[Percy's POV]
"We will never make it," Zoe said. "We are moving too slow. But we cannot leave the Ophiotaurus."
"Mooo," Bessie said. He swam next to me as we jogged along the waterfront. We'd left the shopping center pier far behind. We were heading toward the Golden Gate Bridge, but it was a lot farther than I'd realized. The sun was already dipping in the western end of the sky.
"I don't get it," I said. "Why do we have to get there at sunset?"
"The Hesperides are the nymphs of the sunset," Zoe said. "We can only enter their garden as day changes to night."
"What happens if we miss it?" Y/N asked, running backwards so he didn't leave us in the dust. "Tomorrow is the winter solstice. If we miss sunset tonight, we would have to wait until tomorrow evening. And by then, the Olympian Council will be over. We must free Lady Artemis tonight."
"We're still not sure what we're going to need to free her from. So we had better be ready for anything." Y/N continued.
"We need a car," Thalia said. "But what about Bessie?" I asked. Grover skidded to a halt. "I've got an idea! The Ophiotaurus can appear in different bodies of water, right?"
"Well, yeah," I said. "I mean, he was in Long Island Sound. Then he just popped into the water at Hoover Dam. And now he's here."
"So maybe we could coax him back to Long Island Sound," Grover said. "Then Chiron could help us get him to Olympus."
"But he was following me," I said. "If I'm not there, would he know where he's going?"
"Moo," Bessie said forlornly. "I... I can show him," Grover said. "I'll go with him." I stared at him. Grover was no fan of the water. He'd almost drowned last summer in the Sea of Monsters, and he couldn't swim very well with his goat hooves.
"I'm the only one who can talk to him," Grover said. "It makes sense." He bent down and said something in Bessie's ear. Bessie shivered, then made a contented, lowing sound.
"The blessing of the Wild," Grover said. "That should help with safe passage. Percy, pray to your dad, too. See if he'll grant us safe passage through the seas."
I didn't understand how they could possibly swim back to Long Island from California. Then again, monsters didn't travel the same way as humans. I'd seen plenty of evidence of that. I tried to concentrate on the waves, the smell of the ocean, the sound of the tide.
"Dad," I said. "Help us. Get the Ophiotaurus and Grover safely to camp. Protect them at sea."
"A prayer like that needs a sacrifice," Thalia said. "Something big." I thought for a second. Then I took off my coat.
"Percy," Grover said. "Are you sure? That lion skin... that's really helpful. Hercules used it!"
As soon as he said that, I realized something. I glanced at Zoe, who was watching me carefully. I realized I did know who Zoe's hero had been. The one who'd ruined her life, gotten her kicked out of her family, and never even mentioned how she'd helped him: Hercules, a hero I'd admired all my life.
"If I'm going to survive," I said, "it won't be because I've got a lion-skin cloak. I'm not Hercules."
I threw the coat into the bay. It turned back into a golden lion skin, flashing in the light. Then, as it began to sink beneath the waves, it seemed to dissolve into sunlight on the water. The sea breeze picked up.
Grover took a deep breath. "Well, no time to lose." He jumped in the water and immediately began to sink. Bessie glided next to him and let Grover take hold of his neck.
"Be careful," I told them.
"We will," Grover said. "Okay, um... Bessie? We're going to Long Island. It's east. Over that way."
"Moooo?" Bessie said.
"Yes," Grover answered. "Long Island. It's this island. And... It's long. Oh, let's just start."
"Mooo!"
Bessie lurched forward. He started to submerge and Grover said, "I can't breathe underwater! Just thought I'd mention-"
Under they went, and I hoped my father's protection would extend to little things, like breathing. "Well, that is one problem addressed," Zoe said. "But how can we get to my sisters' garden?"
"Thalia's right," I said. "We need a car. But there's nobody to help us here. Unless we, uh, borrowed one." I didn't like that option. I mean, sure this was a life or death situation, but still, it was stealing, and it was bound to get us noticed.
"I haven't quite perfected hotwiring yet, but I do think there's someone around here we can ask." Y/N said, scratching his chin nervously.
"Wait," Thalia said. She started rifling through her backpack. "He's right. There is somebody in San Francisco who can help us. I've got the address here somewhere."
"Who?" I asked.
"Annabeth's dad." Y/N said, as Thalia fished a small map cutout from her bag.
