The Legend of the Son of Poseidon

by HPfanfictioner66

Percy Jackson was having a perfectly normal day until he started hearing a voice in his head. Turns out the voice belonged to a god. Follow Percy's Journey as the god trains and aids him through his journey to become the Greatest demigod to walk on Earth and save the Western Civilization. Powerful Percy! Powerful enemies! Epic fights! Pertemis romance!

19. Rescuing the Moon

LAST TIME:

"Don't worry sir, I will ensure that she doesn't need to choose at all," I said confidently.

"For both our sakes, I pray the same that Thalia should not make the decision."

"Sir, I am the next in line if Thalia doesn't... will you do the same with me?" I asked.

"Well, that depends. You are a different case altogether. My main reason to distrust you is that you are the son of ol' Kelp head. But, I know for a fact that Poseidon will never support the Titan Lord, come what may. And your fatal flaw is loyalty and you are the champion of Hestia. Your trustworthiness is vouched for by some of the best judges of character on the council: Hestia, Hera, and Athena as well. On the other hand, Thalia has been friends with Castellan and her fatal flaw is the lust for power. There is a high chance that Castellan would convince her by using her fatal flaw."

"I assure you that it won't come to that choice, sir."

"If you can do that, then you have my gratitude in that case. Now, I think it is time for you to sleep." Zeus said before snapping his fingers.

And the world went dark for me as I fell into a slumber.

---

Ch.19 Rescuing the Moon

In the morning I woke up with a jolt as Grover shook my arm. "Wake up, Percy. The train has stopped."

I breathed deeply remembering my most recent dream. It was the incident that got Zoe banished from the garden of Hesperides several centuries ago. The bastard Hercules had sweet-talked Zoe into giving him her sword and then betrayed her... the proof was the ballpoint pen in Percy's hands.

#Zoe Nightshade has a tragic history. You didn't see the whole thing though. Heracles actually showed her dreams and promised Zoe that he would take her to see the real world. He left her once his job was done and even took the sword with him. When her father came to know of this, Atlas was hurt. He banished Zoe forever from the garden in his anger, taking away her immortal power. Banished and broken, Artemis found her and gave her a home in the hunt despite Zoe being a Titaness technically.#

'Wow. So, is Zoe older than Artemis?'

#Yes. Zoe was there during the First Titanomachy. She didn't fight though. Calypso was the only daughter of Atlas in the war. Atlas kept the rest of them out and away from the Titans. Even Calypso was a healer and sorceress, not a battlefield fighter. But her actions directly aided the Titans and hence, she was banished to Ogygia.#

I breathed deeply before exiting my car and stretching. My joints popped satisfyingly. I saw that Thalia, Zoe, Phoebe, and Bianca had already rolled up the metal curtains. Outside were snowy mountains dotted with pine trees, the sun rising red between two peaks.

I fished my pen out of my pocket and stared at it. Anaklusmos, the Ancient Greek name for Riptide. A different form, but I was sure it was the same blade I'd seen in my dream. The blade of Zoe Nightshade.

Once everyone was ready, we decided to leave the train. Unfortunately, I couldn't take the cars there even if I wanted to.

We'd arrived on the outskirts of a little ski town nestled in the mountains. The sign said WELCOME TO CLOUDCROFT, NEW MEXICO. The air was cold and thin. The roofs of the cabins were heaped with snow, and dirty mounds of it were piled up on the sides of the streets. Tall pine trees loomed over the valley, casting pitch-black shadows, though the morning was sunny.

Thankfully, my powers kept me warm enough to walk comfortably. But, Thalia was shivering by the time we reached the main street. Grover, Zoe, and Phoebe were walking comfortably though while Bianca pulled my lion-skin coat tighter around herself.

We stopped in the middle of town. You could pretty much see everything from there: a school, a bunch of tourist stores and cafes, some ski cabins, and a grocery store. "Great," Thalia said, looking around. "No bus station. No taxis. No car rental. No way out."

"There's a coffee shop!" said Grover.

"Yes," Zoe said. "Coffee is good."

"And pastries," Grover said dreamily. "And wax paper."

"Okay, Grover, Bianca, Phoebe... get us some food. The rest of us will ask around to see if we can get directions somehow." I said, tossing Grover my Lotus Hotel card. He nodded and walked towards the coffee shop with the two girls.

Thalia, Zoe, and I, on the other hand, went to the grocery store.

Inside the store, we found out a few valuable things about Cloudcroft: there wasn't enough snow for skiing, the grocery store sold rubber rats for a dollar each, and there was no easy way in or out of town unless you had your own car.

"You could call for a taxi from Alamogordo," the clerk said doubtfully. "That's down at the bottom of the mountains, but it would take at least an hour to get here. Cost several hundred dollars." The clerk looked so lonely, I bought a rubber rat. Then we headed back outside and stood on the porch.

"Wonderful," Thalia grumped. "I'm going to walk down the street, see if anybody in the other shops has a suggestion."

"But the clerk said—"

"I know," she told me. "I'm checking anyway." And went off.

Zoe and I on the other hand stood awkwardly near the shop. Finally, Zoe decided to initiate the conversation.

"It was good of you to give Bianca your spoil... that too such a valuable one. Not many would do that considering it is the symbol of victory over a powerful monster like the Nemean Lion." She said in her regal voice.

"It was a logical decision, Zoe. I didn't wish her to come with us because she doesn't have a shred of experience on the battlefield. She needs all the protection she can get at the moment. The rest of us can handle ourselves. Phoebe and you are millennia-old huntresses, Thalia has years of experience fending off monsters, Grover has too had his own share of quests and rescue missions and I have fought Titans. Bianca literally knew nothing of the Greek world five days ago. How is she supposed to fight? You know how dangerous your father is, don't you."

Zoe froze at my last sentence. "How did you know that, boy?" She asked coldly.

I looked away and sighed. "I had a... dream a few hours ago. The one in which the bastard betrayed you." I replied.

"Oh. You killed him though... and I... well, never thanked you for that. I heard that you saved the Queen from him. Lady Artemis told me."

"Technically, I just captured him, Zeus killed him," I replied before taking out the riptide. "Here, I have something of yours."

Zoe looked at it longingly before shaking her head. "No, keep it. I gave it up long ago, Percy Jackson... use it well."

"But it is yours. I can't keep it especially when I have my own sword and use this only as a backup or dual wielding."

"You can dual wield?"

"Yes. I use it rarely though."

"It is a rare talent to dual wield swords, Percy."

"Yes, it is a tough skill to learn, but we are deviating from the topic. Your sword." I said, holding my palm open.

She sighed softly before shaking her head. "No. Keep it. Do it proud. I will not take it. Please. It is a reminder that I betrayed my family and helped a hero. You won't find that in the legend either. He never spoke of me. After his direct assault on Ladon failed, I gave him the idea of how to steal the apples, how to trick my father, but he took all the credit."

I nodded, respecting her wishes. "Oh, yes, he was a bastard. If I knew this before, I would've punched him more."

I could swear that I saw a smile flicker on Zoe's face.

A minute later, the rest of our friends arrived with the food and we started to eat.

"We should do the tracking spell," Zoe said. "Grover, do you have any acorns left?"

"Umm," Grover mumbled. He was chewing on a bran muffin, wrapper and all. "I think so. I just need to—"

He froze. I was about to ask what was wrong, when a warm breeze rustled past, like a gust of springtime had gotten lost in the middle of winter. Fresh air seasoned with wildflowers and sunshine. And something else—almost like a voice, trying to say something. A warning.

Alexander gasped in my head. #Pan.# He murmured.

Zoe gasped. "Grover, thy cup." Grover dropped his coffee cup, which was decorated with pictures of birds. Suddenly the birds peeled off the cup and flew away—a flock of tiny doves. My rubber rat squeaked. It scampered off the railing and into the trees—real fur, real whiskers.

Grover collapsed next to his coffee, which steamed against the snow. We gathered around him and tried to wake him up. He groaned, his eyes fluttering.

"Hey!" Thalia said, running up from the street. "I just… What's wrong with Grover?"

"I don't know," Bianca said. "He collapsed."

"Power surge," I replied and Phoebe and Zoe nodded.

"Uuuuuhhhh," Grover groaned.

"Well, get him up!" Thalia said. She had her spear in her hand. She looked behind her as if she were being followed. "We have to get out of here."

We made it to the edge of the town before the first two skeleton warriors appeared. They stepped from the trees on either side of the road. Instead of gray camouflage, they were now wearing blue New Mexico State Police uniforms, but they had the same transparent gray skin and yellow eyes. They drew their handguns.

Thalia tapped her Aegis while the huntress removed their bows. But, I was faster. My armor appeared on my Torso as I lunged at them before smashing their skulls together while channeling a bit of my Earth-shaker power in them. The skulls were immediately reduced to tiny pieces.

"Percy, they won't die. They will—" Phoebe stopped short as the skeletons turned to golden dust. I dusted my hands and got up.

Suddenly, the branches around us rustled and ten skeletons stepped out. All were wearing different uniforms. They had been teleported here.

"It's near," Grover moaned.

"It's here," I said.

"No," he insisted. "The gift. The gift from the Wild."

I didn't know what he was talking about, but I was worried about his condition. He was in no shape to walk, much less fight. Maybe Pan was sending a gift.

"We are outnumbered five to two. Percy, how did you kill them?" Phoebe asked.

"Crush their skulls."

"We don't have that much raw strength!" Bianca exclaimed.

"Well, then distract them long enough for me to kill them off one by one," I ordered. "And don't die."

"Inspiring," Thalia said dryly.

"Yep. Attack!" I said, before charging at the nearest skeleton and knocking him to the ground before punching it skull, breaking it. I rolled out of the way as I felt two bullets incoming. I pressed the button on my watch and my shield sprang out, protecting me from the next four shots. I close the distance and slammed my shield one after the other on the skulls of all three skeletons.

I got up and threw my shield like a frisbee at the skeletons who had engaged Thalia, reducing them to bones that immediately started reknitting themselves. Thalia, showing a presence of mind, tossed me their skulls which I crushed as well. I turned to help Bianca and saw her getting shot in the behind by two skeletons.

"Bianca!" Thalia screamed.

A second later, Bianca got up unharmed with a blackish glow in her eyes. "BEGONE!" she ordered and the two skeletons were engulfed in flames before disintegrating.

#Daughter of Hades! He broke the oath too!#

I gave a mental nod to Alexander before rushing forward to catch Bianca who stumbled. Zoe and Phoebe were still fighting... three skeletons? Where did the fourth one go?

There was a crashing sound in the forest to our left, like a bulldozer. The trees behind the skeletons were shivering. Branches were cracking.

"A gift," Grover muttered.

And then, with a mighty roar, the largest pig I'd ever seen came crashing into the road. It was a wild boar, thirty feet high, with a snotty pink snout and tusks the size of canoes. Its back bristled with brown hair, and its eyes were wild and angry.

"REEEEEEEEET!" it squealed and raked the three remaining skeletons aside with its tusks.

The force was so great, they went flying over the trees and into the side of the mountain, where they smashed to pieces, thigh bones and arm bones twirling everywhere. Then the pig turned on us.

Thalia raised her spear, but Grover yelled, "Don't kill it.'"

The boar grunted and pawed the ground, ready to charge.

"That's the Erymanthian Boar," Zoe said, trying to stay calm. "I don't think we can kill it."

"I can!" I yelled.

"DON'T!" Grover yelled at me. "It's a gift," Grover said. "A blessing from the Wild!"

The boar said "REEEEEEET!" and swung its tusk. Zoe and Phoebe dived out of the way. I had to push Grover so he wouldn't get launched into the mountain on the Boar Tusk Express.

"Yeah, I feel blessed!" I said. "Scatter!"

We ran in different directions, and for a moment the boar was confused.

"It wants to kill us!" Thalia said.

"Of course," Grover said. "It's wild!"

"So how is that a blessing?" Bianca asked. It seemed a fair question to me, but the pig was offended and charged her. She was faster than I'd realized. She rolled out of the way of its hooves and came up behind the beast. It lashed out with its tusks and pulverized the WELCOME TO CLOUDCROFT sign.

#It is a gift from Pan. It is your ride west!# Alexander yelled in my head. #Calm it down!#

"Keep moving!" Zoe yelled.

I ignored her and leaped at the boar before grabbing the boar's head and channeling the powers of the Hearth while landing gracefully on its back. The boar immediately calmed and stopped.

All my quest mates stared at me.

"So, get aboard. We are going to ride a pig west!"

---

We rode the boar until sunset, which was about as much as my back end could take. Imagine riding a giant steel brush over a bed of gravel all day. That's about how comfortable boar-riding was. I have no idea how many miles we covered, but the mountains faded into the distance and were replaced by miles of flat, dry land. The grass and scrub brush got sparser until we were galloping (do boars gallop?) across the desert.

