Chapter Three
"How far till we get there?" Thalia asked as the group continued walking through Alaska.
"I have no idea Thalia, we don't even know if he is here let alone where in Alaska he is" Artemis answered.
"Why don't we just ask someone where he is?" Athena volunteered, having a plan as always. Poseidon shrugged his shoulders,
"I don't care what we do as long as we find Percy"
"That's the quickest way" Phoebe agreed.
"Then lets ask someone" Artemis gave the final word before stalking off. She was stuck in her fifteen year old form as she had forgotten about the land beyond the Gods bit. The Gods could not change form and their powers were limited to those of a demi-god. Everyone else followed the irate goddess.
"Excuse me" Artemis went up to the first female she saw.
"Yes?" the woman asked
"Do you know where we can find Percy Jackson?" the woman frowned for a moment,
"You mean Perseus Jackson?" she asked. Artemis nodded.
"Well he lives pretty far out of town, owns several acres of land that way" she pointed to the north, "You'll have to get a car to take you as far as possible before walking several miles into the forests" Artemis thanked the woman before walking back to her group and relaying the instructions.
"Damn kelp head you really know how to avoid the neighbors" Thalia muttered.
"Come on let's find a taxi or something" Athena told them.
By some miracle they did actually manage to find a taxi that was willing to take them. It only took them three hours.
"So we just have to walk through the trees in a straight line and we'll get there?" Poseidon asked the cabbie. The cabbie just shrugged,
"That's my guess; no one actually visits him unless he's with'em"
"Right well thanks for the ride" the cabbie waved at them before speeding back down the road.
"Well shall we go?" Artemis said before bounding away into the forest, Thalia and Phoebe right on her heels with Poseidon and Athena hurrying to keep up.
"Thalia watch your step!" a frazzled Artemis shouted two hours later. They were all on edge after discovering just how many traps Perseus had set for unwanted visitors. Thalia froze, one leg in the air before stepping backwards with a sigh of relief,
"Thanks my lady"
"Come on!" Phoebe shouted in aspiration as she jumped over yet another bear catcher trap.
"How many goddamn traps has he set?" the others just shook their heads as they continued walking.
"I think I can see the end of the forest" Artemis called from where she was ten meters in front scouting the ground.
"Finally" Poseidon sighed. In their eagerness to get out, they forgot to look down again. Four simultaneous TWANGS were heard. Ten seconds later all three gods and Thalia were hanging upside down by their ankle. Phoebe froze where she stood, too afraid to move, lest she joined them. Just then they heard a loud howl in the distance, shortly followed by many more. Out of the shadows more than ten hellhounds appeared snarling and growling at them as they surrounded the invaders.
"Phoebe, whatever you do, do not shoot them" Artemis warned her huntress.
"Um why not?" Phoebe asked quietly,
"Because I have a feeling that they belong to Perseus and that would not make our job any easier.
"Gottcha. So um my lady, what do I do exactly?" Artemis opened her mouth again to answer but was cut off by a cold, low voice in front of them.
"You can stay exactly where you are" five pairs of eyes swung round to take in the new comer and they were all stunned at what they saw. Gone was the scrawny kid they knew, replacing him was a tall, very muscular man.
"Perseus?" Phoebe asked
"Indeed" Perseus answered coldly.
"Let us down kelp head!" Thalia yelled.
"Thalia shut up!" Artemis quickly shushed her huntress.
"And why would I do that?" Perseus asked slowly, "You are all trespassing on private property after all"
"Perseus, I know we're probably some of the last people you want to see right now but can you let us down so we can talk about this?" Athena asked him. Perseus stared at her hard for a moment before nodding slightly.
"Any of you dare approach me or draw a weapon then my hellhounds will be eating humans tonight, understood?" he asked. Nods were given all around. He pulled out one of his hunting knives and walked over to one of the trees nearby. He brought his knife up and cut the hidden rope making Athena drop towards the ground. He repeated this three more times until everyone was back on the earth. He turned to them, after he sheathed his knife,
"This way" he said curtly before walking off. The others exchanged a look before following. The hell-hounds followed them with Ms O'Leary and Shadow walking side by side with Perseus.
