( chapter thirty-one )

in which another family reunion takes place
( but this one is way, way worse )

"CAN'T THIS THING GO ANY FASTER?" Thalia demanded. 

Zoë glared at her. "I cannot control traffic." 

"Some people just don't deserve a driver's license!" Nia complained as Zoë swerved the car to avoid a reckless driver. Nia rolled down the window, stuck her head out, and yelled, "Maniac!"

"You all sound like my mother," Percy said. 

"Shut up!" all three of them said in unison.

True to her word, Nia had immediately taken the shotgun seat in the VW while Thalia and Percy were sitting in the backseat.

Zoë weaved in and out of traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge. The sun was sinking on the horizon when they finally got into Marin County and exited the highway. The roads were insanely narrow, winding through forests and up the sides of hills and around the edges of steep ravines. Zoë didn't slow down at all.

"Why does everything smell like cough drops?" Percy asked. 

Zoë pointed to the huge trees all around them. "Eucalyptus."

"The stuff koala bears eat?" 

"And monsters," she said. "They love chewing the leaves. Especially dragons." 

Nia paused, then looked at Zoë. "Dragons chew eucalyptus leaves?" 

"Believe me," said Zoë, "if you had dragon breath, you would chew eucalyptus too."

Nia didn't question her, but she did keep her eyes peeled more closely as they drove. Ahead of them loomed Mount Tamalpais. It was a small one in terms of mountains, but it looked huge as they were driving toward it. 

"So that's the Mountain of Despair?" Percy asked. 

"Yes," Zoë said tightly. 

"Why do they call it that?"

Zoë was silent for almost a mile before answering him. "After the war between the Titans and the gods, many of the Titans were punished and imprisoned. Kronos was sliced to pieces and thrown into Tartarus. Kronos's right-hand man, the general of his forces, was imprisoned up there, on the summit, just beyond the Garden of the Hesperides."

"The General," Percy said. Clouds seemed to be swirling around its peak, as though the mountain was drawing them in, spinning them like a top. "What's going on up there? A storm?" 

Zoë didn't answer him, but Nia got the feeling she knew exactly what the clouds meant, and she didn't like it. 

"We have to concentrate," Thalia said. "The Mist is really strong here." 

"The magical kind or the natural kind?" Percy asked. 

"Both." 

Nia grumbled, crossed her arms, and sat back in her seat. "Great. This day just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it?"

The gray clouds swirled even thicker over the mountain, and Zoë kept driving straight toward them. They were out of the forest now, into wide open spaces of cliffs and grass and rocks and fog.

Percy glanced out the window and jumped out of his seat. "Look!" 

"What?" Thalia asked. "What is it?"

"A big white ship," Percy said. "Docked near the beach. It looked like a cruise ship." 

Nia's eyes widened as she tried to look back, but they'd already turned the corner. "Luke's ship?" 

Percy shrugged nonchalantly, but his facial expression told a different story. "Maybe; maybe not."

But everyone in the car shared glances. It was no good being naive. It was more likely that that white cruise ship was the Princess Andromeda. 

"We will have company, then," said Zoë grimly. "Kronos's army."

Nia threw her hands up in exasperation. "Can things get any worse?" Then, almost as if on cue, the hairs on the back of Nia's stood straight up.

"Stop the car!" Thalia shouted. "NOW!" 

Zoë must've sensed something was seriously wrong, because she slammed on the brakes without question. The yellow VW spun twice before coming to a stop at the edge of the cliff. 

Immediately, Nia's instincts took control. The daughter of Artemis shoved open the door and threw herself out of the car. She rolled on the pavement.

The next second: BOOOM!

Nia tried to remember what her mother had told her to do if there was ever a fire: "Stop, drop, and roll!"

She hurriedly dragged herself away from the car on her hands and knees, trying to put as much distance as possible between her and the VW.

Lightning flashed, and Dr. Chase's Volkswagen erupted like a canary-yellow grenade. Nia heard a sound like metal rain, and when she looked back, she was greeted with wreckage. Part of the VW's fender had impaled itself in the street. The smoking hood was spinning in circles. Pieces of yellow metal were strewn across the road.

Nia hoped that the Chases' had a good car insurance company.

Suddenly, someone grabbed Nia's arm and dragged her to her feet. Zoë Nightshade's worried face appeared in front of Nia's. "Nia! Are you all right?"

