Percy thought the choices for the quest would be easy, and solved immediately.
"The prophecy is clear, it said 'Campers and Hunters combined prevail'. So, Zoe, you're obviously going to want to come. Choose another Hunter." Bianca said.
"Of course. I will never give up the chance to save mine goddess. Especially with the General as our enemy." Zoe Nightshade spat out the name 'General' like it was a curse. "I nominate Annabeth, Phoebe, Naomi and Josephine."
Turns out someone disagreed.
Bianca's usually quiet cheery demeanor fell. She was starting to remind Percy of Mrs. Dodds when she stopped smiling. Being the daughter of Hades, Percy wasn't sure if that was a compliment or not.
"Who's the General, since you seem to know him? Also no." Bianca spoke firmly and the room seemed to get colder all of a sudden. "I'm the leader of this quest, Zoe. Choose one. From the camp's side I choose, Percy."
Percy sighed, as he was glad that he would be able save Thalia.
"Joy." Dionysus sighed and rolled his eyes. "Jameson gets to be an annoying hero again." He never stopped calling Percy, 'Jameson' ever since that Fate game came out. Saying 'it's his name now' with a laugh.
"I'm going to save my friend." Percy said back.
Bianca looked at Dionysus once, to see if he would say anything important, but he didn't so she ignored him.
"You would have me and my Hunters suffer the presence of a boy? And one? Phoebe is our best tracker, and Annabeth has the potential to be one of our best Huntress, and her wisdom is needed. Naomi—"
"Anyone here at camp side is good at tracking?" Bianca just went over Zoe as she looked around the Big House meeting room. Zoe did a very good impression of a fish, at the audacity of Bianca.
"Oh! Me! Me! I know woodland magic, I know the tracker's song and I have good senses." Grover beamed with a large smile. "Anything to save Artemis."
"A satyr?" Zoe wrinkled her face in disgust.
"Grover is the best tracker in camp." Annabeth added, to which Percy couldn't help but smile. Annabeth almost seemed like she was going to smile back, before her face fell to a neutral look, at Zoe looking back at her.
"Welcome aboard." Bianca smiled.
"I want to go." Nico piped up.
""No."" Bianca said and Zoe shouted.
Sudden the room was colder and scarier as Bianca gave Zoe a fixed glare.
It felt like the Underworld was calling us down, even Zoe shuddered under Bianca's stare. Then as soon as the feelings came, they passed, almost seeming like they weren't real. That everyone all imagined it.
"Nico, no." Bianca said gently, as she placed a hand on her brother's shoulder. "This quest is too dangerous. There will likely be way too much fighting, and too many monsters if we're going to be rescuing a goddess."
"I can fight, and what? You won't be in danger?" Nico said in a quieter voice upon noticing everyone's eyes on him.
"Yes, but you spend most of your training playing with Shadow, or using dad to skip studying." She said with a knowing look, and Nico looked down blushing and chuckling bashfully. "I'm gonna be fine. I'm not alone after all and if worst comes to worst I'll call for help."
"Oh, right! Mr. Bullman." Nico nodded. "Wait! Take Shadow with you."
"Mister what?" Annabeth asked.
"A bodyguard my dad hired to protect us last year." Bianca said.
"And what? He's still on the payroll to protect you?" Percy asked.
"Something like that." Bianca said with a small smile.
For some reason Silena furrowed her eyebrows, before her eyes widened in surprise, before covering her mouth. Although her smile could be seen behind her hand.
"Are you sure?" Bianca asked Nico. "You're okay without Shadow for a few days?"
"Yep! He'll be able to help you travel fast and all that." Nico nodded.
"Okay." Bianca smiled back.
Percy thought having a monster on their side would be neat for a change. Percy then remembered his brother Tyson technically was actually a monster, and was on his side in his last quest and helped him out.
You know what? More monsters helping us out would be pretty neat for a change. Percy thought.
"Enough with the distractions." Zoe spoke, standing up and almost slamming her fist on the table. "Returning to the important matter at hand, you'd have me choose only one of my hunters, and then suffer the presence of not one, but two boys?!"
"First, they're Annabeth's friends, so they can work well together. Second," Bianca had her hands on the table, stood up and leaned forward staring harshly at Zoe. "Do you want to save your goddess or do you want to be comfortable?" Bianca spat out and Zoe's face turned red like she was about to shout back. "Grover has his tracking and magic. Percy is a Child of the Great Prophecy, meaning we can throw him at danger and he won't die."
"Wait, what?" I looked Bianca completely thrown off.
"He is also a child of one of the Big Three. He's strong. We need all the power and skill," Bianca nodded at Annabeth. "We can get to ensure our success. Because saving Artemis and Thalia is all that matters, is it not?" Bianca said firmly, her eyes locking with Zoe in an intense battle of will.
"Oooh, spicy." Mr. D commented childishly from the side.
After a while Zoe finally sighed, and relaxed her shoulders.
"Yes, saving Lady Artemis and a maiden is all that matters." Zoe said and Bianca stood back straight, her shoulders relaxed. "However," Zoe looked at both Percy and Grover. "If they slow us down, I'm leaving them behind."
Without waiting for another word Zoe and the rest of the Hunters with her left to cabin eight to rest for the night, and prepare for tomorrow. Annabeth gave her friends an apologetic look and left with her Hunter sisters.
Chiron dismissed everyone, and the campers left the Big House.
Percy wanted to chase after Annabeth to check on her, but Bianca grabbed his arm.
"Tomorrow." She told him and let go.
"Yeah, yeah, okay." Percy sighed and nodded. "Hey," he suddenly remembered. "You said as 'a Child of the Great Prophecy' I can be thrown in danger and end up fine, but the prophecy only needs one kid to fulfill it. What about you?"
"I'm not sure if I or Nico qualify." Bianca shook her head.
"Why?" He asked confused.
"Percy, I was born in 1930, well before the Great Prophecy was made." Bianca said casually.
"Wait, what?" Percy felt stumbled. "How? That would make you like," he thought for a moment. "70 years old."
"Seventy seven technically, but no. My dad put me and Nico in the Lotus Casino for safety, and we've been there ever since, till last year."
"...Holy shit."
"Yeah, it's been an adjustment." Bianca chuckled.
"Why did Hades do that?" Percy was stumped on why would Hades do that. Maybe he didn't want his children to die? But then he's the God of the Dead, so why would that matter? He can just see them everyday if they're dead. As morbid as that was to think.
"Because Zeus tried to have us killed, just to be on the safe side." Bianca said and left, leaving Percy just shocked at this sudden revelation.
"Where were thee?" Zoe said sharply as Percy jogged to the meeting point before they headed off.
"Sorry, sorry. The hippocampi wanted help with something. A cow thing was stuck in a net." Percy quickly apologized.
"This is why I didn't want boys on this quest. They don't take anything seriously." Zoe cover her face with her hand.
"Hey, that was important. Bessie could have been injured." Percy protested.
Before Zoe could reply, Annabeth perked up.
"Hippocampi are water horses. Percy, did a cow fall in the water?" Annabeth seriously questioned, making Zoe looked at her surprised.
"No. It was a cow from the front and like a snake from the waist down. It was swimming and got stuck in a fishing net." Percy described what his morning was like.
"Thou just happened to find the Ophiotaurus by mere chance, and helped it out of a fishing net? Does thou thinks we are foolish—" Zoe began to rant.
"Yeah, that tracks." Annabeth nodded.
"What?" Zoe looked at Annabeth in disbelief.
