Rage of a Demigod
AN: Hello there, my dear readers! Here's yet another relatively quick update from me. Hope you enjoy!
Now to reviews.
J: Yeah, when you get down to it they are sometimes downright monsters.
Gamelover41592: Thanks, and you'll just have to wait and see how this goes.
RedHood001: I am glad I didn't disappoint when it came to the last chapter. I was worried that people wouldn't like it because they expected some sort of fight with Phorcys, but I'm happy that's not the case.
Though, you are wrong about one thing. Orion didn't really spare Phorcys because he heard his story, but mostly because Phorcys didn't really want to fight. I'm also pretty sure that Phorcys didn't have any reason to tell Orion his story as well. Sorry if this spoils your views on Orion, but he isn't that perfect of a guy.
Also, I'm pretty sure that Zoe doesn't need any reminder of how the gods act. She more than likely already knows with how long she lived and how long she served Artemis. She's should be even more familiar with it than even Marcus.
19 It's What's On The Inside That Counts
Water sprinkled their faces as Cetus moved through the waves with ease and incredible speed. If they thought a motorboat was fast, then the speed of a monster swimming in seawater was absolutely ridiculous.
Zoe and Annabeth were forced to squint their eyes as water droplets hit their faces while Percy used his water manipulation abilities to pretty much keep himself unaffected. All of them held tight on the bones of Cetus' fin as they rode the mighty beast, their fingers neatly wrapping around its scaly skin.
So far Cetus made no attempts to do them any harm, with several splashes on their faces being the most damage they received, making their shirts wet in addition to being torn by lashes.
"You know, despite all the weird things that happen to us, nobody at Camp is going to believe us when we tell them what happened!" Percy said loudly because of all the noise the swimming caused.
"Yeah, that's true!" Annabeth agreed, her blonde hair waving behind her. "Still, once we get back we will still have to explain to Chiron where we've been and why we did it, and after that, he will probably-!" She was interrupted as another splash of water followed, with a good amount of it hitting her mouth and forcing her to spit out saltwater.
Percy laughed. "I think the sea wants you to be quiet, Wise Girl!"
"Shut up, Seaweed Brain! Not all of us have magic water powers that we got from-!" Another splash followed with similar results prompting Percy to laugh again. Annabeth just mumbled angrily to herself about not having a real boat where this wouldn't happen.
"I hope that we actually are able to return back after all of this!" Zoe said, her own braid waving through the soggy wind. "Who knows what we will find at our destination!"
"Let's hope not something too dangerous!" Percy said. "I've just jinxed myself, didn't I?!"
"Yeah, probably!" Annabeth answered.
Another fin then appeared a few meters next to them, this one being dark blue unlike Cetus' green and purple, They looked down and saw that there was another creature beneath the waves, this one the size of a whale.
The creature jumped upwards, splashing water everywhere. The trio got a good look at the creature, which resembled a giant houndfish, but double the amount of sharp teeth and three tentacles on each side of its face.
When it landed back its big black eyes seemed to be fixated on the group, the tentacles slowly rising from the sea.
In response to that, Cetus turned his head towards the giant monster fish and let out several aggressive-sounding gurgling sounds. The tentacles slowly descended back into the sea and the monster submerged completely into the water. A few seconds later, it was gone completely.
The trio let out sighs of relief, thankful that Cetus was doing what his father told him.
Percy then noticed something in the distance. It seemed to be two mountains at first, one simply looking like a large pointed one, while the other had a strange shape, being bent in a ninety degrees angle where it connected to the other mountain making the shape look like a lowercase 'h'.
Then he noticed more details on the strange mountain, where there is a bump on the top which started to resemble a human head and some protrusions in the front that looked like… arms?
The sea-green eyes widened as he turned to Zoe and Annabeth behind him. "Guys, we made it! I think I can see our hundred-handed giant!"
The girls' eyes beamed up the moment he said that and looked harder forward. Yes, it did seem like that was Cottus the Hecatonchire with how close they got.
"At last," Zoe said to herself while Annabeth let out a large smile.
After a little while of them getting closer, they were able to make out more details about the giant, and they were horrified by what they saw. Cottus looked like a combination of a living creature and a fortress. There seemed to be buildings sticking out of various parts of his body, the largest arms making what seemed to be whole streets with how the structures were lined up. His mouth was wide open, with a platform coming through it right above a whole other section of buildings that were suspended in the air from his chest. And on the back of his bald head was what seemed to be some sort of temple.
