Ch. 27
(Three years since the last time anyone has seen Percy Jackson) (Time on Earth) (Six years to Percy and Co.)
The hunters were currently tracking down a group of monsters that had been gathering near Los Angeles. Zoe walked a few yards behind her mistress, staring sadly at Artemis' back as she continued to push forward. When Zoe had convinced her best friend to pick herself up instead of mopping around after Percy's disappearance, she hadn't realized what she had been getting herself and the rest of the hunt into. For three straight years, the hunters had been on the move, moving from hunt to hunt without break.
Although exhausting, Zoe couldn't deny the fact that the hunters had become an almost flawless fighting unit. In the three years, they had only lost one hunter, a young daughter of Aphrodite who was killed by a Hydra they had been hunting. In the past three years, the hunt had also not picked up a single new recruit. Artemis seemed to have decided she liked the group of girls she had and had no interest in bringing in anyone else. The only new recruit since Percy's death had been Piper McLean, the girlfriend of Jason Grace before he died in the battle with the giants. The girl had been a wreck until Thalia offered her a place in the hunt and taken her under her wing as they both grieved over Jason.
Now the hunt had three fully immortal hunters with Piper to go along with Zoe and Bianca. Zoe felt a familiar sadness enter her heart when she thought about being immortal. She should be stuck down in Elysium instead of with her sisters and mistress in the world of the living. Now she would be able to spend eternity with the hunt, thanks to her friend Percy. Zoe sighed as she continued to follow Artemis. She knew in her heart Percy was alive. She knew he would one day return; she just wished that day would hurry up and get here. Zoe longed to see her mistress happy again instead of carrying her grief buried underneath her insatiable lust for monster blood.
Artemis led the hunters into every single skirmish, picking out the most dangerous target and usually fighting it alone. Despite requests from both her lieutenants, Artemis refused to slow down. She seemed to think that killing as many monsters as she could would somehow make her forget about the pain of losing Percy. It never worked. Artemis' once glowing silver eyes were now dulled from the pain she carried. No matter how much time passed, the grief never seemed to lessen for the goddess.
Zoe was brought out of her thoughts as she almost walked straight into Artemis who had stopped and was now crouching on the ground in front of Zoe.
"What's wrong milady?" Zoe asked quietly.
Artemis' eyes narrowed as she looked at the area in front of her, "There is something powerful nearby, more powerful than what we are hunting."
Zoe was about to respond when an arrow flew from the side and caught Artemis in the leg. Zoe's eyes widened when she saw her mistress collapse onto the ground unconscious.
Zoe pulled out her bow and looked around wildly as the other hunters did the same. The shadows seemed to shift and shimmer around them as they tried to find a target. A figure in a suit walked out of the woods to the left of the hunters.
Zoe's eyes narrowed when she saw the Titan Prometheus walking towards them.
"Back away little girls. You have one chance to leave with your lives but your mistress is coming with us." Prometheus said arrogantly as he smiled smugly at Zoe.
"You won't touch her." Zoe growled back at the Titan.
Prometheus simply smirked as the shadows behind him started to solidify and monsters began to pop out of them. After a minute or two, around a hundred monsters stood behind the Titan looking hungrily at the hunters.
Zoe paled a bit at the number of monsters in front of the roughly twenty five hunters. Prometheus was smart; the monsters weren't made up of mindless Cyclops and Hellhounds. Zoe counted at least four Drakons as well as a Hydra. Zoe stepped forward, standing protectively in front of her unconscious mistress as she eyed the monsters warily. They would most likely lose a number of hunters in this battle if they even managed to win.
Zoe pulled back her bow string as a black arrow appeared, notched and aimed at the Titan. Before she could release, two blinding flashes of light appeared between her and the Titan and his army of monsters. Zoe had to shield her eyes from the shear brightness of the light. When the light died down, her eyes widened. In front of her were two warriors dressed in pure white armor. What shocked her the most were the white wings protruding out of their backs. Their heads were covered in pure white helmets that had visors that covered their faces from the nose up. The helmets were similar to a Greek styled helms with a white plume, the only difference came in the tinted visors that concealed the majority of the warriors' faces. One warrior was slightly taller than the other, both seemed rather well built as they stood in front of the hunters in an almost protective position.
Before Zoe could speak, Prometheus did, "You are fools for coming here. You warriors of Aether are no match for our forces." He spat with disgust.
The warriors remained silent. Zoe looked at the two men in shock. Warriors of Aether were not what she was expecting to hear when they appeared. She couldn't think of a reason the two warriors would come to the hunter's aide.
