Seriously, I'm done apologizing for taking too much time to update. By now all of you know that I have only little time to spare for my work here. But I do try to update. So please just bear with me for a little while longer. It will be worth it, I can promise that...
So at the very least I can give you the second longest chapter so far, longer than the last two combined. So have fun...
"If I were a bat shit crazy titan, where would I hide?" Will asked loudly, as he sat with several of his siblings in the living room of one of Apollo's houses.
"Disney Land?" Austin, one of Will's younger brothers half asked, half stated. When all other occupants looked at him as if he had lost his mind, he smirked sheepishly and ran a hand through his dark hair.
"What? Why would she be there of all places?" Will asked his brother.
"Dunno. She could be anywhere in the world and well, I've never been to Disney Land… so..." Austin trailed off at the end and decided that his feet were much more interesting than anything else in the room.
"Seriously, you people are so fucked up. Get your priorities straight," Phoebe, the leader of the remaining Hunter's of Artemis, spat at the boy. "We have to find Lady Artemis' niece, so she can be brought back to the Hunt, where she belongs!"
"That is not your decision to make," Michael Yew, one of the older children of Apollo, said quickly. "She is one of us and should you even think about forcing her back to your fucked up camping club, you will have to face us first."
"That can be arranged!" Phoebe replied eagerly, as she jumped up and ran up to Michael. Both huntress and son of Apollo stared at each other, daring the opposite to make the first mistake.
The whole room, demigods and hunters alike, watched with baited breath, how this scene would unfold. Tensions had always been high, but under Percy's and Zoe's leadership both groups had to accept each other and work together. Even if it was only for a short time, they had become one. But both Percy and Zoe were now on their way to rescue the goddess Artemis and without proper guidance, both groups partly reverted back to their former antagonism.
"This is enough! Dammit, Michael, don't force me to be the responsible one here. I suck at being the responsible one," Will yelled, as he stepped between Micheal and Phoebe. "You can kill each other once we have Ariadne back, but not a moment sooner!"
"Who made you the new leader?" Phoebe spat at him.
"Common sense! Now sit down or get out. Nightshade will hear about you acting against her express orders!" Will growled at her.
She hesitated for a moment, taken aback by the sudden ferocity in the eyes of the usually goofy boy. As her eyes wandered towards her fellow hunters, she saw that only a hand full of them stood, ready to jump to her aid. How had she missed this? Had the others really agreed with Zoe's order? Surely they had seen the same fault in their lieutenant's decision to coexist with these… these… boys… No, she couldn't accept this. So she turned on her heel and left the room swiftly.
"Let her go. It's not worth the hassle to argue with her," Naomi, one of the other hunters said, as she stood before her fellow sisters. "When you have seen as much as she has, you just can't let go of your hatred." She sounded sad, but some of the other girls merely nodded. All of them had seen the worst of men, but Phoebe was among the oldest in their group and the millenia with Lady Artemis had only reinforced her hatred and suspicion.
"Fine with me," Will sighed. "You alright, Michael?"
"Yeah. But that girl seriously pisses me off," he muttered.
"Okay. Back to the problem at hand. Where the fuck is Eos? Any ideas? Any myths, legends, bed time stories, visions or alcohol induced hallucinations?" Will asked the others in the room.
But no one knew an answer. It was aggravating to no end. Will had a special interest in finding Ariadne, especially now that he knew what she really was. They had yet to disclose this secret to the rest of their siblings, but Will and his older brothers had decided that this could wait until Ariadne was safe. But with her being the immortal daughter of a god and a titaness, things would get messy really quick, once Zeus would find out about her.
"Well there is not much about Eos, but what about the people she hangs out with?"
"Okay, don't ask why, but our dad actually keeps books here, mostly about myths and legends of great heroes," Lee said, as he walked over to one of the bookshelves and read the titles written on the spines. "Though most of them are about him..."
"Why would he keep books in a house he rarely visits?" Naomi asked, oblivious to the smirks on some of the boys' faces.
"It helps," Will provided cautiously.
"With what?" Naomi insisted to know.
"Well… you see..."
"Chicks love guys who have brains and good looks," Lee finished the sentence Will dared not say in front of the man hating maidens.
"Seriously?" Naomi obviously had her doubts. Those boys didn't really believe that this works?
