Up to Mount Othrys we go. What will change? Who knows? I mean. I know. But who else knows? No one, as well as I'm aware. Ok I'll stop. Let's watch Thalia get struck by lightning. Ironic.

We were making steady pace up the mountain, when the hairs on my head stood up. Thalia had noticed as well. She slammed her foot on the brake, yelling,

"GET OUT!"

We didn't even question it. We leaped out of the car, as I smelt the familiar scent of electrified air, ozone. A giant lightning blast smashed into the car. The VW convertible exploded, shrapnel flying everywhere. I had covered Thalia, and I could feel a nasty burn on my arm. As I rolled off, she stood shaking.

"Curse you. Curse you," she as mumbling. I was confused. Curse me?

"One shall die at a commander's hand," she repeated. I understood. She thought Zeus, the King or 'Commander' of the gods had done that.

"Your own daughter." She was still in shock. Percy was struggling to his feet.

"Oh, woah woah woah. That wasn't Zeus."

She turned, glaring.

"Wasn't it!"

"No." My voice was steady. I was sure of it. When Thalia blasted lightning, it made my hair prickle. This lightning had almost given me an energy boost. I felt like I could've channelled it myself.

"It was Kronos. I felt it." She looked sceptical, but the surety of my voice went a long way to convince her. I glanced around. Phoebe was coughing smoke. Percy had gotten to his feet. Zoe…wasn't there. I whipped my head around. Thalia had also noticed, her eyes widening. The smoke had only just started clearing.

"Zo…ughm," a hand had clamped my mouth. I turned and saw the huntress.

"Shh. Do you want to wake Ladon?"

"We're there?"

She pointed. The smoke had cleared enough for me to see ahead. A beautiful glade of fresh green grass was standing there, serenely. A jaw-dropping perfect apple tree stood in the centre. Every branch, every bough, looked like a painting. And the apples. They were solid gold. And looked like the most delicious things in the world. I knew, I just knew, that if I tried one, Ambrosia would immediately change its taste. I needed one. I tried to fight the urge. But I needed one. As we all crept closer, I saw why I couldn't just take them. The giant mound of copper spaghetti at the foot of the tree was actually a huge, bronze-scaled dragon. It had so many heads, I lost count at twenty. As we sneaked round, four women materialised out of the grass. There were glaring at me, and I had a feeling they heard every thought I, well, thought.

"Sisters."

The Hesperides turned to Zoe, and if possible, their glares hardened even more.

"We do not see a sister. We see three demigods and two hunters. All of whom will die."

I don't know why I said it. But I stepped forward and replied, "Two Demigods."

They turned back to me, smirking.

"Indeed. Your uncle will not be pleased to see you."

Phoebe and Percy looked puzzled, but Thalia and Zoe were glaring back at the sisters of the garden.

"Well. I suppose I'll have to disappoint him."

They looked surprised at my indifference, but turned to Zoe.

"All we need to do is raise our voices, and Ladon will wake. Go back!"

Zoe smiled, and stepped forward, nose to nose with the tallest of her 'sisters'.

"You never had courage Erythea. Ladon. Wake!"

The sisters looked scared, and I realised what Zoe was doing. She had called their empty threat. Unfortunately, that meant waking the giant killer dragon. Its heads writhed as it stood, each one hissing. It sounded horrifying, and it filled the whole garden.

"Zoe?!" Thalia and Percy sounded shocked.

"He's trained to guard the tree. Skirt round the edges, and he should leave you alone."

Percy looked shocked. "Should?!"

"Go!"

I stepped forward with Zoe, edging towards the dragon. She looked like she wanted to complain, but I zipped my lips, with my fingers. The dragon reared, then came to a stop in front of Zoe. I stood deadly still. Zoe reached out a hand.

"You haven't forgotten me, have you little dragon?" she nuzzled the head, that seemed to be happy.

"Zoe!" I whisper-yelled.

"You're not a Hesperid anymore!"

Ladon, who either got bored, or noticed me, suddenly snapped. I was out of reach, and only thousands of years' worth of experience saved Zoe's head. She rolled to the side. The dragon slashed out. It claws missed her, but one talon scraped her side. She cried out, clutching the cut.

"Zoe!" I rushed forward. I completely forgot the dragon as I caught her. She shook her head slightly, leaning into me, before pushing off.

