Chapter Eight: Prisoners of Earth
June 18th 2011 - 5 days before the Feast of Fortuna, 1510 hrs, Seattle, Washington, United States - Percy Jackson
Otrera's lips parted, a cruel smile formed on her face as the corners of her mouth shot up hauntingly at Percy. The world seemed to be in slow motion, then, it wasn't. Percy lashed out before he knew what he was doing, his actions were instinctive, there was only one thing in his mind, that he would not fail another friend.
"Run!" He shouted, body slamming into one of the mortals holding Hazel.
The guards had been distracted. For a moment, everyone in the room was too stunned to react. Hazel was the first to snap out of the trance and yanked herself free from the mortal holding her, before turning her heels away and making a run for the exit.
Everything was moving again. A mortal quickly raised his gun and took aim at Hazel, but Percy was already there, disarming the man with a single twist of his wrist, forcing the weapon out of his grip, before punching him in the face for good measure, knocking him unconscious.
Otrera was barking, shouting orders from her throne. Amazon guards and the mortals were running with their weapons high. Zoë was unguarded now, but her injuries were too grave for her to try to escape, Percy hoped she would be okay. The Amazons were making for the exit, no doubt to go after Hazel while some mortals had their weapons fixed on Percy.
Percy dropped to a knee as a volley of bullets struck the wall behind him. Percy lunged for the gun dropped by the mortal he'd knocked out and quickly fired, hitting one mortal square chest and sending the rest scrambling for cover. He was lucky the bulks of the mortal police with automatic weapons had stayed outside the Amazon Headquarters.
He rolled over as the mortals returned fire in retaliation. Percy found cover behind a pillar and quickly took aim, cutting down three Amazon guards before they could reach the exit. A curse left Percy's mouth as more bullets hit the pillar, the mortals were approaching him slowly, their weapons ablaze. There was nothing more he could do for Hazel now.
Percy turned sharply and ran for the next pillar, firing over his head without looking, hoping some of his shots would actually land on one of the mortals. He let out a sigh in relief as he hid from the sight of the mortals behind the pillar. He looked at his gun and cursed once again, he was out of bullets. He caught a glimpse of Zoë in the corner of his vision, being dragged away to Otrera by an Amazon, at least she wasn't caught in the crossfire.
A dozen Amazon warriors charged at him, hoping to cut Percy off while the mortals approached from behind. Percy reached into his pocket and closed his fingers around Anaklusmos. The Celestial Bronze sword had returned to his pocket shortly after the mortals relieved him of his weapons at the café. He took it out and uncapped the pen, a shimmering three-foot long Celestial Bronze blade extended into his right hand.
The Amazons were already on him. Percy raised his arm to block a spear while sidestepping another. His left hand shot up, grabbing the shaft of the Imperial Gold spear before its wielder could retract it, while he brought down Anaklusmos with as much force as he could muster, sending the other spear flying with a swing of his arm. Percy shoved his left arm at the two Amazon warriors, knocking one of them off her feet, before bringing his right arm up again, connecting his fist with the other Amazon's jaw, knocking her out of action.
Percy flipped the spear so the business end was pointing at the incoming Amazons, and drove it into the third Amazon warrior's leg. Percy jumped back to avoid a jab sent his way by the forth Amazon, slamming the blunt of his blade onto her exposed side with a sharp snap of no doubt ribs breaking. The fifth Amazon seemed hesitant at the sight of her four comrades going down so quickly. Not letting his opportunity go waste, Percy brought up Anaklusmos and fainted a strike at the right of her head. The Amazon warrior took the bait and moved to intercept the blow with her spear, only for Percy to turn his blade sharply, swinging the Amazon off her feet swiftly.
Percy brought his foot up, ready to deliver a powerful kick to the fallen Amazon when something hard struck the back of his head. The son of Vesta fell to the ground, dropping his sword with a loud clutter while his spear was kicked out of his hand. Percy rolled onto his back, struggling to get a good look on his attacker, only to find himself on the end of a gun.
