Titan's Curse: The Journey to the Top
"Nico, I need you to listen—"
"No!"
"But, Nico—"
"No! I don't want to leave! I want to help and finish this quest!" Nico pleaded. The others were trying to convince him to go along with Grover and Bessie back to Camp Half Blood.
They had long since distanced themselves from the shopping center pier and were now arguing along the waterfront, heading towards the Golden Gate Bridge. Because they couldn't leave Bessie on her own, Grover had suggested to bring the Ophiotaurus to Long Island Sound where he would ask Chiron to help get Bessie to Olympus. Since Grover was the only one who could communicate with Bessie, he was the best candidate and they could travel the seas with the help of Percy's dad granting them safe passage.
Then Zoe suggested that it would be a good idea to bring along Nico as well since apparently what was up in the mountain was too dangerous for him.
But Nico wouldn't submit that easily.
"Nico, it's not safe. You'll only get hurt." Percy said.
"You still don't know how to fight and control your powers. You'll have more opportunities to battle in other quests." Thalia said reassuringly as though achieving glory was Nico's reason for staying. They didn't understand why he was so persistent on this. He felt like he had an obligation to stay and finish this quest, not for himself but for Bianca.
"That's not it; You don't get it! I need to do this. I need to...to avenge Bianca's death like it wasn't in vain." Nico gripped the side of his jeans in frustration and panic. He knew that if he couldn't convince the others now and fast, it would be all over for him. The sun was already dipping in the west and they needed to be by the Garden of Hesperides before sunset as that was the only time the gates were open.
"We'll all be avenging Bianca's death. I promise it, Nico." Thalia replied placing a hand on his shoulder.
Nico shoved it off, fixing her with an intense gaze. "Promises can be easily broken and I don't want to rely on anyone else to do this for me."
"Boy," Zoe snapped, looking as if she were at her wits end,"it would do you well to leave this dangerous quest to us. You have neither the skill nor the power to go against any of the monsters much less the General himself and if we allow you to fight in this battle, you'd be dead by the first second."
"Zoe!" Thalia and Percy hissed but the hunter continued on.
"Not that I care about the life of a boy, much less a bratty one at that. But for Bianca's sake, I'll make an exception. So heed my warning, child and don't be so arrogant as to think you can hold off on your own. The sacrifice that she made for all of us will not be in vain because we will bring down all our enemies for her sake. Though I still do not understand how thou has come to be here for a prophesied quest of five, we, including Bianca, were the ones initially chosen for this and we will be the ones finishing it."
Silence followed after her words, the others looking worriedly between Zoe and Nico, wondering whether the latter will explode from Zoe's harsh and blunt words.
Despite the consequences Nico knew would happen if he continued this quest, something inside kept pushing at him stubbornly to fight for this. "I—I may not have much knowledge as you guys in areas of fighting and could burden you guys by my presence but..." Nico gulped, feeling sweat cool on his hands, but he stayed resolute and glared at each one of their eyes, "but Bianca is my sister and no matter how many times you try to dissuade me, I'd go along anyway. I feel like this is something I have to do. You don't have to protect me, I can take responsibility for myself. Besides, you're gonna need someone to fend off the skeleton warriors and last time I checked, none of you guys have successfully destroyed one."
When he got no reply, Nico added. "Please, if I don't finish this quest, I'm sure I'm going to regret it for the rest of my life."
"Well," Percy started, shrugging his shoulders. "I can't fault for him for wanting to fight for his sister. I'd be acting like a hypocrite if I did, seeing as I broke the rules too and came here myself to save Annabeth."
"But he's just a child—," Zoe argued.
"I am not!" Nico interrupted, "I turn 11 next month!"
Thalia laughed. "You're still a child, but I like your determination. I mean, I was young too when Luke, Annabeth and I first started defeating monsters. Maybe this'll be a good experience for him."
"And I really wouldn't suggest bringing a child of Hades to Poseidon's domain...I mean, he might sense who Nico is and might just drown us." Grover gulped at the mental image.
"Fine." Zoe relented albeit reluctantly. "But it will be in your head, boy. Don't say I didn't warn you."
"You'll be eating your words when I get back alive." Nico couldn't help but grumble to himself.
"Hey Nico!"
The boy turned to find a dagger presented at him as Thalia outstretched her hand for him to take it.
"Here, you'll need something to defend yourself with."
Nico grinned, grabbing the dagger from her. "Thanks, Tha—", but with his outstretched arm, Thalia took it and pulled Nico close.