[Y/N's POV]
I'd seen Annabeth's dad twice. Once in a vision created by the sirens, and another time at the top of Half Blood Hill, at the end of the summer where we retrieved the lightning bolt.
With all of her complaints, I'd have thought her dad acted like some evil ghoul or something. But no. He was just some guy. Some really weird guy. You could tell right away though, that this was Annabeth's dad.
He wore an old fashioned pilot's cap, with the goggles down. When he opened the door, I could have sworn that his eyes were going to pop right out of his head. We all jumped when he rushed onto the porch, his excitement palpable as he looked down at us.
"Hello," he said in a friendly voice, "Are you delivering my airplanes?" Thalia, Zoe, Percy, and I looked at each other warily. "No... No airplanes, sir," I said.
"Drat," he said. "I need three more Sopwith Camels."
"Okay... Mr Chase-" I swallowed a lump in my throat. Not really sure how to talk to people's dads. Considering I've never even met mine. "We're some of Annabeth's friends."
"Annabeth?" He straightened as if I'd just given him an electric shock. "Is she all right? Has something happened?" I went to say something, but whatever would have come out, got gun shy. None of us could bring ourselves to answer, but he must have seen something on our faces that gave him the answer he needed.
He took off the cap and goggles. It looked like he hadn't shaved in a couple of days, and his shirt was buttoned wrong, so one side of his collar stuck up higher than the other side.
"You'd better come in," he said.
This house looked lived in, to say the least. Not like Annabeth told me. At the dance in the military academy before this whole extravaganza started, she said that her dad had sprung the move to San Francisco onto her with little to no warning.
Lego robots were stamped in pieces on the stairs. Two cats were out cold on the couch in the living room. Magazines were covering the coffee table, and a little kid's winter jacket was underfoot.
The house smelled amazing. Something much needed after the stink that the pier forced on me. I thought I'd throw up if I even breathed in a whiff. But this house smelled like a bakery. Warm, steamy pastries, cookies, and whatever else.
Jazz music was playing in the kitchen. This seemed like a house that was inhabited forever. The Chases sure knew how to make a place look well used.
"Dad!" a little boy screamed. "He's taking apart my robots!"
"Bobby," Dr. Chase called absently, "don't take apart your brother's robots."
"I'm Bobby," the little boy protested. "He's Matthew!"
"Matthew," Dr. Chase called, "don't take apart your brother's robots!"
"Okay, Dad!"
Dr. Chase turned to us. "We'll go upstairs to my study. This way."
"Honey?" a woman called. Annabeth's stepmom appeared in the living room, wiping her hands on a dish towel. She was a pretty Asian woman with red highlighted hair tied in a bun. "Who are our guests?" she asked.
"Oh," Dr. Chase said. "This is..." He stared at us blankly. "Frederick," she chided. "You forgot to ask then their names?"
We introduced ourselves a little uneasily, but Mrs. Chase seemed really nice. She asked if we were hungry. We admitted we were, and she told us she'd bring us some cookies and sandwiches and sodas.
"Dear," Dr. Chase said. "They came about Annabeth."
I almost expected Annabeth's stepmom to launch into some rant about her crazy stepdaughter, and all of that, but she looked mostly concerned, and said, "All right. Go on up to the study and I'll bring you some food."
She smiled at me. "Nice meeting you after all this time, Y/N. Annabeth's told us quite a bit about you." She said.
I smiled weakly, yet confusedly. She'd talked to her family about me?
Weird.
Upstairs, we walked into Dr. Chase's study and I said, "Wow!"
The entire room was a library. I was starting to see just why Athena fell for this guy. The thing that really caught my eyes was the war reenactment on display. He had a giant table covered in mini tanks, and figurines of soldiers, all on top of a painted battlefield, complete with hills, rivers, and fake trees. There were also a bunch of planes strung up over the battlefield. They were in the middle of a dogfight.
Dr. Chase smiled. "Yes. The Third Battle of Ypres. I'm writing a paper, you see, on the use of Sopwith Camels to strafe enemy lines. I believe they played a much greater role than they've been given credit for."
He plucked a biplane from its string and swept it across the battlefield, making airplane engine noises as he knocked down little German soldiers.
"Oh, yeah," I said. Annabeth mentioned that her dad was a professor of military history, but she never mentioned how much of a dork he was. In that sense, he reminded me of his daughter. I was beginning to like the guy.
Zoe came over and studied the battlefield. "The German lines were farther from the river." Dr. Chase stared at her. "How do you know that?"
