Hey what is up guys, so I kicked an angle for this around for a bit and I finally got it. But I am pretty pissed cuz I had like half the chapter written down and then I went to save it and it logged me out and saved none of the shit that I did. So that kind of pissed me off but anyways, I'm good, everything is up. Welcome to the third instalment in The son of the Huntress series. Please read and review and help me to see what you guys would want to see, and without any further ado here we go. And I had to delete the original copy because something was going wrong with it so if ya'll was confused when it disappeared for a bit, that's what happened.
Chapter 1: A new Demigod
Raven:
"You're sure this is where Grover said he is?" I asked my mother as we walked through the hallway
"Yes, and he said that he smelled like home." She said
Let me explain what's happening. About a week ago a seeker and friend of Percy's named Grover Underwood found a demigod in the projects of Memphis, Tennessee. The Hunt, being nearest to his location at the time, volunteered to retrieve him, believing this to be the third Demigod mention in the prophecy, the child of Home. So here we are now, posing as students at the South Memphis Public High School. A few tricks of the mist and now we were enrolled as students who had just transferred into our first day.
I hadn't been to school since Brooklyn, and even then I'd hated it, but this place was just a nightmare. In Brooklyn, where I had attended an inner city school full of nothing but troubled youth and gang bangers from all different sets, fights broke out on a daily basis, because you couldn't mix Bloods, Crips, MS-13's, Vice Lords, BD's, GD's, and every other gang under the sun and expect them to just get along. I'd been jumped in the bathroom, jumped in the lunchroom, jumped in the classroom, I even got shot at once. You always had to keep your eyes open and watch your back, but this place was totally different. Everybody was so happy, so cheery, there signs everywhere that said Safe Zone and Gun Free school and yada yada ya. Sure it was a great thing to keep your kids safe and whatnot, but when you came from a place where your safe space was the kids wearing blue and the Gun Free sign was covered up by gang tags, it was all sort of like a big middle finger to your face.
Or maybe it might've just been all the guys eyeballing my mother like a pack of hungry wolves. Hell of an analogy, right?
"I don't like the way these guys are staring at you." I said to her as we walked
"You insisted I look like a sixteen year old for this." She responded, rolling her eyes
"Yeah, you look sixteen and you're dressed like a twenty two year old," I told her "These dudes look like they're about to bust in their pants."
She rolled her eyes and continued walking, checking her surroundings for escape routes and places to hide. I imagined that a year ago, she wouldn't have done something like this, but times were changing, and I suppose the gods were changing with it.
"What do we do?" Mom asked
"What do you mean?" I asked her
"You've been to school," She said "Where do we go? What do we do?"
"Grover said he got us the same schedule he had," I said consulting the piece of paper I had been given in the front office "So it looks like we go to biology, room seventeen."
"Where's that at?" She asked
"Numbers," I said indicating to the number fifteen on the door next to us "Use the numbers."
We made our way down the hallway and entered room seventeen, scanning the room together but not finding anything out of the ordinary. A window was open on the far end, good escape route if needed. Most of the students were either on their phones or talking to eachother.
"Thank the gods," I heard a voice say from behind us "I was beginning to worry that nobody got my message."
We turned to find a tall, lanky kid standing behind us with crutches, continuously looking over his shoulder. I figured this must be Percy's friend, Grover Underwood. He scanned us up and down, looking over and seeing my mother and starting to bow before realizing where he was at.
"Lady Artemis?" He stuttered in shock "Such an honor, I would bow but-"
"No need," My mother said, holding her hand up "I understand, now where is the Demigod."
"There." Grover said, indicating to a desk at the very back of the room
I saw a skinny teenager sitting alone at a three person desk. He was wearing a solid black hoodie and a pair of purple basketball shorts. He looked tall, with longish, dark brown hair, his face was ruggish and looked a little rough, like he'd seen a few fights in his day, but it also had a strange kindness to it, like he'd always be down to just give you the shirt off of his back, a plate of hot food if he had it, and a place to sleep if you needed it. I suddenly noticed one thing that stood out above all else, golden eyes.
"Class is starting soon," Grover said, watching everybody sit down "Let's get a seat."
