Hiya! How've you all been? So, because this is such a crucial chapter, I couldn't bring myself to shorten it (in fact, I think it's longer than usual). I wanted to take time and put in the effort that it deserves. Starting from here, chapters will likely get shorter, but we'll see.
Side note, I've gotten really bad about answering reviews, and I'm super sorry. I'll get to the ones from last chapter ASAP. Rest assured, I read and greatly appreciate all your comments. Thank you for your patience. Anyway, I hope you all have a wonderful and relaxing holiday season! Please read and enjoy!
Disclaimer: All rights go to Rick Riordan.
The Battle
[Mount Tamalpais, San Francisco, CA]
"Well, we're here," Thalia said, looking up at the ornate wrought-iron gate in front of them, "What do you think we'll find in there?" Their train had arrived just a few hours ago, and they had immediately taken a cab from the station to about halfway up the mountain before the driver had absolutely refused to go any farther. This left the group to scale the rest of the way up the mountain on foot.
"The Garden of the Hesperides," Zoe replied unenthusiastically, "Within it live the daughters of Atlas and the golden apple tree, guarded by the fearsome Ladon. Beyond that lie the junction between the sky and the earth. There we will find Lady Artemis and Annabeth Chase."
"You seem to know a lot about this garden," Thalia said suspiciously, "What's your connection to this place."
Zoe narrowed her eyes and scrutinized Thalia, "If you're questioning my loyalties, know that I parted this place on horrible terms with its occupants. Beyond that, you are neither required, nor welcome, to know of my experiences here. We are wasting time with idle chatter."
Thalia looked like she wanted to retort, so Percy cut in, "Wait, before we go, can I talk to you, Zoe?"
The Hunter hesitated, but agreed. Leading Percy over out of earshot of the others, Zoe asked sharply, "What is it, Percy? We don't have all day."
"I know. I'm sorry. It's just…" Percy bit his lip nervously and looked down at his toes, "Please be careful. I don't think Lady Artemis would be happy to find out that she was freed at the cost of both her Hunters' lives."
Zoe's gaze softened. She knew Percy still blamed himself for Bianca's death. She herself wasn't quite sure what to think, but she knew that Percy would never have intentionally done what he did. "I will," she nodded before heading back to the others, "Let's go."
They pushed open the gates and entered the garden. Before they could register exactly what it even looked like, four blinding flashes of light appeared before them, fading to reveal four girls who looked remarkably like Zoe. "Who dares enter the Garden of the Hesperides?" the one who looked the oldest demanded. Percy was struggling to figure out what to say, but Zoe spoke up instead.
"Hello, sisters," the Hunter said flatly, "How nice it is to see you again."
Percy, Thalia, and Grover did a double take. "Sisters?" Thalia asked incredulously. Zoe ignored her.
Another of the Hesperides narrowed her eyes at Zoe, "We are not your sisters, Zoe Nightshade. We only know you as the traitor. The one who gave that Herakles the golden apple. And see where your decision got you."
Zoe's cheeks flushed, and her eyes flashed with anger, "Do not speak of that swine to me. We are not here to bicker."
"Oh yes," another of the sisters said, "You wish to reach your precious goddess, do you not? Well, we cannot allow that. Father gave us explicit instructions should this very situation occur."
"Then we will fight if we must," Zoe gritted her teeth.
"No need," the fourth Hesperide said, "Ladon will simply kill you now." The four disappeared in another flash of light, and Zoe paled.
"Ladon? Who's Ladon?" Grover asked frantically.
A noxious-sounding hiss answered him, and a powerful stench overwhelmed them. Fighting back tears, Percy looked up to find an immense dragon with one hundred heads stalking toward them. All of his one hundred sets of fangs were bared, giving them a wonderful whiff of his foul breath. The Campers all readied their weapons, but Zoe commanded sharply, "Lower your weapons and stand back."