Percy's body shot up from the floor, his shoulder slamming into the waist of his attacker while his hand swatted the gun out of the mortal's grip. His fist forcefully connected with his attacker's face, effectively shattering his nose before he was roughly grabbed from behind and thrown on the ground once again.
"Enough!" Otrera bellowed in rage, jumping off her throne and marching at Percy.
"Lock down the headquarters." The Amazon Queen ordered coldly, her icy eyes shooting daggers at Percy. "Find the girl, kill her."
"You will never catch her." Percy didn't back away from Otrera, like many men would have. Instead, he held Otrera's glare with one of his own, replying without flinching.
"We will see about that," Otrera said, contempt flashing in her eyes, "Take them."
The last thing Percy felt before blackness took over was the familiar feeling of hard metal slamming into the back of his head.
June 19th 2011 - 4 days before the Feast of Fortuna, 1045 hrs, Crawford, Nebraska, United States - Thalia Grace
"Watch your steps," Thalia warned. Normally there wouldn't be the need to say this as her fellow hunters were as adequately trained in the art of stealth as she was, but with demigods outside the hunt, she wasn't so sure - even though she did hold the Twelfth Legion in high regard. "The last thing we need is for Lycaon to know we are here."
Both Jason and Piper nodded, following her with steps as silent as her own - albeit with much less grace in Jason's case. The son of Jupiter's hand clutched the golden coin form of his trustworthy Gladius, Ivlivs. Closely behind him, Piper had her dagger Katoptris out, ready to use it on anything she'd spot as her eyes scanned the trees in alert.
Thalia had been the Lieutenant of the hunt for over two years now, and she already had a handful encounters with Lycaon. She knew how cunning the lycanthrope was, having heard stories from Phoebe, and how many sisters had been lost to Lycaon. He was cunning, even Zoë would have admitted that much, but not smart. Smart was not the word Thalia would describe Lycaon, or any of the werewolves in his pack with. They were clumsy, rogue and undisciplined, unlike the hunters. A pack as unprecedentedly large as the one Jason described would certainly create a lot of noise, but this…
Thalia's eyes sharply searched for any trace of the lycanthropes, any sign that could prove their presence, but there was nothing. No snapped twig, no distant chatter, no friction of leaves, nothing. Something was off. Her Lady Artemis had told Thalia to trust her instincts as a hunter, and right now, her instincts were screaming at her to get the Hades out of there.
The daughter of Zeus came to a sudden halt, putting up a hand to signal Jason and Piper to stop. The three demigods froze in their track.
"What's wrong?" Jason asked, concern present in his voice, "Did you hear something?"
"That's the problem." Thalia shook her head, sliding out a silver hunting blade from her belt and gesturing Piper to take it. "Only silver can kill a lycanthrope. We would carry silver weapons with us just in case, but we are caught by surprise this time. Jason, blast them with lightning if you see them, demigod powers can kill them as well - until they return from Doors of Death a few seconds later, I suppose."
Jason nodded grimly while Piper strapped Katoptris on her belt in favor of the silver blade Thalia had given her.
"Keep your eyes open and ears sharp." Thalia ordered before tapping the silver bracelet resting on her left wrist, summoning her fearsome Aegis that actually sent shivers down Piper's spine before she caught herself and re-composed her posture.
Thalia resumed her track, more slowly this time, her eyes scanning her surroundings while Jason and Piper stayed on her heels, searching for the lycanthropes equally carefully. A branch snapped behind them sharply, causing all three demigods to turn instantly.
Thalia raised a hand to summon a bolt of lightning, but Piper had beat her to it. The daughter of Venus moved without hesitation, her body acting instinctively from years of training, and hurled her blade at the source of the sound. The silver blade tore through the forest air and sunk itself into its target with dead accuracy.
A bulky figure fell from the tree with a pained scream. The three demigods rushed to the lycanthrope immediately, Jason raised his hand, ready to strike him down with a deadly bolt of lightning while Thalia's spear had sprung to life. Piper approached the lycanthrope first and ripped the blade out of his dying body.
