There will be a fairly long a/n at the end of the chapter. You have been warned…

'flashback or thoughts'

"normal speech"

Disclaimer: You know the deal by now.

Chapter Seven: Dibs

"Dibs on driving at the next rest stop." Zoë called out over the rush of the wind blowing through her hair.

"No way. I called indefinite dibs. Besides your hand is still hurt after you sucker punched me." Percy retorted.

Zoë blushed faintly before returning fire. "You deserved it! You don't just say things like that to a girl and then pause for some sort of dramatic effect that gives us the wrong ideas."

If he weren't so busy keeping the motorcycle steady Percy would have turned around and looked at Zoë incredulously. "Ok I understand the slap, but the follow up punch because the slap hurt you more than me? What was that about?"

She didn't answer him as she felt slightly guilty for trying to hit him but it was overwritten by the failure to dish out what was in her opinion righteous feminine fury.

"Well whatever. You never let me drive on the way to camp on my motorcycle so it's only fair that I drive this one that you managed to get a hold of. Besides its better not to aggravate your hand right now. Even though you ate some ambrosia the medics said it'll be at least a day before you should put any strain on it so it can heal quicker." Percy insisted upon her silence.

Zoë rolled her eyes. "Whatever you say pervy." She fake gasped and covered her mouth. "I mean whatever you say Percy."

Ignoring the purposeful twist on his name Percy kept his eyes locked on the road. He let a small smile crawl across his face from her light teasing. After all the excitement in the last few days and his most recent dream he felt good having a face from his past be with him.

He relished the way her arms snaked around his waist and clung tightly to him more than he would admit out loud. Percy was glad that they'd worked out their little misunderstanding the night before but remembered that he'd had yet another dream before setting out this day.

Flashback

Once more Percy felt like a spectator or bystander at a closed event as several images blurred past his eyes like watching them from a moving train. There was no set rhythm or pattern to what he saw.

One second he was watching a group of people ranging from small kids to older teenagers in an arena practicing sword fighting. The arena didn't look anything like the Coliseum at camp though.

Shortly after that he caught glimpses of people working on a ship. They were working hard on it.

He didn't know how long he listened in on them talking but soon those images faded as well to be replaced with a somewhat confusing scene. He was watching girls all dressed like Zoë when he first met her sitting around a fire in some unfamiliar woods.

The girl in the center had shoulder length spiky black hair and wore a leather jacket. Her eyes were a memorable electric blue and she had freckles across her nose. Her clothes could best be described as punk or goth but that didn't take away from how pretty she was. Like Zoë during their initial encounter, this girl too wore a silver circlet on her head like a princess' tiara.

She looked around her and spoke a few words. "We head out at dawn. We are nearing the edges of Nevada and should be in California soon. Once we get there we will message camp and help to narrow down where he might be right now so they can find him. Get some rest girls, tomorrow we have a long day."

As one the girls all nodded and one responded verbally. "Of course Lieutenant Thalia."

Once more his vision faded and the girls and forest disappeared. Next Percy found himself standing on the Field of Mars looking up at the Berkeley Hills. Golden grass rippled and the hills shadows lengthened changing the landscape.

A sleeping woman, her features formed from the shadows and folds in the terrain materialized. Her eyes remained closed and mouth unmoving but her voice reached Percy's ears.

"Ah young Perseus Jackson, the demigod who destroyed my son Kronos. You are different from what I was expecting." She took a moment and seemed to analyze Percy. "It seems my little plan worked and Khione was not so useless after all. Yet you still carry the curse of the son of that foolish sea nymph. Perhaps you can be of more use to me than I believed."

Percy could only stare in confusion and wonder what she was talking about. "Yeah you're not quite as evil looking as everyone around here makes you out to be."

It may have been a trick of the light or because of how the shadows were formed but Gaea seemed to be smiling at his words. While not a sinister smile it certainly didn't give off any friendly vibes either.

"Right then... I don't suppose you would be willing to give up your quest to destroy camp would you? Or you know, give us a hint to stop you." Percy asked hopefully.

Chilling laughter rang across the hills. "Not quite little hero. Juno can play her little games but in the end you will be my pawn and not hers. She is a poor Queen. Come north and face my son. Enter his domain and mine as well. I am the Queen of all creation. You cannot hope to stop me."

"Well not to be rude or anything your highness," Percy replied sarcastically, "but apart from going to Alaska there's not much to go on if you want me to face your son."