And whatever part of him remained untouched by some structural material didn't look well either. The giant's skin looked like a sickly combination of green, yellow and brown and it seemed to be made of stone. Several of his arms just stood outstretched, completely still. His own face seemed to be twisted in agony, and his eyes looked completely grey and dead, only looking upwards.
Cetus stopped right next to the giant's hip and rose from the water until his passengers were at a platform that was at the bottom of his ribcage. They stepped off Cetus and unto the grey stone of the platform.
Cetus let out some gurgling sounds, though the trio couldn't tell what it meant. Either it meant 'Goodbye and good luck' or 'You're really in for it' or whatever. He then descended back down into the water and swam off.
They looked up and once again looked at Cottus' state.
"By the gods," Zoe said. "How could anyone do this to any living creature?"
"Someone really sadistic could," Percy answered. "So what do we do now?"
"We need to find Marcus," Annabeth said before noticing the door near the platform which seemed to be leading into the giant's body. "And it seems there is only one way we can go."
The other two then noticed the door as well.
"H-hold up! We're supposed to go INSIDE him?!" Percy asked.
"No choice. Come on!" Zoe said with her patience already thin as it is. She was close to her goal if she had to go through Cottus' insides then so be it.
Zoe opened the door, and instead of any blood and guts, they found themselves at a side of a hallway that was lit up some light from a row of windows.
"So, they have buildings inside him as well?" Percy said. "That is all kinds of messed up!"
"I wonder if the Furies really did this to him," Annabeth said as she looked around. Normally she would marvel at such an incredible structure, praising all the designs and architecture that went with it, but if the Hoover Dam was built in a similar way this temple was then she would be a whole lot less enthusiastic about seeing it.
Zoe saw on the right that there was a stairway that led down and on the left was a turn that led to the right and presumably up. Since most of the buildings were on the upper part of Cottus' body, it seemed more logical that Marcus would be somewhere up.
She motioned for the demigods to follow and they took the left path. When they made a turn, they saw a circular stairway at the end of the hall leading upwards. The three quickly took the steps before Percy noticed something.
"Do you guys hear that?" Percy asked as he looked around. Indeed there was a sound around them that went thump thump every so often. "What is that?"
"Well, based on the fact that we are located at Cottus' ribcage," Annabeth said in an uneasy. "I think it's the sound of his heartbeat."
"Heartbeat?" Percy said as his eyes widened. "Whoa, wait a minute! Are you telling me this guy is still ALIVE?!"
Zoe frowned. "It would appear so."
"But… but HOW?"
"Cottus is a Hecatonchire. They are among the strongest beings in existence," Zoe explained. "As such, his endurance should be incredible. Though, it would seem that right now it works against his well-being."
"This is… oh gods, I think I'm gonna hurl again," Percy said as he actually felt the contents of his stomach rising up, but he forced them down. Human, giant, monster, or whatever, nothing deserved such fate. He could only imagine the suffering Cottus felt. Assuming he felt anything anymore.
"Is there any way we could help him?" Annabeth asked.
"Unfortunately, nothing that I'm aware of," Zoe said as they reached the end of the stairway. "We'll think about that later. We have another task to complete."
They moved through the next hall, but unlike the last one which was more or less empty, this one contained what looked like a row of prison cells on the left side of the hallway and a row of windows on the other. The front of the cells consisted of heavy iron bars, while the inside of the cells looked really plain, only made of stone without a bed or any type of simple courtesy.
Another interesting thing was the prisoners that were inside the cells. One looked like he was wearing a ruined business suit, a man dressed like he was in the confederate army, another looked like he was dressed as an 18th-century gentleman, another a soldier from world war two and other people from various times.
And all of them seemed to have a similar look on their face. That of depression and bleakness.
The man in a business suit perked up as he saw the three of them and quickly walked to the bars. "You! You aren't the Furies!"
The trio was surprised by that sudden declaration.
"Um… no, we aren't," Percy said. "I'm pretty sure that should be obvious."
"O-oh, thank god! I've been here for who knows how long! Please, you have to get me out of here! Those bitches are crazy! They tortured me for who knows how long! Get me out of here, please!"
Other prisoners, who noticed what was going on, decided to also plead.
"Please, get us out!"
"You don't know what we've been through!"
And many shouts like that have been heard. Some spoke in other languages which even Zoe had a hard time understanding, but it was obvious that they also begged to be free.
