All rights belong to Rick Riordan

Chapter 34

Fear

(Diana)

"One of you, stop just standing there and go get my brother!" I screamed at the small cluster of minor gods. They were all seemingly frozen in shock at the scene that had just occurred in front of them. Finally, my youngest brother nodded and flashed away.

Now that help was on the way, I turned my attention back to the wounded guardian whose side I held tightly to the flow of crimson fluid that was still slowly seeping through my fingers despite my efforts. After the initial shock and pain from the injury, he had suddenly gone silent and limp. The arrows secondary characteristics had taken effect on him and rapidly caused him to drop into unconsciousness.

Not that I would have said so at the time but, I was lucky when I had been hit with the arrow before it had only been a glancing blow; it had scratched my face quite deeply but that was it. Whereas Percy had been hit directly and then managed to snap the shaft off during his collapse and pained thrashing about on the ground. Thrusting my fingers into the open wound I had removed the snapped arrowhead immediately; however, it had been too late.

"Milady what do you want us to do?" Thalia asked breaking out of her shock.

"Find her!" I ordered angrily, certain of the fact that one of my own hunters had done this. I heard the sound of hurried movement and noticed flashes of light as the remaining gods went to look for the offender.

I tried to focus my own energy on the wound in an effort to try and help him but found myself unable to do anything about it. His unique nature seemingly rejected my own attempts to heal him, that or as an effect of that accursed arrow. It was a cruel irony to think of all the things he had survived in his short life, to think that it was attack by a supposed ally with his own weaponry that could possibly kill him.

As I slowly lost strength trying repeatedly to heal him, I kept my eyes focused on his slowly paling face and I grew more worried and anxious. What was keeping my fool of a twin? He was constantly around when I didn't want him near me. But now that he was actually required, he was nowhere to be seen.

All I could think of as I watched the man, I secretly loved die in my arms was regret. For having squandered my chance to finally feel loved. For having gotten cold feet and treated him so distantly for the last few weeks, despite the happiness I initially felt when he was around.

(Tania)

When I had fired the arrow, I had felt a great sense of happiness and pride as I considered the fact of what I had done. How dare he lay a hand on the goddess. I always knew he would betray our trust eventually.

However, I had not expected the goddess to suddenly snap out of her collapsed state and suddenly begin trying to help him even as he screamed and collapsed in pain. It was only then did I notice all of the others figure that had been behind them looking on in shock.

After all, if they had witnessed what he was doing, why had they not attempted to stop him? Surely, they all knew that the goddess would not allow a man to lay his lips on hers.

Slowly however revelation began to dawn on me as I slowly began to realize I may have acted rashly. I began to back up slowly behind the nearest cabin aiming to get away unseen and hope I could pretend it was not me. Perhaps they would think it was a surviving monster and go after that.

However, that hope soon shattered when I saw the silver wearing spectators suddenly start running in my direction with their weapons drawn. Swords of silver and gold in I made out the looks of anguish on Thalia and Reyna's face. At this moment I knew I had made a mistake but what could I do about it now?

I had been about to attempt to run away when the first of my divine pursuers materialized behind me with their weapons pointed at my throat. I slowly turned around to find myself looking down the Celestial bronze and Stygian Iron blades of the king of ghosts and the goddess of Beauty and Compassion. Both were looking at me with fierce determination and anger.

I tried to step backwards away from the pair only to feel metal against my neck again and I froze as I slowly turned my neck and found a gold and silver sword pointed at me by my own fellow hunters. With the wall of a cabin blocking me off from the other side, I was trapped.

"Tania lay down your arms. Now!" Reyna ordered angrily. Despite me being in the hunt longer and her having no actual position of authority in it. We all had to concede that the Roman girl knew her stuff and was not someone to be ignored.

I very slowly shrugged my bow of my shoulder, before drawing my knives out with one hand and throwing them on the ground next to it. After I had done so they all vanished into a shadow that appeared underneath them.

