Enjoy!
I sat in the pickup bed of a tow truck we found near the junkyard, trying to distract myself from the fact my sister was dead.
The others were all sitting in silence as well, Percy beside me and Thalia driving while Zoë sat in shotgun, equally as shocked and saddened as me.
"It should've been me, I should have gone in instead of her," Percy said.
"No, it should've been me,"
"As if that would have made it better for Nico," Percy argued with me.
"I should have kept on eye on her while in there," I laid back in the pickup bed.
Percy was currently holding what my sister took, a Mythomagic figurine Nico didn't have yet. Something about it seemed familiar, but I couldn't place where I've seen that face before.
"It's too late now anyway," he shook his head, looking defeated.
"We need to move on," I stated, "mopping around won't help any of us. We can't let her die in vain,"
Soon after, our truck ran out of gas near a river canyon, which was a dead-end. Fortunately enough, some flirty naiads helped us get downriver.
I was in a canoe that we 'borrowed' from a tourist stop with Thalia while the second canoe held Zoë and Percy.
"You think it was a good idea to put those two together?" I questioned my cousin as we were pushed.
"I think he could talk to her, I'm getting kinda worried about her," Thalia admitted much to my surprise.
"I thought you hated her?"
"Yeah but..." she trailed off, looking away.
We eventually ran into a dam, causing the naiads to stop us. We all got out of the canoes, watching the naiads disappear, who were all looking annoyed by the dam blocking their river.
"Hoover Dam," I said, "built in the 1930s."
The dam was ginormous, all the visitors were specks from our spot.
"Five million cubic acres of water," Thalia added.
"Largest construction project in the US," Percy sighed with the shake of his head.
"How do thee know this?" Zoë eyed us all weirdly.
"Annabeth loved architecture," I elaborated, gazing up at one of Annabeth's favourite monuments sadly.
"She was obsessed with monuments,"
"Always talking about facts,"
"Wish she was here," Percy stated sadly.
Thalia and I nodded in agreement while Zoë stared at us strangely, but quite frankly, we didn't care enough to complain out. We all wanted Annabeth here, more or less safe and sound.
"We should go up there, but not just for her sake, that's the only place where the road is," I stated, pointing up to the dam.
"You're crazy and right," Zoë agreed.
It took us almost an hour to get up to the top of the dam, finally finding a path later on. Once at the top, Zoë was glancing around uneasily.
"Monsters?" As a hunter, she must have been accustomed to the scent of monsters so she could easily sense and track them.
"Possibly, the wind travels so it could be miles of away, we must continue with caution though," she added.
We began walking on the road, talking about metal statues up ahead.
"A gift from Athena to my dad," Thalia elaborated.
"What are they doing, then?" I gestured towards the clusters of mortals at the bases of the statues.
"Rubbing the feet for good luck, I suppose," she shrugged.
"Mortals do come up with weird ideas,"
"I agree,"
"Let's head to the visitor centre, there's a snack bar in there," Thalia stated as we continued walking.
"You've been here before?" Percy inquired.
"To talk to the guardians," she pointed to the statues once more.
I motioned for Percy to stop talking, I could tell from Thalia's expression whatever happened wasn't good. I didn't want to deal with lightning chasing us.
"Let us find the dam snack now," Zoë said, walking towards the visitor centre.
I snorted, "Dam snack bar?"
"Yes, what is so amusing about that?" Zoë replied in confusion.
"Oh, nothing, I just want to eat some dam fries," Percy added with a smile.
"I need to use the dam washroom too," Thalia added before the three of us burst into laughter, much to the bewilderment of Zoë.
"I do not understand,"
"I also need to buy a dam t-shirt," I had to hold my side as we continued laughing.
"I might need to use the dam fountain!"
"We need to buy some dam souvenirs," I joked.
We were still laughing when I heard a weird noise, wiping the smile off of Percy's face and mystifying me.
"What was that noise?" I questioned.
"You mean dam noise?" Thalia replied with a laugh.
"I'm serious,"
"I did not hear anything," Zoë stated.
"You okay, Percy?" I looked at Percy worriedly. He seemed, off. Not upset, but more confused and something else I couldn't detect.
"Yeah," he looked towards the lake on one side of the dam. "You guys go ahead of me, I need a minute to... um... think."
The rest of us looked at each other before leaving apprehensively.
I had the strong urge to stay with Percy, but he said he wanted some time alone, and I didn't want to argue.
Instead, I snuck behind and behind a large group of tourists.
"How did you get here?" Who was he talking too?
I looked over the edge and saw a weird creature swimming around, mooing like a cow to Percy while he remained confused. Several seconds later, it flipped back into the water just as the hair on my head stood on end.
