Chapter 26


4th of June 2008
Jupiter Camp

"Hey! Is that an entrance to the Labyrinth?", asked one of the legionnaire scout.

"Yes! And it's, like, one kilometer away from the camp! And it wasn't here a few weeks ago, I'm sure of it! We have to tell Praetors Jason and Frank!"


5th of June 2008
Hephaistos junkyard

"Oï, look! A Meca!", said one of the Satyr.

"Hey! I told you not to touch things that looked dangerous!", reprimanded Daedalus.

"AAAAAAAAAH", screamed the Satyr as he was grabbed by a fucking giant robots.

Why, O, Why, was he given these incompetent to collect the interesting stuff in Hephaistos junkyard?

Spoiler: PJO 3


7th of June 2008
HalfBlood Camp

"So, even if they piss you off, you come see me before you fart in their faces, okay?", Clarisse explained to her two boyfriends.

"Got it!" Castor and Pollux replied in unison.

Clarisse nodded in satisfaction. Of course, that didn't mean they'd let the huntresses walk all over them. They weren't the same as they were two years ago. They weren't at all. And if they wanted to say something, they'd just have to go through the Boulè like everyone else: after all, the chief huntress Zoe something was by default the Strategos of Artemis


7th of June 2008
Olympus

Dionysus appeared in a flash in the council chamber of Olympus. He wasn't the last - Zeus hadn't arrived yet, and neither had Ares and Artemis. But if he remembered the plot of Percy Jackson: The Titan's curse, it must have been a meeting about the disappearance of Artemis, who had been secretly captured by Atlas and forced to wear the sky, or something like that.

The other gods were already seated, and Dionysus looked at them quickly.

Poseidon
God of the seas
Lvl 2 986/3 000

Hephaistos
God of forges and volcanoes
Lvl 2 120 / 2 250

Persephone
Goddess of Spring
Lvl 1 756 / 2 000

Athena

?

Lvl 4 490/4 500

Wait, what? He'd seen her just a few months ago, and she was still caped at level 3,500. What had happened?

Zeus appeared in a flash.

Zeus
God of Heaven and King of Olympus
Lvl 2,999/3,250

"Olympians. We have sad news for you. Ares and Artemis no longer answer Our calls. They are missing".

Uh? Dionysus knew that Artemis was with the titans, but Ares?

He looked again at Athena's level. He remembered how he'd gained levels by absorbing Eris and the giant.

Fuck.


13th of June 2008
HalfBlood Camp

Luke felt like shooting himself in the head. Since the huntresses refused to talk to a man as equals, he'd had to put the only female among the Archons in charge of diplomacy with Artemis' subordinates.

"I'll strangle you with your intestines, you whore". In other words, Clarisse - Clarisse! - was in charge of diplomacy.

Fortunately, the spells placed on the Bouleuterion prevented violence from taking place within its walls. Otherwise the situation would already have degenerated.

"Well, the meeting is adjourned," announced Luke. They wouldn't get anywhere like this. The huntresses were already stressed because their goddess had disappeared...and he knew where she was. Before he'd betrayed Kronos - who, unlike Thalia, wasn't a beautiful blonde, strong and funny and sympathetic who gave him super kisses - he'd heard about Atlas's he couldn't give them the information without revealing that he'd been a traitor...Especially as he hadn't yet managed to find - and discreetly eliminate - all the other demigods in the titan's pay in the camp. At least the stupid ones had been easy to find, since they'd tried to assassinate him as punishment for his betrayal. Fuckin Noobs.

At least the games scheduled for the afternoon - an archery and hand-to-hand combat competition - would calm the ardor. Luke whistled as he left the Bouleuterion and headed for the refectory. When Mr. D returned with more information...


13th of June 2008
HalfBlood Camp

Zoe watched the young man, who must have been around twenty-five, talking to one of the younger huntresses - she'd joined them just seventy years ago, when she was seventeen. She had to admit he was rather cute, and she could see why the huntress was simpering, twisting one of the strands of her hair and...Wait...Something was wrong...

A guy? Cute? Ugh! Disgusting.

She rushed to the scene, and the young man, as she arrived, turned to him and...

Aaaahh...he was so hot...and she felt something warm inside her...

Nono! Focus!

"Who...Who are you?"

He smiled and she wanted to melt.

"It is me…DIO!", and in a purple explosion of colors, delicious smells and…pleasure that shook her deeply…he transformed back into his three meters-high bearded form.

"M…Olympian Dionysos?",

And the Huntress knelt. Huh. Why were the other campers not kneeling.

"Do not kneel in front of me. Stay proud. Stay free."

She felt something deep steering inside her - and it was not at all the same feeling as before. It made her want…to be free…from her Father…from everything…even, deep down, from immortality. A kind of immortality that let no place for growth, no opportunity for change…Disgusting.

She shook her head and the strange feelings.

Dionysus sat down and waved to a few campers, who approached. Zoe recognized Bianca, daughter of Hades, Annabeth, daughter of Athena, Clarisse, daughter of Ares, and Thalia, daughter of Zeus. Uh. All girls. The god was quite accommodating to the huntresses. She saw Percy and Luke standing behind, listening to the scene - two "stars" of the camp, one for his parentage and courage, the other for his rank and efficiency. If anything, she could respect them. Just a little. But not too much.