"Yeah. You see there has been that one daughter of Aphrodite at camp. Prettiest bird I'd ever seen at that time, but she only looked down on most boys. But when I showed her that I could recite half of my father's poems… well, let's say she was quite eager then," Lee explained, a shit eating grin on his face. He had obviously decided to ignore the glares of the girls in the room and just be his sunny self now that Phoebe was gone.
"Pig," one of the girls muttered angrily.
"And what happened to the girl?" Naomi asked, unusually eager to learn about the romantic exploits of someone else.
Lee's smirk disappeared and was replaced with a rueful look, "She died at the end of that summer, when a monster caught her on her way home from camp." His tone made it clear that he had not been able to forget that one encounter in his life. "But we should get back to finding Ariadne."
"Wow, now that is an unusual book. Pinky and dunderhead, the untold tales of how Ares courted the goddess of love… a quite… graphic book to boot..." Naomi said, as she took one of the books from the shelf. Her usually pale cheeks turned pink, the more she read in the book.
"Are you alright?" Will asked the dark haired huntress, after she had remained silent for quite some time.
"Yeah… everything's fine..." She trailed off.
Several of the other demigods in the room had taken some of the other books, not that any of the had hope to find a lead in there. The hunters remembered Apollo's stash of pornography from his house in Queens and even Apollo's own sons and daughters had their doubts about their father's reading habits. He was, after all, a man who was more likely to possess several copies of the Kamasutra than any works of Oscar Wilde or Jane Austen.
"Seriously, Ares and Aphrodite are so fucked up… they betray each other at every turn, yet they stay together," Naomi muttered. "Just look at how many women Ares has slept with after he had gotten together with the goddess of love… wait a moment. Will, look here!"
"What?" Will was curious, as he went over to the huntress and looked at the page in the book she wanted to show him. A smirk spread on his face, as he read the title of the chapter, "The Conquest of Dawn, Ares' victory and Eos' downfall."
"So, Eos is not just crazy, but also a slut. How fitting,"Naomi muttered.
"Not quite. Look. Apparently Ares was so taken with Eos, that Aphrodite's jealousy reached new heights. She cursed Eos to ever crave more, but to never find fulfillment."
"That does not help us," Lee interrupted them. "It does not tell us anything about where we can find Eos!"
"But it does give us an option. There might be a chance that either Ares or Aphrodite can tell us more about Eos," Will replied. It wasn't the answer they had been looking for, but it was a start. "Some of us can go and seek out either Ares or Aphrodite. The rest can follow other leads."
"This is a waste of time," Lee replied stubbornly. "Remember, we are outcasts now. Olympian gods won't help us."
"Ares might. He seemed quite fond of Percy, he even trained him as a child," Will shot back.
Lee looked unconvinced, but ultimately he shrugged and turned away. He wouldn't stop his brother. Will knew Ariadne and Percy better than anyone. Maybe his younger brother was better suited to make decisions here. At least for a while…
"Alright, five come with me! Let's find the war god!" Will announced loudly.
Several of his siblings and even Naomi and one of the other hunters got up to follow him.
"Take the prissy with you. Nothing good will happen as long as she skulks around here," Lee told him.
But Will was not exactly enthusiastic about bringing Phoebe… but then again, leaving her with Michael was begging for a disaster to happen. So he would have to take one for the team and watch over the hate filled huntress… ah, the joys of being the one in command.
She watched from the darkness, as the group of demigods decided to spend the night in a shady hotel in the middle of nowhere. She had watched them for some time now, waiting for the right moment to show herself. Yet every time she wanted to approach Percy Jackson, something happened. Monsters had hounded the group on their entire way from Florida to Texas and forced them away from any major cities or most forms of transportation.
But now, the time seemed more opportune. Most of the group was in their rooms, away from Percy. Only one of them was with him, as he swam in the small pool in the hotel's backyard. She remembered the girl, who was with him now. Zoe Nightshade, the lieutenant of the Hunt. But she was confused why this girl was still with Percy… this was truly odd. Well his entire group seemed strange to her. There was some infighting and not of the good sort either…
"You are still worried, Zoe?" Percy asked, as he swam towards the edge of the pool, where Zoe was sitting quietly on one of the chairs, her gaze directed towards the moon.
