We drove as fast as possible, my feet rarely leaving the gas pedal as we powered up towards the fortress. When the air began to fill with the scent of cough drops, I knew we were close.

"Why does everything smell like cough drops?" Atalanta asked.

Zoe sighed. "Eucalyptus."

"The stuff that koala bears eat?"

"Yes, Atti." I said. "It's for Ladon, the immortal dragon that guards the golden apple tree. Believe me, that dragon would smell ultra rank if not for the eucalyptus leaves."

Silence retook us once more as we continued on, Mount Tamalpais looking bigger and bigger.

"The Mountain of Despair," I murmured. "Pretty fitting name for such a depressing place."

"Why do they call it that?" Bianca asked.

"After the war between the Titans and the gods," Zoe began, her voice quiet. "Many of the Titans were punished and imprisoned. Kronos was sliced to pieces and thrown into Tartarus. Kronos' right-hand man, the general of his forces, was imprisoned up there, on the summit, just beyond the Garden of the Hesperides."

"To add on to what Zoe said, the mountain is also the base of Mount Orthys, which for those of you who failed history, is the Titan version of Olympus, but black." I said. "With what we're about to run into, the mountain is gonna be packed with a lot more than despair."

"How do you – oh wait, from the future and all that." Atalanta spun Riptide in pen form between her fingers. "So Percy, just how bad are things going to get?"

"I have an idea," I deadpanned. "But given how the scenario in this reality is about 5 times worst than my own, and we have about the same amount of time before solstice, things are gonna go damn terrible."

Annabeth sighed. "As expected. When is a demigod's life ever peaceful? Or easy?"

I grinned despite the situation, thinking of college in New Rome. "Honestly, you'd be surprised what types of demigod havens the world has to offer. It's too bad that they're hard to find."

Thalia stared up at the mountain, her electric blue eyes glinting dangerously. "What's going on up there? A storm?"

I shook my head. "It's much worse. You'll see."

"Why can't you just tell us?" Atalanta asked. "That way, we'll be more prepared."

I grimaced. "It's not whether you will be more or less prepared. It's the fact that I don't have the patience to calmly explain to you the fucking horrors this quest carved into my mind. I already told you, things are gonna go to shit soon. So brace yourself for the fight of your life."

"...Sorry..."

I sighed. "No, I'm just stressed. There's a couple things I'm carrying on my shoulders right now that are slightly bothering me."

The rest of the questers had no idea what I was talking about, but Zoe sure did. Her face contorted into one of worry, knowing exactly what burden I was instigating.

"Percy's already told us as much as he can," Thalia said. "We should concentrate and focus on what's coming. The Mist is unnaturally strong here, as usual."

"The magical kind or the natural kind?"

"Both," Thalia replied.

The gray clouds swirled even thicker over the mountain, and we kept driving straight toward them. We were out of the forest now, into wide open spaces of cliffs and grass and rocks and fog.

"Look!" Atalanta suddenly pointed.

Everyone but me looked the direction she pointed and saw nothing suspicious. "What's up?"

"A big white cruise ship," Atalanta said worriedly. "Docked near the beach."

"Luke's ship," I confirmed. "He's going to be here. Annabeth, I'd suggest for you not to lower your guard. You too Thalia."

The two girls gave pained looks that I couldn't see, but knew about anyways. Annabeth, who still clung onto Luke like an older brother, and Thalia, who had been close to treating Luke as a lover. Luke's sacrifice during the Titan War thankfully removed those feelings, which I felt did a good number on their mental health.

"We'll have company then," Zoe said grimly. "Kronos' army."

"They won't be a problem," I chuckled darkly. "It's Luke and Atlas we gotta worry about. They're the heavy hitters of the operation. Especially Luke. I mean, being the host body of Kronos and all, it makes sense."

"..."

"Shit," I cursed. "Shouldn't have said that."

"Host body?" Annabeth breathed out. "You're lying."