"But if you ever get in my way during a fight, I'll personally electrocute you myself." She said threateningly to his face and gave him a little shock before letting him go. She smirked at his shocked face and patted him on the head as she moved away.
Nico felt a grin tug at his lips even as he winced from the static that went up his arm. He hooked his new weapon in the loops of his belt for easy access.
"So...does this mean I'm going alone?" Grover asked.
Percy laughed and thumped his friend on the back, "That's alright!", then he lowered his voice to a jokingly whisper, "At least you'll have one less thing to worry about." The satyr chuckled but then swallowed it down immediately when Nico turned his head around to glare at them.
"Okay, we've wasted enough time. Call on thy father for safe passage for the Ophiataurus then we can head along to save Artemis." Zoe said.
"And Annabeth." Percy reminded before nodding and facing towards the water. "Dad, help us. Get the Ophiotaurus and Grover safely to camp. Protect them at sea."
"A prayer like that needs a sacrifice," Thalia said. "Something big."
Percy thought for a moment then took off his coat.
"Percy," Grover said. "Are you sure? That lion skin... that's really helpful. Hercules used it!"
"If I'm going to survive," Percy said, "it won't be because I've got a lion-skin cloak. I'm not Hercules."
He threw the coat into the bay. It turned back into a golden lion skin, flashing in the light. Then, as it began to sink beneath the waves, it seemed to dissolve into sunlight on the water. The sea breeze picked up.
Grover took a deep breath. "Well, no time to lose."
He jumped in the water and immediately began to sink. Bessie glided next to him and let Grover take hold of his neck.
"Be careful," Percy told them.
"We will," Grover said. "Okay, um... Bessie? We're going to Long Island. It's east. Over that way."
"Moooo?" Bessie said.
"Yes," Grover answered. "Long Island. It's this island. And... it's long. Oh, let's just start."
"Mooo!" Bessie lurched forward. He started to submerge and Grover said, "I can't breath underwater! Just thought I'd mention—"
Glub!
Nico hoped that Poseidon's protection would extend to breathing.
"Well, that is one problem addressed," Zoe said. "But how can we get to my sisters' garden?"
"Thalia's right," Percy said. "We need a car. But there's nobody to help us here. Unless we, uh, borrowed one."
"You mean hijack a car?" Nico asked, glancing at the road where cars were zipping around behind them.
"Wait," Thalia said. She started rifling through her backpack. "There is somebody in San Francisco who can help us. I've got the address here somewhere."
"Who?" Percy asked.
Thalia pulled out a crumpled piece of notebook paper and held it up. "Professor Chase. Annabeth's dad."
-0-
Now Nico knew next to nothing about Annabeth aside from being a daughter of Athena who liked to memorise weird facts about Hoover Dam, but he figured she must be alright to have such a cool dad as Mr. Chase. He was a weird guy at first meeting, wearing an old-fashioned aviator's cap and goggles with his eyes bugging out through the glasses. But once they entered his study, Nico felt his jaw drop and Percy beside him exclaimed, "Whoa!"
The room was wall-to-wall books, but what really caught Nico's attention were the war toys. There was a huge table with miniature tanks and soldiers fighting along a blue painted river, with hills and fake trees and stuff. Old-fashioned biplanes hung on strings from the ceiling, tilted at crazy angles like they were in the middle of a dogfight.
Dr. Chase smiled. "Yes. The Third Battle of Ypres. I'm writing a paper, you see, on the use of Sopwith Camels to strafe enemy lines. I believe they played a much greater role than they've been given credit for." He plucked a biplane from its string and swept it across the battlefield, making airplane engine noises as he knocked down little German soldiers.
Zoe came over and studied the battlefield. "The German lines were farther from the river."
Dr. Chase stared at her. "How do you know that?"
"I was there," she said matter-of-factly. "Artemis wanted to show us how horrible war was, the way mortal men fight each other. And how foolish, too. The battle was a complete waste."
Dr. Chase opened his mouth in shock. "You—"
"She's a Hunter, sir," Thalia said. "But that's not why we're here. We need—"
"You saw the Sopwith Camels?" Dr. Chase said. "How many were there? What formations did they fly?"
"Sir," Thalia broke in again. "Annabeth is in danger."
That got his attention. He set the biplane down.
"Of course," he said. "Tell me everything."
Nico kind of tuned out of the discussion as he observed Mr. Chase's toy soldiers. His mind wandered to the upcoming fight and he wondered whether he could get out of it alive. Sure, he had put on a brave face in front of the older demigods earlier but that's because they wouldn't let him go if they thought he was scared at the prospect of going against scarier monsters than the skeleton warriors.
