AN: Hey guys, I hope you enjoyed the last chapter. Sorry if it sucked, it was not as important, maybe the only important thing was the conversation with Aphrodite, but yeah. I know I need to make Zoë and Perseus talk, I'll see if I can do that in this chapter. Also, I also read a comment that said there was continuity issues. Sorry for that in past chapters, and I will do my best to make sure everything makes sense in the future. Also, the whole guns thing, thank you for pointing them out, and Perseus won't use them again. Thanks so much for the feedback, and please enjoy!
Recap:
"Love conquers all," Aphrodite said. "Just look at Helen and Paris."
Suddenly, Perseus' face steeled up. "We're done here. Thank you Lady Aphrodite, but we must be going now. I don't want to go into a history on the fucking retard and his whore who started the Trojan War, a conflict which I was a part of, if you remember correctly," he said, grabbing Max's arm and putting his hand on the door.
Aphrodite looked at Perseus. "I'm sorry. Not really, that was the greatest love story ever! Now, be careful of my husband's junkyard. Don't take anything," she said.
"You mean Hephaestus?" Max asked dumbly.
"Shit," Perseus swore, as they were thrown out of the car by Ares. "Looks like we are done with the goddess of love," he said under his breath.
Present:
"You two are lucky," Ares snarled.
"Why?" Max asked.
"I can't kill you," Ares replied, causing Perseus to snort.
"Are you sure you can even beat us?" Perseus asked. "I mean, we beat you guys two years ago, remember? Hell, I think I could beat you alone, so maybe you're the lucky one."
Ares balled up his fists. "Watch what you say punk. I can't kill you because Aphrodite is obsessed with you for some reason."
Perseus chuckled. "That is a great excuse, Ares. Let me know when you want a beat down," he said with a smirk.
"Not bad, punk," Ares said with a feral grin. "I'll see you around," He said, snapping his fingers, causing the world to do a three-sixty for both Perseus and Maximus.
When they stood up, the limo was gone, but everything else was gone as well. The questers looked around, and all they could see was junk for miles.
"What did she want with you?" Bianca asked.
"Nothing," Perseus deflected. "She told us not to pick anything up in the junkyard."
Zoë narrowed her eyes. "I doubt Aphrodite made a personal trip just to warn you two," she said. "You can't trust her."
Perseus smirked. "Oh I know. We had a nice heart to heart. I also ripped apart her so-called 'greatest love story ever', so that's a plus," he said cheekily. "Now let's go," he said, gesturing for Zoë to guide them west.
However, when they started walking, Zoë gestured to Perseus. Perseus looked at Max and gestured to him to take the rest of the group out of the junkyard.
"Perseus," Zoë said, walking up next to him.
"Yes?" Perseus asked.
"How are you still alive? How are you here? More importantly, why are you here?" Why didn't you try and find me?" Zoë rattled off angrily, causing Perseus to chuckle. Even now, he was still in love with Zoë, even if she wasn't happy to see him.
"Firstly, I'm alive because I'm immortal, like you, and no one knows where my mortal point is," Perseus said, causing Zoë to breath in slightly. "I'm here because of my brother Maximus, and I want to train him and protect him to make sure he will fulfill the Great Prophecy," he said with a frown. "I wish Poseidon would actually help him a little bit, at least it will be more than he helped me," he muttered under his breath.
"Why didn't you try and find me?" Zoë asked.
Perseus chuckled dryly. "I did Zoë. Multiple times," he said, causing Zoë's eyes to widen. "I already told you I did, I swear it on the Styx," he said, causing thunder to rumble overhead. "I followed the Hunters after the war," he said.
"Impossible. No male could follow the hunt without milady knowing," Zoë said, causing Perseus to frown.
"Zoë, you know me. My powers are exponentially more powerful than my former self two thousand years ago. In Troy, I defeated Apollo in single combat. However, now I believe I could give your mistress a run for her money," he said softly. "Honestly, I haven't had a real challenge since I defeated Ares with my brother, but even then, it was not too hard for me."
"While it wasn't easy, I was able to trail the hunt for a little while," Perseus said, causing Zoë's mouth to open, but Perseus cut her off. "Before you say anything, I am not some male. After the war, I was so grief stricken that I left right away and started to train and hone my abilities. So yes, Zoë, I was able to follow the hunt."
"Why didn't you approach me?" Zoë asked. "More importantly, why didn't you tell me? Leave me a note, something? You did nothing?"
Perseus sighed. "I wanted to, so badly. But when I saw your face, I knew I couldn't say anything," he said, causing Zoë's face to morph into a confused expression. Perseus sighed again. "You were so happy in the hunt. You had such a happy expression being among your new sisters that I couldn't do anything. If I showed up to try and convince you to come with me, you would still have that hole in your heart due to the absence of a family. So, I left."
Zoë looked at Perseus with a shocked expression on her face. When she looked at him after what he said, her cheeks started to flare up, and she felt something she hadn't felt in 2000 years. She didn't know what it was, but she knew she had to push it down, so she did.
When she looked back at him, she wore a stoic expression. "Thank you Perseus," she forced out.
