Chapter Six: You Were Always One Step Behind Us

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

When Zoë was watching the TV closely, Percy was watching Zoë.

She looked tired, they all were. The quest had been a difficult one, Phineas didn't just give them new scars, he tore open old ones, and that usually hurt a lot more. Her volcanic black eyes were just as how he remembered, distant and determined, with lingering softness underneath if you looked hard enough, or if she chose to show it to you. Her long silky black hair was pulled back in an elegant ponytail, Zoë had explained it was more convenient in combat. She wore a silver jacket, white T-shirt and a pair of pale blue jeans and brown boots. It didn't take an Athenian brain to figure out it was the closest thing she had to a hunting uniform.

Her face was slightly pale, with a distant expression on her face. It was her usual look now, ever since she showed up in New Rome. Percy always remembered her being the one hunter who stood out the most. She was always distant, except for rare moments with her fellow hunters. Her eyes held two thousands years of unspoken wisdom and anguish. Her jaw was set firmly in determination. Percy disliked how distant she was acting these days, almost indifferent. Maybe returning from the land of the dead was having a bigger impact on her than he thought.

She was always deep in her thoughts after their rushed departure from New Rome, sometimes even troubled. And she rarely share whatever was on her mind to him anymore. He was worried.

Someone jabbed his ribs. Percy looked up and saw Hazel. The daughter of Pluto looked pale, hot chocolate in her hands but her eyes were fixed on the TV. Percy followed her line of sight, and saw photos of the three of them on the screen. He had to keep down a gasp.

Apparently the Amazons wanted them more badly than he thought, and they had tricked the mortal police into joining the hunt for the trio. Percy supposed he should feel honored the world's second largest group of man-haters were going through such great lengths of trouble just for him. Could it be they were obsessed with him.

Dear Hestia, I'm turning into Leo.

Percy zoned out for a few seconds, and his attention was brought back to reality by four Amazons bursting into the café, all of them armed to teeth.

"Percy Jackson," One of the Amazons gave his a very predatory smile, "Queen Otrera requests your presence. It would be wise for you to come with us willingly - or painfully, your choice."

A silver arrow whipped past him, and caught the Amazon warrior by her knee. Percy took this as his cue and sprang into action. He jumped over the table, brought out Anaklusmos and slammed the tilt of the blade onto another Amazon all in one fluent motion.

The third Amazon charged at him with her Imperial Gold spear, while the four went for Zoë. Percy and the Amazon locked blades and exchanged blows. Percy feinted a stab at her left side, and brought his blade back quickly, thrusting it at her right thigh. The Amazon swung her spear and blocked the move without much trouble.

She then thrust her spear at his chest, a move which Percy sidestepped, but clearly it had been anticipated. A fist came flying at Percy's face, and the son of Vesta swung his neck back at the last second. Before his opponent had the chance to strike again, Percy's left hand shot up, and snatched the Amazon's swung fist. He twisted using brutal force, forcing the Amazon to drop to a knee while Percy brought his foot up, knocking her out with a hard kick to her forehead.

Percy turned around, just in time to see Zoë disarming the last Amazon with her hunting knife. A thrust of her free hand and the last Amazon was on the floor as well. The trio ran at the door, and kicked it wide open, only to find themselves surrounded.

There were at least a dozen mortal police vehicles, their lights flashing. In front of them stood at least twice as much mortal police officers, all aiming their weapons at them.

"Police! Get on the ground!" The mortal police shouted. Letting his instincts take over, Percy summoned a wall of fire, blocking them from the view of the mortals. The trio back stepped into the café uneasily.

"We need a plan B." Percy said.

"How about the backdoor?" Hazel suggested, while Zoë notched another arrow onto the string of her bow.

"Good idea." Percy nodded in approval, and they sprinted through the front door back into the café.

