Hey, it's me again! Wow, I've had the coolest day at school EVAR! Our Finnish teacher took us to an ice cream bar. Haha. We only have one day of school left. Party time! And to celebrate, I have a heck of a long chapter for you, dear people! Enjoy!
Percy's POV
When the giant-mutant...thing had materialized in front of us, I really thought it was a prank from Zeus. Or it could've been if Zeus had any sense of humor. Everyone knows he's quite humorless. He takes his job seriously. But in any case, right then, it felt so unnatural. I mean, Zeus of all people, with a titan? Please, give me a break.
Anyway, the titan, who'd introduced himself as Briareios, told us he'd come to warn us about something. We took him and Zeus to our camp, so we could sit down comfortably. There Briareios told us his story.
"How much do you children know about the big war between the titans and the gods?" he asked us.
"I only know, that Zeus made Kronos spit up his siblings and then the Olympians defeated the titans and Zeus sent them to Tartarus", Nico said.
"Well, I guess I'll have to start from the beginning", Briareios said and began:
"I have two twin brothers, Kottos and Gyes. When we were in our mother Gaia's womb, our father, Ouranos would not let us to be born; whenever we attempted to get out, he would push us back inside. It wasn't until my brother, Kronos," he flinched, "attacked and wounded our father and so setting us free. He'd helped us, but he feared our strength and was jealous of our beauty," he chuckled, "so he imprisoned me, Kottos and Gyes under the earth. When the war between the gods and the titans took part, Zeus here" he patted Zeus' back, "brought us back into the light and gave us nectar and ambrosia to renew our vitality. We joined the Olympians in the war against the titans, against our own brother. After ten years of war, Zeus let loose all his fury. The earth and the heavens trembled under his thunderbolts. At that moment, Kottos, Gyes and I bombarded the titans with three-hundred boulders that buried them, thus ending the war. We became heroes."
Briareios paused for a while, then continued:
"Long after the war with the titans, Thetis summoned me to Mount Olympus to keep Hera, Poseidon and Athena from binding Zeus. When I ascended Olympus, I simply sat beside Zeus and my fierce presence deflected all thoughts of aggression."
"The gods invited me to stay at Olympus and soon I was wedded to Kymopolea, the daughter of Poseidon. After that, things started stirring. Kottos and Gyes became jealous, when I got so much extra treatment. They joined the titans again. They wanted to repay the lack of attention to the gods. So they gathered a couple of titans and giants and attacked Olympus, attempting to ruin as many buildings as possible. Of course, the gods captured them before they'd managed to cause prominent harm. Nemesis, the spirit of divine vengeance, imprisoned Kottos and Gyes under the earth, in the same place, where Kronos had imprisoned me and my brothers many years ago. In the place, where we'd thrown the boulders and defeated the titans. The gods marked the place and bound it with a spell. We were in peace again, until we got an alert from Nemesis, who was in charge of security in the prison of Kottos and Gyes. She told us, that Kottos and Gyes had started moving, they were reviving. Still we were confident; there just wasn't a possibility, that someone would enter the prison, break the spell and let Kottos and Gyes loose, when it only appeared to the Olympians and their offspring, like Nemesis. Oh, boy, how wrong we were", Briareios eyed us all.
I was starting to get the hang of this. The Garden of the Gods was the place where Nemesis had imprisoned Briareios' brothers, I'd been able to find it, because I was the son of Poseidon, we'd entered the damned place and broken the spell. How simple was that?
Briareios continued:
"Now, a bunch of godlings have entered the prison of Kottos and Gyes, more commonly known as 'The Garden of the Gods.' In twenty-four hours, Kottos and Gyes will be vital enough to break out of their prison and Olympus will be in trouble again. The case wouldn't be so difficult, if we could just invite Nemesis to seal the Garden again, but there is one small problem", Briareios said.
"And what is that, sir?" Thalia asked.
