*AN* Hey guys, heres an update, I wrote it as fast as I could what with school exams and writer block. Hope you enjoy.
Trivia results. The correct answer was Cyrene. Knight of Ren, you WIN! To the others that voted. I was after Diomedes of Thrace with the man eating horses(as in the question) not Diomedes, King of Argos from the Trojan War.
Reviewer's Response
Orange Oreo: Thanks! Hope you enjoy this.
Death Fury: Thanks!
moonknight5777: I'm afraid not
NightForever: Thanks! I try my best with my writing. You almsot had it with the trivia, just needed to read the question properly
Thunderwolf7226: Thanks for your continued support!
PrimeMegalodon: Thanks, I try me best.
jamesdaniel8976: Thank you for your kind words, I will do my best.
Artemis's Son: Sorry, my friend little bit off, wrong Diomedes.
Knight of Ren: GREAT WORK! You won! I decided that what you put 'Ceryene' was close enough, just a spelling error.
Namibq: Nice try, but not quite.
HAVEN2014C: Thanks! Hope you enjoy!
TheMasterTrident13: For your second review: Thanks for your review! It is entirely possible you are correct on that, I have always believed their mother was Nyx, but you could be right. Thanks for the correction if that is the case, I will do my best to ensure that does not happen again.
For your first review: Thanks for your criticism! It really helps. I know that this story is rather stereotypical, but I have tried to keep it different to other people. I have recognised that Percy is rather overpowered, but you do need to recognise that he the child of two of the big three, and is blessed by just about every olympian and many minor gods as well. He also has effectively been on his own for two straight years and fought and won against many monsters, titans and gods. I was planning on dumbing him down a little, at the bottom of this I will have an updated, condensed list of his powers and weapons, hope you enjoy this chapter. Again thanks for your review, it made me really happy.
Previously
"I believe your hypothesis is correct but I must ask, is your friend, the 'fallen hesperide' strong enough for this. I after all do not know whether they are on centurion level."
"Praetor, I would be scared to face her. She like the other hesperides, was a daughter of Atlas before her banishment. However I am here going to have to ask that none of you share this information. So she was the daughter of the titan of strength and endurance, before she gave Hercules the idea on how to steal the apple. Of course Hercules never mentioned her and so she was forgotten in history. She was then banished before serving Artemis as a huntress until the rise of Rome. I say Artemis, because of course, the greeks were in power then. Then she served Diana ever since." The romans raised their eyebrows, obviously surprised by this new information about Hercules and also of course, 'the fallen hesperide'. I then looked at Reyna a question on my face.
"Thank you Raze, I believe that that concluded this weeks meeting." Everyone nodded before beginning to leave. I quickly stopped them before speaking.
"Oh, by the way, her name is Zoë."
Third Person POV
Two days following the council meeting.
A girl garbed in silver clothing ran towards the Caldecott Tunnel, her clothes flying behind her in the wind. The two romans on guard readied themselves for the inevitable group of monsters following the girl, who appeared to be at least 18 maybe a little older. A horde of monsters emerged from the trees, at least forty dracaena, twenty telkhines and empousai, along with 15 cyclopes and laistrygonians. A pack of hellhounds growled and bared their teeth at the edge of the forest. A small silver ring on one finger and twin silver bracelets adorned her wrists. She leapt through the air, over the ditch by the road before summersaulting over cars, trucks and vans. Less than thirty seconds later, shw was at the entrance to the Caldecott Tunnel where Raze, Hazel and Frank awaited her. Zoë Nightshade nodded to Frank and Hazel, they had been introduced via iris message the night before, giving Raze a quick hug before whirling around. Twisting the ring on her finger, a gleaming silver bow appeared in her hands, an arrow already notched. Raze copied her, except with a gold and silver ring, the arrow had a burning green tip. Together they released. Zoë's shot flew threw the air like a bird on the fly, spearing a cyclops through it's singular yellow eye. Raze's arrow detonated upon impact with a laistrygonian's torso, the sound of an explosion filled the air. Empousai wailed over ruined makeup as Dracaena rolled around on their double snake tails, trying to stop the everlasting flames. Hellhounds moaned and whined as telkhines disintegrated, their dust flowing into the air like grass in a breeze. Another cyclops collapsed as the silver arrow imbedded itself in his forehead. Hellhounds disintegrated as the second arrow, a sonic arrow destroyed their sensitive ear drums. Four arrows had been fired at the army had almost been completely destroyed.
