Chapter Text
The horrible thing was: that Bianca could see the family resemblance. Atlas had the same regal expression as Zoe, the same cold proud look in his eyes that Zoe sometimes got when she was mad, though on him it looked a thousand times more evil.
"Let Artemis go," Zoe demanded.
Atlas walked closer to the chained goddess. "Perhaps you'd like to take the sky for her, then? Be my guest."
Zoe opened her mouth to speak, but Artemis said, "No! Do not offer, Zoe! I forbid you."
Atlas smirked. He knelt next to Artemis and tried to touch her face, but the goddess bit at him, almost taking off his fingers.
"Hoo-hoo," Atlas chuckled. "You see, daughter? Lady Artemis likes her new job. I think I will have all the Olympians take turns carrying my burden, once Lord Kronos rules again, and this is the center of our palace. It will teach those weaklings some humility."
Bianca looked over to Percy, who was staring desperately at Annabeth. She was trying to tell him something. She motioned her head toward Luke. But all he could do was stare at her. Bianca hadn't seen much of her before, but something about her was strange. Her blond hair was streaked with gray
"From holding the sky," Thalia muttered, as if she'd read Bianca's mind. "The weight should've killed her."
"I don't understand," Percy said. "Why can't Artemis just let go of the sky?"
Atlas laughed. "How little you understand, young one. This is the point where the sky and the earth first met, where Ouranos and Gaea first brought forth their mighty children, the Titans. The sky still yearns to embrace the earth. Someone must hold it at bay, or else it would crush down upon this place, instantly flattening the mountain and everything within a hundred leagues. Once you have taken the burden, there is no escape." Atlas smiled.
"Unless someone else takes it from you."
He approached them, studying Thalia, Percy, and Bianca. "So these are the best heroes of the age, eh? Not much of a challenge."
"Fight us," Percy said. "And let's see."
"Have the gods taught you nothing? An immortal does not fight a mere mortal directly. It is beneath our dignity. I will have Luke crush you instead."
"So you're another coward," Percy said
Bianca would have laughed if the situation wasn't so dire. Atlas's eyes glowed with hatred. With difficulty, he turned his attention to Thalia.
"As for you, daughter of Zeus, it seems Luke was wrong about you."
"I wasn't wrong," Luke managed. He looked terribly weak, and he spoke every word as if it were painful. If Bianca didn't know to hate his guts so much, She almost would've felt sorry for him.
"Thalia, you still can join us. Call the Ophiotaurus. It will come to you. Look!"
He waved his hand, and next to them, a pool of water appeared: a pond ringed in black marble, big enough for the Ophiotaurus.
"Thalia, call the Ophiotaurus," Luke persisted. "And you will be more powerful than the gods."
"Luke..." Her voice was full of pain. "What happened to you?"
"Don't you remember all those times we talked? All those times we cursed the gods? Our fathers have done nothing for us. They have no right to rule the world!"
Thalia shook her head. "Free Annabeth. Let her go."
"If you join me," Luke promised, "it can be like old times. The three of us together. Fighting for a better world. Please, Thalia, if you don't agree..." His voice faltered. "It's my last chance. He will use the other way if you don't agree. Please."
Bianca didn't know what he meant, but the fear in his voice sounded real enough. She believed that Luke was in danger, she just didn't know whether or not she should feel bad about it. His life depended on Thalia's joining his cause. And Bianca was afraid Thalia might believe it, too.
"Do not, Thalia," Zoe warned. "We must fight them."
Luke waved his hand again, and a fire appeared. A bronze brazier, just like the one at camp.
A sacrificial flame.
"Thalia," Bianca said. "No."
Behind Luke, the golden sarcophagus began to glow. As it did, Bianca saw images in the mist all around them: black marble walls rising, the ruins becoming whole, a terrible and beautiful palace rising around them, made of fear and shadow. It looked spectacular.
"We will raise Mount Othrys right here," Luke promised, in a voice so strained it hardly sounded like the Luke that Bianca had heard so much about. "Once more, it will be stronger and greater than Olympus. Look, Thalia. We are not weak."
He pointed toward the ocean, and Bianca's heart fell. Marching up the side of the mountain, from the beach where the Princess Andromeda was docked, was a great army.
Dracaenae and Laestrygonians, monsters and half-bloods, hell hounds, harpies, and other things Bianca couldn't even name. The whole ship must've been emptied, because there were hundreds. In a few minutes, they would be here.
