Disclaimer: (sigh) Another one? Very well. I do not own the PJO series. I never have, do not now, and never will. I am not Rick Riordan.

Author's note: It seems that people do actually care about cliffhangers! Who would have thought?

Thanks to all of my reviewers! Here are some specific responses:

Storm-brain: Thanks for all the reviews. She will soon meet Artemis, but she won't join the Hunt right away. I need to do a couple things first. Girls were more accepted in Athens than most places, although I did stretch the truth a bit. Who doesn't? Also, Zoë uses 'you' for the beginning of the sentence. See Titan's Curse, page 93, at the bottom.

Jason Strong: I am flattered. I wish it actually was.

Drnl: Yes, I do thank people. Thanks for another great review.

Athena 0228: Took me a while. Europe was great, except for the busted arm. Sorry about the cliff, though it was fun.

Pinconeface711: Glad you liked the prophecy. I hope it was cryptic enough. Don't like cliffhangers? What a pity. I love them.

LittleBunnyFufu: I think you know what I am going to say.

HorseyGal23: It was broken arm and Europe trip that stopped me from writing. My school started on the 25th.

Here is the next chapter in the tale of Zoë Nightshade!

"You," I growled, balling my fists. "You took my magic and immortality away. What more do you want?"

Aegle smirked. "Your life."

"Getting cocky. Killed anyone lately?" (1)

"No. But that can change very soon."

I sighed. "You are as annoying as ever"

She grinned wickedly. "Not just annoying, Zoë. Powerful." She raised a fist, and blue light glowed from it. With her other hand she pulled out a longsword.

"You aren't the only one," I replied. Wheeling Ladon around, I pulled out Forgotten. It glowed silver, and the fang set in the tip glowed green.

The eldest Hesperid laughed. "That sword is incredibly powerful, indeed. But its power is like a flare to creatures of the Otherworld. I've gathered them, and they will be here shortly. But I don't think I need them. I can take thee. If I can't, they will be here soon enough to stop me from getting killed. I want to kill you myself, but I won't let that get in the way of my survival."

"Bravo," I said. "I never thought that you were one for speeches. The General is teaching thee?"

"And not just in speeches," Aegle answered. "But why don't we get on with it? Not fair for thee to be mounted, however, when I am not."

She hurled a strand of smoke at Ladon, and he fell onto his side. I leapt off just as he hit the ground. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw his flank rising and falling, so I knew that he was alive.

"Everyone is the same," I said. "They hit the horse before they hit me. How rude is that?"

Forgotten began to hum, mist starting to curl off the blade. She raised her blade in defense. I lunged, snapping my blade in an overhead slash that would have cut off her head if it had hit.

Her own blade shot up in a defense… and instantly shattered at the touch of the celestial blade. Even I was not expecting such force. I slashed again, but she rolled aside to avoid the blow.

I stabbed, but she twisted aside to avoid it, and then hurled a sphere of water at me. It didn't seem like it would hurt, but its touch burned like fire. I let loose an involuntary gasp. That hurt.

If she used magic, I would, too. I concentrated on Forgotten, and a beam of light shot out of the end to hit her in the chest. There was a smell like something burning, and she jumped aside with a yelp of pain. She then yanked a knife out of her boot and hurled it at me. My sword flicked to the shape of a shield, blocking it, then turning back into a sword as I lunged again.

She didn't dodge this time, just hit me with an explosion halfway through my stroke. I went flying, slamming against the ground with sufficient force to break several bones if Forgotten had not suddenly turned into a mattress. Even in a moment like that, I had time to find amusement in the fact that my sword was so adaptable, to say the least.

"Saved by a sword that turns into a feather mattress." Aegle said theatrically, shaking her head. "I really don't know why Father thinks that thou art a threat."

"Probably because he is smarter than you, though that isn't really sayin much," I replied mockingly.

I swung again. She twisted aside again, but this time I had anticipated the move. I stepped forward as well, then hooked one of her legs and pulled, making her stumble. I stepped forward again, then spun in a 270 degree turn and hammered her in the shoulder with the thick blade. She collapsed.

I knelt over her and presented my sword tip to her forehead. She looked at me calmly – just as a manticore spike shot forward and buried in my shoulder. Aegle rolled aside as I dropped my blade, crying out in pain. She scooped up my sword to attack me with it, but as soon as her fingers touched the hilt, a sparkle of energy shot into her fingers. She yelped and scrambled away.

Her army had arrived. It was led by a huge manticore, and consisted of hellhounds, Tartarian spawn, Stymphilian birds, griffins, dracanae, and several Laistrogonians. There was at least three hundred assorted monsters, plus about another fifty mercenaries.

I staggered to my feet, but I knew there was no defending myself, even if I could still hold my sword. I couldn't.

The monsters closed in on me. I closed my eyes as the manticore in front leapt at me, claws extended. I heard its roar, and the twang of a bow. A huge weight bowled into me, and I fell back onto the ground, unable to suppress a cry of pain as my wounded shoulder hit the ground.

I opened my eyes, but everything was starting to grow black. I knew I wasn't dead, though – the manticore's claws had not touched me. But as my vision slipped away, it suddenly returned. I could see, but I was on the ground, unable to move a muscle.

A huge group of girls, all of them looking about 12 or 13, had attacked Aegle's army. They all had bows, and were firing silvery arrows into the midst of the monsters. I'd guess that there were about fifty of them, against about seven times that. They were doomed.

But they were coordinating volleys with amazing precision, always hitting their targets, never missing. It soon became clear that Aegle's army could not defeat these strange archers.

Aegle shouted something, but I heard nothing, for some reason. But the result was obvious.

The mercenaries sprinted forward, away from the Hunters. Only one thing they could be running towards. Me.

But they were running to a point slightly to my right. Quite a bit to my right, in fact. They appeared to running towards a manticore corpse that had an arrow sticking out of its neck. One of them grabbed the manticore and shifted it, revealing… me.

I would have gasped in shock, but I couldn't move. How could this be happening? Did the manticore kill me before it was killed? Was it my shade that was seeing this?

More awaits thee, see in sword's sight. The words of the Oracle floated through my mind unbidden, and I suddenly understood what was going on.

Whenever I lost consciousness, my sight would be integrated into the sword's sight. I could see what the sword saw.

How did I know that? My sword couldn't see. What was going on with me? I knew things that no one else knew, that I didn't know, but somehow I did. There were thoughts that weren't mine. My head felt crammed, but I didn't know what it was!

And it all started and ended with the sword. But I couldn't just give it up! Or could I?

Suddenly, a red-hot pain exploded in my side. Agony poured through me, and I would have cried out if I was able to. I shifted my attention back to the scene at hand, with some difficulty, given the pain that was blasting through my system.

An arrow had pierced my body that I currently was not in. Blood flowed freely from around the arrow. Unchecked, it would be a fatal wound.

I wanted to stay aware, try to trigger the sword's powers, but everything was going dim. I could feel the pain slip away, along with everything else. I stopped resisting, and gave myself up to the black oblivion.