The two men looked at each other briefly before the taller of the two sent a blast of pure white energy into the closest Drakon. The monster shrieked in pain before dissolving into golden dust.
The monsters wasted no time in charging toward the two warriors as the hunters quickly loaded their bows and began to fire into the monsters.
The two warriors pulled out swords and waited. When the monsters were within ten yards, the they charged. The two wielded their blades with a kind of flawless precision Zoe had only seen in one person in her life and that was Percy Jackson. Whoever these two warriors were, they were very skilled with a blade. Since they seemed to be there to help the hunters, Zoe decided she could wait to ask why they were there.
Percy smirked when he saw the monsters charging toward him and Jason. He knew he had to be careful while he was there, despite how much it hurt him, he couldn't reveal himself to the hunters yet; it was too soon and he could not let Aether or Hemera down.
Percy looked briefly at Jason who nodded slightly before Percy and he charged toward the monsters. The two had a natural fluidity when fighting together but over the past six years it had grown exponentially. Jason had become a brother to him and his closest friend.
When they reached the monsters, Percy swung a disguised Riptide through the leg of a charging Cyclops as he spun, smashing the hilt of his blade into a Dracaena who was right behind the Cyclops. Jason decapitated the Cyclops that Percy injured before charging up his blade with electricity and driving it into the chest of Laistrygonian Giant that was about to smack Percy with his club.
"We need to do this quickly bro. Artemis was probably poisoned." Percy yelled as he ducked under an arrow fired by an Empousai.
Jason nodded as he felt the winds started to pick up. Jason focused on adding to the winds before bringing down a huge bolt of lightning on a group of Cyclops who were about to charge at them.
The monsters struggled to keep their footing under the whipping winds and sheets of rain and hail that poured down. Jason brought down lightning bolts one after another, hardly breaking his concentration as he and Percy continued to slice through the monsters.
A Drakon lunged toward Percy but was knocked out of the air by a lightning bolt, crashing to the ground in front of Percy where it quickly received a blade driven into its skull courtesy of Percy. Percy and Jason lets the storm dissipate, allowing the hunters to resume picking off monsters from their position behind the warriors of Aether.
The hunters continued to pick off the smaller monsters as Percy and Jason approached the Hydra. Without a word, Jason vanished into a blinding light, causing the Hydra to turn its heads. He reappeared in front of the monster and quickly severed three of the heads before flashing away again.
Percy sent fireballs into the three severed heads, before sending a blast of energy into the roaring monster. The Hydra was knocked back from the blast but managed to spit poison at Percy before it was hit. Percy's wings wrapped protectively around his body, taking the poison before it could reach his skin. Percy let out a somewhat muffled scream of pain as he stumbled back. His wings smoked as the poison burned its way into them.
Percy was smacked by the fist of a Laistrygonian Giant as he was distracted by the pain in his wings. He was knocked back a few feet before finally regaining his composure. The giant charged at Percy but this time Percy was ready. As the giant raised his club, Percy lunged forward and drove Riptide through its stomach before ripping the blade out and slashing it across the stunned monsters throat.
Percy charged back at the Hydra just as Jason blasted it back with lightning. Percy stabbed a Hellhound and slit the throat of a Cyclops before he reached Jason. Jason cut off a head before a bolt of lightning blasted the final head off the beast. Percy sent fireballs at the two heads before a Drakon sunk its teeth into his leg. Percy let loose an agonizing scream of pain as the monster's teeth imbedded deeply into his leg.
Jason's eyes widened when he saw the Drakon's teeth buried into his best friend's legs. He blasted the monster back with lightning and jumped onto its back as it released Percy. Jason jumped towards its head and drove his blade into the back of its skull as his entire body was crackling with electricity. The Drakon convulsed as electricity coursed through its body before it dissolved.
Jason turned to check on Percy only to see him vanish. Jason whirled around to find the battlefield empty, the surviving monsters slinking back in the shadows. A flash of light near the hunters caught his eye as Percy reappeared with his sword through the shoulder of Prometheus as he tried to sneak towards the hunters. Jason quickly flashed to Percy's side as Percy had the Titan of Forethought pinned to the ground with Riptide through his shoulder.
"Going somewhere Prometheus?" Percy growled.
Prometheus narrowed his eyes at Percy, "Just kill me. Return me to my master so that I can attack this little bitch again."
Percy twisted his blade as Prometheus screamed in pain. The hunters were gathered around Percy, Jason and Prometheus watching their interaction carefully.
