They landed at Crissy Field after nightfall, Cressida was mostly back to normal and able to form full sentences, such as who she was, who they were and what year it was. She was still a little wobbly on her feet, but she was more than happy to hang onto Annabeth, both girls excited to see one another before Thalia joined in on the group hug. However, the second that Dr Chase stepped out of his biplane, Cressida was shoved in Percy's direction as Annabeth ran to give him a huge hug.
As Percy made sure Cressida was ok, Dr Chase explained how he'd melted down some of the Celestial Bronze weapons Annabeth had left behind last time she left in a little experiment of his and it suddenly made sense why Athena, Goddess of Crafts and Wisdom, had taken a liking to him.
"Guys," Thalia interrupted and they turned to where she and Artemis were kneeling at Zoë's side, trying to bind her wounds.
They were instantly moving over to help but there wasn't much they could do. There was no ambrosia or nectar left, and no mortal medicine would help even if they did have it.
Zoë was shivering as the ethereal glow around her began to fade.
"Can't you heal her with magic?" Percy asked. "I mean... you're a goddess."
Artemis looked troubled. "Life is a fragile thing, Percy. If the Fates will the string to be cut, there is little I can do. But I can try."
She tried to set her hand on Zoë's side, but Zoë gripped her wrist. She looked into the goddess's eyes, and some kind of understanding passed between them.
"Have I... served thee well?" Zoë whispered.
"With great honour," Artemis said softly. "The finest of my attendants."
Zoë's face relaxed. "Rest. At last."
"I can try to heal the poison, my brave one."
But it wasn't just the poison that was killing Zoë, and even if Artemis could heal the poison, Zoë had been fated to die.
And one shall perish by a parent's hand.
Her eyes then rested on Cressida. "Even if thy does not join the Hunt, thy will be a fine hero."
"I can only hope to follow your example," Cressida replied with a small smile before Zoë turned to Thalia.
"I'm sorry we argued. We could've been sisters."
"It's my fault," Thalia said, blinking hard. "You were right about Luke, about heroes, men – everything."
"Perhaps not all men," Zoë murmured. She smiled weakly at Percy. "Do you still have the sword, Percy?"
With an arm still around Cressida, Percy reached into his pocket to pull out his pen and press it into her hand.
She grasped it contentedly. '"You spoke the truth, Percy Jackson. You are nothing like... like Hercules. I am honoured that thee carries this sword."
A shudder ran through her body.
"Zoë –" Percy said.
"Stars," she whispered. "I can see the stars again, my lady."
A tear trickled down Artemis's cheek, much like the one on Cressida's. 'Yes, my brave one. They are beautiful tonight."
"Stars," Zoë repeated. Her eyes fixed on the night sky. And she did not move again.
Thalia lowered her head. Annabeth gulped down a sob, and her father put his hands on her shoulders. Cressida hid her face on Percy's shoulder as Artemis cupped her hand over Zoë's face and spoke a few words in Ancient Greek.
A silvery wisp of smoke exhaled from Zoë's lips and was caught in the hand of the goddess. Zoë's body shimmered and disappeared. Artemis stood, said a kind of blessing, breathed into her cupped hand and released the silver dust to the sky. It flew up, sparkling, and vanished.
For a moment, it was as if nothing happened, but then Annabeth gasped and Cressida finally looked up to see what Artemis had done. The stars seemed brighter now and they made a pattern no one had ever noticed before - a gleaming constellation that looked like a girl's figure with a bow, running across the sky. Zoë. And they were the first to see her.
"Let the world honour you, my huntress," Artemis said. "Live forever in the stars."
******************************************************************
Artemis had made a hasty exit after that, having to leave immediately in order to make the council meeting but she didn't leave them stranded. As Annabeth conversed with her father, three beautiful pegasi descended through the fog, two pure white and one pure black.
"Blackjack," Percy called as the black horse trotted over to him and the son of Poseidon began talking to him. "It was rough," Percy admitted when Blackjack asked how it went before he introduced the other two pegasi as Guido and Porkpie.