As night fell, the boar came to a stop at a creek bed and snorted. He started drinking the muddy water, then ripped a saguaro cactus out of the ground and chewed it, needles and all.

"This is as far as he'll go," Grover said. "We need to get off while he's eating."

Nobody needed convincing. We slipped off the boar's back while he was busy ripping up cacti. Then we waddled away as best we could with our saddle sores. After its third saguaro and another drink of muddy water, the boar squealed and belched, then whirled around and galloped back toward the east.

"It likes the mountains better," I guessed.

"I can't blame it," Thalia said. "Look."

Ahead of us was a two-lane road half covered with sand. On the other side of the road was a cluster of buildings too small to be a town: a boarded-up house, a taco shop that looked like it hadn't been open since before Zoe Nightshade was born, and a white stucco post office with a sign that said GILA CLAW, ARIZONA hanging crooked above the door. Beyond that was a range of hills… but then I noticed they weren't regular hills. The countryside was way too flat for that.

The hills were enormous mounds of old cars, appliances, and other scrap metal. It was a junkyard that seemed to go on forever.

#The junkyard of gods. Most of Hephaestus's defective inventions are thrown here.# Alexander supplied.

"Whoa, something tells me we're not going to find a car rental here," Thalia said. She looked at Grover. "I don't suppose you got another wild boar up your sleeve?"

Grover was sniffing the wind, looking nervous. He fished out his acorns and threw them into the sand, then played his pipes. They rearranged themselves in a pattern that made no sense to me, but Grover looked concerned.

"That's us," he said. "Those six nuts right there."

"Which one is me?" I asked.

"The little deformed one," Zoe suggested.

"Oh, shut up."

"That cluster right there," Grover said, pointing to the left, "that's trouble."

"A monster?" Thalia asked.

Grover looked uneasy. "I don't smell anything, which doesn't make sense. But the acorns don't lie. Our next challenge…" He pointed straight toward the junkyard. With the sunlight almost gone now, the hills of metal looked like something on an alien planet.

We decided to camp for the night and try the junkyard in the morning. None of us wanted to go Dumpster-diving in the dark.

Zoe and Phoebe produced sleeping bags and foam mattresses out of their bags. I noticed that the hunters got a lot of cool stuff.

#Don't be jealous. I give you cooler stuff.# Alexander said.

'I am just noting it, bro. You are the best.'

The night got chilly fast so I waved my hand and conjured a fire followed by food. All of my friends shot me a grateful look at that before digging in. Pretty soon we were about as comfy as you can get in a rundown ghost town in the middle of nowhere.

"The stars are out," Zoe said.

She was right. There were millions of them, with no city lights to turn the sky orange.

"Amazing," Bianca said. "I've never actually seen the Milky Way."

"This is nothing," Zoe said. "In the old days, there were more. Whole constellations have disappeared because of human light pollution."

"You talk like you're not human," I said.

Zoe raised an eyebrow. "I am a Hunter. I care what happens to the wild places of the world. Can the same be said for thee?"

"For you," Thalia corrected. "Not thee"

"But you use you for the beginning of a sentence."

"And for the end," Thalia said. "No thou. Not thee. Just you"

Zoe threw up her hands in exasperation. "I hate this language. It changes too often!"

I laughed and both girls glared at me.

Grover sighed. He was still looking up at the stars like he was thinking about the light pollution problem. "If only Pan were here, he would set things right."

Zoe nodded sadly.

"Maybe it was the coffee," Grover said. "I was drinking coffee, and the wind came. Maybe if I drank more coffee…"

I was pretty sure coffee had nothing to do with what had happened in Cloudcroft, but I didn't have the heart to tell Grover.

"Pan could be in New Mexico, you know. Hidden somewhere in his own little world." I suggested and Grover nodded.

"I'm going back to New Mexico and drinking a lot of coffee. It's the best lead we've gotten in two thousand years. I was so close."

"We should plan our next move. When we get through this junkyard, we must continue west. If we can find a road, we can hitchhike to the nearest city. I think that would be Las Vegas." Zoe said.

I was about to protest that Grover and I had had bad experiences in that town, but Bianca beat us to it. "No!" she said. "Not there!"

She looked really freaked out... like she'd just been dropped off the steep end of a roller coaster.

Zoe frowned. "Why?"

Bianca took a shaky breath. "I… I think we stayed there for a while. Nico and I. When we were traveling. And then, I can't remember…"

Suddenly I had a really bad thought. I remembered what Bianca had told me about Nico and her staying in a hotel for a while. I met Grover's eyes, and I got the feeling he was thinking the same thing.

"Bianca," I said. "That hotel you stayed at. Was it possibly called the Lotus Hotel and Casino?"

Her eyes widened. "How could you know that?"

"Oh, great," I said.

"Wait," Thalia said. "What is the Lotus Casino?"

"A couple of years ago," I said, "Grover, Annabeth, and I got trapped there. It's designed so you never want to leave. We stayed for about an hour. When we came out, five days had passed. It speeds up time. Also, that is where I got my infini-cards"

"No," Bianca said. "No, that's not possible."

"You said somebody came and got you out," I remembered.

"Yes."

"What did the person look like? What did the person say?"

"I… I don't remember. Please, I really don't want to talk about this."

Zoe sat forward, her eyebrows knit with concern. "You said that Washington, D.C., had changed when you went back last summer. You didn't remember the subway being there."

"Yes, but—"

"Bianca," Zoe said, "can you tell me the name of the president of the United States right now?"

"Don't be silly," Bianca said. She told us the correct name of the president.

"And who was the president before that?" Zoe asked. Bianca thought for a while. "Roosevelt."

Zoe swallowed. "Theodore or Franklin'?" "Franklin," Bianca said. "F.D.R."

"Bianca," I said. "F.D.R. was not the last president. That was about seventy years ago."

"That's impossible," Bianca said. "I… I'm not that old." She stared at her hands as if to make sure they weren't wrinkled. Thalia's eyes turned sad. I guess she knew what it was like to get pulled out of time for a while.

"It's okay, Bianca, The important thing is you and Nico are safe. You made it out."

"But how?" I said. "We were only in there for an hour and we barely escaped. How could you have escaped after being there for so long?"

"I told you," I said dryly.

Bianca looked about ready to cry. "A man came and said it was time to leave. And—"

"But who? Why did he do it?"

Before she could answer, we were hit with a blazing light from down the road. The headlights of a car appeared out of nowhere and a moment later, a deathly white limousine slid to a stop in front of us. I could feel two godly auras from it, one of whom was very familiar.

The driver's door opened and I felt a sword coming for my throat and immediately reacted, disarming Ares who was yet to get out of the Limo. As the sword clattered to the ground, I saw the huntresses draw their bows. That was when Ares got out and looked at me before chuckling.

"I am glad to see you are not losing your touch, punk."

"It seems that you have lost yours, sir."

"I was just having fun. If I was serious, you wouldn't have gotten off so easily, would you?"

"It would have taken a few minutes of fighting but I would eventually have handed you your ass on a silver platter, I believe."

"In your dreams, kid."

"Remind me, who is currently on the winning streak?"

"Technically Owl-Head as she won the last fight," Ares replied with a shrug.

"Between us?"

"Whatever," He said, waving his head dismissively and I grinned. Ares's eyes roamed to the girls who were holding their weapons out, pointing at the war god.

"At ease, people." He snapped his fingers, and their weapons fell to the ground. He turned back to me. "The lady is waiting in the car for you, Jackson. She wants to meet you."

"What lady?" Thalia asked.

Ares looked over at her. "Well, well. I heard you were back."

"What's your business, Ares?" she said. "Who's in the car?"

Ares smiled, enjoying the attention. "Oh, I doubt she wants to meet the rest of you. Particularly not them." He jutted his chin toward Zoe, Phoebe, and Bianca. "Why don't you all go get some tacos while you wait? Only take Percy a few minutes."

"We will not leave him alone with thee, Lord Ares," Zoe said.

"Besides," Grover managed, "the taco place is closed."

Ares snapped his fingers again. The lights inside the taqueria suddenly blazed to life. The boards flew off the door and the CLOSED sign flipped to OPEN. "You were saying, goat boy?"

"Stop scaring them, Ares. Guys, don't worry. He won't do anything. We both are cool."

"I am literally your teacher with ol bookend," Ares said and thunder rumbled in the sky. Ares looked up and smirked.

"Athena is going to beat your ass to Hades and back in the next session now."

"Blah, we'll see. Now, go on. The lady wishes to meet you." Ares said, opening the door. "And mind your manners. She's not as forgiving of rudeness as I am." He warned. I nodded and got in the car.

Inside was sitting the hottest Lady I had ever seen who would make Hollywood actresses look like ugly ducklings in front of her.

She was wearing a red satin dress and her hair was curled in a cascade of ringlets. Her face was the most beautiful I'd ever seen: perfect makeup, dazzling eyes, a smile that would've lit up the night sky. Thinking back on it, I can't tell you who she looked like. Or even what color her hair or her eyes were.

Pick the most beautiful actress you can think of. The goddess was ten times more beautiful than that. Pick your favorite hair color, eye color, whatever. The goddess had that.

When she smiled at me, just for a moment she looked a little like Artemis. Then like this television actress, I used to have a crush on in fifth grade. Then… Well, you get the idea.

Then, I looked at her more closely, analyzing her. There was a fakeness to it. The smile wasn't real, the makeup looked a tad bit unnatural... She wasn't like... I couldn't explain...

Then I felt the domain of the hearth in me. It informed me that the lady radiated both love and betrayal. The domain was going haywire.

#Aphrodite, the goddess of love, lust, sexuality, beauty, desire, and pleasure. As for what you feel, it is complicated. Just say hi.#

"Good evening, Lady Aphrodite. What can I do for you?" I asked in a pleasant voice.

She blinked and shock flitted across her face before it brightened up.

"Oh, aren't you a sweet one? Here, hold this for me."

She handed me a polished mirror the size of a dinner plate and had me hold it up for her. She leaned forward and dabbed at her lipstick, though I couldn't see anything wrong with it... seriously.

"Do you know why you're here?" she asked.

"Cause you wanted to meet me and had Ares drive you here?"

She giggled. "Fair enough. But why are you on this quest?"

"To save Annabeth and free Artemis."

"Hmmm... Artemis... tell me, what do you see in her? I mean, if they were going to kidnap a goddess, she should be breathtakingly beautiful, don't you think? I pity the poor dears who have to imprison Artemis. Bo-ring!"

"She is beautiful." I blurted out.

"Really?" Aphrodite asked with... stars shining in her eyes like she had gotten a goldmine.

"Like, she is beautiful in her own right."

Aphrodite looked at me with puzzlement in her eyes. "Tell me, Perseus, what do you think of me?"

"You are the goddess—"

"No, no. What do you think of my appearance?"

"Err... Feminine, beautiful."

"Give me the most truthful description that you can, Percy," Aphrodite said. I felt a power wash over me, compelling me to speak.

"Well, you are very beautiful, hot, and make Hollywood actresses look like ugly ducklings. But," I said before shaking my head. "Yeah, very beautiful—"

"You were saying something. But... Tell me, Percy, you have my word that I would be most pleased if you answer truthfully." She said in an alluring voice

"Well, don't smite me but I think you overdid the makeup a bit," I said hesitantly.

"But, that was not your point, was it? Tell me what you really thought. Come on, Percy. Tell me."

"Ok, damn." I sighed. "I thought there was fakeness to your appearance. this is not your true appearance, is it? You are just... too beautiful. Too perfect looking. There are no flaws... it looks unnatural."

She raised a perfectly sculpted eyebrow. "It has been many many eons... scratch that, it has never happened that a mortal has not been completely enthralled by my appearance or not fallen to my powers of charm-speak. You are an interesting one, Percy. A really-really interesting one." She said looking at me like a new toy.

I frowned. "But... don't you have many mortal lovers?"

"I never go to them in this form though, do I? I make a fixed form for myself, toning down my powers. In this form, most mortals would be turned into a drooling mess by just looking at me. And... yet, you didn't stutter once. You know, I came here to tell you that I was going to make your love life interesting... but, now, I have decided to just let it progress! It will be far more interesting if I don't do anything... well, almost anything. A true love story, greater than Helen and Paris!"

"Wait a moment. I understand that you are the goddess of love and all but what is this about my love story?"

"Oh dear, you just wait," Aphrodite said grinning like a child in a candy store. "Love conquers all, look at Helen and Paris. Did they let anything come between them? We'll see how much you all will go to obtain what you want."

"What's the point?"

"Oh dear, you kids are sooo cute these days. Completely clueless!" Aphrodite squealed.

"What do you mean, ma'am?"