"Percy is Son of the Sea God, water creatures would come to him if they need help. That sort of thing happens at least once a week, and prophecy says the 'Bane of Olympus shall show the trail'. So we need to follow Ophiotaurus to know where to go." Annabeth explained.
"What does Bessie has to do with all of this?" Percy raised an eyebrow.
"Bessie—I can't believe you call it 'Bessie'—is the Ophiotaurus, called the Bane of Olympus because whoever killed and sacrificed its entrails would gain the power to destroy Olympus."
"What!?" Percy shouted. "That's horrible! Who would do that?"
"Power hungry tyrants, of course." Zoe gritted her teeth.
"But Bessie is too cute! It can't destroy the world." Percy argued. For some reason any fight in Zoe was thrown out as she just looked at Percy in disbelief. "How could she even grant that kind of power?"
"Because there's power in killing innocence." As soon as Zoe said that, she frowned before looking at Percy, then looked away in deep thought.
"Percy, can you call the Ophiotaurus, I mean Bessie back to the beach?" Annabeth asked.
"I..." Percy was about to say 'no'. That Bessie likely had long since swam away, yet right then he felt like he could. "Yeah, yeah, I think so." He nodded.
"Then let's go get the sea cow!" Bianca said cheerfully.
All too soon the five questers were standing at the beach, with Bessie—who according to Grover was a 'he'—who was mooing and playing in the water, while letting Percy pet it.
"..." Bianca looked at Zoe Nightshade and said nothing.
"..." Zoe looked back frowning and said nothing.
"..."
"..."
Zoe looked back at Percy playing with the Ophiotaurus with Annabeth joining in petting it, and Grover translating what it was saying.
"...The boy has a use." Zoe begrudgingly admitted.
The Quest was off to a great start.
So, how are you finding your first quest?" Percy sat next to Bianca.
The five questers took one of the boats tied to the pier of their camp, usually used for fishing. Although the sea nymphs tended to make that a difficult job.
While the boat wasn't large, it was enough for everyone to have space to sit comfortably without feeling cramped. More importantly, the boat was small enough for Bessie to tow without much problem.
"Is it always this crazy high stakes?" Bianca joked.
"Normally they shouldn't, or so I'm told." Percy laughed. "I never went on a normal quest. Would be nice to try it sometimes?"
"Really?" Bianca raised an eyebrow.
"Yep!" He grinned. "First quest? Had to find Zeus' lightning bolt that I was accused of stealing, when I literally never knew about gods or anything. Second quest? Barrier around camp was failing due to someone poisoning Thalia's Tree. Had to get the Golden Fleece, or Camp Half-Blood would stop being a safe place from monsters." He frowned at the thought of that. Wondering how Luke could have poisoned Thalia's tree, and then about Thalia being kidnapped and held prisoner by him.
"And mine is literally about saving a goddess." Bianca said, while looking at the sea around them turn into a river, and the landscape seem to move around too fast.
"Guess us Great Prophecy kids don't get a break." Percy shrugged.
"Really hope I'm not the prophecy's child. And that Nico isn't either, but let's wait and see if my luck stays the same." Bianca chuckled.
"Well, at least we seem to be making good time. Maybe we'll finish everything quickly and without a fight. Just sneak in, get Artemis and get out." Percy hoped.
"Is it ever that simple?" Bianca gave him an amused side look.
"No. No it never is." Percy sighed with an exaggerated whine.
Bianca laughed, her laughter having a nice chime to it. It was different from Annabeth who tended to have be reserved in her laughing, but when she did it sounded like a cat shouting. It just made him smile more when he heard it.
His thoughts turned to Annabeth now being a Hunter of Artemis. That when the year was done she would be gone forever.
...Well, maybe not forever. Maybe she can visit? Can Hunters visit friends that aren't Hunters? Or would him being a boy make that not allowed?
Seriously. This is like having a friend move to a different country and you can't see them anymore. This sucks.
Maybe they can still Iris Message? That should be okay, right? Could be a favor to ask from Artemis when they rescue her.
"Still," Bianca spoke, breaking him out of his thoughts. "Better than being at camp right now." She said with huge relief.
"Really?" Percy tilted his head in surprise.
Bianca blinked at his expression, before snorting for some reason.
"Yeah, the Aphrodite Cabin would not stop hounding me. Asking questions about FTK, asking if any of the monsters have the same forms as in the game, and how accurate are the personalities. Asking if I ever got together with Asterios, which is..." she bit her lips before shaking her head. "Ridiculous as it's just a game."
"Annabeth says it's pretty prophetic." Percy shrugged before grinning. "So how accurate did you guys get me?"
"Well for starters, in the game, Percy is short for Percival." She smiled back.
"Oh?" Percy chuckled. "Ha, okay that's pretty neat. What else?"
"Game Percy is twenty, he discovered the moonlit world, I mean, supernatural world because he stumbled on an old lady being attacked by a demon dog, and helped her out. The danger of the sudden life or death battle causes him to awake his powers for the first time. He is then found by Mr. Ron, that we hint heavily to be Chiron still alive in the modern era. Mr. Ron trains him and Percy make friends with a guy named Lance."
"That's who Luke's suppose to be?" Percy frowned at the thought of the traitor, but the game seem sorta accurate so far.
"Yep." She nodded. "Lance wants to get revenge on the Russian mafia who worship the Baba Yaga, and joins the Holy Grail War in Macedonia to get his wish to be able to slaughter them all. Percy joins the war to try and stop him from injuring innocents in his revenge quest, and gets entangled in everyone else's plots."
"Huh." Percy nodded, with an impressed look. "The overall picture is kinda accurate, but the details are completely wrong." He said. "Like Luke. There is no helping him, I just wanna stop him. Also the Russian mafia bit seems out of nowhere."
"Yeah," Bianca laughed and nodded. "The mafia bit, and along with other details that don't seem to fit completely in the plot of FTK, are meant to be plot hooks for other storyline in future games. The Baba Yaga is suppose to open up to how folk tales fit into the magical world and all that. Also stuff like Game Percy's powers being an intro into how magic works in the setting."
"How complicated could it be? It would just be elemental magic with me using water magic, right?" Percy asked, finding himself invested in the world building.
"You have water powers." She pointed at him. "In the game we, uuuh, we kinda went, how to explain it, poetic? Mysterious? Heh, in how magic works." Percy raised an eyebrow, as he waited for the explanation. Annabeth usually starts off with some info or tangent before getting to the important bits. "Okay, for example, if someone has Fire as their Elemental Affinity, you'd think they can just use fire spells, right?"
"Yeah." He nodded.
"Well, we expanded on that so that it means, Magi—Mages with Fire Affinity means their spells can cause warmth or dryness. That they are suited for destructive Magecraft—Magic, I mean. We kind of divided magic into Magecraft, which is anything science can do, and True Magic, which is anything science can't do yet."
"Wouldn't that mean flying is True Magic?" Percy raised an eyebrow.
"Used to be, and yeah. So Fire Affinity means, destructive magic, life, death, consumption, heat, entropy, fuels, energy transfer and thermodynamics." Bianca explained.
Percy's eyebrow raised to his hairline. "That sounds like way too much physics at the end."
"Yeah, it is." She laughed. "Water for example, which surprisingly is what your character's Element also is."
"Neat."
"Is about liquid manipulation, sure. But it's also energy flows, forms, cycles, combinations and manipulations. We basically went with Game Percy being good at one thing, which was Energy Flows. Basically he can sense energy flows and change it. Someone hits him, he just sends the kinetic energy back. That kinda stuff. Then it gets crazier later on in the story."
"Wait. Game Percy doesn't know how to use water?" Percy blinked in surprise. Letting out a half-chuckle.