Dionysus addressed them. "Well, girls, normally we would set up a quest, some of you would die...but no time. Time's running out, and Artemis isn't in great shape. And I like her. So, I am not going to let her die".

"Do you...do you know where Lady Artemis is, Sir?", she asked.

Not even Zeus knew.

He winked. "Of course, I know everything - except what I don't know"

"What was I sayin...Something about tits? I mean, the birds? Not birds in that sense...No? Ah! I remember. Well, normally we would set up a quest, some of you would die, but it's not my cup of tea. So, go arm yourselves and...ah? You're all already armed? Right, let's go!"

He snapped his fingers and they disappeared in a flash of light.


13th of June 2008
Next to the Garden of the Hesperides.

"And when Olympus falls, you will die, goddess. But before that, I..."

Artemis couldn't listen to Atlas any longer. The Titan had set a trap for her by making an innocent, pure daughter of Athena wear the sky, she had taken her place...And Athena's daughter had turned out to be an accomplice of the Titan! Now she had to carry the horrible, heavy weight of heaven. She had never been so tired, and she just wanted to let go, to let go and...But she couldn't. She wouldn't give in! She wouldn't!

Suddenly, in a flash of Light, a small group of individuals appeared before them.

"What?"

Artemis' eyes widened in astonishment. Half a dozen of her huntresses, led by Zoé, had just appeared before her eyes. With them, a few demigods, all girls. She felt like shouting at them to run away! Atlas would kill them! But her voice was dry and...

"Ah...what have we here? Fresh meat? Still pure," the Titan stepped forward, a sword dangling from his hip.

"Ah, what have we here? Fresh meat?" another voice rang out, and, startled, the Titan was propelled so violently that he was thrown at least several kilometers away, just from the power of the hit.

"Uh?"

And before Artemis appeared the reassuring figure - she never thought she'd feel this way, never thought she'd feel this way, and never would - of Dionysus.

The God of tragedy was here.

"My Lady!"

"Zoe!"

The monsters and demigods in the Titan's army, surprise over, began to attack.

"Take care of her, girls, I'm going to fetch the little Titan and wind him up. And he's gonna suffer…".


13th of June 2008
A few kilometers away from the Garden of the Hesperides.

Atlas
Titan of Endurance - The General
Bearer of the Sky
Lvl 1 740/2 000

Atlas had barely recovered from the blow, stunned, when he took a hit from a vine stick to the head, and found himself propelled backwards again. He gritted his teeth. He'd been weakened by carrying the sky for centuries but still... Who had hit him? Who could ? With such force? With such violence? And if Zeus had come...

"Ah, if it isn't icky baby titan...", Dionysos appeared in front of him.

Uh? Dionysos? That weakli...Atlas couldn't finish thinking, as another blow in the jaw lifted him from the ground. And another hit from the fucking vine baton made him feel like he was going to die.

"Ugh…", he spat ichor.

"Hmmm…So weak, so weakened from carrying the sky…I understand how Percy could keep up with you, even for a moment…"

"P..I don't know any Per…", he was interrupted by another heavy blow. Fuck. How was the god of wine so strong! He felt even stronger than freakin' Zeus. And damn, that hurt..

"Ple..Please…". How was he, the Titan of Endurance, that much hurt? It did not make any…Another hit, in the jaw. Fuck…It felt heavier than the fucking sky.

"Who…You cannot be…"

"I am Dionysos. Fucking Dionysos. God of Wine, Madness, Theater, Games, Freedom,Transcendence, Creativity, Growth, Mysteries, Limitlessness and Rule-Breaking. The GOAT. The MegaChad. The One who once was the god of Zarathustra. And you, my little Titan, you are nobody. You will be nobody - as you are going to die. To fade at my hands".

He grabbed the Titan's head with one hand, pulling him in the air. And then, he started tearing him in two halves.

You made a titan fade and absorbed his essence and potential!

You leveled up fucking many times!

You have gone against Fate.

Your divinity is growing

Your strength is growing

Dionysos
Lvl 2 476/2 750 → 2 897/3 000


13th of June 2008
Next to the Garden of the Hesperides.

"Oh, Fuck...That's hot as hell," Zoe couldn't help saying as she saw the scene unfolding before her eyes. Artemis, too shocked, couldn't even reprimand her.

It had been ten minutes since Dionysos - the fatass - had left to fight the Titan. Already, to think that the fatass would fight...but this scene…Unbelievable. She had almost forgotten who he was.

The Dionysos of the older days.

The Dionysos that, as a demigod, became an Olympian.

Walking quietly towards them, in an almost feral form - two meters tall, naked except for a pair of pants, barefoot, his torso muscular and his beard flecked with the Titan's golden blood, Dionysos stepped forward, a carefree but cruel smile on his lips. Atlas's head was in his right hand, the face frozen in an expression of suffering and horror. Dionysos licked his lips, drinking a little of the titan's blood in the process. Arriving a few yards ahead of Artemis, he threw the head on the floor, which rolled and came to rest just in front of her feet.

"But…The Sky…", asked Bianca. Who was going to bear it? Would Artemis be imprisoned under the sky her whole life.

"Give me that shit".

And Dionysos grabbed the fucking sky.

Artemis collapsed at his feet in exhaustion.

Dionysos, with a growl, lifted the sky.