"What?" Percy asked, "What are you trying to do? You're going to get yourself killed!" The panic in his voice was palpable, and Zoe remembered their conversation just moments before. I'm sorry, Percy, she thought. "Trust me," she said, "Do as I say, please."
Slowly, her companions backed down, and she stepped forward, right into Ladon's path. The dragon released a mighty roar as he charged toward Zoe, but the Hunter stood her ground. Lifting her hand, she called, "Ladon! Do you remember me?"
To the complete amazement of the Campers, the ferocious dragon skidded to a halt right in front of Zoe. His two hundred reptilian eyes narrowed as he scrutinized what should have been his snack. "That's right," Zoe coaxed, "Do you remember me? It's Zoe. I grew up in this garden with you, don't you remember?" If a dragon could look confused, this one sure did. It tilted its heads to one side then another, seemingly trying to recall some long-lost memories. The head in the center tentatively reached forward toward Zoe and sniffed her outstretched hand.
Then everything went downhill.
Ladon let out a resounding screech, and his heads reared back once more to attack. Zoe, sensing the danger, jumped back quickly, right as Ladon lunged for her. She evaded several heads, shouting to the others, "Run!" They needed no further prompting as they ran toward the far end of the garden, toward the tree with the golden apples of immortality.
Zoe slowly maneuvered herself in that direction as Ladon continued to attack her. She was trying to buy them time, but she couldn't avoid the dragon forever. She was just a few feet from the exit, when she dodged away from one of Ladon's heads right into the path of another. The dragon's fangs sank into her side, and she cried out in pain. The bite itself hurt incredibly, but the poison that was rapidly spreading through her body felt like a searing fire in her blood vessels.
"Zoe!" she heard Percy yell. She faintly noted that Ladon, having delivered his painful and inevitably fatal bite, retreated back to guard the tree. She could almost hear her sisters' merciless laughter. On the verge of passing out, Zoe felt somebody come over and crouch beside her. Blinking away the haze of pain clouding her vision, she noticed it was Percy. He looked frustrated and worried and seemed to be saying something to her.
"W-What?" Zoe rasped out.
"I said we have to stop the bleeding," he gestured to her side. Blood was rapidly staining the side of her silver parka, but Zoe seemingly didn't care. Percy reached around to his backpack and pulled out a square of ambrosia. "Quick, eat it, Zoe." He practically shoved the godly food at her and watched nervously as she ate it. Slowly, the color returned a bit to her cheeks. The big blood stain on her parka stopped spreading, and Zoe sat up.
"Thanks, Percy," she said, somewhat shakily. The ambrosia had done wonders for the most severe aspects of the bite, but she could still feel the poison running through her system. She didn't say anything. It would take time for the ambrosia to neutralize the poison, time they did not have.
"We need to keep moving," Zoe said as she stood up. The ground swam before her eyes, but she blinked it away. Taking a step forward, she stopped in her tracks as Percy blocked her way.
"Wait, wait! You can't just walk into battle like that! Stay here. We'll go on ahead," he urged.
Zoe glared at him, "You are going too far, boy! This is my prophecy and my battle to face. You are not within your rights to tell me what I can and cannot do."
"But I can worry, can't I?" Percy growled in frustration. He combed his fingers through his hair, "After Bianca, I don't know what I'd do if we lost another member of this group."
Zoe sighed, grabbing Percy by the shoulders and forcing him to look at her, "Listen here, Percy Jackson, you look out for yourself and trust in the rest of us to care for ourselves too. We've made it this far, and we're all in the same boat. Understand?" Percy glared back at her defiantly, but he deflated once he realized Zoe was equally stubborn. He gave a resigned sigh and nodded, gesturing for Zoe to lead the way. The group trekked on until they reached their destination: the ruins of Mount Othrys and Atlas' prison beneath the sky. Though, what greeted them there was not Atlas trapped beneath the sky, but rather Artemis, with Annabeth bound and gagged beside her.