"You see, Nemesis is the spirit of divine retribution against those, who succumb to hubris and he can only do something to those, who actually have succumbed to it. When my brothers attacked Olympus, they thought very much of themselves. So much that it was considered acting under the effect of hubris", Briareios explained. "Now Nemesis can't do anything before Kottos and Gyes tangle with hubris again and that could be too late."
When Briareios had mentioned hubris, Annabeth startled. Hubris, the extreme haughtiness and arrogance, was her fatal flaw. I'd seen it in action, when Annabeth had tried to save Luke by taking the weight of the sky from Atlas. She still had reminders of that incident; there was a streak of grey in her blonde hair.
"Why can't you, Lord Zeus do anything?" Nico demanded.
"You all know pretty well, that the Olympians can't help heroes with their quests", said Zeus, looking particularly at Nico. "That's why I can't do anything. It is miss Chase's quest after all."
"Well, what can we do then?" Annabeth asked, eyeing both Briareios and Zeus.
Zeus looked at us all and said:
"You must find Dike, the goddess of order and justice. She'll be able to condemn Kottos and Gyes back in their prison."
"Where will we find her?" I asked, but Zeus raised his hand.
"We aren't allowed to help you more than this", he said. "We'll leave you now. Just remember: you only have one day, until the titan brothers will be free."
Briareios and Zeus started shimmering. We closed our eyes, because none of us wanted to be blinded from the light of them disappearing in thin air.
When we opened our eyes again, we were alone.
Annabeth's POV
Holy shit.
We had set two titans with numerous heads and arms free. Why did it always have to be us? Just why? Thalia was so upset.
"I'd planned this to be the coolest thing ever", she said.
"Hey, keep your chin up, Thals", Grover tried to cheer her up.
"Yeah, we'll just get this done and over with and then we can continue our camping out!" said Percy.
Thalia smiled.
"I guess you're right, Seaweed Brain", she said.
"I know, I know", Percy nodded smugly.
"But where are we going to find this Dike? Nico asked and then giggled. "Got it? Dike! Hahahaa!"
"Ha ha, Nico, very funny", I rolled my eyes at him, but couldn't help myself. My lips curved into a smile. Percy and Grover had joined the laughter. They were rolling on the ground, laughing their asses off. Thalia came to me. We watched the boys, amused.
"So, Annabeth?" Thalia asked.
"Yeah?"
"What did actually happen last night? Between you and Percy, I mean", she asked.
"Well..." I blushed. "I couldn't sleep, so I went for a walk, Percy came to me and we talked things straight", I explained.
"Yeah, but what happened after the 'Pillow Fight – Tent edition'?" Thalia asked.
"Oh, that", I blushed even deeper red.
"Yeah, that", Thalia grinned. She was highly amused.
"I had a nightmare again, I already told you at breakfast", I tried to avoid the question, but Thalia wasn't satisfied.
"But how did you end up sleeping in Percy's arms?" she asked. I couldn't avoid telling her anymore.
"Well, I'm not sure what had happened, but when I woke up from my dream he was holding me, whispering my name. He waited for me to calm down and then told me to go back to sleep. I was still a bit upset and his presence was making me so calm, that I asked him to hold me for a while. I guess he never let go of me", I babbled, the words coming out of my mouth a bit too quickly. Thalia could see I was nervous. Answering in Thalia's questions always made me nervous, although I tried my hardest not to show it.
"Aww, that's so cute!" Thalia cheered.
"What's cute?" Percy asked from behind me. The boys had stopped laughing at the funny, ambiguous name of the goddess of justice. Thalia grinned at him.
"You are, Seaweed Brain. You and this brainiac here", she said and patted my shoulder. I rolled my eyes at her. Percy, on the other hand, grinned.
"I know, right?" he said.
"Your modesty dazzles me over and over again", said Thalia.