He recalled that moment when they were surrounded in Hoover Dam and Nico had thought they were going to die, he had felt so weak and useless...but then he had unleashed these hidden powers inside him and if he could just do it again against their enemies then maybe...he could help his friends once more and not let anyone else die this time around.
"Snacks," Mrs. Chase announcement brought Nico out of his thoughts and she pushed through the door with a tray full of peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches and Cokes and cookies fresh out of the oven, the chocolate chips still gooey. Thalia, Percy and Nico inhaled a few cookies while Zoe said, "I can drive, sir. I'm not as young as I look. I promise not to destroy your car."
Mrs. Chase knit her eyebrows. "What's this about?"
"Annabeth is in danger," Dr. Chase said. "On Mount Tam. I would drive them, but... apparently it's no place for mortals." It sounded like it was really hard for him to get that last part out.
Mrs. Chase nodded like it was normal to let a few teenagers and a kid borrow their car to a dangerous place. "Then they'd better get going."
"Right!" Dr. Chase jumped up and started patting his pockets. "My keys..."
His wife sighed. "Frederick, honestly. You'd lose your head if it weren't wrapped inside your aviator hat. The keys are hanging on the peg by the front door."
"Right!" Dr. Chase said.
Zoe grabbed a sandwich. "Thank you both. We should go. Now"
They hustled out the door and down the stairs, the Chases right behind them.
"Percy," Mrs. Chase called as they were leaving, "tell Annabeth... Tell her she still has a home here, will you? Remind her of that."
Nico didn't know if Annabeth had family issues as well but he took one last look at the messy living room, Annabeth's half brothers spilling LEGOs and arguing, the smell of cookies filling the air. And he thought, not a bad place to call home. Nico wished he could have lived a life like this with Bianca...but now, all he could do is fight and become a better demigod like Percy someday.
"I'll tell her," Percy promised.
They ran out to the yellow VW convertible parked in the driveway. The sun was going down and they probably had less than an hour to save Artemis and Annabeth.
"Can't this thing go any faster?" Thalia demanded. Zoe glared at her. "I cannot control traffic."
"You both sound like my mother," Percy said and Nico couldn't help but snicker into his hand. "Shut up!" they said in unison.
Zoe weaved in and out of traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge. The sun was sinking on the horizon when they finally got into Marin County and exited the highway. The roads were insanely narrow, winding through forests and up the sides of hills and around the edges of steep ravines. Nico felt as if his stomach would jump out of his throat because Zoe didn't slow down at all.
"Why does everything smell like cough drops?" Percy asked.
"Eucalyptus." Zoe pointed to the huge trees all around them.
"The stuff koala bears eat?"
"And monsters," she said. "They love chewing the leaves. Especially dragons."
"Dragons chew eucalyptus leaves?" Nico asked, his anxiety earlier suddenly replaced with the curiosity and excitement of seeing a real live dragon.
"Believe me," Zoe said, "if you had dragon breath, you would chew eucalyptus too."
Ahead of them loomed Mount Tamalpais. In terms of mountains, it was a small one, but it looked plenty huge as they were driving toward it.
"So that's the Mountain of Despair?" Percy asked.
"Yes," Zoe said tightly.
"Why do they call it that?"
She was silent for almost a mile before answering. "After the war between the Titans and the gods, many of the Titans were punished and imprisoned. Kronos was sliced to pieces and thrown into Tartarus. Kronos's right-hand man, the general of his forces, was imprisoned up there, on the summit, just beyond the Garden of the Hesperides."
"The General," Percy said. Clouds seemed to be swirling around its peak, as though the mountain was drawing them in, spinning them like a top.
Nico glanced out of the window. "What's going on up there? A storm?"
Zoe didn't answer but Nico got the feeing she knew exactly what the clouds meant, and she didn't like it.
"We have to concentrate," Thalia said. "The Mist is really strong here."
"The magical kind or the natural kind?" Percy asked.
"Both."
The gray clouds swirled even thicker over the mountain, and they kept driving straight toward them. Nico started rubbing his arms, feeling like the mist was seeping into his skin even though he was safe in the confines of the vehicle. They were out of the forest now, into wide open spaces of cliffs and grass and rocks and fog.
"Look!" Percy shouted pointing towards the ocean but then the car turned a corner and the ocean disappeared behind the hills.
"What?" Thalia asked.