"Oh, none of that ma'am stuff, you can call me Aph." She said charmingly and I gave her an unimpressed look. She just hummed in response.

"Not knowing is half the fun," Aphrodite said. "Exquisitely painful, isn't it? Not being sure who you love and who loves you? Oh, you kids! It's so cute I'm going to cry."

I just stared at her, itching to bang my head against the seat of the limo. She was really making my head spin.

"And I won't even need to do anything to make it interesting! I had come here, expecting something much lesser! And found so much more!" Aphrodite's eyes were tearing up. "Now, you'd better go. And do be careful in my husband's territory, Percy. Don't take anything. He is awfully fussy about his trinkets and trash. Bye!"

She said and the door opened and Ares pulled me out. He winked at me. "Good luck with the quest, kid."

He snapped his fingers and the world did a three-sixty, spinning in a cloud of red dust. I fell to the ground. When I stood up again, the limousine was gone. The road, the taco restaurant, the whole town of Gila Claw was gone. My friends and I were standing in the middle of the junkyard, mountains of scrap metal stretched out in every direction.

"ARES, YOU BASTARD!" I yelled at the sky.

There was predictably no answer.

"What did she want with you?" Bianca asked once I'd told them about Aphrodite.

"Oh, uh, not sure," I lied. "She said to be careful in her husband's junkyard. She said not to pick anything up."

Zoe narrowed her eyes. "The goddess of love would not make a special trip to tell thee that. Be careful, Percy. Aphrodite has led many heroes astray."

"For once I agree with Zoe," Thalia said. "You can't trust Aphrodite."

"So," I said, anxious to change the subject, "how do we get out of here?"

"That way," Zoe said. "That is west."

"How can you tell?"

In the light of the full moon, I was surprised at how well I could see her roll her eyes at me. "Ursa Major is in the north," she said, "which means that must be west." Then, she pointed west at the northern constellation, which was hard to make out because there were so many other stars.

"Oh, yeah," Thalia said. "The bear thing."

Zoe looked offended. "Show some respect. It was a fine bear. A worthy opponent."

"You act like it was real."

"Guys," Phoebe broke in. "Look!"

We'd reached the crest of a junk mountain. Piles of metal objects glinted in the moonlight: broken heads of bronze horses, metal legs from human statues, smashed chariots, tons of shields and swords and other weapons, along with more modern stuff, like cars that gleamed gold and silver, refrigerators, washing machines, and computer monitors.

"Whoa," Bianca said. "That stuff… some of it looks like real gold."

"It is," Thalia said grimly. "Like Percy said, don't touch anything. This is the junkyard of the gods."

"Junk?" Grover picked up a beautiful crown made of gold, silver, and jewels. It was broken on one side as if it had been split by an Axe. "You call this junk?"

"Drop it!" I ordered and Grover released the crown in shock.

"Look!" Bianca said. She raced down the hill, tripping over bronze coils and golden plates. She picked up a bow that glowed silver in the moonlight. "A Hunter's bow!" She yelped in surprise as the bow began to shrink, and became a hair clip shaped like a crescent moon. "It's just like Percy's sword!"

Zoe's face was grim. "Leave it, Bianca."

"But—"

"It is here for a reason. Anything thrown away in this junkyard must stay in this yard. It is defective. Or cursed." I said firmly.

#If you take anything out of here, a guardian may interfere.#

'Where the fuck were you till now?'

#There are some things I can not interfere in. Sorry, Percy. Your love life is one of them.#

'Wonderful.' I thought sarcastically.

Bianca reluctantly set the hair clip down. "I don't like this place," Thalia said. She gripped the shaft of her spear.

"Neither do I. We should get out of here ASAP."

"Huh?" Zoe asked.

"As soon as possible." I supplied.

We started picking our way through the hills and valleys of junk. The stuff seemed to go on forever, and if it hadn't been for Ursa Major, we would've gotten lost. All the hills pretty much looked the same. I'd like to say we left the stuff alone, but there was too much cool junk not to check out some of it.

Finally, we saw the edge of the junkyard about half a mile ahead of us, the lights of a highway stretching through the desert. But between us and the road…

"What is that?" Bianca gasped.

Ahead of us was a hill much bigger and longer than the others. It was like a metal mesa, the length of a football field and as tall as goalposts. At one end of the mesa was a row of ten thick metal columns, wedged tightly together. Bianca frowned. "They look like—"

"Toes," Phoebe said.

Bianca nodded. "Really, really large toes."

#Or a huge Automaton.# Alexander supplied.

Zoe and I exchanged nervous looks.

"Let's go around," I said. "Far around."

After several minutes of walking, we finally stepped onto the highway, an abandoned but well-lit stretch of black asphalt.

"We made it out," Zoe said. "Thank the gods."

But apparently, the gods didn't want to be thanked. At that moment, I heard a sound like a thousand trash compactors crushing metal. I whirled around. Behind us, the scrap mountain was boiling, rising up. The ten toes tilted over, and I realized why they looked like toes. They were toes. The thing that rose up from the metal was a bronze giant in full Greek battle armor. He was impossibly tall—a skyscraper with legs and arms. He gleamed wickedly in the moonlight. He looked down at us, and his face was deformed. The left side was partially melted off. His joints creaked with rust, and across his armored chest, written in thick dust by some giant finger, were the words WASH ME.

"Talos!" Zoe gasped.

#That ain't Talos. That thing is much much taller. This is a small prototype.#

At this, I didn't even wish to imagine how tall the real Talos was.

"But that can't be the original. It's too small. A prototype, maybe. A defective model." Thalia stated, reflecting Alexander's statement.

The metal giant didn't like the word defective. He moved one hand to his sword belt and drew his weapon. The sound of it coming out of its sheath was horrible, metal screeching against metal. The blade was a hundred feet long, easy. It looked rusty and dull, but I didn't figure that mattered. Getting hit with that thing would be like getting hit with a battleship.

"Someone took something," Zoe said. "Who took something?"

She stared accusingly at me. I shook my head. "I'm a lot of things, but I'm not a thief."

Bianca didn't say anything. I could swear she looked guilty, but I didn't have much time to think about it, because the giant defective Talos took one step toward us, closing half the distance and making the ground shake.

"Run!" Grover yelped. Great advice, except that it was hopeless. At a leisurely stroll, this thing could outdistance us easily.

"No, scatter. Confuse it." I ordered in a grim voice as my armor and trident appeared in my hand. But neither would do shit against that thing.

"Till how long?" Phoebe asked, drawing a spear similar to Clarisse's.

"Till one of us comes up with something to defeat it!" I said. "NOW!"

Thalia drew her shield and held it up as she ran down the highway along with Phoebe. The giant swung his sword and took out a row of power lines, which exploded in sparks and scattered across Thalia's and Phoebe's path. Zoe's arrows whistled toward the creature's face but shattered harmlessly against the metal. Grover brayed like a baby goat and went climbing up a mountain of metal.

Bianca and I ended up next to each other, hiding behind a broken chariot. "You took something," I said. "That bow."

"No!" she said, but her voice was quivering.

"Give it back!" I said. "Throw it down!"

"I… I didn't take the bow! Besides, it's too late."

"What. Did. You. Take?" Before she could answer, I heard a massive creaking noise, and a shadow blotted out the sky. My senses tingled.

"Move!" I tore down the hill, Bianca right behind me, as the giant's foot smashed a crater in the ground where we'd been hiding. "Hey, Talos!" Grover yelled, but the monster raised his sword, looking down at Bianca and me.

Grover played a quick melody on his pipes. Over at the highway, the downed power lines began to dance. I understood what Grover was going to do a split second before it happened. One of the poles with power lines still attached flew toward Talos's back leg and wrapped around his calf The lines sparked and sent a jolt of electricity up the giant's backside. Talos whirled around, creaking and sparking.

Grover had bought us a few seconds. "Come on!" I told Bianca. But she stayed frozen.

From her pocket, she brought out a small metal figurine, a statue of a god. "It… it was for Nico. It was the only statue he didn't have."

"How can you think of Mythomagic at a time like this?" I asked. There were tears in her eyes. "Throw it down," I said. "Maybe the giant will leave us alone."

#It won't.#

She dropped it reluctantly, but nothing happened. The giant kept coming after Grover. It stabbed its sword into a junk hill, missing Grover by a few feet, but scrap metal made an avalanche over him, and then I couldn't see him anymore.

"No!" Thalia and I yelled. She pointed her spear, and a blue arc of lightning shot out, hitting the monster in his rusty knee, which buckled. The giant collapsed but immediately started to rise again. That was when my Greek fireball exploded in the giant's face. making it stumble again.

It was hard to tell if it could feel anything. There weren't any emotions in its now half-melted face, but I got the sense that it was about as ticked off as a twenty-story-tall metal warrior could be. He raised his foot to stomp and I saw that his sole was treaded like the bottom of a sneaker. There was a hole in his heel, like a large manhole, and there were red words painted around it, which I deciphered only after the foot came down: FOR MAINTENANCE ONLY.

"Crazy-idea time," I said.

Bianca looked at me nervously. "Anything."

I told her about the maintenance hatch. "There may be a way to control the thing. Switches or something. I'm going to get inside."

"How? You'll have to stand under its foot! You'll be crushed"

"Distract it," I said. "I'll just have to time it right."

#It is a good plan.#

Bianca's jaw tightened. "No. I'll go."

"Nobel of you but I am not letting you die on my watch, kid. Give me my jacket."

"It's my fault the monster came after us," she said. "It's my responsibility. Here." She picked up the little god statue and pressed it into my hand. "If anything happens, give that to Nico. Tell him… tell him I'm sorry."

Before she could run, I pulled her back. "Tell him that yourself. Give me that jacket."

"Percy—"

"The jacket, Bianca," I said firmly. She reluctantly removed the Nemean-lion fur coat and gave it to me which I immediately donned.

I charged towards the metal giant.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Zoe yelled.

"Get it to raise its foot."

Zoe shot an arrow toward the monster's face and it flew straight into one nostril. The giant straightened and shook its head.

"Hey, Junk Boy!" I yelled. "Down here." I ran up to its big toe and stabbed it with Riptide. The magic blade cut a gash in the bronze.

My plan worked. Talos looked down at me and raised his foot to squash me like a bug. I slid underneath it and just as its foot came down, I climbed into the hatch.

As soon as I came in, I knew I was right. There were maintenance switches. But, then, an automated voice said. "Intruder identified. Activating defenses."

Suddenly, fire shot out from all directions at me. I was completely ok with it with my immunity to fire. I knew the heat was enough to burn any human or demigod to ashes. I looked around at the consoles, unable to make heads or tails of the thing.

#Fucking short circuit it!#

I gave Alexander a mental nod and removed my sword before slashing through the metal and directing a flood of water in it.

Suddenly, a red light started blaring. "Activating self-destruct in 10...9...8...7..." The automated voice started saying.

#Percy, this thing is going to go ka-boom! Teleport out!#

"4...3..."

I tried to shadow travel out but something stopped me. My eyes widened.

"Fuck." I raised a godly shield around myself. and pulled my coat tighter.

"1...0!"

The next second darkness surrounded me and I felt the sensation of being shadow traveled... forcefully.

I suddenly found myself in a dark throne room... standing in front of Hades and a regal-looking lady on a throne shaped like a black flower, gilded with gold. Queen Persephone.

I bowed. "Lord Hades, Queen Persephone." I wheezed. I was feeling a bit dizzy, the side-effects of forced shadow travel.

"Percy Jackson. You never disappoint." Hades greeted.

"Thank you for saving me, uncle," I said respectfully.

"Don't think too much of it." He said dismissively. "You have done me a lot more favors than this little thing of teleporting you out of there. You won't have died but knocked out for quite a few hours... and left you buried under a few kilos of metal. You, on the other hand, returned my helm and saved my kids, Nico and Bianca." Hades stated.

Persephone huffed on the throne beside him and muttered something under her breath.

"So, did you break the oath, or were the two born before World War 2?" I asked.

"The latter, how did you guess?"

"Bianca said that she and Nico stayed at Lotus Hotel and Casino... and I know what that place is. Time runs differently there. Annabeth, Grover, and I went in there for an hour and emerged days later when we were on the quest to find your Brother's bolt... and later, your helm. So, I assume that something similar happened with them?"

Hades closed his eyes, gripping his throne tightly. "Once their mother was killed... due to their existence, I thought that sending them to the hotel seemed to be the best choice to... protect them against Zeus's wrath."

"What happened?"

"Once the oath was taken... Nico and Bianca were the only ones who were capable of fulfilling the criteria at that time... Zeus told me to kill them myself or he would do it. I tried to convince Maria, their mother, but she didn't listen to me and ridiculed Zeus." Beside Hades, Persephone was scowling at the name of Maria. "Zeus dropped his master bolt on the hotel they were staying in, to kill Nico and Bianca... Thankfully, I was close enough to raise a shield in time and save them. But Maria... she died."

