Hello again! How's it going? Ready for another update? Cuz here it is! It was great reading you guys' reviews for the last two chapters. Like, this whole Percy/Perseus thing has really gotten you guys on the edge of your seats. The big reveal won't be for another few chapters though, so hang onto your hats! There will be plenty of clues coming your way. Please don't stop speculating! As always, I love to hear your thoughts and feedback is greatly appreciated. With that, please read, enjoy, and review!

Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson or Heroes of Olympus. All rights go to Rick Riordan.

Previously:

Thirty monsters fell. Then fifty. Just as Artemis was beginning to see the wave of monsters thinning, there was a blur of celestial bronze in her peripheral vision. She barely managed to look around and register it as the butt of Atlas' javelin before a splitting pain shot through her head, and the world dissolved into darkness.

Dreams and Visions

Mount Othrys, San Francisco, California

Artemis woke with a groan. Her head was pounding painfully, and her arms and legs felt like lead. She could vaguely hear talking that hushed as soon as she made a noise.

"Awake, little goddess?" Atlas' unpleasant voice grated against her ears. Artemis forced her eyes open and watched disorientedly as multiple copies of the ground swam before her. Slowly, her eyes focused, and Artemis sat up, realizing with a rush of rage and fear that her wrists and ankles were bound with heavy celestial bronze chains. Looking around, she noticed she was locked in a minuscule prison cell. Atlas leered at her through the bars as if she were a particularly nasty, but somewhat interesting, animal. Artemis glared back at him with all the anger and malice she could muster.

Atlas tutted condescendingly, "Now, now, no need for that. We're all friends here. Isn't that right, Luke?" Atlas barely acknowledged Luke's existence, but Artemis' eyes were directed to the traitorous demigod for the first time. Her eyes narrowed as the son of Hermes regarded her coldly.

"What do you want?" Artemis rasped, her voice hoarse from dehydration and disuse.

Atlas ignored her, instead turning to Luke with a look of utmost contempt and commanding him, "Get her out."

Luke's emotionless mask remained firmly in place, but Artemis noticed the faint clenching of his jaw. He obviously wasn't happy with the way Atlas treated him. Serves him right, Artemis thought snidely. A moment later, the lock to her cell clicked open, and she was roughly pulled from the ground.

"Walk," Luke growled at her, pushing her forward roughly. Artemis stumbled, her legs still a little shaky from her previous unconsciousness. "Weak," the demigod scoffed.

Artemis wanted so much to turn this boy into a jackalope and kill him slowly, but she contented herself with turning around sharply and letting the chains hanging from her wrists slam hard into his gut. Luke grunted and doubled over in pain, wheezing as the breath was knocked right out of him. Artemis might not have her full godly might, but her strength was still well above average. She smirked at her small victory, and even Atlas was far too delighted by the demigod's pain and humiliation to punish Artemis for her retaliation.

As Luke regained his breath, Artemis could see the fury blazing in his eyes. He snarled and grabbed a fistful of her hair, yanking her up until they were face to face. The demigod prepared to yell at her, but Atlas roughly smacked Luke's hand with his javelin, forcing him to release her. "Come now, Luke, let's not waste our breath on her. You're just letting her get to you more if you do that."

They proceeded down the narrow corridor to who knows where. Atlas jabbed Artemis in the back with his javelin every few meters, impatient with their slow progress. They eventually emerged onto a rocky plateau where a domed ceiling covered in clouds and stars arched over their heads. There was a large stone column where the ceiling connected to the ground.

While the sight itself was quite awe-inspiring and fearsome, what really caught Artemis' eye was the blonde girl chained to the base of the column, shaking in pain and exhaustion as she was slowly crushed by the weight of the sky. Annabeth Chase, Artemis' subconscious provided her with a name. It was the girl Percy nearly threw himself off a cliff for.

Artemis was struck with horror as she realized that a mere demigod, a young girl like those she had sworn to protect, had been forced to bear a load meant for a Titan. "No!" Artemis spat at Atlas in disgust, "I will not allow this. This is low. Even for you. Release her now!"

"Why would I do that?" Atlas asked with a flippant shrug, "If she's freed, who will hold the sky? You should know that the sky and earth must never meet."

"I may be wrong, but I believe the one for whom the burden is meant should be the one to carry it," Artemis growled, sarcasm dripping from every syllable.

