AN: Hey guys, I hope you enjoyed the last chapter. Just adding on to Perseus' powers and abilities: as he is a son of Poseidon, he does have power over storms, and that can include lightning. So maybe he will direct some of Thalia's lightning away or to something? (I got that idea from the reviews, it wasn't my own, so I just want to thank the person who commented it) Also, sorry if this chapter sucks, I hope it doesn't. Anyways, please enjoy!
Recap:
When he reappeared outside the museum, he saw part of the cloak was missing. "Skatá," he swore. He would have them on his trail the rest of the quest. He ran into the museum and immediately saw a monster.
"Kitty!" A little kid shouted. Unfortunately, it wasn't a kitty. It was the Nemean Lion. The six questers were having trouble penetrating the lion's skin, and Perseus knew they were in trouble. He vapor travelled in front of the lion, his cloak still covering his face. The Nemean lion looked at him, and lunged, opening his maw to try and eat his head off. Perseus easily dodged, before vapor travelling a few feet away. He gave the lion a cheeky wave before the lion charged again. Instead of dodging, Perseus charged the lion, and cocked his wrists, unsheathing his hidden blades. When they met, Perseus dug his hands into the roof of the mouth of the lion, causing it to disintegrate, leaving a pelt in it's wake.
Five of the six questers were looking at the cloaked man in shock, while a certain son of Poseidon was smiling. The cloaked man took off his hood and revealed himself to be Perseus. "Hey guys, what did I miss?"
Present:
Zoë immediately ran up to him and launched a punch at his face. While Perseus knew Zoë would feel good punching him in the face, he didn't think she'd be happy with a broken wrist, so he dodged the punch and vapor travelled behind Maximus. "What's up guys?" he asked, sporting a cheeky smile.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Zoë asked.
"Saving you guys," Perseus said with a smirk. "Besides, I know where we have to go, so let's go," he said, turning around. Before he could leave, however, he turned around and looked right at Zoë. "We should go, unless you want the Spartoi to gain your scent along with mine," he said, causing Zoë's eyes to widen.
"Let's go, we are going right now," the huntress said with wide eyes, quickly following Perseus out of the museum.
Eventually, Perseus followed Zoë to the van, and Zoë began to drive west towards their location. Eventually, Perseus nodded off, but was awoken by gunfire.
"Stupid mortals," Perseus grumbled, looking up and seeing a helicopter flying above them with a mounted turret gun firing on them. Perseus sighed and reluctantly stood up cut a small square in the roof with his sword. "Zoë, keep zigzagging, it will be harder for them to hit us!" he shouted behind him.
"What you gonna do? Kill them with your sword?" Phoebe sneered.
In an instant, Perseus had a blade to Phoebe's throat. "That's strike two. I don't have time for your sexist shit. I have no idea how old you are, nor do I care. But what I do know is that I can defeat an Olympian in single combat. I know I won't have any trouble defeating someone like you," he sneered back. He took out two pistols, and retracted his hidden blade before pointing the muzzle at Phoebe. "Just so you know, the only thing that is keeping me from putting a bullet in you is Maximus. If he wasn't here, you'd be dead."
He turned around and punched through the roof, and peeked his head out of the car. He pulled out his pistols and opened fire on the helicopter while turret fire was being rained down from above.
After a few rounds, Perseus felt a sharp blow to his forehand. "Mother fucker," he swore, reloading his pistols and firing again, this time causing the helicopter to veer off.
When he sat down in the car, the questers saw him scrunching up his eyebrows. "Are you hit?" Thalia asked concerningly.
"Yeah, but I'm fine, it didn't break through my skin, obviously," he said, gesturing to his forehand. "Still hurts like a bitch though."
Perseus peeked his head out of the roof again, and saw the helicopter facing them. He quickly pulled out his pistols and opened fire on the windshield, causing the helicopter to veer off violently for the second time.
After a few tense minutes of driving, Zoë pulled the van into the underground parking section of a train station. "Are you alright?" Zoë asked, her eyes betraying her stoic face.
"Yeah, let's keep going," Perseus said, waving it off. Zoë frowned before walking away towards the questers.
Perseus was mulling over his thoughts, before Max broke him out of them. "Hey, Perseus? We are going to discuss where we need to go," Max said. Perseus nodded before walking over towards the rest of the group.
When they reached the rest of the group. "Firstly," he said turning to Phoebe. "I want to apologize for putting my blades at your throat. I just want to find Artemis as quickly as possible so no one dies."
Phoebe nodded in understanding. "Secondly," he said, looking at Zoë. "I know where Annabeth and Artemis are."