Perseus just smiled. After a few moments he turned to face the girl he still loved and looked right in her eyes. "I know you are worried about the prophecy, but you know me, I'll do anything to protect people I care about," he said with a smile.
"Perseus, you cannot defy fate," Zoë said sternly.
"Zoë, I can do what I want," Perseus said. "I've come in to help my teenage brother, and helped him go across the country to retrieve Zeus' sparkler when he had no training. What would have happened if he had died? The whole Greek world probably would have been annihilated. I will not let anybody die, especially not you. I swear on the Styx," he vowed, thunder rumbling in the air signifying the oath.
"Perseus! Why would you make such a stupid oath?" Zoë reprimanded him.
"Because I still love you," he said under his breath.
"What was that?" Zoë asked.
"I said, I...." Perseus started before quickly whirling around. He saw a giant bronze statue with full Greek armor. His face was deformed, his left side was partially burned off, and his joints were creaking with every step he took.
"Skatá," Perseus swore.
"Talos!" Zoë shouted as everyone brought their weapons out.
"Who?" Maximus asked.
"Talos is one of Hephaestus' creations," Thalia said. "But I think this one is a defective model or a prototype, it's too small."
The moment Thalia said this, Talos took out his sword, a one hundred foot long sword.
"Who took something?" Zoë asked, glaring at Maximus and Perseus.
"Don't look at me," Max said. "I'm not a thief." Perseus looked over to Bianca, who had a guilty look on her face. Perseus knew it was her, but didn't want to chew her out in front of everyone.
As Perseus started to make his way over to her, Talos started to get closer. "Run!" Grover squealed, turning and running as fast as his hooves could go.
As Grover ran, the questers split up. Perseus ran towards Bianca, Zoë and Phoebe stood together shooting arrows, and Maximus pulled out Anaklusmos and stood next to Thalia.
"You took something, didn't you?" Perseus asked to Bianca.
Bianca looked down at her feet. She slowly opened her hand to reveal a Hades Mythomagic statue. "Bianca, what were you thinking?" Perseus asked calmly.
"I...I wanted to get something for my brother," Bianca said. "Besides, it's the only one he doesn't have, and he's our father. I wanted Nico to know."
Perseus sighed. "Okay. I understand. However, you must not tell anyone. You will say I stole something, but dropped it as Talos came up."
Bianca shook her head. "I can't do that. I have to take responsibility."
"Bianca..." Perseus started before a loud creaking noise interrupted their conversation.
He looked up and saw a large bronze foot above them. He quickly grabbed Bianca and mist travelled just as the foot went down and destroyed some junk they were near.
However, as the foot went up again, Perseus noticed a hole at the bottom, a pothole sized hole which said FOR MAINTENANCE ONLY.
"I have a crazy idea," Perseus said.
Bianca looked at Perseus as Thalia shot electricity from her spear in the distance.
"I'm going into Talos through his foot," Perseus said. "You just need to distract it."
"What? No, you'll die!" Bianca said.
"No I won't," Perseus said. He sighed. "I have some powers of heat resistance, plus I was dipped in the Styx like my brother Achilles."
"How?" Bianca asked.
Perseus sighed. "I can't tell you, but please don't tell anyone I told you this," he said.
Bianca nodded. However, after a few seconds, her eyes widened. "But, you can't go! I took the statue! It's my responsibility!"
Perseus grabbed Bianca by the shoulders. "I will go. Besides, I promised your brother I would get you home safely," he said solemnly.
"You can't stop me," Bianca said, marching away towards the automaton.
"I'm sorry Bianca," Perseus muttered before walking up to the new Huntress and hitting her in the back of the head with the butt of his sword, causing her to crumple. He brought the body to Zoë and Phoebe and looked Zoë in the eyes.
"Zoë, take my brother and the questers away from here," Perseus said, causing Zoë's eyes to widen.
"No," Zoë said. "You can't do this."
Perseus looked at her. "I can, and I will. Get the rest of the group out of here, I'll meet you in San Francisco."
"If you don't?" Zoë said, a twinge of sadness in her voice.
"Seek out my grandfather," Perseus said. "I'll meet you there," he said, turning away from her and walking towards the automaton.
Perseus walked towards the automaton, who was focused on Thalia and Maximus. "Hey, Bronze head!" Perseus shouted, causing Talos to look in his direction.
Perseus pulled out his brother's sword and gestured to Talos, and he started to scurry away. Talos raised his foot, but Perseus vapor travelled away at the last second.
"Come on, big boy! Come get me," he taunted, and Talos raised his foot again.
Before he could slam it down, Perseus jumped towards the hole in his foot and entered the automaton's body. Perseus made his way through the automaton's body to the middle of the automaton.
I'm sorry Zoë, he thought, as he brought his sword down into its heart. Perseus could feel it squeaking and falling apart, and saw as the giant was crumbling from the top down. He looked up and saw a piece of bronze falling from above, and all he saw was black.
LINE BREAK
When Perseus woke up, he was surrounded by junk. He quickly got to his feet, but realized he didn't have his sword. "Skatá," he swore. He needed a sword, but at least he had his knives and daggers. He quickly got his bearings and ran outside the junkyard. He couldn't see the questers, so that was a good sign, so he disappeared into mist, heading for his next stop.
