This land was old before the West came, before the Greek and Romans came. Forgotten, driven out and kept to the wild places, and in many ways left to fade away. None of the newcomers remembered, if they bothered to learn. Only a few even bothered, and generally speaking those were the ones with masks and faces that were everywhere, far too big for human minds to see more than glimmers or shards of them. More so, the new comers tended to forget, that it was not just humans that had stories and wisdom passed on from generation to generation, where not the only people in these lands.

But then why would Olympus bother for the greater part? For all that they claimed dominion and rule, they tended to ignore those that did not pay them any mind at all and did not even know of their human legends. Perhaps some of them heard the murders of crows and their tales as they gathered and shared news as black as their wings. In the sewers, things dark and twisted, born from the tales of man were sustained by the chittering tales and sacrifice of the rats. The cats have their own tales, but good luck getting any two to agree.

But one thing all tales know, is that some things are older than language, older than the memory of living things. Even the stones and rivers have largely forgotten them, broken and died and born anew in the long ages. And yet, why would these things die or fade? Not wholly divine, not really mortal in any way that would be accepted in this later of the age. They remnants of an older time, of a stranger time who did not pass as the world turned. Or perhaps they forgot themselves, as they waited.

Alone in the dark, in lairs more akin to vaults, made by their own hands, mechanisms turning endlessly. Some who stumbled across them thought them prisons, even as the lore was lost with ages. Save among the smallest of folk, as tales become legends, which became myths, which faded into folklore. Until, as campers and hunters alike stood in a land without rain, the gears of one, ceased to turn and eyes opened.

Bianca di Angelo

She watched the Talos falling towards her. In that moment, things seemed to slow, to pass to a crawl, even as she closed her eyes, as she took in a deep breath of the air. A part of her mourned that she would not see Nico again, that she would be the one lost in this land. That she would be dying now, and headed to her fathers house. She did not want to die, but she had sealed her fate, she deserved it, as tears welled up behind eyelids. It was then that she began to fall, the ground splitting apart, and then she landed on something, something that grunted.

Of course, the bronze body of the Talos was still falling, and then a white hand gripped it, holding it in place. Pale as marble, the arm flexed... and the body of the Talos did not merely rise, but went flying. Her mouth went dry, as she saw her friends, eyes wide as they looked at what she landed on, as that hand moved, grabbing her and putting her down. She turned and looked. And then looked up. The figure was massive, even as he sniffed. He was like a human, only twice as tall as a tall man, and built like he was muscles. His flesh was as pale as marble, skin as hard as celestial bronze.

His hair was long and shaggy, with a matching beard that seemed almost to be bristles of pure darkness, teeth of ivory in his maw and his eyes, oh those eyes. They were deep. Deep as the passage of time, deep and hidden and something about them seemed to not be defined as far as color went, that nothing so limited could apply. In one hand there was a spear that seemed to be... primitive. Simple wood and stone lashed together by hide and fiber, and yet a part of her screamed as she looked at the crude stone.

The figure was looking at them, weighing them as he licked his teeth. Was he... was he a monster? "Mortal." The voice was... scraping and blunt, itching and carving the meaning directly into her mind, not matching up with his lips. "Spirit." His eyes had swept over Grover. "No prey."

The figure shrugged, even as he began to move. He wore only what seemed to be a skirt of leather about his waist, scales shimmering with unknown hues. But, she was curious, as she was a hunter of Artemis, and he saved her life. "What are you hunting?"

The figure stopped, and looked them over, seeming to consider what he was going to say. And then he nodded. "God. Titan." He grinned, and there was something maddening, a part of her, the divine half screaming, wanting to flee from a predator. "Good prey."

Which of course, is when Percy speaks up, his tone slow. "You know, while I wouldn't want you eating our parents," his tone was considering something, "to say nothing of us being on a quest to rescue a goddess, she happens to be captured by a titan." The figure was looking at Percy. "And while he is needed to hold up the sky, well.."

He looked at Zoe and gave that shrug and stupid smile. "I am, don't think we strictly need ALL of him to do that?"

She was... mildly disturbed how thoughtful Zoe Nightshade looked at that moment.

Artemis

To be entirely honest? While it was painful and the taunts mildly degrading, she had expected worse from Atlas and her grandfather. It was painful, it was exhausting and the fact that she was being leered at by all sorts of males? Well, her list was growing. Provided that they did not die when she was rescued, she would make sure to make her displeasure known in lasting fashion. Which is why she was surprised to hear a bellow. "MEAT!"

And then some massive humanoid monster of unknown origin leapt at Atlas, the titan looking annoyed... before a crude stone spear stabbed into the titans side, Atlas howling in pain and surprise, the pale monster tearing off a leg and starting to eat it with all too human teeth. And then the monster looked at her... and snorted. "Little Not Prey get her own meat."

Well now, she was curious as to what titan tasted like... which was particularly morbid given her mother. She almost did not notice her hunters or the campers over the screaming and thrashing titan... or how the monster was slowly eating parts of Atlas... and as they were arguing for said monster to stop eating the titan, so he could take her place holding the sky. Which was honestly not what she was expecting to happen.