Hades sounded really sad and angry now and Persephone was glaring daggers at him. Now, I was starting to feel nervous that I would be caught in between the husband and wife's quarrel.

"Well, I wiped Bianca's and Nico's memories with the water of river Lethe and sent them to the hotel. Once, the daughter of Zeus resurfaced and you were already there, I decided to bring them out of there. At least, the bastard won't kill them now since his daughter is there as well."

"You know, Zeus visited me yesterday... and told me in clear terms, that in case, Thalia makes a wrong decision that would end Olympus, I must kill her."

Hades froze, not having expected the answer.

"What are you trying to tell me, son of Poseidon?"

"Just informing you, uncle," I replied, knowing Hades had gotten what I was saying.

"Well, whatever. So, as for now, what I did was nothing. I was just returning the favor... and asking you for another small one..." He trailed off, looking at me

"Yes, uncle?"

"I want you to give this to Bianca," He said, producing a pitch-black Xiphos that was a total of two-feet long. It seemed to suck in the light around it.

"I won't be able to touch that," I declared. "Stygian iron."

Hades rolled his eyes. "Correction, you can hold it and even wield it. The only difference between Stygian iron and Celestial bronze weapons is that if stygian iron cuts you, you would feel pain due to it as it affects your soul. And is generally more lethal but, only if it cuts you."

#Seriously!?# Alexander yelled in my head. #He certainly said something different to the council!#

"Oh. Err... then okay, uncle." I said, ignoring Alexander

"If you still feel insecure, here." He said, snapping his fingers. The sword turned into a click pen and tossed it to me. I caught it effortlessly and looked at it. The pen was completely black, save for an inscription written in gold on it which read as θεριστής.

'Reaper.' My mind translated instantly.

"Don't lose it till you give it in Bianca's hands."

"What about Nico?"

"I will contact him personally," Hades replied. "And claim him officially after the winter solstice."

I nodded. "Thank you, for your help once again, uncle."

"Very well, Alfred will lead you out of here to a car for you. Consider it a gift and we will be even... no, I will still owe you one."

"We are even Uncle," I said. "And you do realize, you may not be getting the car back?"

"Whatever. I am the god of riches, kid and I also own a good amount of the company. One car won't do shit for me. You should get going, Nephew. If I am to guess, which would be pretty accurate, your friends would be heading towards the Hoover Dam... but I feel you should head to San Francisco and wait for them there. Unless you want to take a long-cut and potentially end up in a wild-goose chase for them across the country." Hades stated.

"And, where should I wait for them though? San Francisco ain't a small place."

"If I am to guess, they will go to Nereus to seek answers for what monster Artemis was hunting. Well, set up a spy network and stay near the sea." Hades replied with a shrug. You will at least not be late even if you drive leisurely."

"Thank you, Uncle."

---

I found myself near the San Francisco bay seven hours later, driving a Black 7-seater Land Rover Discovery 3 that Hades had gifted me. I had stopped twice on the way to have food and roam around a bit. It was evening by the time I reached there. I parked the car properly(making sure I didn't break traffic rules) and walked towards the sea before plunging into the water.

I met up with the over-enthusiastic fishes and requested them to inform me if they see any half-bloods and huntresses near the sea... especially Nereus, the old man of the sea. From what the fishes told me, he liked to stay near the water but liked the sun in the mornings. That was when I suspected my friends would confront him and ask him regarding the Ophiotaurus.

I went to the beach, making sure to stay near the water to get the news of my friends' arrival quickly as soon as they arrived. I sat down there on the sand with the waves lapping at my feet as the sun slowly set down the horizon. The sea turned orange making it look even more beautiful. I breathed in the salty-fresh scent of the ocean and closed my eyes, listening to waves like music. I wondered where my friends were and what they were doing. I wondered how Annabeth was faring. Was Luke trying to turn her? Was she being tortured by the Titans?

#Don't worry Percy... Everything will be alright.# Alexander assured softly.

'Will it though? My friends are alone facing gods know what while I am sitting here on the beach.'

#Percy, they can handle themselves. All of them are capable enough. Two of them are more than two millennia old. Two are children of the big three. And Grover is certainly the most powerful Satyr I have seen in a long time... powerful enough to warrant Pan's attention.#

I opened my eyes. The sun had set completely and the last vestiges of light were fading, giving way to the night. The moon was already rising in the sky. I wondered how the moon chariot was operating since Artemis was currently captured. Did it have an auto-pilot mode? Or was someone else driving it? Same with the sun since Apollo was under house arrest.

I soon fell asleep, exhaustion taking over.

---

When I woke up, it was early morning. Very early morning. The sun was yet to rise but the horizon was lightening by the moment. I stretched before slowly getting to my feet while stifling a yawn. I willed the water from the sea to wash the sand off my body as I entered it.

Instantly several schools of fish surrounded me. After greeting them, I asked the fishes if they had seen my friends only to get an answer in the negative. I sighed in disappointment and returned to the surface and waited while eating a sandwich and drinking orange juice.

It was three hours later when I was swimming in the sea, that a mako shark came and informed me that a huntress was wrestling with Nereus near the docks. I thanked the mako shark and immediately teleported to the location. It was very easy to find them since I was in the sea. Within five minutes I found my friends... surrounded by three mortal guards and the manticore, Dr. Thorn.

"—that will change. The Titans shall honor me, and I shall feast on the flesh of half-bloods!"

"We beat you once before, and you had an army of monsters that time." Phoebe sneered.

"Ha! You could barely fight me and my with a goddess and the son of Poseidon on your side. And, alas… that goddess is preoccupied at the moment while the son of Poseidon is dead. There will be no help for you now."

Well, time to break Manticore's delusion. I quietly shadow-traveled behind the manticore and stabbed him with my Trident.

"Dead, am I, Thorn?" I asked. The monster looked in my eye with fear as he turned to golden dust. The mortal turned to face me with their guns, only to be blasted back by a jet of water from my trident. I turned to face my friends.

"Yo!" I greeted, looking at their gaping faces.

"Y-you are alive?" Phoebe stuttered.

"Well, duh," I replied.

"But, how?" Bianca asked.

"Your father saved me by teleporting me out of the robot in the nick of time before the robot self-destructed," I said with a casual shrug like it was an everyday occurrence.

"M-my father?" Bianca stuttered.

"Hades, the lord of the dead. Cheery guy. You would love him." I replied.

"What!?" This time, the question came for all my friends in uncanny sync. Before dissolving into a hailstorm of questions.

"How do you know that?"

"Hades broke the Oath too?"

"Are you fucking serious?"

"Is Nico a son of Hades?"

"SHUT UP!" I yelled, making some tourists jump up. I manipulated the mist and they started to go back to their work.

"One by one. I know that since Hades told me himself that Bianca and Nico are his kids, born before the oath. He hasn't broken the oath."

They all still looked flabbergasted until Thalia came forward and punched me in the gut. I doubled over.

"That was for worrying me so much," She said before pulling me into a hug. "And I am glad you're alive. I couldn't lose you too after... Luke and Annabeth." She said in a broken tone.

"Glad to see you too, Pinecone face. And it would take more than a giant robot to kill me." I replied, patting her back. She gave me a teary smile before stepping back. A second later, Bianca hugged me.

"Oh thank the gods you are alive, Percy. I was so scared... I thought that you died because of me... I had killed you... I should have listened to you. I am so sorry." She sobbed.

"Hey, hey, hey. It is okay, Bianca. I am alright, see? Not a single scratch." I declared. "By the way, I have something for you," I added before taking out the pen Hades had given me. She looked at me in confusion.

"It is like my pen, you have to click it," I instructed. Bianca nodded and clicked the pen which immediately expanded into the stygian iron Xiphos. She nearly dropped it before looking at it with awe.

"Reaper," She read out loud before giving the sword an experimental swing.

"A gift from your father for you," I said. "It will always return to you if you lose it. And it is made of Stygian iron, a metal mined only in the underworld. It is capable of killing spirits and undead" I added.

"Cool... but, how do I put it back in pen form?" Bianca asked.

"No idea. Well, just think of the sword turning back into the pen." I replied with a shrug. Bianca nodded and a moment later it turned back into the pen.

"It worked!"

"No need to sound so surprised... So anyway, what's up?"

"We found the monster my lady was hunting," Phoebe replied.

"The Ophiotaurus, yes. What about it?" I asked.

"Wait, you knew what she was hunting? Since when? And why didn't you tell us?" Zoe asked.

"Yes, I came to know a few hours before we started this quest. And, well, the topic never came up." I half-lied.

"Oh well, then we need to find it and secure it so that the Titans don't kill it and sacrifice it to overthrow the gods!" Grover said.

"The Ophiotaurus is secured behind the best security that Atlantis has to offer under my dad's watch," I replied before telling them the story of how I met Bessie and what happened.

"So, the Ophiotaurus is safe under the watch of Lord Poseidon. That is good news. Now we need to go to save Lady Artemis. Zoe, you know where we should go." Phoebe said.

Zoe nodded. Her face was the color of the fog. She pointed across the bay, past the Golden Gate. In the distance, a single mountain rose up above the cloud layer. "The garden of my sisters," she said. "I must go home."

"We will need to enter at sunset. The window is very short." I added.

"I don't get it," Thalia said. "Why do we have to get there at sunset?"

"The Hesperides are the nymphs of the sunset," Zoe said. "We can only enter their garden as day changes to the night."

"What happens if we miss it?"

"Tomorrow is the winter solstice. If we miss sunset tonight, we would have to wait until tomorrow evening. And by then, the Olympian Council will be over. We must free Lady Artemis tonight."

'Or Annabeth will be dead,' I thought, but I didn't say that.

"We need a car," Thalia said.

"Well, I have one. Go to the main road, I'll meet you in... five to seven minutes." I said and jumped into the sea and teleported away by means of water travel.

---

"Can't this thing go any faster?" Thalia demanded.

I glared at her through the rearview mirror. "I cannot control traffic, Thals."

Outside, the sun was setting while we weaved through the traffic. Zoe was sitting next to me, tapping her foot impatiently and fiddling with a silver arrow.

The sun was sinking on the horizon when we finally got into Marin County and exited the highway. The roads were insanely narrow, winding through forests and up the sides of hills and around the edges of steep ravines. I didn't slow down at all.

"Why does everything smell like cough drops?" Bianca asked.

"Eucalyptus." Zoe pointed to the huge trees all around us.

"The stuff koala bears eat?"

"And monsters," she said. "They love chewing the leaves. Especially dragons."

"Dragons chew eucalyptus leaves?" I asked incredulously, picturing a huge ass dragon eating leaves like a cow.

"Believe me," Zoe said, "if you had dragon breath, you would chew eucalyptus too."

I didn't question her, but I did keep my eyes peeled more closely as we drove. Ahead of us loomed Mount Tamalpais. I guess, in terms of mountains, it was a small one, but it looked plenty huge as we were driving toward it.

The gray clouds swirled even thicker over the mountain, and I kept driving straight toward them. We were out of the forest now, into wide open spaces of cliffs and grass and rocks and fog. I happened to glance down at the ocean as we passed a scenic curve, and I saw something that made me jump out of my seat.

"Look!"

"What?" Thalia asked.

"Princess Andromeda, Luke's ship."

"We will have company, then," Zoe said grimly. "Kronos's army."

I was about to answer when suddenly the hairs on the back of my neck stood up.

Thalia shouted, "Stop the car. NOW!"

I slammed the brakes and the car skidded to a stop. "OUT!" I yelled and jumped out. I rolled onto the pavement

The next second: BOOOM!

Lightning flashed, and my car erupted like a grenade. I instinctively raised a powerful shield, protecting myself and my friends from the shrapnel. When I opened my eyes, we were surrounded by wreckage. Part of the car's fender had impaled itself in the street. The smoking hood was spinning in circles. Pieces of metal were strewn across the road.

"Is everyone alright?" I yelled.

"Yeah," Thalia replied. "Bianca and Grover are with me."

"Where are Zoe and Phoebe?" I asked. "Zoe? Phoebe?"

Then she was standing right next to me, pulling me by my arm. "Shh... Percy! Do you want to wake Ladon?"

"Where is Phoebe?" I whispered back.

"Here," Phoebe replied, appearing through the fog.

"Okay, come around everyone," I called. "See guys, the mist is heavy here."

"Which one?" Thalia asked. "Normal or magical."

"Both," Zoe replied. "The heavy mist keeps anyone from stumbling onto the garden of Hesperides. They protect the golden-apple tree which was Zeus's wedding gift to Hera and beyond that, Atlas holds the heavens. Or, where Lady Artemis is holding the heavens at the moment. That is where the ruins of Othrys stand as well."

