Disclaimer: Same as always. Credit given to where credit is due.

Enjoy!

Chapter 25

Percy was back in that "barren cave," the place where Annabeth somehow held the sky up from the earth. The sky was heavy and low above her. She was kneeling under the weight of a dark mass that looked like a pile of boulders. She was too tired even to cry out. Her legs trembled. Any second, Percy knew she would run out of strength and the cavern ceiling would collapse on top of her.

"How is our mortal guest?" Atlas' voice boomed.

Luke emerged from the shadows. He jogged to Annabeth, knelt beside her, then looked back at the unseen man. "She's fading. We must hurry."

Atlas chuckled. He was standing in the shadows at the edge of Percy's dream. His meaty hand thrust someone forward into the light—Artemis—her hands and feet bound in celestial bronze chains.

Percy gasped. Her silvery dress was torn and tattered. Her face and arms were cut in several places and she was bleeding ichor, the golden blood of the gods.

"You heard the boy," said the Titan in the shadows. "Decide!"

Artemis' eyes flashed with anger. Percy wondered if the celestial bronze chains prevented her from using her godly powers. Probably.

The goddess looked at Annabeth and her expression changed to concern and outrage. "How dare you torture a maiden like this?!"

"She will die soon," Luke said. "You can save her."

Annabeth made a weak sound of protest. Percy swallowed and watched, knowing he couldn't do anything, even though he felt like running to help her… to do what she did to help Luke.

"Free my hands," Artemis said.

Luke brought out his sword, Backbiter. With one expert strike, he broke the goddess' handcuffs. Artemis ran to Annabeth and took the burden from her shoulders. Annabeth collapsed on the ground and lay there shivering. Artemis staggered, trying to support the weight of the black rocks.

The man in the shadows chuckled. "You are as predictable as you were easy to beat, Artemis."

"You surprised me," the goddess said, straining under her burden. "It will not happen again."

"Indeed it will not," Atlas said. "Now you are out of the way for good. I knew you could not resist helping a young maiden. That is, after all, your specialty, my dear."

Artemis groaned. "You know nothing of mercy, you swine."

"On that," Atlas said, "we can agree. Luke you may kill the girl now."

"No!" Artemis shouted.

Luke shook his head. "She will be useful. You kill her, you unleash his rage upon us."

"Bah! You truly believe that?"

"Yes, General. I'm sure."

The man considered. "Then the dracaenae can guard her here. Assuming she does not die from her injuries, you may keep her alive until winter solstice. After that, if our sacrifice goes as planned, her life will be meaningless. The lives of all mortals will be meaningless."

Luke gathered up Annabeth's listless body and carried her away from the goddess.

"You will never find the monster you seek," Artemis said. "Your plan will fail."

"How little you know, my young goddess," Atlas said. "Even now, your darling attendants begin their quest to find you. They shall play directly into my hands. Now, if you'll excuse us, we have a long journey to make. We must greet your Hunters and make sure their quest is… challenging."

The Titan's laughter echoed in the darkness, shaking the ground until it seemed the sky would collapse.

Percy woke with a start. He was sure he'd heard a voice.

"Percy!"

He looked around the room. Two feet to his left, a shimmering image of Thalia floated in midair. It was quiet on the other end. He could see the figure of another person behind her. It looked like… like…

"Are you alright?" Thalia asked in concern.

There was something different about her. He could sense it. She backed up a little and he gasped. Over her black Green Day T-shirt, she was wearing a silver ski jacket, and instead of her torn up jeans, they looked new and fresh. She was wearing the outfit of a Hunter. And she even had a silvery aura around her. At least, it kind of looked that way through the mist of the Iris-message.

Bianca, on the other hand, was wearing new clothes that looked like stuff from the camp store: a red winter coat, an orange Camp Half-Blood T-shirt, and dark jeans. She was still hiding under her floppy green cap, though she kept it high enough so that he could see her eyes clearly. It looked like only the two of them were there.

"Thalia, what are you…?" Percy trailed off. He was stunned that they had even got an Iris-message to connect, not to mention her becoming a Hunter.