"Wait, we've actually gotta sit through this?" I asked "Why can't we just grab him and go?"
"You can't explain all of this to him in the middle of class," Grover explained "We'll have to talk to him after school is over. C'mon, I've been doing this for months, you'll be okay for a few hours."
"Ugh," I groaned "Fine, let's move."
We headed to the back of the room and Grover dropped into the seat on his right and I took the one to the left. My mother, unfortunately for her, had to sit in the seat in front of us next to two preppy looking girls talking rapid fire to eachother, showing their phones and reading texts messages. As soon as she sat, they both turned to look at her.
"Are you a new girl?" One of them asked "Ohmygod your outfit is just absolutely adorable! Where did you get it! I! Have! Got! To! Have! It!"
Yikes, these chicks had to be speeding, I'd never met anybody who talked as fast as they did, and my mother shot me a look that just screamed 'Get me out of here before I commit a murder!' But all I could do was offer an apologetic shrug as I took my seat.
"What's up, Grover?" The kid asked, shaking hands with him as we sat "Who's the new guy?"
"This is, umm..." Grover stammered, looking to me for help
"Raven Alistair," I told him, holding my hand out "New kid."
"Antonio Gilardoni," He said, shaking my hand too "Where'd you move from."
"Out of New York," I told him "Lived in Brooklyn for a bit, then Long Island."
"How'd you end up here?" He asked
"Got in a bit of trouble up in New York," I lied "So I came to live with some family I had down here, fresh start, ya know?"
Before he could respond, a middle aged guy with glasses and about four hairs total on his entire head entered the room, snapping at everybody to be quiet. The two girls seated with my mother, however, continued to play on their phones and chatter quietly next to her, and she kept shooting hateful, backwards glances at me, like it was my fault she had to sit there.
Hey, at least they were girls and not those despicable males, right?
The class went by fairly quick, but not because I was having fun pretending to be normal and I actually enjoyed the class, in fact, I paid attention for all of thirty seconds before Antonio, Grover, and I struck up a game of dice on the desk, which the teacher either didn't seem to notice or didn't seem to care.
It was literally the longest hour of my life. Being a Demigod, I'm just naturally hardwired with ADHD and dyslexia, so not only was sitting still a major challenge for me, but trying to read the words on the board was giving me splitting migraines, especially since I wasn't really the best at reading in the first place. Amber had done a lot, and I was actually a pretty good reader now if I took the time to make out the words, but if you've ever been in a Sophomore Biology class, well even kids without dyslexia would probably have trouble pronouncing some of those words.
When class finally let out, I practically burst through the door. Antonio waved goodbye to Grover and told him he'd see him at lunch, which since we hadn't shown up until the middle of the day was actually right now, something I was extremely grateful for.
"Okay, now that I've had the teenage mortal experience," My mother told us "I don't care for it. I'm with Raven, I say we just grab him and go right now."
"Thank you," I groaned "Forget waiting after school, we'll talk to him at lunch and maybe he can call his dad or something, I'm sure his dad obviously knows."
"Alright," Grover nodded "Let's head down."
"We'll have to get him alone." Mom warned Grover
"That won't be a problem," He laughed as we started walking "Antonio's kind of a social outcast, he used to get picked on quite a bit from what I hear, I even took some flak for being his friend at first. Over the summer he hit a growth spurt, and ended up getting into a few fights at the beginning of the year with the kids who bullied him, now they just steer clear of him, most people do. He normally sits alone during lunch unless I'm there."
We followed Grover to the lunch room, which was even bigger than I thought it would be. It was a big school, sure, and even though they could only afford to send half the students down at a time, the place was still packed and crowded, it was Hell on Earth for a Demigod.
I don't know if you've gathered this, but Demigods aren't fond of cramped spaces or crowds.
To give South Memphis High School credit, their lunch was probably the best school lunch I'd ever seen, it looked like the anti fat people campaigns hadn't made their way down here yet, and there were trays of hamburgers, several different toppings next to them, slices of three different kinds of pizza, sodas, water, Gatorade, four different types of deserts, they had a better menu than most restaurants I'd been to.
