A/N: Over 3.5k words, that's a new personal record. I hope you enjoy this chapter, it's the most critical chapter so far, and might be the most critical chapter ever.
Update (1/14/2011): Fixed the mistake of calling Atlas Apollo in places. Thank you ZoeNightshade2214.
Chapter 4
Hunting Defeats Titans
"Father!" Calypso's voice rang out in surprise, "What are you doing here?"
"What? Can't I check to see how my daughter is doing?"
"But... didn't the Olympians imprison you?"
"They didn't really imprison me; so much as keep me busy. Percy here paid me a visit a few years ago. He is the reason I was able to successfully escape, in fact."
"What do you mean?" I sputtered.
Atlas threw his feet up on the table and leaned back in his chair. "I suppose it's a story I should tell from the beginning. You see it all started after you freed me. I wanted revenge on that Artemis. She's the one that turned my daughter Zoë against me, after all. And then, to top it all off, she tricked me in to taking the Earth back! Anyways, Kronos, being the benevolent ruler he is, agreed with me. But he had a better plan then I did. Why not kill two birds with one stone? After all, I should also have revenge on the boy who thwarted my plans, shouldn't I? So instead of going after Artemis directly, we decided to go after her new lead huntress, that punk friend of yours...Thalia."
"Fall back!" Thalia cried. This was bad. The Hunters had been camping in the woods when the attack started. The pack of hellhounds lead by the legendary Laelaps were closing in on them. According to legend, Laelaps had never failed to catch its prey. "There's always a first time for everything," Thalia thought optimistically. Not far behind the mutts stood a small part or Kronos' army, lead by Kronos himself.
Thalia wasn't sure what they wanted, but they came at a bad time. Artemis was away investigating rumors that Camp Half-Blood had been destroyed. If this rumor was true, things were looking very bad for the Olympians. The camp held the biggest army that could be used against the Titans. And now the Titans were after them!
Thalia checked over her shoulder. Laelaps was right on their heels. She tripped over a root of a tree and did a face dive into the dirt. One of the hunters slowed down to help her.
"No! Save yourself. Tell Artemis what happened." The young girl nodded and kept running. The snarling dogs encircled her. But they didn't attack. "So, I'm the one they wanted. Good, the others are safe now. But why don't they attack me?"
Soon the triumphant face of Luke stood over her. "No," she reminded herself, "not Luke, Kronos." It pained her to see this. The body of Luke taken over by a seriously bad dude. "I've got you now, Thalia. I never knew my granddaughter could be so troublesome. I really wish I could kill you, but my brother needs you alive. How bothersome. General, take her!" he ordered. Then everything went black.
Thalia woke up with a headache. It was dark, and she couldn't see a thing. Finally her eyes adjusted and she saw Kronos sitting in the corner of what appeared to be a small concrete room. "So, you're finally awake, huh? Now that we are out of the woods, I suppose I should tell you what I have planned. But I don't like to spoil things. Let's just say your father is going to find himself with a very heavy burden on his shoulders soon." Kronos laughed.
"I cut off all ties to Zeus! What do you need me for, you freak?" Thalia spat at him.
"You may have renounced your father by joining the hunters, but he has not renounced you. He would do anything for his little girl."
"You obviously don't know anything about my father. He never cared much for me in the first place."
"You think he goes around turning every demigod into tree?" Kronos laughed, "Kids are so ignorant and disrespectful towards their parents. Part of the reason I ate mine. But did that kill them? No! They still didn't respect me when they were in my digestive tract! My son is too soft on you, so it's up to your grandfather to teach you some manners." Kronos had a sadistic smile on.
"But I thought you needed me alive," Thalia faltered.
"Oh, I do. Besides, how would I teach you manners if you died on me? There are many ways of causing pain that don't kill though. How else do you think I keep my immortal servants loyal to me? I can tell you they don't stick around for the dental plan. Now enough chit-chat. Time to get down to business."
The slightly chunky guard at the Empire State Building was surprised when S.W.A.T. stormed the building. He was even more surprised when one of them pulled him away from his donuts and threw him against the wall and started patting him down.
