CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE:
"Well, this is familiar," Artemis joked lightly as she stepped out of the Moon Chariot onto the ice-covered glacier in the early morning sunlight.
Percy snorted in response.
"What a surprise. It hasn't changed in the several months since we've been here," he drawled sarcastically.
Artemis stopped abruptly. "Well, except for that."
What they came upon was yet another familiar sight, but this time only to Percy, who had been on a quest to save Thanatos once before. The aforementioned god was chained up in the center of the imitation of Camp Jupiter on Hubbard Glacier, and next to him was an enormous, 50 foot being with blood red hair, shaggy beard, and gnarled, dragonesque legs.
"Alcyoneus," Artemis breathed quietly.
"Okay, here's the plan," Percy whispered as he opened the black briefcase that he had retrieved before they had left. It revealed a spindly contraption, about the size of a dinner plate, that Artemis could tell was crafted from a mixture of Stygian Iron and Olympian Silver. It also contained some unknown red alloy that pulsed gently, so it almost appeared like a metallic spider with a synthetic heartbeat. Percy fiddled with several of the levers along the side of the apparatus and held it out for Artemis to take.
She accepted it from him with a raised eyebrow. "What am I supposed to do with this, Perseus?"
Percy frowned. "It's Percy."
"Not the time, Perseus."
Percy threw his hands up in exasperation. "I swear you do it on purpose to upset me!"
"Still not the time, Perseus."
Percy huffed and got back on track. "Right, so I'll engage the big guy in battle to distract him and draw him away from Thanatos while you sneak around and free him. Divine weapons should work on the chains. Last time around, we didn't have a god, so Frank had to burn through the chains using the Fire of Life and almost killed himself."
Artemis, who was suddenly so very lost, nodded slowly. "Right… so, assuming I understand what this Fire of Life is, who is 'Frank?'"
"Oh, just some Roman demigod." Percy waved dismissively.
"Right."
"So anyway, after you free Thanatos, you need to find a way to attach this to Alcyoneus. Probably on his back would be a good idea, so he doesn't notice it and try to take it off and disrupt the draining process. If we can then keep him engaged for another 30 minutes, he'll effectively be mortal, so we can just kill him, take our fully charged device, and get the Hades out of here."
Artemis nodded firmly. "I will inform Thanatos once I release him from his chains. Three bodies are better than two when fighting against something so massive."
Percy winced. "Thanatos… might be kinda out of it after being captured and chained. We don't really know what they did to him and realistically, we can't expect any kind of backup from him."
Artemis considered this for a moment and conceded to his point. She really wasn't in fighting shape when Percy had found her on top of Mount Tamalpais after being captured by Atlas' forces.
"On your mark, then."
Percy nodded and gave her a quick kiss. "Good luck, Arty."
"Stay safe, Percy."
Percy grinned roguishly. "When do I not?"
/
Percy, standing tall in his 20 year old form in full battle armor at his godly height of 35 feet, parried another strike from Alcyoneus' staff using his scythe, Dexióstrofos. While taking a wild swing and sending his scythe arcing down towards the giant's head, he saw Artemis out of the corner of his eye, using a grappling arrow to pull herself up to Alcyoneus' hair, still in her 12 year old form. She disappeared briefly behind the enormous head, only to pop out of the other side just moments later. He watched as she gave him a thumbs up and hopped off of Alcyoneus' shoulder, growing to her godly height of 30 feet as she fell.
As she hit the ground, Artemis swept her leg out and struck the back of Alcyoneus' legs, sending him stumbling forward to be hit by the staff of Percy's scythe.
"YOU WILL NEVER KILL ME!" Alcyoneus roared. "I CANNOT BE KILLED IN MY HOMELAND AND YOU HAVE NO DEMIGOD TO HELP YOU!"
Artemis ignored him as she drew her hunting knives and engaged him in close combat. Following suit, Percy put away his scythe and summoned his xiphos, Klepsydra. He and Artemis fought side by side for the next half an hour, and Alcyoneus became visibly slower, weaker, and… shorter.
With one final thrust, Artemis buried one of her knives into the side of the giant's skull, releasing a spray of red blood, and causing Alcyoneus to collapse in a motionless heap.
Panting and with a thin sheen of sweat coating his entire body, Percy walked over to where Artemis had plopped down to rest.
"Nice going, Giantslayer."
Artemis chuckled tiredly. "I am the first to hold that title."
Percy laughed. "If I wanted to be a prick, I would say that I already held the title long before you did."
"Prick," Artemis muttered.
Percy snickered as he hauled himself to his feet and nudged the corpse of Alcyoneus, revealing the fully charged immortal-catcher still attached to the back of his neck. It now glowed with a rather maleficent shade of blood red, emitting so much power that it could almost be tasted. Percy summoned the briefcase used to house the device and placed it in carefully, then snapped the case shut.
"Come on, Perseus. Time to go."
Percy looked over to Artemis, who had just dumped Thanatos' body from her shoulder into the Moon Chariot like a sack of potatoes.
