𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐑𝐘 𝐄𝐘𝐄𝐃 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐂𝐘.
they didn't have enough time to lead the ophiotaurus through the water if they were going to enter the garden by sunset.
if they missed it, the olympian council would be over. artemis wouldn't be freed, and annabeth would die.
since the ophiotaurus could appear in different bodies of water, grover decides he would coax him back to long island, where chiron would help get him to olympus.
cherry knew grover despised water, but grover was the only person who could speak to him. as a form of prayer, percy dropped the golden lion skin into the bay.
after that, the remainder of the group decided they needed a car.
thalia suggested borrowing one, and cherry was quickly against it. she didn't want to make cherry uncomfortable, she would've rather walked all the way there.
thalia rifles through her backpack, and located the address of annabeth's dad, who lived in san francisco.
cherry was expecting professor chase to be the worst man in the world, but he seemed to be a little bit of a nerd. he assumed they'd been delivering him some model airplanes, but when percy brought up annabeth, he became serious.
the home was messy and exuded joy. cherry introduced herself to annabeth's dad and stepmom. mrs. chase seemed concerned about her daughter's disappearance, instead of angry.
percy introduced himself, too. mrs chase told him she'd heard a lot about him, which made cherry a little annoyed.
she was quick to snap out of it when she remembered it was annabeth they were talking about.
professor chase was in the middle of giving them a military history lesson when thalia told him that annabeth was in danger.
they told him eveyrhting as the afternoon light began to fade. they told him that they needed transport. professor chase offered to drive, but it wasn't a place for mortals.
he gave in, and just let them take the car.
cherry thanked annabeth's dad and her stepmom, and the group began their journey once more. they had less than an hour to save annabeth.
to make things worse, the car ride seemed to go by so slowly. cherry's thoughts, for the first time ever, passed slowly. the mist was so strong.
she felt kind of nice.
until her and her friends noticed luke's cruise ship. they would not be alone.
a second later, thalia slammed down on the breaks, and shoved all of her friends out of the car. ightning flashed, and dr. chase's volkswagen erupted.
a kid would perish at the hand of their parent. would zeus destroy thalia?
zoe led the group straight into the fog. they didn't have time to think things through. percy kept his hand in cherry's, so they wouldn't get lost.
« ───── « ⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅ » ───── »
besides the dragon, the garden was a beautiful place. 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.
"they're so pretty. i want one so bad. get me one." cherry motioned to percy.
percy eyed the dragon coiled around the tree. it was asleep, but still terrifying.
"uh.. i can try." percy said.
"the apples of immortality," thalia explained. "hera's wedding gift from zeus."
tthere was a beautiful, eerie singing, like voices from the
bottom of a well. percy reached for riptide, but zoe stopped his hand.
four figures shimmered into existence, four young women who looked very much like zoe. they all wore white greek chitons, silky black hair tumbled loose around their
shoulders.
percy thought about how beautiful zoe was, and cherry wanted to rip that thought from his mind.
"sisters," zoe said.
"we do not see any sister," one of the girls said coldly. "we see two half-bloods, a god, and a hunter. all of
whom shall soon die."
"you've got it wrong." percy stepped forward. "nobody is going to die."
the girls studied him. 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."
"he's not." cherry said.
her hand trailed into hers.
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."
"we won't leave without annabeth." cherry interrupted her.
percy squeezed cherry's hand.
"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, let us pass."
"you have no rights here anymore. we have only to raise our voices and ladon will wake."
"he will not hurt me."
"no? and what about thy so-called friends?"
"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.
"be careful." cherry warned. "actually, you shouldn't. please come back."
"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." percy repeated. "not exactly reassuring."
"it is the only way," she said. "even the four of us together cannot fight him."
ladon opened his mouths. the sound of a hundred heads hissing at once sent a shiver down percy's back, and that was before his breath hit.
the smell was like acid.
it made my his burn, his skin crawl, and his hair stand on end.
cherry made a disgusted face, and covered her nose.
she trusted zoe's judgment.
thalia went left. percy went right. zoe walked straight toward the monster. cherry went behind.
"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 percy were about halfway around the garden. cherry was a little ahead of them, floating above the air so she could move smoothly without any noise.
ahead, there was 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.
they almost made it out of the meadow when something went wrong. the dragon's mood shifted, and cherry could feel as 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.
percy drew riptide.
"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 the kids followed.
the dragon didn't try to pursue. he hissed and stomped the ground, but he was trained to guard the tree.
they ran up the mountain as the hesperides resumed their song in the shadows behind us. the music didn't sound so beautiful to now.
more like the sound track for a funeral.
at the top of mountain were ruins, blocks of black granite and marble as big as houses. broken columns. statues of bronze that looked as though they'd been half melted.
"the ruins of mount othrys," thalia whispered in awe.
"it's so pretty. in a really scary way." cherry looked around.
"yes," zoe said. "it was not here before. this is bad."
"what's mount othrys?" percy asked, feeling like a fool as usual.
"the mountain fortress of the titans," zoe said. "in the first war, olympus and othrys were the two rival capitals of the world. othrys was-"
zoe winced and held her side.
cherry was quick to approach her.
"are you okay?" the redhead asked.
"it is nothing." zoe stretched a hand to keep her away. "as i was saying.. in the first war, othrys was blasted to pieces."
"but.. how is it here?" percy questioned, his mind not wrapping around it.
thalia looked around cautiously as the group picked their way through the rubble, past blocks of marble and
broken archways.
"it moves in the same way that olympus moves. it always exists on the edges of civilization. but the fact that it is here, on this mountain, is not good." zoe explained.
"why?" percy asked.
"this is atlas's mountain," zoe said.
"this is where he holds the sky?" cherrry loked around.
"where he used to hold up the sky." zoe's voice was ragged with despair.
they'd reached the summit.
a few yards ahead, gray clouds swirled in a heavy vortex, making a funnel cloud that almost touched the mountaintop, but instead rested on the shoulders of a
twelve-year-old girl with auburn hair and a tattered silvery dress.
artemis.
her legs were bound to the rock with celestial bronze chains.
"my lady!" zoe rushed forward, but artemis said, "stop! it is a trap. you must leave now."
her voice was strained.
she was drenched in sweat.
the weight of the sky was clearly too much for artemis. zoe was crying. she ran forward despite artemis's protests, and tugged at the chains.
a booming voice spoke: "ah, how touching."
the general was standing there in his brown silk suit. at his side were luke and half a dozen dracaenae bearing the golden sarcophagus ofkronos.
annabeth stood at luke's side, her hands cuffed behind her back.
cherry wanted to cry out the girls name.
luke was holding the point of his sword to her throat.
percy met her eyes, trying to ask her a thousand questions.
annabeth wanted to tell them to run.
"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?"
"i'm so confused." cherry muttered to herself.
"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." the general looked through the group.
"you're not going to hurt zoe." percy said. "i won't let you."
"you have no right to interfere, little hero. this is a family matter."
"a family matter?"
cherry finally connected the dots.
she eyed zoe.
"yes," zoe said bleakly. "atlas is my father."