Currently working on some plot details for the book I want to self-publish but goddamn am I lazy. I just can't start because it always sounds shit. And I have a new respect for authors with book-long plot twists: with hints as early as maybe Book 1 and the reveal in Book 3. How do you keep track? It's so hard to do. Anyway, Fayden, Thalia, Artemis and Aurelia are finishing the quest for Artemis' immortality in this chapter and then meeting up in Epirus with the Seven.

Fayden's POV

Statue of Lightning can answer the plead,

The fallen one and her master shall lead,

Before you can journey, the boundary god you must find,

Help will be received in kind,

And to return to power, one must lose,

But sacrifice is costly…choose!

Those words echoed around Fayden's head. Most of the prophecy had been worked out. It was fairly straightforward. The statue of lightning was the statue of Zeus at Olympia, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. How it could answer anything Fayden wasn't sure. The fallen one and her master was him and Artemis. The boundary god was Terminus, who told them to seek Olympia.

But the last two lines bothered him. Artemis must make a sacrifice to return to her previous immortal form. This made him think about the conversation he'd had with Thalia before the quest. If given the choice, would Artemis save them or become a goddess?

"Look," Aurelia pointed.

Fayden shook himself from his thoughts and gazed to where she was pointing. A giant temple sat in the distance, its great marble pillars a mismatch of height and ruined stone. Even from here, maybe over a mile away, Fayden could see the endless tourists streaming in and out of the building, most likely taking photos of the stone Zeus.

"That's big," Thalia muttered as they all continued walking.

"Yes. Father was always a drama-queen," Artemis spat.

She seemed to look upon the temple with disgust, as if the idea of seeing her father, even a solid, unalive version was unbearable. However, there was an odd spring in her step which betrayed her eagerness to see what this statue had to say.

They had barely gone another hundred metres when Fayden sniffed the air. How strange. In the middle of a city, he smelled flowers. He slowed down, looking around. There weren't any flower stalls around. In fact, he couldn't even see a patch of grass…no small park or decoration. Nothing.

They walked on for another minute. The tensions were high, and all four had their hands on a weapon. They were this close…something would attack them.

There it was again. Flowers. And this time, some sickly-sweet smell, like…honeysuckle? He stopped. The others turned, expectant.

"Do you guys smell flowers?"

They all breathed in shortly.

"Yeah, so?" said Aurelia.

Thalia and Artemis were looking around suspiciously, as if they had come to the same conclusion he did – what smelled so potently of nature?

"What?" Aurelia repeated, gazing at the three of them.

All Fayden did was blink. And the ground disappeared.

He stumbled, yelling. Then he realised he was still standing upright. Finally, his eyes caught up with his thoughts, and he gasped.

The four of them were in the middle of a field. He turned to look at everyone else. Thalia had pulled her mace canister from her pocket. Artemis' hands were held in a 'pre-snap' hold, which would've been funny, looking comically like a crab. Except if she snapped a violent burst of Greek fire could be summoned and thrown at anyone who called her a crab.

"What's happening?"

A worried tone entered Aurelia's voice.

"I don't know," Thalia edged closer, and her toe prodded a flower. She looked at us. "It's real. This isn't an illusion."

"It has to be," Artemis exclaimed. "Look!"

She gestured, and when Fayden looked, he frowned. They hadn't been teleported away. There, on the horizon, stood the faint outline of a Greek city.

"Are we outside the city?" he asked.

"No. Look."

Fayden turned and stared. Behind them, again, where the grassy landscape met the sky, a dock could be made out. A ferry was just leaving the harbour.

"You're telling me," Thalia grumbled, "that a field just appeared in the middle of a city and no one's noticed. The Mist is that strong?"

"The Mist?" Aurelia asked.

"Magical…thing," Fayden explained. "Stops mortals noticing crazy myth stuff."

Aurelia 'oh-ed' as if she finally found the answer to why she could stab a ghoul in the middle of the ferry and no one cared.

"But Thalia's right, this is strong, even for the Mist's standards."

"Or…" Artemis sounded annoyed. "It's an illusion."

Fayden threw a clod of dirt at her. It smacked her face, dropping without breaking about. A small smear of dirt was now smudged against Artemis' forehead as she glowered.

"Feel real enough?" Fayden questioned.

Artemis was about to retort, when Aurelia interrupted them.

"Guys. The trees are moving."

Trees? There weren't any…Fayden gazed across the field. Sure enough, where only grass lay, now three broad oaks stood, their leaves a brilliant, pure shade of green. Something was off, however. It reminded him of something. Why did Aeolus spring to mind?

"That's not a real tree."

He looked over at Artemis. He was tempted to go over there and hit her with a stick from the mentioned tree, but then he looked again. She was right. Something was off about…

"The colours are wrong," Thalia said.

Fayden looked, and sure enough, she was right. All the leaves were the same shade of green. There was no variation. It was as if a 4th grader had drawn the tree in. The trunks were entirely one colour of brown as well. The memory came back to him. An artificial nature. Artemis had used one to talk to him after he, Jason, Leo and Piper visited Aeolus' floating palace. It was there she told him…he looked over at her. She stared back. Judging from the glaring expression and slightly wet eyes, she also remembered the moment that cost her, her immortality.

Suddenly, a soft laugh filled his head. He started, his heels digging into the soil. The others seemed to have heard it as well. No one of them seemed to know what to do.

"Should we just…walk back to the city?" Thalia suggested.

Fayden gazed at the brick and clay buildings in the distance. It was obviously not going to be that easy, and something was going to stop them from making it. But in the effort to not jinx anything, he agreed, and so they all started walking.

Aurelia drew her dagger when the flowers shifted, but it was only the wind. After five minutes of walking, Fayden stopped. Then sighed.

"Guys, we aren't getting closer."

They all frowned and looked around. The horizon was exactly where it was five minutes, and so were they. Or, well, they had moved, but travelled no closer to their destination. It was as if the field grew a pace for every one step they took, but somehow encompassed no more city space while doing so. The idea of an illusion seemed more and more likely, but it was so real.

"Oh god."