We grabbed our food, my mother manipulating the mist to make them let us walk out with whatever we wanted without paying (She was really starting to grow on me) and followed Grover to the back of the cafeteria, where Antonio was sitting alone, just as Grover had predicted, leaned back in his chair with his feet kicked up on the table.
"Already found yourself a local girl?" He joked as we took our seats "Atta boy."
"Actually, this is my, uhhh, sister." I said quickly
"Artemis." She nodded at him
"Like the goddess?" He asked, raising his eyebrows "Sweet. The name's Antonio."
We talked for a little, trying to find a way to steer the conversation to him being a Demigod. We asked him about his family, his mother and father. While we had been in line for lunch, Grover informed us that he hadn't asked Antonio about his family yet, having only just been able to track him down a few days prior. As I assumed he would be, Antonio was withdrawn, answering most of our questions with single words, but, after I answered a few questions he asked me, he started to open up a bit.
His father was an ex biker from the Detroit chapter of a gang called The Chosen Kingsmen. Antonio didn't give any details on them, but he didn't have to, I'd heard of them, they had a chapter in New York, and we'd done business with them a few times, unfortunately drawing the attention of their rivals, The Fallen Knights, which had caught Flat Junction in the middle of a gang war between two of the most dangerous biker gangs in America, besides the Outlaws but even I wouldn't ever reach out the them.
He'd never known his mother, which sent up red flags, at least one sign that he was a Demigod. Supposedly, his father had left the chapter and attempted to skip town, wanting a better life for himself and his family, but they had caught up with him, killed his pregnant wife and shot him five times. His mother had found his father and helped him leave town, caring for him and nursing him back to health, the two of them soon fell in love and had a child, but his mother had died in childbirth.
Obviously, we knew his mother hadn't died in childbirth, if he was a Demigod. If we wasn't, we were about to really screw up a lot of stuff.
"So why the sudden interest in my family life?" He asked suspiciously "You ask an awful lot of questions for someone I just met this morning."
My mother, Grover, and I exchanged glances, and Grover was all but screaming for us to back off and cover our tracks, but I was having different thoughts. This kid was acting exactly like every Demigod, sad story, single parent, ADHD, dyslexic, I decided to take a risk, and I prayed that it didn't backfire.
"You notice any similarities between us?" I asked him
"Not particularly," He shrugged "You're some two timing gang banger from Brooklyn, no offense, and I'm just me. I ain't got no brothers, nobody to watch my back, it's been me against the world for as long as I can remember."
"It's made you stronger hasn't it?" I asked
"Sure," He said, rolling his eyes "Except you're still dodging my question."
"You and I have quite a few similarities," I told him "Too many to call a coincidence."
"Alright, that's it," He said, anger flashing across his face as he dropped his feet to the floor, leaning across the table "You'd better start making sense, or you and I are gonna have an issue."
"One thing I'll promise you," I told him, narrowing my eyes "You don't want an issue with me, kid."
"Raven," My mother snapped, grabbing my hand, which I hadn't realized had curled into a fist "Tell him."
"Yeah, Raven," He said, not back down "Tell me."
"C'mon," I told him "Two teenagers, single parents because the other one is 'dead', ADHD, dyslexia?"
"So what?" He demanded "We've got a few things in common, you still aren't explaining yourself."
"Alright, you'll think I'm crazy," I warned him "Do you really want to know who I am?"
"Let me guess, your name ain't Raven Alistair," He scoffed "I knew that shit sounded made up."
"Oh, no, that's my name," I told him "But I'm not down here with family, and my mother isn't actually dead. I believe that yours isn't either."
"Do I have to knock a few teeth out to get you to fucking spill it?" He snapped
"Depends, do I have to knock a few of yours out to get you to act civilized?" I asked, keeping my composure
"Stop," Mom snapped "Both of you. Raven, stop playing with him and just tell him, you would be acting the exact same way. In fact, you probably would've already pulled a gun."
"Yeah, alright, fair enough," I shrugged "Alright, dude, the name's Raven Alistair, that part was true. I'm a Demigod, a son of Artemis to be more specific, and you, my friend, are one of us."
"You're a fucking idiot," He told me, rolling his eyes "If you want to make shit up just to mess with me, at least get your facts straight. Artemis is a maiden goddess, she isn't allowed to have kids."