"Tis nothing. We need to go." Zoe ran round to the edge. But I stayed. Ladon noticed my gaze on the apples, and hissed angrily. My eyes glowed gold, and everything froze. Zoe, who had turned to scream was frozen, mouth half open. Ladon's claws were inches from my face. The only thing not frozen was the tree. The apples swayed in a non-existent wind. I walked around the dragon, and plucked the nearest one of the perfect branches. Pocketing it, I walked over to Zoe, standing on the side she wasn't facing. Time unfroze, and she screamed. Then stopped. I coughed, and she screamed again and spun around, swinging. I caught her arm, looking amused.

"We going?"

She spluttered something, but we both rushed to where Percy and Thalia were crouching. I stopped before reaching them, however. A loud cry could be heard from the garden. I turned, and saw a vibrant peacock standing there, gazing at me. It wasn't glaring or trying to kill me. It had a mixture of annoyance and impression in its eyes. Then I heard Zoe clapped her hands to her mouth.

Artemis stood under a mass of black force that funnelled up into the sky. I could feel the effort of its mere existence from here. Carrying it? Nope. In her usual twelve-year-old form, it looked incredibly sad. She had celestial bronze chains wrapped around her feet and arms, and her silver dress was now a rag. She saw us.

"Run! It's a trap!" her voice sounded weak.

A great booming laugh sounded across the clearing. "Too late I'm afraid!"

A massive being came into view, maybe seven and half feet tall. He wore a snappy black suit. His eyes matched Zoe's perfectly. Atlas.

"Thalia!"

She turned. There, stood a boy. Tall, blonde hair, a long scar etching down his face. Luke. I was about to curse at him, when I noticed who was by his feet. Percy let out a gasp. Annabeth, blonde hair dirty, tears dripping down her face, was tied to an altar next Luke. About a dozen Dracanae held up a solid golden sarcophagus.

I rushed forward.

"Let her go Luke."

He frowned at me. "I don't know you. But that is the general's decision."

Thalia spat, her face an image of fury. The titan boomed with laughter.

"So, even old friendships die."

Luke shook his head. "No." He looked back at Thalia. "You can do this. Call the Ophiotaurus. What have the gods done for us? How many times did we curse them? It could be the three of us again."

I stared at the spiky haired girl. She had frozen. I blew. Again, she was considering choosing Luke. I refused to admit, even to myself, who she was choosing between. A large rock, around the size of a fist was lying in front of me. Luke had started saying something again, but I punted the rock at him. It hit him smack in the face, and he stumbled back. Blood spattered his face, and one of his front teeth was cracked. He glared at me, "You insolent little…"

I picked up another rock. Luke shut up. Atlas was staring at me with grudging admiration. I had a feeling he'd been wanting to do that. I looked at Annabeth. I didn't notice before, but a streak of grey had appeared on her hair. The stress of holding the sky. Percy frowned.

"I don't get it. Why can't Artemis just let go?"

Atlas looked amused. "How little you know godling. This is where Gaia and Ouranos met, where the Earth and Sky still yearn for each other. Without someone separating them, the sky would crush the surface of the Earth. And besides. Artemis likes her job." He smiled at the goddess. She bared her teeth, snarling. Atlas turned, assessing us.

"So. These are the prophecy heroes. Not much." He said it with such carefree arrogance that I snapped at the Titan.

"If we're so worthless, why don't you fight us? Or are you such a coward, you'll hide behind another monster."

The Titan gnashed his teeth, turning to me. "Hmm. Nephew. Now you are a mystery. Neither Kronos nor any Titan know much about you. But your new. You joined this world mere months ago. Nothing."

"Why did he call you…" started Percy, but Artemis interrupted him.

"NO! Boy, you cannot win!" She had seen my face.