Artemis was staring at something behind them. Fayden turned, and sure enough, something new had appeared. This time, it was a huge stone sculpture. Or…was it?

"Is that a waterfall?" Aurelia questioned. "In the middle of a field? Who designed this place?"

It seemed too imperfect to be a sculpture. There were too many imperfections. But a woman's face was clearly visible against the stone. As for it being a waterfall…twin streams of water fell from where the stone woman's eyes were positioned.

Artemis let out a small hiccupping cough. It wasn't quite a sob, but it was as if she had forced herself to not sob.

"Artemis, what is that?" Thalia asked worry etched across her face. The mace canister had extended into her full-length, bronze-tipped spear.

Artemis took a shuddering breath, and said, "That's Niobe."

"Who?"

Artemis shook her head slightly, not wanting to speak. She stared at the stone. Then a steely glare came into her eyes, and she said,

"Niobe. She was a wife to the King of Thebes at the time, Amphion."

Thalia gasped. "I remember this story! She bragged that because she had fourteen children, she was a greater mother than Leto. And because of that Apollo and…"

Thalia stopped talking. Fayden also remembered the tale. Aurelia, however, looked confused.

"What? Apollo and who did what?" she asked.

She clearly did not pick up on the atmosphere. Artemis stared deeply at her, and said, softly,

"Apollo and I slaughtered her children and killed her husband. She fled to her ancestral home, where she wept so hard, Zeus took pity on her and transfigured her to stone. She forever cries for her lost family."

She spoke as a storyteller would, but her voice was anything but. Aurelia's eyes had widened, then hardened.

"You did what?!" she cried. "Because some woman dissed your mamma?"

"Exactly."

A voice came from behind them. They all swivelled around, weapons ready. Nobody. The voice spoke again.

"What kind of god murders innocent children out of jealousy? What kind of hero does something like that?"

Leaves swirled around in a miniature windstorm, before settling in a cloak-like shape around the shoulders of a creature that almost faded into being out of the grass. Her skin was completely green, a light green, like the field around her. She wore a tight-fitting dress just below the knee made entirely of grass. Her face was pretty enough, but her pure emerald eyes were fixed on Artemis with such a look of hatred, Fayden took an involuntary step back.

The creature smiled.

"Hello. I'm Chloris. I'm going to kill you all."

Percy's POV

Percy felt homesick for the swamp.

He never thought he'd miss sleeping in a giant's leather bed in a drakon-bone hut in a festering cesspool, but right now that sounded like Elysium. He and Annabeth and Bob stumbled along in the darkness, the air thick and cold, the ground alternating patches of pointy rocks and pools of muck. The terrain seemed to be designed so that Percy could never let his guard down. Even walking ten feet was exhausting.

Percy had started out from the giant's hut feeling strong again, his head clear, his belly full of drakon jerky from their packs of provisions. Now his legs were sore. Every muscle ached. He pulled a makeshift tunic of drakon leather over his shredded T-shirt, but it did nothing to keep out the chill. His focus narrowed to the ground in front of him. Nothing existed except for that and Annabeth at his side.

Whenever he felt like giving up, plopping himself down, and dying (which was, like, every ten minutes), he reached over and took her hand, just to remember there was warmth in the world. After Annabeth's talk with Damasen, Percy was worried about her. Annabeth didn't give in to despair easily, but as they walked, she wiped tears from her eyes, trying not to let Percy see. He knew she hated it when her plans didn't work out. She was convinced they needed Damasen's help, but the giant had turned them down.

Part of Percy was relieved. He was concerned enough about Bob staying on their side once they reached the Doors of Death. He wasn't sure he wanted a giant as his wingman, even if that giant could cook a mean bowl of stew. He wondered what had happened after they left Damasen's hut. He hadn't heard their pursuers in hours, but he could sense their hatred ... especially Polybotes's. That giant was back there somewhere, following, pushing them deeper into Tartarus.

Percy tried to think of good things to keep his spirits up – the lake at Camp Half-Blood, the time he'd kissed Annabeth underwater. He tried to imagine the two of them at New Rome together, walking through the hills and holding hands. But Camp Jupiter and Camp Half-Blood both seemed like dreams. He felt as if only Tartarus existed. This was the real world – death, darkness, cold, pain. He'd been imagining all the rest.

He shivered. No. That was the pit speaking to him, sapping his resolve. He wondered how Nico had survived down here alone without going insane. That kid had more strength than Percy had given him credit for. The deeper they travelled, the harder it became to stay focused.

"This place is worse than the River Cocytus," he muttered.

"Yes," Bob called back happily. "Much worse! It means we are close."

Close to what? Percy wondered. But he didn't have the strength to ask. He noticed Small Bob the cat had hidden himself in Bob's coveralls again, which reinforced Percy's opinion that the kitten was the smartest one in their group. Annabeth laced her fingers through his. In the light of his bronze sword, her face was beautiful.

"We're together," she reminded him. "We'll get through this."

He'd been so worried about lifting her spirits, and here she was reassuring him.

"Yeah," he agreed. "Piece of cake."

"But next time," she said, "I want to go somewhere different on a date."

"Paris was nice," he recalled.

She managed a smile. Months ago, before Percy got amnesia, they'd had dinner in Paris one night, compliments of Hermes. That seemed like another lifetime.

"I'd settle for New Rome," she offered. "As long as you're there with me."

Man, Annabeth was awesome. For a moment, Percy actually remembered what it was like to feel happy. He had an amazing girlfriend. They could have a future together. Then the darkness dispersed with a massive sigh, like the last breath of a dying god. In front of them was a clearing – a barren field of dust and stones. In the centre, about twenty yards away, knelt the gruesome figure of a woman, her clothes tattered, her limbs emaciated, her skin leathery green. Her head was bent as she sobbed quietly, and the sound shattered all Percy's hopes. He realized that life was pointless. His struggles were for nothing. This woman cried as if mourning the death of the entire world.

"We're here," Bob announced. "Akhlys can help."

If the sobbing ghoul was Bob's idea of help, Percy was pretty sure he didn't want it. Nevertheless, Bob trudged forward. Percy felt obliged to follow. If nothing else, this area was less dark – not exactly light, but with more of a soupy white fog.

