"You c-c-couldn't have done that earlier?" Alabaster's teeth chattered faster than a machine gun.
"If I had revealed myself earlier, I wouldn't have had the chance to rescue you." Nico explained patiently. "I needed to draw the wolves away to create the opening."
"G-g-g-give me some nectar."
Nico pulled out a small flask from his jacket pocket. Alabaster reached for it, but his hands shook like he was having an epileptic fit. Nico swatted his arms away and gave the flask to Lisa, who was standing beside him. "Pinch his nose before you pour it down his throat."
Lisa frowned. "Why?"
"He's shivering so badly, he might not be able to control his breathing. We don't want him to choke."
Jordan walked into the room dressed in a dark blue bathrobe. Unlike Alabaster, he hadn't felt the effects of Khione's blizzards at all, thanks to his bodysuit's superb insulation. "Thermostat is turned up. Twelve hours and you'll be back to normal temperature." He frowned as he saw Lisa trickling nectar into Alabaster's mouth, holding his nose with her other hand.
"T-t-twelve?" Alabaster chattered, and almost choked on his nectar.
"Don't talk." Lisa said.
"Maybe we should get him a blanket." Nico suggested.
"Pointless." Jordan shook his head. "He's too cold to generate any warmth."
"Ask Lisa to snuggle up with him." Nico said, receiving twin glares from both van Staal siblings.
"I'm a hunter," Lisa hissed.
"My apologies." Nico said unsincerely. "I forgot."
"What about her?" Jordan pointed a finger at frozen Thalia, whom Nico had dropped on her face in the middle of the room. He wiped his finger across the ice statue, frowning. "She's not melting."
"It must be a spell." Nico shrugged. "Alabaster should be able to defrost her in a few hours."
"What about the rest of the hunters?" Lisa asked persistently. "We still need to save them."
"If we're going up against a goddess, we're going to need more firepower." Nico decided.
"We have her," Jordan pointed at Frozen Thalia.
"We just rescued her from Khione." Alabaster, sufficiently warmed up to speak, pointed out. "She won't be of much help."
"Something bigger," Nico agreed.
"What's bigger than her?" Jordan asked.
Nico simply smiled and walked out of the room. Jordan followed him to the cockpit where the communication equipment was stored.
"I assume your ship's communication links are shielded." Nico said.
"Of course."
"Good." Nico dialled a number.
"Who are you calling?" Jordan asked.
"Jason Grace."
"That's your big idea?" Jordan said incredulously. "Another child of Zeus?"
"It's what he can do that matters."
"What can he do that Thalia can't?" Jordan asked.
"You'll see." The line continued to ring. After a long while, the other side picked up.
"Jason, it's Nico. I need you to get me something…"
"You're insane." Jordan paced across the living room, from the doorway to the bed, then back again.
"I'm genius." Nico, trying to take a nap on the couch, waved a hand at him without opening his eyes.
"It's a terrible plan." Jordan snapped.
"You have a better one?" Nico shot back.
"No," Jordan admitted.
"Then shut up. I'm trying to fall asleep."
Lisa winced at the biting retort, expecting a fiery response from her short-tempered brother, but to her surprise Jordan fell into a brooding silence. His scowl darkened further, the only visible indication of his growing dissatisfaction. He paced back and forth, over and over. Judging by how worn the section of carpet he was pacing across was compared to the rest of the room, he did this a lot.
Lisa glanced toward the lower bunk, where Thalia, now defrosted, was sound asleep. The daughter of Zeus had not woken in the hours since Alabaster had disabled the freeze spell on her. Jordan and Nico had deemed it unwise to try to wake her themselves, and Lisa hoped she would regain consciousness in time for the coming battle.
"We're here." Jordan's voice broke the silence, snapping Nico out of his nap. The son of Hades sat up, his hair a tousled mess.
"Let's see what they've been up to." He and Lisa followed Jordan into the coffee room. They cleared the big table, which Jordan had somehow managed to turn into a mess all over again. Jordan switched on the touch screen.
"Won't Khione know we're here?" Lisa asked.
"We're beyond the troposphere," Jordan replied. "That's outside her control."
"But once we go down there, she'll surely notice." Nico said.
The feed came online at last and Jordan zoomed in on the image of the camp.
"Oh, wow."
The enemy camp had undergone a major upgrade.
The interior of the camp now comprised a large building that looked to be made from snow bricks. Around it, towering walls of ice rose thirty metres above the ground, its outer surface covered in razor-sharp icicles. At the bottom of the wall were two layers of trenches lined with more icicles. On the top of the wall, which was wide enough to fit a half-dozen racing chariots wheel-to-wheel, Earthborn, gryphons, warriors that looked to be made from ice, and storm spirits guarded the ramparts, manning ballistae and onagers the size of cement mixers, while ten-metre-tall hyperboreans and wolves patrolled the outside of the wall.