Gaea laughed though there was no amusement in her voice. "I will give you a little hint then, as incentive to face me. Seek out Phineas the seer in Portland. If you can manage that little task perhaps you can save your precious little camp. Though no matter your choices after that, you will be my pawn soon enough. Prophecies can be interpreted many ways little hero, remember that."

Chills ran down Percy's back and that scene then faded as well.

When he awoke the next morning Percy decided to tell Frank and Hazel where they should head first. He wasn't part of the quest to Alaska but he wanted to help them in some way.

Flashback end

He shook his memories away and concentrated at the task on hand. Percy was glad that he was on a quest again. Perhaps this quest would reveal secrets or memories that had escaped his grasp back at camp.

Though they were making good time Percy still wanted to make it to Seattle as fast as possible. He wanted to face Hylla and perhaps glean another sliver of his own history from her.

The mornings Senate meeting had been a huge waste of time in his opinion. Mostly it involved the centurions from the first four cohorts whining and complaining about how the 5th would doom them all because Frank was put in charge.

Frank had been promoted to Centurion rank after Gwen chose to step down and work in the Senate. He initially had wanted Percy to come along on the quest but after learning that he had an assignment of his own had taken someone else from the 5th instead.

After the Senate was told of the three chosen quest takers they deemed that they needed only the bare minimum of help. They had bickered for hours on how to send them to Alaska, some not wanting to risk travel over land and just about all not willing to risk travel over sea. In the end flights were booked and good luck wishes given before all three members from the 5th had left on their quest.

On the way out Percy had made sure to tell Hazel of the possibility of learning where Alcyoneus was from Phineas the seer. She had seemed a bit shaken at hearing that Gaea had told him where to go but promised to pass along the message to her companions.

Next up on the agenda was Zoë's request for a bodyguard to escort her to safety.

Since Octavian was no longer part of the Senate he had apparently given Larry enough to say on his behalf. Larry had put up the most objections to Zoë leaving camp and requesting a body guard of her own.

Apparently Larry was sore that his cohort had suffered a further humiliating defeat the previous day thanks again to Percy and had all but demanded someone else go in his place. He had even volunteered himself and leered at Zoë while proclaiming he was the best choice to go.

Zoë had of course spared him no more than a condescending look before reiterating that she would take Percy. After one more quick meeting with Reyna the duo had set off on their mission.

Already the two had been on the road for about 10 hours and it was nearing time for a rest stop again. Zoë had assured him that if they so wished they could make it to Seattle in a little under 15 hours if they kept up the speed.

She had pointed out though that in doing so they would be in Amazon territory sometime at night and very tired. So together they had decided to drive till about sunset and then find a place to rest. They could finish the rest of the trip the next day.

Zoë had been the one giving him directions to follow so it wasn't until they saw a mountain in the distance that Percy started to get suspicious. Even he knew that Seattle shouldn't have any mountain ranges nearby.

"Zoë where are we really going." He asked in a flat tone.

While he wasn't above sight-seeing Percy also didn't want to stop and make detours to tourist attractions. The future of the camp was on the line and he didn't want to leave his new comrades to their fate.

Besides, after Mt. Tamalpais and his weird dream about Merope and Calypso he wasn't exactly eager to go mountain climbing again.

Zoë bit her lip in worry and silently cursed herself for not saying anything sooner. She had meant to talk to Percy about it earlier and on the way but she had forgotten after their rough start to the day. Then after that they had bickered back and forth and further pushed her intentions to the back of her mind.

Last, and she would never admit this out loud, she had thoroughly enjoyed being pressed up against Percy while he was driving. The way that she had to hold on tight to keep from falling off the motorcycle and had to bury her head into his back to duck out of the wind. How even though she shouldn't be able to, she had been surrounded and calmed by his scent, how he somehow exuded the scent of the open sea.

He was strong and they both knew it, and she liked holding on to him knowing his strength would only be used to protect if need be. Nothing like her bad memories of Hercules.

There was just something calming about being near Percy and she had reveled in his presence. She had even briefly caught herself wondering and forcefully stopped the thoughts of how his arms around her would feel. Because of how he made her feel she completely forgot about it.

"I know I didn't mention this sooner Percy… but I think we should head over to Mt. St. Helens before we get to Seattle." Zoë quietly answered.

"Why's that?" He wondered, his tone of voice not changing.

