Chapter 18: A Friend Says Goodbye

Poseidon grabbed Ares by the arm and manhandled him towards an empty room. He was not going to risk the war God slipping away and escaping this talk. The two Gods stood across from each other, both glaring. Ares' glare was more bravado than actual anger. He still remembered the old days where Poseidon was far more volatile. It could get very messy.

"You cursed my son because he beat you fairly in a fight." Poseidon began, voice deadly calm. "It could have cost him his life."

"He was disrespectful!" Ares burst out, temper flaring.

"You had just tried to get him killed. Not to mention you know your aura makes people angry and reckless." Poseidon stated simply. Ares smirked a little. "But this is far bigger than you simply cursing my son. You cursed the child of the prophecy to fail in battle. Your petty revenge could have been the downfall of Olympus."

"I left some leeway. It only works if he remembers my curse." Ares muttered petulant.

"You appear to be missing the point." Poseidon stated, eyes glinting menacingly. Ares had to fight not to shudder. "Kronos would easily be able to find out about your little curse and could then easily use it against Percy." Ares frowned. He hadn't thought about that. As much as he wanted the sea spawn to suffer, he didn't want Kronos to win.

"The brat deserved it!" He burst out, if only because he didn't want to admit he might have made a mistake. The brat had been disrespectful and deserved to be punished!

"He deserved to be punished, yes." Poseidon agreed. "There are many other ways to do that without putting our very existence at risk. That was foolish, petty and downright stupid." Ares ground his teeth furiously.

"But war is my domain." He growled.

"And it is not a domain we can afford the child of the prophecy to be cursed in. Somehow, despite your pettiness, Percy still saved Olympus. That is the only thing stopping me from smiting you right here, right now. Powers or not." Poseidon stated. He didn't raise his voice at all but his tone grew so cold that Ares took an involuntary step backwards. "If my son angers you again, you will bring the matter to me and I will deal with it. You are forbidden to ever curse or punish my son. Or you will regret it." The sea God glared at him threateningly. Ares made to protest and then decided against it. He simply nodded. Poseidon continued to glare until he was sure Ares had gotten the message. "Stay away from Percy."

"Got it." Ares scowled in return. "It's not like I want to go near the br…"

"I dare you to finish that sentence." Poseidon's face darkened further. Ares took another step back.

"Anyway, if that's all, I have matters to attend to." Ares said quickly. Poseidon considered. He still did not trust Ares but he nodded. The God of war was not entirely stupid. Ares departed immediately as quickly as possible. Poseidon smirked to himself and then decided to go and spend some time in the ocean to calm himself down. He could do with some relaxation after these damn books.

After dinner, everybody was feeling too tired to get up to much mischief. Percy went to have some archery practice with Apollo. As soon as the two of them were alone together Percy was on edge. He was so much more aware of the God's presence. Part of him wanted to mention it. To find out if Apollo was feeling the same way or if whatever this was meant nothing to him. But the larger part simply didn't want to know. Either Apollo didn't feel the same way and then Percy would have to deal with the awkwardness that would follow. He didn't want to lose Apollo's friendship by being permanently awkward around him because he had a crush the God didn't reciprocate. Plus, if the God hadn't settled down in a serious relationship by now, why on Olympus would Percy change his mind. It wasn't like he was particularly special. On the other hand, maybe Apollo did like him but then what? Percy was a mortal. He certainly didn't want a brief fling. But he wasn't sure he could trust the God. All the Gods that were married cheating on their partners with disturbing frequency.

"Drachma for your thoughts." Apollo said, breaking him out of his musings.

"Ah, they aren't worth a drachma." Percy shrugged.

"I'm not sure. Reading these books is comedy gold." Apollo laughed. Percy stuck his tongue out. Then they got down to business. He was steadily improving at archery. He was never going to be a brilliant shot but he could hit the target on a regular basis.

Once they had finished practice, they wandered through the palace together. It was comfortable now. Shooting had relaxed Percy. On their travels they heard some loud, off key, singing coming from up ahead. Soon they stumbled upon a huge bonfire. All of the demigods were there, along with a few of the Gods. Will and the other Greek campers were having a sing along. The Romans looked quite amused by this and were happily toasting marshmallows while listening to the songs.