I almost snarled at her naivety. "Ms. Chase, why would I lie about something this drastic?"

"Luke would never–!"

"Annabeth," Thalia said coolly. "This is war. Not a game. I hate this as much as you do, but..."

"How would that work thought?" Atalanta asked. "Isn't Luke only a half-blood?"

"Well," I began uneasily. "Kronos said before in my dreams that he was just using Luke as a stepping stone. In the Titan war, Luke's body was able to withstand the Titan's power because he dipped himself in the River Styx. Even then, both Luke and the Titan exchanged moments of control while in his physical body."

"River Styx?!" Thalia's eyes widened. "Is he insane?"

"It was the only way," I said. "His body would've been blown to bits otherwise. And knowing Luke, he wasn't going to let the fact that he was half-mortal stop him from destroying the gods. So he did what he had to do, for the greater good above his wants."

"You sound like you respect him," Zoe noticed.

I sighed. "In some ways, I do. To have the audacity to renounce the gods as a son of Hermes, and to build and army strong enough to destroy the world. He was the only opponent I couldn't beat in a sword fight, his ambitions and intelligence were one of a villanous mastermind. He used the hate that demigods had against their ignorant immortal parents as his power source, and with the help of Kronos by his side, rose up to become more than he ever believed he could be in Camp Half Blood." I stopped for a moment. "At the time, I didn't understand. But when I became 18, 17 years old, about Luke's age, I began to understand his hate, and his anger. But perhaps because I had made stronger relationships with the gods and my own family, I didn't feel the same development of hate that Luke felt."

"That's... deep." Atalanta breathed. "I can't believe you can see him like that."

I nodded. "It's easier once you get older. Knowledge comes with age and experience. There's no other way to learn about the world other than living in it." I smiled wanely. "Technically, that means Zoe should be the wisest, but because she has isolated herself from natural society, she actually doesn't know very much about the modern world outside of pollution and the monstrous behaviors of men. Which, is really limited knowledge."

Zoe huffed. "I can't even say anything back when you're right."

Thalia laughed dryly. "Percy, you're like–!" She suddenly stopped and shouted, "Percy, stop the car now!"

I slammed on the brakes and skidded towards the side of the road, hastily forming a water bubble to catch us in. "Jump in there!"

We pushed open the doors and jumped, with Thalia shoving Bianca, Annabeth, and Atalanta out the back, and me yanking Zoe out of the shotgun seat. I jumped back onto the water bubble not a moment too late, as a massive lightning bolt struck down from the heavens and smashed into the VW, turning the car into a canary-yellow grenade. Massive pieces of metal shot at us, making Thalia and I activate our shields to protect the others. The sounds of the car falling onto the road was like metal rain, with parts of the fender having impaled itself in the streets. The smoking hood was spinning in circles. Pieces of yellow metal were strewn across the road.

"You...you guys saved our lives." Bianca gasped.

I coughed, retracting my shield, while holding a hand out for Zoe to grasp. "Don't mind it."

Thalia's eyes were as stormy as the top of the mountain. "One shall perish by a parent's hand," she muttered. "Curse him. He would destroy me? Me?!"

I grabbed the daughter of Zeus by the shoulders. "Stop talking crap. Your father would never kill you, not by a long shot. It was the Titans, trying to make you feel angry towards him."

Thalia sighed, though her posture didn't relax. "Hmph."

"Seriously, Thals," I said. "Your father in this dimension is not the dickhead ass nugget Thanos colored ballsack I know back home. He would never try to kill you."

Up on Olympus...

"AHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Poseiden guffawed. "HE-he called your-alternate self...hahahahahaha!"

Zeus grumbled. "Why was my alternate reality self just a jackass? I just wanted to make a good first impression, and turns out, it was soiled by a version of myself."

"Poseiden, you done?" Hermes asked, seeing the sea god tumble on the floor.

"That's my son!" Poseiden wheezed.