Nia nodded clumsily and swallowed the taste of smoke out of her mouth. "I think so. Thanks."

Zoë nodded, clearly satisfied as she was sure that Nia wasn't dead. "You are welcome. Now... We have arrived. We will have to find Percy and Thalia when the smoke dies down." She half-carried, half-dragged Nia away, using herself as Nia's support.

"I take back what I said before," Nia groaned as she clutched Zoë's arm to try to gain her balance. "Things can get way worse."

Suddenly, the two heard a voice shout, "Nia! Zoë!"

Percy! Nia sighed with relief. That meant that Thalia was probably OK, too.

Zoë hurriedly grabbed Percy's arm and hissed, "Silence, fool! Do you want to wake Ladon?"

"You mean we're here?"

"Very close," she said. "Follow me."

Sheets of fog were drifting right across the road. Zoë stepped into one of them, and when the fog passed, she was no longer there. 

Thalia, Percy, and Nia all looked at each other.

"So that's not creepy at all," muttered Nia.

"Concentrate on Zoë," Thalia advised. "We are following her. Go straight into the fog and keep that in mind."

After taking a deep breath, Nia stepped into the Mist after Zoë. 

When the fog finally cleared, Nia was still on the side of the mountain, but the road was dirt. The grass was thicker. The sunset made a bloodred slash across the sea. The summit of the mountain seemed closer now, swirling with storm clouds and raw power. There was only one path to the top, directly in front of her. And it led through a lush meadow of shadows and flowers: the garden of twilight.

IF IT HADN'T BEEN FOR THE ENORMOUS DRAGON, the garden would've been the most beautiful place she'd ever seen. 

The grass shimmered with silvery evening light, and the flowers were such brilliant colors they almost glowed in the dark. The moon was starting to show its light and Nia instantly felt stronger. She was glad; she had a feeling that she would need an extra boost and even her cool power for what was coming.

Stepping stones of polished black marble led around either side of a five-story-tall apple tree, every bough glittering with golden apples. As soon as Nia smelled their fragrance, she knew that one bite would be the most delicious thing she'd ever tasted. 

Then Nia shook off the feeling. She could almost hear Annabeth's voice in her head: Menacing things in the immortal world were life-threatening, but appealing things were even more dangerous.

"The apples of immortality," Thalia said. "Hera's wedding gift from Zeus." 

Fortunately for Nia and her friends, the enormous dragon coiled around the tree stopped them from taking anything. The serpent's body was as thick as a booster rocket, glinting with coppery scales. He had more heads than Nia could count, as if a hundred deadly pythons had been fused together. He appeared to be asleep. The heads lay curled in a big spaghetti-like mound on the grass, all the eyes closed. 

Then the shadows in front of Nia and her friends began to move. There was beautiful, eerie singing, like voices from the bottom of a well. 

Four figures shimmered into existence, four young women who looked a lot like Zoë. They all wore white Greek chitons. Their skin was like caramel. Silky black hair tumbled loose around their shoulders. 

It was strange, but Nia had never really realized just how beautiful Zoë was until she saw her siblings, the Hesperides. (Nia had always been too focused on how much Zoë irritated her.) They looked just like Zoë -- gorgeous, and probably very dangerous. 

"Sisters," Zoë said. 

"We do not see any sister," one of the girls said coldly. "We see three half-bloods and a Hunter. All of whom shall soon die." 

"You've got it wrong." Percy stepped forward. "Nobody is going to die." 

The girls studied him. They had eyes like volcanic rock, glassy and completely black. "Perseus Jackson," one of them said. 

"Yes," mused another. "I do not see why he is a threat." 

"Who said I was a threat?"

The first Hesperid glanced behind her, toward the top of the mountain. "They fear thee. They are unhappy that this one has not yet killed thee." She pointed at Thalia. 

"Tempting sometimes," Thalia admitted. "But no, thanks. He's my friend." 

"There are no friends here, daughter of Zeus," the girl said. "Only enemies. Go back." 

Nia's eyes narrowed. "Not without my mother and friend." 

The second Hesperid tilted her head at Nia. "Diana Kamaria, daughter of Artemis. Interesting."

"She has potential," the third said, "but not much sense. Turn back."

To Nia's surprise, she found that her actual name -- Diana -- didn't bother her as much as it used to anymore. "Sorry; not an option."