Looking around, Percy saw Katie and Travis cuddling right by Chris and Clarisse. Silena and Beckendorf were with Piper, Jason and Leo. Tyson was with them as well. He and the sons of Hephaestus were busy discussing something quite intently while the girls watched the bonfire. Frank and Hazel sat with Will and Nico, who looked supremely unimpressed as Will continued to pester him about joining in some of the songs. Percy sniggered at the very idea of Nico singing. Hermes was sitting with Connor, Annabeth, Thalia, Reyna and Rachel. Percy found this to be the strangest group by a mile.

It was a nice, relaxed atmosphere which Percy figured they might as well enjoy. The next book was going to be even worse to read, particularly for Hermes. It also worried him that this would be the last book where they knew what was going to happen. After that they contained the future that would have occurred had they not been sent here. Percy wondered whether they would be reading about his death. How many of his friends would die in the war to come? Still, this was not the time for such dark thoughts. He moved to sit with Will, Nico, Frank and Hazel. Apollo didn't stay, instead mumbling about having something to do.

"Hey guys." Percy grinned. He realised he really hadn't interacted with the Romans much.

"Hey, Perc." Will greeted him with a smile.

"Got any marshmallows left?" Percy asked.

"Here." Frank offered him an opened bag and a stick to toast them on.

"Thanks man." They sat and chatted for a while. Percy found he liked both Frank and Hazel quite a lot. He was glad Nico had found another sibling. It might help him feel a little less lonely. Maybe if he didn't feel like he could stay at Camp Half-Blood, maybe he would be able to go to Camp Jupiter and be with Hazel. At least he would be safe.

Frank was like no other child of Ares he had ever met, even accounting for Mars being different to Ares. He was actually pretty cool and preferred shooting to melee combat. Frank confessed he had really hoped Apollo would be his dad, something that made Will quite pleased. In the end the two of them decided to have a shooting competition. They dragged Nico, Percy and Hazel off to watch.

Will won in the end but it was a very close match. Just as they were finishing up, Apollo arrived to tell them all it was bedtime. They were supposed to get an early start the next day.

The morning arrived and everybody managed to get themselves dressed and have breakfast by half past nine. Which was a record so far. They all filed back into the throne room, eager to resume the reading.

Dakota looked over at his father who was busy reading a wine magazine, alone on a couch. Taking a deep breath he walked over, Gwen at his side.

"Err...hello, father. Do you mind if we sit here?" He asked nervously. His hands were clammy and he had to stop himself anxiously hopping from foot to foot. Dionysus looked over at his son. It was the first time the boy had approached him while they were here and he very nearly smiled.

"Please. Go ahead." He said, gesturing to the seat beside him. It would be nice to spend some time with one of his children. Even if he was a Roman. Dakota sat down next to his father with Gwen on his other side for moral support. It wasn't much but it was something and Dakota couldn't help grinning to himself.

Everybody else took up the seats from the day before. Apollo still sat with his sister, guessing Zoe was going to be mentioned.

"I believe it is my turn to read." Demeter announced. She picked up the book.

A Friend Says Goodbye

When Demeter read out the title, Artemis sighed. It seemed Zoe would get a whole chapter dedicated to her death. Still, it made her smile ever so slightly that the boy had come to consider Zoe his friend.

We landed at Crissy Field after nightfall. As soon as Dr. Chase stepped out of his Sopwith Camel, Annabeth ran to him and gave him a huge hug. "Dad! You flew… you shot… oh my gods! That was the most amazing thing I've ever seen!"

"Yeah. It was pretty great to see." Percy said.

"Mr. Chase is awesome." Piper stated. She desperately wished that her dad could know about their world. It was better now that he was proud of her and they had become closer since the quest. But it still bothered her that her dad couldn't cope with their world. That she had to hide part of who she was from her own father.

Her father blushed. "Well, not bad for a middle-aged mortal, I suppose." "But the celestial bronze bullets! How did you get those?" "Ah, well. You did leave quite a few half-blood weapons in your room in Virginia, the last time you… left." Annabeth looked down, embarrassed. I noticed Dr. Chase was very careful not to say ran away.