I saw them out of the corner of my eye, skeleton warriors clad in camouflaged walking in our direction. I grabbed Percy's hand through the crowd and ran towards the visitor centre.
"Hey- Arina?" He seemed shocked that I followed him.
A black van drove on the road, nearly killing several tourists. More skeleton warriors emerged from the vehicle as I made the split-second decision to run down the stairs, having no clue where I was going.
We ran through a security checkpoint, the guard yelling at us to stop as we passed through the metal detectors. From there, we ran towards a closing elevator in an attempt to escape.
"Why *huff* did you *huff* follow me?" Percy asked in between breaths.
"Well, I helped you, you owned me one,"
"I could've handled myself just fine,"
"Sure you could, Barnacle Boy,"
We ended up with a tour group, discovering there was only one way back to the snack bar, which was another elevator. Unfortunately, that was occupied with more skeleton set on attacking us.
Percy led me down a side hallway away from the crowds. Once there, we were both pretty antsy that he slashed blindly at a mortal girl who was trying to blow her nose.
"Ahh! Do you always kill people who blow their nose?" The redhead girl exclaimed, dropping her tissue in shock.
"You're mortal," I exclaimed when the sword passed harmlessly through her.
"Yeah, what's that supposed to mean? Who are you guys, even?" she questioned.
I was about to use the Mist when Percy tried to, but I could tell something was wrong when he tried it. Usually, I could see the Mist shimmer around mortals and demigods, but nothing happened when he did it to her.
"She's clear-sighted, she can see through it," I stopped him from embarrassing himself further.
"What does that mean? What are you guys doing down here? Why didn't that thing hurt me?" She asked a million questions a minute, annoying me instantly. Also, I felt oddly jealous for some reason.
"Who are you?" Percy inquired.
"Rachel Elizabeth Dare," she said indignantly, "and answer my questions or should I scream for security?"
"No, we're in a hurry and in trouble," I stated.
She looked over her shoulder, her eyes widening, "Hide!" She shoved us both into the boys' bathroom.
We both stood, confused, in the boys' bathroom as something dawned on me.
"Uh, should I be averting my eyes or something?" I questioned, covering my eyes after realizing I was in a male's washroom.
"There's no one in here but us, Arina," Percy said, pulling my hand away from my eyes.
I heard talking from outside. It appeared Rachel was conversing with the skeletons before sending them off on a false lead.
"You're clear, but not for long," she stated when she opened the door.
"Thanks," I looked down the all, seeing the skeletons near the balcony. It gave us a couple of seconds to get to the elevator.
"What were those-"
"Skeletons, and we have to get going," I grabbed Percy by his hand and pulled him towards the empty lift.
"Do yourself a favour and forget this whole thing, even me nearly killing you."
"Who are you guys?" she inquired.
"Percy- gotta go!" I yanked his arm into the closing elevator before glaring at him.
"Why did you tell her your name?" I questioned as the elevator rose.
"It didn't hurt anything," he replied.
"Yeah, but still," I crossed my arms.
I didn't know why I felt so frustrated and annoyed by him telling her his name. It did no harm, but why do I feel bothered by it? What's the likelihood of us seeing that girl again, like, ever? America's a big place, she could be visiting from ANYWHERE.
Once at the top, we quickly searched for our friends. We found them with some burritos in the snack bar.
"We need to get out of here, quick," I stated, grabbing a burrito and biting into it.
"Why?" Thalia questioned.
Zoë pointed towards the windows that gave a panoramic view of outside, "That's why,"
Outside were the rest of the skeletons, all of them looking for us. Unfortunately, they spotted us and headed towards us.
At that moment, Percy got this actually brilliant idea.
He threw a burrito at the skeletons, prompting a food fight with all the other kids and teens in the area. The skeletons couldn't fire their guns as food and drinks were flung around, hitting all of us.
We all ran towards the exit, burritos flying passed our heads as we headed up to the road. To make matters worse, more skeleton warriors closed in on us.
I saw Percy eye something, whatever it was, it prompted him to make Thalia pray to her dad. She refused at first, saying he never answers, but eventually, she complied.
Not long after the metal statues flew above us, casting a huge shadow over us all. They landed in front of us, turning to Thalia.
"Zeus' kid?"
"Yes, get us outta here," Thalia replied hurriedly.
"A please, Miss Zeus' kid,"
"Please," she said forcefully.
The two statues looked at each other before grabbing two of us and flying into the air. We flew high above the dam and skeletons. All we saw below were ant-sized people and small flashes from gunfire.
I woke up from my sleep when we arrived in San Francisco, landing near a bridge and giving a homeless man a heart attack.
The statues we rode took off, heading to a party with their friends away from there.
"Where to next? We're in the west, but where's Artemis?" I questioned others.