The moment Percy saw Artemis, his old searing headache returned full-force. It felt like a lightning bolt was trying to cleave his skull open. Percy grabbed his head with a pained groan just as Luke and the General emerged from behind the ruins. Seeing the group of heroes, they stopped dead in their tracks.
"Atlas," Zoe snarled under her breath.
The General smirked haughtily, "Well, well, well, look who the little nymph dragged in. Nice work, daughter."
"What!" Thalia and Grover shouted. Percy forgot all about his crippling headache as his eyes snapped up toward Zoe and the General. Now that he saw them side by side, the resemblance was striking. They had the same dark hair and complexion, the same proud stance, and the same haughty look. But the resemblance stopped there the more Percy thought about it. While the General oozed cruelty from every pore, Zoe was caring and intensely loyal. Zoe embodied all the good that Atlas didn't have and very little of the bad. Percy couldn't quite believe the two immortals were father and daughter, despite the ample physical evidence.
"They all fell quite nicely into my trap, wouldn't you say so, Luke?" Atlas cackled gleefully. Luke merely gave a curt nod. "Ah, well, brilliants like myself are the most underappreciated," Atlas shrugged. He extended a hand and a javelin materialized in it as his gaze hardened, "Now, I believe it is time we dispose of these little pests." Luke also drew his sword, nodding a little more enthusiastically as Atlas smirked. Percy, Thalia, Grover, and Zoe quickly followed suit, drawing their own weapons and getting into position. Then all hell broke loose.
Atlas bore down on them immediately, launching wave after wave of crippling blows while not letting the half-bloods in close enough to land a hit. The fact that Luke was also fighting only complicated matters.
Percy lunged at Atlas, feinting left before disengaging and slashing toward the Titan's unprotected side. Atlas saw this coming and blocked the blow with the butt of his javelin. Luke, seeing his opportunity, stabbed at Percy, forcing him to withdraw from Atlas to defend himself. Thalia called down a bolt of lightning to strike the Titan, which distracted him long enough for Zoe to lunge in with her knife and nail her father through a chink in his armor. Atlas growled and jumped back, leering unpleasantly at the Hunter, "Tisk, tisk, my dear. Children should not hurt their parents."
Zoe narrowed her eyes, "And parents should not hurt their children."
"Well, you are no daughter of mine," Atlas snarled as he charged forward once more. He threw his javelin at Zoe as hard as he could, obviously aiming to kill. Zoe would have been pierced straight through if it weren't for Thalia calling down another lightning bolt to intercept the weapon and Percy brewing a mini hurricane that flung Atlas violently away from Zoe. Atlas barreled into Luke, and the two of them were sent tumbling into a heap several yards away.
The Titan and the traitor attempted to disentangle themselves, giving Percy the chance to step back and survey their situation. His adrenaline was running high, but he could tell he was almost at his breaking point. A quick look at his friends told him they were just as exhausted. Percy knew they needed a god's help or there was no way they could win. Because even though Atlas was somewhat bruised and battered, his energy level seemed to grow the longer they were in battle.
Percy searched desperately for something or somebody to help them. He spotted Annabeth chained by the base of the ominous stone column, and he knew they had to protect her, not throw her into battle with them. She looked completely the worse for wear, her face littered with cuts, her blonde curls matted with blood, and she herself was passed out anyway. Percy felt anger boil in his chest as he saw the treatment his best friend had to endure.
His eyes then traveled almost in slow motion to the other prisoner, this one trapped under the sky. Despite the fact that she was standing tall, Artemis was struggling under the burden. It wasn't obvious, but Percy could see the slight tremble in the goddess' arms as she pushed up against the weight of the sky. Her face was set in a pained, but stubborn, grimace. She lifted her head slightly as she heard Atlas and Luke get tossed backwards. A vengeful glint lit up her silver eyes, and Percy knew she still had plenty of energy and willpower left to beat Atlas to Tartarus and back. Percy realized instantly what he had to do. The line from the prophecy came drifting back to him, and he grimaced. The Titan's Curse must one withstand. He officially knew who the one was.