About twenty dracaena remained, five or six telkhines and dust was all that remained of the empousai. The hellhound pack was as good as gone, two or three remained of the original fifteen. Only one cyclops was left while three of the larger and tougher laistrygonians remained. The four demigods set themselves upon them, Riptide whipped through the dracaena, while a dragon tooth spear slashed through the telkhines. Arion waded through river s of Hellhound dust, an Imperial Gold Spatha bursting them into bits, along with a few diamonds and emeralds, cutting open hellhound flanks. Finally there was Zoë, gracefully flying through the air between the cyclops and laistrygonians. A laistrygonian club disintegrated another laistrygonian, missing the silver clad huntress who was busy gutting the cyclops. Finally, an atlantean steel trident, with stygian iron inlays speared the final laistrygonian in the brain. This one who appeared to be female, with a love heart on her arm, inscribed with 'Babycakes luvs JB'. The laistrygonian seemed to pout for a moment, before crumbling into a golden mist.
"Hey starfish, what up?" Raze asked casually, Zoë glaring at him about the nickname.
"Why in the name of Hades baggy y-fronts do you call me starfish? WHY?" Zoë was basically throwing a temper tantrum, steam coming from her ears, eyes bulging as she jumped up and down on the ground like a little kid.
"Well, your mother is Pleione, a water goddess hence fish. Your last name is Nightshade, the stars come out at night and you were a constellation for like three or four years hence star. A starfish is also a water creature, connecting with Pleione. Thus Starfish!" Raze smirked triumphantly, arms crossed, looking at her down his nose. Hazel and Frank laughed at Raze's stance and the look of rage on Zoë' face. The gulped when she turned her glare on them, they were now scared for their lives as well as Razes'.
"Now then, the praetors have already been informed, so shall we be off?" Raze spoke, eager to get the quest moving. The other three looked at each other before nodding, Zoë taking a small sip of nectar from a canteen. Then they shouldered their packs, checked their weapons, and with with Raze and Zoë in the front, jogged off.
Hazel pulled Frank up behind her on Arion as black blur came down from the sky. Raze whispered quietly to the black pegasus before offering a hand to Zoë who climbed on. Raze launched into the air on his wings as the group headed north, Arion and Blackjack exchanging good-natured insults along the way.
Pretty soon they had reached Alameda Navy Base. The group separated before scouring the docks in search of their ship to take them to Alaska. Finally Raze found the ship. A Roman Bireme, twenty oars a side and three massive sails. The oars stood in two rows on either side of the ship, held still in the oarlocks while the ends drifted in the waves. Three great white sails were furled away - the great masts were metres above the rest of the ships. Two great eyes were painted on either side of the bow, seeming to move as the ship bobbed in the waves. The word 'Elpis' was inscribed in gold on either side of the ship. A great figurehead of a woman-Elpis, the figure of hope- in gold and ivory directed the ship forwards into the unknown. Raze stamped feet as the ground shook. A great crack opened up on the ground. Forty skeletons in ancient roman slave tunics clambered out of the ground, bones clacking. The stumbled over to the ship, before heading down the stairs to the oar decks. The group wandered onto the ship, looking around with awe. Raze walked quickly to the helm of the ship to take the rudder while Frank and Hazel went downstairs to stow away their belongings. Zoë looked around before snapping her fingers. Bilge water streamed out of the sides of the ship, as steel wire scrubbed the decks until they gleamed. Ropes wound and unwound, as the three great sails unfurled. Filling with air as a great drum beat echoed throughout the ship. Oars moving in silent beat with the unseen beat the Elpis left the Alameda Navy Harbour.
