(A/N):⚠️I do NOT own anything⚠️. I had to skip some parts but just go with it. Please 🙏🏼.
Percy's POV
"We need to get to my sisters' garden." Zoe said.
"But we need a car or something. And there's no one here that can help us. Unless we 'borrow' one." I said.
"Wait!" Thalia said as she looked through her backpack. "There is someone in San Francisco who can help us. Just let me find the address."
"Who?" I asked her.
Thalia pulled out a crumpled up piece of notebook paper.
"Professor Chase. Annabeth's dad."
"But will he actually help us?"
"Hopefully?" She said, but it sounded more like a question than a statement.
~~~
We traveled a couple of blocks until we stopped arrived at a decent size house. Thalia knocked on the door, and a couple of minutes later a man with the same blonde hair as Annabeth but with intense brown eyes, opened the door. He had these glasses and an old-fashioned aviator's cap.
"Hello, are you delivering my airplanes?" He asked.
The three of us looked at each other.
"Um no sir." I said.
"Drat. I need three more Sopwith Camels." He said.
"Uhh right." I said, not really knowing what he was talking about. "Sir, we're friends of Annabeth."
He looked at us with great concern in his eyes.
"Annabeth?" He asked. "Is she alright? Did something happened to her? Is she-"
"Annabeth is fine. She's safely back in Camp, but we do need your help." Thalia explained.
He sighed in relief but the concern was still seen in his eyes.
"Of course, come in. Any friends of Annabeth's are welcome here."
As we entered the house, we encountered Annabeth's stepbrothers and stepmother, who seemed nice enough. Annabeth's stepmom offered us some food to which we gratefully agreed. By the time we finished telling him the whole story, the sun was beginning to descend, slowly but surely.
~~~
We had less than an hour to save (Y/N) and Artemis as we all piled into the yellow VW convertible. The sun continued its way under the horizon at its slow pace.
"Can't this thing go any faster?" Thalia demanded.
"I cannot control traffic." Zoe said through gritted teeth.
"You both sound like my mother." I said.
"Shut up!" The both yelled at me in unison.
I held up my hands in defense.
Zoe made her way through the heavy traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge. Once we exited the highway, the sun was on the horizon. The road were starting to get narrower and narrower but that didn't stop Zoe. She kept the pedal to the metal. Which kinda worried me because the edges were of steep ravines.
"Why does everything smell like cough drops?" I asked.
"Eucalyptus." Zoe said as she motioned to the huge trees all around us.
"The stuff koala bears eat?"
"And monsters. 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."
I didn't ask any more questions about the topic, so instead I kept myself alert to our surroundings.
"So that's the Mountain of Despair?" I asked as the mountain loomed ahead of us.
"Yes." Zoe said tightly.
"Why do they call it that?"
Zoe stayed silent for a while before she answered.
"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.
I looked at Mount Tamalpais and noticed dark clouds swirling around its peak.
"What's going on up there? A storm?"
No one answered but I had a feeling that Zoe knew exactly what the clouds meant.
"We have to concentrate. The Mist is really strong here." Thalia said.
"The magical kind or the natural kind?" I asked.
"Both." She answered.
We kept on driving until we were out of the forest. I glanced down to see the ocean as we passed a curve, and I saw something that made me jump out of my seat. A familiar cruise ship. I could barely make out a tiny figure on the ship.
"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. I think it was the Princess Andromeda.
Thalia's eyes widened.
"Luke's ship?"
I wanted to say it was just a coincidence but I knew better. Luke's demon cruise ship traveled all the way down to the Panama Canal. It was the only way to sail it from the East Coast to California. It made me angry all over again that (Y/N) was on that ship with Luke.
(Y/N)'s POV
I was on the deck of the Princess Andromeda just watching the sunset. It was beautiful-the way the light reflected off the water and how the clouds made the scene into a natural work of art.
But then again, the sun reminds of Apollo, my father that doesn't care about me, my brother, or my mom. It angers me so much that I'm his daughter. I felt so unwanted by him...
My thoughts were interrupted by a loud BOOM from the side of the mountain. A huge cloud of smoke was seen. I don't know why but I suddenly became worried.
"(Y/N)!" Luke called, snapping me out of my thoughts.
I looked at him. He had his armor on and his sword, Backbiter, was in his hands.
"It's time."
I knew what he meant and it was about time too. I only nodded and walked towards my room. I knew it was only a matter of time before our attack.
I slid on my armor and adjusted it to my size. A celestial bronze sword was sheathed in my belt. I put on my black boots and hid my dagger in them, just in case. I tied my (H/C) in a ponytail so it wouldn't get in my way when fighting. (A/N): If you have short hair then you just left it as it is). Once I was done, there was a knock at the door. I opened the door only to find Luke there.