She looked down. "Sorry if I was being weird. It's just… everything with Luke and all, I thought I'd…"

"Did you actually…?" Percy swallowed. "You know…"

"I don't know." Her expression was unreadable. "Maybe." She shook her head to clear her thoughts. "Never mind that. Where are you? What happened?"

"You've been gone for a long time," Bianca added quickly.

"It looks like someone's been taking good care of you," Thalia said.

Percy looked around. His prison cell didn't look much like a prison cell at all. In fact, it looked like a hotel room. Of course, he had no idea where he was, but he assumed that he was in D.C., like yesterday. "Well… that isn't exactly true. Since yesterday, I've been knocked out twice, and have been monitored by the enemy for most of the past couple nights."

"Enemy?"

"I don't have time to explain. Just tell me why you called."

"Listen, Percy, wherever you are, you have to get to San Francisco," Thalia said urgently. "Zoë… Zoë thinks Artemis has been captured. We got a prophecy yesterday saying we have to go west, and Phoebe did her first track, which is leading to Washington D.C. If Thorn is working for the Titans like he said he was, then finding Artemis may lead to finding Annabeth. You have to get to San Francisco."

He chuckled. "Easier said than done."

"Wait, you said monitored by the enemy," Bianca said. "Does that mean you've been captured by the enemy?"

There were voices outside of his room. They were preparing to come in.

"Yes, but don't worry! I'll get myself out! Bye!"

Quickly, he swiped his hand through the mist just as the door swung open, revealing the same four demigods that had guarded him yesterday. Chris tossed a hooded-cloak to him and said, "Put it on."

Percy followed the instructions and they led him out of the room. He was right. They were in a hotel. Tourists and businessmen passed by without seeming to notice five teenage kids wearing suspicious cloaks. This time, the four didn't have mortal weapons. He could only see celestial bronze weapons. They reached the elevators and went down. They walked through the lobby and out the front door where a luxury vehicle was waiting for them: a Rolls Royce Phantom. In the back of the car, Luke was sitting there, waiting patiently.

The four guards told him to get in the car. He did. Luke greeted him with a warm smile.

"Good morning, Percy," he said.

Percy looked at him for a second, then turned away without saying a word. He was still mad from yesterday.

The car drove out of the hotel's front lot and accelerated onto the road.

"Listen, Percy," Luke said, "don't be mad about yesterday. Let's just settle our differences and start anew. Okay?"

"Where are you taking me to?" Percy demanded.

Luke sighed and looked out the window. "National Museum of Natural History."

"What for?"

"You'll see."

"So you don't trust me enough to tell?"

"They don't trust you," Luke explained. "I do, even if you still feel like helping the gods or whatever."

"I'm doing what I feel is right, Luke. If you can't accept that, then I'm going to leave."

"They won't let you leave alive, Percy. Until the quest members come save you, you won't be allowed to leave. Of course, we can't kill you, because you're part of the bait. Thanks to that Iris-message you received earlier, they know you're in our hands. I can tell you one thing, though. What the General is going to do at the museum is something you're not going to like. He's planning for you to act against their wishes so that he has a reason to kill you."

He cursed under his breath. So they knew about the Iris-message. He said, "Interesting."

"You can't let that happen. No matter what he does, you can't act out of line. If you die, I'm doomed too. That's why I need you alive. You're my only saviour. Even if you've still got a couple years until the prophecy will come to its fulfillment, you can still harvest the power now. And then we'll execute the maze plan so you can tear down the gods one by one by destroying their thrones and destroying them. You can let the ones you like live, and the ones you hate die. It will all be in your hands."

"In my hands? What are you talking about?"

"The General's plan is simple. Have you ever heard of the Ophiotaurus?"

"The Ophio-what?"

"The Ophiotaurus is a half-cow and half-serpent creature whose entrails will give its slayer the power to destroy the gods and Olympus. You'll sacrifice the beast's entrails in a bonfire and gain the power to destroy Olympus."

"Destroy Olympus?"

"Yes. You'll have the power to defeat the gods in battle and send them to Tartarus. For the first time, mankind will be able to send their parents to the hell hole Tartarus just like they did to the Titans."

"Can I only destroy gods?"