"How many of you are there?" Thalia demanded, "Where is Lycaon? And where is the rest of your pack."
"Full of questions, aren't you?" The lycanthrope laughed, before coughing up blood from his mouth. His voice was older than Thalia had expected, more aged than most lycanthropes she had encountered during her time in the hunt.
"Answer her!" Jason snapped.
"If you want," The lycanthrope snorted, before coughing more blood from his throat, his voice stranded, "But as soon as I told you, you are going to wish I hadn't."
"I don't have time for your games," Thalia demanded again, "Tell me now."
The lycanthrope laughed, "Look at yourself, daughter of Zeus, a ruthless huntress, that's why you hunters are always much more fun than demigods. You thrive for blood, you take immense pleasure from every life you take, monster or man. I am abandoned by my master just as you are abandoned by your Gods, Thalia Grace. You will never leave this place, none of you will. This is a wasteland, a cursed land not even the Gods dare to enter. One by one, all of you will die, knowing you have failed to save your precious Olympus. Lycaon is slaughtering your friends as we speak, Perseus Jackson had no idea what he is walking into and there is nothing you can do to save him."
"What do you mean?" Piper spoke up, "Where are we?"
"It was only days ago when I entered this place," Said the lycanthrope, "and yet it feels like years have passed. Make no mistake, you will die, and your friends will follow in Alaska. Terra will raze your home to the ground, it doesn't matter what you do, nothing will change that."
"It's too late for me now," The lycanthrope spoke as the demigods gasped, black ichor was pouring from the wound, "Just as it's too late for you."
Slowly, the lycanthrope's figure literally melted away as he cried out in pain, black acid eroding his body. Within seconds, the lycanthrope was gone, all traces of his existence wiped out as if he was never there.
The demigods, still shaken, exchanged worrying glances with each other.
"So what now?"
June 18th 2011 - 5 days before the Feast of Fortuna, 1530 hrs, The Dungeon, Amazons Headquarters, Seattle, Washington, United States - Zoë Nightshade
The Amazons tossed Percy into the cell roughly, and their handling of Zoë was by no means, gentle, either, even though she was risking bleeding to death of only minutes ago. Zoë was grateful that Otrera at least had the decency to give her enough Ambrosia and Nectar to heal her wound, but the ex-huntress wasn't stupid enough to think the Amazon Queen did it out of the goodness of her heart, rather, the fact that Gaea wanted her alive.
Percy groaned, his eyes opening slowly. Zoë shot him a sympathetic look, a headache was, no doubt, forming after all the times the mortals hit Percy in the back of his head. The mortals had handcuffed them again, before leaving them in the dungeon. Zoë didn't remember they had one the last time she visited.
"Are you okay?" Zoë asked Percy good-heartedly.
Percy gave her a sulky nod in response, before his eyes widened, "Your wound…" The Son of Vesta started, but Zoë waved her off, well, she couldn't exactly do that since her hands were cuffed behind her.
"Don't worry about me," Said Zoë, "They fed me some Ambrosia, I'll live."
Zoë only noticed there was someone else in the room then. She had long black hair and dark eyes, somehow reminding Zoë of Reyna. The girl looked not much older that Percy, with a lean and athletic figure though her clothes were ragged and her hair was tangled, and she looked like she hadn't taken a shower in weeks.
"Who are you?" Zoë asked.
The girl's eyes landed on her, before turning to Percy. The instant she got a good look at Percy's face, recognition sparked in her eyes.
"Percy Jackson." The girl spat, "Fancy seeing you here."
Zoë looked at Percy for an explanation, but it was clear that the son of Vesta was just as clueless as she was.
"Do you know me?" Said Percy in surprise.
"Of course I know you," The girl snorted, resentment burning in her dark orbs, "It's hard to forget the face of the person who destroyed your home."
Percy blinked in confusion.