"No-one hasn't still answered my question", reminded Nico. He was right; we only had about twenty-three hours left to find Dike and bring her back here. In other words, we were in a hurry. I started a quick planning process and in a few seconds time I had made up a pretty decent plan, which I presented to the others. It was perfectly simple: we'd travel to the closest town (Sturgis, about 20 minutes by car), go to the library, google Dike and try to figure out where she would be.
We didn't have time to waste, so we quickly gathered up our stuff (I'm quite sure we broke the world record in clearing up a camping site) and ran. We ran all the way to the bus stop. Luckily, the bus came in about ten minutes.
We got out of the bus in the center of Sturgis.
"Now, where is the library?" Grover pondered. We thought about that for a minute. Then Thalia got an idea:
"Let's ask someone!" she said.
"Okay, but who should we ask?" I asked.
"How about that one?" Nico suggested and pointed at a young woman, who was walking toward us.
"Sure, but who will ask her?" asked Percy. Thalia eyed him meaningfully.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Percy asked.
"I''m sure, that she'll tell you everything she knows. After all, you have to admit, you are very good-looking, Percy", Thalia chuckled.
"Well, okay, I'll go", Percy gave in. I looked at the woman, who was almost by us now. She was astonishingly beautiful. Her hair was shimmering blonde, her blue eyes were almond shaped and her makeup looked like it had been done by a makeup artist. We waited until the woman was walking past us. Then Percy opened his mouth.
"Excuse me, miss!" he said, stepping forward. The woman turned to face him.
"Yes? Do I know you?" she asked, surprised. She eyed Percy and I could tell by how she looked at him, that she was definitely impressed by Percy's looks. I felt a twinge of jealousy in the pit of my stomach.
"No, I don't think you do", said Percy. "Could you tell me, where I could find the library?"
"Library? Sure, just go along this road. It's not far from here", the woman advised. Then she did something really unexpected. She said:
"I hope you'll find whatever you're looking for. It was nice to meet you, Percy." Then she winked at Percy (jealousy, jealousy, maddening jealousy) and walked away. Percy walked to us, dazzled.
"Woah! Who was that girl?" asked Nico.
"I... don't know..." Percy muttered.
"How did she know your name?" Thalia wondered.
"Percy? You aren't looking that good, man. Are you feeling okay?" asked Grover.
"I'm fine..." Percy mumbled. "I was just... thinking..."
"About what? The woman?" I asked, my voice just a bit too edgy.
"Yeah... I mean no... Could it be possible, that we have just seen Aphrodite?" Percy asked.
"I suppose. Let's go!" I commanded. I really didn't want to think about the goddess of love talking with Percy and checking him out.
We walked along the road and, just like the woman (I refused to think it actually was Aphrodite) had said, we soon found the library. We walked in. The library was small and there weren't so much people inside, but they had a public computer and we went straight to that. Nico googled Dike. First he spelled it with a 'y' instead of 'i' and the boys got a reason to laugh again. Soon enough we found something interesting. Grover was the one to read, because none of us demigods could read fast enough.
"In the Ancient Greek culture, Dike (engl. 'Justice') was the spirit of moral order and fair judgement", Grover read. "Also known as 'Lady Justice', blah, blah, blah... Oh! There's a statue of Dike in Memphis!" he cried.
"Maybe we could find something there?" Percy wondered. "What do you say, Annabeth?" he asked, looking at me.
"Yeah, sure", I said. "Memphis, here we come!"
We chose to travel to Memphis by bus. The ride took a good four hours. Grover had scribbled the address of the place, where the statue was, on a piece of paper.
"Shel...by. Cou...ntry? No, county. Court...house. Shelby County Courthouse!" Nico read, when we jumped off the bus in the very center of Memphis.
The courthouse wasn't hard to find. We were basically facing it when we stood at the bus stop.
"Alright, guys, let's get inside!" Percy said, but Grover stiffened.
"It smells bad in here. I mean really bad", he complained, smelling the air.
"Monster bad?" Thalia asked.
"Yeah." He shivered.
Oh, crap! We didn't have time for any distractions now.
