The Wolves of Artemis (Percy Jackson Fanfiction)

Chapter Twenty Five

Good morning, my lovely readers! I am glad to see you again today! Enjoy!

Chapter Twenty Five: Impatience

Point of View: Phoebe

I wish Ebony or Artemis were here. I am itching to do something. 

What makes the waiting worse is that I can feel Ebony's discomfort from so far away...

"What is taking Lady Artemis so long? Surely tricking Heracles shouldn't take too much time," Thalia complains as she sits in front of the burning fire Lady Hestia keeps for us here. 

And these Titans are making me feel on edge, except for the peaceful ones. Rhea and Kronos keep glaring at each other from across the room and I do not want to be a part of whatever transpires between them. 

"Artemis will return when she has handled the matter and bring Atlas with her when she comes. And Ebony must stay with Gaea for as long as it takes. The wolves will surely return with the Pack. Everything will turn out fine with time," Hestia speaks warmly and Kronos' attention is on his eldest child. 

If only that were true. Ebony is in a lot of pain right now and there is nothing I can do about it. Is he being tortured? Or maybe fighting a monster? Too many possibilities. I regret not going with him. Not that he would have let me. 

"Indeed, it is only difficult for these things to lay out before fate. They will succeed or else what they love will be lost. Failing to them is not an option," Damasen agrees with the Goddess of the Hearth. 

"Ebony is hurting, it worries me," I murmur. 

"It must be Polybotes. My brother won't make it easy on the lad," Damasen replies. 

Like I needed to hear that. 

A flash of silver light and I turn to find my old friend with my late friend's father. 

All of us gather around and I glare at Atlas when he is not looking. I want nothing more than to send him packing to Tartarus the old fashioned way, but we need him right now. Avenging Zoë will have to wait. 

"I hear we are trying to work with the gods this time around? And against Gaea?" Atlas rumbles. 

"Yes, a strange concept," Hyperion comments. 

"Heracles was a pain. I had to get him to chase me in at sunset last night and then hide while convincing Atlas. But like you said, Lieutenant, his ego was easy to use against him," Artemis chimes. 

"What's wrong?" I inquire. 

"The same thing that is bothering you, Phoebe. I can feel Ebony's agony from here. It is more his soul now than physical at the moment, he is adapting. And Aroen and the others have made contact with Lycaon. I can feel the old wolf's animosity at being faced with the King and not being able to do as he promised last they met," Artemis answers. 

"Now what?" Thalia wonders. 

"Ebony has not-" Atalanta begins but Hestia interrupts the conversations around the room. 

"Ebony has called," Hestia announces and I am surprised as Kronos is first to crowd up to the fire, Iapetus right behind. I come over to find Ebony's visage with a black substance in his veins as it disappears out of sight down his neck and up into his eyes. 

I cover my mouth and shove past Kronos. "Ebony, what happened to you?" 

Ebony smiles warmly, not looking to be in pain at all even though I can feel it radiate from Circe's Island. "Polybotes' touch may not be fatal at the moment, but it does sting. It also spreads if he wants it to. It will leave after a while. I'm alone for now." 

"Tell us what you have discovered," Iapetus speaks up. 

"Gaea has put me on watch, just like we thought. Polybotes is my warden, which means staying with him at all times. But he got called away for a small bit. Gaea said that if Artemis wants to make a truce that she must come here herself and she is suspicious that her other children have not come to her yet," Ebony informs us and then looks over his shoulder. "I can feel him close, he is coming." 

"Be careful," I plead and he nods. 

"You don't have to worry about me, my Phoebe. It is nothing I cannot handle. Even if it is disgusting," Ebony answers and then he is gone. 

"That is all he could find out?" Thalia asks. 

"Mother is not so easy to converse with," Kronos chimes. "He was lucky to get that much out of her. His best bet is to seduce Polybotes and leech information out of the brute." 

"Seduce?" Artemis gags. 

"What do you think Polybotes is doing to him?" Kronos responds coldly and everyone listens despite wanting to yell at him. "He even told you what kind of interest the Giant has for him. Why do you think his touch is on his face, his neck, his mouth, and not anywhere else but his arms?" 

"Worst images ever," Thalia whines. 

"How long will Polybotes only do that to him?" I fret. 

"Until the war is over if they win," Damasen answers evenly. 

I really want to go out and kill something, but I need to stay here to make things work. 

"Shall I leave to visit Mother Earth, then?" Artemis questions. 

"I don't advise it," Kronos responds. 

There's one for the day, my lovely readers! Enjoy!