Chapter Five: The Life We Live

June 19th 2011 - 5 days before the Feast of Fortuna, 0500 hrs, The Bridge, Princess Andromeda II - Idaho, Unites States - Luke Castellan

"Luke," A voice whispered behind Luke Castellan quietly, almost timidly, "What are you doing up so early."

Luke didn't turn around, so Annabeth did. She put a hand on Luke's arm and tugged at him to get a better look at his face. Luke looked very different from the handsome boy she remembered when she first met him and Thalia on the run. His eyes were still blue, but much different now. His eyes were filled with a steel iciness she had grown all to familiar with, a far cry from the gentle warmth he used to look at her with. There were heavy shadows under look's red eyes, filled with bloodshot. His dirty blonde hair was unusually untidy, a fair reflection of his mood. He wore a white shirt without much care, the top two buttons were undone, leaving Annabeth a glimpse at his scarred chest.

"Why won't you even look at me, Luke?" Annabeth asked, sounding hurt.

Luke sneered, and he did look at Annabeth, but not in a way she would have liked. He seemed hostile, and it only served to confuse Annabeth even more. "What do you think you are doing?"

"Luke…"

A dismissive wave was all she received.

"You need to rest Luke," Annabeth pressed, "You are barely sleeping at all. You will stress yourself out."

"What do you know now?" Luke snarled, Annabeth realized with a pang at her stomach that Luke wouldn't even say her name, "The Mother Earth… She brought me back to life… She owns me, and she will kill me if I fail her."

"You aren't going to, Luke," Annabeth said reassuringly, though it was clear her words weren't having their intended effect.

"You don't know anything Annabeth," Luke snorted, laughing inwardly.

"Lu-" Annabeth opened her mouth again, but Luke cur her off.

"Our ship is still in pursuit of Jason Grace," Luke said, "They will soon cross Montana, and reach Illinois all too quickly."

"What are our orders?" Annabeth asked, couldn't help but feeling disappointed.

"That we turn north," Something inside Luke's eyes glinted, and Annabeth didn't like it at all. A sudden headache was forming. "Jason Grace doesn't matter, even if he does meet the hunters, like Jackson has planned. They are no longer predators, but preys, without even realizing it. We are to make sure Percy Jackson does not leave Alaska instead."

Percy Jackson… A splitting headache had formed, the searing pain forcing Annabeth to drop to a knee. "Luke… What?"

"I'm sorry about this." Luke said, and drove his fist onto Annabeth's face.

June 18th 2011 - 5 days before the Feast of Fortuna, 1300 hrs, Seattle, Washington, United States - Percy Jackson

Percy swore under his breaths furiously.

When he set into Seattle, this was not what he had in mind.

"Get him!" Bellowed an enraged, coarse voice, its feminine traits almost completely unrecognizable. A volley of Imperial Gold arrows followed.

Percy cursed once again, and threw his body sideways, spinning mid-air to avoiding being struck by the arrows, only missing narrowly. In the corner of his eyes, Hazel was wielding precious metals to shoot out from underground rapidly. Gold and platinum erupted from earth and shot into the mighty female warriors chasing them closely. Half a dozen more fell before Hazel's Spatha was met with the tip of a spear.

Hazel performed the disarming technique Percy's taught her, and wrenched the spear out of the grasp of her foe before proceeding to knocking her out with the blunt of her blade. Three more closed onto her, all armed with spears.

Percy raised Anaklusmos, recalling his epic fight with Jason that left the coliseum in ruins. Concentrating on the sun burning above him, golden beams of sunlight were absorbed into his blade as Anaklusmos glowing a powerful golden aura. With a loud cry, Percy slashed Anaklusmos down, pointing at the three warriors charging right at Hazel.

A golden beam of raw energy exploded from the tip of his sword, and struck the first warrior down. Percy withdrew and made a wild swing across his vision, another blast of energy exploded from his blade, and hit the remaining two warriors square chest like a bolt of lightning. They collapsed instantly.