"Was," My mother said quietly "I was a maiden goddess, until I met Mark Alistair."
"Wait a second," Antonio said, holding a hand up "So you're telling me this sixteen year old girl right here is the goddess of the Hunt, and you're her son."
"And he's a Satyr." I said, nodding to Grover
"You guys are all crazy," He said, standing up and walking off "Stay the hell away from me."
He stormed away, leaving the side door to the lunch room and heading outside. The three of us sat in silence, looking back and forth at one another, none of us sure what to say, that hand't gone the way I had planned for it to.
"Okay, now what?" Grover asked
"Not a clue," I shrugged "I was hoping that would go differently."
"He's definitely a Demigod," Grover said urgently "I can smell it. Thing is, nobody believes it when they first find out."
"We have to go after him," My mother told me "Now that he knows, or at least has been told, weather he believes it or not, his scent will get stronger."
Without a word, the three of us rose from our seats and headed out the door Antonio had left through. I glanced around, hoping he hadn't gone far, but there was no sign of him. My mother was studying the ground around us, looking for any sort of clues, a dusty footprint, fresh spit on the ground, something. Finally, Grover, in a panic, grabbed my arm and pointed at a group of five or six girls heading around the corner of the school.
"Oh my gods!" He gasped "They've found him!"
"What?" I asked, looking at them "Those hot girls? Yeah, lucky him."
"Those aren't hot girls, Raven," Grover said desperately "It's the mist! Look closer."
I did, concentrating hard the way Chiron had taught me when trying to see through the mist. It was tricky, as enough power behind it could fool Demigods as well, and even gods, I'd seen it happen. Hell I'd used the mist to make it seem like I was still on the Argo III when it exploded, and that had tricked even Orion. What I thought was a group of hot girls turned out to not be that hot when you saw them without the mist, one donkey leg, one metal leg, fangs like wolves, it gave me the chills.
"Empousai!" My mother gasped
"Which are?" I asked
"Much more violent versions of sirens," Grover said "Plus, they don't sing. On top of that, most of the time, they'll come to you."
"Why does every beautiful girl in Greek mythology turn out to be a bloodthirsty monster?" I groaned, grabbing my lighter from my pocket "Alright, let's go save this prick's ass."
Eli:
"DROP!" Justin yelled
We all yelled as we hit the mud hard. Justin, our leader for the second cohort, had decided that the best time to start running drills was in the pouring rain, something the rest of us were not very happy about, and took to muttering curses at him everytime he walked out of earshot.
"ONE!" Justin counted the push ups "TWO! THREE! FOUR! FIVE! SIX! SEVEN! EIGHT! NINE! TEN! EVERYBODY UP!"
We shot up, rain and mud dripping off of our armor. Justin eyed us all, glaring at us, looking as if we were the sorriest excuses for human beings he'd ever seen. I gotta say, Justin was a cool and laid back type of guy, but he was a little too good at turning into the drill sergeant type at the snap of a finger.
"PHALANX!" Justin yelled
We readjusted ourselves into a Phalanx formation and stood at attention. Justin paced back around and did something that we all expected but still never got used to.
"HANNIBAL!" He called
Thunderous footsteps were heard as the elephant appeared almost out of nowhere and charged us. Whenever Justin did this, our goal was to subdue the elephant as quickly as possible. We scattered and surrounded him quickly. After what I had pulled with Ladon, an elephant wasn't a problem. I ran at his back and jumped as high as I can, attempting to grab onto his tail and pull myself up, but he moved sideways and I tumbled to the ground. Hannibal swung his trunk out and sent two other Romans flying off to the side. Justin stood off to the side and watched as we struggled against the elephant.
"YOU'RE A DISGRACE TO THE TWELFTH LEGION!" He yelled at us "YOU CAN'T EVEN TAKE OVER A FRIENDLY ELEPHANT!"
I pushed myself up and took another run. I dodged his trunk and ended up under him with three other Romans. I didn't know everybody's name yet but I did recognize one kid who had introduced himself to me as Jordan. He was a four foot two black kid with about seven more feet of attitude. This kid could snap quick, and he could fight, the only person I had met at Camp Jupiter so far who'd really given me a run for my money, and, in a sick way, I liked him more than anyone else because of it.