"I think not Titan. My lord has other plans for you." Percy spat as Jason clamped celestial bronze shackles onto the Titan's wrists.
Prometheus' face quickly shifted into a look of terror. Percy looked at Jason and nodded. Jason nodded back and crouched down next to the Titan putting a hand on his shoulder. Jason looked through the crowd of hunters until he found Piper looking at him and Percy with awe and confusion.
"Soon." Jason whispered to himself before vanishing into a blinding light with the horrified Titan.
Percy turned to Artemis' unconscious form and took a limping step toward her until he was met with a spear to his throat from Phoebe.
"Where do you think you're going, boy?" Phoebe hissed.
"I'm going to heal her. Unless you think you can do it yourself, then get that fucking spear out of my face." Percy growled.
Phoebe's eyes widened before she tried to press the spear harder into his throat. Quicker than the hunter's eyes could follow, he stepped the side and smacked Phoebe's hands with the flat of his blade which caused the spear to fly out of her hand where Percy caught it.
The hunters all had bows out and aimed for Percy until Zoe spoke up, "Lower your weapons. He helped us in the battle. If he says he can heal her then allow him. We will simply watch him."
The hunters all slowly lowered their weapons. Percy gave a nod to Zoe and tossed Phoebe her spear. He knelt down next to Artemis. He looked at the wound worriedly as he could smell the poison coming from the wound. Percy shook his head as this wasn't what he wanted to do but he had to risk it for Artemis.
"I need water and nectar." Percy yelled.
A hunter quickly gathered the two items and brought them over to Percy. When Percy looked up at the hunter he paused for a minute. The hunter was his little sister Sophie. She was eight now and had grown a lot in the three years Percy had been gone. Percy had to stop himself from pulling her into the hug and took the items quickly, not looking into her sea green eyes.
Percy turned back to Artemis, pulling the arrow out of her leg and pouring the water onto her wound. He quickly put his hands over the wound as they started to glow. The hunters all watch in awe while Zoe looked at the man suspiciously.
Percy covered the wound with his hands as he tried to conceal his use of water powers from the hunters. He used the water to draw the poison out while increasing the glow on his hands. After a few minutes Percy pulled his hands back and picked up the nectar. He poured a little on her wound until it closed up completely. Percy looked down at the sleeping form of Artemis and had to use every bit of his willpower not to rip off his helmet and pick her up in his arms. Percy closed his eyes tightly as he forced himself to stand up.
"She is fine. The poison is out of her body. She should wake up soon." Percy said emotionlessly.
"Thank you for healing her." Zoe said as she eyed Percy suspiciously.
Percy nodded but didn't say anything else.
"Who are you? And who was that other guy? One of you must be a son of Zeus from all the lightning I saw coming down." Thalia asked, speaking for the first time since the warriors arrived. She rarely spoke since the death of Percy and Jason as she was still dealing with the grief of their deaths.
"I am a warrior of Aether as was my lieutenant. We are no sons of Zeus. Our powers were given to us from Lord Aether." Percy said back quickly. He felt bad lying to Thalia but then again, neither of them were technically a son of Zeus. Despite his way of justifying it, Percy felt terrible lying to one of his best friends.
Thalia head dropped a bit as she thought she had just found more family but she quickly shook it off and nodded.
"Can we do anything for your wounds? Your wings and leg seem to be in pretty bad shape." Bianca asked gesturing the ichor pouring covering Percy's leg.
Percy shook his head, "I am fine. I will be healed when I return home."
"Why are you here?" Zoe asked.
"Lord Aether commanded us to track down the Titan Prometheus as he knew the Titan was targeting your mistress." Percy replied.
"Why was he targeting her?" Zoe asked.
Percy shrugged, "We do not ask for explanations from Lord Aether. We simply follow his orders."
"Why do you hide your face behind a helmet?" Zoe asked.
"It is part of my armor. I must return to Lord Aether now." Percy said back quickly.
Zoe's eyes narrowed, "Who said you could leave?"
Percy chuckled causing Zoe to pull out her bow and aim at Percy again.
"I promise we will meet again soon huntresses. Take care of your mistress." Percy said before turning and looking at Zoe, "Nice bow Zoe." He said before he vanished into a blinding light.
Zoe's eyes widened at his words before she cursed as he vanished before she could ask him more. She was almost positive that the warrior was Percy after he said her name. She just couldn't understand why he wouldn't tell them. She wanted to ask the other hunters about it but decided it would be bad to get their hopes up in case it wasn't Percy. For now she would keep her suspicions to herself but she couldn't help but smile a little at the thought of her friend returning to them. Of course there was going to be Hades to pay when he did come back to not revealing himself today and that was before he had to deal with Thalia and the rest of the hunt; let alone Artemis.