Zoë paled. "No," she whispered.
"Yes," Perseus confirmed. "We are going to Mount Orthys. Atlas has escaped his burden, and forced Artemis to take it." This statement caused Phoebe to pale as well, as they thought of the fate of their mistress.
"How exactly are we going to get there?" Thalia asked. "It's not like our van can take us cross country."
Perseus smirked. "I'm pretty old. I think I have enough money to get us across the country."
LINE BREAK
The closest train to their destination took them to New Mexico, so Perseus bought them 7 tickets, and after 15 minutes, they were on the train. Phoebe, Zoë, and Bianca took one compartment, and Thalia, Maximus, and Grover took the other compartment.
Perseus stayed awake, making sure the questers were safe, and they travelled peacefully for two days. There were a few mortals that came by, but there weren't any threats, so Perseus was able to take it easy and take a few short naps in between.
When they reached New Mexico, Perseus rattled on the compartments, and the campers tiredly came out of theirs while the Hunters were chatting to each other, not showing any sign of fatigue.
However, seeing Bianca caused Perseus to feel a pang of guilt in his chest. Bianca didn't know where she was really from, and Perseus knew he had to tell her eventually.
When they reached the town square in Cloudcroft, New Mexico, Thalia sighed. "Great. There's literally nothing here. How the heck are we going to get to Mount Orthys?"
"We could always ask my grandfather, he's in San Fran," Perseus suggested.
Max looked at him strangely. "Who?"
"Nereus," Perseus said happily. "I haven't seen him in a while, and he'll answer one question if you capture him, but since he's my grandfather, and he's the one who gave me my immortality, we'll be fine."
Thalia sighed. "Alright, fine, we'll do that. How about Max, Perseus, Bianca and I go to the grocery store and get some directions. You three can go get coffee and food from the coffee shop or whatever," she suggested.
"Yes! Let's go," Grover said excitedly, heading off towards the coffee shop, causing Phoebe and Zoë to groan and reluctantly follow them.
Thalia and Maximus heading towards the grocery store, but before Bianca could follow them, she heard a voice. "Hey Bianca, can I talk to you for a moment?" Perseus asked softly.
Bianca looked at him strangely. "Yeah, sure Perseus," she said, falling back to stand by him.
Perseus sighed. "Firstly, how is it being a Huntress?" he asked.
Bianca looked down. "I left Nico. I feel awful for it, but I feel calmer. I feel like the immortality changed me," she said. Perseus nodded. He could see the change in the young girl. She was more confident, and looked different too.
Perseus smiled. "Immortality changed me too. However, you have to learn to live with it, and just live the way you want to be. Also, leaving Nico, while he's your brother, he will get training as well at Camp Half-Blood. He is extremely powerful, and so are you," Perseus said.
Bianca looked up at him. "So you know who my father is?" she asked hopefully.
Perseus looked at the girl. "Yes, I do. However, there is something else I need to tell you," he said sadly.
Bianca nodded. "Who is the President of the United States, Bianca?" Perseus asked, with a sad expression on his face.
"Um, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, why?" Bianca asked. Perseus sighed.
"You were placed in the Lotus Hotel, and were in there for 70 years," Perseus said sadly.
Bianca's jaw dropped, tears started forming in her eyes. "Why?" she asked, her eyes watering.
"Your father asked a demigod to place his children in the Lotus Casino, as he believed Zeus would kill them," Perseus started.
"No," Bianca whispered.
"That demigod was me," Perseus said, guilt overflowing within him.
Bianca exploded. Tears running down her cheeks, she raised her arms, and suddenly, skeletons started to sprout from the ground and walking towards Perseus.
"Bianca, control your emotions," Perseus said. "Your father did it to protect you. When I dropped you off, all I felt was sadness. I was also chased by Zeus when I was a child. Your father did a better job of protecting you than mine," Perseus said, trying to calm Bianca down.
Perseus walked up to Bianca and wrapped his arms around her, causing the Huntress to drop her arms and melt into the hug, tears still flowing down her face. When she looked up, she was teary-eyed. "I'm sorry Perseus," she said.
Perseus smiled. "Don't be. I assume you now know your parentage," he said with a slight smile.
Bianca looked down at her feet. "I guess."
Perseus tilted Bianca's chin up. "Don't feel bad. Your parentage isn't a bad thing. Hades is a great man, and you will be very powerful once trained, so will your brother," he said.
Bianca smiled. Before they went back, Bianca looked at Perseus. "What did you mean that my father did a better job of protecting me than yours did?"