"BJ!" Cressida grinned and the horse eagerly left Percy in the dust as he made his way over to her, nuzzling her face as he introduced his friends to her, not that she'd know.
"This here is the boss lady. You stay at camp and she'll hook you up with whatever you need. Oh, and her grapes! Don't get me started on her grapes. I swear, they are even better than doughnuts."
"Impossible," Porkpie said.
"Lemme try them first," Guido said.
"Ok, enough about grapes," Percy interrupted.
"Oh, are they hungry? I can fix that easy en-"
"Don't you dare," Percy warned with a pointed finger. "You just held up the sky, like hell you're calming anyone down or even summoning a vine after that stunt."
"Oh," she said with a wicked gleam in her eye. "Is that the stunt you were talking about before?"
"Shut up," Percy snapped as his face went red. "Blackjack, how fast can you get my friends and I to Olympus?"
Blackjack neighed and Percy ended up assuring him that Dr Chase wasn't coming with them even though he was completely enamoured with the aerodynamics of Blackjack and his friends.
"Fascinating," he said. "Such manoeuvrability! How does the wingspan compensate for the weight of the horse's body, I wonder?"
Blackjack cocked his head in confusion as Cressida rubbed his flank. "You're ok. He won't hurt you," she promised as Dr Chase rambled about the British and Blackjack rubbed his face against hers.
"Ok, enough of this we've got to go," Percy interrupted and Blackjack knelt for Cressida to get on.
"Oh, thank you. I would never have been able to climb up," she sighed as she climbed on, and Blackjack got back to his feet.
"What? She gets special treatment and I don't?" Percy protested and Blackjack whinnied.
"Boss lady's hurt. And she makes special grapes. No offence boss man," Blackjack had said not that Cressida understood.
"Just get us to Olympus," Percy huffed as he climbed up behind her.
But before they could take off, Dr Chase called, "Annabeth. I know... I know San Francisco is a dangerous place for you. But please remember you always have a home with us. We will keep you safe."
Annabeth didn't answer, but her eyes were red as she turned away. Dr Chase started to say more, then apparently thought better of it. He raised his hand in sad farewell and trudged away across the dark field.
Thalia and Annabeth then mounted their pegasi as they soared over the bay and towards the eastern hills. Soon San Francisco was only a glittering crescent behind them.
Thalia passed out on Porkpie's back, mostly not to deal with her fear of heights but she didn't have to worry about it as the pegasi flew with ease, adjusting himself every once in a while, so Thalia stayed safely on his back.
Cressida was also completely exhausted as she leaned back against Percy and fell asleep, the boy blaming his red cheeks on the cold wind and lifting his fingers to her neck every few minutes to make sure that she was still alive because she was so eerily still that it scared him. It scared him because it looked exactly the way Zoë had.
Percy was then left talking with Annabeth.
"You guys didn't believe I was dead?" she'd asked.
"Never," Percy said without missing a beat.
"Is she ok?"
Percy spared Cressida a glance.
"She will be. We both took losing you pretty hard. And this quest, it was... rougher than the others."
The topic then changed to the fact that Luke wasn't dead. Annabeth felt it the same way they had for her.
And all of a sudden, the lights of New York were shining up ahead.
"You're the man, Blackjack! Er, the horse, I mean," Percy praised as Blackjack bragged,
"How's that for speedy, boss? We get extra hay for breakfast or what? Or better yet, how about some of Boss lady's grapes?"
"You don't believe me about Luke," Annabeth said, "but we'll see him again. He's in trouble, Percy. He's under Kronos's spell."
After everything he went through to save her, the fact that Annabeth still had feelings for him and was still making excuses after both Zoë and Bianca died because of him. Luke couldn't be alive. It wouldn't be fair.
"There it is," Thalia said. She had woken up and she was pointing towards Manhattan which was quickly getting closer. "It's started."
"What's started?" Percy asked.
Then he looked up to where she pointed.
High above the Empire State Building, Olympus was its own island of light, a floating mountain ablaze with torches and braziers, white marble palaces gleaming in the early morning air.
"The winter solstice," Thalia said. "The Council of the Gods."
"Hey, Wine Vine? Time to get up."