The Child of Artemis

Chapter 15

"When should I ask her?"

"When will it be the right time?"

"What if she says no?"

These three questions had been clouding Jason's mind since the drive had started. He stared out his window, watching the rushing scenery, contemplating the answers.

"Jason, are you okay?"

He glanced over at Piper, who was looking at him with a concerned expression. "You look kind of... mad. Is everything alright?"

Jason looked at his reflection in the window. His eyebrows were furrowed, his lips a thin white line. No wonder Piper sounded worried. He looked angry.

"Yeah." He said with a sigh, turning back to her. "I'm just ready for the quest to be over with. I'm ready for some relaxing at the celebration." Piper smiled at him, then reached over and took his hand.

"We're almost to Mount Orthys. Luna will hold up the sky, and Atlas will defeat Prometheus. Then everything will be fine." She gave his hand a reassuring squeeze, her eyes dancing with hope.

"Hey, sorry to interrupt this sweet moment," Leo asked from the back, "But why are we going to Mount Orthys instead of trying to find Prometheus? To me, it would make more sense to find him first, then come to the Mountain." He looked at his friends. "At least, that's what I'm thinking."

"Because we don't know where Prometheus is." Annabeth replied. "The prophecy said he had escaped his end, so he is probably not in the Fields of Punishment anymore. And it would waste time trying to track him down, when Atlas could find him in minutes."

"Okay. But how do we know Atlas will agree to this? He might not take the sky back from Luna, or he could lie to us about Prometheus's whereabouts."

"Leo's right, for once." Percy spoke up. "Atlas probably won't be willing to hold up the sky again, or find Prometheus for us. They were on the same side in the War against Kronos."

"And remember the part about the goddess who's strength isn't gone? We don't even know what goddess is being held captive!"

The backseat broke into chaos, the five of them arguing. Frank have a hefty sigh, then pulled the SUV into a parking lot. He stopped the car, then turned to face the five of them. "Everyone, out." He ordered gruffly.

The demigods exchanges looks, but did as Frank said. It was a bit frightening to hear gentle Frank speak so harshly. Out of character, to the nth degree.

"Alright." He said, once they were all out. "This can't go on any longer."

They all stared at him. A little ways away, Pyron and Azura landed and transformed. They stride over quickly, with matching looks of curiosity.

"Why have we stopped?" Azura asked. "Is everything alright?" She looked over the group, seemingly checking for injuries.

"Yes. No. I don't know." Frank rubbed his forehead. "We stopped because we need a plan. We can't just go blindly into Mount Orthys and rely on our luck. We need a solid plan."

"He's right." Annabeth said. "We've just been relying on our luck. Frankly, I'm surprised we've come this far." She glanced at her fellow demigods. "We have five days left until the celebration. That's five days to defeat Prometheus. We need a plan."

A crash drew their collected attention. The group turned, and saw Luna coming toward them. She strode forward and went to stand by the Phoenix. "What's going on?"

Azura explained what was going on to her as best she could. Luna seemed to agree with her. Meanwhile, Annabeth had gone into strategizing mode. She was pacing back and forth, muttering to herself. Frank was talking quietly with Hazel, who looked worried.

Jason took all of this in, partly proud, partly anxious. Frank was right. They needed a plan.
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"Okay, here's what we know so far," Annabeth and Frank stood in front of the group, pointing to a poster Hazel had managed to find in the van. Annabeth had stuck it on the back window of the van, and now everyone had crowded around it. Written all over it was the prophecy and other bits of info.

"Prometheus has one of the goddess' chained up, and is using her for something. Based on past events, I'm going to take an educated guess and say that he's trying to become a god by absorbing her strength. But, we have no idea which goddess it is." Frank said.

"Actually, I had an idea. What if it's Artemis?" Annabeth suggested. "It would make sense. She spends a lot of time out in the wild, so it would be easier to capture her than some other goddess. But that's just a guess. It could be Hera who's being tortured for all we know."

"I can only dream." Piper heard Percy mutter under his breath. She suppressed a snicker. Unfortunately, Annabeth also heard him and shot him a dirty look.

"Moving on." Frank said oblivious to what was happening. "We also know that we're going to have to convince Atlas fight him while Luna holds the sky. And while I have no doubt that he'll want the break, he may not fight Prometheus once he's free. And on the off chance that he does, we don't even know where Prometheus will be."

The group was quiet, each of them mulling over this. The silence was broken by Leo, who shouted, "I'VE GOT IT!" Unfortunately, this startled Pyron, who was standing next to him. The Phoenix jumped and accidentally transformed into a bird of fire. He transformed back and glared at Leo.

"Leo, what do you mean, "You've got it"?" Frank asked. Leo was grinning excitedly, practically bursting with energy.

"I know how we can find Prometheus! We can use one of my scrolls!" He produced the said scroll from his tool belt pocket. "We could get Luna to record a message saying that she is older now and wants to serve him and that he can meet her at the mountain. Then, when he arrives, we will get Atlas to attack him while Luna holds up the sky, and we free Artemis!" He finished with a dramatic flourish. "What do you think?" They all looked to Annabeth, waiting to hear her verdict.

Annabeth tapped a finger against her chin thoughtfully. Slowly, she answered, "Leo, that might actually work!" She grinned at the group. "Looks like we have a plan!"

"Awesome. Luna and I can record the message now, then I can rig up some tiny helicopter blades or something so that the scroll will find him. Then, we can head to the Mountain."
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