Perseus smirked. "You'll find out eventually, just not today," he quipped, walking away from the daughter of Hades and towards Max and Thalia.
LINE BREAK
Eventually, they returned to the town square where they met the two Huntresses and Grover.
Zoë looked at Grover. "We could do a tracking spell. Grover, do you have any more acorns?" she asked hopefully.
"Umm," Grover mumbled, looking everywhere but at his friends.
"Grover?" Max asked, seeing his friend act weirdly.
Suddenly, Grover dropped his coffee, and started groaning on the ground. "What's wrong with him?" Max asked.
"Who knows," Thalia said, brandishing her spear. "But we need to get him out of here."
Eventually, they made it to the outskirts of town, but two skeletons came out of nowhere.
"Shit," Perseus swore. "They'll be more coming," he said as the skeletons pulled out pistols.
They started to back up, but true to Perseus' words, two more skeletons appeared behind him.
"It's close," Grover moaned.
"Huh? They are already here," Max said with a confused expression.
"The gift of the wild," Grover moaned again.
Perseus looked at the questers. "I'll take one alone, so will Zoë. Phoebe and Bianca take one and Thalia and Max take the other. Ready?" he asked, drawing his sword.
The rest of the questers drew their weapons and made a protective circle around Grover, who was still moaning about a gift.
Perseus charged one of the Spartoi, who in turned fired a few rounds from its pistol, but Perseus was easily able to dodge them. Perseus quickly cut the forearms of the Spartoi and cut its head off. Unfortunately, it was regenerating quickly, so Perseus kept hacking at the Spartoi, trying to make sure it took a little bit longer to regenerate.
Eventually, the other questers were able to hold off the Spartoi without too many injuries, and Grover held up his hands towards the trees. Suddenly, there was a rumbling sound from the forest, and Perseus kept fighting the Spartoi.
One skeleton lunged at Bianca, who pulled out a hunting knife and stabbed it in the chest, causing it to burst into flames. "How did you do that?" Zoë asked.
Perseus looked at Bianca and put a finger over his lips. "Uhh, lucky stab I guess," Bianca replied nervously.
"Well do it again!" Zoë said, getting back to firing arrows at the Spartoi. Bianca lunged forward again, but the three remaining skeletons were wary of her, so they stood a little bit away from her.
"Anyone have a plan?" Thalia asked.
"A gift," Grover said, and suddenly, the biggest pig Perseus had ever seen came crashing into the road. It was at least thirty feet tall, and its tusks were as long as kayaks.
The pig ran over the skeletons, raking them aside and launching them across the town. Eventually, it turned to the questers.
Thalia raised her spear, ready to kill it. "No!" Grover shouted. "Don't kill it," he said calmly. "It's a gift from the wild."
"I don't think we can kill it," Zoë said. "This is the Erymanthian Boar."
The boar squealed and charged towards the questers, swinging its tusks. Zoë got Phoebe and Bianca out of the way, while Perseus herded Grover to the side so he wouldn't get thrown into the mountain.
"Scatter," Perseus said as the boar came in for another round. The seven questers all ran in different directions, causing the boar to become confused.
"How is this a gift?" Thalia asked. "It wants to kill us."
"Its wild, of course it wants to kill us," Grover said.
Eventually, Perseus and Maximus were able to guide the boar to the mountainside, and it fell through some snow and into a snowdrift.
Grover was able to make an apple stay in front of the boar, and Thalia and Grover got on, ready to take it west.
"Did you feel what I felt?" Zoë asked.
Perseus looked at her, confused. "Pan, the Lord of the Wild," she said as if it was obvious.
"Huh," Perseus said. "That makes sense, considering Grover's quest to find the Lord of the Wild. Anyways, let's go," he said, jumping on the back of the boar behind the questers.
LINE BREAK
They rode the boar for quite some time. It eventually stopped to get some food and water, but after getting some, it just sped back to the mountains.
Perseus looked ahead and saw a sign that said GILA CLAW, ARIZONA. Beyond the sign, he saw mounds of junk that seemed to go on forever and a closed taco place that looked like it hadn't been open since Bianca was born. They were in a ghost town.
Eventually, they decided to settle down and camp for the night. After a little while, Perseus saw a blazing light come down the road. Perseus gestured to the group, and they moved their sleeping bags out of the way as a pale white limo stopped in front of them.
Perseus pulled out his sword as the door opened, but he looked up to see the figure pointing a sword to Max's throat. The man was wearing a red muscle tee that showed his bulging muscles, and he wore sunglasses that covered his blood red eyes.
"Hello Ares," Perseus said with a smirk. "Ready to repeat what happened on the beach a few years ago?" he asked, twitching his sword.