"Good, now I think you will have some exp-." I heard the daughter of Aphrodite begin to say before suddenly I received an electrified slap to the face and felt no more as everything faded.

(Thalia)

Holding my hand as I looked at the now unconscious daughter of Ares in front of me, all I felt was hatred and disbelief. How could someone be so ignorant and stupid to think that Percy was an enemy? After everything he had done for us over the last few weeks.

I had known that she had not liked him because of what he was, a man that is. Not whatever the hades he actually was now. But to think that she would actually try and kill him was on another level of insanity.

I understood there could have been some confusion over what was happening from a distance such as where we were now. But surely, she must have noticed the rest of us all watching him help Lady Diana. If we were making no effort to stop him from several feet away, why on earth would she think that she had a better grasp on the situation.

Gods, he had even made an effort to not offend me and Reyna and explain that what he was doing was a last resort before he began. To make sure that something like this clusterfuck of a situation had not occurred.

Truthfully it appeared that she was just like her father, hot headed, rash and unwilling to think things through properly.

What exactly did she think would have happened? That perhaps she would receive a clap on the back for her timely action in stopping him.

No, what she had just done was possibly doom the entire hunt. Half of Olympus would be outraged to find out about this. The guy was quite literally known as the Hero of Olympus for damned good reason. Even if he was not a god and was disliked personally by many, they all had to admit that he earned their respect with his actions.

But to make matters worse, there was what Poseidon would do when he found out someone had tried to kill his favourite son. If it was possible to make the situation worse, there was the fact it would not be limited to one Pantheon, if what he said about being a Titan was true.

"Nico get her out of here, things are about to get ugly, and I don't want to be anywhere near her." I spat out bitterly taking my eyes of my unconscious 'Sister'.

The god nodded before summoning shadow around her that solidified into Stygian Iron chains before both the gods and the girl disappeared into golden light whilst we averted our faces.

"Thalia, you need to calm down." Reyna said calmly sheathing her sword even as I continued to grip mine tightly.

"How can I be calm, when that stupid bitch could have just doomed us all?" I shouted only to be slapped as soon as I was finished.

"What exactly is throwing the blame around going to accomplish? He is still alive or at least he was when we left. Apollo is on the way and hopefully he can save Percy. Likewise, Lady Diana is working right now to save him, both of them are likely to need our help. So, calm the fuck down and pull yourself together." She ordered firmly.

"I have already lost most of my best friends, I am not losing another." I choked out remembering when the reality of Annabeth's death had finally hit me. After the shock of everything else that happened that day, the hunters who had been murdered in front of me. That sad news was perhaps the last bitter twist of the knife.

Why was it everyone close to me always died or left me? First Luke, then Annabeth and now Percy was likely about to join that list.

"Then grow up and do something about it. You are meant to be Artemis's Lieutenant. The hunters are in disarray and don't know what is happening. You need to help Diana, by helping them." She explained pointing at the group of girls who was milling about trying to get a view of what was happening down the valley.

I slowly nodded in silent agreement, but if seaweed brain died. She would not need to worry about Poseidon or the Titans punishing her. She would however wish for Tartarus when I was through with her.

(Jason)

This was by no means the first time I had flashed into the sun chariot; I had often found myself dragged here by the god to talk about girls, namely Piper. However, it was certainly the most urgent as I appeared in the passenger seat unannounced startling the driver. Temporarily making the sun swerve across the sky erratically.

"Little Bro what are you doing here?" Apollo asked getting the solar vehicle back under control and taking his feet off the dashboard.

"Camp was attacked by Titans, Percy wounded badly." I rushed out simply.

"What do you mean attacked? What was Percy even doing there, isn't he with Diana?" He asked confused using the goddess's Roman name whilst obviously implying Artemis's hunt. Likely because I was Roman, besides both his aspects were almost identical down to the name.

"I don't know why, he just is but you need to get to camp ASAP, otherwise Percy will die. There was a misunderstanding I think and one of your sister's hunters shot him." I told the Olympian urgently.

