Artemis in this chapter: Well that's suspicious.
Replies:
Guest: Well at least one Greek is very sus about it all. And Setne knows everything, he's just holding back because it serves his interests for now not to tell them. He wants to cause chaos and sieze power using said chaos and the more he plays the two sides the better it is for him.
Krypton Joy Writes: I hope you lived long enough to see this.
Undeath9087: Percy: Oh, you know I have some tricks up my sleeve.
Artemis: Uh huh. Tricks you say.
Wisestriker: Thank you!
MKDemiGodzilla-Warrior: Not know exactly, but I mean, Artemis suspects. Percy doesn't fully trust them both yet. Not enough to tell them exactly who she is.
Venus Jackson: Yeah Luke desperately needed someone to shake sense into him. He needed someone to be there for him for once. And now that person is Percy.
Ryan Fowler: Thank you!
Tasnimnuzhat9: Thank you!
AlexusAP: Heheheh. This is one of the cruellest so far huh? Just wait until I get to chapters 22-23 (If I've counted them properly lol, I may be mistaken.)
Cammieblues: Thank you
Percy could hear Artemis and Luke's screams, could feel the rush of the air all around them, but she blocked it all out. There was nothing more she could do now, they'd either be slowed by the water in the air or they'd die, it was as simple as that.
And she could feel it, feel the water, the humidity of the air around them, droplets of sea water in the air even as high as they were. There was water all around, there was always water.
And it did work a bit, Percy felt a pressure against her skin- not enough, not enough she needed more. If only it was raining or something- she'd done that before hadn't she? She'd been so upset and worked up because of Carter and Sadie not waking up after the disastrous trip to Russia. She'd created a damn hurricane. And that would be very very useful now wouldn't it? The wind and rain would make it damn near impossible for Alina and Atlas and the monsters under their command to follow- and whilst Setne probably could, he probably wouldn't. After all he wanted them to get away. For now anyway.
Okay, okay so hurricane. She needed to remember how she'd done it last time- and it wouldn't be so easy as it was then. She wasn't actually on a beach this time- the sea was close enough to taste it in the air here but it still wasn't that close.
She'd been desperate then- she hadn't consciously chosen to call forth the storm it had come from her fear and anger and grief. And she knew instinctively that she didn't have time to waste figuring out how to summon it without those emotions. They'd already fallen pretty far she was sure, no matter how much her mind was working, no matter how much she was slowing them.
She needed powerful emotions, pain and fear and anger- well she was scared right now, that would help but she needed more. So she closed her eyes and forced herself to think about Desjardins, hand reaching towards hers, the grief in his eyes at his failure to protect her. That caused a tight clenching pain in the pit of her stomach and she focused on it, focused on her grief and anger and pain, summoning it all and letting it out with a loud scream.
There was a cracking noise from above- lightning maybe, and suddenly wind was buffeting them, pushing them upwards, slowing them, and there was rain, the heavens opened and ice cold rain started pouring down upon them even as a wave of dizziness hit her from the use of her powers- though the rain managed to rejuvenate her before it could make her pass out the way she had last time she'd summoned up a storm.
And she used the rain, used it to slow their descent, flowing under them in droplets and buffeting them upwards just slightly along with the rain, and when they did finally hit the ground it was at a much more reasonable speed.
The impact was still jarring and Percy heard Luke gasp loudly and Artemis almost wheezed but there would be no broken bones, no severe injuries. Percy let go of both of them, pushing herself up onto her knees, her gaze focusing on Luke and Artemis- who were both soaked through already, shivering in the pouring rain and looking very sorry for themselves, but they were alive.
"What the fuck-" Luke tilted his head up towards the sky as he pushed himself up onto his knees "Did- how the- Percy did you do this?"
"Never underestimate a Kane." Percy gave a strained smile "Even with my magic mostly bound there's still a few things I can pull off."
"It appears so." there was a slight note of suspicion in Artemis' voice which Percy did not appreciate. The ex-goddess was on her feet already, her eyes narrowed and her lips pressed into a thin line. "Still, you did well enough. Though we'll need to move quickly. The storm should help slow our enemies but they'll still be coming after us. I don't suppose you have enough magic to fight?"
Percy gave a slight frown at that question. It was a good one. "Let me-" she thrust her hand to the side, trying to reach into the Duat- and she could feel something, a slight tingle, she could feel the presence of the Duat even if she couldn't fully reach into it yet. "Probably not but it shouldn't take long for me to be recovered." she could feel the warmth spreading through her from the rain, filling her with the strength that she'd been drained off before- though a part of her still felt a bone deep weariness. That wasn't something that the water could help though.
She knew that only time could help her recover from the grief of losing Desjardins. She'd mourn him properly once this was over. She had to forge her way forward of she'd be lost forever and she could not let him down. His death would not be in vain she wouldn't allow it.
So Percy took a deep breath, running her fingers through her wet hair, tugging when they caught in the tangles. We need to get off the Mountain first." she spoke firmly, "Down into the city, preferably somewhere warm and dry." well, for now the cold wasn't bothering her since the rain was water and all water was good to her, but she didn't want Artemis or Luke to get sick from the downpour- or the wind which felt rather like it was trying to tear away their flesh it was so sharp. She had to raise her voice slightly just to be heard.
