Shattered

Garden

They made it.

They finally made it.

Percy could make out the faint outline of Mount Tamalpais on the horizon.

The skies were veiled in an orange hue, as the sun began to set. Low-lying clouds laid the covered the distanced city a gray haze.

Percy estimated that the quest had probably just crossed the part where he had caught Nereus the last time around. Perhaps the Manticore had found them already?

Getting used to his old body was rather easy, it came to him rather instinctively.

Percy glanced down at his arms – the golden bracelets that Artemis had given him still weighed him down, but he had grown oddly accustomed to having the weights in his wrists.

He knew for a fact that Artemis' near torturous training had successfully paid off. He hardly felt winded after the two-hundred-mile jog from Yosemite.

San Francisco was just as he remembered it to be.

It was still probably the most beautiful city he'd ever seen: kind of like a smaller, cleaner Manhattan, if Manhattan had been surrounded by green hills and deep fog. San Francisco Bay laid to the east. Everything from large freighters, sailboats and islands littered the water, and the Golden Gate Bridge stuck up out of the fog.

The hunters clearly failed to see his absolute awe at the beauty of the city.

Their expressions ranged from focused to slightly nervous, the latter being one Rachel Berry.

Artemis commanded the hunters to up their place. They needed to get Percy to the rest of the quest before dusk.

Percy began to wonder how the rest of them would react to his sudden appearance, would they be shocked? Happy? Both?

Neither?

He was really looking forward to seeing Zoe again...

His eyes widened.

He meant, Zoe and the others, of course. He mentally slapped himself for the thought.

They were approaching the shoreline when Percy heard a certain, unmistakable voice.

"I do not need those foolish undead! The General thinks I am worthless? He will change his mind when I defeat you myself!"

Thorn.

"We beat you once before," the voice belonged to an annoyed Thalia.

"Ha! You could barely fight me with a goddess on your side. And, alas... that goddess is preoccupied at the moment. There will be no help for you now."

Percy noticed a smirk that appeared on Artemis' lips.

"That is where you are wrong, foul beast."

The Manticore's eyes widened, as Artemis and her band of hunters (plus Percy) emerged out of the undergrowth, the shock that was on all four of the questers' faces was absolutely priceless.

Zoe in particular looked absolutely overjoyed that Percy was alive, but she had a glint in her eyes that spelled trouble for Percy. Annabeth and Bianca seemed to be avoiding running up to him and tackling him with a giant embrace. Thalia tried looking wholly indifferent, but the wide grin on her face proved quite the contrary.

"Questers, continue. We will deal with the Manticore."

With a quick nod, the quest quickly retreated from the scene – knowing full well they were under a quickly closing deadline.