Annabeth frowned. She wasn't surprised Percy had noticed, given his ridiculous observational skills, but sometimes she wished he wasn't so good.

"I decided to try melting some down to make bullet casings," he continued. "Just a little experiment."

"He melted your weapons down?" Connor asked a little incredulously. "What if you had needed them?"

"I think they went to a pretty good cause." Chris pointed out. "He did just save their lives with those bullets."

"I didn't need them anyway. I just always like to have some weapons on hand just in case." Annabeth explained.

He said it like it was no big deal, but he had a gleam in his eye. I could understand all of a sudden why Athena, Goddess of Crafts and Wisdom, had taken a liking to him. He was an excellent mad scientist at heart.

Athena smiled. She had been wondering what had drawn her to this particular mortal.

"Dad…" Annabeth faltered. "Annabeth, Percy," Thalia interrupted. Her voice was urgent. She and Artemis were kneeling at Zoe's side, binding the huntress's wounds. Annabeth and I ran over to help, but there wasn't much we could do. We had no ambrosia or nectar. No regular medicine would help. It was dark, but I could see that Zoe didn't look good. She was shivering, and the faint glow that usually hung around her was fading. "Can't you heal her with magic?" I asked Artemis. "I mean… you're a goddess."

"Some things cannot be healed." Apollo said gravely.

"Just because of a prophecy?" Percy asked.

"Partly but not always. Some wounds are simply beyond healing."

Artemis looked troubled. "Life is a fragile thing, Percy. If the Fates will the string to be cut, there is little I can do. But I can try." She tried to set her hand on Zoe's side, but Zoe gripped her wrist. She looked into the goddess's eyes, and some kind of understanding passed between them. "Have I… served thee well?" Zoe whispered.

"She served wonderfully." Artemis said softly. "With the greatest honor."

"With great honor," Artemis said softly. "The finest of my attendants." Zoe's face relaxed. "Rest. At last." "I can try to heal the poison, my brave one." But in that moment, I knew it wasn't just the poison that was killing her. It was her father's final blow. Zoe had known all along that the Oracle's prophecy was about her: she would die by a parent's hand. And yet she'd taken the quest anyway. She had chosen to save me, and Atlas's fury had broken her inside.

"That's pretty brave of her." Will muttered. "She knew she was going to die but went anyway."

Nico sighed. Yes, it was brave of Zoe, he just wished she hadn't dragged Bianca down with her. Part of him knew that it wasn't entirely Zoe's fault. Bianca had made her own choices but it was easier to blame the older Hunter. Which he knew he shouldn't. Holding a grudge against a dead Hunter would do him no good but the loss of Bianca was still so raw that he needed someone to blame. It was better for him to blame the dead rather than the living. That way he wouldn't hurt anyone in his quest for revenge.

She saw Thalia, and took her hand. "I am sorry we argued," Zoe said. "We could have been sisters." "It's my fault," Thalia said, blinking hard. "You were right about Luke, about heroes, men—everything."

"Hey now." Percy complained.

"Alright, not about all men." Thalia agreed. "Besides, even Zoe thought you were tolerable by the end."

"Perhaps not all men," Zoe murmured. She smiled weakly at me. "Do you still have the sword, Percy?" I couldn't speak, but I brought out Riptide and put the pen in her hand. She grasped it contentedly. "You spoke the truth, Percy Jackson. You are nothing like… like Hercules. I am honored that you carry this sword."

Percy smiled sadly. He was honored to carry the sword as well.

A shudder ran through her body. "Zoe—" I said. "Stars," she whispered. "I can see the stars again, my lady." A tear trickled down Artemis's cheek. "Yes, my brave one. They are beautiful tonight."

The Artemis in the room was also now crying. Apollo sat beside her, giving her a sideways hug.

"She always loved the stars." Artemis whispered.

"Stars," Zoe repeated. Her eyes fixed on the night sky. And she did not move again.

Everyone lowered their eyes and for a few moments, silently mourned the Hunter.

