The Hunters of Archer

Disclaimer: PJO AND HOO DON'T BELONG TO ME.

Chapter 15

"One shall be lost in the land without rain." Percy reiterated one of the lines from the prophecy as he stood in place staring at the spot, he had last seen his lieutenant.

The rest of the group members searched and searched in the junkyard of the gods and found no traces of Altair. The blast must have been of such strong annihilation it had destroyed Altair's body into oblivion. The only remaining clues of what had occurred to the lieutenant of the male hunt was the large surplus of glass that now covered half of the scrapyard.

Percy's extreme reflexes had created an invisible barrier to deter the raining sharp glass, heavy metal, and remaining shrapnel of the explosion that was tossed in every direction. Some glass had shattered when it hit the titan made forcefield. Lingering experiments that had survived such destruction and lingering scraps of metal is what remained around the junkyard.

Percy continued to search around the location of where the explosion had occurred looking for anything that would keep alive the memory of his brother and longest tenured soldier. As he tossed metal aside and crushed glass under his boots, he found a glint of a metal that sat in the sand.

The titan ran towards it not responding to the lingering shouts of his quest members who followed close behind. As Percy picked the ring from the sand, he began dusting it from the sand particles that had been stuck to it. He could sense that his aura was still embedded within the ring which had most likely kept the ring from also being destroyed. Percy began tracing the smooth silver metal around the ring and traced over the moon and star engraving that he had crafted onto the ring.

The group looked at the titan worriedly. He had not spoken to them since the explosion which wasn't saying much since the titan barely talked to them at all. The only ones he talked consistently too was his lieutenant and Zoë. Zoë for once had a look of genuine worry and kindness towards the titan as his back faced them.

"What is that?" Nico asked quietly somewhat afraid of a hostile reaction from Percy

The titan remained silent for second as he reminisced on the ring. A single tear came out of his eye. Percy fitted the ring on his left ring finger. The ring was a little slimmer, but it expanded through its magical components and kept a snug fit on Percy's finger.

"It's former lieutenant Altair's ring. To show the rest of the hunters that they not only responded to me but to Altair as well." Percy finally responded as he dropped his hand after inspecting it for a period of time.

"Oh" Nico responded as the group once again grew quiet. The tension was rather off-putting. No one dared to tell Percy it was time to go or that the quest was still in play.

"It's time to go. We must finish this quest. I will not let Altair's sacrifice nor death be in vain." Percy broke the silence as he walked through the cursed junkyard and the rest of the group on his heels.

They found transportation about a few hundred yards outside of the junkyard. It was what seemed like a tow truck. However, the truck itself was going through the worst case of rust as the entire vehicle's paint had been chipped away and had begun to turn a copper/brown color. Miraculously the car was functional as the engine revved and purred to life. The tank was full of fuel which Percy deduced some divine intervention had put this vehicle in the middle of nowhere to assist the group.

As Percy looked in the sky, he noticed how clear and bright the day had become unlike early morning where they had roamed the junkyard. The early morning proved to be cloudy and Percy should've known it was a bad omen.

The group lumbered into the car and began driving and grabbed the nearest visible road they could see. The car was silent, no background radio or music was playing within the truck which only furthered the heavy air within the car.

"Who took from the junkyard?" Percy questioned. His voice had no hint of resentment or any hidden emotion for that matter.

Each quest member looked at each other. Nico looked guiltily at Percy as he was looking at the young demigod through the rearview mirror. In hindsight, Percy hadn't known who had taken from the cursed ruins, but he didn't place any blame on them either. He had chosen this group to accompany him to rescue the goddess of the hunt, so any death or tragedies strictly fell on his shoulders and not on his quest members.

"It was me. I wanted to get the last mythomagic figurine I needed for my set." Nico shakily reached into his pocket and pulled out a small figure the size of his palm.

Percy inspected the figurine and a small hidden smiled crept on his face. He didn't blame Nico he couldn't. Nico didn't know such tragedy would occur and entail the downfall of Altair. The demigod was only ten but he knew that Nico felt guilty and possibly responsible of the event that happened.

The car began to make some odd noises as it began to slow down even though the titan was flooring the acceleration pedal. The truck began to emit smoke from the front of the car. Percy exited the car and opened the hood of the car and realized the radiator was defective and it was irreparable.

"We will have to walk from here." Perseus told the group as he closed the hood of the car with such force all four tires blew out.

Zoë looked on ahead and noticed a steep cliff about a few hundred yards in front of them. She realized even if the car hadn't broken down, they would have had to ditch the car regardless because the road had reached a dead end.

Grover looked over the edge of the cliff and noticed a long and winding body of water. No too far down the cliff was a canoe shop that would be able to take them upriver. Grover being a satyr began the climb down the rocky formation.

"Come on it's safe. Just follow where I'm placing my foot and hand holds" Grover began to yell from below.