"Eli," One of kids yelled "Jump for the exposed part of his vest, grab onto it and swing Jordan up. We'll distract him."
I nodded. Two of them bolted out from under the elephant to get his attention while Jordan and I came out the side. I scanned the side for the opening in the vest and I saw what he meant. Someone hadn't strapped the vest onto him right and there was a piece of it dangling down. I backed up and took a running jump, grabbing onto the kevlar strap as I fell. Hannibal swung himself around and I stuck my hand out to Jordan who grabbed it and got pulled up with me.
"GO!" I yelled to him
He scrambled up, using my shoulders as a support. He kicked off my shoulders onto the elephant's back and I let go of the strap and fell to the ground. Hannibal thundered past me and I slammed into the mud. The wind got knocked clean out of me and I rolled over coughing and gasping for air. When I looked back over, Hannibal had calmed down and Jordan was sitting victorious on top, the rest of the second cohort gathered around him.
"Well, well," A voice said from behind "Not bad."
I pushed myself up and turned around. Reyna was standing behind me with one of her extremely rare smiles, so I figured it must've been a good day, at least for her. My day, so far at least, had been filled with screaming, pouring rain, and continuous push ups.
"Yeah well, talk to your Centurion over there," I said indicating to Justin "Turns into the DI from Full Metal Jacket in a heartbeat."
Reyna laughed and waved Justin over, which caused a strange look to come to his face. Even though I'd been inducted as a full member of the Legion, given my SPQR tattoo, the whole nine yards, it still wasn't exactly common to see, well, basically what was the Demigod version of a General having a casual conversation with the Demigod version of a Private.
"What's up?" Justin asked as he approached
"Eli and I need to talk, and we will be leaving the camp," She said "Only Praetor Zhang, you, Eli, and I know. Nobody else is to find out, that understood?"
"Understood," Justin said "Any idea when you'll be back."
"Not much longer than an hour or two." Reyna said
"Right," Justin said "I'll make sure nobody else knows."
Reyna nodded and Justin hurried off to dismissed the rest of the Second Cohort, waving goodbye to me as we walked away. Even though Reyna had yet to say a word, I already knew what this was about, we'd discussed the mission a few days prior, and I'd been awaiting word from Raven.
"Your brother Iris messaged me this morning," She said as she began walking "They found the Demigod, at least, Grover thinks he's the one we've been looking for."
"So they're going after her I take it?" I asked
"Yep," Reyna nodded "Your mother and Raven managed to get themselves enrolled in the school, posing as students until they can make their move."
"My mother in high school?" I asked her, raising my eyebrows
"My thoughts exactly," She said, grinning "But Raven assured me it'll be in and out."
We rounded the corner towards where Ladon was being held. Reyna had been reluctant to not cage him, but I promised he wouldn't attack us. So far I had been right and nobody had been eaten by him. As we entered the stables I looked over at Ladon's stable. It was opened at the top so that he could come and go as he pleased, but he would always come when I called.
"Up for a little flight?" I asked him as Reyna and I drew nearer to him
He looked up and gave a small huff at me. I reached out and rubbed his snout, causing him to make a little grumble noise. He was kind of affectionate when he wasn't trying to kill you.
"You ready to go back home?" I asked him "Or at least, near there?"
He looked at me and gave a small whine.
"I'm not gonna leave you there," I said throwing his saddle onto him "We're just going to investigate."
Reyna stood back and watched me do the straps to the dragon's saddle. Ladon stood and stretched when I finally did the last strap, then I turned to Reyna, who looked as though she was having second thoughts about our choice of a ride.
"Ready?" I asked her
"I'm really not sure about the dragon." She said hesitantly
"Relax, he's kind of harmless." I told her
"Kind of?" She asked
"Well I've noticed that he picks up on my emotions," I told her "So try not to upset me and he probably won't eat you."
"Very reassuring." She said, rolling her eyes
I laughed and hopped onto Ladon's back, offering my hand to Reyna. She grabbed my hand and I pulled her onto his back with me, holding onto my waist as I gave Ladon's side a small kick and he shot into the air. I felt Reyna's arms tighten and I laughed.