"You don't even remember," The girl laughed humorlessly, "Of course you don't, you are a hero, aren't you? But I do, I remember you, Percy Jackson. I remember seeing you that day, when you came to my home, before you ruined it. My name is Hylla, does that ring any bell?"
Percy frowned in concentration, staring at the girl face so hard Zoë thought his eyeballs might actually pop out when his eyes suddenly widened in realization. "It was Circe's island. You worked for Circe!"
"Finally remembering now," The girl glared at him in a not-so-friendly way, her tone equally harsh and sharp, "You and some girl named Annabeth freed those- those pigs. My sister and I had to flee our home all because of you!"
"Well I'm sorry but your mistress turned me into a fucking guinea pig!" Percy snapped, a fire of fury burning in his normally warm flaming orange eyes.
An uncomfortable silence descended over them. Zoë knew Hylla's hostility wasn't the real reason Percy lost his temper, it was the mention of Annabeth's name that had set him off edge. Percy and Hylla were glaring daggers at each other, neither of them willing to back down. The tension between them was so thick that Zoë swore she could cut it with her hunting knife, if only she had the blade with her, dam it. Wait…
"Percy!" Zoë called out, snapping both him and Hylla out of their glaring contest, "Anaklusmos! Use it!"
Percy's eyes seemed to widen in realization, Zoë knew him well enough to be able to tell that he was tempted to smack himself in the head for not realizing it sooner. So much for Athena's blessing…
The Son of Vesta tried to reach for Anaklusmos, which would have long returned to his pocket, but he couldn't quite reach it.
"My right pocket," Percy turned to Hylla, albeit grudgingly, "Could you reach for it?"
Hylla shot him a strange look, but moved to him and did as he asked anyways. Thankfully Otrera didn't bother bounding Hylla's hands like she did Percy and Zoë. The former Amazon Queen reached into Percy's jeans pocket and pulled out Anaklusmos' pen form.
"Oh great," Exclaimed Hylla sarcastically, "So this is your grand plan huh? Getting us out of here with a pen, some genius you are. Did your buddy James Bond lend you his exploding pen?"
"Uncap it," Percy replied, rolling his eyes.
Hylla still had a disdainful look on her face, but did what she was told and removed the pen's cap. She gasped when it extended into a gleaming three-foot long Celestial Bronze blade.
"Are you done looking at my sword so lovingly?" Percy said, showing Hylla, who was still staring at the shimmering Celestial Bronze blade his cuffed hands, earning an eye-roll from Zoë, "Because we could use a little help here, or do you want us to leave you two alone to it?"
Hylla snapped out of her trance and moved to cut the cuffs off Zoë with a swift swing, before giving Percy a look that told Zoë she was very tempted to leave him as he was, before sighing in defeat and cutting him free as well.
"Finally." Percy grinned, taking Anaklusmos from Hylla, "Let's get out of here, unless you've grown fond of this place. I wouldn't blame you really, this place is lovely."
"Good to know you find our Amazon hospitality satisfying. I've tried everything your brain could and could not think of, which I imagine is a lot of things," Hylla said with a snort, while Zoë rolled her eyes at the pair again, "We can't get out of this place."
"Oh I'm sure you did," Came Percy's sarcastic reply, "But did you forget I have a three-foot Celestial Bronze sword?"
"You are not hearing me," Hylla shook her head, "The bars are made of reinforced Imperial Gold, not some mortal steel. You won't be able to cut your way out of here with Celestial Bronze. Unless you've got an actual exploding pen in that pocket of yours."
"Sure just let me get my jar of Greek Fire then we can blow a hole on those ugly bars," Percy said sarcastically.
"You are not helping." Zoë long gave up counting how many times she rolled her eyes at Percy.
"You said you have a sister," Zoë turned to Hylla, "Is she here? Can she help us?"
"Good luck with that," Hylla shook her head, "She's one of the Praetors at Camp Jupiter."
Percy and Zoë exchanged a glance that didn't go unnoticed by Hylla.
