."
"You're not going to blast me into a puddle or turn me into a mouse, right?" I asked quietly. "Because I know, I know, that I wasn't supposed to-"
"I'm a maiden goddess," Artemis replied simply. "I know that my view towards men is quite different from most. Besides, I trust you to do the right thing in the end. I know you, Clari, and I know you can make sacrifices should the time come."
Message received, plain as day. Artemis wouldn't tell any of the other Olympians nor turn me into a rat provided I do my job. As long as I didn't put Western civilization at risk because of my "affection," I'd survive. I'd grown up with Artemis as one of the goddesses hovering over my shoulder and I supposed her trust in me to do what was right wasn't entirely unfounded. Whatever doing the "right" thing meant.
Playing spy and doing my job was probably one of that.
I nodded. "I know."
"Rianna?"
I whipped around, turning to look behind me, at a holo image of Chiron flickering to life.
"Is this a good time?" the centaur whispered. "There's no one around?"
"You must have the most luck on the planet," I sighed, relieved. "Everyone just left."
"Okay, good. There was a prophecy," he said, reading the urgency in my gaze. "Zoe Nightshade is leading a quest to find Artemis and they're leaving first thing tomorrow. I thought I'd let you know in case," he added. "Hold on, I wrote it down somewhere."
Chiron's image left the frame and I heard the sound of paper ruffling before he popped back into a view, a sheet of parchment in his hands. "Five shall go west to the goddess in chains, one shall be lost in the land without rain, the bane of Olympus shows the trail, Campers and Hunters combined prevail, the Titan's curse must one withstand, and one shall perish by a parent's hand," he read aloud, raising his gaze to meet mine.
I blinked, the words engraving themselves into my brain, and met his piercing gaze. "One shall perish by a parent's hand," I murmured. "Zoe-"
Chiron shook his head. "It was her choice."
Sadness swam over me and I shook my head, hoping it wouldn't come to that. Why did she have to go?
And yet, I knew Zoe as one would know a sister. She'd gladly lay her life down, fighting for Artemis' freedom, and I was in no position to stop her. We all made choices we didn't want to, or, in this case, ones that we knew would come at a great price.
"Wait," I said aloud, another line in the prophecy registering in my brain. "Bane of Olympus?"
"Zoe believes that Lady Artemis was searching for it," Chiron confirmed. "And yet, even with my age, I have no inkling of what and where it may be."
Bane of Olympus, I mused, the wheels in my head starting to turn. "Well, if it were something like Typhon, we'd know. Mount St. Helens would be exploding right now."
Chiron sighed in frustration. "I know. But none of the giant monsters like Typhon have stirred and Poseidon has given no warning about the sea monsters in his domain. Whatever this monster is, it's elusive, and I fear that it will remain a hidden threat until the moment it appears to destroy us all."
"So gloom and doom," I muttered. "I'll go look for it. I'm sure I'll figure something out, while you guys search for Artemis."
I neglected mentioning that Artemis was with me. Zoe already knew where she was, not to mention the prophecy had a clear direction: west. Telling them that she was currently a prisoner holding up the sky would help no one.
"Thank you," Chiron said. "And Rianna, dear, please be careful."
With that, he waved his hand and the image dissipated into the mist curling over the ground.
"Did you find anything about this monster?" I asked, whirling to Artemis.
She gritted her teeth, shaking her head. "No. Nothing."
"Fantastic," I sighed. "I'm going to go searching for something that doesn't want to be found. With no direction, idea, or clue of where and what it may be."
"Just use your brain," Artemis replied. "That's what you always do."
"Thanks," I muttered sarcastically. "Like there would be hidden information in my head about a bane of Olympus. I've never heard of anything like that, not even in the countless scrolls of your history that Athena made me read through on Olympus. I swear to the gods, all that useless information from the very first second of this stupid universe and the First Titanomachy is just taking up space in my head for no . . . . reason," I finished, trailing off as something was triggered..
"You figured it out, didn't you," Artemis said, a grim smile appearing on her face despite holding up the sky.
"Yeah," I replied, still thinking. "I think I figured it out."
Like that draticorisk, this monster had to be one from the first Titanomachy. One capable of single-handedly destroying Olympus. Old information, buried in the depth of my brain, was being reignited. I knew this story. I knew the story of the Ophiotaurus, and now, I had to go find it.