Sooooooo sorry for not updating a lot. With the holidays and everything... Well, I can't figure out how to edit a chapter on Fanfiction. Anybody got any help?
The dwarf laughed his filthy little head off. Then Holly got tired of hearing him and punched the button marked 600.
They shot toward the sky at the speed of light. Holly slammed against the floor, while Artemis held on to the railing and Mulch simply stuck to the wall with his thirsty pores, acting like miniature suction cups.
They came to a sudden stop, and their heads all jerked down. Holly layed on the elevator floor for a few seconds, then pushed herself up and pressed the button to open the door.
The door slowly retracted itself into the elevator wall, and Holly stared at what was in front of her in awe. Palaces lined a giant island that seemed to be made of gold, and green fire burned everywhere. The hunk of land suspended in the clouds connected with the elevator by a bridge. The bridge was lined in gold and made of pure ivory. The streets were made of solid gold bricks. It was enough to make Artemis choke and Mulch's eyes to coat over with lust.
Faries were attracted to gold. Especially fairy gold. But Holly sensed that this was no fairy gold; indeed, it was far better. Everything on the giant island, it seemed, had nothing on it that was worth less than fairy gold.
And then Holly stepped out of the elevator and realized that this was no island: it was a mountain. Holly felt shivers go down her back and a spark of magic go off as she realized that this was Mount Olympus.
She walked slowly across the bridge, never taking her eyes off of the palaces. They seemed to glow with pure beauty, drawing her closer and closer within their gravity. She stopped at the edge of the bridge and shook it off. She looked around and was surprised to see Artemis right behind her, looking at the same thing.
Since she had known Artemis, she had never heard him say anything that expressed his awe. But now he did.
"Wow."
Mulch never took his eyes away from the mountain. "What are we waiting for? A whole mountain made of gold! A dwarf's dream! Let's go!" He raced past Holly, but was thrown back by an invisible force. He landed at Artemis's toes. "Ouch."
"What was that?" Holly asked.
"Go slowly," Artemis said. "It doesn't know what you are yet. It's trying to determine if you're allowed to pass."
"What is?" Holly asked.
"The spirit of Olympus."
Mulch started again, but this time went slower. To his surprise, he made it through, but it felt like he was coated in syrup. When he reached past two statues, he collapsed on the floor in a heap.
"Phew! I didn't think I was going to make it!"
"Your turn, Holly."
Holly looked into his face. There were no emotions there, just determination. She had felt this before from him. It was only when he was thinking about an extremely difficult plan that he looked this way.
And then his face turned peaceful and he motioned with his hand. "Go, Holly. I'll meet you on the other side."
Holly held eyes with him for a second longer, then slowly inched her way through the invisible barrier and reached the two statues. She stopped where Mulch was and stood beside him. Would Artemis make it? She knew from what he had said on the jet, when she was half asleep, that only demigods and gods could make it to Olympus. He had said that faries might be able to, too, because they had grown with the gods, and that they didn't apply to their rules.
She watched as Artemis stepped over the edge of the bridge, the carefully walked across to where she stood. He stopped beside her and looked down.
"See?"
Suddenly, they heard a large crack and a lot of voices yelling. A loud, low voice was heard above them all.
"Artemis! Holly! Quick! Get inside!"
Holly turned to see Butler waving an over-sized sword above his head. He motioned into a large building behind them, pointing to the palaces off in the distance. They crumbled and fell, and out of the earth rose a giant temple.
"Hurry!"
Holly ran as fast as her legs would carry her, Mulch beside her, panting heavily. But they couldn't go fast enough. The ground shook under them and toppled their small frames over.
Holly landed on the ground, Mulch landing right beside her a second later. She figured, in a daze, that Mulch was accustomed to large cave-ins, and if he couldn't stand this one, they were in for some trouble.
And then she felt a hand under her shoulder, helping her up. She felt someone lift her over their shoulder, and then she felt the person reach down and pick up Mulch, doing likewise to him. And then she felt the person run, faster and faster, until it seemed as if her skin was going to fly off. And then the person came to a slow stop, and she was lifted down onto the ground against a wall, and Mulch was set on the ground.
Holly had never felt an earthquake before. She wasn't used to them. Faries hardly ever stayed on the ground, and if they did it was only for a short while, because they either flew or stayed under the surface, where they were safe from natural disasters. Nature always loved the faries, and nature always took care of them. Why should it rebel now?
