Chapter 10: Darkness II

"Keep walking!" Hecate hissed. "They're watching us! No, don't look around, you'll draw attention." She sighed in exasperation, forcefully turning Percy's head around.

"Where are we going?" Percy asked.

"Somewhere they can't find us..." She left it at that, not elaborating further.

Percy decided following Hecate was better, since she had saved his life twice, and she seemed to know what she was doing. She had magically changed their clothes to blend into the crowd. He was now wearing a grey t shirt with a jacket and hoodie plus a pair of denim jeans. Hecate wore a purple dress with gold trimmings dotted with small bits of rubies. Percy was not sure if those were real or fake.

Finally, the duo reached a house at the end of the street. It was quite run down, with wooden planks as walls and a door broken on its hinges. It make a groaning creak as Hecate swung if open. She stepped inside and Percy followed, shutting the door behind them.

Hecate snapped her fingers and the fluorescent lights on the walls lit up, casting a white-blue glow on the room, which turned out to be a simple table and chairs. The room smelled musty.

"Where's this place?"

"You mortals call it a safe house. The monsters cannot reach us here." Hecate took a seat and gestured for Percy to do the same.

"So...are you with Olympus, or against?" Percy questioned.

"Neither," she answered simply, "I have no love for either side. I will sit and watch this battle unfold. The Giants know I killed Mimas and helped you escape Orion, hence I am, of course, hunted by him just as much as you are."

"But do you know their plans?" Percy said eagerly.

"Yes, I do. But-" she held up a hand to silence Percy's oncoming request, "I see no reason to divulge it to you either. You have not done anything to deserve my help."

Percy winced slightly, remembering the Titan war. He recalled seeing some rogue demigods casting spells on the backlines, creating Mist and throwing comets of fire and ice. What had happened to them, only now did he wonder.

"I'm sorry," Percy muttered. Hecate's stoic expression softened slightly. She sighed, "Fine, I will give you one piece of information. The Giants are planning to unleash Tartarus' monsters."

"Thank you," he said gratefully, though the piece of information horrified him. He would have to figure out how to stop that from happening. Hecate shrugged. "Your girlfriend helped me, after all."

Percy looked confused. "Girlfriend? Since when did Annabeth help you?"

Hecate made a sudden noise Percy only realised it as laughter. "I was talking about Hestia. She has helped me more than once."

The room suddenly felt warmer than usual. Percy could feel his face heating up. "She's not - my - my girlfriend." He spluttered out, like something had caught in his throat.

"No? Love is a kind of magic, Perseus," Hecate smiled knowingly. "And magic is a strange and illogical thing."

Percy thought about that, and suddenly froze. Poseidon was possessed when he entered Percy's dream, and Percy gave that seashell to Hestia. What if...

Blood drained from his face.

Oh Hades, no.

Hestia couldn't look - no, she didn't want to look - at what lay before her eyes, the thing so horrible and monstrous, unbelievably hideous and foul. She could smell the stench of what smelled like rotten meat, its hot breath making her hairs on her skin repulse. She choked, her eyes watering.

When Tityos entered the prison that Clytius told her she was in, her eyes screamed to be burnt from their sockets. The Giant was ten feet tall, short for a normal Giant, but taller than the average god or mortal. His body bulged with muscles and fat, and veins wrapped around them like a living web. He wore nothing but a loincloth, and where his liver was held a gaping hole that ichor still poured out from. His pockmarked face was the most ugly thing she had ever seen, with no nose, wild eyes, and a mouth that had a cut running from the upper lip to the chin in a symmetrical fashion.

How could the gods create this?

"You like Tityos? He had a rather sad story I would love to share." Clytius said rather morosely, and the giant roared at the mention of his name.

"You see, when he was born, Zeus hid his mother, Elara in the earth, but Tityos here grew so large due to the corruptive magic of Gaia, and ah, to put this lightly, gruesomely caused the death of his mother. He was used and deceived by the goddess Hera to capture the Titan Leto, and slain by Apollo and Artemis. And his punishment? For being tricked by Hera? Much like Prometheus' sentence, he was stretched over the Pit, and two vultures fed on his liver, everyday."

In reaction to this, Tityos made a wail that was filled with a mix of melancholy and rage. Clytius stroked the head of him as though he were a small child. "We released him, of course. And he will take great pleasure in ripping Hera, Artemis and Apollo apart. We immortals do bear grudges. All. Of. Us." He whispered the last part.

"Why are you telling me this?" Hestia cried, shutting her eyes from the almost pitiful Giant.

"To tell you that you gods are not perfect. You act like you are, but when in reality, you are no more than foul creatures like Tityos here, but you just have good looks." Clytius made a sound of disgust, and spat on Hestia, before turning on his heel and strutting out of the cell Hestia was in, his shadow cape billowing behind him.

