Chapter 26

Four months had passed since Gwen's passing. Four months of the most intense training Camp Jupiter had seen since the American Civil War. The legion was in constant blood lust awaiting battle, and with Percy leading the Praetorian Guard to victory after victory against Monster War Bands the twelfth was ready for a fight. With each victory the guard brought back no casualties and dozens of monster trophies that they burned at the Temple of Mars Ultor in tribute.

The Guard was treated like royalty in New Rome, and even in the legion. People offered their services left, right, and center to do anything for the group of ten demigods that were single handedly laying waste to the Titan army. Percy knew within the next nine months he would lead a siege on Mount Othrys with the help of the Praetors, and he counted the days until the moment was upon him.

Lady Diana had surprised him with a visit in Mid December, and Lady Lupa escorted her right into the Guards training area where Percy had been observing a fight between Bianca and Reyna. The two girls always fought their hardest against each other, and since that day Reyna used her powers against the daughter of Pluto a new found respect had been established between the two.

At first Percy had not noticed the goddesses arrival as he kept his eyes locked on the two females making short note comments to Jason, and Mark who were both watching in concentration looking for areas to help them improve. When Bianca disarmed the girl Reyna huffed in frustration and clapping echoed across the area as all eyes went towards a young woman dressed in light silver armor that seemed to dazzle with power, "Well done young maidens. You would both make fine huntresses."

Reyna and Bianca both looked at Lupa in confusion while the goddess gave them a sharp toothy smile, "ATTENTION."

All eleven demigods snapped to attention while Diana began taking a look at the other two females, "An impressive gathered group." The woman turned to face Percy, "You have done well assembling such a powerful force together, Perseus Jackson."

Percy bowed to the goddess not quite understanding yet who was before him. Thankfully Lupa finally took mercy upon the group, "Praetorian Guard. This is the Lady Diana from Olympus. She has needs of Captain Jackson's time. You all will continue your training, and he will return shortly."

Silence answered the announcement, but Percy locked eyes with Diana who had a slight smirk tugging on her lips. Diana was infamous for her dislike towards men, but she had not been hostile towards him on his last visit to Olympus if he remembered correctly.

The goddess began retreating from the arena without a word, and Percy followed her with the eyes of everyone on him. When they made it outside of the coliseum Diana continued her walk towards the Tiber, and Percy followed silently knowing when the goddess wanted him to speak she would address him.

When they reached the water she stared at the river curiously, and began inspecting it, "Tell me Perseus Jackson have you seen any unusual water creatures in the Tiber recently?"

Percy frowned at her question, "Unusual my lady?"

"Don't make me repeat myself Captain Jackson." Diana said sternly.

The young man swallowed hard, "Nothing out of the ordinary my lady. Sea Monsters don't make it to the Little Tiber here in New Rome, and the only other things I see are an occasional water spirit."

The goddess nodded her head, "I had believed it would appear to you as a child of the seas, but perhaps I was mistaken."

Percy wanted to question her, but merely said, "I will make a sacrifice to you if I notice anything strange Lady Diana. That way you can come and investigate. Is there anything you can tell me about the particular creature you are in search of that might help?"

The woman nodded as if she hadn't heard his question, "See to it that you do. I believe we will be seeing each other again soon."

With that the woman disappeared in a thin gold mist.

The Winter Solstice had come upon the camp on an early December morning. The Praetorian Guard was due for training at their usual time, and they all came together with smiles and friendly greetings. Dylan, who had been taking training with the group very seriously, was the first to greet Percy upon his arrival outside the coliseum, "Captain Jackson good morning."

Percy gave the young man a nod and returned his greeting. Lots of people had become suspicious of Dylan after being the only child of Trivia that remained in the legion, but he had proven to be a force of nature on the battlefield, and soon those whispers turned to admiration that the man would forsake his demigod brothers, sisters, and mother for the sake of Rome.

There were lots of fist bumps, and friendly greetings as the group of ten walked into the coliseum together. As always they were greeted by Lupa standing ready for them to get into formation, but for once she wasn't standing alone. A familiar Olympian was standing in a bladed stance as if he was preparing for a fight at a moment's notice. His blue eyes seemed to pulsate with power, and his bow was in his hand indicating aggression, anger, or perhaps even bloodlust.

The group immediately fell into formation as quickly as possible, and then went to one knee. Lupa began speaking as soon as the last person fell to their knees, "Rise Praetorians."