"Yes, but I rather enjoy being free," Atlas said, "And you are in no condition to be making demands of me."

Artemis watched as Annabeth's leg collapsed from beneath her, forcing her to a knee. Without a second thought, Artemis demanded, "Give the sky to me."

"Just as I anticipated," Atlas crowed triumphantly, "You gods are much too predictable."

"So this is why you captured me," Artemis said more to herself than anyone else. She crouched so she was level with Annabeth and said, "Annabeth? I am Artemis. We met once when you were very young. If I remember correctly, you nearly joined my Hunt. That aside, you have to give me the sky now. You won't last much longer if you don't."

Annabeth lifted her head feebly, looking up at Artemis with grey eyes clouded with pain. At Artemis' words, a spark of recognition and concern flashed through them. Taking a shuddering breath, Annabeth rasped, "I can't let you take it, Lady Artemis. I can't let them trap you. You have to fight."

"We have no choice," Artemis shook her head, "Please, give it to me."

Annabeth shook her head, mouth set in a stubborn line.

"Annabeth, you have to," Artemis urged, "Your friends are worried sick. Especially Percy." The blonde demigod's features softened at the mention of her best friend. Artemis noted the effect and drove the point home, "They're going to do everything they can to find you, and I believe that they would rather find you alive than dead. I cannot die. It is only right if I carry the sky."

Annabeth's resolve wavered in the face of the logical rationale. She gritted her teeth in pain and uncertainty before finally relenting, "Okay, I'm sorry, Lady Artemis." The daughter of Athena inched to the side as Artemis crawled under the dome beside her. As Annabeth lowered the sky onto her shoulders, a wave of pain rushed through the goddess' body. Artemis sucked in a quick breath at the growing discomfort, but she trucked on, shifting the weight to rest solely on her shoulders as Annabeth practically collapsed to the ground. In a flash, Luke was by her side, looking almost worried for his fellow demigod. As she watched him scoop Annabeth securely in his arms, Artemis was reminded of their history together. It had been several years since their time on the run, but Artemis clearly remembered their ragtag little group. A daughter of Zeus, a son of Hermes, and a daughter of Athena traveling together. They stood out like a sore thumb to monsters and gods alike. But their sibling-like bond had kept them alive and together.

From her new prison under the sky, Artemis heard Atlas scoff, "Come now, Luke. You look like you almost care about this stupid girl. You know what we have to do now, don't you? We have the goddess. We've no more use for a weak little half-blood."

Luke was silent for a moment, before he said emotionlessly, "We use Annabeth as bait. She's one of Percy Jackson's best friends after all. It'll get him here much faster."

Atlas made a noise like he was about to argue, but he seemed to reconsider, "My, my, the son of Hermes comes up with a useful plan for once. We'll chain her by the goddess. That way any visions Jackson has will show both of them. Twice the motivation for him to get here, I'm sure."

Camp Half-Blood, Long Island, New York

Percy woke with a start, cold sweat soaking through his shirt. In his dream, he had watched Artemis take the sky for Annabeth, and it filled him with a disproportionate sense of worry, anger, and fear, given his brief three-sentence relationship with the goddess. Suddenly, a now-familiar flash of pain shot through his head. As he gritted his teeth and screwed his eyes shut, images - memories - flew through his mind. Percy was confused. Over the past week, he had been having more and more of these strange headaches. Each one came with a random flash of memory or emotion, mostly related to Artemis in some way. Artemis talking to him. Artemis teaching him archery. Artemis flying her moon chariot. The random snippets were endless, and they were so routine, like whomever the memories belonged to had spent thousands of years with the goddess. Percy imagined they were most likely the memories of a Hunter.

This time, however, the memory was odd. It was more vivid and quite alarming. Whereas before, the memories had been peaceful, happy glimpses into everyday life, this was very different. He was fighting. No, he was attacking. He was attacking an army of soldiers dressed in Ancient Greek armor. He slashed at the row of soldiers in his path and whirled around to charge at another. Suddenly, a blur of silver flashed directly into his path. Artemis, Percy realized immediately, but whoever's memory he was watching obviously didn't recognize the goddess. Strange, considering this mysterious person had so many other memories of the moon goddess.

