Chapter 13

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters, etc. are the property of JK. Rowling and Rick Riordan. The OC characters and storyline are purely my imagination running wild. My story is for entertainment only and is not part of any official storylines. I do not have any association with J. K. Rowling or Rick Riordan even though I wish I had. No copyright infringement is intended.

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After hearing Annabeth give a short overview of her father, one would have expected to find him as the demon with horns and fangs. Yet what we found was an old-fashioned man wearing some old aviator's cap and goggles, of course, suited the mad scientist theory.

He looked rather weird with his eyes bugging out through his glasses, but each for their own Skye supposed.

"Ah Hello. Are you here to deliver my airplanes?" he asked in a friendly voice, not noticing his daughter standing at the back of the group.

"Um, no, Dad," Annabeth said, rolling her eyes at his antics.

"Drat," He said before recognition entered his eyes.

"Annabeth, my dear?!" He exclaimed shocked.

"Hi Dad, can we come in?" Annabeth asked with a sad smile.

"Are you alright? Has something happened?" Dr. Chase asked worriedly as he moved out of the way to let the group of friends in.

"You can say that," Thalia muttered as she entered the house.

"Ah, yeah, I know I should be at the camp, but we will need some help," Annabeth said softly.

"We better take this to my office, then." Dr. Chase sighed worriedly as he moved farther into the house.

Skye noticed that the house looked well-lived in and very cozy. There were Legos on the stairs and two tabby cats sleeping quietly on the living room couch. All kinds of magazines were stacked on the coffee table, and a little kid's winter coat was lying on the floor. The house smelled like freshly baked cookies and soft jazz music playing softly in the background. It seemed like a messy, happy kind of home - the kind of place that she would have loved to live in.

"Dad!" a little boy screamed. "He is taking apart my robots!"

"Boddy," Dr. Chase called out absently, "do not take apart your brothers' robots."

"Dad, that was Bobby. Matthew is the one you need," Annabeth said, hating how they were disrupting her family for the quest.

"Thank you, Annie. Matthew, do not take apart your brother's robots!" Dr. Chase called out.

"Okay, Dad!"

Dr. Chase turned back to his daughter and friends. "Come, my office is upstairs."

"Honey?" a woman called out just as they started towards the stairs.

"Who are our guests?" she asked as a pretty Asian woman with red highlighted hair tied into a bun appeared in the living room, wiping her hands on a dishtowel.

"Oh, sorry dear." Dr. Chase said. "Annabeth and some of her friends are here for some help. We were just heading up to my office."

"Frederick," she chided. "Annabeth arrived home after months and you did not even call me to come and see her myself?"

Mrs. Chase turned towards her stepdaughter. "Hello dear, welcome home. Are you guys hungry? Should I bring you all some sandwiches to Frederick's office?"

"Hi… ah yes, some sandwiches would be lovely, but we cannot stay much longer. We are on a time-sensitive quest." Annabeth said softly as she gave her stepmother a quick hug.

Mrs. Chase pursed her lips in concern before nodding. "All right dear. Go on up to your father's office and I'll bring you some food." She smiled slightly at Annabeth before turning to the group. "Nice to meet you finally, Percy, Thalia, but who might be the rest of you?"

"Ah, please forgive our thoughtlessness, milady," Lyra said with a slight tilt of the head. "My name is Lyra Black, and these are Skye Potter, my goddaughter, and finally Zoe Nightshade, Lady Artemis's lieutenant."

"Oh wow, aren't you just a gentlewoman? It is nice to meet all of you. Now go, I will bring your sandwiches up to you." Mrs. Chase said with a smile before going back to the kitchen.

Upstairs, the group walked into Dr. Chase's office and, of course, the first thing Skye noticed were all the books and all the war toys mounted all over the room. Skye could finally see what Lady Athena would have seen in Dr. Chase.

"Ah Dad," Annabeth broke through the silence. "We need your help. Lady Artemis is in danger and I owe her. She saved my life a few days back."

"Of course," he said. "Please, tell me everything."

It wasn't easy, but they told Dr. Chase everything they could, but time was slowly running out, making Skye feel extremely uneasy as she felt her lady's energy seeping away faster than she could supply.

When they finished, DR. Chase dropped down into his leather recliner, lacing his fingers together. "My poor dear Annabeth, thank the gods you were able to get away. But you are correct, we do need to thank Lady Artemis. It is because of her that I still have a beautiful, bright daughter."

Of course, the compliment from her father shocked Annabeth as she never thought that he saw her like this.

"But we must hurry." He continued.

"Sir, we will need transportation to Mount Tamalpais," Zoe said. "And we need it urgently."

"I'll drive you, but we will need to leave now." Dr. Chase said.