"We are too slow, Percy. I fear that we might be too slow to save Lady Artemis from whatever grizzly fate Atlas has in mind for her," Zoe replied somberly.
"It's been only a week, Zoe. If we keep this up and find a ride, we should reach California in another week."
"Too slow."
"This isn't the only thing eating at you," he commented, as he watched her more closely. "You know you can tell me anything."
"Can I? Really?" She asked. She did not look at him, else she would have seen the worried look on his face.
"Well, I don't know about you, but I consider you my friend, Zoe. A slightly sadistic friend, who loves to turn my rear into a pincushion," he snickered at the end, clearly remembering the good old days, when he was merely Apollo's champion, someone who guards the hunters for his mentor. The time, when Zoe hated his guts and everything else seemed utterly normal and boring. He misses those days. Before Zeus, before Rhea…
"A friend… my lady would not like that in the slightest… but the idea is oddly comforting," Zoe sighed, as she finally looked at him. "Can I trust you, Percy?"
"Always!"
Her lips formed the ghost of a smile, before the somberness of her eyes overtook her once more. "You do remember who my father is, do you?"
He actually had to think about this. He should remember it, he knew that much. He had found out about this from her sister. Calypso, Zoe's paternal half-sister… the daughter of Tethys and… "Oh..."
"Yeah. It will be such a happy reunion," Zoe was rarely sarcastic, but apparently the imminent meeting with her father, the titan Atlas, was a heavy burden on her shoulders. "And not just him. We will have to cross the Garden of the Hesperides first. My lovely sisters will surely welcome me with open arms, millenia after disowning me and leaving me to die in the wilderness."
Percy finally climbed out of the pool and dried himself with a short wave of his hand. At another time he would have boasted with his control over water, but he realized the it would a really dumb moment for selfish pride. Instead he walked over to Zoe and knelt down before the girl. Only then he could see how disturbed the otherwise prideful and dignified huntress really was.
"I've avoided my former family at all cost. Ever since Lady Artemis has taken me in, I never even wasted a single moment thinking about them. Until now..."
"It's fine. We are with you. You won't have to face them alone. And once we have saved Artemis, you won't have to worry about your family ever again, I promise," Percy told her.
It was odd to see Zoe so vulnerable. But he appreciated the fact that she trusted him to such an extent, that she would let her guard down around him. He doubted that many had ever seen her like this. Unlike her sister Calypso, who was much more open with her feelings, Zoe was usually too guarded and too entrenched in her believes to show any form of weakness.
"No," she said finally, "Nothing will ever be like it had been before, Percy. Even with Lady Artemis free from her prison, nothing will ever be okay again. We are at the start of a war. The titans are back and they won't go peacefully. I don't even know whose side we are on at the moment! Certainly not Olympus, we are with you, but you are an enemy of the council..."
"We will decide on our own what we fight for!" He said with conviction, his face filled with such determination that Zoe couldn't help herself but belief him.
"And Rhea?"
"Grandmother is… I'll worry about her when the time comes," Percy conceded.
Suddenly Zoe jumped up, fully alert, her eyes scanning the area around them. She had seen something, she was sure of it. They were not alone and whoever the spy was, he or she was not part of their group. All others were already sleeping peacefully in their beds. No, whoever this was, this person was dangerous, she could feel it. This tantalizing sensation when a powerful enemy is near.
"We are not alone, Percy! Be on your guard," she warned her companion.
The son of Poseidon knew better than to question her and quickly summoned his sword from Apollo's amulet. An enemy, here, so close to a major city… it was glaringly obvious that they wouldn't be safe, no matter where they go, but he had hoped for a small moment of respite at least. But neither gods nor titans would cut them any slack…
"Don't be afraid, I come in peace," a familiar voice said calmly. It was a girl, one that Percy remembered all too well. "I always wanted to say that, but most people I meet these days are those who flee from death and… well my encounters with them are hardly peaceful." She chuckled mirthfully, clearly amused by her own words.
"Bianca," Percy called out to her. He still kept his sword in hand, just in case. The last time he had seen her, she and her pet Cerberus had come with a one way ticket to Tartarus for the pirate captain on Circe's island. And even now she was clad in that same dark armor, armed and battle ready at all times.