Thalia looked like she was ready to puke, and her arms were starting to sweat as she began to rub them on her pants to wipe the moisture out of her hands. She placed her hands on her thighs and began to hyperventilate as if climbing down the cliff was the worst thing in the world. Which in her case, proved to be true.

"Sounds like a sound plan. But I will take an alternate route." Percy said as he looked at Thalia.

Thalia looked thankful. But before anyone else could deduce what was going on Percy picked Thalia up and threw her over his shoulder. He proceeded to run and jump off the cliff. All that could be heard for that brief period of time was the daughter of Zeus' mortified screaming as Percy and Thalia plunged to the rugged ground. As they landed, the ground crunched and cracked beneath Percy's weight.

He dropped Thalia on her rear end as he looked up towards the cliff and noticed the group was climbing down through the indentations of the cliff as quickly as possible. Possibly not trying to be another victim of a huge scare and panic like Thalia experienced as they plunged into the unknown.

"What the hell is wrong with you? I thought you had figured out I was afraid of heights. I trusted you when you said we would find a different route." Thalia yelled at Percy who looked unfazed at the accusations from the daughter of Zeus.

"It was a lie. Anyhow a daughter of Zeus, her father the lord of the sky and everything that inhabits the sky is afraid of heights. Are you even his daughter?" Perseus asked as Thalia's face turned completely tomato red from sheer anger.

"What gives you the right to even question that? Do you even have children? I bet you have hundreds. All you immortals are the same, they could care less about their children." Thalia finished as she looked teary eyed.

Percy felt guilty for bringing the demigod to the brink of tears as he didn't respond to her for a brief period of time. However, Thalia looked at him expectantly still hoping for an answer. She had a rough life not being able to rely on her mortal parent as she was an alcoholic and now dead due to a car accident. Her father while seemingly being the king of the gods, failed on so many levels. A few of those faults were not caring and being there for Thalia, she hid and felt a deep resentment towards her father.

"I've been celibate my entire existence. So, I don't know what having children feels like. But I could tell you about my mother. How she treated me. Just by looking at her and judging on appearance alone she looked cold and distant. Seemingly, not affectionate or passionate about her duties as a mother. But she was the total opposite. She loved and cared for me like I was her only child. She trained me like the little soldier she wanted me to become. She taught me how to be calm and how to survive on my own. She was my entire existence." Percy trailed off as his throat felt like it was constricting.

Thalia looked at Percy surprised. She seemingly believed that all immortals were the same in the fact they had such an exorbitant arrogance, apathy towards other, and the highest degree of self-preservation. But she turned out to be correct for the most part, that was until she met Percy. At first, she believed he was just like any other immortal. But he has shown selflessness unlike other immortals by accepting the quest to rescue Artemis. Although he was a titan and immortal, he had a high degree of morality and seemingly had emotions. Maybe not all immortals were the same after all.

"Who was your mother?" Thalia asked tentatively. The way Perseus talked about his mother made her sound otherworldly almost as if she never existed. He talked about his mother with such longing and veneration it was almost as if he worshipped her.

"It's not like you would remember her." Percy responded scornfully and defensively.

"I still want to know who she was, she sounded wonderful." Thalia pushed as the titan eyed her skeptically.

"My mother was–" Percy was interrupted by the group dropping down beside them as they had finally climbed down safely from the cliff.

"My hands have blisters. I would have rather had Percy jump off the cliff with me as well." Nico said as he examined his hands.

Percy turned his attention to Nico before ruffling his hair. Nico smiled not used to physical contact of someone other than his sister. The group continued on their journey as they made their way near the side of the slithering river that didn't look all that impressive. In total to cross the river was only about fifty yards but the length of the windy river is what intrigued Percy as they could finally escape the forsaken desert.

As they neared the canoe shack, they realized it was rental based service. Another misfortunate batch of news was that the owners or rather employees were nowhere to be seen. The shack although rather small proved to be well kept with a large array of canoe paddles outlining the wooden walls. The canoes themselves weren't lengthy only fitting a maximum of three passengers. Which meant that they would need two canoes instead of one.

"Hello!" Thalia yelled through her hands that she cuffed around her mouth.

"Nobody is here." Nico assured her as the lights were completely off. Percy had to break the door open. Which for him was rather easy as he kicked the entrance open with his supernatural strength.

Percy dug into his pockets and fetched a roll of dollars bills and tossed them on the nicely polished service desk. He looked around and chose the sturdiest looking canoes as he slung two canoes, one over each shoulder.

"Everyone else get a paddle." Percy ordered as he made his way out the winding river and planted the canoes on the smooth body of water.

Percy looking closely into the body of water noticed two naiads swimming near the canoes. They smiled at Perseus almost flirtatiously and didn't seem to leave the proximity of the canoes. The titan frowned as he couldn't comprehend why they were not moving on or melting back into the body of water. Were they not going to let him travel on this specific body of water? Impossible, they didn't serve Poseidon directly as they weren't water nymphs born from the sea.

"Grover come her." Percy beckoned the satyr to the river.