"Sir," Thalia cut in. "It might be better if we went without you. It is too dangerous for you to be involved."

Dr. Chase frowned uncomfortably. "Now wait one moment. I… I can't just allow you-"

"Snacks," Mrs. Chase announced as she pushed through the door with a tray full of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with some coke as well as freshly baked cookies. The chocolate chip cookies were still gooey and warm. Skye and her friends quickly inhaled the food before Zoe said, "I can drive, sir. I am not as young as I look. I promise that we will be careful."

"What is going on?" Mrs. Chase said with furrowed brows.

"Lady Artemis is in danger and Annabeth with her friends was tasked to go and save her." Dr. Chase said. "She is on Mount Tam. I would drive them, but it is too dangerous for me to assist."

To Skye, it sounded like it was very hard for him to say the last part. Oh, how she wished she had a father who would care as much as Dr. Chase does.

Mrs. Chase sighed as she nodded. "Frederick dear, you will need to let them go. I know it is hard, but this is who they are."

"All right!" Dr. Chase said as he started patting down his pockets. "My keys…"

"Honestly," His wife sighed. "Frederick, you would lose your own head if it weren't inside your aviator hat. The keys are hanging on the peg by the front door."

"Right! Thanks, dear." Dr. Chase said.

"Thank you both. But we really should go. Now." Zoe said as she grabbed one more sandwich.

They hustled themselves out of the door and down the stairs, with Dr. and Mrs. Chase right behind them.

"Annabeth," Mrs. Chase called just as we were heading out. "Please remember that you will always have a home here. I know that we had our problems in the past, but you are family, okay?"

"I know, and thank you for everything," Annabeth said before following her friends to her father's car.

The sun was just starting to go down when they left Annabeth's home. Skye figured that they only had about an hour to get to Lady Artemis and save her.

"Can't this thing go any faster?!" Thalia demanded as Zoe glared at her. "No, I cannot control the traffic."

"You know, you both sound very much like my mother," Percy said with a bit of mirth. "Shut up!" Both exclaimed.

Zoe weaved in and out of traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge. The sun was sinking low on the horizon when they finally got into Marin County and exited the highway.

The roads were extremely narrow as they drove through forests up the side of the hills and around the steep edges of the ravines. Zoe didn't once slow down as she drove towards our Lady.

"Why does the place smell like cough drops?" Percy asked, bewildered.

"Eucalyptus," Zoe said, pointing to all the surrounding trees.

"The stuff koala bears eat?" Thalia asked.

"And monsters," Zoe said. "They love chewing the leaves, especially dragons."

"Dragons chew eucalyptus leaves?" Lyra asked. "I would have to ask the Romanian Dragon Reserve if they knew this."

"There is a dragon reserve in Romania?" Annabeth asked, shocked.

"Not important right now. Lady Artemis is running out of time, so can we keep moving?" Skye asked, pained. This caused Lyra to stare into Skye's eyes, searchingly seeing too much pain swirling within her goddaughter's eyes.

"Lady Artemis is your mate, isn't she?" Lyra asked, cutting off all conversations inside the car.

"Yes, my beast, and I only figured that out after I killed my father," Skye said softly.

"I was afraid of that, okay we will talk after this quest. For now, Lady Artemis is our highest concern," Lyra said worriedly.

Not much talking happened after that, but Skye kept her eyes peeled closely on the surroundings as Zoe drove towards Mount Tamalpais. The mountain was small compared to other mountains, but it looked plenty huge as they got closer to the mountain.

"So that's the Mountain of Despair?" Percy asked.

"Yes," Zoe said tightly.

"Why do they call it that?" Thalia asked.

Zoe was silent for about a mile, while Skye was trying to center herself as they got closer to Lady Artemis. "After the war between the Titans and the gods, many of the Titans were punished and imprisoned. Kronos was sliced to pieces and thrown into Tartarus. Kronos's right-hand man, the general of his forces, was imprisoned up there, on the summit, just beyond the Garden of the Hesperides."

"The General," Annabeth said.

Clouds were swirling around the peak of the mountain. It was as if it was drawn into it, spinning like a top. "What is going on at the top of the mountain? Are we going into a storm?" Lyra asked, concerned.

"That is where the sky meets the earth. You will see what I mean once we are up there." Zoe said with some distaste.

"Okay, we have to concentrate now," Thalia said. "The mist is really thick up here."

"The magical kind or the natural kind?" Percy asked.

"Both I believe," Lyra said.

"We have company, look there is The Princess Andromeda," Annabeth said, pointing out the big white ship docked near the beach at the cliff side.

"Kronos's army, then," Zoe said grimly.

Skye suddenly felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on edge when Thalia exclaimed. "Stop the car, NOW!"