"Oh man, what do we do?" Percy asked.
"I don't know," Annabeth answered. "We could free them but who knows how long that will take, and that's assuming these are the only prisoners here."
A screeching of an eagle was heard and Zoe looked at one of the windows while Percy and Annabeth were distracted by the noise from the prisoners. What she saw definitely wasn't a normal eagle as it seemed to be made of blue and yellow flames. The eagle then flew down out of the sight of the windows.
Zoe wasn't sure what that was, but considering this place didn't have any guards she wasn't willing to risk it.
"Come on, we need to go!" Zoe quickly said. "All this shouting will get someone's attention and we will be noticed!"
Zoe then began running down the hallway. The two demigods weren't sure about just leaving those men there but followed Zoe nonetheless.
"No, wait! Come back!"
"Don't leave us behind!"
The group ignored the shouts as they ran down the hallway and quickly made a turn to the left into another hallway, but this one was devoid of prisoners. Then they stopped when they saw the path split into two, with one on the left having a staircase up while the other continued forward.
"Where now?" Percy asked.
Zoe made a snap decision. "Up!"
The three quickly ran up the stairs, with the shouts from the prisoners slowly dying down. In the end, this was the wiser decision in Zoe's mind. Here there were no windows so less of a chance to be spotted by whatever was flying outside.
Before they reached the end of the stairway, Zoe came to a sudden making the other two stop as well. She then put her back on the opposite wall before slowly climbing up the last couple of stairs and peek around a corner to see if anyone was there. Seeing nobody, she then did the same to the other path, finding it clear as well.
"Come," Zoe ordered.
They climbed up the stairway, but then they faced the same problem as before. Choosing a path. It wasn't easy to tell with one to choose as they both led in a similar direction.
Zoe's ears then twitched.
"Listen," Zoe said.
"What's the matter?" Annabeth asked.
"There is someone on this… floor," Zoe answered. "I think it's coming from… there."
The former Hunter pointed right and they began moving in that direction at a steady pace. As they got closer, they were able to hear someone. It sounded like that person was talking.
"Yes, yes, must record," they heard the person say in a shaky voice. "Oh, I've never had so many recordings in a while. He, he, he, he!"
"Anyone else weirded out by this?" Percy asked.
"Let's just see what we are dealing with," Zoe said as they got closer to the end of the hallway.
Once they made a turn, they were greeted by a sight of a singular cell, not that much different from the one they had seen before. Inside was an old man dressed only in a yellow loincloth and foot wrappings. The front of his scalp had no hair while the back was white from age. He was scribbling something on the left wall with what looked like a piece of charcoal. The language was quite peculiar, as they didn't recognize the letters.
The cell was barely lit, but they noticed that there were similar scribblings all over the walls. Sometimes, there were even drawings of what seemed to be Cottus being chained.
"Well, you can't say this guy isn't being productive," Percy commented.
The old man then made stopped what he was doing and made a sharp turn towards them, startling Percy and Annabeth a bit. He held a surprised look on his face, probably not expecting anyone to be there.
"O-oh, unexpected visitors," the old man said before grinning wildly. "Oh, how exciting! I must put this in the record!" And then he once again began writing on the wall.
"Um, sir?" Annabeth said. "Who are you?"
"Oh, I'm just a simple scribe, my child," the man answered in a somewhat deranged tone as he finished writing. He then turned back to the group and stood up, showing similar writings on his exposed upper body. "Though, I was the first man to be put here, yes, yes. The very first one… to break an oath."
That got all three of them curious. "Break an oath? What dost thou mean?" Zoe asked.
"Oh, it's quite simple, my dear," the scribe answered. "You see, Cottus, like all the Hecatonchires, made blood oaths with the gods. When Zeus freed them from Tartarus along with the Cyclopes, they made an oath sealed in blood to show their everlasting support for the Olympians.
"But Cottus… oh, he didn't want to do that anymore. Didn't like the way gods were behaving, no, no. He turned his back on them. Zeus was furious, so he sent the Furies after him, that he did. Furies have decided that death was too kind for him, so they got creative. They turned his body into a prison, a special one made for the ones who broke their oaths to the gods. And Cottus suffers to this day."
The three heroes were shocked to hear such a thing. To punish someone in such a way seemed… extreme, to say the least. And Zoe was familiar with the way gods punished people.
"And you made were the first to make this 'blood oath' and break it?" Percy asked.