Percy watched in horror as the sword blade continued its deadly path. Just an instant before Artemis was impaled, the scene faded to black, leaving Percy terrified and disoriented back in his cabin. Blinking away the spots of red that lingered in his vision, Percy took a few deep breaths to calm his frayed nerves. A glance at his clock told him he was late for breakfast, and a glance at his calendar told him he had forgotten about Capture the Flag against the Hunters of Artemis. He cursed, leaping out of bed to scramble for his clothes and armor.

As he sprinted to the Mess Hall to grab a bite of food, he saw Campers and Hunters alike already trickling out toward the woods. He caught Zoe Nightshade's eye as she walked out with a group of Hunters. For an instant, Percy thought he saw the lieutenant falter and frown thoughtfully, but before he could even blink, she schooled her features back to her cool mask and sneered at him. Percy quickly averted his gaze, wondering what the girl's brief hesitation was about.

Quickly shaking himself from his thoughts, Percy hustled to breakfast, sacrificing a portion of his food to his father and - after a moment's pause - Artemis, before wolfing down his eggs and bacon like a starving man.

He made it to the Capture the Flag grounds approximately five minutes before the game was set to start. As he joined the Campers, the children of Athena and Ares looked up from their strategizing huddle to scowl at him. He was a co-captain for their team along with Thalia, so he guessed their anger was well-placed. Percy raised his hands guiltily and went to join Thalia.

"So, what's the plan?" He asked the girl.

Thalia smirked, "Divide and conquer."

"And who came up with that one?" Percy asked, nodding to the huddle of Athena and Ares kids.

"The daughter of Zeus," Thalia snorted, "I can't wait to wipe that smug little smirk off Lieutenant Nightmare's face."

"Don't let Zoe hear you calling her that," Percy shook his head, glancing in the direction of the Hunters' side of the forest.

"Whatever," Thalia snorted, "So here's how it'll go. There's a decoy group that we'll send in for the flag. While the Hunters are hung up with the decoy group, I'll sneak in and actually get the flag. We've got Clarisse and Will holding down fort."

Percy frowned, "So what do I do?"

"You're defense at Zeus' fist," Thalia said.

"What? No, I'd be so much more helpful on offense," Percy argued, "Get Nico and some other new Campers to defend. It's a lot safer."

"It's decided, Percy," Thalia glared hard at him.

Percy opened his mouth to argue, but a small voice cut him off, "I'll move to defense." It was Nico di Angelo.

"What?" Thalia spluttered.

"Will they put Bianca on offense?" Nico asked, a frown set on his face.

"Most likely not," Percy said, "She's new, and defense is safest, so she'll either be in the field playing defense or at their base guarding the flag."

"Then I'll go defend. You can take my spot on the decoy group," Nico muttered, "I don't want to fight my sister." The little boy's eyes darkened, and he walked off without another word. Percy was speechless. That was the most Nico had spoken to him since the day they met. Percy knew that Nico blamed him for his sister leaving him. Guilt pooled in Percy's stomach, even if he knew it was unfounded.

As her eyes followed Nico's retreating back, Thalia grumbled, "You lucked out, Jackson." She rejoined the other Campers on their team. Percy frowned but walked over to join the decoy group, uncapping his ballpoint-pen-slash-sword Riptide. As the three foot long bronze weapon expanded to fit in his hand, Chiron blew the horn to begin the match.

Immediately, his group marched out, heading toward the river that acted as the boundary between the teams' territories. Thalia disappeared into the underbrush a step behind them. As the river came into view, a shower of silver arrows rained down on the Campers. Percy ducked behind his shield as the projectiles flew toward him with deadly accuracy and tried to pinpoint where they were coming from. Spotting movement along the treeline on the opposite bank, Percy narrowed his eyes and focused on the water flowing past them. He snapped his fingers, and suddenly, water sloshed over the riverbanks and rose to form a wall, blocking the arrows and steadily bearing down on the Hunters by the trees. "Go, go!" Percy shouted for his teammates to follow in the wake of his water barrier. It wouldn't hold for long, but it would allow them to get into the forest, where they could at least fight in close range. Most of the Campers used swords and spears, nothing with a range long enough to take out archers a hundred yards away.