She heard Artemis talking to Butler, and she heard other voices, too. Hundreds of them, all looking at her in concern. Then she felt Artemis lean down beside her, and she heard Mulch's muffled voice saying something to a woman.
"Hey, Holly," Artemis said. He cradled her head in his arms. "You need some rest. We'll wake you up when we need you."
"How bad is it, Artemis?" she asked. She looked up at his face. Amazingly, the only thing she saw in there was compassion.
"You ran out of magic, Holly. We're trying to fix you up, but there aren't any rivers here, and there aren't any acorns."
"What about my extra-"
"No. We couldn't find it. You must have lost it. Do you understand?"
Holly nodded her head. She understood.
"We're waiting for N01 to come. He should arrive here in a few minutes. In the meantime, you should try and rest. You need to conserve your energy. I'll wake you when we're ready."
Holly was about to ask what they would be ready for, but her eyelids were already drooping. She felt fatigue come over her, and she fell asleep.
It was easier than Percy thought to convince the monsters to join their side. As soon as they saw Tyson ahead of them, they coked their heads and stopped. He was about their size, and he had clothes on. They were curious.
Tyson told them that he knew where a fight was, and where they could find weapons. He also told them he knew a place where they could have as much food as they wanted, and that if they followed him, they could have all these things.
The monsters grunted in ecstatic agreement and followed Tyson to the edge of the water of the San Francisco Bay Area. They watched as Tyson dipped his toe in the water, then stepped all the way in. They did likewise.
Percy thought it must have been odd to see hundreds of monsters fifty feet tall jumping into the ocean, but he figured the Mist would cover it up. It always did.
Annabeth said something in Tyson's ear, and he stopped and let her and Ella down. They slid down his arm and dropped next to Percy, and Tyson continued to lead the monsters into the water.
"Apparently Artemis thought it would take a lot more convincing than just Tyson bribing them with food," Annabeth said.
"How does Ella get across?" Ella asked.
"I'll take you guys with me."
"How?" Annabeth asked. "You can't summon a motorboat, can you?"
Percy seemed to be thinking about it, so she punched his arm. "I think I could just take you both to the bottom of the ocean and-"
"Percy! Can't you just like...do that thing with the air bubbles and swim us there?"
"Yeah, but that seems like too much work..."
"You just ran sixty miles an hour and your not even out of breath! How is taking us to Manhattan underwater too much work?"
"I guess if you put it that way, I could swim you both." Percy said.
"Not Ella." Ella said. "Ella will fly." She took off with her wings extended and soared into the night sky until they couldn't see her anymore.
"Won't she get tired?"
"She's a harpy," Annabeth said. "Monsters don't get tired as quickly as humans do."
"Hmm," Percy said. "I'm thinking. How am I supposed to get you across, if there's nothing but land in our way?"
"Couldn't you swim around the states?"
"Yeah, but that would take too much time. We wouldn't get there for at least a day, and by that time I would have already fallen asleep in the water."
"Then what do you propose we do?"
"I don't know. Let me think for a minute." He sat down on a rock not far away from the edge of the ocean. "We can't use the portal, and we can't shadow-travel, and we can't swim."
Annabeth sat down beside him. "Let's reast a few minutes before we do anything big. We've done a lot today, and we have a lot more to do. Besides, I'm sure you're tired."
"Hrmph."
They sat in silence for a few minutes, watching the dark waves lap the shore.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, colors flashed in front of Percy and Annabeth. It looked much like the portal Leo had made, but it was tinted with red. They heard a loud groan, like a zombie, and the a pop!
"D'Arvit! Stupid space-zombies!" A short humanoid figure with horns on his heads and a cloak wrapped around his body fell out of the redness and landed in the sand, face first. He got up and brushed the sand off of his body. He stuck out his hand toward Percy and Annabeth. "Hello! I'm N01!"
Percy wasn't surprised at all. Instead of panicking, he watched in awe as he held out his hand and shook with the creature. His skin was red, much like the portal, and he had seven fingers. He looked about the same height as Coach Hedge: five-foot zero. He had a smile full of sharp teeth, but also full of laughter.
Annabeth, though, was surprised. "Ahh! Demon!" She yanked out her drakon-bone sword from her belt and quick as lightning, slashed at him.
The sword simply bounced off his skin, though, as if he had tough armor covering his body. The sword floated up out of her hand and reinserted itself in her belt.