"Oh, shit." Lisa gaped at the array of fortifications.
"They've built themselves a snow fort." Jordan sounded more amused than intimidated.
"What's that?" Nico pointed to the flat roof of the building, where earthborn were building what looked like some sort of altar.
Jordan zoomed in on the roof. "What in the world…"
The altar was built in the traditional Greek design for slaughtering animals. Jordan's eyes widened as he caught sight of the rest of the frozen hunters next to the altar, flanked by four ice warriors. A sick feeling rose from his stomach as he realised what was going on.
"Oh, shit." Nico, bent over the table, straightened away from the screen as he reached the same conclusion.
"They're going to kill the hunters!" Lisa cried.
"This is barbaric," Nico shook his head.
"Look," Jordan pointed to the screen. "There's Khione."
The others turned their attention back to the live feed. True enough, the goddess of snow had appeared on the roof, this time in a long white dress patterned with ice crystals.
"Who's that?" Jordan pointed to a second figure beside her, a tall, pale woman, not as pale as Khione, with black hair and luminous yellow eyes. She was dressed in a see-through lacey white dress, which didn't reveal much, because her entire form seemed to be translucent, flickering like a candle flame.
"I've seen her before," Nico muttered. The memory surfaced, the woman in his dream the night Thalia had disappeared.
"It's Artemis," Lisa said. "But…what's she doing with Khione?"
"That's not Artemis." Jordan shook his head.
"What do you mean? She looks exactly like her." Lisa said.
"How can that be Artemis?" Jordan said. "We're in Alaska."
"You're right," Nico realised. "But if that isn't Artemis, then who?"
"A goddess, clearly," Jordan pointed to her flickering form. "Nothing else flickers like that. And her energy reading is huge."
"How do we know it's not coming from Khione?" Nico asked.
"A minor goddess could never produce something like that." Jordan scoffed.
"What are we going to do?" Lisa asked. She looked close to tears.
"I need to go to the underworld." Nico said. "Tell Alabaster and Jason to meet back here." Alabaster had gone with Jason to Olympus. "Don't engage until I get back." He snapped his fingers and vanished into his shadow.
"Suit up," Jordan told Lisa. "We attack the moment he gets back." He went into the living room and grabbed his bodysuit from the wardrobe. Once he'd put the helmet on, he used its built-in comlink to dial Alabaster.
"How's it going?" he asked when the son of Hecate finally picked up.
"Almost done." Alabaster's reply was a hushed whisper. "Why?"
"We don't have much time. They're about to kill the rest of the hunters."
"We'll be there as soon as we can." Alabaster promised.
"Jordan!" Lisa's cry came from the coffee room.
"That's not good." Jordan hurried out of the room.
"What is it?" he asked.
Lisa was crying, tears running down her face. She pointed to the screen.
"Oh, shit."
On the rooftop, the hunters had been defrosted, held at spearpoint by a circle of ice warriors. Two of the icemen grabbed a girl, dragging her over to the altar. Lisa screamed.
Jordan covered her eyes, pulling her away from the screen. "Don't look." He shut off the feed.
"We have to save them!" Lisa sobbed. "Please, Jordan."
"The moment we go down there we're as good as dead." Jordan struggled to think over Lisa's sobs. "We need to wait for the others."
"There's no time!" Lisa wailed. "They're going to die!"
"What's going on?" Alabaster asked through his earpiece.
"They're killing the hunters as we speak." Jordan's voice was anguished. "Tell me you've got it."
"Almost there." Alabaster replied.
"Damn it, Al, they're dying down there!"
"If I get discovered, I'll die," Alabaster whispered back.
"That's why you brought Jason Grace!" Jordan roared. "Hurry up!"
He cut the connection, furious at the helplessness of the situation. "I'm going down there. Maybe I can delay them."
"I'm coming with you." Lisa said.
Jordan shook his head. "Get in the cockpit. If I can't save them, you blow them all to Tartarus."
"Jordan-"
"There's no time to argue. Just do it." He stepped onto the platform and stabbed the button with his finger. "I love you."
One last look at his sister's tearful, distraught face, then the platform disappeared under his feet and he plummeted out of the ship like a stone.
And immediately found himself on the rooftop beside the altar, surrounded by ice warriors.
"Bonjour, son of Athena." Khione smirked. "We meet again."
They must have been watching his ship the whole time, he realised, waiting for him to leave its protection so they could bring him straight onto their roof. He had played right into their hands.
"This time I'll destroy you." he bristled. "Scatter your essence across the void of Chaos."