Zoë sighed and subconsciously gripped him tighter around the waist. Percy relaxed a little and decided to hear her out since she obviously thought this was important and she was nervous. "Your dream that you mentioned last night… I think there must have been some reason they were up on Mt. St. Helens besides just an update on you. This is Typhon's old prison, and one of Vulcan's favorite forges. There must be some sort of clue around there. Demigod dreams are never truly random. They often mean something, so I would like to check it out. I'm sorry for not mentioning it sooner, it slipped my mind. Honest."

She couldn't see it but Percy's features softened at hearing her reasons.

At first he'd been mad and thought she was putting going off to Seattle for some reason, now hearing that it was because she believed it would somehow help him since he dreamed about it he was grateful to her.

"Oh." Percy whispered softly, "Thank you Zoë. I shouldn't have doubted you. You don't seem like the type to keep things from me on purpose. I'm glad it was only an accident that you forgot."

Zoë flinched and was grateful that Percy couldn't see her at the moment. She truly did not want to lie to who was rapidly becoming her best friend but it was necessary. That didn't stop her from feeling guilty and like she was abusing his trust.

After that the duo settled on a comfortable silence and made their way to Mt. St. Helens. Once they got as close as they could by driving they got off the motorcycle and walked on foot.

"Whoa. You think I could keep that? You know, tell the camp it was lost or something? I'm sure they could always get another." Percy piped up excitedly after watching Zoë somehow shrink and pocket the motorcycle they'd been riding on for the last few hours.

When they had set off that morning, Zoë had just taken them to the garage at camp where the vehicles were kept. Since legacies often visited camp and many of the past legionnaires were now in positions of influence they often donated cars or other vehicles to where they spent their childhood.

She had initially wanted to take one of the SUV's available but after seeing the motorcycle had fallen in love with it. Unfortunately she hadn't been able to drive because her hand was still hurt.

The motorcycle was one of the prototypes made by the blacksmiths of camp, all sons and daughters of Vulcan. The legion didn't have a cavalry so apparently they had wanted to gift a praetor with a motorcycle. Reyna had instead chosen a pegasus.

Since it was camp made and by sons of Vulcan one of the features they'd installed was a way to shrink it down to size so they wouldn't lose it. Handy for when out on quests and couldn't drive.

Zoë smirked in Percy's direction and patted her pocket where the motorcycle now rested. "Dibs."

Percy scowled and resisted the urge to pout. Pouting was not manly, and Percy certainly felt the need to look manly right now. "Not fair." Zoë's unrepentant grin never left her face. "You're still not driving later Zoë."

She laughed and kept on walking towards the mountain.

"I'm serious Zoë. Zoë … Hey wait up! You can't just leave me back here!" Percy took off after the madly giggling girl; and wasn't that strange? Hearing tough, no nonsense, man-hating Zoë Nightshade giggle.

Shaking those thoughts off he grinned as he chased her laughing backside up the mountain.

Maybe this quest would help someone besides just him. Zoë had been far too sulky and withdrawn lately for his liking. After Apollo and Mars had shown up she had seemed almost scared of her own shadow.

It was good to see her laugh and be able to enjoy herself, however brief it might be.

By the time they had reached the actual mountain night had fallen. The duo had then decided to settle down for the night. Zoë had once again shown why Percy had grown to rely on her so much.

From a travel bag she pulled out a plastic square about the size of a tab of chewing gum. Setting it down on the floor and backing up they watched as it quickly sprang up into a tent-pavilion like thing for them. Inside it was warmed with a kerosene lamp and had sleeping bags set out for them.

"We can start looking for clues tomorrow Percy. For now let's just get some sleep. I'll be right back, there's something I have to do." Zoë announced after they had set everything up for rest.

Percy nodded and didn't say a word as she quietly padded out of the tent. He had noticed over the last couple weeks that at night Zoë liked to go out and watch the moon. It probably had something to do with Lady Diana or something equally personal.

Percy didn't want to intrude on her private time and rituals so was content with giving her the space to do what she wanted.

After quickly making sure that she wasn't being followed Zoë walked for a few minutes looking for a clearing. She was at the foot of a mountain so she looked for something with few rocks, one or two trees for cover and a generally flat terrain.

Once she found it and double checked that Percy was nowhere in sight she let her intentions be known.

"You can come out now. I don't know why you've been spying on us but if it's me you want then I'm here. You obviously aren't after Percy if you keep shadowing me." Zoë called out into the darkness.

Melodious laughter filled the clearing. From the shadow of one of the trees, stepped out a dark feminine figure. Still wary, Zoë pulled out and uncapped her sword.

Looking closely Zoë recognized the one person who seemed most interested in Percy's wellbeing if recent events were anything to go by.