"Akhlys!" Bob called.

The creature raised her head, and Percy's stomach screamed, Help me! Her body was bad enough. She looked like the victim of a famine – limbs like sticks, swollen knees and knobby elbows, rags for clothes, broken fingernails and toenails. Dust was caked on her skin and piled on her shoulders as if she'd taken a shower at the bottom of an hourglass. Her face was utter desolation. Her eyes were sunken and rheumy, pouring out tears. Her nose dripped like a waterfall. Her stringy grey hair was matted to her skull in greasy tufts, and her cheeks were raked and bleeding as if she'd been clawing herself.

Percy couldn't stand to meet her eyes, so he lowered his gaze. Across her knees lay an ancient shield – a battered circle of wood and bronze, painted with the likeness of Akhlys herself holding a shield, so the image seemed to go on forever, smaller and smaller.

"That shield," Annabeth murmured. "That's his. I thought it was just a story."

"Oh, no," the old hag wailed. "The shield of Hercules. He painted me on its surface, so his enemies would see me in their final moments – the goddess of misery." She coughed so hard it made Percy's chest hurt. "As if Hercules knew true misery. It's not even a good likeness!"

Percy gulped. When he and his friends had encountered Hercules at the Straits of Gibraltar, it hadn't gone well. The exchange had involved a lot of yelling, death threats and high-velocity pineapples.

"What's his shield doing here?" Percy asked.

The goddess stared at him with her wet milky eyes. Her cheeks dripped blood, making red polka dots on her tattered dress. "He doesn't need it anymore, does he? It came here when his mortal body was burned. A reminder, I suppose, that no shield is sufficient. In the end, misery overtakes all of you. Even Hercules."

Percy inched closer to Annabeth. He tried to remember why they were here, but the sense of despair made it difficult to think. Hearing Akhlys speak, he no longer found it strange that she had clawed her own cheeks. The goddess radiated pure pain.

"Bob," Percy said, "We shouldn't have come here."

From somewhere inside Bob's uniform, the skeleton kitten mewled in agreement. The Titan shifted and winced as if Small Bob was clawing his armpit.

"Akhlys controls the Death Mist," he insisted. "She can hide you."

"Hide them?" Akhlys made a gurgling sound. She was either laughing or choking to death. "Why would I do that?"

"They must reach the Doors of Death," Bob said. "To return to the mortal world."

"Impossible!" Akhlys said. "The armies of Tartarus will find you. They will kill you."

Annabeth turned the blade of her drakon-bone sword, which Percy had to admit made her look pretty intimidating and hot in a 'Barbarian Princess' kind of way.

"So I guess your Death Mist is pretty useless, then," she said.

The goddess bared her broken yellow teeth. "Useless? Who are you?"

"A daughter of Athena." Annabeth's voice sounded brave – though how she did it, Percy didn't know. "I didn't walk halfway across Tartarus to be told what's impossible by some minor goddess."

The dust quivered at their feet. Fog swirled around them with a sound like agonized wailing.

"Minor goddess?" Akhlys's gnarled fingernails dug into Hercules's shield, gouging the metal. "I was old before the Titans were born, you ignorant girl. I was old when Gaia first woke. Misery is eternal. Existence is misery. I was born of the eldest ones – of Chaos and Night. I was…"

"Yes, yes," Annabeth said. "Sadness and misery, blah blah blah. But you still don't have enough power to hide two demigods with your Death Mist. Like I said: useless."

Percy cleared his throat. "Uh, Annabeth…"

She flashed him a warning look: Work with me. He realized how terrified she was, but she had no choice. This was their best shot at stirring the goddess into action.

"I mean… Annabeth is right!" Percy volunteered. "Bob brought us all this way because he thought you could help. But I guess you're too busy staring at that shield and crying. I can't blame you. It looks just like you."

Akhlys wailed and glared at the Titan. "Why did you inflict these annoying children on me?"

Bob made a sound somewhere between a rumble and a whimper. "I thought – I thought…"

"The Death Mist is not for helping!" Akhlys shrieked. "It shrouds mortals in misery as their souls pass into the Underworld. It is the very breath of Tartarus, of death, of despair!"

"Awesome," Percy said. "Could we get two orders of that to go?"

Akhlys hissed. "Ask me for a more sensible gift. I am also the goddess of poisons. I could give you death – thousands of ways to die less painful than the one you have chosen by marching into the heart of the pit."

Around the goddess, flowers bloomed in the dust – dark purple, orange and red blossoms that smelled sickly sweet. Percy's head swam.

"Nightshade," Akhlys offered. "Hemlock. Belladonna, henbane or strychnine. I can dissolve your innards, boil your blood."

"That's very nice of you," Percy said. "But I've had enough poison for one trip. Now, can you hide us in your Death Mist, or not?"

"Yeah, it'll be fun," Annabeth said.

The goddess's eyes narrowed. "Fun?"

"Sure," Annabeth promised. "If we fail, think how great it will be for you, gloating over our spirits when we die in agony. You'll get to say I told you so for eternity."

"Or, if we succeed," Percy added, "think of all the suffering you'll bring to the monsters down here. We intend to seal the Doors of Death. That's going to cause a lot of wailing and moaning."

Akhlys considered. "I enjoy suffering. Wailing is also good."

"Then it's settled," Percy said. "Make us invisible."

Akhlys struggled to her feet. The shield of Hercules rolled away and wobbled to a stop in a patch of poison flowers.

"It is not so simple," the goddess said. "The Death Mist comes at the moment you are closest to your end. Your eyes will be clouded only then. The world will fade."

Percy's mouth felt dry. "Okay. But… we'll be shrouded from the monsters?"

"Oh, yes," Akhlys said. "If you survive the process, you will be able to pass unnoticed among the armies of Tartarus. It is hopeless, of course, but if you are determined, then come. I will show you the way."

"The way to where, exactly?" Annabeth asked.

The goddess was already shuffling into the gloom. Percy turned to look at Bob, but the Titan was gone. How does a ten-foot-tall silver dude with a very loud kitten disappear?

