Hey lovelies, you're lucky I've managed to find the time to update now because otherwise it would have been a real late one- I'm getting my first dose of the Covid vaccine which kinda takes priority, anyways, I've found the time, I hope you all enjoy this chapter, and I am completely not sorry for being evil. Mwahaha.
It was strange. Accepting death was oddly peaceful.
Percy would have thought she'd be scared as she felt the air rushing past as she fell, but she wasn't.
It would be over soon, hopefully she'd be able to see Nico. Maybe if she went to the palace and asked Uncle Hades he'd let her see Nico again right away-
Those thoughts were brought to an incredibly abrupt halt when she hit something hard and she felt the fall slowing-and a familiar voice said "Jeeze Sephie, this isn't as easy as it used to be." and Percy's eyes flashed open, shock ripping through her.
"Luke?" and sure enough Luke was holding her, a slight grimace on his lips as he cradled her in his arms bridal style.
"Next time you throw yourself off a cliff could you give a guy a bit of warning?" and Percy was throwing her arms around Luke's neck-he was using the shoes Hermes had given him so many years ago and she was pressing her face into his shoulder, letting out a shaky sob as Luke held her close.
"How! How are you here?"
"Well that's kind of a long story, but you'll get a pretty good idea in a sec. You're safe now Sephie it's gonna be okay." as he spoke they were rising through the air, Luke tilting his body forward as they flew onto the safe ground, landing-and then Percy heard something that made her heart stop entirely.
"Seriously, what are skeleton warriors attack points? Because I want to know the numbers, y'know, just for the record because I would kill to figure out what my attack points are-"
And Percy was almost falling out of Luke's arms as her head snapped to the side and she pushed herself away from her big brother-and she let a cry rip past her lips at the sight that met her.
Artemis was on her knees, panting, Leo and Annabeth both crouched next to her, looking beyond exhausted.
Atlas was once more beneath the sky, holding it up letting out furious yells-and was Thalia on her knees surrounded by the skeleton warriors-except it wasn't so dire as it would have been because stood next to her was Nico.
He was grinning, Stygian Iron blade slashing through skeleton warrior after warrior as he spun and thrust, slashing through them, they were bursting into flames and crumbling to dust at his blows.
Percy wasn't sure where she managed to summon the strength but she was sprinting across the mountaintop even as Nico sliced the last warrior in half, tears of joy flooding down her cheeks-and Nico only just managed to drop his sword and open his arms in time as she collided with him, pressing her face into his hair-and his arms were wrapping around her too as she shattered, sobbing violently.
"Nico-oh gods Nico you're alive."
"I'm alive-I'm alive Percy I'm alive." Nico's voice was reassuring as Percy just sobbed.
"I thought you were dead I thought-"
"I know, I know." she was sure she was squeezing him too tight-but she just didn't care, and Nico wasn't complaining, he took her hug with no noise of protest as he hugged her.
"I'm sorry-"
"Don't be a dumbass." Nico whispered, "It wasn't your fault-"
"How-how-"
"I managed to shadow travel away." Nico said, "I was hurt but I managed to get away, I wound up in the Underworld, woke up in my father's palace-"
"Oh gods." Percy tucked his head under her chin, clinging to him tightly. "You're really alive-I thought-"
"Dad says it was a pretty close thing." Nico admitted looking rather sheepish, "Sorry for scaring you Percy."
"It's okay-it's okay it's okay now." Percy couldn't seem to stop her tears, "You're alive that's what matter you're alive-"
"As much as I hate to ruin the moment-" that was Sally's voice and Percy turned her head-Thalia had sliced the cuffs around the woman's wrists and Sally was holding the gag in one hand as she rushed towards them. "There's an army of monsters marching here kids-"
"We can't take them all." Annabeth's voice was weak and shaky, "There's too many."
"And what about Zoe and Bianca?"
"Bianca passed out." Thalia piped up, "Oh gods Zoe won't be able to defend her on her own-"
"Show me where, we'll get them," Luke ordered, and Thalia took off quickly with Luke as Artemis slowly staggered to her feet.
"I will be fine but I cannot fight that many monsters at once when I'm so injured-we must escape."
"How long do we have?"
"Not long!" Luke and Thalia reappeared, Thalia's arm hooked around Zoe helping the wounded girl walk, and Luke had Bianca in a firemans carry over his shoulders, "They're
coming-"
"Oh gods." Percy could hear them-hear the monsters closing the last of the distance-and even as Luke and Thalia sped towards the gathered group they were coming into view.
And that might have been the end of it if it wasn't for what happened next.
A Sopwith Camel swooped down out of the sky.
"Get away from my daughter!" Dr. Chase called down, and his machine guns burst to life, peppering the ground with bullet holes and startling the whole group of monsters into scattering.
"Dad?" Annabeth's voice was stunned as she tilted her head up, dragging herself to her feet-and Percy noticed, as Annabeth pulled Leo to his feet too, that she had a streak of gray in her hair-that was weird-but she didn't pay much attention to it because Annabeth's dad was calling back.
"Run!" as the biplane swooped by.
Artemis looked startled for a moment before she gave a small nod. "A brave man." and then she raised her hunting horn to her lips, and its clear sound echoed down the valleys of Marin.
The Sopwith Camel swooped down again. A few giants threw javelins, and one flew straight between the wings of the plane, but the machine guns blazed. Percy realized with amazement that somehow Dr. Chase must've gotten hold of celestial bronze to fashion his bullets. The first row of snake women wailed as the machine gun's volley blew them into sulfurous yellow powder.
"That's… my dad!" Annabeth said in amazement.
There was no time to admire his flying. The giants and snake women were already recovering from their surprise. Dr. Chase would be in trouble soon.