He cocked his head at her and studied her. Then a big smile crossed his face. "Hello! You must be Annabeth! Pleased to meet you! I'm N01!" He stuck out his hand, and she shook tentatively.
"Hello, N01," Percy said. "Are you help from Artemis?"
N01 nodded his head eagerly. "Oh, yes. Artemis told me to come here to take you to Olympus. He is there right now, I think."
He pointed his hand to the ocean, and a portal formed. "Artemis told me to heal you of any wounds you may have, and to also take away your fatigue. Do you wish me to do so?"
Percy didn't have to think about it. "Yeah. Sure. Do you have anything to eat?"
"Percy!" Annabeth hissed. "He could be a monster setting us up for a trap! We can't go with him. He might kill us!"
"I will not kill you, and I am not a monster. Unless you call a demon a monster..." N01 trailed off when he saw Annabeth's face go rigid. "What?"
"You're a demon?"
"Um...yeah. Is that bad?"
"See, Percy? He even admits to being a monster! Let's go!" She tugged on his arm, but he stayed where he was and stood up.
"Ok, N01, if you are what you say you are, take away my fatigue. I haven't in a day."
N01 watched him carefully, then said, "Okay. I will do as you say. But we really must hurry. Olympus is in trouble." Percy nodded his head, and N01 said, "Here goes." He raised his hand, and quick as that, Percy felt better already.
"That it?" N01 nodded his head, and Percy smiled. "Thanks, N01. You have a nice name, by the way." N01 smiled back and turned to Annabeth.
"Do you need any healing, Annabeth?"
Annabeth glared at him suspiciously and looked at Percy.
"I didn't die, Annabeth. We can't last all night without any sleep, anyways. Just get it over with and we'll be at Olympus."
She sighed, then told N01 to hurry up with it. He did the same thing to her as he did to Percy, but he also did something different, too. Annabeth stopped feeling tired immediately, and she felt her skin crawl as her wounds healed.
This satisfied Annabeth, and she said to N01, "Before we go, I want to know what kind of demon you are. Are you from Tartarus? From Hades?"
N01 shook his head and smiled. "No. Just from a little island off in some other dimension." He looked over his shoulder at the portal. "Come on. Artemis needs you two back at Olympus."
Percy shrugged his shoulder and stepped through the portal.
Annabeth admired Percy's bravery, but she thought it also might be recklessness. She sighed. "You go first. I want to see that this isn't a trap."
N01 raised his eyebrows and shrugged. "Okay, but I can only make the portal last for a few seconds if I'm not here. So as soon as I leave, jump in after me, okay?"
She nodded, and without a second thought, N01 jumped in after Percy.
Annabeth looked back one more time at the crumbling remains of Mt. Tamalpais, and looked in the distance where she knew her family lived. Then she jumped in the portal, and the redness closed around her.
Percy found himself in the middle of the gods' throne room, surrounded with hundreds, if not thousands, of demigods, monsters, faries and the like. He landed on his feet and adjusted himself to the light and the smell.
N01 landed behind him, and a second later pulled Annabeth out.
Butler ran up to meet them. "N01! Artemis needs you quick! It's an emergency!"
N01's spine jerked upright and he swiveled his head from side to side. "Where is he?"
"Follow me!" the manservant panted. "It's Holly!"
N01's eyes turned an even deeper shade of red, and he seemed to grow taller. He flickered for an instant, and Butler caught his arm and pressed a silver bracelet that was falling off back against his skin.
"Whoa, there. We don't need you leaving."
N01 nodded his head, then started running through the large crowd. "Where is she?"
"Over here." When N01 didn't spot anything, Butler shouted, "Move!" and a large gap appeared. They raced through it, Percy and Annabeth close behind.
N01 spotted the top of Artemis's head bobbing, and he stopped beside the Mud Boy. "How is she?"
"N01! You're here." Artemis looked at him out of the corner of his eye, and N01 noticed that his eyes had changed back. "She's not doing too well. She's out of magic, and she's broken twelve bones. She's ripped five tendons also, and I think she's bleeding internally."
"Did you tell her to sleep?"
"Yes."
Percy wondered that if she had gotten hurt so much, shouldn't she be trying to stay awake? He asked Artemis, and he told him that it was the opposite for faries, that going to sleep made them have a better chance of not slipping into a coma.
Percy didn't get his logic, but a girl came up to him and asked if she could get anything for him to eat. She had blond hair, and she looked to be in her twenties. Percy automatically knew that she was an intense fighter, judging by the ring knotted in her hair and the size of her fists and body.
