A/N Sorry about the delay. My wife got me Resident Evil 4 and Diablo 4 for Father's Day and I wanted to build up some chapters before I started posting again. So now will resume normal posting for as long as possible.
Zoe, Liam, Karina and Thalia boarded the ferry, making their way to the back away from the other tourists. Settling down in the seats, Thalia passed around waters they had bought from a nearby store. Thunder rumbled through the heavy rain clouds threatening to empty their payloads. Zoe breathed in the sea breeze, a comfort she had been missing for weeks filling her being. She could feel strength flow through her as she continued to inhale the salty air. Liam eyed the waters nervously as the ferry sounded cast off. "Oh come on Liam. It's not like grandad is going to smite you for being on a ferry. We aren't even going into the ocean blue," Zoe tried to comfort her friend.
Liam scowled at his friend. "Big words coming from the girl who couldn't handle an elevator ride," the boy countered, clutching at his gut. Karina and Thalia snickered as Zoe crossed her arms and turned away. Her face becoming heated. "Dad had even less reason to smite you than Lord Poseidon does me."
"I'm going to agree with Zoe on this one Liam," Thalia said, patting her brother on the back. "Lord Poseidon is much more lenient about this sort of thing than Lord Zeus is, especially considering Zoe is here." A small wave struck the boat, causing it to shift. Liam bolted to the side of the ferry, relieving himself of his breakfast.
Laughter filled the air as the three girls took amusement in the son of Zeus' plight. Once finished, Liam returned to the questers, nausea plastered across his face. "Anyways, Liam's weak stomach aside," Karina began, turning to Thalia. "What exactly are we looking for? Reyna mentioned tampering?"
Thalia's joyous face fell. "After they altered the events of the Giants War, they couldn't leave Annabeth's body in New Rome. So Percy buried her here, where they found the map of Rome to lead them to the Mark of Athena."
The trio of questors' expression sobered. "Do you think whoever is behind this would have tampered with her grave?" asked Zoe, gazing off towards the approaching fort.
"It's certainly possible," Thalia answered, her voice lacking conviction. "If you were wanting to gain his attention, that would be one of the fastest ways to do it."
"If that's the case," the daughter of Trivia began. "Shouldn't you have checked in the beginning?"
Thalia shrugged. "Revealing where Annabeth was buried would have brought up any number of questions that were better left unanswered. We assumed, given how few people knew of it, that it was unrelated. If you guys hadn't found the silver drachma, we still wouldn't have checked."
The ferry docked on the pier of the fort. Magnetic clamps securing the boat into place as a small bridge connected the it to the pier. The four demigods followed the group of tourists off of the ferry and down the pier where a pair of guides greeted them. The smell of freshly cut grass filled their senses as they observed the grass filled island around them. The fort itself dominating the space as it loomed over the group like an impenetrable barrier between freedom and oppression. "There is a heavy blanket of Mist here," Karina informed the group, her eyes scanning the fortified walls. "Detecting any monsters will be difficult."
"We won't be long," Thalia told them, gazing out into the open waters. "The entrance to the tomb is in a storage room on the other side of the fort. We get in, check it out, and leave."
Liam snorted. "Is that all? This sounds like the Minotaur all over again."
Thalia smirked at her brother. "Then you should have experience with things going wrong. Come on, let's ditch this group," she ordered, turning to the northern part of the island.
"Hey, wait," the female guide called out, her ginger hair pulled into a ponytail as her maroon shirt shifted in the breeze. "You have to stay with the group. The tour is about to begin."
Without missing a step, Thalia snapped her fingers. The sound loud and clear across the pier. "We are the new hires, we were told to meet the boss at the officers barracks," she lied.
The woman's light brown eyes glazed over briefly before returning to normal. "Right, just head through that gate and it'll be in the far wall of the fort," she told them before turning towards the group of tourists.
"Much appreciated," Thalia called out, having never stopped to turn around. The trio of questers followed the hunter as they passed through the open gates of the fort.
Passing through the fortified gates, the group of demigods made their way across the fort. People, both staff and tourist, mingled throughout the parade ground. Demonstrations of Civil War battle strategies, how the equipment worked, the ideological differences between the Union and Confederacy, all of these Zoe heard snippets of as she and her friends followed Thalia towards the eastern barracks.