"Ok then Bro but in that case, you get to keep this baby under control until I get back." He said as if it was a chore, but I was excited by the prospect of having this much power at my fingertips, even if it was only temporary.

The god leaned over to my side and into the passenger glove box, rummaging around inside through candy, bags of chips and some rather questionable items that made me wonder how often Apollo got the car cleaned and disinfected. Ultimately pulling out a surgeon's mask, which I would have considered amusing were it not for the severity of the situation. Settling back in his seat he donned the headgear before flashing out. With him gone I took his place behind the steering wheel eagerly, almost forgetting that one of my friends could die... again.

(Apollo)

Now to be honest when I flashed into the camp, I had been expecting to find a few slightly injured campers and some over-exaggerated wounds. I did not believe my baby brothers claim that Percy could die because if anything was true in life. It was that my cousin could take just about anything thrown at him and come through it unfazed, with the one exception of his introduction to the Titans and his subsequent dual with my uncle. Hades he even managed to survive Artemis's wrath despite injuring her.

First appearing on the roof of my own kids' cabin, I quickly looked about the camp to spot where the problem was. Quickly spotting the group of silver garbed girls standing in a gaggle I spotted the two nearby figures that could only be Artemis and Percy and travelled over to them.

I was not prepared for the macabre scene in front of me as I looked down and found my sister desperately cradling a wound in his side. Most of her front and arms were covered in crimson ichor, as was the grass around him. Curiously as I noticed that she was in her Roman aspect, I also noticed that she seemed to have small icicles hanging from her hair which I thought was strange, but I refocused on the patient in hand.

Even with just a glance I could tell Percy was in a bad way, judging by the sheer volume of blood/ichor lost and the pale colour of his skin. I noticed that his wings were unfurled beneath his large frame also coated in the red liquid and his unfocused eyes were back to their now natural golden tint. I guessed that the mist had dissipated when he had lost consciousness.

"Arty let me help." I whispered to my sister placing a hand on her shoulder, hoping she would move aside but she barely even registered the touch or my words.

"Artemis, you need to step aside, or he will die." I said firmly knocking her out of state of shock as she looked me in the face with an expression of untold desperation, before slowly removing one hand from his side and using it to hand me a shattered arrow shaft with familiar fletching.

That one simple act signalled why his situation and injury were so severe. And perhaps why it looked like he had been shot by a ballista bolt rather than a simple arrow as explained by my brother. To his credit he would not likely have known the weapons properties, but if he did... well I would probably have given him some bad news there and then.

The magic of the arrow had only one cure. Or at least one that I could knowingly devise and that required another identical arrow to create. Unfortunately, the only one who could make one of those arrows...

...was currently at my feet bleeding to death.

(Reyna)

I left Thalia to organise the hunters inside the new Artemis cabin; we suspected their presence would have only made the situation worse and because the remaining gods of heroes were watching them with distrust. I had excused myself from the group and after leaving spotted the unmistakeable figure of Frank Zhang watching the cabin from nearby. Noticing me looking at him, I watched as he nodded his head as if to clear me for leaving the area.

Slowly, I made my way back towards area where the fighting had taken place and Percy had been wounded. I feared the worst when I finally came around the edge of the clearing and looked around the site.

Other than three pools of different liquids that remained behind: one of melted water, a small lake of crimson and one of golden ichor and dust where Oceanus had fell, there was no sign of anything or anyone. The guardian/Titan and the goddess were nowhere to be seen and I was left in agonised confusion as I pondered what had happened.

Was he alive or dead?

(Apollo)

(5 minutes earlier)

"Sis, you need to listen to me, is there any more of these arrows around. Did he use any in the fight? Or perhaps keep some amongst his stuff. This is important." I asked anxiously and watched as Diana shook her head after a few seconds of thought. Still not taking her eyes of the wounded man, she was pushing her hands against to stem the blood flow.

I thought about what I could do as I noticed that his own distinctive bow was not even on him or nearby. The only bow in the area was Artemis's own discarded silver one.

