Footsteps sounded harshly against old, cracked asphalt. A filthy mess of dirt and garbage swirled around, kicked up by the swift movements.
They ceased, and at an alleyway junction, light glinted. A dark object and a fragment of a face could be seen, as someone peeked out, looking for movement.
Percy Jackson carefully flicked his eyes over the alleyway. His eyes moved right to left. An old trick, one he'd learned very early on in his life. The mind naturally took in details from left to right, by inverting the direction, it forced the observer to be more attentive.
Other than a few surprisingly large mounds of garbage, he saw nothing. He held the angle for a few moments longer, watching for movement.
"Ground level, clear." Percy muttered.
"The skies are clear." Zoe whispered from behind him. Percy suppressed an instinctual shiver, her voice seemingly right in his ear.
The huntress had her back pressed to his, her bow drawn and facing the sky. The number of people Percy could truly trust with his back were few and far between, and he was glad that Zoe was among them.
"All clear." Anna said. Thalia and her were the rearguard, with Annabeth in-between the two.
"For now." Thalia grunted, her spear clutched tightly in her hands as her eyes pierced the sky searchingly. She turned to Annabeth, speaking quietly. Had Percy not had enhanced senses, he doubted he would've heard the demigoddesses speak.
"You alright?" Thalia murmured softly, a hand squeezing Annabeth's shoulder.
Annabeth nodded mutedly. "I'm fine. I just hate being dead weight."
"You literally just got impaled through the stomach, Annabeth. You're allowed to not be fine." Thalia gently punched Annabeth's upper arm. "Stop being so harsh on yourself."
Annabeth merely nodded. "Okay."
The daughter of Athena abruptly hurried up to Percy's side, beginning to speak with him.
Thalia looked at her friend's back for a long moment, before finally turning her head away. "Okay," she repeated, smiling faintly. "We can talk later."
"Percy."
"Hm?" Percy said, eye still affixed to his sight. "What is it, Annabeth? You doing okay?"
"I was wondering, what exactly these defenses are, at this safe house of yours." Annabeth looked up, as if she could see the monster that had wounded her so. "They better be powerful."
Percy blinked, even as Zoe clapped him on his shoulder, moving forward. As Percy followed her, Annabeth trailing alongside him, he kept his muzzle up, scanning his firing arcs.
He glanced at Annabeth, before deciding to indulge her for a moment. If she wanted to use him as a distraction, so be it. Hardly the worst thing that could happen.
"Technically," Percy began, "They're not mine."
"What aren't yours?" Annabeth frowned. "The safehouses? Who do they belong to then?"
Percy smiled, shooting an all clear hand sign over his shoulder almost absentmindedly. He briefly glanced behind him to confirm that Anna and Thalia were still behind them, before returning his eyes to his lanes.
As the two hurried over the open gap in the alleyway, Percy finally responded.
"They were a gift." Percy's voice grew soft, as if he were fondly remembering some distant event. "My caretaker gave them to me. They were hers first, built as redoubts for the Olympians themselves during the first Titan War."
Ahead of him, Zoe stopped for a moment, glancing back at him. "You have access to those fortresses?"
Percy nodded, a wan smile crossing his face. "Yeah. Hestia figured I'd need them." He shook his head. "She's never wrong."
"She must truly care for you." Zoe's voice was soft.
"Just as much as I care for her." Percy replied, a warm smile upon his face.
Annabeth briefly felt the stirrings of envy. Hestia paid so much attention to Percy, gave him so much. Shame followed it, as she then recalled why that was.
"How are they defended?" Annabeth asked, partly to forget her misstep, and partly due to genuine interest.
"One of their greatest defenses is their obscurity. They change locations depending on when and where they are needed. As for the other-"
Percy paused once more. Another opening in the alleyway loomed before them, and before them, across the street, stood a seemingly innocuous parking garage.
"We're here." Percy said. "Just across this road, bottom level of that parking garage."
A reptilian cry sounded in the air.
"We've got company!" Anna shouted, lifting up her bow.
"We have to make it to the garage!" Thalia shouted, her spear raised above her head, lightning beginning to flicker around it.
Percy stared up into the sky, finally able to get a good glimpse at it as it screamed through the air towards them.
A massive form snaked through the air, crimson scales gleaming in the sunlight like freshly spilled blood. Cobalt feathers sprouted along its length, and two wings beat the air from behind its large horned and beaked head. The wingspan was massive, each wing bristling with razor sharp cobalt feathers, gleaming with precious metals and gems.
He reached into his coat pocket, pulling out the machine gun he'd used earlier, the Stoner 63.