As he discreetly made his way around to the moon goddess, he could feel her eyes following his path. It seemed with every step he took towards her, fragments of those strange flashes of memories came to the forefront of his mind. Percy ignored them for now, much too focused on the task at hand. However, the moment he stood fully in front of Artemis, something caught his attention and brought all those memories to the center of his thoughts.
It was the crescent moon hanging from Artemis' wrist. It was a pendant carved from what looked to be deer antler which hung from a simple leather cord. The cord was inordinately long for a bracelet, seemingly more suited for a necklace, and it was wound around the goddess' wrist several times to tie the accessory securely to her person.
Percy saw the pendant, and something in his mind clicked back into place. For all the drama that these memories and headaches had caused him the last few weeks, the final revelation was almost disappointingly anticlimactic. The memories flew by in his mind now, arranging themselves in chronological order. And Percy closed his eyes, finally realizing to whom the memories belonged.
He looked into Artemis' somewhat concerned eyes and smirked, "Hello, Milady."
Artemis' eyes widened. "No way…" she breathed. "Perseus?" she hissed incredulously.
"Aye, 'tis I," Perseus smiled genuinely, "I've missed you."
Artemis' expression softened for a moment, before she glared at him harshly, "You have so much to explain after this."
"Agreed. But you must give me the sky right now," Perseus whispered, his expression hardening as he recalled their situation. A shout from Grover and a crash of thunder from another of Thalia's attacks rang in his ears, and his heart lurched with the urgency of the situation, "Please, Artemis, you are our best bet." Artemis hesitated momentarily, concern for Perseus flashing across her face. Despite her apparent reservations, though, she acquiesced to the request without much resistance.
Shifting the burden of the sky, Artemis slowly inched to one side, allowing Perseus to crawl under. He took a deep breath and said, "Alright, Milady. Go kick some Titan butt for me, please." Artemis snorted and gently moved the sky completely onto Perseus' shoulders. He groaned in pain, sweat breaking out on his brow instantaneously. The veins in his neck and forehead looked about ready to burst.
"Perseus!" Artemis shouted, alarmed. A god would not have had that extreme of a reaction to the Titan's Curse. She assumed Perseus still had his godly powers, but it seemed he was still limited to the strength of a demigod.
"No! You h-have to g-go, now!" Perseus wheezed, "I can t-take it. Please go, Artemis." He groaned as another shudder wracked his body, and Artemis sprung into action. The faster she beat the daylights out of Atlas, the faster Perseus would be freed, she concluded.
Materializing a pair of silver knives each the length of her forearm - Perseus recognized them as her favorite pair - Artemis charged into battle, engaging Atlas immediately. She ordered the other combatants to take care of Luke before lunging at Atlas ferociously.
Upon seeing the goddess enter the fray with a vengeance, Atlas' eyes widened involuntarily as he barely managed to keep Artemis from getting beneath his guard. Artemis held back, lingering on the fringes of Atlas' reach. She knew that her short-range knives would be no good against his javelin unless she could get in close.
Suddenly, she leapt forward a few inches, catching Atlas off guard. The Titan instinctively threw out his weapon, and Artemis used one of her knives to deflect the tip away from her as she lunged forward, closing the distance. She cut into Atlas' shoulder, but the Titan didn't seem to mind and retaliated with his own earth-shattering attacks. Artemis managed to dodge them, but she was pushed out of his guard once more.
The immortals traded vicious blows back and forth, neither one letting up. Eventually however, it became clear that Artemis had the upper hand. Jumping away from a slash toward his chest, Atlas managed to put enough space between him and Artemis to let out a shrill whistle.