"I'm glad that you remember me, cousin. It would have sucked, had you forgotten me. You are the only family member outside of the Underworld that I actually care about," Bianca told him honestly, as she approached Percy with open arms, to hug him.
He hesitated for a moment, his eyes searching for Zoe to see her reaction to this. But eventually he dismissed his sword and gave Bianca a hug, though it felt oddly forced.
"It's nice to know that you care about your cousin… but what about Nico?" Percy voiced his confusion. Why would she say that he was the only one outside of the Underworld? He had seen Nico with the campers, before they split up to search for Artemis. Bianca's brother was alive and well, so what was this all about?
"Who?" He would have believed her to play games with him, but when he saw the genuine confusion on her face, his suspicion grew.
"Nico! You remember him, right? Small guy, energetic, curious, a pain in the ass most of the time? That Nico. Your little brother!"
"I don't have a brother with that name, Percy," she told him, her voice filled with conviction, "But no matter for now. I will see what this is about later. I've come here with an urgent message, cousin."
Percy wasn't happy about this at all. Had she really forgotten about her own brother? Or was this her father's doing? Hades had been very displeased with his son's unwitting involvement in the theft of Zeus' symbol of power. But would the god really go this far?
"What do you want?" Zoe asked, when Percy remained silent.
"A warning, huntress. There are people among your group, who will die soon and you would be well advised to stay away, lest you might end up as collateral damage!"
"Who? And how do you know this?" Zoe demanded to know.
Bianca sported a strangely cold smile, as she looked at the huntress, "Thalia Grace, the daughter of the traitorous brother," she said coldly.
Percy's eyes widened as he heard this. Sure, he disliked Thalia severely. She was arrogant, domineering and a general pain the ass most of the time. She had gotten better at fighting and wasn't a total nuisance any more, after all the canon fodder the titans had thrown at them so far, but she was still overestimating her own strength. But her death… Percy did not want her or anyone else dead, but should Thalia really die on this quest, things would only get worse. Zeus would never forgive them and a war would be inevitable.
"How do you know this?" Zoe repeated her second question, much more forcefully, as she had an arrow aimed at Bianca's head.
"Oh, that's easily explained. It is because I will kill her!" Bianca replied nonchalantly, as if it was an everyday thing to kill your own cousin and start a war that might destroy everything.
"Wrong answer," Zoe said, as she released the arrow.
But Bianca was faster and managed to avoid the attack and rushed towards Zoe. She pulled a sword out of the shadows, a slim rapier, and swung at Zoe. The huntress had to jump to the side to avoid the quick attack.
"I won't let you stand in my way. Zeus' tyranny must end! I am the harbinger of darkness, I will bring an end to his mad reign!" Bianca exclaimed.
"And you think he is the only mad one? A war with Olympus, now, when the Titans rise to retake their thrones? You will doom us all," Zoe yelled.
Percy finally came to his senses, as he realized that Bianca was not joking. As if his life wasn't fucked up enough, now his cousin and uncle had to come and try to make everything even worse. Just fantastic.
"Don't do this, Bianca," Percy warned her. "Your plan will only kill us all!"
"My home is the empire of the dead, Percy, death is my life," she replied stoically, as she continued her attacks against Zoe. "And you won't stop me."
"Just watch me try," this seriously pissed him off. Everything was going to hell. Literally. What was next, his father trying to drown cities to increase the size of the oceans? Just why were the elder gods so messed up?
"I knew you wouldn't see reason, Percy. But you can't stop me. He won't let you!"
Suddenly a hulking beast burst from the shadows and tried to maul Percy. Three heads tried to sink their teeth into him, as three pairs of blood red eyes watched his every move. The Cerberus. Bianca had sicked her fucking Cerberus on him, just what he needed. He really had no time for this.
Zoe only saw a brief glimpse of Percy's struggle, before Bianca demanded her full attention once more. The daughter of Hades had become strong in those two years in the Underworld. Whatever her father had done to her, it had changed the girl. Zoe remembered her as the timid little thing they had found in that casino in Las Vegas. She had been such a nice person, she would have been such a great hunter. But Hades had gotten his hands on her first and now she was just another monster in his army. But Zoe was very proficient, when it comes to dealing with monsters.
"You will not succeed, Bianca. The only death you will cause will be your own," Zoe told her.