I charged. It was like a façade lifted. Everyone rushed at each other. Luke rushed Thalia and Percy, who fought back. Phoebe was firing arrows at the Dracanae, before they could react. Zoe was firing at the weak points at Atlas' armour. Mosquito bites. He grinned as he raised his massive spear. My armour flowed over me as I finally drew my sword. Later, when I admired it, I saw that Percy's sword looked closer to its pen form in my eyes compared to this weapon. I knew it could hurt monsters, but the metal was glowing silver instead of bronze. Black swirls of a second metal rushed up the blade, and they moved. They weaved in and out of each other, like the gold on my glistening black armour. The handle was pure gold, but had a Celestial Bronze centre. A golden Topaz was resting on the hilt. The quillon was a mix of bronze and silver, with golden patterns and swirls wrapping around the guard, completing the intricate look. The blade was a katana, curving towards the end. Atlas seemed to falter as he saw the blade, but pressed his attack. I barely saw his swipes, but as I raised my sword in a vain attempt to block, I saw more clearly. The sword had let my eyes see every move he was making, like it was normal human speed. I bet if I was fighting a demigod, I could see the moves the hero would be about to make. But Atlas was too fast for that to work. He rushed at me, with the swaggering confidence of someone expecting a quick fight. When I met his blows, strike by strike, he growled, and pressed the attack. Across the clearing, Three Dracanae, that Phoebe couldn't kill, and Luke were fighting Percy and Thalia. Percy was struggling against the triple threat, and Thalia was battling her old friend, sparks literally flying as their weapons collided. An arrow lodged itself in Atlas' arm, and he yelled in anger, spinning round and he zeroed in on Phoebe. He charged over. Zoe's arrows bounced harmlessly off his armour. I charged after him, but he was too fast. He'd reached Phoebe within seconds, and she was hopelessly outmatched. Her bow was snapped by the spear tip, twanging in her face and Atlas kicked her backwards. She slammed into a rock face. And stayed there. A black tip of rock was protruding through her chest. Zoe screamed in anger, rushing at her father. Artemis looked like she shed some tears, but with the sweat pouring down her face, it was impossible to tell. I ran to help Zoe, who had immediately backed off at her fathers renewed onslaught. I ran in, and knocked away a thrust that would've skewered her. Fighting side by side, for Zoe had run out of arrows, she drew her double hunter knives. We rushed Atlas, but everything was going wrong. He easily parried our strikes. Zoe, fuelled by anger and grief at Phoebe's death, swung blindly at the titan warrior. He sidestepped, disarmed both her weapons with one swipe, then threw Zoe into a pile of rubble. Her form smashed against them, and I heard her scream. But Atlas had smashed me towards Artemis. As I lay at her feet, she looked down. "You cannot defeat him boy!"

I glared at the goddess.

"Shut up! We're trying to save you! The least we could get is a confidence boost."

I didn't care if she got angry. What could she do right now? However, she seemed shocked, and impressed, that someone had the guts to snap at her. I was learning that not all gods hated my solitary point of view on respect. I struggled to my feet, as Percy charged Atlas, the Dracanae dead. He was immediately batted around like a ragdoll. He came flying past me, taking my place at Artemis' feet, while I ran back into the fray. Thalia was beating Luke back, Aegis out, spear crackling. Zoe still lay motionless at the foot of the pile of rocks. I ran back in, and turned to see Percy and Artemis sharing the weight of the sky. My eyes widened as Percy grunted, Artemis slipping out. A silver blur rushed at the titan, and now I was fighting side by side with the goddess of the moon. Atlas was on the backfoot. With two warriors who could match his speed, he had trouble fighting. Artemis was wielding knives like Zoe's only twice the length and glowing with power. We rushed together, all three weapons slashing at the titan. He stepped back suddenly, avoiding Artemis swipe. She stumbled forward of her own momentum, and the butt of Atlas' spear swiped her backwards. However, I grabbed her by the waist, and, using Atlas' momentum this time, spun her round. She was now flying towards the titan, having caught on to my move, both knives out. I sneaked a glance at Percy. He was trembling to the point of ridiculous. No part of him was still. He couldn't hold that forever. A grey streak raced up his hair, matching Annabeth's. Then a loud scream sounded out. I spun, and my blood run cold.

Luke's sword, Backbiter, was sticking through Thalia's chest.

The scream had been Annabeth's for the lighting powered demigod was coughing blood, gazing star-struck at the wound. Luke pulled his sword away.

And Thalia fell to the ground.

I saw everything in slow motion, but my powers hadn't activated. My movements were sluggish. I didn't notice Artemis cry out, Atlas' spear through her shoulder. Nor did I see Zoe raise her head weakly.

I stared at the broken, dead form of Thalia Grace.

An unearthly noise escaped me. But my vocal cords couldn't make that noise. A loud scream was echoing off my armour, resonating around the mountain. Even the Titan and Goddess had stopped to stare at me. I felt my eyes change, but instead of hot, they went cold. I knew, I felt, that instead of glowing, they had turned solid gold, like the metal. I watched as the hard colour creeped down my skin. In seconds, I was solid gold. My skin was impenetrable. Then cracks appeared in the new golden skin of mine, and the cracks were glowing. So bright even Atlas looked away. The gold peeled away, falling to the ground, and I returned to normal. Atlas was frowning. Such a big build up. For nothing.