Thalia lowered her head. Annabeth gulped down a sob, and her father put his hands on her shoulders. I watched as Artemis cupped her hand above Zoe's mouth and spoke a few words in Ancient Greek. A silvery wisp of smoke exhaled from Zoe's lips and was caught in the hand of the goddess. Zoe's body shimmered and disappeared. Artemis stood, said a kind of blessing, breathed into her cupped hand and released the silver dust to the sky. It flew up, sparkling, and vanished. For a moment I didn't see anything different. Then Annabeth gasped. Looking up in the sky, I saw that the stars were brighter now. They made a pattern I had never noticed before—a gleaming constellation that looked a lot like a girl's figure—a girl with a bow, running across the sky.

Artemis smiled. "That is the Huntress constellation you spoke of?" She said to Percy, suddenly recalling the conversation where he had mentioned this was his favourite.

"Yes." He nodded.

"She would love that." Apollo told his sister. Artemis nodded. It was why she had done it/would do it. Zoe deserved nothing less.

"Let the world honor you, my Huntress," Artemis said. "Live forever in the stars." It wasn't easy saying our good-byes. The thunder and lightning were still boiling over Mount Tamalpais in the north. Artemis was so upset she flickered with silver light. This made me nervous, because if she suddenly lost control and appeared in her fully divine form, we would disintegrate by looking at her.

"I would not lose control." Artemis stated firmly.

"I must go to Olympus immediately," Artemis said. "I will not be able to take you, but I will send help." The goddess set her hand on Annabeth's shoulder. "You are brave beyond measure, my girl. You will do what is right."

"What?" Thalia was confused.

"It'll probably come up." Annabeth said with a heavy sigh. She still wasn't convinced she had made the right choice. Assuming the Goddess was talking about her choice not to go with Luke when he had come to see her.

Then she looked quizzically at Thalia, as if she weren't sure what to make of this younger daughter of Zeus. Thalia seemed reluctant to look up, but something made her, and she held the goddess's eyes. I wasn't sure what passed between them, but Artemis's gaze softened with sympathy. Then she turned to me. "You did well," she said. "For a man." I wanted to protest. But then I realized it was the first time she hadn't called me a boy.

Artemis smiled, glad he had understood.

"Wow. You actually won Artemis' respect." Will looked impressed. It was fairly clear that the Goddess in this time respected Percy but to have won her respect in both times...that was pretty impressive.

She mounted her chariot, which began to glow. We averted our eyes. There was a flash of silver, and the goddess was gone. "Well," Dr. Chase sighed. "She was impressive; though I must say I still prefer Athena."

Artemis raised an eyebrow while Athena smiled.

Annabeth turned toward him. "Dad, I… I'm sorry that—" "Shh." He hugged her. "Do what you must, my dear. I know this isn't easy for you."

"At least he is being understanding now." Connor shot Annabeth a smile.

"Yeah. He really was trying." She nodded. She desperately wished they didn't live in San Francisco. Although, if they made peace with the Romans maybe it would be considered less dangerous. Sure, Mount Othrys would still be there but with Atlas in chains, if they defeated Kronos it wouldn't be too dangerous. Maybe she could live with her dad without constantly looking over her shoulder. That would be nice.

His voice was a little shaky, but he gave Annabeth a brave smile. Then I heard the whoosh of large wings. Three pegasi descended through the fog: two white winged horses and one pure black one.

"Woah. That really was quick." Silena said.

"Pegasi can certainly move when they want to." Percy smiled. He missed Blackjack.

"Blackjack!" I called. Yo, boss! he called. You manage to stay alive okay without me?

"Barely." Poseidon muttered.

"Way too many close calls." Apollo agreed.

"Not sure a Pegasus would have been much help though." Hermes pointed out.

"He could have taken Percy away from the others so the skeletons would chase him." Rachel pointed out. "With Blackjack they might have been able to stay away from them."

"Blackjack couldn't go forever. Eventually he would get tired and they would have caught up." Percy told her.