"We must approach the mountain," said Zoë.

"You know he will kill thee," the girl said. "You are no match for him." 

"Artemis must be freed," Zoë insisted. "Let us pass."

The girl shook her head. "You have no rights here anymore. We have only to raise our voices and Ladon will wake." 

"He will not hurt me," Zoë said. 

"No? And what about thy so-called friends?" 

Then Zoë did the last thing anyone expected. She shouted, "Ladon! Wake!" 

The dragon stirred, glittering like a mountain of pennies. The Hesperides yelped and scattered. The lead girl said to Zoë, "Are you mad?" 

"You never had any courage, sister," Zoë said. "That is thy problem." 

The dragon, Ladon, was writhing now, a hundred heads whipping around, tongues flickering and tasting the air. Zoë took a step forward, her arms raised. 

"Zoë, don't," Thalia said. "You're not a Hesperid anymore. He'll kill you." 

"Ladon is trained to protect the tree," Zoë said. "Skirt around the edges of the garden. Go up the mountain. As long as I am a bigger threat, he should ignore thee." 

"Should," Percy said. "Not exactly reassuring." 

"It is the only way," Zoë insisted. "Even the four of us together cannot fight him."

Nia pursed her lips. "Zoë, this is a bad idea and you know it!"

Suddenly, Ladon opened his mouths. The sound of a hundred heads hissing at once sent a shiver down Nia's back, and that was before his breath hit her. The smell was like acid mixed with eucalyptus leaves. It made Nia's eyes burn, her skin crawl, and her hair stand on end.

Nia immediately wanted to shoot arrows left and right, but then she remembered that this was Zoë's old home, her home court. If anyone would know how to get around the dragon, it would be Zoë. 

So Nia decided to trust Zoë's judgment. 

Thalia went left. Nia and Percy went right. Zoë walked straight toward the monster. 

"It's me, my little dragon," Zoë said. "Zoë has come back."

Ladon shifted forward, then back. Some of the mouths closed. Some kept hissing. Dragonconfusion. 

Meanwhile, the Hesperides shimmered and turned into shadows. The voice of the eldest whispered, "Fool." 

Nia muttered under her breath, "Bitches."

"I used to feed thee by hand," Zoë continued to Ladon, speaking in a soothing voice as she stepped toward the golden tree. "Do you still like lamb's meat?

The dragon's eyes glinted. Thalia, Percy, and Nia were about halfway around the garden. Ahead, Nia could see a single rocky trail leading up to the black peak of the mountain. The storm swirled above it, spinning on the summit like it was the axis for the whole world. 

They'd almost made it out of the meadow when something went wrong. Nia felt the dragon's mood shift. Maybe Zoë had gotten a little too close for the dragon's liking. Maybe the dragon realized he was hungry. Whatever the reason, he lunged at Zoë. 

Two thousand years of training kept her alive. She dodged one set of slashing fangs and tumbled under another, weaving through the dragon's heads as she ran, gagging from the monster's horrible breath. 

Nia transformed her hunting bag into her bow and arrows while Percy drew Riptide to help Zoë, but the Hunter shook her head.

"No!" Zoë panted. "Run!"

The dragon snapped at her side, and Zoë cried out. Thalia uncovered Aegis, and the dragon hissed. In his moment of indecision, Zoë sprinted up the mountain, and Nia, Percy, and Thalia followed. 

The dragon didn't try to pursue them. He hissed and stomped the ground, but he was well trained to guard that tree. He wasn't going to be lured off, even by the tasty prospect of eating some heroes. 

They ran up the mountain as the Hesperides resumed their song in the shadows behind them. The music didn't sound so beautiful to Nia now -- more like the soundtrack for a funeral.

AT THE TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN WERE RUINS, blocks of black granite and marble as big as houses. Broken columns. Statues of bronze that looked as though they'd been half-melted. 

"The ruins of Mount Othrys," Thalia whispered in awe. 

"Yes," Zoë said. "It was not here before. This is bad." 

"What's Mount Othrys?" Percy asked.

"The mountain fortress of the Titans," Zoë said. "In the first war, Olympus and Othrys were the two rival capitals of the world. Othrys was--" She winced and held her side. 

"You're hurt," Percy said. "Let me see." 

"No!"