"Oh, no you don't!" Artemis growled as she snapped her fingers. A silver dome shimmered into existence above them. A barrier impenetrable to monsters. Dark shapes loomed from the trees surrounding them, but none were able to pass through the shield. Unfortunately, she couldn't block any monsters already on the battlefield from coming to Atlas' aid.
A roar echoed off the cliffs as Dr. Thorn leapt from the top of a rock ledge overlooking the Mt. Othrys ruins. He appeared to have been biding his time, waiting for just this kind of situation to make his grand entrance. The manticore unleashed a volley of spikes at Artemis, who jumped out of the way gracefully. This gave Atlas the chance to retaliate, and he threw his javelin as hard as he could at Artemis. The goddess dodged, but the tip grazed her side. Ichor flowed freely from the wound, but it seemed only to anger Artemis. She snarled as she went back on the offensive, this time tackling both Atlas and Dr. Thorn simultaneously.
Meanwhile, Luke was having trouble holding his own against both Zoe and Thalia (Grover had left to help Artemis as soon as he saw Dr. Thorn lunge at her). Though Zoe was still suffering from the effects of Ladon's poison, she was living up to her title as Lieutenant of the Hunt. She launched arrow after arrow with extreme precision.
Luke had already gotten grazed several times and was beginning to tire. He was doing all that he could to avoid becoming a demigod pincushion while also dodging Thalia's spear and lightning. It was no surprise that within a few minutes, Thalia managed to score a direct hit on him with a bolt of lightning. There was a resounding crash of thunder, and the son of Hermes was blasted backwards, flying over the edge of the cliff.
"That felt good," Thalia muttered under her breath, though she couldn't suppress the involuntary wave of worry that washed over her as she saw her old friend plummet out of sight.
After making sure Luke wouldn't make a reappearance, Zoe immediately ran to where Artemis was fighting, throwing a knife at the manticore. The blade buried itself deep between the monster's shoulder blades, and Dr. Thorn roared. He reared backward and thrashed, trying to dislodge the weapon and shooting out spikes at random.
Artemis and Atlas were both forced duck out of the way of the projectiles, leaving an opening for Zoe to lunge at her father. She slashed at him with her knives, managing to land a shallow cut to his cheek and a stab to his gut. Atlas roared in fury and snarled at his daughter. He swept his javelin in a wide arc around him, slamming it into Zoe's abdomen and knocking the air from her lungs. Zoe was flung hard into a pile of rubble, triggering a column of the ruin to crumble and collapse on top of her. The Huntress disappeared beneath a pillar of stone and a cloud of dust.
"Zoe!" Perseus yelled as he struggled beneath his burden. Black spots were swimming before his eyes, and he fell to a knee as wracking pain continued to plague his body.
"No!" Artemis screamed as she saw her lieutenant get tossed like a ragdoll and disappear. The goddess wasted no time in sprinting over to the ruins and digging through the chunks of stone frantically. "No, no, no! Zoe! Can you hear me?" she yelled, desperately trying to shift the huge column that had fallen atop her lieutenant.
"Milady, behind you!" Perseus called. Artemis whirled around with her knives raised, intercepting a blow to her head from Atlas' javelin. Her face morphed into an expression of pure hatred as she laid eyes on the Titan, and she redoubled her efforts. Artemis quickly gained the upper hand once more and began pushing Atlas back.
Dr. Thorn stopped throwing random waves of spikes at one point and made a move to help his boss, only to be jabbed in the side by Thalia's spear. Thalia and the manticore clashed as Artemis slashed and stabbed at Atlas with deadly precision. She was absolutely furious, but her fighting did not suffer for it. Ichor was pouring from Atlas' wounds as he tried to find an opening. Artemis' eyes flashed dangerously as she unleashed waves upon waves of slashes and stabs.