I turned back to the road. "Guess I owe your dad a new car, Annie."

Annabeth blushed. "He can just buy another one."

Zoe tapped my shoulder. "We're close."

I immediately tensed. "Alright, put your big girl pants on people. We're close to the gates of death, and I'd really prefer if nobody died today."

The mood sunk quickly as everyone unsheathed or readied their separate weapons, joining Zoe in heading forward up the mountain. Sheets of fog were drifting right across the road. Zoe stepped into one of them, and when the fog passed, she was no longer there.

"Stay close," I said. "The Mist is going to confuse you if you don't focus up."

When the fog cleared, we were still on the side of the mountain, but the road was dirt. The grass was thicker. The sunset made a bloodred slash across the sea. The summit of the mountain loomed like a dark menacing shadow that was given a soul, swirling with storm clouds that flashed with harsh white lightning and raw power. There was only one path to the top, directly in front of us. And it led through a lush meadow of shadows and flowers. I growled, my hands reaching instinctively for Riptide. We were in the garden of twilight, the Garden of the Hesperides, the home of Zoe Nightshade.

When I neared Zoe, I noticed that she was paler than normal. She wasn't shaking per se, but she looked tense and unbalanced, yet firm in resolve at the same time. I wondered what was going through her head at this present moment.

"Holy...shit." Atalanta gasped.

No one bothered to correct her. The garden was beautiful and terrifying at the same time. The grass shimmered with silvery evening light, and the flowers were such brilliant colors they almost glowed in the sunset. Stepping stones of polished black marble led around either side of a five-story tall apple tree, every bough glittering with golden apples that hung in a beautiful bouquet from the trunk of a thousand copper colored branches. Each apple shined like 24 karat gold bars, not like the yellow gold seen in the grocery, but like someone took a massive block of solid gold and carved apples from it. The fragrance of the apples were enticing, despite me having never eaten one before.

"The apples of immortality," Thalia said. "Hera's wedding gift from Zeus."

The dragon beneath made up the terrifying factor. A hundred headed copper serpent that breathed the scent of imminent death, a body the size and thickness of a booster rocket, whipping a twin head tail that finished up the rest of the beast. Majestic, powerful, intimidating. The perfect guard for the apples of immortality. The monster that gave Luke his scar.

The shadows in front of trees began to collide and move, until they formed somewhat cloudy feminine figures. There was an eerie beautiful singing, like voices at the bottom of a well. The sounds reminded me of my traumatizing experience in the nymphaeum, making me mentally grimace in attempt to block out the incoming flashback. I summoned a green fireball akin to a lamp and stepped forward, my other hand on Zoe's shoulder to stop her from freaking out.

Four figures shimmered as their forms began to take hold, four young women that looked very much like Zoe. They all wore white Greek chitons, their skin the same caramel tone. Silky black hair tumbled loose around their shoulders. I flashed back to my previous comment towards Zoe about her looks. She was dead gorgeous, as were the rest of her sisters. Gorgeous and dangerous. The epitome of a femme fatale.

"Sisters," Zoe said flatly, expressionless.

"We do not see any sister," one of the girls said coldly. "We see a stranger, three half-bloods, and two Hunters. All of whom shall die."

I stepped forward, my green eyes aflame. "You've got it wrong, Aegle. Nobody is going to die. Not here, not now."

The girls studied me. They had eyes like volcanic rock, glassy and completely black. Unlike Zoe's, their gazes were cruel and cold.

"Thou is a stranger to this world," one of the others said. "I cannot tell what or who thee is."

"Yes," another said. "He could be a threat."

They glanced behind me.

"Atalanta Jackson," the second sister said. "The one they fear. They are unhappy that this one has not yet killed her."

She pointed to Thalia.

"Tempting sometimes," Thalia admitted. "But, first off, no thanks. And second, if I were to kill anyone out of annoyance, if would be that meathead over there. But no, we're friends."