"Police! Don't move!" More shouts came directly at them. Half a dozen more mortal police officers charged at them slowly, in all black. Black helmet, black uniform, black vest and black boots, the only thing that wasn't black were the large letters SWAT, printed in white, in clear contrast with their black gear. Each one of them had a very deadly looking MP5 submachine gun in their hands, raised and aimed at their foreheads. They wouldn't do much harm to Percy, mind you, Curse of Achilles and all, except it'd hurt like a bitch. But Zoë and Hazel on the other hand…

"Duck!" Percy cried, and shoved Hazel onto the ground, throwing himself behind a flipped coffee table as well. A silver arrow, meanwhile, had found its way into the first mortal policeman's shoulder, forcing him to drop his weapon.

The mortal police advanced on them and fired their weapons quickly, paying little mind to the mortals who were still inside the café and were screaming, searching for cover.

"Guess they found the backdoor before we did, huh?" Percy laughed humorlessly as he pushed the rounded coffee table along his tracks, providing minimal cover until he reached Hazel, who had taken shelter behind the counter.

Hazel waved her hand, and precious stones shot from the floor of the café, taking down two mortal policemen who were caught by surprise. The rest of them kept on advancing. Percy saw Zoë, on the other side of the café, retaliating with her silver arrows, putting the mortals out of actions as quickly as she could, but she was being overwhelmed.

Her pained groan and the sound of a bullet hitting her in the arm confirmed it. Her silver bow slipped out of her hand as Zoë was forced to take cover behind an extremely fragile-looking wooden table.

Front door was kicked down as two dozen more mortal policemen stormed into the café, their weapons ablaze. Percy cursed and kept his head low behind the counter. A SWAT officer closed on Zoë, who lunged at him with her hunting blade raised, but another had snuck up behind her back, and fired his weapon at her. Zoë collapsed as another bullet struck her right leg, blood pouring from her wound rapidly. The mortal policeman unceremoniously yanked her up by her hair, and slammed her onto a wall, forcing her back down her knees. Zoë didn't have the strength to struggle as they handcuffed her roughly, shoved her against the wall again, and pressed the barrel of a Beretta 92 pistol onto the back of her head.

It all happened too quickly for Percy's mind to process.

"Percy Jackson!" One mortal police shouted, his submachine gun fixed on the counter behind which Percy and Hazel were hiding, "Come out and surrender!"

"Percy, Percy!" Hazel gave Percy a slight shove, who was too stunned to take notice of the large group of mortal police approaching them, or how the four Amazons they knocked out earlier had all risen.

Percy turned to Hazel slowly, who only looked at him gravely. Her eyes made themselves very clear. They had no choice. They had to surrender. Not if Zoë wanted to get out of the café alive.

Percy nodded at her numbly, dropped Anaklusmos beside his feet without even noticing, and stood up, his hands behind his head. Hazel followed the suit.

Not a second later, they were shoved against a wall and had their hands cuffed.

June 18th 2011 - 5 days before the Feast of Fortuna, 1510 hrs, Seattle, Washington, United States - Zoë Nightshade

It all seemed surreal to Zoë, from getting shot, to getting handcuffed, and getting a gun pointed at the back of her head. She had closed her eyes, even though she wasn't ready to say goodbye to the world for the second time.

Then Percy and Hazel had surrendered themselves. They were shoved outside the café roughly, each one of them was handled by two mortals who were not keen to be gentle at all. They were thrown into the back of an armored SWAT truck, at least half a dozen cameras were shooting when bags were thrown over their heads, blinding them as the door slammed shut.

Zoë could feel barrels on them in the dark.

The ride was dead silent, nobody was talking. It took the truck quite a while to reach its destination. When the door was opened, and she saw light again, it felt like a life time had passed.

The bags were taken off them as roughly as they were put on. Zoë expected them to be taken to a police station of some sort, but she was terribly wrong. Two police vehicles parked on either ends of the truck. Fully armed mortal police got off the cars, following the ones escorting them. At least a dozen guns were pointed at their back.

They were brought to the Amazons headquarters.

Inside was a maze. Amazons could be seen wearing black T-shirts, all carrying a weapon of some sort, mostly spears. An infinite number of stairs later, Zoë found herself in an enormous cave, still handcuffed along with Percy and Hazel. It was a throne room of some sort. Dozens of Amazons were already in there, waiting for them.