"I was there," she said matter-of-factly. "Artemis wanted to show us how horrible war was, the way mortal men fight each other. And how foolish, too. The battle was a complete waste."
Dr. Chase opened his mouth in shock. "You-"
"She's a Hunter, sir," Thalia said. "But that's not why we're here. We need-"
"You saw the Sopwith Camels?" Dr. Chase said. "How many were there? What formations did they fly?"
"Sir," Thalia broke in again. "Annabeth is in danger."
That got his attention. He set the biplane down. "Of course," he said. "Tell me everything."
The others tried their best. I couldn't say anything, because the closer we got to our eventual destination, the more I felt I was going to throw up. If I said anything right now, my insides may start spilling out. The problem was that the sun started going down outside. Our already short timer was running even further thin.
When we'd finished, Dr. Chase collapsed in his leather recliner. He laced his hands. "My poor brave Annabeth. We must hurry."
"Sir, we need transportation to Mount Tamalpais," Zoe said. "And we need it immediately."
"I'll drive you. Hmm. it would be faster to fly in my Camel, but it only seats two."
"You've got an actual plane?" I said. "Down at Crissy Field," Dr. Chase said proudly. "That's the reason I had to move here. My sponsor is a private collector with some of the finest World War I relics in the world. He let me restore the Sopwith Camel-"
"You've got to take me on a ride in that when this is done." I started. Thalia elbowed me. "Sir," Thalia said. "Just a car would be great. And it might be better if we went without you. It's too dangerous."
Dr. Chase frowned uncomfortably. "Now wait a minute, young lady. Annabeth is my daughter. Dangerous or not, I... I can't just-"
"Snacks," Mrs. Chase announced. She pushed through the door with a tray full of peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches and Cokes and cookies fresh out of the oven, the chocolate chips still gooey. Thalia and Percy inhaled a few cookies while Zoe said, "I can drive, sir. I'm not as young as I look. I promise not to destroy your car."
Mrs. Chase knit her eyebrows. "What's this about?"
"Annabeth is in danger," Dr. Chase said. "On Mount Tam. I would drive them, but... apparently it's no place for mortals."
It sounded like it was really hard for him to get that last part out.
I waited for Mrs. Chase to say no. I mean, what mortal parent would allow three underage teenagers (and an immortal one) to borrow their car? To my surprise, Mrs. Chase nodded. "Then they'd better get going."
"Right!" Dr. Chase jumped up and started patting his pockets. "My keys..."
His wife sighed. "Frederick, honestly. You'd lose your head if it weren't wrapped inside your aviator hat. The keys are hanging on the peg by the front door."
"Right!" Dr. Chase said.
Zoe grabbed a sandwich. "Thank you both. We should go. Now." We hustled out the door and down the stairs, the Chases right behind us.
"Y/N," Mrs. Chase called as I was leaving, "Tell Annabeth... Tell her she still has a home here, will you? Remind her of that."
I nodded, taking one last look at the homey interior of the Chase dwelling. I'd like to live somewhere like that when I get old. Have a couple of kids, get married. Get a job. Just enjoy life.
I looked at Annabeth's family. "I'll tell her." I cleared my throat. "And I promise I'll bring her back. No matter what." They looked worried, but relieved by my words. Mr Chase motioned for me to go, so I did.
We ran out to the yellow VW convertible parked in the driveway. The sun was going down. I figured we had less than an hour to get in there and save Annabeth. An hour until she would be killed.
"Can't this thing go any faster?" Thalia demanded from the back seat. Zoe glared at her. "I cannot control traffic."
"You both sound like my mother," Percy said. "Shut up!" they said in unison. I spent the drive breathing deeply, and shakily. I knew that whatever was going to happen up there, wasn't going to be easy. And with the prophecies colliding, I could die. So for now, I needed to save my energy, and focus.
Zoe weaved in and out of traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge. The sun was sinking on the horizon when we finally got into Marin County and exited the highway. The roads were insanely narrow, winding through forests and up the sides of hills and around the edges of steep ravines. She didn't slow down at all.
"Why does everything smell like cough drops?" I asked. "Eucalyptus." Zoe pointed to the huge trees all around us. "The stuff koala bears eat?" Percy asked.
"And monsters," she said. "They love chewing the leaves. Especially dragons."
"Dragons chew eucalyptus leaves?"
