Unlikely Heroes

Chapter 77: The Titan's Curse

We trudge our way up the mountain. The winding path leads us to our foe. I expected a mountain forest to be up here or just rocks, but I see granite blocks, broken columns, and statues of bronze. A large ruin is present on this mountain. I have a bad feeling about this place.

"This isn't good... the ruins of Mount Othrys," Thalia says as she looks to the ruined stronghold.

"Yes. This is a bad omen. These ruins weren't here before," Zoe says.

"Mount Othrys? What's that?" Percy and Nico ask. I sigh softly in uneasiness. This place only spells out that the conflict nears. No other meaning can be gathered from it.

"This was the capital of the Titans. Their stronghold. During the war of the Titans and Gods, there were two capitals that rivaled each other. Othrys is the one where the Titans resided and Olympus with the Gods. The final battle of the war took place here," Zoe explains.

"So, it is now here... Why is it here?" Percy asks.

"The same reason as why Olympus is here, Percy. It moves with Western civilization. But it being here is bad," Thalia says as we pass through the ruins of the Titan fortress. We pass broken archways, huge blocks of granite, and symbols that I do not know the meaning of.

"It is bad because this is where Atlas is?" Nico says hesitantly. Zoe nods solemnly. "Yes. This is where he holds the sky up... or used to hold it up," she says and looks with horror at the scene that is shown.

We have reached the summit of the mountain. To our horror we see Artemis holding up the sky. She looks drained of her energy. Her clothes are tattered and wounds are visible on her back, Golden Ichor dripping from her wounds. Someone took clear satisfaction by torturing her while she held the sky up. Then I see a horrible sight that fills my eyes with tears of anguish.

Next to Artemis lay an unconscious Annabeth. Her clothes ripped in places. The skin looks sickly white as if she was a corpse. Annabeth's golden hair has streaks of gray swimming through the golden flocks. My heart clenches in pain and failure as I see her laying there. The only sign of life was the slow rising of her chest.

Zoe looks equally pained as she sees Artemis in her current state. She was on the verge of crying. Percy and Thalia seem shocked by what they witness. This is maddeningly painful to see.

"Annabeth!" I call out in despair and pain. My legs were about to sprint towards her when Artemis warned us to stay back.

"Stop! It's a trap. Leave, you must leave!" Artemis says in a strained voice.

The words barely register as my gaze is fixed on Annabeth. There is no way I am leaving. I run to my wife to help her in any way I could. Zoe was close behind me as she soon tugged and pried on Artemis' chains. I look at my beloved. Deep black circles are under the eyes. Her breathing is ragged and painful for her. The skin is so white as if someone has drained the life out of her. I feel like a failure. I should have protected her.

In a strong downward swing of my blade, I cut the bronze chains attached to her legs. Darkness had to be used or I would not have been able to penetrate the metal. I place Annabeth's head gently on my lap caressing her cheeks affectionately.

"I am here, my love. Please stay with me. Forgive me for being so slow," I plead to her. Her eyes open briefly but soon closed out of sheer exhaustion. I placed the backpack down, but before I could do anything else someone spoke in a booming and loud voice.

"Ah, how touching," a male's voice says to us.

My gaze goes up and I see a well-built man in a suit walking toward us. At his side and behind him were many more of Kronos' followers. One of them is Luke who walks right next to Atlas. Behind Atlas and Luke walk around half a dozen Dracaenae who held up a golden sarcophagus. It must contain the reforming body of Kronos.