"Nope," Bianca shrugged. "He can redirect a river's momentum, but he can't actually control water. We thought to try and subvert 'Water Wizard just controls water' expectation."
"Welp, that's another differences between me and Percival then." He smirked.
"Not really." Bianca said, making Percy look at her with confusion. "Your father is called Earthshaker for a reason. You probably have earthquake powers too."
Percy blinked in confusion a few times.
"I don't have that, I just have wate—Wait, Game Percy has earthquake powers!? Okay that's really cool! I'm definitely playing it when we get back." Percy said excitedly.
Bianca winced. "Okay, but fair warning. One, the game has adult content in it, and I didn't know you were real. Two, we didn't expect it to get as popular as it did."
Percy furrowed his brows. "Isn't one of the characters literally your name but with a different spelling?"
"Yeah, that's the 'didn't expect it to get popular' thing creeping in. My CS teacher, Mr. Bullman did warn me about making a character with basically my name, but my friends thought it would be funny and cool to basically have me in the game." She said.
"Huh." Percy nodded. "So how did you guys get it so accurate?"
"Literally don't know. There were like eight people counting me, all did their own character, and made them to match the Servants, Mr. Bullman gave to the class about the game. We each chose a Servant, and then build a character to compliment them, or be opposite to them for the sake of drama." Bianca explained. "How we ended up matching closely to real life people, we don't know. Mr. Bullman told me, it felt like the Fates might have had a hand in inspiring us about the game as a laugh, but beyond that I don't know."
"Huh? How could your CS teacher know about..." Percy then remembered how Bianca reassured Nico she would be fine by mentioning "Mr. Bullman" as her bodyguard. "Mr. Bullman, your teacher was also your bodyguard!" He realized.
"Yeah," she nodded. "My dad hired him to protect us. When we found out about gods and everything, he taught us about the world, how to use our powers, even trained me." She smiled fondly at the memory. "When summer came, he took us to a studio in Los Angeles that lead to the Underworld."
"DOA Studio?" Percy said, and at Bianca's surprised look elaborated. "Had to go there for my first quest." He explained, before telling her more about his first quest. How it happened, how he was thrown into the demigod world, meeting Annabeth, Luke, and everything.
Bianca told him about how she and Nico found out about the demigod world, going to live with her dad for the summer and training there.
"Say, the way you describe Mr. Bullman, he almost sounds like the minotaur. Which would be funny with his name and all." Percy chuckled.
"His name is Asterios Bullman."
"...I feel I should know that." Percy narrowed his eyes in thought.
"He is the minotaur." Bianca said, watching his expression with amusement.
There were many different things Percy wanted to say at this sudden revelation. That Bianca should remember that her dad hired a monster, which made sense if Zeus sent one to kill him, or if Hades sent some to kill Thalia—And boy was it weird that he was going with a Daughter of Hades to save a Daughter of Zeus.
He wanted to tell her that she shouldn't trust the minotaur outside of her dad's contract. And many other things, but the one thing that stood above all in his head was.
"The minotaur taught computer science?"
Bianca burst out laughing.
"Yeah, yeah he did." She nodded.
"Why?" He frowned in confusion.
"He said he wanted a hobby. Something new to do with his life, after the last version of him died a hilariously depressing death." Bianca explained.
Percy recalled the myth of the minotaur and wondered if him killing the monster with his own horn really was that traumatic. He supposed if there was a story about someone beating him with say, a wedgie, and some kid he didn't know did that, he would also be depressed.
"So, not feeling bummed out anymore?" Bianca said.
"Huh?" Percy blinked at her.
"You kinda looked sad since we started this quest." She commented.
"NO, no. It's just Annabeth, I'm kinda... worried that we won't see each other for a long time." He found himself saying.
"Well," Bianca scowled, which Percy hoped she didn't have a problem with Annabeth, since she was his best friend besides Grover. "She should be able to leave at any point she wants, as long as she doesn't break her oaths. So if you can become immortal, you two can hang out more again. Also, nothing says you have to stop being friends." She sighed and stood up.
"Err, where are you going?" Percy blinked.
"You don't have a lot of time with Annabeth, right? So you should spend the time you do have together and have fun hanging out." Bianca stepped away from the bench. "Besides, I need to talk to Zoe about some stuff."
Percy looked back to see Bianca head to Zoe and Annabeth sitting together. Grover was sitting at the front of the boat, where Percy left him.
A few moment later, Annabeth came by his side, while Bianca and Zoe sat together.
"Hey, what is this about you needing history lessons on the minotaur?" Annabeth said with that cute frown she always had, when he didn't understand something.
Also.
Why Bianca? Just why? Now Annabeth was gonna lecture him for hours. He still smiled and bore through it.
"So, is the minotaur's name really Asterios?" He asked. "Because it turns out he took a job at Bianca's school last year, and called himself Asterios Bullman."
"Wait, what!?"
Bianca and Zoe sat together with an uncomfortable silence.
"Dost thou hate the Hunters so much that you wish to corrupt a newly converted one?" Zoe asked.
"...Did 'convert' mean something else a hundred years ago?" Bianca said, disgruntled.
"Yes. To turn towards the light. In this case, the light of Lady Artemis." She nodded.
"Okay," Bianca held back from rolling her eyes. She took a deep breath before she began. "Zoe, you're old, right? Because of Artemis' granted immortality and all?"
"...Is this the start of an age joke to mock me?"
"No." Bianca deadpanned. "It's me asking to be sure. How long ago did you join the Hunters?"
"More than a millennia." Zoe said vaguely, but looked surprised at the pleasant gladness she saw in Bianca's eyes.
"Then you are experienced in dealing with monsters and dangerous quests to have lived this long, yes?" Bianca asked, eagerly.
"Of course." Zoe nodded, looking confused, yet couldn't help but relax due to sensing no hostility from Bianca.
"In that case, should anything happen to me in this quest, it's your job to complete it in my stead, and most importantly, bring back everyone alive." Bianca said.
"What?" Zoe's eyes widened in shock.
Bianca looked away in thought.
"The prophecy all but said someone is likely to die. Despite what I joked about, that Percy is indispensable due to his position as the Child of Prophecy, likewise I don't think we have that same luxury. Some of us will obviously make it if fortune is us. Grover should also survive as he would only be with us till we reach our destination, then he and Bessie can run back to camp."
"I still can't believe the boy named the Ophiotaurus, Bessie." Zoe sighed and shook her head.
Bianca smiled. "Annabeth should be smart enough to not do anything stupid in battle." She met Zoe's eyes. "That leaves me the most likely candidate to get 'lost in the land without rain'."
"Thou dost not know that." Zoe shook her head. "Trying to interpret prophecy or get ahead of them isn't likely to turn out well." She said. "And aren't thou worried I'd abandon the boys, as thou seem to think?" She said. "I do not hate them blindly as thou seem to think. I simply do not expect anything of them. That is the wisdom I've gained in my time with Lady Artemis."
"Zoe, I don't know who it was who hurt you. I do know this though, they aren't Grover or Percy." Bianca said, before shaking her head. "Regardless, I'm asking you because a leader is one who looks after everyone following them. So," she gave a pointed look. "Can I count on you should the worst happen?"
"...Yes." Zoe finally said, nodding her head.
"Good." Bianca smiled and nodded back.
The two sat quietly together. Zoe looked like she was contemplating something, unsure if she should broach such a topic.
"Bianca," she finally spoke. "About the General..."
Before Zoe could say what she wanted, a loud ship whistle sounded out.
The scenery around them slowed so fast, the boat almost tilted.