"We have to talk to Nereus, for the monster, remember?" Percy reminded me.
"Nereus?" Thalia appeared confused.
"Apparently he knows everything," I replied with a shrug.
"Nereus," Zoë made a face, "he's always easy to find. Come along,"
Off we went, following Zoë.
Turns out Nereus was hiding on an old dock with a bunch of hobos, so we had to disguise Percy in clothes from a gross donation box. Could they have at least cleaned the garments before donating them?
"Heh, you look great," I stifled a laugh as we walked near the pier.
"Don't say a word to anybody else,"
"You're lucky I left my camera," I stated with a smirk with the other girls.
Percy later stumbled towards the dock, pretending he was some drunk homeless teen. Eventually, he ran into this old man that looked like a grumpy, unclean Santa Claus. He then grabbed the sea god, wrestling him as we watched afar.
"You think he needs help?" I asked the others.
"Nah, Kelp Head's fine,"
Several seconds later, they rolled into San Francisco Bay, Nereus continued to struggle and didn't seem to realize Percy was a son of Poseidon. Some know-it-all god.
We ran down to the boat dock when he managed to pin the god down, he had finally given up.
"The usual?"
"I have more than one question,"
"Only the one per capture," Nereus replied.
I was going to offer to capture him again, but Percy seemed to be thinking about the question he could ask.
He could ask about where Artemis was and who captured her. He could ask about what we're up against. However, I had a feeling he would want to ask about Annabeth, but I could tell he wouldn't do that because he knew Annabeth wouldn't have wanted that.
"What was the monster Artemis was seeking?" Percy finally asked.
The sea god smiled, "That's easy, it's over there." With that, he turned into a goldfish and backflipped into the ocean.
I was about to go after him when I heard a familiar mooing come from the water. I turned and saw the strange creature that I saw talking to Percy at the dam.
"What is-"
"The Ophiotaurus," Zoë gasped when she saw the innocent cow-like creature.
"The Ophio-whatish?" what did she just say?
"It's a monster that the Titans were hunting for in the First Titan War, its entrails can bring down Olympus if burned by thy enemies." Zoë elaborated, a look of worry on her face.
The creature mooed loudly at the mention of entrails. Guess it doesn't like to be talked about being sacrificed, I thought.
Thalia squatted down to the monster, holding out her hand for it to nuzzle. However, the expression on her face troubled me. It was a look I often saw on Ares whenever anyone mentions a war, a look of yearning, an appearance of desire. A bad feeling grew in my stomach, growing further when I heard a familiar French accent behind us.
"We defeated you once before," I said, summoning my blades as I noticed the two guards on either side of him.
"Yes, but with the help of a goddess, who currently is out of commission," Dr. Thorn retorted with a villainous smirk.
Zoë prepared to fire her arrow at the monster, but the guards raised their guns in turn.
Then, something bad happened.
Dr. Thorn started talking to Thalia, no, coaxing her. He was convincing her to sacrifice the entrails of 'Bessie', dubbed by Percy, and defeat the gods. He was manipulating her because she would be sixteen in a matter of days. She could be the child of the prophecy, and her next choice could define the rise or fall of Olympus.
He was brainwashing her somehow, she appeared dazed and not truly in the moment, so I sprung into action.
I carefully tapped my foot against the ground, creating an earthquake that distracted them. Afterwards, Zoë shot fart arrows at them as a diversion before we made a ran for it, Percy grabbing Thalia's arm as she stood there, transfixed by the manticore's words.
We ran, not knowing where, before we stopped at a water fountain. I gave one look to Percy before he sliced the mouthpiece off, dousing Thalia in the water and snapping her out of her daze.
"Hey! What-"
I interrupted her by flicking a drachma into the fountain, sending out a silent prayer to Iris to send a message to Camp Half-Blood. Unfortunately for us, Chiron wasn't there and only Mr. D sat on the porch of the Big House.
We began negotiating with him for help, he, of course, denied it.
"Please, Mr. D, help us," Percy begged.
A second later, an oddly familiar experience washed over me. I saw flashes of purple before witnessing the guards put their guns in their mouths and run around like dogs. Soon after, vines shot out of the ground and grabbed a struggling Dr. Thorn.
"T-thank you, Mr. D," I was utterly shocked by his help.
"Can you transfer the Ophiotaurus back to camp?" Percy inquired.
"I'm not an animal carrier,"
"But where do we go then?" Thalia questioned, finally regaining her senses.
"Oh, the huntress should know where. Get there before sunset," he replied before waving the Iris-Message away.
"What did he mean by that?" We turned to Zoë who had a grave look on her face.
"There, we must head back to my home," she pointed to a mountain concealed by the Mist, its visibility shimmered in and out of focus.