"Can you speak to the naiads?" He pointed to the water spirits to show the satyr where they were located.

Grover looked at Perseus confused. He shook his head almost accusingly noting the ignorance of the titan. "I can only speak to other animals and some monsters. I can't speak to water spirts, well understand them."

"They are useless Perseus ignore them. Let's mount the canoes." Zoë replied scornfully as she neared the river.

As soon as the huntress was within their distance, the naiads shot water directly into the huntress' face. The water spirits seemingly smiled and began to laugh mockingly at the expense of Zoë's misfortune. Zoë in response began to unsling her bow and began to notch in arrow to murder the conniving water spirits that was before Percy put his hand on her bow and looked directly into her eyes and shook his head.

Zoë hesitantly lowered her bow and slung it over back and looked at Perseus through her red eyes. She looked almost regretful of a past event. As the two descendants of titans had an argument silently a piece of a paper was shot from the water with exquisite writing and message on it.

Percy picked it up and read the message:

Perseus,

I have ordered these naiads to take you as far as upriver as they can go. You will reach Hoover Dam which is as far they will seem to go because of the monstrosity blocking their continued river. The skeletal warriors are still following the female lieutenant's scent. Which means they are most likely going to encounter you. I have to keep my message short, so they aren't discovered. This as much as I can help.

The message was read by each individual group member which questioned who their secret helper could possibly be. However, Perseus already knew the answer and he had renewed hope that the individual was not brain washed and still was on his and the Olympian's side.

"Well let's get going. We need to reach Artemis as quick as we can." Percy said as they hopped on the canoes. The naiads began to push the canoes upriver with extreme speed.

Page Break

The group was already walking through the top of bridge that disconnected both sides of the rivers. They had no idea exactly why Hoover Dam was so important exactly. The group however did know they were starving and decided to grab some food from the food places the attraction offered.

"That was dam delicious." Thalia joked as Bianca and Nico couldn't help but laugh at the joke.

"I want some more dam food." Nico replied before busting into another fit of laughter.

"I do not understand why you children are laughing." Zoë said as she continued to hold a confused look.

The young demigods began to laugh at the expense of Perseus and Zoë as they didn't seem to understand the jokes. However, their joy was short-lived as a group of five individuals began to mirror and follow their movements.

"We're in dam trouble." Percy said unknowingly as he didn't exactly get the gist of the joke.

"Nico and Bianca front lines. You are the only ones that can defeat these monstrosities for good." He detailed as the young demigods got on the front lines although hesitantly.

The skeletal warriors began to detach bones from their ribcages and charged at the Di Angelo siblings. Grover began to use his nature music as the skeletal warriors screeched at the sound of the satyr's reed pipes. Zoë continued to pelt the skeletal warriors with bows to the point the spartoi she was focused on looked like a porcupine. Perseus summoned two balls of flames on either palm of his hand and began throwing them at the spartio who easily caught fire and disintegrated but began to reform slowly.

"Now Nico stab it and destroy it!" He yelled to the young demigod.

Nico complied and stabbed the pile of dust and the skeletal warrior didn't attempt to reform as the dust began to blow away from the windy conditions and altitude of where they were battling.

"This is a waste of time, we either lose one of our quest members by continuing to fight these pests or we can flee and continue our quest to find Lady Artemis." Zoë yelled through the commotion of the fighting.

Percy looked at Thalia who returned a look in confusion. She shrugged her shoulders knowing Percy wanted something. "Pray to your father. If he really cares for you, he will save you and the rest of our group."

He ran towards the daughter of Zeus and put himself in front of her protectively as a skeletal warrior neared them. Thalia sat on the hard concrete and closed her eyes and began to murmur which Percy assumed was her method of praying to her father. The titan balled his fists and punched the skeletal warrior's skull and the skull shattered into pieces. However, although headless, the decapitated skeleton still charged the titan but in vain as Percy summoned his spear and swung it and crushed the ribcage and sent bones flying into various places.

Out of the corner of his eye he could see Angelic statues begin to come to life. Six in total began to fly to the group and Zoë began to shoot them with her arrows believing them to enemies.

"Don't! Those are from my father" Thalia yelled at Zoë. Zoë immediately lowered her bow and lifted one of her arms as one of the angels extended Its arm and picked her up in flight with its stone wings.

The others followed her example and the angels plucked the quest group into the sky. The Skeletal warriors looked on knowing they could not fly and would not be able to do anything but follow the group to their next destination.

"Brilliant Thalia." Bianca laughed through the cold winds as they were in the air.

"It was all Percy's idea. He made me test my father and my father actually came through." Thalia smiled at the titan and Percy returned the smile.

The rest of the group climbed onto the wings of the statues that were brought to life because the strain of their weight was hurting their arms as they flailed as the angels continued their flight. They could see themselves distancing themselves from the Hoover Dam and the entire state of Nevada. Soon they were gliding over the Sierra Nevada mountain ranges in California. Being winter the group could only shiver from the cold gusts of winds and the low temperatures from flying at such high altitudes.