"Hey!" Percy yelled to Akhlys. "Where's our friend?"

"He cannot take this path," the goddess called back. "He is not mortal. Come, little fools. Come, experience the Death Mist."

Annabeth exhaled and grabbed his hand. "Well… how bad can it be?"

The question was so ridiculous Percy laughed, even though it hurt his lungs.

"Yeah. Next date, though – dinner in New Rome."

They followed the goddess's dusty footprints through the poison flowers, deeper into the fog.

Percy missed Bob.

He'd got used to having the Titan on his side, lighting their way with his silver hair and his fearsome war broom. Now their only guide was an emaciated corpse lady with serious self-esteem issues. As they struggled across the dusty plain, the fog became so thick that Percy had to resist the urge to swat it away with his hands. The only reason he was able to follow Akhlys's path was because poisonous plants sprang up wherever she walked. If they were still on the body of Tartarus, Percy figured they must be on the bottom of his foot – a rough, calloused expanse where only the most disgusting plant life grew.

Finally they arrived at the end of the big toe. At least that's what it looked like to Percy. The fog dissipated, and they found themselves on a peninsula that jutted out over a pitch-black void.

"Here we are." Akhlys turned and leered at them. Blood from her cheeks dripped on her dress. Her sickly eyes looked moist and swollen but somehow excited. Can Misery look excited?

"Uh… great," Percy asked. "Where is here?"

"The verge of final death," Akhlys said. "Where Night meets the void below Tartarus."

Annabeth inched forward and peered over the cliff. "I thought there was nothing below Tartarus."

"Oh, certainly there is…" Akhlys coughed. "Even Tartarus had to rise from somewhere. This is the edge of the earliest darkness, which was my mother. Below lies the realm of Chaos, my father. Here, you are closer to nothingness than any mortal has ever been. Can you not feel it?"

Percy knew what she meant. The void seemed to be pulling at him, leaching the breath from his lungs and the oxygen from his blood. He looked at Annabeth and saw that her lips were tinged blue.

"We can't stay here," he said.

"No, indeed!" Akhlys said. "Don't you feel the Death Mist? Even now, you pass between. Look!"

White smoke gathered around Percy's feet. As it coiled up his legs, he realized the smoke wasn't surrounding him. It was coming from him. His whole body was dissolving. He held up his hands and found they were fuzzy and indistinct. He couldn't even tell how many fingers he had. Hopefully still ten.

He turned to Annabeth and stifled a yelp. "You're – uh…"

He couldn't say it. She looked dead. Her skin was sallow, her eye sockets dark and sunken. Her beautiful hair had dried into a skein of cobwebs. She looked like she'd been stuck in a cool, dark mausoleum for decades, slowly withering into a desiccated husk. When she turned to look at him, her features momentarily blurred into mist.

Percy's blood moved like sap in his veins. For years, he had worried about Annabeth dying. When you're a demigod, that goes with the territory. Most half-bloods don't live long. You always knew that the next monster you fought could be your last. But seeing Annabeth like this was too painful. He'd rather stand in the River Phlegethon, or get attacked by Arai, or be trampled by giants.

"Oh, gods," Annabeth sobbed. "Percy, the way you look…"

Percy studied his arms. All he saw were blobs of white mist, but he guessed that to Annabeth he looked like a corpse. He took a few steps, though it was difficult. His body felt insubstantial, like he was made of helium and cotton candy.

"I've looked better," he decided. "I can't move very well. But I'm all right."

Akhlys clucked. "Oh, you're definitely not all right."

Percy frowned. "But we'll pass unseen now? We can get to the Doors of Death?"

"Well, perhaps you could," the goddess said, "if you lived that long, which you won't."

Akhlys spread her gnarled fingers. More plants bloomed along the edge of the pit – hemlock, nightshade and oleander spreading towards Percy's feet like a deadly carpet.

"The Death Mist is not simply a disguise, you see. It is a state of being. I could not bring you this gift unless death followed – true death."

"It's a trap," Annabeth said.

The goddess cackled. "Didn't you expect me to betray you?"

"Yes," Annabeth and Percy said together.

"Well, then, it was hardly a trap! More of an inevitability. Misery is inevitable. Pain is…"

"Yeah, yeah," Percy growled. "Let's get to the fighting."

He drew Riptide, but the blade was made of smoke. When he slashed at Akhlys, the sword just floated across her like a gentle breeze.

The goddess's ruined mouth split into a grin. "Did I forget to mention? You are only mist now – a shadow before death. Perhaps if you had time, you could learn to control your new form. But you do not have time. Since you cannot touch me, I fear any fight with Misery will be quite one-sided."

Her fingernails grew into talons. Her jaw unhinged, and her yellow teeth elongated into fangs.

Akhyls lunged at Percy, and for a split second, he thought: Well, hey, I'm just smoke. She can't touch me, right? He imagined the Fates up in Olympus, laughing at his wishful thinking: LOL, NOOB!

The goddess's claws raked across his chest and stung like boiling water. Percy stumbled backwards, but he wasn't used to being smoky. His legs moved too slowly. His arms felt like tissue paper. In desperation, he threw his backpack at her, thinking maybe it would turn solid when it left his hand, but no such luck. It fell with a soft thud. Akhlys snarled, crouching to spring. She would have bitten Percy's face off if Annabeth hadn't charged and screamed HEY! right in the goddess's ear.

Akhlys flinched, turning towards the sound. She lashed out at Annabeth, but Annabeth was better at moving than Percy. Maybe she wasn't feeling as smoky, or maybe she'd just had more combat training. She'd been at Camp Half-Blood since she was seven. Probably she'd had classes Percy never got, like How to Fight While Partially Made of Smoke.

Annabeth dived straight between the goddess's legs and somersaulted to her feet. Akhlys turned and attacked, but Annabeth dodged again, like a matador. Percy was so stunned he lost a few precious seconds. He stared at corpse Annabeth, shrouded in mist but moving as fast and confidently as ever. Then it occurred to him why she was doing this: to buy them time. Which meant Percy needed to help.

