The Wolves of Artemis (Percy Jackson Fanfiction)

Chapter Twenty One

Greetings, my lovely readers! I do not know how many of you saw my post on my conversations page, but I hope to respond to you and my...overflowing inbox. My bad. As the post said, after I posted during break, my family had several unfortunate happenings. We had three deaths in the family and just recently, my father had heart trouble. He had to have a stent put in and now we are incorporating his diet and that the doctor caught the blockage in time. So, I still have my father! However, two of my cousins died on one side of my family and my aunt died on my other side. But, you don't want to know about any of that, let's get started!

Chapter Twenty One: The Eye-Opening

Point of View: Ebony

I blink open my eyes to find Artemis in front of me and the feeling of relief floods through me. "My lady, are you alright?"

"Fine." She nods. "I doubt you a very pleased with the occurrence." 

"I'll live." I dismiss her concern.

"Can you explain what you did?" Phoebe grabs at my attention.

"The part of my soul that was being patched over by the Hunt is now torn anew and rebuilt by the part that returned to me." I riposte. "It is going to take a little while longer for me to adjust now." 

"Why did Gaea want to give it to you?" Atalanta inquires.

"She might have had something done to it, but nothing has changed other than the hole is nonexistent now. I gave up the resolve I had garnered over the years of the wars to make her slumber. My resolve comes from loved ones. Without it, I could break easier and that is what happened. Now I have more than I had before. But the ties remain as they were, except for the Lieutenant's." I elucidate for everybody.

"Me?" Thalia looks bemused.

"Yes, did you not hear? Tartarus influenced you and it was not your fault. After all, what can a demigod do against the power of a Primordial?" I attempt at a genuine smile for her and she beams at me. 

"Where are we?" Artemis looks around.

Hestia appears in a dance of flames. "You are in what little remains of Circe's Paradise. The pirates young Perseus Jackson set loose to get free from her magic long since abandoned this place to explore the world again. They tend to stay off of the radar these days to avoid letting Circe go."

"Thank you." I express my gratitude and she comes over to Artemis. 

"I think you'll be needing this, niece." Hestia holds up a sphere of silver light. "My baby brother is not very good at watching stuff in his possession. As Lucas Castellan once proved."

Artemis is surrounded by the light as soon as she touches it and I feel brand new as the silver glow envelopes me again. "That feels so much better." She breaks the chains easily now that she is not a mere mortal anymore.

"What's the plan now? Olympus won't help us. The camps hate Ebony's guts, or they will as soon as they find out he used to be Perseus." Kyndra chimes in.

"Gaea made it impossible for us to all get along. Olympus will announce who Ebony is and not to trust Artemis." Aroen inputs. "The Camps will work together. We have no allies. Stuck in the middle and being hunted on two fronts."

"Oh, Lady Artemis, the Giants are now more powerful than before." Phoebe says. 

"This calls for the worst plan in history." Thalia crosses her arms.

"Which is?" Artemis prompts, looking suspiciously at her sister.

"Ebony?" Thalia looks at me.

"If Olympus will not listen, we have to find someone who will." I take a step back and Artemis is beginning to scowl so deeply I fear she may never smile again.

"What are you suggesting?" Thale is puzzled, but Phoebe puts her hand to her forehead.

"We need someone to be behind us." Thalia explains.

"We are going to have to join up with Gaea." I clear it all up for everyone and get instant negative feedback.

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend." Thalia says and everybody shuts up.

"Actually, it's more like espionage. I don't plan on killing for Gaea. To earn the trust of Zeus, we will have to help them win this war. What better way than to infiltrate their ranks?" I correct Thalia.

"If Zeus even hears a rumor about us joining her side, he'll never forgive us. If he sees us at the final battle with her, forget a fair trial because two of his daughters are betraying him." Atalanta grumbles.

"My lady?" I look over at Hestia.

"I will convince Athena after I work on Apollo. Feed me any information. You can do so by just pouring your thoughts into any fire you make. I will gather it all and relay it to Olympus. Show them all that it is just a ploy to weaken the enemy." Hestia is in accordance.

"Lady Artemis?" I turn to her.

She sighs. "Alright. Again I am agreeing to a reckless plan by a man with a love unparalleled by any other." 

"But here is where I bring it up." Phoebe looks at all of us in turn. "Can the Giants be killed by just a god and a demigod now?"

"Or do we need something more?" I add.

"I can feel the change in Gaea's children." Hestia murmurs. "They are nearly invincible now. It will take another form of power combined with the gods and their children."

"Like what?" Artemis wonders.

Hestia looks at me sadly.

"No! No way!" I cut sharply across the air with my arm. "It's not happening, forget it. I am not doing it."

"Ebony?" Phoebe looks between me and Hestia worriedly. 

"You know without them it will not be possible." Hestia tries to shoot down my dissent. 

"Who?" Artemis demands. 

"Titans." I say, looking pointedly to the side. "Fortunately for Olympus, the hold over the Titans I had as Perseus after Gaea was defeated was enough to keep them gone for good, especially Kronos. Atlas and the gentle Titannesses would be our only hope. Unless of course you believe like Hestia does and that I can summon them from the grave." 

"Are you guys insane?!" Thalia flips her wig.

"Completely mental, but I am not the one wanting to raise the Titans to help save Olympus." I respond. "That's the best part. Do you truly think they would help Olympus? Wait until they find out what happened while they were all dead and gone." 

"And I thought I was crazy." Thalia mutters. 

"Can someone please talk some sense?" Phoebe implores.

"Both Hestia and Ebony make perfect sense." Aroen calms everybody down. "Not only do the Olympians need convincing, but so do their forbears."

"You're nuts." Atalanta whispers.

"And who's going to talk them out of raining the Wrath of Hell down on their own children?" Artemis raises an eyebrow.

Aroen gestures to me and I shake my head. 

"No." I shake my head.

"Son-" 

"Dad, are you absolutely positive that if I manage to raise the dead they won't just immediately assume I am using them as puppets?" I question. 

"Trust them." Aroen puts his arm around me.

"That is what I am afraid of." I admit.

I shall leave it there for now because; A) I have to do stuff and B) It is as good a place as any to leave you hanging. See you in a little bit, my lovely readers!