"Why yes, that I was!" the scribe said excitedly before running over to the other part of the cell. He crouched and grabbed some sort of cylindrical metal contraption that looked like a lantern and moved it to the small beams of light in his cell. Soon, the whole cell was illuminated as the light spread from the contents of the broken lantern. He then pointed at one of the newly illuminated scribblings. "There! That's when I was taken!"
Percy moved closer to Annabeth. "Should we tell him we have no idea what he is writing?" he whispered.
"As much as I'd like an explanation, we are pressed for time," Annabeth said.
"Listen, we are searching for a friend of ours," Zoe said. "He was taken by Furies. He has pale skin and a red tattoo on his body. Can thou tell us where he is?"
The man's eyes lit as he was a little kid that was suddenly given candy. "Oh, oh, yes! You mean the Marked One!" he exclaimed before going to the opposite wall. "There. That's where I recorded his coming here. Oh, ho, ho, his arrival was most excellent! Almost nothing happened in all these years, but when he arrived so many things happened. I was able to fill this entire part with recordings!" He moved his hand over several lined bricks that showed his writing.
"Wait, how long were you here?" Annabeth asked. "You said you were the first man to be put here because of the breaking of a blood oath, but we saw people from very different eras of history."
The scribe paused before scratching his head. "I… I'm not really sure," he said as a smile graced his lips. "I lost count after the first two centuries!"
"So… this place keeps you alive forever?"
"Well, it was made to give eternal punishment for the prisoners so I imagine so, yes, yes," the scribe said.
"Enough!" Zoe exclaimed. "Listen, if thou know where our friend is, tell us. We need to save him."
"You… you want to save your friend? You want to defy the Furies?" he asked as the excited grin on his face returned. "Oh, this MUST go to the record!" He then once again went to the wall and began writing.
Percy rubbed his face in annoyance. "Oh, come on! We aren't getting anywhere like this!"
Zoe shared his sentiment. She had a huge urge to shot this man with an arrow.
"Wait, I have an idea," Annabeth said. "Listen, sir, are you hungry?" The scribe immediately stopped writing and looked at Annabeth. "I'm sure you haven't had any proper nourishment in a long time. So…" She then took off her backpack. "…I have some food here. It's mostly ambrosia, but-"
"Ambrosia?!" the scribe said before suddenly running over to the bars, making Annabeth jump back in surprise with Zoe and Percy also jolting backward. The old scribe's hand reached through the gaps of the bars and began grabbing the air in front of Annabeth desperately. "Please, give it to me! I haven't tasted ambrosia in so long! Give it to me, give it to me!"
Percy got in front of his girlfriend with his hand outstretched protectively. "Whoa there, creep! Back off from my girlfriend!"
"Please, give me some ambrosia! It's been so, so long since I've tasted the food of the gods! I'll do anything!"
"Should we?" Annabeth asked, though still somewhat reluctant considering the old man's behavior.
"Won't the ambrosia kill him?" Percy asked.
"He may not be the soundest of minds, but I don't think he is suicidal," Zoe commented. "He is probably some sort of demigod if he can eat ambrosia. And if he has some information we need, then we should offer it to him."
"Right then," Annabeth said before walking closer to the cell but still out of the man's reach. She opened her pack and took out an ambrosia cube, and the old man looked even more excited. "We will give you this ambrosia, but in exchange, we want some information."
"Ask me anything! I know plenty!" the scribe said.
"Alright. Do you know where our friend is? The 'Marked One' I think you called him," Annabeth said.
"Ah, yes! That young man that was brought here," the scribe said. "I'm sorry, but I don't know exactly where he is. However, I do know someone who will surely lead you to him!"
"Who?"
"It's Orkos! He is the one who led the Marked One here! He is the kept at the heart of the Hecatonchire!"
"Wait, you mean literally?" Percy asked.
"Yes! He should two more floors up from here! That's where you'll find him, I swear."
"Then we should go," Zoe said.
"Wait, I'm curious about something," Percy said. "What exactly is Orkos' deal in all of this?"
"Oh, Orkos has quite a history here," the scribe answered. "He was the first Marked One. But Ares didn't like how he turned out so he left him with his mothers." The scribe paused as his head hung. "You know, they used to be fair. Harsh. But fair. That changed when Ares came to them, I imagine. Now those Furies are incredibly cruel. The things they did to their son after he helped the other Marked One…"
"Ok, who are these 'Marked Ones' you keep mentioning?" Percy asked.