"Wait, do you guys know her."
"Yes," Zoë replied, it was all making sense now, "That's actually where we came from. We are on a quest for Olympus to free Thanatos in Alaska."
"My poor sister," Hylla shook her head, "You already know, don't you? She'd rather die than betraying her friends, but Terra's goons threatened her with me. I was the Amazon Queen, but Terra brought Otrera back so she could challenge me and take over the Amazon army for Terra's biddings. There were days I wished I were would just die and be done with it."
"We still need a way out," Percy sounded serious for the first time since the conversation began, "You were the Queen, do you know if there is a way to escape?"
"Like I said," Hylla shrugged, "I've already tried everything I could think of, which is pretty much everything. Even if you could get us out of this cell, Otrera posted a dozen warriors to guard the dungeon. The second you set a foot out of this cell, a dozen arrows will cut you down."
"Sounds fun." Percy grumbled, the Blessing of Achilles made him bullet- err arrow-proof, but it wouldn't do him any good if he was stuck behind the bars. "Do you have a plan?"
"Well, there is no way to get out of this cell," Hylla shrugged, "So why bother? The only reason you are still alive is because Terra needs you. Sooner or later she is going to send one of her minions to take you for whatever diabolical plan of hers. They don't know you have your sword with you, so I'd say that's our best chance. Jump on them, kill anyone you see, take their weapons and make a run for it."
"We don't have time for that," Zoë cut in, "The Feast of Fortuna is only five days away, and if Thanatos isn't freed by then, Polybotes' army will lay ruins to New Rome. Zeus knows how long we will be here for."
"So waiting is not an option then," Hylla growled, "Damn it, I'm out of ideas."
"What about the keys?" Zoë asked, "Do you know who would have the keys?"
"Otrera keeps the only set of keys on her at all time," Hylla said, "One paranoid bitch she is."
"Are there Amazons still loyal to you?" Percy jumped in.
"My lieutenant Kinzie," Hylla said after a brief pause, "We can trust her."
"Do you think she can set us free?" Asked Percy.
"I guess," Hylla said thoughtfully, but not fully convinced, "She's a skilled fighter, and a sneaky one. She has access to Otrera, I guess it's possible that she can steal the keys, but she'll need to somehow get past a dozen trained guards, open this door and let us out, all without the guards noticing, and return the keys to Otrera before she notices they are gone."
"I'm not a hunter," Percy said, looking at Zoë, "So stealth isn't really my style. How about you tell her to gather every person she could find still loyal to you, grab the keys, knock the guards out and get us out of here, or fight our way out of here. Be discrete, of course."
"You plan will probably get us all killed," Hylla said, looking at Percy pointedly before sighing, "But it's better than waiting for them to come and butcher us like pigs. I'm in, as long as we can find a way to get the word to her."
"I only need a rainbow and a lot of luck." Percy grinned.
"Let's get the show started then." Hylla grinned back.
June 19th 2011 - 4 days before the Feast of Fortuna, 1045 hrs, Crawford, Nebraska, United States - Leo Valdez
Leo swore that girl hated her. She was scary, with a tall and lean figure, and eyes sharper than Piper's dagger. Something told Leo he did not want to be on her bad side, so Leo decided to get as far away from her as possible, but like Percy always said, life is a bitch.
"Boy!" The girl shouted, marching up to Leo, glaring at him heatedly. Leo had to resist the urge to cower away.
"Yes?" Leo asked, his voice slightly shaking.
"Don't just walk around and do nothing," The girl snapped at her, "If you are gonna be here, at least make yourself useful."
"That was the plan…" Leo muttered under his breathe.
"What was that boy?" The girl demanded sharply, almost making Leo flinch.
"Nothing." Leo denied vehemently, earning a satisfied nod from the girl before she turned her heels around. Leo led out a small sigh of relief before the girl's sharp voice came at him again.
"Well?" The girl said, glaring at Leo. The son of Vulcan realized the girl meant for him to follow her, gulped, and did as he was told.