He thought furiously, trying to come up with a way to defeat Misery. How could he fight when he couldn't touch anything? On Akhlys' third attack, Annabeth wasn't so lucky. She tried to veer aside, but the goddess grabbed Annabeth's wrist and pulled her hard, sending her sprawling. Before the goddess could pounce, Percy advanced, yelling and waving his sword. He still felt about as solid as a Kleenex, but his anger seemed to help him move faster.

"Hey, Happy!" he yelled. Akhlys spun, dropping Annabeth's arm.

"Happy?" she demanded.

"Yeah!" He ducked as she swiped at his head. "You're downright cheerful!"

"Arggh!" She lunged again, but she was off-balance. Percy sidestepped and backed away, leading the goddess further from Annabeth.

"Pleasant!" he called. "Delightful!"

The goddess snarled and winced. She stumbled after Percy. Each compliment seemed to hit her like sand in the face.

"I will kill you slowly!" she growled, her eyes and nose watering, blood dripping from her cheeks. "I will cut you into pieces as a sacrifice to Night!"

Annabeth struggled to her feet. She started rifling through her pack, no doubt looking for something that might help. Percy wanted to give her more time. She was the brains. Better for him to get attacked while she came up with a brilliant plan.

"Cuddly!" Percy yelled. "Fuzzy, warm and huggable!"

Akhlys made a growling, choking noise, like a cat having a seizure.

"A slow death!" she screamed. "A death from a thousand poisons!"

All around her, poisonous plants grew and burst like overfilled balloons. Green-and-white sap trickled out, collecting into pools, and began flowing across the ground towards Percy. The sweet-smelling fumes made his head feel wobbly.

"Percy!" Annabeth's voice sounded far away. "Uh, hey, Miss Wonderful! Cheerful! Grins! Over here!"

But the goddess of misery was now fixated on Percy. He tried to retreat again. Unfortunately, the poison ichor was flowing all around him now, making the ground steam and the air burn. Percy found himself stuck on an island of dust not much bigger than a shield. A few yards away, his backpack smoked and dissolved into a puddle of goo. Percy had nowhere to go He fell to one knee. He wanted to tell Annabeth to run, but he couldn't speak. His throat was as dry as dead leaves.

He wished there was water in Tartarus – some nice pool he could jump into to heal himself, or maybe a river he could control. He'd settle for a bottle of Evian.

"You will feed the eternal darkness," Akhlys said. "You will die in the arms of Night!"

He was dimly aware of Annabeth shouting, throwing random pieces of drakon jerky at the goddess. The white-green poison kept pooling, little streams trickling from the plants as the venomous lake around him got wider and wider. Lake, he thought. Streams. Water.

Probably it was just his brain getting fried from poison fumes, but he croaked out a laugh. Poison was liquid. If it moved like water, it must be partially water. He remembered some science lecture about the human body being mostly water. He remembered extracting water from Jason's lungs back in Rome ... If he could control that, then why not other liquids?

It was a crazy idea. Poseidon was the god of the sea, not of every liquid everywhere. Then again, Tartarus had its own rules. Fire was drinkable. The ground was the body of a dark god. The air was acid, and demigods could be turned into smoky corpses.

So why not try? He had nothing left to lose.

He glared at the poison flood encroaching from all sides. He concentrated so hard that something inside him cracked – as if a crystal ball had shattered in his stomach. Warmth flowed through him. The poison tide stopped.

The fumes blew away from him – back towards the goddess. The lake of poison rolled towards her in tiny waves and rivulets.

Akhlys shrieked. "What is this?"

"Poison," Percy said. "That's your speciality, right?"

He stood, his anger growing hotter in his gut. As the flood of venom rolled towards the goddess, the fumes began to make her cough. Her eyes watered even more. Oh, good, Percy thought. More water. Percy imagined her nose and throat filling with her own tears.

Akhlys gagged. "I…" The tide of venom reached her feet, sizzling like droplets on a hot iron. She wailed and stumbled back.

"Percy!" Annabeth called.

She'd retreated to the edge of the cliff, even though the poison wasn't after her. She sounded terrified. It took Percy a moment to realize she was terrified of him.

"Stop…" she pleaded; her voice hoarse.

He didn't want to stop. He wanted to choke this goddess. He wanted to watch her drown in her own poison. He wanted to see just how much misery Misery could take.

"Percy, please…" Annabeth's face was still pale and corpse-like, but her eyes were the same as always. The anguish in them made Percy's anger fade.

He turned to the goddess. He willed the poison to recede, creating a small path of retreat along the edge of the cliff.

"Leave!" he bellowed.

For an emaciated ghoul, Akhlys could run pretty fast when she wanted to. She scrambled along the path, fell on her face and got up again, wailing as she sped into the dark. As soon as she was gone, the pools of poison evaporated. The plants withered to dust and blew away.

Annabeth stumbled towards him. She looked like a corpse wreathed in smoke, but she felt solid enough when she gripped his arms.

"Percy, please don't ever…" Her voice broke in a sob. "Some things aren't meant to be controlled. Please."

His whole body tingled with power, but the anger was subsiding. The broken glass inside him was beginning to smooth at the edges.

"Yeah," he said. "Yeah, okay."

"We have to get away from this cliff," Annabeth said. "If Akhlys brought us here as some kind of sacrifice…"

Percy tried to think. He was getting used to moving with the Death Mist around him. He felt more solid, more like himself. But his mind still felt stuffed with cotton wool.

"She said something about feeding us to the night," he remembered. "What was that about?"

The temperature dropped. The abyss before them seemed to exhale. Percy grabbed Annabeth and backed away from the edge as a presence emerged from the void – a form so vast and shadowy he felt like he understood the concept of dark for the first time.

"I imagine," said the darkness, in a feminine voice as soft as coffin lining, "that she meant Night, with a capital N. After all, I am the only one."

Artemis' POV

How? How was she here? She was merely a mortal, who should've died millennia ago, in Ancient Greece. How was she here?

"You look shocked Artemis," Chloris' smile didn't reach her glare. "Didn't expect to see me?"