"Run!" Percy bellowed, a ball of bright orange fire forming on his left palm.

Hazel didn't need to be told twice and the daughter of Pluto took off running.

Percy brought his sword down in a powerful thrust, dropping down to a knee as the sharp blade pierced into earth itself. Ground beneath his started cracking as he drew on his inner earth shaking power, something he despised as it came from his birth father. But seeing he was surrounded by a small army of man-loathing warriors with some very sharp spears and arrows and all seemed to want him dead, or worse, Percy decided he had no choice.

Sky darkened as stormy clouds gathered, wind started picking up. A storm had formed. Ground shook and cracked, the warriors who were closing onto Percy from all directions were blasted off their feet simultaneously. A massive bolt of lightning that would have made Zeus jealous flashed, and Percy was gone.

His movements were a blur even in the most trained eyes, he moved with the speed of light, with a strange violent grace. Flashes of gleaming light were seen as warriors fell one by one, not even knowing what had struck them, with various cuts and bruises on their bodies.

Thanking Apollo, Percy caught up with Hazel.

"Where is Zoë!" Hazel shouted as they ran.

"She went to get Peleus!" Percy shouted back, "He's our only chance at getting out of here alive!"

"Well she's taking her time!" Hazel said, dodging as a golden arrow whipped passed her ear blindly. "If she's going to show up, any time now!"

"Who the Tartarus are these people!" Percy cried, "and how did they know we are here!"

"Like I'd know!" Hazel snorted.

A monstrous roar came from above, the sound wave created a destructive force that sent everything in its perimeter flying. Blue flames erupted, and earth burnt. Loud screams could be heard, following by sharp commands as the warriors fell back, and re-grouped in a fluent motion, and led loose their arrows at the enormous dragon.

A rain of silver arrows descended from the sky in retaliation, catching the warriors by their shoulders, arms and legs. Half a dozen more went down, crying in pain and blood poured from their wounds where the arrows struck.

"Look who decided to show up!" Percy said as he pulled himself onto Peleus' back, and extended an arm to grab Hazel's wrist and pull the daughter of Pluto behind him.

"Really Percy?" Zoë rolled her eyes, "I was only gone for a few minutes and you already miss me this much?"

"You know I can't resist you." Percy grinned at her mischievously.

"Look guys," Hazel said, "Why don't we just go now, I'm sure you guys can flirt later."

"We are not flirting!" Shouted Percy and Zoë simultaneously, before blushing and looking away from each other at the same time.

"Wow did you guys rehearse that or something?"

Zoë gave Hazel a death glare, but the daughter of Pluto was unaffected and flashed her a huge grin while Percy growled.

"Just go!" Percy snapped, and Peleus took off with another loud roar.

"Watch out!" Zoë cried as another volley of Imperial Gold arrows were launched at them. Peleus roared angrily as some of them hit his skin, and bounced off without much damage done.

"Who are they?" Percy asked again, hoping Zoë might have answers. He was right.

"The Amazons," Came Zoë's curt reply, "I've dealt with them before."

"The Amazons?" Repeated Percy in astonishment.

"Yes," Zoë rolled her eyes, "The Amazons. They founded that mortal company as a front for their operations as a source of wealth. They have been expanding their empire underground for centuries."

"And they are after us now?" Percy said.

"Apparently." Another snort, "The Amazons are very much like the hunters, except they interact themselves with males, and they usually work for the highest bidder, no matter what is asked."

"Someone sold us out," Percy concluded after prolonged silence, "They couldn't have known we were here otherwise."

"Yes, but who?" Hazel asked.

Percy and Zoë exchanged an uneasy glance.

June 18th 2011 - 5 days before the Feast of Fortuna, 0830 hrs, Festus - Idaho, United States - Piper McLean

"Chicago?" Said Piper in surprise. Jason nodded at her.

"Yes, Chicago."

"What's in Chicago?" Asked Piper again.

"Aeolus," Jason answered, "He is the Master of the Winds and his residence, the floating island of Aeolia is located in Chicago."