"Zoë--" Nia started to protest, but Zoë cut her off.

"I promise; it is nothing. I was saying... in the first war, Othrys was blasted to pieces."

"But... How is it here?" Thalia looked around cautiously as they all picked their way through the rubble, past blocks of marble and broken archways. 

"It moves in the same way that Olympus moves. It always exists on the edges of civilization. But the fact that it is here, on this mountain, is not good." 

Nia looked over at Zoë. "How come?" 

"This is Atlas's mountain," Zoë said. "Where he holds--" She froze. Her voice was ragged with despair. "Where he used to hold up the sky." 

They had reached the summit. A few yards ahead of them, gray clouds swirled in a heavy vortex, making a funnel cloud that almost touched the mountaintop, but instead rested on the shoulders of a woman with auburn hair and a tattered silvery dress: Artemis, her legs bound to the rock with celestial bronze chains. 

Immediately, Nia realized what the scene was. It hadn't been a cavern roof that her mother was being forced to hold. It was the roof of the world. 

"Mom!" Nia rushed forward first, even before Zoë, but Artemis said, "Stop! It is a trap. You must leave now."

Her voice was strained. She was drenched in sweat. The weight of the sky was clearly too much for Artemis. Nia felt rage building up. Her fingernails dug crescents into her palms from clenching her fists so hard. Someone had taken her mother and tied her up in chains, leaving her to bear the weight of the literal sky.

And that someone was going to pay.

Zoë was crying and Nia could hear her heart pounding in her chest. Both of them ran forward despite Artemis's protests, and tugged at the chains. 

A booming voice spoke behind them: "Ah, how touching." 

The General was standing there in his brown silk suit. At his side were Luke and half a dozen dracaenae bearing the golden sarcophagus of Kronos. Annabeth stood at Luke's side. She had her hands cuffed behind her back, a gag in her mouth, and Luke was holding the point of his sword to her throat. 

Nia gave Luke a murderous glare, trying to scream a thousand curses, then met Annabeth's eyes, trying to ask her a thousand questions. There was only one message she was sending, though: RUN.

"Luke," Thalia snarled. "Let her go." 

Luke's smile was weak and pale. His blonde hair practically looked gray, as if he'd aged twenty years in just a few months. The angry light in his eyes was still there, and so was the scar down the side of his face, where a dragon had once scratched him. But the scar was now ugly red, as though it had recently been reopened.

"That is the General's decision, Thalia. But it's good to see you again." 

Thalia spat at him. Nia's silver eyes flashed and Luke winced slightly. He had always been sort of wary of Nia's glares. "You absolute piece of garbage."

"Hey, Nia," Luke nodded at her. "Been a while."

Nia pursed her lips and gripped her dagger. "Not long enough, apparently."

The General chuckled. "So much for old friends. And you, Zoë. It's been a long time. How is my little traitor? I will enjoy killing you." 

"Like hell, you will," Nia snarled at the General.

"Do not respond," groaned Artemis. "Do not challenge him."

"Wait a second," Percy said. "You're Atlas?"

The General glanced at him. "So, even the stupidest of heroes can finally figure something out. Yes, I am Atlas, the general of the Titans and terror of the gods. Congratulations. I will kill you presently, as soon as I deal with this wretched girl."

"You're not going to hurt Zoë," Percy said. "I won't let you."

Atlas sneered. "You have no right to interfere, little hero. This is a family matter." 

Nia furrowed her brows. "A family matter?"

"Yes," Zoë said bleakly. "Atlas is my father."

NIA NEARLY CHOKED. Atlas? Zoë's father?  A part of Nia immediately rejected any similarities between the -- shudder -- father and daughter.

The horrible thing was -- if Nia was being honest -- she could totally see the family resemblance. Atlas had the same regal expression as Zoë, the same cold proud look in his eyes that Zoë sometimes got when she was mad, though on him it looked a thousand times eviler. He was all the things Nia had originally disliked about Zoë, with none of the good she'd come to appreciate about her.

"Let Artemis go," Zoë demanded.

"Now," Nia emphasized, though she didn't really know what threatening a Titan would do.

Atlas walked closer to the chained goddess. "Perhaps one of you would like to take the sky for her, then? Be my guest."

The idea didn't sound half-bad, at least to Nia. It would at least allow her mother to have a break. She opened her mouth to speak, just as Zoë was doing, but Artemis immediately said, "No! Do not offer, either of you! I forbid it."