"A big white ship," Percy said. "Docked near the beach. It looked like a cruise ship."
Her eyes widened. "Luke's ship?"
Nico was confused, "Who's Luke?"
"We will have company, then," Zoe said grimly. "Kronos's army."
Percy opened his mouth to answer him but then Nico suddenly felt the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. Thalia shouted, "Stop the car. NOW!"
Zoe must've sensed something was wrong too, because she slammed on the brakes without question. The yellow VW spun twice before coming to a stop at the edge of the cliff.
"Out!" Thalia opened the door and pushed Nico and Percy hard. They rolled onto the pavement and the next second: BOOOM!
Lightning flashed, and Dr. Chase's Volkswagen erupted like a canary-yellow grenade. Nico and Percy probably would've been killed by shrapnel if it wasn't for Thalia's shield, which appeared over them. Nico heard a sound like metal ram, and when he opened his eyes, they were surrounded by wreckage. Part of the VW's fender had impaled itself in the street. The smoking hood was spinning in circles. Pieces of yellow metal were strewn across the road.
Nico fanned the smoke out of his face as Percy looked at Thalia. "You saved our lives."
"One shall perish by a parent's hand" she muttered. "Curse him. He would destroy me? Me?"
It took Nico a second to realize she was talking about her dad. Percy seemed to have gone to the same thought as well."Oh, hey, that couldn't have been Zeus's lightning bolt. No way."
"Whose, then?" Thalia demanded.
"I don't know. Zoe said Kronos's name. Maybe he—"
Thalia shook her head, looking angry and stunned. "No. That wasn't it."
"Wait," Nico said. "Where's Zoe?"
Percy jumped as he realized it too. "Zoe!"
They got up and ran around the blasted VW. Nothing inside. Nothing either direction down the road. Nico looked down the cliff. No sign of her.
"Zoe!" Percy shouted.
Then she was standing right next to them, pulling Percy by his arm. "Silence, fool! Do you want to wake Ladon?"
"You mean we're here?"
"Very close," she said. "Follow me."Sheets of fog were drifting right across the road. Zoe stepped into one of them, and when the fog passed, she was no longer there.
Thalia looked at Percy before setting her eyes on Nico.
"Concentrate on Zoe," Thalia advised. "We are following her. Go straight into the fog and keep that in mind."
Nico nodded before entering. When the fog cleared, he was still on the side of the mountain, but the road was dirt. The grass was thicker. The sunset made a bloodred slash across the sea. The summit of the mountain seemed closer now, swirling with storm clouds and raw power. There was only one path to the top, directly in front of them. And it led through a lush meadow of shadows and flowers: Nico thought it kinda looked like a garden of twilight.
If it hadn't been for the enormous dragon, the garden would've been the most beautiful place Nico had ever seen. The grass shimmered with silvery evening light, and the flowers were such brilliant colors they almost glowed in the dark. Stepping stones of polished black marble led around either side of a five-story-tall apple tree, every bough glittering with golden apples.
"The apples of immortality," Thalia said referring to the golden apples Nico was admiring. "Hera's wedding gift from Zeus."
Nico was tempted to step right up and pluck one, except for the dragon coiled around the tree.
Nico thought dragons would be huge and scary, looking monsters but this one was not one he was expecting. The serpent's body was as thick as a booster rocket, glinting with coppery scales. He had more heads than Nico could count, as if a hundred deadly pythons had been fused together. He appeared to be asleep. The heads lay curled in a big spaghetti-like mound on the grass, all the eyes closed.
Then the shadows in front of them began to move, kinda reminding Nico of that night in the woods of camp before he found himself lying in the snow a hundred miles away. There was a beautiful, eerie singing, like voices from the bottom of a well. Percy reached for Riptide, but Zoe stopped his hand.
Four figures shimmered into existence, four young women who looked very much like Zoe. They all wore white Greek chitons. Their skin was like caramel and silky black hair tumbled loose around their shoulders. They looked just like Zoe—gorgeous, and probably very dangerous.
"Sisters," Zoe said.
"We do not see any sister," one of the girls said coldly. "We see three half-bloods and a Hunter. All of whom shall soon die."
"You've got it wrong." Percy stepped forward. "Nobody is going to die."
The girls studied him. They had eyes like volcanic rock, glassy and completely black.
"Perseus Jackson," one of them said.
"Yes," mused another. "I do not see why he is a threat."
"Who said I was a threat?"
The first Hesperid glanced behind her, toward the top of the mountain. "They fear thee. They are unhappy that this one has not yet killed thee."