"You think he's the reason Lycaon and his pack managed to bypass our defenses and board Argo II?" Piper asked, realizing where it was going.

"Indeed," Jason nodded, "A few months ago, right after the defeat of Saturn, the Praetors received a message. That Aeolus was now ordering all the wind gods in his affiliation and all their charges to eliminate any demigod who seek aid."

Piper blinked.

"Reyna and I had to keep this quiet for obvious reasons," Jason continued, "We had no idea how the legion, or the senate would react to a powerful deity now turning on us. And since Aeolus would be receiving commands directly from Olympus itself… well, we really couldn't afford it to become common knowledge. We destroyed the record and swore to secrecy."

"Ab dis immortalibus!" Piper gasped, "Percy is right, the Gods really have turned their back on us."

Jason nodded gravely, "Especially my own father. Or this could be due to the confusion created from the Gods suffering split persona. But either way, I think Aeolus is worth paying a visit. We need to know what we are up against."

"Chicago…" Said Piper, deep in her thoughts, "It's a long way to go from here. If we are wrong about this… Even if we do find Juno, there might not be enough time left for New Rome."

"I know," Jason said slowly, "But it's our only option right now. Lycaon could return from the Doors of Death any minute and when he does, we don't have another warship to blow up. Aeolus is either acting on the orders of Olympus, or working for Terra."

Piper took out Katropris, hoping to catch a glimpse of something, and when she did, she had to suppress a gasp. She saw Percy and Hazel running furiously as golden arrows whipped past them. A small army of at least dozens of warriors wielding spears were chasing after them.

May the Gods help them.

June 18th 2011 - 5 days before the Feast of Fortuna, 1500 hrs, Seattle, Washington, United States - Zoë Nightshade

Zoë pushed open the door into the café gleefully, she could really use some hot chocolate right now. Hazel volunteered to get their drinks, while Percy and Zoë sat across each other tiredly. It had been a long day.

They would have preferred to ride Peleus all the way across the border, but it wasn't realistic. Riding a dragon would catch too much attention, and right now, it was the last thing they needed. The Amazons were sweeping Settle top to bottom just to find them, and air passage was being monitored closely.

Zoë looked up, as one of those boxes mortals call a television started buzzing. Soon, the image cleared and the noises vanished. She found herself paying attention to the woman appearing on screen.

"Seattle police department has released the names of suspects who they have confirmed to be after the attacks on the city today that has left dozens injured, and several buildings destroyed."

Three images popped up on the screen while the female voice could still be heard in the background. Zoë cursed under her breathe.

"They are Perseus Jackson, Zoë Nightshade and Hazel Levesque. Jackson is believed to be the leader of this group. He was warranted for the disappearance of his mother, Sally Jackson at the age of twelve, and he was witnessed exchanging gunfire with a nefarious terrorist in St. Monica that left dozens injured, according to the police department."

The woman's voice vanished, and their pictures were replaced by the image of a mid-aged, stern looking man in one of those mortal police uniforms.

"We are doing everything in our power to catch these people. Washington state troopers have been deployed in the area to assist local police force. Hundreds of police officers have tasked with the mission to hunt down these people. The governor of Washington has been briefed and authorized the mobilization of national guard as we speak. All commercial flights in and out of Seattle have been suspended. Police officers are searching the city door by door as we speak. All ports are being monitored by authorities closely and guards have been posted and alerted on both sides of the border. Canadian authorities have been contacted to watch traffic across the border closely. We will find these people, and bring them to justice."

The woman's face popped back up on the screen again, while videos of SWAT teams storming the streets of Seattle were shown, the loud noises made by helicopter propellers could be heard.

The door of the café was busted open, and four Amazons surged in, all looking viciously gleeful, accompanied by screams of mortals.

Zoë reached into her quiver.

Annabeth Chase woke up in her room on Princess Andromeda II. She blinked in confusion at first, before an evil grin formed on her lips.