"You know, the next time that I see Venus remind me to give her a piece of my mind." Annabeth growled, kicking viciously at an unfortunate bush as they trudged up the side of a mountain where the Amazons were supposedly hiding. "It doesn't matter whether she is in her Greek or Roman form, she always does things on a whim! What about the camp?"
"It sounded like those three are going to be watching over it while we are gone." Frank grunted, pushing aside a low hanging tree branch. Percy glanced back at them, Riptide held before him in case they came across any monsters. "Which is really good. And also really bad."
"What do you mean?" Piper inquired. She was annoyingly fine whilst the rest of them were breathing hard from their trek up and down the mountains' sides in their search. "I can see why it's good, but why is it bad?"
"Because if the gods have taken enough interest to actually stay in the camp, something must have really got them worried." Annabeth interjected, and Frank nodded his agreement.
"Especially since they don't seem to have an idea on what is behind all of this." Frank added darkly, frowning as he dissected the problem in his mind. "We know that whatever is behind it is capable of getting both the Titans and the Giants to work together. Not to mention the rest of the monsters that were seemingly at their beck and call. In their search for their Amazons their little group of five had not yet even discovered a single monsters, which worried Percy immensely. Each one of them were the children of rather powerful gods. Monsters should have picked up on their scents long, long ago and should have been constantly attacking them. Percy would have preferred an attack. It would have been much less worrying than not being attacked. In addition to that, Percy was also worried about his father. If Oceanus had returned and was waging war once again, that was bad news. Oceanus was possibly the only being alive that could take on his dad one-on-one in the ocean and actually hold his own. Percy was not actually sure that Poseidon would be actually able to beat Oceanus if it came to that. Moodily, Percy cut down a tree branch that happened to bar his path and immediately a spear was there. His fighting instincts went into overdrive and he leapt backwards just as a familiar looking warrior stepped out from behind the tree. "Victoria!" He blurted out, recognizing the Amazoness that had evidently made a claim on Ryker. "You're alive!"
"Which is more than you will be able to say in a few minutes if you don't leave." She threatened, leveling the spear at Percy with one arm while she drew out a wickedly curved hunting knife. "Why are you here anyways? How did you know where to find us?"
"Venus, Hera, and Ceres sent us." Hazel said, stepping in front of Percy and pushing Victoria's spear away with one finger. "They want us to bring all of you back with us to camp. The Amazons weren't the only ones to be attacked. Both Camps and a bunch of other places got hit too."
Victoria glanced past Percy and Hazel, frowning. "Where is Ryker?" She demanded. "Is he dead?"
Annabeth snorted and shook her head. "Not likely. From what we were told he is doing just fine."
"He better be." Victoria growled. "We have a date."
Percy glanced to Piper and the daughter of Aphrodite merely smiled slightly. "I'm sure that he won't forget it." She promised. "But for now, could you take us to Hylla? Like we said, we were sent here by goddesses. Otherwise we would never have been able to find you."
Victoria stared at the group for a while and then pointed to the three girls with her spear. "You three can come inside. The two boys will have to stay outside. Not even the husbands who are married to Amazons were allowed to come to this place."
"So what did you do with them?" Frank wondered.
"We left them at home of course." Victoria said as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. "The ones that survived the attack anyways. Many did not." Victoria looked rather sad and turned around, starting up the mountain.
The Amazon led them to a small plateau on the mountain and Percy had to suppress the urge to slap himself on the forehead. "So much for being well-hidden." Percy muttered to Frank. While the headquarters themselves were built into the side of the mountain, the fluorescent flashing sign was somewhat of a giveaway. "How did we not see this? Seriously."
Evidently Annabeth was thinking along the same lines that Percy was. "I thought you came here to hide." Annabeth asked, gazing up at the sign in surprise. "Don't you think that is sort of obvious?"
"Well, we never miss a chance to advertise." Victoria said, flipping her blonde hair over her shoulder. "Who knows when a female might happen across our headquarters and want to make a purchase? We always have to make sure our clients can find us."
"If your clients can find you, your enemies might be able to as well." Hazel pointed out as the girls went inside. Percy didn't get to hear Victoria's answer as the doors hissed shut behind them with a pneumatic hiss leaving the two boys by themselves on the small stone plateau.
"She's… something." Frank said after a moment, no doubt referencing Victoria. "Do you think that she can say hello without threatening your life?"
"Probably not." Percy said, thinking back to Phoebe and her propensity for taking him prisoner. "I just wonder how Ryker is going to handle that."
"Probably badly."
"Probably."