"What are we gonna do about Bessie?" I asked as we ran along the shoreline to get to the mountain.
"We can't just leave her," Percy stated.
"But we can't bring her along," I pointed-out.
"Can't it travel between different bodies of water? You said you met it before, maybe we can get it back to camp?" Thalia suggested as Bessie mooed beside us.
"Yeah, you can send a prayer to your dad to give him safe passage back to camp," I agreed.
"I guess," Percy nodded.
"Dad, help us. Please get the Ophiotaurus back to camp safely," he prayed.
"A prayer like that needs a sacrifice,"
Percy took off his coat, staring at it, "This works,"
"But Percy, you might need that! Hercules used it," I countered as he glanced at Zoë before replying.
"If I'm going to succeed, it won't be because of some other demigod's cloak," and with that, he threw the coat into the ocean.
It slowly sunk before disappearing completely with Bessie.
"So how are we gonna get up that mountain?" Percy asked.
"It would be nice if we have a car," after I said this, everyone paused. None of us wanted to steal someone's car.
"It's not like we know anyone in San Fransisco," he shook his head.
"Actually," Thalia opened her bag and grabbed something. "I know one person."
"Who?"
"Professor Chase, Annabeth's dad,"
With that, we embarked on a short trip to Annabeth's dad's new house.
It didn't take as long as we thought to find the house. Once there, we told Mr. Chase we were friends of Annabeth. Instantly, he was worried. We didn't say anything, but our expressions gave away enough.
"Wait, have I met you before?" Mr. Chase asked me.
"Um... maybe? I use to be a friend of Annabeth before she ran away," I answered, uncomfortable with the sudden attention.
"Oh... Alexandria, right?"
"Arina," Mr. Chase shook his head at his mistake before letting us enter his house.
I could tell from the moment I walked in, this house was of someone who had just moved in. There were unpacked and packed boxes everywhere and some plastic covering furniture.
"Dad!" I saw two twin boys run-up to Mr. Chase, arguing about something.
Not long after he solved the issue, Mrs. Chase, Annabeth's step-mom, came in.
I've never actually met Mrs. Chase, but Annabeth painted her as a cruel, temperamental person. However, she was quite the opposite. When she heard about Annabeth in trouble, she showed genuine worry. She even offered to give us snacks!
Mr. Chase led us upstairs to explain the situation to him while his wife prepared us snacks.
Once in his study, it was exactly as I expected from someone who attracted the attention of Athena. Books, everywhere, and tons of boring educational stuff as well. Something that interested me was all the model planes hanging from the roof and miniature soldiers lining the table. Zoë commented on that, and Mr. Chase was amazed that she witnessed the battle he was recreating herself before Thalia brought us back to the original issue.
At first, Mr. Chase wanted to drive us in his biplane, and I mean a real biplane, not the little figurines. However, Zoë said a car would suffice before saying that it was too dangerous for him to go.
At that moment, Mrs. Chase came in with food, which I tried my best not to take too greedily as my stomach rumbled in hunger.
"Thanks," I said as I bit into the gooey, fresh cookies.
"Fine, I will let you have the car, just let me find my keys." Mr. Chase began looking around the room for his keys until Mrs. Chase pointed out they were downstairs.
After that, we headed out before Mrs. Chase called out something.
"Percy, please tell Annabeth she still has a home here? Just remind her that, please?" Mrs. Chase said to my friend as Thalia and Zoë started up the car.
"We will," I replied for him before grabbing his elbow and leading him to the car.
As if the Fates were against us, as they usually were, traffic was dreadful. It was nearly sunset when we got to Mount Tam.
I could sense the Mist was remarkably strong because it was a Titan's home and the location of the Garden of the Hesperides.
I think they knew we were coming because Thalia and Zoë warned us to get out of the car. Once outside of it, we all ducked before a lightning bolt blew up the car. If we didn't cover ourselves, we would've been dead.
"One shall perish by a parent's hand," Thalia grumbled with a glare towards the sky.
"Thalia, you can't be sure that's your father," I stated as Percy helped me up.
"Who else can shoot lightning?" Thalia exclaimed.
"I don't know, Titans?" I guessed with a shrug before noticing Zoë standing up ahead, completely still.
Percy tried calling out to her as we neared, which resulted in him getting shushed because Landon was asleep at that moment.
We tried to sneak in at first, but Zoë's sisters confronted us.
"Sisters," Zoë greeted coldly.
"We do not see our sister, we only see three demigods and a Hunter," one of the Hesperides replied with equal coldness.
I could easily see the similarities between the five, all sharing the same hair, eyes, and accent. However, I could easily tell how much braver Zoë was compared to her sisters.
They warned us about the Titan ahead, telling us to go back.