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."

Nia looked over at Annabeth. She was desperately trying to say something, trying to get them to understand. She motioned her head toward Luke. 

Nia figured that Annabeth had a plan -- she always did -- but all she could do was stare. Nia hadn't noticed before, but something about her best friend had changed. Annabeth's blonde hair was now streaked with gray.

"From holding the sky," Thalia muttered. "The weight should've killed her."

"I don't understand," said Percy. "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 Gaia 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 paused, then smiled. "Unless someone takes it from you."

Nia instantly understood everything. Luke had taken the burden from Atlas and used the fact that Annabeth still cared about him to get her to take the weight. Atlas had known that Artemis wouldn't be able to resist helping a young maiden, especially since Annabeth was one of Artemis's daughter's friends. However horrible the whole thing was, Nia had to admit that it was well thought out.

That didn't stop her from wanting to stab Atlas and Luke in their jugulars.

Atlas approached slowly, studying Nia, Thalia, and Percy. "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."

Atlas's eyes glowed with hatred. Percy had obviously struck a nerve. With difficulty, Atlas turned his attention to Thalia and Nia.

"As for you, daughter of Zeus, daughter of Artemis, it seems Luke was wrong about you two." 

"I wasn't wrong," Luke managed. He looked terribly weak, and he spoke every word as if it were painful. If Nia didn't hate his guts so much, she almost would've felt sorry for him. "Nia, you can still join us. You too, Thalia. Call the Ophiotaurus. It will come to you. Look!"

He waved his hand, and next to us a pool of water appeared: a pond ringed in black marble, easily big enough for Bessie.

"Thalia, call the Ophiotaurus," Luke persisted. "And you will be more powerful than the gods." 

"Luke..." Thalia's 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."

Desperate, Nia's eyes pleaded with Luke's. Even with how much she hated his guts, even with everything... Luke Castellan was still once part of her family. "Luke, don't do this."

"If you two join me," Luke promised them, "it can be like old times. The four of us together. Fighting for a better world. Please, Thalia, Nia... 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." 

Nia didn't know what the hell Luke was talking about, but the fear in his voice sounded real enough. She truly believed that Luke was in danger.

"Do not, Thalia, Nia," Zoë warned them. "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. Behind Luke, the golden sarcophagus began to glow. As it did, Nia saw images in the mist all around them: black marble walls rising, the ruins becoming whole, a terrible and beautiful palace rising, made of fear and shadow.

"We will raise Mount Othrys right here," Luke promise, in a voice so strained it was hardly his. "Once more, it will be stronger and greater than Olympus. Look. We are not weak."

He pointed toward the ocean. 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, hellhounds, harpies, and other things that Nia couldn't even name. The whole ship must've been emptied, because there were hundreds, many more than she'd seen on board last summer. And they were marching toward them. 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, Nia hesitated. She gazed at Luke, her eyes full of pain. The only thing she wanted in the world was to believe him. Nia wanted the life that she had when she seven, the life with her ragtag family of four, all of them running from their complicated family lives and just trying to stay alive every day.

Thalia and Nia glanced at each other, each wanting the other to help them believe in what Luke was saying. But, through one look, the both of them knew what their answer was.

Thalia leveled her spear. "You aren't Luke. We don't know you anymore." 

"Yes, you do," pleaded Luke. "You both do."

"No." Nia drew her dagger, her jaw set. "And you don't know us anymore either."

"Please," Luke begged them. "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. Nia met Annabeth's eyes again. The daughter of Athena nodded. 

Nia looked at Percy, Thalia, and Zoë, her companions for barely a week, but they had been through so much together. All of them meant so much to Nia in different ways. She decided that it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world to die fighting with friends like this. 

"Now," Percy said. 

Nia nodded. "Together."

And together, they charged.

happy pride month everybody! 

i hope that all of you are having a fantastic pride month and i love and support each and every one of you -- out and proud or closeted. pride month is for all of us, so that hesitate to take some time and love yourself!

on this chapter, i hope you've enjoyed this one! we're almost to the end guys! sorry to leave you on a bit of a cliffhanger here, though... 

the next chapter will probably be up next week, if that makes you feel any better

and with that, my dear readers, i leave you for now

talk soon!

-icedcoffeemug