"Othrys?" Bianca asked.

"Like Mount Olympus is the home of gods, Mt. Othrys was the home of the Titans. It was blasted to rubble by the big three when the Titans were defeated." I replied.

"Okay, just letting you guys know that the sunset will occur in twenty minutes... well twenty-two to be exact, but, whatever," Grover informed likely through his Satyr senses.

"Okay, so we have to reach the garden in twenty minutes. Let's get going. Zoe, lead the way." I said.

She nodded grimly. "Follow me. Try to keep close."

"Concentrate on Zoe everyone," Thalia advised. "We are following her. Go straight into the fog and keep that in mind."

Everyone nodded. Zoe stepped into the fog, into the Mist, and we followed.

We kept walking for what seemed like an eternity but was twelve minutes and that was when the fog cleared. We were still on the side of the mountain, but the road was dirt. The grass was thicker. The sunset made a blood-red slash across the sea. The summit of the mountain seemed closer now, swirling with storm clouds and raw power. There was only one path to the top, directly in front of us. And it led through a lush meadow of shadows and flowers: the garden of twilight, just like I'd seen in my dream.

If it hadn't been for the enormous dragon, the garden would've been the most beautiful place I'd ever seen. The grass shimmered with silvery evening light, and the flowers were such brilliant colors they almost glowed in the dark. Stepping stones of polished black marble led around either side of a five-story-tall apple tree, every bough glittering with golden apples, and I don't mean yellow golden apples like in the grocery store. I mean real golden apples.

The apples of immortality. Hera's wedding gift from Zeus.

I would've gone and picked a few if it was not for the huge dragon coiled around the tree.

The serpent's body was as thick as a booster rocket, glinting with coppery scales. He had more heads than I could count as if a hundred deadly pythons had been fused together. He appeared to be asleep. The heads lay curled in a big spaghetti-like mound on the grass, all the eyes closed. Ladon.

By just looking at it, I knew that this one would make Echidna and Chimera look like rookie monsters instead of the worst monsters in the Greek World. I even doubted if I could kill this thing.

#Probably, you could. It would be a very, very close fight though.#

Then, the shadows in front of us began to move. There was beautiful, eerie singing, like voices from the bottom of a well. I willed my armor and sword to appear, but Zoe laid a hand on my shoulder before I could do anything.

Four figures shimmered into existence, four young women who looked very much like Zoe. They all wore white Greek chitons. Their skin was like caramel. Silky black hair tumbled loose around their shoulders. It was strange, but I'd never realized how beautiful Zoe was until I saw her siblings, the Hesperides. They looked just like Zoe—gorgeous, and probably very dangerous.

"Sisters," Zoe said.

"We do not see any sister," one of the girls said coldly. "We see two half-bloods, a Satyr and three Hunters. All of whom shall soon die."

I stepped forward. "I assure you, nobody among us six is going to die. Now, let us pass."

The girls studied me. They had eyes like volcanic rock, glassy and completely black.

"Perseus Jackson," one of them said.

"Yes," mused another. "I do not see why he is a threat."

"I think you will get to know soon enough," I replied calmly.

The first Hesperid glanced behind her, toward the top of the mountain. "They fear thee. They are unhappy that this one has not yet killed thee."

She pointed at Thalia.

"No, thanks. He's my friend." She replied.

"There are no friends here, daughter of Zeus," the girl said. "Only enemies. Go back."

"Not without Annabeth," Thalia said.

"And Artemis," Zoe said. "We must approach the mountain."

"You know he will kill thee," the girl said. "You are no match for him."

"I ain't. But he is." Zoe replied pointing towards me. Now, don't get me wrong but such a statement felt good.

"And Artemis must be freed," Zoe insisted. "Let us pass."

The girl shook her head. "You have no rights here anymore. We have only to raise our voices and Ladon will wake."

"He will not hurt me," Zoe said.

"No? And what about thy so-called friends?"

Then Zoe did the last thing I expected. She shouted, "Ladon! Wake!"

The dragon stirred, glittering like a mountain of pennies. The Hesperides yelped and scattered. The lead girl said to Zoe, "Are you mad?"

"You never had any courage, sister," Zoe said. "That is thy problem."

The dragon Ladon was writhing now, a hundred heads whipping around, tongues flickering and tasting the air. Zoe took a step forward, her arms raised.

"Zoe, don't," Thalia said. "You're not a Hesperid anymore. He'll kill you."

"Ladon is trained to protect the tree," Zoe said. "Skirt around the edges of the garden. Go up the mountain. As long as I am a bigger threat, he should ignore thee."

"Should," I said. "Not exactly reassuring. But, I have a better plan. Zoe, go like you want to steal an apple or whatever. As soon as he tries to attack, you run towards the mountain as fast as you can. I'll stay here and call it back once it is a little distance away. As soon as it comes at me, I will mist travel away. The rest of you, start going now!"

They followed my orders without question. I just hoped it would work properly now.

#A little risky, but your plan would work. Just make sure to drink nectar before confronting the General.# Alexander approved.

Zoe walked straight toward the monster. "It's me, my little dragon," Zoe said. "Zoe has come back." Ladon shifted forward, then back. Some of the mouths closed. Some kept hissing. Dragon confusion.

Meanwhile, the Hesperides shimmered and turned into shadows. The voice of the eldest whispered, "Fool."

"I used to feed thee by hand," Zoe continued, speaking in a soothing voice as she stepped toward the golden tree. "Do you still like lamb's meat?"

The dragon's eyes glinted. Thalia, Phoebe, Bianca, and Grover were about halfway around the garden. From my waiting point, I could see a single rocky trail leading up to the black peak of the mountain. The storm swirled above it, spinning on the summit like it was the axis for the whole world.

Zoe continued talking to the dragon in a soothing voice. I had to admit that if she fed that thing by hand, she probably had balls of steel.

A moment later, I felt the dragon's mood shift. Maybe Zoe got too close. Maybe the dragon realized he was hungry. Whatever the reason, he lunged at Zoe.

Two thousand years of training kept her alive. She dodged one set of slashing fangs and tumbled under another, weaving through the dragon's heads as she ran in the direction of the mountain, gagging from the monster's horrible breath.

I immediately rushed forward and climbed the tree and plucked three apples. I could see that Zoe was running for her life.

"OI SNAKEY. HERE!" I shouted making sure that my voice was heard all around while simultaneously shooting a beam of divine energy at Ladon. The beam hit true and one of its heads was reduced to golden dust. The Dragon turned, glaring at me with such hate that it sent shivers down my spine.

I held up the apples. The eyes on all heads widened and the snake abandoned Zoe to come at me at incredible speeds for something so huge. I smirked and shadow traveled away as the dragon reached the tree, appearing out of Thalia's shadow.

Thalia yelped. I just gave her a smirk and turned to see what was happening in the garden. Zoe was running towards us while Ladon was searching the tree for me, its heads hissing.

#I am putting the apples in your bag.# Alexander said, and the apples disappeared from my hands. #Don't worry, they don't perish. Shelf life is till the end of time.#

Zoe stopped next to us, panting. "That, that was insane."

"It was, wasn't it?" Phoebe asked rhetorically with a smile. "A hell of a fight."

"You alright, Zoe?" Bianca asked.

"Yes, a few scratches, nothing more," Zoe replied.

I tossed her a small bottle of half-drunk Nectar. I had just consumed half of it and was feeling energy surge through my body, refilling my reserves. "Drink it. We need you in full form. And all of you, check your weapons, your armor. In two minutes, we are going to approach the fight of our lives. Bianca, take my coat and wear it. You and Grover, stand at one side and try to help from the sidelines. The rest of us, we will fuck shit up. And don't die."

"I like this one," Phoebe said with a blood-thirsty grin. "Excellent speech. Let's go and beat the shit out of them."

I suddenly remembered how Phoebe was related to Clarisse. She would have said the same thing that Phoebe just said.

We walked up the mountain as the Hesperides resumed their song in the shadows behind us. The music didn't sound so beautiful to me now—more like the soundtrack for a funeral.

At the top of the mountain were ruins, blocks of black granite and marble as big as houses. Broken columns. Statues of bronze that looked as though they'd been half-melted.

"The ruins of Mount Othrys," Thalia whispered in awe.

"Yes," Zoe said. "It was not here before. This is bad."

"It is rebuilding itself," I said with a nod. "Slowly, but it is."

We picked our way through the rubble, past blocks of marble and broken archways. "It moves in the same way that Olympus moves. It always exists on the edges of civilization. But the fact that it is here, on this mountain, is not good."

"But, how is it here?" Bianca questioned, pulling the Nemean Lion pelt closer and fiddling with her new pen.

"It moves in the same way that Olympus moves. It always exists on the edges of civilization. The fact it is here doesn't really bode well." I replied. "This is where..." I trailed off, looking ahead.

We had reached the summit. A few yards ahead of us, gray clouds swirled in a heavy vortex, making a funnel cloud that almost touched the mountaintop, but instead rested on the shoulders of a twelve-year-old girl with auburn hair and a tattered silvery dress: Artemis, her legs bound to the rock with celestial bronze chains. This is what I had seen in my dream. It hadn't been a cavern roof that Artemis was forced to hold. It was the roof of the world.

"My lady!"

Zoe rushed forward, but Artemis said, "Stop! It is a trap. You must leave now."

Her voice was strained. She was drenched in sweat. I had never seen a goddess in pain before, but the weight of the sky was clearly too much for Artemis. Zoe was crying. She ran forward despite Artemis's protests and tugged at the chains.

A second later, I sensed several demigods, two titans, and a dozen monsters coming towards us.

A booming voice spoke behind us: "Ah, how touching."

The General was standing there in his brown silk suit. At his side were Luke, half a dozen dracaenas bearing the golden sarcophagus of Kronos along with a dozen demigods and another man... A titan.

#Coeus. The Titan of rational intelligence. This doesn't bode well, Percy. While he may not be the best fighter, he is no slouch. Oh, and he is rather prideful. Too much in fact.#

Annabeth stood at Luke's side. She had her hands cuffed behind her back, a gag in her mouth, and Luke was holding the point of his sword to her throat. I met her eyes, trying to ask her a thousand questions. There was just one message she was sending me, though: RUN.

"Luke," Thalia snarled. "Let her go."

Luke's smile was weak and pale. He looked even worse than he had three days ago in D.C. "That is the General's decision, Thalia. But it's good to see you again." Thalia spat at him. The General chuckled. "So much for old friends. And you, Zoe. It's been a long time. How is my little traitor? I will enjoy killing you."

"Do not respond," Artemis groaned. "Do not challenge him."

I knew her words were going to fall on deaf ears... including mine.

"Let Artemis go!" Phoebe demanded. Atlas ignored her.

Instead, he approached Thalia. "As for you, daughter of Zeus, it seems Luke was wrong about you"

"I wasn't wrong," Luke managed. He looked terribly weak, and he spoke every word as if it were painful. If I didn't hate his guts so much, I almost would've felt sorry for him. "Thalia, you still can join us. Call the Ophiotaurus. It will come to you. Look!" He waved his hand, and next to us a pool of water appeared: a pond ringed in black marble, big enough for the Ophiotaurus

I withheld a snort.

"Thalia, call the Ophiotaurus," Luke persisted. "And you will be more powerful than the gods."

"Luke…" Her voice was full of pain. "What happened to you?"

"Don't you remember all those times we talked? All those times we cursed the gods? Our fathers have done nothing for us. They have no right to rule the world!"

Thalia shook her head. "Free Annabeth. Let her go."

"If you join me," Luke promised, "it can be like old times. The three of us together. Fighting for a better world. Please, Thalia, if you don't agree…" His voice faltered. "It's my last chance. He will use the other way if you don't agree. Please." I didn't know what he meant, but the fear in his voice sounded real enough. I believed that Luke was in danger. His life depended on Thalia's joining his cause.

"Do not, Thalia," Zoe warned. "We must fight them."

Luke waved his hand again, and a fire appeared. A bronze brazier, just like the one at camp. A sacrificial flame.

Well, he was just giving me my elements.

Behind Luke, the golden sarcophagus began to glow. As it did, I saw images in the mist all around us: black marble walls rising, the ruins becoming whole, a terrible and beautiful palace rising around us, made of fear and shadow.

"We will raise Mount Othrys right here," Luke promised, in a voice so strained it was hardly his. "Once more, it will be stronger and greater than Olympus. Look, Thalia. We are not weak."

He pointed toward the ocean, and my heart fell. Standing up the side of the mountain, from the beach where Princess Andromeda was docked, was a great army. Dracaena and Laistrygonians, monsters and half-bloods, hell hounds, harpies, and other things I couldn't even name. The whole ship must've been emptied because there were hundreds, many more than I'd seen on board last summer. And they were dressed for battle.