Luke looked around nervously. "The thing is, Percy, they've always been classified as gods and Titans and primordial entities, but the only difference between them is the power. The primordial gods are far stronger than both the Titans and the Olympians, and you can assume that the gods are slightly weaker than the Titans at full strength aside from the Big Three. But I wouldn't try it. You'd probably be killed."

"I see…"

Percy wondered if he could use it as a bargaining chip. If the Ophiotaurus gave him the power to destroy Olympus, he would have the gods at his mercy, but would it also make him powerful enough to fight Titans? What level of power did the Ophiotaurus' entrails give someone? How would he have the power to destroy Olympus? Did that mean physical power or magical power?

Luke sounded a little worried, but seemed to trust him enough to allow him to make a decision. Was this really the evil side? How could Luke, the demigod leader, be so open with him like this? Everyone on the Titans' side surely knew of his first betrayal.

"Percy?" Luke said. "Did you see the two demigods that Thorn tried to kidnap?" He said Thorn's name with contempt.

Percy nodded. "Yeah, why?"

"Thorn suggested that they might be children of Zeus, Poseidon or Hades, but I've never seen them. I want to know what you think. I want to know how powerful they can be. If they're children of Zeus or Poseidon, I know how to deal with them. But children of Hades… I've never met one."

Percy looked out the window. On his side of the car, he saw the Potomac River churning below. On Luke's side was the Pentagon. Across the bridge would be the Smithsonian and all its museums. "Do you really trust Dr. Thorn?" he asked.

Luke laughed. "I wouldn't trust him with anything. But he's not a dumb monster. Generally, intelligent monsters can guess the parentage of a demigod. And that manticore is far more intelligent than any dracaenae I have, unfortunately. For now, I have no choice to believe him."

"You said that Thorn suggested they might be children of the Big Three," Percy told him. "If he's not certain, I wouldn't trust his word just yet. Besides, you already have me in custody and know that Thalia's out there."

Luke chuckled. "You're pretty good at trying to make me mistrust him with that fact. Of course, there is reasoning behind that, so I won't discredit you there. Perhaps they're just like Annabeth: powerful demigods who aren't children of the Big Three."

"Possibly."

For a moment, silence enveloped the car. Then Percy turned to Luke and said, "Look at me."

Luke turned to face him.

"Promise me something, Luke. Swear on the River Styx."

Luke cocked his head, looking hesitant. "What are you talking about?"

"Please, promise me something."

Luke looked away. He was silent for a moment before saying, "Al-alright. As long as it is within reason."

"Bring me to Annabeth after this," Percy commanded. "Let me see her."

The son of Hermes looked relieved that it wasn't something crazy. "Of course. I—I can do that. I swear to the River Styx."

They were dropped off in front of the Museum of Natural History. There was a big sign on the door. It said CLOSED FOR PRIVATE EVENT.

There was nobody with them. The driver drove off, and only the two of them climbed up the steps. Compared to before, there was quite a lack of security. Percy could easily burst off now. But he was curious about what the General had in store. There was a security guard at the entrance, but he waved them in with no problem.

"This is where your cloak comes into play," Luke muttered quietly.

They went through a huge chamber of mastodons and dinosaur skeletons. Two guards stood outside a set of closed doors. They opened the doors for them.

Percy gaped in awe as he entered. They had entered a huge round room with a balcony ringing the second level. At least a dozen mortal guards stood on the balcony, plus two monsters—reptilian women with double snake trunks instead of legs: Scythian dracaenae. Luke led him to a hidden staircase tucked in a tiny corner of the room just inside and to the left of the entrance. They climbed the steps and made their way to where Atlas was sitting, in between the dracaenae.

Percy was glad that he had something covering his face. Only Atlas seemed to recognize him. The rest just took a glance at him and his unthreatening posture before turning away.

"Welcome, Luke," Atlas said, his voice vibrating the balcony. "Are we ready?"

"We're just waiting for Thorn," Luke said lowly. "He should be here soon. Last we checked the van was on the Anacostia Freeway closing in on New York Ave. The northeast one. Meaning they'll be here soon."

"Mmm, the Air and Space Museum is where we kept their little play toy, am I right?"

Luke nodded.

"Then they will head straight into the trap."

Percy frowned. "Play toy?"