Zoe quickly slammed her foot on the brakes, causing the car to spin twice before stopping at the cliff edge.

"OUT!" Thalia exclaimed, opening her door and pushing Percy and Annabeth out hard, while Lyra grabbed both Zoe and her goddaughter and apparated a few feet away from the car. Not a second later, a flash of lightning struck Dr. Chase's car, destroying it in the process.

"Is he trying to destroy me? Me his own daughter?!" Thalia muttered.

"That was not your father's bolt, Thalia," Skye stated.

"And you know this how?" Annabeth said with anger and distrust.

"The Sky lord's power gives off a certain smell and the children of the Sky lord have a similar smell to them. That flash of lightning did not have any smell of the Sky lord or any of his children." Skye answered tightly.

"Now that this is sorted, can we get a move on? Time is running out." Lyra said protectively as she stepped in front of her goddaughter.

"Wait," Percy said. "Where is Zoe?"

"She went into the fog; we are almost there, so come," Skye said as she pulled Lyra with her.

Skye and Lyra stepped into the fog, with the others following close behind them.

Once they were past the fog, they noticed that they were still on the mountainside, but the road was dirt, the grass was thicker, and the sunset made a blood-red slash across the sea. The summit of the mountain seemed closer now, swirling with storm clouds and raw power. There was only one path to the top, directly in front of them, but was blocked by an enormous dragon, blocking their way to Lady Artemis.

The garden itself was beautiful if you ignored the sight of the dragon sleeping calmly. The grass shimmered with silvery evening light, and the flowers were such a beautiful bold color that they almost seemed to glow in the dark. Steppingstones of pure obsidian marble led around either side of the five-story tall apple tree, with its Golden Apples glittering in the slight moonlight.

Skye could not describe the wonderful appeal that the apples were given off, the smell alone would draw someone in. Skye knew that one bite alone would be the most delicious thing someone would taste.

"The apples of immortality," Thalia said softly. "Hera's wedding gift from Zeus."

Skye knew the moment someone stepped off the path and tried to pluck one of these apples would be a death sentence. The dragon coiled protectively around the tree, preventing theft and destruction.

Ladon, as Zoe called him, had a serpent-like body almost as thick as a booster rocket with coppery scales glinting in the light. He had more heads than one could count, and his saliva was deathly to everyone but himself.

Moments later, the surrounding shadows started to move and solidify as 4 beautiful women shimmered into existence. The four young women looked very much like Zoe, indicating them as her siblings. They looked gorgeous and very dangerous.

"Sisters," Zoe said tightly.

"We do not see any sister," one said in a cold tone. "We see three half-bloods, two freaks, and a hunter. All of whom shall die soon."

"Careful there, watch who you call freak." Lyra spat coldly.

The girls all turned and studied Lyra. They had eyes like volcanic rock, glassy and completely black.

"Who are you?" one of them asked, annoyed.

"Why do you care? After all, we are about to die." Lyra spat as she moved Zoe and Skye slowly behind her.

"Now, if you would excuse us. We would like to go and embrace our deaths." Skye said coldly over her godmother's shoulder.

"Of course, we need to approach the mountain. Artemis needs us," Zoe stated.

"You know he will kill you," the girl said. "You are no match for him."

"Artemis must be freed, even if it leads us to our deaths," Zoe insisted. "Now let us pass."

"You have no rights here. We only need to raise our voices, and Ladon will wake." The girl said, shaking her head.

"He will not hurt me," Zoe stated calmly over Lyra's shoulder as Lyra refused Zoe to move.

"No? And what about your friends?" The girls asked.

Zoe turned and did something that would ensure her disowned sisters would allow them to move on and pass Ladon without interference.

"Ladon! Wake!" Zoe shouted.

The dragon stirred, glittering like a mountain of pennies. The Hesperides yelped and scattered. The lead girl said to Zoe, "Are you mad?"

"You never had any courage, sister." Zoe spat, embarrassed that she once saw them as family.

The dragon was writhing now, a hundred heads whipping around, tongues flickering and tasting the air.

Zoe squared her shoulders as she moved past Lyra and slowly made her way to Ladon, but was soon stopped by both Skye and Lyra, grabbing her hands and refusing to let her go.

"What are you doing, Zoe? Why are you risking your life unnecessarily?" Skye asked worriedly.

"Please move, Skye and Lyra," Zoe said softly. "I must do this."

"Why Zoe? Why do you have to do this? You left this life centuries ago; you do not have to prove anything anymore. We need to go and rescue Artemis, remember?" Lyra asked kindly.

"But I…."