THE END! HAVE A COOKIE!
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JUST KIDDING!
Third Person POV
Raze calmly steered the Elpis north, the ship sailing smoothly. He thought back to a couple minutes after the senate meeting, when Reyna had pulled him to the side.
-FLASHBACK-
"WHERE is he?!" Yelled Reyna, slamming him against the wall. Raze sighed, he didn't want to have to do this.
"I am sorry Reyna, but unfortunately the knowledge you seek is forbidden, knowledge you can not know at this point in time."
Reyna took a step back, taking several deep breaths before she calmed down.
"I am sorry for my actions Centurion Raze. I will endeavour to not make the same mistake again."
"Is that all? Because other wise, I wish to leave to prep for my journey."
"No, I have one request I would make of you."
"Very well, let me hear it."
"Near Seattle, is the Amazon headquarters. I wanted to ask you to-"
"-visit them since your sister is their queen in hope of aid? Do not worry Praetor, I had planned on passing by on my way to Alaska."
"I would ask how you have that knowledge, but I guess that would also be forbidden."
"No not really, I just passed through on a mission for Mars. Needless to say, despite their normal outlook against men, they do respect and fear me."
"Very well then, that will be all Centurion, dismissed." I nodded to Reyna before walking away swiftly and quietly to catch up with my fellow quest mates-Frank and Hazel."
-FLASHBACK END-
Third Person POV
Raze calmly steered the Elpis towards Seattle. He hoped that they could get this over and done with quite quickly, he wanted to get back to his training as swiftly as possible. Raze heard someone's footsteps coming up the stairwell to the lower decks. He turned quickly to face them. Zoë strolled up the stairs, wearing a pair of jeans and a T-Shirt before wandering towards the railing, looking out towards the sunset. Raze looked on surprised-he had never seen Zoë in casual clothes. He had never really noticed how beautiful Zoë looked. Her hair streamed back in the wind as her volcanic-black eyes sparkled deep within. The sunlight covered half her face, bringing a light and happiness to her usually emotionless face. The other side however was framed in darkness, but did not feel evil-rather it felt like a dark power, not necessarily good but not evil either. He supposed it made sense, the hesperides were after all nymphs of the sunset.
"W hat are your family like?" The question took Raze by surprise. He looked at Zoë to see a wistful look on her face. Of course, she had been abandoned by her birth family quite early on in life. He cocked his head, thinking, before responding quietly.
"In a word, amazing. My father, Poseidon has always cared for me. Even now I see him in my dreams and we talk all the time. My adoptive mother, Hestia, is also great. She takes care of me, always visiting. The same with my patrons. I see them regularly, usually once a month at the least sometimes once a week. My birth mother was perfect. She gave up everything for me. When I was young she married a horrible man-Gabriel Ugliano-to protect me. His stench was so horrible, so human that it covered up my scent. My adoptive father, the man she married after I learned to protect myself, Paul was always kind to me. He was understanding and took care of me, even when he had no knowledge of the greek world. He, as a teacher often helped me pass tests and such so as in the future I would be able to go to a uni. Obviously that has not worked out. They both unfortunately died of a heart attack when I was sixteen."
"They sound perfect."
"What was your family like? I mean it must have been interesting. After all you lived right through the First Titan War. And also, that means you were older than Artemis."