Luke opened his mouth to speak, but Atlas interrupted him: "Yes, boy. A play toy. Something to keep them occupied whilst we complete what needs to be completed here. You see, there are worse things than the Nemean Lion."

Percy blanched. "N-Nemean Lion?! Heracles barely took that thing down. You expect them to only be occupied with that?"

"Heracles was an ungrateful brat who thought he could trick me with mind games," the Titan growled. "Instead, he received help from another who shall not be named in my presence. He was no hero, you fool!" He slammed his armrests with his fists.

"Percy didn't say he was a hero, right Percy?" Luke jutted in.

"Yeah." Percy swallowed. "I never said he was a hero. I just mentioned that he barely took the Nemean Lion down. I mean, if it makes you feel any better, it makes me feel better knowing he had worse rotten luck than me. Anyone, well, any human would have rotten luck if they killed their first family in a bout of insanity caused by a goddess, only to have their second partner murder them in a horribly painful way because some centaur told them to."

"Silence!" the Titan bellowed. "We will speak of this no more!"

Then the front doors opened, and Percy pulled the hood of his cloak further over his face. Dr. Thorn entered the room wearing dark shades and a black overcoat.

There was silence for a moment.

"Well?" asked Atlas.

"They are here, General."

"I know that, you fool," boomed the man. "But where at this point?"

"In the rocket museum."

"How many?" Luke asked.

Thorn pretended not to hear.

"How many?" the General demanded.

"Five, General," Thorn said. "The two suspicious children, Bianca and Nico di Angelo, and then there are three other girls—Hunters. One wears a silver circlet."

"That one I know," the General growled.

Everyone in the room shifted uncomfortably.

"Wait," said Luke, "Thalia isn't there? Where's Thalia?"

Percy hid a smirk. They didn't know she'd become a Hunter. And it didn't seem like Dr. Thorn recognized Thalia in her new form. That put a little damper on their plan, but it didn't seem to faze Atlas, who just huffed and muttered something in a language he couldn't understand.

The Titan stared at Thorn. "Then the backup. What about the two non-Hunters? Are you certain that they are demigods of the eldest gods?"

"I am not certain, but I am positive. I believe that they are."

"Then we will continue with the plan." Atlas turned to Percy. "If that does not work, we always have more backups."

"The Hunters will be difficult to dispose of," Luke said. "Zoë Nightshade—"

"Do not speak her name!"

Luke swallowed. "S-sorry, General. I just—"

Atlas silenced him with a wave of his hand. "Let me show you in person, my boy, how we will bring the Hunters down."

He pointed to a guard on the ground level. "Do you have the teeth?"

The guy stumbled forward with a ceramic pot. "Yes, General!"

"Plant them," he said.

In the center of the room was a big circle of dirt where some sort of dinosaur exhibit was supposed to go. Percy watched nervously as the guard took sharp white teeth out of the pot and pushed them into the soil. He smoothed them over while the General smiled coldly.

The guard stepped back from the dirt and wiped his hands. "Ready, General."

"Excellent! Water them, and we will let them scent their prey."

The guard picked up a little tin watering can with daisies painted on it, which was kind of bizarre, because what he poured out wasn't water. It was a dark red liquid, and Percy got the feeling it wasn't Hawaiian Punch.

The soil erupted. Percy stepped back nervously.

In each spot where a tooth had been planted, a creature was struggling out of the dirt. The first of them said: "Mew?"

It was a kitten. A little orange tabby with stripes like a tiger. Then another appeared, until there were a dozen rolling around and playing in the dirt.

Everyone stared at them in disbelief.

The General roared, "What is this? Cute, cuddly kittens? Where did you find those teeth?"

The guard who'd brought the teeth cowered in fear. "From the exhibit, sir! Just like you said. The sabre-toothed tiger—"

"No, you idiot! I said the tyrannosaurus! Gather up those… those infernal fuzzy little beasts and take them outside. And never let me see your face again."

The terrified guard dropped his watering can. He gathered up the kittens and scampered out of the room.

"You!" The General pointed to another guard. "Get me the right teeth. NOW!"

The new guard ran off to carry out his orders.

"Imbeciles," muttered the General.

"This is why I don't personally use mortals," Luke said. "They are too unrealiable."

"They are weak-minded, easily bought, and violent," Atlas said. "I love them."