"Mr. Harris, you are under arrest for supporting the terrorist group branded the Titans. You have the right to remain silent...," one of the S.W.A.T. members started to read the guard his rights. No one noticed the S.W.A.T. member who patted the guard down handing a key to a young blond man.
The young blond man got into the elevator and put the key in the key hole that would take him to the 600th floor. He looked up at the speaker that was spouting out muzak. When the elevator arrived at the 600th floor, the speaker was no longer in working condition.
"KRONOS! How dare you come here!" Zeus bellowed to the man getting out of the elevator.
"Peace, my son," Kronos said, "If I don't return, you're daughter becomes dog food. My hellhounds are quite hungry."
"You had better not have hurt her. If you touch a single hair on her head, what I did to you when I was a child will seem like a vacation in Hawaii!"
"Don't worry, I didn't hurt her hair. The rest of her body I can't vouch for, though. I might be persuaded to let up on her torture, though. It all depends on what you have in return. No ideas? Then let me suggest one. One of your uncles is under a heavy burden. I need to borrow him for a while, though. So if you were willing to cover for him..."
"You are not seriously suggesting I take the sky off Atlas are you?"
"Well, only if you care what happens to your daughter. She told me you wouldn't care, but I thought she just didn't understand how you express your love for your children. Guess she's smarter then I gave her credit for. I won't waste any more of your time here, the General was telling me of some new torture techniques that where invented while I was gone. I'm interested in trying this 'water boarding' for myself."
"WAIT! I'll do it, just let her go!"
"I'm afraid I can't do that. Once I let her go, what's to prevent your Olympian friends from forcing poor Atlas to take the sky back? I will, however, give her some place nicer than a dark, damp cell, feed her more often, stop the torture, that sort of thing. Make her bleak captivity more enjoyable. I can't guarantee the Ritz, but I think I can at least manage Hotel 6."
"Fine, but if I find you went back on your word, I'll blow you to oblivion. I hear that a nuclear missile could destroy Achilles, and the body of Luke Castellan is nowhere near as strong."
"Don't worry. I may have eaten my children, but I'm a Titan of my word. Besides, what use would torturing her be once I have you? She's already told me everything I can get out of her about those pathetic girls who call themselves Hunters."
"And so, here I am," Atlas finished telling his tale.
"YOU BASTARD!" I yelled, running at him with my sword. He snapped his fingers, and I went flying backwards, crashing into one of the invisible servants in the process.
"It's a good thing you aren't the chosen one after all, kid. There is now way you can stand up to a Titan, you'd get killed if you ever tried. 'One to decide the fate of Mount Olympus,' what a joke."
"Father, stop insulting my boyfriend. And Percy, please don't try to kill him here. I don't care whether the Titans win or lose, but blood is impossible to get out of the carpet!"
"You don't care who wins?" Atlas laughed at her comment, "you might want to change your attitude. Which brings me to the reason of my visit."
"What is that, Pops?" I ask sarcastically.
"Don't take that tone with me, Percy. I'm offering you and Calypso a way off this rotten island. It's already been long enough that Nico is older than you, so we don't have to worry about you losing your immortality. At least not until we get rid of that Hades brat. And we plan to have Mount Olympus overthrown by then anyways."
"What's the catch? I've learned there's always a catch with you Titans," I said carefully.
"Ah, yes. There is one of those. Actually there are two. The first is that you, Percy, either join the Titans-"
"Fat chance," I interrupt.
"Let me finish. Either you join us, or you stay out of the fight entirely. Of course, I can just kill you right after you get off the island, if you wish, but Lord Kronos has decided to be merciful to you and let you live."
"How nice of him," I said through gritted teeth, "and the other condition?"
"Don't miss a thing, do you Percy. The other condition is you, my daughter, join us. No fighting or anything, we couldn't get you to do any of that during the last war, but just supporting our troops. Cooking, entertaining them by singing, that sort of thing. You might even find a man you like better than this Percy jerk, so I can kill him and be done with it."
"No one is joining you, you di-" I didn't even get to finish my sentence before Calypso interrupted me.
"Percy, this is for me to decide. I'll consider it."
I gave her a look like she was betraying me.