She pointed at Thalia.
"Tempting sometimes," Thalia admitted. "But no, thanks. He's my friend."
"There are no friends here, daughter of Zeus," the girl said. "Only enemies. Go back."
"Not without Annabeth," Thalia said.
"And Artemis," Zoe said. "We must approach the mountain."
"You know he will kill thee," the girl said. "You are no match for him. And you have even brought along a spawn of the Underworld here in our Garden."
All eyes turned to Nico and he self-consciously crossed his arms over his chest feeling like he was being judged rudely just by standing in the same presence as them.
"Who knew that the children of the Big Three would cooperate so willingly together? They will only wrought more war and bloodshed in their path. If thy continue on this path, maybe thy will all end up destroying each other."
Thalia growled and Percy gripped his pen harder.
"Artemis must be freed," Zoe insisted. "Let us pass."
The girl shook her head. "You have no rights here anymore. We have only to raise our voices and Ladon will wake."
"He will not hurt me," Zoe said.
"No? And what about thy so-called friends?"
Then Zoe did what Nico thought was the stupidest move ever. If she were playing Mythomagic against him, she would lose in an instant. She shouted, "Ladon! Wake!"
The dragon stirred, glittering like a mountain of pennies. The Hesperides yelped and scattered. The lead girl said to Zoe, "Are you mad?"
"You never had any courage, sister," Zoe said. "That is thy problem."
The dragon Ladon was writhing now, a hundred heads whipping around, tongues flickering and tasting the air. Zoe took a step forward, her arms raised.
"Zoe, don't," Thalia said. "You're not a Hesperid anymore. He'll kill you."
"Ladon is trained to protect the tree," Zoe said. "Skirt around the edges of the garden. Go up the mountain. As long as I am a bigger threat, he should ignore thee."
"Should," Percy said. "Not exactly reassuring."
"It is the only way," she said. "Even the three of us together cannot fight him."
"You mean the four of us." Nico corrected.
Ladon opened his mouths. The sound of a hundred heads hissing at once sent a shiver down Nico's back, and that was before the breath hit him. The smell was like acid. It made his eyes burn, his skin crawl, and his hair stand on end. He remembered the time a dead rat was found in the school grounds. This stench was like that, except a hundred times stronger, and mixed with the smell of chewed eucalyptus. This was not the image of a dragon Nico was hoping to experience.
Thalia went left while Percy and Nico went right. Zoe walked straight toward the monster.
"It's me, my little dragon," Zoe said. "Zoe has come back."
Ladon shifted forward, then back. Some of the mouths closed. Some kept hissing. Dragon confusion. Meanwhile, the Hesperides shimmered and turned into shadows. The voice of the eldest whispered, "Fool." Nico didn't like the sound of that.
"I used to feed thee by hand," Zoe continued, speaking in a soothing voice as she stepped toward the golden tree. "Do you still like lamb's meat?"
The dragon's eyes glinted. Thalia, Nico and Percy were about halfway around the garden. Ahead, Nico could see a single rocky trail leading up to the black peak of the mountain. The storm swirled above it, spinning on the summit like it was the axis for the whole world.
They were almost across the meadow when something went wrong. Nico felt the dragon's mood shift. Maybe Zoe got too close. Maybe the dragon realized he was hungry. Whatever the reason, he lunged at Zoe.
Two thousand years of training kept her alive. She dodged one set of slashing fangs and tumbled under another, weaving through the dragon's heads as she ran in our direction, gagging from the monster's horrible breath.
Percy drew Riptide to help but Zoe shouted, "No! Run!" However, whether by instinct or simple impulsiveness, Nico ran towards her instead and knocked her down just as the dragon tried to snap at her side with his gigantic teeth.
Thalia immediately uncovered Aegis, and the dragon hissed. In his moment of indecision, Zoe and Nico sprinted past the monster and up the mountain with Thalia and Percy following close behind.
The dragon didn't try to pursue. He hissed and stomped the ground, but Nico guessed he was well trained to guard that tree. He wasn't going to be lured off even by the tasty prospect of eating some heroes.
They ran up the mountain as the Hesperides resumed their song in the shadows behind them. The music didn't sound so beautiful anymore —more like the sound track for a funeral.
"What was thy thinking?! Do you want a death wish, boy!?" Zoe snapped the moment they were far away from the garden.
"I just saved your life. You could be a bit more grateful." Nico grumbled, crossing his arms defiantly.