"It was interesting to say the least. The Titan War was a horrible time to grow up in, as for Artemis, it was difficult at first, but after the first few centuries I got used to taking order from her. Eventually I took the role of lieutenant, after my predecessor Kallisto was forced to leave the hunt as a result of Zeus attacking her. Artemis was forced to either kill her or turn her into an animal. She decided bear, so that Kallisto could at least protect herself. Eventually when she died, Artemis turned her and her son into constellations. We call them Ursa Major and Ursa Minor. As for my family, not the best. We were always arguing, fighting. They were very obedient to our father, I however was not. I was also the youngest fo us by a couple of decades, and so was put down by me eldest sisters as a result. My eldest sister, Aegle was very dominant. She always wanted to be in command though she was also very obedient to our father Atlas. Erytheia, the next eldest was also very dominant. She always followed Aegle though in any matter. Next was Arethusa. She was a bit quieter, preferring to be off tending the garden. She was a bit absent-minded as well, very rarely there. She was always planting something, rose, tulip, orchid it mattered not to her. though occasionally she forgot she'd planted something and planted right over the top of it." Here Zoë laughed a small silvery laugh before continuing. "Finally was Hesperia. She was everyone's favourite sister. She was only about twenty-three, maybe twenty-four years older than me. Very quiet but also very kind as well. She sorted out all her disputes, they always seemed to disappear the moment she entered the room. She was sort of like Hestia int hat regard, always the peacekeeper. She however preferred the company of books and was rarely there. There was an unspoken rule in our house: Never involve Hesperia. She was always the kindest, and no one wanted to hurt her. You have met my father, of course he was always rather coarse and abrasive. My mother was always very kind. Unfortunately however she faded a couple of centuries after my birth. The fights were usually between me and Aegle, and Erytheia with Arethusa and Hesperia either not there, or trying to mediate. On the day of my banishment however, they were absent. Arethusa was off buying some flowers and Hesperia was at the library in the small town, not far from where we lived. And so, my immortality was revoked, I was banished by my father, Aegle, and Erytheia, and I left the garden of the Hesperides. A week later, I ran into the hunt, swore my oath and that was that." Zoë sighed regretfully, perhaps wondering what her future would have been like had she not met Heracles, or if she had never met the Hunt at all.
We were sailing quite close to the coast. Suddenly we heard a great deal of yelling from just over the hills on the port side of the ship. I steered the Elpis towards the banks as Zoë ran to get Frank and Hazel. The oars drifted in their oarlocks as the skeleton rowers stopped rowing to the unseen beat. The sails furled up and the Elpis bumped against the mainland. Myself and Zoë went to examine the issue while Hazel and Frank guarded the ship. I picked Zoë up and gently beat my wings, bringing us to the shore. I pulled my wings back into my spine as we crawled up the slope. Perching at the top of the hill we looked down, gazing keenly towards what lay below. An army of monsters marched forwards. Admittedly we had been travelling for a while and we were at least two maybe three days from camp on foot but this army was far too close. Horned centaurs and Hellhounds led the group, at least one hundred and fifty. Over two hundred and fifty dracaena and telkhines followed behind, some geared with swords and shields, others carried axes and daggers. There were even a few tridents in there. Eighty odd empousai followed behind, staggering their strange gait. Daggers were is abundance among them, virtually all of their weapons the same. What came behind was more dangerous. Five hydras and thirty maybe forty odd cyclopes and laistrygonians brought up the rear. Hammers, axes, maces, clubs, flails, all were in abundance among them. I even spotted a couple with flaming cannonballs. A forty foot tall giant brought up the rear. Green-scaled skin covered his legs, massive claw like toes at the end of his mammoth feet. A loincloth of shark scales covered his waist. Above their as worrying. A massive chest, broad shoulders, and long and powerful arms adorned his body. A short but stout neck stood upon the broad shoulders with a massive head atop. His skin was swarth and he had a beakish nose. His ears and nose were large and stuck out from his body. His eyes reminded me of Oceanus, a deep, dark blue, representing the greatest evils of the ocean; The Great White Shark, Killer Whale, Giant Squid, Blue-ringed Octopus or even the Leviathan, perhaps even the Kraken or Scolopendras. His hair was black and long, in dreadlocks, framing his grimy face. Snakes hissed in his hair, paralytic yellow eyes gleaming. But these weren't his worst features. That was his scent. He smelled exactly like Nereus. The dark side of the sea, dead fish, octopus ink, seaweed. He carried a fifty foot tall trident, the spoke fifteen feet long and five feet wide. The spokes were dripping a green liquid that hissed when it hit the ground. Acid? Poison? I had no tintention of finding out. He was fiercely arguing with some of the cyclopes. Something about muffins? We turned back to head to the ship, only to stop in our tracks. A small army stood in front of us, glaring hatefully. Small, creature, no more than two feet maybe three tall. They wore tartan loincloth like things - sort of like a scottish kilt. They were a little pudgy but still had a fair bit of muscle on them. Karpois, the grain spirits, obviously the ex-servants of Demeter/Ceres. There were at least thirty of them, carrying small clubs - basically large twigs - but even so there were a lot of them and there were only two of us.