"Percy, you have to understand. This is a prison, I want off, and that's something the Olympians haven't done yet. But tell me, father, how are you planning on getting me off this island? Not even Kronos is powerful enough as to break an oath to Gaia. If Kronos asked Gaia, she might void the agreement, although I doubt it. The problem is she's asleep. Last I heard, Kronos doesn't have a God of Awakening on his side, and even if he did, I doubt his power would work on Gaia."
"Good point. But there is one way we have found to void the contract. As you said, Gaia is sleeping. That means she is defenseless. Kronos has created a weapon that can destroy her. Sure that will kill all plants and crops, but who really cares? The wine vineyards will be a loss, but humans have enough wine to last us thousands of years. I'm sure we can come up with an alternative before then. And we Titans are immortal. We like to eat, but it's not a requirement for our survival. So what do you say?"
"So let me get this straight, you want me to help you in destroying Gaia, killing all plant life, and then have me cook for and entertain your troops?"
"Yep, that's the plan."
"Percy, you can kill him now. Maybe OxiClean will get the blood out. Billy Mays did swear by it."
"Come on, don't be like that. We're offering to kill a Goddess, the Mother, the Creator for you."
"And I'm telling you NO!"
"I think you had better leave now," I said, "My previous blow didn't come close to hitting you, but my girlfriend wasn't angry before. If I don't kill you, she might kill me. But, nothing is stopping you from getting off this island where I can't follow you. It's a way out, and I know how much of a coward you Titans are. Tricking me, instead of facing me like a man. While the joke was on you there, I've never been happier. Sure Annabeth's death was a shock and a mournful occasion, but tell this to Kronos. I'm happy because I know that his plan will eventually backfire. He may think I chose the wrong course, but after this meeting, I'm confident I chose the right one. As long as I'm on this island, he can't touch me, and I grow stronger by the day. One day, I'll find away to leave this island, and I'll be strong enough to beat him. Olympus may have already fallen by that time, but at least his reign of terror will be over."
"Fine, I'm leaving. And don't worry, Calypso, we won't kill Gaia. No point now. While we don't really need you on our side, we don't want you to be free to join the other side as well. If you want to rot on this island for all of eternity, be my guest." With that, Atlas just sort of disappeared.
"Good bye and good riddance," Calyso commented.
"You were scary a few minutes ago. What happened to you?"
"What do you mean? You heard him. He was planning on killing Gaia. He was planning on destroying every garden in the world. Not to mention wiping out the entire human race. How could I let him do that, after I've fallen in love with so many?"
"Oh yeah, I forgot. You have a host of previous boyfriends. You probably didn't even flinch at the part where I would have to betray the Olympians, because you could just have me killed and run off with one of the soldiers."
"Oh for Pete's sake, Percy. It's not my fault that anyone that makes it to this island is someone I can't help but fall in love with. I still haven't figured out whether that's the Olympians playing a trick on me, or part of the magic of this island. Maybe Gaia thought a paradise would be a place where you could find true love. Whatever the reason, you're the only man for me. You are the only one who stayed after all," Calypso said, giving me a peck on the lips.
"I know, but I didn't at first. I'm like all the others. Maybe worse, I only came here because I wanted out. I'm nothing but a coward."
"But maybe it's like you said to Atlas. Maybe it was the right decision. Maybe you would have died stopping the Titans otherwise, and by coming here you've made sure you can beat the Titans without dying."
"I just said that to- Wait, did you say beat the Titans? Does that mean you are finally supporting the Olympians?"
"I could care less about them, but at least they never thought of killing Gaia. Ever since Atlas said it, no ever since Kronos thought of it, the Titans became my enemy. And the enemy of my enemy is my friend. So yes, I suppose I am supporting the Olympians. Which is why tomorrow, I start your real training."
"But I thought you didn't fight."
"I don't. But I know how the Titans fight. I was sometimes with the men on the front lines in the last war. We will also pray. Pray to Gaia to let us off this island. She may be sleeping, but maybe she can still hear us. Even if she doesn't she will eventually awaken, and when she does, we'll be there to carry out her wrath on her enemies. It's bedtime. Let's pray and then go to sleep."
"Of course," I said as we went to our room and knelt beside our beds. "Great Goddess Gaia," I prayed silently, "please give me strength to defeat the Titans. Also please provide Calypso and me an escape from your island paradise. I'm sure you never meant it this way, but it has become a prison, a tool used by both sides to keep those who they don't want to fight away. Only you can set us free."