They immediately did so, and Phoebus Apollo stepped forward, "Romans. Olympus has watched your success from the Heavens, and beam with pride at our children's accomplishments, but I fear the first real challenge has risen." No one shifted or moved, but Percy could feel the anticipation rising in the room as Apollo continued to speak, "My sister Lady Diana has been captured by enemy forces. Your orders are simple: go to Mount Tamalpais and find the Garden of Hesperides. From there you must climb the mountain, and go to where Atlas once held the sky. I fear there you will find my sister, and your challenger. Olympus has dispatched other allies, but I did not believe they were enough, and it is for that reason I come before you to assemble the guard, and test your abilities in combat. I stress that this is not a mission to storm Othrys. That time has not come, but this is a rescue mission. If by some miracle you find my sister unguarded then your top priority is the safety of Lady Diana grab her and go. You are not to engage in battle with the other mortal allies of Olympus." At those words he gave Percy a self explaining look. The Greeks had been sent on this expedition as well, but Apollo did not believe they would be enough to save Diana, "My sister must be saved before the day is over. Her presence during the Olympian Council this evening is essential so the gods may come to an agreement on how to best combat the enemy. Failure is not an option."

Percy stepped forward, "Lord Apollo, we accept this challenge, and will see to the safety of Lady Diana as our top and only priority."

Apollo gave the young man a short nod, "I voted for your appointment Perseus Jackson. Do not fail me. Even if your vengeance must be set aside."

With that the Lord of the sun began to glow and everyone turned their eyes as he took his divine form and disappeared. Not a moment was spared when Lady Lupa barked out, "Gather your needed supplies, you are too depart within the next hour. GO."

At her orders the group immediately dissembled and took off in the direction of the barracks. Percy didn't always train with his shield and armor so those were the first few things he grabbed. The next few things he did were more for tactical abilities. He drank as much water as he could handle in an attempt to give him a boost, and grabbed a few smoke grenades, flash bangs, and several other inventions he had been given by children of Vulcan to help him on their task. When he finished packing things onto his belt a knock at his door snapped his head to see Bianca. She wore a small breast plate that connected with two shoulder greaves, and two hip protectors. The arm bands covered down to the back of her small hands, and underneath her dark black armor was a silver under dress that went down to her knees. It looked flexible, and easy to do battle in. It was the first time Percy had seen her in the armor, "A gift from your dad?"

She shook her head, "No I've been forging this myself. I've come to like forging. It clears my head. Are you ready?"

Percy gave her a nod, "Ready to do battle with a Titan, monsters, demigods, and who knows what else Saturn's army might throw at us? Oh yes. This is what we've been waiting for."

"Nico is close. I can sense him for the first time since he left me in Vegas. We are going to find him on this mission I think." Bianca said quietly.

Percy walked over to the girl putting a hand on her shoulder, "Apollo hinted that we may run into Greeks on this quest. Perhaps he is a part of the mortal allies he spoke of."

"What if he is with Luke?" Bianca asked worriedly.

"Then you let me deal with him. I will restrain him, and put him under so we can interrogate him. We can tell him the truth of it all, and turn him to our side. If the stories of you two growing up are any indication I think we can convince him if nothing else but to be on your side." Percy said gently.

"I'm scared for him. I know he must have been trying to look for me all this time. What if he doesn't like who I've become?"

Percy looked at the girl in surprise. The two had spent a significant amount of time together over the last four months. While Jason was busy being the leader of the fifth, and showing Dakota how to rise to be the Centurion they all knew he could be Percy and Bianca spent their time non stop training together. Even when they weren't training they talked about things in the legion, and what they might do differently to make it better. Talked about hopes, dreams, and what might come after the war. The two had become almost as close as Jason and Percy, "You told me your brother was smart. If that's true then he will still love this version of you. I think it's pretty great myself. You're powerful, kind, and dedicated to your training. Other than Jason you are the closest thing I have to family." The girl had lit up at his words until he said family. She seemed slightly disappointed by the comparison, but said nothing as she moved to embrace him.

"I just want him to be okay."

"He will be." Percy said as he held onto the girl tightly.

A clearing of the throat made them separate and Jason looked at them with raised eyebrows, "Am I interrupting something?"

Bianca seemed to color a bit at his words, but she shook her head, "Not at all. What's up?"

"It's time." Jason said looking at Percy.

The son of Neptune nodded, and patted Bianca gently on the cheek, "It's all going to be okay. We will handle whatever tests the gods may place before us."

She gave him a nervous smile, and then followed him as he strode out towards the barracks. News had spread fast, and the entire cohort was waiting in the praetoria for them. They all stood in formation in salut. It wasn't just the fifth either. The active legion was there standing at the salut. When the guard assembled and began making their way towards the bridge that would take them across the tiber. When they all gathered that was when the drumming of swords on shields started. Then the battlecries, the cheering, the support. Citizens of New Rome ran down the Praetoria to give their well wishes. Praetor Mark even joined Percy as he led them across the bridge, "Let's go see Tino, and get two vehicles. That will get us most of the way."