"Oh, I… I… I'm not sure exactly," the scribe said. "All I know is that it involves some sort of prophecy."
Percy palmed his face. "Why am I not surprised?"
"We've wasted enough time here?! We have to go?!" Zoe said.
"Um, thank you for your help, sir," Annabeth said before moving closer to hand him the ambrosia.
Once it was close enough, the man immediately grabbed it and began eating desperately. "Oh, yes! Oh, how I've missed this sensation!"
"I think we should leave him alone now," Percy said and the three of them quickly moved away from there, with the scribe once again saying he was going to record the experience.
Getting back the same path they went for the other one, and this time it held some prisoners, but they quickly passed them so the prisoners don't cause a ruckus as they did before. They found another staircase and ran to the next floor.
"You know, for a prison, this place really isn't guarded," commented Percy.
"That's probably because no one was stupid enough to come here on purpose," Annabeth said.
Percy smirked. "Well, we showed them. We are stupid enough."
"Oh be quiet, Seaweed Brain."
Once they reached the end of the stairway, Zoe repeated her scouting process. Once again the coast is clear, so they moved quickly again. If the pattern was consistent, then the left side should have a staircase up. And it did, so they once again hurried up.
"Say, should we free all the guys here, including that old man?" Percy asked.
"We aren't here to play hero, Perseus Jackson," Zoe said.
"Come on, Zoe. How can you be so heartless? These guys have been here for who knows how long and endured who knows what."
"But they aren't our concern. Our concern is getting Marcus out of here. So we should focus on that."
"Bu Zoe-"
"Drop it, Percy," Annabeth said. "We'll think of something later."
Percy only groaned but gave a nod.
As they got closer, the heartbeat they were hearing before now became even louder. Not only that but they could actually feel some tremors coming from the beating heart which made the ground beneath them slightly vibrate.
The trio then once again found themselves on another floor, this one still absent of guards thank the gods.
"Alright, so we just go and find this Orkos and he helps us find Marcus? Sounds simple," Percy said.
"Let's hope that simple also means easy," Annabeth said.
They moved through the hallways, looking through cells to see if Orkos might be in one. Annabeth and Zoe may not know what he looks like exactly, but since Orkos appeared in Percy's dream at least he will be able to recognize him.
They came to a stop as they heard something clanging really loudly. They weren't sure but it seemed to come from the floor above.
"We have to hurry. Someone may be looking for us," Zoe said.
"We already searched more than half of this floor. It shouldn't take too long for us to find Orkos," Annabeth said.
They hurriedly looked through the cells, then Percy noticed someone at the end of the hall. Percy recalled his dream and recognized the man as Orkos. Unlike in the dream, he looked more normal. He was dressed in a robe-like shirt with some of his chest exposed, an ornate belt with a brown cloth that covered his nether regions along with a sheathed sword on the side, and sandals. He had short black hair and a goatee, his skin was light those from what was exposed it seemed to have numerous circular scars across the chest area. And there were also some black smears that covered his left arm and right forearm, with some also covering his left cheek, and the left side of his neck, and some on his torso.
"Guys, that's him!" Percy said making the two quickly turn. "He's the one from my dreams!"
They quickly ran over to his cell and saw the slumped visage of Orkos. He looked asleep though he seemed to be hardly breathing.
Quickly taking Riptide out, Percy slashed across the bars, making them fall down with an echo.
Annabeth winced. "Nice going, Seaweed Brain. Couldn't you have just sliced the lock?"
"Sorry, Annabeth. I was in a hurry."
Orkos groaned, getting the trio's attention, having been no doubt awakened by the noise. His eyes opened weakly as he moved his head to look at them.
"Percy Jackson," he said in a weak voice as if struggling to stay conscious. "So you've come at last."
Annabeth quickly took out some ambrosia and nectar from her backpack. She kneeled down and put an ambrosia cube in Orko's mouth. The male Fury began slowly biting into it and swallowing, and with some energy restored he began biting harder until the cube was gone. Annabeth then put the nectar bottle to his lips and slowly poured, with Orkos happily drinking. She then pulled it back so she didn't give him too much.
Orkos wiped his lips, looking better than he did before. "Oh, thank you. You are very kind, Annabeth Chase."
"You know who I am?" she asked.
"Yes. Thanks to my job as an oathkeeper I have to be very well informed about what's going on," Orkos said. "And I also recognize Zoe Nightshade, the former Hunter of Artemis."