"How are you alive?" Artemis demanded. "You should've died ages ago!"

But even as she spoke, she knew the answer.

"My patron took pity on me," Chloris explained. "Transfigured me from mortal to…well…immortal."

Everyone stared at her. Artemis didn't believe it. Gaia couldn't just make someone a god. That was impossible. But was it? Her father had that ability. And Gaia was a primordial, a protogenos. It would've required some kind of ritual, but it was possible.

"Immortal?" Fayden questioned. "You're a goddess?"

Chloris laughed. It was a soft laugh, that reminded Artemis of a soft breeze. "Minor goddess of flowers and plants. I might not be the strongest, but with my patron's help, I'm definitely strong enough to kill you."

Artemis watched as Fayden bit back what was clearly a sarcastic retort. He gazed over at her, as if saying, 'you killed her family; you make the plan'. Artemis, however, had no such plan. She was still in shock. Gaia had resurrected Chloris just to attack her? That meant she was on Gaia's radar.

On a powerful Primordials radar is not somewhere Artemis appreciated being. In a cold flash, instinct took over. A rush of confidence took over, and she stepped forward.

"Back off, Chloris," she snarled. "I may be mortal now, but you're a minor goddess. I don't need ichor to defeat you."

Chloris snarled, the smile vanishing in a millisecond. Her autumn leaf cloak swirled around her, solidifying into a bronze sword and shield, with leaf and nature designs along the metal of both.

"Your arrogance is misplaced, ex-goddess. It will be your doom."

She leapt, just as Thalia and Fayden did the same, meeting her head-on in a clash of bronze.

Artemis stumbled as Fayden's katana whisked past her face. Her brief confidence boost had vanished, and she suddenly remembered that she didn't carry a weapon. Relying on magic against the strength of a goddess isn't the smartest plan, but she tried. Except it didn't work. Artemis noticed this too late. Her completely normal hand had already swung. Fortunately, Chloris easily ducked while deflecting Fayden's slash, before flipping over a thrust from Thalia's spear. Then she laughed.

"Poor Artemis. Is that the best you could do?"

Artemis turned, growling. Surely, she could find some form of weapon? She saw Aurelia standing back from the fight, dagger raised, but her face was pale. The dagger shook in her hand, and her whole arm flickered in and out of visibility. Artemis rushed over.

"Hey," she clasped Aurelia's arm. "Not a good time, okay? They… we need you."

Aurelia met Artemis' eyes and saw the determination. She took deep breaths, before nodding. Steeling her grip on the dagger, Aurelia concentrated. Then she frowned.

"I can't…"

Her eyes widened and she ducked. Artemis whirled, just as Thalia crashed into her. A loud OOF noise escaped her mouth as they collapsed to the floor. Thalia struggled to her feet, grasping at her shield straps.

"She is powerful," Thalia told her. "And fast. Wicked fast."

"We're in her domain," Artemis explained. "It's why I couldn't use my powers.

She wasn't particularly pleased by this observation, but it made sense. This field had been created by Chloris, so she was much stronger here. They needed to get her out of this field. But how? Every time they walked towards an edge, it got further away.

Turning her attention back to the fight, Fayden was struggling to keep hand in hand with the goddess. He rarely wore armour, but he had leather bracers under his hoodie and unless his chest was that big, some form of protection there as well. His breathing was heavy, and he kept making mistakes. Finally, he took a step that crossed his legs. Artemis winced as Chloris slammed him with her shield.

Fayden went flying and hit the ground, rolling over his back before lying sprawled against the grass. Artemis looked around. Aurelia still stood, her dagger trembling. Thalia was crouching, her shield propped up in front of her. Artemis herself lay behind Thalia, clutching an injured hand. And Fayden was way behind her, his chest rising up and down giving them the only clue that he was still breathing.

Chloris laughed. "This is it?" It was that easy? I'm disappointed."

Something about the idea of being beaten by a minor goddess spurred Artemis into standing. Chloris eyed her for a second before mirth sprang into her eyes as Artemis raised her fists.

"Hand-to-hand? Really? You don't have your powers here, Artemis."

Artemis advanced, and Chloris rolled her eyes. "Very well. If you wish your death."

Artemis ducked under the sword blow and put on a burst of speed. Her fist sank into the leafy dress, and Chloris grunted, stumbling backwards. Straightening, the goddess glared.

"You dare?"

Artemis advanced again. The sword swung vertically, and Artemis sidestepped. Chloris committed to a mad swing with her shield. Artemis rolled, coming up and again, her fist slammed against Chloris, this time to the kidney.

Chloris cried out, whirling. Her eyes glowed a liquid green, as if she might start crying. However, Artemis wasn't that lucky. The grass at her feet grew rapidly, and before she could jump or run, she was stuck fast. Chloris held out her arms, and to Artemis' shock, they were now in a forest. It was that fast. In a mere second, saplings had sprouted from the ground, growing wide and tall, creating an almost black canopy of leaves above them. The branches whirled to life, and a branch smacked Aurelia.

The girl went flying into Thalia, who both fell to the floor. Chloris wanted this fight to be between the two of them. But Artemis noticed that one person was no longer where he lay. A flicker of movement darted up a tree at the edge of Artemis' vision.

"How do you want to die, Artemis?" Chloris spread her arms around her. "I could encase you inside a tree, bury you alive, fill your lungs with sap, turn your blood to sap, drown you in…"

"Sap?" Artemis said. "You want me to leave you and sap alone?"

Chloris snarled. "Joke all you want, little mortal. You're mine."

A green tendril of light shot towards Artemis faster than she could comprehend. She was hurled to the side, landing safely on the grass to the left. Wait, what? Rolling onto her back, she watched as Fayden drew his katana, facing Chloris.

"You're not having her, you D-list minor goddess," Fayden growled. "She's our waste of space."

Now, she would've slapped him, but he said it with such conviction, that it was almost as if he cared whether or not she died. After everything she'd done to him, she doubted it. Still, a small tear appeared in her left eye. She fiercely rubbed it away. Stupid human emotions.