Percy nodded at the man, "Are you going to take point?"

"Not unless it's necessary. This is your team, and you have proven successful. I don't want to change the dynamic, just add another skilled blade." Mark said calmly.

Giving the man an accepting grin the guard crossed the boundary and headed into Berkeley.

They faced no difficulties getting vehicles, and transporting to the bottom of a trailhead that would lead them up to an area Percy was certain was the entrance to the garden of Hesprides. He had sensed the ancient power when he stood at the base of this mountain with Lord Pluto.

Jason stood to his left as they began the hike in the chilly winter air, "What are we going to do about Ladon the dragon? If the stories of old are true then the garden will be protected by the guardian."

Percy frowned, "We have a few options. We can try and negotiate with the Hesprides, we can fight it, or try to go in stealth."

As Jason and Mark who was to his right pondered this Summer hissed, "A patrol is on our right."

Percy held a hand in the air, halting everyone and motioning to take cover, and drop low. It didn't take long for a group of three to come around the corner, and Percy saw that all were teenage girls moving up towards the garden before them. Percy motioned for them to follow him, but flagged Summer, Bianca, and Reyna to be ready to take them with arrows if necessary.

They carefully followed them up the hill when suddenly one tensed. Percy held out hand to freeze everyone. The lead girl said something, and the other two split apart with lightning speed while Percy barked out an order, "Open fire."

Three arrows sailed towards the one who did not split, and she gracefully dodged two and sliced the other with a silver hunting knife. Percy stared at the girl in surprise. Her presence screamed immortal. Percy held his hand for a cease fire as the archers took aim a second time. With the spear of Hektor in his hands he stepped forward, "Surrender whoever you are."

The girl's eyes narrowed, "I will not surrender to a boy."

Bianca stepped forward, her eyes glowing black, "How about to me then princess?"

The long woman was a dark tan color with a silver parka. Her outfit looked something similar to what Lupa wore. She wore a tiara which is where Percy was guessing why Bianca called her Princess. She couldn't have been more than sixteen, and if Percy would openly admit she looked beautiful. He would've almost guessed that it was Lady Diana herself with the display of skill splitting an arrow, and dodging the other two in such a way. Percy spoke again to the girl, "Drop your weapon and we will spare your life."

Zoe looked at the group of eleven demigods and seemed to realize she was in some deep shit. Not giving her much other time Percy turned to Mark, "Take Summer, Larry, and Hank go take the girl on the left that fled. Jason take Dylan, Leila, and Michael go after the other. Reyna, Bianca on me let's take her."

Before everyone could react to his orders a lightning bolt tore across the skies, and dove towards Percy, but before it could make contact Jason held a hand up and yelled intercepting the massive bolt. Zoe stared at the boy wide eyed, "Son of Zeus."

Jason glared at the girl, "Jupiter actually."

The girl's eyes widened, "Naomi, Thalia. Come back. We are not thy enemies."

Percy growled, "That's pretty damn debatable after one of your people just tried to fry me. You got a daughter of Zeus up there don't you?"

Zoe's eyes were locked on Percy's, "We are on a quest to save my Lady Artemis."

A few in the group shuffled, and Percy realized the cat was out of the bag, "Phoebus Apollo appeared before us this morning to tell us that his sister the Lady Diana needed our help. We are here at his request."

Zoe looked up to the sky with worry on her face, "My ladies brother plays a dangerous game."

Percy gave the girl a nod in acknowledgment as her allies began to return to her looking wary. Jason asked, "Are you three from the Greek camp?"

One of the girls turned to the leader, "Zoe what is this? Who are these people?"

Zoe looked at a loss for words as if she was thinking of some lie that wouldn't break an oath. Taking pity on her the son of Neptune spoke, "My name is Percy Jackson Captain of the Praetorian Guard. Centurion to the twelfth legion of Rome. If we are in the presence of allies, identify yourselves."

Accepting this the leader stepped forward, "My name is Zoe Nightshade the Lieutenant of the Hunt for Lady Artemis. I have known of your existence for over two millennia. I was in my ladies service when the Twelfth Legion was formed."

Percy made sense of this easily. He was grateful half the Praetorian Guard was in on the secret or this could've gotten really messy. Michael, Mark, Bianca, Jason, and Percy himself had all been a part of this at some point, while there was a good chance Reyna had been as well in the service of Circe. The next girl that was similarly dressed to Zoe stepped forward, "Naomi Strahan. Daughter of Hermes, and one of the Huntresses of Artemis. Zoe says you aren't our enemies, but I can't say I know what is going on right now."