Thankfully Luke and Artemis both agreed, and the three of them huddled together as they forged their way down the trail, made treacherous by the wind and rain, gripping onto one another's elbows and hands when one of them seemed to slip slightly, which happened more than once.
And of course the darkness wasn't their friend- though after maybe an hour or so Percy hazarded an attempt at a spell and she managed to summon a small magical light- though if it wasn't for the rain water filling her with strength she was fairly certain she'd have had to sit down for half an hour after summoning it.
As it was the light helped as they trudged down and down- the only good thing was the fact that there didn't seem to be any sound of pursuit.
And it felt like a lifetime before they reached a building- and even then it was a low squat building, nothing truly warm, just the public toilets for hikers to use on the trail.
Still, the three of them agreed that they'd gotten down far enough that they could probably afford to stop for an hour or so at least to get some rest and possibly wait out the storm- which when asked Percy had admitted that she wasn't actually able to stop it at the moment with her current condition, though it did seem to be blowing out now- and Percy had no doubt that when it was fully blown out she'd barely even have the chance to stand.
Still, with the decision made the three of them slipped under the cover of the roof of the building- it had a narrow walkway that was sheltered as well as the two sets of doors that led into the toilets. They all agreed that it was best to try and dry off somewhat before they planned anything else, so Luke headed into the mens while Percy and Artemis headed into the ladies rooms, taking it in turns to try and use the hand dryers to get their clothes at least somewhat less soaking- though the hot air that the machines blew out had very little force at all.
Still there was some warmth to it, enough for them to warm their icy hands.
When eventually Luke knocked on the door they called for him to come in- once they were fully dressed again at least, and they found themselves sitting on the floor in a tight circle- the closeness at least helped them keep some warmth- and even Artemis who disliked men on principal wasn't against huddling with a man for survival in the middle of winter whilst she was forced into a human form.
The mood was a strange one- they were cold, wet and miserable, and yet at the same time they were at least free and alive.
Sure they'd have been warmer on Mount Tam but they'd have also been surrounded by enemies who were likely to inflict pain on them just to watch them squirm.
No, cold wet and miserable was better, as strange as that thought was, and they all knew it.
And things definitely brightened up a bit when Percy managed to summon up a small fire, which hovered in the air in the middle of their small circle, the flames offering some warmth, though even that took it out of Percy- the binding of the drugs was still there even if it was weakening, but she could at least use small amounts of magic now. Another hour or so and she'd be able to do more she was sure.
"What now?" it was Luke who asked the question that was preying on their minds, his expression exhausted. "What do we do now? Where do we go?"
"Percy mentioned a prophecy of some kind." Artemis spoke up, holding her hands out towards the heat of the small ball of fire, her eyes focused on Percy.
"In my dreams after she drugged me." Percy confirmed, "And given what happened so far I'm thinking it's legit at least." she took a deep breath, "Twins taken by the traitors heir,
a choice one will make, a burden to bear,
the other to flee with the thief and the princess,
To retrieve the weapon of the one who was timeless,
And return to face the foes and vengeance bring
the revival delayed by the phrophesied's swing." she took a deep breath once she was finished reciting it, pursing her lips. "The first three lines are clean cut at least. We already know what they mean."
"Unfortunately." Artemis' smile was somewhat bitter, "Or I'd have insisted on leaving you." that was directed at Luke, who shot her a dirty look in response.
"Just stop both of you." Percy let out an exhausted noise, reaching up to run her fingers through her hair. "Dear fucking gods I am not built to be the voice of reason okay. Can we just focus on the stupid prophecy? We can go through it line by line or something."
"Fine." Artemis nodded, "To retrieve the weapon of the one who was timeless was the next line of significance yes? Given our enemy would the one who was timeless not be Kronos perhaps?"
"It would make sense." Luke admitted grudgingly, frowning. "And when it talks about his weapon that has to mean his scythe- but even he doesn't know what happened to it after he was defeated by the gods." he pointed out. "Or he'd have probably sent me to retrieve it for him- if he had his scythe it would help him recover faster. He thinks it was destroyed."
"To destroy a symbol of power like that is a difficult thing." Artemis pointed out. "Father has never spoken on what was done to it. I don't believe he knows where it is though."
"Well he'd have been one of the last ones to use it." Percy pointed out, brows furrowing, "What did they do just toss it aside when they were done and forget about it?"
"The scythe was connected to Kronos. Symbols of power aren't mere weapons." Artemis told them both, "They are much more than that. For even him not to know where it is it must be somewhere out of reach- if it was tossed away after then it's likely somewhere on the island where the final battle took place."
And Percy felt her eyes widening as realisation flowed through her, the voices of the old ladies on the island telling her all the old tales. And she remembered one of the trips there, exploring deep caves along the shoreline. She'd once thought that she'd only spent minutes down there before something had told her she'd had to leave. But her mom had told her she'd been down there for hours. "I know where we need to go." because her every instinct was screaming at her that she was right, that those tales had been true.
"You do?" Luke frowned, "How? Where?"
"Because, I know where the Scythe is. Or at least where to start looking for it. We need to go to Mykonos."