Percy asked her her name, and she said she was Juliet. Percy said that yes, he would take a bite of something, and Annabeth said she would too. He asked where the other five were, and she didn't hesitate to tell him.
She led him and Annabeth to a large pillar, right under the constellation of Zoë. She gave him and Annabeth some food, and they sat down next to the other demigods, who where silently picking at some bread. Nico was propped against the pillar, silently dozing, and Leo was absentmindedly making something out of bits of metal.
Percy ate, then sat against the pillar with Annabeth at his side.
"Hey guys," Percy said. "What's going on out there?"
"We don't know yet," Hazel said, "but I sense a lot of metal collapsing."
Jason was staring up at the throne of his dad. Piper was staring at something in the distance, and Frank was twiddling with one of his arrows.
Suddenly Percy felt a chill go down his back, and he got up. "They're here." He turned to the large gates of the meeting room. "Move back, everybody! They're here!"
"Who's here, Percy? Tyson?" Annabeth got up to join him, and she turned her head from side to side.
"No, Annabeth! Can't you feel it?"
"What?"
"The power of Artemis! I thought you would sense it after meeting her all these time?"
"The power of Artemis? Artemis Fowl?! What do you mean?"
The other demigods got up too. "Sister." Jason breathed.
"Open the gates!" Percy yelled.
Two cyclopes hurriedly pulled the gates open, and Percy and Jason raced out together.
"Whoo-hoo!" Jason yelled. "We're gonna make it!"
Jason and Percy raced each other out of the throne room and the edge of the bridge. They waited, then they felt it again and they raced forward.
The elevator dinged, and a group of girl got out. "Stupid music," one of them muttered.
Jason ran forward and hugged Thalia. "Where were you! We've been holding back at Camp-"
"Yeah, I know," she said into his hair. She motioned for the huntresses to move forward. She pulled back from Jason. "Sorry I'm late, Percy!" she called out. "Just...had to take care of some things!"
Percy smiled and embraced Thalia. "What took you so long?"
Thalia glanced back at the huntresses, then said quietly, "I'll tell you later, Percy. Right now, we need to save Olympus."
Percy looked where she was pointing and noticed for the first time what he had run through. While he wasn't paying attention, he had leapt over both of the toppled statues that guarded Mount Olympus, fell off a ten-foot mountain of rubble, and flew across the broken bridge.
"What the-"
"I flew you," Jason said. "You weren't looking down."
Percy ignored his recklessness and smiled again. "But you're here, Thalia! You can help!"
"Yeah, but we don't have much time. The sacrifices-"
Percy's eyes grew big. "Oh no-"
"Run!" Thalia hissed. "I'll meet you there!"
Percy jumped over the giant gap that separated Olympus from the mortal world and ran faster than he ever had before. He didn't need a water source this time. He just used what was left in him.
He spotted a temple in the distance, and he came to a stop. He had never noticed that temple before. It was the size of a giant factory, but it had a dome-shaped top. It was made of pure earth and dirt, held together by stone columns.
Percy gritted his teeth and started running again.
Artemis paced impatiently in front of the small alcove. The fire in the hearth burned at a slow, steady rate. Everyone gave him room. No one wanted to get in his way when he was upset.
N01 was attending Holly. He said that it would be harder to mend her because someone else had used magic on her, magic he had never felt before. He said it would take him awhile to get used to the magic, but over time, she would be healed.
Artemis knew that two of the half-bloods were missing. Not Jason and Percy: he knew where they were. Two other demigods. Two Roman demigods.
But he couldn't go anywhere. Not without Holly.
The group of huntresses that had arrived in the elevator were permitted to enter the throne room by two Byon's cyclopes, and they rushed forward.
A girl with brown hair in braids went to Artemis's side. "Is the fairy okay?" He shook his head and led her quietly to N01, whose hand was hovering above Holly's head, concentrating all his will into making her well.
"She's losing life. If she isn't cured soon, she will die."
The huntress nodded and tossed back her braids. She stepped forward and stood beside N01, studying Holly as she did so.
She went up to Holly and placed her hand on her forehead. "Hello, Holly. My name is Phoebe. I've heard a lot about you. You seem like a very good fighter. I honor that. I am very old, just like you. I think I can heal you, if you will let me."
Nothing happened at first, but slowly, the words came out Holly's mouth, as if she were talking in a dream. "Yes."