Khione looked amused. "Really. And just how are you going to do that?"
Jordan looked over at the altar, now covered in blood. The corpses of dead hunters were piled beside it like discarded rag dolls. Only one of the hunters still struggled against the grip of the icemen, screaming into her gag. Her face was bloodied, presumably due to failed escape attempts, her skin bruised and blue from the biting cold.
Jordan felt a wash of calm descend on him. All his life, he'd lived in anticipation of this moment. He'd never expected to live long, especially in Alaska. His mother had been right, yet again. Alaska would be his grave.
"Lisa, open fire."
Nothing happened. Jordan envisioned her sitting at the controls, her finger on the trigger, tears running down her face as she stared at the image of the rooftop on the screen. She wouldn't be able to do it. She'd always run from the hard decisions. He swore.
"Failed yet again." Khione was enjoying herself, savouring her victory. "So unlike children of Athena. No wonder you came to Alaska. Your mother must not have been able to stand you."
"I left because I wasn't needed there." Jordan told her.
"Because all your other siblings were perfect?" Khione smiled.
"Sound familiar, does it?" Jordan fired back. "You seem to know me so well. Maybe that's because you're a reject too. I hear Zethes and Calais have worked their way back into their father's good books."
A feeble riposte, but Khione's expression turned icy.
"They'll regret casting me out soon enough. For now, however, crushing your little mortal soul will give me enough satisfaction."
The tall goddess stepped forward. "We're wasting time." She swept her hand towards the remaining hunter. "Kill her and be done with it."
"Patience," Khione held up her hand. "The last hunter is not yet in our grasp. And there is the matter of Thalia Grace."
"What does that have to do with prolonging her life?" the goddess asked impatiently.
"Human nature." Khione replied. "As long as she is alive, they will come for her. Our prey will walk straight into our hands, like this one here."
Khione turned back to him.
"You're full of arrogance, like your mother. I'll enjoy seeing you break when I kill your sister in front of your eyes."
"You'll do no such thing." Jordan spat.
"Who's going to stop me?" Khione asked. "You?"
"Yes." Jordan took a step forward and the icemen levelled their spears at his chest.
"And just how will you do that?" Khione sounded amused.
Jordan, who'd been listening to his earpiece throughout Khione's monologue, smiled inside his helmet. "I called some friends for help."
Shadows condensed on the rooftop, blocking out the sun. When the light returned, Nico di Angelo was standing beside him, dressed in a black baseball cap and cloak over stygian iron armour.
"I'll kill you all for the inconvenience you've caused me."
"I'm immortal, you fool." Khione said coldly.
"Even better. I'll send you to Tartarus." Nico drew his sword, a one-and-a-half-metre double-edged blade made of stygian iron etched with silver designs. His baseball cap changed into a stygian iron helmet that seemed to radiate pure fear.
Everyone on the roof took a step backwards.
"Is that-" Khione suddenly looked unsure.
"The sword of Hades." Nico smiled. "And the helm of darkness."
"How in the world did you manage to get that?" Jordan asked. "Not that I'm complaining."
"I'm the son of Hades." Nico said, as if that explained everything. "Now," He turned back to the two goddesses. "Which one of you wants to go first?"
"I don't have time for this," Khione snarled, trying to regain her composure. "Kill them both. The sword will be useful to us."
Ice warriors surged forward, spears levelled.
Nico went straight for the two goddesses, cutting three icemen in half with a single sweep as they tried to corral him with their spears. He pulled a silver hunters' knife from his belt with his left hand and stabbed a fourth, then sidestepped and hacked down on a fifth as it came towards him. The son of Hades fought his way through the enemy ranks in a blur of black, slashing down monsters left and right.
To his left, a rush of ice warriors fell on Jordan, beating him to the ground in a rain of blows. Their icicle spears broke harmlessly against his bodysuit, and when their spears failed they piled onto him like rugby players and battered him with their fists.
Jordan remained calm as he was knocked from side to side, knowing that nothing in the enemy's arsenal could penetrate his bodysuit's weave. Wriggling his arm under his body, he grabbed a Greek fire grenade from his belt and popped the pin. The resultant explosion blew him ten metres into the air, exactly as he'd intended. He dropped onto the roof in a cloud of green fire, tomahawk and knife ready.
The massive explosion had either disintegrated the icemen or swept them off the roof, but it had also weakened the building's structure. Cracks appeared in the icy surface. Jordan's eyes widened as his corner of the roof collapsed completely. Monsters gaped from the battlements all around as he fell through the roof in a rain of ice, landing hard on the floor of the level below it.