A giant mist was in front of them in the river they were in, the Colorado River, and suddenly there was a yacht before them.
"What the hell?" Percy shouted as he and Annabeth stood up. Grover fell overboard and Percy brought him back.
The questers looked on with surprise and shock at the sudden boat.
"Bessie's gone!" Percy noticed.
Bianca felt like the quest troubles she expected just arrived.
"Hey!" A gruff voice came from the yacht's deck. The group looked to see a man in a biker jacket and sunglasses.
A man Percy knew very well. As well as he knew that there were flames behind those sunglasses rather than eyeballs.
"Ares!" Percy said out loud.
"Jackson." He smirked. "Fancy meeting you all here." Ares chuckled, before pointing with his thumb behind him. "Come on up. We'll give you a ride." It wasn't a request.
"'We'?" Annabeth asked.
"She really wants to meet you." Ares said with a sharp teeth showing grin.
The questers really weren't looking forward to finding out who "she" was.
Climbing aboard the Amour 01 Percy never thought a yacht with hearts drawn on the side to look intimidating.
"This ship most definitely belongs to Aphrodite. Be very, very careful, Percy. Don't be rude, but don't promise her anything." Annabeth had warned him, but he really didn't know what the Goddess of Love would want with them.
As the questers got on board, they were all tense in the presence of the God of War.
"Oh relax, this is a friendly meeting." Ares waved them off, before settling his burning eyes at Percy. "Trust me, as much as I want your head as a trophy I don't kill my enemies before a lady."
"Why does Lady Aphrodite want to talk with Percy?" Annabeth asked.
Ares turned his head to her and frowned.
"Oh no, not him alone. There's also our new prophecy child." Ares turned to Bianca. "Bianca, daughter of Hades. Old man threw hell of a fit when you turned up." He grinned, chuckling at the memory of that. His teeth looked like those of a savage warrior, only a step above an animal.
"...Greetings, Lord Ares." Bianca nodded neutrally. "And I hope I don't cause too much trouble in the future."
"Oh no, I really hope you do. Really wishing for it." He said with laughter before his expression turned to one of irritation, as they settled on Annabeth. "And then there's you. Oh, she was annoyed when you gave up on love."
Zoe stepped up in front of Annabeth only to find Percy next to her. She blinked in surprise at that, as the boy didn't even try to coordinate with her. He simply saw his friend in possible danger and acted. She ignored him for now and focused on the God of War.
"Annabeth is under Lady Artemis' protection and care. She has nothing to say to the Goddess of Love." Zoe said firmly.
"Your 'lady' isn't exactly here right now, girl." Ares growled, and suddenly the atmosphere seemed to heat up, as Percy could hear a thousand men fighting and dying in the background. "I suggest you choose your actions very wisely right now. I don't like things that make Aphrodite sad, so I'm very good at making six feet under. And its only because she wants to talk to you three," he looked at Percy, Bianca and Annabeth. "That I'm being so courteous right now."
Percy felt his blood pumping, like he wanted to jump in and punch that smug god in the face. He held back, and was about to just call him out on how that didn't work out well for him last time.
"I'll meet her." Annabeth spoke up.
"Annabeth, you don't—" Zoe began, her eyes wide.
"It's fine." Annabeth shook her head. "I already have Lady Artemis' blessing. Aphrodite should have no power over me. Just her words. Not talking to her would be making an enemy that could be easily avoided."
"Her words alone are dangerous enough. They are a weapon that could fell nations." Zoe warned.
"Same with my mom." Annabeth smiled.
"You sure?" Percy asked in concern.
Annabeth's smile widened a bit. "Yeah."
"Huh." Ares' voice broke up the solidary moment. "I can see now why she's annoyed. It's like being baited by a UFC match that's never gonna happen." He shook his head.
"What?" Percy asked, blinking in confusion.
"First you, Jackson, then Chase and finally Bianca." Ares ordered. "And make sure not to be rude, kids. She's not as merciful as I am."
"Wait, you want us to meet her alone?" Annabeth said, now worried.
"She has a different grievance with each of you." Ares said.
"Wait, what about the rest of us? And where's Bessie?" At the sharp wide-eyed look Annabeth gave him, and shaking her head, Grover quickly said. "I meant the hippocampus that was leading our boat?"
"In reverse, don't know, don't care. And there's a mini-bar. Go get something to eat or whatever." Ares said and went and stood next to the door of the yacht's suite.
Percy looked at his friends, nodded and went ahead. Grover went to the mini-bar underdeck to eat. Zoe stayed with Annabeth, and Bianca waited for her meeting as well.
Percy entered the suite to see the most lavish room he had ever seen in his life.
A large bed that he felt if he sat in, he'd never want to wake up from. Beautiful décor that he could find himself watching for way longer than a glance. He didn't even care about décor as long as the room was functional. There was the sweet scene of roses, more alluring than even a sea breeze.
And Percy couldn't focus on any of that due to the figure sitting at the far end of the room, sitting next to the glass window, overlooking the river.
"Hello, Percy." The most beautiful woman Percy had ever seen in his life greeted him.
Spoiler: Aphrodite, Goddess of Love
Her voice soft and inviting, as were her emerald eyes. Oddly enough her eyes felt stormy, while not being so. Her face was every beautiful actress he could imagine, and then surpassed with such a gap, so as to make those beautiful woman seem ugly in comparison.
She had a headband gathering up her beautiful red hair, as if to contain her beauty, only to increase it further by teasing what it could be fully let go, to wave in the wind. Her hair style in different braids, reminding him of the Hunters for some reason. In fact, her scarlet hair looked like the Artemis he remembered from his dream, where she took the sky from Thalia.
"Oh please." Aphrodite rolled her eyes. The mood dampened, and Percy wanted nothing more than to make her smile again. "If anything, that child is the one imitating me. Something about 'red being the color of the wild'. Preposterous, it's the color of love." After getting that out of her system, the goddess's eyes softened again. "Please Percy, come sit down. Let's see what the damage is."
Percy went and sat down in the sofa chair opposite to her. He blinked suddenly aware of his action.
She just suggested something and he did it on automatic. He replayed Annabeth's warning in his head. Tried to think on how she would act in this situation.
"Oh you tease." Aphrodite clicked her tongue, as she playfully pouted.
"Huh?" Percy blinked at the non-sequitur, his concentration thrown off right away.
"Honestly, all of that from a stupid, stupid wonderful story game." Aphrodite huffed and looked away toward the river. Cheek resting on her hand, making Percy wanting to wipe that crestfallen look from her face.
Percy shook his head. He needed to focus. Find out what the goddess wants, do it quickly, so he can get back to the quest.
"Uh, agg, ahhh," Percy wanted to ask, why did the goddess want to talk to him.
She chuckled. "You're sweet."
"Beh?" Thank you?
"Tell me Percy, why are you on this quest?" Aphrodite finally said.
"To save Artemis." Percy blinked for a bit before he answered. Was the point of this quest known?
"Artemis, oh, please." Aphrodite rolled her eyes, as she waved her hand in a dismissive gesture. "Talk about a hopeless case. Always on and on about chasing some monster. Hunting some beast. Honestly, if a goddess should be kidnapped, shouldn't they choose the beautiful one?" She huffed. "I'd say let her stay kidnapped. More pity for those poor kidnappers if you think about it."
Percy felt out of his depth here. What was he suppose to say? His mom told him to compliment a woman when they feel bad? Maybe that would work.
"I mean, if they kidnapped you, Lady Aphrodite, they'd be too distracted to achieve their goals, and then you'd just end up commanding them against their leaders in the end." Percy said before shrugging. "So kidnapping a beautiful goddess probably isn't the best idea."