She didn't like this, but she would end this threat. They had no time to deal with this girl and her insanity. So with one swift strike, her hunting knife found its mark and cut a deep gap into Bianca's throat.
Bianca stopped immediately, her eyes wide in shock. Her mouth stood ajar, in a scream that couldn't escape her cut throat. Even her Cerberus had stopped its attack on Percy and looked at his mistress with a loud whine. And Percy… his shock was obvious and unlike her, he would not have taken Bianca's life. Zoe knew that. It was a weakness of his. One he would learn to overcome in time…
But to everyone's shock, a black mist escaped from Bianca's gaping wound, in stead of the blood that should have been spilled. And the wound sealed itself, right before Zoe's eyes, until only her pale and unblemished skin remained. Not even a trace of the usually very much deadly wound. And then Bianca chuckled darkly.
"You see, I can't be stopped," Bianca told her gleefully.
She was about to attack again, when someone grabbed her arm from the shadows. Bianca looked in mortification, as the form of her mentor appeared from the shadows, his dark face marred by a deep frown. Thanatos was not happy and an unhappy death god was never a good thing for anyone.
"Master… I..."
"You disappoint me, Bianca. Have I not forbidden you to seek revenge for your mother? Have I not told you, that such rash actions will only jeopardize your father's agenda?" Thanatos said coldly.
"I only wanted to..."
"Your actions demand rectification. I will have to be more thorough this time," the god said, before he disappeared in the shadows again, Bianca in tow.
The Cerberus remained only for a few more moments. It growled angrily at Percy, who had managed to inflict quite a number of deep cuts onto the beast. But the fight was over and the monster limped away and disappeared into the night.
"What the fuck?" Percy said, after some moments of disbelieving silence.
Zoe obviously had no answers of her own, so she could only shrug. This attack had happened so fast, so unexpected, yet it ended just as quickly. And now the two of them remained alone once more, next to the hotel pool, in the dead of the night.
"Why are we doing this again?" Apollo asked his aunt, as Asteria lead him through the ruins of the Oracle at Delphi.
He knew this place well, he would even go as far to say that there was no one alive who knew it better than him. This was his oracle and temple after all. But it had been derelict for a long time, as the oracle moved away, following Olympus. This place was little more than dead stones and old memories now. So he was quite confused, why Asteria had decided to bring him here.
"How long has it been since your last visit here, Apollo?"
"A century, two perhaps. I do visit the temple from time to time, to see how my priestess there is doing, but I tend to ignore the ruins of the oracle," he shuddered slightly, as he remembered why he had avoided this place. Antigone, his priestess here. A servant who had loyally stood by his side for such a long time…
When he gifted her with immortality, he wanted to reward her for her dedication, yet he had not seen how dedicated this woman really was. Antigone was obsessed with him… and it gave him the creeps. He would have ignored her for a century or two, had it not been for the young boy he had decided to take care of. She had been good for Percy, especially after he had lost his own mother. Her dedication to his champion had kept Percy sane and normal… for a demigod child of the Big Three. With Percy at his side Antigone became… tolerable, but the boy wasn't here now…
"This oracle has a long history, Apollo. From its original creator's hands to yours, a lot has happened on the way there," Asteria told him. "And there are things you have never seen. Things that were supposed to remain unseen until the end of all days, after the Golden Age was lost."
"This makes no sense at all," Apollo grumbled, as they entered the ruins of the oracle's main building.
Asteria stopped once, in front of a ruined altar. Once a place for sacrifices and gifts for the oracle, it was now little more than a broken slab of stone, robbed of its splendor. But as Asteria laid her hands on its cold surface, it glowed faintly for a moment, before it returned to its dead state.
"The message has been sent, now we wait," Asteria told him.
"For whom?"
"Patience, dear nephew. I will call in a favor, to help us find your daughter. I had planned to use this to find Leto, but your dear mother will have to wait for a little while longer," she sounded sad and there was no reason to ask why. Apollo himself grit his teeth in frustration as he heard this. He, too, wanted to find his mother. But his father had banished and hidden her, long ago, to placate his raging wife. He and Artemis had tried so often to find their mother, but neither Apollo nor she had ever found even the faintest trace of Leto.
"Will this work?"
"I don't know," Asteria replied honestly, "but she knows things and if it is just, she will help us."
"Who?" he asked again.
"They are here," she replied ominously.