It was a few hours before they were dropped onto the busy San Francisco docks that harbored small fishing boats. The sky was grey casting a forecast of rain. The wooden dock itself was darker than its original color which had signified that it had indeed rained before the group had arrived.

The stone angels didn't seem to have the ability to speak as they only made hand motions to communicate with the group. Unable to understand what they were trying to communicate they decided to ignore the angel statues. They saluted to the daughter of Zeus before drifting off in flight back to the Hoover Dam in Nevada.

"I know this place." Percy said recalling the meeting with Kym about a year ago. The meeting in which she had decided that Kronos' side offered the most stability and the likeliest chance to win. She wanted safety something Percy couldn't provide.

"We're not supposed to be this far west. The titans influence is strongest here because of Mount Orthyrs which is located in San Francisco." Grover said as he was biting his fingernails.

"Makes sense keep hold of your prisoners where you source of power is greatest." Percy agreed as he began to pace on the wet docks.

"Kym told me that Nereus roamed these docks in San Francisco. He is not only an old sea deity but also has the power of omniscience even knowing information that not even the Oracles of Apollo know." Percy said as he began to look around for the old and seemingly forgotten sea god.

"Kym? Kymopoleia the daughter of Poseidon? What are you doing speaking to such a power craving goddess?" Zoë said a little miffed.

"She has given me vital information." Percy didn't elaborate as he heightened his vision scanning the docks.

He scanned and didn't find nothing out of the ordinary except a group of homeless individuals lingering around the edge of the docks. However, he could feel the aura that was more ancient than himself lingering and roaming amongst the unimpressive unfortunate homeless people. One in particular stood above all of them in height yet having a round and full to the brim gut. The man had a yellow beard that had been at one-point white. Wearing pajamas in broad daylight with a bathrobe on top making it seem like it was Christmas. Which in hindsight was only a mere few days length away.

Before thinking Perseus began running and launched himself on the back of the homeless man expecting to take him down with ease. Although, unaware the homeless man proved to have supernatural strength as he attempted to shake Percy of his back.

"So, it is you Nereus." Percy said through gritted teeth as he struggled to maintain his grip on the slimy and stench filled god.

"Who are you?" He responded as he began shapeshifting into various marine animals trying to loosen the grip of the titan.

"That doesn't matter. I have one question." Percy responded to Nereus as he had become a seal full of slimy fat. The seal looked determined as he once again returned to human form.

"Alright Alright! Let me go and I'll answer your damn question. You immortals just want to take everything by force" he yelled as he began inspecting his ripped bathrobe where Perseus had sunken his hands to maintain his hold on the sea god.

"Where is Artemis imprisoned?" Nereus couldn't help but laugh.

"That beast in the water that has been following you throughout your entire journey knows where. But I will answer it fully because you had hold of me for such a long time, I couldn't believe I wasn't able to shake you off. She is being kept in the mountains where her father used to carry the sky. Back you return to the Garden of Hesperides." Nereus pointed to Zoë who visually paled.

Just as Percy was going to ask where exactly that was located, Nereus had vanished into thin air. Zoë looked visually shaken as if returning home was the worst possible outcome she could've thought of. Percy knew that a Hesperide had been banished from the garden as she failed to protect her home and the Tree of Immortality which grew Apples of Immortality.

"So, it was you. The one who assisted Hercules obtain one of the apples of immortality." Percy inquired as Zoë merely nodded.

"A foolish and naïve mistake. I trusted that fool because I still had an attraction to the male species. I hadn't known that males were so treacherous and conniving liars." Zoë spit out with distaste.

"For that I had to flee to escape the wrath of my sisters and my father. They banished me when they found out of my treachery. That is why I'm always indebted to my lady Artemis. She took me in when no one would. IF we must return to my home in order to save my lady we shall go. I still remember the path to the garden and mountains." Zoë concluded.

The water began splashing from the edge of the nearest dock and the group went to investigate It as they noticed a bull serpent casually whirl around within the water. The bull serpent noticing the attention was on her decided to poke her head out and begin mooing like a cow.

"She says they're coming. The evil ones. She also says she's been waiting for us at these docks for a few hours" Grover translated serpent bull to the human tongue.

Percy ignored Grover's warning and analyzed the bull serpent as it continued to slither in the water. This was the beast Artemis was hunting. He smirked, everyone had believed the bane of Olympus would be some secret and ultra-offensive weapon in the form of a monster. Instead it proved to be a harmless yet powerful monster that was the cause of Artemis' capture.

"This is the bane of Olympus?" Thalia looked at the creature skeptically.

"It's not a violent creature. The way to obtain its power is to sacrifice it and burn its remains." Zoë explained to Thalia who continued to look at the harmless creature disbelievingly unable to understand how it had the capability of having such power.