"Thou should be dead," a different one said to Percy.
"He does not look like a threat," another stated.
"Who said I was a threat?" Percy inquired.
"Thee should have killed him," the first one said to Thalia, ignoring Percy.
"It's tempting, but no, he's my friend," Thalia responded.
They then turned to me. I saw one girl's mouth quickly turn into a smirk before disappearing. Somehow, that ominous expression made me even more worried.
"What? What's so funny?" I retorted.
"Oh... nothing," one sister said.
"Thee is like thy father too much," her words sent a chill down my spine.
I'm like my father in what way? In a creepy, undead way, or an impatient, impulsive way? This message rattled me more.
Not long after, Zoë woke Landon, using herself as a distraction as we snuck around the side of the garden trying to escape. Unfortunately, something happened between Landon and her, causing him to bite back at her. I think she might have gotten injured by him before we managed to get further up the mountain.
"Are you okay?" I asked her as she clutched her side.
"Y-yes, I am fine," she said, the complete opposite of fine.
Once at the top of the mountain, Thalia and Zoë explaining it was Mount Othrys, the rival mountain of Olympus. As well, we encountered Artemis struggling to hold up the sky.
"My lady!" Zoë exclaimed, running towards the goddess before the immortal ordered her to stop.
"It's a trap! You must leave immediately!" Artemis warned us.
Zoë ran forth anyway, struggling to break the chains that held the goddess in place.
"How sweet," I turned to see a man in a suit.
"The General," Percy whispered to me.
My eyes widened as I saw Luke beside him, holding a gagged and tied up Annabeth. He held a sword to her neck but seemed hesitant to do any more. As well, he looked sickly pale, as if he hadn't had a proper rest in days.
"How's my little traitor doing?" The General asked Zoë with a smirk, "I'll enjoy killing you."
Then, everything clicked for me.
'His little traitor'? The eyes, the regal grace she had. The Hesperides were children of...
"You're Atlas," I realized.
"Correct," he stated with a crooked smile.
I saw Percy stare at Atlas and Zoë respectively, recognizing their similarities as I did.
"Let Artemis go," Zoë ordered, her grip tightening on her bow.
"Oh, Artemis could leave if she wishes, but that would mean someone would have to hold the sky. Are you interested, traitor?" Atlas asked his daughter.
Zoë might've considered this for a split second because Artemis cried out, "Do not listen to him! I forbid you from taking this weight of mine!"
Everyone continued to talk as I analyzed the situation, which was quite out of character for me.
I saw we were in a cave on the edge of the cliff that overlooked the water. The cave was relatively spacious, being able to hold a twenty-something feet Titan and several demigods and/or monsters. As well, there were several dragon-women bodyguards around this golden coffin. Kronos, I realized.
Artemis was holding up the sky, and someone must be willing to take it from her, but how can we trick Atlas to get underneath and hold it up? Asking is an obvious no, but what could we do? We need to fight him and distract him, pushing him under the sky.
The Titan's curse must one withstand.
We won't manage a fight on our own without Artemis' help, we would need someone else to go under to prevent the sky from falling on us. However, who's willing to hold up a gazillion pounds? Maybe we could even trick Luke to go under again.
At that moment, I noticed Luke had multiple grey streaks in his hair while Annabeth had only one. The Titan's Curse, I recalled.
After my realization, we broke into a fight: questers versus Titan and traitor. Thalia went straight for Luke, who pushed Annabeth to the side before countering all of Thalia's moves. Of course, that left the General.
Percy slashed at Atlas who effortlessly knocked him back as the walls of the Titan palace rose. I summoned my blades afterwards, slashing at the Titan's legs, which was proven to be ineffective.
"Arina!" Zoë yelled when I was knocked into a rising pillar
I shook the stars out of my vision, pushing myself into a standing position before joining the fight once more.
Much to my surprise, and shock, Artemis jumped in as well. With a glance to the side, I saw Percy had taken the burden of the sky and was struggling to hold it up.
I continued to fight, knowing Percy was strong enough to hold up the sky. As well, I could tell Artemis had a plan as she shifted forms from a tiger to a falcon.
Atlas knocked Artemis to the ground, prepared to strike the killing blow before Zoë shot an arrow in the centre of his forehead. It didn't do much besides angering him, which resulted in him flinging his daughter to the side.
"Zoë!" I cried out, shadow travelling over to my friend by impulse.
I found her on the ground, she was weak and I then realized the large wound on her side. It was from Landon, she was poisoned.
I heard yelling from the back as I tried to figure out what to do. Do I have ambrosia? No, dammit! The ONE time I need it, and I can't find any! I kept on thinking of a way to heal her, but the poison from Landon was weakening her by the second, and the blow must've done much worse.