"It's a pleasure to meet thee as well," Zoe said.
"Likewise," Orkos said. "Now, I know you haven't come here looking for me. You are looking for Marcus, and I'll help you." The clanging noises then came back, with Orkos also noticing them. He stood up. "We must hurry. We can't have our mothers find us out. Follow me."
He then walked out of his cell, though with a slight limp as he didn't completely recover, and they followed.
The group of four was now walking through a secret tunnel, one which Orkos knew with all the time he was here. It should certainly lead them straight to Marcus. The tunnel was dark, no light coming in with only a torch that Zoe held leading the way. The roof also wasn't that high, with Orkos almost being able to reach it just by standing.
"So, can you explain to us what exactly is going on? You didn't get to tell me much in that dream," Percy said as he helped Orkos walk with the Fury's arm around his shoulder. The man wasn't all that muscular so he wasn't really heavy. "And why exactly did you contact me?"
"Well, it's a bit complicated," Orkos said. "But as for your second question, you are so far the most accomplished demigod of this generation. You were my best bet for the rescue to succeed."
Percy blushed at the compliment. "Wow, uhm, thanks."
Annabeth gave Orkos an annoyed stare. "You know, he didn't exactly do it by himself."
"Perhaps, but he was present the most in all of them. But I knew that he wouldn't go alone, and I was right. Getting the second most accomplished demigod like you was a guarantee."
Now it was Annabeth's turn to slightly blush. "Yeah, well, hard to believe that Seaweed Brain here would be number one."
"Courage, skill, and spirit count as well, Annabeth Chase. Not just brain," Orkos said. "But I'm sure you'd rather know why all of this mess happened."
"Yes, we'd like to know," Annabeth said with Percy and Zoe paying attention.
"Alright, well this predates all the way back to Ancient Greece, where Aletheia, who was the Oracle of Delphi at the time, had a vision of the future, a prophecy where she saw the very Olympus crumble."
"You mean the Great Prophecy?" Annabeth asked. "The one where a demigod will reach sixteen and possibly destroy Olympus?"
Orkos shook his head. "No, that is a different prophecy. This one was a much more private matter. The Great Prophecy says that a demigod could possibly help or destroy Olympus, but this prophecy doesn't contain anything else but destruction of it. The words of Aletheia were 'A Marked Warrior shall bring about the destruction of Olympus'."
The trio looked at each other worriedly. Not only did they have to deal with an apocalyptic prophecy, now they to deal with two.
"Does that prophecy say anything specific, like when it would happen or…?"
"That's as far as the prophecy got, I'm afraid," Orkos said. "And it has been like that for millennia, without anything like it coming true. You see, I was considered a Marked One. My father thought that a union between a god of war and a queen of the Furies would produce powerful offspring, and when the prophecy came to light, my father thought that I would be that warrior since I possessed markings on my body. But…" Orkos paused, gaining a sad expression. "I… I was nothing but a disappointment to my father. I wasn't very powerful, or even that great of a fighter, so he cast me away from his side."
"Jeez, and I thought Ares couldn't be even more of a jerk," Percy said.
"Trust me, he is worse when you get to know him," Orkos said. "Anyway, after that, my mothers took pity on me and gave me a task of being an oathkeeper, where I would make sure that the people who made blood oaths with the gods kept them. But the prophecy didn't end. Not long after the first prophecy, Aletheia saw another vision. This time it showed that a god of war would be responsible for the destruction of Olympus."
The trio looked shocked at Orkos.
"So… Ares will be the one to bring down Olympus?" Percy asked.
"Yes, it seemed that way," Orkos answered. "Me and Aletheia went to warn Zeus, but Ares and my mothers caught on to our intentions. I wasn't discovered but Aletheia was, so my mothers they… they took my beloved's eyes from her, and made sure she never left her temple."
"By the gods," Annabeth said. This was honestly too much. They now heard of another prophecy that said Olympus would be destroyed, and then they learned that Ares may be behind it, and they once again heard the cruelty of the Furies.
"Wait, thine beloved?" Zoe said. "Thou mean Aletheia?"
Orkos gave a nod. "Yes. Aletheia was my beloved."
"How can that be possible? The oracles of Apollo are sworn to chastity."
Orkos chuckled. "Are you really the one to question such a thing, Zoe Nightshade?" Zoe wanted to answer, but then looked away. "Love isn't something you can just get away from, no matter what oaths you make. It is an intrinsic part of all of us. It comes when you don't expect it, and when it does you don't want to let it go."