"I'll cover you all." Percy stated, still glaring up at the feathered serpent.
He turned to his fellow demigods, shifting the machine gun to one hand as he unsheathed his saber, handing it to Zoe. Zoe took it with reverence. He couldn't help but notice how small her hand appeared as she grasped the hilt.
"Perseus, what is thi-" Zoe began to ask, only for Percy to step over, laying a hand on her shoulder.
"Don't worry, I'm not planning to die yet." Percy smiled. "That blade is the key that will unlock the vault. Go to the hearth within it. Hestia will help."
Zoe looked at him for a long moment. She blinked, her onyx eyes suspiciously bright. "You better not be." She turned her head, glancing at Anna. "Stay with Perseus. Make sure he doesn't do anything stupid."
"Happily, lieutenant." Anna replied, a smile crossing her face.
Another cry split the sky, and the mesoamerican dragon was even closer now, skimming the buildings. Sometimes, Percy envied the ignorance of mortals.
"Go!" Percy shouted.
As the demigods and lieutenant huntress ran into the parking garage, Anna stepped up beside him.
She glanced at him briefly, a wan smile crossing her face, before returning her gaze to their enemy.
"I've waited a long time for this." Anna admitted. She outstretched her hands, silver fire flickering. Despite the current weakness of Artemis' blessing, it was more than capable of forming twin crescent blades. The argent blades shined brilliantly in her hands, as if she were holding shards of the moon.
"Never thought I'd get a chance to fight by your side again. Just you and me, against the world." Anna continued. A vicious expression crossed her face, too many teeth bared to be a proper grin.
A rare grin crossed Percy's face. "Remind you of old times?" He laughed.
Anna joined in his laughter, her green eyes sharpening into something fierce. "Yes!"
Their laughter faded, as they regarded the beast. Percy racked the bolt on his light machine gun. The sound of steel sliding against steel rang heavily in their ears, as the old demigod aimed the seasoned machine gun upwards. Blued steel shone in the sunlight.
"We won't be able to kill it. Not with our current weaponry." Percy warned.
Anna extended her arms behind her, crouched slightly. "But we can still make it hurt!" Anna shouted, throwing both her blades at the dragon. The crescent blades soared through the air, crackling with might. They impacted the mesoamerican monster with a thunderous explosion. The dragon screamed, overshooting them and slamming into the side of the parking garage.
Concrete shrapnel rained down to litter the street, and Anna and Percy glanced at each other, grinning.
"Well done!" Percy shouted over the din, and Anna laughed. He extended a hand to her, and Anna took it gleefully as Percy began spinning. Anna continued to laugh even as Percy hurled her up into the building.
In midair, Anna extended her hands again, and two crescent blades shot from the wreckage into her hands again. She whooped in exhilaration as she plummeted down onto the downed dragon, her blades gleaming amidst the dust and wreckage.
Thalia stumbled, as yet another impact shook the parking garage. She looked up at the concrete ceiling as the fluorescent white lights flickered, dust raining down from the ceiling.
"Will they be okay?" Annabeth asked, unintentionally voicing Thalia's thoughts. She was looking back from where they'd come.
Zoe stared down at the blade in her hands. The harsh artificial lighting of the parking garage reflected off the gleaming bronze hilt of the Napoleonic saber. She smiled. "Perseus has fought worse things, and Anna is one of my most trusted huntresses. They'll be fine."
Thalia merely grunted. "The quicker we finish down here the quicker we can help them." She cocked her head at the saber in Zoe's hand. "How is that supposed to be a key?"
"I think in the literal sense." Annabeth murmured. She raised her voice. "Over here!"
The trio quickly gathered around a bronze circle embedded into the otherwise unremarkable concrete and asphalt flooring. A vertical slit was present in it, almost like a keyhole.
Zoe stepped forward, and gently inserted the mottled steel and bronze blade into the keyhole. It slid completely in, to the hilt. A resounding click sounded, seemingly coming from all around them, and a circular bronze door appeared in the far wall of the parking complex, resembling a stereotypical vault door.
They approached it warily, and as they came closer, bronze grinded upon bronze. The door, easily weighing several dozen tons, rolled to its left as if it were nothing.
Another impact rocked the structure, more dust raining down from the ceiling. A ceiling light came loose, smashing against the floor and shattering into glass and filament. It was enough to get the trio moving, stepping into the vault.
Annabeth looked around her in wonder. It was as if they'd stepped into a time capsule into Ancient Greece. Alabaster marble glimmered proudly in the flickering light produced by torches mounted on the walls. Columns extended from the roof into the floor around them, the formidable structures seeming to act as an honor guard as they descended into the safe house.