Then he saw them. Three women, all looking eerily similar to each other, all with the same impassive expression on their faces. For a moment he idly wondered if Antigone would have been the better choice. At least he could read her like an open book.
"Dike, Eirene, Eunomia," Asteria greeted them each. "I've come to see your mother."
Apollo's eyes widened. He recognized these names. They were three of the Horae, his sisters, daughters of Zeus and the titaness Themis. Then it began to dawn on him. They were here for Themis, one of the twelve great Titans… but also one who had been very close to his father for a long time… Would Themis really help them or was her loyalty still with Zeus?
"And for what reason?" Dike asked, as she approached the two first.
"Her time is valuable, she does not squander it to entertain petty gods," Eunomia added, her eyes never leaving Apollo as she approached them as well. "What do wish from her, sun god, you who brings chaos and disorder to this world?"
"We need your mother's help..." Asteria began, but she was rudely interrupted by Dike, who stood between her and Apollo now.
"It is not you, who will be judged. You bring this god here, to our honored mother, for answers that he does not deserve after what he had done," Dike exclaimed, her voice still as calm and impassive as her face.
"And what crime do you wish to judge me for?" Apollo demanded angrily. He had better things to do, than waste his time with these goddesses. The Horae had always been troublesome for Olympus, seeing as they only answered to their parents, if at all. It had never been easy to tell which agenda they follow. Or whose…
"You and the titan queen, you changed the fate of all. A war is upon us, which should have never been. Nothing is as our mother has foreseen. All has changed and now a fog clouds the future," Dike told him, "Such a crime merits punishment. Justice must be done."
Apollo could see that his aunt was quite worried now. She had obviously not expected such a thing to happen.
"You changed the life of the boy. You created a life that should not have been. Answer for yourself, why have you dared to upend the order we all have so carefully preserved for millenia?" Eunomia asked him.
She stood directly in front of him now, her eyes locked with his. Less than a hand's width separated their noses now, as the Horae's golden eyes stared into his blue ones.
"Are you by any chance referring to Percy and Ariadne?"
"The boy's fate was never to be your champion," Eunomia told him, "it is against the order of things, for one god to claim the children of another and train them in secret as your own weapon."
"Percy is not a weapon, he is just a boy who has the worst luck imaginable," Apollo replied heatedly.
"And the usurper of Selene's powers? Was her creation not your doing?" Eunomia pressed on. "Her existence threatens the balance and order. Her mother's throne was meant to remain forsaken."
"And you three. Who are you to judge me for my actions?" Apollo began his own verbal assault, "I saved Percy because no child deserves to die. It saved him because it was the right thing to do. The just thing to do," he looked at Dike as he said this. "And Ariadne has not been born for some hare brained plan to seize control. She is the proof that the love Selene and I shared was real!"
The third Horae finally moved closer, after she had watched her sisters without any movement, without any sign of recognition. With utmost serenity she moved through the room, until she stood in between her sisters. Just her presence was soothing Apollo's mind and it quelled his desire for quarrel with the two other goddesses. And though all Horae looked similar, Eirene was without a doubt the most beautiful of the three.
"Peace, sisters. A fight will not right the injustice, nor will it restore order. What is done is done. We move on, we adapt and our mother will guide us on the way," Eirene said calmly. And by all the gods, even her voice was beatific, it made all others sound raspy and broken. Not a single dark though could ever enter the mind, when she is close.
"So will you allow us to see Themis now?" Asteria asked hopeful, now that Eirene had seemingly diffused the situation with her presence alone. The girl was truly the embodiment of peace.
"I've been here all along, Asteria," another voice said from behind Apollo and Asteria.
Themis had entered the room the same way they had come. The personification of divine law. The original Oracle of Delphi. She looked beautiful, as all divine beings chose to, but there was a hardness in her expression, that Apollo knew all too well. To see the future is often more burden than gift.
"Apollo, son of Zeus and Leto. It has been a long time since I've last seen you. You had just been born, a babe, not yet knowing of its own fate. An eternity ago," Themis said, as she cupped Apollo's cheek lightly. "Forgive me for the burden of the oracle, I would not have given it up, had there been a way."
"Mother, this is the one who has destroyed order and spits on justice for his selfish pride!" Eunomia said scathingly.