A minute later, the guard hustled into the room with his hands full of large pointy teeth.

"Excellent," the General said. He climbed onto the balcony railing and jumped down, twenty feet. Where he landed, the marble floor cracked under his leather shoes. "I shall do this myself."

He held up one of the teeth and smiled. "Dinosaur teeth—ha! Those foolish mortals don't even know when they have drakon teeth in their possession. And not just any drakon teeth. These come from the ancient Sybaris herself!"

He planted them in the dirt, twelve in all. Then he scooped up the watering can. He sprinkled the soil with red liquid, tossed the can away, and held his arms out wide. "Rise!"

The dirt trembled. A single, skeletal hand shot out of the ground, grasping the air.

The General looked up at the balcony. "Quickly, do you have the scent?"

"Yessssss, lord," one of the dracaenae said. She took out a sash of silvery fabric, like the kind the Hunters wore.

Percy gritted his teeth and kept himself from reacting impulsively.

"Excellent," the General said. "Once my warriors catch its scent, they will pursue its owner relentlessly. Nothing can stop them, no weapons known to half-blood or Hunter. They will tear the Hunters and their allies to shreds. Toss it here!"

As he said that, skeletons erupted from the ground. They were nothing like Halloween skeletons, or the kind you might see in cheesy movies. These were growing flesh as they watched, turning into men, but men with dull grey skin, yellow eyes, and modern clothes—grey muscle shirts, camo pants, and combat boots. If you didn't look too closely, you could almost believe they were human, but their flesh was transparent and their bones shimmered underneath, like X-ray images.

The dracaena released the scarf and it fluttered down toward the General's hand. As soon as he gave it to the warriors, they would hunt Zoë and the others until they were extinct. And Thalia. Thalia was a Hunter now.

"Thalia, the daughter of Zeus, is a Hunter!" Percy shouted. "You give them that scarf, you lose an important piece in the puzzle! She's the third Hunter."

Right then, an invisible force plowed into the warriors and snatched the scarf out of the air.

"What's this?" bellowed the General. "An intruder! One cloaked in darkness. Seal the doors!"

"Who is that?" Luke said in disbelief.

When he saw a red sleeve in the hands of a skeleton warrior, he immediately knew who it was. He tried to suppress his look of worry and fear, but he couldn't, and Luke gave him a suspicious look. The skeleton warriors sniffed the scent and handed it around it his friends. Then the doors slammed shut and silence settled over the room.

The guards nervously looked at Atlas and said, "The intruder escaped, General."

And Percy let out a quiet sigh of relief.

Luke kept his promise.

Well, considering he'd bring himself a horrible and painful fate if he didn't, he pretty much had no choice. Percy knew that he would be heavily guarded when they got to San Francisco and however long he stayed with Annabeth. There was nothing Luke could do to prevent that. They were just making precautions. To be honest, if there wasn't much security, he would try to break out.

They traveled by pegasi, which meant Percy wouldn't be shot down from the sky. At least, it was less likely. At the moment, he was a prisoner, and there was no proof that he was betraying the Olympians, so he couldn't attack him without inducing Poseidon's anger.

Pegasi had this cool speed mode thing, which was like a type of lightspeed. Percy wasn't sure how pegasi could do it, but they made it to San Francisco in just three hours, less than the time it would take an airplane to fly across. His pegasus' name was Blackjack. He was the only fully black pegasus around, which made him stand out. Naturally, he could speak with them, and Blackjack had some rather nasty thoughts about Luke and the Titans.

He couldn't talk much during the speed mode thing, but during the breaks the pegasi were given in between there was enough time for him to converse with Blackjack. The thing Blackjack insisted on most was that the Titans' side didn't give him enough donuts as payment for flying. Or apples. Blackjack really liked donuts and apples.

When they approached, they broke through the thick clouds hanging above the city, and Percy gaped in awe.

Overall, San Francisco itself wasn't actually that big, but the entire Bay Area was huge. At least, in terms of the area of earth it covered, including the water. From San Francisco to San Jose looked like at least half of Long Island to Manhattan or something like that. There were also a couple mountains in the surrounding areas. Luke introduced them as they flew overhead. In the south there was Mount Hamilton to the east of San Jose. The closest mountain to them was Mount Diablo. There were mountains in the distance up north, but Luke said they didn't matter. Mount Tam was the one they were headed to.

