~ Most Adorable Guardian Ever ~

SAPHIRA

To say that Saphira is irritated would be the understatement of the week.

On day one, she lost Asteria and was so badly injured that she was unconscious for three day. Then she had to sit through a ridiculous meeting which cost her another day on the hunt. Then she had to travel across three states, lose one vehicle because of a bunch of grain spirits, then fight off a horde of monsters on a bus, and now, after finally getting the closest she has been to Asteria since the first day, she's lost her again. After having a perfect ambush set, because they didn't account for a sorceress who can teleport, and now they have no idea where Asteria could be now.

And on top of all that, her Guardian of the Hunt, whose nose was the greatest means they had of staying on the trail, has been turned into a pup.

"Are you okay?" Percy asks, but the distressed Guardian is not having it.

Lykos is still very much a wolf, but now he's no older than a pup of two months; a floppy right ear, paws too big for his body with short legs to match, and a soft roundish shape of his body. All in all, he looks every bit like the pups Saphira has seen birthed by the timber wolves in the Hunt, and he couldn't be any more unhappy about it.

Lykos had spent a solid minute staring at his reflection in Percy's shield while seemingly in denial, before he then went on a tantrum. Saphira can hardly blame him. He went from a powerful, fierce wolf to a clumsy, fragile pup. His pride must be deeply wounded, as well as probably now considering himself as deadweight.

"Lykos, it's not as bad as it looks," Chloe tries to assure him, but Lykos is too busy spinning in place, trying to look at himself while whining.

"I'm sure whatever Circe cast on you is temporary!" Percy offers. "You'll probably be back to normal in no time… maybe."

Lykos finally stops spinning and looks up at him with an expression that clearly shows his distraught state.

"And if not, well I'm sure Artemis can fix you when we get back!" Chloe adds with a cheerful tone.

Lykos plops down on his haunches and drops his head, whimpering pitifully.

Saphira sighs and kneels down to him. "I know you're upset. I am too, but we have to stay focused. We'll find a way to return you to your normal state of being."

Her words seem to do the trick as Lykos sighs and nods his head in surrender. He must realize that there is no point in staying upset about his situation.

"I know this isn't usually my style but…" Annabeth pipes up and steps in. She stoops down and suddenly scoops Lykos into her arms with a smile of adoration. "I can't be the only one who thinks he's adorable, right? Look at him! So small and soft!"

Saphira is certain that Lykos tried his very hardest to sound angry and intimidating… but Annabeth is right. His growls simply don't have the effect they did when he was at his full size. In fact, it just makes Wisdom's daughter coo even more.

"Oh my gods, his little growl!" she giggles.

"Yes, I admit they are rather endearing," Saphira agrees.

Lykos can only glare at them to show his displeasure.

Percy crosses his arms with a smirk. "Gotta say, I'm kinda jealous. The things I have to pull to get Annabeth to give me that kind of attention."

"Oh shush! I give you way more than I should!" Annabeth says with a scoff.

"Well, sadly we will have to find a way to change Lykos back, so enjoy his puppyness while it lasts," Chloe says.

"That's not our only problem." Saphira rubs her face with her palms in an effort to keep her thoughts straight. "We lost Asteria. Again."

The mood shifts to one that is slightly less pleasa t than a few moments ago.

"We were so close," Chloe mutters.

"I'm sorry, Saphira. I should have taken care of Thorn sooner. We could have gotten her back if I did," Percy says with a dejected tone.

Saphira shakes her head at him, disagreeing with putting the blame on him. "It's not your fault, Perseus. We didn't anticipate the witch's presence. Still, we have no way of knowing where Asteria will be now. Circe could have taken them anywhere."

Annabeth shifts Lykos to one arm and raises her free hand. "That's not quite accurate. Teleportation over great distances is something only the gods can do. Especially the wind gods. Circe is powerful, but not even she should be capable of jumping more than a state at a time. She'll need to rest."

This gives Saphira a glimmer of hope that perhaps not all is lost, however…

"But we still have no way of knowing where they will go next. We can't intercept them again," she points out.

"Not quite right again. We have but one clue," Annabeth says. "When we were sneaking up on them, I overheard Thorn telling the gorgons they need to hurry and take Asteria to 'the mountain.'"

Saphira should have felt another glimmer of hope. Instead, she feels a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, a sensation of dread. Of course, there are many mountains out there, but when one lives in the world of gods and monsters, a mountain referred to as the mountain, can only mean two things, and one of them is most definitely not where a monster would go… which leaves only one option.