"Wild that they use to fight this way," Liam spoke up, watching a contingent of demonstrators form up in battle lines. "No wonder it was the bloodiest war in American history."
"Would have been beat if war with the Federation hadn't been averted," Thalia commented, passing two staff members in Union uniforms with the armored waistcoats.
"Yessss," a feminine voice like nails on a chalkboard spoke behind them. The four demigods turned, seeing the two Union soldiers facing them, muskets wielded in hand. Wide smiles stretched across their faces revealing long and sharp fangs. "It wassss such a shame the God of War was cowed," the man on the left licked his lips and shimmered. "We could have feasted for the first time in decades." The two men shimmered before the image of the two men fell away. In their place two reptilian women, thick snake legs slithering about, stood with bronze cuirasses and spears.
Zoe uncapped Riptide, the pen transforming into three feet of celestial bronze. Thalia drew her bow, silver arrow notched, eyes scanning the approaching staff members in uniform. Liam and Karina both readied their weapons, Liam crackled with electricity and Karina's free hand filled with a ball of ice. Around them, various staff members in union uniforms shimmered before more reptilian females took their place.
"Dracaena!" Thalia shouted, her arrow flying through the air and piercing one of the two dracaena in front of them. The reptilian woman yelped before bursting into golden dust. The other dracaena hissed, thrusting her spear forward. Liam deflected the blow and Karina stabbed the monster in the chest with her dagger. The surrounding dracaena charged the four demigods. "Run," Thalia ordered and the three questers followed the huntress towards the barracks. Two of the four fell behind, unable to keep up with the lithe speed of the hunter. Liam throwing his hand back, deflecting a host of arrows with the wind. The screams of mortals filled the air as more arrows rained down behind the demigods. Thalia shoved a dracaena out of her way, the reptilian monster's head flying through the air as Zoe ran past in a flash of bronze.
Two more dracaena blocked the entrance to the barracks, shields and spears to bear. A ball of ice flew past Zoe, striking one of the dracaena's shield. The ball shattered, the shards expanding until the shield itself was incased in ice. The reptilian woman dropped the shield in shock, before a silver arrow pierced between her eyes. Thalia rushed past the dying monster into the barracks. Zoe ducked under the spear of the second dracaena, spinning on her feet and kicking the monster's shield. The female collided with the wall of the barracks, Liam's kopis cleaving through the dracaena's exposed leg. Zoe thrusted her sword into the screaming monster's chest, silencing her.
"Go," Liam shouted, standing at the entrance to the barracks. "Karina and I can deal with these guys. You find what you need to, we will keep them off you," he told them, Karina nodding with him before turning back to the approaching monsters.
"We will be quick," Zoe said, chasing after the huntress. The sounds of thunder shaking the windows around them. Zoe sprinted down the stone halls, passing barred windows and reinforced doors. Turning the corner she barreled into a form, her leg colliding with a clang into another leg. Curses filled the hall as Zoe untangled herself from the woman below her. Rising to her feet, Zoe stumbled backwards, parrying a dagger away. A snarl marred a beautiful pale face revealing sharp fangs, framed in flaming hair and eyes of blood. Zoe kicked the vampiric woman back, her bronze prosthetic leg rattling against the stone floor. An empousa rose from the floor, shaking her head before stumbling back at the sight of Zoe. The daughter of Heroes could make out three more flaming heads behind the two empousai before her.
"Ugh, finally," the head empousa said, her dagger gleaming in the sunlight streaming through the window. "We've been waiting for you for days."
"Days?" Zoe asked, shuffling to line up the monsters before her. "We only decided to come here yesterday?"
The empousa scoffed. "We were told two days ago that some tasty half-bloods would show there faces here," she told the girl, her tongue dancing across her fangs. "Thanks for showing up, I was almost ready to start feasting on some mortals to-"
A small thud interrupted the monster girl. Looking down, her eyes widened. An arrow with silver fletching protruded from her chest, piercing deep within. The empousa gasped, slowly dissolving into golden dust. A blur of silver passed Zoe and the remaining vampiric monsters fell having not made a sound. Thalia stood at the end of the hallway, flicking some of the golden dust off her silver dagger.