"We must hurry. We cannot travel with such risk. We must transport it to Olympus. It is in Poseidon's realm, which is dangerous and full of monsters in the deepest of waters. We must offer something to guarantee safe passage to Olympus. Grover you will be its companion." Percy finished as the satyr hesitantly hopped onto the bull serpent who has happy to have a friend.

"Poseidon, I offer you my blood, grant these two travelers' safe passage to Olympus." Percy finished as he materialized a hunting knife from thin air and cut open his palm and let his golden ichor flow into the body of water. The Golden ichor immediately was consumed by the water which meant Poseidon had accepted such a drastic offering.

Just as Grover and the bane of Olympus disappeared a group of mercenaries blocked the entire pier and docks with the all too familiar manticore leading the way. The face of Dr. Thorn scrunched in frustration as he realized his mission of retrieving the Ophiotaurus had failed.

"You're too late manticore." Zoë broke the silence in the tension filled standoff.

"Maybe. But we also have other plans to accomplish." Dr. Thorn responded as he looked at Thalia and even the Di Angelo siblings with renewed interest.

"Demigods, that Ophiotaurus is very important not only to us but also to those wretched Olympians. Those Olympians that have abandoned you and have only used you to complete your quests. With the Ophiotaurus any of you demigods can be granted the power to destroy those proud gods. You still have a chance to catch up to the –" Dr. Thorn didn't have the chance to finish as the Percy had materialized his bow and shot an arrow which shattered and destroyed the manticore as it turned to gold dust.

The mercenaries looked at what they believed was their leader dead and decided to flee. They all knew their source of payment had come to a close after Dr. Thorn had been destroyed. So, they scattered not bothering to linger behind to feel the wrath of Perseus. It was satisfactory to the group for once tthey had won a battle instead of being the ones to flee.

"Alright follow me." Zoë took command as they left the San Francisco docks and took the most convenient vehicle and began driving to the mountain that was clouded in dark clouds and seemed to swirl a certain dark aura into the sky.

The traffic was abysmal. Mortals seemed to be intrigued instead of afraid as most cars seemed to head towards the dark and ominous mountain instead of going the opposite direction. Zoë honked the horn for consecutive minutes trying to will the cars to move. The drivers in front of her however weren't too nice as swearing, and insults could be heard. One driver opened his window to show Zoë the middle finger. The traffic gradually moved until they abandoned the car near the mountain and began to follow a path.

"We must be quiet from this point on. Ladon is near protecting Hera's tree. We must not alert him, or we will be in a serious dilemma.

"I wish Ladon was in mythomagic. He would probably be one of the strongest monsters." Nico whispered to Bianca as Bianca shushed him and urged him to stay quiet.

They were nearing the summit and the grass and bushes began to thicken. The native flowers began to separate themselves from the shadowy and translucent light as they crossed from an ordinary mortal hike to a divine garden. The flowers had a wide arrangement of colors but the most astonishing aspect of them is that they appeared to glow. They continued to walk through the brush of thick bushes, high grass, and beautiful flowers until they saw the Apples of Immortality glowing its gold divinity. Ladon was lounging and settled around the tree fast asleep.

The group had grown silent until they began to hear singing and voices perform notes of harmony. Zoë bit her tongue as she noticed the individuals singing in perfect tune and harmony were her sisters. They silently approached them and immediately the Hesperides stopped their perfect harmony and looked at Zoë with distasteful eyes.

"What are you doing here?" one of her sisters said as they stared daggers at their banished sister.

"We know lady Artemis is at the top of the mountain we must save her." Zoë explained as the Hesperides shook their heads vehemently.

"You will not pass. We will wake Ladon before you try to run towards the peak." They responded as the hundred headed dragon continued its slumber

Percy materialled his bow and channeled his power as the bow began to emit darkness and seemed to absorb the glowing light the flowers emitted. He grabbed two arrows from the quiver that appeared on his back and channeled flames on the silver tips of the arrows. He pointed his bow upwards and released. The arrows exploded into a meteor set of large flames. The explosion woke up Ladon as he smelled the air and caught the scent of intruders. He began to spit acidic and venomous excess out of its mouths in all directions as the Hesperides began to run for their lives. However, Ladon's showcase of power was short-lived as the meteor set of large flames came raining down on the unsuspecting defender of the Apples of Immortality. The flames hit Ladon in full force as the flames disintegrated the scales and eventually the flesh of the hundred dragons. The dragon roared in pain as it began to dissolve into dust leaving the Apples of Immortality unguarded.

"Ladon!" Zoë yelled. As the smoke and fire extinguished all that remained was the remains of golden dust.

"I'm sorry Zoë I cannot lose another member to this quest. Lead on." Percy reasoned with her. Zoë continued to look at spot where the mighty Ladon once stood and continued up the peak of the mountain.

Soon enough, they reached the peak of the mountain and noticed the goddess of the hunt in celestial bronze chains trapped under the sky her forehead beaded with sweat.

"Lady Artemis!" Zoë yelled as she ran towards the goddess barely holding the weight of the sky.

"No stay back it's a trap." Artemis warned but Zoë continued to her leader as she tried to destroy the chains.