Aphrodite blinked as she looked at Percy. As if really acknowledging his presence now.
Then she laughed.
Aphrodite laughed long and hard, making the most beautiful sound Percy had ever heard. He wanted to stop being a demigod and just be a jester to bring her joy for eternity.
He shook his head, slamming a closed fist onto his knee to focus.
"Oh dear," Aphrodite smiled and sighed. "If I wasn't rooting for your ship, I'd consider taking you up right here and now. Maybe something good did come out of that game."
"Rooting for my what?" Percy blinked in confusion.
"Percy, truly, honestly, why are you in this quest?" Aphrodite asked with a kindly concern.
"To save Thalia," the words left his mouth before he could think them. "To help Annabeth, make sure she's safe." He blinked as he took in what he just said. Honesty felt compelled out of him. "I don't know when we'll meet again, so its nice to go on one last quest together."
Aphrodite sighed, a sad smile on her face. The river felt darker, less vibrant when he looked at it.
The goddess seemed displeased at his first answer, then grew thoughtful the more he talked.
"This really isn't going how I expected," Aphrodite said. "But," she smiled widely, and the world was brighter again. "This does open up a lot of possibilities. Maybe the game wasn't so bad after all. Harem routes are the most fun after all. Lots of joy, lots of love."
"Errr, what?" Percy sat up straight, looked alarmed.
"Yes, that's what I'll do. I thought a single focused romance would be best, but if that's not an option, why not go for one where everyone is happy~!" Aphrodite started to look excited.
"Um, yeah, everyone should be happy, but—"
"Good! We're in agreement." She giggled. "I Bless you Perseus Jackson, with a love that turns into harmony. Go forth and be the hero who can make the many girls you love happy."
"Wait! Wait, wait, wait! I don't feel like that, like... like love love to anyone. Yet, I mean, and—"
"It really was nice to meet you Percy. Let's talk again sometime. I'm here if you need any love advice. Don't give up on Annabeth just because the ultra prude got her, okay? Au revoir~."
Aphrodite waved her arm, and suddenly a stupefied Percy found himself outside the suite's door. Ares next to him looked amused as all hell.
"Percy!" Annabeth came to him, looking concern and check up all around him if he was hurt. "You look fine, everything okay?"
Zoe stayed behind letting them have their moment, while Bianca walked up to them.
"I..." Percy blinked staring at nothing.
"Everything turned out alright?" Bianca asked.
"I have absolutely no idea." Percy admitted, shaking his head.
"Oh, good." Annabeth let out a sigh of relief. "As long as you didn't do something to make her curse you, or bless you, you should be fine."
"..." Percy let out a low whine like a drowning fish.
"Percy? You didn't piss off the Goddess of Love and have her curse you, right?" Annabeth said pointedly.
"No. No, I'm fine." Percy squeaked. "Wasn't cursed. All good."
Annabeth let out a breath, then smiled and nodded at him.
"Okay. Good. All good then." She nodded. "Guess it's my turn?" Annabeth looked at a smirking Ares. He grunted and gestured for her to get a move on.
Annabeth smiled at the group and headed inside.
Silence filled the air. Percy went to stand at the ship's rail and look at the river. This thoughts running a hundred miles and hour.
"Hey," Bianca came and stood next to him. "She blessed you, didn't she?"
"...Yes." He squeaked.
"Hmm," Bianca nodded. "I have someone I lov—Like! Point is, don't drag me into your mess and I wish you luck in, what most definitely will be, a very interesting love life."
"I don't want an 'interesting love life'." Percy said. "I don't even know if I want a love life."
"There, there, I'm sure it will get better." Bianca patted him on the shoulder.
"Really?" Percy smiled with wide eyes, full of hope.
"No, you're screwed. Good luck." Bianca gave the brutal truth. Percy's expression fell at that. "Probably should tell Annabeth about the blessing soon to avoid any future headaches." She said.
A few minutes later a fuming Annabeth left the suite room. Seeing her safe, Zoe left to get lunch at the mini-bar.
"Hey, everything good?" Percy asked, as Annabeth came to lean on the guard rail next to him.
"Peachy."
"Right," he nodded. He wondered how to tell Annabeth on the blessing thing. "So anyways Aphrodite did bless me. Hopefully it all turns out well, wanna get lunch?" He just said everything quickly.
Annabeth looked at him with pure disbelief.
Then growled.
"So that's a yes to lunch, right?" Percy said, and power walked very quickly to the mini-bar. After a moment Annabeth went after him.
As for Bianca?
"Why wasn't there a Percy X Annabelle Route?!"
"Wow, you really are your children's mother. Not the conversation I expected but I really should have."
"It was so obvious how they compliment each other, that every route I thought, this is the one. But no! They never get together. And even in the Pandóra Route, which was basically the 'make Rachel's harem combination route', they still don't get together, even as part of Rachel's polycule! What was that? Some kind of sadistic romance denial you were making!?"
"Yes, they were too compatible, so we thought to subvert expectation by just having them be good friends. Mister—The Head Storyboarder said he'd make a different storyline from the Pandóra Route where Rachel and Fafnir have Byanka and Arachne in their polycule, where they meet up later on a different adventure and do get together."
"Aaah, yes, subverting expectation." Aphrodite spat out. "I'm starting to loath that trope. Seriously, I think I'm going to curse Hollywood so that any piece of romance media they make with that dumb trope, would bring disaster to whomever suggested it. Any director, or writer, or producer that dares using it from now on, will have to look behind their back in fear of my wrath. There will be superstition about anyone that dare think about using that stupid, idiotic, annoying, no good trope."
Aphrodite did not actually say that last line. She was far more colorful in her swearing.
Bianca of course, extremely wisely didn't tell the Love Goddess to calm down. That it was just a fictional story.
Lest Aphrodite turns her into fiction, or something equally Greek.
"I mean, there's now a lot of interest in that route. The writers are likely to make it a big deal later when it finally happens, right?" Bianca said diplomatically.
"Of course there is! As head of the PercyBelle Fanclub, I make damn sure interest in the route never wanes." Aphrodite was holding Japanese paper fans, one in each hand. One with the face of Game Percy and one with the fan of Game Annabeth. She was now wearing a shirt that had both faces and an 'X' between them, while they were in a heart.
Of course she was. Bianca deadpanned in her thoughts. And she has merch? WHAT THE FUCK!? Who sold it to her?
"But how does that help me get my Percy X Annabelle Ship now?"
What are you? A drug addict? Bianca wanted to scream.
"Isn't the satisfaction of getting something you've been anticipating for a long time, make it more rewarding?" Bianca offered as an answer.
"..." Aphrodite looked thoughtful.
"Annabeth is immortal—I mean Annabelle is a story character. And like you pointed out they are obviously compatible, so wouldn't she eventually get together with Percy in one of the many different timelines? It's practically guaranteed!" I'm so sorry Percy. "So... patience will just make the reward better in this case, right?"
"...Yes." Aphrodite said with a sigh. "Maybe I have been too hasty. If they are both immortal then there's no reason their ship can't eventually sail."
"Yes." Bianca nodded, hoping this discussion would finally end.
"Now, let's talk about the love I feel inside you, dear." Aphrodite grinned.
"Oh no." Bianca muttered.
"Oh yes~. Because for some reason I didn't know you had a love for anyone till I met you. And wow, that is a lot of beef."
"..." Bianca was looking down, covering her face with her hands, not meeting the goddess's eyes full of mirth. She let out a long whining squeak.
"Oh, I'm just teasing Bianca." Aphrodite said, she was leaning in while talking to the daughter of Hades. "But really, with all the naughty effort she already did—Yes, I can see that too."