"THIS ISN'T FUNNY!" She yelled over the wind
"I THINK IT IS!" I yelled back "I'VE SEEN YOU FACE DOWN ARMIES OF MONSTERS AND YOU'RE SCARED OF HEIGHTS!"
"I'M NOT SCARED OF HEIGHTS!" She responded "I JUST HATE FAST MOVEMENT LIKE THIS!"
I rolled my eyes and steered Ladon towards Mount Othrys. It wasn't too far out but I still felt safer taking Ladon. I glanced back and saw Reyna with her eyes closed tight, forcing herself not to look around. Not scared of heights my ass. I don't know if Bellona had some sort of beef with a sky spirit, but Reyna looked like she absolutely hated where she was at. As we approached San Francisco I had a thought. And wonderful thought. And awful thought. I had a wonderful awful thought. I steered Ladon to the side a bit and then dropped him suddenly. He shot towards the ground and Reyna's eyes shot open, and she was screaming at the top of her lungs. I pulled Ladon out of the dive and landed him in the park where Mount Tam was located. I looked back at Reyna's horrified and shocked face as I dismounted, and I couldn't help it, I started laughing.
"I HATE YOU THAT WAS HORRIBLE!" She yelled "WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?"
"That was funny!" I choked out through the laughter
"NO IT WASN'T!" Reyna shrieked, sliding off of Ladon's back
She took a minute to regain her composure before glaring at me. If looks could kill, shit I'd be dead as fuck.
"If you ever do that again, I swear you'll regret the day you were born," She threatened me "And if you ever tell anybody about it, I'll throw you into the fields of punishment."
I was able to keep a straight face for a moment before I busted out laughing. I doubled over and Reyna glared at me again. Ladon made a small sound in his throat that sounded like a chuckle, and Reyna turned on him.
"You too?" She demanded
Ladon lowered his head in shame and refused to look Reyna in the eye. She turned back to me and gestured towards the mountain.
"Do you intend to investigate with me?" She asked, still breathing hard
"Yeah I'm good," I said, still slightly laughing "Let's go."
Reyna drew her sword and advanced slowly. I pulled my bow and motioned for Ladon to follow us quietly, which he did without hesitation. Reyna and I walked slowly into the fog at the base of the mountain, moving as quietly as possible.
"So where is the garden?" I asked her "And how do they keep mortals out?"
"We're demigods," She said "We'll get through the barrier, anybody else would just pass through it."
It made sense to me. After all, I'd seen weirder things. I did a quick sweep and saw nothing out of the ordinary. If you can consider two armed teenagers and a dragon normal, but since it's me judging it then yes, it's normal. After a few moments I began to smell something weird. but I couldn't quite place exactly what it was. Reyna stopped suddenly and held out her arm to stop me. I glanced behind as Ladon stopped with he head above Reyna and I. He lowered his head next to my shoulder and made a small noise. I reached up and rubbed the side of his face, which seemed to calm him down.
"The garden." Reyna said
We moved a little bit slower and the fog started to clear. I still couldn't see very well, but I knew that Ladon wasn't very happy to be back here. The fog thinned out a bit more until I could see the garden, and I glanced around and immediately noticed something was wrong. There was a tree with a pair of steps going around either side, but the tree was halfway gone, and burned up. Ladon whimpered at the sight of his tree, and I glanced back at him.
"Who goes there?" Came a voice from the shadow
Ladon drew back, Reyna raised her sword, and I drew an arrow back and pointed it in the direction the voice had come from. Four girls stepped from the fog. They were all identical, wearing white dresses, gold braids in their hair, and regal features.
"Lower thy weapons, Romans." One said
"Give me one good reason why." I said, adjusting my aim onto her
"Because I will ask it of thee." Said another voice, this time from behind me
I turned quickly and trained my bow on another girl. She looked exactly like the other girls, except she wore the uniform of a Hunter of Artemis, and the silver circlet of the Lieutenant of Artemis. She walked with such grace I fought the urge to sink to my knees and call her your majesty.
"And you are?" I asked her
"My name is Zoe Nightshade," She said "Former Lieutenant of the Lady Artemis."