Artemis appeared by my side, scooping up her fallen huntress, tears in her eyes.
There were monsters down below, ready to attack us at will, but miraculously, Annabeth's father showed up. He was in his biplane, shooting all the monsters, who then turned into dust.
"Brave man," Artemis said rather begrudgingly.
She then blew on a horn, not sure where she had it, and a silver chariot came towards us pulled by the most magnificent deers I have ever seen.
We all clambered aboard the ride before Artemis pulled us away.
A million thoughts went through my mind as we flew, landing in Crissy Fields. All of them were about how to heal Zoë. However, I came to the conclusion it was hopeless. We had no nectar or ambrosia, and regular medicine can't cure anything she had. Poison from an ancient beast and a fatal blow from her father.
The prophecy was referring to her, 'One shall perish by a parent's hand', she knew all along, and she still insisted on coming along. She continued to lead the quest to her death, it was inevitable. The Fates willed it, and now she's dying.
"Can-can't you heal her?" Percy asked as we all stared at Zoë's body.
"No, the Fates had cut her string, there is no defying fate," Artemis said grimly.
Zoë said some things to the others while my mind was filled with memories of us together. The first time we met, she and the hunters saved my life. We laughed, we talked, she was one of my best friends.
I let her fight Landon on her own, how could I do that? Maybe she would've had a chance if I helped her back there? Maybe there would be a possibility of-
"There's nothing you could have done, Arina," Artemis looked at me, reading my thoughts.
"You were right about Luke, all men-" Thalia stated, blinking back tears.
"Not all men," Zoë glanced at Percy, "You still have the sword?"
Percy took it out of his pocket and held it out quietly.
"You were r-r-right, you are nothing like Hercules. I am honoured that you wield that weapon." A shudder ran through her body.
"Zoë-"
"Stars, I can see the stars again, my lady," Zoë's eyes remained fixated on the sky above us.
Artemis' eyes glistened with tears, "Yes, they are beautiful tonight."
"Stars," was the last thing she said. Then, her body was still.
Thalia bowed her head while Annabeth choked back a sob, comforted by her father. I felt someone put an arm around me, I leaned against them as I wiped away the tears on my face. The person I leaned against, Percy, was speechless. We stood together, mourning the loss of our friend.
Artemis cupped her lieutenant's face, whispering some words in another language. Moments later, Zoë's body disappeared. Artemis then blew into her hands, silvery sparkles flew out and headed towards the sky.
One second, nothing happened, the next, a new sparkling constellation appeared in the sky. It looked like a girl, running with a bow in hand.
"Let the world honour you, my huntress," Artemis said, "Live forever in the stars."
Artemis couldn't bring her with us herself, but she sent some help along the way. By help, I meant four pegasuses, three white ones and a black one that seemed oddly familiar.
Turns out Percy could talk to pegasuses, not much to my surprise. His father is the father of the first pegasus, Pegasus. He is also the father of horses.
The pegasus agreed to fly us to Mount Olympus, of course, Mr. Chase couldn't come along though. After a short farewell between father and daughter, we were off.
Thalia was asleep the whole time while my other friends talked to each other. I didn't feel like talking, so I just listened to them.
"Luke's alive, I'm sure of it," Annabeth told us.
"Annabeth, you saw the fall," Percy said.
While I was with Zoë, Luke fell to his apparent death, but I knew he didn't die. A Hades' kid thing.
"Annabeth's right, he's not dead," I agreed with her.
"How can you guys be sure?"
"The same way you knew I wasn't dead," Annabeth replied to him.
Judging by the look on his face, this was the exact opposite of what he wants to hear. Percy knew she was alive by a feeling, possibly a romantic one, and if Annabeth still had feelings for Luke, that would make him majorly jealous.
Soon after, Thalia woke up, alerting us we had arrived at Olympus.
"The winter solstice, the Council of the Gods," she said.
Olympus was stunning, possibly more beautiful than the last time I was here two years ago. Demigods, gods, nymphs, and what not wandered the streets as enticing smells wafted towards us. It looked spectacular, the white marble walls and such.
The pegasuses landed in front of the big, silver gates, bidding us farewell.
We stood together by the entrance, much as we did at Westover. I took a deep breath and pushed the door open.
"Welcome, heroes," Artemis greeted in her fifteen-foot form.
All the gods were fifteen feet tall, sitting in their respected thrones in a U-formation like the cabins in Camp Half-Blood. Each was designed to complement them, holding attributes towards the gods themselves.
"You made it!" Grover exclaimed, standing beside a bubble of water that contained Bessie.
Guess he had to escort the monster here, I thought quickly before observing the other gods.