"Ready?" He asked.
"As ready as I'll ever be."
Soon we made our way to the top of the mountain by using the fastest route. Once we got to the top of Mount Tamalpais, everything was set. All we had to do was wait for Percy Jackson and his friends. This made me anxious. I've been waiting what felt like forever to fight Percy Jackson, and now that moment is almost here.
I wanted to talk to Artemis but Atlas wouldn't let me. So now I'm sitting on a rock trying to calm my nerves when Luke stood beside me and placed his hand on my shoulder. He gave me a small smile to which I returned.
"Nervous?" He asked.
"No. At least I don't think so."
There was a moment of silence. Not the awkward silence but the comfortable kind of silence.
"Hey Luke?"
"Hmm?"
"What was that loud BOOM from earlier?" I asked.
"Oh that. We just sent a lightning bolt to our 'friends'."
"WHAT?" I yelled, not knowing why I'm defending them. "Why on Earth would you do that?"
"To make our dear friend Thalia doubt that her father cares about her."
I stayed quiet for a moment. Did they do the same to me? Make me doubt on my father? No. He abandoned me. He doesn't care.
"Listen (Y/N), I know your main goal is to finish off Percy, but you have to remember he's your enemy. Don't believe anything he says."
"Ok, but why would I believe him?" I asked.
"Because he will say anything to make you think that we're the enemies." Luke then placed his hands on my shoulders. "He's going to say that I'm your real enemy."
"B-But you're not."
"Exactly. Just don't trust his words. Don't let him get to you like that."
"I won't....but what about Thalia?" I asked. "I mean I still remember her when I was a kid. She sacrificed herself for us."
Luke stayed silent but as I looked at his blue eyes I could see a look of sadness.
"It's her decision if she wants to join us, but maybe we could convince her." He said.
A smile came across my face. If Thalia joins us then maybe we can convince Annabeth and Will too. We could be together again, just like the old days. A family...
I hugged him which surprised him since I just hugged him out of nowhere but he still hugged back.
Luke's POV
When (Y/N) hugged me, I was surprised but I still hugged back. I still remembered the day we first met each other. (Y/N) and her brother ran away from their home and also their drunk stepfather. When I asked about their mother, neither of them answered. But they didn't had to, I can take the hint they didn't want to talk about it.
That's when I realized that we were all from broken homes. Thalia, Annabeth, (Y/N), Will, me. All of us have a broken home with families that are also broken or disowns us. But as we bonded more and more with each other, I noticed we became like the family we always wanted. So I promised them that I won't fail them like our families did to us.
"Luke?" (Y/N)'s voice brought me back to reality.
(Y/N) was looking up to me with her golden eyes that were filled with concern. I really wanted to see her (E/C) eyes looking at me instead.
"Are you ok?" She asked.
"Yeah, just thinking." I said calmly.
She only nodded and we just sat there on the rock, still in each other arms. I leaned my head on hers, while her head was leaning on my shoulder.
"Do you think everything will work out in the end?" She asked. I could tell she's still a bit nervous on what's about to happen.
"(Y/N), I promise you that everything will work out in the end." I said reassuringly.
"Pinky promise?" She asked with a smile as she held out her pinky.
I chuckled when I remember she still does that when making a promise. But I still wrapped my pinky with hers.
"Pinky promise." I said.
(A/N): I cried when writing this part.🙁😫😰😭😢)
Percy's POV
"Ladon! Wake!" Zoe shouted.
The dragon guarding the tree of golden apples stirred from his slumber. The Hesperides let out a yelp and scattered.
"Are you mad?" The lead Hesperid said to Zoe.
"You never had any courage, sister. That is thy problem." Zoe said as she took a step forward towards Ladon.
Ladon was now fully awake with hundreds of heads looking around with forked tongues tasting the air, but Zoe kept walking towards him.
"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, Ladon should ignore thee."
"That's not exactly reassuring." I said.
"It is the only way. Even the three of us together cannot fight him." Zoe said.
Ladon opened his mouths, hissing loudly at us, making a shiver go down my back. Ladon's breath smelt like acid, making my eyes burn, my skin crawl, and my hair stand on end.
I wanted to draw out my sword but then remembered my dream of Zoe and Hercules. I decided to trust Zoe's judgment.
"It's me, my little dragon," Zoe said in a soft, calm voice. "Zoe has come back."
The dragon shifted forward then back. Some of the mouths closed but others kept hissing.
Meanwhile, the Hesperides shimmered and turned into shadows.
"Fool." The voice of the eldest Hesperid said before she disappeared into the shadows.