"EEEK!"
Aphrodite laughed. "Oh, you're so precious." She smiled. "Really though, why haven't you confessed to him yet? I mean, a love between a demigod and a monster? One that's organically grown? I've never even knew that I wanted this."
"Stoooop!" Bianca whined.
The goddess giggled, but finally stopped teasing the poor demigod teenager.
"But really, you were already so brave, what made you hesitate? You can still call on him even now, so why don't you?" Aphrodite asked with a surprising gentle tone.
Bianca looked between her finger to see Aphrodite look at her patiently. Slowly Bianca lowered her hands, as she looked down thoughtfully.
"He's..." Bianca gathered her thoughts. "Asterios is so much older than me, I thought I should wait until I..." She looked down at her small budding breasts. "Mature a bit."
Aphrodite smiled fondly. "The minotaur is old, child. Old long enough that girls your age and size were the height of beauty." She said, hinting.
"Also, he saw me as someone to look after, I'm not sure if he feels the same way." Bianca looked aside.
"Bianca," Aphrodite spoke with a gentler, but firmer voice. "Love isn't something you should be shy about. It's something to pursue strongly, or you'll just end up living with regret for the rest of your life."
"I think..." Bianca looked up meeting the goddess's gaze. "He might love someone else. There were these notes, and I'm not sure if they were for a sequel game or—"
"Then fight for your love. Your right to be with him. Seek it anyways." Aphrodite affirmed.
"Shouldn't it be that, 'if you love someone let them go'?" Bianca said back.
"Denying your own feelings isn't noble, it's just masochistic for no reason. You should follow what your heart desires." Aphrodite waved her off.
"Isn't acting on your desire without love, just greed or envy?" Bianca pushed back.
"Semantics! Besides I am the Goddess of Love, Beauty and Desire, where one begins and one ends, even I don't know." Aphrodite chuckled and smiled. "Following a desire, leads to passion, leads to love. It is no different in this case." She said. "Also, the seven sins? You should not follow that Biblical system for ethics and virtues as a Greek Demigod. Trust me, it does not end well." She shook her head.
"It's pretty good system, what ethics should I use then?" Bianca asked with furrowed brows.
"Courage, Discipline, Justice and Wisdom. The Stoic system can work, if you want, although only the first two are best in my view." Aphrodite said, looking satisfied yet bring the topic to a close. "Regardless, it's been fun talking to one of the writers of Fate/Téras Konístra. Tell your dear Bullman, that I look forward to his future works, and I expect him to do the right thing." The Divine Beauty said pointedly.
"Yep, yes, definitely." Bianca rapidly nodded.
"Alright then," Aphrodite beamed. "And it seems like we reached your stop. Ta ta~."
The five questers were dropped in the desert in Arizona. There have no idea how they got there, when they were right in the middle of a river.
Looks like Aphrodite wasn't all that satisfied with her talk with the three demigods, and let Ares express some pettiness at the end.
Unbelievable! To think a child of Wisdom would let something so foolish like fear rule her thinking."
"Did you have to taunt Ares as we were leaving?" An exasperated Bianca sighed as the questers followed Zoe through the desert.
"It's not my fault he's an asshole. And you know he was intentionally making it difficult to not needle him. You felt his aura too, right?" Percy whined back.
"Yeah, I know, it's in his nature, but I won't fight a god unless they actively get in my way, and there's no other choice." Bianca said. "Or I'm somehow strong enough to fight them, and not suffer for it afterwards." She added.
"Well, I literally had no choice but to fight him in my first quest." Percy shrugged.
"...Wait, you mean like 'you literally had no choice', or 'were too pissed off to not consider another one'?" Bianca asked wide-eyed.
"No, seriously there literally was no other option." Percy nodded enthusiastically like a puppy. "It was either go through him, or the winter solstice starts without me returning the Master Bolt and World War Three God Edition starts."
"I'm all for letting your heart guide you, but fear? Fear isn't real. Danger is real."
"Oh, the bear thing. Yeah, that's a pretty neat way to know where you're going." Percy nodded to Zoe.
"Show some respect," Zoe looked offended. "It was a fine bear. A worthy opponent."
"You fought it?" Percy asked, wide-eyed as he looked between the stars in the sky, and back to Zoe.
Zoe facepalmed. Mostly to hide her embarrassment at his awe, and also in response to what she was sure this idiot boy was imagining. Being a battle between her and a gathering of stars. Somehow.
"Not the actual constellation, Jackson." Zoe groaned.
"Fought 'her', Percy." Annabeth chimed in.
"'Her'?" Percy blinked in confusion.
Annabeth looked at Zoe, who sighed and began to tell a story.
"Kallisto was once a proud Huntress. The best of us, our Lady Artemis best friend even." Zoe smiled fondly in remembrance, before her expression turned bitter. "But Zeus became attracted to her, and well as you'd expect..." She trailed off with a frown.
"Big thunder stuck his lightning in it?" Percy equally frowned, getting the implication.
Thunder rumbled in the sky above, even if it was a clear day in the Arizona afternoon.
Zoe snorted at the boy's audacity.
"As crude as that was, yes. Zeus transformed himself into our Lady Artemis, and approached Kallisto to seduce her." Zoe smiled proudly. "Kallisto of course rebuffed such advances, as she held on to her vows, even if it was Artemis herself telling her to forsake them." She then glared at the blue sky at the memory. "Zeus decided to take her anyways. That's when Kallisto discovered the deception." Zoe looked down, a hint of regret entering her eyes. "Kallisto should have went to Artemis and told her what happened. She should have, if she did then..."
Silence fell on the group.
"What happened?" Percy asked, feeling dread.
"Artemis and the Hunters eventually found out. Can't exactly hide a pregnancy for long." Grover chimed in.
"And Kallisto was punished." Annabeth said, looking down.
"Wait, what? But it wasn't her fault!" Percy protested.
Zoe smiled a bit at the response, before shaking her head.
"She still lied to Artemis. Had she come to her right away, she could have left the Hunt in peace, with full support of the goddess and us." Zoe said. "Because she lied for so long till the lie couldn't be upheld, she had broken her oaths to Artemis, and thus had to be punished. She was turned into a bear and left to roam the wild free, as long as she doesn't appear before the Hunters or Artemis again."
"That's bullshit!" Percy said right away. "Why in Hades should Kallisto be punished for something not her fault? She literally couldn't have done anything! Why in Hades did Artemis just punish her for something that stupid? Of course she was afraid, she thought she'd be hated by her friends for something not her fault!"
Indignant rage boiled up in Zoe Nightshade, at the callousness, this boy dared address her goddess with. Did he think Artemis felt no pain for being forced to punish Kallisto? That it was just something she did on a whim!? That she wasn't forced to pick the least bad out of worse options? Had Kallisto not been punished, it would have been open season on all the Hunters, using what happened to her as precedent, so that Artemis doesn't retaliate to her Hunters being violated.
"Because oaths are sacred, Percy," Annabeth answered before Zoe could explode. Her words deescalating the situation. "They are important, so gods can't just ignore it when they are broken, even if someone was innocent and was caught in the middle. Actions must have consequences, whether we like it or not."
"Well, what about the Big Three then?" Percy said. "All of them said not to have kids, but they still did and nothing happened to them." Bianca raised an eyebrow, and Percy blushed at accusing the Hades given he didn't violate any oath. He looked away, as he calmed down. "Except Hades, of course."