"What is this?" Annabeth breathed.
"It's as Perseus said." Zoe said, taking in her surroundings with an almost nostalgic gaze. "One of the redoubts of Olympus, formidable fortresses designed to weather one of the greatest mythological wars on the planet."
Drawings were etched on the walls around them, and Thalia silently regarded one depicting a robed man with a lightning bolt in his offhand. He was thrusting it into the air, and before him stood his siblings. She rolled her eyes, turning away from it.
They continued down the stairs for a while. Drawings gave way to modern arms lockers and safes, all manner of weaponry and body armour contained within them. From what her power was telling her, Annabeth figured Percy had stockpiled a small fortune's worth of armaments and armour.
She studied each locker in detail, noting with fascination how meticulously they were organized, by time period and by country. There was an especially large section dedicated to Soviet rifles, the works of Kalashnikov and Simonov depicted proudly within crimson steel lockers.
Thalia watched Annabeth gawk over the weaponry, rolling her eyes fondly.
Trust a collection of assorted historical weaponry to make a daughter of Athena forget a near-death experience.
This continued until they reached a large, circular room. A massive brazier was embedded into the center of the room. Wood laid in it, but it was not burning.
"Where's the weapon?" Thalia asked, looking around. She scowled. "Where is it? I thought Percy said this place had something or somebody capable of killing that stupid serpent? You'd think something like that would stand out a bit more, or deserve it's own spot."
Annabeth frowned. She walked forward, her feet audibly impacting the marble flooring. A massive sculpture on the far side of the room loomed over her, barely visible from the weak lighting of the torches lining the wall behind her.
It was of a winged woman emerging from a bush of thorns. Verdant gemstones were her eyes, and they glinted in the firelight. Realization dawned on her.
"We light the brazier!" Annabeth blurted.
"Huh?" Thalia asked.
Zoe was nodding. "I agree. Thalia, light it."
Thalia grumbled, but she nonetheless extended a hand. Lightning flickered over the outstretched limb, and a bolt of electricity shot into the firewood, igniting it with a whoosh of flames.
Thalia coolly regarded the flames. "What now?" She frowned.
"Now," Zoe began, stepping forward, "We summon a eudaemon."
Really, she should've realized it already. This is what Perseus had meant. Eudaemons were powerful household dieties. Almost every religion had them. The Slavic regions had the domovoy, the Romans had the penates, and so on. They were typically independent spirits, each with their own agenda.
But the Grecian spirits had a master. Hestia was the goddess of the hearth, the family, the home, and the state. She was the keeper of the first flame of the Olympus, the ruler of the sacrificial fire, the fuel that maintained Olympic power.
Zoe withheld amazed laughter. Hestia was perhaps the most powerful Olympic goddess. Right under everybody's noses, she had maintained one of the most powerful armies in the mythological world. An army staffed by eudaemons.
"What's a eudaemon?" Thalia asked.
Annabeth glanced at her, and Zoe couldn't stop an amused smirk from gracing her face at the look of realization and amazement crossing her face as well.
"A household spirit. Thalia, we're summoning a soldier from the armies of Hestia." Annabeth breathed.
"Armies?" Thalia repeated. "Annabeth, Hestia is a peaceful goddess!"
"If you want peace, prepare for war." Annabeth murmured. She gazed into the brazier. It was now firmly alit, and her grey eyes glinted in the firelight.
"Lady Hestia," Annabeth swallowed down her nerves., "We ask that you aid us. There is a feathered serpent outside, and -"
The fire roared upwards, interrupting her request. A figure strode out of the blazing pyre. She was clad in white robes that billowed in tune with the fire. Verdant platemail rested over parts of her robe, gleaming in the firelight. Blonde hair cascaded down her back, interrupted only by the wings jutting out from her shoulders proudly. Verdant armour coated the ridges and ends of the wings, and two blade-like apparatuses extended from each wing. A spear was held at her side, along with a tall, rectangular shield. Both weapons were ivory white.
"I am Acantha, the eudaemon that watches over this vault. I have been sent by Lady Hestia." The daemon's eyes glowed with verdant fire. "What enemy encroaches upon her domain?"
"There is a feathered serpent outside. "Perseus and Anna are fighting it." Zoe said.
The millenia old huntress visibly recoiled when the eudaemon turned her gaze onto her. The household guardian studied her for a long moment, before finally dipping her chin.
"Very well. I shall eliminate the target."