Chloris smiled at Fayden. She twirled her hand and her bronze sword appeared in her hand.

"You're brave, young Demi-Titan, I'll give you that."

She started circling. Fayden matched her footsteps, never taking her eyes off her. The woodland around them made for a tight area to fight, but Artemis knew both fighters were skilled enough at this close quarters.

"You think you scare me?" Fayden mocked. "You… the almighty deity of grass. I've beaten and destroyed immortals who wouldn't even consider you worthy of a fight."

Choris' face remained passive, but Artemis saw her eyes flash. She tested Fayden, coming in to swing at his head. Fayden easily blocked it. Chloris quickly jumped away from his counterstrike and they continued circling.

"You have never faced someone backed by a primordial foolish boy," Chloris spat. "When I am injured, the earth heals me. Nature heals me. And I am a goddess of nature. I am never away from it."

Fayden was the one who attacked this time, spinning in with three quick strikes: a feint to the head that Chloris fell for, but with lightning-fast reactions, she dropped her sword to block Fayden's second strike to her waist. Pushing him away, she raised her sword just in time to block a two-handed downward strike that rang in Artemis' ears.

Fayden wasn't talking. The lack of retorts was enough to worry Artemis that Fayden was too tired to carry on for long. She struggled to her feet, looking around. Thalia watched the duel nervously, unsure of whether to jump in and help, leaving Aurelia and though she loathed to admit it, leaving Artemis herself vulnerable. Aurelia seemed happy to not have to fight. She still clutched her dagger, but it was no longer shaking. She watched the fight in awe and fear.

Artemis knew she should've helped sooner. She could sense something was going to go wrong.

Fayden swung his sword and Chloris disappeared in a cloud of leaves. The leaves immediately wrapped around Fayden's arms and legs, pinning him in place. As Fayden pulled against the leaves, Artemis struggled to her feet. Chloris reappeared in front of Fayden, sword drawn, an evil smile painting her face. She swung down towards Fayden's head. Before the blade made contact, Chloris was knocked backwards by Aegis. Her sword twisted, missing Fayden by millimetres. Or so Artemis thought. As a spear came crashing down onto the goddess, Fayden gave a cry. Artemis couldn't see his face but saw a brief trickle of blood drip onto the floor.

Thalis yelled in defiance as she stabbed, again and again, spinning her spear like a staff to force the goddess away from Fayden. Chloris again tried to vanish into leaves, but Thalia swept her legs out from under her, and she came crashing to the floor.

Artemis ran over as Thalia levelled the spear at the goddess' throat.

"How dare you," Thalia breathed heavily, "hurt Fay! That's my job."

Artemis heard Fayden laugh softly behind them, before groaning painfully. It was drowned out, however, by Chloris' laughter. This wasn't a soft giggle anymore. It was a powerful, raw laugh, which expressed how much this evil woman was enjoying all this pain.

"Oh, you poor things." She didn't even glance at the spear tip resting on her throat. "You still haven't learned."

This wasn't said like a jest, almost with disappointment. Chloris leaned up into the spear, the tip breaking skin. Ichor trickled out onto the grassy floor, soaking into the ground.

"I'm a goddess you stupid girl."

Chloris disappeared in a shower of leaves, and Thalia was thrown against a tree, pinned by the lowest hanging branches. Fayden cried out, lashing against his leafy bonds. As Artemis turned, he saw Aurelia pinned to the floor, grass growing over her in a tight cocoon.

Chloris reappeared directly in front of Artemis, causing her to step back. Chloris slapped her. The motion shocked her. There was something so disrespectful about a slap. That, and it had sent her flying into a tree, crashing against the ground. She could taste the blood on her lip.

With barely the energy to look back up at their enemy, Artemis felt a hot, bubbling hatred grow inside her. This woman did not deserve to kill Artemis. But her fatigue burned those thoughts away pretty quickly. Didn't she? Artemis had slaughtered all of her sisters, brothers and father. Her mother had been turned into a waterfall. All because, as Aurelia put it, her mom had insulted Leto. It hadn't even been Chloris' fault. In fact, she had been spared purely so Niobe, in her final moments, knew she had only one child… one less than Leto had made.

The cruelty of her actions hit Artemis like a rutting stag. How…how could she have… it was a boast. A boast by a mortal. And her entire family died because of it…no, because of Artemis and her brother. Tears filled Artemis' eyes. Chloris noticed, and smiled,

"Will you beg for life, little mortal?"

Artemis sobbed, hard, before looking up at Chloris. She muttered,

"I'm so sorry."

Chloris froze. Her eyes widened in shock, as if this was the one thing she never would've foreseen happening. Then her eyes hardened.

"Sorry, doesn't bring back my family," Chloris' voice was laced with so much venom that the words stung Artemis' face.

"Sorry doesn't alleviate millennia of pain down in the Underworld!" Chloris roared.

"Sorry, does not forgive you of your SINS!"

Chloris shouted so loud, the trees around her shrank back, their leaves wilting. Artemis slumped backwards against the bark. She looked around. Fayden, suspended upright by leaves, facing away from everyone, struggling to pull his arms loose. Thalia was staring right at Artemis, eyes wide with fear as she kicked her legs against the tree pinning her. Aurelia was buried under tightly woven grass. Artemis worried if she could even breathe.

She took a breath. Forget about her. They had helped her. However much she took her anger out on them, she knew deep inside her it wasn't their fault. She would never admit it, but she wasn't cowardly enough to lie to herself. She couldn't die – she couldn't allow the others to die.

A silver light seemed to light up the surroundings. Chloris, who had been advancing, paused.

"What is this?" she demanded.

Artemis' senses were sharpened to the extreme. It made her gasp. All of sudden, she could hear the fear in Chloris' voice. She watched Chloris approach, saw the caution in her movements. Sensed the fear. The silver light burned brighter, and Artemis looked down.

It was coming from her. Her entire body was glowing a sharp silver, pulsing pure power. Strength seemed to flood through her veins as her blood burned. Flipping to her feet. Artemis marched towards Chloris.