Silence reigned for a few seconds.

Then everything exploded.

A golden fire erupted from my body so powerful, the tip of the mountain above us cleaved off, sliding down the side. Instead of being blown back, everyone had frozen. I had been blown off the mountain, far out into the sea, hovering in the air. Wait a minute. My eyesight enhanced and I could see my body, frozen like everything else. I looked down, and yelped. I was a ghost. A golden ethereal being, hovering in the air. As I turned back to the fight, I saw Thalia, lying dead and cold on the floor. Her spear was broken, and her shield lay a few metres away. Invisible tears poured down my face like a rainfall. I glared at the scene, and it started to change. The most painful feeling erupted in my body, as if ten thousand knives were sticking in me, and twisting. It took all my resolve and a little more than I had to hold on. The mountain reversed. Everything reversed. Usually, only the thing I focus on changed. But I watched as the sun started to rise back into the sky, from West to East. Atlas had his spear in Artemis' shoulder, and Thalia was being run threw with Luke's sword, but now she was standing! I watched in shock as time itself reversed. The sword exited Thalia's body. Atlas pulled his spear out of Artemis, who turned around, as if controlled, wielding both knives, now facing the Titan. Both the wounds closed up. Colour returned to Thalia's face, and it now resembled the fight twenty seconds before she had died. My frozen form was swinging the goddess around me. Atlas looked apprehensive; a look of fear frozen in his eyes. And Thalia. She was standing over Luke, as she had done before he had rolled out from under her pin. I surveyed the scene, but the pain was becoming too much. My glowing form sped towards my physical body, and as they merged, time restarted…

Twenty seconds into the past.

I released Artemis who flew at Atlas. Without even looking, I sprinted over to where Luke had escaped Thalia's grip. He knocked her spear away, and her shield fell limply at her arms. He thrust forward, but I tackled him to the floor, his sword spinning away. As we both landed, I repeatedly smashed his face with my gauntlet covered fists. After three blows, he was out cold, blood covering his face. Thalia was in a state of shellshock. I ran over, staring at her, before grabbing her in my arms. Her head was still frozen, but as it rested against my chest in the hug, I felt her almost restart. She let out a deep breath in my embrace. I looked over at Atlas, he was standing over Artemis, spear raised. I released myself from my grip with Thalia and picked up her spear, which lay there on the ground by my feet. I threw it and it sailed through the air, impaling itself on the Titans arm. The force knocked his arm off course, and instead of the spear going through Artemis' skull, it stabbed the ground next to her, sticking firmly. She blinked, then grabbed the giant spear, using it as a fulcrum to spin round, and, using both feet, kicked the Titan towards Percy. The Son of Poseidon saw this, and released his grip as Atlas crashed into him. The weight of the sky fell on the Generals shoulders, and for one scary moment I thought he would drop it, as he took a knee. But he stood, pushing the sky away from the earth, back under his eternal burden.

"NO! NOT AGAIN!" His voice shook the stones under us. I ignored him, finally remembering Zoe. I could here Artemis run up behind me. We were both panting, as was everyone else. Who could blame us? With Annabeth free, that's three people who held the weight of the sky, one who died, and another who actually reshaped the fabric of time, disrupting the natural order of the universe. I think we were allowed to be tired. I rolled Zoe over, watching as she trembled in my arms. Thalia, Annabeth and Percy were all shouting at each other while Luke slowly struggled to get up from underneath them. I watched Zoe's hand trace mine, almost as if to see if she could still feel. Her wounds were great, deep cuts riddling her chest. A massive gash was bleeding at her side, as I remembered her clash with Ladon. His claws were definitely poisoned. Zoe was gazing at the stars.

"I can't see them," she muttered. Artemis was openly sobbing. Zoe looked at me, and smiled. It was a deep felt, heart-warming smile, as if she considered herself lucky to know me.

"I like you Fay." I didn't even so much as think about being annoyed at her use of my shortened name.

"You have a good heart. Even if you tried to kiss me." I sensed Artemis' fury behind me, but I didn't look. I laughed sadly. A she lay there, shuddering, I felt a weight in my pocket. I reached in, and bit my tongue in surprise. I small round object was in there. The same one I had stolen from the garden of the Hesperides. I pulled out the golden apple and Artemis gasped.