"Well?" the huntress questioned. "Come on," she waved Zoe forward before turning the corner down the hall. Zoe chased after the daughter of Zeus, who glanced behind the young demigod. "Where are the others?"
Thunder shook the windows of the hallway. Zoe's eyes glanced out the passing windows, storm clouds consuming the sun in a violent thrust. "They are holding off the dracaena while we search. They can handle themselves."
Thalia nodded kicking open a door and dashing inside. Zoe followed, flying down the stairs after the nimble huntress to the next floor. Zoe exited the stairwell after Thalia, the dim lighting barely illuminating the hallway of roughly carved stone as the two continued searching. After turning several more corners, the huntress came to rest before a door. The daughter of Perseus examined the door as she caught her breath. Room B34. Zoe raised an eyebrow at Thalia, who shrugged at the girl before entering the room, the lights flickering on. Zoe followed, feeling underwhelmed as she entered a small room with a collection of long forgotten boxes.
Thalia smirked. "You didn't think your father would leave one of the most important people in his history in a small, unlocked room did you?" she asked, her silver tiara gleaming in light. The daughter of Zeus pulled her locket from her neck and slotted it into a hole in the wall. The light bulb flickered before drowning the room in darkness.
"Uh, is that suppose to happe-" Zoe's question died in her throat as an emblem of an owl appeared on the far wall, lighting up the room in a harsh glow. The sound of locks releasing filled her ears, the wall shaking and sliding apart splitting the glowing owl as it disappeared. An ethereal glow emanated from the opening as Zoe stepped forward, only to bump into Thalia frozen in the gateway. "Oof, sorry Thals..." Zoe trailed off as she looked past the huntress. A vast cavern filled her vision, with marble pillars rising from the basin of water to beyond the light of the ever burning fires hanging down. A marble pathway split a never ending pool of water, leading to a raised platform with twin pits of greek fire split by a large object. Zoe looked to Thalia, who remained resolute in her stillness. Following the huntress' gaze, Zoe's eyes widened. A pillar had been pummeled to dust, leaving nothing but a stump sticking out of the water's surface. Scuffs and scratches lined the pathway and the remnants of a hanging pit sat precariously in the edge of the water. Bits of plating, springs, and cogs were scattered about the pathway. A single hydra automaton remained. Half of it's body was submerged and was missing two of the three heads. Scorch marks and large grooves adorned many other pillars along with dents and craters. Some missing entire sections of marble.
Thalia shook herself, her deadening gaze filling with stout resolution. "Come on," she ordered before marching down the marble pathway.
Zoe followed the huntress, spotting pools of golden dust collecting on the surface of the water. "What happened here?" she asked to no one in particular.
Thalia kneeled down upon the pathway, her fingers grazing several scratches and burns. "Guess we found out what happened to Percy," she stated. Thalia glanced at Zoe, Riptide gripped tightly in her hand. "Someone battled the guardians of the tomb. A battle the guardians lost," she explained, quizzical eyes running through the tomb. "I am assuming that," she pointed towards the missing pillar, "and those," she gestured to the scorch marks and craters in the marble, "were Percy. I can only assume someone snuck in, destroyed the automatons guarding the tomb, and waited for Perce. When he arrived, they duked it out and Percy lost." She waved the daughter of Perseus over, before continuing down the path. "We need to hurry and get back to the others." The two climbed the steps, taking note the continued scratch and burn marks throughout the tomb.
"Who could have done this?" Zoe asked, kicking a cog into the water. The hydra automaton whirled to life. It's ruby eyes scanning the area before locking onto the two demigods. The hydra released a torrent of flames at them. Zoe jumped into the water as Thalia slapped her bracelet, the charm morphing into the impenetrable Aegis. The gorgon faced shield forming a barrier between her and the flames.
Zoe burst forth from the water behind the hydra. The remaining head failed to detect Zoe as she descended upon it. Landing upon the automaton's back, Zoe swung Riptide. The leaf shaped sword sliced straight through the neck of the hydra, sending it down into the water. Zoe jumped from the hydra's back as the automaton collapsed into the water. Emerging from the pool of water, Zoe pulled herself into the marble pathway where Thalia was waiting.
