Glory of Hera [On hold]

Chapter XV

Chapter XV: 3rd PoV
"Ah yes, unfortunately time is the one thing you don't have."

Out of the shadows stepped a towering figure. With looks akin to both an army general and Zoë, all quickly deduced his identity. Atlas.

"How are you free from the sky?" A curious Nico asked, drawing unwanted attention to himself.

"Oh, I have a...spoil of war. She came looking for a certain flower on these mountains. It was quite easy to coerce her under the sky." Atlas moved aside, revealing a small figure.

After a moment, and a quick look into her eyes, Percy realized who she was. "Tia?"

The unknown girl from the fire lay in front of him, struggling to hold to weight of the sky.

"Percy, the bolt!" She nodded her head urgently towards the sky she was holding. And there it was, resting in the sky. Clouds swirled around the huge metal cylinder, brewing a storm. One could only get it out if they were holding the sky. And Tia was barely able to do that.

Not wasting a moment, Percy sprinted over to her and shoved her out of the way. Taking her place beneath the clouds.

For a moment they held it together, and Percy's body felt as though it was on fire. And when she was out of the way completely....there truly is no way to describe physical pain. All you can do is create half-metaphors that still cannot truly capture your agony.

So make up and number of painful situations, it won't even come close to what the demigod was feeling. Imagine a blowtorch shooting inside your veins. Think of getting mauled by a wildcat. Of holding the edge of a mountain as wildebeests stampeded below and your own brother won't help you up so you fall and die and your own son blames himself.

Even the pain of Mufasa won't compare to his.

Just before his vision went black, Percy saw flames, white hot and powerful. Stay strong. A comforting presence entered his mind. Tia used jets of fire to direct the Titan of endurance in the perfect position.

And Zoë delivered the final blow. With an almighty kick onto her fathers scorched chest she sent him toppling into Percy, who grabbed the bolt at the last second before he was knocked out from under the sky.

At the last moment, an enraged Atlas hurled his sword. The blade was headed towards Nico, until Bianca stepped in front.

"No!" A huntress cried from from across the room. "There will be no more loss of innocent life."

Time seemed to bend around her as Zoë sprinted over and shoved the young girl who had hated her with passion until less than an hour ago. And she managed to knock the hilt out of the way, leaving nothing more then a mark similar to rugburn across her palm.

Nevertheless, Zoë promptly collapsed. A dazed Percy rushed over to her fallen form. None had realized it, but her bite from Ladon was causing her much more pain then she had let on.

"No," Percy muttered.

"I'm sorry." She responded. "But I want you to know...you're nothing-" She gritted her teeth to try to stop the pain. "Nothing like Heracles. And you,"

She turned to Bianca. "We could've been sisters. We wasted....so much time."

Nico was silently crying in the back, but a loud chocking sob drew Zoe's attention to him. "Young one, stay strong. Stick by Percy and I do believe you can become a truly honorable man.

Her head tilted back and she looked at the moon. "Forgive me my lady."

"No," Percy said once more, unable to believe it. "There was only supposed to be one death!" He was physically shaking from grief. "How could I have lost two? No, this isn't fair!"

"You're shouting." Tia quietly reminded him. She gave Percy a deep hug that sent waves of calm rushing through him.

"I-I don't understand. A death and a falsity....a death. Only one! We've lost two."

"Prophecies often have double meanings," Tia gently reminded him. "Maybe the falsity was that there as only one death. Either way, we must go to Olympus. The council must be informed of all recent changes."

"How will we get there?" A distraught Bianca questioned. Percy was in no position to do so, he was currently curled up, clutching his head. "Why do they keep leaving?" He whispered over and over.

"I can transport all of you back to Olympus." A new voice offered. They turned to see the goddess Artemis. She crouched to the ground and cradled Zoë in her arms. Her lieutenant looked up at her with glazed eyes that would never see again.

"Stay immortal in the stars, my faithful huntress." Artemis waved her arms and Zoë's body disappeared, a new light shone in the sky above. A constellation depicting Zoë, who would live forever in the sky.

LineBreak
"Kronus is rising." Tia argued firmly. The gods were voting on what to do. The lord of the skies was siting on his throne, bolt in hand, wife at his side. He had everything he needed, except one thing.

"I want that boy dead. Have you seen his sword, he's destined to be a candidate for the child of the prophecy."

The boy in question, Percy, was standing upright, a defiant look in his eyes. Tear tracks were marked down his cheeks, and his hair was a mess, but he was not going to stand for this crap.

"I just brought you back your bolt, preventing a civil war on Olympus. And I may be the key to you winning another one. Since I may be the prophecy child, do you really want to anger me more? You guys haven't even climbed down from your egos and claimed me."

The tension in the room was thick. And the air was heavy with the smell of ozone as a red-faced Zeus glared at Percy. "YOU DARE-"

He was cut off by Athena. "He makes some good points father. And his mother is my legacy, making him distantly related to me. I will not let you kill a grandchild of mine. So one of you just buck up and claim him!"

"Not mine." Hades was the first to speak. "Though I will say that the other two are." He threw it out casually.

Zeus looked about ready to explode. "WHAT?"

Hades shrugged, infuriating the lord of the skies. "If you kill them I will fade you and make sure that when you return you rot in Tarturus."

Before Zeus decided who to smite, Poseidon spoke up, "I hate to say it brother, but he's not mine either."

All eyes turned to Zeus, who violently shook his head. "The upstart isn't mine."

"You know, when we refer to gods and goddesses we just use the plural word gods. He could very well be one of the ladies. I don't believe Demeter has ever had a demigod child make it past the age of fifteen, and Hestia and Hera have no demigod children that I know of."

All saw the logic in this. "Is he yours then, sister?" The sea God questioned Demeter. For a moment Percy almost hoped she was. Then Katie really would be his sister, and he wouldn't lose her like he'd lost Lou. Unfortunately, Demeter also denied him being her's.

"Sorry kid," Ares growled in a voice that showed he wasn't sorry at all. "Guess we might as well kill you."

"No one else will die today!" Artemis stated firmly. "However I do have one more announcement. Due to recent events I find myself lacking a lieutenant for my hunt. There is one here who I believe will fill that position quite nicely. Bianca? Would you like to become the hunts newest member?"

Without so much as a backwards glance at Percy or her brother, the daughter of Hades bounded forward and was sworn into the hunt.

"PARTY TIME!" Apollo called happily, pulling out his lyre and a pair of sunglasses.