"How do you…" she started, but stopped. I had broken off a piece placing it in Zoe's mouth. She was already half-immortal, so rather than make her fully immortal, I guessed all the apple would do was save a certain death. But she wouldn't swallow it. I gulped, now fully aware of the goddess's presence behind me as I realised what I had to do. I bit a piece off the apple, and chewed it, the juice squirting in my mouth. There weren't words to describe how amazing it tasted. It took all my willpower, and staring at Zoe's dying body to not swallow it myself. I leaned down, and pressed my lips against hers, force feeding her the apple. I thought a flash of silver light, maybe an arrow, and I would be dead. But Artemis said nothing, which fed the dire situation some evidence for its sadness. I repeated the motion three more times, stripping the apple to its core. It wasn't a kiss. I had to force her lips open so she couldn't spit the apple out. It was actually quite gross, but I forced myself to do it. When the apple was empty, the core faded away. Me and Artemis stared at Zoe, waiting.

Nothing happened.

For ten long seconds, there was silence. Then the huntress shot up, colour returning to her face. The goddess jumped back in shock, and I fell over, the effort of everything I had to do today, plus the stress of watching two of my friends die finally catching up. I saw Artemis tightly gripping Zoe's body in a hug. The wounds on her seemed to be fading, leaving the nearly dead woman the strongest and least tired among us. Ironic. I struggled up, and we made I contact, blushing hard. A loud cough sounded, and we looked at the goddess, who looked furious. We both shrunk away, then burst out laughing. The hysteria was too much. Nothing was funny, but we laughed and laughed and laughed. Artemis was staring, bemused. Three angry voices sounded out, all saying the same thing,

"You should not have done that."

We spun. The fates were glaring at me, and something tells me they didn't just mean saving Zoe, for the youngest was glaring at Thalia. "They were ordained to die."

Artemis frowned at their choice of words.

I balled my fists in anger. Fuck the fates. No one tells me, ' OH, btw, your friends will die now.'

"Piss off!" I yelled at them. They were shocked. Even Artemis looked worried for me. "You don't get to decide who dies!"

Zoe nudged me, whispering, "That's exactly what they do, moron." But I was too angry. I stood, pointing my sword at them.

"Get out of here now." They opened their mouths. "NOW!" I bellowed, before they dissolved into the air.

"LUKE!" A loud scream rang out. We all looked over. Percy was standing there, confusion etched across his face. Thalia had tears in her eyes. And Annabeth was leaning over the cliff face, openly crying. We limped over, Zoe the only one who could walk properly, and saw the broken body of a teenage boy laying on the cliffs. Artemis looked like she wanted to say 'Good Riddance' but stopped, looking at Annabeth's expression. I had no such boundaries. I grunted, and said,

"Good. Finally."

Annabeth spun at me, before running, fist raised. Her punches were weak, and she was still crying. It wasn't hard to block them, before she fell into my arms, sobbing, I gently rubbed her back. My shared look with the goddess of the hunt said 'What now?'. Before she could say anything, loud roars erupted below us. An army of monsters was marching up the hill. I stared at the sky. WHY CAN'T HEROES CATCH A BREAK. EVER! But before we could do anything, a large biplane swooped down on us, peppering the monster army with bronze looking bullets.

"Leave my daughter alone!" came the voice of a middle-aged man. Annabeth looked stunned. As the plane circled down again, she stuttered, "Tha…That's my dad." Professor Chase lay waist to another massive segment of the army. This time, Annabeth shouted it.

"That's my dad!"

The monsters seemed to recover from the surprise attack. Annabeth's dad would be in trouble. Just then, the moon grew brighter, and a silver chariot appeared, shimmering into existence. It was pulled by four gorgeous, silver deer. As we all stepped on, Percy murmured, still shocked from holding the sky. "Like…Santa's Sleigh."

I leaned in, "Where do you think the legend came from?" I caught eye contact with the goddess, and she nodded approvingly. The Sopwith Camel biplane was on our left, almost like a strange honour guard as we flew away from Mount Tamalpais.

Good god this was by the far the most fun chapter to write. Full credit to Dudududhehe for the turning back time because Thalia died bit. He pm'ed me and I loved it. Next up, The Winter Solstice Council. *Jumps through a window to leave. * *Calls back through, "Why? Cause doors are for people with no imagination!" *.