Phoebe pointed as the nearest huntress. "Bring me some water and medicine. This might take longer than usual." The huntress went off to fetch the supplies and Phoebe turned back to the fairy. "Now..."
Thalia and Jason soon caught up to Percy at Gaea's temple. They stopped and treaded water at the entrance. After a moment, Jason turned to Percy. "Why aren't we going in?"
Percy pointed at a large engraving of Ancient Greek writing above the entrance to the temple. Jason could only make a few words out, since he was Roman, but he got the jist of what it said.
"We need Leo," Thalia breathed. She had only encountered the son of Hephaestus once before, but she knew he had greater powers than he let on. She glanced at the wolves behind her that always followed the huntresses. "Go get the son of Hephaestus," she said, "and be quick about it."
The wolves dipped their heads and ran off in the direction of the throne room.
"Fire will be the key," Percy read. "The key to what, you think?"
"I think it means only Leo can open the door," Jason said. "Either that or a giant flaming key."
They heard howls in the distance and feet thundering against the rubble of Mount Olympus. They got closer and closer until the wolves stopped right in front of them, the other five demigods on their trail.
"You need me?" Leo panted.
"Yeah. Read this." Percy jerked his head up to the writing above the block of dirt. "We can't get through the entrance, and it says fire will be the key."
"You want me to burn it down?"
"You can try," Percy said, "but I think it means something-"
He stopped talking when Leo lit up his arms. They burned white-hot, and the flames flickered like a group of shivering minnows, ready to fly off if attacked.
Leo thrust his arms in the giant block of solid dirt. Slowly, the dirt melted away until there was nothing but a large brown puddle on the ground.
"Okay. Door's open. What next?"
The other demigods stared at him, then Percy said, "We go in," and he stepped inside the temple.
They went through the many corridors and twisting passages until they came to a stop. It reminded Percy of the Labyrinth, and he shuddered. It was bigger on the inside the the outside.
In front of them stood a wall. On the wall were the words "Bane of a Roman" in Latin.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Hazel asked. "Bane of a Roman?"
"It's either you, Hazel, or Frank or me," Jason said.
"But how do we know which one of us it is?"
"We'll just have to try one bye one." He stepped forward and reached out his hand.
"Stop!" Percy yelled. His voice echoed throughout the temple. "Wait! It says something else."
They all looked at the engraving closer. On the bottom, they noticed, were the words "But a Greek will tell."
"But a Greek will tell," Percy read. "A Greek will tell what?"
They all turned to Annabeth and looked at her. She seemed deep in thought. "A Greek will tell a Roman."
"Annabeth?" Percy asked.
"A Greek will tell a Roman what, Annabeth?" Piper said.
"Jason, open this wall," Annabeth said suddenly. "I tell you, as a Greek, to open the wall."
Jason's jaw jumped, and his eyes burned a sharp blue. He reached out his hand a second time, and electricity arced from his fingers. It jumped from his fingertips and ran along the edge of the wall. It made the outline of a giant opening, and the dirt crumbled into dust so thin that it disappeared.
"Ow," Jason said.
Six pairs of eyes darted from Annabeth and back to Jason, unsure of which confused them more.
"Let's go," Thalia finally said. "The next one is probably for you, Percy." She patted him on the back as she went by.
They stepped through the opening and continued walking through the temple. It seemed to be going down, and Percy's ears soon popped. He envied Thalia and Jason, who could stand high altitudes in the sky. But he could stand high altitudes in the water, so he figured it was fair.
They came to a pathway split into three sections. "This way," Hazel immediately said, and they all followed her to the left.
Leo lit fire in his hand so they could see, and he led the group. Suddenly he came to a stop. "Guys," he said, "here's the next one." He threw his fire at the wall, and the inside of the temple lit up.
"Leo! What did you do?" Frank looked around frantically at all the fire, clutching something in his pocket as if his life depended on it.
"What? It's supposed to do that. It's oiled down, see?" He shoved his hand through the fire and touched the wall. He brought his hand back, shiny from oil. "Oiled."
"Guys, look!" Hazel pointed ahead of them. "A giant lake. What do we have to do to get past this one?"
Everyone looked at Percy, and he turned pale. "Oh, no."
"What?" Thalia asked, looking around. "I don't see any writings."
Percy knew exactly what this one required. One of his biggest fears: suffocating in the water.
Yeah. I just kept on writing. Any helpful tips on how to edit a chapter?