"Listen to the goddess, would you?" The booming and authoritative voice of the general echoed through the ruined palace of the titans.

The General wasn't wearing any battle armor in particular as he was wearing the same brown silk suit that covered his broad shoulders from Washington D.C. Standing at his right side was Luke with a dozen guards of dracaena. On the other side standing on the general's left was Ridley who was holding onto Annabeth gingerly. He didn't seem to hold any malice in the treatment of Annabeth and seemed to only speak to her in murmurs. Behind them was a gold coffin that seemed to seep dark ominous smoke even though the coffin was closed. The aura that surrounded the coffin was of pure malice.

"Luke free Annabeth now!" Thalia demanded as Luke looked rather pale and scrawny from days prior at the museum in D.C.

"That is a decision that does not belong to me. It belongs to General Atlas." Luke pointed to the large broad-shouldered immortal in the brown silk suit.

"How are you my dearest one? You little traitor, it will give me great honor and pleasure to kill you." Atlas said as he was waiting for a challenge.

"Wait so he's your father?" Bianca asked as she pointed to the general who could only smile.

"Yes, my father is indeed Atlas, General of Kronos' Army. Titan of endurance" Zoë said through gritted teeth unhappy of revealing her evil father.

"Your parents do not define you. Remember even the evilest things can bring good Zoë, and he brought you." Percy reminded her as she looked determined to challenge her father.

"Do not challenge him Lieutenant that is an order." Artemis ordered Zoë who seemed to brush aside Artemis' warning.

Zoë looked towards her quest members and nodded. Together they charged the titan and the rest of his guard. Luke unsheathed his sword Backbiter as he clashed with Thalia as she continued her barrage of attacks using her spear and Aegis who Luke tried to avoid and look at. Bianca brought her bow and began to pelt the Dracanae with arrows. Zoë shot arrow after arrow at her father who merely caught them and crushed them with his immense hands. Ridley sat Annabeth down gently next to Artemis who noticed the kind gesture. Ridley unsheathed a sword similar to Luke's. With exception that one half of his sword was crafted of imperial gold and the other half was of celestial bronze.

Percy materialized his spear and proceeded to crush the remaining dracanae with ease as he slashed and dodged their strikes. He knew he couldn't hold or restrain his power any longer. A silver aura was emitting from Perseus as he continued to destroy dracanae after dracanae until there wasn't any left. He made his move to Artemis who looked at Perseus with a guarded expression but from her eyes she had a sense of relief. With his bare hands he ripped the chains apart as Artemis power ceased to be drained by the chains.

Nico was fighting against Ridley. Although the boy was merely ten, he was holding his own against Ridley who was fourteen years old. However, Perseus knew Ridley wasn't trying to hurt Nico as he was mostly on the defensive not even bothering to strike against Nico.

"I'll be taking the weight of the sky from this point on. Your lieutenant needs you." Percy said not bothering to check Artemis' reaction. Perseus braced his shoulders as he got under the invisible burden. Artemis let go and Percy could feel the weight of the sky. His shoulder muscles bulged as the burden was barely bearable. His supernatural strength the only reason he wasn't collapsing from the weight.

He could see Thalia was pushing Luke to the brink of defeat as she had him cornered towards the edge of the cliff. Ridley decided to disengage against the Di Angelo siblings as he had an arrow sticking in his left bicep. The long sleeve was beginning to seep and drip blood. However, Atlas had Zoë and Artemis cornered. Artemis' power had been drained by the chains and mostly likely from the burden of the sky.

"Percy let me take the weight." A voice broke him out of his analysis of the battle. He noticed it was Nico.

"You cannot possibly think you can hold this Nico. Even for me it's a bit unbearable." Percy explained. Nico with sheer determination in his eyes believed otherwise.

A scream echoed through the mountaintop as Atlas pierced Zoë's thigh with his javelin. Atlas had summoned his battle armor as he attacked Artemis who parried the titan's attacks. Zoë was bleeding as her thigh fabric begin to darken with red blood. Zoë gingerly got to her feet not letting a deep wound keep her dazed for long.

She saw an opening through her father's distraction and attacked Atlas' calf with her hunting knives as they bounced harmlessly from his armor. Atlas turned and hit Zoe in the midsection with the blunt end of the javelin as she fell once more crying in immense pain. Artemis turned on the offensive, but Atlas looked like he was toying with the tired and power drained goddess.

Percy returned his attention to Nico as he nodded. "Only for a few minutes I have to help them."

Nico got on one knee and took the burden of the sky and was almost crushed under the weight as he carried the weight of the sky on his knees unable to stand up and put that much stress on his back and shoulders. His hair was already starting to whiten the stress seemingly making him age. Bianca freed Annabeth who was also sweating and breathing heavily. Annabeth pointed towards Nico noticing that he was struggling under the weight of the sky. Bianca noticing his brother struggle also helped him share the burden as she got on her knees and took some of the burden of her brother's shoulders.