"Thanks Thals," I laughed humorlessly. "I'm glad to have such an honor."

"There are no friends here, daughter of Zeus," Aegle said. "Only enemies. Go back."

"Not without my mother," Annabeth spoke quietly for the first time since the Luke conversation.

"And Artemis," Zoe said. "We must approach the mountain."

"You know he will kill thee," Aegle said. "You are no match for him."

"She may not be," I said. "But I definitely can beat your deadbeat father."

"This one," the third sister glared. "This one is dangerous."

I rolled by eyes before narrowing them. "Pfft, what gave you that idea?"

"Thou have no rights here," Aegle warned coldly. "We have only to raise our voices and Ladon will wake."

Zoe stepped forward, but I pulled her back. "Do it then."

"WHAT?!" Thalia shrieked. "Percy, are you out of your mind?"

I pushed my friends back and reached into my suit, taking out two ping pong shaped Tiber metal spheres that I juggled in my hands. "Nah, these guys are a piece of cake. They don't stand a chance. LADON, WAKE!"

The dragon stirred, white smoke puffed from its several nostrils. Eyelids opened to reveal startling midnight black eyes inlaid with gold markings, each of them filled with irritance. The Hesperides yelped and scattered. Aegle screamed at me, "Are you mad?!"

"You are weak," I said, approaching the dragon. "You have none of the courage that Zoe has."

"She's just a whore," the third sister snarled, only to find the tip of Riptide pressed up against her throat.

"Say that again," I growled. "And I'll gut you like a fish."

The girl swallowed as Aegle narrowed her eyes, recognizing the blade.

"Zoe," she said. "You seem to have fallen for yet another hero. Such a disappointment."

I smirked and walked back to Zoe, grabbing her shoulder before turning to Aegle, lifting up my hand. "Except this hero loves your fucking sister back, bitch." With one hand, I fluidly clasped the back of Zoe's head and kissed her, my lips connecting with the huntress' shamelessly as I flipped off her Aegle with the national hand symbol of FUCK OFF.

Zoe didn't move at first but seemed to understand my point, and kissed back, her eagerness underlined by her change in stiff posture to one where her arms wrapped around me. I broke the kiss and grinned lazily. "How was that, night princess?"

"Delicious," Zoe blurted out, before blushing and covering her mouth. "I-I mean... it was..."

I turned fully back around, my hand back around Riptide's handle. "As you can see, I'm not Hercules. I'm not Theseus. I'm not any of those jackasses who came by on a mission to break a girl's heart before going home, leaving her behind. And I sure as hell have no problem with flipping off a couple of ancient corpses like yourself."

"Daaaaaaaaammmn, soooon." Thalia muttered. "Remind me to never get on his bad side."

"Agreed," Bianca said.

"Coooool!" Atalanta stared in awe.

"Now," I said, setting my body alight with Greek fire. "Where were we?"

"Percy," Zoe said softly. "Be careful." Her hands were on her mouth, her posture somewhat vulnerable in a way, as if I had just stripped her of her facade.

"Sure, princess," I chuckled, "First, let's get you guys downed."

Faster than the Hesperides could react, I fired four Tiber nets at their directions, each sphere speeding in front of the girls, exploding into a full size net the moment it touched them. The girls immediately dropped, unable to disappate or escape, their physical forms restricted, their powers nullified. The more they struggled, the weaker they became.

"Curse thee!" Aegle screamed weakly as she thrashed, her other sisters having drained of energy already.

"Do I need to gag you?" I chuckled darkly, summoning an ice gag over her mouth with a single thought. "Because that can be easily arranged."

I turned my attention to the dragon, which writhed angrily like a pile of pissed off snakes. I stood about six feet from the tree and breathed in and out, putting a hand out that glowed first with the bright color of Greek fire, a green fireball that spun in my palm. I closed my eyes and focused, sending out my senses to learn more about my enemy.