Over by her bed, Calypso was doing a similar prayer. I got under the covers of my own bed and soon fell in to a dreamless sleep.
"Alright," said Calypso, "Time for some real training. You've been training with your sword and armor, but that is no good against the Titans. If you get in a sword fight, any Titan will overpower you in no time. You may be able to defeat other Half-Bloods that have joined with them, but there's no point in winning battles but losing the war. Eventually you'll have to go against deities like Typhon, Atlas, and even Kronos. As you saw with Atlas, if you barge right at them, they just have to snap their fingers, and you'll go flying out a 16th story window."
"So there's no hope?"
"I didn't say that. The Titans put a lot of dependence on Phoebe, the Titan Oracle. She has one fatal flaw; she can only see the big picture. She can't see any immediate danger any of the Titans are in. That gives us one advantage to use against the Titans, surprise attacks. We could set up traps; you know tripwires, snares, launching spears, that sort of thing."
"Sometimes I forget how behind the times you are. Traps have gotten much more sophisticated since you've been here. Instead of using tripwires, we use lasers. Spears are great, but I can't help but wonder if landmines and missiles might do more damage..."
"My father said Zeus mentioned one of those. A 'new lear miss isle' or something. Are those dangerous islands?"
"A nuclear missile. A missile is like a giant spear that explodes instead of penetrates and can travel long distances. A nuclear missile is the most powerful. Most missiles just blow things into smaller things. A nuclear missile will wipe the thing out existence, turning it into energy. It also unleashes radiation for thousands of miles, slowly killing anyone and anything in that area. The atomic bomb, which is the core of the nuclear missile, was invented during World War II, which was really a fight of the gods, Zeus and Poseidon against Hades. I believe it was under Zeus' son's command that the only two atomic bombs to ever be used against another country were used. Killed one-hundred twenty thousand Japanese instantly. I hope Zeus wasn't seriously thinking about using one again."
"Percy, the gods will do anything to win. I'm sure they would rather not harm mortals, I mean they have affairs with them often enough, but if it's between that or defeating the Titans, they will always choose to save themselves."
"I can't accept that. My father loved my mother, and still does. He wouldn't allow her or any other mortal to come to harm."
"Percy, this is war. Your father knows that you can't save everyone you love, and sometimes killing them is more merciful then letting them live under a cruel government."
"You admit the Titans are cruel?" I asked flabbergasted. Just yesterday she wouldn't say anything bad about them.
"I admit that Kronos wants revenge and is power hungry. He will do anything to be back on top. He isn't cruel by nature, but his imprisonment is enough to drive anyone mad. I might have had it bad, getting men who I couldn't help but fall in love with who would only turn their back and leave me, but he was cut into a million pieces and then thrown in a never-ending pit. I can't begin to imagine what that would be like."
"Umm..." I was beginning to get uncomfortable. If I started seeing Kronos as misunderstood and wrongfully treated, it would severely diminish his "Bad Dude" factor. That would make it harder to justify fighting him. "Weren't we here to discuss how to fight the Titans, not whether or not the Olympians will use nukes or the Titans are cruel?"
"Nukes?"
"A shortened term for nuclear missiles."
"Ah. But yes, let's get back to your teaching. As I was saying, you need to learn the art of traps and deception. The basic type of trap is a snare. I learned about these from a hero who learned them from Orion, the great hunter. They are commonly used for catching pray. Now you need to know your basic knots first, starting with the..."
The days went on and Calypso taught me many snares and other traps. She had just started teaching me camouflage and we decided to take a break for lunch, under the willow tree like always. While Calypso was in the house, I climbed up the tree, planning to surprise her by dropping down behind her when she came out. Unfortunately I saw something that surprised me, and I hit the ground with the giant "THUD".
"Percy what's wrong?" Calypso asked as she came running out of the house. I pointed to a small mark carved above one of the tree branches. To most it would look like a triangle, but I knew that mark. It was a Greek delta. The mark that appears on every entrance to the Labyrinth. The mark of Daedalus.
~Aish Sheva and PQ's Nathan