Percy summoned his bow and fired an arrow of sheer energy that hit Atlas in the back as he was pushed forward as Artemis dodged the falling General. Artemis joined Percy's side as she looked tired and was barely standing and breathing heavily. In their distraction, Atlas heaved his javelin with such force Percy didn't have time to summon an invisible forcefield. The javelin went in slow motion towards the goddess of the hunt and in the last moment Zoë jumped in front of her lady and was impaled by the javelin in her midsection. The sheer force of the javelin pushed Zoë into Artemis as they both were knocked back into a rocky wall of the mountain.

Percy's rage overtook him as gusts of wind began to fill the mountain top. Silver and fiery aura enveloped the titan as he summoned a broad sword made of celestial silver and attacked Atlas relentlessly. Atlas could only smirk and laugh at his accomplishment and silliness of Zoë for using herself as human shield to protect Artemis. With each strike Percy landed on the General the rocky ground began to crack from the sheer power being emitted from the son of Selene. Percy channeled his adoptive father's power of the sun's flames into his sword has his sword was enveloped in flames. The sheer heat began to discourage Atlas as he had only felt that raw heat and anger from Hyperion in his lifetime. Atlas had the blessing of having supernatural reserves of endurance. But with each strike that got through his guard he began to weaken. He was losing and he began to panic. Percy pushed the titan near the Di Angelo siblings who were starting to lose consciousness and he nodded to them. Percy on his last offensive pushed Atlas hard into the sky as the Di Angelo siblings barely were able to get out of the way.

"NO!" Atlas roared in anger as he was trapped under his burden and eternal punishment once again.

Luke was defeated but before Thalia could push him off the cliff Ridley grabbed Luke and jumped off the cliff willingly as he shielded their high fall with the water that was settled at the bottom of the cliff. They disappeared as they submerged into the water.

"They survived." Nico said although he didn't know exactly how he knew. Thalia and Annabeth looked at each other and knew it wasn't the last they would see of the two traitors.

Seeing as Atlas was no longer a threat, they turned their attention to the barely living lieutenant of Artemis who was holding her hand as a single tear dropped from her eye.

"Shush my lieutenant my most loyal huntress. Your time has come." Artemis whispered to Zoë who smiled as her eyes began to gloss over.

Thalia, the Di Angelo siblings, Annabeth, and Perseus joined Artemis and her lieutenant as they witnessed Zoë's final moments. Zoë was a brave warrior one who was determined to serve Artemis to the best of her abilities. One to serve the hunt with great pride.

"Perseus." Zoë called him to her side as he looked confused.

"You were right. Even some of the evilest beings can sprout some form of good. I believe you." She coughed as blood trickled from the side of her mouth.

"You made me believe that there are some males in the world that still have honor and goodness within them. You proved that to me. Altair proved that to me." She continued as tears began to fall from her eyes.

"I gave Heracles something that was very dear to me. But he rejected like it was not worthy of his attention. I want to give you that gift that he rejected. It's the clip in my hair." Zoë looked at Artemis who understood as she unclipped the pin from her lieutenant's hair and handed it to Percy.

Percy accepted the hairclip. The hairclip turned into a bronze celestial sword with perfect weight and perfect length. He willed it to return into its hairclip form as he smiled at Zoë who retuned the smile graciously.

"Thalia I'm sorry for treating you so harshly." Zoë looked at Thalia whose eyes were already red from tearing up.

"Don't say anything Zoë. You did nothing wrong." Zoë nodded.

Zoë's eyes began to lose the glint of life as she looked into the sky. The night sky full of stars and constellations. Artemis and Percy looked into the sky along with her. The irony was that it was a beautiful night with the stars shining in greater light unlike previous nights. The lieutenants breathing became ragged and forced.

"It's time to rest my sister in arms." Artemis said as she kissed Zoë's forehead as the life of her eyes began to darken and then there was no light in the eyes just darkness and blankness. Zoë's body began to dissipate into particles of light and floated into the night sky becoming a new constellation in the night sky.

The demigods cried in union as another one of their friends had died. One that stuck with them through thick and thin. Even through the worst moments she didn't flee or complain she lingered to fight with her comrades.

"It is time to return to Olympus. We must travel there quickly. The Winter Solstice is almost among us." Artemis interrupted. She summoned her moon chariot. They all climbed onto the chariot and flew to Olympus.

Page Break

As they arrived at Olympus and went through the large arched door of the Olympian palace and into the council chamber, they were greeted by the assembled Olympians seated in their seats of power. With the exception of Artemis who quickly grew to twenty feet to sit atop her seat of power. Grover was present in the Olympian Chamber near the Ophiotaurus who was placed in a bubble almost cage like.

They had decided before the questers arrival that the Ophiotaurus would be kept on Olympus where all Olympians were strongest and where they could protect it.

The god of the dead Hades was also present sitting in a smaller chair on the outer edge of the Olympian council clearly showing that he had no voting power. They were in an argument as they finally turned their attention to the returned demigods and Percy who also grew into a twenty-foot-tall titan as to not look insignificant towards the Olympians.