"Believe me," Zoe said, "if you had dragon breath, you would chew eucalyptus too." That made plenty of sense, so I didn't ask anymore questions. But the mention of dragons only made me tense up more.
I looked across the center console of the car to see Zoe gripping the steering wheel with white knuckles. She was almost shaking with nerves. I reached a hand over. Whether it was to ground myself, or comfort Zoe, I couldn't tell you.
"Hey, it's gonna be okay. We're going to get them back." Zoe took a shaky breath. "It is not that I am worried about."
Her eyes never rested on one thing for more than a second. "Y/N," she muttered. "Whatever does happen up there, I would like to apologize."
I tilted my head at her. "What for?"
She pursed her lips, like it was supposed to be obvious. "For the things I've said. For the pain I've caused you."
"Oh... yeah. That."
I couldn't pretend like I hadn't still felt the sting of everything that happened in that train car. But because of what Apollo told me, I started to see things in a new light. There were reasons why these things happened.
Were they excusable actions now? No. Not at all. But it didn't feel the same anymore. What I once thought was purposeless anger, needless hatred, was directed at me because of my father. A horrible man.
"Well, thank you..." I replied. "I've hurt you, Y/N. For little to no reason. And I am remorseful of my actions. I shouldn't act this way to you just because of your father. You're far from what he ever was."
That brought a faint smile to my face as Zoe dive-bombed through lanes of traffic. "I..." she began. "I am truly sorry... my friend." she said, biting the inside of her cheek as she looked at the road.
I put a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay, Zoe... let's go get Annabeth and my mom back before we get all sappy, huh?"
She cracked a very faint nervous smirk on the corner of her lips. "Yes... the time for apologies will be... after." She finished in all but a whisper.
After that, I just closed my eyes, trying to gather my focus for whatever was ahead.
[Percy's POV]
Ahead of us, further down the horizon, Mount Tamalpais hung in front of the sky.
I guess, in terms of mountains, it was a small one, but it looked plenty huge as we were driving toward it. "So that's the Mountain of Despair?" I asked. "Yes," Zoe said tightly.
"Why do they call it that?"
She was silent for almost a mile before answering. "After the war between the Titans and the gods, many of the Titans were punished and imprisoned. Kronos was sliced to pieces and thrown into Tartarus. Kronos's right-hand man, the general of his forces, was imprisoned up there, on the summit, just beyond the Garden of the Hesperides."
"The General," I said. Clouds seemed to be swirling around its peak, as though the mountain was drawing them in, spinning them like a top. "What's going on up there? A storm?" Zoe didn't answer. I got the feeling she knew exactly what the clouds meant, and she didn't like it.
"We have to concentrate," Thalia said. "The Mist is really strong here."
"The magical kind or the natural kind?" I asked.
"Both." Y/N answered, his eyes closed tightly at the moment. I figured it best not to interfere with whatever he was trying to do right now.
The gray clouds swirled even thicker over the mountain, and we kept driving straight toward them. We were out of the forest now, into wide open spaces of cliffs and grass and rocks and fog. I happened to glance down at the ocean as we passed a scenic curve, and I saw something that made me jump out of my seat.
"Look!" But we turned a corner and the ocean disappeared behind the hills.
"What?" Thalia asked. "A big white ship," I said. "Docked near the beach. It looked like a cruise ship." Her eyes widened. "Luke's ship?"
I wanted to say I wasn't sure. It might be a coincidence. But I knew better. The Princess Andromeda, Luke's demon cruise ship, was docked at that beach. That's why he'd sent his ship all the way down to the Panama Canal. It was the only way to sail it from the East Coast to California.
"We will have company, then," Zoe said grimly. "Kronos's army."
I was about to answer, when suddenly the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. Thalia shouted, "Stop the car. NOW!" Zoe must've sensed something was wrong, because she slammed on the brakes without question. The yellow VW spun twice before coming to a stop at the edge of the cliff.
"Out!" Thalia opened the door and pushed me hard. We both rolled onto the pavement. Zoe grabbed Y/N by the hand and ripped him out of his seat. The next second: BOOOM!
Lightning flashed, and Dr. Chase's Volkswagen erupted like a canary-yellow grenade. I probably would've been killed by shrapnel except for Thalia's shield, which appeared over me. I heard a sound like a metal ram, and when I opened my eyes, we were surrounded by wreckage. Part of the VW's fender had impaled itself in the street. The smoking hood was spinning in circles. Pieces of yellow metal were strewn across the road.