On the roof, Nico fought on, cutting down monsters left and right. He passed the collapsed remains of the altar, where the surviving hunter was picking herself up. It was Lanersa, he realised, black and blue all over from the cold and the beatings, but very much alive. Nico tossed the silver knife to her.
"I'll return your jacket later."
Directly in front of him formed a wall of newly-arrived Earthborn, beyond which the two goddesses watched as he fought his way closer and closer. The six-armed ogres charged forward, waving clubs and chunks of ice in their hands. The weakened roof cracked and popped under their weight. Nico sliced through them like butter, but for all his skill he was forced back by their sheer numbers.
The sound of gunfire cut through the chaos of battle. Bullets sliced through the air from below, turning Earthborn into puddles of dirt upon contact. Others yelled in surprise as the ice gave way under their feet and they fell to the floor below, where Jordan waited with his assault rifle.
Nico smiled and covered the newly-opened chasm in a single leap, landing right in front of the two goddesses. He stabbed at Khione, who vanished in a cloud of snow. The other goddess took a step backwards. Her flickering form solidified. Her see-through dress melted into battle armour. Two swords appeared in her hands, long, double-edged blades that looked deadly sharp. Nico attacked without hesitation.
The three swords clashed with an impact that shook the entire castle. The tall goddess heaved Nico backwards. Her swords flashed toward him with frightening speed and Nico threw himself flat to avoid getting his head lopped off. The tall goddess stabbed downwards, missing him by an inch as he twisted desperately aside. She pulled her blades free, then a barrage of gunfire struck her from behind, rattling off her armour in a series of deafening impacts.
Jordan swallowed as the goddess turned towards him and started forward, murder in her eyes. The assault rifle ran out of bullets and he switched to his shotgun, the heavy blasts ricocheting off her without even a scratch. He dropped the gun as she closed to within two metres of him, swearing, and slapped his wrists.
"Aegis!"
Two Celestial bronze shields spiralled out from the watches on his wrists. He raised his arms into a fighting stance just as the goddess hacked down at him.
The first sword dented his left shield as it bounced off. A shock ran down his arm and Jordan's eyes widened as he took a step back, dropping his right arm to cover his midsection as the goddess's second blade swept low. The impact rang like a bell. Jordan's whole arm went numb. He swung with his left shield, trying to catch the goddess across the face, then ducked and punched with his right. Both attacks were swatted aside the goddess's swords, leaving deep notches in the edges of his shields. The goddess retaliated in a whirlwind of strikes and Jordan pulled up his shields to protect himself, struggling to keep his arms up. The Celestial bronze surface dented and tore under the repeated heavy impacts.
Nico recovered and lunged, stabbing the goddess in the back of her knee. The goddess howled in pain, turned and backswung with her sword, catching Nico across the face and sending him sprawling. The helm of darkness, which had saved his life, now sported a jagged gash across its forehead. Nico raised his sword and managed to fend off a second strike, wide-eyed with shock.
Jordan charged, trying to catch the goddess off-guard. The goddess turned back to him, swatted his shield aside and kicked him in the chest. Jordan went airborne, skidding across the icy roof and crashing into the remains of the stairwell.
The goddess was faster than anyone Jordan had ever faced. He gasped for breath as he picked himself up, his shields now reduced to jagged chunks of metal strapped to his wrists.
Impossible, he thought. He'd designed the shields specifically to withstand attacks from immortal beings, yet this goddess had managed to hack them into scrap within a few minutes of fighting.
Lisa watched the action unfold on the cockpit screen, gripping and re-gripping the controls as she thought desperately for a way to help her brother. The Javelin's weapons were too large to be used against a single target. She could not open fire without risk of hitting Nico and Jordan. She didn't dare descend to a lower altitude; Khione would blow her off-course as soon as she came within range of her storms.
Something moved in cockpit window's reflection. Lisa spun around.
"It's you." Thalia, standing in the doorway, blinked at her, surprised. Lisa's eyes widened.
"You're awake!"
"Yeah." Thalia came to her side. "Shit." she said as she caught sight of what was on the screen.
"Who is that?" Lisa asked.
"Selene." Thalia's eyes, normally bright blue, were hard and dark.
"The Titan of the moon?" Lisa said, baffled. "But I thought she'd faded millennia ago."
"They must have brought her back somehow," Thalia shook her head. "And in Alaska of all places. We're out of our league."
"She's wiping the floor with them. We have to do something!"
"No way are we able to fight her, now that she's risen." Thalia shook her head. "At this point, our best bet is to get out of here alive. She's too powerful."
"That storm will blow us away once we come into range." Lisa pointed to the swirling winds below. "How are we going to rescue them?"
"Maybe I can do something about that." Thalia strapped herself into one of the chairs. "Can you fly this thing?"