Dark wavy hair reaching half way down her back, dark brown eyes that glittered like the stars, a copper toned skin color and a face that possessed traits from both her parents, and Zoë even took in the slightly upturned nose that these two girls shared. Here stood Merope her sister.

"My my Zoë. Still as direct as ever I see." Merope smirked as she walked over to greet one of the few sisters she got along with.

Even though she wanted to find out why Merope was taking an active interest in her friend, forcefully if need be, Zoë still hugged and greeted her sister eagerly. Tears threatened to fall from her eyes at seeing yet another member of her family after being revived.

Merope pulled back with a warm smile on her face and held Zoë at arm's length. "I think we have a lot to catch up on Zoë. Wouldn't you agree?"

"I believe we do." Both daughters of Atlas whirled and turned to the new voice. "Come now. It would be a shame if I wasn't invited to the family reunion don't you think?" Hazel eyes full of genuine mirth at seeing their shocked looks greeted the two girls, shocked at being snuck up on.

June 18 afternoon

"Quit sulking Percy. It doesn't suit you." Zoë chastised.

"Easy for you to say. You had me do all the heavy lifting. And what did we end up finding? A great big ball of nothing that's what!" Percy grumbled.

Zoë sniffed in mock contempt, though her eyes betrayed her amusement, "And here I thought a big strong man like you could handle a little bit of work. Besides, as you so righteously pointed out, my hand shouldn't have any added stress put on it right now. I couldn't do the lifting myself."

"Still didn't stop you from trying to drive again." Percy mumbled under his breath. "You can have the next dibs if it means helping a little."

Once more they were on the road on the way to Seattle after a hard fought battle to drive the motorcycle had earned Percy his victory.

Percy didn't know when Zoë had finally come in at night but trusted her enough not to ask. They had spent their morning exploring the mountain and looking for the entrance to Vulcan's forges that Zoë assured Percy were hidden in the mountain. Some of the tunnels and such had collapsed so they had been forced to clear away much of the debris in order to get access to anything.

All that they had confirmed at the end of their little adventure was that the forges were abandoned. No clues of either Merope or Calypso had been uncovered in Percy's search.

Stopping only long enough to break camp down and eat they had taken off to Seattle with renewed vigor. The only thing on Percy's mind were Gaea's cryptic words from his dream the other night. 'prophecies can be interpreted many ways…'

'Does that mean that the prophecy Apollo gave doesn't just apply to those going to Alaska? Or what am I missing here? I wish I would have told Zoë about this new dream but she has enough to worry about.' Percy was deep in thought all the way to Amazon territory.

When they finally made it to the city they started their search for the Amazon's in downtown Seattle. Whether it was because they didn't know where the Amazon's were headquartered or because Zoë just liked to explore and sight see Percy couldn't be sure.

Finally after a few hours of searching and several detours all having to do with food they made it to where Zoë swore Amazon's were based in Seattle.

"You're serious about his?" Percy asked skeptically pointing at the nondescript building, "You're not just messing with me for calling you old and senile after you said you couldn't remember where this was?"

Keeping a handle on her growing temper Zoë bit back the urge to pummel him into the ground. "Yes I'm serious. Amazon's really are in charge of that internet company amazon."

Giving her a skeptical look Percy once more eyed the glass and brick building in front of them. The amazon logo complete with the arrow underline connecting the a to the z easily visible on the door.

Percy shrugged and moved forward. "Well time's a wasting. No time like the present. Lets get it in gear. Time to hit the road. We're burning da-"

"Shut up. Let's just go in and get started." Zoë cut him off, annoyed at all the lame one-liners he was spouting.

The bodyguard to Diana's ambassador threw her a lop-sided grin and pushed open the lobby doors. His grin made her want to grin back and she resisted but as hard as she fought it her smile eventually won the battle.

As they took in their surroundings their prominent thoughts on its decoration could be summed up in three words – empty fish tank. Glass walls, a glossy black floor, a few plastic ferns here and there, and just one other item in the center.

As empty and sparse as the decorating went, the lobby was full of something else for the moment. People, plenty of them. All of them armed and in a heated discussion with a fairly tall older woman with silver plaited hair.

"I am Otrera and you will let me pass. I care not for your current queen's rules and regulations. When I make a demand I expect you to follow it and I demand an audience with your queen." Otrera growled out as she got into the lobby attendants face.

There were about a dozen amazons in the lobby, half seemed willing to let Otrera down the stairs she was currently at the head of, and the other half were just as determined to deny her access.