Ares snarled. "At ease people," he said, causing all of their weapons to fall to the floor.
However, Perseus had backup weapons, and unsheathed his hidden blade and pointed it at Ares' throat. "What do you want?" Perseus snarled. "I remember the last time you asked my friends to do a favor. What do you want this time?"
"I would behead you," he said, causing Perseus to snort. "But I don't want to do it in front of the lady," he said gesturing to his car. "Besides, it's him she wants," he said, pointing at Max.
"No," Perseus said, putting himself between Ares and his brother. "He's not seeing her alone," he said, his blade still pointing at Ares.
"We aren't leaving him," Zoë said.
"Besides, the taco place is closed," Grover said.
Ares snapped his fingers, and the closed sign flipped to open, and the shops lights turned back on. "You were saying?"
"Go on," Maximus said. "I got this."
"You heard the boy," Ares smirked. "He's big and strong, run along." All the questers but Perseus left, and Max gave him a look.
Ares looked at Perseus. "Leave, before I make you."
Perseus smirked, his blade still at the war god's throat. "No, I think I'll stay. Besides, I don't want to leave him alone with her, so why don't you let us in and we'll see your lady," Perseus said with a false smile.
Ares scowled at Perseus before opening the door and looking at Maximus. "Mind your manners, punk. She isn't as forgiving as I am."
When Perseus and Max sat down, they had two very different reactions. Perseus looked the goddess in the eye, while Max's jaw dropped. Perseus saw one person, and one person only, while Max saw many different features.
"Hello, I am Aphrodite," the goddess said.
"Hello, my lady," Perseus said curtly, while Max said "Um, gah."
Aphrodite smiled. "You're so sweet, can you hold this?" she asked, sticking the mirror into Max's hands. Perseus smirked. This was perfect blackmail material.
"So, Lady Aphrodite, why are we here?" Perseus asked.
The goddess smiled. "I wanted to talk with you, but I knew Ares wouldn't allow me to talk to you alone, so I asked for the son of Poseidon, as I knew how close you are to him, and here you are."
Aphrodite sighed. "So, why did you come on this quest, Perseus?" she asked innocently.
"You know why," Perseus scowled. "You also know why Max came too. You are the goddess of love after all."
Aphrodite smiled. "You are smarter than you look, hero," she said, causing Perseus to scowl.
"I'm not a hero," he said quietly. "Not anymore."
"So, how are you going to get your long lost love back," Aphrodite asked, leaning forward. Max was still in a trance from the goddess, so he barely heard anything.
"I'm not," Perseus said simply.
"What?" Aphrodite asked. "But you are in love!"
Perseus sighed. "I can't take her from her home and her family. I made the choice to send her there, and I will not force her to leave, no matter how much I love her."
Aphrodite sighed. "Max, you can put the mirror down," she said, causing Max to put the mirror down slowly.
"So, Max, why are you on this quest?" she asked
"To save Artemis! She's trapped!" Max exclaimed, causing Aphrodite to frown.
"Artemis? Keep her trapped. Anything else?" Aphrodite asked.
"Annabeth! She was captured!" Max exclaimed again, causing Aphrodite to smile widely.
"Of course, she has. You must find her. Focus on finding her and that's it," Aphrodite said with a smile, causing Perseus to groan.
"Can't you tell me how to get there?" Max asked.
"No, no, you must find the details. It's been ages since I had a tragic love story," Aphrodite said wistfully.
"Wait, who said anything about love? Also, what's up with tragic?" Max asked.
"Love conquers all," Aphrodite said. "Just look at Helen and Paris."
Suddenly, Perseus' face steeled up. "We're done here. Thank you Lady Aphrodite, but we must be going now. I don't want to go into a history on the fucking retard and his whore who started the Trojan War, a conflict which I was a part of, if you remember correctly," he said, grabbing Max's arm and putting his hand on the door.
Aphrodite looked at Perseus. "I'm sorry. Not really, that was the greatest love story ever! Now, be careful of my husband's junkyard. Don't take anything," she said.
"You mean Hephaestus?" Max asked dumbly.
"Shit," Perseus swore, as they were thrown out of the car by Ares. "Looks like we are done with the goddess of love," he said under his breath.
AN: Hey guys. Sorry if this chapter kinda sucks, I needed to put one out soon, as I'm going away for a few days, and I'm not sure if I will be able to post at all, so yeah, again, sorry if it sucks. Also, sorry I didn't really go into detail about the boar, I didn't really want to, and it wasn't that important, besides the ending. Anyways, thanks so much, and please review!