"This is only a taste of what is to come," Luke said. "Soon we will be ready to storm Camp Half-Blood. And after that, Olympus itself. All we need is your help."

For a terrible moment, Thalia hesitated. She gazed at Luke, her eyes full of pain as if the only thing she wanted in the world was to believe him. Then she leveled her spear. "You aren't Luke. I don't know you anymore."

"Yes, you do, Thalia," he pleaded. "Please. Don't make me… Don't make him destroy you."

I snorted. "You sound too sure of yourself Luke. Remind me, where were you when Tethys and I were battling? Oh yes, lying somewhere in the back."

"Shut up, Jackson! This is beyond you! Thalia will sacrifice Ophiotaurus and we will overthrow your precious gods! Just wait and see!"

"And where will you get the Ophiotaurus from? It is not something I think you can go and buy in a retail shop."

"You know, Perseus Jackson, for all your abilities, you are a fool." Atlas boomed in amusement.

"Am I though?"

"The daughter of Zeus will call the Ophiotaurus. Or of course, her alternative will be that you all die."

"But, can she? Can she call the Ophiotaurus, Atlas?" I asked with a feral grin.

He narrowed his eyes. "What are you on about, demigod?"

I smirked. "Well, I have already secured the Ophiotaurus in the best security there is, and, believe me when I say that no one can summon it. Not me, not Thalia, not you. Who is laughing now, Asshole?"

"Well, then you all will still die. You are not much of a challenge to us. We will send your heads to Olympus. You all, dead, the greatest heroes of the age will be a huge blow to Olympus!"

"Well, you seem overly confident. I need to correct that. Fight me, Atlas." I said.

"Have the gods taught you nothing? An immortal does not fight a mere mortal directly. It is beneath our dignity." Coeus snarled beside Atlas.

"So, you are yet another coward in the lines of Titan, ain't you Coeus," I said with a smirk. "Too scared of fighting five demigods and a Satyr that Atlas brought you and an army to fight us. As I said, you all are nothing but a bunch of cowards. Too scared to meet our blades, fearing that you will be chopped to pieces."

Coeus's eyes glowed with hatred. He clenched his hands so tightly that his knuckles turned white. "I am not scared of a pesky demigod like you, Son of Poseidon. You are nothing but an upstart. If we fight, you will be dead within minutes."

"Oh, yeah? Then come on. You and me till the end. Let's see if you can back up your words. Because I can." I boasted, trying to goad the man into a one-on-one fight. If I killed him before we started fighting everyone, it would be better for me and my friends as a team. I would take on Atlas and they all would take on the demigods and monsters.

Armor appeared on the titan's body along with a huge double-sided Axe and a round, polished shield. His eyes were glowing with hatred. I wondered how the hell was he the titan of Rational intellect. He was behaving in a completely opposite manner.

#His pride is bigger. He thinks of himself as invincible and above you. But, be wary of that shield. It stores kinetic energy and can release the collected energy once it is sufficient. It was specially made for him. It is his most powerful weapon.#

"Coeus, don't challenge him! He is goading you." Atlas warned his fellow titan in a steely voice.

"See, Coeus? Even Atlas knows you will lose." I said with a laugh. "Even he knows you are a puny Titan." I taunted.

His expression burned with hatred and I knew I had him.

He stepped forward. "Challenge me and let us see, demigod." He said, spinning his Axe in his hand.

"How do I know that your pals won't interfere to save your ass? Like Oceanus did for Tethys."

"They won't. If they do, I will stop them myself. I swear on my name. Now, the challenge, demigod. Or are you backing out?"

"Nah," I said, stepping forward as my helm appeared on my head. "I am not a Titan. I don't run away from fights like you guys. I, Perseus Achilles Jackson, Son of Poseidon, Champion of Hestia challenge you, Coeus, for a one-on-one duel till death. Do you accept it?"

"Yes, I do." Coeus boomed.

Everyone's eyes widened as thunder boomed in the sky, signifying that a higher power had heard us. Now it was official. We would only stop once one of us was dead. We couldn't run away.

I smirked and gave the Titan a challenging look. He snarled and charged at me, all rationality forgotten. I charged too, to meet him at the center. He brought down his Axe at me to chop me in half which was met by my sword halfway with a resonating clang. He tried to hit me with his shield but I was faster. I dodged the blow and kicked the Titan on the shin before slashing at his other thigh with the claws that sprouted from my vambrace.

Coues grunted in pain as I drew first blood. I didn't wait and slashed at him. Unfortunately, the titan brought up his shield to protect himself before pushing me away. I snarled and sent a ball of Greek fire at the Titan who protected himself with his shield again.

I realized that the titan relied too much on his shield. If I took it away, it would be a child's play for me to finish him off.

#Try not to hit that shield, especially with your Earthquake power. It will injure you more and not do shit to him. That thing is one of a kind.# Alexander advised.

Coues charged at me again, swinging his huge Axe to cut my head off, this time from the left. I brought my shield to stop the weapon and jabbed my sword at the Titan while converting it into a trident.

Coeus had not expected that and jumped back to avoid the strike but my trident did pierce his armor a bit, drawing ichor again. He started backing away, putting distance between himself and me. I jabbed my trident and a trio of ice spikes shot from it towards the Titan who hid behind his shield to protect himself. The spikes shattered on impact.

"Come on, oh great titan, is that the best you can do?" I taunted, but this time it failed to have an effect on him. He just stood there and analyzed me calculatingly. He was being cautious and had regained his wits from his anger it seemed. So, I needed to attack now.

I charged at Titan, slashing my sword which he parried with his Axe before going low, trying to cut my feet. I jumped in the air and used his shield to push him away before attacking again. The Titan was playing defensive and attacking only when he thought that he had an opportunity. I tried to close in and take his shield away, but he parried that attack as well. He seemed to understand my strategy to take his shield away and was protecting himself well to avoid that.

I was not actively using my godly powers because I would need them against Atlas and was relying mostly on pure combat to finish Coeus off. His shield was most irritating. No blow that I scored on it seemed to affect the man or the shield. Even a blow that would've cleaved a celestial block in half, didn't even leave a scratch on the bloody thing.

Suddenly, Coeus swung his Axe, trying to chop my head off. I ducked under the blow and took the chance to jab the man with a quick punch to his ribs, making sure to channel a little bit of my Earthquake power in the punch to make a lasting effect despite the titan having an enormous amount of endurance. Coeus. the Titan of Rational Intellect fell to the ground, wheezing.

I tried to make quick work of him by stabbing him with my sword but the Titan brought his shield up again just in time to protect himself. Suddenly, the shield started glowing blue and the Titan smirked. My senses barely tingled and before I knew it, I was sent flying as a shockwave radiated from the shield.

I somersaulted in mid-air and landed perfectly on my feet, right in front of Artemis in a way that would've made Olympic Gymnasts green with envy. (Impressive, I know.)

"You, we will free you soon, hold on!" I told her before charging at the Titan. Our weapons clashed again in a clang before we engaged. I knew I had to end this fast. Our audience was literally waiting for us to finish the other so that they could fight each other(hehe).

I parried his strikes and he shielded against another one of my strikes. All that could be heard was the clanging of weapons. The Titan was yet to land a hit on me while I had already injured him in several places. But the injuries were healing rapidly.

The titan went for a strike that would cut my left arm. I brought my shield up to defend against it. The good news, the blow against me failed. The bad news, the blow damaged my shield badly, chopping off a considerable chunk of it due to the power behind the strike.

I stumbled back, looking at the Titan in shock.

The titan had broken the gift from Tyson, my brother. He would pay. "That was a gift from my brother, you bastard!" I yelled and dropped the damaged shield before charging at the Titan, slashing at him. The Titan was on full defensive now, parrying my strikes and protecting himself with his shield. "A shield for a shield," I said as I managed to kick Coues on his abdomen, sending him flying back. He just rolled out of the way as my trident struck the point where his face was not even a second ago and got to his feet, only to fall to the ground as I swept his legs from underneath him.

I wasted no time and stabbed him in the thigh with a throwing knife. He roared in pain and scooted away before rolling to his feet shakily. He removed the knife and threw it on the ground.

"Enough!" He said and shot a beam of energy at me, which I dodged before shooting my own beam of energy at the Titan. Coues, it seemed, had not expected that and got hit with it in his face, making him stumble. I leaped at him and slashed my sword towards him but he brought up his shield again before engaging me again in a flurry of strikes.

He was being significantly hindered now by the stab wound in his thigh. He tried to ram me with his shield, but this time, instead of meeting it, I side-stepped and let the bow pass harmlessly by me before bringing down my sword on the man's arm, chopping it off from below the elbow. Coeus screamed in pain so loudly that I was sure that the scream was heard in California as well.

His chopped arm and shield clattered to the ground and Coeus fell to his knees in pain. He dropped his Axe as well and clutched his stump, trying to ease the pain. I wasted no time and beheaded the Titan with a clean strike.

I felt a surge of power, similar to the one I had when I defeated Arastoo, the son of Oceanus a few months ago. All the tiredness I had from fighting Coeus vanished and I felt rejuvenated.

The titan's body turned to golden dust so did his chopped hand and Axe. But the shield remained for a few moments before disappearing in a brilliant flash. A second later, an expensive-looking wristwatch with a silver body and a brilliant blue dial and the numbers embossed in gold appeared on my wrist. The hands of the clock were golden too, ticking smoothly. I pressed the button on the watch and Coues's shield appeared in my hand, ready to be wielded.

Well, this was certainly an excellent addition to my weapon cache. I just willed it back into a watch and looked around. Artemis was still straining under the weight of the sky, Annabeth was still gagged, Luke and his demigods were gaping, Atlas was looking back and forth between the gold dust and me. My friends on the other hand were looking at me in awe, including Artemis(well, I could consider her a friend on the battlefield at least because she was on my side).

I walked back to stand next to Zoe and Thalia casually and stood there waiting for the Titan forces to do something. When they didn't. I said, "Atlas, let us bargain. Go take back the sky and free Artemis and you won't be forced to do it." I declared.

Atlas looked at me with a steely fire burning in his eyes. There was no emotion on his face. This was the face of a commander. "You may have tricked Coeus, Jackson. And I must admit, it was a very calculated move on your part to goad him on a one-on-one fight. But, we both know, none of you are a match for me, let alone the might of my whole army. See there, Jackson? They are ready to move at my command. Even here, you and your friends are horribly outnumbered. Do you think you can fight all of us? It is six, versus thirty right here and an army of a thousand strong monsters are right there. What do you have?"

I looked at my friends who were standing beside me with their weapons drawn with determined expressions on their faces. I looked back at Atlas. "Friends worth dying for. Can you say the same?"

Atlas let out a booming laugh. "Do you seriously believe that, Jackson? Do you think that my daughter, the eternal man-hater after what the spawn of Zeus did to her, would die for you?"

"Without hesitation, Father." She said, spitting out the last word.

Atlas smiled and looked at me. "Then you have better comrades than mine, Perseus Jackson. But, I am afraid that all of you would have to die today. But, my lord Kronos gives you an offer. Surrender and join his forces and you and your friends shall be spared. Join us, all of you and the Titan Lord shall—"

"Blah, blah, blah." I interrupted Atlas. "How original. Tethys and Theia said the same a few months ago. Bring something new at least for some entertainment, man. Be creative so at least I am interested in hearing you out before I reject you."

"Do you think you are funny Jackson?" Atlas demanded, with rage evident in his voice.

"No, but you titans are sure a joke. All cowards, hiding behind demigods and monsters, too afraid to fight. You are also one of them, oh mighty General, aren't you?"

"The same tactic won't work twice, Perseus Jackson. ATTACK!" Atlas ordered and the Titan forces on top of the mountain surged forth towards us, heeding to the command of the General.

"NOW!" I yelled and together, we charged.

Thalia went straight for Luke. The power of her shield was so great that his dragon-women bodyguards fled in a panic, dropping the golden coffin and leaving him alone. But despite his sickly appearance, Luke was still quick with his sword. He snarled like a wild animal and counterattacked. When his sword, Backbiter, met Thalia's shield, a ball of lightning erupted between them, frying the air with yellow tendrils of power.

Phoebe and Zoe went to fight the demigods and monsters who were surging forth and started attacking them with both arrows and knives(or a spear in Phoebe's case). The two huntresses were equally skilled in melee combat and archery. Zoe shot arrows at an incredible rate. Like seven or eight arrows in a second, all with awe-inspiring accuracy. And anyone who got close to her was mincemeat. Phoebe only shot a few arrows at the start of her charge before switching over to her spear and fighting the Titan forces with ferocity.

