"Why should we look for Prometheus?" Percy asked the walking specter as he stepped into the swamp. He stuck to the dry patches of land, more for Artemis than himself. "I thought we were going to go after Pallas and Perses?"

The golden specter of Kronos followed him, walking along the surface of the water as if it were solid ground. "Prometheus will most likely know where to find the other titans and he might know if anything can be done about our predicament."

Percy frowned at that. While he didn't want to be stuck with the bane of his existence for all of eternity, he also didn't know what to do about it. If Prometheus was able to separate them, then Kronos would have free reign to do as he pleased, maybe at the expense of Percy's own life. Would he trust Prometheus to do anything anyways? He had Artemis with him who could theoretically keep an eye on the titan, but neither of them could know his true intentions. He turned to the aforementioned goddess whose silver eyes glowed in the red hues darkness. "What do you think Lady Artemis?"

The goddess looked to Percy for the first time in a while, the demigod wondered if he had done anything to upset her. "I cannot think of a better plan," she revealed, stepping over a wet patch. "We are in enemy territory. We need information if we are to succeed."

Percy nodded. She didn't seem to like the idea any more than he did. Not that they really had a choice "I guess it's settled then," he said. Damasen's hut wasn't far now, or maybe it was his hut now. "But we still have the same problem. How do we find him?" he asked the specter.

Kronos rolled his eyes. "Well, how about you start where you last saw him in the ritual chamber?" the titan lord suggested in annoyance. "We do have a goddess of the hunt at our disposal. Certainly, she could find his trail."

Artemis glared at the walking specter. "I am not at your beck and call titan," she snapped, her eyes glowed dangerously in the darkness. "Do not mistake my cooperation to subservience to you. I would sooner wallow in this swamp for eternity than be beholden to a selfish, narcissistic, evil tyr-" Artemis, distracted by her rant, stepped into the swamp waters and was pulled under by the grasping, swirling water.

Percy and Kronos starred in disbelief for merely a moment. "The Fates work fast," Kronos stated, almost impressed as he watched Percy dive into the water after her. Kronos stood alone for several moments before the two burst forth from the water of the swamp. Percy placed the goddess on her side as she coughed the water from her lungs. "Shame. I was enjoying the quiet," Kronos sighed as he faded from view.

"Arrogant-cough-bastard," Artemis seethed as she emptied her lungs of water. Percy, unsure of what to do, merely stood next to the goddess. Once Artemis regained her breath, she slowly stood. "You could have warned me that the waters were dangerous," she said with a glare.

Percy held up his hands in a placating manner. "I've never had a problem with it, maybe because of my inheritance," he reasoned as the goddess continued to skin him alive with her eyes. "I just never really thought about it."

Artemis huffed and shivered in the cold air. "Can you at least dry me off?" she asked as she crossed her arms to prevent her hands shaking.

Percy nodded and placed a hand on her shoulder, the water flying off her body. "Now that that is over with, let's get going. The hut isn't far."

Artemis nodded, her body shivering as it tried to heat back up. She pulled her tattered parka closer to her body. The fights with monsters had not left her unscathed, most of her clothing bore tears and cuts from both attacks and the terrain. She would need to find new garments soon, both to protect her from the elements and her modesty. As the goddess followed the demigod through the swamp, making sure to follow his steps, she watched her new associate. His choice to wear a skirt was an... interesting one. She assumed it was a sign of his inaptitude to produce his own clothes. Oh, how the mortal world has fallen that it couldn't teach it's young such basic tasks.

Her eyes roamed over his exposed back. Scars of all shapes and sizes crisscrossed his muscular form. Even after watching him fight and lead her through Tartarus, she marveled at his ability to survive for so long. Tartarus was designed to torment and kill far stronger beings than him. Even she might have perished if he had not led her to the Phlegethon, and yet here he was, still standing. A pillar of light within the darkness. Now they planned to hunt down titans who were supposedly just pawns in some grander scheme. She hoped she was making the right decision to stay. Her duty might dictate she notify Olympus immediately, but... something else compelled her to stay. Maybe it was fear of what the Crooked One might do to the Hero of Olympus, or maybe it was the guilt of leaving this forsaken hero to his fate a century prior. Whatever the reason, she knew her place was here. She would help Percy in his quest against these unknown forces. But first, they would need supplies.

"And there it is," Percy interrupted her train of thought, pointing at a large hut. The massive structure sat on an outcropping of grass that rose higher than the surroundings. Strung together with the skin and bones of countless drakons, the hut was the closest thing to civilization as Artemis had seen in Tartarus so far. Beside it sat a massive set of silver elevator doors gleaming brightly in the darkness. "Home sweet home."

Artemis raised an eyebrow as she examined the bone and leather structure. "It looks...quaint," she said as her eyes lingered on the Doors of Death. "How did Damasen kill enough drakons to build this?" She looked around and noticed the pleather of drakon carcasses littering the swamp.

"Damasen was cursed by Tartarus to fight the Maeonian Drakon every day for an eternity," Percy explained as the approached the structure. "As loot it provided him meat for food, and bones and hide for tools." He stopped at the giant-sized door. "He saved my life multiple times. More times in death than in life. I try to honor his sacrifice." Percy shoved the door open and led Artemis inside.

The hut was one large room, with a wall dominated by shelves and a fireplace, a bed on another wall, and a table sitting in the middle. All of which was manufactured out of the same bones and skin. Looking up, Artemis marveled at the intricate carvings in the bone support beams and other parts of the hut. Some telling tales as old as the gods themselves, others the seeming manifestation of boredom. All were beautiful carved images of figures and scenes. Beside the fireplace, she noticed much smaller carvings. As she approached, she could make out a patch of much worse carvings before they started getting better until the carvings of figures faces made in specific detail.