The other girl with spiky black hair nodded stepping forward, "The Princess always kept her cards closer to her chest then necessary. I don't know what this is all about, but I am Thalia Grace the daughter of Zeus."

Jason dropped his sword, and Percy's eyes shot to him, "Jason?"

Thalia locked eyes on the son of Jupiter in shock, "Jason?"

Summer turned to the son of Neptune, "Percy...what is this?"

While Jason and Thalia had their stare down Percy spoke, "Lord Apollo told us we were not to harm the allies of Olympus under any circumstance. Last Summer Jason, Bianca, and I learned of the existence of a Greek Camp full of demigods that follow the ways of the old empire. We took it to the Praetors, but Olympus swore all of us to silence. We were commanded by Lord Jupiter personally not to pursue this blood feud until after the Titans were dealt with. As members of the Praetorian Guard you are now entrusted with this secret as well. If you spread dissent among the legion the gods will punish you, or put upon me to do it. Tread carefully with the secret you have been trusted with my friends."

Michael Kahale then spoke, "I was there when Percy brought it to the Praetors. They brought me in case there needed to be a tie breaker if Mark and Cassie didn't agree. It was agreed on by everyone that gathered though that this secret was dangerous, and needed to be side tabled until the bigger threat was dealt with."

The other's eyes went to Mark who merely nodded his head as he surveyed Jason and Thalia. Percy's eyes hadn't left Jason since the daughter of Zeus had called her last name, "On Olympus Jupiter told us that Bianca's situation was the first one faced by Olympus, but not that it was completely unique."

Bianca shook her head at this, "Does that mean-"

"She's my sister. My full blooded sister. Same mom. Different aspects of our father." Jason said finally speaking.

Thalia began stepping towards Jason, but he stayed rooted to the spot. When she was within range Percy almost asked her to stop, but the look on her face stopped him. She looked heart broken, "They told me you were gone forever. Mom said I would never get you back. Jason I'm so sorry I looked everywhere for you, but after sometime I just knew you had to be dead."

Before she could say anything else Jason stepped forward and embraced the girl tightly, and two met in the hug. Mark gave them a moment before coughing, "I'm sorry to interrupt this, but if we are to save Lady Diana we have to move. We are sitting ducks out here in the open."

Jason looked like he wanted to protest, but Zoe who was shaking off her shock nodded her head, "Thy is correct. We must move."

When the siblings separated Thalia and Jason both wiped at their eyes, while Percy asked, "There are only three of you, so I am assuming you all had a plan?"

The lead huntress answered that, "Before I was a huntress I was a Hespiredes. My plan was to distract the Ladon while these two slipped up to the top. With luck I would join them after. We know Lady Artemis is up there along with a captured member of the Greek Camp."

Mark muttered, "Looks like stealth it is."

There was no agreed upon plan, but they all followed Zoe who led them right to the front door of the Garden of Hesperides. Bianca who was standing near the daughter of Zeus asked, "Forgive me, Thalia right?"

The black haired girl nodded her head, "Uh Yes?"

"My little brother was taken from me by Luke Castellan. His name is Nico Di Angelo. Have you seen him at your camp?" She asked pleadingly.

Thalia flinched at the name, "That's a long story. I am afraid that I haven't seen him in a while, but he was at our camp for a time. He ran off searching for you I think. He said he had to find his sister, and now that you're here I guess he wasn't successful."

"How long ago was that?" Bianca asked desperately.

Thalia frowned, "I'd say about six months ago now."

Bianca looked like she wanted to swear, but Mark held a finger to his lips at the girls as Zoe began talking to the three water spirits that had risen from the beautiful pond. Percy recognized this place from the myths. Hercules had been here at one point to steal one of the apples of immortality. It is said that he defeated the massive dragon with one hundred heads that rested on top of this mountain, and the son of Neptune pieced together that if Zoe was one of these sisters at one point then her father was Atlas. The enemy they faced at the top of the mountain, and he warred with the decision to call her out. If she was a huntress of Artemis for 2000 years then that had to count for something. After all, you can't pick your family.

"Ladon awake!"

Percy shouted out, "Stealth part over, come on people let's roll!"

The group all took off across the garden, and quickly began ascending the mountain with Zoe calling out to the dragon, "I used to feed when you were just a baby. Do you still love Lamb Chops?"

Without a second look back Percy led his group straight to a massive front door that he knew would lead to their greatest challenge yet.

(A/N) One day late again! I am sorry I am really slacking this week, but my overtime rate at work is nuts, so I am spacing it. No excuse, but here is your update. Can't wait to hear what you guys think as I race through the events of The Titans Curse. Cheers, and see you in two weeks!

This chapter was beta approved by James Marx. Thanks for all your hard work!