Bianca helped Zoe and Phoebe from a distance by shooting arrows at the enemy, albeit at a much slower rate than Zoe. Grover on the other hand put his reed pipes to his lips and started playing a tune that made vines sprout out from the ground, tripping demigods and monsters alike.

As for me, I charged at the General himself, preparing for the fight of my lives.

Atlas laughed as I approached. A huge javelin appeared in his hands like the one Zeus had described. It was huge and heavy with a spherical pommel at one end. His silk suit melted into full Greek battle armor. The armor itself was two-layered. The main metal layer and the chainmail that covered it. That thing must've weighed a ton but to Atlas, it seemed feathery light as he flexed his arms.

"Go on, then!" He said, hefting his spear. Once I attacked, Atlas was free to attack back directly, with all his might. I needed to make my first blow count... somehow against this mountain of a Titan.

I started gathering my earth-shaker powers in my fist and went to punch Atlas. The man however looked in amusement and caught the fist with his own free hand, causing a mild shockwave around us. I felt like I was hitting a foot-thick steel wall... heck, even that would've been damaged severely in some way or the other by that punch. Atlas barely winced in pain.

"I must admit, very impressive for a demigod. Now, it's my turn though." Saying so, Atlas threw me aside like a rag doll.

I flew through the air and slammed into a black wall. It wasn't Mist anymore. The palace was rising, brick by brick. It was becoming real. "Fool!" Atlas screamed gleefully, "Did you think, simply because you could kill Coues and Arastoo, that you could stand up to me? I will make you pay for their deaths now, Jackson!" Atlas said, strolling towards me.

I immediately felt the injuries that I had gotten from being thrown healing and I rolled out of the way just as Atlas thrust his spear where my shoulder was not a moment ago. The spear embedded itself in the wall that was rising, breaking it back into pieces. I leaped up and slashed at Atlas with my sword but Atlas stopped the strike with his spear before swinging the other end of the spear at me.

I ducked as the spherical pommel passed over my head before slashing at Atlas's legs. With unbelievable speed, he brought his spear to block the strike before jabbing his spear at me. I rolled out of the way and sent a Greek-fire ball at his face. Atlas brought his arm up to protect his face. The fireball impacted his forearm and set it aflame.

I legit expected Atlas to panic or scream in pain but the man just extinguished the fire with his other hand by hitting it. When he removed his hand, the skin just looked a bit tender. There was not even a burn.

'What the Hades? That should've burnt anyone in the world to an insane degree! It was Greek Fire! And his skin is just TENDER!' I shouted in my head.

#That is Atlas for you. The things that would kill a minor god or minor Titan would barely make this one wince. Your fire at least made his skin tender.# Alexander replied.

Atlas looked at me and smirked. I decided to wipe that thing off his face. I looked at the pool that had been created for the Ophiotaurus and willed the whole water to rise up and hit Atlas with as much force as I could put behind it.

Atlas didn't even move an inch as the water came and hit him with enough force to send an eighteen-wheeler flying. What the fuck was this Titan made of! I expected him to at least stumble. I willed the water to cocoon itself around the general and a second later, I froze the water, encasing the Titan of endurance in a tomb of ice.

A second later, cracks started forming on the surface.

'Uh-oh.' I thought.

The ice cracked more before shattering to pieces, revealing a pissed Atlas who had icicles in his hair.

He charged at me and I jumped away just as his Javelin impacted the place I had been a split second before, and a fissure opened in the rocks. I jumped over the fissure and slashed at his knees with enough force to cut the limb off and successfully scored a thin gash.

'Well, something is better than nothing,' I thought morbidly just before I ducked under the spherical pommel that would've hit my head. Atlas jabbed his spear again at me, but I dodged that blow as well before furiously slashing and stabbing at him. The general met each of my strikes while laughing maniacally and taunting me.

All around us, different battles were raging.

Thalia and Luke went spear on sword, lightning still flashing around them. Thalia pressed Luke back with the aura of her shield. Even he was not immune to it. He retreated, wincing and growling in frustration. "Yield!" Thalia yelled. "You never could beat me, Luke."

He bared his teeth. "Well see, my old friend."

Phoebe was killing a horde of Dracaena with her spear while I saw Zoe kill a demigod by kicking him in the chest. The demigod went flying and crashed onto a wall with a sickening crack.

Bianca and Grover were helping the two huntresses face the horde of monsters and the army of demigods in their own ways.

I deflected Atlas's spear again before trying to stab him. Atlas parried the strike before pressing on. The man was not getting affected by any of my slashes or stabs and my blows hardly had any effect on him. I used the claws from my vambraces to slash at the man's face but he just leaned back before swinging his spear at me again. I instinctively tapped the button on my watch and the shield that I had just won from Coeus sprang out.

The spherical pommel impacted the shield with only a mild gong and I barely felt the force of it despite the power Atlas had put behind it. The shield had collected most of the energy from the blow, making me barely feel the strike. I pushed back and started pressing on the Titan of endurance with my sword and shield.

"Die, little hero," Atlas said. He raised his fist and brought it to punch me with all his might. I knew there was no way in hell I could dodge that blow and so, I brought the shield in front of the punch. I skidded a meter back as the cracking of bones was heard from Atlas's fist. The shield on the other hand began pulsing with a blue light.

#Throw the shield at Atlas, NOW!#

I heeded to Alexander's words without question and threw my shield like a frisbee with full might at the General. The shield impacted his Jaw and there was a blue flash before Atlas went stumbling. The shield bounced back towards me and I caught it perfectly in my left hand.

Atlas spat a mouthful of ichor on the ground before wiping his mouth with the back of his hand and glaring at me.

I charged as a hurricane formed around me. Lightning flashed in the sky and Atlas just looked up in time to see a lightning bolt coming towards him. The bolt hit him point-blank but he barely stumbled, only looking more pissed before bringing his spear up to stop my sword before trying to impale me with the spear. It was only due to my training with the three gods that I leaned back in time to allow the spear to pass harmlessly above me.

I straightened and slashed at his abdomen only for him to jump back and jab the spear at me again, trying to take my head off. I deflected the spear and engaged Atlas again with a flurry of strikes from both my trident and sword as I willed the storm-rider to change forms at opportune moments, suiting my needs. I noticed that my weapon was glowing with a faint sea-green and orange energy as I fought.

The storm around me strengthened to epic proportions and was probably being felt by the whole of San Francisco. I was in my personal hurricane, matching the General blow to blow.

I had drawn more blood in our fight by now but it failed to affect Atlas. He was fighting as strong as he had been twelve or fifteen minutes ago. Around us, the pillars and walls that had been rising had been reduced to rubble again.

I had not escaped unscathed either till now. I was sure I had several nasty bruises when Atlas had managed to throw me during our fight. Thankfully, I had avoided a direct blow from him so far. My muscles were aching in protest due to the speed I was fighting at by pumping energy into my limbs. I knew that Alexander was likely working overtime to make sure that I was not hindered by the pain of the bruises. He had even guided my sword a few times to make sure I didn't get hit by the Titan's humongous spear.

I dodged the spear once again and jumped high in the air before kicking Atlas with both my feet while channeling Earthquake powers before somersaulting in the mid-air. As I did it, I willed another bolt of lightning to hit the General before releasing two Greek fireballs at him. All the attacks hit the Titan which led him to stumble back.

As I landed on my feet, I used my momentum to slam the pommel of my sword on the Earth, creating an Earthquake on the mountain. Everyone around me was thrown off balance, including Atlas who fell on his butt. I turned my sword to the trident form and threw the Trident at the General with as much force as I could at the Titan, hoping to impale him with it.

Atlas's eyes widened and he fell back flat onto his back, allowing the storm-rider to sail above him harmlessly. The trident impacted the wall behind Atlas, cracking the wall severely.

I rushed forward as Atlas hopped to his feet, causing a small tremor as he landed.

We both charged at each other at the same moment. Atlas tried to impale me with his spear again but I jumped up using the Titan's body to turn around in mid-air. As I turned, my Trident came flying back to my hands and using all my momentum and strength, I stabbed Atlas in his shoulder with the Trident.

"ARGH!" He bellowed and turned towards me. Before I could even react, he backhanded me, sending me flying back several meters. I used my shield to reduce the impact with the ground as I bounced and skidded to a stop. I winced in pain, knowing at least a couple of my ribs were broken. Spitting a mouthful of blood, I climbed back to my feet and turned towards where Atlas was.

Around us, battles were still raging. Phoebe and Zoe were fighting like mad women against the last enemy demigods and monsters. Their weapons were dripping with blood and their uniforms were covered with dust, grime, monster dust, and blood. Phoebe had a nasty gash on her cheek and her arm.

Thalia and Luke were trading blows like there was no tomorrow. Whatever you may about Luke, it was undeniable that he was an excellent fighter. Thalia should've outmatched him easily but it seemed that the powers he had gained from the Titans did give him an edge it seemed.

Bianca was still shooting arrows at monsters from a distance. A little away, Grover was tending to Annabeth who weakly held her knife in her hand, ready to defend herself, and Grover if needed.

Atlas grunted in pain as he removed my trident from his shoulder and threw it away to a side before flexing his shoulder. He shot me a look of pure hatred and charged at me.

I held out my hand, calling my trident back. It slammed into my hand moments before I had to jump away to avoid the spear again. I turned my trident into its sword form and slashed at the Titan's bicep which already had ichor running down it. I slid between his legs and slashed at his legs again before getting to my feet, carefully avoiding the pommel Atlas was trying to hit me with.

I slashed at him and he parried this strike with his spear before swinging the huge pommel side to hit me again. I brought up my shield to protect myself against the blow before I swung my sword again hoping to injure Atlas in some way or the other. This time, Atlas knocked me aside with the shaft of his javelin. I flew through the air and used my shield again to protect myself as I collided with yet another pillar. My shield protected me well enough. I loved this thing now.

I used my sword as a support to get back to my feet and turned to face Atlas again. Atlas slammed his Spear on the ground creating a small tremor. "You fight well for a demigod," Atlas laughed. "But you are no match for me."

"Remind me, who among us has a hole in his shoulder and is bleeding?" I wheezed out, despite knowing he was right. Despite everything I had inflicted and done, I was on the last vestiges of my power. I could feel my body burning. Keeping up the hurricane, summoning lightning, channeling Earth-shake powers in each of my blows, and pumping energy in my limbs to move at insane speeds at the same time had taken a toll on me. There was a limit to what a mortal body could take before burning up. My muscles were also aching in protest and my chest hurt.

'No.' I decided. 'I won't go like this. Not without scoring a good blow on the Titan that he would remember for the rest of his immortal life.'

I breathed in deeply and drew power from the endlessness of the sea and called the sea to me, immediately feeling a power surge go through me, and without wasting another moment, I charged at the Titan.

Atlas laughed maniacally as I ran towards him and readied his spear before jabbing it as I came in the range of the humongous weapon. But, I was ready. I leaped up high and channeled as much of my Earth-shaker power as I possibly could into my fist, I punched the general square in the jaw while sending a small ball of greek fire onto his injured shoulder.

There was a sickening crack of my fingers and Atlas's jaw, breaking into pieces as the Titan flew high into the air and was tossed like a rag doll down the steps leading to the top of the mountain, straight into the garden of Hesperides.

I fell to my knees as exhaustion overtook me. I breathed in deeply and removed a vial containing the mixture of Ambrosia and Nectar in one before immediately downing it. I hardly felt the expected power rush.

#Percy... you can't... do more, child. You need to escape. You... can't fight Atlas. Much less... win against him. You are at the brink... the brink of collapse. And... Atlas... the guy is strong as ever. We need... need to escape.# Alexander wheezed out. #I am working over... overtime to heal you... I can't supply you with energy.#

'If I can't fight her, someone else will.' I told the resident god in my head.

#There is no one powerful enough to defeat Atlas.#

'I can't beat Atlas. But there was someone else who might stand a chance... At least now since I have injured him.' I said, glancing at the goddess under the sky. 'The Titan's curse one must withstand.'

#YOU SERIOUSLY AREN'T TAKING THE SKY! NOT IN THIS STATE!# Alexander yelled in my head.

I slowly got to my feet as a roar sounded from the garden of Hesperides. I was running out of time. Atlas will be at the top of the mountain in a couple of minutes. I stumbled towards Artemis.

"Run, Percy," she told me. "You must run! You fought well, but now take your friends and run! Please."

I shook my head. "The sky," I told the goddess. "Give it to me."

"It will crush you! You can barely walk." She said with worry.

"It is the only way, Artemis. I have injured Atlas as much as I could but I can't fight any longer. This is the only way, Artemis. Give me the sky."

I didn't wait for her answer. I took out Storm-rider and slashed through her chains. Then I stepped next to her and braced myself on one knee—holding up my hands—and touched the cold, heavy clouds. For a moment, Artemis and I bore the weight together. It was the heaviest thing I'd ever felt... as if I were being crushed under a thousand trucks. I wanted to blackout from the pain, but I breathed deeply.

