Percy of the Huntsmen

One Shall Fall

Inside Mount Tamalpais

They hadn't walked fifty meters when they were confronted by four girls, all wearing white, shimmery robes. The Hesperids. They stood in the middle of the path to a grassy field with a
three-headed dragon lying in the center, coiled around a tree with golden apples.

"Sister," the Hesperid said to Zoë. "Why have you returned?"

"Atlas has captured Artemis. I mean to save her."

"Father has commanded us not let anyone by. You shall not pass this field."

"Can they fight," Percy whispered to Zoë.

"No," she whispered back, "But the dragon will do as they say."

"Do you like them very much?"

"No?" She answered back, slightly confused by the question.

"Good. I can get us past." Percy stepped up in front of the group. "Listen up, bitches. We're gonna pass, whether your daddy wants us to or not." Percy drew his sword. "Got it?"

"Foolish demigod." The Hesperid on the right said. "If you truly wish, Ladon will wake. If you kill him, feel free to pass."

"Tis not Ladon. He had many more heads." Zoë said.

"He is Ladon." A Hesperid answered. Not the original. Many things have changed since you left us."

"You cannot do this. Ladon was defeated only by Hercules." Zoë told Percy.

"I can and will. Just you wait." Percy began walking down the path to the field. "Ladon!" he yelled. "Wake!"

The Hesperids backed off of the path.
The dragon picked up one of its heads.

"Hey, I'd really like one of those apples." Percy said loudly.

Ladon's other head rose.

"Maybe I'd steal one. That way I could eat it, and maybe even steal some more apples!"

Ladon's last head joined the other two in the air.

Percy twirled his sword in his hand. "Let's go, ugly."

Ladon's right head darted out. Percy stabbed it clean through with his sword as it passed, turning the head limp and dead. Percy circled around the dragon. Its left head was the next one to dart out at Percy, and received the same fate as the right head.

The head in the middle learned from the mistakes of the previous heads and kept its distance from Percy's blade. Percy ran up to the dragon and jumped, as if trying to slice off its last head, so Ladon pulled it back. However, Percy landed about a foot away from the dragon and sliced its front legs off. When the front end of the dragon fell to the ground, Percy sliced through its neck at the base.

"Come on down, guys. We're free to pass now," Percy yelled to Annabeth, Zoë, Bianca, and Phoebe. The five of them walked across the field and through the arch to where Atlas was holding Artemis and Thalia.

On the other side of the arch, they saw Luke standing near where Artemis was holding up the sky and Thalia was chained to a rock.

"Atlas knows we're here by now. This is a trap of some sort." Zoë warned them.

"Indeed it is," a booming voice said from behind the group.

Zoë turned to Annabeth. "Free Thalia and Artemis. Percy, you can handle Luke. Hunters, assist me in taking down my father."

"Your what now?" Percy asked. His confusion was short lived. When Atlas walked out of the shadows holding a massive spear and dressed for war, he could see the distinct resemblance between the two. The same high cheekbones, same way of carrying themselves. Even the way they spoke was similar.

But Atlas wasn't Percy's focus. The Hunters could handle him well enough. His target was Luke.

Of course, Percy wasn't going to kill him. Luke played an important role in the upcoming plot against the gods, and if he died, there wouldn't be many volunteers to take his place. Luke had made things easier for Percy by taking a bath in the River Styx prior to this showdown. Aside from the ability to host a Titan, the Styx made any who bathed in it impervious to all damage except for in one small point. So long as Percy didn't somehow hit Luke on the inside of his upper left arm, he wouldn't die.

Luke knew this too, and he also knew that his blade - half celestial bronze and half steel - wouldn't kill Percy.

Percy growled and charged Luke, drawing his sword as he ran. Luke drew his sword as well, and they met about halfway between Artemis and a massive hole in the back of the mountain that led straight to Luke's docked ship, the Princess Andromeda. This gave Percy an idea. As they fought, Percy drove Luke backward. Slowly bit surely, Luke's back was up against the cliff's edge.

By this time, Annabeth had managed to free Thalia, but she didn't know how to free Artemis without the sky falling down. "Don't kill him!" She yelled.

"Kill the damned traitor!" Thalia yelled.

Percy had flicked Luke's sword away with a simple disarming strike. He acted slightly distracted by they girls' yelling, but the moment Luke reached for his sword Percy swung around and kicked him in the chest, hard. Luke had a look of panic on his face and screamed as he fell to the rocks at the base of the cliff.

"No!" Annabeth wailed and ran to the cliff's edge, maybe checking to see if Luke was okay.

Percy could see that Zoë, Phoebe, and Bianca were having a hard time with Atlas. He was just too strong for them to fight, and sadly Percy wouldn't be much better of an opponent. But Artemis would be.

Percy ran over to where Artemis struggled against the sky. "I got this. Go help your Hunters."

Artemis didn't protest. Percy slid under the sky as Artemis slid out, transferring the weight over. Immediately Percy felt the pain. It felt as if every muscle in his entire body was on fire. Through the haze in his vision, Percy could see the fight turning around. Artemis's help was all that her Hunters needed to beat Atlas.

Well, almost enough.

Atlas's spear caught Zoë right in the gut. She gasped in shock and fell to the ground, feebly grabbing at the shaft that protruded out of her.

At this, Artemis went into beast mode. Nobody killed her Hunter lieutenant and walked away untouched. Artemis beat down Atlas, backing him up as Percy had done to Luke. Finally, Artemis shoved Atlas under the sky, allowing Percy to fall out from under the weight and catch his breath.

The moment Atlas was taken care of, Artemis ran over to her fallen Hunter. "Zoë, Zoë!"

Zoë looked terrible. She had lost a ton of blood from the large wound, though the spear head was blocking up most of the wound and giving her a few more minutes before she bled out.

"My Lady," Zoë whispered. "I cannot see the stars."

"Do not worry, brave Hunter. Soon you will join them." When the last breath had left Zoë's lips, Artemis spoke a spell over her body. A silver spirit departed from Zoë and flew up and out of the mountain. Artemis lowered her head and sobbed.

Pulling herself together a bit, Artemis told the group, "Good work just them. Even you, boy. Now I... I must go. You two," she pointed at Bianca and Phoebe, "should rendezvous with me at the camp within a few days. I just need some time alone."

And with that, the goddess of the Hunt mounted a sleigh pulled by deer (all in silver, of course) and flew off into the sky.