"Tityos here will guard you, in case you try to do anything funny. But then again, you probably won't know where to find help. Olympus is closed, and you don't know where you are." He turned back to face her, and his helmet melted like molten lava and disappeared into darkness, revealing a cold, eyeless face with empty sockets where said eyes would be, and twisted features. He smiled, a horrid grin, before he morphed into shadow.

She felt the voice before it spoke, "I'm coming back tomorrow. Sweet dreams, goddess."

Percy ran, like he had never ran faster in his life, faster than when he was running away from monsters or bullies, praying in his mind: Please be safe, please be safe, please be safe.

When he reached the camp where he had left Hestia, he only saw the sleeping bags and the hearth which was now reduced to cinders. There was no sign of a struggle or fight.

But Percy did see something that made his vision red.

Right in the centre of the camp lay the seashell Poseidon had gave him, and it was still glowing. Rage boiled inside him. He drew Riptide, and with a yell of raw fury, smashed the seashell into pieces with the hilt of the blade. He didn't know who he was mad at: mad at Poseidon for tricking him, mad at Aphrodite for charmspeaking the gods, mad at the impending war, mad at himself for letting his guard down, mad at Hestia for making him care.

He didn't stop crushing it until the seashell was reduced to dust. He smelled the soft and familiar scent of the seashell, but it smelled different, like something had been added to the scent and changed it, and he didn't like the change. It no longer reminded him of the sea, of good times in his life. Annoyance flared in his mind before he doused it. It wasn't any use to be furious now.

He knew what to do, and that was to find Hestia, but he didn't know where to begin, his mind a clean blank of ideas. No clues had been left behind. He clenched his fist tightly.

Calm down, he told himself, you can't think if you're mad.

Suddenly, Percy felt the hairs on the back of his neck prick. He tensed. Someone was watching him, and he was pretty sure who.

Using Riptide, he deflected the oncoming arrow aimed at his chest and with a shout, blasted water back at his assailant: the Giant Orion.

He saw something move in the shadows of the trees where he had shot water at.

"I know you're there, Orion!" He yelled. "Come out!"

He heard the sound of clapping, but it sounded different, like the hands were not made of flesh but of something more solid and rough. Metal.

"Very impressive, Perseus Jackson. You've become much more aware than our last encounter. A pity those improved skills will serve you no use in your last few minutes of your life." Orion dropped to the ground with silently and gracefully, contrary to what Percy thought would be a loud thud. He was a very skilled hunter, Orion.

"You know, every time someone said that to me, I still live. It's getting kinda old, if you ask me." Percy casually replied, but his eyes glinted with hardness and the experience of a veteran warrior, fighter and demigod.

Orion snorted. "I doubt so. You see this?" He raised his right hand. "You decapitated it the last time we met. Now, look at it. It's already repaired. Do you know why?"

"You had an on-call repairman?"

Orion threw his head back and laughed. "No, it is because you had no god to aid you. And now..." He drew his bowstring back, an arrow already magically or technologically nocked, "there is no god to aid you."

Sweat dripped down Percy's forehead. What Orion said was true, there was no god to help him now, especially after he raced back here leaving Hecate behind. He winced slightly thinking about how he left without a second word.

"My skills of a hunter for eternity versus your skills of a swordsman for...four years. As I've said before, you are quite unintelligent, aren't you?"

Percy remained silent, his eyes sweeping his surroundings. He could feel some water beneath him, and there were a lot of trees around if he managed to get out of the clearing his was in now. He gripped Riptide tighter.

Time slowed as Orion drew and fired his bow with astounding speed, leaving Percy barely enough time to parry it and run to the trees. Much to his horror, he realised Orion had already nocked a second arrow.

The arrow missed him by half an inch just as he ducked behind an oak. He heard Orion guffaw. "I am a hunter, child. Do not think those trees will protect you."

"Then come and get me!" Percy taunted, before running into more foliage, hoping to put as much distance between them as possible. Orion gave a growl before he gave chase. Percy looked up at the tall trees. Maybe he could climb them, but he was sure that Orion was a much better climber. He was more confident in his running than tree climbing skills.

Suddenly, pain flared in his left heel. He looked back and saw an arrow sprouting from there. He gave a yell of pain and fell down.

No...not like this...

His vision darkened as agony spread from his leg. He heard the rustling of leaves and footsteps as Orion drew closer. He could almost imagine the grin of triumph the Giant had.

"Well fought, Jackon. But no one ever escapes The Eternal Hunter."

Hi, it's been a while, and I actually updated earlier this time! Wonderful! I don't have much to say, but thanks to all the new followers and favourites I've gained, and I'm hoping to try and set a updating time, but writer's block has hit me hard, so sorry for that :P.

Bye!

-Ignatius