Her wings beat the air, and the brazier's fire, already roaring high, became a blazing pillar of flame, licking the roof of the chamber. The trio held their arms in front of their eyes, and just as suddenly as the fire had roared to life, it was gone. The brazier was dead, and the chamber was as silent as a tomb once more.
Annabeth was the first to break the silence, hesitantly lowering her arms from where they'd been shielding her face.
"Did.. did we do it?
Thalia tightened her grip on her spear, lifting it up from where it had been resting by her side. "One way to find out."
Poisonous flames raked the ground. The asphalt cracked underneath the heat, tarmac melting into something viscous and wet. The serpent's eyes gleamed with malicious intelligence as it regarded the two combatants standing before it, it's mouth open to spew more flames.
An arrow of silver fire soared through the air, impacting the jaw of the dragon and forcing the jaw to clamp closed. It bought them a few brief moments of relief.
"We can't do this forever, Percy." Anna panted. Her silver parka was pockmarked and burnt, and the silver fire of her constructs was swiftly becoming more dull. She fired another arrow off.
Percy grimaced from where he stood in front of her. His machine gun had long since been abandoned in favor of a tall tower shield. Anna and him had been playing a game of shield and spear ever since, and it was the only reason this fight had stalemated for so long.
"We just have to hold out a bit longer." Percy exhaled. A feather, nearly as tall as him, shot out of the fire and dust and debris. It impacted the thick metal of the tower shield, and Percy staggered back a step, his feet grinding into the road beneath him as he fought against the momentum.
A hand on his shoulder steadied him, and Percy sent a thankful nod to Anna. She returned the nod with an incline of her head, busy with firing off several return shots, pulling back the bowstring of her formidable longbow with inhuman speed.
The feathered serpent lunged forward, wings creating visible shockwaves as it shot towards them, writhing through the air. Anna's arrows cracked uselessly against it's thick hide, the silver fire dissipating against crimson scales and cobalt feathers.
Percy grimaced, raising the shield and digging his feet in. He braced for the impact, stiffening his shoulders. The air shrieked, and he turned his head and lifted a shoulder, fully prepared to take the blow.
It never came. Anna gasped from behind him, her bow lowering slightly in the corner of his eye. Percy peeked over his shield. He sagged slightly in relief.
Fire, different from the harsh poisonous flames of the serpent, roared out in front of them, forming into a pillar.
A figure emerged from the pillar of fire. She was tall and dignified, robes billowing around her. Wings flared out proudly from her back, emerging from verdant platemail. Green gauntlets were clamped tightly around the ivory shaft of her spear. It was slammed down heavily into the asphalt.
"I am Acantha, the guardian of the domain you have so brazenly trespassed." Her wings arched forward over her shoulders like twin cobras, the blade apparatuses on the ends gleaming darkly in the firelight. "Submit, or die."
The mesoamerican dragon picked itself up from where it had been slammed into the earth by the daemon, and roared out a challenge.
It charged forward, writhing through the air. The daemon bowed her head, lifting her shield and spear. "Very well."
Acantha met the dragon's charge with one of her own, footsteps fracturing the asphalt as she charged forward. She leapt up, and with a howl drove the ivory spear into the feathered serpent's head. Her wings shot forward, bladed edges piercing through crimson scales.
The dragon roared in pain and anger. The fierce sound was smothered, as fiery thorns exploded from the spear. They tore apart the feathered serpent, sundering it from the jaw to tail. The feathered serpent managed one last roar before faded away, leaving behind only gemstones and feathers to mark its passing.
For a long moment, the backstreet clearing was silent, only the crackling of dying flames and the crumbling of concrete breaking the monotony. The daemon remained kneeling on the asphalt, her speartip still plunged into the ground.
Percy walked up to the kneeling warrior. "Thank you." He simply said.
Acantha stood to her full height, her wings retracting to her back. "Do not give me thanks for merely doing my duty, Perseus." Her flaming verdant eyes softened slightly. "My Lady Hestia cares deeply for you. My kind will always protect you."
She rested an armoured hand on Perseus shoulder's, and gave him a warm, gentle smile. "I must go now. I am a eudaemon. My powers are great, but limited to the domain I guard. Be well." Acantha's gaze drifted over Percy's head to Anna, and she favoured her to a small smile.
She dissipated into a column of fire, becoming nothing more than embers on the wind.
"Is she gone?" Anna asked tentatively.
"Only until she's needed again." Percy softly said.
He wrapped an arm around her, and together they stumbled over to the parking garage's entrance just in time to meet the rest of their party.
Sorry for the wait on this chapter. I hope it suffices.