"But they did suffer for it." Annabeth said, making Percy and everyone look at her in surprise. "Thalia hates her father. Your father never got to be with you growing up. And above all, all three have to live with the uncertainty if it's their kid that will save or destroy Olympus. Are their children their family or their future enemy?" Annabeth said, shocking everyone with that point of view, as they didn't expect it. "That's a horrible fate to live with."
"...is not fair." Percy said in a low voice.
For a while the group continued on in silence, contemplating this new knowledge.
"Say..." Bianca spoke up after a while. "Zoe, you said Kallisto discovered the deception after the disguised Zeus forced himself on her. But if she discovered it afterwards, then she still had the disguise on?"
"Your point being?" Zoe raised an eyebrow, looking annoyed.
"Was Zeus in the guise of Artemis throughout the whole thing?" Bianca asked wide-eyed.
Zoe started to look visibly irritated.
"Yeah, probably, what of it?" Grover asked confused.
"Holy shit, Zeus literally became a futa just to seduce someone!" Biance cried out and thunder rumbled in the sky much more loudly now. Lightning even arching once or twice through the clear sky. "Oh what? What are you feeling indignant for, Uncle? Heck, if you did that today you'd probably have a fucking fanclub of degenerate fujoshis, given how much the internet corrupted people!"
Thunder... quietened. The sky seemed calmer now, and to the dread of the questers, they felt like the Sky God was actually considering Bianca's words.
Then to Bianca's horror, she felt a feeling of lightness fill her, as if her energy was renewed, and the sky became cloudy enough, that the desert started to have a pleasant breeze to it, rather than a scorching hot one.
"No. No no no no no no no no! Do not bless me for that information! I do not want the Queen of the Gods' attention on me! Uncle! Reverse this! Reverse this, please!" Bianca cried out.
"...Ooooh." Percy's eyes widened as in a surprising eureka moment, he understood what happened. "Oh you're screwed." He told her, with an amused gleam.
"Not the time, Jackson! Quick! Help me start a fire, so I can make sacrifices to Apollo so he can reverse this before the Queen finds out!"
Bianca's unpublished Fate/complete materials Vol.1 with Asterios' commentary, were accepted by Apollo, but he couldn't undo his dad's blessing. He did promise to help Bianca out immensely later on.
"Fear is illusionary, and you let that illusionary danger control your destiny. The Fates aren't coy or shy, child. If they want to give a prophecy, they will do so. Synchronicity is just them having fun, not them issuing proclamation of what's yet to be."
The questers found themselves before a junkyard. A literal mountain of junk that seemed to go on for miles.
"Hephaestus' junkyard." Annabeth commented.
"Remember, we can't take anything here, okay?" Bianca warned. "No matter how shiny or cool or unimportant, okay?" She repeated.
"The things gods throw away, are thrown for a reason. Anything here is probably a danger, even if you manage to keep it." Zoe affirmed Bianca's command.
"Right. Got it. Let's just go through till we reach a body of water, and call Bessie back." Percy nodded.
The questers forged through.
"But then that was yours and your mother's favorite vice. The succulent allure of declaring 'I have solved this puzzle. I am the smartest'."
How could I be so careless!? Annabeth berated herself as she ran away to the side, dodging the large foot of Talos. Or rather a faulty prototype of it.
The questers were fighting to bring down the faulty Talos, while running around it trying to survive.
All because of Annabeth.
Because she found a stupid Sopwith Camel model airplane.
Her dad constantly talked about the first world war. He had his miniature recreation of the Third Battle of Ypres. He was only missing one piece.
She had thought about Aphrodite's words, even if she didn't want to. Her mind constantly replaying them over and over, analyzing again and again.
That's what started this mess. She let her stupid sentimentality get the better of her.
Just like that stupid game, Fate/Téras Konístra.
The Lance character fight the Percy character? Just like in real life. They were friends that turned to enemies. That Lance tried to kill Percy before he summoned a Servant, is just like Luke offering Percy a place in the Titan Army, then fighting him when he refused because Percy was a child of the Big Three, and would eventually become truly strong.
Lance going after a Russian mob worshipping the Baba Yaga? It obviously points to Luke planning to destroy the Titan Army and Kronos. Fighting a symbol of darkness, it was obvious.
The Jason character trying to uncover his past and find his sister? It's obviously pointing to Thalia and her real living brother. That he's alive, with amnesia and subconsciously wants to find her.
The rest she's not sure about. Maybe they are people she'll meet in the future. Maybe other people will meet them.
And then there's her character, Annabelle Chaser. There isn't a more obvious parallel. A character that's only doing her duty, while wanting revenge against Byanka, and meets Percival fortuitously.
That... she isn't sure. Maybe Bianca will do something in the future Annabeth will hate her for? Maybe she already did and doesn't realize it? ...No, it's Hades. Hades sent those monsters after Thalia when they were chasing us seven years ago. That's the connection. Just as Byanka's grandfather is responsible for Annabelle's tragic past.
So that left Percival. Whom was only a good friend to Annebelle. There was no other connection.
And if Percy would just be her friend, then they can still do that while she was with the Hunters. Where there would be people always there.
Luke left, mad with revenge. Thalia... just accepted that. She didn't want Luke back, she wanted revenge against him for leaving them.
And her parents? Her stepmother blamed her for the monster. Her father just didn't understand.
And everyone was just so slow. Why couldn't they just see what she sees? Why couldn't they understand?
The only one who could, her mother, she wasn't always there. She has more important things. Godly things. Annabeth was sure.
Bianca's advice? It can only apply to a child of the Big Three. The rest of the demigods weren't so fortunate.
...Weren't so loved.
Annabeth didn't know what to do. How to fix this.
Grover made the power lines try to wrap around Talos' feet, but he just broke away from them. The power line hit some wooden rubbish and set it aflame.
Annabeth looked at the flames, and her mind sparked into action.
"Annabeth!" Percy shouted. "Come on, move!"
"I'll fix this!" She shouted back.
"Annabeth, it's fine!" Bianca shouted, as she darted around the battlefield, almost like a blur, slashing away at Talo's limbs, if he dared come close. Her shadow seemed to act like an ice sheet that she glided upon. "It's not your fault, these things happen."
"No, it is!" Annabeth shouted back. "I let my emotions blind me to how stupid it was to pick up this stupid model. So I'll fix it!" She ran to the flames, and ready to throw the Sopwith Camel into it as an offer. The image of her dad, of the family she never felt home with came to her mind. Of the home she wished she could have. Annabeth pushed through it and threw the model plane into the fire. "Lady Aphrodite, please, I'm sorry for any anger or displease I incurred. Please don't let my friends die for my mistakes." The flames ate the plane, but the plane didn't vanish as sacrifice usually do. "Please don't let Percy die." She whispered, begged.
The model plane vanished.
The group moved more energetically, more cohesively. Their second wind come in very strongly, as if they could fight for hours.
And they did.
Percy thought to try and destroy Talos from the inside, but Bianca shot down that idea, as the one who does it will inevitably die.
Bianca ordered them to hold on, as she felt like the tide would turn soon.
And it did.
As the sun nearly vanished on the horizon, the rays of sunlight started to gather upon the giant mechanized solider. As the last ray of light was upon the day, all of it intensified, and focused on a single point. Talos' swords hand.
An arrow of sunlight slammed into the mechanical giant's hand blasting it right off.
"Thank you, Lord Apollo!" Bianca shouted, and the group felt a thumbs up being given to them.
"It's still not down!" Zoe cried out.
"What do we do!?" Percy said back.
"Percy! Annabeth!" Bianca shouted getting their attention. "Make a giant fire and throw Talos' sword in it!" She commanded.
"What? What would that do?" Asked Percy.