Zoe found it funny. Only a decade ago she would have disagreed with him, emphatically. But after everything she's been through, she had to believe him.
"Do the gods know about Ares being the one to destroy Olympus?" Annabeth asked.
"No, they don't," Orkos answered. "The information never reached Olympus, and my mothers had strict eyes on me for years. I was never able to properly convey that information. And Aletheia died a long time ago, so I'm the only one who knows of it." Orkos then smiled at them. "Present company excluded, of course."
"Then we should warn Olympus about it," Annabeth said.
"You may try, but know that Ares that will keep watch on you if your quest succeeds. I advise you that you wait before revealing the rest of the prophecy, and my father will probably think you don't know anything if he doesn't see you trying. Or at least he'll be less suspicious."
"Considering I'm nearing sixteen, we already have another prophecy to worry about," Percy said before another thought crossed his mind. "Hey, you called the Furies your mothers. Do you mean it figuratively or literally?" Percy thought he needed to specify since with his knowledge of Greek Mythology the latter one may as well be the case.
Orkos smiled at the boy's confusion before replying. "Alecto is my biological mother, but all three of the Furies raised me so they are all my mothers in a sense."
"So that's how it is," Percy said. "Alecto, eh? You know, your mom was a teacher at a school I attended, Yancy Academy. She tried to have me killed but Chiron gave me Riptide and I was able to send her back to Hades."
"I see," Orkos said. "So she was the one who Hades sent to look for the Lighting Thief. But there is something I must tell you, Percy Jackson. Don't let your previous victory over her give you false confidence."
"What do you mean?" Percy asked.
"My mothers were spawned from the primordial blood of Ouranos, and their power is immense because of that. They are usually restricted when under the service of Hades who feared that in the mortal world they would cause too much chaos. But in the Sea of Monsters that isn't the case, and their power here isn't restricted."
"Right," Percy muttered under his breath. "I forgot that it's never that simple for us."
"And how does Marcus fit into all of this?" Annabeth asked.
"Right, I should continue," Orkos said. "When I learned that my father had gotten a new servant I didn't think much of it, but when I saw those markings on him I became worried. I knew that my father was preparing for the prophecy so I knew that I had to break Marcus' bond to Ares so that the prophecy doesn't come to pass.
"I contacted Marcus and offered him assistance doing the quest, but my mothers discovered us. Marcus and I were taken, and my mothers tortured me for some time. And then you came."
"Some mothers they are if they are willing to do such a thing to their own son," Annabeth said with a scowl. She had problems with her own family, but what happened to Orkos was something else entirely.
They walked in silence for a little while more, now mostly going upwards as the tunnel's shape shifted.
"Are we getting close?" Zoe asked.
"We should be," Orkos said as he looked at the right wall. "Wait, stop here!"
The four of them halted.
"So, where is the door?" Percy asked.
"You'll see," Orkos said as he moved away from Percy and put his arm on the wall. His fingers then began trailing a pattern on the wall, with yellow markings appearing on the wall before there was a yellow glowing outline of a door. "There. The doors are here."
Zoe then gave Annabeth the torch before putting herself up against the door and pushing. The door then gave a slight creek as they were opened, with the trio being blasted with sunlight, making them cover their eyes.
Zoe recovered first, and when her sight cleared her eyes went wide and she gasped at what she saw. Right there, in the middle of the room, in a kneeling position and his arms suspended by the chains of his blades…
…was Marcus.
AN: And so this ends as well, for now, my dear readers! We finally have Marcus appearing after several chapters. I'm sure you missed him. And sorry for the lack of action in this one, but trust me, the next chapter will more than makeup for it. I promise.
Now, I heard some PJO fans complain that Artemis shouldn't be paired with anyone since she is supposed to a goddess of maidenhood. Well, Zeus is supposed to be a god of justice and law. And I'm sure we all know how good of a reputation he has with those. Not to mention Hera is supposed to be a goddess of family, yet she is pretty good at ruining them *cough*Hercules*cough*. And for gods' sakes, leave Pertemis shippers alone! If they like to imagine that pairing then let them! As Red from OSP recently said, Greek Mythology had fanfiction written about it before it was Greek Mythology.
Sorry for the rant, I just needed to get that off my chest.
Right then. I hope that you go and check out my other stories. They are worth it, trust me. And leave a review. They are great motivators.
See you next time!