"This is not good." Zoë whispered to Percy, "Mars was right. The doors of death have opened, that is former queen Otrera of the amazons. She was always the most war-like of the great queens, her being here right before the battle in Camp Jupiter does not bode well."

"So what do we do?" Percy whispered back.

Zoë shushed him and pulled him off to the side, hoping no one noticed either of the two walk in. "Keep quiet. We may have to delay our audience with the queen. There will be amazon politics at work now and its best not to get involved or we will have a massive fight on our hands."

Percy ignored just about everything Zoë had said except for the last few words. "Fight you say? Ok then." He nodded resolutely and stepped forward, his palm raised in front of him. "Greetings amazons. I come in pe-aah!"

Zoë interrupted whatever plan he was concocting and slapped a hand over his mouth. "Shut up!" She hissed. "Let's let them handle this and we can follow them after it's settled."

It was not to be, for as soon as Percy had started talking all eyes snapped in their direction. Warily, all the amazons present slid their hands to their weapons.

Zoë saw this and stepped forward to stop any form of conflict. "Please, we are not here for any sort of fight. I only seek an audience with your queen. I am an envoy of Diana and have come here on request of Camp Jupiter. My name is-"

"Zoë Nightshade." Otrera interrupted. She lifted an eyebrow in surprise and curiosity, "Well well. I didn't expect to see you here too. And with a boy no less."

Zoë ignored her pathetic attempt at mocking and faced the receptionist looking woman. She had brown curly hair pulled into a ponytail and wore a name tag with KINZIE written on it. "As is customary I am willing to fight to prove my worthiness of taking your queen's time."

All the amazons immediately perked up at hearing this. It seemed that entertainment was in full supply today. Otrera also grew interested in the direction this was going. "I too will fight if I must in order to see your queen. Better yet, I'll fight Diana's envoy so that only the winner wastes the queen's time today."

Grins spread all throughout the gathered women. Many were eager to see their former and long dead queen fight again and some were just as eager to see how an envoy of Diana would hold up.

Percy was conflicted. On the one hand he wanted to worry for Zoë and her safety. On the other hand, he didn't know of any other way to meet the queen short of fighting every amazon here and eventually forcing Hylla to come out herself.

Kinzie looked all three of the new arrivals over. "You will come with me but…" she met Zoë's gaze and held it for a few seconds, "this male over here," she didn't bother to do much past wave a hand in his direction, "he will be blind folded and kept under guard at all times."

Before Percy could protest Zoë accepted her conditions. "That's fine. Hand me the manacles so I can restrain him myself."

One of the girls that had been guarding the stairwell pulled out a pair of imperial gold cuffs and handed them over. Zoë also received a cloth to tie around Percy's eyes. To make sure he wasn't allowed to peek because of Zoë another amazon stepped forward and dropped a hood over his head.

After having his vision cut off and his arms cuffed behind him Percy felt a steady hand on his arm guide him forward. He took his time going down the stairs and trusted Zoë not to rush him down since he was blindfolded.

Since they had Percy shackled and restrained no one bothered to search him for hidden weapons.

The contingent of amazons directed all three visitors through several flights of stairs leading them deeper underground. Once they had reached the bottom level they started walking through several expansive rooms filled with machines, robots, and men in collars running around filling out as many of amazon's online orders as possible.

All throughout their walk the amazon's were telling Otrera of their base of operations. Since Percy couldn't see a thing he just tuned them out. Zoë had already knew of what they were doing and ignored them as well.

Besides, she may have lived thousands of years but that didn't mean she knew or cared about the newest products that amazon had for sale.

Otrera was another story. She listened raptly to everything she was told.

"Fascinating. To think that our kingdom has grown so vast and powerful." Otrera exclaimed as she looked all around her. "We are in prime position to start a revolution if what you are saying is true. The wealth of the amazon kingdom is incredible."

Many of the amazons surrounding them looked on in pride and glee after listening to Otrera's praise. Kinzie also looked smug at her words but was slightly uncomfortable with the manic gleam in the former queen's eyes.

They navigated through a maze of conveyor belts, ducked under rows of robotic arms that were picking up and packing boxes, and crossed a lane of forklift traffic before the group finally made it to the end of the warehouse sized room they were in.

At the end of the warehouse stood a dais constructed of pallets of books: all the latest and best-selling novels, walls of weird glittery vampire horror stories, inspirational teenage wizards, James Patterson thrillers, and a throne made from about a thousand copies of the book The Outsiders.