I can do this.

Then Artemis slipped out from under the burden, and I held it alone.

Afterward, I tried many times to explain what it felt like. I couldn't. Every muscle in my body turned to fire. My bones felt like they were melting. I wanted to scream, but I didn't have the strength to open my mouth. I began to sink, lower and lower to the ground, the sky's weight crushing me.

#Fight back Percy. You can do it.# Alexander encouraged.

I concentrated on my breathing.

Atlas roared again followed by a bellow of "GODDESS!"

My vision turned fuzzy. Everything was tinged with red. I caught glimpses of the battle, but I wasn't sure if I was seeing clearly. There was Atlas in full battle armor, jabbing with his javelin, laughing insanely as he fought. And Artemis, a blur of silver. She had two wicked hunting knives, each as long as her arm, and she slashed wildly at the Titan, dodging and leaping with unbelievable grace. She seemed to change form as she maneuvered. She was a tiger, a gazelle, a bear, a falcon.

Sweat poured down my face. My hands were slippery. My shoulders would've screamed with agony if they could. I felt like the vertebrae in my spine were being welded together by a blowtorch.

Atlas advanced, pressing Artemis. She was fast, but his strength was unstoppable. His javelin slammed into the earth where Artemis had been a split second before, and a fissure opened in the rocks. He leaped over it and kept pursuing her. She was leading him back toward me. Get ready, she spoke in my mind.

He fainted with the tip of his javelin and Artemis dodged. I saw the trick coming. Atlas's javelin swept around and knocked Artemis's legs off the ground. She fell, and Atlas brought up his javelin tip for the kill.

"No!" Zoe screamed from somewhere. She leaped between her father and Artemis and shot an arrow straight into the Titan's forehead, where it lodged like a unicorn's horn. Atlas bellowed in rage. He swept aside his daughter with the back of his hand, sending her flying into the black rocks.

I wanted to shout her name, run to her aid, but I couldn't speak or move. I couldn't even see where Zoe had landed. Then Atlas turned on Artemis with a look of triumph on his face. Artemis seemed to be wounded. She didn't get up.

Deception.

"The first blood in a new war," Atlas gloated. And he stabbed downward. As fast as thought, Artemis grabbed his javelin shaft. It hit the earth right next to her and she pulled backward, using the javelin like a lever, kicking the Titan Lord and sending him flying over her. I saw him coming down on top of me and I realized what would happen. I loosened my grip on the sky, and as Atlas slammed into me I didn't try to hold on. I let myself be pushed out of the way and rolled for all I was worth.

The weight of the sky dropped onto Atlas's back, almost smashing him flat until he managed to get to his knees, struggling to get out from under the crushing weight of the sky. But it was too late.

"Noooooo!" He bellowed so hard it shook the mountain. "Not again!" Atlas was trapped under his old burden.

I tried to stand and fell back again, dazed from pain. My body felt like it was burning up. My muscles were screaming in protest and so was my gut. I was feeling every bruise Atlas had inflicted on me. I looked around

Thalia backed Luke to the edge of a cliff, but still, they fought on, next to the golden coffin. Thalia had tears in her eyes. Luke had a bloody slash across his chest and his pale face glistened with sweat.

He lunged at Thalia and she slammed him with her shield. Luke's sword spun out of his hands and clattered to the rocks. Thalia put her spear point to his throat. For a moment, there was silence.

"Well?" Luke asked. He tried to hide it, but I could hear the fear in his voice. Thalia trembled with fury. Behind her, Annabeth came scrambling\. Her face was bruised and streaked with dirt.

"Don't kill him!" Annabeth said.

I wanted to scream at her to stop. To finish Luke off.

"He's a traitor," Thalia said. "A traitor!"

In my daze, I realized that Artemis was no longer with me. She had run off toward the black rocks where Zoe had fallen along with Phoebe, Bianca, and Grover.

"We'll bring Luke back," Annabeth pleaded. "To Olympus. He… he'll be useful."

Damn Annabeth and her softness. There was no mercy, especially for an enemy who was past redemption. Luke had betrayed his family and his friends and put thousands of innocent lives in danger.

"Is that what you want, Thalia?" Luke sneered. "To go back to Olympus in triumph? To please your dad?"

Thalia hesitated, and Luke made a desperate grab for her spear. "No!" Annabeth shouted. But it was too late. Without thinking, Thalia kicked Luke away. He lost his balance, terror, on his face, and then he fell.

"Luke!" Annabeth screamed.

I slowly got up but my danger senses tingled and I tapped my watch and hid behind the shield as a wave of Javelins soared towards me from below the cliff and bounced off my shield. Annabeth pulled Thalia back, out of danger.

"Come... on." I wheezed and stumbled towards where Artemis and the rest of my quest mates were, ignoring Atlas's curses.

"Artemis," I said, trying to be as loud as I could.

The goddess looked up, her face almost as grief-stricken as Thalia's. Zoe lay in the goddess's arms. She was breathing. Her eyes were open. But still…

"She is badly injured... her spinal cord is broken and her lung is perforated. She is... dying. I won't be... able to heal her." She sobbed.

"The stars," Zoe murmured. "I cannot see them."

#She won't survive it... unless...#

'The heritage return shall save the moon's hand.' I completed Alexander's thought.

No one moved. Grief hung in the air. The army of Kronos was just below the rise. Even Artemis was too shocked to stir.

I knelt beside her and took her tear-stricken face in my hands. "Artemis," I called, raising her head to meet my eyes. "I can save her. I will save her. But, for that, we need to get to the sea. We can't waste time. If you want to save her, we need to get out of here. Artemis, please."

This shook Artemis out of her grief. She immediately stood up with hope shining in her eyes. "If you do that, you will have my eternal gratitude." She said and raised her hunting horn to her lips, and its clear sound echoed down the valleys of Marin. Zoe's eyes were fluttering.

"Hang in there!" I told her. "It'll be alright! I will save you, Zoe. Don't worry."

The moonlight brightened, and a silver chariot appeared from the sky, drawn by the most beautiful deer I had ever seen. It landed right next to us. "Get in," Artemis said.

Annabeth helped me get Thalia on board. I helped Bianca and Phoebe up the chariot. Grover climbed in on his own. Then I helped Artemis with Zoe. We wrapped Zoe in a blanket as Artemis pulled the reins and the chariot sped away from the mountain, straight into the air.

"Like Santa Claus's sleigh," I murmured, still dazed with pain. Artemis took some time to look back at me.

"Indeed, Percy. And where do you think that legend came from?"

"So, you are Santa Claus?" I asked amusedly. Behind me, the two older huntresses chuckled. Artemis smirked but didn't answer.

Behind us, the army of Kronos roared in anger as they gathered on the summit of Mount Tamalpais, but the loudest sound was the voice of Atlas, bellowing curses against the gods as he struggled under the weight of the sky.

---

Artemis POV

I suppressed my giggles as Percy asked if I was Santa Claus and pulled my moon chariot into motion.

"Take us to the sea," Percy said. I could hear his fatigue in his tone.

I had to admit one thing. I was in awe of the boy... no... man. He had faced Coues and killed him before battling Atlas, the General of the Titan forces by himself and damned near defeated the Titan as well. When he realized that he couldn't fight the battle to the end, he had accepted his limitations and took the weight of the sky from me, allowing me to get some revenge from the General as well.

He had borne the weight of the sky till I defeated Atlas. And now, he has assured me that he is going to save my Lieutenant, Zoe, who is also my best friend.

I can feel the life force draining out of her as we flew towards the nearest beach, away from the Titan forces. I do not know how he planned to do it but, I decided to trust him. I couldn't heal her with my godly powers. Not in time to save her. The only one who had a chance seemed to be Apollo, but we won't be able to reach him in time and I couldn't teleport Zoe in this state.

Percy was my only hope.

I pulled the chariot onto the beach as near to the sea as I could possibly land. Thankfully, there was no one around.

"Help me with Zoe," Percy told us before jumping down from the chariot and stumbling before catching himself. The poor boy winced in pain as well. He was likely... heck, he was definitely injured after battling two Titans.

"Bring Zoe down while I prepare a few things. Bianca, the pelt too." He said.

Bianca, my new huntress nodded and removed her fur coat... was that the fucking pelt of the Nemean Lion!? What the hell had they done on the quest?

Bianca tossed the coat to Percy and he caught it effortlessly before producing a bag out of nowhere. He rummaged through one of the compartments and I nearly choked on my spit as he removed a golden apple. A real fucking apple of immortality from his bag. He put the bag away and turned to us.

"Get Zoe down here! What are you all waiting for?" That broke me out of my stupor and I carefully lifted Zoe and came out of my chariot.

"Come to the Sea. We need to get her to the tides." Percy said urgently.

I carried her towards the sea, following Percy.

"Stay there, rest of you!" He said as Phoebe, Bianca, Thalia, Annabeth, and the Satyr Grover went to follow us before continuing ahead. Once we were ankle-deep in the tides, he instructed me to lay Zoe in the water. I did as he asked.

"Now please go a few steps back, Lady Artemis." He said, removing a pen from his pocket and uncapping it.

The pen grew into a three-foot-long celestial bronze Xiphos. I could feel the power in it. It was similar to Zoe's...

He bent down and took Zoe's hands in his own and muttered, "I am sorry Zoe," and slashed her palm, drawing blood. He collected some of it on the sword before letting go of her hand.

Just what the hell was he doing?

Percy laid the sword on her chest along with the golden apple. He stepped back and then the waves enveloped Zoe, submerging her completely. He started muttering something with his eyes closed... almost like a prayer.

The waves rose. He opened his eyes and tossed the Nemean lion pelt in it where it disappeared from existence immediately.

'So, a sacrifice.' I thought to myself.

The sea started getting rougher. The water enveloping Zoe started swirling. I could see flashes of golden light in the waves. I felt someone tug my hand and I turned to look at Percy.

"We need to get out of the sea and let the process take place, Lady Artemis. Come." He said softly and pulled me back to the beach and averted his eyes from where the water was swirling around Zoe.

A moment later, there was a brilliant flash of golden light from under the waves. A moment later, the waves dropped and the sea subsided, to reveal my Lieutenant in a brilliant blue chiton with a hair clip on her braided hair, with a faint glow around her. She looked about fifteen years old and she was radiating power. Suddenly the glow subsided and she walked forward out of the ocean, with her normal grace.

Without even thinking, I rushed forward and enveloped her in a rib-crushing hug.

"Zoe..."

"My Lady."

I released her and looked at her with teary eyes. "You're alive... you're safe."

"All thanks to Percy, my Lady." She said softly, glancing at the boy behind me. I turned and saw Percy smile softly at her. His Trident was out and he was leaning on it rather heavily and swaying. I walked towards him and pulled him into a hug, surprising even myself.

"Thank you, Percy," I said.

"She is my friend too, Artemis." He whispered back. His voice was fading. I went to break the hug before it got awkward, but suddenly his weight increased. I held him only due to my strength as a goddess. I heard his trident fall behind me. I caught him properly and looked at his face. He had passed out in my arms.

I laid a hand on his forehead and found him burning up. He also had several broken and cracked bones along with bruises. I needed to get him to my brother to be treated as feeding Ambrosia or Nectar while he was already burning up due to power overuse was a bad idea.

I lifted him in a fireman hold before running to my Chariot.

---

AND... DONE!

Hope you like it.

One small request, please stop pestering me and asking me for updates especially till April end. Why? Because I have exams. I can write 1000 words in an hour usually but now, the problem is that my priorities are my studies. As much as I love writing stories, my exams take precedence. I will not abandon this story or my HP story. Just, my updates could come any time till the end of April. Then, I will be free from exam burden and start writing every day again and update regularly as I used to.

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Dearest readers!

It is my immense pleasure to announce that I have launched my very own Discord Server: House of HPfanfictioner66.

I have created it with the help of my two very good friends. I really hope to see you all there and have fun with you all. There, you can communicate with me, ask me questions regarding my fics, give your own theories, and even... wait, why should I tell you everything here? Come over and check it all out yourself!

Discord Server Invite Link: discord . gg / 4qfP3fxdQ4[Remove the spaces please]

I will love it if you guys come on my server and interact with me there. If you have some of your own theory or wish to see something in this fic as the journey progresses, you can tell it to me on the discord server.

(If you are wondering if I am going to post this message in every story, I am. I want as many of you there so we all can interact with one another.)

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A huge Thank You to I_amaSWITCHbot for betaing my chapter.

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Also, a very Happy valentine to you all. I love you all for reading my story!

Stay Happy! Stay Safe! Keep Smiling! Keep Reading!

HPfanfictioner66