"There's no time to hesitate. Let's go!" I insisted.
"Annabeth's right. We should keep going. Let's just keep our guard", said Percy. I glanced at him thankfully. Percy could be a real airhead sometimes, but when it came to quests and monsters, he was brave, yet smart. Well, not as smart as me, of course, but smart he was. And that was one of the reasons I liked him so much.
We crossed the road, which separated us from the courthouse. Grover glanced around suspiciously. I had taken my cap out of my backpack, so I could use it if I needed to. We got to the other side and climbed the stairs to the massive wooden doors of the courthouse. They were open and so we entered.
Percy's POV
The place was huge! We'd entered the Shelby County Courthouse. The foyer was cavernous. The floor was dark marble and there were columns here and there. There was an info desk in the corner and we headed there. There was an old lady working behind the desk. She seemed have worked in that spot for a very long time. Probably for her whole life.
"Good afternoon, children", the lady greeted us. She had wrinkles around her brown eyes and a kind smile on her face.
"Is there anything I can do for you?" she asked.
Annabeth stepped forward.
"We have heard, that you have a statue of 'Lady Justice' here", she said.
"You've heard right", the info lady nodded. "Why are you interested in it?"
"School stuff", said Nico. I kicked him on the leg. Dumb shit! Was it necessary for him to open his mouth?
"But, good children! It's summer!" the lady pointed out. Yeah, that's what I had thought too.
"Summer school", Thalia mumbled.
"Oh! I see", the lady said.
"It smells very bad in here", Grover whispered in my ear.
"We'd better be going now", I said. "Where did you say the statue was again?"
"I'm afraid, I can't tell you, Perseus Jackson", the lady said and stood up. Oh, shit. I should've known!
"Why can't you just let us pass?" Annabeth snapped.
"It would be nice to have some trouble on Olympus", said the lady. Her features began to change. Her eyes changed color from brown to yellow, her face was pure evil.
"The big-headed Olympians think they're so great with all their luxuries", the lady spat.
"It would teach them well if there was some disorder over there and that's why, young heroes, I can't let you go."
The lady had fully morphed now. She was a fury.
"Die, young heroes!" she screamed and attacked Annabeth, who was standing closest to her. Annabeth dodged and put her invisibility cap on. She disappeared. The fury was bothering Grover and Thalia now. Thalia had opened Aegis and Grover threw tin cans at the monster. Nico tried to get the fury's attention, but she was way above Nico's reach. I went to help him. Together we tried to jump in order to harm the monster, who was almost too close to Thalia and Grover now, trying to find a good moment to attack. Where the heck was Annabeth? Was she up to something? Did she have a plan? I didn't know. The fury dived and hit Thalia's shield so hard, that she fell. Grover yelped and threw more cans at the monster.
"Don't. You. Dare! My. Friend!" I heard him yell in rhythm with his throws.
The fury screeched and dived again. Something stopped her in mid-air. She cried and rose upwards. I supposed it was Annabeth. Way to go! Annabeth could be a real pain in the ass sometimes, but when it came to fighting monsters, she rocked! Her fighting skills amazed me over and over again. That was one of the numerous reasons I liked her so much.
I saw a wound on the fury's chest. Annabeth might've stabbed her with her knife. But that wound wouldn't keep her for long. I just hoped Annabeth had a plan, because I certainly didn't have one. Nico and I kept poking the fury and eventually she turned to us. She shrieked in anger and dived at Nico. He swung his sword and hit the monster's side, cutting quite deep. She wailed in agony. I was getting confident. We could do this.
The fury attacked me now, diving quickly, tearing my shirt and rose back up. She stayed there, circling around us. We could never get her from there. What to do, what to do? I looked around for something, that could help. Then I heard a voice from behind me saying:
"Percy! You need to find some water to bring her down!"
It was Annabeth.
"Okay", I whispered. "I'll be back", I said to Nico and darted out of the fury's way, my eyes searching for a source of water.