That must've been the reason why Annabeth was so skittish about moving here, thought Percy. That must be where Atlas used to hold up the sky. That would be a problem.

Even from near the peak of Mount Diablo, Percy could feel a strange aura emanating from Mount Tam.

They landed on the peak of the mountain, and Percy saw the black marble from his dreams. If he wasn't hallucinating, they seemed to be reconstructing themselves, as if the Titan palace was rebuilding itself. What was their mountain called again? Othrys?

"Give the son of Poseidon escorts and guards and lead him to the girl," Atlas boomed. He turned to Luke. "You, my boy, will follow me."

Luke swallowed nervously. "Of—of course."

Once the Titan and the son of Hermes disappeared over the edge, and a group of weird-looking monsters, each pair of a different species, surrounded him with weapons, the goddess under the weight of the sky groaned. Then she spoke: "You fool. Captured as well. All for a girl, hm? You truly are your father's son: reckless and impatient."

He looked away. "Is that such a bad thing?"

"Athena believes you are too dangerous. I believe her. Thalia is truly our ally. Male heroes like you will turn out like the rest. You will betray again."

Percy scowled. "It isn't my fault I was born with a penis. And what did you do with Thalia anyway? She's a Hunter because of Luke, but Luke isn't gone yet."

"It was her decision."

"But she acted like she and Zoë had met before. Don't tell me you were the ones to convince her. Because Luke isn't gone yet."

"Sympathizing with the enemy." Artemis stumbled a bit. "You are—"

"Be quiet!" he shouted. "I haven't done anything wrong."

"Really?"

"I'm trying to change."

"You still hate us Olympians. Everyone knows that."

"I care about the campers of Camp Half-Blood," Percy said through gritted teeth. "That's what holds me down. If it wasn't for them, I'd be glad if Olympus was wiped out. My father's home isn't Olympus anyway. If I can convince him to only protect his palace…"

"Then you sympathize with the enemy?"

Percy snatched one of the guard's weapons, and before they could do anything about it, he pointed the spear at Artemis' face. "The Ophiotaurus was the monster you're looking for, wasn't it? That beast has the power to destroy Olympus. You were caught by Atlas because you weren't expecting it. If there was something to destroy Titans, I would search for that too. A world where there are no gods, a world where there are no Titans. A world where only humans and animals exist. There are no hybrid-human species. Imagine that world, Lady Artemis. Then you'll know how I feel about you immortals."

"So you have no allegiance?" asked the goddess.

"I can't say." He tossed the spear to the side. "But you would do well to not interfere with my plans."

"I cannot trust you, Percy Jackson. That I will say. But I have no choice. I am stuck here until the Hunters come for me."

"I hope they do come for you, my lady," he said with weak chuckle. "Because as long as you escape, my plan will work."

"What plan are you speaking of, boy?"

"A way to save my friends," Percy said, looking straight into the goddess' eyes. "A way for them to live without any more betraying. A way for them to live in peace."

Artemis stared back at him coldly, clearing disbelieving of what he thought could be possible.

"And most importantly, to do what I've failed to do before: save the ones closest to me."

Percy's darker side is unveiled a little here, though it has been unveiled before so technically it wasn't just unveiled at this very moment because of the fact that it has been unveiled before which I already unveiled. Unveiled. Sorry, a little crazy right now. Anyway, Percy has nothing against most Olympians. He's just irrational, like he should be, and blames the entire council, except his father, for what Zeus, Dionysus and Ares did. He also dislikes Athena because she dislikes him. He doesn't like the fact that she blames him for existing and feels that the gods shouldn't exist either. At the same time, he dislikes the Titans because they betrayed him first. He does want to sympathize with them, but at the moment he feels more anger toward the Olympians than the Titans. He just feels that the Titans ruling would be horrible. He has a plan, which I won't reveal if it works or not, which is meant to help the campers but will end up helping one side in particular. I'll leave that in your mind.

Anyway, thanks for reading. Don't forget to review and vote on the poll if you haven't already.

Thanks,
SharkAttack719