"Surrender!" Yelled one of them. He looked sort of like a wheat plant - or was he a barley?
"Oats shall rule!" Shouted a small grain spirit somewhere in the middle of the crowd.
"Barley will dominate!" Shouted the first one.
"Maize shall destroy!" Shouted another.
"Wheat! Wheat! WHEAT!" Shouted another.
"Barley! Barley! BARLEY!" The yells began to grow louder.
"Oats! Oats! OATS!" They were getting rather repetitive
"Maize! Maize! MAIZE!" They showed no sign of stopping however.
"ENOUGH!" I yelled. They quietened.
"No we will not surrender - and you know what that means." Zoë spoke as we prepared for combat - her bringing out her bow and knocking an arrow, me drawing Kronos's Scythe. I thought a scythe was a apt tool for the destruction of the karpois. I obviously couldn't kill them permanently, otherwise all of those plants would die. And then they were upon us. I swung the scythe straight through Oats, breaking him open. An arrow shot past me shoulder, embedding a n arrow into Wheat. I cut them down in great numbers, three or four at a time. Eventually Zoë abandoned her bow, drawing her hunting knives, she leapt into combat. Maize, Barley, it mattered not, all fell to her blade. Eventually only two were left. I whirled through one, my blade slicing him open like butter, disintegrating him down into a whirlwind of seeds that drifted on into the wind, my blade swung around me to slice open the last one as Zoë embedded her hunting knives into his body. He split down into a flock of seeds, spreading across the world to grow and produce.
"How many did you get?" I asked Zoë
"Sixteen, boy" she responded, saying 'boy' playfully, bumping shoulders as we walked back to the ship.
"Seventeen, girl" I countered, shoving her back. She stumbled for a moment before glaring at me. I smirked, laughing inwardly, before changing into a look of surprise as she shoved me with all her strength, which for the daughter of the Titan of Strength and Endurance was quite a lot. I tumbled down the grassy hill, my hand grabbing her at the last moment, bring her down with me. We rolled down the hill, eventually smacking into each toher and rolling together one atop of one another, laughing. We stopped chuckling on my part and giggling on hers as we stopped rolling at the bottom of the hill. SOmewhere along the way Zoë had ended up straddling me, one leg on either side of my waist and her hands on my shoulders, with mine on her back. She smirked down at me, as if this was some battle that she had beaten me at. We locked eyes. Honestly, I thought she had never looked so beautiful. We both moved, me leaning upwards, she lowering her head. Our lips met in the middle. Her lips tasted like Nectar and Ambrosia. I revelled in what was happening to me. I was kissing Zoë Nightshade. The kiss had no sense of urgency, it was simply perfect. Her hands moved up to my head, embedding themselves in my messy mop of hair, while mine travelled down to her waist. Eventually we broke the kiss, out of breath. We both sat up, her rolling to the side as we sat cross legged.
"So w-what does this mean?" Zoë questioned, her face a little shaky. She continued quickly. "I mean, I kind of like you, but do you feel the same or...?" She finished, blushing a deep red. I smiled at her, before reaching out and taking her hand.