Zoe huffed. "I did not need a boy's help. The situation was under control."
"Please, you wouldn't have dodged the bite otherwise if Nico hadn't come to your rescue." Percy snorted.
"Yeah. Just admit it for once, Zoe that you needed to be saved by a boy." Thalia smirked at Zoe's irate face before the hunter said a grudging, "thank you," and aggressively went trekking up the mountain.
"That girl and her pride." Percy chuckled as he shook his head. He thumped Nico on the shoulder roughly as he slung an arm around the younger demigod's shoulder. "But you were great there Nico. I'm sure Zoe is damn glad inside that she decided to bring you along."
"Yeah. You've got good instincts. Maybe you won't be such a burden after all." Thalia said as they followed Zoe. Nico grinned and felt his ears warming from the compliments he was receiving.
At the top of mountain were ruins, blocks of black granite and marble as big as houses. Broken columns. Statues of bronze that looked as though they'd been half melted.
"The ruins of Mount Othrys," Thalia whispered in awe.
"Yes," Zoe said. "It was not here before. This is bad."
"What's Mount Othrys?" Percy asked.
"The mountain fortress of the Titans," Zoe said. "In the first war, Olympus and Othrys were the two rival capitals of the world. Othrys was blasted to pieces."
"But... how is it here?"
Thalia looked around cautiously as they picked their way through the rubble, past blocks of marble and broken archways. "It moves in the same way that Olympus moves. It always exists on the edges of civilization. But the fact that it is here, on this mountain, is not good."
"Why?"
"This is Atlas's mountain," Zoe said. "Where he holds—" She froze. Her voice was ragged with despair. "Where he used to hold up the sky."
They had reached the summit. A few yards ahead of them, gray clouds swirled in a heavy vortex, making a funnel cloud that almost touched the mountaintop, but instead rested on the shoulders of what looked to be a twelve-year-old girl with auburn hair and a tattered silvery dress. Her legs were bound to the rock with celestial bronze chains and she was forced to hold something that Nico never imagined to be possible. It was the roof of the world.
It was only when Zoe shouted "My lady!"and rushed forward did Nico realize that the little girl was Artemis herself, the goddess of the moon and hunt. Nico could not believe that a goddess could be reduced to such a painful and exhaustive state but the weight of the sky was clearly too much for Artemis.
Her voice was strained when she said, "Stop! It is a trap. You must leave now."
Zoe was crying. She ran forward despite Artemis's protests, and tugged at the chains.
A booming voice spoke behind them: "Ah, how touching."
They turned. The General was standing there in his brown silk suit. At his side was a blonde teenager and half a dozen dracaenae bearing the golden sarcophagus of Kronos. Annabeth stood at the blonde boy's side. She had her hands cuffed behind her back, a gag in her mouth, and he was holding the point of his sword to her throat.
"Luke," Thalia snarled at the blonde boy. "Let her go."
Luke's smile was weak and pale. Nico couldn't understand how such a sickly looking boy could frighten anyone. "That is the General's decision, Thalia. But it's good to see you again."
Thalia spat at him.
The General chuckled. "So much for old friends. And you, Zoe. It's been a long time. How is my little traitor? I will enjoy killing you."
"Do not respond," Artemis groaned. "Do not challenge him."
"Wait a second," Percy said. "You're Atlas?"
The General glanced at him. "So, even the stupidest of heroes can finally figure something out. Yes, I am Atlas, the general of the Titans and terror of the gods. Congratulations. I will kill you presently, as soon as I deal with this wretched girl."
"You're not going to hurt Zoe." Percy said. "I won't let you."
The General sneered. "You have no right to interfere, little hero. This is a family matter."
Percy frowned. "A family matter?"
"Yes," Zoe said bleakly. "Atlas is my father."
A/N: so this was a long awaited update...hehe *scratches head for an excuse* but no worries, readers because I've got the next chapter ready this time! Haha
And I heard the pleas of my readers in the reviews so I tried my to best comply! (Yes I'm talking about you, reader :)))
but really ive got a lot of things going on (which I know you guys hate hearing about) but my life is clearing up and i can better focus on my fics now yay...*claps for herself* oh and I've got into new fandoms (namely sports animes) so that really took a lot of my time as well :P XP
so! I hope you enjoy! I know not much exciting stuff happened here but next chap definitely has the fight scene and then my fave chapter will be the one after that coz it'll be the COUNCIL SCENE *squeals* I'm probably the only one excited but oh well I'm glad you guys are reading this crappy story anyway haha