"I've heard of you," I said, remembering the stories "You died on this mountain, helping Percy and Thalia rescue Artemis and Annabeth, right?"
"I did," She said, nodding "Now, please, lower thy weapons."
I glanced back at the other four girls who were making their way around us to stand beside Zoe. I lowered my bow and Reyna lowered her sword, and the Hesperides relaxed a little, but they still seemed a little aggravated at the fact somebody else had walked in with their dragon. Zoe shifted her gaze around us and smiled at Ladon, a warm, comforting smile, like somebody who was coming home after a long day at work and seeing their dog hop around in excitement.
"I see ye hath found a new master." She said to him
Ladon lowered himself almost protectively above Reyna and I. The other four girls, who I at this point had figured out were the Hesperides, glared at me, clearly angry at me for taking their dragon.
"Tell me, how did ye come by our dragon Eli?" Zoe asked conversationally
"How do you know my name?" I asked her
"Ye don't think Lady Artemis and I still speak on occasion?" She asked "I know all about thee, and thy brother."
"He's evading thy question," One of the Hesperides said angrily "How did ye come by our dragon?"
I told them the story of how Ladon had arrived with the enemy army and I had managed to mount him and we had been shot down, they didn't seem to buy my story, except for Zoe. Zoe was the only one who didn't look angry, in fact, she looked content, just wanting to hear the details.
"So let me ask you this," I began "Where were all you guys when they came and took him?"
"We could not stop them," Another Hesperides protested "We are not warriors."
"Tis not important." Zoe interrupted "What is important is the answers ye seek."
"You know what Kronos is up to?" I asked her
"I know not of Kronos's involvement in this matter," She said "But I can show ye where to find the answer."
"Zoe," a Hesperide protested "Tis dangerous. They will be slain."
"Maybe," Zoe said "Maybe not."
"We can handle whatever is on Mount Othrys," Reyna assured her "Just get us there."
"Ye are confident in this matter," Zoe said "But thou hath no idea what lies ahead."
"We can handle it." I said, my hand blazing with silver light
Zoe raised her eyebrows, clearly impressed. The four Hesperides just looked at me like I might attack them. Zoe shrugged and motioned for us to follow her but before we could moved, the Hesperides stopped us.
"First," One said "Ladon belongs to us."
"Ladon is a free spirit," I said "And for now, he's with me."
"Ladon has guarded this place for centuries." She protested
"Then maybe he wants a change of scenery." I countered
Ladon made a grumbling sound and I looked back at him. He shifted his massive dragon feet back and forth and looked back and forth between me and the Hesperides.
"I sense Ladon's loyalties are to the son of Diana now," Zoe said "And this is something ye cannot change sister."
Sister?
"Fine!" She exclaimed "If he wants to take Ladon then fine!"
The four of them disappeared back into the fog and I turned to Zoe. She held a small frown on her face but motioned us to follow her. I raised my bow again and followed. Now that I was close and paying attention, I realized that Zoe was slightly transparent. I had no idea why she was here if she was dead, but I had learned not to question anything unless absolutely necessary. Reyna was behind me with her sword and Ladon was behind her. He kept on glancing back at where what remained of his tree had been. I felt a little bit bad for him.
"You okay buddy?" I asked, falling back a bit to stand next to him
He gave a small whimper. I swear I never thought dragons could make these noises but they're just like big lizard-like dogs. I reached up and patted his side, then kept moving. I'm telling you, for a dragon, he could move really quietly when he wanted to.
"We're almost there," Zoe said "Are ye sure about this."
Reyna nodded and Zoe kept moving. We came out of the garden onto a bunch of black rocks. I glanced around at all the rocks and began to realize something. It looked like rubble from a building, as though a castle had been leveled here. Zoe ducked down and motioned for us to do the same. I heard noises and bangs as we crept up the side. Ladon stayed behind so that we could move quicker if we needed to. I figured if he had to, he'd get us out of here in a heartbeat. We came behind a giant black stone that had pieces crumbling off of it. Zoe, Reyna, and I pushed ourselves up to peek over the top, and I almost gasped out loud when I saw what was on the other side.
"Oh my gods." Reyna whispered in disbelief