They lapsed into silence as they sat down at the edge of the platform and watched the sun make its track across the sky. "So what do you think is causing all of this?" Percy asked after a while. "Like what is behind all of the attacks."
"For a while I thought it was just Orion causing us trouble." Frank said, his eyes distant as he undoubtedly worked over the problem in his mind. "But now I think that it's something else entirely. If it was just Orion I doubt the gods would be so worried. Whatever it is, it's big. Bigger than Gaea."
"Well there's a happy thought." Percy said gloomily, thinking back to the earth goddess. "Because she was so easy to beat."
"I know, right?" Frank's tone mirrored his own. "And the gods didn't even help with her really. What does that say for this time?"
"Nothing good." Percy stared out at the horizon. "How long do you think that they are going to take?"
"However long it takes to convince Hylla I guess." Frank shrugged uncertainly. "Besides, they probably are going to have to tell her about Reyna too. She was Hylla's sister after all. That can't go over well."
"Nico said that none of the taken demigods have ended up in the Underworld, right?" Percy said with forced optimism. "So that means that we can still save them…. Right?"
"I hope so." Frank muttered, his eyes hard. Percy understood Frank's concern. As a Praetor, and as a person, Frank wanted nothing more than to protect his comrades. For them to be taken so easily, it had to be weighing on the big man.
Percy scooted over and patted him on the back reassuringly. "Come on man, don't be like that." Percy said confidently. "We have the gods fighting with us this time! And both camps have each other's' back."
Frank forced a smile and nodded. "You're right. And Ryker will get Jason back." Frank barked out a laugh. "I feel bad for whatever it is that runs across his path."
A sudden crashing sound from below them had Percy and Frank on their feet in seconds with their weapons ready. The crashing continued for a few more moments before the source was found. Gina Weiland came staggering out of the woods beneath them, her clothes and skin covered in dirt and scratches. Her eyes were filled with relief when she looked up and saw Percy and Frank staring down at her in shock. "Please." She begged, falling to her knees. "Help me."
Percy didn't spare a second thought as he vaulted off the plateau and landed beside her. Frank turned and ran back to the headquarters, barging through the doors and shouting for assistance. "Gina!" He said, placing a hand on her. He immediately withdrew his hand in shock when it came in contact with her flesh. Her skin was hot. If she had a fever this bad, she didn't have much time left at all. Percy ripped off his bag and pulled out a thermos of water. He manipulated the water out of the flask and placed it against her forehead in an attempt to bring down her fever. A shadow descended over him and then bodies landed on either side of him.
"Move." One Amazon said, brusquely shoving him aside as she immediately went to work on Gina. She frowned the second her hands touched her and glanced up at her companion. "We need to get her inside. She doesn't even feel right. You! Girl! What happened to you!?"
"We were attacked," Gina managed to say, her face in an expression of terror. An ADHD-ridden part of Percy's mind found it odd that even though she looked terrified, her eyes were calm. "Camp Half-Blood was attacked and a few of us were taken prisoner. He- he said his name was Orion. He made us run and run and run but I managed to escape when he punished one of the others. I've been trying to find help ever since."
"Where did he take the others?" Frank prompted, glancing up at Percy. "Did he say who he was working for?"
"He didn't." Gina bit back another sob. "Aiden asked, but Orion just smacked him for speaking."
"Aiden Bishop?" Percy asked, outraged. "The little kid? What does Orion want with him?!"
"I don't know." Gina sobbed again. "I don't know."
"Gina!" Annabeth cried, joining them at her side just as the Amazons finished assembling a stretcher made out of lightweight metal and some form of fabric that Percy couldn't identify. "What happened?"
"Orion." Percy said bitterly. "Apparently he took more prisoners when Camp Half-Blood was attacked."
Annabeth's face was rage. "Why that stupid…" The next few words gave Percy a new appreciation for her vocabulary. She turned to Percy and said, "The Amazons are going to be ready to leave in a few hours. They want to take as much as they can with them, so they are going to take an inventory first. After that we can get moving."
"Once we get back to camp we're going after him." Percy said with a positively fierce expression. "We can't keep losing our friends like this."
The Amazons placed Gina gently on the stretcher and began to move her up the mountain, ascending the rough terrain with barely a sign of difficulty. Percy, Frank, and Annabeth followed closely after them. Percy and Frank had just gotten to the doors that Frank had broken when two Amazons moved to block their path. "No males." They told them stiffly.
"She's our friend!" Percy spat. "You have to let us in!"
"No males." They repeated in unison, blocking their path with crossed spears and fearsome glares.