"This is only a taste of what is to come," Luke said. "Soon we will be ready to storm Camp Half-Blood. And after that, Olympus itself. All we need is your help."
For a terrible moment, Thalia hesitated. She gazed at Luke, her eyes full of pain, as if the only thing she wanted in the world was to believe him.
Then she leveled her spear. "You aren't Luke. I don't know you anymore."
"Yes, you do, Thalia," he pleaded. "Please. Don't make me... Don't make him destroy you."
There was no time. If that army got to the top of the hill, they would be overwhelmed. Percy met Annabeth's eyes again. She nodded.
He looked at Thalia and Bianca, and they all seemed to have decided it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world to die fighting with friends like this.
"Now," Percy said.
Together, they charged.
Thalia went straight for Luke. The power of her shield was so great that his dragon-women bodyguards fled in a panic, dropping the golden coffin and leaving him alone. But despite his sickly appearance, Luke was still quick with his sword. He snarled like a wild animal and counterattacked. When his sword met Thalia's shield, a ball of lightning erupted between them, frying the air with yellow tendrils of power.
Percy did the stupidest thing he possibly could have done, he attacked the Titan Lord Atlas.He laughed as Percy approached. A huge javelin appeared in his hands. His silk suit melted intofull Greek battle armor.
"Go on, then!"
"Percy!" Zoe said. "Beware!"
Percy didn't seem very good at heeding warnings, considering that he immediately swung his sword, and Atlas knocked him aside with just the shaft of his javelin. He flew through the air and slammed into a black wall.
It wasn't Mist anymore. The palace was rising, brick by brick. It was becoming real.
"Fool!" Atlas screamed gleefully, swatting aside one of Zoe's arrows. "Did you think, simply because you could challenge that petty war god, that you could stand up to me?"
Percy charged again, he was going to get himself killed if he kept that up. The javelin point slashed toward him like a scythe. He raised his sword, right as Bianca was wondering if she needed to step in, but he suddenly froze. Groggily, he tried to dodge, but the javelin caught him in the chest and sent him flying like a rag doll. He slammed into the ground, right by Artemis.
Bianca took that as her cue to take over and immediately nocked an arrow which soon found a place between the cracks in Atlas's armor. His face contorted with pain, and he seemed to only just then have realized that she was there.
He opened his mouth to say something, but while he was distracted, not only did Zoe shoot him again, but Artemis was free from her burden, and she wasted no time joining in the fight.
Somewhere she found hunting knives, because she immediately became a blur of silver, keeping Atlas busy while Zoe and Bianca shot arrows into the weak spots in his armor.
Bianca spared a glance back at Percy. He wasn't doing well. If Artemis had been under pressure, Percy looked like he was suffocating under the weight. Too much longer and he could die. A strand of his hair was slowly turning silver, just like Annabeth's.
In her moment of distraction, Atlas shoved Artemis aside and went straight for Bianca. The shaft of his javelin hit her in the side, and the force sent her across the room. Bianca couldn't breathe. She couldn't think. All she could feel was pure, intense, burning pain. Is this what it felt like to die? Black spots filled her vision, they were all that she could see.
But just as quickly as the pain had started, it began ebbing away. She felt a warmth wash over her, and the spots disappeared. Instead, her vision filled with a beautiful purple glow. Like the evening sky, right after the sun dips into the horizon.
Bianca realized that she was crying and that she had the strength to pull herself up now. She stood, still shaky, but presently unharmed, and realized that the glow was coming from overhead.
Atlas was staring at her, or, more specifically, the symbol hovering in the air.
A helm, just like her father's.
Her father. Hades.
Bianca had been claimed.
Artemis got over her confusion before Atlas, and used it to her advantage, she glanced at Percy, who nodded ever so slightly, and used Atlas's disorientation to send him flying, right where Percy was, returning him to his rightful place holding up the sky.
Percy collapsed where he was, clearly exhausted, and Bianca ran to help.
She looked up right as Thalia backed Luke to the edge of a cliff, but still, they fought on, next to the golden coffin. Thalia had tears in her eyes. Luke had a bloody slash across his chest and his pale face glistened with sweat.
He lunged at Thalia and she slammed him with her shield. Luke's sword spun out of his hands and clattered to the rocks. Thalia put her spear point to his throat.
For a moment, there was silence.
"Well?" Luke asked. He tried to hide it, but Bianca could hear fear in his voice.
Thalia trembled with fury. Behind her, Annabeth came scrambling, finally free from her bonds. Her face was bruised and streaked with dirt.