Zoë snorted after reading that title. 'That's ironic. Hylla's throne is made of that book and here we are, outsiders ourselves, come to ask a favor. Seeing her sitting on top of that story implies she wishes nothing to do with those outside the amazon nation.'

All three of the visitors were brought before the queen and Percy was guided to his knees by Zoë. She also bowed in deference to the monarch of the realm.

Otrera was too prideful for that and merely nodded in Hylla's direction. An action which gained her no favors as Hylla narrowed her eyes dangerously at the silver haired woman.

As Zoë looked on at the current queen many different words came to mind to describe her. Dangerous, regal, and perceptive to name a few. She was in her twenties, lithe and lean ready to act at a moment's notice, like a tiger or lioness defending its pride.

She wore a black leather jumpsuit and black boots. Around her waist was a belt made of interlocking gold links, a belt that Zoë recognized as the ancient belt of Hippolyta. Hylla looked so much like Reyna, or to be precise Reyna looked almost identical to Hylla. Same long black hair, same dark eyes and expression.

The only thing missing from her attire and appearance that would make her look even more like a queen was the crown that would sit on her head.

"My queen. These visitors are here and have asked for a private audience with you. As is custom they have to fight someone to prove they are worthy to be in your presence. Otrera volunteered to fight the other visitor Zoë Nightshade." Kinzie explained after they had all risen from their bows.

Hylla looked down imperiously at all those before her, "Very well then. Amazon's clear the floor for the battle. The winner will be granted an audience with me with the loser having to return some other time if at all."

Otrera laughed as if the thought of her losing was preposterous. She took her place at one side of the room putting plenty of space between herself and Zoë.

Zoë nodded her head and walked to the opposite side of the room to await her opponent.

Kinzie stood at the center of the two and looked to each to see if they were ready. "You will start on my mark. Fight until a clear winner is confirmed or the death of one of you." Otrera once more laughed at those words, "Begin!" With that Kinzie quickly left the battle zone.

Otrera looked over to Zoë and called out to her as she pulled an imperial gold spear from thin air. "Give up Zoë. Though we haven't fought in millennia we both know that your hunting daggers are no match for my spear. You are not good enough to beat me in battle. Save yourself the embarrassment and give up."

"Come Otrera. Let me show you what I have learned since your departure all those years ago." Zoë declared as she readied herself for her counterattack.

Eyeing her opponent warily but deciding to throw caution to the wind Otrera charged Zoë.

Over the last few weeks of training with Percy, Zoë had noticed several things. Most of them good and almost all of them because they had crossed blades in a spar where she would often lose in a painful manner.

One; Percy was a very skilled warrior who likely had few that could match him in a fair sword fight.

Two; fighting Percy who wielded a sword using her daggers was never a good idea and only showed her many different ways in which he could disarm her or keep her at bay without getting a scratch himself.

Three; having decided to use Anaklusmos again the best way to improve was fighting an experienced and skilled fighter and few were as skilled as Percy which meant her own skills had gone up.

Four; the best way to beat an opponent was to do something completely unexpected.

With a shake of her head Zoë pulled out Anaklusmos from her pocket. Otrera was greatly surprised when Zoë uncapped the pen and it transformed into a sword. A sword that she seemed highly comfortable wielding, and one that had Hylla narrow her eyes in suspicion after seeing it.

When Otrera went to lunge at Zoë expecting to impale her on the spear, Zoë parried and quickly spun away from the bladed tip. It narrowly missed her and kept going forward. Zoë used Otrera's own momentum against her and executed a perfect kick halfway through her spin and planted her foot directly into Otrera's diaphragm.

With the added momentum of Otrera's charge the kick knocked the wind out of her and the edges of her vision darkened. She kept a tight grip on her spear and instead of trying another stab slashed at Zoë forcing her to jump backwards so Otrera could get some breathing room.

There was a reason that Otrera was a queen of the Amazon's and so she recuperated quickly. Her style of fighting unlike many other spear users didn't solely focus on stabbing. She utilized its handle just as effectively as she did its bladed tip.

Gripping the spear near the middle Otrera once more attempted to stab Zoë. When Zoë sidestepped it Otrera spun the spear in her hand and attempted to use the blunt end to hit her opponent.

Zoë ducked but was continuously forced back as Otrera used her spear more like a bo staff instead of just a stick with a pointy end that would only be thrust in her direction. The silver haired ex-queen followed Zoë around the floor keeping her off balance.