The first carvings weren't much more than stick figures wielding stick like weapons. There were dozens, no, hundreds of such carvings, each one better than the last before she found what looked to be the freshest. It was the face of a girl she knew well over the last century, Annabeth Chase. He had managed to accurately portray the daughter of wisdom down to the loose strands of hair. She noticed several other carvings of other figures such as his mother, his father, friends. None as impressive as this one of Annabeth. "Did you do this?" she asked Percy as she turned to him.

Percy shrugged. "I've spent a long time down here," was his answer.

Artemis looked him up and down and raised an eyebrow at his attire. "And you couldn't make yourself a shirt or pants?"

Percy looked down before smiling. "It worked so I never bothered to learn to sew," he claimed. "My appearance has never been high on my list of priorities."

Artemis figured she couldn't really argue with his reasoning. Still, if they were to work together, he would need something more appropriate. "So, where are these supplies you mentioned?"

Percy turned before grabbing a collection of drakon bones from a shelf and distributing it before her. "I have made a few knifes and swords from the collection of bones that Damasen left behind," Percy explained as he stepped back from the weapons. The goddess took a pair of single edged short swords and examined them carefully. Their blades were about as long as from her elbow to fingertips, hide bound grips, and a slight curve to their tips. "I don't have a bow, never needed it, but I think these would make good arms for a bow." He handed her two long bones with a slight curve in them.

Artemis examined the bones carefully. Really, they looked like small horns maybe taken from the skull of the drakon. She tested their flexibility. She could work with this. "I will also need string and something to make arrows with," she said as she grabbed a smaller bone. She drew the wicked knife before using it to carve into the horns. "I will also need fletching and some strong adhesive."

"Uh," Percy blanched as he looked around the hut. He didn't have any string that she could use. What could he use?

"Do you have any sinew?" Artemis asked as she noticed his confusion. "Tendons are good for bow string. Hide can be used for it too, but sinew would be best."

Percy dug into the shelves before pulling out several strands of tendons. "I guess drakons really do provide everything," he joked before presenting it to her.

Artemis examined the tendons with a critical eye. She then looked over the rest of the cabin. "I think this will suffice, thank you," she told him. "I will also use some of this hide to make new garments for myself. So, why don't you go look for anything we can use for arrows?"

She phrased it like a suggestion, but Percy knew an order when he heard one. "Yeah, no problem. I'll just come back in a little bit," he said before leaving the hut.

Percy wondered around the swamp for some time, gathering any sticks he deemed straight enough to be considered for an arrow. The black trees of the swamp never seemed to bloom, but always grew and dropped branches and sticks. As he searched the dry patches of land, he decided he needed answers. "Hey, Kronos," he called out to the titan lord.

The golden specter appeared before him with a questioning gaze. "What do you want half-breed?"

Percy rolled his eyes at the titan's attitude. "There is something I don't understand," he explained as he picked up a particular stick. It looked about the length he needed, but the end was curved. Maybe she could break that part off and still use it. "Why are you being so helpful? You've gone back and forth between wanting our destruction and giving advise on how to proceed. Pick a lane."

"What exactly do I have to gain from you failing?" the specter asked in answer. He leaned against one of the black trees. "Until we find a way to separate, if that is even possible, your success is my success and your failure is my failure," he explained as he watched Percy scrounge through the dirt. "If you die what happens to me? Does my divinity stay connected to your soul and we exist together for eternity with no corporeal form? Do we both fade into oblivion? Maybe, like the Castellan boy, your death will free me." He rubbed at his beard in thought. "But that is not a risk I am willing to make."

Percy nodded along as he listened. The titan had a point, as much as he didn't want to admit it. "So really you're just looking out for yourself?" He gathered a few more sticks.

"That is one way to look at it," he agreed as he stroked his beard. "You are my only path to potentially regaining my former glory. And in that endeavor, I will assist you where I can, even if I occasionally want to strangle you."

"So, you want to use me to become more powerful?" Percy asked, turning to the titan lord. "Fat lot of good that does you since you can't control me."

A twisted smile broke out across Kronos's face. "There is always more than one path to victory Perseus. It could take years, decades, even centuries, but there is none who have more time than me.

Percy raised an eyebrow at the titan. "A little presumptuous of you to assume I'll last that long."

"Well, assuming you are one with my divinity as I am to your mortality," Kronos spoke, his voice turning from scratching knives to warm honey. "Then there is no telling how long we will have together, and I am nothing if not patient."

The demigod rolled his eyes. "Cryptic, as always," he stated before picking through a pile of fallen sticks. "You know that kinda stuff got old real quick when I was a kid, and I have even less patience now." He straightened his back and turned to Kronos, his eyes filled with silent fury. "I am not Luke."

"Maybe so," Kronos relented. "But your precious goddess is not so sure."

Percy raised an eyebrow at the titan before adjusting his stack of sticks. "What are you talking about?"

"Do you not think it odd that she chose to stay after seeing our cooperation?" Kronos asked the demigod. "She has been watching you closely since then, almost as if judging you. Almost as if she does not trust you."

"Are-are you trying to turn me against her?" Percy asked the titan. He noticed several gryphons flying in the distance out of the corner of his eye. He'd never tried gryphon before. "I remember you being much better at this deception thing."

Kronos rolled his eyes. "Any decent attempt at deception and manipulation is based on truth," he explained to the demigod. "Believe me or don't, but one day you will see her distrustful eyes just as I have. When that day comes, I will be waiting." Kronos faded away, leaving Percy staring at the black tree.

Percy stared at the space the titan had occupied. He trusted Artemis, just as she trusted him. Trust that they had both earned fighting together on Orthys. It would take more that sweet words from a tyrant to soil his faith in the goddess.

Besides, doing the opposite of what Kronos wanted could never be a bad thing.