Just then, the moonlight brightened, and a silver chariot appeared from the sky, drawn by the most beautiful deer Percy had ever seen. It landed right next to them.
"Every body in."
And they were all moving quickly, Luke and Thalia getting Zoe and Bianca in first, Sally and Leo climbing in behind them, Annabeth following their lead.
Then Percy was being grabbed by both Luke and Nico and shoved inside, Nico following her quickly, as did Luke and Thalia.
Artemis was the last in, even as Sally shifted so that she could pull Percy into a tight hug and Percy let herself slump into her mothers side, letting the exhaustion take over for a moment as Artemis pulled the reins and the chariot sped away from the mountain, straight into the air.
She heard movement and then someone else was pressing into her side and she turned her head as she felt a hand grab hers.
"Annabeth."
"You scared us-what happened with Alabaster?"
"We saw him go over the edge but none of us were close enough to do anything." Thalia spoke up, "He was trying to pull you up right?"
"Yeah." Percy nodded, closing her eyes and turning her face to press it into her moms shoulder. "I guess he just couldn't cut it."
"I think that is enough." Artemis spoke up, "What's done is done-we can save the questions until we stop. Zoe, are you okay?"
"Yes Lady Artemis, I've had nectar and ambrosia-I should heal well."
"Good." there was relief in Artemis' voice. "And Bianca?"
"It's just exhaustion." Percy lifted her head to look at Nico and she gave a tight smile when she saw that he was sat with Bianca's head in his lap as he spoke. "It happened to me too-she'll be out for a while."
"Annabeth, Persephone? You both held the sky, are you well-"
"Exhausted and in pain but we're not about to die." Annabeth spoke up, "Right Seaweed brain."
"Yeah Wise girl." Percy squeezed Annabeth's hand, "We're gonna be okay."
With that they lapsed into a peaceful quiet as Dr. Chase turned his biplane and followed them like an honor guard. It must have been one of the strangest sights ever, even for the Bay Area: a silver flying chariot pulled by deer, escorted by a Sopwith Camel.
Behind them, the army of Kronos roared in anger as they gathered on the summit of Mount Tamalpais, but the loudest sound was the voice of Atlas, bellowing curses against the gods as he struggled under the weight of the sky.
Percy felt the tension drain out of her as they flew.
For the first time since they'd met the manticore Percy actually felt like everything was going to be okay- which was why, her head resting on her moms shoulder, Percy drifted off, her breath evening out as they flew.
She didn't get to sleep long-she woke up as she felt them touching ground again, blinking slowly to clear her vision as she looked around- she assumed it was Crissy Field they'd landed at-the moon was clear in the sky-it was past nightfall, that was a relief as they all climbed out of the chariot, Percy making a point of keeping an eye on Leo and Nico.
Nico was sticking close to Bianca, who Artemis had gently lifted out of the chariot to place on the ground carefully, and Leo- Percy frowned slightly, he looked awkward, shoving his hands into his pockets and shuffling nervously as he looked down.
She caught her mom's gaze and Sally frowned at the sight. "Honey-how would you feel about-"
"Do what you gotta do mom." Percy gave a soft smile, kissing her moms cheek, "Chiron can probably help arrange things." she let her mom move over to the boy, who jumped when Sally laid a gentle hand on his shoulder, before he leaned into the touch.
Then Percy's gaze swept over the group, Thalia was stood with Luke, both of them clearly doing the same as Percy, Zoe was fussing over Bianca at Artemis and Nico's side, and Annabeth- Percy grinned slightly, Annabeth was rushing towards her father, who had just landed his Sopwith Camel and was climbing out, and she threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly.
"Dad! You flew… you shot… oh my gods! That was the most amazing thing I've ever seen!"
Her father blushed. "Well, not bad for a middle-aged mortal, I suppose."
"But the celestial bronze bullets! How did you get those?"
"Ah, well. You did leave quite a few half-blood weapons in your room in Virginia, the last time you… left."
Annabeth looked down, embarrassed and Percy noticed Dr. Chase was very careful not to say ran away.
"I decided to try melting some down to make bullet casings," he continued. "Just a little experiment."
He said it like it was no big deal, but he had a gleam in his eye. Percy could understand all of a sudden why Athena, Goddess of Crafts and Wisdom, had taken a liking to him.
He was an excellent mad scientist at heart.
Percy moved towards them as Annabeth let out a choked little "Dad I-"
"I know."
"You saved us-"
"You're my daughter, of course I saved you." and gods but the look on Annabeth's face made Percy want to hug her tight and never let go ever again.
"I love you."
"I love you too-"
The moment was cut off by Artemis, who was standing, looking exhausted. "I must go to Olympus immediately." her gaze scanned over the group of heroes and the two mortals. "Persephone Jackson, Thalia Grace-I cannot take you with me, but you must both come too."
"We must?" Percy blinked, "But why-"
"The council will wish to see you."
"What about the others?"
"I want to come with them." Annabeth added, her voice defiant.
"So be it-the rest of you must return to the safety of camp-"
"I can shadow travel everyone, it might take a few trips and I'll need to sleep after but I can handle it." Nico spoke up quickly.
"I'll make sure everyone gets medical attention if they need it." Luke added, glancing at Zoe and Bianca.
"How are we going to get to Olympus though?"
"I will send help." Artemis promised, "I shall see you three soon-and Zoe, my brave hunter I will see you when the solstice is over."
"Of course Lady Artemis."
"You all did well." the goddess' gaze flicked over the three girls who would be following her to Olympus, "I thank you for saving me-your courage does you all great credit."
She mounted her chariot, which began to glow. They all averted their eyes. There was a flash of silver, and the goddess was gone.