After a few seconds, Atlas noticed the goddess lunge just a little too far to his left and quickly went in for the counterattack. In the blink of an eye, Artemis threw her knife past Atlas, nailiing Dr. Thorn straight in the base of his skull. The monster roared, dissolving into a pile of golden dust. With her hand free of her weapon, Artemis sidestepped the counter and grabbed the shaft of Atlas' javelin as it passed her. In one fluid motion, Artemis wrenched the weapon from Atlas' hands and aimed it back at him. She looked up and made eye contact with Perseus, whose pain-filled eyes sparked back to life as he met her gaze.
A silent message passed between the two gods before Artemis' eyes hardened. She slashed Atlas in the hand as he lifted it to summon a new weapon. He howled in pain, doubling over his bleeding hand and giving Artemis the opening she needed. With all the strength she could muster, she kicked Atlas backward toward Perseus and the sky. Atlas flew back and crashed into Perseus, who had readied the sky and braced himself for the impact.
Perseus was thrown out from under the burden, crashing into the cliff face behind him. He slid to the ground, trying to catch his breath and blink away the dizziness and pain that threatened to make him lose consciousness. He faintly heard Atlas groan as he was nearly flattened by his old burden. The god let out a tired smirk.
"Perseus! Are you all right?" Artemis called, worry etched all over her face.
"N-never better," he groaned, closing his eyes as he waited for the world to stop spinning and for the three Artemises he was seeing to turn back into one, "Nice work, Milady."
"I have to go check on Zoe. Rest there," Artemis said, knowing the god would be okay despite being seemingly trapped in a demigod form. She rushed to the pile of rubble entombing her lieutenant as worry and fear threatened to suffocate her. She missed the way Perseus' head shot up at the mention of Zoe. Thalia and Grover were already there, trying to remove the largest chunks stone off of the pile.
"Stand back," Artemis commanded. She lifted a hand, and the rock was reduced to dust. The group quickly moved the smaller bits of rubble away. Artemis choked back a sob as she saw the condition her dearest Hunter was in. She was covered in bruises. Cuts littered her face. It was immediately obvious that she had several broken bones and even deeper wounds, judging by the blood seeping through her silver parka.
Artemis rushed forward, cradling her beloved Hunter gently in her arms as tears streamed down her face. "Zoe! Zoe, wake up, please," she called. The dark-haired girl barely stirred. Artemis snapped her fingers and summoned a cup of nectar. She was ready to pour it down Zoe's throat.
"S-Stop, my lady." Artemis' hand stilled, and she looked down at Zoe in fear. Zoe wheezed and coughed weakly before glancing up at the goddess imploringly, "It's too late… Pl-Please let me go."
"What are you saying, Zoe?" Artemis sobbed, "I won't!"
"My time has come," Zoe sighed sadly, but there was no hint of regret in her words. Her glazed eyes shifted as the sound of stumbling footsteps neared them.
Artemis looked up at the newcomer. It was Perseus. He had managed to stumble over to them, fueled by his worry and fear for Zoe. Tears were pouring from his eyes as he looked at his old friend's broken form. He walked past Thalia and Grover, who had been watching the scene with tears of their own in their eyes. Perseus exchanged a few words with them and gestured toward something farther off. Artemis faintly noticed Hermes, who seemed to have arrived to take the demigods to Olympus. Thalia and Grover trooped off toward the messenger god, bowing their heads respectfully to Zoe and Artemis before they left. They exchanged a few words with Hermes before the three teleported away. Once they had gone, Perseus kneeled down beside Zoe as well.
Zoe slowly met his gaze, and a touch of pleasant surprise graced her features before she smiled knowingly, "Hello again, Perseus. I finally figured you out."
"That you did, my friend," Perseus' voice broke.
"May I see you again?" Zoe asked, lifting a shaky hand to brush his hair from his eyes.
Perseus took a shuddering breath, "Of course." He closed his eyes momentarily, and when he opened them again, they were no longer the shifting sea green of a son of Poseidon. Rather, they were the clear ocean blue of the eldest god. Sadness churned within their depths, and the blue darkened involuntarily to a deep, mournful purple as he said, "You knew this would happen, yet you came anyway." It wasn't an accusation. Just a statement of fact.