"So much for not destroying his car." Y/N said, catching his breath and standing, looking at the smoldering pile of metal that used to be Frederick Chase's car.
I swallowed the taste of smoke out of my mouth, and looked at Thalia. "You saved my life."
"One shall perish by a parent's hand" she muttered. "Curse him. He would destroy me? Me?"
It took me a second to realize she was talking about her dad. "Oh, hey, that couldn't have been Zeus's lightning bolt. No way."
"Whose, then?" Thalia demanded. "I don't know. Zoe said Kronos's name. Maybe he-" Thalia shook her head, looking angry and stunned. "No. That wasn't it."
"Wait," I said. "Where's Zoe? Zoe!"
We all got up and ran around the blasted VW. Nothing inside. Nothing either direction down the road. I looked down the cliff. No sign of her. "Zoe!" I shouted. Then she was standing right next to me, pulling me by my arm. "Silence, fool! Do you want to wake Ladon?"
"You mean we're here?"
"Very close," she said. "Follow me."
Sheets of fog were drifting right across the road. Zoe stepped into one of them, and when the fog passed, she was no longer there. Thalia and I looked at each other. "Concentrate on Zoe," Thalia advised. "We are following her. Go straight into the fog and keep that in mind."
"Wait, Thalia. About what happened back on the pier... I mean, with the manticore and the sacrifice-"
"I don't want to talk about it."
"You wouldn't actually have... you know?" She hesitated. "I was just shocked. That's all."
"Zeus didn't send that lightning bolt at the car. It was Kronos. He's trying to manipulate you, make you angry at your dad." She took a deep breath. "Percy, I know you're trying to make me feel better. Thanks. But come on. We need to go."
She stepped into the fog, into the Mist, and I hesitated, before Y/N shoved me in. He followed behind me, not saying a word.
When the fog cleared, I was still on the side of the mountain, but the road was dirt. The grass was thicker. The sunset made a blood red slash across the sea. The summit of the mountain seemed closer now, swirling with storm clouds and raw power. There was only one path to the top, directly in front of us. And it led through a lush meadow of shadows and flowers.
If it hadn't been for the enormous dragon, the garden would've been the most beautiful place I'd ever seen. The grass shimmered with silvery evening light, and the flowers were such brilliant colors they almost glowed in the dark.
Stepping stones of polished black marble led around either side of a five-story-tall apple tree, every bough glittering with golden apples, and I don't mean yellow golden apples like in the grocery store. I mean real golden apples. I can't describe why they were so appealing, but as soon as I smelled their fragrance, I knew that one bite would be the most delicious thing I'd ever tasted.
"The apples of immortality," Thalia said. "Hera's wedding gift from Zeus." I wanted to step right up and pluck one, except for the dragon coiled around the tree.
Now, I don't know what you think of when I say dragon. Whatever it is, it's not scary enough. The serpent's body was as thick as a booster rocket, glinting with coppery scales. He had more heads than I could count, as if a hundred deadly pythons had been fused together.
He appeared to be asleep. The heads lay curled in a big spaghetti-like mound on the grass, all the eyes closed.
Then the shadows in front of us began to move. There was a beautiful, eerie singing, like voices from the bottom of a well. I reached for Riptide, but Zoe stopped my hand. Four figures shimmered into existence, four young women who looked very much like Zoe. They all wore white Greek chitons.
Their skin was like caramel. Silky black hair tumbled loose around their shoulders. It was strange, but I'd never realized how beautiful Zoe was until I saw her siblings, the Hesperides. They looked just like Zoe. Gorgeous, and probably very dangerous.
"Sisters," Zoe said. "We do not see any sister," one of the girls said coldly. "We see three half-bloods and a Hunter. All of whom shall soon die."
"Oh, you can try." Y/N said. "You've got it wrong." I stepped forward. "Nobody is going to die." The girls studied me. They had eyes like volcanic rock, glassy and completely black. "Perseus Jackson," one of them said. "Yes," mused another. "I do not see why he is a threat."
"Who said I was a threat?"
The first Hesperid glanced behind her, toward the top of the mountain. "They fear thee. They are unhappy that this one has not yet killed thee." She pointed at Thalia.
"Tempting sometimes," Thalia admitted. "But no, thanks. He's my friend."
"There are no friends here, daughter of Zeus," the girl said. "Only enemies. Go back."