"The most important power for a demigod to have is faith!" Bianca shouted as the shadows throw her up, dodging Talos' hand, and slashing his face, shocking the mecha giant, before landing back on the ground as if she weighted a feather. "The more important superpower!" She continued. "Is nepotism! We're sacrificing the damn sword to my father so he can deal with this!"
No one was sure if that's how it worked, or if Bianca was even right, but they were panicking, out of any options that didn't require self-sacrifice which Bianca forbade.
It was the easier option so they did it.
Grover had the scrap metal rise up from the ground as if like seedlings fast growing into tree. Annabeth spread the fires with oil arrows, and Percy gathered up all of his strength, and together with Grover and Annabeth they pushed the giant sword into the burning wall.
"Father!" Bianca cried out upon seeing them finish their part. "Please accept our sacrifice and help us take down Talos!"
The sword vanished.
Nothing happened.
Then Bianca's eyes widened as she felt a massive surge of power. She expanded her shadow to the largest extent she ever did. As wide as a building.
And from that large shadow, a massive sword was launched at near the speed of sound, and slammed into Talos' torso, driving it back, and thrown off its feet to fall down. The force was such that the head was broken off.
Talos fell to the ground with the loudest thud any of the demigods and satyr have heard.
Finally the battle was over. They had won. The questers regrouped so they'd be on their way.
"Okay," Percy panted. "Guess that's over for now."
"Dude!" Bianca said out loud, startling Percy. "Don't say stuff like that! Murphy is listening."
"Who's 'Murphy'?" Percy asked.
"She means Murphy's Law it's just a superstition." Annabeth said.
"What superstition?" Zoe asked.
"That anything that can go wrong, will go wrong." Bianca explained.
"It's not real though. It's probably just the gods doing things to mortals, and it seems like bad luck, nothing more." Annabeth insisted.
The junkyard started to rumble and quake.
"Come on! Come on! We can make it!" Percy shouted.
The trash mountain that was Hephaestus' junkyard had transformed into a labyrinth, trapping the questers inside. The walls started to form along with the ceiling too quickly.
Before Annabeth could react, the walls were starting to trap them. And by the time Zoe lead them to the edge of the junkyard, the mecha junk labyrinth was complete.
However before it fully closed, Annabeth managed to get the location of the exit. West. So she lead the group toward the exit.
However the junk labyrinth was infested with mechanical monsters. Failed creations of Hephaestus, like Colchis Bulls that would explode at random, or pitfalls like a real labyrinth or even s-s-spider drones that fly everywhere and hit them or the walls.
Annabeth pushed through it all to lead the group to the exit. They could see the light and were so close.
Grover tripped over his hooves. Some invisible wire, something caught onto his leg.
Percy went back for him. For one treacherous moment Annabeth wondered if it would be logical to leave them. Percy has Grover, and Aphrodite would make sure Percy survived, right?
"Annabeth, move!" Zoe shouted to her, as she reached the exit.
Annabeth moved.
She dashed to Grover's other side, helping Percy carry him as they ran for the exit, with the ceiling coming down on them.
"We're not gonna make it. Percy," Grover panted jump-running on one leg. "Percy, Annabeth, leave me, go!"
"Styx no!" Percy shouted.
They began to duck as the ceiling reach their height level now.
Bianca ran back for them.
She grabbed Grover and Percy by their shirts and threw them over the finish line.
Then she did the same with Annabeth before starting to sprint.
Annabeth fell on the sandy ground with a thud, and quickly got up.
Bianca was moved fast. Annabeth was even sure she felt lighter when Bianca grabbed her. Some kind of power to affect weight? The daughter of Athena wasn't sure how Bianca did it, but it obviously helped that daughter of Hades move faster.
Yet it was not enough. Bianca used her abilities the most in the fight with Talos, and helping them escape the junk labyrinth traps. She had nothing more to give, and Annabeth's damn divine mind could tell Bianca won't make it.
"Zoe!" Bianca shouted. Her grim face showing she knew that too. "Remember your promise!" The ceiling was now pushing down upon her.
"No!" Percy moved to grab the ceiling. Grover, Zoe and Annabeth went next to him doing the same.
"Everyone gets home, Zoe!" Bianca's voice came from under the giant ceiling closing the exit of the junk labyrinth. "Remember!"
Percy cried out in desperation, yet it felt like a whole mountain was empowering Hephaestus's mechashift labyrinth, to push down that ceiling.
Their fingers couldn't hold, and the exit to the Junkyard of the Gods was sealed.
The four quester stood stunned.
There was silence.
She was gone. Bianca was gone.
"Come on, we have to find another way in. Try and open up a path for her." Percy started walking around the mecha junk labyrinth. Upon seeing no one moving with him, he stopped and looked back confused. "Annabeth, Grover, Zoe, come on! We don't know how long Bianca can hold on—"
"Percy." Zoe spoke. Spoke with a gentler voice than Percy expected. "I'm sorry but she's gone." She began to cry.
"We don't know that—" Percy began to scream.
"'One shall be lost in the land without rain'. The prophecy, Percy." Annabeth said, tears falling down her face. "It came true and... and it's my fault. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Percy. I'm sorry, Bianca."
"No, it's not." Percy said, as he came to her side. "You don't know that. The model airplane? You got that for your dad, right? That's your emotions playing on you. You wouldn't have normally done that, so it's Aphrodite's curse, right?" He said getting angrier as he spoke. "You said she cursed you, then it's her fault. I shouldn't have trusted her, or expected her to be a nice god, but—"
"No." Annabeth cut him off, her voice wet and sputtering. She stopped him before he insulted the goddess and lost her favor. "It's my fault. That's my curse. I messed up."
"Go, Annabeth Chase. And take this curse of knowledge, that the path your life takes from now on has nothing to do with me. Your misery of an empty love will have nothing to do with any god, but by your own actions."
"No on else." Annabeth looked down, lost in her mind that began torturing on all the possibilities of the actions she could have taken, rather than what she did. "No one else."
The mecha junk labyrinth was quiet. With no one inside it, the traps were active.
There were no lights turned on for most of it.
And from one of those dark corners a young girl jumped out of the shadows onto the floor.
"Holy shit, that was close." Bianca panted as she laid down on the ground, catching her breath, and trying to calm down her racing heart. "Thank the gods shadow travel finally worked right."
She had been practicing that skill, but it didn't come as easily to get as it did Nico. She could control shadows just fine, but traveling through them was still a bit of a struggle.
"Thanks for the help, dad!" Bianca smiled as she was sure that extra bit of power she had, allowing her to succeed in shadow traveling, was from Hades making sure she escaped.
She felt a feeling of relief, and something that sounded like a grunt of someone barely giving acknowledgement.
Bianca rolled her eyes. Her father can be a tsundere at times.
"Now," Bianca stood up. "Time to get out. I got a feel for it, so I should be able..."
Bianca tried to shadow travel.
She hit a wall.
"Ow!" She rubbed her head, looked at the walls annoyed and gave it another shot. She hit the wall again. "Ow! The hell?"
Frowning, Bianca tried different things, traveling from shadow to shadow, going from one area to another. She just couldn't shadow travel outside.
"...Fuck." She finally spat out. "Okay, so I just need to find where the new exit sprung up. At least there should be one, given how these things work."
Bianca started walking, buster sword in hand trying to find the way out.
She walked for hours with no sign or clue as to where said exit was.
"I am most definitely lost, good job, me." Bianca said with false cheer, before sighing. "Fucking prophecy."
It would be a day later that the magical protections on the labyrinth would fail, allowing her to shadow travel directly out of the junk labyrinth.
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