"It shouldn't have attacked us," Thalia said cautiously before continuing down the path. "The damage must have corroded it's targeting matrix. The automatons know who's allowed access." The two demigods climbed the steps onto the platform of marble for their objective. The sarcophagus dominated the platform, various battles and achievements engraved into the smooth marble. Celestial bronze inlayed into the massive construct. Atop the lid laid a beautiful warrior of ivory dressed for war, her princess curls flowing out of a Corinthian helmet and hands clutching a dagger on her cuirass. Zoe eyed the ivory woman before turning to Thalia, who once again removed her locket. The daughter of Zeus approached the sarcophagus, placing her locket into a slot in the cross-guard of the dagger. Again Zoe could hear tumblers rumbling before a loud thunk sounded and Thalia removed the locket. The lid raised silently, sliding to the side revealing the contents of it's marble coffin. Zoe and Thalia looked inside.
In the light of the greek fire a woman laid deathly still. Her blonde princess curls like a halo around her, orange Camp Halfblood shirt and jeans spotless. Her beautiful angled features a stark contrast to the brutal end described to the young demigod. If Zoe had not known better she would have thought the older girl would wake soon rather than never rise again. Her hand's clasped against her chest as if holding something no longer there.
"Oh no," the huntress whispered, pulling her can of maze from her light jacket.
Zoe looked to Thalia, adjusting her grip on her sword. "What's wrong?" she asked her as Thalia turned back down the steps. "Hey, where are you going?" Zoe chased after her.
"We have to get out of here," Thalia told the girl, climbing down the stairs as the lid closed over the sarcophagus sealing the legendary warrior from the world. Zoe caught up with the hunter as she was shaking her head. "How could they? Why couldn't they just leave her be?"
"Thalia," Zoe interrupted her as they continued along the path. "What is wrong?"
"Her dagger," Thalia answered passing through the gateway, the walls closing behind the two. "Her dagger was clasped in her hands. Someone took it."
"Why would they take a dagger?" Zoe questioned as they ran through the halls back to the stairs. "What could they possibly gain from that?"
"I-I don't know," Thalia said, her tone and eyes betrayed her. Zoe didn't believe her. "Right now it doesn't matter, we can discuss it later. We need to get back to the others." The two flew back up the stairs, making their way down the halls will little effort. Darkened light streaming through the windows as storm clouds dominated the sky.
Thalia and Zoe barreled through the exit, stumbling into the parade grounds with weapons at hand. "Liam, Karina," Zoe called out. "Come on guys we have to get out of...here..." She trailed off as her eyes met her friends. Trapped beneath the crushing weight of a cyclops, Liam and Karina grunted and strained against their oppressor's weight. Around them, several dracaena armed with a variety of weapons brought them to bear against the newcomers. Zoe took her defensive stance as Thalia slapped her bracelet and Aegis formed upon her wrist, an impenetrable barrier between herself and her enemies, placing her spear on the lip of the shield.
"Cease," greek filtered into the two demigods ears as the monsters stood as ease with their weapons at the ready. Turning towards the male voice, Zoe and Thalia retained their defensive posture. An older man, nearly seven feet tall, stood in gleaming knight armor, his hands resting upon the hilts of a sword and dagger strapped to his hips. Scars scoured his bald head as his face remained impassive as stone. His gleaming red eyes flew about the two, seemingly disappointed in Zoe in particular. He raised a gloved hand, pointing towards Liam and Karina who had both been moved and sat before the cyclops. "Safe," his wizened voice almost resonating through the earth. He then pointed to Zoe, "Fight."
Thala shifted slightly in front of Zoe. "We can take him Zo-"
"No," the bald man interrupted, his face set in stone. He again pointed to Zoe. "You, fight."
"I think it has to be me Thals," Zoe said to the hunter.
Thalia's eyes widened. "Absolutely not," she hissed, lightning arcing about her being. "I am not letting you fight this guy alone. He's probably a titan."
Zoe looked to her aunt annoyed. "Do you see another way out of this?" she asked, twirling her sword in her hand. "At least if I fight him I can buy us time to figure something out."
Thalia glanced back at Liam and Karina before disengaging, her shield and spear remaining out and ready. "Reyna is going to kill me," she muttered to herself. "Give him Hades Zo."