Percy was about to follow his teammates across the river, but a girl broke through the wall of water, sending the whole thing crashing back into the riverbed. It was Zoe. She sprinted across to the Campers' side, heading straight for where Percy knew Nico to be stationed.

Percy was torn. As much as he wanted to be part of the offensive, he knew Nico was no match for the Lieutenant of the Hunt. Heck, Percy himself was probably no match for her, but he had a much better chance than Nico of at least stalling her. Shouting across to his teammates, Percy ordered, "You guys go! I'm going to try to stall her! Hurry!" Needing no further prompting, the Campers disappeared into the trees.

Turning back to his target, Percy sprinted to catch up to Zoe. He waved his hand and directed a mini hurricane to block the Hunter's path. Seeing her way blocked on both sides, Zoe snarled and whirled around, pulling out her hunting knives. She looked around and spotted some fellow Hunters who had followed her over into Camper territory and commanded, "Phoebe, go for the flag!"

The other Hunter nodded sharply and sprinted ahead, sweeping away through few Campers defending the area. Percy watched Beckendorf engage Phoebe in battle before refocusing on his own opponent. Realizing Zoe wasn't about to make a break for it without handing his butt to him first, he let the hurricane fizzle out and faced her, Riptide at the ready. Zoe sneered at him superciliously and pulled out her dual silver knives. Without warning, she shot forward, slashing at him with one blade and following up with a stab from the other. As Percy caught the first slash against his shield and parried the second strike, the Hunter added a kick to his gut for good measure. The force of the blow made him hunch over, but his armor protected him enough so he felt no pain. However, the reaction was all Zoe needed to land a cut on his arm. Percy hissed in pain, but he quickly stepped back to plan his next move. Thankfully, the cut wasn't on his dominant arm, so he was able to wield his sword properly as he slowly backed up toward the river in the hopes that the water would heal and strengthen him. Zoe, realizing his intention, moved to attack again, but Percy slashed his free hand out at her, watching in slight surprise and concern when some water hardened into sharp spears of ice that flew at her mercilessly.

Zoe managed to evade the projectiles, but she was shocked at Percy's display. Sons of Poseidon weren't known to have control over ice. Water, yes. Storms, yes. Earthquakes, yes. But ice, no. Now that she thought about it, Zoe hadn't actually seen Percy manipulate water like other sons of Poseidon. Instead of bending water to his will, Percy seemed to rely mostly on storms and, apparently, ice. The few attacks he did with plain water - Zoe's mind jumped to the wall of water he had erected moments ago - seemed to take twice the amount of effort for half the effectiveness. Noticing Percy resume his path toward the river, she shook herself from her thoughts, filing them away for later analysis. She had to focus.

Meanwhile, Percy had just managed to get a foot in the river before Zoe was attacking him again. The Hunter feinted left, striking at his right side with her other knife, but Percy saw past the trick, bringing his sword down to intercept the blow. Quickly gathering his wits about him, Percy pushed back with a forceful counterattack. His blade arced gracefully through the air. Zoe anticipated an attack and jumped back, raising her knives to block the sword should it still manage to reach her. However, Zoe didn't anticipate such a fierce retaliation from the demigod. Percy's blade not only managed to close the distance and reach her, but it also got past her block to an extent. Zoe felt the blade nick her thigh, and she grimaced at the unexpected sting.

By this point, she noticed Percy's injury had been healed by the water, and she cursed herself for allowing him to even get to the river. Zoe snarled and lunged, deciding to press down on Percy until he was beaten or gave up. A flurry of slashes followed, and Percy had his work cut out just trying to avoid getting hit. Zoe struck with lethal precision, but she made one mistake: she stabbed at him. Immediately, Percy caught her blade with his own and twisted his sword. The silver knife flew out of Zoe's hand and landed in some bushes several meters away. Zoe's glare hardened, and she jumped back a safe distance to recalibrate.

Percy smirked, seeing Zoe's harsh glare and intense scowl and knowing he was getting under her skin. Suddenly, the recurrent headache was back with a vengeance. Percy gasped as he was pulled roughly from his battle into some memory from ages past. He watched in resignation as the forest around him dissolved to be replaced by a campfire and some tents. Beside him sat Zoe Nightshade who looked, dare he say it, happy. She was laughing at something, and her onyx eyes glittered with mirth. She looked over at him with a smirk and opened her mouth to speak, but the memory faded out before he heard what she said.