When they saw the cabin they were momentarily stunned. Perseus smirked slightly before turning to the hellhounds. Commanding them in Greek, ten of them ran off back into the trees to keep guard whilst Ms O'Leary and Shadow followed him inside. The visitors followed them. Once more they were stunned at the décor of the place, even Athena was impressed.
"Sit and tell me what you are here for." Perseus told them curtly as he took a seat in one of his high backed armchairs. The other cautiously sat down. So far the Perseus they had met was completely different from the one they were used to. Artemis had the sinking feeling that Thalia's opinion that Perseus would not help them was true. The silence was almost overwhelming. None of them how to start and Perseus seemed to be content with the silence.
"Well?" he finally asked, "I assume you did not come here just to say hello". Athena opened her mouth,
"You see Perseus, Zeus has informed us all that a new enemy is approaching. One that we cannot defeat without your help" she was blunt as always. Perseus rather than raging at them, looked faintly amused.
"Ah I see. So Zeus asked you to come and find me and tell me that I have to fight for the Gods again. Is that right?" he asked, a dangerous edge to his voice.
"That's right" Poseidon answered. Perseus shot him a glare.
"Well if that's all. You can all be on your way and tell the mighty thunder God that my answer is no" sarcasms dripping from his voice.
"What do you mean no? Perseus you are needed to fight otherwise we are all dead!" Poseidon shouted at him. Perseus glared at him coldly,
"I gave six years of my life serving you Gods. And you know the thanks I got for that? I got something that should have been done centuries ago- minor gods being recognized. Then after that I got shit."
"Oh stop being dramatic. You were offered Godhood twice. It's not anyone else's fault that you turned it down. It is your duty as a demi-God to fight for the Gods. We, I gave you life therefore you need to repay it!" Both Athena and Artemis looked at their uncle in shock, not believing he had just said that. Then they saw Perseus' face and both flinched.
"You. Dare." He growled loudly. "I saved this God forsaken planet twice." Poseidon flinched as he realized what he had just said.
"I saved your life twice. Artemis' three time. Every other bloody God twice or more. And you still have the audacity to say that I need to repay you for spawning me!"
"Perseus… I'm sorry" Poseidon whispered. That's when he exploded.
"YOU'RE SORRY!?" He yelled at his ex-father. "WHAT EXACTLY ARE YOU APOLOGIZING FOR? WHAT YOU DID BEFORE I LEFT? FOR SAYING WHAT YOU JUST DID? COME ON POSEIDON. TELL ME!" Poseidon faltered at the sheer rage aimed at him by his son. He was mostly caught off guard by the glowing flaming eyes.
"Everything." He replied quietly. "I'm sorry for everything"
The other people in the room were switching back and forth from Perseus to Poseidon.
"Yes well screw you Poseidon!" Perseus growled before storming to the door,
"I expect you all to be gone by the time I get back. If not, then I will throw you out, with force if necessary" he informed them before he was gone, leaving silence behind him.
"Good job Poseidon, you have just ruined any chance we had of getting him to fight. We will be lucky if he decides to remain neutral, what happens if he decides to join the enemy? He seems to hate you enough for that" Athena told him.
"Be quiet Athena, please." He sighed as he sat down. "I know I was wrong. I shouldn't have said what I did"
"Wait a minute" Thalia spoke up suddenly, making everyone look at her. She had an odd look on her face,
"What exactly did Percy mean about what you did before he left? Were you the cause for him leaving?" she demanded. Poseidon looked down to the ground, ashamed.
"Yes. At least partially" he whispered.
"What did you do?" Thalia growled, sparks flying off her.
"I disowned him"
A/N. Lol another cliffhanger. Stick around for more