He reappeared on a dock by the water in San Francisco, trying to find his grandfather. He missed his family, especially his brother. He was vexed that his sword broke. That sword had been with him since the Trojan War. While he still had his armor, he didn't wear it often, so the sword was more special to him.
As he walked down the docks, he saw a group of homeless people. "Bingo," he muttered under his breath. He walked towards the crowd of homeless people, but suddenly, a group of people grabbed a homeless person, and one of the members put one of the homeless people in a headlock.
He walked towards them. "Hey, get away from the man," he said, putting his hand in his cloak, fishing for a knife. However, one person moved out of his view, and he saw the man in the headlock.
"Grandfather?" Perseus asked.
"Perseus! How are you?" Nereus asked. "As you can see, I'm a bit stuck here," he gestured to the person holding him in a headlock.
"Oh, yeah, about that," Perseus said. "I told them to come here. We need some information. Max, you can let him go now," Perseus said, gesturing for his brother to release him.
"You know them?" Nereus exclaimed, rubbing his neck.
Perseus scratched his neck, a guilty expression on his face. "Yeah, I'm sure you know why we are here. Artemis is under the sky, and these are the quest members," Perseus said, gesturing to the questers.
"So that's Old Seaweed's kid, huh," Nereus said to Perseus, who nodded. He leaned next to Perseus' ear. "You guys look similar," he whispered.
"I know Grandfather," Perseus said. "Now, I need to know what I'm dealing with on Orthys."
Nereus' face morphed into a serious expression. "Grandson, there is only 1 titan, but you know who it is. There is also a cruise ship filled with monsters. You must prepare yourself, Atlas is not an Olympian, and his strength is beyond yours."
"Thank you grandfather," Perseus said. "Also, one more thing, and then you can leave," he said as Nereus nodded. "What was Artemis hunting?"
"Easy, it's right there," Nereus said, pointing at Max's feet. "Goodbye grandson, I'll see you around," he said, turning into a goldfish and back flipping away.
Perseus turned to Max with a confused expression. "What is that?" Thalia asked, pointing at the water underneath Max's feet.
Phoebe, Zoë, and Perseus all paled. "The Ophiotaurus, it's been reborn," Zoë said.
"We must kill it," Perseus said, looking at Zoë, who took out her bow and started to nock an arrow.
"No!" Max shouted, causing Perseus to look at him.
"What do you mean, no?" Perseus asked. "Do you know the power of this creature?"
"You can't kill it," Maximus said. "You can't kill Bessie."
"You named it?" Zoë asked.
Perseus sighed. "Look, the Ophiotaurus is very dangerous. Whoever sacrifices its entrails and tossed into a fire has power to destroy the gods."
"Are you serious?" Thalia asked.
"We have to protect it," Max said. "If Luke get's a hold of it-"
"He won't hesitate," Thalia finished. "He'll do it without a second thought. It's the power to overthrow Olympus."
"Yes, and you shall unleash that power," a voice said, causing the quest members to turn around to see Dr. Thorn standing there with multiple armed guards
"This is extraordinary," the manticore gloated. "The gods banished me to Persia, where I was forced to scavenge for food. I lived in the shadows, but now, I will be honored in the stories. The Titans shall-"
Suddenly, Dr. Thorn disappeared into golden dust, and the group saw Perseus behind him. He quickly unsheathed his hidden blades, stabbing both guards in the neck, causing them to fall to the ground as well. "He was boring me. Now let's get the Ophiotaurus to safety. If we can't kill it, it must be safe somewhere."
Zoë looked at Perseus. "We must go to Orthys. I have to go home. We must free Lady Artemis tonight."
"How are we going to get the Ophiotaurus to safety?" Max asked.
"We can coax it back to camp," Grover piped up. "I can coax it back to camp. It can appear in different bodies of water, right?"
"Alright," Maximus said, going up to Grover and giving him a hug. "Be safe. I prayed to my father for safe travel."
While Max was wishing Grover off, Perseus looked at the quest members. "So, how do we get to the Garden?" Perseus asked.
"We need a car," Thalia said as Max came back to the rest of the group.
"Thalia's right," Max said. "But we don't have anyone to help us."
"We could always steal one," Perseus suggested, causing Zoë to glare at him.
"Wait, there is someone," Thalia said.
Everyone turned to her as she ruffled through her backpack and found a piece of paper from her bag. She brought out the crumpled piece of paper, and unwrapped it, revealing an address. "Professor Chase, Annabeth's dad."
AN: Hey guys. Sorry the fight scene with Talos was terrible, and so was the aftermath. I honestly couldn't think of what to do, and the way he defeated Talos was kinda bad, so I'm sorry. Anyways, thanks so much for the support so far and the feedback I have gotten. If you have some critiques, please let me know, and even if you don't feel comfortable reviewing, shoot me a PM and I'll get back to you. I truly value each review and comment, and I just want to thank you guys so much for all the support. Thanks so much, and please review!