As abruptly as it had begun, the memory stopped, leaving Percy crouched on the ground, clutching his head in pain. The tip of Zoe's silver knife rested dangerously beneath his chin, but Zoe herself looked curious, almost concerned. Percy fought through the lingering pain and raised his hands in surrender. Zoe hesitantly backed up and sheathed her knife. "Are you okay?" She asked flatly.

"Yes, yes, I think so," Percy groaned as he stood up. Shaking his head like a dog, he grinned and held out a hand toward Zoe, "That was a great bout. You're really good."

Zoe sniffed and lightly grasped Percy's hand before letting go quickly, "Well, I should be. I've only been training for several thousand years."

Percy's eyes bugged out, "Several thousand?"

"Yes," Zoe said curtly.

"Wow…" he breathed, "Well, thanks for not killing me then." Zoe frowned at his attempted - and failed - humor, unimpressed. As Percy grinned sheepishly, a blur in his peripheral vision drew his attention. It was Phoebe. Crossing the river with their flag. Percy's eyes widened as he saw Thalia emerge from the trees across the river, toting the Hunters' flag, but everybody knew she was too late. Phoebe's foot landed on the Hunters' bank, and Chiron blew his horn, signaling an end to the game.

The Hunter's cheered happily and smirked at the Campers victoriously, while the Campers groaned in frustration at their fifty-sixth consecutive loss. Thalia looked murderous, and thunder rolled in the distance to punctuate her anger. "Percy, get away from her," the daughter of Zeus snarled, brandishing her spear.

Percy stepped back as his automatic fear response kicked in. "Woah, calm down, Thals," he tried to placate her.

"Calm down?" Thalia hissed, electric blue eyes narrowing as she rounded on Percy, "We would have won if you hadn't begged me to put you on offense only to abandon your post ten minutes into the game. And to do what? Fraternize with the enemy." She practically spat out her last words and turned back to Zoe with a look of disgust. Percy wondered what the history behind the Thalia-Zoe feud was. It must have been pretty bad for them to hate each other so much.

Percy fumed as Thalia made it seem like he had betrayed their team. He argued, "I saw Zoe heading straight for Nico and the flag. What was I supposed to do? Leave Nico to get pummeled and the flag get left open? You should be thanking me."

"Yeah, well fat lot of good you were," Thalia snorted. She gestured to the Campers' flag lying in the dirt by Phoebe's feet.

Percy knew he should probably stop rising to Thalia's bait, but his exhaustion and frustration egged him on. "Yeah, well we would have won if you were faster. But no, you have to run like you're taking a walk through the park!" Yes, he definitely sounded childish.

"You better pray for some extra speed if you want to avoid what's coming to you," Thalia's eyes sparked, and the air around them seemed to crackle with electricity. Percy sneered at her as the river churned.

"Children, that is enough," Chiron commanded as he trotted out to intercept the impending fight, but the fight was already over before it started.

Percy and Thalia were pale, mouths gaping, as they watched a mummy shrouded in tie-dye shuffle slowly toward them. The Oracle of Delphi came to a stop in front of a wide-eyed Zoe, obviously waiting for something. The Hunter seemed to steel her resolve and asked solemnly, "How can I help My Lady?" Percy's mind flashed back to the dream he had the previous night.

Green smoke billowed from the Oracle's mouth as she replied:

"Five shall go west to the goddess in chains,

One shall be lost in the land without rain,

The bane of Olympus shows the trail,

Campers and Hunters combined prevail,

The Titan's curse must one withstand,

And one shall perish by a parent's hand."

And scene. Ooh, the plot is picking up steam! I'm dropping some more hints about Percy, but if it's not coming together yet, don't worry. It's not supposed to. I'm keeping it intentionally vague to build up suspense. Yes, I know, you are very frustrated with me. But hey, this will make the reveal that much better, don't you think? After this chapter is where the big changes start coming into play.

I kept the wording of the prophecy the same, but I am twisting meanings to suit my story as needed. Also, I've decided to write Percy to be a bit more mature than in canon because, to be honest, he was sooo annoying in Titan's Curse, especially in the beginning. Zoe also isn't as cold toward Percy here b/c 1.) he's a bit more mature and 2.) she's a little more open-minded than in canon.