Zeus was sitting in the centre with his pin-striped suit, a silver-haired and elegant goddess beside him. Hera, I recognized once I saw the peacock-like designs on her robes. Beside her were the rest of the goddesses, Demeter, Athena, judging by her likeness to Annabeth, and Aphrodite. On the other side of the room sat the male gods, like Poseidon, Hephaestus, Hermes, Apollo, Dionysus, and Ares.
One thing I noticed was my father wasn't here, which I found was odd. He was permitted to come to the winter solstice, but why wasn't he here? Could he be in the Underworld assuring the- my sister. He's probably fast-passing her to Elysium at this moment, maybe that's why he's not here.
Grover hugged us after Zeus allowed him, saying something to Percy I couldn't catch.
"Heroes," Artemis began, stepping down from her throne and transforming back to our height. She walked towards us, a moonlight beam shining upon her.
"The Council has been informed about your deeds on Mount Othrys. They know it is rising, Atlas' temporary escape, the gatherings of Kronos' army, and are ready to act."
Artemis informed us of their next plan of action. She and Apollo would hunt down all the rising monsters to the best of their abilities, Athena would check on the rest of the Titans, and Poseidon would unleash the horrors of the ocean upon Princess Andromeda, the ship filled with Kronos' army.
She also believed we had done many services for Olympus, but I guess not all the gods agreed with that statement. Especially a certain god Percy and I beat up.
Before Apollo could say a rather bad haiku, Hermes interrupted him and asked if all the gods agreed in not disintegrating us all.
"Hey, how can we trust these three?" Ares gestured to us all, minus Grover and Annabeth. "They're dangerous and should be dealt with now."
"They have served us well, I will not allow you to blast my son," Poseidon argued.
"Nor my daughter, she had done well," Zeus agreed.
Thalia blushed, looking at her feet. She probably wasn't used to the praise.
"However, she might be a different story," Zeus pointed to me.
A felt a deep resentment grow in my stomach by the way he looked at me. How could I be a different story? I'm the same as Percy and Thalia, and to add to that, I'm younger than them both!
"Brother, you know what would happen if you kill her," Poseidon warned him. "Her father might change his mind and kill yours as well,"
They kept on negotiating our death, Athena speaking up and warning the council the possible danger of the Great Prophecy.
Fortunately enough, I don't think my friends have caught on at I'm a daughter of Hades. However, I'll be surprised if Annabeth doesn't realize by the end of the night by the obvious hints being thrown around by the Olympians.
Eventually, they agreed on sparing us. Somehow, Artemis managed to persuade her father. However, I saw the panicked look on Percy's face as she whispered into Zeus' ear.
"Annabeth," Percy whispered to her, "don't."
I knew what he was thinking, he thought Artemis was going to offer Annabeth a spot in the Hunt. However, I had an odd feeling he was going to be pleasantly wrong.
"Thalia, daughter of Zeus, will you join the Hunt and become the next lieutenant?" Artemis asked my cousin.
The room was stunned into silence before Thalia replied, "I will,"
Zeus was about to convince her to back out of it, but she said that the prophecy wasn't her's. She claimed she would never turn sixteen, despite the next day being her birthday, and join Artemis in the Hunt.
After taking the oath, she surprised us by hugging us each, Percy, Annabeth, myself, and Grover, who looked ready to faint, again.
"We still need to deal with the Ophiotaurus,"
Percy advocated for its protection instead, saying that they would be just like the Titans' if they kill it. He suggested that it could be kept under the sea with his father, or here on Olympus to be watched by them. On the other hand, the gods didn't see it that way.
They warned us about how Kronos had two years to deceive us, or more directly, Percy. Athena seemed the most against letting Percy remain free and alive.
Everyone then began to vote on what should happen next, either kill us and the monster or spare us. Thankfully, the majority voted to spare us and the beast.
Much to us demigods shock, there was a party held after.
I've been to quite a few parties growing up, birthday parties, school dances, etc. However, nothing could top Olympian parties. Amazing music, great food, and goblets that filled with whatever drink we wanted? Count me in.
Gods kept on congratulating Percy and avoiding me, whispering things about my father as I drank from my goblet. I didn't mind, I just had to accept the fact my father is one of the most disliked gods on Olympus.
I saw Percy weave through the ground, stopping to talk Hermes, Apollo, and even his father before being warned by Athena, by the looks of it. Unfortunately, she caught me looking and flashed towards me.
"Lady Athena," I greeted dryly.
"You may be angry with me, but I am right. You and Perseus are dangerous and should be dealt with. I'm surprised your father even considered your mother," Athena elaborated.
"Yes, my mother's the worst," I grumbled, crossing my arms.
"Not that, but he has remained more faithful than my father and Poseidon," Athena stated before disappearing into the crowds once more.
I watched the gods and nymphs mingle around, seeing the occasional demigod here and there.