"Don't kill him!"
"He's a traitor," Thalia said. "A traitor!"
Bianca suddenly realized that Artemis had run off toward black rocks where Atlas must have flung Zoe.
"We'll bring Luke back," Annabeth pleaded. "To Olympus. He… he'll be useful."
"Is that what you want, Thalia?" Luke sneered. "To go back to Olympus in triumph? To please your dad?"
Thalia hesitated, and Luke made a desperate grab for her spear.
"No!" Annabeth shouted. But it was too late.
Without thinking, Thalia kicked Luke away.
He lost his balance, terror on his face, and then he fell.
"Luke!" Annabeth screamed.
Bianca helped Percy up and they rushed to the cliff's edge. Below them, the army from the Princess Andromeda had stopped in amazement. They were staring at Luke's broken form on the rocks.
Despite how much Bianca hated him, She couldn't stand to see it. She almost felt like he was still alive, but that was impossible. The fall was fifty feet at least, and he wasn't moving.
One of the giants looked up and growled, "Kill them!"
Thalia was stiff with grief, tears streaming down her cheeks. Percy pulled her back as a wave of javelins sailed over their heads. They ran for the rocks, ignoring the curses and threats of Atlas as they passed.
"Lady Artemis!" Bianca yelled.
The goddess looked up, her face almost as grief-stricken as Thalia's. Zoe lay in the goddess's arms. She was breathing. Her eyes were open. But Bianca could feel her life force, or what was left of it at least...
"The wound is poisoned," Artemis said.
"Atlas poisoned her?" Percy asked.
"No," the goddess said. "Not Atlas."
She showed us the wound on Zoe's side. Bianca had almost forgotten her scrape with Ladon the dragon. The bite was much worse than Zoe had let on. She could barely look at the wound. Zoe had charged into battle against her father with a horrible cut already sapping herstrength.
"The stars," Zoe murmured. "I cannot see them."
"Nectar and ambrosia," Percy said. "Come on! We have to get her some."
No one moved. Grief hung in the air. The army of Kronos was just below the rise. Even Artemis was too shocked to stir.
They might've met their doom right there, but then from the air came a strange buzzing noise. Just as the army of monsters came over the hill, a Sopwith Camel swooped down out of the sky.
"Get away from my daughter!" Dr. Chase called down, and his machine guns burst to life, peppering the ground with bullet holes and startling the whole group of monsters into scattering.
"Dad?" yelled Annabeth in disbelief.
"Run!" he called back, his voice growing fainter as the biplane swooped by.
This shook Artemis out of her grief. She stared up at the antique plane, which was now banking around for another strafe.
"A brave man," Artemis said with grudging approval. "Come, We must get Zoe away from here."
She raised her hunting horn to her lips, and its clear sound echoed down the valleys of Marin. Zoe's eyes were fluttering.
"Hang in there!" Bianca told her. "It'll be all right!"
The Sopwith Camel swooped down again. A few giants threw javelins, and one flew straight between the wings of the plane, but the machine guns blazed.
Bianca realized with amazement that somehow Dr. Chase must've gotten hold of celestial bronze to fashion his bullets. The first row of snake women wailed as the machine gun's volley blew them into sulfurous yellow powder.
"That's… my dad!" Annabeth said in amazement.
They didn't have time to admire his flying. The giants and snake women were already recovering from their surprise. Dr. Chase would be in trouble soon. Just then, the moonlight brightened, and a silver chariot appeared from the sky, drawn by the most beautiful deer Bianca had ever seen. It landed right next to them.
"Get in," Artemis said.
Annabeth helped Percy and Bianca get Thalia on board. Then they helped Artemis with Zoe. They wrapped Zoe in a blanket as Artemis pulled the reins and the chariot sped away from the mountain, straight into the air.
"Like Santa Claus's sleigh," Percy murmured, still visibly dazed with pain.
Artemis took time to look back at me. "Indeed, young half-blood. And where do you think that legend came from?"
Seeing them safely away, Dr. Chase turned his biplane and followed them like an honor guard. It must have been one of the strangest sights ever, even for the Bay Area: a silver flying chariot pulled by deer, escorted by a Sopwith Camel.
Behind them, the army of Kronos roared in anger as they gathered on the summit of Mount Tamalpais, but the loudest sound was the voice of Atlas, bellowing curses against the gods as he struggled under the weight of the sky.