Eirene tried to calm her sister once more, but Eunomia purposely avoided her and moved away.
"The fault lies not with Apollo. Neither does it lie with my sister. It all begins and ends with the same child. Perseus..." Themis said. "But you have come for different answers, have you not?"
"Lady Themis, I humbly beg for your help in finding my missing daughter," Apollo said demurely. If it would help him find Ariadne, he would forget his pride this once.
Themis smiled benevolently at him, almost motherly, as she guided him the way, "Come, Apollo, there is much to be said. But this is not the place for that. Your father might have his spies even here, where I reside." And so they left for a more secluded place. Away from Delphi.
Will looked quite perplexed, as their car stopped in front of a rundown diner, somewhere in the middle of nowhere. Lee had brought them here in his car, after they had been told by some Satyrs that a certain war god frequents this place regularly.
"Looks shabby," Lee said, as he killed the engine of his old car. "Piece of shit. Not again," he cursed.
"Well, at the very least it got us here," Naomi quipped, quite happy to be out of the car, after so many hours on the road. "Let's hunt a god."
They got out of the car, but hesitated to go any closer to the diner. It wasn't the dirty and desolate look of the place, nor was it the angry music they could hear even this far away from the building. Nor were it the numerous bikes that stood in front of the place, almost as if they were a silent threat to any outsider foolish enough to venture inside. But it was the mere ridiculousness of their situation, five demigods, three sons of Apollo and two hunters, against the god of war.
"Damn rust bucket. I need to stay here and repair it, else we won't get back home," Lee said, as he opened the engine hood.
"Too scared to go inside?" Phoebe mocked him snidely.
"No, but unless I get this rustbucket back to work, any attempt to escape will be futile," Lee replied quickly.
"Just make sure that we can get away. I've got a bad feeling about this," Will said, before he walked the rest of the way towards the diner. Naomi, Phoebe and Austin followed him closely.
The inside of the diner was just as dirty as the outside, if not more so. More than two dozen men and a few women were inside, drinking and quarreling amongst each other, all under the watchful eyes of one man who sat at the bar. It was easy to tell that he was the leader of this gang,
But as the four demigods stepped inside, all eyes were suddenly directed at them and some of the men stopped them from getting any closer to their leader.
"No kids!" one of them grunted.
"Yeah, what he said," the other added dumbly.
Both were obviously more brawn than brain, but judging by their numbers, Will and his companions knew that they would be in for a near impossible fight. Not to mention the taboo. Demigods were not supposed to use their powers against humans… but then again, who would judge them? Olympus? Their were already traitors in their eyes. No, they only answered to their own conscience.
"Leave them be, they are my guests," their leader ordered imperiously.
The men complied immediately, obviously fearful of their leader's wrath. They stepped aside, huddling away in the corners of the diner, away from his intent gaze. Not that anyone could have seen his eyes. He was wearing shades, even at this late hour. The demigods knew why…
"You've got spunk, punk, no doubt about that," the man said, as Will reached the bar. "Or maybe it's just my charm. Traitors and enemies of Olympus feel drawn to me like the moth to the flame."
"Ares," Will inclined his head ever so slightly, careful to not give the normal men around them any reason to suspect the supernatural.
"No respect, I like that, punk," Ares said, before he let out a bellowing laugh. "Where is my punching bag? I would have thought that my invitation was obvious enough for him to understand?"
"Your invitation?" Phoebe asked tersely.
Ares chuckled darkly, as he looked at the huntress, "Did you really think that some random Satyr knows where I go and what I do?"
None of the four demigods found an answer to that, as the looked wide eyed at the god. Had they really been played this easily? By a son of Zeus no less? They had been so careful to cover their tracks… for nothing…
"So, where is Jackson?"
"Percy… he is on a quest to save the goddess Artemis..."
"What a waste," Ares spat, "He would be doing all of us a favor by letting that wretched woman rot in whatever whole they have hidden her in."
"You dare!" Phoebe spat, barely restrained by Naomi and Will.
"What a temper. Wonderful! A pity you aren't one of mine," Ares said, as he regarded Phoebe closely, "you are wasted on the likes of Artemis. Such unrestrained passion and fury, what you could do as my champion."
"I would never serve a pig like your," she spat in return.