"I used to feed thee by hand," Zoe continued as she stepped toward the golden tree that the dragon guarded. "Do you still like lamb's meat?"
The dragon's eyes glinted at the words 'lamb's meat'.
Thalia and I were about halfway around the garden. I could see a single rocky trail leading up to the top of the mountain. We'd almost made it out of the meadow when something went wrong.
The dragon's mood shifted. Maybe Zoe got too close. Maybe the dragon realized he was hungry. Maybe the dragon saw Zoe as a threat now instead of a friend. But for whatever reason, Ladon lunged at Zoe.
Luckily, Zoe was able to dodge one set of fangs slashing her way and dodged the dragon's heads as she ran in our directions. I uncapped Riptide to help her.
"No!" Zoe yelled. "Run!"
Suddenly Ladon snapped at her side, making Zoe cry out in pain. Thalia uncovered Aegis, and the dragon hissed at it. This gave Zoe enough time to run up to us and towards the mountain path with us following her.
Fortunately, the dragon didn't follow us. He stayed behind, determined to keep guarding the tree. As we ran up the mountain, I could hear the song of the Hesperides. And in my opinion, it didn't sound as beautiful as it did before. Now it sounded like a soundtrack for a funeral.
~~~
We finally arrived at the top of the mountain. It looked the same how I saw it in my dream of (Y/N). There were broken columns and bronze statues that looked half melted.
"The ruins of Mount Othrys." Thalia whispered in awe.
"Yes," Zoe said. "It was not here before. This is bad."
"What's Mount Othrys?" I asked.
"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-" Her own wincing cut her off as she held her side.
"You're hurt. Let me see." I said.
"No! It is nothing, I assure you. As I was saying...In the first war, Othrys was blasted into pieces."
"But...How is it here?" I asked.
Thalia looked around as we picked our way through the rubble.
"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." Thalia said.
"Why?"
"This is Atlas's mountain." Zoe responded. "Where he holds-" She stopped herself as if it was too painful to say. "Where he used to hold up the sky."
We reached the summit and a few yards ahead of us, the gray clouds swirled in a heavy vortex, making a funnel cloud that almost touched the mountain top, but instead rested on the shoulders of a 12 year old girl with auburn hair and a tattered silvery dress-Artemis, who had her feet chained with celestial bronze chains that was bounded to a rock.
So it wasn't a cavern roof that the goddess was forced to hold in my dream. It was the roof of the whole world.
"My lady!" Zoe said as she rushed forward.
"Stop! It is a trap. You must leave now!" Artemis said, painfully. The weight of the sky is too great for her.
Zoe cried but she still ran forward, against Artemis's protests, and tugged at the chains.
"Ah, how touching." A booming voice spoken from behind us.
We turned around, and when I did I was both relieved and shocked.
The General was standing there in his brown silk suit. By his side, was Luke with half a dozen dracaenae holding the golden sarcophagus of Kronos. But what made me relieved was that I saw (Y/N). My breath hitched as I saw her beautiful self.
She looked way better than when I saw her in my dreams. She looked the same except for the gray streak in her pretty (H/C) hair. But her usual sparkling (E/C) eyes were now a golden color-the same gold color as Kronos's sarcophagus.
Zoe's theory was confirmed. (Y/N) really is being controlled by Kronos. And judging by the looks she's giving me, she's not happy to see me. But no matter what, I will do anything to help her out. I know she's still in there.
I was brought back to the situation at hand when Thalia spoke.
"(Y/N)." She said.
(Y/N) looked away from me and gave a smile at her.
"Hi Thalia." She said in friendly voice. "Good to see you again."
She looked at me, or more liked glared at me.
"Unlike you Percy Jackson."
"What did they do to you?" Thalia asked.
Before (Y/N) could answer, Luke interrupted.
"We only helped her. We didn't want to hurt her. She's our friend after all." Luke said with a smirk.
Thalia glared at him.
"So much for old friends. And you, Zoe. It's been a long time. How is my little traitor? I will enjoy killing you." The General said.
"Do not respond," Artemis groaned. "Do not challenge him."
"Wait, you're Atlas?" I asked.
Atlas briefly looked at me.
"So, even the stupidest of heroes can finally figure something out. Yes I'm Atlas, the general of the Titans and terror of the gods. Congratulations. I would kill you myself but sadly I won't. I must deal with this wretched girl." The General sneered.
"You're not going to hurt Zoe. I won't let you." I said.
"You have no right to interfere, dumb little hero." Atlas growled. "This is a family matter."
"A family matter?" I asked, clearly confused.
"Yes. Atlas is my father." Zoe said.
(A/N):Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'm sorry I took so long to update but school was really stressing me out. Luckily I have spring break next week so yay!!