He shrugged and picked up the briefcase, loaded it onto the Chariot, and hopped in next to Artemis.
/
When Zoë finished her patrol route around the Hunters' camp, she came upon a curious sight. Completely and utterly insane, but curious nonetheless. From her spot within the darkness of the shadow cast by a tall oak tree, Zoë watched as Artemis and Perseus played hacky sack with an unblunted arrow, talking and laughing as they kicked a razor-sharp projectile between the two of them.
Zoë shook her head and chuckled to herself in fond exasperation. Perseus was good for her mistress. Lady Artemis was no longer so serious and angry all the time, and she was able to enjoy life again, and that made Zoë happy.
Having watched enough, Zoë cleared her throat loudly to attract the attention of the two gods. The distraction was enough for the arrow to somehow find its way through Percy's left ear, much to his chagrin.
"Damn it, Zoë!"
Zoë and Artemis just laughed as Percy grumbled while pulling the arrow out and healing his wound.
Artemis turned to Zoë as Percy wiggled his ear lobe as if checking to make sure that it was still there.
"How can I help you, Zoë?"
Zoë refocused and stood at attention. "Milady, the scouting eagles have reported a group of monsters, about 14 miles away, due North by Northwest, somewhere around 150 strong."
Artemis nodded seriously, her previously playful manner gone. "Inform the girls to mobilize but do not pack up camp. We will return here when we finish."
"Yes, Milady." Zoë bobbed her head and turned, heading off back towards the camp.
/
The Hunters were all perched in the trees surrounding the large, open clearing that was serving as the campsite of a company of monsters, varying from Laistrygonian Giants and Hellhounds, to Dracaena and Empousai. Every girl had an arrow nocked and ready to be drawn at a moment's notice.
On Artemis' signal, Zoë raised the hunting horn to her lips and took a deep breath, blowing into the horn to release the piercing wail that had heralded the death of many a monster.
The crowd of creatures began to shift nervously as weapons were drawn and hackles were raised, when suddenly, arrows began raining down on them from three separate directions, each one finding its mark, until after only around ten minutes, all that was left were numerous mounds of golden dust.
"Well, at least they are back to staying dead again," Artemis noted.
"Typically a good thing, yes," Percy agreed.
/
Several weeks later, Percy was lying down in his bed in the Poseidon cabin at Camp Half-Blood, resting after a long day of hunting monsters with the Hunters of Artemis. His much-needed rest was so rudely interrupted by a loud banging on his door. Percy grumbled angrily as he rolled out of bed and stalked over to the front of the cabin. Whoever it was at this hour either had a deathwish or was Leo.
Sure enough, when the door swung open, there stood the elfish Latino mechanic boy himself, Leo Valdez.
Percy's stink eye did nothing to bring down Leo's chipper mood as he continued to bounce excitedly on Percy's doorstep.
"What do you want?"
"It's done!" Leo chirped. "The Argo II is done!"
Percy plastered on a pained smile. "That's great, Leo, but really– could this not have waited until the morning?"
Unfazed by Percy's admonishment, Leo shook his head wildly. "Nuh uh, I might forget by morning."
"How on Earth would you–" Percy paused. It was Leo, after all. "Fine, fair enough. Good job, by the way. We'll probably need it soon."
Leo grinned happily. "Thanks man, I'll let you get back to sleep."
"Bye Leo."
"Bye!"
/
Not even one week later, Percy was back on Olympus for an emergency War Council meeting.
"We have detected stirrings in Greece, at the base of the original Mount Olympus," Athena informed the gods. "It appears that Gaea is gathering there with the Gigantes to destroy the gods at our roots. Additionally, there is a large army of monsters marching on the Empire State Building, numbering at approximately 4,000."
Percy raised his hand. "If I may, the demigods have constructed a warship that can be used to take chosen demigods to Greece so that they may assist with the slaying of the giants. The rest of the demigods can assemble at the base of the Empire State Building to defend Olympus with a few of the gods while the rest of the gods deal with the giants and with Gaea."
Zeus nodded his head in assent. "That is acceptable. Perseus, is your device ready to be used?"
Percy gave him a firm nod. "It is, Lord Zeus."
"Very good. Now, each Olympian will choose one demigod to accompany us to Greece. Tell them to begin the journey as soon as they are able. Aphrodite and Demeter, join the minor gods to help the demigods defend Olympus."
With various words of affirmation, the gods flashed out of the Throne Room one by one, until there was only Hestia and Percy left.
"You won't fight, will you?" Percy asked. It wasn't really a question.
"I am a peaceful goddess, Percy." Hestia smiled warmly at him. "I tend to the hearth. Nothing more, nothing less. If the hearth is threatened, I will defend it."
"The last line of defense then." Percy chuckled.
"Aye." Hestia tilted her head. "Who will you take with you to Greece?"
Percy shrugged. "Maybe Leo, seeing as how he has to captain the ship anyway. That way Heph can take Charles Beckendorf."
Hestia nodded and walked up to Percy, wrapping him up in a hug and whispering in his ear. "Good luck, Percy."