"Who's your Godly parent?" The girl asked as they walked.
"Vulcan." Leo replied quickly, not wanting to set off the girl. Gods, what has he done to deserve this?
"At least you can build things."
And take them apart. Leo thought, but didn't dare to add.
"Who's yours?" Leo asked before he could stop himself. The girl gave him a look that instantly made him regret it. He was about to apologize and tell her to forget about it when she replied him.
"Hecate." The girl replied curtly. Leo knew some Mars girls from the Legion, but damn, none of them were even half as scary as her.
"I'm Leo by the way," Leo offered, feeling extra daring, "What's yours?"
The girl sent another look Leo's way that made him think maybe he'd crossed a line of some sort, before the girl replied curtly, "Naomi."
"Well Naomi," Said Leo, "What do you want me to do around here?"
"We will probably have a battle at our hands," Naomi said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, "So reinforce our defense or something, I don't know, I'm not a smith. None of our weapons can kill the monsters for more than a few seconds now, maybe you can work on something like that?"
"I can build a catapult," Leo led out a sigh of relief when he realized the girl wasn't leading him to a dark corner to have him murdered and fed to her wolf, not that the hunters would have protested if she did it in broad daylight, "If you have silver weapons you can spare, I can melt them and coat a layer of silver around shells so when they explode, werewolves in range would be soaked in silver. It's not ideal but it's more effective than any weapon we have."
"It is," Said Naomi, looking impressed, which Leo didn't think possible, "Talk to Phoebe, she can give you the things you'd need. Let's check the perimeter first, can you build a sensor that would alarm us if werewolves are nearby?"
"Possibly," Leo confirmed, "I built a radar on Argo II that functions similarly. A much smaller one would be enough for us here, so I can build it quickly if you can give me the right materials."
"I know a few tricks with magic that can help you," Naomi said, "With the catapult and sensor I mean, I can boost the signal that allows monsters to be tracked."
"A hunter and a male working together," Leo grinned, "man, who would have thought?"
"You aren't too bad Valdez." Said Naomi playfully, a small smile tugging on the corners of her lips despite her effort to keep her face straight.
It was the first and the last time Leo ever saw Naomi smile.
"The demigods ran into the woods," A lycanthrope reported, "The hunters were already there, it looks like Jackson's plot to meet the two parties worked after all."
"It would seem," Lycaon nodded, "The reason Jackson wants this to happen is foreign to me, but it doesn't matter now."
"If we strike now," Said the same lycanthrope, "They will be wiped out before they know what hit them."
"No," Lycaon shook his head, "We will not do such thing."
"But this is our chance!" The lycanthrope protested, "There are five hundred of us and only thirty of them! Artemis and her hunters almost drove us to extinction centuries ago. We lycanthropes are proud people, and we are forced to live in the shadows because of them. They are unprepared and without their goddess, so what are we waiting for?"
"The Mother Earth has told me of this place," Lycaon replied, "She called it the cursed land. I don't know what it means. All I know is, nobody who has ever gone into those forests has ever come back out. These demigods and hunters are already dead. We march to Alaska, the Mother Earth is hosting a surprise party for Percy Jackson and his friends, and it would be rude of us to be late."
The lycanthrope nodded, and left to deliver the word to the packs, but Lycaon stopped him.
"One more thing." Lycaon said, causing the lycanthrope to stop in confusion.
The lycanthrope led out a strained gasp as Lycaon picked him up by the throat, struggling to breathe.
"I don't like being questioned." Said Lycaon coldly before his fingers tore into the other lycanthrope's neck and crushed his larynx.
Guest: Percy is on a quest with Zoë and Hazel, their mission is to travel to Alaska and free Thanatos. Jason, Leo, and Piper are searching for Juno so they can rescue her to stop Porphyrion from resurrecting.
AN: To make it up to you guys for being AWOL for so long, this is the longest chapter by far and I'll try to update soon.