Percy could hear the sounds of battle but couldn't see a thing because no one had bothered to remove the hood or blindfold. From the sounds of things though, the fight was getting exciting.

One particular thrust at Zoë 's legs had Otrera ready to claim victory since if she dodged then the former queen was in a perfect position to sweep Zoë 's legs out from under her and disarm her.

Instead Zoë quickly lifted her foot up and brought it back down, effectively trapping the spear between her sole and the floor. She quickly slashed at Otrera's arm causing her to drop her weapon to avoid getting cut.

Hoping to press her advantage Zoë stepped forward and slashed, but Otrera jumped backwards. Zoë advanced and tried to perform a front chest kick. Her opponent saw it coming however and ducked but took advantage of her position and did a low sweep kick knocking Zoë onto her back.

Quickly and with no hesitation Otrera ran towards her weapon. She no sooner had it in her hand when she had to leap out of the way of an incoming sword slash. Rolling into a crouched position she raised her spear above her holding it horizontally in both hands to stop another slash from Zoë's sword.

This time when Zoë tried to kick at her chest there was nothing the silver haired woman could do about it. She was knocked onto her back and had to roll out of the way of several downward slashes.

Because she was an experienced fighter Otrera still managed to get enough space between the two and get back to her feet. Both girls looked at the other with grim determination in their eyes.

Otrera had been sent by Gaea to take over the Amazon kingdom and help demolish Camp Jupiter. Gaea made it very clear that there was no room for failure.

Zoë had been sent to do the exact opposite, to have Hylla aid the camp and avoid its destruction. The camp was the new home of her best friend Percy and she would do everything in her power to help.

Both girls needed an audience with the queen.

Neither girl could afford to lose.

With no warning both girls rushed each other to engage in their deadly dance once again. This time Zoë's millennia of fighting experience kicked in and allowed her to even the odds. The longer the two fought the more comfortable that Zoë grew in wielding Anaklusmos.

Otrera started to panic at seeing Zoë dodge her spear with increasing frequency. Nothing she was doing would work. Not reversing her grip on the spear, not slashing instead of stabbing, not even throwing in kicks and the occasional punch to win.

After another one handed attempt to stab Zoë failed by her knocking the spear upwards, Otrera tried a different tactic. She held the spear in a two handed grip again and rushed her opponent holding her spear defensively across her chest.

If Zoë were to try and slash at her again Otrera would block and deflect the sword with the handle of the spear.

This is where the fourth thing Zoë picked up from sparring with Percy kicked in. Instead of doing the predictable thing of either hacking at Otrera with her sword or backing away, she threw Anaklusmos at Otrera, who deflected it with her spear, and waited for her to get closer.

Not waiting for Otrera to attempt to stab her, Zoë stepped forward and grabbed at her spear placing her hands directly next to Otrera's. Once more using her forward momentum against her, Zoë leaned backwards as Otrera kept her speed going forwards.

As she fell onto her back Zoë placed her feet on Otrera's stomach and rolled backwards thereby launching Otrera over her head and away from her while keeping a firm grip on the spear.

Otrera's eyes widened in shock as she was sent flying through the air. She landed in a crumpled mess and scrambled back to her feet.

Now defenseless and with Anaklusmos no where in sight, as it had returned to Zoë's pocket, Otrera could think of nothing to do. Her choices were taken out of her hands though as Zoë had leapt back to her feet and had the spear tip to Otrera's neck.

"Do you yield." She inquired in an emotionless tone of voice.

Burning with anger and shame Otrera said nothing but turned to walk away in defeat.

The amazons who were watching the fight erupted in cheers and applause.

Kinzie stepped forward and ordered several other amazons to escort Otrera to a room since she would not be having an audience with the queen that day. "You have won the right to an audience with our queen Zoë Nightshade. What is it that you wish to ask."

Zoë silently made her way over to Percy and turned to Hylla. "Queen Hylla. We are here on request of Camp Jupiter. Unfortunately I cannot say that we bring good news."

As she was talking Zoë was taking off Percy's hood and blindfold.

Upon catching sight of Percy's face the queen shot to her feet and glared at Percy Jackson with murderous rage. "You!"

She lunged at Percy intent on extracting her pound of flesh from him and exacting her revenge.

Percy leapt backwards and managed to jump through his hands as he brought them in front of him while still shackled. He turned towards Zoë as he took another step back to avoid another of Hylla's slashes with her dagger. "Hey Zoë. I don't mind letting you have dibs on this fight."