The mortal police brought them in front of the throne. By then Zoë was too weak to take notice of what was happening around her. Two 9mm submachine gun bullets were still inside her, the mortals only had the decency to patch her wounds up roughly. She was feeling incredibly dizzy, it was so tempting, just to close her eyes and sleep. Maybe…

A mortal kicked her roughly, causing her head to snap to the woman sitting on the throne. She had short silver hair and blood red eyes, a cruel smile playing on her lips.

She then rose, and walked until she was right in front of them.

"Hello again Zoë Nightshade," Zoë recognized that voice instantly, it was Otrera, the founder and first queen of the Amazons, daughter and consort of Ares, "I didn't think we would meet again. The last I heard, you met your end three years ago."

"Otrera." Zoë spat weakly.

"Prideful as always, I see," Otrera snorted at her disdainfully, glancing at Percy and Hazel for a brief second, "Even death can not make you a lesser bitch than you are. Associating with males now? I didn't think you would become this low, Nightshade."

"What do you want?" Zoë glared at her.

"The Amazons have joined Terra under my command, as you see," Otrera gave Zoë a smile that sent shivers down her spine. "We are on the winning side this time. Those who dare to oppose the Mother Earth will burn."

Otrera paused, glanced at Percy with visible disgust, and turned back to Zoë, "Percy Jackson is wanted by Terra, whatever the Mother Earth has in store for him, I assure you it will not be pleasant. But you, however, don't have to suffer the same fate. The Mother Earth wants a boy and a girl, she didn't say who. Zoë Nightshade, I make you the same offer I did millennia ago, I offer you a place in my kingdom. A woman like yourself… your talents would be immensely valuable to us."

"And I give you the same answer I did millennia ago," Zoë sneered, "Burn in Tartarus."

"Very well then," Otrera looked at her coldly, and spared only a glimpse at Hazel, turning to one of the mortals and giving his a nod, "Kill the spare."

It all happened too quickly. Before Hazel could react, she was kicked in the back of her knees, forcing her down on the icy cold floor. Without warning, a mortal policeman pressed his handgun on the back of her head.

His finger was on the trigger.

"Hello, Praetor Reyna," Luke Castellan smirked as the Roman's head snapped at him, clearly caught off guard. She reached for her weapon, but Luke sent it flying outside her reach with a wave of his hand, "Surprised to see me?"

Reyna glared at him, her eyes full of hatred, "What are you doing here, Castellan?"

"Why, can't I visit my favorite Praetor?" Luke laughed humorlessly.

"Whatever you want, just get on with it."

"You see, a little bird told me that numerous new defenses have been set up around New Rome, and you were the one doing the organizing. Well, good job, I have to say, if, let's say, Gaea's forces are to attack now, I imagine the casualties would be very heavy, am I right?" Luke looked at her, smirking smugly, "Now we can't have that, can we? I need you, to tell me exactly what they are, where they are located, and how to get past them."

Reyna was silent, her glare was still fixed on him intensely.

"I don't need to remind you the consequences… should you refuse to co-operate, do I?" Luke looked at her coldly, a cruel smile on his lips.

Reyna lunged at him, but she was thrown back. Someone kicked her in the stomach, hard, leaving her lying on the ground, gasping for breathe.

"Watch what you are doing, bitch!" A female voice sneered. Reyna looked up, to find Annabeth Chase giving her a sickly sweet smile, "Try to touch my man again and I will cut your hands off!"

"Now, Annabeth," Said Luke in amusement, "We are, after all, guests here, as this is Reyna's house. It would be terribly rude of us to disrespect our host like that, wouldn't it?"

"Of course, dear," Annabeth smiled at Luke, and Reyna had to fight down the urge to empty her stomach. "Forgive me."

"Now," Luke Castellan walked towards Reyna, the cruel smile never leaving his face, "Are you going to tell me what I want? Or do I have to remind you what's at stake here?"

Reyna swallowed, she despised herself for doing this, and had it been her choice, she would have already killed herself, but she couldn't. Terra has the one thing she loves more than anything else in the world, and she couldn't risk it, even at the cost of betraying her people.

She nodded slowly.