"Sis give me that arrow, I need as much of it as you can give me." I told her urgently. She slowly complied giving me the length of the shaft she held as well as indicating the extracted point on the ground which I hurriedly retrieved.

Laying the arrow remnants out along my arm what I held accounted for about ninety percent of the projectile. Obviously, some of it had been lost when the shaft shattered into splinters, chances were they were probably underneath the young Titan. But he was in no state for unnecessary movement and we did not have enough time to scour the field for the remainder, as I noticed him taking a grey colour. He was still barely alive for the moment, but his time was becoming limited unless something was done quickly.

I concentrated on the golden arrow remnants hoping that like before when I healed Artemis it would bend to my will and become a weapon of healing. The arrow initially resisted the magic before slowly changing form and melding into a single piece.

Now previously with an intact fresh arrow it had formed a scalpel, with no problem. However, this time because of the heavy damage to it and the fact it was a twice used weapon. It still held some of the arrow traits noticeably it still had fletching on the handle which was worrying but I had little choice as I broke the magic. What I held would have to do.

"Sis, I need you to listen closely. I want you to hold the wound closed while I try and heal him. This is going to be delicate, and we will only get one shot at it. Now on three I need you to step aside and hold him still." I instructed and she nodded still remaining focused.

Now if the situation had been more stable. I may have perhaps wondered why my man hating sister seemed so intent on saving a male's life, even if he was her hunt's guardian. It was still strange to see her so focused on helping someone of the opposite sex.

Hades when Orion had been wounded, she had simply walked away from him without remorse leaving him to his fate as the scorpion's poison overcame him. As a result of my part in the deception that led to that event, she hadn't spoken to me again until the early days of Rome. Despite what had happened with that mad son of Poseidon in his last few days, before then he had been what could have been considered her only male friend ever. Now he was a bitter memory and a testament to why she hated all males.

"Ok then one…two...three" I counted and on three she leant to the side enough for me to get past her and allowing me direct access to the wound. As she continued to pinch the ragged edges of torn flesh together, I rapidly drew the improvised surgical implement across it. Slowly I watched in satisfaction as the wound was sewn back together.

Just as I was finished with the last few millimetres, the scalpel dissolved in my hand as the last of the magic was all used up.

Straightening up to my feet I let out a sigh of relief and looked at the patient again, satisfied he was no longer in immediate danger of further deterioration.

(Diana)

"Is. He. Okay?" I panted out as the drain on my energy finally caught up with me. I looked down at my secret love still with concern, despite the fact that was no longer visibly injured. Except for a small red scar where the wound had been.

"Well, the good news is Percy isn't likely going to die anymore." He said cheerfully.

"What do you mean good news? That means there is other news." I growled out turning my head and glaring at him. I was in no mood for my brother making light of the situation right now.

"Hey, chill out sis, as I was saying he is not dying. Unfortunately though, he is now in a coma instead." He rushed out raising his hands in defence even as I reached for my discarded bow.

"Well do something about it then! You are the damned god of healing, so fix him!" I demanded.

"I can't at least not fully. The arrow was damaged after all and as such would not fully accept my spell. It was enough to physically heal the wound and lessen the effects of the attack, but I will need an intact arrow to heal him completely." He explained removing that stupid surgeon's mask.

"Well then, go get one…" I began before finally realizing the problem.

There were several glaring problems with this situation. First Percy no longer carried his own bow because I forbade it which meant there were no arrows here or amongst his stuff. Secondly, Percy did not need to carry arrows in a quiver as the bow much like my own automatically summoned them itself. Third as a result of it being a Titan's symbol of power only Percy could even use the damned weapon.

"A little slow there on the uptake, little sis." He said sarcastically noticing my vacant wide-eyed expression as I considered the situation.

"Shut up! For the last time I am older than you!" I screamed at him, how he saw fit to find something funny in this situation was beyond me.

Sure, he like almost everyone else did not know about my feelings for Percy. But he was still at least friendly with the Hero and yet found time to make light of his predicament.