Once more Will cursed his luck, that he was forced to endure the presence of Lady Artemis most troublesome servant. The girl was literally the most annoying pain in the ass he had ever encountered. He really wondered how Percy had endured her company, years ago.
"Ares, we are looking for someone," Will said, in an attempt to steer the topic of the conversation away from Phoebe.
A feral grin spread on the gods face, as he looked at Will and lowered his shades slightly, revealing the fiery pits that were his eyes. It was a truly frightening sight to behold and it reminded Will once more that this god was technically his enemy now. Ares was still loyal to his father, at least to a point and all children of the sun had been declared traitors.
"How audacious," Ares replied, "but you have guts. So I will give you one chance to prove yourself worthy of my time."
"And what is it you want from us?"
His grinned widened, if that was possible at that point, as he pointed at another person in the room. "You see that woman? She has my favorite sword. Bring it back to me and I will answer all your questions to the best of my knowledge."
Will looked at the woman Ares had pointed at. She was tall, taller than him, and strong. Her bare arms were packed with muscles. And she looked directly at him, her grin just as dangerous as that of the war god.
But despite every warning and every worst case scenario his mind was conjuring before his inner eye, he still approached her. It was obvious that she knew why he was coming, as she bound her pitch black hair in a low ponytail, likely to keep it from getting in her face during a fight.
"Now look what the cat dragged in!" She said, "So the dunce has finally managed to compel someone to get his favorite toy back. I hope you like pain, boy, there will be lots of it."
"Oh, but not the face, Enyo. He has such a pretty face, it would be a shame to destroy it," the other woman at the table said.
Will took a step back, as he realized who he was just about to face. Enyo, Ares' twin sister. He was so dead… especially when this meant that the other woman was none other than Eris. He should have expected Ares to bring his whole gang, but now… now there was no turning back.
But as he was about to get ready for the beating of his life, Phoebe pushed past him, rage visible on her face.
"Stay out of this, idiot. That bitch is mine!"
"Ho ho, so you are still alive, my foolish little daughter," Enyo mocked.
"So you do remember," Phoebe spat, "Good. I've got four thousand years of mother issues to get rid of and it is easier when you know why I will dismember you!"
"Brave words, daughter," Enyo chuckled, "Phobos, Deimos, make sure no one interferes. Time to finally teach my wayward daughter that I will not allow such disrespect."
And without further ado, Enyo and Phoebe jumped at each other, to fight, not just for Ares' sword, but for their own, very personal reasons. And as Will, Austin and Naomi were held back by Phobos and Deimos, Eris merely sat next to Ares, a drink in her hand as she enjoyed the chaos and strife. The war god's foolish plan had worked marvelously to lighten her mood...
A/N: So, at long last we see how the story continues and hey, Bianca showed up to say hello as well...
Will's group is a whole lot of fun to write. It allows me to give side characters some attention, who have only been named briefly in the books. It allows a lot of creativity, since we know only very little about them. So Will, Phoebe, Austin, Lee and Naomi will see some more action in the future.
And finally Bianca has come to get more attention. As one of the harbingers, her role will be of great importance in this and the next story. Her erratic behavior will also be explained later, maybe parts of it will be revealed next chapter.
So another Titan says hello in this chapter. She isn't much of a main character, but Themis is very interesting. She is for all intents and purposes the personification of divine law and order, as well as good counsel. She was the original oracle, before it changed owners until Apollo received it from his father. Themis was also Zeus' second consort. In fact Zeus is the only known lover of Themis, quite astounding, considering that the rest of her family shagged pretty much everything, no questions asked. The Horae mentioned in this chapter are Themis' and Zeus' daughters. Dike (justice), Eunomia (order) and Eirene (peace) were the second of several triads of daughters. I chose them because of what they represent and they do their job quite nicely.
And finally Ares little gang. I really wanted to bring back Eris and Enyo for quite some time. Their appearance in my first story had been brief, but a lot of people enjoyed them and their relationship with Ares. Enyo is Ares' twin sister, a goddess of war. Together with Eris, the embodiment of strife and chaos, and Ares' sons Phobos (fear) and Deimos (dread), Enyo follows Ares into battle. In fact the four (Enyo, Eris, Phobos and Deimos) are depicted on Ares' shield. I was quite of sad when they never showed up in the books, even though all four are essential to Ares' role as the god of war.