"Not without Annabeth," Y/N said, gritting his teeth. "And Artemis," Zoe said. "We must approach the mountain."
"You know he will kill thee," the girl said. "You are no match for him."
"Artemis must be freed," Zoe insisted. "Let us pass." The girl shook her head. "You have no rights here anymore. We have only to raise our voices and Ladon will wake."
"He will not hurt me," Zoe said. "No? And what about thy so-called friends?"
Then Zoe did the last thing I expected. She shouted, "Ladon! Wake!" The dragon stirred, glittering like a mountain of pennies. The Hesperides yelped and scattered. The lead girl said to Zoe, "Are you mad?"
"You never had any courage, sister," Zoe said. "That is thy problem." The dragon Ladon was writhing now, a hundred heads whipping around, tongues flickering and tasting the air. Zoe took a step forward, her arms raised.
"Zoe, don't," Thalia said. "You're not a Hesperid anymore. He'll kill you."
"Ladon is trained to protect the tree," Zoe said. "Skirt around the edges of the garden. Go up the mountain. As long as I am a bigger threat, he should ignore thee."
"Should," I said. "Not exactly reassuring."
"It is the only way," she said. "Even the three of us together cannot fight him."
Ladon opened his mouths. The sound of a hundred heads hissing at once sent a shiver down my back, and that was before his breath hit me. The smell was like acid. It made my eyes burn, my skin crawl, and my hair stand on end. I remembered the time a rat had died inside our apartment wall in New York in the middle of the summer.
This stench was like that, except a hundred times stronger, and mixed with the smell of chewed eucalyptus. I promised myself right then that I would never ask a school nurse for another cough drop.
I wanted to draw my sword. But then I remembered my dream of Zoe and Hercules, and how Hercules had failed in a head-on assault. I decided to trust Zoe's judgment. Thalia went left. I went right. I didn't even see where Y/N went. Zoe walked straight toward the monster. "It's me, my little dragon," Zoe said. "Zoe has come back."
Ladon shifted forward, then back. Some of the mouths closed. Some kept hissing. Dragon confusion. Meanwhile, the Hesperides shimmered and turned into shadows. The voice of the eldest whispered, "Fool."
"I used to feed thee by hand," Zoe continued, speaking in a soothing voice as she stepped toward the golden tree. "Do you still like lamb's meat?" The dragon's eyes glinted.
Thalia, and I were about halfway around the garden. Ahead, I could see a single rocky trail leading up to the black peak of the mountain. The storm swirled above it, spinning on the summit like it was the axis for the whole world.
We'd almost made it out of the meadow when something went wrong. I felt the dragon's mood shift. Maybe Zoe got too close. Maybe the dragon realized he was hungry. Whatever the reason, he lunged at Zoe.
Two thousand years of training kept her alive. She dodged one set of slashing fangs and tumbled under another, weaving through the dragon's heads as she ran in our direction, gagging from the monster's horrible breath.
I drew Riptide to help.
"No!" Zoe panted. "Run!"
The dragon snapped at her side, and Zoe cried out. Thalia uncovered Aegis, and the dragon hissed. In his moment of indecision, Zoe sprinted past us up the mountain, and we followed.
The dragon didn't try to pursue. He hissed and stomped the ground, but I guess he was well trained to guard that tree. He wasn't going to be lured off even by the tasty prospect of eating some heroes.
[Y/N's POV]
We sprinted up the mountain as the Hesperides continued with their song behind us. The music sounded sickened now. Like a funeral march.
At the peak of the mountain were ruins. Blocks of dark stone. Broken columns. And half melted bronze statues. The layout from my first dream with Annabeth.
"The ruins of Mount Othrys," Thalia whispered in awe. "Yes," Zoe said. "It was not here before. This is bad."
"What's Mount Othrys?" Percy asked. "The mountain fortress of the Titans." I said, breathing slowly, trying to not throw up still. Zoe nodded in confirmation. "In the first war, Olympus and Othrys were the two rival capitals of the world. Othrys was-" She winced and held her side.
I stepped toward her. "Zoe, you're hurt." I panicked. "Let me see." I tried to help, but she swatted my hand away. "No! It is nothing."
"It's not nothing, Zoe. Let me help." I reached into my pocket and handed over a spare baggy of ambrosia. Just one square left, and it was smashed to pieces. "Eat this, and whatever's wrong should hopefully work itself out."