The technique I used was incredibly advanced, and only worked on enemies that didn't or couldn't fight back. The enemy must also be a drakon or dragon, or death lizard of some type. Essentially, the combination of my water and fire powers could be used to hack into the creature's DNA, and use their minds against themselves. I knew personally that dragons communicated by flame and certain levels of mind speech. The fire I was producing was mirroring the dragon's color of fire, the very one it used to communicate to other lizards nearby if it felt threatened. I couldn't see, but my flame melted from green to blue, an icy blue that swirled with white like a snowstorm, dotted with the streaks of orange flame. Every now and then, a wisp of black darted across the flame sphere. I learned just through that technique that Ladon had a diverse arsenal, which made sense, given the amount of heads it had. A dragon with the powers of flame, ice, shadow, and earth itself. Added to immortality, and keen senses, the dragon was an unstoppable opponent if awakened to its full potential. It would take the speed of Hermes, the agility of Artemis, the raw firepower of Zeus, the smarts of Athena, the bloodthirst of Ares, the Curse of Achilles and the workmanship of Hephaestus to defeat Ladon by oneself. An impossible task, made easier by the dragon being tied to the tree.

I opened my eyes, my sea green orbs like the sea, calm beneath the waves, yet raging and foamy above. I pulled my hand back, my arm alight with the rainbow of colors of the dragon's unique fire. Wind swirled tightly around me, pushing the Mist apart as I gathered power. Before the dragon could fully comprehend what was going on, I pushed forward, enveloping the dragon with a horizontal column of the flame, the beautiful blue encasing the beast with a mighty roar that silenced the beast's own cries of surprise.

When the flames died, the dragon was asleep once more. Just to be sure, I walked up to it and nudged a head with my foot, to which the dragon head opened one eye, took one glance at me, and went back to sleep, letting me rub its head like I would a puppy.

"Done." I said. "Ooh, you're just like Zoe said. All calm and cute, I wanna take you back home."

I turned to find nine shocked faces staring back. "Oh right, you guys can go now." I freed the Hesperides and ungagged Aegle, who glared at me distastefully.

"What the heck?" Atalanta burst first. "Percy, you can control dragons too? How many freaking powers do you have?"

"Tell you later," I said. "If you don't remember, we're a bit short on time. We still have two goddesses to save."

I led my friends up the mountain, past the garden, ignoring the astounded stares coupled with hate that the rest of the Hesperides gave me. Ladon remained asleep, his heads opening a few eyes as if to check if I was fully gone.

The Hesperides soon resumed their song from before, this time however, tinged with somberness and anger. The mood fit the name of the mountain more appropriately, sounding like that of a soundtrack for a funeral.

§§§§§

At the top of mountain were ruins, blocks of black granite and marble as big as houses. Broken columns, bronze statues that looked half melted, and cracked paths that seemed to be sealing themselves up.

"The ruins of Mount Orthys," Thalia whispered in awe.

"Yes," Zoe confirmed. "It was not here before. This is bad."

I reached out and touched the definitely solid walls of the structure ahead. "This mountain fortress is the least of our worries. It's what happens near here that is going to kill us all if we don't take care of it now."

"What's Mount Orthys?" Atalanta asked, equally mesmerized by the midnight black structure that resembled Olympus, even half built.

"Like Percy said," Annabeth explained. "It's a mountain fortress, specifically for the Titans. In the first war between the Gods and the Titans, Orthys was blown to bits, hence these pieces all over the place."

"But... how is it here?" Atalanta asked.

Thalia looked around cautiously as we picked our way through the rubble, past blocks of marble and broken archways. "It moves in the same way that Olympus moves. It always exists on the edges of civilization. But the fact that it exists here, on this mountain, is not good."

"Why?"

"This is Atlas' mountain," Zoe said, her voice quieter than ever. She grasped my hand tightly, her other one on her bow. "Where he holds–..." She froze, as did the rest of us. "Where he used to hold up the sky." Her voice was ragged, and dry.