Percy appeared in the arena inside the White City where he promptly dropped to the ground, the effects of the wound to his leg finally taking its toll. Luke and Clarisse were at his side quickly.
"What happened Percy?" Luke asked worriedly as he looked at the golden ichor seeping out his wound from behind his armor.
"Damn Drakon bit my leg and a Hydra hit my wings with poison. Get me some water and I'll be fine." Percy said tiredly.
A soldier quickly ran over with two pitchers of water, "Here's the water my lord." The solider said quickly.
Percy groaned, "Damn it Gabriel. What did I tell you?"
Gabriel looked down, "Not to call you lord."
Percy nodded, "And what did you just call me? I'm not a god. I'm simply your commander and your friend but if you call me that again, I'm going to smack the shit out of you. Or I'll let Clarisse do it."
Gabriel paled as he looked at an evilly grinning Clarisse, "Sorry Percy. It's just a habit. I've been in the army for six centuries and you're the first commander who didn't require us to call him lord."
Percy shook his head, "Well that's because Samuel was a complete jackass. That's why he's in Clarisse's unit now as Clarisse's personal punching bag. No one who isn't a god should be called lord."
Gabriel nodded with a small smile before returning to his training. Percy poured the water on his injured leg while Luke poured the other pitcher over his injured wings before Percy laid back as his wounds slowly healed.
"Where is Jason?" Percy asked.
Clarisse smirked, "Spending some quality time with Prometheus but he said he is waiting for you before the interrogation starts."
Percy smiled as he shook his leg before standing up to test it out. He smiled as his wounds were completely healed. He flapped his wings experimentally before the slide back into his body.
"How were things up here while we were gone?" Percy asked.
Luke scoffed, "Please Percy, we can handle things when you are gone. We trained them hard; harder than usual." Luke said as he glanced at Clarisse who rolled her eyes.
"They like my training. It toughens them up a bit from Prissy's easy training." Clarisse replied.
Percy rolled his eyes, "Alright well I'm going to spend some quality time with my old friend Prometheus, continue with Clarisse's training. A little tough love won't hurt them."
Clarisse glared at Percy, "Why do you get to have all the fun?"
Percy rolled his eyes, "This is Prometheus we're talking about. It'll take about five minutes to get him to talk. I promise you can spend some time with him when I find out what I need to."
Clarisse grinned, "I'm going to hold you to that Prissy."
Percy rolled his eyes again before vanishing from the arena and into the palace of Aether and Hemera. He reappeared inside a room where Prometheus was shackled to the wall, slightly bruised and battered but seemingly okay. Jason sat in a chair with his feet up on a table in front of the Titan.
"Prometheus my old friend, it's been far too long since we've talked." Percy said smiling as he slowly walked toward the Titan.
"Who are you?" Prometheus sneered as he eyed the man warily.
Percy shook his head, "Really Prometheus? And here I thought we were friends."
"I don't know you." Prometheus growled.
"Are you sure? You must be nervous. Here you are in Lord Aether's realm with no chance of escaping. Perhaps you would remember me if I returned the gift you gave me. It seems fitting in this moment. Answer me this, are you ready to open it?" Percy asked slyly.
Prometheus stared at Percy in confusion, "Open what?"
Percy rolled his eyes beneath his visor but Prometheus could see the smirk that appeared on his face.
"Pandora's Pithos. You must be ready to give up." Percy said back as his smirk grew.
Prometheus' eyes widened and he paled, "Jackson?"
Percy smiled and pulled his helmet off, "I knew you wouldn't forget an old friend."
"You're dead. Styx told Erebus she claimed your soul when you broke your oath to Gaia." Prometheus said back as he looked at Percy with fear.
Percy shook his head, "No, Styx is a good friend. She worked out a deal with myself and Lord Aether for the freedom of my soul. Now I serve the Lord Aether until we take care of you are your friends so Jason and I can return to our lives. I must say, I've been waiting a long time to return to my family and it's all because you and your friends and this pesky little war."
Prometheus stared at Percy in shock before he narrowed his eyes, "Why am I here?"
Percy smiled again, "A couple of reasons actually. First, you're going to tell Jason and I everything you know about Nyx and Erebus' plans. If you don't, well we'll worry about that later. Second, you just poisoned my girlfriend. You're lucky I saved her or you would be tortured until you faded; which still might happen if you don't start talking."