"PERCY!" Nico yelled. I looked at him and suddenly felt the fury's talons on my shoulder. They slashed a deep cut there.
"Ah!" I cried. I watched Nico fighting the fury now. Grover ran to me.
"Are you okay, man?" he asked.
"I'm good, I'm good. Listen, Grover, I need to find some water", I said.
"Well how about those water automates?" Grover suggested.
"That's it! Thanks, man!" I thanked him and ran towards the black marble water bowls.
I focused all my strength on the water inside the pipes, that climbed up the wall. I felt the power of water inside them.
"Concentrate, Perseus", I heard a voice in my head. My father.
"I will, Lord Poseidon", I thought and let the water burst from the taps. The shower hit it's target. The fury screamed and fell to the floor. Nico, Grover and possibly Annabeth too were ready to strike. In a puff of golden smoke, the fury disappeared.
Annabeth took her cap off. Her hair was tangled and wet. We were all pretty wet. In fact, the whole foyer was flooding. Thalia had finally gotten up. She was sitting on the floor. Her face was shaped like a question mark.
"What's with the water?" she asked, standing up.
"Percy thought the fury was thirsty", Annabeth said, smiling at me. I grinned back.
"Well, you came up with the idea", I said. I could swear I saw Annabeth blush.
"It's great we defeated the fury, but we're on a mission, remember?" Nico reminded and he was right.
We waded through the foyer. The 'info lady' hadn't told us where to find the statue of Dike, so we just had to find it ourselves. There couldn't be so many rooms in the place. Hah! We were soo wrong! We searched dozens of rooms with no luck whatsoever. We rushed from room to another and we couldn't find the damned statue. Then we entered the last room in the whole building (caution: cliché about to come) and there it was. Is that a cliché or not?
The statue was huge! It was a woman balancing a pair of scales, sculpted from white marble and its head almost hit the ceiling.
"Wow!" Nico breathed. Grover let out a low wistle.
"Well... what now?" Thalia asked.
Annabeth frowned. I knew what was going on. She was planning.
"Got it!" she smiled after a minute of thinking.
"Great! What shall we do?" I asked.
Annabeth took a couple of drachmas in her hand.
"I'm not sure if this works, but it's worth trying", she said.
She threw the drachmas on the floor and said:
"O, Goddess of Justice! Accept my offering!"
When the drachmas should've hit the dark marble floor, they sunk through it. For a minute, nothing happened. Then we heard rumbling. Like an earthquake. Grover yelped and glanced around, looking for something to nibble on. Then, as suddenly as it had started, it stopped. We looked around us, but nothing seemed to be above ordinary. I hope you noticed the word 'seemed', because we heard a voice coming from above us:
"Good evening, young heroes. What do you seek?"
We glanced at the statue. Its head was bent so, that the statue was looking and smiling at us.
"Di immortales!" gasped Grover.
"Oh, Lady Dike, we need your help", Annabeth said.
"What can I do for you?" Lady Dike asked.
We explained the situation to her. She listened carefully, nodding occasionally.
"Would you please, please help us, Lady Dike?" Annabeth finally asked.
The goddess was quiet for a while and then said:
"We have work to do, children. But first I'll change to my less conspicuous form."
We covered our eyes. There was a flash of divine light and Lady Dike was standing beside us, looking like a normal human being. She had long, dark hair, almost black and pretty, almond shaped brown eyes. I have to admit, she was beautiful, but all goddesses were, so I didn't pay much attention to it. Her statue was back in its original position.
"Wow, the world looks so different from this angle", she mused. "I haven't been able to use this form in a thousand years. But enough chatting, we have work to do!"
That was today's of Come what may. I really hope you enjoyed it. Reviews are very much appreciated. I'm quite sure, that I'm not going to be able to write for in at least a week, because I have some important school stuff, but I'll try my best. Until that,
Peace, love, PJO.
Luv,
AC