They landed at Crissy Field after nightfall. As soon as Dr. Chase stepped out of his Sopwith Camel, Annabeth ran to him and gave him a huge hug.
"Dad! You flew… you shot… oh my gods! That was the most amazing thing I've ever seen!"
Her father blushed. "Well, not bad for a middle-aged mortal, I suppose."
"But the celestial bronze bullets! How did you get those?"
"Ah, well. You did leave quite a few half-blood weapons in your room in Virginia, the last time you… left." Annabeth looked down, embarrassed.
Bianca noticed Dr. Chase was very careful not to say "ran away".
"I decided to try melting some down to make bullet casings," he continued. "Just a little experiment."
He said it like it was no big deal, but he had a gleam in his eye. Bianca could understand all of a sudden why Athena, Goddess of Crafts and Wisdom, had taken a liking to him. He was an excellent mad scientist at heart.
"Dad…" Annabeth faltered.
"Annabeth, Percy," Thalia interrupted. Her voice was urgent.
Bianca and Artemis were kneeling at Zoe's side, binding the huntress's wounds.
Annabeth and Percy ran over to help, but there wasn't much they could do. They had no ambrosiaor nectar. No regular medicine would help. It was dark, but anyone could see that Zoe didn't lookgood. She was shivering, and the faint glow that usually hung around her was fading.
"Can't you heal her with magic?" Percy asked Artemis. "I mean… you're a goddess."
Artemis looked troubled. "Life is a fragile thing, Percy. If the Fates will the string to be cut, there is little I can do. But I can try."
She tried to set her hand on Zoe's side, but Zoe gripped her wrist. She looked into the goddess's eyes, and some kind of understanding passed between them.
"Have I… served thee well?" Zoe whispered.
"With great honor," Artemis said softly. "The finest of my attendants."
Zoe's face relaxed. "Rest. At last."
"I can try to heal the poison, my brave one."
But it wasn't just the poison that was killing Zoe. It was her father's final blow. She had known all along that the Oracle's prophecy was about her: she would die by a parent's hand. And yet she'd taken the quest anyway. Atlas's fury had broken her inside.
She looked to Thalia and took her hand.
"I am sorry we argued," Zoe said. "We could have been sisters."
"It's my fault," Thalia said, blinking hard. "You were right about Luke, about heroes, men, everything."
"Perhaps not all men," Zoe murmured. She smiled weakly at Percy. "Do you still have the sword, Percy?"
He said nothing but brought out Riptide and put the pen in her hand. She grasped it contentedly.
"You spoke the truth, Percy Jackson. You are nothing like… like Hercules. I am honored that you carry this sword."
Bianca, who was knelt by Zoe, clutching her hand, finally figured out what to say to her dying friend.
"You- You're gonna go to Elysium. " Bianca said shakily.
Zoe nodded slightly.
"And you deserve it more than anyone else there, don't forget that. "
A shudder ran through her body.
"Zoe-" Bianca said, watching her life force start to slip.
"Stars," she whispered. "I can see the stars again, my lady."
A tear trickled down Artemis's cheek. "Yes, my brave one. They are beautiful tonight."
"Stars," Zoe repeated.
Her eyes fixed on the night sky, and she did not move again.
Bianca became acutely aware of the tears streaming down her face, she mouthed a silent prayer to her father. Her hand slipped into her pocket, and she pressed a drachma into Zoe's limp hand. For Charon.
Thalia lowered her head. Annabeth gulped down a sob, and her father put his hands on her shoulders. Bianca watched as Artemis cupped her hand above Zoe's mouth and spoke a few words in Ancient Greek.
A silvery wisp of smoke exhaled from Zoe's lips and was caught in the hand of the goddess. Zoe's body shimmered and disappeared. Artemis stood, said a kind of blessing, breathed into her cupped hand, and released the silver dust to the sky. It flew up, sparkling, and vanished.
For a moment, Bianca didn't see anything different. Then Annabeth gasped. Looking up in the sky, she saw that the stars were brighter now.
They made a pattern she had never noticed before, a gleaming constellation that looked a lot like a girl's figure, a girl with a bow, running across the sky.
"Let the world honor you, my Huntress," Artemis said. "Live forever in the stars."
It wasn't easy saying their goodbyes. The thunder and lightning were still boiling over Mount Tamalpais in the north.
Artemis was so upset she flickered with silver light. This made Bianca nervous because if she suddenly lost control and appeared in her fully divine form, they would disintegrate by looking at her.
"I must go to Olympus immediately," Artemis said. "I will not be able to take you, but I will send help."