"They are a risk, to rely our reign on a demigod is dangerous." Athena argued with Zeus who seemed keen on keeping her child alive.

"I will not destroy my child." Zeus argued.

"There is still the issue that Hades also has one child that can also be child of the prophecy." Athena continued as she looked at Nico.

"I will not let you destroy my children. They born were before the pact was created so I didn't break the oath we swore upon." Hades bellowed and dared anyone to challenge him.

"We cannot destroy the heroes that saved me. I will not have that." Artemis sided with Zeus opposing Athena's view on destroying them.

"Then there is the issue of other demigods defecting to Kronos' side. That will not bode well for us nor the morale of our demigod children." Athena pointed to the obvious.

"We shall take a vote. Those in favor to destroying My daughter Thalia and the death spawn." Zeus declared and asked. Only three Olympians rose their hands. Athena, Dionysus, and Ares who didn't like to entrust their future to mere demigods.

"So, we shall reward them." Artemis immediately chimed in before the Olympians could come up with another death proposal to the demigods.

Thalia was sufficed to say that she didn't want anything from the Olympians. She accepted their decision of keeping her alive and didn't believe she needed anything else.

"Nico son of Hades, your father has decided to bestow onto you the precious sword hand crafted by himself." Artemis stated as Hades unveiled a nice and exquisite stygian blade. Nico marveled at It as he quickly accepted the stygian sword with its nice black leather holster looking at his father unbelieving that he was a child of Hades.

"Bianca" Artemis grabbed the attention of her huntress as she stood to attention. "Do you accept to become my new lieutenant of the hunt." Bianca looked shocked as she nodded. "Yes, Lady Artemis, I will serve you and the hunt with my absolute best."

Everyone's attention turned to the twenty-foot titan as they looked at him warily. Seemingly feeling threatened by Percy's power. They had witnessed first-hand his capabilities as he was able to stand toe to toe against Atlas and even defeat him.

"Perseus. I had spoken with the council before my capture they have accepted your terms to join the Olympian side." Artemis trailed before her father Zeus continued for her.

"We have decided that you will lead the offensive initiative against the titans. You will assist Athena, Ares, and Artemis on creating our battle strategies to combat and situate our armies to assure us victory." Zeus stated as Perseus looked amazed that they had accepted his proposal.

"First before we accept you titan. Who was the one that bore you? The one that bestowed you with such strength and power?" Zeus asked as the entire Olympian Council looked on at Percy.

"I am son of Selene. Selene the former Titaness of the Moon, Night, and Radiance. She was the one who rode the moon chariot during the night before Artemis took her place." Percy responded looking at Artemis and then to Zeus.

"How do you explain your ability to control the sun and its flames?" Zeus continued his inquiries and questioning.

"My adoptive father Helios, Titan of the sun, bestowed me his power before he faded." Percy responded truthfully as he looked at Apollo who now understood why he seemed to loathe him and his twin. Although Percy's loathing towards had severely deteriorated. He didn't despise them any longer.

"Very well. Once we win the war Perseus, we the Olympian council will grant you the wish that is within our power." He nodded at them. As the council was about to adjourn Perseus proposed an idea.

"I have a proposal to make sure only one demigod can be the one for the great prophecy." Percy relayed to the Olympians who nodded for him to continue.

"I also lost my lieutenant from my hunt. And I would like Nico to become my next lieutenant should he accept." Percy looked at Nico who looked starstruck.

"Yes, I accept. Lord Perseus." Nico bowed as he recanted the oath of becoming an eternal brother to the brotherhood of the male hunt that belonged to Perseus. Percy removed his ring and bestowed it onto Nico, the same ring he had bestowed to Altair all those centuries ago. Percy knew that Nico would carry with great dignity.

"Hades I will keep watch of him. Just like Artemis will keep watch of Bianca." Hades nodded seeing the sheer joy from both of his children. IF they were happy, he would accept the decisions they had chosen.

And now the entire Olympian allies had to make sure they didn't lose the damn war.

A/N Welp this chapter was actually was supposed to be published yesterday but I hadn't finished the entire chapter. This chapter was rather long, and it took me quite a few hours to complete. Anyhow, this finished the Titan's Curse Arc and I have no idea if Battle of the Labyrinth should be in play or should I just go into the Last Olympian and the great war Arc. You guys decide, I guess.

Also, I know this isn't my strongest chapter because it isn't really well written. But I just wanted to push out content to you guys and girls since I tend to go MIA for months on end. But I hope you can forgive me for some grammatical errors even for rushing some of the events within the story. Also, the skeletal warriors can't and won't follow the group anymore because since Zoë is dead and her body no longer viable and into the stars, they have no way to track them any longer.

I've been wanting to write about something else as well anyone got any good ideas to start a new fanfic story on? Let me know.

I hope you like the chapter, please review and let me know what you liked. :)