"I think it means the ex-Hunter of Artemis just got a boyfriend. Yes Zoë, I like you to. Unless of course you don't want to enter a relationship?" I looked at her, saying the last part quickly. She shook her head and I let out an unseen breath of relief. I then got up, brushed off myself before offering a hand to her. She took it before gracefully standing up. She brushed off herself. I offered my hand.
"Shall we, my lady?" I spoke. She took it, and we walked back to the ship, our minds more on the ship then on the army approaching camp, hand-in-hand.
Ship Terms:
Stern: The back of the ship
Bow: The front of the ship
Port Side: The left-hand side of the ship
Starboard: The right-hand side of the ship
Bireme: Ship with two rows of oars on either side, one atop of another.
Rudder: Steering oar at the stern.
Updated list of Powers/Weapons
Scythe of Kronos, Aegis Shield, Spear that can split to form a trident, Enchanted bow; arrows form on string on a thought, can be special arrows, e.g. sonic arrows/hydra arrows, Spear of Hyperion, Sword with Key of Hades, Dodonna grove wood staff, Shields of defeated opponents*, belt of stygian iron throwing knives, greek fire grenades
Increased control over water, ice, storms, earthquakes, the mist, weather control.
Minor control over dead, shadow travelling, vapour travel, shapeshifting, fire travel, plant control, charmspeak. Increased speed, strength, intelligence. Free iris messages, basic magic. Increased forgery skills, language skills, no dyslexia, basic mastery of every weapon, communication to animals, enhanced hunting skills, archery skills, healing, light beam manipulation and a little, very little battle meditation, food summoning, instilling/eliminating hope, fire control, air control.
Domains of Time, and Light
Wings
*The shields of defeated opponents are shields inscribed with images of defeated foes.
Monsters: Ladon, Polyphemus, Echidna, Chimera, Hydra, Minotaur, Furies, Clazmanyian Sow, Manticore, Colchis Bulls, Scylla, Charybdis, Medusa, Procrustes, Geryon, Sphinx, Kampé, Nemean Lion
Gods/Titans/Immortals: Kronos, Hyperion, Koios, Krios, Iapetus, Oceanus, Pallas, Perses, Helios, Atlas, Monoetius, Astraeus, Lelantos, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Hestia, Hades, Aphrodite, Dionysus, Hermes, Apollo, Artemis, Ares, Athena, Hephaestus, Phobos, Deimos, Circe, Antaeus
*AN* Hey everyone hope you enjoyed! Finally got started on the Perzoë, yeah I know it was a bit quick but I wanted to get it over and done with. I am not much of a romance writer, I definitely suck. So yeah, hope you enjoyed. That was 4735 words! Yes I know I missed out the Iris scene, but all that really had was Percy attempting to Iris Message Annabeth-useless in this storyline, Frank discovering himself sort of and what his spear can do-again useless, and Fleecy, who while is a fun character, has no real purpose. I saw no point in putting in that scene. Hey guys just going to let you know that this will be my next chapter for a while yet. I have honestly lost a lot of my interest in my stories, it is more of a chore now than a fun side project, I am getting writer's block and it is not really worth it for me at the moment. However, when I return, which I hope to be in the next 3 months or so many of my stories will remain on hold. I am planning on having 3 stories active at any one time, updating each one at least once a month. These three stories will be... drumroll please... 'Son of Poseidon, Son of Hestia, Champion of Olympus', 'Poseidon's Little Black Book,' and 'Reading Shattered, by Josh the Pleb'. As well as this one shot that I have been working on. Honestly it is going to take forever though, I am at about 1700 words and I am about 1% throughout the whole thing. Basically it is a really long story about Chiron telling a story of Percy Jackson's life. This coming up school holidays, which for me come up in a couple of days time, I am planning on spending a whole day or two, just writing fanfiction. Following that my little hiatus/pause will start and I'll probably update again at the time of my school holidays after that, which would be another ten weeks.
Trivia Question till next time is... Who was the mother of Theseus? Hint, it is covered in my story, 'Poseidon's Little Black Book'-check it out!