"It was rough," I admitted. I brought Guido and Porkpie with me. How ya doin? The other two pegasi spoke in my mind. Blackjack looked me over with concern, then checked out Dr. Chase, Thalia, and Annabeth. Any of these goons you want us to stampede?

"He actually said that?" Thalia looked annoyed.

"He was just trying to be helpful." Percy assured her.

"He offered to stampede us. And called us goons!" Annabeth pointed out. "And at the very least he should know me from around camp."

"He probably noticed you and Percy arguing all the time. Figured you weren't friends." Nico muttered.

"Careful or it'll be you Blackjack offers to stampede next time." Percy smirked at him. "Especially after last summer." Nico grimaced.

"He wouldn't dare."

"I bet he would." Nico sighed. Percy was probably right. Thankfully he was fairly confident Percy wouldn't let the Pegasus stampede him.

"Nah," I said aloud. "These are my friends. We need to get to Olympus pretty fast." No problem, Blackjack said. Except for the mortal over there. Hope he's not going. I assured him Dr. Chase was not. The professor was staring openmouthed at the pegasi. "Fascinating," he said. "Such maneuverability! How does the wingspan compensate for the weight of the horse's body, I wonder?"

"Magic." Silena laugh.

"That's my dad." Annabeth sighed.

"He's pretty great." Leo said with a frown at Annabeth's tone.

Blackjack cocked his head. Whaaaat? "Why, if the British had had these pegasi in the cavalry charges on the Crimea," Dr. Chase said, "the charge of the light brigade—" "Dad!" Annabeth interrupted. Dr. Chase blinked. He looked at his daughter and managed a smile. "I'm sorry, my dear, I know you must go." He gave her one last awkward, well-meaning hug. As she turned to climb aboard the pegasus Guido, Dr. Chase called, "Annabeth. I know… I know San Francisco is a dangerous place for you. But please remember, you always have a home with us. We will keep you safe."

"Well, he's just proven he's pretty capable of doing that." Chris said appreciatively.

"Yeah. Making celestial bronze bullets is a brilliant idea." Clarisse nodded.

Annabeth didn't answer, but her eyes were red as she turned away. Dr. Chase started to say more, then apparently thought better of it. He raised his hand in a sad farewell and trudged away across the dark field. Thalia and Annabeth and I mounted our pegasi. Together we soared over the bay and flew toward the eastern hills. Soon San Francisco was only a glittering crescent behind us, with an occasional flicker of lightning in the north. Thalia was so exhausted she fell asleep on Porkpie's back.

"Woah! You must have been exhausted." Jason exclaimed.

"Yeah. It had been a very long, emotional few days." Thalia nodded.

I knew she had to be really tried to sleep in the air, despite her fear of heights, but she didn't have much to worry about. Her pegasus flew with ease, adjusting himself every once in a while so Thalia stayed safely on his back.

Thalia smiled slightly. Honestly, she would rather have slept through the flight than be awake and constantly trying not to look down. Getting a lift from those statues had been bad enough, although she doubted the Pegasi had flown so high.

Annabeth and I flew along side by side. "Your dad seems cool," I told her. It was too dark to see her expression. She looked back, even though California was far behind us now. "I guess so," she said. "We've been arguing for so many years." "Yeah, you said."

"You don't sound convinced by that." Rachel told him.

"I believed Annabeth but at the same time, her dad was pretty cool. Not to mention he was clearly concerned for her. I mean, he flew a plane into an army of monsters to try and help." Percy shrugged. "It's hard not to like a guy like that."

"You think I was lying about that?" It sounded like a challenge, but a pretty halfhearted one, like she was asking it of herself. "I didn't say you were lying. It's just… he seems okay. Your stepmom, too. Maybe they've, uh, gotten cooler since you saw them last."

"Or maybe with you at Camp so much they realised that, no matter the issues, they would still rather have you at home." Connor pointed out.

"Dad might." Annabeth acknowledged. She still wasn't sure about Ella. She had shown some brief concern while her friends were there, and she knew her stepmom didn't want her hurt. But wanting her home was a different matter. However, she had told Percy to tell her that she had a home with them. Clearly something had changed.