We had reached the summit. A few yards ahead of us, gray clouds swirled in a heavy vortex, making a funnel cloud that almost touched the mountaintop, but instead rest on the shoulders of a gray-eyed woman, her eyes strong yet almost delirious from pain, her hunched and defeated posture nothing like the goddess I knew. Her dress was in tatters, her legs and arms bound in celestial bronze chains. Atalanta gasped. She must've realized that what she saw Athena holding wasn't a simple marble roof. It was the roof of the world.

"Mom!" Annabeth almost wailed, rushing forward, her normal face of seriousness like she was studying for an important test completely wiped and replaced by fear.

"Stop!" Athena winced, as if talking took all her effort. "It is a trap. You must leave now!"

Her voice was strained, her body drenched with sweat. I knew immortals had infinite strength essentially, and couldn't die, but even they had limits. I had held the sky up myself, and it wasn't an experience I would want to repeat. And for those of you who don't believe me, holding up the sky was nearly as bad as the trek through Tartarus, no joke.

Annabeth was crying, her futile efforts to slash the chains apart and free her mother as despairing as the situation itself.

"Ah, how touching." A booming voice crashed through the air, like a bull smashing through a gate.

We looked up. Atlas was standing there, his smile cruel and smug, his brown silk suit radiating nothing but raw power. At his side stood Luke and half a dozen dracaenae bearing the golden sarcophagus of Kronos that I wished I could never see again. If I were alone, I would unleash all my powers on that thing and burn it to ashes.

"Luke," Thalia snarled, her spear and shield out. "You son of a bitch."

"It's good to see you too," Luke smiled. The smile was devoid of his usual snarkiness, as his face was weak and pale. He looked like Nico had personally drained him of his soul, and left him with only 1% to cling onto.

"So much for old friends," Atlas chuckled. "And you Zoe, it's been a long time hasn't it? How is my little traitor? I will enjoy killing you."

I stepped forward, my bangs hanging over one eye and leaving the other visible. My eye was black and glowing green flame as I approached the right hand man of Kronos. "Sorry about that, but she's off limits." I said, still holding onto Zoe's hand. "And I don't give a shit that it's a family matter." I casually flared my aura, which I remembered Jason telling me once that I resembled my dad's aura, but nerfed 2000 times. I told him the same when he flared his, and we ended up having a laugh about it.

Atlas narrowed his eyes. "Who are you? Your aura is annoyingly familiar."

"Don't challenge him!" Athena gasped. "You'll die."

"Lady Athena," I said quietly. "I respect your wisdom, but unfortunately, this fucker won't understand anything unless it's beaten into his skull."

The Titan chuckled darkly. "You're funny. I wonder if you'll still laugh when my spear is stabbed through your chest."

I grinned evilly back. "Jokes on you, I'll be laughing into my grave."

"Wait a second," Atalanta's brain seemed to finally catch up with the situation. "You're Atlas?" She glanced at the General, her eyes wide as if she couldn't believe it.

Atlas rolled his eyes. "So, even the stupidest of heroes can finally figure something out. Yes, I am Atlas, the general of the Titans and terror of the gods. Congratulations. I will kill you presently, as soon as I deal with this wretched girl."

I chuckled, then bust out laughing. "YOU?! You're gonna deal... deal with us?" I jabbed a lazy finger at his direction. "Ha, what a joke. You think that after getting out from under the sky for two seconds, you suddenly can whip ass?"

I knew I was playing a dangerous game, angering the Titan. Technically, he couldn't attack us without severe repercussions, but I hoped that when he did, he would be angry enough to be less coordinated than normal. That didn't mean he would be easy, oh no. It just meant he would be easier.

"You have no right to interfere." Atlas sneered. "This is a family matter."

"A family matter?" Atalanta asked.

"Yes," I said, glaring at Atlas. "Unfortunately, this man is Zoe's father."

A/N:

Oh yah, let the ass whoopin begin!