Despite the now dire situation they were in, Zoë couldn't help but chuckle at Percy's odd sense of humor. 'I wonder though. Which queen will we have to deal with now? Is it the former queen Otrera or the murderous current queen Hylla.'

A/N just a quick mention and thanks to my 100th reviewer 'book study'. My goal is to crack the top 10 percy/zoë fics this chapter so thank you all for the great reviews I've received.

Once more I'd like to thank Anaklusmos14 for giving me the privilege of being my beta reader (even if i didn't take advantage of that this chapter). please take the time to head to his profile page and read some of his great works as well

Several things to note this chapter. In canon Otrera is a daughter of Ares and the first queen of the amazons. In my story I'm going to stick with the mythological background and have her be a daughter of Eurus the east wind with Ares siring her daughters Hyppolyta, Penthesilia, and Melaippe. This will be important later on so just deal with it.

Don't know if many of you care but I have decided to announce it here. I have another PJO story on this site and after taking the time to reread it today I can only come to one conclusion. It's terrible and I can't believe I ever wrote it. Now I'm not saying the story itself is bad, not really I mean I still think the idea is good and fairly unexplored, no what I'm saying is that my writing must have been done when I was either extremely drunk or I must have had several severe concussions. In light of this I've decided that as soon as I feel that this story is at a comfortable place, I will rewrite my first work. I've decided to say that here rather than on a new A/N since I didn't want to get anyone's hopes up that is following my other story return of the forgotten. So yeah I'm going to rewrite that story in the near future and I'll post the a/n in the other story as soon as I post the new chapter.

Now about this chapter all I can say is… ha ha ha. I love messing with people. So which queen of the prophecy is it? Gaea, Juno who has yet to make an appearance, Hylla or perhaps even former queen Otrera? It's good to be the author. Such fun ways to make people anxious or second guess themselves. This must be what Rick Riordan feels as he types up his prophecies. He probably gets a kick out of imagining people's faces when they find out they guessed wrong on the prophecy, I know I do.

Because I have received several strange PM's varying from flames to outright demands I have decided to say something at last. First off, I think that all authors regardless of their chosen area to post a story will receive flames, and its not so bad since you can just ignore them since they really don't affect your day. That being said, I think I may be one of the few authors that receives demands and outrageous flames for a story that isn't even mine. Anaklusmos14 is a fellow author and I greatly enjoy his work so I really don't understand why you flame me for things that he has posted or that he recommends my story. I mean I really do appreciate what he thinks of my work but some of you guys have gotten weird and demanded I ask him to stop being my beta (you know who you are) It's really really weird. Because of this I have decided to do the same thing Anaklusmos14 has done and yet take it a step further as I will also recommend movies and books you should read to occupy your time instead of wasting mine by flaming me for things that don't make any sense. So behold my faithful readers! The stories that I recommend for those of you that want to read something interesting. Some of these stories I'll admit don't really need any extra advertising but they are some of my personal favorites. So enjoy!

preyna will prevail by olympus architect

trials of the sea by avarianus - new! just in today but totally awesome. read his first fic too since this is a sequel to champion of the sun

of swords and tridents by divine psyche

guardian of the earth by chilledcactus – another percy/zoë fic that doesn't have zoë listed

the sword: reforged by sage of eyes – this is actually a new story and a great start to one. Look it up!

the betrayed by crimsonrose108

perseus: master of the elements by zapperian

altered destinies by anaklusmos14

erin effigy, son of none, champion of hecate and hebe by winter-buzz

the flames of chaos by anonemuss14

chaos and the peacemaker by - hungergames () percyjackson - insert an actual dot where the parenthesis are and delete the spaces. otherwise author won't show up

percy jackson and the powers of chaos by dowy sixst heavens

now for the movies I recommend: Red Dawn, Alpha Dog, Skyfall, King Arthur, Righteous Kill, Ted, The Lincoln Lawyer, The Recruit, Training Day, Pride and Glory, Your Highness, Immortals

and now the books!: the Bourne Trilogy

Angels and Demons

The Da Vinci Code

The Lost Symbol

The Song of Achilles

Hidden Empire

Ender's Game

Ender in Exile

I Am Legend – so much better than the movie. Will Smith is still awesome in the movie though

Born to Run

The Tipping Point

Eaters of the Dead

I would recommend a bunch more but there's always the library if you get sick of these books. I also would write down the authors but its fairly easy just to google the titles followed by a 'by' and they'll appear. i'm pretty sure that otherwise i'd get in trouble for recommending you read something other than fanfiction on a fanfiction posted story.