"Okay calm down Arty, but seriously we can't just leave him here. Let's take him back to my place on Olympus and I will see what I can do there. Beside I think the council needs to know what happened as no one exactly told me what happened, other than some Titans attacked the camp and Percy somehow got attacked with his own arrow by your hunter." He explained and I felt trepidation as I knew he was right.

I was inwardly terrified of what my uncle would do when he found out one of my hunters had attacked his favourite son. At the very least I was sure that he would insist that the young Titan be removed from his position even if he did make a full recovery.

I nodded in agreement and placed a hand on one of Percy's wings as my brother flashed the three of us away, moments before Reyna arrived at the empty glade.

(Artemis)

After examining Percy back in his temple my brother was still unable to do anything about the coma. So, for time being he had simply settled with cleaning him up and dealing with the three broken wings on his left side that he must have sustained when he fell. Due to his weight, it had taken the pair of us in our full divine forms to pick him up and place him on the bed.

After that I had wanted to help further with his treatment however possible. But Apollo told me to go take care of myself and I had ultimately relented after noticing my silver outfit was almost another colour completely. What was once silver was now every shade between red and brown as the crimson fluid covering it began to dry out as had the blood-soaked soil, I had been forced to lie in.

Ignoring the concerned stares of any passers-by, I had made my way across the Olympian Street into my own silver temple. I had taken a much-needed bath to wash away the blood, dirt and grime of the battle as well as the incessant chill I felt as a result of my ordeal. That taken care of I had ultimately seized control of our body back from Diana, as I believed I could work with a clearer head than her.

Despite what had happened to her earlier in the battle I could not blame her for her poor performance against Tethys. Unlike say Athena and the old Minerva. Diana was not lacking any of the domains that I held, her strength, skill and combat power were directly proportional to mine.

The sad truth was that I was the one who was lacking in strength compared to my heyday of centuries past. The admission of the two Roman hunters was for my direct benefit not hers.

So here I was an hour later, clean and freshly clothed. Yet nervously pacing back and forth aimlessly around inside my temple, considering what to tell the council and especially Poseidon. Now normally, he was a friendly god and respectful to me and my hunters. With the one exception of when he reacted badly to me allowing Orion to die. While angry at first, he had gotten over that stage pretty quickly after it was revealed what an asshole his son really was. It was after all, pretty hard to defend a rapist no matter how powerful he seemingly was at the time.

However, Orion was by no stretch of the imagination anything near the level of hero Percy is. Likewise, it was abundantly clear Poseidon truthfully loved the young man as much as I secretly did.

My time alone had allowed me to notice some other things, most notably that apart from one all the hunters were still at Camp Half-Blood, while the lone one was somewhere far to the west and underground. Whilst my senses obviously told me that she was still alive, she had been taken to the underworld. Obviously, the reckless hunter had been caught by one of the gods of heroes and detained by the son of Hades inside his domain.

I obviously had a suspicion of who it was, it did not take Athena's brain to realize that Tania would do anything to get back at him. Even so, I could not believe that she would be so stupid to think she would get away with it, when he was the possibly the most beloved hero the world had ever seen.

It was good that she was still alive and not just because it would have directly affected my own strength if she had died. Death was too easy for the trouble she had caused us all, for the time being she was still immortal, and I was quite happy to have her punished for the long foreseeable future by my own hand.

The only thing I did not understand was how she had acquired the arrow in the first place. After all, she had been unconscious when I was wounded as a result of when she tried to threaten Percy and had been removed from the tent. If she could not have taken it at that time, then who did and how did she ultimately come into possession of it?

I was cut off from my thoughts when the sky rumbled through the ceiling of my palace only to be immediately followed by an earthquake that made me stumble as I rose to my feet. After a few seconds the earthquake stopped, and I noticed several cracks on the walls and floor of my temple before a being flashed inside next to me with a pale face.

"He knows." Apollo said slowly as I instinctively took a gulp in dread.