The grass goddess seemed to understand just how suddenly their roles had switched and started dissolving into leaves. Artemis' hand shot out, grasping Chloris' throat. The goddess gave a strangled squawking sound as she solidified. Picking her up by her neck, Artemis flung her against a tree. Chloris broke through the trunk with a sickening crunch of snapping wood. The noise reverberated around the other trees, which seemed to sense one of their own had died, as they started shrinking.

Then Artemis saw Chloris. She lay on the ground, coughing badly. The grass around her wilted. The magical field was dying. Artemis strode towards the fallen goddess, grasping her head, forcing her to look at her. Chloris coughed, and ichor splattered Artemis' face. Her first reaction was to wipe it off her immediately. Ichor would burn her. But nothing happened. She touched the small trickle on the corner of her mouth. It hadn't done anything. Glaring back at Chloris, Artemis leaned over.

"Don't you ever come near us again. Whenever you reincarnate, remember, I beat you, a goddess, as a mortal. And I'll do it again. So don't…try…it."

Artemis' hand burned, silver fire erupting through her clenched fist. She punched Chloris as hard as she could across the jaw. The goddess crumpled, scorch marks across her face. The woodland around them had all but faded, tree stumps lying everywhere, blackened branches sprawled across the yellowing grass. A hand grasped her shoulder. Spinning, she met the lightning blue eyes of Thalia.

"Artemis. Artemis."

Artemis blinked. She could feel that burning energy fading. For a brief second, she had thought she might have gained her godhood back, but no. It seemed it was a temporary burst of godlike strength. The silver glow dimmed, before flickering out, and adrenaline seemed to empty buckets of itself inside her. She gasped as her body caught up with her earlier actions and suddenly burst into tears.

In its efforts to expel as much of the hormone as possible, Artemis couldn't stop crying. Thalia hugged her and she cried against her shoulder for about thirty seconds before something burned on her lip.

"Ow!" she cried. "Ah…OW!"

Stumbling away, she clutched her face, whimpering. Out of teary eyes, she could see Fayden ripping a grassy mound, slowly revealing the still form of Aurelia.

"Hey, hey, Artemis. What is it?"

Artemis' eyes focused back in on the daughter of Zeus, hands still clutching her chin and mouth.

"Lower your hands, what is it?"

Thalia gently pulled away Artemis' hands. Fayden walked over and whistled.

"That's pretty awesome," he said.

"What?" Artemis demanded. "What is it?"

Aurelia handed over her dagger. The frost-white blade dimmed the reflection slightly, and the curve of the blade distorted her face, but as Artemis traced a groove from the corner of her mouth to just above her chin, her eyes widened. Where the ichor had splattered on her, that single lie she hadn't wiped away, lay a gold scar. It wasn't gleaming or bright, in fact, rather dark in colour, as if it had been mixed with her blood as it burned into her face. But instead of red, or white, as most scars are…it was gold.

"Well that's…"

Artemis had no idea what that is. Was it cool? Was it stupid? Her brain seemed incapable of separating emotions, thoughts or actions from one another. She wanted to cry again and punch something or laugh out loud and do cartwheels. She settled for doing nothing. It seemed the smartest choice in her current state. Looking back up, she saw Fayden's face. An almost perfectly straight line of blood was trickling down the side of his face, right across the edge of his right eye. Any closer and he would've been completely blinded. As it was, she could see him squint slightly, the sclera darkening to shades of red, but he kept a steady gaze.

"God, Fay," Thalia muttered, tracing the cut.

Fayden brushed her hand away, hugging her with one arm.

"It'll be fine. About time I had some battle scars," he grinned.

Artemis admired the strength required to joke right now. As a goddess, she had found him mildly amusing, sometimes annoying. Those jokes seemed insensitive and rude. Now, Artemis wouldn't have smiled if Zeus had his clothes stolen in the middle of a solstice meeting. It took some strength to have a sense of humour, she realised. That was a sad thought.

"Guys, look," Aurelia pointed.

The natural landscape that they had all nearly died in was slowly fading. It was a memory she would be happy to forget. Then with a swooshing noise like wind, they all passed out.

About four seconds later, Artemis opened her eyes. She was lying on solid stone. She was staring up at the night sky. The moon was bright, almost ironic. After her godly surge of strength to compare, Artemis never felt weaker. And yet there it was, glistening above her. Her chariot was being driven by someone else. Selene? Maybe some other deity from another pantheon had finally lucked out and got the job.

Disobeying every thought she possessed, she sat up. Fayden, Thalia and Aurelia were all doing the same – stumbling to their senses. As Artemis looked around, they appeared to be in the same place they had been before Chloris seemingly teleported a forest in the middle of the small square. Artemis struggled to her feet.

"I suppose…" Fayden said. "We should head towards the temple."

His voice was tentative, phrased as a suggestion. Blood trickled into his eye again. He tried blinking it away. Artemis stared at the stone pillars in the distance. She would give everything for one more burst of strength to blast that temple into pebbles. She didn't think there was anything left in her body to scream at her for agreeing, so that probably meant Fayden was right.

"Come one then…" she managed.

Her mouth hurt. The golden scar against her lip pulled the tissue slightly. That would require some getting used to.

"…Before I regain the strength to kill myself," she finished.

Various mutterings of agreement came from the other three as they shambled forward.

What fun.

So, this was cool.

Yeah, I totally lied about Artemis' story being finished. I changed my mind to something that could not be further from 'It'll be done next chapter'.

I'm going to write a third fanfic (I know, right?) about Artemis' adventure. It won't be very long, but I hope it'll hold okay on its own. It'll be set in the sixth months that Apollo misses before he falls into Manhattan as Lester.

I'll also be doing a bit of Fayden in Trials of Apollo like the other characters are…in one or half a book to help Apollo.

I'm particularly proud of my invention of Chloris. The name Chloris is mentioned a bunch of times in Greek mythology.

First as a green-skinned nymph.

Secondly as the minor goddess of flowers and plant life

And also, as the name Meliboea took being the only survivor of Artemis and Apollo's slaughter of her family.

So, I combined all those three into my very own villain.

Hope you enjoyed.