"Enjoying the view?" I turned, seeing a dark-haired boy with an eye patch beside me.
"I would rather be elsewhere," I replied, sipping my drink.
"I agree, parties for Olympians are always so... self-absorb," the boy agreed with me.
I stared at the boy, he looked oddly familiar, but I couldn't place where. Nonetheless, I pushed away the feeling of recognition, it being a rather familiar feeling. I can't name how many people/gods I've met that looked recognizable.
He caught me staring and smirk, "Enjoying this view better?"
I blushed before replying, "Nah, just wondering about that eye patch."
"Oh," he adjusted his patch, "my mother needed an eye."
I raised my eyebrow, confused. Why would his mother need an eye? Why his?
"Who's your mother?"
"Nemesis," he stated.
"Goddess of revenge," I recalled.
"Yeah, what about you? Have a godly parent, or are you secretly a goddess?" He inquired curiously.
"Hm... it's a secret," I smiled. "Try to guess," I winked before walking away from him.
Argus drove us all back to Camp Half-Blood after the party through the light blizzard.
"So, Arina, who was that guy you were talking to?" Annabeth nudged me gently, causing me to blush.
"J-just some kid of Nemesis," I stuttered in reply.
"Ooh, someone has a crush," she teased.
"Oh, like your crush on P-"
"SHUSH!" She turned bright red, refusing to make eye contact with anyone else as we continued our ride to Camp Half-Blood.
Once at camp, we trudged up the hill, being greeted by Chiron who gave us hot chocolate and toasted cheese sandwiches.
We all sat in the warm Big House with the other head counsellors, even Clarisse was back from her quest. We went over what happened on the quest, talking about Thalia joining Artemis and Luke's possibly survival, which was proven by Percy's father.
"I hope the prophecy is not referring to you Percy, two years can go by quickly," Chiron risked a glance at me, implying he hoped it wasn't about me either.
Chiron explained to Percy how Kronos was going strike the camp first, us being the tools to the gods. Destroy the tools, and Olympus falls. However, he was interrupted by someone.
Nico burst into the parlour, taking deep breaths and looking around. He looked happy and somewhat anxious. It almost broke my heart hearing what he said next.
"Hey! Where's... where's my sister?"
Us questers looked at Chiron. He must have not told my brother yet, and I dreaded this moment since her death.
"Nico," I stood up with Percy, "let's talk."
We went outside, Percy explaining along the way of what happened and led to our sister's demise. We kept on walking, Nico and I not saying anything as we arrived at the dining pavilion.
"She wanted you to have this," Percy handed Nico a Mythomagic figurine.
Nico stared at it, his grip tightening on it before saying, "You promised you'll protect her."
I could tell those words had hurt my friend by the look on his face, but I couldn't come up with any words of comfort.
"Nico, I tried but-"
"You promised! My nightmares were right!" Wait... what nightmares?
"What nightmares?" Percy voiced my inner thoughts.
"I hate you!" He threw the statue onto the ground in anger.
I tried to think of something to calm him down, I didn't want him to do something he would regret. Our powers are influenced by our emotions, and I didn't want his anger to result in him hurting anyone.
"She might still be alive-"
"No, she isn't, I should have known earlier. I could feel it now, she's standing before the judges right now." My brother closed his eyes as I felt the same thing.
I could imagine Bianca standing in front of Minos, the judge, deciding where she should remain. I knew she would be admitted to Elysium, per request of our father and the fact she was a huntress, but that didn't make it any better.
"What do you mean?" Before my brother could answer, I heard a familiar clattering noise, whipping around to see the remaining skeleton warriors behind us.
"You sent these to kill me?" Nico exclaimed in anger and hurt, casting me a look of betrayal.
I tried to send him a mental message, attempting to explain that I was still on his side, but we both couldn't read each other's minds, unfortunately.
"Nico! Get back!" Percy yelled as we both summoned our weapons.
"No! I don't trust you!"
"Nico, listen to him!" I finally found my voice, preparing to attack.
Percy and I struggled to hold off the skeletons, more advancing as I destroyed them. Much to my horror, Nico opened up a crevice and swallowed up the leftover skeletons.
Percy stared at my brother in shock, "How did-"
"I hate you!" My brother screamed, "I wish you were dead!"
I was worried for a split second that would actually happen, judging from the rage on his face, but fortunately, we all stayed in the pavilion.
Nico turned, running towards the forest, tears evident in his eyes. Percy and I were about to run after him before he slipped on something.
The fear grew in my stomach when Percy picked up the thing he slipped on. It was the figurine, but not just of any god. My father.
He stared, wide-eyed at the figurine before turning to me.
I did the only thing I could think of, I shadow travelled away.