"Zoe, you have grown so much farther than what you would have here if you stayed. You have friends, a new family, and an older sister figure that we have to save. You have both Lyra and I are here with you right now. You have nothing to prove, not to us. If you go and approach Ladon now, you are simply confirming to them that you haven't outgrown them, and you still need their approval." Skye said softly as Zoe stopped struggling, and she slowly took in what she just heard from both Lyra and Skye.

"Fine," Zoe huffed. "It should really be illegal to use logic in any arguments," Zoe said with a slight smile as she hugged Skye and then Lyra.

Thalia snorted, while Percy and Annabeth smiled slightly at how the two magicals used logic to keep Zoe safe from the monster dragon.

"All right, you lot, time for you all to grab hold of some part of me," Lyra said slowly.

"Ah, why?" Percy asked.

"Look," Lyra sighed, "I have a feeling that Ladon can stretch the entire length of the Garden, right Zoe?" With her nod, she continued. "So, obviously, we need a way around the garden, and I do not want to waste any more time in finding a way around safely. So, I propose, I apparate us all to the other side of the garden, but I will need you all to hold on to me and close your eyes and hold your breath. It would be over in a moment."

Nodding, the group all grabbed hold of Lyra, twisting her body slightly. A sharp crack sounded as they moved from one spot to another. The campers fell to their knees, having never experienced this method of traveling before. "What the hell was that?" Annabeth gasp.

"That, Daughter of Athena, is one of the very few magical traveling there is. Most of these methods can leave someone flat on their arse and sick as a dog. Now then let's get a move on, we have a goddess to save," Lyra answered.

They ran up the mountain as the Hesperides started to sing softly in the shadows. The music itself sounded very haunted - very much like a funeral soundtrack.

At the top of the mountain were ruins, blocks of black granite and marble as big as houses. Broken columns. Statues of bronze that looked as though they'd been half-melted.

"The ruins of Mount Othrys," Thalia whispered in awe.

"Yes," Zoe said. "This was not here before; this is very bad."

"What is Mount Othrys?" Percy asked, looking confused.

"This, young man, is the mountain fortress of the Titans," Lyra answered

"In the first war, Olympus and Othrys were the two rival capitals of the world. Othrys was blasted to pieces." Zoe continued.

"Yes, but how is this here?" Annabeth asked.

Skye looked around cautiously as they slowly picked their way through the rubble, past the blocks of marble and broken archways.

"It moves in the same way that Olympus moves. It will always exist on the edge of civilization. But the fact that it is here, on this mountain, this is not good," Zoe said worriedly.

"What, why?" Percy asked.

"This is Atlas's mountain," Zoe said. "This is where he holds-" she trailed off before taking a ragged breath as she continued. "Or where he used to hold up the sky."

A few yards ahead of them were the gray clouds swirling in a heavy vortex, making a funnel cloud that almost touched the mountaintop, but instead rested on the shoulders of a twelve-year-old girl with auburn hair and a tattered silvery dress: Artemis, her legs were bound to the rock with celestial bronze chains.

"My lady!" Zoe exclaimed as she rushed forward, but was stopped as Artemis said, "No. Stop! It is a trap. You must leave now."

Skye noticed her alpha's voice was strained, and she was drenched in sweat. She was in so much pain, the weight of the sky was clearly too much for her mate.

"We cannot leave you, milady. It might be a trap, but I cannot leave you here in all this pain." Skye said as she slowly kneeled in front of her Alpha as Zoe tugged at the chains, trying to free her mistress.

"Ah, how touching." A booming voice spoke up from behind.

Turning around ever so slightly, Skye noticed the General standing in a brown silk suit behind them. At his side stood the son of Hermes, the one who would betray his family for the crooked one.

"Luke," Annabeth said in a pained whisper.

Luke smiled weakly at those he once saw as family, looking worse for wear. "It is good to see you again."

Thalia spat at him, refusing to see him as family as she once had.

The General chuckled. "So much for old friends. And you, Zoe. It's been a long time, hasn't it? How is my little traitor? I will enjoy killing you."

"Do not respond," Artemis groaned. "Do not challenge him."

"You are not her father; you gave up that right when you disowned her. No, she is a future Black, my goddaughter's sister. I will ensure she becomes a true Black." Lyra stated confidently.

The General glanced at her. "So, who are you?" He asked, confused.

"Oh no, it does not matter. I am just informing Zoe of her options." Lyra said softly, looking Zoe in her eyes as she moved next to Skye and Zoe.

"You are not going to hurt Zoe," Percy said. "We won't let you."

The General sneered at both Lyra and Percy. "You have no right to interfere, heroes. This is a family matter."

Percy frowned. "Family matter?"

"Yes, Percy," Zoe said blankly. "Atlas here was my father, but he no longer is. As Lyra said, he gave up that right."