She just wishes it were anything but that.

"So, what? Do we just scour every mountain until we find them?" Percy asks.

"No."

All heads turn towards Saphira, which somehow makes this feeling even worse. If she hadn't already opened up to them before, she probably would have just kept her mouth shut now. But she did open up. She did reveal things about herself and so there is no point in keeping anything to herself now. For the sake of the mission, she needs to explain.

With a deep breath, Saphira steadies herself and continues.

"It's Mount Othrys."

Chloe wastes no time in taking Saphira's hands into her own.

"Saph… are you sure?" she murmurs.

"Absolutely," Saphira replies, squeezing her friend's hands for her own comfort. Why does it always seem like no matter how hard she tries, no matter how much she heals, the past always comes back to scar her again. It seems she isn't the only one, as Annabeth and Percy also seem distraught by the revelation.

"Mount Othrys… suddenly I wish I didn't hear Thorn at all," Annabeth mutters.

Chloe frowns at her, but Percy is the one to clarify.

"That's where Annabeth was held hostage during Kronos' uprising… by Luke,'' he adds that last bit hesitantly while looking warily at his girlfriend. He then shifts that wary look to Saphira, and she knows exactly what else he is thinking of, so she voices it.

"And where Zoe died," she finishes. Percy and Annabeth both look at her with deep apology in their eyes, but Saphira dismisses it. She can't afford to let painful memories take her over. Not again.

"I forget you two were there," Chloe says. She sighs and releases Saphira's hands. "Well, at least the Romans conquered it during the uprising."

Annabeth shakes her head. "That was over two years ago. Unless Reyna and Frank have been keeping tabs on it, it's possible the monsters are using it as a stronghold again. Hell, I'd say it's a given since that's where they were planning to take her."

That's not all.

"My grandfather is also still there, holding up the sky," Saphira says.

"Your grand- oh. Right. Atlas is your- I forgot," Percy stammers awkwardly.

Saphira clears her throat. "Right so, okay. We know where they are taking her. We have to get to Mount Othrys and fast. We're going to need a new ride."

"No buses," Chloe says.

Definitely no buses.

"We'll steal a car," Saphira declares.

"That's risky. We could end up with mortal police on our tail," Annabeth points out. While she is right, Saphira can't find it in herself to care about the mortals interfering. All she cares about right now is finding Asteria and getting her home.

"We'll have to chance it. If you're right about Circe's powers, then we have to get on the move now. We know where they're going… maybe we can intercept them again somehow," Saphira says.

Lykos squeaks. Normally, that might've been a deeper rumbling sound, but with his current state… Well, it's going to be a difficult time for him.

"What is it?" she asks him.

He tips his nose upwards. His way of telling her about things related to scent. He must be trying to say he can still try to track them down. She doubts that.

"No offense, Lykos, but we need to be able to move fast. Your legs are too little to carry you quickly now. You won't be able to track them like this," she says.

Lykos glares at her, but then sighs in defeat, finally accepting that his situation puts him in a bad spot.

"We should get moving then. It's still early in the day, so we can cover a good amount of ground before nightfall," Chloe says.

Saphira nods her head in agreement. "Let's move out. Come here, Lykos."

She holds her arms out to Annabeth, but the blonde daughter of Athena clutches the wolf-now-turned-pup to her chest.

"It's okay. I can carry him for now," she says. When Saphira and the others frown at her, she hurries to defend herself. "Look, I've been through literal hell and back. I learned to appreciate things like a cute puppy when I have the chance."

Saphira supposes she makes a good point.

"Alright. Sorry, Lykos. You're stuck with her for now," Saphira apologizes.

Lykos groans in response.

"You're enjoying this and you know it," Annabeth scolds him as she scratches behind his ear. Saphira doesn't miss the flutter of his eyelids; a sure sign that perhaps he isn't resenting this entirely.

The party moves out, leaving the cemetery with thankfully no apparent witnesses in the area. They did make quite a mess of things, which Saphira does feel a little bad about. She's not familiar with much about modern mortals, but she does know they come to these places to pay respects and memories to their passed loved ones. Some of the graves were damaged in the fight. She can't imagine how she would feel if she found that a memorial dedicated to a fallen friend was damaged.

In the streets outside the cemetery, they find they are in luck. Dozens of cars line the curbs, parked and left by their owners who fortunately seem to be nowhere in sight. They settle on a black SUV, with Annabeth taking only minutes to unlock the car while keeping Lykos in one arm. Only when she gets the car started does she finally hand the wolf pup to Saphira.