Prometheus looked at Percy nervously before he steeled his nerves, "I won't tell you anything. The rein of the gods is over whether Aether joins the fight or not." He spat.
Percy smiled, "I was hoping you might say that."
Percy raised his hand as he focused on the water inside Prometheus' golden ichor, slowing raising the temperature until Prometheus began to scream in agony. Jason got out of his chair and walked up the Titan where he punched him hard in the face a couple times. Percy cooled the ichor back down and looked at Prometheus expectantly. Prometheus glared at Percy before trying to spit in his face. The spit froze in midair before Percy superheated it and sent it back into Prometheus' face causing him to scream again. Jason punched the Titan a few more times before stepping back next to Percy.
Percy sighed, "I'm going to level with here Prometheus; I don't want to torture you but I don't have a choice. The sooner you talk, the sooner I can stop superheating your ichor every couple minutes for however long it takes to get you to talk. But I will do it until you talk. So if you talk now you won't suffer. If you don't; well we have all the time in the world."
Prometheus glared at Percy causing Percy to sigh again and raise his hand. Prometheus' ichor began heating up again until Prometheus spoke.
"Alright, Alright, I'll talk. But I want something in return." Prometheus said nervously as Percy kept his hand raised.
Percy slowly lowered his hand, "I'm listening."
"I want a pardon for the past two wars. When this war is over, I want to live peacefully on Earth without having to worry about being thrown back into Tartarus." Prometheus said hopefully.
Percy was silent for a minute before speaking, "That may be doable. I will need to clear it with Lord Aether but I think it will be agreeable. You will swear an oath to never go against Olympus again though. I will get you your freedom but the first time you even think about crossing me, I will boil you from the inside out. Now start talking." Percy said in a deadly serious tone.
Prometheus paled at the threat but nodded, "Erebus and Nyx know Aether plans to help the Olympians. They are going to attack earlier than Aether thinks so to catch the Olympians off guard. I was supposed to capture Artemis because she is one of the most dangerous Olympians. She isn't bound by ancient laws like the rest."
Percy nodded but his heart clenched at the thought of Artemis in danger, "Is that all?"
Prometheus shook his head, "Tartarus will be opened. Nyx and Erebus have helped reform Kronos and he will lead their armies into battle. They have also freed Atlas from his burden and Hyperion from the tree you imprisoned him in. Oceanus had joined their cause and will wage war on Atlantis."
Percy paled a bit but nodded, "Alright, I will keep my word. After this war, you will have the freedom you desire as long as you haven't lied and swear to never oppose Olympus again." Percy said before he turned to report to Aether. When he neared the door, Prometheus spoke again.
"There is one other. That Annabeth girl will be leading part of the army under Kronos. She has become rather powerful. She is immortal and blessed by Gaia, Erebus and Nyx." Prometheus said quickly.
Percy tensed but composed himself, "Thank you Prometheus. I will speak to Aether about better accommodations for you during the war." Percy said before he and Jason walked out of the room.
When the two closed the door behind them Jason put a hand on Percy's shoulder to stop him, "Are you okay bro?"
Percy nodded, "I'm fine. I'm just sick of that bitch continually coming back into my life."
Jason nodded, "I know she's taken a lot from you but don't forget about everything you do have. You've got a beautiful goddess who loves you as well as two Olympian parents who would do anything for you. And a group of friends that have your back no matter you face. When the time comes, you won't be facing this war alone. You're my brother Percy, where you go, I go. Don't forget that."
Percy nodded and slowly started to smile, "You're right. I just can't wait to get this war over with and go back to our girls and our family and friends. These past six years have been way too long and seeing Artemis today made it even worse."
Jason nodded, "I know, it was hard not to rip off my helmet to show Thalia and Piper that I'm alive again."
"I know what you mean. You do know the girls are going to kill us right?" Percy asked.
Jason raised an eyebrow.
Percy shook his head, "When they find out we were right in front of them today and didn't reveal ourselves. I have a bad feeling our reunions might be more painful than we hoped."
Jason paled, "Shit, I never even thought of that.
Percy smirked, "Remember, you'll be with me no matter what I face. When the girls find out, I expect you at my side when the goddess of the hunt releases her wrath."
Jason's eyes widened, "Yea about that, maybe we'll face our own girls ourselves."
Percy scowled, "Real nice bro. You're as good as dead too though. The hunters can be merciless when they're angry. Now that Piper's a hunter, you'll have to face them all."
Jason's eyes widened but Percy just threw an arms around his shoulder, "Relax buddy, it'll be worth it in the end."
Jason smiled wistfully, "You got that right Perce."