The goddess set her hand on Annabeth's shoulder. "You are brave beyond measure, my girl. You will do what is right."
Then she looked quizzically at Thalia, as if she weren't sure what to make of this younger daughter of Zeus. Thalia seemed reluctant to look up, but something made her, and she held the goddess's eyes. Bianca wasn't sure what passed between them, but Artemis's gaze softened with sympathy.
She looked to Bianca, "My brave young huntress, I'm sorry you had to lose a sister so soon. "
Bianca didn't know how to respond. The guilt of wanting to leave the Hunters came crashing down onto her, all at once, at that exact moment.
"I.. " Her mouth felt impossibly dry, "I didn't know her as well as I should have. My father will take good care of her, I know he will. "
Artemis nodded, and then she turned to Percy.
"You did well," she said. "For a man."
Percy looked like he wanted to protest. But something, hopefully, common sense, stopped him.
She mounted her chariot, which began to glow. We averted our eyes. There was a flash of silver, and the goddess was gone.
"Well," Dr. Chase sighed. "She was impressive; though I must say I still prefer Athena."
Annabeth turned toward him. "Dad, I… I'm sorry that—"
"Shh." He hugged her. "Do what you must, my dear. I know this isn't easy for you."
His voice was a little shaky, but he gave Annabeth a brave smile.
Then Bianca heard the whoosh of large wings. Three pegasi descended through the fog: two white-winged horses and one pure black one.
"Blackjack!" Percy called.
Bianca completely forgot that Percy could talk to horses. That is until he responded. She ignored all of Percy's horse conversation, deeming it irrelevant.
The pegasus must have asked Percy if Professor Chase would be joining them because Percy assured the horse that he was not. Rather than being offended, the professor was staring openmouthed at the pegasi.
"Fascinating," he said. "Such maneuverability! How does the wingspan compensate for the weight of the horse's body, I wonder?"
Blackjack co*cked his head.
"Why, if the British had had these pegasi in the cavalry charges on the Crimea," Dr. Chase said, "the charge of the light brigade—"
"Dad!" Annabeth interrupted.
Dr. Chase blinked. He looked at his daughter and managed a smile. "I'm sorry, my dear, I know you must go."
He gave her one last awkward, well-meaning hug. As she turned to climb aboard a pegasus, Dr. Chase called, "Annabeth. I know… I know San Francisco is a dangerous place for you. But please remember, you always have a home with us. We will keep you safe."
Annabeth didn't answer, but her eyes were red as she turned away. Dr. Chase started to say more, then apparently thought better of it. He raised his hand in a sad farewell and trudged away across the dark field.
Bianca stepped towards a pegasus, but it nickered and stepped back. She stared at the ground, embarrassed that even a pegasus was afraid of her.
"Porkpie!" Percy scolded, "That's my friend! "
The pegasus whinnied in response.
"I don't care, she's one of Lady Artemis's hunters, be nice! "
Thalia mounted the pegasus first and helped Bianca up. Together, they soared over the bay and flew toward the eastern hills. Soon San Francisco was only a glittering crescent behind them, with an occasional flicker of lightning in the north.
Thalia was so exhausted she fell asleep on Porkpie's back. Bianca knew she had to be tiredto sleep in the air, despite her fear of heights, but she didn't have much to worry about. The pegasus flew with ease, despite carrying two tired demigods.
They flew over a town, an island of lights in the middle of the dark. It whisked by so fast they might've been in an airplane. Percy and Annabeth flew side by side, talking to each other. Bianca couldn't hear them and instead focused on making sure Thalia didn't fall.
The towns were zipping by faster now, islands of light thicker together, until the whole landscape below was a glittering carpet. Dawn was close. The eastern sky was turning gray.
And up ahead, a huge white and yellow glow spread out before them, the lights of New York.
Bianca could hear the last of Annabeth and Percy’s conversation
"You don't believe me about Luke," Annabeth said, "but we'll see him again. He's in trouble, Percy. He's under Kronos's spell."
Percy glared at her like she had just killed his dog
"There it is." Thalia's voice; she'd woken up. She was pointing toward Manhattan, which was quickly zooming into view. "It's started."
"What's started?" Percy asked.
Then Bianca looked where she was pointing. High above the Empire State Building, Olympus was its own island of light, a floating mountain ablaze with torches and braziers, white marble palaces gleaming in the early morning air.
"The winter solstice," Thalia said. "The Council of the Gods."