"I'll drive the first shift," she says.

They all clamber in. Percy of course takes the passenger up front with his girlfriend while Saphira and Chloe climb in the back with Lykos in her arms.

"Alright, well. To San Francisco we go," Annabeth declares as she pulls them out of parking. They're on the move, driving through the quiet city streets.

Saphira leans back in her seat, resting her head and absent-mindedly stroking Lykos' fur. She wonders if there'll ever be a moment where she isn't flooded with thoughts and questions. They're uncovering more and more clues that they are on the brink of yet another war. Monsters united, carrying high-priority missions, and now apparently once again, using Mount Othrys as a stronghold.

That place… the thought of it fills her with such dread and painful memories. She can feel that old despair, that anguish and grief. She hadn't fully recovered, but the past year she had made a lot of progress, progress that now threatens to unravel itself all over again.

Going to the place of Zoe's death. She wants to believe she can handle it, for the sake of her friends and for Asteria, but to be honest? Saphira is doubting herself. How is she supposed to be able to handle it? Just the place itself is bad enough, but… she fears that she may also have to face Zoe's killer.

Her own grandfather.

The thought of him makes her nauseous and dizzy from the sheer hatred… and her fear of him. She had never met him before, and she never wanted to. She knew who he was from Zoe's stories, before her death. He was cruel, and vile, the very description of male filth Artemis would always drone on about.

Saphira can't know for sure what she'll do if she has to face him. She'd like to imagine that she'd show him no tears, that she would curse him to his face, and perhaps even put her knife through his neck… but she knows she could just as easily fall apart.

No matter how much she wishes for it, she is not Zoe.

"You can do this."

The voice that pulled her out of her thoughts was Chloe's. Saphira turns her head to see her friend gazing at her intently. The healer shakes her head knowingly at her.

"I know what you're thinking, Saph. I know that look, and have known it for almost five years. Ever since you mentioned that place, you had that look again," Chloe says, and reaches over to squeeze her hand. "You are not going to fall back into that. I won't let you. You've come too far to do this to yourself again."

Her friend knows her better than she knows herself sometimes.

Saphira sighs. "Chloe, I-"

"No, Saph. It's okay to miss Zoe, but don't put yourself down. Do you think she would have wanted her memory to make you sad? No, she'd have wanted to inspire you, to give you courage and strength," Chloe says.

Gods damn it, Chloe… Those words hit her harder than the cyclopes did, and her breath catches in her throat.

She's right.

Zoe would never have wanted her memory to be a cause of pain for her, or for anyone. She taught Saphira how to be strong. How can Saphira dare say she learned everything from Zoe if she acts like this?

"You're right," she murmurs. "She wouldn't want me to feel this way. It's just… Zoe is everything I want to be, but I just don't know how."

"Can I say something?" Percy asks from up front. He shifts in his seat to face her. She nods, giving him the go-ahead. "Look, Saph. I know we've only known each other for a few days. I didn't know Zoe for very long either, but you know what?"

"What?" she asks.

"You are more like her than you realize," he says.

Saphira frowns at him in disbelief. "How?"

"Zoe knew her fate, and she did the quest anyway, without telling anyone. Do you think that she wasn't afraid, because I don't. I can't imagine how terrified she must have been, how helpless she must have felt… does it sound familiar?"

She's not sure where he's going with this, but she nods her head anyway.

"But no matter how scared she was, how helpless, she went through with it. She led us the entire way, faced her father while knowing he would kill her, all to save us and Artemis."

Percy takes a breath and continues.

"Zoe was afraid, but she didn't let her fear stop her. Now, here you are, feeling terrified of where we are going, of who we might face… but you're going anyway. Saph, you have every reason to turn around and go home, and nobody would blame you, but you're not. You're seeing this through to the end. If that's not courage, I don't know what is."

"Percy's right, Saph. You don't think you are brave, but your actions show that you are. You are like Zoe, and I am certain she would be proud of who you are," Annabeth chimes in.

What did she ever do to deserve this kind of support?

Saphira feels those old, negative emotions begin to leave her, driven away by the kind words that they've shared with her.

"Thank you, all of you."

"We're here for you, Saph. No matter what, we will always have your back," Chloe says.

Saphira exhales heavily, letting her stressed emotions free, and replacing them with the soothing feelings induced by her friends. Even Lykos is able to offer her support without saying a word, simply nuzzling her cheek with his muzzle, making her smile.

What would she do without them?