Reluctantly, Zoe listened, and ate the pieces of divine food, swallowing, and wincing, before she kept going. "I was saying... in the first war, Othrys was blasted to pieces."
"But... How is it here?" Percy asked. I swallowed bile building in the back of my throat. Thalia looked around nervously, as we moved carefully around the ruins. I said, "It moves like Olympus. Always on the edges of civilization." Thalia continued. "But it being on this mountain is not good."
"Why?"
"This is Atlas's mountain," Zoe said. "Where he holds-" She froze. Her voice was ragged with despair. "Where he used to hold up the sky."
We had reached the summit. A few yards ahead of us, gray clouds swirled in a heavy vortex, making a funnel cloud that almost touched the mountaintop, but instead rested on the shoulders of a woman with auburn hair and a tattered silvery dress: Artemis. My mom. Her legs were bound to the rock with celestial bronze chains. This is what I saw in my dreams.
But it wasn't a pile of destroyed rock that she was holding. It was the sky. That means Annabeth-
"My lady!" Zoe rushed forward, but Artemis said, "Stop! It is a trap. You must leave now." Her voice was strained, and she was drenched in sweat. The weight of the endless sky was too much for her. She looked at me. Not with distaste like that time before. No, this was worry. Worry for me. "You shouldn't have come, Y/N. He's here."
"Who's here, mom?" I asked, nearing the goddess. Zoe was crying. She ran forward despite Artemis's protests, and tugged at the chains. A booming voice spoke behind us: "Ah, how touching." Someone was clapping sarcastically. "Really makes the waterworks start, doesn't it?" a different voice resonated.
We turned. The General was standing there in his brown silk suit. The lieutenant. In his rolled up shirt sleeves and unbuttoned vest. Even with the sun going down, he had his sunglasses over his eyes. At his side were Luke and half a dozen dracaenae bearing the golden sarcophagus of Kronos.
Annabeth stood at Luke's side. She had her hands cuffed behind her back, a gag in her mouth, and Luke was holding the point of his sword to her throat. I met her eyes, trying to ask her a thousand questions. There was just one message she was sending me, though: RUN.
I was ready to run my blade straight through Luke's neck at this point.
"Luke," Thalia snarled. "Let her go." Luke's smile was weak and pale. He looked even worse than he had three days ago in D.C. "That is the General's decision, Thalia. But it's good to see you again."
Thalia spat at him.
The General chuckled. "So much for old friends. And you, Zoe. It's been a long time. How is my little traitor? I will enjoy killing you."
"Do not respond," Artemis groaned. "Do not challenge him."
"Wait a second," Percy said. "You're Atlas?" The General glanced at him. "So, even the stupidest of heroes can finally figure something out. Yes, I am Atlas, the general of the Titans and terror of the gods. Congratulations. I will kill you presently, as soon as I deal with this wretched girl."
"You're not going to hurt Zoe," I said. "I won't let you."
The General sneered. "You have no right to interfere, little hero. This is our family matter. You have your own reunion to attend to." I frowned. "A family matter?"
"Yes," Zoe said bleakly. "Atlas is my father."
While I processed that mess of a truth bomb, I turned back to the Titan general. "What do you mean, my own reunion?" I sneered at the titan.
The lieutenant stepped forward, leaning against a sword about the length of my torso under his hands like a cane. He chuckled deeply, and licked his lips at Artemis, who shuddered, both at his gaze, and under the weight of the world.
"What? You don't see the resemblance?" he asked, pulling off his sunglasses. Underneath were a pair of grayed, but shining bronze eyes. Bronze like-
My heart was pounding through my chest. I looked at my mom, who was on the verge of tears, even at the thought of it. "Good to meet you, son." The Lieutenant said.
"Orion... Don't- Don't you dare touch him." Artemis stammered, weakly.
"Oh, please, dear. We both know you couldn't do anything to stop me before. You had no chance then, and you've got none now." he sneered in the goddesses direction, blowing her a kiss. Artemis shook. "It's just like I told you before. What has happened to you... You've done this to yourself. Now and then." he taunted.
"Orion." I managed, anger swelling. Zoe looked pissed off through the tears. Percy and Thalia looked ready for war at the mere mention of him. "In the flesh." he smirked.
(Michael Fassbender as Orion)
He hoisted the sword over his shoulders, like a baseball bat. "Now what say we catch up a bit, kid?"