"Yes," Zoe whispered. The trio fell silent, reunited at last, but the happiness of their reunion was overshadowed immensely by the sadness of their impending parting. Tears traced their way down both gods' cheeks as they wept for their beloved friend. The sun sank lower and lower over the horizon, streaking the sky with trails of flame. "You mustn't weep for me," Zoe sighed at long last, "I would rather my memory leave both of you with a smile."
"It's a little too late for you to say that, don't you think, when we're already crying," Perseus grinned half-heartedly through his tears. It looked more like a grimace than anything else.
"A reminder is a reminder," Zoe smiled weakly, "I love you both."
"And we love you," Artemis said, more tears dripping down her face and getting lost in Zoe's parka.
"So much," Perseus choked out. The highest point of the sun dipped below the jagged mountaintops, leaving just the trails of fire in its wake. Slowly, quickly, even that began to fade. Scarlet faded to rose as indigo took its place.
"Stars," Zoe murmured, "I can see the stars, m'lady."
The two gods sat there for what felt like an eternity, heads bowed respectfully for the friend they loved and lost, sharing their grief and seeking comfort in each others' presence. In time, Artemis gently hugged Zoe to her chest one last time before raising her hand to the southern sky. A silver glow enveloped Zoe, and her body slowly disintegrated into fragments of light. A new constellation shimmered to life in the night sky, shining with a force as strong as the fallen Hunter's spirit. "The Hunter," Artemis said, "Zoe will run forever among the stars."
"Right as she was meant to be," Perseus agreed, "I'm sorry. For all this. And I'm sorry for not keeping Zoe safe."
"Don't," Artemis' eyes flashed in sadness and anger, "Zoe made her choice. Don't discredit her sacrifice with unfounded guilt."
Perseus fell silent. "You're right," he said at length. A crack of thunder split the silence. Perseus stood up, extending a hand to Artemis, "It sounds like the council has been called, and Percy Jackson is likely required to attend. I promise I will tell you everything afterward. What I have to say is for your ears and yours alone."
"I shall hold you to your word," Artemis said, "Now, have all of your powers not fully returned, or are you holding back?"
"Both," Perseus said. As he looked up at Artemis, his eyes morphed back to their previous sea green, and Perseus became Percy Jackson once more, "I unfortunately cannot teleport as I am now."
"Then close your eyes," Artemis laid a hand on his shoulder, and the two disappeared in a shower of silver.
So for the record, I'm not crying. I'm just sweating from my eyes. But in all seriousness, writing this chapter gave me like all the feels. Mostly the sad ones though. I know a lot of you were hoping Zoe would live. I had even gone into this story expecting her to live, but once I got to writing the chapter, I just couldn't change this plot point. Zoe's sacrifice fully demonstrates her devotion and strength of character. She knew she would die on the mission yet chose to rescue Artemis anyway (who, I might add, cannot die). Zoe's death offers a catalyst for much of the character growth that made the last two books worthwhile. In my opinion, this was one of the greatest scenes in the series, and I wanted to do it some form of justice.
I also can't be sorry about not turning the battle into some meaningless deus ex machina scene (Let it be known that I will try my absolute hardest to avoid using that particular plot device). I've gotten a few reviews recently in which people expressed their displeasure about my depicting Perseus as "weak." I can sort of see where they're coming from, and I am generally very open to suggestions, but this is one matter I will not change my mind on. I personally see no reason to make Perseus unnecessarily overpowered or idealized. This story is about the characters being flawed, and that's what they'll be.
Speaking of Percy, were you shocked by the great reveal of his connection with Perseus? More explanation will come in the future.
Anyway, that's enough of my rambling. So after reading the chapter and hopefully my two cents, please let me know what you think! As always, constructive criticism is much appreciated! Once again, happy holidays! Until next time!