She hesitated. "They're still in San Francisco, Percy. I can't live so far from camp." I didn't want to ask my next question. I was scared to know the answer. But I asked it anyway. "So what are you going to do now?" We flew over a town, an island of lights in the middle of the dark. It whisked by so fast we might've been in an airplane. "I don't know," she admitted. "But thank you for rescuing me."

"You'd do the same for me." Percy shrugged. Leo, Jason and Piper exchanged amused looks. If anything, Annabeth was actually worse than Percy had been when it was his turn to go missing. Although that might have been to do with the fact that they were dating in the future. Here they were still just friends.

"Hey, no big deal. We're friends." "You didn't believe I was dead?" "Never." She hesitated. "Neither is Luke, you know. I mean… he isn't dead."

Hermes smiled while Zeus grumbled. The fall should have killed the boy. If he was alive then evidently Kronos had given him a lot of new powers. That did not bode well for them.

I stared at her. I didn't know if she was cracking under the stress or what. "Annabeth, that fall was pretty bad. There's no way—" "He isn't dead," she insisted. "I know it. The same way you knew about me." That comparison didn't make me too happy.

Rachel laughed. She was beginning to see why Percy and Annabeth weren't together yet. It appeared that sometimes, Annabeth could be just as oblivious as Percy.

Aphrodite studied the feelings around the room. The feelings between Apollo and Percy seemed to be strengthening. They were definitely requited too. But both Athena's daughter and the mortal girl had feelings for Percy Jackson as well. She giggled to herself. This was just so much fun.

The towns were zipping by faster now, islands of light thicker together, until the whole landscape below was a glittering carpet. Dawn was close. The eastern sky was turning gray. And up ahead, a huge white-and-yellow glow spread out before us—the lights of New York. How's that for speedy, Boss? Blackjack bragged. We get extra hay for breakfast or what?

"That is pretty impressive. How come Blackjack could get you from San Francisco to New York in less than a night easily but he couldn't follow the van Zoe was driving without getting winded?" Silena wondered.

"Going at full speed is easier." Percy explained, having asked Blackjack the same thing. "They can use their speed kind of like Centaurs do to travel long distances very quickly. But when following the van he had to go slowly enough to keep an eye on it. And he was flying for longer when we followed the van."

"You're the man, Blackjack," I told him. "Err, the horse, I mean." "You don't believe me about Luke," Annabeth said, "but we'll see him again. He's in trouble, Percy. He's under Kronos's spell."

"You only just noticed?" Dakota muttered sarcastically.

"That's hardly news." Reyna agreed quietly.

"He went under Kronos' spell pretty willingly." Jason pointed out to Annabeth.

"You don't know that. Kronos spent years infiltrating his dreams and twisting everything." She cried out.

I didn't feel like arguing, though it made me mad. How could she still have any feelings for that creep?

Annabeth sighed miserably. She knew Percy would never understand. The person most likely to get her point of view was Thalia but she had given up hope on Luke.

How could she possibly make excuses for him? He deserved that fall. He deserved… okay, I'll say it. He deserved to die. Unlike Bianca. Unlike Zoe. Luke couldn't be alive. It wouldn't be fair.

"Life isn't fair son." Poseidon told Percy.

"Tell me about it." Percy grumbled angrily.

Hermes looked down. He wanted to yell at Percy for daring to wish his son dead and yet Percy had a point. Bianca and Zoe had not deserved to die at all. Nor would they have, had it not been, in part, for his son's actions. But, Luke's death would not bring them back. And he did not have it in him to wish for Luke to die.

"There it is." Thalia's voice; she'd woken up. She was pointing toward Manhattan, which was quickly zooming into view. "It's started." "What's started?" I asked. Then I looked where she was pointing. High above the Empire State Building, Olympus was its own island of light, a floating mountain ablaze with torches and braziers, white marble palaces gleaming in the early morning air. "The winter solstice," Thalia said. "The Council of the Gods."

"Chapter's done." Demeter announced.

"How come you got such a short one?" Dionysus complained.

"Luck of the draw." She told him dryly.

"I think it's my turn to read next." Hades said heavily. He took the book from his sister and took a deep breath before beginning to read.